OPINION: A Moon waxes as a Luna wanes

The present-day Republican Party has revealed who it really is and it ain’t pretty. Many of us thought that Tom Luna was way too far to the right, but the newly-elected GOP chair, Dorothy Moon, eclipses Luna by a country mile. Moon’s political beliefs verge on lunacy.

Moon has given aid and comfort to the ravings of a pillow merchant who claims the Idaho presidential vote was rigged. She told us during her ill-fated campaign for Secretary of State that Canadians had voted in the Idaho elections. To prove it, she said somebody had told her so. Wonder if it was the pillow peddler.

There is a darker side of Moon, as she has been quite chummy with any number of militias and anti-government extremists, including the Panhandle Patriots, the Real 3%ers of Idaho and the Ammon Bundy crowd.

The new GOP chief was apparently moon-struck by a former legislator from Lewiston who was convicted of raping a legislative intern. During his trial, she testified that he was “a perfect gentleman.” The victim and trauma witnesses did not seem to think so.

The antics of Moon and her John Birch Society husband, Darr, have brought national and world attention to the Gem State on occasion, such as a mask burning event at the Idaho Capitol in March of 2021. The publicity has doubtlessly caused decent out-of-state people and businesses to have second thoughts about relocating to Idaho.

So, this person will henceforth be the face of the Republican Party in Idaho: The person who will preside over events that invoke the name of the founder of the Party, Abraham Lincoln. I’m sure Honest Abe would be quite proud of the present white nationalist phase of Moon’s party.

After her lop-sided election (434-287), Moon got the crowd riled up, saying that “with the Democrats coming at us with full force” we must “have our barriers up, our guns loaded.” Even dripping wet, the Idaho Democrats do not have the forces or guns to take the battle to the locked and loaded GOP forces. These are extremely dangerous words, given the weaponry of Moon’s militia pals and the incessant claims that Democrats are true enemies of all that is good and holy. Authoritarians characterize their opponents in that fashion and it can have horrendous consequences.

The GOP delegates got to work on personal freedom issues, like voting to keep anyone but real Republicans from exercising their right to vote in the Republican primary, where most officials are elected in this one-party state. That will be revisited in January but the GOP is likely to try once again to disenfranchise the over 300,000 independent voters in Idaho. That will make it necessary to run a citizen initiative to ensure that every Idahoan has the right to vote in our elections.

The convention heard from a representative of the Family Policy Center, a soul mate of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, that the state should sponsor Christian education at taxpayer expense. Who cares about that pesky language in the U.S. Constitution prohibiting state establishment of religion? Or, the Idaho Constitution’s flat prohibition of spending State money on any kind of religious teaching?

So, a different Moon now hovers over the Idaho Republican Party, as the old Luna wanes from the stage. Methinks it is a waning crescent moon–a dark Moon. Watch out for the werewolves, vampires, torch-wielding crowds and things that go bump in the night. I predict that Idaho voters will not be enamored by the Moon that is now the face of the Idaho Republican Party.

Jim Jones is a Vietnam combat veteran who served eight years as Idaho Attorney General and 12 years as a Justice on the Idaho Supreme Court. He is currently a regular contributor to The Hill online news. He blogs at JJCommonTater.