We the People need to exert our power over our elected officials

Guest Editorial by Jim Jones

The preamble of the US Constitution starts with these powerful words: “We the People of the United States.” Those words mean that all power arises from the people. Article I, section 2 of the Idaho Constitution says that all political power is inherent in the people. When our elected representatives in either the state or federal government fail to heed the voice of the people, they deserve to be replaced by those who will.

I refuse to believe that the majority of Americans want to be allied with Vladimir Putin’s murderous regime or to throw Ukraine to the dogs or to dump our NATO alliance into the trash heap of history. But the Trump Administration seems to be headed toward accomplishing each of those unthinkable objectives. Idahoans have elected two Senators and two Congressmen who should know that those goals are completely counter to America’s national security interests. But, instead of standing up for America’s vital interests, they are keeping their heads down for fear of losing their precious offices.

The rest of the Republican power structure in Congress is well aware of the danger posed by Trump’s despotic moves, but most are too fond of their jobs to stand up and speak out. House Speaker Mike Johnson has been a strong supporter of substantial aid to Ukraine. On March 2 he told CNN: “I think Vladimir Putin is an old-school communist, a former KGB agent, and he’s not to be trusted and he is dangerous.” If that be the case, should he not be raising holy hell about Trump’s inexplicable actions? Instead, he declines to exercise any leadership to help Ukraine or to keep our NATO ties strong.

Some GOP Senators have had the courage to call Trump out for his dangerous actions. Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma said the call of Trump allies for the resignation of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy “would spiral Ukraine into chaos right now.” Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska put a finer point on the outrage. She said, “I am sick to my stomach as the administration appears to be walking away from our allies and embracing Putin, a threat to democracy and U.S. values around the world.”

On the less principled hand, our Senator Risch, Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee and long-time champion of NATO and Ukraine, stands mute as Trump thumbs his nose at both of those essential allies. The rest of our delegation has nothing to say on these issues that are so vital to our national security.

What is truly frightening is the March 2 assessment from the Kremlin that: “The new administration is changing all foreign policy configurations. This largely aligns with our vision.” It is terrifying when our life-long mortal enemy has good reason to believe that our leader is starting to see things through its blood-stained lens. As an American who volunteered to fight that barbarous regime’s proxy in Vietnam, this is totally shocking.

Closer to home, we see the same disdain for the peoples’ best interests. Governor Little ignored the overwhelming demand of the people to veto a bill that violates Idaho’s Constitution and which will pay for religious education for the first time in Idaho’s existence. He claims the $50 million tax drain won’t take away from public school funding. At the same time he admits that Idaho will be losing massive amounts of funding from the federal government and that a proposed state tax cut is $300 million more than the state can afford. The failure to veto is not founded in truth and seems to have been largely based upon orders from Donald Trump.

In both cases–Ukraine and religious subsidies–people are asking what they can do to change the behavior of their elected representatives. Well, all political power arises from the people. The people must make it perfectly clear that policies counter to their best interests will not be tolerated. The people have to get engaged, to let the politicians know that what they prize the most–keeping their prestigious offices–can only occur when they follow the public will. That means keeping abreast of important issues, making repeated communications with the delegation, attending public forums and holding their feet to the fire. It can and will work if the people fully engage and don’t relent. As I recently told the Kootenai County Democrats, the key to success is to organize, demonstrate, litigate and carry the banner of truth, across party lines with a can-do attitude. We must fight to preserve our great country and our marvelous state.

Our politicians must be shown that the support of the people–the Idaho voters–is more essential for maintaining their privileged positions than threats from either the national administration or out-of-state monied interests. In other words, Idaho politicians must come to fear Idaho voters more than the outsiders.

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About the Author

Jim Jones is a Vietnam combat veteran who served 8 years as Idaho Attorney General (1983-1991) and 12 years as a Justice on the Idaho Supreme Court (2005-2017). His columns are collected at JJCommonTater.com.