Keep Right – Column by Ralph K. Ginorio
Fair ends cannot justify foul means. Countless worthwhile causes have been undermined due to their advocates’ corruption and/or narcissism.
Conservatives point out the corruption of today’s progressive Democrat leadership. There are several different flavors:
Joe Biden’s is the kind whose only honor is that once he’s been bought, he stays bought. His paymasters in Davos, Kyiv, and Beijing have procured good value for their money. His policies make sense only if they are seen as benefitting Swiss plutocrats, Ukrainian oligarchs, and Chinese Communists.
Hillary Clinton recorded her interactions surreptitiously in order to avoid being blackmailed while casting a net to entrap others.
Gavin Newsom crafted social and legal controls that have turned California into a devolving third world dystopia. While micromanaging the medical decisions of “his people,” he conspicuously flouted every restriction himself.
On relatively meager public sector salaries, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Bill Clinton all somehow accumulated vast fortunes. Democrats consistently put their personal interests ahead of any loyalty to cause and country.
We Conservatives and Libertarians had best look hard at those who act and speak in our name. When we abide corruption and narcissism, we shame ourselves and bring dishonor to our shared cause of restoring Constitutional freedom in these United States.
Locally, the bastion of Conservative and Libertarian action is the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee. I proudly support KCRCC with one caveat. They stubbornly stand behind several troubling local politicians. Loyalty is lovely. Blind partisanship is not.
On Thursday, December 28, 2023, the Kootenai Board of County Commissioners convened a public meeting about the actions of Assessor Béla Kovacs. It was not about the missed deadlines, costly errors, or mass exodus of talent that has characterized his term of office.
The topic of this meeting was Béla’s admission that he had recorded interactions with countless elected officials, county employees, and possibly constituents. This included at least one BOCC executive session, of which no recordings are supposed to be made.
True, Idaho allows recordings with only one party’s knowledge. Many, even most, of these recordings may be legal. However, to paraphrase Commissioner Bruce Mattare, just because something is legal does not make it right.
Kovacs’ recordings were made without the knowledge or consent of the other parties. He could only cite a single event when he informed others that he was recording proceedings. He claims that these records were made to help him in doing his work.
Anyone familiar with human nature and history understands just how easily conversations can be manipulated by a person wearing a wire to create a false and out-of-context narrative.
Kovacs’ forty minutes of testimony was a brazen dance of obfuscation and evasion. At no point did he express any regret for the many abuses of public and private trust that his recordings perpetrated. It was pointed out that his actions may even open the county to added liability.
When confronted with the possible criminality of recording commissioners in executive session, Kovacs’ reactions were purely Clintonian. He echoed Hillary’s weaseling about her secret e-mail server.
Béla, I did not vote for you in order for you to put yourself before your mission. Your term has been characterized by incompetence and narcissism. You do not embody our cause. You are, in fact, a detriment to Conservatives everywhere who are desperately trying to earn the trust of the great silent majority.
It is my hope that, if recording an executive session turns out to be criminal, you are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If your recordings do not rise to the level of prosecutable crime, you should at least face whatever form of impeachment inquiry that exists for your office.
Members of the KCRCC should consider the grave abuses of trust that were committed every time that you recorded someone without their knowledge or consent. The legitimacy of KCRCC is not served by their giving you unconditional support. In my judgment, KCRCC should demand your immediate resignation.
Conservatives and Libertarians, we must put the good of our shared cause above all other considerations, including the personal ambitions of our leaders. If we don’t, then we are no better than those corrupt Progressives whom we oppose.
