On April 1, 2024, Travis Stolley responded to the attacks made on him via a series of Facebook posts. Stolley said in the post that if you wanna know the truth, meet me at Mugsy’s on April 18th between 6 and 8 PM. “Meet the Candidate. Ask Questions. Drink Beer.”
Here’s my take on this.
Travis Stolley from his Campaign Facebook page
First, this post was put on Facebook on April Fool’s Day. Is it real?
Assuming that it is, this is too little, too late in my opinion. Travis will wait to respond until April 18th and then only privately. By that time, the story will have been circulating for about a month on the Internet with no rebuttal. This was done publicly, and the response should also be publicly, not privately to a bunch of folks that were not involved.
The post from Stolley reads in part:
I will not go into any more specifics of the incident being talked about on social media other than to say this.
I tried to respect the privacy of those involved when initially asked about this incident last fall and I will continue to do so now.
I am far from a perfect person or candidate, but I will always do what I believe is the right thing. I know I did the right thing in this situation given the facts and information available at the time.
Translation: I have no comment. I did the right thing.
Conclusion: what you read online is true, but I deny that I violated the law or procedure by what I did while in uniform. Oh, and if I had to do it over, I’d do the same thing.
This type of non-answer sounds suspiciously like something you might get told to say by a sympathetic lawyer wanting you to deflect without self-incrimination.
The other thing you should know is that his date at Mugsy’s (a local restaurant and watering hole) is that it directly conflicts with the candidate forum at the same date and time. This forum is for all state constitutional offices up for grabs on the May 21st Primary ballot. The most hotly contested of these races is state Senate.
Oh, my wife has been checking up on the candidates in her travels through the area. The story she gets is that Stolley is the favorite of some of the local power brokers. Stolley’s family apparently goes way back in the community. He is the choice of the good ole boys in the county. My wife was told that due to his family connections with the area that Stolley is the odds-on favorite to win with virtually no experience. The good ole boys want Stolley because they think they can control him. This belief works out like this: due to his inexperience he will need to heavily depend on their aid to be an effective sheriff.
(Note for California readers: good ole boys, and most everyone else here, have facial hair, drive four wheel drive pickups, and wear Carhartt clothing, baseball caps, and open carry pistols.)
Oh, Dave Schuman got a positive plug. My wife was told that Dave will answer the phone if you call him for help and is an asset to the community. Schuman is described as a genuinely nice guy.
My sense that both represent the status quo and “do no harm” seems to be holding up.
In gatherings where I have met the candidates, all three seem like decent folks. I would be happy to have any one of them over for a BBQ meal—if I had a barbecue. Nevertheless, I have decided to support Jon VanGesen.
Hi. Just a brief update on the race. Two bombs were thrown over the last week. The two candidates claiming the mantle of “I’m from here, vote for me” are both mortally wounded. Jon VanGesen looks saintly compared to the homeboys from Bonners Ferry.
Travis Stolley was hit with a report that he covered up a child pornography case in a local school. Two minors that were 13 years old at the time were involved plus one adult male from out of state. If I understand the story correctly, one of these girls was sending photos of the other girl’s private parts to a person believed to be an adult male live elsewhere. Stolley filed no police report and made the evidence disappear. This was last year. FYI Stolley is no longer in law enforcement but wants to be sheriff. Recently, someone with insider knowledge of this incident began publicizing it on Facebook. As a result, someone else calling themselves the Boundary County Watchman, went public with the full story.
If the seriousness of the charges is your metric, this is grounds to disqualify the man for being in law enforcement.
Bomb #2 was a hit amidship on Dave Schuman. The Bonners Ferry Herald ran a story on the sheriff’s debate on March 28.
In it was this little nugget:
Schuman confirmed with the Herald he is on administrative leave pending an Idaho Police Investigation regarding police standards.
Last Thursday, a local group, The Panhandle Republican Women, hosted a debate featuring all three candidates for county sheriff. The event was held at the Bonners Ferry High School gym. It was literally a standing room only event. Interest in the contest is high and this event might be the only time all three participate in such a forum. In my travels over the last several months, I have had occasions to listen to all three men give public presentations.
In Idaho, the sheriff is a partisan office. (The current sheriff is retiring.) In our county no Democrats filed to run. Thus, the winner is the Republican with the most votes. There is no fifty percent plus one vote requirement here. Whoever wins on May 21st is the new sheriff.
For those of you outside of north Idaho, let me paint a brief description of each guy.
I will do this in the same order as the debate began, namely, alphabetically.
Dave Schuman
Dave Schuman. I can best describe Dave as reminiscent of Boss Hogg. Dave is your stereotypical career deputy (just shy of 30 years on the force) in small town America. A friend said they pictured his leadership style as sitting in his office, with his feet on the desk while scarfing down a couple of donuts. He is the favorite of many old-timers here. He stands for the status quo. His motto seems to be “do no harm.”
Travis Stolley
Travis Stolley. Travis is a young fellow that grew up in the area. He spent time in the Marines and then joined the sheriff’s department. I like him and think he might make a good sheriff, just not this time.
Jon VanGesen
Jon VanGesen. Jon has the most experience of any of the candidates, but I think many view him as an outsider. He retired from a sheriff’s department in Washington state and then started working as a sheriff’ deputy for neighboring Bonner County. Jon lives in the southern part of the county near Naples. If elected, Jon wants to move the department forward and into being more proactive and professional. He wants to build a new jail and find ways to increase deputy’s pay. He represents change and modernization.
We arrived at the debate right at the 6 PM start time and parked far from the entrance of the gym. Once we entered the building, we milled around for a few minutes before deciding to look for seats on the far side of the place. Amazingly, not only did we find seats but the guy next to us turned out to be the pastor of the local church where we worship.
As the debate started, I took photos of each guy. It was then that I noticed that each podium was different in size, shape, and color. Then I noticed that Schuman had a solid base on his podium, Stolley has legs on his podium, and VanGesen had wheels on his. After noticing this, I naturally wondered which one Buffalo Guy would choose to steal.
2024 Bonners County Sheriff debate
The debate was informative, cordial, and well run. Thankfully, there were no audio mishaps. The four microphones held up fine, which is not always the case when using wireless devices. The moderators tried to rotate the questions, so each candidate had opportunities to be the first to answer questions. At the end, each guy was given two questions specifically targeted at them.
Here are my notes as to each question. (I list only what I felt was the meat of each question).
1 This question was about the difference in line officer vs administrator.
2 If something like Covid happens again, would you obey the mandate or obey the Constitution?
3 How have you saved money or brought it into the department?
4 If elected, what would be your management style?
5 Child safety and protection
6 Are drugs a problem in the county?
7 What is your experience in grants and grant writing?
8 Second Amendment topic, if ordered, would you be willing to go door-to-door and confiscate weapons?
9 Ruby Ridge—what would you have done?
10 What is your experience working with other agencies?
11 Do we need a new jail? If so, remodel or replace? How would you fund it?
12 What would you do if Biden or his minions dumped a bus of illegals in our town?
13 Mental health issues, what can you do?
14 Concerns a case known as “baby Cyrus”. It involves police removing a child from his home. This was recently part of a court case. (Note: This question was VanGesen’s worst and most mediocre answer of the night.)
15 Concerned a shutdown order and would they obey it?
Individual questions
Schuman
1 Asked about advancement. His reply was that’s why I’m running.
2 Citizen involvement
Stolley
You only have 8 years of law enforcement experience, why should we vote for you?
How does being raised here make you a better sheriff?
VanGesen
1 You’re from the big city, how does that experience help you here?
2 As a deputy in Washington state, why was there a suit against you for excessive force. Answer, suit was not brought until 3 years after the alleged event, and it strangely coincided with rise of BLM riots in the Seattle area. No wrongdoing found by investigators, no merit. The insurance company wanted it to go away and wrote a check—this happened after I retired.
Differences
In my mind, VanGesen won almost every question. I think he scored the best on the Ruby Ridge question. He quoted Sarah Weaver and got to the heart of the issue.
Schuman said that the previous sheriff used to take all new deputies to walk the property and talk about what happened. This was one of his most detailed answers all night.
Stolley was lost on this one, which is somewhat understandable since he wasn’t on the planet when it happened.
On the mandate vs Constitution question, Stolley and VanGesen said they would go with the Constitution, Schuman stumbled a little bit on this and finally stated he took an oath to uphold the Constitution and then dismissed the idea that Constitutional conflict could happen.
On grants, VanGesen nailed it, and the others were clearly lost trying to come up with an answer.
On the new jail, Schuman commented that when he was hired in the late 1990’s it was in disrepair and hasn’t gotten any better. He did not seem to have any detailed knowledge of the new jail proposal.
I have a few other thoughts on the debate. All questions were submitted in advance by the public with the possible exception of the individual ones at the end. I know that public speaking is not everyone’s best skill. Also, I concede that there is a bit of a beauty contest aspect to such a spectacle, but on the other hand, any election is a bit like that or a job interview if you will.
Conclusion
We entered the debate unsure of who to support and left with a VanGesen yard sign. On our way out of the gym, we saw our pastor, walking out the door with the middle podium tucked under his arm. I didn’t see that one coming.
Democrats are livid that their Sacrament of Abortion suffered a major setback when Roe v Wade was undone by the Supreme Court. This threw the issue back to the states. Each state has different laws on the subject. Some like California have enshrined not only abortion but infanticide as the law of the land while others have essentially eliminated the abominable practice all together.
Donald Trump is responsible for putting justices on the Court that had the principles to do the right thing. Now, Trump is trying a dangerous gambit that has little upside. He again, and I say again because he floated some similar rhetoric many months ago, is trying to get a national agreement on abortion limitations. We just got the issue sent back to the states and now Trump wants it Federalized via Congressional action. Whiskey Tango Orange Man?
Trump wants four things in the federal abortion law, a limit to 16 weeks (which we concede is a major improvement on California, New York, and many other states) and he wants the exception clause of rape, incest, and life of the mother.
First, why does Trump expect candidates for Constitutional office–the House and Senate–to take campaign positions on a clearly state issue? If the Supreme Court couldn’t find abortion in the Constitution, then why should Congress claim they have the power to add it unilaterally?
Second, at 16 weeks, all we are doing is trying to reinstate abortion as a form of birth control. Less than one percent of abortions when it was legal under Roe were for such situations as rape, incest, or life of the mother. The few have always been the grounds for slaughtering the many.
If Trump is simply trying to illustrate that Democrats are hellbent on abortion being legal everywhere, for all nine months of pregnancy, and daring them to defend this extreme position, maybe he makes a political point, but I see weak-kneed Republicans as terrified that Roe is gone. Like many other issues in politics, it was safe to fundraise on an issue that they have never been willing to correct via the legislative process. Repeal and replace Obamacare being the other example on the Republican side of the ledger, immigration on the Democrat side. As stated before, politicians would rather campaign on an issue than actually try to fix it.
Oh, 16 weeks is on the edge of viability under current medical knowledge and about the time folks begin noticing the “baby bump” on pregnant women.
When Roe was legal, Planned Parenthood would never report cases of rape and incest to law enforcement so what makes you think they will now? They will just call it that in order to kill the baby, but no police reports will be generated. They will hide behind HIPAA, and other privacy laws and it will be back to business as usual.
Molach god of child sacrifice
The only potentially moral reason for abortion is an argument of self-defense in the rare case of the mother’s life being balanced with her child’s. The reality is that the life of the mother is the only time a decision is made between a woman and her doctor.
Trump is wrong to float this idea even if it is just to flush-out the extreme views of the Democrats. Abortion is wrong be it 16 hours, weeks, or in the case of California 16 months. Abortion is wrong in cases or rape and incest. Better to punish the offenders and place the baby up for adoption if mom can’t care for the child.
Lastly, Trump just galls me when he uses the Disney lie of following your heart when dealing with abortion.
But I tell people, No. 1, you have to go with your heart. You have to go with your heart.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? — Jeremiah 17:9
Sorry Donald but you can’t be a child of God and offer your children to Moloch. Furthermore, asking God to Bless America when we serve other gods is using God’s name in vain. Abortion is a violation of several of the Ten Commandments in one act. Any nation supporting such abominations is on the chopping block of divine judgement.
Thoughts? Well, we will still be counting ballots until 4/12 or so due to our ridiculous primary and general election rules that allow mail in ballots to be accepted and counted up to a week after election day!
However, most races have been essentially “called” and I want to provide some commentary on the results and where things could head in The General out here.
The Senate Race: Beware to all who think a “top two” primary is a smart idea. In this republic the top two vote getters regardless of party affiliation advance to the general. This is blatantly unconstitutional in my understanding of the laws here, but the Democrats love it, and the GOP figures it must be good since they refuse to challenge the legality of it. You in essence had 5 “major” candidates. Republican former LA Dodger baseball player Steve Garvey, and republican perennial candidate Eric Early. I swear to all forms of God, I have seen Early on my ballot no less than 4 election cycles now for some office. The Democrats had 3 major candidates, all congressmen. Adam Schiff from LA, Katie Porter from Orange, and Barbara Lee from Oakland. I listed the 3 in order of sanity from most sane to least. Or, if you are a Republican operative, who I would vote for in a “top two” of just Democrats. I understand Schiff led the impeachment of Trump but compare his voting record to Porter and Lee and he looks like a watered-down Democrat, but I digress.
Garvey and Schiff advanced to the runoff comfortably, and both played the election correctly. Garvey has some name ID from his time as a baseball player down south, this is huge in a state like California. Schiff had a national profile and decided he would “take Garvey with him” to the general.
Porter had a similar strategy it involved Eric Early. Barbara Lee is likely still ranting about her $50 an hour wage minimum wage to an auditorium of no one except friends and family; so I will not include her in my analysis. Schiff comes from Hollywood-Burbank LA, it’s a wealthy, mostly white part of the most populous county in California, so he had a massive built in advantage in name ID. Porter from a similar demographic in neighboring Orange, but a much smaller voter universe. My point is, let’s say Porter and Schiff made the runoff. Porter is far more popular with the far left than Schiff, and as a result it’s a risk Schiff couldn’t take. Schiff knows that a top two in November with a hated Donald Trump on the ticket will drive up the far left’s numbers and likely give the race to Porter, so he helped Garvey.
Here is 1 of 2 glossies Schiff sent me, in essence propping up Garvey.
Since Schiff helped secure a top two finish from Garvey, he is a “shoo-in” to win the general. Garvey also played this right, he raised 2 million (a sum that is very small, not even congressional campaign worthy) and spent about 0 since Schiff was propping his up. Why spend money when your likely opponent will do it for you?
Katie Porter went completely unhinged after losing, so much so Troll has a blog in the chamber.
Big picture this is a good thing for Republicans in November. We are defending a lot of marginal GOP seats, Trump will be a drag on the ticket, the absence of a Republican for Senate will destroy the ticket. Garvey will get around 38% or so in my estimation, maybe closer to 41. My point? The extra turnout he draws will likely be from the LA area where we are defending the vulnerable House seats. The extra several thousand votes could very well mean we keep a congressional majority.
Another thing worth watching, we had but 1 statewide proposition on the ballot it dealt with a bond for several billion for mental health treatment. Out here we allow the mentally insane to roam the streets, even dodge traffic and can do nothing sense they aren’t technically breaking a law. The proposition which Gavin Newsom campaigned for, and I believe raised over 13 million is barely passing. 50.3% to 49.7%. Yup you read that right, still a pant load of ballots to count and anything can happen, but this may be finally a sign of Californians wising up. We have spent trillions out here on various grifts like homelessness and affordable housing, none has worked. We know have Democrat mayors and legislators trying to change prop 47 aka the “shoplift ‘til you drop law” to jail serial shoplifters. These things happen when you start losing the narrative. A Garvey win in November? No chance, but he could set the wheels in motion of a turn around. That proposition damn near losing when all signs point to Republicans voting late like usual could mean it fails. A big blow to Newsom and the political elite out here.
(Please don’t take my above comments on Newsom as implying that I think the seventh recall attempt against Gavin has a snowball’s chance in hell of happening.)
A word on Trump if I may.
He is now the inevitable nominee. It has been written how the bloggers here have soured on him. He will be getting our votes in November, but with a jaundiced eye. He is putting a family relative in a high-ranking post at the RNC who has been open about using the cash to pay Trump’s legal bills. The RNC has not raised much cash at all compared to prior cycles; we are late in the cycle right now. The cash will be needed in swing states for get out the vote operations. We also have a slim majority in congress, and a chance to pick up seats in the senate, but with Trump who the heck knows. I foresee a Trump presidency but a Democrat-controlled congress. Trump will get nothing, and likely be impeached another 2-5 times just because.
CRA motivational flyer as seen at Stop Trump call center
Trump is also scaring me on the campaign trail. His remarks about the judge in New York, the DA in Atlanta, and the various Democrats he doesn’t like come off as dictator-like. Frankly he comes off as a jilted former lover and having an axe to grind, but in this case the axe could very well be the DOJ and IRS, two very scary agencies to be up against. His threats to leave NATO are somewhat scary. Joe Biden may come off as a senile old man, but man Trump comes off as an unhinged whacko at times. The debates could be legendary (if they are allowed) Joe could well wonder off, or fall asleep, while Trump could spontaneously combust.
Wow! How ‘bout Steve Garvey? This guy is going to ride his Major League Baseball record into the General Election as a U.S. Senate candidate. Four years ago, Joe Biden hid in his basement while running for President and Garvey seems to have adopted a similar strategy by hiding in the dugout until the game was over. I guess he just hid while the three Democrats destroyed each other in the Primary. What a political rope-a-dope. Unlike the guy that “floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee”, I doubt Garvey will assert that he is the greatest. More likely he will promise to “do no harm.” In California politics that might be change enough.
A small army of “protest” voters was on an uphill mission on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) to stop Donald Trump from trouncing Nikki Haley in the Republican primaries.
But the voters were Democrats, rather than Republicans, who were crossing party lines in a desperate and ultimately doomed attempt to halt the former president’s domination of the Super Tuesday primary contests held across the country.
Here’s yet another story.
Swamp Queen on her 2018 tour in India
But in Vermont, according to unofficial results released by the Secretary of State’s Office, Haley bested Trump 49.3% to 45.1%. (Her only other victory came Sunday in the District of Columbia.)
The secret to Haley’s success in the Green Mountains appears to have been people like Marley Beers — a Winooski independent who typically votes for Democrats and expects to back President Joe Biden in November. On Tuesday, she requested a Republican ballot and voted for Haley.
“I don’t really want Trump to have a very easy path in getting the Republican nomination,” Beers explained.
The role of crossover voters — in this case, independents and Democrats who chose to take part in the Republican primary — was “huge, huge, huge, huge,” according to Rep. Ashley Bartley, R-Fairfax, a co-chair and leading organizer of Haley’s Vermont campaign.
Republican Gov. Phil Scott, Haley’s most prominent supporter in the state, agrees.
“Without the independents in particular coming in and grabbing a Republican ballot, it wouldn’t have happened,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “I don’t know how many Democrats, but I’m sure there were some — more of an anti-Trump vote.”
Folks this is so sad. The Swamp Queen is a legend in her own mind. (She is the Swamp Queen for winning the primary in Washington D.C. on Sunday.)I guess when you’re desperate and it’s closing time, you will go with whoever says a few nice things about you even when you know it’s just a one-night stand. Don’t know about the rest of you but I lost respect for her long before closing time. Being drunk with the illusion of power is not becoming of anyone; especially someone claiming to be a lady and wanting to be treated as one.
The Orange Man is the nominee now. If the Democrats had left Trump alone once he left office, then the Florida Governor would be the Republican candidate to beat. Guess he will be “on deck” for the next four years. Trump keeps teasing his VP choice, but I hope he keeps that under wraps until summer.
My only concern is whether Trump will be as conservative as he was in his first term… at least up until Covid. Hope so. He’s the only choice I can vote for in November.
Lastly, I wonder who the Democrats will really have on the ballot in November. You can bet your sweet bippy that the focus groups are actively searching to see if they can find a competitive alternative to Sleepy Joe. Meanwhile, the word has gone out to “start the steal” for 2024.
Today I will be participating in my first political caucus. At 11 AM today, registered Republicans across the state will gather at designated places to cast their ballot for President. Unlike California, voters must be registered by December 31st of 2023 and provide a government issued photo I.D. to be allowed into the building. Once admitted, we can cast a ballot. There is no same day registration or crossover nonsense like other states. Non-Republicans or folks residing in other counties are not permitted to enter.
Lines to enter Caucus
Electioneering is allowed by voters but not caucus officials. Also, candidates can have booths in the building, but candidates are not allowed into the venue unless they happen to be in their home county. Booths can be manned only by people living within the county that are also registered Republicans. They must pay for any booth and the money is used to offset the cost of the caucus; namely, advertising.
Per the local County Party, there will be six names on the ballot since that is the number that qualified for the ballot. (As in other states, suspending your campaign, resigning, or other means of exiting the primary battlefield do not remove anyone’s name from the ballot once the filing deadline has passed.) Given the current field, I think Trump will win handily but will it be with a 41 percent margin as it was in Michigan? We will see.
Check-in table–photo ID required
The doors close at 12:30 PM (half past noon for those readers from Rio Linda). Whether we can vote and go or must wait until 12:30 to mark a ballot is a bit murky. Once you turn in a ballot, your hand will be marked to prevent a second vote from occurring. (The jury is out on whether we will be marking the righthand or forehead of diehard Trump supporters.)
Red ink admission stamp
Ballot watching is encouraged, and ballots will be counted on the spot once voting is complete. Each county will send their results to the Party HQ in Boise and the state’s votes will be tallied. If anyone gets over 50 percent, then my understanding is that they will be awarded all the state’s delegates.
I’m not sure if this process will be a smooth one or a cluster you-know-what. I do know that the promised caucus notifications were never mailed to all registered Republicans. Many we unsure what to do or where and as a result this may reduce participation. I don’t know if this is just a local system failure or a statewide phenomenon.
Oh, the weather today is snowy. We have had about 4 inches since sunrise and it’s still coming down.
I plan to provide an update after I return from voting.
After
Here’s a summary of what I learned/observed.
The school gym was chosen because it has the largest crowd capacity of any building in the county. It could accommodate more than ten percent of the registered Republicans in the county which apparently was a criteria for building selection.
Candidate booth inside caucus
Since we didn’t get the Party mailer about the caucus, my wife and I had to try harder to figure out which table to go to in order to check in (each table was a different precinct.) We signed the ledger and received a red stamp on our hand. This allowed us to get past the guard at the door and enter the gymnasium.
Inside the gym there were tables for various candidates and in many cases the candidate himself was at their respective booth. On the far side of the building were the voting booths. I found out when trying to vote—which happened later—that the voting booths were literally made of cardboard. It was a flimsy platform for a political spectacle but somehow appropriate. Oh, said booths were borrowed from the county elections office.
Another candidate booth
Shortly after noon, the program which culminated in voting, began. The event started with an invocation. Next was the Pledge of Allegiance. Following the Pledge, there was a pause as one guy left the podium, and another took his place. During this pause, a portion of the crowd began singing the National Anthem. After about 15 seconds, the rest of those in attendance began to sing as well. It was clear that this was not part of the official program but was graciously received by the event’s hosts.
cardboard voting booths
Next were some obligatory instructions as to the process. These were followed by the ceremonial showing of a ballot box that was open for all to see—think something like a product exhibition on a tv gameshow like Let’s Make a Deal or the Price is Right—the purpose was to prove it was empty. Once this was completed, the box was shut and locked. Two people were selected to guard and count the ballots. Attendees were given an opportunity to object, but no one did. Oh, per state party instructions, the ballot box was filmed for the entire voting period to have a record that no tampering occurred. This pageantry was a not-so-subtle slam on the Democrat practice of stuffing ballot boxes. Vote ID and chain of custody for the ballots were clearly an emphasis of the event.
Yet another candidate booth photo
Two women passed out ballots and stamped the hands of each person that was given a ballot. This second stamp was black. Again, a clear effort is being made to keep folks honest.
Invocation begins the caucus
People were told that they could remain and observe the ballot counting. Official caucus observers representing candidates were introduced. At my caucus, only Donald Trump has an official observer.
With the preliminaries out of the way, it was time to vote. Well sort of. You see, each candidate was allowed a five-minute video to plug their campaign. These were supposed to be shown first but the videos actually started as ballots were being handed out. People in line to vote had their backs to the videos which were projected on the gym wall opposite where the voting was taking place. People in line literally had to look over their shoulders to see the video. Trump’s video was first. Its conclusion was greeted with applause. Then Nikki Haley’s video started. It was greeting with a chorus of boos and catcalls.
My ballot before marking my choice for 2024
I took a quick photo of my blank ballot, filled it out and then dropped it in the box.
photo showing both hand stamps
Outcome
Here are the results of the caucus in my county.
Donald Trump 90.8 percent Nikki Haley 7.7 percent
Raw data Trump 462 votes Haley 39 votes Ramaswamy 3 votes DeSantis 3 votes Binkley 1 votes Undervotes 0 votes
Total votes Cast 509
Turnout was about ten percent
All other offices will be voted upon in the May primary.
Note: per Politico, with 67.4 percent reporting statewide, Idaho has gone for Trump 84.6 percent to Haley at 13.5 percent.
Ah, the People’s Democratic Republic of California was exposed again last night. You may remember a blog done here a few months ago about the $20 an hour minimum wage for fast food workers? You may also recall how we thought it was odd Panera Bread was excluded since “they bake bread on site that can be sold for sale?” Yep, the truth came out last night.
Bloomberg reported that the exemption is the result of the governor’s relationship with billionaire and Panera franchisee Greg Flynn, who was initially a major opponent of the bill. Multiple sources told KCRA 3 that the governor pushed for the exemption in the late stages of the bill’s negotiation in 2022 with Flynn’s influence.
Yes, fellow sheep living in this Republic, Flynn is a billionaire who owns quite a few Panera Bread stores in California. Flynn was able to get his way, and it didn’t really cost him that much….
According to state campaign finance data, Flynn donated $100,000 to Newsom’s campaign against the 2021 recall and $64,800 to his reelection campaign in 2022. He told Bloomberg he did not play a role in crafting the exemption. He did not respond to KCRA 3’s request for comment Wednesday night.
I can understand why he wasn’t answering his calls that night.
At least the loyal opposition weighed in on the issue….
The California Assembly’s Republican Minority Leader James Gallagher called for an investigation Wednesday night. “Can any franchisee get an exemption from the $20 minimum wage law or do they need to donate more than $150k to Newsom first? This crooked deal needs to be investigated,” Gallagher said.
I wonder what will take longer folks, Troll getting Hope Hick’s phone number, or Gavin addressing this “leader” of a few folks in the opposition party. There will be no investigation, trust me on this one. Gavin will go on TV and try to explain this away, and his friends in the state-run media will talk it into existence…just wait.
Oh wait….
“This legislation was the result of countless hours of negotiations with dozens of stakeholders over two years,” said Newsom’s office spokesman Alex Stack in a statement on Wednesday. “Staff in the Governor’s Office met with dozens of business owners as well as union representatives, as is expected when policies of this consequence are moving through the Legislature.”
Alex Stack is this jabronis name? What an adorable last name…. Stack. Would be even funnier if he had a Ph.D. However, I wouldn’t refer to it as a doctorate, I would refer to it as…Piling it High and Deep.
The article also quoted this nugget from the two “leaders” of the Democrat Party in the Capital.
KCRA 3 reached out to the offices of Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas and Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire for comment on Wednesday night. Neither responded.
The understanding I have is Rivas needs his staff to make up que cards on sturdy card stock, and McGuire was looking over blueprints for the “non-binary” bathrooms being constructed in the Capital renovation. Both have an acute fear of being “spayed and neutered” by Newsom and his staff I have been told.
Again, this goes back to when Newsom signed this trash into law…but no one asked the tough questions then, and they still aren’t now.
When Newsom finally signed the agreement into law in 2023 at a news conference in Los Angeles, KCRA 3 asked why the exemption was there in the first place and why Panera and other bakery counter service restaurant workers won’t have the same protections.
“That’s a part of the sausage making,” Newsom replied. “We went back and forth, and that was part of the negotiation, that’s the nature of negotiation. It’s not just Jack in the Box, it’s not just McDonald’s, there are a lot of different players, and this affects a lot of different franchises and different models as it relates to that and different conditions and environments. That was all part of the give and take and that was the collective wisdom of the Legislature and ultimately led to my signature.”
Final thoughts:
Folks if you live outside California and are wondering why there is no outrage, the reason is 90% of the voters here are low information voter types. They like being told what to do, and how to think. Google Gavin Newsom and Plump Jack Winery, or Gavin Newsom and French Laundry Restaurant. This fool lived the way he wanted too while destroying the lives of his own citizens during Covid. A governor in any reasonable thinking state would have been recalled…. but the sheep love this guy. I actually saw a vehicle this AM on my way to work, no one in the vehicle except the driver, driver was wearing a mask. She had a bumper sticker on her car saying something to the effect of “Thanks for keeping us safe from Covid Gavin!” Yep. The plandemic is long over yet these folks still are masked up. You even see folks walking in the public parks wearing masks…. again with no one around them! These are far more common than uncommon. The socially awkward introvert I know still refuses to touch the door know with his hands…. while still going to a casino. He claims to be a card-carrying conservative…. yep.
This is why the national media is pushing Gavin to replace Joe. Gavin has a very large personality disorder; he is a complete narcissist. He will quite literally lie through his teeth about any issue and have his state-run media friends speak it into reality. When he messes up it’s a mistake…likely by someone else…at French Laundry restaurant he blamed a staffer for leaking the photos. The deficit? Well, it’s not nearly as bad. Go watch the Newsom vs DeSantis debate…. Gavin literally lied the entire time, but he has said it so many times he believes it to be the truth.
The Chief
The bottom line, these political types are always looking after their donors. Get ready for your Big Mac, fries, and coke to run about $22.99. Good thing you can go to Panera and get a meal cheaper…because politics.
Oh, one last line from Gavin’s donor buddy about the state of his business…
“Our margins, our profits have gone down from 9% to 3.5%,” Flynn told KCRA 3 in an interview in 2022. “We’re barely hanging on. And when I think about the creation of a state council that is designed specifically to add more costs, I don’t know if we can make it.”
Yup, he can’t make money at $20 an hour for staff…but I guess other fast-food places can? I thought Democrats were the ones who took care of poor people? Fast food is likely the only choice for most of that demographic….I doubt this will be helping them much.
Barbara Lee, a current congressman from the New Orleans part of California (Oakland), is running for U.S. Senate. Barbara Lee is someone I do have a slight amount of respect for as she was the only member to vote against using force to invade Iraq after the 9/11 attacks. That is where my respect for her stops.
Lee is a total kook and is always good for a few completely wild ideas. Her latest is $50 an hour minimum wage. To her defense, she did cite most parts of California, specifically the Bay Area, is not considered affordable unless the combined household income is about $150k a year. She is not wrong, due to the tech companies that were hiring there, it did make that area drastically unaffordable. Increasing the minimum wage however will not change this, as resulting prices go up in proportion to the wage increase. Recently McDonalds went viral because a burger, fries and coke resulted in a $18 ticket for lunch! A radio show I listen to in the AM stated hash browns at McDonalds are running $3…. for a stupid potato cake patty! Trust me, at $50 an hour that meal will run about $32, and hash brown will run about $7. Things do not get cheaper when wages go up, the business just makes a choice; reduce quality, reduce employees, or raise prices. There is a limit to how much money can be saved, and a limit to how much labor can be eliminated, price is the hardest, at what point does fast food (a cheap, quick meal) become unaffordable and not worth it anymore? I guess minimum wage starter jobs are no longer starter jobs, they are a career in the eyes of the political elite. This doesn’t fix any problem.
Alright Troll, get her!!!!!
Her qualifications for Senator are as follows: She attended Mills College; an all-girls college and has a degree from University of California Berkeley. The latter degree makes her always the smartest person to enter any room. Berkeley is held in the highest regard by people who protest things, live in trees, shut down freeways, burn buildings, riot, and support crime. Lee was also involved in the New Black Panther Party making her a solid choice and dually qualified for any political office in California! Like most running for office, they always tout their experience. Lee has served as a State Assemblyman from 1990-1996, and then moved to State Senate from 1996-1998. She ran to replace Ron Dellums, the congressman who was retiring to become Mayor of Oakland. Anyone who wants to be Mayor of Oakland needs to agree to donate their brain to science upon their death if not before, but I digress. Lee has proudly served the most dangerous part of California ever since 1998 and somehow it has gotten worse. This is literally a situation where the bar keeps getting set lower and lower to the point that I think the bar is buried underground yet still Oakland exceeds expectations! Career politicians are the worst type of people, and Lee could have been congressman from Oakland forever!
I look forward to Lee playing the race card when two white males, Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey make the top 2 run off. Thanks for playing Barbara. One does wonder how many extra votes Lee could have gotten if Oakland didn’t do their nightly purge of voters on a daily basis (murders). Lee will be finding out a valuable lesson, the dead do vote Democrat but only for the establishment types like Schiff.
Also, as a side note, In N Out Burger, who has never closed a location, will be closing their Oakland store due to heavy crime in the parking lot. Citing the safety of their customers and associates as the reason… damn Barbara, those $50 an hour jobs do no good when the store closes down!
Liberalism is a brain disease, and folks like Lee are the worst cases of it. There were a bunch of bumper stickers on cars when I was in college depicting “Barbara Lee Speaks for Me!” in regard to her politics. Let me wonder aloud, if your minimum wage job gets eliminated, does Barbara still speak for you? If California is too expensive you can always do what several hundred thousand have done recently and move! Or get a budget and cook at home? Who am I kidding? Credit card debt is at an all-time high. Wanna bet Lee will ask Biden to forgive credit card debt just like they did for student loans?
Chief & Troll
Here are photos of confirmed hottie and Troll favorite Carli Lloyd
I have a confession to make. Folks in North Idaho communicate with each other through Facebook. Yep, a few have their own websites, but my wife has proved to me that to keep up on activities here, you need a Facebook account.
I didn’t want to, but my local State Senator forced me into reconsidering. You see Mark Meckler, from the days of the Tea Party in California, has surfaced here in Idaho advocating for the Con-Con.
Mark Meckler
The Con-Con is a call for a Constitutional Convention. Yep, just what we need right now is to amend the U.S. Constitution. Meckler is naive enough to think that he can limit such a convention to call for a balanced budget requirement.
FYI Under the Articles of Confederation, they called for a Constitutional Convention and ended up restructuring the entire government. You see, there are zero limits on what delegates to such a gathering can do. Meckler thinks he can control the agenda. This is dumb. When have Republicans and/or Conservatives ever come out ahead when entering into a bi-partisan negotiation. Our guys typically get nothing; instead, they unilaterally surrender and then declare victory after giving away the candy store to the other side.
Meckler has much support in Idaho. The idea was voted out of committee this past week and is scheduled for a floor vote on Monday. Please understand that certain folks are trying to pull a fast one on this issue. I mean this literally. The bill was introduced in the legislature about ten days ago. Our local State Senator was soliciting constituent opinions on this issue but only via Facebook. In order to reply to the Senator, I had to do so via Facebook. As a result, I created an account.
In the aftermath of the Insurrection of January 6, 2021, when tens of thousands of unarmed people showed up in Washington to support President Trump and frightened Democrats because they feared that we will act like Black Lives Matter, I cancelled my Facebook account.
Going back many years later is a very different experience. Yes, some stuff has been moved around in their phone app, but much has also been wholly removed. Gone are political party names in profiles. Also, missing are any questions about religion. Also, gone is the bombardment of articles from liberal news outlets. Yep, stupid videos are still there but, on the surface, it is a seemingly less hostile and toxic environment than a few years ago. Oh, gone also are most of the younger generations. They seem to have moved on to Discord or TikTok.
The Facebook experience has many shortcomings. I told them that I had a wife and it showed that I had just been married the day I entered the information. They even prompted me for the wedding date, but my timeline shows that I got married a few days ago. It’s stupid. Clearly, Mr. Zuckerburg is milking this cow for money and not making the app better. It makes me wonder if they hired former management employees of Microsoft. Facebook as abandoned ware, who knew? (If you’re dumb enough to own their stock, sell now.)
Anyway, I’m back on Facebook. I think I’m up to five friends. I’m looking for quality over quantity. Concerning our blog staff, Troll please don’t send me a friend request, but the rest of the staff is welcome to look me up.
Oh, my State Senator is opposed to the Mark Meckler proposal.
