Finalist for sheriff of Idaho's largest county blames Jews for communism in his job interview

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

One of the clearest priorities for public officials that has emerged from the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection is the dire need to root far-right extremists out of the ranks of the nation’s law enforcement agencies—underscored by an FBI intelligence report warning that white supremacists are targeting such agencies for infiltration. More than anything, effectively confronting far-right terrorism and violence will require ensuring that law enforcement is not subverted by officers who sympathize with their frequently unhinged ideologies.

But in Boise, Idaho, local county commissioners considered appointing as sheriff a man named Steve Traubel, who is an ardent supporter of the far-right Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), an organization that preaches that sheriffs are the supreme law of the land, accountable to no one. During his job interview this week as one of three finalists for the sheriff’s position, Traubel repeated the antisemitic theory that Jews “led the Bolshevik Revolution” and are to blame for creating the Soviet Union, as well as for the subsequent violence.

However, although Traubel had significant backing from GOP officials, the county commission on Friday chose someone else.

Traubel, a onetime Sheriff’s Office investigator who worked in the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office until 2019, and the other two candidates—Matt Clifford, a lieutenant in the Sheriff’s Office, and Mike Chilton, a Marine Corps veteran and onetime Sheriff’s Office employee—were interviewed Wednesday by the Ada County Commission. The three finalists were chosen by the Ada County Republican Central Committee to replace former Sheriff Steve Bartlett, who resigned suddenly in May, less than a year after winning reelection.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/7/2/2038127/-Finalist-for-sheriff-of-Idaho-s-largest-county-blames-Jews-for-Communism-in-his-job-interview

[The Magistrate]

1. That Is Straight Up Nazi, Sir

You will see it used as justification for the Holocaust in the more outre parts of the inter-tubes --- revenge for the Soviet Union's atrocities.

[TheBlackAdder]

23. Lenin & Stalin were both Greek Orthodox, however, Libertarian Queen Ayn Rand was born Jewish.

.

Perhaps that Nazi is confusing Totalitarian Communism with Ayn Rand's destruction of American Values.

.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

26. They became scapegoats in Germany by the fascists...

... partly because Karl Marx and other Jewish intellectuals had earlier shared those economic ideas.

The fact that the Jews couldn't force anyone to implement the ideas was somehow ignored!

The Aryan race nonsense didn't help those millions of victims of Nazism either.

Right-wing propagandists in this country have been trying for decades to incite similar fear and hatred toward liberals and intellectuals, in general.

[lame54]

2. He's a shoo-in

[yonder]

3. To be clear, Ada County is Idaho's

most populous County, not it's largest. Not by a long shot.

Thankfully, Ada Co. remains purplish though the same can't be be said for it's County Commissioners - who fortunately did the right thing here.

[jmowreader]

12. The largest county is Idaho County

It is a little over 8000 square miles. Population is about 16,000.

For context, Delaware, Rhode Island, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Guam are all smaller than this one county.

[bahboo]

4. "Traubel had significant backing from GOP officials"

all you need to know.....

[abqtommy]

5. Kudos to the The County Commission, at least for this.

[leftyladyfrommo]

6. That's Bundy country. Bundy is running for governor.

He is currently banned from the capitol and I think he was in court for other craziness this week

Southern Utah is really Mormon country. The Bundys are some weird kind of Mormon.

[jmowreader]

13. He was

Specifically, he was in court to answer to what got him banned from the Capitol in the first place.

[brooklynite]

7. Out of curiosity, how did the Bolshevik Revolution come up in conversation?

[Hekate]

18. Out of curiosity, how did "the Jews" come up in the interview?

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. Traubel has written a book about it. And it's not his only bigoted belief:

During the Wednesday afternoon interviews, commissioners questioned one candidate, Doug Traubel, about controversial comments he has posted on social media and in other writings, including a book he wrote called, “Red Badge: A Veteran peace officer’s commentary on the Marxist subversion of American Law Enforcement & Culture.”

Commissioner Kendra Kenyon, of District 3, questioned Traubel about posts he has written about the number of Black men who rape white women; his support for the “constitutional” sheriff movement; and comments that he wears a mask with “hoax” written on it when traveling on airplanes, that “Islam is the culture of death” and that single mothers are “not an economically viable unit.”
...
Later, she asked Traubel about the source of a sentence in his book that “at least 50%” of rape allegations are false.

In response to Kenyon’s questions, Traubel said that when his comments are “suspended in the air without the context of the chapters and paragraphs” that surround them, “it paints an unfair picture of me.”

https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/community/boise/article252485233.html

Somehow I doubt that reading more of his book or posts would do anything to lessen the stupidity and hatred he expresses.

[Solly Mack]

8. K&R

[NNadir]

9. He'll probably run for Governor...

...It's terrible to think he might be taken seriously, but I do think it possible after the "Presidency" of an incurious dullard racist.

[Hortensis]

10. Regarding sociopolitical sorting, Idaho had the greatest net influx per capita

in 2020, a continuation of an ongoing trend to the "redoubt" states. The male half of a couple of very old friends is a competitive marksman who'd love to trade off his extremely modest (think once a working class starter) $1+M urban "rancher" near Santa Monica for an Idaho estate, a small but real ranch, but the female half took one look at the far-right flight they'd be joining and put her foot down. They're both conservative, but not THAT kind.

[Sympthsical]

11. How does that even come up in an interview?

I've sat through many interviews, but that's a new one on me.

[Mad_Machine76]

22. Very good question.

Very puzzled about that myself.


I guess it’s good that it came up at all so at least they could make an informed choice about not picking him but yeah

[Mosby]

14. What else is new

Jews are blamed for Communism and Capitalism.

[Progressive Jones]

21. And space lasers, and Proud Boy replacement, and... nt

[Iggo]

15. So he believes in generational blame, does he?

Interesting.

[Hekate]

17. He believes in a flat-out antisemitic lie, not "generational blame" & not a "theory"

[smirkymonkey]

16. Wait, but I thought they liked Russia?

I'm so confused.

How much do you want to bet that he couldn't define Bolshevism or Communism if his life depended on it?

[DFW]

28. That's the main point

They're against Jews and Communists, but couldn't tell you the first thing about Judaism or Communism (or freedom, for that matter, but that is standard with people like that).

[PlanetBev]

19. Yep, we're responsible for everything

Crab grass, halitosis, banana peels on the sidewalk, space lasers. You name it, we did it.

[Jedi Guy]

29. I woke up with a splitting headache this morning.

No doubt those dastardly Jews hit me with some kind of headache ray while I was sleeping.

[Demovictory9]

20. omg

[DemocraticPatriot]

25. The hell with Idaho.

Just ship your potatos out, and shut the fuck up.

[ck4829]

27. Normal conversation right there /s