OPINION: Cheers and Jeers: Ring kisser and flag raiser

JEERS ... to Idaho Gov. Brad Little.

Monday, the flag of the United States will fly at full-staff throughout Idaho — in violation of the accepted 30-day period of mourning for the late President Jimmy Carter.

Why?

Because Donald Trump’s ego was bruised.

“In any event, because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half mast,” Trump posted on social media. “Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out.”

Little kissed the ring at Mar-a-Lago. But had he checked the facts, he would have seen how Trump is playing him for a fool.

Look at the pictures of President Richard Nixon’s second inauguration in 1973. There, you will plainly see flags at the U.S. Capitol at half-staff, in honor of President Harry Truman, who died three weeks earlier.

If self-respect didn’t deter Little, you’d think Idaho’s reputation might. The state already has one shameful incident blighting its record.

After civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was shot to death in 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered the flags lowered. Idaho’s governor at the time, Republican Don Samuelson, had other ideas.

That triggered the first civil rights rally at the state Capitol, recalled Idaho’s first African-American legislator, Sen. Cherie Buckner-Webb, D-Boise: “There was a lot of fear.”

When Samuelson left for a junket to Japan, his executive powers transferred to Lt. Gov. Jack Murphy, who promptly ordered the flags lowered in King’s honor. He also expressed his condolences to King’s widow, Coretta Scott King.

It’s hard to imagine Little would gain or lose the vote of a single Idahoan on this. He had plenty of political cover. House Speaker Mike Johnson has already acquiesced by ordering the U.S. Capitol flags raised Monday for Trump’s inaugural. Only a handful of GOP governors — Greg Abbott, of Texas; Ron DeSantis, of Florida; Kelly Armstrong, of North Dakota; Kay Ivey, of Alabama; Bill Lee, of Tennessee; and Kim Reynolds, of Iowa — have decided it’s better to show disrespect toward Carter than to risk the wrath of the narcissist-in-chief.

Little is a man of convenience, not conviction. No matter how petty, whatever MAGA-world asks of him, MAGA-world will get.

But Little will find the world a cold and unforgiving place when former Congresswoman Liz Cheney’s admonition comes to pass: “I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”

JEERS ... to state Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa.

He’s behind the bill — now on its way to the House floor — that would impose a mandatory minimum $300 fine for simple marijuana possession.

Never mind that Idaho is surrounded by states where marijuana is legally available. A lot of them promote “Famous Potatoes.”

Never mind that far more serious misdemeanors that harm others or put them at risk — battery, sexual battery, attempted strangulation and drunken driving — leave it to the sentencing judge to decide.

Never mind that in the six-decade history of the war on drugs, mandatory minimum sentencing has proven wildly ineffective.

And never mind that for some indigent defendants, coming up with $300 for a fine may be difficult enough that they will wind up filling Idaho’s already overflowing county jails.

Even some of Skaug’s fellow conservatives — Heather Scott, of Blanchard, and Barbara Ehardt, of Idaho Falls — initially resisted the Judiciary Committee chairperson’s agenda before falling in line.

Talk about pure political grandstanding. What’s next for Skaug? Does he think judges are too soft on jaywalkers?

CHEERS ... to Sen. Brandon Shippy, R-New Plymouth.

Far too often, people new to the Idaho Legislature can’t restrain themselves and present any number of weird bills.

Not so with this New Plymouth Republican.

Rather than pursue the latest bright shiny object, Shippy is taking a nuts-and-bolts approach by responding to a real-world problem.

It turns out that Idaho seniors pay a premium to renew their driver’s licenses. Anyone 63 or older can only renew a license for four years. Someone younger has the option of an eight-year renewal.

An eight-year license costs $60.

But a four-year renewal runs $35 — which means older drivers are charged $70 for the same eight years.

So Shippy has authored a bill that lowers the renewal fee to $30 for anyone 63 and older.

“They feel like they are disproportionately forced to pay a higher price, and so they’ve asked me to run this on their behalf,” Shippy said. “That’s really who I’m fighting for and even bringing this (for).”

Wow. An adult Idaho lawmaker. How rare is that?

See above.

JEERS ... to Rep. Ted Hill, R-Eagle, and Sen. Christy Zito, R-Mountain Home.

They’re behind yet another attempt to ban “political flags” from Idaho classrooms.

But not all flags.

Not flags from other political subdivisions, educational institutions, the military, foreign nations, Native American tribes, school mascots or achievements deemed worthy by the Idaho Department of Education.

Don’t want a teacher presenting flags that were on display in the Deep South from 1896 to as recently as 2020, which featured Confederate symbols?

Not keen on flying the flags of the People’s Republic of China or Mexico?

Hill and Zito couldn’t care less about that.

They’re after gay pride flags.

This isn’t about keeping controversy out of the classroom.

It’s just another bullying tactic against a beleaguered minority. — M.T.