Last year, KTVB did this really pathetic multi-part hit piece on the Idaho Freedom Foundation.
It was both amusing and sad to watch because the “news” station put so much effort into the attack which failed miserably. It was clear from those attacks that KTVB’s Brian Holmes and Morgan Romero had no idea how politics worked.
I thought I had seen one of the worst hit pieces ever courtesy of KTVB, and then former State Senator Mary Souza (Coeur d’Alene) came along.
Mary was recently drubbed in her campaign to be the next Idaho Secretary of State by coming in 3rd place with just 15% of the vote in a three-way race.
Since losing her race, she’s taken to the Coeur d’Alene Press to release a series of Op-Eds where she pretends to be releasing “shocking” information about Idaho politics. Sadly, Mary’s “hit pieces” are anything but, and she is living dangerously close to libel with some of her statements.
Souza has now released seven articles attacking various organizations and individuals, including myself. Here’s a tip for those looking to do hit pieces; if you need seven articles to do it, you’re doing it wrong. Write a book or something, because no one will follow you on that many articles, especially when they are as bad as Mary’s.
I was mentioned briefly in one of Mary’s articles. Unfortunately, Mary either blatantly lied about me, the organizations or companies that I run/ran, or she is completely incompetent at doing her own research. It makes Mary’s articles almost laughable because there are so many mistakes that you almost feel bad for her taking the time to write them.
So, what did Mary say about me? Here is the full quote from the Coeur d’Alene Press:
Idaho Dispatch is another online publication. It’s been around much longer and is run by Greg Pruitt of the Second Amendment Alliance. His name is also not evident on the publication. I recall several years ago when Greg tried to mimic IFF’s bullying of legislators. He sent a red postcard to all of us, demanding we sign a pledge or he would say mean things on social media. I laughed when I saw the card, tossed it in the trash, then asked my fellow senators if they signed. Only one had done so, and regretted it. The funny thing is that Idaho, under real Republican leadership, has been increasing gun freedom for years. We passed bills almost every year to bolster our gun rights in Idaho, and are rated second in the nation, behind Wyoming, in gun freedom. Greg was just trying to gain power and be more like IFF.
So, what did Mary get wrong? Well, basically everything.
- My last name is spelled PruEtt, but, whatever.
- The name of the 2nd Amendment organization I run is the IDAHO Second Amendment Alliance, but again, whatever.
- Mary obviously doesn’t know that I no longer run the Idaho Dispatch and haven’t since September 1st, 2022.
- Mary falsely claims that I hid my identity on the Idaho Dispatch which is nothing short of slanderous. When I owned the Idaho Dispatch, my name was not only on the “About” secltion, along with my picture if I remember correctly, but the articles themselves always had my name on them if I wrote them. You can see examples of that here, here, here, here, here, here, and here to name a few. Not only that, but if you look at the Idaho Dispatch Facebook page live videos as well as the YouTube channel prior to 09/01/2022, my face is all over the place. This claim by Mary that I was hiding who ran the Idaho Dispatch is a flat out LIE.
- A common tactic for establishment Republicans who have no moral ground to stand on is to say you are bullying people. So, what “red postcard” is Mary refering to? Several years ago the ISAA sent a red postcard to each lawmaker asking them to pledge that they would oppose all forms of Red Flag Gun Confiscation Orders. Mind you, most lawmakers didn’t even know what Red Flag laws were at the time. Did we use the card to bully people? No. Did we let gun owners know which lawmakers signed the cards and which ones didn’t? Of course. It’s good to know though that when it came to Mary Souza making her stance known on gun confiscation, she just threw the card in the trash. To my knowledge, the IFF hasn’t ever done anything like we did, and if they did, I didn’t know anything about it.
- When the ISAA began, Idaho was ranked 32nd on the Guns and Ammo ranking system for stated with the most friendly 2nd Amendment laws. Idaho now ranks 2nd in the country, not thanks to people like Mary Souza, but thanks to gun owners who pushed legislation that the Mary Souza-type Republicans never wanted to take up. The reality is, when I began the push for Constitutional Carry in 2013, not one legislator that I talked to, and I talked to most of the Republicans, had any idea what Constitutional Carry was. Despite the efforts of the NRA to block Constitutional Carry, we forced the legislature to take up the issue in 2016. We did the same for Stand-Your-Ground and the Second Amendment Preservation Act expansion. Idaho has been increasing our ranking thanks to the incredible gun owners in this state who don’t give up. Most of the RINOs in the capitol would just assume not vote for pro-gun legislation, but they do everything they can to get a watered-down gun bill for election time. It’s been that way for a long time.
- The ISAA has no competition or desire to be like the IFF. We do completely different things. Many of the folks at the IFF are friends of mine and I consider them allies for sure. But, I do things my own way, and I’m not influenced by the IFF in any way shape or form.
Now, if the small portion of Mary’s attack against me was so bad and inaccurate, can you imagine her attacks on all of the other individuals and groups being any better?
The reality is, RINOs like Mary Souza are becoming extinct. People are tired of phony Republicans who refuse to do uphold the Republican platform and are constantly voting like Democrats.
Now, Mary is trying to stay relevant by keeping her name in the news by attacking actual conservatives. She’s joined the likes of Jim Jones and Bob Kustra in liberal drivel that gets published in Idaho’s left-wing newspapers. Congrats Mary, you made it to the big leagues!
Looking forward to Part 856 of Mary’s scary IFF files though, because I can always use a good laugh.