OPINION: Why doesn’t Foreman go back where he came from?

Given how Sen. Dan “don’t piss him off” Foreman, R-Viola, went on a tirade recently against a member of the Nez Perce Tribe, you just have to ask:

What kind of name is Foreman, anyway?

“I’m so sick and tired of this liberal bull----,” Foreman told Democratic House candidate Trish Carter-Goodheart at a Kendrick candidate forum. “Why don’t you go back where you came from?

Carter-Goodheart is from Lapwai on the Nez Perce Reservation. That is where she came from. Indigenous Nez Perce people had been in this region thousands of years prior to Foreman’s ancestors arriving in North America.

And where did Foreman’s people originate?

Checking with the nonprofit FamilySearch.org, which is operated by the Mormon Church, it looks like Foreman’s family crossed into America from England or Scotland. In any event, they came to this country from somewhere else.

What’s more, nobody compelled Foreman to come to Idaho. According to his official biography, he started out in Lake Forest, Ill. He remained in that state to graduate from Bradley University in Peoria. Then, for 30 years, he served in the U.S. Air Force, retiring in Fairbanks, Alaska.

But since Foreman chose to come here, you have to ask: Why?

Clearly, he doesn’t like many of the people he found here. The ever-growing list includes:

Environmentalists — “Global warming ranks right up there with Al Gore’s phony ozone scare.”

Political critics — “Go straight to hell, you son of a bitch,” Foreman told a man who had the temerity to explain the U.S. Constitution to him at the Latah County Fair.

University of Idaho students who attempted to lobby him on behalf of Planned Parenthood — “Abortion is murder. I’m a Roman Catholic. I think what you guys are doing stinks,” Foreman said as he threw them out of his state Capitol complex office. “Next time you walk into my office, you’ll be dealing with Idaho State Police.”

Citizens of Moscow — They constitute a “cesspool of liberalism.”

The University of Idaho — This institution follows such a “left-wing, exceedingly liberal agenda” that’s it’s not worth Foreman’s time — even if that means finding extra funds to help the community cope with the murders of four young students.

People outside the Judeo-Christian tradition — Their principles are not “the very things that made America unique and different.”

Public school students — Rather than support their education, Foreman prefers to send tax dollars toward kids attending private and/or religious schools.

People who are uncomfortable with armed, militant white nationalists roaming their streets — Foreman prefers to remove legal barriers to the formation of private militias. “They are Americans, and as much as I disagree with their ideologies, I’ll support all day their right to exercise their constitutional right.”

Woman who insist on their reproductive rights — Famous for wanting to prosecute abortion as murder, Foreman said: “There is no such thing as your self-proclaimed ‘women’s reproductive rights.’ There is no such body of rights in the state or federal constitutions. And we don’t do designer rights in Idaho.”

Women who have become pregnant through rape or incest — Such an exception from an abortion ban would be a “loophole.”

Gays — “The Christian Bible states that all homosexual behavior is an abomination in the eyes of God. That is a very clear and definitive statement. Does the Democrat Party challenge the word of God?”

Transgender people and those who defend them — “And let’s not forget their boisterous support for all the other gender-related nonsense for which they advocate.”

Anyone who is not, as Foreman claims to be, “Christian, conservative, Republican. If that resonates with you, you will know what to do on Nov. 5. It is time for all of us to stand up for morality, the truth and patriotism in an effort to save our great republic from the moral decay so afflicting our society.”

Other than Idaho Republican Chairperson Dorothy Moon — who called the Kendrick incident “a setup, pure and simple” — who does that leave?

Not only is Foreman saying the quiet part out loud — if you’re not with him, you’re less worthy — but he’s doing so with pride. With him goes the imagery of the privileged living apart from the great masses on a island.

As awful as this is for the people who were here when people like Foreman and Moon — who grew up in Missouri — arrived here, it’s even worse for the legions of newcomers. Foreman is giving them a bad name.

So here’s a suggestion, Sen. Foreman.

Why don’t you go back where you came from?

Don’t stop at Alaska.

Don’t stop at Illinois.

Keep going until you reach Great Britain.

We’ll help you pack. — M.T.