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**Behold, a new test is upon us: Proposition 1, the so-called “Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act.”** This initiative seeks to enshrine in our state law the very destruction of the least of these—the unborn children whom God forms in the womb (Psalm 139:13-16). It is not freedom, but bondage to death. It is not privacy, but the shedding of innocent blood in the dark. And in this hour, many in the church remain quiet, lest controversy disturb the gathering or offend the culture.

This year, I’ve been especially excited to celebrate Independence Day, given the overlap with America’s Semiquincentennial, the World Cup, President Trump’s 80th birthday, and Flag Day.  Despite the complaints from the peanut gallery, nobody can say that Donald Trump doesn’t like to party, and most importantly, that he doesn’t love his country. When President Trump took office again in January of 2025, he set out to clean up and beautify American spaces to showcase the best America has to offer to world travelers. He codified this policy in an Executive Order signed in August of 2025 titled Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again.

There comes a point of no return when, short of natural disaster and nature reclaiming its space, these places we are tasked with stewarding are lost forever.

The problem with using “Common Sense” as an electable quality is that common sense is rarely common and often nonsense.  The subjective nature of common sense says that it can mean whatever you need it to mean.  There is no declaration of shared ideals.  It is merely a “trust me, bro” variety of statement.  “If you put me in office, you can be assured that I will make the correct vote according to my inherent rightness.”

Having lost the keys to the kingdom in 2022, a select cadre of the good old boys joined their wallets and efforts in an attempt to wrestle control of the party back from the people in 2024. I wrote about it then. Unable to find enough Republicans to field a slate of conservatives, they’ve recruited and dipped into the Democratic Party to round out their rosters. Thus, the birth of the white elephant.

When discussing conservative politics, you’ll often hear Ronald Reagan’s quote that Republican is an 80/20 label. We most often agree on 80% of issues and disagree on the remaining 20%. The twenty percent is typically the exception you’ll find noted in the survey responses above. What then can a Republican voter expect from their elected representatives? Can they expect at least 80% alignment with party values and policy objectives?

We’ve been in Pocatello for 12 years now. Not much remains consistent. Unlike restaurant or retail operations, the politics here are consistent and consistently toxic. We’re on our 7th Pocatello election, and what remains unchanged is the mean girl politics.

The greatest tragedy in all of this is that the medical freedom our legislature hopes to achieve comes through independent doctors. The kind of doctors who don’t dance in the streets for Black Lives Matter while you’re locked in your home during a pandemic. The kind to support crisis pregnancy centers. The kind to reject experimental gender care, and the kind to correct the Republican Party platform when it criminalizes a menstrual cycle.

It has long been understood that if you need to make legislation disappear, Senator Jim Guthrie’s desk is the place to do it.  He’ll duct tape it, set its feet in concrete, and send it to Jimmy Hoffa’s graveyard for a very reasonable campaign contribution.

Idaho hasn’t yet felt the bleeding in its primary care infrastructure or budget. Primary care is currently working extra hours at their own cost and holding out hope that the legislature that broke Medicaid can fix it before we bleed out. Since reimbursement is delayed by months and the program only ended on January 01, the first impacts will be felt when the legislature adjourns in March or April, when doctors begin reducing after-hours services or eliminating Medicaid contracts altogether. In the meantime, legislative pushback stems from budget hesitancy over the cost of the tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens..” – Ecclesiastes 3:1 here is a famous 60s song by the Byrds called “Turn, Turn, Turn.” I don’t know if I remember this song from the oldies theme of my sister’s high school marching band, or by the late-night TIME…

Many pundits wishing to create generational envy and strife point to lifestyle creep as the reason for our housing divide. The boomers claim that Generation Z spends too much money on luxuries, while Generation Z counters that the boomers have inflated costs and left a world out of reach. In part, they are both correct.

The danger in the mainstream press affirming these messages lies not just in the socially isolated schoolroom shooter, but in your grandparents’ home.  Imagine living sixty-five years and gleaning your understanding of the world from trusted sources, and then, in 2012, the trusted sources begin to adopt inciting rhetoric, and you are left believing that this is an accurate worldview. 

‘m alive!  I want to express sincere gratitude to those who cared enough to read my rantings and then proclaim their concern for me, having not seen my posts and articles for some time.  From friends to state GOP events to my wife’s patient parents, many have expressed their concern about my absence from the…

Most economists acknowledge that government regulation is often designed to squeeze out competition to benefit those promoting it. It typically brings onerous requirements that must be implemented at a high cost to those who can least afford them. In this way, proponents of regulation intend to eliminate their competition outside of market forces. Unfortunately, healthcare is a prime sector for crony regulation.

Though some results remain outstanding, Donald Trump will become the first President in over a hundred years to win non-consecutive terms in the American Presidency. He will also become the first Republican President to win the Electoral College and the Popular vote since George H.W. Bush in 1988. All told Donald Trump will have won 312 electoral college votes, the most of any President since Barrack Obama’s historic victory in 2008. 

A common refrain when referring to a determined but immoral opposition is “by hook or by crook.”  We understand this to be synonymous with “by any means necessary.”  It leaves open the possibility that the subject will try to accomplish their goals by legitimate means before resorting to below-board or unsavory means.  I posit to you that Democrats aren’t versed in the way of the hook and only operate by the crook.