Idaho's Palace Coup Is Like Game of Thrones If It Were Produced by OAN
This is Republican politics in a shot glass.
_By Charles P. Pierce
Oct 6, 2021
boise, id march 06 idaho lieutenant governor janice mcgeachin speaks during a mask burning event at the idaho statehouse on march 6, 2021 in boise, idaho citizens and politicians gathered in at least 20 cities across the state to protest covid 19 restrictions photo by nathan howardgetty images
Nathan Howard / Getty Images
I honestly was going to hold this one for our semi-regular weekly survey on Thursday. But it’s just too damn good. It seems that Idaho, where the political practitioners have had snakes in their brains for decades, is in the middle of an outright palace coup. It’s like Game of Thrones if it had been produced by OAN.
It began when Republican Governor Brad Little decided to go to the southern border so he could criticize the president on TV with a clutch of other Republican governors. Little has a border far closer to his home, but a trip to the southern border is part of the Stations of the Republican Cross these days, so Little left for Texas, leaving the state in the hands of Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin. And that’s where our drama begins.
First, McGeachin tried to send Idaho National Guard units to the border, an order that Little countermanded from, you know, the border. The head of the Idaho National Guard also told McGeachin to pound sand. From the Idaho Statesman:
Also on Tuesday, McGeachin was rebuffed by Major General Michael J. Garshak in a query about activating troops and sending them to the U.S.-Mexico border. “As of Wednesday, my constitutional authority as Governor affords me the power of activating the Idaho National Guard,” McGeachin wrote to Garshak in the letter obtained by The Associated Press. “As the Adjutant General, I am requesting information from you on the steps needed for the Governor to activate the National Guard.”
Garshak replied with one paragraph on Tuesday afternoon. “I am unaware of any request for Idaho National Guard assistance under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) from Texas or Arizona,” Garshak wrote, in part, to McGeachin. “As you are aware, the Idaho National Guard is not a law enforcement agency.”
Undaunted, McGeachin proceeded to announce that she was reversing the admittedly tepid measures Little had enacted to deal with the pandemic. (Only 41 percent of Idahoans are vaccinated, which puts the state ahead of only West Virginia and Wyoming.) And Little immediately snapped back from the wild frontier.
McGeachin’s executive order issued Tuesday afternoon seeks, among other things, to prevent employers from requiring their employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. Most mainstream Republicans prefer to stay out of the employee-employer relationship.
“I am in Texas performing my duties as the duly elected Governor of Idaho, and I have not authorized the Lt. Governor to act on my behalf,” Little said in a statement shortly after arriving in Texas on Tuesday. “I will be rescinding and reversing any actions taken by the Lt. Governor when I return.” …
“Attempting to deploy our National Guard for political grandstanding is an affront to the Idaho constitution and insults the men and women who have dedicated their life to serving our state and the country,” Little said in a statement.
(Narrator: Nothing in Little’s duties as the duly elected governor of Idaho requires Little to be in freaking Texas for a two-day political photo-op. And accusing someone of “political grandstanding” while you’re half-a-continent away from your real job is…a choice. We continue.)
Apparently, McGeachin is lining up to run against Little the next time around. And the current grenade-launching is not the first time the two have clashed.
McGeachin tried the same stunt back in May; she banned mask mandates while Little was out of town. McGeachin also cobbled together a task force to fight “indoctrination” in Idaho public schools.
She then tried to stonewall public-records requests until a judge ordered her to release documents related to the “task force.” She capped things off by requesting that the costs related to her fight to stonewall on the records be covered by public money.
Republican politics in a shot glass right there. Eventually, they eat their own.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politic...%20Openers
This is Republican politics in a shot glass.
_By Charles P. Pierce
Oct 6, 2021
boise, id march 06 idaho lieutenant governor janice mcgeachin speaks during a mask burning event at the idaho statehouse on march 6, 2021 in boise, idaho citizens and politicians gathered in at least 20 cities across the state to protest covid 19 restrictions photo by nathan howardgetty images
Nathan Howard / Getty Images
I honestly was going to hold this one for our semi-regular weekly survey on Thursday. But it’s just too damn good. It seems that Idaho, where the political practitioners have had snakes in their brains for decades, is in the middle of an outright palace coup. It’s like Game of Thrones if it had been produced by OAN.
It began when Republican Governor Brad Little decided to go to the southern border so he could criticize the president on TV with a clutch of other Republican governors. Little has a border far closer to his home, but a trip to the southern border is part of the Stations of the Republican Cross these days, so Little left for Texas, leaving the state in the hands of Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin. And that’s where our drama begins.
First, McGeachin tried to send Idaho National Guard units to the border, an order that Little countermanded from, you know, the border. The head of the Idaho National Guard also told McGeachin to pound sand. From the Idaho Statesman:
Also on Tuesday, McGeachin was rebuffed by Major General Michael J. Garshak in a query about activating troops and sending them to the U.S.-Mexico border. “As of Wednesday, my constitutional authority as Governor affords me the power of activating the Idaho National Guard,” McGeachin wrote to Garshak in the letter obtained by The Associated Press. “As the Adjutant General, I am requesting information from you on the steps needed for the Governor to activate the National Guard.”
Garshak replied with one paragraph on Tuesday afternoon. “I am unaware of any request for Idaho National Guard assistance under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) from Texas or Arizona,” Garshak wrote, in part, to McGeachin. “As you are aware, the Idaho National Guard is not a law enforcement agency.”
Undaunted, McGeachin proceeded to announce that she was reversing the admittedly tepid measures Little had enacted to deal with the pandemic. (Only 41 percent of Idahoans are vaccinated, which puts the state ahead of only West Virginia and Wyoming.) And Little immediately snapped back from the wild frontier.
McGeachin’s executive order issued Tuesday afternoon seeks, among other things, to prevent employers from requiring their employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. Most mainstream Republicans prefer to stay out of the employee-employer relationship.
“I am in Texas performing my duties as the duly elected Governor of Idaho, and I have not authorized the Lt. Governor to act on my behalf,” Little said in a statement shortly after arriving in Texas on Tuesday. “I will be rescinding and reversing any actions taken by the Lt. Governor when I return.” …
“Attempting to deploy our National Guard for political grandstanding is an affront to the Idaho constitution and insults the men and women who have dedicated their life to serving our state and the country,” Little said in a statement.
(Narrator: Nothing in Little’s duties as the duly elected governor of Idaho requires Little to be in freaking Texas for a two-day political photo-op. And accusing someone of “political grandstanding” while you’re half-a-continent away from your real job is…a choice. We continue.)
Apparently, McGeachin is lining up to run against Little the next time around. And the current grenade-launching is not the first time the two have clashed.
McGeachin tried the same stunt back in May; she banned mask mandates while Little was out of town. McGeachin also cobbled together a task force to fight “indoctrination” in Idaho public schools.
She then tried to stonewall public-records requests until a judge ordered her to release documents related to the “task force.” She capped things off by requesting that the costs related to her fight to stonewall on the records be covered by public money.
Republican politics in a shot glass right there. Eventually, they eat their own.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politic...%20Openers
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