Sen. John Goedde and Representatives Frank Henderson, Luke Malek and Ed Morse: How dare you. How dare you do your jobs well only to have members of your own party fling fistfuls of elephant poo at you. If we had our way, we'd put your grinning mugs on a mini-Rushmore overlooking Lake Coeur d'Alene.

Thankfully, a majority of the local Republican central committee derailed a bid recently to censure these legislators for steering Idaho in the only practical direction it could head on the speeding train of Obamacare. For that, though, the legislators have incurred the persistent wrath of alleged fellow Republicans who, failing to muster enough support for censure, are now threatening to do their all to ensure the legislators' fall in next year's elections.

Good luck with that, discontented souls. What you have failed to grasp is that the actions of these four legislators reflect the support not just of many Democrats and Independents, but of a majority of Kootenai County Republicans, too. Our state was given two bad options - federal control or local control. These four wisely chose local control, and for that they're being labeled everything from traitors to RINOs.

Those accusing these legislators of being RINOs - Republicans In Name Only - are merely confessing a profound shortcoming. They're admitting that by their extremism, it is they who inhabit the remote isle of Republican posers.

What does a real Republican look like? Above all, a real Republican reveres individual rights, even when some of those rights stick in the gullet of one's own political or religious preferences. A real Republican insists on limited government, not eliminated government. A real Republican embraces the concept of union and the benefit of cooperation between federal, state and local governments. A real Republican is fiscally responsible, which allows her or him to give aid when the downtrodden need help.

A real Republican looks a lot like Abraham Lincoln, not some of the frowning faces growling on the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.