Opinion: Legislator ran for wrong office

Dear Representative,

This weekend I retrieved your latest message concerning your efforts in Boise from my mailbox and frankly I am appalled by the content. Why are you advocating managing issues which are entirely beyond the scope of the State Legislature? This state is struggling to attract decent employers when the states around us are booming. This state has an utterly unrealistic view of what is required to maintain decent public education and our infrastructure in rural communities is falling apart. With so many pressing issues, our state legislature has time to dabble in matters that do not concern them?

If you are concerned about federal overreach, go to Washington. Run for congress or become a citizen advocate. State sovereignty with respect to the Constitution. Are you advocating that Idaho secede from the union? If so please resign from your seat immediately. Militant government is not needed and not what the residents of Idaho desperately need.

Reclaim Idaho lands; by what authority and by what historical significance are you suggesting that these lands ever belonged to the state? Read the history of Washington Territory — it should clear things up for you sir. They never did therefore this is a moot point and another waste of precious time in a legislature which has been completely ineffective for years.

Your statement about traditional religious views seems rooted in Calvinist evangelism. That’s okay, we can accept your religion, but you have no right to use your position to force those views on everyone else. Basic human rights granted by the Declaration of Independence and the 14th Amendment provide all Americans the same rights. We are a nation of laws which support freedom for all Americans, not restrict them because of race, religion or creed. While there are some laws of the state I do not like, I accept them because I realize they are intended to support society as a whole.

Getting that glossy personal reflection on your role as my representative just days after the amateurish Giant Salamander charade was just too much. It smacks of intolerance and suggests that you are either pandering, incompetent or both. Now get to work solving state problems and stop embarrassing the state more than you already have.

 REID HARLOCKER

Hayden