In a desperate (and hilarious) move, an organization called “Move Oregon’s Border for a Greater Idaho” wants to do just that: adjust Oregon’s border so a very large part of our state will become part of Idaho. The group has written and submitted a petition, which has been accepted by Douglas and Josephine counties, in retaliation for not getting their way in Democrat-controlled Salem. From Coos Bay’s the World newspaper:
Mike McCarter, one of the chief petitioners and leader of the movement, said the rural Oregon counties are “becoming increasingly outraged by laws from the state legislature that threaten our livelihoods, our industries, our wallets, our gun rights and our values.”
“We tried voting those legislators out but rural Oregon is outnumbered and our voices are now ignored,” he said. “This is our last resort.”
REALLY? Is it really their last resort? Anyway, here’s a copy of Move Oregon’s Border’s petition which is pretty entertaining as far as petitions go. According to their map, a whopping 19 counties would be added to Idaho (and perhaps even more later) leaving Oregon with only a scant 14 counties. Naturally, because of our perceived unrepentant liberalism, Multnomah County would be unceremoniously left behind, condemning us to crying on our couch while eating a gallon of ice cream and watching To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before on Netflix.
So what are the chances of this border reassignment actually happening? Pretty slim! First they’d have to get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in November. Then, even if the ballot is successful, the legislatures in Oregon and Idaho would have to agree, as well as the US Congress. (Good luck with that!)
While it seems like it would be much easier for everyone if Mike McCarter and his butt-sore pals just packed their own bags and moved to Idaho… would the state even want them? True, Idaho is known for their conservative politics and one of the greatest candy bars ever created, but at this point they’ve probably got enough right-wing, entitled crybabies (who think democracy should only work for them) on their hands.
In any case, good luck to the Move Oregon’s Border team, and if they want to know how the rest of us feel about their departure, they should refer to the following Beyoncé video.
I’m sure Idaho would LOVE to acquire the Mississippi of the Northwest, along with the tab for a few hundred thousand new food stamp and Medicaid enrollees and dozens of mothballed police stations, schools and libraries. Please accept Oregon’s generous gift!
So we’d get rid of the uneducated rightwing nut-jobs and mouth-breathing bigots, but keep the economic power of the Willamette Valley, and the nicer parts of the Coast?
What did Idaho do to deserve that?
Oh well… Bye, Felicia!
Seriously, why would Idaho agree to this? And wouldn’t it simply be easier to fucking MOVE TO IDAHO if you don’t like Oregon? Just when I think I’ve heard the stupidest thing ever, a new contender pops up.
Oregoon: The southern Oregon coast is the best part of the coast. Cape Arago and Shore Acres State Park are majestic and Bandon has the best stretch of beach in the state.
Note that the petitioners also want a chunk of California, which just seems greedy to me.
Nonetheless, I support this move, as long as Idaho takes over all the non-liberal parts of the west. Combine Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Kansas into one mega-Idaho. And then give them two Senators combined, cut their members of Congress to 18 and cut their number of electoral college votes to 21. They’d still only be the 7th most populous state in the union, so that seems fair.
A. More than half of Oregonians would still be Oregonians, lets stop playing in to this idea that land area is the best way to measure the size of something.
B. Good riddance, the counties in the leave basket do nothing but suck money away from the rest of the state, if Idaho wants to take on supporting them financially the rest of us would be better off just letting them go.
Greater Idaho.
Somehow I don’t think that’s going to replace ‘famous potatoes’ any time soon.
Albert has an excellent point about Cape Arago and points south. I say we hang on to it, and in addition to the states he outlined, throw in a truckload of Coor’s Light.