Boise’s adoption of the LGBTQ+ flag is preposterous | Opinion
Pride flag
Boise’s adoption of the LGBTQ+ flag as an official city flag is an ultra vires act, subject to a declaratory judgment action, just like what happened in the opinion I drafted as a law clerk for Chief Justice McDevitt, Black v. Young, 834 P.2d 304, and as I analyzed in a law review article I wrote a few years ago about Dillon’s Rule, published in the Idaho Law Review.
The idea that such a flag might fall within an “implied power” is preposterous, particularly given that is against state law. The immediate remedy is at least a judgment declaring it null and void, perhaps a writ of mandate or prohibition, or something even more exotic.
It is sad to see such a middle finger flashed at state government by a mere city, a creature of the state, not a sovereign entity, and it is disgusting that a flag that has become indelibly etched into the partisan landscape be adopted by Boise. Can other cities now adopt MAGA or straight pride flags as their official flags? This is ridiculous. Shame on the city of Boise and its left-wing apparatchiks for such a petty, petulant action.
Thorpe P. Orton, Boise
Oath of Office
If President Trump does not know whether he is required to uphold the constitution of the United States he is clearly on the road to impeachment. The oath he took a few weeks ago reads:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Has he already forgotten about the oath he took?
We do not need king Trump.
David Rogers, Meridian
Public lands
Why can’t U.S. Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo be more like U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson? He understands how important federal public land is to our way of life in Idaho. I live here because there is so much public land on which to hunt, fish and camp. I grew up in Texas, which is over 96% private. After living here for 13 years, I can’t watch it turn into Texas. Recreating on BLM and Forest Service land is central to our ethos in the West.
Risch and Crapo seem to not care about us Idahoans who live our lives on public land. They’d vote to dispose of it and seem more like what Theodore Roosevelt called “short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things.”
Idaho has a tradition of politicians who know what makes Idaho great: public land. Frank Church and Cecil Andrus are top of that list, and Simpson seems to be cut from the same cloth. Simply put, I’d go fishing with Simpson. Risch and Crapo don’t deserve to live in such a beautiful state like Idaho. Maybe they’d prefer living in Texas.
Dustin Henkelmann, Twin Falls
President’s oath
Oath of Office of the President of the United States:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
One of the president’s so-called “brilliant lawyers” should definitely remind him of the oath of office which he has sworn to twice. His response “ I don’t know” when asked if he needed to uphold the Constitution of the United States speaks volumes.
Mary Feeny, Boise
Military cuts
Since I am not a veteran, my knowledge of the military is limited. My first reaction to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s plan to cut back on higher military brass brought up several questions. Is this cutback part of the Project 2025? Or is there something more nefarious happening? General George Washington did not want to be a king. The original militia or army in revolutionary days was loyal to the Articles of Confederation and then later to the Constitution. The idea of one man rule was considered to be treason. Some historians believe that the one man German government in the 1930s had more trouble getting the military in line than they did with the court system. After several purges the military got in line. Once the bombs started dropping on German cities in 1944 and 1945, the overall citizenry came to the realization that giving total control of the military to greedy and lustful men was a devastating mistake.
Sidney Asker, Boise
DOGE
A real effort to reduce fraud, waste and abuse in government programs is laudable. However, the approach adopted by Elon Musk has been artificially hyped, ineffective and harmful.
Originally Musk boasted a savings target of 2 trillion dollars from the federal budget. Then he reduced it to 1 trillion; then reduced again to 165 billion. But even this vastly smaller number has been incorrectly reported. Examples: an $8 million dollar cancelled contract reported as $8 billion savings; contracts never implemented reported as cancelled by DOGE; and contracts only partially implemented reported as DOGE savings. Clearly, reported savings are not there.
Even worse is DOGE’s erroneous firing of government employees only to rehire them; paying employees to retire early, then refilling their positions with others resulting in duplicate salaries; and gutting agencies that safeguard American lives. All resulting in new government costs. And what about the disruption in communities caused by DOGE’s indiscriminate firings and the collapse of morale in many agencies and departments.
The idea remains good, the approach has been terrible. It’s past time to say “goodbye” to Musk and DOGE and “good riddance”. Future efforts to cut government waste deserve a better approach.
Paul Hill, Hailey
This story was originally published May 8, 2025 at 4:00 AM.