Back in February we looked at the proposed anschluss between fascist-oriented Idaho and huge chunks of Oregon (plus part of the reddest pieces of northern California). Yesterday 5 eastern Oregon counties voted in favor of considering becoming part of Idaho. Baker, Grant, Lake, Malheur and Sherman counties join Union and Jefferson, which voted last year to require county officials to study or promote joining Idaho. Not many people voted; probably because not many people live in these desolate, politically backward counties. The number in parentheses were Trump's win numbers in 2020:
Grant voted 1,471 to 895 for county officials “to meet and discuss relocating Idaho border.” (77.1%)
Lake voted 1,341 to 463 for the “relocation of Idaho border” to be taken up in “county board of commissioners meetings.” (79.5%)
Malheur voted 3,050 to 2,572 for “county court meetings regarding relocation of Oregon-Idaho border.” (69.4%)
Sherman voted 429 to 260 in favor of “promoting moving Oregon-Idaho border.” (76.2%)
Baker voted 3,064 to 2,307 for county commissioners “to meet three times per year to discuss a proposal to include 18 counties, including Baker, as part of Idaho. (74.0%)
Oregon's rightist governor, Brad Little is encouraging the separatists. Financially these are mostly impoverished, counties filled with lazy meth-users who mooch off the more prosperous and productive parts of the state. Oregon would be better off without them-- or at least without the people. Maybe they should offer to pay $10,000 to anyone who wants to join Idaho to move there.
The grassroots group Move Oregon’s Border for a Greater Idaho wants to flip Oregon’s mostly rural eastern and southern counties -- plus a few northern counties in California -- into Idaho, believing they’d be better off in Idaho’s more conservative political environment. It’s hoping that political pressure from county initiative votes will lead to negotiations between Oregon and Idaho to move the border between the two states, putting up to 22 of Oregon’s 36 counties in Idaho.
“This election proves that rural Oregon wants out of Oregon,” lead petitioner Mike McCarter said in a statement. “If Oregon really believes in liberal values such as self-determination, the Legislature won’t hold our counties captive against our will. If we’re allowed to vote for which government officials we want, we should be allowed to vote for which government we want as well.”
Most residents of Idaho's Latah, Blaine and Teton counties would like to escape from Idaho's neo-Nazi crackpots, so maybe there could be some kind of trade. And as long as we're talking about redrawing boundaries, many people have long advocated for merging North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming into one giant red Greater Dakota, with 2 senators and 3 electoral votes instead of 6 senators and 9 electoral votes. Rolette County in North Dakota as well as Clay, Todd, Oglala Lakota, Buffalo, Dewey and Ziebach in South Dakota and Teton and Albany counties in Wyoming might object but they could form their own state... maybe Sane Dakota.
Changing all these borders "remains a long shot," for no matter how many counties say they want to be part of other states, the state legislatures and the U.S. Congress would have to give their approval.
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