Opinion: The Idaho Colonies of Dorothy Moon
In 1773 King George III and Parliament were determined to assert their powers over the colonies. The colonists' ideas about taxation without representation, about actual versus virtual representation, about tyranny and corruption in the British government, and indeed about the nature of government, sovereignty, and constitutions had crystalized during this period. We know about the Tea Act that gave the East India Company a virtual monopoly on selling tea in the colonies. We know about the "tea party" and similar acts of resistance. In addition, the colonists now had potentially powerful tools--local newspapers and committees of correspondence (established in 1772)--for airing colonial grievances.
In Idaho, the GOP’s Queen Dorothy Moon is moving to create an East India Company style political monopoly to make all Idaho elections and the government partisan, controlled by the Republican party. Queen Moon is on a roll with about 85 percent of the legislature, all elected state officers, and most county and city elected officials being Republican. Queen Moon’s cabal includes the Idaho Freedom Foundation, the Idaho Family Policy Center and others who advocate so-called Christian Nationalism to assert power over us people. Queen Moon’s ideology has reduced our women’s reproductive rights to that of livestock. Public education and libraries are attacked as enemies, books and storytelling banned, curriculum converting to GOP indoctrination. LGBT people are dehumanized. Idaho’s closed primary system blocks 270,000 independent voters from the most important elections.
Like the colonists under authoritarian British rule, Idahoans who reject rule by Queen Moon and Idaho GOP are beginning to revolt. Moon’s bullying and divisive purity tests resulted in the Bingham County Republican Central Committee filing a lawsuit against the Idaho Republican Party to block Moon from stepping in to hold an election to fill county leadership positions. In western Idaho, six officials with the Ada County Republican Central Committee resigned en masse on Oct. 5 after alleging bullying tactics by state GOP leaders and expressing concern with the direction of the party. Idahoans for Open Primaries, a coalition of community groups and civic organizations, supports the Open Primaries ballot initiative. The coalition includes the Veterans for Idaho Voters, Idaho Chapter of Mormon Women for Ethical Government, North Idaho Women, the Hope Coalition, Reclaim Idaho, and Republicans for Open Primaries.
Like the colonists who gained potentially powerful tools --local newspapers and committees of correspondence – Idahoans have technologies for correspondence like TV, news media, cell phones, the internet, social media, and local conversation groups. These tools can spotlight Idaho Republican Party control tactics such as: closed primaries, purity rules and rules requiring voters who switch their party affiliation to the Idaho Republican Party to wait before voting in a Republican primary. GOP rules are designed to keep outsiders from infiltrating their ranks at the polls.
These communications tools also spotlight the Open Primaries Initiative that can give Idaho more political freedom and better leadership. By ending the closed primary, it will give all voters—regardless of party affiliation—the freedom to participate in primary elections. By allowing ranked choice voting, it will give all voters a real voice in general elections and make elected leaders more accountable to voters.
Seventh District Judge Darren B. Simpson barred Moon from interfering with Bingham County’s Republican Central Committee writing, “…the prior course of conduct by Chairwoman Moon underscores the (Committee’s) mistrust of Chairwoman Moon.” Thoughtful, pro-democracy Republicans can speak out and take further action against Moon and the Idaho GOP. We can all sign the petitions to get the Open Primaries Initiative on the November, 2024 ballot with more information at https://openprimariesid.org/.
Larry Gebhardt is a retired submarine captain and manufacturing industry leader.
