A Clear Choice

Back in the 1960's, the ultra-conservatives were mostly members of the John Birch Society. Discredited in the mid-sixties, they segued into what was called the Constitution party. One of their first presidential candidates was a former Bircher, John Schmidt, a Southern Californian.

In more recent years, the Constitutionalists realizing they weren't capturing any political offices, began to infiltrate the Republican Party. Today, many of the more active members of the Kootenai County party are those people. Flying false colors they purport to be Republicans when actually they are RINOS. Republicans in name only.

These people are not satisfied with conquering Republican seats in the legislature and the County Council, they want the non-partisan offices as well. Two of the candidates for the 1st and 5th district School Board are such ideologists. On the other hand, Christa Hazel and Tom Hearn are eminently qualified, not along by political affiliation but by actual qualifications. Their opponents have only their ideology.

This year's school board trustee election is not your usual flip a coin and pick 'em. One challenger is Christa Hazel. She is an attorney, a mother and a community activist. She has a balanced view on the various subjects that are brought up, but most importantly, she is issue orientated, not ideological. A person that votes only for political purity as in the Constitution party will deserve what she or he gets. On top of that, ironically, Her opponent home schools his kids. To hire someone to supervise students in a school he doesn't believe in is madness. ...But then Wackos tend toward those extremes.

Then we have Tom Hearn. A professional Mental Health doctor, father of three. He is opposed by a self proclaimed Constitution party member. At the last Coeur d'Alene City Council meeting, he roared at the council telling them that there are thousands  of his ilk out there. (How about a couple of hundred?, Maybe just a few dozen?)  The extreme elements in Kootenai County are making an obvious run at controlling everything including non-partisan offices.

This attitude reflects a mirror image of Washington State where liberal democrats have ruled for a long time. I was once a worker in Ronald Reagan's campaign for California governor in 1965-66. Sure, we had weirdo's down there, but they called themselves the "John Birch Society." Not so with the real Reagan's record. He stood for party unity, not the splits that the Republican party is famous for. He coined the phrase, "Eleventh Commandment" which stated thou shalt not speak ill of other Republicans.

He was also a consensus builder. In both the California legislature and then as president of the United States, he was faced with powerful democratic leadership. He somehow managed to get along with those people and brought California out of a serious cash flow problem. Of course other subsequent governors  put them right back where they were financially.

As you can see, some locals thinking to gain legitimacy by using his name in vain are the archetypical wolf in sheep's clothing. These extremists are well organized and the public needs to participate. If they don't, the extremists will win by default. If you want issues resolved, not right wing extremism vote for a sensible school board candidate like Christa Hazel and Tom Hearn.