Why the waving of the flag doesn't impress me anymore...

It breaks my heart... I feel like I'm letting down people who I respect and admire deeply... but I can't stand the hypocrisy anymore...

"Support the troops" means "sacrifice more Americans"...
"God is on our side" means "I don't care if the government lied..."
"Look, I am wearing a flag pin!" means "I don't have to do anything else!"
"I'm a Republican" means "My head is up my tailpipe and I don't have to pay attention!"

Is anybody paying attention??? Idahoans don't seem to give a rat's ass about our Congressmen and how they FAIL to support our veterans...

Good grief, Senator Larry Craig (formerly Chair of Veterans Affairs) was given consistently FAILING grades by various veterans' associations for the past ten years... did anybody notice?? NO! As long as he was a Republican, Idaho trusted him... as offensive as his betrayal to our veterans should have been, people supported him... until he started playing footsie in a mens' restroom!

And now... their President who shall only be spoken of in reverent tones (or one shall be not "supporting our troops" or is "unAmerican") has committed yet another betrayal to the men and women who are risking their lives for his war...

During the State of the Union, to thunderous applause, Bush fed out more BS to America by stating that:

"Our military families serve our nation,
they inspire our nation,
and tonight our nation honors them."

That would be wonderful... IF HE ACTUALLY MEANT IT!!

He said that in reference to his proposal to allow our military men and women the ability to transfer their unused educational benefits to their family members.

Does anybody care that he neglected to include it in the budget he sent to Congress? How about a press conference where he can explain this to America, okay?? (He can add it to his explanation of all of the lies, where is bin Laden, and how does he define "Mission Accomplished" today.)

May I suggest that you contact your representives and ask them "WTF?"

No, don't do that...
Just ask them if how they plan on addressing this issue... if at all.
If you are an Idahoan, you know you're just going through the motions... but do it anyway!! Save their response letter for their next campaign!

Sali apology front page in local paper

The Times-News published an article regarding Bill Sali's apology on the front page... I think that is a good thing...

We use what we can find... DUH!!!

Bill Sali has apologized for his remarks, as published in the Idaho Statesman. I'm sure that other Idaho bloggers will be able to provide much better insight, evalation, and commentary on it than I can, so I will leave that up to them (and include links to them here, of course!)...

However, I do want to address one quote by Sali's representative, who stated that Sali's comments took on a life of their own with people "trying to twist it and spin it into something that is horrible. What we have now is bloggers quoting bloggers who are quoting other bloggers.''

Well, yeah, DUH. They are the ones who were discussing it. If it was left up to MSM, then there would be very little awareness of Sali's actions.

If the MSM would like to start covering Sali's voting record and how it represents Idaho, then go for it. If not, maybe the bloggers will have to take on THAT responsibility as well.

MSM needs to lead, follow or just get out of the way... the public still needs to be informed.

UPDATE 8/17/07 11:05AM
Other links:
Sali Apologizes
Bill Sali's Half-Apology

"No more colorful congressmen please!"

Times-News Editorial www.magicvalley.com
Friday, August 17, 2007

No more colorful Idaho congressmen, please

Once upon a time, there was an Idaho politician named Glen Taylor who got himself elected to the United States Senate.

In July 1947, Taylor was asked by a United Press reporter what he thought about reports that remnants of a UFO had been found by the Air Force near Roswell, N.M.

Taylor replied that he almost hoped flying saucers would turn out to be spaceships from another planet. "They could end our petty arguments on earth."

The Democratic senator went on to say that no matter what the UFOs turned out to be, they "can't be laughed off."

"Even if it is only a psychological phenomenon, it is a sign of what the world is coming to," Taylor explained. "If we don't ease the tensions, the whole world will be full of psychological cases and eventually turn into a global nuthouse."

Idaho has a long and colorful history of sending embarrassing people to Washington, D.C. The latest, of course, is Idaho's irrepressible 1st District congressman, Bill Sali, who who offended when a Hindu prayer was offered on the floor of the U.S. Senate last month.

"The question is, is multiculturalism good or not?" he said in a subsequent interview with the Idaho Press-Tribune of Nampa. "I don't think the Founding Fathers were multicultural ... Christian principles work, and they show up in a lot of different areas ... 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?"

This is the same Bill Sali who in January introduced the Obesity Reduction and Health Promotion Act that sought to repeal the law of gravity.

Angered by the passage of a bill to increase the federal minimum wage, Sali says he was trying to make a point that measures to dictate wages and reduce gravity both defy "natural laws."

Getting rid of the force that attracts objects to one another would lower obesity rates, the freshman Republican explained.

For that kind of special insight, we're paying him $165,000 a year.

Before Sali, of course, Republican Helen Chenoweth-Hage represented the 1st Congressional District in Washington for six years. She complained about federal government "black helicopters" shadowing Idahoans, and once said, "Don't let anything like trees in the Clearwater National Forest get in the way of providing jobs and fueling the economy, even if that means cutting down every last tree in the state."

And before Chenoweth-Hage there was Republican George Hansen, who represented the 2nd Congressional District for seven terms. Hansen took it upon himself to go to Tehran 1979 in the middle of the Iran hostage crisis to try to negotiate with militants through the fence of the U.S. Embassy, and once called the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1968 assassination "the chickens coming home to roost."

Idaho voters get such interesting representation in Washington because we tend to elect conservatives - and sometimes ideologues. But being an ideologue is one thing; rendering yourself completely ineffective at getting things done for your state is quite another.

Sali, a first-term member of the minority party in the House of Representatives from a small Western state, arguably has become the least-effective congressman in Washington, D.C., today. And he talked himself into it.

That's too bad: We Idahoans have real issues that can't be solved by Capitol Hill sideshows.

Update on Sali chatter...

Nationally:
Think Progress:
Rep. Bill Sali: Religious Diversity In Congress ‘Was Not Envisioned By The Founding Fathers’ (587 comments!)
Rep. Sali refuses to back down over bigoted comments. (210 comments!)

Idaho:
Commentary continuing at Red State Rebels: The fearful gospel of Bill Sali
Bryan Fischer Implies Jews Don't Worship Same God As Christians
Having an Effect

If there are any others, please link in comments...

Sali defends himself

Religious freedom, Christian faith important to future
By U.S. Rep. Bill Sali
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007

I want to thank the Idaho Press-Tribune editorial board for its kind words in Sunday’s editorial. I am reminded of the fact that the Press-Tribune was skeptical (to say the least) about me last year, and to have it refer to me as a “thoughtful, effective statesman” now is quite a turnaround. Thank you for that expression of confidence.

But the Press-Tribune editorial board has reservations about me advocating that Christian principles form the foundation of our great republic, and they made those reservations known Sunday. So let me be clear: I support the freedom of every person to worship according to the dictates of his or her conscience.

The U.S. Constitution requires there “shall be no religious test” for holding public office. Last January I took my oath to uphold the Constitution, and that oath is sacred to me. I meant it then, and I mean it now. Christians and non-Christians are equally worthy to hold elected office. That’s entirely up to voters.

Yet the debate over my comments boils down to this: Should the future of our country rest upon the Judeo-Christian convictions of our Founding Fathers or the religious diversity advocated by the Left? I choose the Founding Fathers.

Our nation was founded on principles that the founders took largely from Scripture. Those principles provide the basis for our form of government and are the source of the rights we enjoy as Americans.

The Founding Fathers did not envision the U.S. as a theocracy. But they did envision our nation as one founded on principles derived from the Bible. As an aged John Adams wrote in a letter to his old friend Thomas Jefferson, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were ... the general principles of Christianity.”

The Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self evident; that all men are created equal and they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” Those rights come from our creator — God — and are unalienable: They are essential to every human being. The Founding Fathers then set about — with great success — to make it government’s job to protect and respect those individual rights.

Our Judeo-Christian heritage is now being eroded by people who believe all claims about truth should be treated as equal. At first blush this philosophy violates the motto from our great seal, E Pluribus Unum, which translates “out of many, one.” That motto drives us to pledge we are “one nation under God.”

If some on the Left have their way, our motto would seem to be E Pluribus Pluribus, or “out of many, many.” The only way to maintain “cultural diversity” and “ethnic difference” is to diminish and ultimately disregard the Judeo-Christian heritage that has long been the safeguard of our personal and national liberty.

For example, to protect the language of every ethnic group, multiculturalists would find it hard to support English as the official language of the U.S. The Judeo-Christian heritage would protect the right of every man to know and speak as many languages as he desires, but the banner of E Pluribus Unum could restrict our official language to one, the product of our country’s origin and for 400 years the common language of the American people: English.

The Judeo-Christian principles on which our republic was founded can be embraced, defended and practiced by people of any faith. Anyone doing so will find an ally in me. But when principles outside of the Judeo-Christian tradition begin to be promoted within Congress, we should all recognize that the government given to us by the Founding Fathers will be at risk. That should give every American serious pause.

Journalism is a joke anymore...

Are there any REAL journalists out there?

I'm not the only one who feels frustrated that there is little to no coverage of the real issues...

I'm sick to death of the Paris/Anna Nicole/Brittany sagas (like that is NEWS??) and the glossing over real issues (like what may have caused the Utah mine to collapse?).

There is no coverage of veteran associations' evaluations of Craig/Simpson/Crapo so Idahoans keep re-electing them (thinking they are supporting the troops by electing these Republicans... HA!).

It's not just a local issue... there have been questions about credible media coverage for years... from Colin Powell's son being appointed as the head of FCC ... Jeff Gannon's fake reporting ... Fox News altering Wikipedia ... Fox News and their misleading headlines ...

So what is going on?

One retired news reporter told me that:

“The media are in their usual hurry to put this GOP embarrassment to rest. This is the result of decades of abuse heaped on the media every time they print or broadcast a story that is not 100% complimentary to Republican candidates and office holders.

From the late 1970s, it was a predictable pattern. Find out something negative about a Republican, go with the story and you could expect a flurry of letters and phone calls accusing you of deep bias and outright incompetence. They often went to your bosses threatening that they could get you fired. You worried about it because you knew your station manager or executive editor belonged to the same golf club or the Arid club or whatever elite organization as the GOP leadership.

After awhile, reporters had to spend so much time justifying their work, they’d just back away from anything negative about the Rs. And, don’t forget: television news is in it for the ratings. If TV reporters believe the Rs are the huge majority, who do you think they’ll play to?

Democrats haven’t figured out how to push back. I’m not suggesting they push for suppression of the truth. But they’re certainly going to lose the perception wars if they don’t push for even-handed coverage. The message has to go to Idaho media that nobody is fooled by their acrobatics to please the Republican extremists.

Sali’s bigoted comments will go deep underground and stay forgotten come Election Day. In the meantime, several newspapers will do puff pieces, or as we used to put it crudely, ‘blow jobs’ on Sali describing a kinder, gentler and more palatable to the mainstream kind of guy. On Election Day, the very people who should be horrified by his comments will blithely cast their votes for him completely unaware of his deep seated bigotry.

And Idaho’s reputation as a backwater full of George-Wallace-style-knuckle-draggers will be intact.”

Are we willing to allow this to go on??

Underestimating his small brain and big mouth...

Last November, I posted the following...

{Thom George illustration}

"If you voted for Larry Grant for Congress, don't worry that Bill Sali was elected instead. He can't do any damage. Residents of Idaho's 1st Congressional District might as well have sent a potted plant to Washington."

-- Tom Henderson/Lewiston Tribune editorial writer.

Mr. Henderson is basically right... poor stupid Billy-Boy is such a flaming idiot, he's not accomplishing anything in DC (see ID-01: Bill Sali, even worse than we expected).

The only thing he is seems to be able to do successfully is make Idaho look as stupid as he is... because Idaho voters elected him into office...

Are we going to sit back and let America believe we approve of his message...? I truly hope not...

"Interview with God"

{Originally posted in 2001 from Theonion.com but worth re-posting as idiots like Bill Sali and Trish and Hallie and all of these other so-called "Christian" extremists still have their heads inserted in their posteriors... }

NEW YORK—Responding to recent events on Earth, God, the omniscient creator-deity worshipped by billions of followers of various faiths for more than 6,000 years, angrily clarified His longtime stance against humans killing each other Monday.

"Look, I don't know, maybe I haven't made myself completely clear, so for the record, here it is again," said the Lord, His divine face betraying visible emotion during a press conference near the site of the fallen Twin Towers.

"Somehow, people keep coming up with the idea that I want them to kill their neighbor. Well, I don't. And to be honest, I'm really getting sick and tired of it. Get it straight. Not only do I not want anybody to kill anyone, but I specifically commanded you not to, in really simple terms that anybody ought to be able to understand."

Worshipped by Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike, God said His name has been invoked countless times over the centuries as a reason to kill in what He called "an unending cycle of violence."

"I don't care how holy somebody claims to be," God said. "If a person tells you it's My will that they kill someone, they're wrong. Got it? I don't care what religion you are, or who you think your enemy is, here it is one more time: No killing, in My name or anyone else's, ever again."

The press conference came as a surprise to humankind, as God rarely intervenes in earthly affairs. As a matter of longstanding policy, He has traditionally left the task of interpreting His message and divine will to clerics, rabbis, priests, imams, and Biblical scholars. Theologians and laymen alike have been given the task of pondering His ineffable mysteries, deciding for themselves what to do as a matter of faith. His decision to manifest on the material plane was motivated by the deep sense of shock, outrage, and sorrow He felt over the Sept. 11 violence carried out in His name, and over its dire potential ramifications around the globe.

"I tried to put it in the simplest possible terms for you people, so you'd get it straight, because I thought it was pretty important," said God, called Yahweh and Allah respectively in the Judaic and Muslim traditions.

"I guess I figured I'd left no real room for confusion after putting it in a four-word sentence with one-syllable words, on the tablets I gave to Moses. How much more clear can I get?"

"But somehow, it all gets twisted around and, next thing you know, somebody's spouting off some nonsense about, 'God says I have to kill this guy, God wants me to kill that guy, it's God's will,'" God continued.

"It's not God's will, all right? News flash: 'God's will' equals 'Don't murder people.'"

Worse yet, many of the worst violators claim that their actions are justified by passages in the Bible, Torah, and Qur'an.

"To be honest, there's some contradictory stuff in there, okay?" God said. "So I can see how it could be pretty misleading. I admit it—My bad. I did My best to inspire them, but a lot of imperfect human agents have misinterpreted My message over the millennia. Frankly, much of the material that got in there is dogmatic, doctrinal bullshit. I turn My head for a second and, suddenly, all this stuff about homosexuality gets into Leviticus, and everybody thinks it's God's will to kill gays. It absolutely drives Me up the wall."

God praised the overwhelming majority of His Muslim followers as "wonderful, pious people," calling the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks rare exceptions.

"This whole medieval concept of the jihad, or holy war, had all but vanished from the Muslim world in, like, the 10th century, and with good reason," God said. "There's no such thing as a holy war, only unholy ones. The vast majority of Muslims in this world reject the murderous actions of these radical extremists, just like the vast majority of Christians in America are pissed off over those two bigots on The 700 Club."

Continued God, "Read the book: 'Allah is kind, Allah is beautiful, Allah is merciful.' It goes on and on that way, page after page. But, no, some assholes have to come along and revive this stupid holy-war crap just to further their own hateful agenda. So now, everybody thinks Muslims are all murderous barbarians. Thanks, Taliban: 1,000 years of pan-Islamic cultural progress down the drain."

God stressed that His remarks were not directed exclusively at Islamic extremists, but rather at anyone whose ideological zealotry overrides his or her ability to comprehend the core message of all world religions.

"I don't care what faith you are, everybody's been making this same mistake since the dawn of time," God said. "The Muslims massacre the Hindus, the Hindus massacre the Muslims. The Buddhists, everybody massacres the Buddhists. The Jews, don't even get me started on the hardline, right-wing, Meir Kahane-loving Israeli nationalists, man. And the Christians? You people believe in a Messiah who says, 'Turn the other cheek,' but you've been killing everybody you can get your hands on since the Crusades."

Growing increasingly wrathful, God continued: "Can't you people see? What are you, morons? There are a ton of different religious traditions out there, and different cultures worship Me in different ways. But the basic message is always the same: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Shintoism... every religious belief system under the sun, they all say you're supposed to love your neighbors, folks! It's not that hard a concept to grasp."

"Why would you think I'd want anything else? Humans don't need religion or God as an excuse to kill each other—you've been doing that without any help from Me since you were freaking apes!" God said. "The whole point of believing in God is to have a higher standard of behavior. How obvious can you get?"

"I'm talking to all of you, here!" continued God, His voice rising to a shout. "Do you hear Me? I don't want you to kill anybody. I'm against it, across the board. How many times do I have to say it? Don't kill each other anymore—ever! I'm f***ing serious!"

Upon completing His outburst, God fell silent, standing quietly at the podium for several moments. Then, witnesses reported, God's shoulders began to shake, and He wept.

White House gambled, and lost, war in Iraq

Letter to the Editor: Times-News

White House gambled, and lost, war in Iraq

Americans must stop enabling this administration's addiction to gambling with America's human and financial resources. We've lost 3,024 American lives while spending $360 billion (that's billion with a "B") on this poorly planned and horribly managed war.

At some point, America must recognize this war as the money pit (and a body pit) that it is and call it a day. We may not have accomplished all that some wished, but there is nothing wrong with acknowledging that the goal of "winning" in Iraq is no longer in America's best interest.

America can no longer continue this gamble. We've experienced a horrific losing streak, our accounts are empty, and we're borrowing from our grandchildren (including borrowing their parents - some which will never be paid back). To continue gambling like this, to throw more of our Americans and our dollars into Iraq, is a desperation play.

Whether with chips or human lives, our country is headed for ruin if we don't wake up and start recovery here at home.

DIANA ROWE PAULS
Gooding
[Published January 18, 2007]

Speak up to Idahoans and our reps:

• Review the escalation tally and see what your representatives had to say
• Write the President and Congress plus MORE
  Letters to the Editor links (South Central Idaho)
  Letters to the Editor general links
• Forward an email to President Bush urging him turn away from this unwise escalation
• Stop the Escalation by contacting your representatives in Congress
• call them again today. Dial (800) 614-2803 to reach the Congressional switchboard and report back on what you learn by e-mailing StopTheEscalation@americanprogressaction.org.
• Please send this message to your Representatives: End War Funding, Begin War Investigations

NOTE: Mike Simpson is "Leaning toward Support" and Mike Crapo has "Refused to Answer". Both Sali and Craig are listed as supporting Bush. Maybe if Idahoans turn out in force and contact them, perhaps Simpson and Crapo may be influenced in making the right decision... I don't have ANY hope for Sali and big doubts for Craig, but it still wouldn't hurt to contact them as well. SAVE THEIR RESPONSES!

Time For A Big Ol' Cup Of 'Shut The F*** Up'

Again, Peter @ "Life In Bush Country" shared a great article which echoes my sentiments perfectly! This phrase entered my thoughts every time Bill Sali kept warning Idahoans about Nancy Pelosi and SF liberals... "Hey, Sali, just..." -- well, you know the rest!

My favorites are...
...[H]ere now is a roll call of people who must officially shut the f*** up.

• Republican trolls who wrap up their anonymous and incomprehensible criticisms of progressives with the phrase, "and that's why your party never wins," need to shut the f*** up.
• The cowards who so easily disregard our liberties by shrugging off the president's illegal wiretapping; the cowards who shrug off the Military Commissions Act and the death of habeas corpus; and the cowards who shrug off torture with the phrases, "I'm not doing anything wrong, so I have nothing to worry about," or, "You can't [blank] if you're dead," ought to shut the f*** up.
• Anyone who still believes that global warming is a myth? Shut the f*** up.
• I think it was Bill Maher who mentioned this but it stands repeating here: neocons who have made multiple rosy predictions about Iraq need to shut the f*** up and are forthwith banned from making any more predictions.
• Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and other homophobes who use the "San Francisco Liberal" label for Speaker-Elect Pelosi must... you know. We all understand that it's right-wing code language meaning "homo-values." If that's what you mean, just say it. That is, unless you're not man enough. [Ya hear that, Bill Sali??]
• If you still believe that Karl Rove is a genius, wizard, architect or anything short of overrated, you must shut the f*** up.

Read the full article for more!

Idaho Rep brags about being a "political sadist"...

His term hasn't even officially started yet, and Bill Sali is already providing moments to groan over...

Sali has few hopes that he can find much common ground with Democrats, but in an interview with the Idaho Statesman, he talked about how his "political sadism" could help him make a difference on Medicaid and other complex issues many lawmakers shy away from.
[Source: The Idaho Statesman, December 01, 2006]

Does Bill know the definition of sadism/sadist?

sa·dism (noun)

1. The deriving of sexual gratification or the tendency to derive sexual gratification from inflicting pain or emotional abuse on others.
2. The deriving of pleasure, or the tendency to derive pleasure, from cruelty.
3. Extreme cruelty.

Read the full interview here...
(Is it just me or is it a little weird how he refers to himself in third person during his interview?)

Buy Idaho Quick... before it's all sold off!

Thanks to our fellow Idahoans who supported Club For Growth's spokesman Sali, "Write the Check Out to" Simpson, "Put A Dollar In My Pants and I'll Dance For You" Otter, "Children are just little widgets" Luna, and "Let Me List Your Property" Jones, we can say "Goodbye" to the Idaho we've known and loved.

We are truly the best state money can buy...

Want to look good in a bikini? Get an abortion!

Bill Sali thinks women have abortions in order to look good in a bikini...??
Is it just me or is that really what women focus on when they are considering their options? I don't think that having an abortion is every young girl's dream!

Seriously, folks, if Sali is elected to Congress, Idahoans will be missing the days of white supremacists--because those were the days we could say "They don't represent ALL Idahoans!"

But if elected, Bill Sali WILL represent all Idahoans and, quite frankly, that should scare the daylights out of us...

I won't have the opportunity to vote for Larry Grant... so PLEASE, if you know people who DO live in the 1st Congressional District, TALK TO THEM! Let them know that they should not vote Republican just to support their party! They are IDAHOANS first!

Support Idaho... vote for Larry Grant!

What Republican's think of Bill Sali (R)

Bummer! Doesn't include U.S. Representative Mike Simpson's(R) threat to throw Sali out a third-floor window at the statehouse!

Being proud to be an Idahoan...

... is sometimes difficult.

Those of us who live within our borders know that Idaho is more than killing baby bunnies, more than Aryan nations, and more than Helen "salmon population is healthy because she can still buy it at the store" Chenoweth.

Unfortunately, those who live elsewhere don't have our experiences and base their judgments on a few visible Idahoans who represent our lovely state. That perception results in attitudes such as seen on The Colbert Report where Steve announces that if Idaho removes potatoes from our license plates, then all American children will be able to associate with Idaho will be "white supremacists". As much as we'd like to pretend differently, Idaho's image has some unacceptable stains on it.

In a previous blog entry (Know Thine Enemies), I encouraged Idahoans to become familiar with Bill Sali. I suggested that Idaho may garner national attention because of his attitudes and reputation. If Idaho Republicans elect Sali to represent us in DC, we need to be aware of the impact this will have on our state's reputation.

Well, it's started already... hop over to Swing State Project: ID-01: Wingnut of the Year and get a glimpse of what to expect if Sali is actually elected...

All Idahoans, regardless of party affiliation, have a responsibility to educate themselves about who represents them. We need to make responsible decisions at the polls and not just make knee-jerk choices due to our biases and personal preferences. We are first and foremost Idahoans, before we are Democrats or Republicans... we can't afford to forget that distinction.

We have an opportunity to elect someone who can represent Idaho in a manner in which we can be proud: Larry Grant. Take the time to learn about HIM as well. As you become familiar with the differences between the two candidates, you will realize which man will represent Idaho and respond to the real needs of our citizens, and which man will feed upon fears and hatred in order to achieve a personal agenda.

{Hats off to Bubblehead for being aware of the big picture. I'm not surprised because I have found him to be rational, intelligent, and open-minded... even if he is a Republican ! Seriously, it's Idahoans like him that will help our state the most as they consider the greater need of the state and the qualities of the individual over party affiliations and negative stereotypes...}

Know thine enemies...

I was chatting with a fellow Dem tonight and mentioned the hotly contested race among Republicans for the first Congressional seat. When I mentioned Bill Sali's name, my friend told me that she wasn't very familiar with him.

Well, she's not alone! Most liberals/Democrats here in Magic Valley aren't familiar with Sali. He's a State Representative from Kuna and you may remember an incident during this last legislative session that involved Wendy Jaquet (District #25 Representative). Sali won the Republican primary yesterday and will now be running against Larry Grant for Butch Otter's Congressional seat. That district covers about half of Boise and goes north from there. So those of you who live in Magic Valley, eastern Idaho, etc., will not have an opportunity to vote against him. HOWEVER, if you have contacts in the upper portion of the state--Republican OR Democrat... you may wish to share the following with them!

{In addition, if Idaho starts getting national attention regarding this guy -- which it's already starting -- when your out-of-state friends ask you about this guy, you will know who they are talking about!}

Stop by Red State Rebels and follow the link to DailyKos to find out more...

Here is what Larry LaRocco has to say:

Sali was supported by the ultra-right "Club for Growth." The Club for Growth is headed by former Congressman Pat Toomey who lost to Senator Specter in a GOP primary in '04. This group is committed to purging the GOP in Congress of moderate republican members of Congress. Most recently they tried unsuccessfully to unseat moderates Sherwood Boehlert of NY and Wayne Gilchrist of MD. Both had solid enviornmental records and were targeted for defeat. This purge is similar to what Helen Chenoweth and Vern Ravenscroft tried in Idaho in 1985 when they formed a PAC to dislodge moderates in the Idaho legislature.

The Club for Growth's tactics are very transparent. It "bundles" money from right wingers across the country and then assists in the the day-to-day, minute-to-minute campaign tactics on the ground in the district or state it has targeted. Sali is a puppet for the Club for Growth. He never had control of his campaign from the instant he filed. The Club for Growth operatives had total control of his campaign and were prepared to use any and all tactics to ensure a win. Those tactics include a broad array of negative campaign strategies: suppression voting, push polls, focus groups, tracking polls, opposition research. Some of these strategies are normal in a campaign but the Club for Growth is a ruthless group and is only committed to winning at all costs no matter what splits they create in the state where it operates. Such is the case in Idaho. This broken egg will not be put back together anytime soon.

Money was no object in the 1st CD race. I estimate the Club for Growth spent close to $700,000 to corral 19,000 votes and claim victory. It's like a Ponzi Scheme. Now they will go out to the vast stable of funders, claim victory and ask for more money.

Speaker Newcomb had it right when he called (on the record) Sali ".....a fricking idiot."

UPDATE: I strongly encourage you to read this sobering article... Thank you again, Julie, for directing me to it...