A Democrat in disguise in the Idaho House of Representatives, Rep. Tom Trail (R-Moscow), is sponsoring HCR32, one of his several underdog-protection measures. This one would create Bullying Awareness Week in public schools, which legislators in the House Education committee have agreed is a step in the right direction. One of HCR32's clauses reads: "WHEREAS, bullying may consist of physical incidents of hitting, kicking, or choking, verbal threats, teasing and taunting, or systematic exclusion from activities."
The exquisite irony of the Republican-dominated Idaho Legislature's support for an anti-bullying measure is too good to pass up.
Republicans in the Legislature are acting like bullies then make it look like your fault. Their underhanded tyranny this session has targeted the poor, gays and lesbians, Native Americans, schoolchildren, farmworkers and Medicaid recipients. They're even bullying Idaho's beautiful wild wolves.
In the Statehouse, their direct target is Democrats, who are getting the crap beat out of them by Republicans. But the real losers are the citizens of Idaho.
The effect of relentless bullying is that victims become demoralized--and paralyzed. Being a very small minority party isn't easy, but Democrats, perhaps exhausted by their efforts going nowhere, haven't put forth much legislation this session. Republicans propose new laws in heaps and piles, knowing they can drop some to win others. Democrats have a slim file folder containing only bills that seem to have a good chance.
It's a strategy that isn't working.
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