[Vision2020] Idaho GOP at its Finest: Obama Hunting Tags?!

[Saundra Lund]

KUDOS to those in the GOP who are belatedly condemning Rambo Rammell.  I
remain dismayed, however, that those in attendance at the GOP fundraiser
didn't have the sense God gave a billy goat to slap the fool down right then
& there since that has become an unfortunate MO with the GOP.

 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iOmeH2w9CG7tbMZBMOVvbmG3Xw
KAD9AC4KC00

 

GOP blasts Idaho candidate's 'Obama tags' comment 

By JOHN MILLER 
Associated Press Writer

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- The list of Idaho Republicans condemning a GOP
gubernatorial candidate's comments about buying a license to hunt President
Barack Obama grew Friday, as party leaders worried the incident would
reflect badly on the state.

U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo said former elk rancher Rex Rammell's comment at a Twin
Falls GOP merits an apology, U.S. Sen. Jim Risch disavowed him from the
Republican Party, and Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter called Rammell's comment
"reckless and inflammatory."

Rammell is among those running in the 2010 Idaho GOP primary against
incumbent Otter.

On Tuesday, a GOP rally attendee shouted a question about "Obama tags"
during discussion of Idaho's upcoming wolf hunt, where hunters must purchase
$11.50 wolf tags.

Rammell responded, "The Obama tags? We'd buy some of those."

In a statement Friday, Crapo said, "Rex Rammell's comments are in very poor
taste and should not have been said. Remarks like these should not even be
made jokingly. He should apologize for those remarks and for the perception
they may have created."

Otter said Friday afternoon that there was no place for Rammell's comments
in Idaho, which he said damages confidence in the political process and
those who serve the public.

"As governor, as an Idaho Republican and as a citizen of our state, I reject
and condemn this kind of rhetoric," he said.

Rammell, a longshot GOP candidate who as an independent garnered just 5.4
percent of the vote in his unsuccessful 2008 U.S. Senate run against Risch,
has refused to apologize and said he doesn't advocate assassinating Obama.

"Anyone who understands the law knows I was just joking, because Idaho has
no jurisdiction to issue hunting tags in Washington D.C.," he said.

Rammell isn't the first Rexburg resident who has drawn attention for making
an anti-Obama comment.

Last November, second- and third-grade students on a school bus there
chanted "Assassinate Obama" after his election, prompting the mayor of this
eastern Idaho town to publicly apologize.

U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson also criticized Rammell's comments, which he said
weren't a true reflection of Idaho residents' hearts.

"It is absolutely irresponsible to say such inflammatory things, especially
for someone who seeks to be a leader in Idaho," Simpson said. "I know our
great state is filled with people who do not share Rex Rammell's views and
we should not let isolated situations dictate how our state is perceived."

Risch has tangled with Rammell before, in 2006.

That summer, more than 100 elk from Rammell's ranch near Rexburg escaped
into the wilds, prompting Risch, then Idaho's governor, to order an
emergency hunt to prevent the spread of disease or interbreeding with wild
elk herds near Yellowstone National Park.

Rammell's political run two years later against Risch for U.S. Senate - a
race Rammell contested as an independent - was seen largely as an attempt to
settle a personal grudge.

On Friday, Risch disowned Rammell as a GOP colleague.

"Everyone needs to remember the last time Rex Rammell ran for public office,
he said, 'I'm not really a Republican.' He then filed as an independent,"
Risch said in a telephone interview from Lewiston, Idaho. "I agree with him.
He's not a Republican. We all have our disagreements with the president,
sometimes deep disagreements. But the man is the president of the United
States and deserves to be treated as such."

 

 

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Saundra Lund
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 9:30 PM
To: 'Moscow Vision 2020'
Subject: [Vision2020] Idaho GOP at its Finest: Obama Hunting Tags?!

 

What is wrong with the GOP In Idaho - see emphasis below.  Not only is
Rammell a moron, but what on earth is wrong with the rest of them that he's
not been rightly and soundly rebuked?!?!

 

 

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2009/08/27/news/local_state/169498.txt

 

Rammell howls at Otter for not buying wolf tag

By Jared S. Hopkins
Times-News writer

 

This time, the howling isn't coming from the wolves.

Rex Rammell, a long-shot gubernatorial candidate seeking the Republican
nomination, criticized Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter on Wednesday for not making
good on a promise to buy the first wolf tag. Tags for hunting the gray wolf
went on sale Monday.

Rammell said Otter, who was elected in 2006, is "a lot of talk" who hasn't
accomplished anything as governor. And he pointed out that no wolf tag was
claimed by Otter, who declared he'd proudly buy the first one and, when
asked in March for response to the delisting proposal, gave a howl.

On Monday, Otter attended in Lewiston and spoke at the funeral of Bruce
Sweeney, a 10-term state legislator who served while Otter was lieutenant
governor. When told this, Rammell said, "That's a lame excuse."

He said "there's nothing wrong with going to a funeral" but promises as both
a governor and a candidate should be followed through on. He questioned
whether environmental groups pressured Otter to back off.

"He could've had someone go get it for him," he said. "Hell, he's the
governor. He could've ordered the Fish and Game to give him the first tag."

Otter spokesman Jon Hanian said Otter tried to get a tag Monday evening a
computer problem at the location delayed sales.

"What I would tell you is he's going to act like every other citizen. He's
not going to ask for any special treatment or favors," said Hanian, noting
he was speaking strictly about Otter's schedule and not addressing campaign
inquires. "I guess Rex Rammell is entitled to his opinion but the governor
felt it was pretty important to go to his funeral."

Hanian referred further inquires to Otter campaign worker, Brenda Maynard.
She said Otter planned to pick up a tag Wednesday evening and would not have
a staff member run an errand like that.

"His priority was where it should be - attending the funeral," she said.
"The governor has never used the privileges of his office. He's an avid
sportsman and like everyone else will stand in line."

Rammell's remarks on Otter came in an interview Wednesday after the
Times-News asked about comments Rammell made Tuesday night at a local
Republican party event.

After an audience member shouted a question about "Obama tags" during a
discussion on wolves, Rammell responded, "The Obama tags? We'd buy some of
those."

Rammell, a veterinarian and former elk rancher from Idaho Falls, said his
comment was a joke and he would never seriously talk about President Obama
that way, although he doesn't support anything Obama's done as president.

"I was just being sarcastic. That was just a joke," Rammell said. "I would
never support him being assassinated.

"She kind of caught me off guard, to be honest with you."

 

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