Letters to the editor: Legislature, Capitol riot, inauguration, Republicans
Legislature
I did not think that the idiots we call our Legislature could do anything to surprise me. I was wrong, they have brought stupidity to an all new level. We elected our governor to be our highest elected official and to lead our state. Now, the legislators are jealous of his power and are trying to usurp it. And their timing, while we are in the midst of the greatest emergency our great state has ever seen. Our governor needs every tool at his disposal right now, and some of our legislators are trying to take away his power to declare emergency measures, and his right to call special sessions. What happens if the Legislature is not in session and we have an emergency? These idiots can’t agree on anything, so why should we think they would ever call a special session? I would ask isn’t there anyone in the Statehouse with common sense, but the answer is just too obvious: no! Unfortunately, common sense and brain power are in very short supply in our Statehouse while there is an abundance of stupidity! Please stop them! No, I am not a Democrat but a lifelong Republican, not proud of it!
John Treharne, Boise
Capitol riot
Our august elected officials now have an understanding of the overwhelming feeling of pure terror experienced by the kids at Virginia Tech, Columbine, Sandy Hook, Santa Fe High, Stoneman Douglas, ad nauseum. I hope (but doubt) they remember that visceral feeling “I’m going to die” when the issue of reasonable gun control comes before them for a vote.
Bob Fritsch, Boise
Start the healing
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds....” We are as divided now as we were in 1865, when Abraham Lincoln started his second term. Over 360,000 Union soldiers had been killed in the four years of the Civil War. We are not even a year into the pandemic, and 381,000 have died. We need healing now, not more demagoguery. Vice President Pence sent a conciliatory letter to Speaker Pelosi on January 12.
I hope that President Biden uses his opportunity on Jan. 20 in the Inaugural Address to start the healing, not pour more gasoline on the fire.
Andrew Asdell, Boise
Republicans
When I was 5, I participated in duck and cover drills against atomic bomb blasts. We hid in the toy closet where tricycles, jump ropes, and balls were stored.
When I was 10, I thought it was silly that people feared John Kennedy for being a Roman Catholic. I was for Nixon anyway.
At the age of 12, I kept watch over the Cuban missile crisis. Bay of Pigs. We will prevail.
When I was 13, I wept when Kennedy was assassinated. He was the President of the United States. How could this happen? My country was inviolate.
When I was 14, I gave a speech in favor of electing Barry Goldwater for President.
At 21, I registered, proudly and with conviction, as a Republican.
I valued my political affiliation. Until moving to Idaho in 2004. I had refused to identify with Idaho’s particular brand of conservatism. In 2020, I registered to vote here. The cause was dire. Inspired by Raul Labrador, Brad Little, Janice McGeachin, Tom Luna and anti maskers, I registered to vote. Democrat.
After today’s dismal showing of gutless self interest among House Republicans in D.C., I’m good with that.
Jean Lynn, Nampa