<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div>Governor Otter's Third Inaugural Address (January 9, 2015):</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.localnews8.com/blob/view/-/30624116/data/1/-/8yy0f5z/-/PDF--Otter-s-inaugural-address--2015.pdf">http://www.localnews8.com/blob/view/-/30624116/data/1/-/8yy0f5z/-/PDF--Otter-s-inaugural-address--2015.pdf</a></div><div><br></div><div>---------------------------------------</div><div><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">"Mr. Chief Justice, Lieutenant Governor, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Pro Tem, fellow Constitutional Officers,
Members of our Congressional Delegation, honored legislators, judges, county and city officials,
friends, my family and our First Lady </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">...</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">fellow Idahoans.
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">Congratulations to our returning legislators whose work earned the continuing support of voters.
And my sincere thanks to our newly elected legislators entering the arena of public service at a very
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">challenging and exciting time in Idaho’s history.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">I also want to extend my compliments and best wishes to my fellow constitutional officers and the
many other individuals at every level of government </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">who worked hard to earn the people’s
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">confidence.<br>
I want to thank my family </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">– </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">and especially your First Lady, Miss Lori </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">– </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">for their patience,
understanding and unwavering support during a long campaign.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">And certainly, allow me to thank our State employees, whose hard work and dedication to public
service make up such an important part of our social fabric, and make this job so fulfilling.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">This is the third time I have been blessed to stand here on the steps of the People’s House to take
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">this oath as your Governor and to thank you for trusting me to lead State government in a way that
is consistent with the principles and values we share.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt;">I strongly believe that the people of Idaho understand and embrace the role not just of voters or
taxpayers but of individual citizens.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">In my experience, there is no such thing as a “silent majority” in Idaho. Rather, there is a very clear
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">realization that we are all in this together, and an equally clear commitment to going our own way,
in our own time, and within our own means.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">Idahoans remain deeply concerned with decisions that affect the liberties and opportunities
available for future generations.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">We take seriously our responsibility to ensure State government is focused on safeguarding those
freedoms while enabling citizens to live up to their own best potential.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">I am encouraged by the strength and resilience of our system, and I am energized by the
opportunity to lead a rebirth of public trust and confidence in this Republic</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">—</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">a form of
representative democracy that </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">– </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">despite its challenges and imperfections </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">– </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">still remains the envy of
the world.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">The past four years have provided us with equally great lessons about the importance of public
process, the power of individuals, and our responsibilities as citizens.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">When I last took the oath of office, Idaho was only beginning to see signs of the economic
resurgence we needed to effectively address our biggest challenges.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">Now Idaho is among the best managed, fastest-growing and most economically promising states in
America. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">That is due in no small part to the fact that here in Idaho, we don’t just talk about our principles and
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">values. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">... </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">We LIVE them. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">... </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri;">And the independence, self-reliance and civic virtue that have brought
us back economically also are the foundation of how we will address the challenges ahead.</span></p></div></div></div></div><div><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">
Here in Idaho, I believe we share a common determination to fully exercise our freedoms; to turn
first to family, friends and community when need be; and to only cautiously and judiciously ask the
collective authority of government to do for us what we alone cannot.
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">I also believe we share a deep and abiding love for this place we call home. We care more about
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">sustaining and improving Idaho for our children and grandchildren than anyone who’s not
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">connected by blood, soil and tears ever could.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">We want more than any national government or collection of outside experts possibly could for
Idaho to succeed, for Idaho to prosper, and for Idaho to be a place where hope is inspired, faith is
embraced, and charity is a way of life.
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">We are not a people easily swayed from our true course or commitment to our values by contrived
comparisons or glib cynicism. We know who we are. We are proud of who we are.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">We are not blown off course by the shifting winds of </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">change or someone else’s idea of what’s right
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">for Idaho.
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">That’s why I’m here today. It’s why I ran for Governor in 2006 after six years in Congress: I wanted
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">to come home to a place where good ideas in the morning can become good public policy in the
afternoon; where individuals have a voice and can make a difference; and where we are unafraid to
STAND up for what we believe.
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">Does that mean all Idahoans agree on every issue? Of course not. We are individuals first and
foremost, and our differences are what make us special and irreplaceable.<br>
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">It’s a matter of PROTECTING our values by PRACTICING them.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">Our shared determination to listen to other points of view and work through our differences
constructively is what makes us Idahoans. Where we draw the line </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">is having others’ views imposed
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">on us as mandates out of misguided political correctness or a lack of respect for our history,
traditions, and values.
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">For anyone who believes my commitment to liberty has been eroded by age or sullied by
expedience </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">... </span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">For anyone who doubts my commitment to resisting with all that I am those federal
policies that undermine the tenets of federalism or state sovereignty, watch closely over the next
four years.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">You will see that the fiery idealism of my youth has only been supplanted by a strong and tempered
confidence born of time and experience.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">But you also should know that we don’t insist on prudent, responsible management of taxpayer
dollars and limiting government’s role in our lives because we’re stingy, cruel or hard</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">-hearted.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">We do it because it is a tried-and-true way to ensure that the PEOPLE remain the masters and the
government their servant.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">We don’t revel in the fact that Idaho still has a citizen legislature and balances our budget every
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">year rather than a big, expanding and deficit-spending government like so many other states out of
some animus toward government itself.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">We do it because we trust the PEOPLE of Idaho to know best what’s right for Idaho.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">Our path forward to the Idaho we envision might be long and circuitous. But our direction is clear
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">because our purpose is true to our values and the way of life we cherish. We STAND for what’s right
</span><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">here in Idaho, and we are determined to be the architects of our own destiny.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12.000000pt; font-family: 'Calibri'">Thank you once again for the opportunity to serve. God bless Idaho, and God bless America."</span></p></div></div></div></div><div>---------------------------------------<br><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"There's room at the top they are telling you still.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you want to be like the folks on the hill."</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- John Lennon</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div></div><div><br>On Jan 10, 2015, at 7:29 AM, Tom Hansen <<a href="mailto:thansen@moscow.com">thansen@moscow.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"A lone, bearded protester at the back of the crowd held up a sign saying . . . </span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>'SAVE A WOLF, EDUCATE AN OTTER.'</b>"</span></div><div><br></div><div>Courtesy of today's (January 10, 2015) Spokesman-Review.</div><div><br></div><div>---------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div><h1 style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; clear: both; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; line-height: 1.2; font-size: 28px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(17, 17, 17);">Otter defiant in third inaugural message</h1><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">BOISE – Idaho Gov. Butch Otter struck a defiant tone in his third inaugural address today, declaring, “We stand for what’s right, here in Idaho.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Where we draw the line is having others’ views imposed on us as mandates out of misguided political correctness or a lack of respect for our history, traditions and values,” the governor said in one of several apparent references to his ongoing fight against same-sex marriage, which became legal in Idaho on Oct. 15. Otter is currently pressing an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Asked by reporters a day earlier if he wasn’t wasting taxpayers’ money to continue the court fight, Otter said he was committed to protecting the Idaho Constitution, which was amended by voters in 2006 to ban gay marriage. He compared it to press freedoms under the U.S. Constitution’s 1st Amendment, saying he wouldn’t give those up without a fight either.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Burdick administered the oath of office to Otter on the chilly state Capitol steps today, the governor added an extra two words, with emphasis, when asked if he’d support the Constitution of the state of Idaho: “I will support and defend the Constitution of the state of Idaho,” he declared.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A crowd of more than 200 gathered for the state’s official inaugural ceremony, at which Otter and the other six statewide elected officials were sworn in; the applause was muted from the gloved and bundled-up crowd. The 25th Army Band played, and Ashlyn Allen, Miss Pre-Teen Idaho, sang the national anthem and “God Bless the USA.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, in his introduction of Otter, praised his character and integrity. “I have beheld a statesman,” he said, “one motivated by principles, not politics, even when he’s facing criticism or ridicule or political threats.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Otter, going off script, said, “Thank you, Brent – I could have listened to that all day. I must tell you my feelings are a bit tender, but my spirits are high. Especially after that introduction.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He referred to “a long and arduous campaign.” Otter was re-elected in November with 53.5 percent of the vote, after he survived a primary challenge from then-Senate Majority Caucus Chairman Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian, with 51.4 percent of the vote.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Otter noted that when he last took the oath four years earlier, Idaho was struggling out of a deep recession. Now, he said, it’s “one of the best managed, fastest-growing and most economically promising states in America.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“That is due in no small part to the fact that here in Idaho, we don’t just talk about our principles and values, we live them,” he said.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We want more than any national government or collection of outside experts possibly could for Idaho to succeed, for Idaho to prosper, and for Idaho to be a place where hope is inspired, faith is embraced, and charity is a way of life,” Otter told the crowd. “We know who we are. We are proud of who we are. We are not blown off course by the shifting winds of change or someone else’s idea of what’s right for Idaho.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Otter, 72, said, “For anyone who believes my commitment to liberty has been eroded by age or sullied by expedience … watch closely over the next four years. You will see that the fiery idealism of my youth has only been supplanted by a strong and tempered confidence born of time and experience.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A lone, bearded protester at the back of the crowd held up a sign saying, “SAVE A WOLF, EDUCATE AN OTTER.”</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The crowd included Harley Brown, the fringe candidate who ran against Otter in the primary and who dresses in leather biker gear; Otter shook his hand after the ceremony.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Otter is only the second Idaho governor to win a third consecutive four-year term in office; the first was Robert Smylie in 1962; Idaho’s longest-serving governor, Cecil Andrus, was elected four times, but served as U.S. secretary of the interior between his second and third terms as governor.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 21px; overflow: visible !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Before being elected governor in 2006, Otter served three terms in Congress and 14 years as lieutenant governor.</span></p></div><div>---------------------------------------<br><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"There's room at the top they are telling you still.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you want to be like the folks on the hill."</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- John Lennon</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></body></html>