Red State Rebels

LaRocco-Rammell debate #2 tonight

U.S. Senate candidates Larry LaRocco, a Democrat, and independent Rex Rammell will hold their second live debate tonight (Wednesday, September 10). This one is in Sandpoint, and North Idahoans who want to catch it in person can do so from 5 to 6 p.m. Pacific Time in the Sandpoint Center Community Room, 414 Church St. The rest of us can catch it live on the 'net. We'll have the feed here at Red State Rebels at 6 p.m. Mountain/5 p.m. Pacific, or you can view it at the LaRocco for Senate website (where you can also submit a question in advance). Republican candidate Jim Risch has been invited to take part, but he did not respond.

RSR v2.0 is one year old today

Red State Rebels has been around as a blog for almost five years, but the multi-author version is one year old today. I'd like to thank the authors listed below who helped write 572 posts over the past 12 months; the people who posted 3,257 comments; and everyone who reads this blog, whether faithfully or occasionally. Together, we are bringing real debate and two-party government back to Idaho. Here's to the next year, and especially the next two months. ~ Julie Fanselow (a.k.a. The Blogmother)

Branden Durst, Brett Adler, Brian Cronin, Chris, Chryssa Rich,  Dean Ferguson, Debbie Holmes, Deborah Silver, Don Rosebrock, Elizabeth Wasson, Jessica Cavalieri, Jim Hansen, John Foster, Kurt Holzer, Lane Startin, Larry Grant, Larry LaRocco, Linda Langness, Ryan Hill, Sara E. Anderson, Serephin, Sheryl Dowlin, Steven Mercado, Tara Rowe, The Nickel-Plated JA, theresa reel, T.J. Thomson,  and William Thomas.

Weekend edition: organizers fight back!

Yo! Props to Jay Smooth from the hip-hop video blog Ill Doctrine for this chill clip. In fact, community organizers have been - well, organizing - since the Republican National Committee dumped on us Wednesday night with not one, not two, but three slams against Barack Obama's early career choice. Here are some of the best reactions, other than the one above:

Community Organizers Fight Back - the website

We Are All Community Organizers - one of several Facebook groups taking it to Palin

Obama's reaction yesterday

This excellent diary at dKos, in which the author asks whether the GOP's coordinated attacks were coded, racist propaganda.

So, are you thinking you might like to do some organizing of your own this weekend? Here are some ideas:

The LaRocco for Senate campaign is opening its seventh statewide office in Coeur d'Alene from 6 to 8 Pacific tonight. Stop by 408 Sherman Avenue if you're in CdA or nearby. Larry also did a short interview with HBO this afternoon.

A big canvass is planned Saturday morning for Ada County Commissioner candidates Dave Langhorst and Paul Woods. It starts at 9:30 a.m., with a meeting at 12451 W. Abram Dr., Boise, off Cloverdale Road. Contact T.J. Thomson you're interested in helping, contact District 20 chair T.J. Thomson at 559-6010 if you can help.

District 19 door-knocking happens every Sunday (4:15 p.m.), Monday (5:15 p.m.), and Wednesday (5:15 p.m.) Meet at Parilla Grill on 13th Street in Hyde Park.

Idaho for Obama will be registering voters at Art in the Park on Saturday. Click the link for info. Also, Women for Obama are phone banking every Tuesday at state HQ (9th and Jefferson, downtown Boise). Contact chryssa_marie at yahoo dot com if you'd like to help.

More money than time? Congratulations! You can help by donating via ActBlue to a host of Idaho Democratic candidates and causes, including the Idaho Democratic Party and the county parties in Ada, Bonneville, Canyon, Latah, and Twin Falls (all accessible on this page). You can give once or make a monthly pledge. Watch Red State Rebels for a one-stop shopping ActBlue page coming soon to a blog near you.

If you're a Democratic candidate and have upcoming activities or volunteer needs, put 'em in the comments ... and add RSR to your email list to have future events included in these weekend digests.

First Senate debate in CdA, online tonight

U.S. Senate candidates Larry LaRocco, a Democrat, and Rex Rammell, an independent, will meet in the first of 10 planned debates tonight (Monday, August 18). The live event is at 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time in the Riverstone Room at the Hampton Inn & Suites, 1500 Riverstone Drive in Coeur d'Alene, but people statewide can catch the event live on LaRocco's website starting at 7:30 p.m. Mountain/6:30 Pacific. Questions for the debaters are also being taken in advance of the event here.

This is an interesting gambit for LaRocco, whose poll numbers are rising, and for Rammell, who is one of the stronger third-party candidates Idaho has seen. There will be sharp differences between them on most issues, and both are likely to win more support from independents and undecided voters than will Jim Risch, who will dodge these debates (and the Idaho Public TV-Idaho Press Club-League of Women Voters event this fall). If LaRocco and Rammell can keep Risch's support well under 50 percent, LaRocco will have a chance to prevail in the election on November 4.

Update 5:50 p.m. We'll have the live stream and chat capability here at RSR as well.

Update Tuesday morning: The recorded video of the debate is available here.

Weekend edition 7/4-6 and open thread

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo

This may just be my favorite video ever. It reminds me that although I am a citizen of the United States - and proud of it, in spite of the past eight long years - I am also a citizen of the world, and that we're all far more alike than we are different, whether in Boise, Baghdad, Belfast, or Beijing. Or as our next president put it in a speech he gave in Independence, Missouri, earlier this week:

That is why, for me, patriotism is always more than just loyalty to a place on a map or a certain kind of people. Instead, it is also loyalty to America's ideals – ideals for which anyone can sacrifice, or defend, or give their last full measure of devotion. I believe it is this loyalty that allows a country teeming with different races and ethnicities, religions and customs, to come together as one.

Enjoy! In other news ...

At 22, Julian Langness of Bonners Ferry will be the youngest member of the Idaho delegation to the Democratic National Convention. He was featured in this week's state party newsletter, and his hometown paper had a profile of him here.

If you want to scope out the Obamas' July 4 visit to Montana, it looks like this Montana TV station will be streaming it live starting at 10 a.m. Mountain on Friday. And happy 10th birthday to Malia Obama, Barack and Michelle's eldest daughter, born on the Fourth of July.

Don't forget the 4th of July parades around the state. There's one in Idaho Falls starting at 9 a.m., in  Coeur d'Alene starting at 11, in Caldwell starting at 11:30 a.m., and in Boise starting at 6:30 p.m. Come out and walk with your Democratic candidates! (If you know of other holiday parades or events, list 'em in the comments, please.)

Yes, it's true - the seventh edition of my book Idaho Off the Beaten Path is out now, and Rediscovered Bookshop in the Overland Park Shopping Center in Boise will have a new shipment of 'em early next week. Get one and plan the rest of your summer adventures. I also have this new blog to keep the book updated between editions, and for you to suggest new places I ought to include.

Timber vote fallout

Bill Sali is in a heap o' trouble over his vote to deny continued timber program payments to rural communities hurt by logging cutbacks - money that helps fund schools, roads, police protection, and more across 700 rural counties in 39 states.

To be fair, almost all the House Republicans - including Mike Simpson - voted against the bill because they didn't like Democratic plans to pay for the extension by collecting back payments from big oil companies. But Sali is taking more heat than most because he represents a district that will be one of the hardest hit by the decision. As the Walt Minnick campaign noted yesterday, losing these funds could mean a $2.8 million budget shortfall for Idaho County, while Shoshone County stands to lose $4 million - a full third of its annual budget.

The Sali campaign blasted the bill as a sham that will boost gas prices. But writing at New West, Jill Kuraitis noted:

So far, the Sali for Congress campaign has accepted $21,000 from oil PACs and $371,366 from all PACs, which is 75% of his contributions. The Minnick for Congress campaign has accepted no oil PAC money, and $29,500 from all PACs, which is 4% of his contributions.

At Ridenbaugh Press, Randy Stapilus says that this bill was crafted by Dems to put Republicans on the spot, but that it nonetheless served to show where GOP legislators' loyalties lie - and it's not with rural communities:

You can ask the question, If top priority was getting a funding bill passed, why would (Oregon Rep. Peter) De Fazio and his allies run one that was so likely to draw Republican fire and therefore likely doom it? (Of course, finding the money hasn’t been an easy thing regardless - (Oregon Rep. Greg) Walden and other Republicans haven’t yet found a winning formula either.) But we suspect that will be superseded by another question: When the choice came to a decision between taxes paid by oil companies and desperately needy counties in the Northwest, why did those Northwest representatives vote on the side of the oil companies? That could be a deadly question.

Idaho must say no to Blackwater

Folks, I think it's going to be up to the blogosphere to be sure that Blackwater stays the hell out of Idaho. If you missed my earlier post, read it (and the comments) here.

One commenter wonders where Blackwater will try to locate. (In a current California case, Blackwater wants to take over a site permitted for a dental school to start doing anti-terrorism training mere blocks from the Mexican border.) From last week's Coeur d'Alene Press story, it appears that the site has not been chosen but that it would be built from scratch in partnership with the Idaho Peace Officers North Idaho College:

Judy Hodge, the dean of professional, technical, workforce education at NIC, said she hasn't been approached by Idaho POST about the project.

"This is the first that I've heard about it," she said. "I'd hope we would be included."

Black said because the project is in its infancy he hasn't met with college officials yet.

"Absolutely, we're committed to North Idaho College," Black said. "This is going to be nothing but a positive for NIC."

No, no, no .... it'd be a HORRIBLE thing for North Idaho College, which currently is considered a fine two-year school with one of the loveliest campuses in the country, right on Lake Coeur d'Alene. (I'm pretty sure there's no room on the actual campus for what Blackwater has in mind, thank God.) And no matter where it's built in the fast-growing Panhandle area, it'd be a bad idea.

It doesn't appear there's been a whole lot of trad media coverage of this so far, other than the CdA Press story. And that's part of why Blackwater could succeed here: our culture is very pro-military, pro-police, and pro-GOP. Pro-Blackwater propagandists are already beating the drum on why this would be so great for our state. That's why I was most heartened to see that the Kootenai Co sheriff seems to have big reservations about the idea. Then again, he seems to realize that Blackwater is neither the military nor the police but something else entirely, which is why the company has been able to operate in such a shadowy way.

Idaho must say no to Blackwater. Click here to see how grassroots Californians have fought Blackwater in their state.

Blackwater wants to train Idaho cops

Guess what, Idaho? Blackwater wants to train our cops. Yes, that Blackwater. Marc Stewart of the Coeur d'Alene Press wrote this week:

The North Carolina-based company is negotiating a contract with the Idaho Peace Officer Standards & Training Academy to provide space and instruction to law enforcement personnel. ... Sheriff Rocky Watson expressed concern that Blackwater, which has big military contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, partnering with Idaho POST will create the wrong impression with the public.

"The perception that our law enforcement officers will be trained by mercenaries is a problem," Watson said. "Our jobs are totally different. We're not paramilitary. The perception is important to our customers."

Blackwater officials strongly maintain that no military training will take place at the facility here. ... The company has faced media scrutiny about its role in Iraq. Blackwater is one of three big contractors providing security services to key U.S. personnel. DynCorp., and Triple Canopy also have employees deployed there.

Blackwater personnel are accused of gunning down 17 people, including women and children last September in Iraq. The FBI is investigating claims made by witnesses that Blackwater guards shot and killed without provocation.

Blackwater isn't winning any popularity contests in other locations where it has sought to open up shop. Calitics, a California blog, is packed with posts on how a Blackwater plan to do terrorism response training for the U.S. Navy just three blocks from the U.S.-Mexico border is meeting with strong resistance from local residents ... this just months after voters in nearby Potrero, CA, recalled all the pro-Blackwater planning board members in their small town when the contractor tried to establish a base there.

From the news account above, it appears that Kootenai County Sheriff Rocky Watson is appropriately concerned about Blackwater's image and the damage its presence could do to Idaho's reputation and that of our law enforcement officers. Don't back down, Sheriff Watson. The more people know about Blackwater, the blood on its hands, its ties to religious zealots, and its shaky finances, the more they will come to see that it has no business meddling in government affairs - on any level. Contact POST executive director Jeff Black and Gary Tolleson of Idaho POST's North Idaho office and tell them that you think outsourcing Idaho's police training to Blackwater is a bad idea.

A local option view from Northern Idaho

I've noticed that the local option issue isn't generating much press not bloggage outside Southwest Idaho, but Coeur d'Alene city councilman Mike Kennedy made this comment at Huckleberries Online:

I certainly support local control and local option authority, but this bill is a complete sham. This is going to centralize control in Boise more than ever, and ensure that local folks can't get a fair say in how we determine our futures locally I sure hope the Idaho Senate kills this wrong-headed election-year bill. This bill is about GOP primary politics in southern Idaho, not good government. If this idea is so good, why don't we put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that every single special interest sales tax exemption passed by this legislature should be put to a vote of the people and has to be passed by a 66 2/3 majority? There is no difference. I hope our North Idaho legislators don't get duped by this southern Idaho power-play bill.

Let's just be clear that "southern Idaho" doesn't mean Boise but the GOP power players from Star, Donnelly, and Oakley. But if some Boise bashing is what it takes to kill this sucker, I'm fine with that.

“…..he will win the open seat in Idaho.”

On March 2, 2008 Senator Jon Tester of Montana spoke at reception in Coeur d’Alene honoring former Congressman Larry LaRocco.  Tester gave a rousing endorsement speech about his experiences during his ’06 U.S. Senate race in Montana when he defeated incumbent Republican Senator Conrad Burns.  He spoke of the political climate there during his campaign and how closely it resembles what is occurring here in Idaho during which Tester proclaimed, “Larry will win the open seat in Idaho.”  Working Idahoans are upset with the status quo.  The current Administration has failed to address the real issues that matter to real people.  The same forces that sent Tester to DC to help working families in Montana are identical to those forming in the majestic Gem State.

Tester believes Larry has the experience, knowledge, and leadership skills necessary to become Idaho’s next U.S. Senator.  Tester looks forward to the day he can address Larry as a colleague so they can roll up their sleeves together and get to work on the hard issues that matter most to those on both sides of the Rocky Mountains.

Tester experienced the first wave of change in ’06 and Larry is carrying that momentum into ’08.  There is something happening here, change is in the air, and Larry can feel it.  The buzz is unbelievable.  Everyone at the Frank Church Banquet felt it.  Tester is living proof that red states can and will change blue this election cycle.  Idahoans want someone fighting for them who has the backbone to do the dirty work it will require to clean up the Republican establishment’s mess.  Tester is confident Larry is the right candidate to help him change the way business is done in DC.  (Pictured here, l-r, are Chris LaRocco, Jon Tester, and Larry LaRocco)