From: Date: Thu, 04 Aug 94 09:27:05 EDT Editorial reprinted from the Thursday, August 4, 1994 [Boise] Idaho Statesman by respected local columnist, Dan Popkey. ================================= SOME SINS ARE EASIER TO FORGIVE It must be nice to have Kelly Walton's blessing. Walton, the architect of Idaho's anti-gay initiative, last week tabbed an ex-drug dealer to direct his campaign. "Those who cast the first stone on this one really ought to look in the mirror." Walton said. "Only those who are perfect have the right to cast aspersions on anybody else." Boy, there's an irony from a guy who's spent 18 months tossing rocks at gays. Bill Proctor, the new director of the Idaho Citizens Alliance, did 16 months in prison in 1983-84 for selling cocaine and marijuana. Police seized two pounds of coke, packaged for sale in one-ounce packets. They also found 18 pounds of pot in a cardboard box at his home. The cops said he supplied Boise street dealers. Now, Proctor credits God for turning his life around. Remember what that God's son said when a crowd tried to goad him into stoning an adulteress? "He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone." A STATE OF GRACE So how does Walton explain choosing this guy -- who may have put drugs in the hands of children -- to wage a campaign anchored on values and morality? "When you throw in forgiveness and grace and doing time for aa wrong done, it's not hypocritical," Walton said Wednesday. Bill has garnered a dose of wisdom from his earlier days. He knows what it is like on the dark side of the culture. "I have never said, 'So and so is a homosexual.' I have constitiently said, 'The behavior is wrong'." For his part, Proctor acknowledges drugs pose a greater peril to our culture than gays. "Obviously, drugs are the biggest threat. But that's not necessarily the case in the future." He warns of the "gay agenda" -- promoting homosexuality in schools, gays in the military, same-sex marriage. "It's not a lifestyle; it's a death-style. If it can happen in San Francisco and New York, it can happen here." This ain't the big city. The Idaho Legislature is more likely to legalize drugs than same-sex marriage. Lt. Gov. But Ottter even proposed decriminalization of drugs when he was a starry-eyed Libertarian legislator. Don't get me wrong. Proctor sounds like a nice man. A model prisoner, he took religious education in the pen and was "sincerely repentant," according to his court file. His rehabilitation is a triumph. Since his release, his only run-ins have been four speeding tickets, a reckless driving offense and blowing through a stop sign. But Proctor seems out of place on this political pulpit. JUDGEMENT DAY And his rise has some ICA supporters squirming. Ada [Boise] County Commissioner Gary Glenn, the first and loudest public official to favor the initiative, stammered when asked about Proctor's credibility in a campaign about morality. Idaho's glibbest politician whistled and then said, "Let's see. Well. Hmmm." Glenn said he wouldn't have picked Proctor, but predicts the flap will have little effect on the campaign. "It's a blip." Ralph Gines, the GOP nominee for auditor and one of the few major candidates to endorse the initiative, wanted distance. "All I've said is that I'll vote for it. I don't know the man." If only Walton and company could show the same restraint in judging folks they don't know.