The MountainGoat Report

Wrong Side of History

From the Twin Falls Times-News editorial board:

At least 46,000 Idahoans are gay — a number roughly equivalent to the population of Twin Falls. On Friday, a state Senate committee made it abundantly clear they're second-class citizens.

A proposal to add discrimination protection for gays and lesbians in employment, education and housing to the Idaho Human Rights Act was defeated when the State Affairs Committee refused to even print the bill.

[...]

[A]ll the State Affairs Committee accomplished Friday was putting the state on the wrong side of history.

Zeb Bell Holds Man At Gunpoint

You've read about Zeb Bell using his microphone at "Zeb at the Ranch" to advocate vigilantism, violence and cowboy justice.  You've also read about the possible effects of such advocacy.  You may have also heard talk of an incident where Zeb took matters into his own hands by holding another man at gunpoint on his property.

Now you can listen to Zeb explain in his own words what happened that day in January of 2008.

Early on a winter morning, a car crashed into a barn on his property.  With an unconscious man in the front seat and showing no concern for whether or not anyone had been injured (as he himself describes it), Zeb shot first and asked questions later.  Would he have reacted this way if the man had not been Hispanic?

'By Omission'

On Friday, in a hearing before the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee, Senators Nicole LeFavour (D-Boise) and Charles Coiner (R-Twin Falls) introduced legislation prohibiting employment, housing and education discrimination based on an individual's real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.  The bill proposed amending the Idaho Human Rights Act to include these protections.  This wasn't the first time Senator LeFavour has introduced such a bill and, unfortunately for supporters who were hoping to see it enacted this year, it won't be the last.

In a fourteen-minute, at times emotional, presentation, Senator LeFavour simply asked that the committee acknowledge that the issue merits further discussion and to print the bill.  Offering to stand for questions upon closing, members of the committee responded with silence.  No questions.  None. 

After a motion to print from Senator Joe Stegner (R-Lewiston) and a second from Senator Kate Kelly (D-Boise), others of the committee, Senators Russ Fulcher (R-Meridian), Monty Pearce (R-New Plymouth), Bob Geddes (R-Soda Springs) and Denton Darrington (R-Declo), voted no.

Idaho Public Television's Thanh Tan interviewed an emotional Senator LeFavour after the vote.

"[It's] that worry that at school when they're taunted, a teacher doesn't even know if they can address it.  In many cases they don't have the backing of any piece of law to say that they can stop discrimination in schools—they can stop kids from being taunted and harassed.  It's by omission that we basically say it's okay to discriminate," LeFavour tells Tan.

The consequences of tacitly endorsing discrimination can be devastating, especially to kids.

This artwork was created by a young man in Washington state who committed suicide after being mercilessly harassed at school and was published in a Safe Schools Coalition report.  The five-year study, conducted in Washington schools examining anti-gay harassment and violence among kindergarten through grade twelve and published in 1999, found 111 incidents of school-based anti-gay harassment and violence, many leading to suicidal thought and acts.  [Read this post for more.]

How many such incidents occur in Idaho schools?  We don't know.  Once again, the Idaho Legislature has also essentially said that the State of Idaho doesn't care.

Senator Fulcher told the Idaho Statesman, "Senator LeFavour looks at this as a genetic difference and others, including myself, look at this as a behavioral difference. Given that, the debate becomes, 'Do you look at making provisions based on behavior?'"

Leaving aside for a moment debate regarding the accuracy of Fulcher's premise, the obvious response is that the state already protects a huge behavior-based group:  religion.  So back to the debate and bringing in the artwork above again, most people who have grappled at one time or another with questions of sexual orientation will tell you as the young man says, "This is not my choice. ... This just is."

By omission we have tacitly endorsed discrimination.  On her blog, LeFavour described it as "losing ground in silence."

Hip Hop Idaho GOP?

Wonder what Idaho Republicans think about this:  "Steele: GOP needs 'hip-hop' makeover." 

Newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele plans an "off the hook" public relations offensive to attract younger voters, especially blacks and Hispanics, by applying the party's principles to "urban-suburban hip-hop settings."

A hip hop GOP?  Somehow I can't imagine this going over so well with emcee Norm Semanko and these crazy kids.  It ought to be fun to watch though.

Bryan Fischer: We Don't Want To Be Stimulated

Now that President Obama has officially signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law and Idaho Governor Butch Otter has signed an executive order creating a "stimulus executive committee" (members to be appointed whose job it will be to make recommendations on what to do with Idaho's share), lately there's been little talk of anything but stimulus.

Today's broadcast of "Zeb at the Ranch" was no different, with Bryan Fischer of the Idaho Values Alliance joining Zeb Bell to talk about, what else, but the stimulus package, among other things.  Despite being "the third-most stressed state economically," Fischer's suggestion is that Idaho should refuse to be stimulated.

Bryan Fischer:  Well, one thing, I would like to see, uh, Idaho's lawmakers turn down this stimulus money.  You know the Legislature right now has even suspended a number of committee hearings to wait and see how much money the federal government is gonna promise them, but I will guarantee you that this money is gonna come with strings.

Zeb Bell:  Uh-hum.

Fischer:  And one of the things that Idaho citizens could do right now is simply be [sic] to contact their representatives and say, "Look don't take the stimulus money.  This money is gonna come with strings from D.C.  We don't want bureaucrats in D. C. telling us how to run our schools," and that sort of thing and urge them to just politely, uh, decline.

You know, I know the education money for instance comes with strings attached that Idaho can take the money as long as they promise not to layoff any teachers or reduce any teacher salaries.  And the education committees were just right on the cusp of some fairly dramatic and long overdue educational reforms and all that got put on hold when this offer of this kind of free money from D.C.—I mean, it's not free, obviously; our kids and grand-kids are gonna have to pay for it.  But when this offer of this money, uh, came, it kind of short-circuited all that process of budgetary reform.  And so that's one place to begin.

The arguments surrounding education budget cuts are varied but Fischer may be one of the few, if not the only one, at the Capitol Annex publicly cheering these budget cuts as "long overdue."  Even the House Education Committee chairman Rep. Bob Nonini (R-Coeur d’Alene), (making news today for appearing to strong-arm new Lieutenant Governor Brad Little over State Board of Education appointments), when introducing controversial legislation affecting teacher contracts and pay, recognized that the proposal isn't ideal or pleasant. 

"This is not fun stuff … but we’re in a crisis," Nonini told the committee. "The other thing we are accomplishing in this legislation is not to have teachers lose their jobs."

And when later relaying to the committee Idaho's estimated share of the education stimulus money, Nonini called it "good news."  [Find info on the estimated state by state funding distribution from the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee and a discussion of what the numbers mean here and here.]

That Fischer would prefer to see Idaho teachers taking pay cuts or, apparently, out of work rather than accept federal stimulus money under the pretext that "bureaucrats in D.C." would be telling us how to run our schools is a ludicrous failure of both compassion and logic.

Not only would teacher pay cuts and layoffs add to the growing number of Idaho families who find themselves struggling to make ends meet (meanwhile telling Idaho kids who find themselves in overcrowded, crumbling classrooms to just suck it up); regardless whether or not Idaho actually takes a dime of stimulus money, you can bet that come April 15th, every single Idaho taxpayer will still be paying the same tax rates that every other taxpayer in every other state in the union will undoubtedly be paying.

Idahoans won't be getting the special "you-didn't-take-the-stimulus" rates.  And with statistics like these:

• food stamp participation up 24.2 percent,
• home foreclosure rate the 10th-highest in the country,
• December's unemployment rate up nearly 4 percent from December 2007,

Idahoans can little afford to pay for the stimulus other states will be enjoying while politely saying, "Thanks, but no thanks."

What does the IVA, an entity that doesn't pay any taxes, have against Idaho taxpayers anyway?  Idaho family values indeed.

Heroes and Phony Heroes

A hero:  Jack Bauer racing against time to thwart an attack using whatever means necessary, or the slightly flawed Rooster Cogburn prevailing against the odds in a shootout with Ned Pepper and ultimately racing to save the girl, right?  And for an encore, tantalizing viewers with the next daring episode, and the next.  Except those are only make-believe heroes, overcoming fabricated dangers, thrilling the imaginations of viewers for a profit—characters not reality.

Gary Eller writing at In The Middle for the Twin Falls Times News relates the tales of two real American heroes who, for their encores, went on to spend decades inspiring and teaching millions of children:  Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers.  If you don't know their stories, or even if you do, the retelling should be mandatory reading.

As Gary explains:

Here is a pair of men larger than real life.  Here are two real men who actors like John Wayne only pretended to be in his movies.  Here are two Americans who walked their walk long before they talked their talk.  Here are two patriotic Americans who could truly motivate and inspire others to do good in their lifetime by teaching the principles of sharing and caring about others; by teaching empathy and sympathy with the ever varying human condition; by teaching and preaching love and devotion for everyone, and not just with those who look like them, talk like them, and vote as they vote.

Contrast the approach used by these real American heroes with that portrayed in this audio from Zeb Bell in a 2006 broadcast of "Zeb at the Ranch."

Clip runs about 5:44

"America's real heroes don't flaunt what they did; they quietly go about their day-to-day lives, doing what they do best," Gary quotes the writer relating these stories, and then goes on to say, "Could you ever imagine a James Adkisson being inspired to kill another human being from having listened to a Captain Kangaroo or a Mister Rogers? Neither can I. . . ."

The challenge Gary levels, is discerning real patriotism from phony patriotism and also implied:  discerning real heroes from phony heroes.  You decide.  Here's a clue, though:  usually it's not the guy blustering about removing peoples' fingers.

Update:  Check out the links in the comments for more details on these American heroes and the urban legends surrounding them.

Update 1714:  Just an editorial note that the original post quoted and linked here has been removed; for an explanation, go here.

Cowboy Justice

Yesterday, in calling for "cowboy justice" and a return to vigilantism for property owners on the Mexican border, as documented by The Political Game in "At Gunpoint," Zeb Bell said this:

This man is having to put up all the money to protect himself in a so-called civil rights case where these people, they haven't got the civil rights we have as American citizens! I don't give a rip who calls, who gets mad, who wants to go nose-to-nose or face-to-face with me, this is common idiocy. This is retarded and it is absolutely unAmerican that we're not protecting this man.

Maybe it's no surprise that Bell believes that only American citizens are entitled to civil rights.  After all, instead of certain rights being unalienable, endowed by their Creator and belonging to all, he believes that rights were given only to a few "by our white forefathers and preserved by white blood."

Granted, while an unauthorized immigrant may not have the same constitutional status as a citizen (and no one is condoning potential illegal activity), that doesn't diminish an individual's rights as a human being.  With adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights having recently marked its 60th anniversary, you'd think in 2009 we'd be way beyond frontier justice, especially as it's romanticized in television and film.

Then again, Zeb Bell doesn't easily distinguish reality from make-believe.

"So it's a misnomer all the television shows, Ward Bond and Robert Horton and all these guys that were talking about Conestoga wagons on the Oregon Trail?"  Bell asked his guest yesterday, referring to the 1950s TV series, "Wagon Train."  To the guest's affirmative reply, Zeb continued, "Well, see now that just blows . . . the whole image of the movies and Hollywood and history books of the Conestoga move West."

Yes, Zebber, and John Wayne was just an actor.

Hard to argue logic with a guy who gets his history and notion of justice from moving-picture shows.

Furnishings Anyone?

Best quote of the day from the Twin Falls Times-News editorial board regarding confirmation of gubernatorial nominees:

Senators are not potted plants. We send them to Boise to exercise due diligence over the people brought in to run state government.  It seems to us that asking personal questions is an unavoidable part of the process.

And, oh yeah, the rest of the editorial is worth a read as well.

Interesting that, even though a few have long been pushing for increasing standards, in a year when this GOP dominated Legislature finds themselves with "not much stuff to give away," some focus has finally turned to ethics reform and governmental scrutiny.

More time on their hands?  An interest in proving their indispensability?  Or just figuring out that they are more than Capitol Annex furnishings?  Whatever the reason, it's a welcome change and long overdue.

More from the AP via the Idaho Statesman.

On a Sunday

Listening

Sarah Jaffe , "Even Born Again"

Reading

Starspangled cowboy
sauntering out of the almost-
silly West, on your face
a porcelain grin,
tugging a papier-mâché cactus
on wheels behind you with a string,

you are innocent as a bathtub
full of bullets.

Margaret Atwood, from "Backdrop Addresses Cowboy"

Is This Conservative Thought?

As if right on cue this morning, in between a segment with state Senator Denton Darrington (R-Declo) and a discussion of manty-hose, "Zeb at the Ranch" listeners were treated to this:

Clip runs about 0:36

Here's a partial transcript:

Unidentified Caller:  And I am concerned that the freedoms that were given to us by our white forefathers and preserved by white blood will be taken away by people of color in the name of fairness.

Zeb Bell:  A-and, you know, and no matter what you say, and no matter what I say, we're going to be called automatically racists by a very uneducated, what they call elite, part of our society.  They think they're the elitist of our society and they'll hang the racism and the bigotry on anybody that doesn't go along with 'em.  And I'll tell you what, sir, I think you are right.  Thank you very much for your call.

Tell me how this is any different from the hate spewed by the Aryan Nations in North Idaho that embarrassed this state for decades until finally marginalized and essentially eradicated.  Why are we turning our heads and labeling this just some conservative blowhard's version of "free speech" because Zeb Bell and his callers aren't wearing shaved heads and swastikas?

This is no different.

This is not free speech.  This is hate speech and Idahoans should be embarrassed that it is being spewed in our state.  In 2009 for heaven's sake!

Talk Radio and Dousing Hate Speech

Some have suggested that, since in Idaho, conservatives are the audience of talk radio, the public airwaves should just be left to conservative talkers.  After all, they say, there are other avenues and outlets expressing alternative opinions.

Never mind that the public airwaves are just that:  publicly owned, the issue with talkers like Zeb Bell is not that they are expressing conservative opinions.  The issue is that the hate speech they are broadcasting daily over those airwaves is infecting communities with an acceptance and tolerance of bigotry and acts of hatred.

Having a venue in which to express alternative viewpoints and opinions is a vital part of the political debate, but when the flame throwing rises to the level of bigotry and hate speech, simply expressing a different opinion and having a venue in which to do so isn't good enough.

If the house is on fire, the solution is not to start a fire in a different neighborhood.  The solution is to put the fire out.

Tara makes the case in a must-read post at The Political Game today.

A Thing Of Beauty. . . .

With apologies to Keats, Rod Beck & Co. are still at it and still an Idaho Democrat's bff.

From the AP via the Idaho Statesman:

The Idaho Republican Party Central Committee on Saturday voted to press on with plans to close its primary.  Rod Beck, an advocate of the closed primary, told The Associated Press that the Central Committee voted overwhelmingly to reject a recommendation passed at the June GOP state convention in Sandpoint that favored maintaining the 37-year-old open primary.

Never-ending joy, indeed.