Crash Party
By Brent Regan
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks” Shakespeare
I had a laugh out loud moment when I heard who the North Idaho RINOs (NIR) invited to speak at THEIR event later this month. It’s both funny and disturbing if you know the backstory.
The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee (KCRCC) is the official Republican Party and we host the best Lincoln Day Dinner in the state, attended by 500+ true Idaho Republicans. The dinner, held at The Resort, starts with a VIP reception with hosted bar and hors d’oeuvres for the table sponsors. Everyone enjoys a delicious three course dinner including salad, Surf ‘n Turf and our exciting Dessert Dash. Every guest has multiple chances to win several guns and other prizes and will vote for the winner of the student speech contest.
This year’s speakers include BOCC Chairman Bruce Mattare, State Party Chairman Dorothy Moon, US Representative Russ Fulcher, US Senator Jim Risch, Attorney General Raul Labrador and former Congressman Matt Gaetz. Our goal is to have every guest enjoy a good meal, hear interesting speakers and have a great and memorable evening celebrating our nation’s 250 birthday.
We all know that outspoken conservative Republicans are targets for false accusations of improper behavior. Roy Moore, Brett Kavanaugh, Curtis Hill, Pete Hegseth, Matt Schlapp, Herman Cain, Donald Trump and Matt Gaetz have all faced false accusations; accusations that conveniently arise at critical moments and then quickly evaporate when their usefulness has passed.
NIR spokesmen and their Democrat allies are morally preening claiming that having Matt Gaetz speak at Lincoln Day is “wrong” for Republican values and that they will boycott, as if they would have actually bought tickets.
Last time I checked, innocent until proven guilty is a foundational Republican value. Guilt by accusation is a Democrat thing. Gaetz has never been charged, let alone convicted of anything. The drug addicted prostitute accuser dropped her civil suit because of an overwhelming lack of credibility. Gaetz explained during a Tucker Carlson interview that it all started as an extortion plot against his father and ballooned from there. It is a fascinating story and one you should hear firsthand before passing judgment.
For all their pretend moral superiority the NIR gang has asked David Leroy to be the speaker at their event. Leroy is a Boise lawyer, former Lt. Governor and former Attorney General who likes to play dress up as Abraham Lincoln and pretend he’s the 16th President. That doesn’t sound bad…yet.
In 2021 Leroy was the attorney defending convicted rapist Aaron von Ehlinger. That sounds bad, but every person who is accused deserves a vigorous defense. What Leroy did do was to dox the rape victim by sending her file to reporter Bill Spence at the Lewiston Tribune. THAT is bad. It’s an ethics violation that would get most lawyers disbarred.
It is so bad that Representative Priscilla Giddings was charged with a House Ethics Violation just because she included a link to the Lewiston Tribune article in her newsletter. I am sure the fact that Speaker of the House Scott Bedke and Giddings were both running for Lt. Governor had NOTHING to do with Giddings being charged.
Leroy releasing the identity of a 19-year-old rape victim is not an accusation, it is a documented fact. So what happened to Leroy? The same thing that happens to every well-connected establishment RINO. Nothing. Not even a slap on the wrist. What David Leroy does get is an NIR invitation to play Lincoln dress up.
Before you pass judgment, hear both sides. It’s the Republican thing to do.
It’s just common sense.
Bonus question: What do you call a herd of RINOs?
A Crash.