OPINION: They told us

They told us that Trump’s 2016 win was not legitimate and the result of Russian interference. Turns out that the Russia conspiracy was invented by the Hillary Clinton campaign. 

They told us COVID came from a wet market and masks would stop transmission and the vaccine was safe and effective and we needed to stay 6 feet apart. None of that was true. 

They told us the glaciers would be gone by now and our cities would be flooded. That hasn’t happened, so now they say every rainstorm is because of Global Warming. 

They told us Trump would end democracy when it’s the Democrats that are using every resource, except voting, to sway the election.  

They told us January 6th was an insurrection to overthrow the government while hiding the fact that Trump requested 10,000 additional security forces to ensure peace and that request was denied by speaker Pelosi. They deleted his Tweet calling for peace. How do you take over a government without guns, lots of guns? 

They told us before the debate that Biden was mentally fit, “sharp as a tack” while Kamala Harris had the lowest approval rating of any VP in modern times.  

They told us, after the debate, that Harris was the better choice to beat Trump. All her shortcomings were erased and the media simultaneously promoted her ascension to nominee status without a single vote of the people.  

They told us that the mission of Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) is to “infuse equity throughout our agency, programs, and policies.”  What happened to disaster response and relief as the primary mission? 

They told us the 2020 election was perfect, with no evidence of irregularities, yet every day there is another story about problems with election systems.  

They told us they want to protect democracy while the Google search algorithm actively and aggressively biases search results. Google employees are actively interfering with elections. Those employees should be tried in a criminal court.  

They told us that Trump wants to be a dictator, while John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris say they want to restrict free speech so they can govern the way they want and silence their critics. 

They told us they care about Americans but when American lives are in peril our resources are shipped offshore to foreign lands. 

They told us they want free and fair elections while passing laws that make it illegal to ask for photo identification to vote. Everyone who is old enough to vote has a photo identification card or can get one for free. The only reason not to require photo ID is if you intend to commit election fraud.  

They told us they want honest elections while the Biden/Harris Department of Justice is suing Alabama for removing people who are not eligible to vote from the voter rolls. Why would you want people not eligible to vote on the voter rolls unless you intend to cheat? 

They told us they honor our military veterans. But some veterans are homeless and unemployed while military age illegal aliens are given housing, jobs, transportation and free money. 

They told us lies and they continue to tell us lies.  

Right here in Idaho there is the Proposition 1 voter initiative that is being sold as “Open Primaries.” The courts have determined that describing Prop. 1 as “Open Primaries” is a lie. What the initiative actually does is destroy our existing election system and replace it with a confusing, risky, complicated and expensive Jungle Primary and Ranked Choice Voting mess.  

Proponents of Prop 1 claim it would only cost $600,000 to implement. WRONG!  The Secretary of State, the guy who is responsible for the elections, says our existing election equipment isn’t certified for rank choice voting and he estimates we would need to buy $40 million in all new electronic tabulation equipment and software from a company like Dominion. All election workers would need to be trained on the new system at a huge cost. Election results could take days or even weeks and those results can’t be independently audited.  

In Kootenai County we will determine if control of the North Idaho College Board of Trustees is in the hands of conservatives or liberal progressives. 

They told us if the conservatives won the majority in 2020 accreditation would be put at risk. The conservatives won and the progressives went scorched earth to overturn the results of that election. They willingly and knowingly put NIC's accreditation at risk as part of their scheme.  

They used lawfare to force a trustee to resign and then abandoned the board so there would not be a quorum and allowing the State Board of Education to appointed three board members. These members spent millions on buying properties and then hired a president who couldn’t practically be fired. The progressives lost their majority at the next election.  

Despite these destructive efforts, the conservatives have corrected decades old problems with policies and governance, restored financial stability and for the first time this century enrollments at NIC are increasing. Of course you won’t hear this from the media.  

It is time to stop putting up with the lies. It is time to vote for Lyons, McKenzie and Angiletta to Make NIC Great Again. It is time to vote NO on Prop 1 to keep our elections honest. Vote Nov. 5. 

It’s just common sense.

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Brent Regan is chairman of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.