Last week marked the anniversary of when Idaho’s acting governor delivered the “oath of office” to a band of extremists.
That was Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin on April 19, 2019. She was in high spirits at a rally outside the Idaho Capitol where she emboldened her allies in a militia called Real Three Percenters of Idaho.
“Hallelujah,” Acting Governor McGeachin cheered, after the militia group swore to defend against “all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
Of course, this group’s leader claims they are all regular folks, not a militia at all. Yet, their actions don’t match their words. They boast about involvement in the 2014 armed standoff at Bunkerville, Nevada. They parade about Idaho in tactical gear while displaying weapons of war.
Whatever gentler labels Idaho extremists choose for themselves, that doesn’t change what they are. The point is that when Janice McGeachin got to be governor while Gov. Brad Little was out of state, she endorsed a militia’s judgment when it comes to deciding what domestic enemies need to be “defended” against.
A coincidence worth noting is that April 19 is also the anniversary of the day that anti-government extremist Timothy McVeigh murdered 168 souls, including 19 children, by bombing the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. McVeigh decided that his domestic enemy was the federal government and he acted accordingly.
The polarization of Americans and the absurd rise of “alternative facts” makes McGeachin’s embrace of extremists a dangerous precedent. It’s not just a figurative embrace either. McGeachin hugged the militia’s leader when he endorsed her run for governor, saying, “if I get in, you’re going to have a friend in the governor’s office.”
McGeachin is unfit for the office she holds and she is unfit for the office she seeks. But, she’s no lone wolf. One of her best friends, Rep. Priscilla Giddings, is running in the Republican primary against House Speaker Scott Bedke. Giddings has publicly disgraced herself enough that her own peers censured her for behaving despicably. Bedke is more tactful when offering aid and comfort to extremists. He let’s politicians like Giddings and McGeachin lead the charge. While he occasionally puts on a scowl for show, he does nothing else to slow their progress.
Republicans hold 83 percent of the seats in Speaker Bedke’s House! His House passes laws to embolden extremists and diminish individual liberty. And, by the way, at the moment that militia members were pointing weapons at public workers in Nevada, Bedke was supporting that effort at a photo op in Salt Lake City with other rightwing, anti-public-land extremists seeking to sell our public lands.
Right now, we really should be talking about public lands, investing in education, fixing our highways and bridges, and delivering tax relief for folks who actually need it, such as homeowners. But those conversations can’t happen if we don’t stop the extremist-invasion of our elected offices.
I know that I am the only person associated with the 2022 Lieutenant Governor’s race who will stand up to the extremists and stand for the people of Idaho.