[Vision2020] A Consideration . . .

[Donovan Arnold]

Mr. Hansen,
 
If you are not a Republican, you should not be declaring under oath at the courthouse to be one. To me that is dishonest. No one primary election is worth that. Tom Trail has not lost an election, and there is little chance he will lose the primary or the general election. And even if he did, he could run as a independent and would still win in the three way race. And even if his opponent still made it into office, there are two other county commissioners that would block most of his radical positions from being enacted. And he would be voted out of office in short order.
 
I remember in the 1990s, while living in Hayden, a number of us Democrats thought to go vote for this nut job, Ron Rankin, for county commissioner so he would get the Republican nomination and be easily beaten in the general election. As it turned out, we did get him over the top for the Republican nomination. It made the Republicans mad when they found out Democrats were meddling in their primary, and they voted for him in record numbers in the general and we were stuck with a radical for eight years as county commissioner. 
 
Your registering as a Republican when you are not is going to upset the Republicans that you are crashing their party and they may react in force by making doubly sure to vote for the guy you don't want. I know I would do that if Republican were crashing a Democratic Primary to get the most conservative or most easily beatable candidate to get the nomination. 
 
We need more honesty in politics, not less. If you don't see that, well, we just disagree on that principle that honesty is the best policy. I responded to your proclamation publicly, not privately, because you made it publicly, as you are to me now. As far as my sense of humor goes, that is like beauty, subjective to each person, to some I am funny, to some I am an idiot, and others don't even realize when I am joking. That is just the way humor works I guess. I like humor to make people think, because thinking is in short supply and badly needed, obviously. 
 
Donovan Arnold

From: Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com>
To: Moscow Vision 2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com> 
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2012 9:11 AM
Subject: [Vision2020] A Consideration . . .

On Thursday (April 26th) Donovan Arnold "jokingly" suggested, at nobody's expense but my own:

"Mr. Hansen,

By registering as an Idaho Republican you are being deceitful to others, dishonest in your true convictions as a person, and you greatly undermined your personal integrity; An important first step in becoming a true Idaho Republican."

The reason I registered to vote in this year's primary election was NOT to deceive!!!  My intentions are honorable and community-oriented.

For those of you with short attention spans (Donovan Arnold and Vera White), my reason for registering as a Republican were strongly suggested in an earlier posting to Vision2020:

http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/2012-April/082577.html

If your intent was to ridicule the Republican Party, a short off-list comment addressed to me would have been appropriate.  That's what big boys and girls would do.

I, and my wife, have registered to vote in the May 15th primary election as Republicans to vote for Tom Trail.  The alternative is just, plain scary.

If you find humor in that, your minds are shallower than previously considered.

With that said . . .

My conscience rests.

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"If not us, who?
If not now, when?"

- Unknown



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