Opinion/Engagement Editor Matt Christensen [ 208-735-3255 • mchristensen@magicvalley.com ]
Wednesday, April 15, 2015 • A7
“Saudi Arabia is committing genocide in Yemen, we cannot be silent about that.”
OPINION
The deputy chief of the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group, Sheikh Naim Kassem, likening the Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen to Israel’s bombing campaigns in Gaza.
OUR VIEW
Legislators, not Feds, the Real Threat to Idaho
I
t’s no secret the Republican Party in Idaho is a fractured mess, but if you needed any more evidence, the middle-of-the-night fiasco over a child-support bill that capped the legislative session last week is perfect proof. And it’s a prime example of how a paranoid fringe minority is derailing this state — and now, maybe even an international compact to protect children. After a marathon 18-hour day and weeks of in-party fighting, lawmakers closed the session Saturday by approving a $95 million compromise on a badly needed transportation bill, despite the fact the state really needs something closer to $262 million just to cover deferred maintenance of our crumbling roads. Just as the details were being ironed out, the black helicopters began to swirl, the tin-foil hats were donned and the far-right started whispering about two of their favorite topics: Muslims and federal government overreach. The whispers reached a roar that now threatens to sink the state’s entire child-support system and the 400,000 Idahoans whom depend on it. Congress passed a law last year requiring every state to become compliant with a federal compact made with mostly European nations. Essentially, it keeps parents from failing to pay child support by moving out of state or overseas. Approving the compact should have been a slam dunk. But inspired by the fear-mongering John Birch Society, Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll of Cottonwood raised alarms that the compact would subject Idaho to Sharia law – a hard-liner, religious based rule system sometimes used in predominately Muslim countries to settle divorce and child-custody disputes. Idaho child support program director Kandace Yearsley was flabbergasted by Nuxoll’s interpretation. The Attorney General’s Office assured lawmakers that none of the countries in the compact is under Sharia law. Let us pause for a moment to note that Nuxoll is the same senator who in 2013 tactlessly compared the Affordable Care Act to the Holocaust. This year, she boycotted a Hindu prayer in the Capitol, saying the United States is a Christian nation and the Hindu religion honors false gods. By now, lawmaker should know to stop listening when Nuxoll and her cohorts open their mouths, but a House panel was swayed by the paranoia and killed the child-support bill on a 9-8 vote. The votes to table the bill were Thomas Dayley, Lynn Luker, Shannon McMillan, Kathleen Sims, Janet Trujillo, Don Cheatham, Ryan Kerby, Ronald Nate and Heather Scott. The move could disqualify the United States from the pact because it required all the states to be in compliance for the U.S. to participate. The governor is holding a press conference Thursday and may call lawmakers back to Boise for a special session to resolve the issue. If the matter isn’t fixed in 60 days, Idaho will immediately lose a$16 million and won’t be able to process $200 million in child-support payments. The state also stands to lose $30 million in temporary assistance for needy families. Things took an even more bizarre turn just hours after the vote when Cindy Agidius, a former Republican representative now serving as the communications director for the House Majority Caucus, sent an email to reporters and lawmakers on behalf of Rep. Luker, a Boise Republican who earlier this session helped kill a bill that would have strengthened the state’s no-contact laws to protect victims of domestic violence. “Holding the (child-support) bill was about protecting the due process and privacy rights of our citizens, and protecting the integrity of our state’s ability to study and analyze issues independent of the coercive threats of the federal government,” Luker said. Not all of Luker’s fellow Republicans agreed, and they let it be known with a flurry of emails first reported by Spokesman-Review reporter Betsy Russell. “I do not support the erratic behavior that will lead to the dismantling of our child support system, nor the implication that (Luker’s) mockery of a legal analysis in any way represents our Republican caucus,” wrote Rep. Luke Malek of Coeur d’Alene. Replied Rep. Fred Wood of Burley:“I certainly hope this was not represented as a Majority Caucus response. If it was, it should be immediately withdrawn. Rep. Luker is entitled to his opinion, legal and personal. It is not my opinion, and I do not want to be associated in any way with it.” A fractured mess to be sure. Rep. Steve Hartgen of Twin Falls downplayed the hubbub early this week, saying last-minute dustups are common in the Capitol.“I don’t think this will amount to anything in the long run,” he told the TimesNews.“Nor will Idaho pull out of child support standards.” That remains to be seen. But this much is clear: Our own lawmakers – not the federal government – pose the biggest threat to Idaho.We don’t have enough money to fix our roads.We stand to lose millions of dollars in federal funding as Idaho’s children go unsupported. Lawmakers may be called back to Boise. And the black helicopters continue to circle.
Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau
OTHER VIEW
Pope’s ‘Genocide’ Statement is Both too Early and too Late
T
he following editorial appears on Bloomberg View. Sometimes it’s necessary to state the obvious, and sometimes it isn’t. So which was it Sunday when Pope Francis described the Ottoman Empire’s 1915 slaughter of more than a million ethnic Armenians as genocide? In one sense, the recognition comes late: This month marks the 100th anniversary of the Ottoman leadership’s systematic campaign to exterminate or expel the entire Armenian population from Eastern Anatolia. (The “Young Turk” generals running the empire during World War I saw these Christian citizens as a fifth column for the allied armies that were dismembering it.) This was genocide, something Turkey has to come to terms with. The Armenian atrocity helped to inspire the creation of both the word and — in 1948 — the crime. Yet Sunday’s remarks can also be viewed as spoken too soon. That’s because Turks as a nation have only in recent years begun to recognize the
truth of what happened, or even had access to the historical record. Until about 15 years ago, the subject was taboo for research by Turkish historians; schoolchildren weren’t taught the history of what Armenians call the “Great Catastrophe.” More than denial, there was ignorance. Since then, Turkey has come a long way. Turkish historians such as Taner Akcam have given unsparing accounts. Last year, in a courageous first step, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the first Turkish leader to apologize to Armenians for what happened, although he continues to oppose describing the slaughter as genocide, with its association to Nazi Germany. Inevitably, the Turkish reaction to Francis’s words was furious. Ultimately, though, a word cannot make what happened a century ago any better or worse. Far more important is what Turks and Armenians do in the here and now. It’s easy enough to say that the two nations should reconcile, that the children of Armenians who fled into
exile should be able to return to Turkey if they wish, that they should be allowed to trade and to restore their churches and cultural heritage. Yet the border between Armenia and Turkey remains closed, despite a 2009 agreement to open it. The deal, which would have set up a joint historical committee, ultimately failed because it became linked to the question of Armenia’s military occupation of part of neighboring Azerbaijan, a close Turkish ally. These are the unresolved issues that matter most today. Pope Francis deserves some credit for publicly speaking the g- word (as Pope John Paul II deserved credit for writing it 16 years ago), and for combining his condemnation of the Ottoman atrocity with other genocides, including by Christians. The true test of papal diplomacy, however, is whether Francis can help revive the abandoned reconciliation process, appeal to Erdogan’s desire to lead in the region, and bring Turks and Armenians together again after a century of division.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Protect the Wild We (speaking for ourselves and not our respective boards) endorse Mike Simpson’s SNRA-Plus legislation. It offers wilderness level protection for much of the Boulder-White Clouds region and some mitigation to Custer County for the impacts. We urge the U.S. House and Senate to pass it soon, as proposed, resisting the urge to tack on a lot of extraneous nonsense. If they do, we believe the president will sign it. SNRA-Plus is an outgrowth of CIEDRA, which took years and virtually unlimited stakeholder input to write. It never passed the Congress, but SNRA-Plus is its successor and likely the last, best hope for this kind of legislation. Is it perfect? No, but nothing ever is and the desire – by all sides – to make CIEDRA perfect or just go away is what killed it. Based on a broad range of
public sentiment pro and con, we believe a legislative solution to conservation protection for the region is preferable to a presidential national monument designation, for many reasons. We think that is likely if SNRA-Plus fails. While Blaine County and Custer County are perceived not to agree on much, we recognize some common
interests. When we commissioners can stand together or work together in the public interest, we should. LARRY SCHOEN Picabo WAYNE BUTTS Challis Editor’s note: Larry Schoen is a Blaine County commissioner; Wayne Butts is a Custer County commissioner.
Travis Quast, Publisher Matt Christensen, Editor The members of the editorial board and writers of editorials are Travis Quast and Matt Christensen.
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Mallard Fillmore by Bruce Tinsley