OPINION: A pig's tale, revisited

The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee (KCRCC) and its conjoined twin, the Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF), remind me of the pigs in George Orwell’s prophetic novel, Animal Farm. 

Written in the 1940s, the book is an enlightened, entertaining yet frightening study of human nature. We can almost see the actions of KCRCC/IFF in the pigs’ behavior after the animal takeover of the farm. 

During the revolution, all the animals had a voice. Their ideas were valued and they could agree or disagree with proposed actions. They could even vote the way they wanted without banishment! “All Animals are Equal” was their motto. 

The animals worked together to run the farm, but the pigs soon tired of hard work. They declared themselves the smartest of the animals (Mensa?) so they should be in charge, create the rules, and decide which animals were behaving correctly, or which needed discipline.

As the power of the pigs’ leadership grew, so did their need for compliance. They demanded hard work from the lowly animals, and complete obedience to the decisions made by the porcine directors. 

“All animals are equal,” the pigs declared, to herald in their list of new commandments. But many of the animals were not sure about the new rules. The pigs told them not to worry and gave them a Sample Ballot of rules: “Four legs good, two legs (RINOs?) bad.”

This worked fairly well until the less informed animals (KCRCC members?) noticed the pigs were not doing any work but were getting all the benefits. 

The pigs in leadership broke the rules by moving into the farm house, drinking alcohol, wearing clothes and sleeping in beds. (Using Lincoln Day dinner proceeds to pay for attack ads against other Republicans and promote only chosen candidates, all while sending money to shady knee-busting campaign marketers in Nevada?) 

The other animals became quite upset. They reminded the pigs of the commandment “All animals (Republicans?) are equal.” The pigs had changed the rule to, “Some animals are more equal than others.”

Now, here in Idaho, transparency and honesty used to be highly valued commandments of our Idaho Republican Party, as was the principle “all Republicans are treated equally in the Primary.” Alas, those have gone the way of the pigs now, replaced by “Some Republicans are more equal than others.” 

The downfall of the pigs was their own ego and self-importance. They fought each other and their fellow animals for power and control. And in the end, sadly, outside groups came in and took over the farm so none of the animals held any power. This could happen here in Idaho.

We can return to our honest GOP values by rejecting manipulation from KCRCC/IFF and their clones. The place to start is at the ballot box. 

Our upcoming May 21 Republican Primary election will include a vote for the Precinct Committee person (PC) for your voting area. Most people don’t know about this, so go online to VoteIdaho.gov to put in your address and find your precinct number and voting place. Then start at the bottom of your ballot and vote for the Precinct Committee person for your area who is NOT on the KCRCC’s sample ballot. 

Replacing the current Precinct Committeemen can change the leadership as well. A more responsible KCRCC can be directed to represent you, the Republican citizens, rather than outside special interest groups. You have the power, please use your vote wisely.

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Mary Souza served in the Idaho Senate for eight years, retiring in 2022. If you are concerned about outside influences controlling your legislators, please share this column with friends.