Rexburg Needs These Lumps

There's been a lot of hand-wringing in Rexburg the past week over the negative attention the town has received since news of a handful of school children chanting "Assassinate Obama" on a school bus spread worldwide. Both the mayor and the superindendent of schools issued apologies over the incident, at the same time engaging in damage control over the sullied reputation of "America's Family Community" -- Rexburg's motto.

Most of the community, however, remains in denial, choosing instead to blame "liberals" for making a tempest in a teapot.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: These kids didn't say anything they haven't heard at home. I can't count the lies I've heard spread about Barack Obama here, nor the many times I've heard him referred to as Barack HUSSEIN Obama, as if a middle name is enough to make someone the epitome of evil. I've heard adults here say Obama should be shot before he tkes ofice. I've heard people say George W. Bush should refuse to leave the White House rather than turn it over to Mr. Obama. I didn't dare put an Obama sign in my front yeard prior to the election because I didn't want my house vandalized. So to hear that kids are repeating what they've heard Mommy or Daddy say at home doesn't surprise me much. Because those little pitchers, they have big ears, you know.

And we've heard it all before. I can't count the number of vile things I've heard said about Bill and Hillary Clinton, including that both of them deserve to be shot, buried alive, et cetera, et cetera. Maybe these things are said in jest. But kids don't know that. They take what parents say as gospel. And they repeat it.

To those who are upset that this has turned into a "liberal" shitstorm: Wake up. Rexburg, I've noted in eleven years of living in town and in the vicinity, has a penchant for sweeping its ugliness under the rug. Alcoholism just doesn't exist here, of course, but there are many people who are chronic "Nyquil" drinkers. Drug addiction and dealing doesn't exist here, and if it does, it's the fault of the "Mexicans," and if there are troublemakers at school, its highly likely that they're not members of "the Church." Kids here are lily-white. Nobody ever does anything wrong.

This is all, of course, a load of bull cookies.

I'd like the message to get out, though, that not everyone is oblivious here. Thankfully, one concerned parent spoke up about the Assassinate Obama chant. Others speak up about other concerns. I'm fortunate enough to be part of an Elders quorum where we discuss concerns like this openly. We're not all Democrats -- in fact, it's likely that I'm the only Democrat in the room. But we all realize that the ills that beset our society cross partisan lines.

Then we run into people like a BYU-Idaho freshman who wrote a letter to the editor of the college newspaper, basically saying that those in the LDS Church who vote Democrat shouldn't get temple recommends. (Read the paper editor's fine rebuttal to that argument here.)

That being said, I enjoy living here. I like the quiet here. We ahve our problems here, but in many respects there are fewer problems here than in other parts of this nation. I just wish we could discuss this partisan/little pitchers problem more openly, without people once again hiding behind the town's lily-white facade.

Folks at the Rex keep digging that hole

Now, we here in the Reddest County in the Reddest State of the Union ® usually don’t cotton to protests, that being the hallmark of the hippie-leftists-commies in Idaho Falls and Boise. But if the owners of The Rex theater keep on asking for (or keep on getting) waivers on their property taxes, I may be ready to lead a protest.

First, a little background: The Rex is a four-screen theater built in Rexburg, Idaho, a few years ago by a small Wyoming company that has built a handful of other similar complexes in small towns in the area. They also have a restaurant that serves rubbery pasta, a bowling alley and a game room.

Last year, they asked for – and received – a waiver of their $80,000 county property tax bill because, I don’t know, popcorn sales were off or something. Now, we don’t have many theaters in town. Carmike shut down its two theaters, leaving The Rex and a locally-owned discount theater (which expanded into one of Carmikes’ abandoned properties) as the only theaters in town.

Back when they got their waiver, I wondered – why didn’t the local theater also get a waiver, if we’re so pro-business chest-thumping Republican up here, firm believers in equal treatment under the la – oh yeah. We’re not. It’s the ol’ buddy system, in which you only get what you ask for. The Rex asked. The locals didn’t.

Now they’re saying they’re going to ask again – after they whined about how much the county pegged their property’s value at (see story here: http://www.rexburgstandardjournal.com/articles/2008/07/01/news/doc486a579a37c99785312376.txt) The first waiver got our county commissioners in lukewarm water at the primaries; one of two incumbents lost over the tax flap. Now we’ll see how this next flap unfolds.

We’ve already stayed away from the Rex, at first for practical reasons – our best babysitters (and, frankly, the better high-end theater) are in Idaho Falls. But when The Rex got their property taxes waived, that was another reason not to go there. Listening to them complaining again makes me think staying away is the right decision.

It’s doubtful they’ll get the waiver for a second time – but if they do, I’ll protest. I’ll ask for a waiver of my home property taxes. Something to put me on equal grou – oh yea, it doesn’t work that way here.

These are supposed to be businessmen. If you can’t make enough money to cover your property taxes, it’s time to get out of the business. I’m sure they had dollar signs instead of eyes when they eyed Rexburg for their newest theater, what with student population at the local university exploding. But there still seem to be lots of crowds making the journey to Idaho Falls, for movies and many other things.