DennisMansfield.com

"They Never go Back to Pocatello"? - A tale of four US Senators: McClure, Kempthorne, Craig and Neuberger (who?)

The names of US Senators McClure, Craig and Kempthorne are well known. US Senator Richard Neuberger's name is not.

Senator Neuberger left the Senate in 1960 - a victim of cancer.

  Neuberger (center) penned many national articles and books throughout the pre and post-WWII period of time and served in Oregon's Legislature at the beginning of the war, resigning to serve in the Armed Forces. Upon his return to Oregon, he re-won his State Senate seat and his wife won a seat in the State House (making them the only husband-wife team to ever serve in a legislature together)

One book he authored is called "They Never Go Back to Pocatello". As an Oregonian, the title's strangely a bit Idaho-centered, isn't  it? (Maybe it just sounded rustic to his geography-challenged editors?)

His fundamental point of the semi-ancient piece was this:

Once, small state US Senators leave office, they stay in DC.

But do they?

The last two days have seen a flurry of articles on Jim Mcclure, due to his recent stroke, of Dirk Kempthorne, due to leaving the Interior Department and Larry Criag, due to retiring from the US Senate. All Idaho politicians, all Idaho Senators.

Jim McClure never left us. Our prayers go out to him and his family. He has always had the pulse of this state.

Dirk Kempthorne left us. He's now trying to see if he'll return to ID or stay in DC. Stay tuned. My call is he'll return to his adopted-state of ID, that he has repeatedly said he loves. It would be good to have him join McClure, Former Governors Andrus, Batt and Evans as they continued to help folks here at home.

Larry Craig has now announced a business in DC and ID, upon his departure from the Senate on January 2nd. I wish him well. Larry's always been a friend of mine. Even during the initial aftermath of his arrest, I was able to have a precious time of conversation with him in his Senate office (with our staff from New Hope).

DC? Pocatello? Boise? Seems like most Idaho boys (sans Steve Symms) come home.

The irony of Neuberger's article is that it finally took a pine box to bring him back to his "Pocatello" in Oregon. All the Idaho "pols" walked out on their own initiative...and the smart ones returned to Idaho....if not specifically to Pocatello.

Food for thought on how beautiful the Pacific Northwest is....and this state, in particular.

Den

Well, Dirk, what now?

Just saw the story on Dirk Kempthorne being replaced by Sen. Ken Salazar. As a free-market-place Republican this may well be Dirk's chance to join the workforce...anywhere. My call tho is it won't happen...unless lobbying is considered 'work'. No, the chances of the soon to be former Interior Sec returning to Idaho to start a company that actually produces a product or non-political service, would be rare indeed. We'd love to keep Pat K, as she is one of the only REAL people in the service of helping people. Anybody wanna place a bet on Dirk's new job? Den Sent by my iPhone

Must have pushed a button....Phil Batt as Lt. Governor?

My suggestion on Monday that Governor Butch Otter ought to consider former Governor Phil Batt as the next Lt. Governor seems to have made some folks think ...

Here's some other things to discuss and consider:

• Of those current short-list "candidates" for the possible appointment by Butch, how many will be able to actually stand as his "ticket mate" in '10?

• Does the Governor REALLY want a "ticket mate", for as surely as he promotes a wannabe, he'll be stuck with him...or risk looking like former Governor Kempthorne looked when he did NOT campaign for his college friend, Jack Riggs, and his appointee lost.

• Why thrust the state into a two year "candidacy" by Mr./Ms. New Guy when this state has serious governing stuff to do? Do any of us REALLY want an OJT kinda person at that level to start "learning" by campaigning? Goodness, Phil Batt was Lt. Governor for 4 years (1979-1983). He knows what to do.

• The state of Idaho just might prosper by bringing back the Harry Truman-esque qualities that former Governer Batt has to offer. The line is long with blow-dried newbies and wannabes, isn't it? A little gray, a little folksy, a little straight talk might just be what we need, both Democrats and Republicans...or how about just as Idahoans?

Call me crazy, but I think the suggestion merits further consideration by Idahoans and by Governor Otter.

Would Phil Batt take the position? He might if he saw how Idaho really needs some good common sense again in the State Senate, over which he would preside.

Den

An Obama, LaRocco, Minnick Idaho?

Ralph Nader's recent speech in Idaho was interesting. In it he commented that Idaho would go for McCain in a landslide.

Yet, I see public comments in blogs and in papers that the O-L-M Team is a sure thing...and that votes for any GOP opponent would be wasted and useless votes. Hmmmm

What does Nader know that smart, involved and clear thinking D's do not know ?

Hang down yer head, Tom Dewey....

Sarah Palin and Congressman Bill Sali: Faithful or Fools?

From time to time on this blog, I've moved in-between political discussion and issues of faith.

To some who visit the site, it's a wee bit uncomfortable. To others it's downright painful.

I certainly understand.

I've spent my life involved in a sort of tension between politics and faith...and the verdict's still not in.

Has it worked? To be honest, not fully. Like many, I've worshipped my work, worked at my play and I've played at my worship. Much of the time, it involved politics. A Jewish king from many centuries ago probably said it best: "It's all foolishness, like chasing after the wind."

Or is it? Why would a Bill Sali run for US Congress or a Sarah Palin run for VP? Ceratinly not to start fights, right?

The personal attacks against Bill Sali and Sarah Palin make me sad. They are made out to be idiots. Opponents mock them and treat them as fools. Yet, both have an intense faith in Christ.

Could it be that those who worship their "work" may be caught off-guard by the fact that neither Palin nor Sali NEED their titles to complete themselves. They simply don't care what the mockers think of them.

They love God and speak as if He's a part of their lives...because He is.

For those of you who don't "get" Palin or Sali, let me help you: they serve an audience of One. And you are not that "one". To those who are angered by that assessment, realize that though politics may mean EVERYTHING to you, people like Bill Sali and Sarah Palin could walk away from it tomorrow. They have a sure-fire faith in the God who creates. He's the object of their affections and the sounding board of their thoughts and policies. He is the reason they initially ran for office. He "created" an opportunity to serve others and represent Him.

And that competes with some folks' religion, doesn't it?

Probably not yours, but I bet you know someone who fits the bill, don't you?

Den

Couric + Palin interview? How about Pacino + Deniro interview?

The Katie Couric/Sarah Palin interview grows more tiresome with every new re-view.

I mean really....stop it, please.

Couric's TV 2-shots seem always to have her grimacing (artfully, I suppose). Or the b-roll shows her body awkwardly angled away from Palin...(Kinda like: "Get me the heck out of this blind date!") Sarah Palin was "taken to the movies", but boy did that little Katie leave her eating popcorn kernels, alone....

What a mis-casting, from the get-go.

Given that, I decided to hit the movies myself and see if there were any other co-star mis-casting in a current movie that could lead me out of the blues and purge my feelings against the widow-woman, Katie. No, not really, but I found some terrific co-casting.

I found it in A Righteous Kill.....and then I found somethig even better! I found the key(s) to unlock the painful mystery of the Curic-Palin pain-fest:

Robert Deniro and Al Pacino.

What?

Yeah, listen up.....they should have been interviewed by "Katie the Knife". Cause, they're the only ones who can get away with saying the "F-word" and not make it sound like they're swearing....(keep reading for the "script")

Associated Press reports: 777...the number of perfection?

For those of you who are students of numerology and eschatology, you may find it interesting (and somewhat depressing?) that the single biggest 1-day drop in the history happened today - Dow Jones stock dropped 777 points.

Now, I'm not a big "mystic-numbers guy", but ya gotta sit up and take notice, occasionally. Trust me, if the drop had been 666 points, the freak-show-on-parade would have marched down Wall Street AND Main Street. But what to make out of the "number of perfection", held in esteem by followers of the Hebrew and Christian GOD?

Hmm, set aside the shear volume of loss by investors and set aside the political blow-back on those who voted FOR the bail-out or AGAINST it- and just take a second to ask the question, "What is God doing?"

The question that might be better to ask, first, may be: What is God NOT doing? My guess is that He's NOT spanking America for greed and avarice, though we may deserve such a treatment in some people's minds.
He's also NOT forcing people to divest their wealth out of fear...'cause they are doing that themselves, highlighting His gift of "choice" in their lives.

Are we on the same page?

So, what is God doing? It seems to me that He's allowing people who have too great a concern for their inve$tment$ on Earth (conservatives and liberals in OR out of politics) to face the insecurity of the loss of their own wealth - by watching it slip away right in front of them. Many a man and woman will confront their own mortality tonight, knowing that they lost almost everything in one day. And when all a person has is God, that is often the time that all a person really needs is God.

Pain and suffering are our lot as a nation today and tonight...but joy comes in the morning.

May souls be saved even if fortunes are lost.

This may, in fact, be the most perfect day in the history of modern America...the day the financial markets bent their collective knee to the God who allows them AND the people who invest in them - to even exist. He's asking the perfect question: What are YOU doing with my son, Jesus Christ?

But that's just me.....

What do you think?
Den

So...what if Bill Sali's correct, Mike Simpson?

I've been thinking about the supposed tussle between Idaho's two Congressmen...

I suppose I've been noodling on this issue 'cause I was around both men for years back in the Legislature when both were Reps (one eventually became Speaker) - and the latest PR deal probably has a bit of that "feel" to it. (No, not the "I'm gonna throw you out the window" thing...but rather, the basic voting patterns of the two men.)

See, the Bigger-S and the Lesser-S have REALLY been at odds with each other for years. (Maybe the Lesser-S should have gone in for more teeth cleanings from the Bigger-S, I suppose...)

The recent hug-fest between them never really seemed to fit, to me. The HUGE issue of the billion dollar bail-out has just accentuated the rift/difference/earthquake between them.

How cool is that?

Just think for a second...Sali stands up and says the bail-out is flawed...and that it does NOT match the philosophy of the GOP. Simpson says "spend it, baby."

What if Bill Sali's right?

Are we stuck as a state with two opposing votes? Yep...and, we REALLY get to see what these two fellows believe....so could there be 700 billion reasons for one of those congressman to come back home to Idaho? (And maybe start cleaning teeth again?)   I don't know...you tell em.

Den

36 years later: McGovern-Biden?

Not sure if you remember my posting that Senator Obama's incredibly poor decision to choose Senator Joe Biden could ultimately come to be seen as the equivalent of Senator George McGovern's equally incredibly poor choice of Senator Thomas Eagleton, as his running mate in 1972. What, no McGovern-Eagleton '72 buttons and signs?

Probably because there are none - at least none that can be found. Eagleton was replaced by Kennedy-esque R. Sargent Shriver, just weeks after the Democrat Convention. By the way...they lost.

So, read the following piece from DC that was circulated all across the US just minutes ago. Gary Bauer's reach is amazing....he's skeptical that it could/would happen. I am not.

Remember, www.Dennismansfield.com was the first blog in America that connected the Palin-TR comparisons.

Den

Bye, Bye Biden?

I’ve been getting a lot of messages lately about the rumor that Obama will drop Biden from the ticket next month and replace him with Hillary in an “October surprise” intended to offset the gains Senator McCain has made with his selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate. I am skeptical about Hillary being on the ballot in November.

• It would undermine Obama yet again on the key issue of experience and decisive leadership. We choose presidents to make tough decisions. You can’t vote “present” or change your mind on major decisions, like who should be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.
• It would severely undermine Obama’s “change” mantra if a Clinton were on the ballot. Hillary is not forward-looking change, but a look to the past. Obama would be running for Bill Clinton’s third term.
• Obama rarely admits he’s wrong or has made a mistake, and I don’t think he is capable of admitting that the selection of Biden – rather than Hillary – was the wrong choice. And what would that ultimately say about his candidacy if he has to admit that he is not strong enough to win without her?
• Hillary comes with a lot of baggage, not the least of which is Bill, who recently said that Hillary wasn’t interested in being Obama’s running mate. I doubt those hard feelings have softened much since Obama so publicly dissed her by not even considering her for vice president.
• It could actually backfire, further energizing conservatives to vote and turning Independents against Obama, many of whom never really liked Hillary. During the primaries, many polls consistently showed that Hillary was very unpopular with Independent voters.
• Lastly, Hillary might not even accept. If Obama gets that desperate, there would still be a good chance he might lose anyway. It would be easier for Hillary to run in four years with the theme “I told you so” if she is not part of the losing ticket this time around.

Of course, with the Clintons, you “never say never,” and Biden is certainly doing his best to make the idea more attractive every day. From calling Obama campaign commercials “terrible” to taking contradictory stands on clean coal, Biden is living up to his reputation for having “foot-in-mouth” disease.

By the way, if John McCain had said, as Joe Biden recently did, that President Roosevelt went on the TV after the market crash in 1929, we’d be getting non-stop stories about the onset of senility and how unfit he is. (Roosevelt wasn’t president in 1929 and the television was still in the experimental stage.)

Christ supports Sarah Palin

Hmmm...interesting title, I might say.

So is it true? Well...yes and no....wait a minute....you think I 'm talking about ....wait another minute...no, no that's not what I'm saying. Ok, I got it. You think I'm a religious right-wing-nut, don't you?

No, I'm talking about Christ...Troupis, candidate for State Senate. (Sorry for the bait and switch...tee hee). Christ (pronounced like twist) won a tight GOP race in May by only 21 votes and is now running for the State Senate seat in November. He spoke tonight supporting Sarah Palin's amazing impact on the GOP base...even in Idaho's strongly RED state...where things tend to  happen as if on GOP auto-pilot (my quote not his...)

We had a dessert/coffee at our house for him on Thursday night and had a great cross section of people there. We had teachers - public and private, a private school principal, a newly-minted mom, a financial professional and a WHOLE lot of conversation by businessmen and their wives. it was an nice intimate evening of tough issues and discussion. Troupis is a straight arrow guy. You may not agree with him, but he KNOWS his stuff...not like my State Senator...John Andreason... (but, then that's a story from another posting...tee hee)

Christ supports: 1.Protecting Idaho jobs by supporting Butch Otter's plan to increase exports and diversify our economy. 2. Improving our schools by improving teacher pay and by rewarding excellance. 3. Caring for the environment by working together for compromise, such as on the Idaho wilderness. 4. breaking gridlock on our roads; public transporatation needs to be expanded.

I like what he had to say, though his website totally sucks...ha - (Even he agrees with me on that.)

Well, at least he has a cool masthead:

Here's another couple pics from the night with some of those who attended.

Den

PS: let me know if you'd like to help with his race.