[Vision2020] Fling away, Paul (Rep. Paul Shepherd, R-Riggins)

[Paul Rumelhart]

Regarding Rep. Shepherd's point about slave owners not being "terrible,
rotten, horrible people", I think it's amazing what a society can become
inured to.  In the future, everyone alive in this country at this time
might get painted by quite a few brushes that obviously show us all to be
horrible people.  We buy products made in sweat shops in asia because we
want the new shiny.  We have an entire industry devoted to the wholesale
slaughter of large mammals with little regard to their fate or their
comfort along the way, for example.  I'm sure there are lots of other
examples.  I wonder if some poor guy in the future is going to get flak for
suggesting that some (most?) of us are nice people who just happen to live
in a society that performs those injustices that we have become
desensitized to.  If you went back in time and met a representative sample
of people, you might be hard-pressed to separate out the slave-owners from
the others based solely on how nice they are to strangers.  Slavery was an
ugly and terrible thing, but people can get desensitized to almost
anything, given the right setting.  I think he makes a good point here.
It's not something we like to entertain as an idea, though, because it's
easier to see slave owners as necessarily being evil because you would
pretty much have to be in our society to do that.  It's also upsetting to
think about, because it makes you ask the question, "what have we become
desensitized to?", which isn't something that makes people sleep well at
night if they really put some thought to it.

With regard to his point about how this applies to how he sees gays, he's
just repeating the old adage of "hate the sin, love the sinner".  I don't
agree with his theology and what it says about gays, but I'm happy to hear
that he isn't the type to hate someone given the flimsiest of theological
excuses, just as I'm happy he's not the type to judge a whole society of
people based on one aspect of it that we find objectionable.

So, jeers to the Lewiston Tribune for jumping on the politically-correct
bandwagon.

Paul

On Fri, Mar 27, 2015 at 4:29 AM, Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com> wrote:

> Courtesy of today's (March 27, 2015) Lewiston Tribune.
>
> --------------------------------------
> Fling away, Paul
>
> *JEERS* ... to state Rep. Paul Shepherd, R-Riggins. For most, it's just
> another week in the state Capitol. For Shepherd, it's another chance to
> fling mindless vitriol at minorities.
>
> Shepherd thinks it would be swell if Congress impeaches any judge who
> recognizes same-sex couples' constitutional right to marry. His non-binding
> measure to that effect is a dog whistle on same-sex marriage.
>
> But Shepherd has injected slavery into the debate. Last week, he suggested
> slaveholders were good Christians with bad ideas.
>
> Confused?
>
> Wednesday, Shepherd clarified his remarks to Idaho Public Television's
> Melissa Davlin:
>
> "They (slave owners) weren't terrible, rotten horrible people," he said -
> just people who made terrible decisions. "And that's how I see gay people."
>
> Slave owners held human beings in bondage. If a slave missed a work quota,
> he could be whipped or beaten. If he disobeyed or committed some slight
> offense, he could be shackled.
>
> Slaves were burned, mutilated and branded.
>
> Some were killed. Others were raped. Families were destroyed.
>
> All of this was done in the name of profit. And these slaveholders refused
> to stop until a bloody Civil War freed their captives.
>
> What would you call someone who equates the monstrous institution of
> slavery with someone's sexual orientation or gender identity?
>
> "Terrible, rotten, horrible" would be a good start.
>
> *JEERS* ... to state Rep. Shannon McMillan, R-Silverton. The signature
> act of the 2015 legislative session is a commitment to boost teacher pay by
> $125 million during the next five years.
>
> By the time the teacher career ladder bill cleared the House Monday,
> virtually everyone was on board - Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter, the education
> community, most Republicans and Democrats.
>
> Everyone, that is, except McMillan and seven of her colleagues - including
> Reps. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, Joe Palmer, R-Meridian, and Mike
> Moyle, R-Star.
>
> So what was McMillan's reason?
>
> "I'm not going to explain my vote," she told the Tribune's William L.
> Spence and walked off.
>
> Since when does McMillan assert the divine right of kings? She is an
> elected representative. No more. No less.
>
> Her constituents have every right to know why she voted to keep Idaho's
> teacher salaries in the nation's basement.
>
> Unless, of course, McMillan won't explain her vote because she can't.
>
> Does she blindly follow Barbieri, Palmer and Moyle without making up her
> own mind?
>
> *JEERS* ... to U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho. School districts in
> north central Idaho just dodged a budget bullet, no thanks to him.
>
> Thursday, Labrador opposed a two year extension of Secure Rural Schools
> funding for timber communities that have been struggling through the loss
> of national forest timber sale receipts.
>
> Of Idaho's $28 million share, $7.6 million goes to Idaho County alone.
> Another $1.3 million is allocated to Clearwater County.
>
> When Congress passed an omnibus spending package late last year, it
> ignored SRS. All of which left schools in the lurch. For example, Mountain
> View School District depends on SRS for about 10 percent of its budget.
> With property taxpayers already footing a $2.6 million supplemental levy,
> the district would have been forced to shed teachers, staff and programs,
> including athletics.
>
> The SRS rescue was attached to a larger bill stabilizing Medicare
> reimbursement rates - a bipartisan package worked out by Speaker John
> Boehner and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. Only 37 House members opposed
> it. Among them were Labrador's allies in the ultra-right contingent
> including Michigan's Justin Amash, Texas' Louie Gohmert and North
> Carolina's Mark Meadows.
>
> It's another step along Labrador's path of redemption with an ideological
> base that felt abandoned by his vote for Boehner's re-election.
>
> But when Labrador's constituents in Grangeville, Riggins and Orofino need
> help, they'll have to rely on Washington's 5th District Congresswoman Cathy
> McMorris Rodgers and Idaho's 2nd District Congressman Mike Simpson - who
> voted for SRS - to look after their concerns.
>
> *JEERS* ... to Washington state Auditor Troy Kelley. The one official
> responsible for rooting out mismanagement and poor judgment throughout
> state government is hiding out amid reports that federal investigators
> raided his home in Tacoma, are rifling through his income tax records and
> served a subpoena on his state office.
>
> At the time of his election in 2012, the former legislator already faced
> allegations of improprieties in his business dealings. For instance, he was
> accused of sheltering $3.8 million in an offshore tax haven.
>
> But his denials - and the heavy-handed methods his Republican rival James
> Watkins employed in unearthing the charges - persuaded voters to give him a
> chance.
>
> Federal officials aren't talking, and neither is Kelley. After returning
> to work Monday, he has refused to disclose what documents he's turned over
> to the feds. He hasn't met with reporters. And Wednesday, Doug Cochran,
> Kelley's chief of staff, directed press aide Thomas Shapley to stop talking
> about the investigation.
>
> Nothing short of a felony conviction, impeachment or a successful recall
> campaign can drive Kelley from office. But what makes him think he has the
> right to test the public's patience this way?
>
> *JEERS* ... to Idaho House State Affairs Committee Chairman Tom
> Loertscher, R-Iona.
>
> Just about every week, there's another reminder why Lewiston Rep. John
> Rusche's call for a state inspector general's office makes sense. Just take
> your pick. Millions squandered on a botched Idaho Education Network.
> Millions more lost on a malfunctioning Schoolnet program.
>
> Then there is the U.S. Department of Justice investigations into both the
> IEN and mismanaged private prison contract.
>
> Or the latest corruption index that puts Idaho among the most tainted
> states in the country. About the only thing Idaho does right, according to
> the State Integrity Investigation, is to keep its politicians from
> gerrymandering legislative and congressional district boundaries.
>
> When it comes to holding the governor or Legislature accountable, Idaho
> gets a solid F.
>
> A month ago, Rusche proposed establishing an office to look into
> complaints of waste, fraud and abuse. A slim majority on Loertscher's panel
> agreed to consider it.
>
> But the chairman has locked Rusche's bill away in his desk
>
> drawer. What is Loertscher afraid of? - M.T.
>
> --------------------------------------
>
> Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .
>
> "Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
> http://www.MoscowCares.com <http://www.moscowcares.com/>
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
>
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