Opinion of Idaho

[TDAS04]

God help me if Idaho ends up a Freedom State but not Florida

So what if Idaho is more conservative politically than Florida?  Idaho is not all hot and flat.

[Gass3268]

Idaho allows convicted rapists to have concealed carry licenses if they happen to be elected officals. That's all you need to know.

http://jezebel.com/convicted-rapist-lawmaker-loses-concealed-gun-license-1464381175/@Kish

[RedSLC]

On one hand, there are militia movement enclaves and a strong tinge of social conservativism in most of the state.

...On the other hand, there are beautiful mountain ranges, a fairly decent major city (Boise),  the sun valley area, and bush flying.

So overall, FS.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

What kind of human being has a positive opinion of Idaho? The fact strangers from Australia think fondly of Idaho is actually disturbing to me. It's mostly federally-owned land, contains a non-descript, a medium-sized city, an agricultural belt full of hicks and Mormons, a formerly volcanic wasteland, a few skii resorts and a few suburbs that serve as the national epicenters for conservatives fleeing from blue states. Idaho used to be a lovely place with idyllic western rural culture of miners, loggers and farmers but now it's gorgeous wilderness, potatoes and human trash.

It's hard to believe I lived 18 years of my life there.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Are you guys really so rosy as to vote Idaho as a Freedom State? I mean, the rotten exurban hellhole that is Georgia got a solid FF rating, so...

[morgieb]

Boise is a decent city, but it's full of Nazis and Mormons. So HS, though it's pretty meh.

[morgieb]

Built to Spill.

Valid point.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Guys, Idaho isn't full of Nazis. It's full of standard inter-mountain west hicks who want to dump oil in the wilderness and kill animals with automatic weapons. These hicks also happen to be racist but they're certainly not Nazis. I'm even friends with a few of these hicks and I'm a brown.

[Zioneer]

Things that this thread has taught me today:

1) Wow, the extreme lefty red avatars hate Mormons. I get the outrage over the LDS attack on LGBT rights, but otherwise, what gives, guys?

2) I still hate Idaho regardless. I'm not going to vote Freedom State to spite the anti-Mormons.

[ElectionsGuy]

I can't believe the language that is coming from the democrats right now. Imagine if a conservative called Vermont or Massachusetts "rotten" or "scum" because of their secularism or left-wing culture. There would be an insane amount of outrage. (on this forum)

[morgieb]

I can't believe the language that is coming from the democrats right now. Imagine if a conservative called Vermont or Massachusetts "rotten" or "scum" because of their secularism or left-wing culture. There would be an insane amount of outrage. (on this forum)

FTR I can overlook uber right-wingness if the state had redeeming features. Which Idaho doesn't have that much IMO. Most of the left-wing states have redeeming features, but I respect that people have different opinions >_>

Probably went overboard with the Mormon thing though.

[ElectionsGuy]

I can't believe the language that is coming from the democrats right now. Imagine if a conservative called Vermont or Massachusetts "rotten" or "scum" because of their secularism or left-wing culture. There would be an insane amount of outrage. (on this forum)

FTR I can overlook uber right-wingness if the state had redeeming features. Which Idaho doesn't have that much IMO. Most of the left-wing states have redeeming features, but I respect that people have different opinions >_>

Probably went overboard with the Mormon thing though.

I wasn't talking about you really, I was talking about this:

Terrible politics, ruled by mormans. Shouldn't even be a state (all of those sparsely-populated states up there should be merged into a territory with one non-voting representative in the House and no Senators).

While I agree that Idaho is hell on Earth and overpopulated with cultist scum, it isn't ruled by the cultist scum but rather "libertarian" Republicans in the mold of a Barry Goldwater who just came down off speed and is ready to take vengeance upon any Democratic constituency out of sheer spite. Years of rule by working class Democrats has bred resentment amongst Idaho Republicans that has turned them into a pack of crypto-fascists.

Not a fan of the militia movement or Christian Jihadists that reside there. 

[greenforest32]

Not even the potatoes or its extensive use of renewable energy can make it a FS

It's terrible

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Things that this thread has taught me today:

1) Wow, the extreme lefty red avatars hate Mormons. I get the outrage over the LDS attack on LGBT rights, but otherwise, what gives, guys?

2) I still hate Idaho regardless. I'm not going to vote Freedom State to spite the anti-Mormons.

I grew up around Mormonism and frankly the tenets of your faith disturb me, especially the parts about lamanites which are disgraceful to my indigenous roots. At this point, I bash Mormonism more as a joke but there was a time when I hated the religion with a fiery passion. Most secular folk in Idaho despise Mormonism.

[Gass3268]

Things that this thread has taught me today:

1) Wow, the extreme lefty red avatars hate Mormons. I get the outrage over the LDS attack on LGBT rights, but otherwise, what gives, guys?

2) I still hate Idaho regardless. I'm not going to vote Freedom State to spite the anti-Mormons.

I got no problems with Mormons.

[Goldwater]

FS.

[RI]

FS, though barely, for the scenery and topography:

[Marnetmar]

FS.

Where else would the fries Five Guys serves come from?

I like the way you think. FS.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

One of those pictures is my home town. I look forward to visiting it over Thanksgiving but I'll be damned if picturesque scenery makes a state a worthwhile place. If that was the case, Russia would be the nation I fantasize about.

[RI]

Eh, I think the US is homogeneous enough that the environment certainly can delineate states. It's not like we're talking about North Korea or Yemen here.

[Morning in Atlas]

God help me if Idaho ends up a Freedom State but not Florida

Beautiful? Home of bomb ass french fries? Pretty freedom if you ask me.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Eh, I think the US is homogeneous enough that the environment certainly can delineate states. It's not like we're talking about North Korea or Yemen here.

I suppose you are a white man who has traditional, socially conservative viewpoints that probably idealize small town values so I can see why you'd appreciate Idaho. As a Mexican-American who belongs to a broad "cosmopolitan" umbrella and who exists within an obscure subculture of that umbrella characterized by PhDs, developed taste in art, film and literature that is both post-modern and classic, I cannot stand Idaho. It is a cultural wasteland.

I think it's important to note for a particular subset of Americans, flyover country is as almost as foreign as Yemen. I have friends who grew up in Manhattan, Malibu, San Fransisco, Austin, Cambridge and Madison who don't understand why anyone would own a gun or what American racism actually feels like. Urban whites with degrees fear places like Wyoming, West Virginia and Idaho. Imagine how an African-American from the southside of Chicago feels or an Indian-American from Berkeley feels when confronted with the lily white hick towns of Idaho that are dying and feel anachronistic in 2013. I really want to hammer this point home because it's a crucial aspect of America's polarized political culture: it's not just about race, class divisions have become more stark than ever as the cosmopolitan elite invest tremendous amounts of effort into obtaining human capital while rural American doesn't really care about college. It's pretty alarming and it makes me fear for our nation's future to see America's "Tale of Two Cities"* simply by driving a quick thirty minutes outside of Portland and into an entirely different cultural environment.

*caveat: it's obviously more complex than that.

[Zioneer]

Eh, I think the US is homogeneous enough that the environment certainly can delineate states. It's not like we're talking about North Korea or Yemen here.

I suppose you are a white man who has traditional, socially conservative viewpoints that probably idealize small town values so I can see why you'd appreciate Idaho. As a Mexican-American who belongs to a broad "cosmopolitan" umbrella and who exists within an obscure subculture of that umbrella characterized by PhDs, developed taste in art, film and literature that is both post-modern and classic, I cannot stand Idaho. It is a cultural wasteland.

I think it's important to note for a particular subset of Americans, flyover country is as almost as foreign as Yemen. I have friends who grew up in Manhattan, Malibu, San Fransisco, Austin, Cambridge and Madison who don't understand why anyone would own a gun or what American racism actually feels like. Urban whites with degrees fear places like Wyoming, West Virginia and Idaho. Imagine how an African-American from the southside of Chicago feels or an Indian-American from Berkeley feels when confronted with the lily white hick towns of Idaho that are dying and feel anachronistic in 2013. I really want to hammer this point home because it's a crucial aspect of America's polarized political culture: it's not just about race, class divisions have become more stark than ever as the cosmopolitan elite invest tremendous amounts of effort into obtaining human capital while rural American doesn't really care about college. It's pretty alarming and it makes me fear for our nation's future to see America's "Tale of Two Cities"* simply by driving a quick thirty minutes outside of Portland and into an entirely different cultural environment.

*caveat: it's obviously more complex than that.

As a incredibly white guy from Utah/Washington State (mostly Utah), I completely agree with you, even if I don't agree with your anti-Mormonism (one point; many of the Hispanic folks who are in Utah are Mormons). Also, most of Utah outside of Salt Lake County (and Ogden) is basically Idaho.

You should visit Salt Lake City/County though; there's tons of diversity there. Especially with all the refugees that come here.

[RI]

Eh, I think the US is homogeneous enough that the environment certainly can delineate states. It's not like we're talking about North Korea or Yemen here.

I suppose you are a white man who has traditional, socially conservative viewpoints that probably idealize small town values so I can see why you'd appreciate Idaho. As a Mexican-American who belongs to a broad "cosmopolitan" umbrella and who exists within an obscure subculture of that umbrella characterized by PhDs, developed taste in art, film and literature that is both post-modern and classic, I cannot stand Idaho. It is a cultural wasteland.

I think it's important to note for a particular subset of Americans, flyover country is as almost as foreign as Yemen. I have friends who grew up in Manhattan, Malibu, San Fransisco, Austin, Cambridge and Madison who don't understand why anyone would own a gun or what American racism actually feels like. Urban whites with degrees fear places like Wyoming, West Virginia and Idaho. Imagine how an African-American from the southside of Chicago feels or an Indian-American from Berkeley feels when confronted with the lily white hick towns of Idaho that are dying and feel anachronistic in 2013. I really want to hammer this point home because it's a crucial aspect of America's polarized political culture: it's not just about race, class divisions have become more stark than ever as the cosmopolitan elite invest tremendous amounts of effort into obtaining human capital while rural American doesn't really care about college. It's pretty alarming and it makes me fear for our nation's future to see America's "Tale of Two Cities"* simply by driving a quick thirty minutes outside of Portland and into an entirely different cultural environment.

*caveat: it's obviously more complex than that.

FWIW, I don't particularly idolize small towns as they feel isolated and restrictive to me; in fact, I'm quite the urban/suburban elitist. I'm also working on a PhD right now, so I certainly value education. I wouldn't want to live in Idaho for any length of time, but having lived in the Spokane area and visiting Idaho a number of times, I'd much rather visit Idaho than some hot, humid, flat, redneck state in the South. Almost anywhere in the West is better than almost anywhere east of the Rockies, IMO, even Idaho. As such, I voted a narrow "FF" status to the state.

[Supersonic]

Lean FS. Don't know too much about Idaho, but the pictures posted earlier in this thread are amazing.