Local Frosh Not Spooked By Magazine’s Spy Tricks

So, Republican freshmen members of Congress think first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s a looker? (At ease, my feminist friends - that beats what Newtie called her.) But in their hearts, Republicans also believe she’s as liberal as mayonnaise on a potato salad. Irreverent Spy magazine had fun with the first-termers by posing as a publication for GOP teens and asking this question, among others: “Do you think Hillary Clinton is pretty?” Confessed U.S. Rep. Jack Metcalf, R-Wash., “Yes, she’s attractive.” But U.S. Rep. Sonny “It Ain’t Me, Babe” Bono, R-Calif., said Hillary doesn’t pass the “Bono Test.” (Long black hair, Cherokee cheekbones and a plunging neckline?) Fortunately, U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R-Idaho, and Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Wash., smelled a rat (or a stinkin’ Spy) and didn’t answer.

I’ll tighten your belt; leave mine alone

Hmmmm. Idaho legislators did a lot of belt-tightening this year - for others. But they weren’t as miserly when it came to themselves. Lawmakers gave themselves a modest 3 percent pay raise (which is no big deal) and kept helping themselves to retirement benefits intended for regular public employees (which is). Legislators, other elected officials and appointed staff members who don’t qualify for civil service now are eligible for benefits after only five months, but public employees must wait five years. House Speaker Mike Simpson, R-Blackfoot, said he’d do something about the questionable perk. But for some reason, he never got around to it.

Phone mail

Several callers supported a nationwide boycott of major-league baseball’s first week (“Hot Potatoes,” Tuesday) and suggested other ways to protest the baseball strike:

Alan Byars of Sandpoint and Sam Sears of Coeur d’Alene advocated a boycott of products and baseball paraphernalia. Said Alan: “You’ve got to hit them in the pocketbook. Write letters to sponsors and tell them you’re not going to buy their bloody beer.”

Paul Rechnitzer of Sandpoint wants the replacement players back: “They deserve their day in the sun. The other guys (professionals) should step aside and let someone else have a crack.”

Meanwhile, Dennis Carlson, Highland School District superintendent in Craigmont, Idaho, and ex-Kootenai County grass growers executive, says he agrees school superintendents shouldn’t criticize state schools Superintendent Anne Fox anonymously (“Hot Potatoes,” Tuesday): “If I have a problem with her, I call her and tell her.”

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