{"id":1644,"date":"2022-08-27T17:29:11","date_gmt":"2022-08-28T00:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1644"},"modified":"2022-08-27T17:29:11","modified_gmt":"2022-08-28T00:29:11","slug":"war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1644","title":{"rendered":"War"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Susie ducked behind the faux marble column on the main floor of the Idaho Capitol as the projectiles whizzed past. It seemed like solid cover as she noticed the paint balls splattering the near floor and walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPaint balls?\u201d she exclaimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d the other woman affirmed. \u201cThey want to ruin our dresses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susie looked at the other cowering figure. A young woman in a nice dark dress and heels was pressed against the column.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy are they shooting at us?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s war,\u201d the young woman shrugged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susie\u2019s mind raced. \u201cBut I\u2019m just here to testify about the education bill!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other young woman shrugged. \u201cYeah, and I\u2019m just here to testify about immunizations. We\u2019re at war, don\u2019t you get it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susie took a deep breath and wondered about heading on across the rotunda to the committee room. Paint balls don\u2019t kill. She said so to her fellow cowering witness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey could have guns. And real bullets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susie stared at her with her mouth a bit agape. \u201cNo!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other woman cited the words of the new Idaho Republican state chairman. \u201cShe said they would be ready with guns loaded and ready to defend\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susie had read the article<\/a> but had dismissed the threat. \u201cShe was talking about shooting Democrats! I\u2019m not a Democrat!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other young woman looked down at the red splattered shiny marble floor. \u201cYou\u2019re as good as one if you plan to testify against their bills.\u201d She took a deep beath. \u201cI\u2019m no Democrat either but I just think immunizations make good sense. They will soon be burning crosses in my front lawn and doxing my family on Facebook.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susie appreciated the pause in splatters and considered their shared predicament and the wisdom of this fellow victim.  \u201cSo just who is shooting at us?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHard to say, I haven\u2019t really gotten a good look.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susie glanced at her watch. \u201cThe committee is supposed to start soon.\u201d She fretted. \u201cWhere is Security when you need them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty sure I saw them clustered around the Governor\u2019s door on second floor when I came in.\u201d They shared an eye roll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pause in splatters lengthened. \u201cI\u2019ll bet they\u2019ve moved on to the JFAC hearing. The librarians\u2019 budget is up today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susie groaned. \u201cMy sister is a public health nurse. She warned me this could be tough, offering public testimony. She\u2019s gotten harassed in the grocery store. Her boss quit because of the threats. And she\u2019s thinking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other woman softly shook her head and looked down at the marble floor. \u201cThey\u2019re winning the war and not even killing any of us yet. They just threaten, intimidate, and bully. I think it\u2019s time to stand up.\u201d She looked around the three-foot column, scanning for snipers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susie looked at the neatly printed testimony she had folded in her hands. \u201cI thought this was how we should stand up. I resolved to speak truth to power about the policies they wanted to enforce on us teachers, on schools, on students, on learning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her anonymous compatriot stood quietly in the open scanning. \u201cI think it\u2019s clear.\u201d She reached over and put a firm hand on Susie\u2019s shoulder. \u201cLet\u2019s go do what we think is right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susie smiled at her courage and felt buoyed. She stepped around the column and slipped on the paint splatters on the marble floor. She got some red on her black high heels. But she didn\u2019t fall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Susie ducked behind the faux marble column on the main floor of the Idaho Capitol as the projectiles whizzed past. It seemed like solid cover as she noticed the paint balls splattering the near floor and walls. \u201cPaint balls?\u201d she … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1644"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1646,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1644\/revisions\/1646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}