Teater letter: Idaho legislators
Three Idaho legislators visited the Malheur Refuge and attempted to tacitly justify the actions of these armed insurrectionists who have threatened deadly violence against the government and law enforcement should they attempt to remove them. Rep. Sage Dixon, R-Ponderay, stated “I don’t know if that’s always the best approach to take but it’s what they were led to do and they thought was the approach they needed to take to be heard.” I think we can all imagine the very different reactions if these armed protesters were even unarmed leftist activists or from Black Lives Matter.
In their press release they went on to say in part “It is part of our job as legislators to continually understand citizen grievances, find solutions based on facts .…” Really? What about the facts on CBD oil and medicinal marijuana, or the demands of the people to Add The Words, expand Medicaid, enact effective animal cruelty laws, make the tax system fair to Idaho working families, provide adequate school funding or enact strong environmental protections?
Apparently the only “citizens” Idaho legislators are interested in understanding are the wealthy and powerful and those who share their far right reactionary political dogma.
Tim Teater, Boise
This story was originally published January 24, 2016 at 11:12 PM with the headline "Teater letter: Idaho legislators."