“This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change.” ―
Last week, I received a publication in the mail called the Idaho Bulletin. It consists of a hodge podge of anti-grassroots conservatism claiming to be the true voice of conservatism. Emblazoned on the back is a menacing political cartoon of a sinister female elephant lording over a half dozen minuscule male elephants, and it is clearly designed to attack Idaho GOP Chairwoman Dorothy Moon. In typical Ye Olde Guard misogynist fashion, the woman is nefarious, and the lowly men are at the mercy of Queen Pacyderm. This is a telltale sign of who might be behind this ploy, as Mrs. Moon is depicted wearing a nametag that displays an intentional misspelling of groyper.
A groyper is a right-wing meme associated with the alt-right frog caricature Pepe and denotes an online troll that is red-pilled, aware, and skeptical of what is happening around them. You may have seen memes depicting Pepe the Frog, a poorly drawn frog with a sly look on his face, demonstrating sarcasm. There is a select subset of politicians and former politicians in Idaho who are obsessed with all things alt-right and have adopted the pejorative of groyper when they want to attack their political opposition. If you’d like a list of who these politicians are, check out the very small list of phony Republicans who have given their stamp of approval to the guaranteed loser and perpetual warhawk Nikki Haley.
Yesterday, I was informed on Twitter, now known as X, of a private teleconference of Ye Olde Guard Republicans discussing their strategy for recapturing their waning clout in the Idaho Republican Party. Also, Yesterday, I read an article from fellow columnist Trent Clark telling us exactly how Idaho thinks about politics. According to Clark, a survey out of BoiSeattle State suggests that only East Idaho receives positive marks for moving in the right direction politically. This is ironic, as East Idaho is the only portion of the state not moving at all. If you had your thumb on the pulse of politics in Idaho, you would be aware that East Idaho is the last bastion of Idaho where the good old boys still exert control, and I write about it frequently.
It is true that the grassroots of Idaho now controls the Idaho Republican Party and is making the necessary changes that Ye Olde Guard has refused to date. In the last weeks, despite pushback from corporate money and the left, they have reformed how our legislature passes budgets by starting with a baseline of mandatory funding and then debating any spending increases moving forward. Imagine that, fiscal responsibility that rejects the omnibus spending! This is what we send representatives to the state for. Positive changes like this are happening because of the grassroots of Idaho, like you and me.
Before the first Presidential Primary vote was cast in January, nearly every neoconservative candidate, save for Nikki Haley and Mike Pence, had dropped out of the Presidential Primary, and most endorsed Donald Trump. The math is not there for any other candidate, and frustrated Republicans have spoken. In Nevada, where fellow Republicans are holding a caucus like us, the Democrats that control their legislature held a Primary anyway. Most candidates didn’t even bother to register for their Primary. Nikki Haley, who did appear on their ballot, got beat by more than 30 percentage points in Nevada by “None Of The Above.” Nikki Haley’s flailing campaign is a reflection of Ye Olde Guard politics.
It’s time for Ye Olde Guard to embrace change. In 2022, when the grassroots of the party replaced a controversial Tom Luna (he sued the volunteers of Bonneville County) with Dorothy Moon, they did so in a resounding fashion and with a mandate. She has followed through on those commitments and has worked diligently to make the Republican Party a party of the people. What will it take for Ye Olde Guard to read the writing on the wall and be a part of the solution, not the problem?
Photo by Gerd Altmann
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All I can add is spot on!