Recently an editorial in the Coeur d'Alene Press pointed the finger squarely at the fringe right wing of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee. I'm certain it ruffled the feathers of these powerful few who somehow believe that anyone who disagrees with them is a liberal or even worse, a socialist or perhaps a communist!

Together they seem to have a powerful voice in how the party operates in this neck of the woods. For, as The Press put it, they are not true Republicans.

Like radio talk show host Glenn Beck, they are probably more truly Libertarians. They found a new home in the Republican Party and now have infiltrated the ranks. They have brought with them some good ideas, but they also are stuck in a mud bath of issues that just aren't going to serve the purposes of the party.

Hiding behind the veil of small government, these invaders from the right are pushing their personal social views on the people of Kootenai County.

You see, extremism is bad - on either the right or left. From the days when our Constitution and other documents were initiated, it has been a give and take exercise.

When Kootenai extremists cry for the ouster of elected congressmen and legislators because they don't agree with some of their positions, we should all take this as a warning sign of what is on the horizon. If they can continue to get their way, and get a handful more extremists into positions of power, our great Republican Party is in for a real disaster.

Look what happened to the Coeur d'Alene School District. With Republican extremists in power, pushing their personal social beliefs on everyone, they allowed liberals to step in and gain some control of the schools. They just forgot the simple truth that school elections are, and should be, non-partisan.

What the extremists did was open the door for more school taxes, less accountability and more federal meddling - all because they tried to push their personal social and moral beliefs on the community-at-large.

If history is any gauge of what lies ahead, extremism always fails, and as it fails, it leaves behind opportunities for the other party to gain power.

The real questions we as Republicans have to ask ourselves is, "How long are we going to put up with it?"

Losing elections is not fun. I know, I've been there, working in California for the GOP. And look at what happened in the last two national elections. We went down, not because we had bad candidates, but because we have a fringe in our party that hurt us with the middle-of-the-road voters (the ones who decide elections).

They just cannot understand that their personal views are just that, their personal views. What we as a party stand for is simply what the party has always stood for - a party of compromise and reality that man can and will achieve greatness. And, that means to me, all men and women. It means preparing our young people to compete in the tough job market ahead of them. It means more than a high school degree. It means accepting those who have different lifestyles who live up to the law and just want to have acceptance. It means looking at our immigration laws and recognizing they have to be changed for the good of all.

Get the picture? A good Republican fights for the same things we have always fought for - equality, opportunity, accountability in government, acceptance of those who might be "different" than us.

Every time I hear a right winger in our party praise President Reagan and try to make us believe they are expressing the views of Reagan, I shudder. I know; I personally saw the man in action. He was strong and powerful because he did not waste his time on the issues that extreme Republicans today see as the only critical things facing this nation.

Reagan, as governor and president, worried about the economy, the rising taxes faced by his constituents, too much federal government control. He worried about protecting our nation from powers out to destroy us. He worried that some Americans were not being treated equally. These are the things we should remember about Reagan and emulate. These are the things we should focus on. If we do, we can best serve our nation. If we don't, we run the real risk of another eight years of Democrat rule in Washington.

Earl Parker was press secretary to the Lt. Governor of California during the Reagan administration. He is a resident of Twin Lakes.