Last update 4.04.09 9:08 p.m.


Zeb Bell

"Sun's up!  Good morning, all liberal sheep should go hide in the barn!"
— tagline for "Zeb at the Ranch"


About Zeb

Ronald G. Zebell, also known as Zeb Bell, is an ultra-conservative talk radio host who leases time on a Rupert, Idaho AM radio station owned by Lee Family Broadcasting.  His show, "Zeb at the Ranch" currently airs four days a week on KBAR which he hosts from his home in Murtaugh, Idaho and which is broadcast throughout the Magic Valley and Mini-Cassia areas and online through a live stream.  Bell's show is a call-in/talk format where topics range from political to agricultural to promoting community events.  His frequent guests include:

  • Frosty Wooldridge — Denver, Colorado based David Duke-apologist and virulent anti-immigration activist;
  • Sharon Hardy-Mills — ultra-conservative former Albion city councilwoman and director of Burley's Golden Heritage Senior Center;
  • Bryan Fischer — executive director of Idaho Values Alliance, Idaho affiliate of American Family Association, a fundamentalist Christian lobby (SourceWatch);
  • Media Research Center and subsidiaries representatives — Alexandria, Virginia based conservative media watchdog group who "regularly provide intellectual ammunition to conservative activists, arming them with the weapons to fight the leftist press" claims founder, Brett Bozell (SourceWatch);
  • American Civil Rights Union representatives — Alexandria, Virginia based non-profit purporting to be an alternative to the ACLU.  Policy board members include Reagan Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, Reagan Attorney General Edwin Meese, Clinton era independent counsel Kenneth Starr and Bush Secretary of Labor nominee Linda Chavez (SourceWatch);
  • Alliance Defense Fund representatives — Scottsdale, Arizona based conservative legal defense non-profit founded by 35 Christian ministries "to aggressively defend religious liberty."  Vitriolically anti-abortion (any form), anti-gay, anti-sex education, pro-public prayer and public displays of religious symbols, their founders include James Dobson of Focus on the Family (SourceWatch).

Guests also include various local sponsor representatives, local and national public officials and others.  In June, 2008 Bell came under fire for racially motivated statements made on the show about future president Barack Obama.  That and the ongoing bigotry targeting numerous groups including Hispanics, gay people, blacks, Native Americans, women, Muslims and others is the catalyst for launching this page which will continue to be a work in progress as long as the show continues to be a festering refuge for hate speech.

Info

Contact Zeb
23736 East HWY 30
Murtaugh, ID 83344
208.432.5383
Email
Website		 "Zeb at the Ranch"
Mon-Thur, 8 to 11 a.m.
KBAR 1230 AM
120 South 300 West
Rupert, Idaho 83350
208.436.3050
 

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208.436.2244 or 866.927.4587

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History

  • 1994 — Write-in candidate for state Treasurer
  • 1999-2001 — Host, Back to the Farm (KBAR)
  • 2001-Present — Host, Zeb at the Ranch (KBAR)
  • 2007-Present — Sales Associate at Mountain West Realty

Zeb In the Blogs

2005

2008

2009

Zeb In Print & TV

2008

2009

Zeb On Air (from "Zeb at the Ranch")

June, 2008

  • The Democratic presidential nominee was referred to as "the black negroid Barack Hussein Obama" and his mother "was trailer trash [who] got mixed up with dirty black people."  Senator Obama was also called the "ultimate anchor baby" and accused of becoming a Marxist Muslim studying at a madrassa in Indonesia. — statements by Zeb Bell and Frosty Wooldridge in a segment broadcast on "Zeb at the Ranch" as related in an email to the Idahoans for Obama mailing list by Thomas Garcia, 6.09.08.

July

  • "You know, him and Craig both, as far as I'm concerned, and please give me the opportunity out there to have one or both of them call this program, so I can let them know in no uncertain terms that their verbiage that was used in the letters back to people, especially Larry Craig's letter to some very dear friends of mine, saying ah, basically we as Americans sixty years ago why were sinners and we were wrong and all this. Baloney! We did at that time what that administration thought was the best for this country. How dare we in retrospect look back at that administration during World War II and condemn them now. That is totally un-American and almost traitorous as far as I'm concerned!" — Zeb Bell regarding Senators Crapo and Craig endorsing the national monument at the Minidoka internment camp, 7.07.08.
  • "There are those that are listening this morning and are monitoring the station that are going to go 'oh, he's just full of hate', no I'm telling the truth on this. If you were to organize an association of white truck drivers, you automatically would be branded as a segregationist, and a racist, and it's okay to have a black truck drivers union, its okay to have a black governor's conference, it's okay to have a black caucus, it's okay to have a black television network, but I dare you and anybody else to hang a Caucasian or white label on anything and they're going to label you as being segregationist and racist." — Zeb Bell, 7.10.08.
  • Zeb:  Had John McCain said something like that on a microphone that he thought was off, I guarantee you you would never hear the end of the comments against John McCain.
    Caller:  Well, it's me or you. It would be considered racist and…
    Zeb:  Oh! Yeah, I've been in the middle of that thing with the Democrats and I agree with you, I agree with you.
    Caller:  Is it not true that the only people, according to political pertinence, the only people who seem to be the racist are the white people?
    Zeb:  (Chuckles)
    — Zeb Bell and unidentified caller following news of Jesse Jackson saying that Senator Barack Obama talks down to blacks, 7.10.08.
  • "I know we're going to be in trouble if [Obama] gets in. He's the most leftist liberal that has ever run for president and yes, I'm scared. Of course you can't criticize him because then naturally you're a racist or whatever else, which you know those people like to throw names out at people. When it comes to politics, and that's truly what I base my opinion on, I am scared to death of him, his administration, and what the Democrats under their current platform are going to do to this country." — Zeb Bell, 7.21.08.
  • "The New York Times is absolutely in the tank for Barack Obama and, like the other members of the media, it's totally disgusting!" — Zeb Bell, 7.22.08.
  • "Maliki needs a good slap in the face, honestly, for what he did and what he said and how he said it.  It's just too bad that somebody couldn't just reach up and slap him right in the face and get his attention." — Zeb Bell on news that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki agreed with Senator Barack Obama on withdrawing troops from Iraq, 7.22.08.
  • "I am sick and tired of the liberal left hating this country." — Zeb Bell, 7.22.08.
  • "All the people who want to preach tolerance are the least tolerant of anybody." — unidentified caller, 7.22.08.
  • "I will not, nor do I want to be, tolerant. ... I'm not going to be tolerant to their opinion to the point where I stop worshiping my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I'm not going to be tolerant to their opinion where I'm going to accept lesser morals and morality.  I am not going to be tolerant.  I don't want to be tolerant and to those like even some members of the Twin Falls Chamber of Commerce that say I'm hate-filled, well in their case, maybe I am." — Zeb Bell, 7.22.08.
  • "I was just heartsick for this family that had lost their loved ones due to the fact that an illegal alien criminal was here in this country and due to the fact that San Francisco is a sanctuary city thanks to Democratic governor, or mayor Gavin Newsome. It is basically not only a sanctuary city, it is a protectionist city for people to do wrong to society." — Zeb Bell, 7.23.08.
  • "Obama doesn't know anything about anything. That's the problem to start with. This guy without cue cards is like a comedian without cue cards." — caller "Adrian," 7.23.08.
  • Zeb: I am petrified of the trainwreck if Obama gets in there with the Pelosis, the Kennedys, and the Reids, etc. I mean the giving away of America, we haven't even seen the tip of the iceberg yet."
    Adrian: No, that's just it, we see really Socialism, you know totally on the forefront...[Obama's] the savior for socialism and totalitarianism.
    — Zeb Bell and caller "Adrian" in a discussion of NAFTA and CAFTA, 7.23.08.
  • "You know what I would like to see in the Democratic platform?  A trap door, with a noose at the top." — "Keith" to chuckles from Zeb, 7.29.08.
  • "Now wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. I'm going to say something here this morning and for those who are offended by this, you know I use the word 'Negro' and 'Negroid' on my program. Now Carl, what are the three race classifications of the world? Look it up, what are they? … Mongoloid, Caucasian, and Negroid. There is no such thing as a black race. Let's get that straight right now. It's Negroid. … What I'm saying is, that when we use that terminology, all of the sudden some of the dimwits will come out and say oh you're trying to be a racist. Well, we're not. It's a common fact that is used in every university every day of the year and that is why I am pointing that out to you."— Zeb Bell to caller "Carl" before launching into a conversation about profiling, 7.30.08.
  • "If, you know, when you see a guy from the Middle East making lots of trips to, uh, back to, uh Saudi Arabia or something, you kind of want to watch that guy. He could be the best guy in the whole world, and I agree, but he could also be the biggest terrorist in the whole world." — caller "Carl," 7.30.08.
  • "I'll stand firm on my beliefs that we have never on this program said anything that is racially unacceptable and we never will, but however I am not going to weaken my stand on various points, that wouldn't be right either. No backbone, no guts, no Zeb." — Zeb Bell, 7.30.08.
  • "One of the quotes was 'it is the site of a federal relocation center where nearly 10,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans were [mockingly] unjustly locked up during World War II.' Ehhhh….watch your verbiage, you're not exactly correct on that." — Zeb Bell discussing an editorial in the Times-News regarding CAFOs near the Minidoka Internment Camp historical monument, 7.30.08.

August

  • "That's why they call it San Fran-sicko." — "Keith" to guest-host Sharon Hardy-Mills discussing voters in San Fransisco and supposing why they elected Speaker Nancy Pelosi to represent them in the U.S. Congress, 8.04.08.
  • "Speaking of [Colin] Powell and [Condoleezza] Rice in conjunction with what's his face running for president, why haven't Rice and Powell weighed in on their views?  You've got that harelip Jackson in there, the reverend.  It's frustrating that people we wanna hear from we don't hear from." — unidentified caller discussing the reactions of black leaders, including Rev. Jesse Jackson, to the presidential candidacy of Senator Barack Obama, 8.04.08.
  • "My opinion is, the reason these kids are not [getting enough physical activity] is because they're hiding them out while they're at work; they don't want 'em to be seen, so they aren't found, so they aren't ex... (long pause) exported (giggles hysterically)." — Sharon Hardy-Mills on a study showing that children of immigrants aren't getting adequate physical activity due to their parents placing more emphasis on education, 8.06.08.
  • "They have these kids running around schools with these stupid Mexican flags.  If it's so wonderful, why are they here?  And I personally think that it oughta be against the law to be waving any other flag in the school." — unidentified caller, 8.06.08.
  • "I firmly believe that they ought to round these guys up in a cattle truck, take any money they've got, pay for their ticket, confiscate the rest of their money and get 'em out of here!" — unidentified caller on his plan to control illegal immigration, 8.06.08.
  • "There is no way that America can maintain educational excellence or educational standards. When I was teaching I remember we had to pass all the minority students up whether they could do the work or didn't do the work and mostly they didn't do the work. It's called affirmative action grading. Once they graduated from high school, and I quote "graduated," of course they were essentially functionally illiterate. They realized that they could do noting and get something—a grade and a passing mark—and so they went on to, what we created was an affirmative action job." — Frosty Wooldridge discussing what illegal immigration has done and will do to the American public education system, 8.11.08.
  • "You notice that all the minorities are going to be voting for Barack Obama because he's a minority. He's going to be their hero; he's going to be their white knight if you will, or in this case black knight." — Frosty Wooldridge, with complete agreement from Zeb, 8.11.08.
  • Zeb: How much of this kind of thing, remuneration for the past, paying for history are we going to absorb in this country? Is it going to be the Chinese next? Will it be the blacks? Will it be more of the Indians? Who else? Good morning caller, you're on the air.
    Caller: I was watching the opening of the Olympics and I was pleased to see or surprised to see, whatever you want to call it, that when those athletes walked in they were multi-colored, multi-ethic, ethnic, yeah whatever, in almost every nation. They announced the people from Zimbabwe, there was whites in there. You know, Africans are not basically black. Your Egyptians or your Moroccans are Africans. So let's start studying our geography and looking and see what's actually a country. You know, it's not exclusive to those of Negroid, uh, uh..."
    Zeb: Exactly. I am so fed up with the hyphenated Americanism and I'm not going to do it. I will not refer to them as African-Americans because I don't believe in that terminology. They are no better to get a hyphenated American name than I am!
    — Zeb Bell & unidentified caller in response to news that U.S. District Judge James Robertson had awarded American Indian plaintiffs $455 million of the $47 billion they wanted in a federal trust case, 8.12.08.
  • "We've seen it happen with the national anthem.  Whether you see the vile and the filth of Rosie O'fat girl and others that have tried it and then Roseanne Barr and many others have done a disservice to the song. ... Leave it alone.  Sing it the way it was meant to be sung and leave it alone." — Zeb Bell, who opens every show with a rendition of "God Bless America" sung by Kate Smith, commenting on others, including Rosie O'Donnell, singing it and the national anthem, 8.12.08.
  • "I am afraid that with minority status going to the white Caucasians in this country there will be a 'good, now honky, go to the back of the bus.'" — Zeb Bell discussing government projections that whites will no longer make up a majority of Americans by 2042, 8.14.08.
  • Zeb:  The one point I want to make is that we're not picking on any one race, any one ethnicity, etc., because when you start talking about all these different minorities—and I hate that word—taking over above the whites, I think her point was, 'so what.' But yet she seemed to minimize this country and its culture and its heritage. That's where I was offended by her remark.
    Frosty:  Well, obviously Linda Chavez is a minority, she's a woman, she's a writer, and she doesn't grasp—and this is the problem—she doesn't either have the intellectual capacity, she doesn't have the environmental understanding or she just simply doesn't have the background to grasp what another 100 million to 138 million people added to the country [would do].
    — Zeb Bell and Frosty Wooldridge discussing an opinion written by conservative columnist Linda Chavez, "A Majority Minority Nation," 8.18.08
  • "I don't like her, I don't like him...I don't like their policies. I don't like their politics. I don't like their cohorts they've worked with, this deal with Rezko and Obama is going to come up and it's going to show that there's been more under the table business dealings. I don't like his past associates with terrorists. I don't like anything about this man and I do not want him to be President!" — Zeb Bell about the Obamas in reaction to Michelle Obama's speech at the DNC in Denver. 8.26.08.

September

  • "I get criticized every day, 'Zeb, you're not fair to the Democrats.  You're not fair to the left.'  I don't wanna be! ... What do they expect, a transformation from me?  You know, like that guy that writes the idiotic letters south of Twin Falls and calls me bigoted and everything.  Yeah, I don't like Obama!  Yeah, I don't like Biden!  Yeah, I don't like the left and their policies!" — Zeb Bell, 9.03.08.
  • "The most prejudiced people are blacks and if that weren't true Obama wouldn't even be running for president." — unidentified caller, 9.03.08.
  • "A few people from the deep south who had relatives who were [slaves] who clung to their masters after they were freed ... those descendants are the only ones who remember anything about that." — unidentified caller on use of the term "uppity," 9.08.08.
  • "Global warming is a myth.  It's fictitious.  It's a lie.  And they're leading us down the primrose path of absolutely preparing for a doomsday that's never going to occur because of man-made events." — Zeb Bell, 9.09.08.
  • "We're going to be putting together a series of programs in the not-to-distant future regarding evolution and the absolute asinine, retarded—I'm going to use that word; if they don't like it that's tough—attitude in believing in evolution." — Zeb Bell, 9.09.08.

October

  • "Just you and me have had to jump through these hoops.  What about the illegal aliens coming into this country and being given credit cards from the Bank of America, being given special treatment to buy a home or a piece of property.  Did they jump through these hoops, like you and I?  No.  And that's the crux of the problem.  Do you wanna assume that bad debt?  I don't." — Zeb Bell on congressional plans to provide over $700 billion to bailout the financial industry, 10.01.08.
  • "He is smooth as silk and he is as deceptive as the devil.  And he truly is, I think he is evil." — caller "Randy" on Senator Barack Obama, 10.15.08.
  • "I think four years of Obama would be the total desecration and destruction of our Constitution that never will come back." — Zeb Bell on a Senator Barack Obama presidency, 10.15.08.
  • "Barack Obama is, in so many instances, a man to fear. ... He's a hypocrite and he's a man to be feared." — Zeb Bell, 10.15.08.
  • "Well you know Hitler was a great orator, he just was louder." — caller "Randy" in discussing Senator Barack Obama, 10.15.08.
  • "I hope I can keep interjecting fear because I'm afraid of Barack Obama." — Zeb Bell, 10.20.08.
  • "To some degree I think it's a compliment to say 'rural radical' because basically that's what you are and that's what a lot of us out here are." — unidentified caller to Zeb Bell reacting to the Catherine McNicol Stock opinion "Intolerance thrives in Palin's Pacific Northwest", 10.21.08.
  • "They're gonna take away talk radio; they're gonna try to take away our guns. I'm telling you, you try to take away the guns from these Idaho people and they will use them on you." — unidentified caller on fears of a Democratically controlled White House and Congress, 10.23.08.
  • "This kind of excess to us is insanity when we're struggling. $150,000 to you would mean what? ... Think about it: People out here are struggling to make their mortgages!" — unidentified caller on the amount spent by the RNC on VP nominee, Sarah Palin's wardrobe, 10.23.08.

November

  • "I think that every one of the gays should go out find their own little island, create their own little government, do what they wanna do and leave us the heck alone." — unidentified caller who also admits that his statement is mild in comparison to what he'd like to say, 11.06.08.
  • "In some circles I am known as homophobic and you know, I take that badge and I wear it very, um, very proudly. ... I hate the lifestyle, um, and no, I don't wanna hurt 'em, I just don't wanna be around 'em.  And I believe that's my right to do that." — caller "Carl," 11.06.08. 
  • "Well, like Frosty [Wooldridge] said, if it wasn't for the white people voting for Obama he wouldn't have even gotten close.  Not even... He couldn't even have smelled the grass on the lawn at the White House.  And so, we, I believe that Americans have high expectations but we also have short memories.  We're spoiled; we expect things to be a certain way and when you start cutting into our lifestyle we become mad. ... White American men, well people—forgive me—are what built this country.  Now, we appreciate all the other people that come to our country.  But let's face, it if it wasn't for the pioneers who were—and they were all, let's face it, they were all from other countries, but they came to America and they become Americans.  That was what the difference is between then and now." — caller "Randy" makes observations on an Obama presidency to agreement from Zeb, 11.10.08. Download clip.MP3 (1221.3K)
  • "It seems like the negative, the cockroaches of our society, those that wanna see everything that is good and decent in our society—marriage, and the way we raise our kids, and the way we go to church on Sunday and the good beliefs—there's always some really dirty, vile organization, group or entities that are out there trying to overturn them. Why? Why aren't we just absolutely taking a hammer and going 'thump' and putting them in a dust pan and taking it out to the trash. Why? Why are we letting this happen!" — Zeb Bell in a rant on gay marriage and California's Proposition 8, 11.10.08.
  • "The Democrats and the liberals and the Obama administration are going to kill this country.  I've said that before and I'm going to say it again." — Zeb Bell, 11.12.08.
  • "Over the weekend I heard a guy say that we need to become intolerant of tolerance.  In other words, we tolerate eveything.  Think about it.  We accept everything!  Think of the things that we accept in our lives that we would have never accepted at one time." — caller "Randy," prompting an anti-gay rant from Zeb, 11.12.08.
  • "Then that's their problem. That's their problem. I'm not gonna weaken on this. Merry Christmas is what it is." — Zeb Bell when told that many military members and recipients of Project Rudolph holiday packages may be Jewish, 11.25.08.

December

  • "I'm just really concerned about conspiracy theories and what might happen; what might not happen. To be honest with you—and this is gonna sound weird coming from me—if I were Obama I'd be watching my back." — Zeb Bell on President-elect Obama's nomination of Senator Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State, 12.01.08.
  • "Some people may be offended when I say this phrase but it's the way I feel about atheism and the way that they're doing things. How retarded they are. I am sick and tired of having my faith, of having my beliefs denigrated by people that are so low-classed and evidently not very well informed. And I'm gonna fight back." — Zeb Bell on a lawsuit filed against the Kentucky Department of Homeland Security over a 2006 law requiring the designation of the office's first duty as "stressing the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth," 12.04.08.
  • "I am going to sound very biased, I am going to sound very discriminatory against this person when I give this little diatribe and I hope I do because I mean it. Caroline Kennedy has no business being a United States senator. Caroline Kennedy has no business selling ice cream cones. Caroline Kennedy is the most unqualified person, not very smart, not at all articulate and certainly not qualified on any of the issues that are approaching the United States or threatening the United States at this particular time...Look at the incompetency we have in government today. I mean we are possibly going to get stuck with a sick, disgusting comedian, if you want to call him that, with one of the filthiest most vile mouths in the industry, Al Franken... We've got the likes of Barney Frank, that ought to spoil your eggs after breakfast and Blagojevich and all these other people and then you want to throw somebody who is totally incompetent into the mix as a freshman senator from New York, Caroline Kennedy? Please! Give me a break! What is going on in this country?!" — Zeb Bell, 12.30.08.
  • "[Caroline's] the only way they can keep the Kennedy name in [Congress] and it's all about money and they want to protect their investments, their interests in what the government does as regarding how they do their business... That's the only reason they want her in there, as a mouthpiece. They'll groom her as soon as they get her in, in fact they already have... That's exactly what they want. They want to keep that Kennedy name in there to protect their monies. They don't want the government, they don't want the people in the world to find out how bad a people those Kennedys are, how bad the mafia is.  She's just going to be a mouthpiece, or a seat, so they an maintain their, and I call them the mafia because they are, maintain that mafia attitude, that mafia rule that they've got back there."— guest Sharon Hardy-Mills, 12.30.08.

January, 2009

  • "We need more white coaches joining the black coaches organization or are they prohibited from doing that? What's prohibiting these white coaches from joining that black organization? Because the blacks are prejudiced." — caller "Duane" proposing a "solution" to the Black Coaches & Administrators' mission to promote diversity in athletics, 1.06.09.
  • "Who's gonna take those jobs over? He's gonna pump all of these billions and billions of dollars into the infrastructure? Well, it's Mexican illegals who are running the jobs and they've colonized the jobs. Look what happened down there in New Orleans! I mean did black Americans start rebuilding New Orleans? No! It was illegal Mexicans, and Central and South Americans that built New Orleans and are still colonizing the jobs and once they take a job site on, if you don't speak Spanish or you're a different ethnic group, you're out on your ear. Black or white American, doesn't make any difference. So all you're gonna see is more Mexican illegals and other illegals take these jobs over and our black Americans are still gonna be unemployed. ... Barack Obama is gonna put more Mexicans and illegal aliens back to work and keep all of our people in the unemployment line." — guest Frosty Wooldridge on President-elect Obama's plan to stimulate the economy and put America back to work, 1.12.09.
  • "Some of the perpetrators, organizers of that attack—terrorists—are at Gitmo living the high life, out in the exercise yard right now, enjoying the sunshine and possibly a cool lemonade. Or, maybe playing basketball or playing something on the tennis courts." — Zeb Bell on his views of the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay who are suspected of carrying out the USS Cole attack, 1.13.09.
  • "How politics works.  Let's see they changed the name of the bailout to, what was it, [TARP]?  Okay, well that's the whole problem with Guantanamo Bay.  Change the name—A-Rab Dude Ranch or A-Rab Vacation Center and everything will be just fine." — unidentified caller on news reports that President-elect Obama has plans to close down the controversial military prison at Guantanamo Bay in one of his first moves after taking office, 1.13.09.
  • "Polar bears can swim in the ice and they eat seals and they can swim for miles and it doesn't even affect 'em and to see these things on TV where they got some guy on there whining about the polar bears and how they're gonna hafta swim. They're great swimmers. They're unbelievable swimmers. ... These people are lying to the American people. ... It's amazing how it's penetrated even locally." — caller "Randy" in a rant against the "myth" of global warming, 1.14.09.
  • "When are we gonna see statues and huge portraits on buildings like Hussein and other arrogant dictators?  When's this stuff gonna start happening?" — unidentified caller on the inauguration of President Obama, 1.20.09.
  • "Could be a bloody and costly and expensive campaign we'll have to wage to get there but if we stay the course, in the end we will prevail." — guest Bryan Fischer on what he calls the "skirmish" in which conservatives find themselves in the Obama administration era, 1.21.09.
  • "I have so much loss of faith in this U.S. of A government. There is nobody there listening about anything. They do what they want to do. ... This is the highest form, almost, of Gestapo-ism you've ever seen and it's gonna get worse." — unidentified caller complaining about the government and the Obama administration, 1.26.09.

February

  • 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. — Zeb Bell and an unidentified caller, 2.03.09.

Compiled by the editors of The MountainGoat Report and The Political Game.

MountainGoat
MountainGoat

Quotes For 2010

  • "The main thing is to keep everybody going down that road as we try to find the answers and solutions to all these problems. It'll be fun! We'll get it done." — Majority Leader Mike Moyle (R-Star) when asked in an Idaho Reports broadcast how the State House will handle making tough budget decisions this year, 1.29.10.

Quotes For 2009

  • "[Some politicians] wouldn't recognize the Constitution if it fell in their laps and called them Daddy." — Rep. Lenore Hardy Barrett (R-Challis) at a tea party tax protest.
  • "Just, you know, putting beans on the table." — former Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) when asked by Nate Shelman (670 KBOI) what he's doing these days.
  • "I said yesterday we hope and pray things will get better before they get worse. It's obvious to me some of you need to do a better job of praying." — Sen. Dean Cameron (R-Rupert), Joint Finance-Appropriation Committee co-chair on the grim economic forecast facing the committee.
  • “We’ve been called a lot of things but we’ve never been called sneaks before.” — Rep. Maxine Bell (R-Jerome) in a budget dispute with the governor's staff over legislators' computer funding.
  • "I’m not wearing rose-tinted glasses. But I am a glass-half-full kind of guy." — Gov. C. L. "Butch" Otter attempting to remain optimistic while delivering tough economic news in his State of the State/Budget message.

Quotes For 2008

  • "I am not ashamed that we use a lot of energy in this country. It has made us the most prosperous Nation on the face of the planet. ... Using energy makes us prosperous." — Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) during debate on an energy bill that, among other things, invested in alternative and renewable energy sources and repealed tax subsidies for large oil companies. (H.R.6899)
  • "If [Oversight Committee Chairman] Henry Waxman was interested in doing more than just showboat, we'd be there in a heartbeat. It's political grandstanding." — spokesman Wayne Hoffman explaining why Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) was absent from congressional oversight hearings into the financial crisis where, among other things, it was learned that AIG executives indulged in a lavish retreat a week after the bailout.
  • "You know what, campaigns are fast and furious, I accept responsibility that we don't have the right citation there, but the facts I stand by - we are correct about that." — Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) reacting to a campaign commercial fact-checking report.
  • "There are people out there without health care, and we need to address that, but it's not as big of a problem as some people would make it out to be" — Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) in a Lewiston, ID debate
  • "People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power." — President Bill Clinton in a speech at the 2008 DNC
  • "To my supporters, to my champions, to my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits, from the bottom of my heart, thank you." — Senator Hillary Clinton in a speech at the 2008 DNC
  • "The America that we know, that the founding fathers envisioned, will cease to exist." — Congressman Bill Sali (R-ID-01) speaking at the state GOP convention about the possibility of a Democratically controlled White House and Congress.
  • "Sometimes the problems have to get larger before you can solve them. We can still drive around the potholes, so they must not be big enough." — House Speaker Lawerence Denney (R-Midvale), explaining that lawmakers still need to be convinced about the extent of road maintenance problems before they'll agree to tax or fee increases.
  • "Those people that believe in shooting animals through the fences . . . ought to turn the rifle the other way." — Former Governor Cecil Andrus, at sportsmen's rally, decked out in full camouflage, urging opposition to "shooter bull" operations on domestic elk farms.
  • "GARVEE is like swallowing a raw egg - it seems to be one of those things that's really hard to stop in the middle of." — Rep. Marv Hagedorn (R-Meridian), in comments on a package of transportation bills introduced by House GOP leaders at an emergency committee meeting.
  • "I'm a professional dairyman. I have milked and milked everything I can possibly milk." — State Police Maj. Ralph Powell, arguing that the state crime lab's bare-bones operation has reached its limit and now costs the state money as testing is sent to private labs.
  • "Idaho is ranked last in the nation in protecting the safety of children in day care centers." — Sen. Kate Kelly (D-Boise), in support of an unsuccessful move by Senate Democrats to force a daycare standards bill out of committee.
  • "This [anti-discrimination bill] is something we will propose every year until it passes." — Rep. Nicole LeFavour (D-Boise), responding to the latest BSU Public Policy survey in which 63 percent of Idahoans think it ought to be illegal to fire someone for being gay or seeming to be gay.
  • "I assumed it would be a bunch of radical college students, so to fit the part, I grew a goatee, got a revolutionary T-shirt and put on some ratty jeans." — Rep. Curtis Bowers (R-Caldwell) in an Idaho Press-Tribune opinion explaining how he disguised himself to uncover alleged communist plots.

Quotes For 2007

  • "Divorce is just terrible. It's one of Satan's best tools to kill America." — Rep. Dick Harwood (R-St. Maries) describing the work of the Idaho Legislature's Family Task Force.
  • "I am not gay; I never have been gay." Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) in a statement responding to news of his arrest and subsequent guilty plea to disorderly conduct after an incident in an airport men's room.
  • “Most of the hospitals in this country have Christian names. If you think Hindu prayer is great, where are the Hindu hospitals in this country? Go down the list. Where are the atheist hospitals in this country? They’re not equal.” — Rep. Bill Sali (R-ID-01) to the Idaho Press-Tribune editorial board in response to criticism of his views regarding Hindu prayer in the Senate.
  • "We are all Nintendo warriors today. Remember that game, that electronic game, a few years ago, push buttons zim, zam, boom and it was all over with? That is not the way you fight war, although we as a society have grown to believe that." — Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) during debate on an amendment to a bill providing for defense authorization.
  • "While we are Democrats and Republicans, in our hearts we are all Idahoans." — Sen. Clint Stennett (D-Ketchum), reaching out to Republicans while outlining the Democratic agenda for the 2007 legislative session.
  • "One of the hardest things we've had to do here is taking off our party hats." — Rep. Marv Hagedorn (R-Meridian) on a proposal to restrict Idaho's primary elections.
  • "This is outrageous. The people of Idaho are entitled to have their representatives base their votes on the merits of a bill, not on who backed the loser in a speaker's contest." — Former GOP Gov. Phil Batt responding to accusations of political retribution taken by House Speaker Denney (R-Midvale) on other members.
  • “There was one of those six projects that was removed altogether. Why? Because the senator and the representatives from that district were from the wrong political party. We need to take a step back" — Sen. Dean Cameron (R-Rupert) to the Senate when debating the GARVEE bill.
  • "I'm prepared to bid for that first ticket to shoot a wolf myself." — Gov. Butch Otter, speaking to a hunters' rally at the Statehouse.
  • "To get a kick out of smoking industrial hemp, it would take a cigar the size of a telephone pole." — Rep. Tom Trail (R-Moscow), downplaying the relation between hemp and its cousin marijuana
  • "I guess I would just make a plea saying we need the money. You know we need the money on roads." — Rep. JoAn Wood (R-Rigby), on proposed bill to collect gas tax from sales on Indian reservations.
  • "No one wants to carry the canoe bill." — Rep. Eric Anderson (R-Priest River), agreeing with Gov. Otter that non-motorized boats should also pay registration fees, but noting any such proposal will be a tough sell.
  • "I don't think we should let the threat of a lawsuit force us to implement something that's not well thought out." — Abbie Mace, Fremont County Clerk, testifying against a "modified-closed primary" bill being pushed by GOP leaders.
  • "There's a lot of things that I pointed out in my State of the State (address) that haven't passed. Unfortunately, I can't think of one that has." — Gov. Butch Otter, addressing reporters on the legislative session so far.
  • "I say let's have a hearing and take our clothes off and go after it." — Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake, trying to get lawmakers to print his bill.
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