It seemed fitting that when Gov. Butch Otter spoke to the annual convention of the Idaho Licensed Beverage Association yesterday, the meeting was in the “Characters” lounge at the Red Lion Downtowner hotel. The first question the group had for the governor: Whether he’d support privatizing liquor sales in Idaho, as Washington did – the first state with state-controlled liquor sales to move to a privatized system. Otter talked about how Idaho liquor stores have profited from cross-border sales since Washington’s move, because of price differences as that state saw liquor prices rise. “Some of these other states … are dealing themselves a bad hand because they try hard to be progressive,” Otter said. “Not as long as I’m governor – that ain’t gonna change”/Betsy Russell, Eye on Boise. More here.

Question: Izzit just me, or is there something weird re: Otter's stand against liquor privatization (which has been proven to work) and for prison privatization (which has been a colossal failure in Idaho)?