Remember the effort to move some Oregon Counties to Idaho?  It was always a long shot goal and then along came coronavirus.  It put the brakes on the passing of petitions in many of Oregon’s rural and eastern counties.  But some managed to get in under the wire.  A ballot measure is before the voters in Jefferson County.  They’ll make the call on Election Day.  It won’t change much.  It could be described as the end of the beginning.

According to a story in the Bend Bulletin, if it passes the county commissioners will be instructed to discuss the issue twice a year.  Which is a long way from secession.  Which would require the consent of two state legislatures and Congress. 

In an earlier post I mentioned Trump signs are as common as cattle in rural Oregon.

The newspaper mentions the small town of La Pine as perhaps the epicenter of the effort.  I paid a visit there last week and bought myself a cup of coffee.  I got to listen to the local chatter.  None was about joining Idaho but culturally the place is a lot more like here than Portland or even Bend.

Two things struck me about the area.  In an earlier post I mentioned Trump signs are as common as cattle in rural Oregon.  The other are the clusters of mail boxes at the end of each dirt road I saw.  You see the boxes but you can’t see any homes.

The message is clear.  These people consider themselves self-reliant and they’re likely not very dependent on their state’s overwhelmingly liberal government.

So, why not have some simpler methods for self-determination?

 

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