Red State Rebels

Want a choice on the radio? Speak up.

If you are sick of Rush Limbaugh, Zeb Bell and their ilk and you want to hear at least one progressive voice on commercial radio in southern Idaho, you'll want to read this. But be sure to let stations and advertisers know how you feel - starting in the comments on the Statesman piece.

Wayne Hoffman's six cents

Wayne Hoffman, former spokesman for the lamentable Bill Sali, has found a few new ways to occupy his time. He's now director of a supposedly nonpartisan free-market think tank and a columnist for the Idaho Statesman. Here's a snip of a guest commentary I did earlier today at NewWest.net regarding Hoffman's new gigs. (I would've sent this straight to the Statesman except another op-ed of mine has been bottled up there for several weeks.)

Few would disagree with the main point of Hoffman’s first column, published Sunday: We ought to have more transparent government spending. Democrats have been calling for that for years, and President Obama is moving ahead to be sure it happens, both for government in general and his proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan in particular.

I’m sure that all Democrats, Republicans and Independents agree with Hoffman’s premise. But Hoffman’s opening paragraph is worth a second thought since it belies the key difference between the two major parties. He wrote:

“I’m one Idaho taxpayer who is delighted that state government is undergoing major surgery. Every time the state adds 6 percent onto the price of the things I buy, I imagine ways I’d spend that money if I were not giving it to the government.”

Every time he spends money, he thinks about that? Clearly, Wayne Hoffman is obsessed with taxes more than your average Idahoan.

Like most people, I just pay the six cents. But every once in a while, when I’m prompted by someone like Hoffman to think about taxes, I don’t think about how I’d spend my tax pennies if I had them all to myself. Instead, I think about how – as Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously said - “Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.”

Read it all over at NewWest.net - and let's plan on keeping a very sharp eye on the, ahem, nonpartisan writer who not six months ago accused the Idaho media of being "shrill news lemmings all marching willingly to a sea of liberalism, filth and innuendo.” - JF

Sali, Risch are guesting on KBOI

Bill Sali is the guest host until 7 tonight on 670 AM KBOI, in case anyone wants to call and give him what for. Jim Risch will hold down the chair from 4 to 7 on Friday. I've been listening to Sali for a bit and he's getting nothing but big fat softball questions, er, comments - the last one from a little kid who said "God bless you and Merry Christmas." Awwwww.

Media Justice gathering set Saturday

If you're interested in the Idaho media landscape - especially how it could better reflect the views of a wide range of people - there's still time to drop in on the Fund for Idaho's Media Justice Summit, set for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, December 6, at the Idaho Education Association Building, 620 N. 6th St., Boise. There will be panel discussions,networking and brainstorming on the local media with a special emphasis on community-based media. Suggested donation is $20 per person.

If you attend the summit, please come back here to share some of your thoughts on the insights and ideas raised.  

Letters ... we send letters

Letters-to-the-editor are the single best way to get our Democratic candidates maximum newspaper coverage, and this is the weekend to sit down and write one. For example, The Idaho Statesman allows only one letter in 30 days from each reader, and the pre-election letters deadline will probably fall in late October. So by writing and sending a letter this weekend, you'll be able to write another one toward the end of next month. You can find letter-writing tips and links to many Idaho newspapers here.

Several people have stepped up in the past week to lead a Democratic grassroots letter-writing effort. If you or someone you know is interested in talking points, sample letters, or pairing up with someone to help you write and submit a letter, please contact Chuck at ed_tech4u at yahoo dot com or Mary at gneissgirl at icehouse dot net. Or just write your letter and send it - today. You may not have money to donate or time to volunteer, but this is one easy thing everyone can do to boost Democrats' chances to win this fall. (Follow me into the comments for some tips from a longtime letter writer ... and check out this great example from today's Times-News in Twin Falls.)

Weekend edition: spreading truth over manure

Nothing I can add to this, other than be sure that it's seen by your friends, family, and colleagues who are considering a vote for McCain.

I've also added a new blogroll at right: Sites for Skeptics. It includes Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films, which made this video and many other good ones; FactCheck.org and PolitiFact/Truth-o-Meter, which offer nonpartisan assessments of campaign ads and claims; News Hounds (motto: "We watch Fox News so you don't have to"); Media Matters for America, a progressive group keeping tabs on media coverage; and The Ed Schultz Show, the best common-sense, mainstream Democratic talk radio show out there. (Schultz airs from 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays on AM 630 in Boise and noon to 3 Pacific on KPTQ AM 1230 out of Spokane. Or listen online at any of dozens of stations listed on his website.)

Instant Obama ad calls out McRich

Some Democrats have been worrying that Barack Obama is going way too easy on John McCain. This latest ad, deployed within hours of McCain's mega-gaffe of actually not knowing how many houses he owns, shows that Obama and Co. are ready to pounce when McCain makes an ass of himself, which he definitely did today. Bravo!

Weekend edition 8/15-17 and open thread

Above: Kristin Armstrong, Boise's first-ever Olympic gold medalist, waves as she leads a parade of several hundred bicyclists to a rally in her honor Saturday morning. For more and better photos, click here.

It's fair time! The Western Idaho Fair starts today (Friday, August 15) and runs through Sunday, August 24. Don't forget to wear your Democratic gear while you're having fun at the fair, and stop by the Ada County Democrats' booth to learn about volunteer opportunities, too. The fall campaign season will be in full swing soon, and there are plenty of ways to be involved.

Boise will honor its Olympic gold medal winner Kristin Armstrong with a bike caravan through downtown Boise starting at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by a ceremony on City Hall Plaza. Everyone is invited. Anyone who wants to join Armstrong and Boise Mayor Dave Bieter in the bike procession is asked to be at the downtown YMCA by 10 a.m. Sounds like a great day to leave your car at home and bike, walk, or ride the bus to downtown Boise for all the fun!

Saturday also marks the start of the 2008 Western States Police and Fire Games, right here in the Treasure Valley. Sunday will mark the dedication of the new Idaho Fallen Firefighter Memorial on Shoreline Drive at the Greenbelt in Boise. Get more info on those events here.

Good luck to Heath Druzin, the Idaho Statesman political reporter who is leaving his job for a year-long hitch with the military-oriented newspaper Stars & Stripes, where he'll be covering American service personnel in such hot spots as Iraq and Afghanistan. Time will tell whether the Mujahideen are really as scary as Mike Moyle, but we wish Heath safe passage in his journeys. 

What's on your agenda this weekend?

P.S. Word is that "Good Morning America" is planning a segment on Idaho's U.S. Senate race. It may air as soon as Sunday morning on GMA's "Weekend America" show, or it may get bumped into next week.

Wayne Hoffman, unhinged

I recently read a book called The Big Sort, all about how America is being hurt by the way many of us are  increasingly choosing to live, play, and worship with like-minded people. Yet there's less of this happening in Idaho than elsewhere. Even in blue Boise, there are healthy numbers of Republicans, and Democrats are proudly emerging in some of the most unlikely places in our state. We may disagree with one another's political views, but we are basically a civil people.

But not everyone fits that description. Wayne Hoffman, a former newspaper reporter, has lately launched way, way off the deep end into partisan hate in his role as spokesman for Rep. Bill Sali (and, curiously enough, for Sali's congressional campaign) - an office which has lately come under withering scrutiny. Hoffman and Sali have become national laughing stocks for their inept, classless, and perhaps illegal operation, yet when a conservative Idaho newspaper dares to criticize any of these well-documented problems, he accuses its editors of sliding into "a sea of liberalism, filth and innuendo." Whew. In Hoffman's world, anything but absolute fealty to reactionary Republican principles will not be tolerated, even when the editorialists in question made pains to note that their criticisms weren't politically motivated but lodged out of a desire that Sali must take action to retain the public trust.

As much as I dislike Bill Sali's politics and policies, I have to believe that even he realizes this level of rhetoric from a government employee is way beyond acceptable. If Sali still has any hope of having his 1st District constituents believe he represents them all, he should fire Hoffman immediately - from both of his jobs - and hire replacements who will keep the work of his taxpayer-funded congressional office and his partisan re-election campaign truly separate.

'Swing Vote' is worth seeing

It won't win any Oscars, and it has its share of flaws. But for political junkies - and anyone who still believes a single vote can make a difference - the new film Swing Vote is a worthy diversion for a 90+ August day. I liked this fairy tale because it showed how, deep down, each of us cares about our country; how candidates from both parties can be honorable and decent; and how the media can sometimes let the truth win over the facts.

The film is nonpartisan, poking fun at both Democrats and Republicans in equal measure. Kevin Costner -  playing the lead character, Bud - gives a speech at the end in which he talks about the importance of being bold in our vote and looking for a true leader. Fans of both Barack Obama and John McCain could read that to mean their guy this fall. (Costner himself says that, in real life, he hasn't yet decided who'll get his vote November 4.)

The film's only real message, though, is that citizenship is important. If you're reading this blog, you understand that. But if you have friends or family who think voting isn't worth their time, take them along to see this movie.