Oil, Water, and Paddlefish...

 

 

Once upon a time, down in the Yellowstone River swam a happy  Paddlefish named Zelda .  She knew her day would come when she'd be hooked and dragged ashore, rolled over on her tummy, and have some brute squeeze the livin' caviar out of her.

 

But fate had a more dastardly plot in mind for poor Zelda. She was about to become a victim of the nemeses of the deep, the every-popular, safe and secure Big Oil Pipeline.

 

According to Big Oil Companies, you can put oil leaks into your supply of drinking water out of your mind.  They just don't happen.  But when they do, the company will tell you about it two or three days after it happens and they'll fudge on just how much of the stuff really slipped into the river.

 

By now, poor Zelda is getting a little steamed at the sticky black stuff hanging on her like Velcro. And, it probably won't do much good for her caviar, either.  Darn.  She was looking forward to a little squeeze from a handsome fisherman, too.

 

Man, I hope they build that Keystone Pipeline...don't you?

 

 

 

 

Bozeman is a magnet for Right-Wingers

There's something strange in the drinking water in Bozeman, Montana.

 

That beautiful little town nestled in the splendor of everything that is "high, wide, and handsome" about our state is being taken over by out-of-state, right-wing, Tea Party-thinking politicians and power-hungry evil-doers.

 

U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-Bozeman, MT) is but one of the people we need to keep a close watch on as he votes in the U.S. Senate.  While in the U.S. House, he voted to shut down the government and that nitwit idea cost Montana millions!

 

Greg Gianforte, founder of RightNow Technologies, and a Bozeman multi-millionaire, is a close friend of Daines and shares the same radical views.  Gianforte's wife, Susan, is pushing hard for charter schools and more religious education through her association with an organization called Montana Family Foundation.  They spend heavily on Republican Right-Wing candidates who share their views.  A mini-version of the Koch Brothers, if you will.

 

Montana Legislator, Art Wittich (R-Bozeman) is another Montana calamity who has a bill he is trying to get passed that would give Montana Sheriff Departments domination over Federal authority when it comes to gun control issues. He represents one more Bozeman nut with a hatred for our government!  Their theory consists of a simple idea that if they can get issues shoved to a state level, these control freaks will find it much easier to manipulate them.

And, if those yahoos aren't enough, let's not forget Scott Sales (R-Bozeman), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who quickly tabled a motion concerning a Human Rights bill. The bill had strong opposition from people of religious faith.  Sales has already attracted hostility from level-headed, common sense Montanans!

 

Some people just have a hard time looking for something to do with all of their money.  They turn to the hobby of buying political seats for their friends and forcing their warped ideas on the masses, or just buying a political office for themselves.

 

They do not understand - or care - about the Montana way of life.

 

They are too busy living in their own mega-rich world where their only friends are like-minded troublemakers.

 

 

Some Guys Just Love Awards!

This week's "Clown of the Week" Award will probably come as no surprise to most of you, but I'm still a little peeved that State Rep. Matthew Monforton (R) Bozeman has seen fit to hog the award the first two weeks of the Montana Legislative Session.

 

The first week, he wanted to change legislative rules that have been around longer than dirt in order to give his Republican Party an even bigger edge in voting on bills.  If you'll remember, he also wanted to close Republican Primaries to only Republicans.

 

His mug is back in the news again this week to earn him another "Clown of the Week" Award, and it's for another equally dumb grab for the spotlight.  As Montana comes off a year of the fewest number of abortions in 39 years, Monforton has decided now is the time for him to tear into issues regarding something a man has no business tearing into:  A woman's decisions on how to manage her own body.

 

Most of the Republicans who think like Monforton when it comes to abortions are really just looking for the "Pro-Life" votes.  They don't really give a damn about the women and their rights.  The issue is what it is:  "Fire up the Right-Wing base!"

The missing ingredient in Monforton's issues is "why now?"  If he really wants to get his name in headlines, why not work on the serious problems that are at the heart of all Montanans, instead of looking for unethical shortcuts for his own political party. 
 

As we move into week three, will Monforton be looking at a third award?  Maybe the old "hat trick," the bowling game "turkey,"  the old "three time's a charm," or the old "three strikes and you're out?"

 

Maybe he'll find a reason to attack apple pie and mom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



A Montana School System Wrecking Ball...

There seems to still be a highly vocal gaggle of Tea Party folks in the halls of our Montana Legislature and they can still give the "Regular Republicans" a bucket load of fits.

Some of these Tea Baggers have wiggled their way into highly important committee chairperson positions.  For example, Rep. Sarah Laszloffy (R-Laurel) is the 23-year-old Chairwoman of the House Education Committee, with her own education coming from home schooling and private schools.  While Laszloffy gives lip service to public schools, it is very evident where her heart looks for taxpayer funding. Her father, Jeff Laszloffy, a former Republican Legislator, and the Montana Family Foundation is a nonprofit organization that promotes and has sought out legislation to protect "pro-family values."

Bozeman millionaire Greg Gianforte and his wife, Susan Gianforte, sits on the board of directors for the Montana Family Foundation.   Gianforte is a close friend of Sen. Steve Daines, in case you were wondering.

All in all, Conservative money and power are creeping into our school system like a mighty wrecking ball, and the aforementioned folks are the leaders of that demolition team. 

Funding for Montana's Educational System is a big deal every Legislative Session and this session is no exception.  While most Republicans would like to see our tax dollars spent on private schools, they are absolutely delirious about allowing the radical Tea Party folks to lead the charge.

If you think this is just another annoying move on the part of these folks, you better think again.  These annoying people control the Montana House and Senate...again.  They would be happy as little clams if they could get us to pay for their kids in their private schools, and our kids in what's left of our public education.

Wake up, Montana...it's our education system that is at stake.

And it's our children who are at stake, too! 

 

 

 

Monforton-Style Montana Laws...

 

 

We're not going to spend a lot of time on this, folks.

Our first recipient of The Montana Blogger's "Clown of the Week"  Award goes to Montana Representative Matthew Monforton (R) of Bozeman.

Attorney Monforton has filed a suit asking a federal judge to strike down as unconstitutional, Montana laws allowing any registered voter to participate in any party primary.

He states that "closed primaries are needed because people not in their (Republican) party have been voting in their primaries and influencing election outcomes for years."

As an example, Monforton further stated a recent House of Representatives vote brought some Republicans to support an amendment to House procedural rules that was brought to the floor by a (gasp) Democrat!

He further stated, "on Thursday, we found out on the House floor that 11 of the Republicans, so-called Republicans, can be counted on to vote against every major Republican bill that comes forward.  We really don't have a majority in the House!" (gasp, again)

He is opposed to Democrats voting in Republican Primaries and, evidently,  opposed to Democrats voting in the Montana House and Senate on Republican-initiated bills, as well. 

No...I offer no conclusion to this story.  I am confident that any Montanan with an ounce of common sense can see through this outrageous nonsense.

Monforton, resign and go home now.  Your "Senator Daines impersonation" is highly suspect!


 



The Smell of Putrid Politics...

 

If those who went to the polls in November and voted for these "Radical Republicans" with the intention of making things better for Montanans...well, you have failed miserably in your venture.

 

The old phrase of "messing in their own nest" comes to mind, as well as "becoming too big for their britches."

 

When a gang of hoodlums such as these find they can't get things done to their liking, they run to a dimly-lit basement somewhere and secretly decide to change the rules of the Montana Legislature.  Rules, mind you, that have served us  well for years and years.

 

Few things bother me more than politicians who believe once elected, they suddenly assume the supreme power of the universe and all living things are incidental to their own personal agenda.

 

When did we allow such thuggery to pervade the halls of Montana's lawmakers? 

 

The election process of our Montana Legislators is not a "winner take all" scenario.  It is a case of differing ideologies that culminate - through debate - into one workable plan.  No one side assumes power by hook or by crook.

 

...or by childishly changing the rules!

 

   

 

 

 

 

 



With the Arrogance of Attila the Hun...

 

 

Arrogance means "overly convinced of one's own superiority and importance.  Haughty, high-and-mighty, insolent, lordly, overbearing, prideful, supercilious, superior, or to lay claim to for oneself or as one's right."

 

Take your pick, Montana.

 

The Republican Party rushed into Helena -  and the Legislative Session -  with the charm, grace, and finesse of a bull in a china shop.  The GOP's first "reach" was to "over-reach."  In their dreams, they salivated for total conquest of the Minority Party, and it poured from their lips like slobber in a drooling frenzy.

 

But wait.  Montana Newspapers around the state began attacking the GOP's "Rule Changes" as arrogant and high-handed...too arrogant even for the GOP.

 

The prideful "over-reach" became an embarrassed "pull-back."

 

But, not to get giddy just yet, Montanans.  This little shenanigan was tried on day one of the Session.  They still have about three months to work on other "suspicious presentations."

 

It's like watching a three-ring circus and trying to spot the clown that no one should trust.

 

Oh, the humanity!   The humanity!

 



Talk about "twisted thinking"...

Herein lies a tale of a trunk-twister's twisted thinking.

 

There are a few names that all Montanans need to write down, stick on your refrigerator door, and spray paint on your bedroom wall so you will see them when you awake every  morning!

 

Those names are: Montana Family Foundation;  Sarah Laszloffy (R) State Rep. Laurel, MT, chairwoman of House Education Committee;  Debra Lamm (R) State Rep. Livingston, MT, vice-chairwoman of House Education Committee;  Jeff Laszloffy (father of Sarah), former Republican Legislator and operator of the Montana Family Foundation;  Greg Gianforte, (Bozeman billionaire and friend of billionaire  Sen. Daines) a longtime contributor to the Republican Party  and his wife, Susan Gianforte, who sits on the board of directors for the MFF.

 

The Montana Family Foundation rallies against such things as abortion, same-sex marriage, and in favor of education that promotes a "biblical world-view."  They also are aggressive about using taxpayers' dollars to support their private schools. 

 

They have worked under the radar to place "their" people in influential positions in our State Legislature and are now ready to do serious harm to the public school systems in Montana.  We can expect to see legislation in the Republican-controlled Montana House and Senate by these folks.  Laszloffy tries to calm the suspicious by saying there is nothing to fear.  She consider herself a "best practice girl."  (Whatever the tarnation that might mean)

 

I am always suspicious of any single person or group of people who works beneath the radar of public scrutiny in order to feather their own nest at the expense of the majority who they were sent to Helena to represent.

 

These people are the hangers-on of the nearly defunct Tea Party terrorists.  They have enemies in both the Republican and Democrat Parties.  They have, however, managed to position two of their own as chairwoman and vice-chairwoman of the powerful House Education Committee.

 

Better make those spray-painted names on your bedroom wall a fluorescent, screamin' bright red!

 

 

 



One man's life vs. one man's legacy...

 

There really isn't much more to say about the fiasco that former Montana Governor and Attorney General Marc Racicot has kept under wraps in order to keep his "presumed legacy" unsoiled. 

 

He successfully prosecuted a life sentence for Barry Beach when he only had dim circumstantial evidence and a "forced confession."  And, Racicot has gone to great lengths to keep Beach in prison for life.   He has gone behind closed doors with the Montana Board of Pardons and Paroles, pleading for a "no vote" on Beach's release, in order to uphold his highly questionable handling of the murder case.

 

It is worth noting that Racicot's legacy has already been exposed as less than warm and fuzzy by most Montanans in the political sense. He used people to step on as he made his way to the "Washington D.C. movers and shakers."

 

It is truly time to let Barry Beach out of prison by whatever means...even if we have to satisfy Racicot's ego in the process!