Letters to the editor: RINOs, voting rights, Republican Party, Trump

Time for change

I would encourage any conservative individual to run against our “do nothing” senators in the Republican primary. I would but can’t due to medical reasons. They both go to Washington, D.C., and disappear in some black hole, never to be seen or heard from again! We need senators like Senator Cotton of Arkansas.

Our two senators are too busy walking the politically correct tightrope. I consider them RINOs, “Republican in name only.” Don’t bother emailing them either. They don’t read or answer emails. If they don’t hear our concerns, how can they represent us? They can’t and they aren’t. They no longer care about Idaho!

It’s time for change! Let’s vote them out!

Dale Eld, Boise

Honor sacrifice

I urge all Americans to remember that on the beaches of Normandy and Iwo Jima, there were no “red Americans” nor “blue Americans” — there were only Americans, our fathers and grandfathers, who fought — and so many died — to protect our way of life. They sacrificed for every American alive today, whether native-born or recent immigrant. Let us each examine daily whether our words and deeds live up to that sacrifice — whether these heroes of history would be proud of us, not ashamed. If I think that members of one political party “hate America,” then I am misguided; there is no political party in the U.S. that hates our nation. If we disagree with the philosophy of a political party, then we should strive to defeat that party at the ballot box. And we must each strive to be in contact with verifiable, objective reality — if we dwell solely in an echo chamber of like thinking to our own, we will not be in contact with external reality, which exists regardless of our personal beliefs or preferences.

David F. Whitacre, Boise

Party of Trump

Republicans continually confirm the Republican Party is truly “The Party of Trump.” They are in office not to represent their constituents, but to keep their jobs at all costs. One of those costs is to be in lockstep with the former president, lest they incur his wrath. Despite no evidence, they claim to believe the Big Lie that Trump won the election, yet no one questions how many people would have to be involved to pull off something of this magnitude. Republicans are using these falsehoods to restrict voting access, by limiting mail-in voting, shortening early voting, reducing ballot drop boxes, eliminating same-day voter registration and allowing purging of voter rolls. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, as of October, more than 425 bills that would restrict voting access had been introduced in 49 states, with 33 of these bills enacted across 19 states so far. If you can’t win, manipulate the system! Integrity and civility is dead, even in those you thought were semi-upstanding. Mike Simpson’s recent “Let’s go, Brandon” comment? A new low from our Idaho delegation. Our future is looking bleak.

Janell Carr, Boise

Voting rights

I strongly disagree that the proposed Federal Voting Rights Act is a Democratic Party power grab attempt.

It is an attempt to prevent the unconstitutional state laws that make it much more difficult for many qualified voters to vote. Some state legislators have outlawed early voting, voting by mail, vastly reduced the number of election drop boxes, or reduced the number of polling places. The effect is to discourage people from voting who work the entire time polling places are open on Election Day, those who don’t have a car or are immobile due to physical disabilities and therefore depend on easy access to a drop box, early voting or mail-in voting.

William Brudenell, Boise

Vote GOP

I have lived in Idaho for 60 years, living with Republican choices.

After reading the article about the introduction of an emergency passage for House Bill 439, I now feel compelled to change my party affiliation (Google: Idaho Political Party Affiliation Declaration Form).

The bill is intended to prevent unaffiliated voters from showing up at the polls to vote the day of the GOP primaries, which is currently the law.

The Idaho Republican Party platform believes anyone who is not a registered Republican has no loyalty or allegiance to the Republican Party or its platform and resolutions to select our candidates is simply not proper. I feel I have a right to cast a vote for the Republican candidates who would best represent my concerns. The last time we had someone other than a Republican as a senator was in 1981. Idaho is a “one party rule state” and if House Bill 439, is passed it will prevent unaffiliated voters from being able to vote in the Republican primary elections if they have not declared themselves Republican by March 11, 2022. This is also the same deadline for Democrats who want to vote in the Republican primaries.

Marianne Nelson, Boise

One party

While researching COVID, I started on our Idaho page. It lacked current information. Gov. Little applauded himself and the legislature for an excellent job done — not mandating masks or closures and not listening to science. Apparently he only consulted the Idaho Freedom Foundation and the radical stance of our Republican Legislature. The minority of our people drove their efforts. Refusing to mask, ignoring crowd sizes, providing minimum testing, disregarding teachers and the majority of parents regarding school environments, endorsing lies about vaccines and treatments, our leaders and some citizens have selfishly and proudly called these actions the “Idaho way.”

Many leaders and the majority of the legislature have endorsed unproven or disproven conspiracy theories. Much needed education funds are withheld based on these theories. They spend time down the “rabbit hole” chasing cures for lie-based fears that ultimately damage our children’s ability to make informed decisions based on truth and history. They seek to restore prejudice, provoke unrest and encourage guns and violence to become our way of settling differences. They ignore our pressing issues. For Idaho, a state held captive by one party, most political races are decided in the primary. Listen, learn and vote!

Deborah Gold, Boise