Eighty-Four and there ain't no more. . .

A guy who just turned  eighty-four years of age should know when it's time to quit causing trouble. I've been doing this Blog for about twenty years and I have always tried to live up to its name, The Troublemaker. These twenty years were after I retired from 32 years in the newspaper business. 

But, while the mind is still willing, the fight seems unwinnable and my "one light in the darkness" is growing dimmer.

I am not a journalist and have never pretended to be one. I was seldom a writer in my 32 years as a newspaper man, but I always had an opinion and I had a thirst to write about it. I even found a way to express my opinions in political cartoons for about 40 years. I hope people judged me on my opinions and not my less-than-adequate writing and cartooning. 

But, our nation has a lot of cleaning-up to do. And, we need to make sure we don't make the same mistakes again. We have a lot of bad people in elected offices that shouldn't be there and we need to get them out however way is fastest. We need to start looking at people's character instead of their political affiliation when we vote.

An excellent example of how far off course we are can be heard and seen in the senate's questioning of Judge Jackson for confirmation to the United States Supreme Court. Two outrageous jackasses, Sen. Graham and Sen. Cruz, were extremely proud of themselves throwing barbs at Judge Jackson as they played "bad cop, bad cop." Their political theatre even brought murmurs and gasps from those in the gallery! (Their purpose: To get re-elected!)

I am no longer up to reliving the disgusting actions of such United States Senators and Representatives.  I don't need to remind anyone of the exploits of these twits. I'm sure our voters know what is happening and I'm also sure they know what to do about it.

I firmly believe we have treasonous traitors serving in congress today and they are, in the meanwhile, voting on items that concern all of us and can irreparably affect our lives! How did we let that happen?

I would take the opportunity to give my unsolicited piece of wisdom to my Blog readers: (1) Be better informed about your government  (2) Get involved with your government. (3)  Give your political party a rest break and think about what your country needs! 

. . . if you don't do it, who will?

-30-

P.S. - If an asteroid about 1000 miles in diameter is headed our way or Trump decides to run again (same conclusion) I might be able to get one more blog posted. Both have about a .0005% chance of happening, though.

It is a Party-Wide Disgrace. . .

"Republicans Want a White Republic 

and They'll Destroy America to Get It"

Excerpts from Time, by Carol Anderson - July 17, 2019

"Then-President Donald Trump suggested, in a tweet storm, that four congresswomen of color leave America and 'go back' to the 'totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came.' The social media went berserk and "some news outlets called the tweets racist."

"The Republicans, however, were stone cold quiet. Why? Because the ideological demographics of the party dictated it!"

"The GOP's membership is nearly 90% white and are staring at total carnage and extinction as it looks upon a right-based, religious, racial, and ideologically diverse America. Or, as Sen. Lindsey Graham noted as early as 2012, We're not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term."

 

In the first place, the subject is sickening, and when it comes to Republicans, the color of many of our citizens is not the GOP's only problem.  What ninety-percent of their membership wants is for America's minority to give up its dream of continuing as a democracy. That means the people of color must stop standing in the way of the GOP gaining a total authoritarian rule. Compounding the problem for Republicans is the fact that by  2045 the white people of America will definitely be in the minority. That, of course, will be the death knell to the White Supremacist's way of life.

Republicans said Covid was a hoax. They said Russia would never invade anyone. The say climate change is a fake. They say vaccines don't work. They say the news is fake and media are the enemy of the people. The praise Putin. The attacked our Capitol. They ban books. They are on the wrong side of nearly every issue you can name. They are a Party that is morphing into an autocracy and they are out to destroy our nation in the process!

This battle they are waging isn't just on a national stage. They are becoming seriously dangerous in many of our states. They are revamping election rules and replacing long-time election officials with Republican loyalists to "stand by and stand ready" should a GOP candidate lose. Montana has been under their rule since the 2020 election. Their Trump-like attack on our democratic values in Montana has residents reeling and our courts are busy slapping down grossly unfair and inhumane laws that the GOP-controlled Legislature passed in the dead of night - and with the blessing of their like-minded governor who signed anything they sent to his office.

This has become an ugly Party-wide disgrace that must be put down en masse! There are too many to battle on an individual basis. We must eliminate the bulk of the Republican Party of Trump and get America back on an even keel again. America has not faced an assault like this - by treasonists like this -  since 1861! 

  Vote Blue in 2022!

Another Devil incarnate. . .

In 16th century England, the Devil was considered to be a real living entity that roamed the land. The expression 'the devil in human form' wasn't a metaphor as we might use it now but an actuality. Someone whom the devil took the form of was referred to as the 'Devil incarnate.'

In 2016, another 'Devil incarnate' wreaked havoc on America in the form of Donald J. Trump. Even after his four-year term as president, his devilish words and actions bring many in his Republican Party to their knees. 

Trump will disappear in time, however, as another moves in to take his place. Another who will also be the Devil incarnate!

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is such a candidate.

We must have learned by now how to spot them. After Trump spoke with a thousand lying tongues and made a mockery of our rule of law, we have learned how to spot them - haven't we? Don't we see how DeSantis is cut from the same Devil's cloth? When someone tells us how he is going to change our 245 years of democracy, our public education system, his tyrannical approach to how he will expect us to live under his ways, we should be finally able to spot the new Devil incarnate - shouldn't we?

Ron DeSantis would be such a man.

He is serving as the 46th Republican governor of Florida since 2019. Before that, he served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Florida's 6th district from 2013 to 2018. He was born in Jacksonville, FL. He is a Harvard Law School and Yale University graduate.

He has been a loyal supporter of the previous Devil incarnate. Their pictures together are emblazoned in all of our minds. DeSantis was enamored with Trump's success at raising hell and disobeying the rules. He agreed with probably 99% of what Trump did and said.

Today, DeSantis is now trying to be his own man - his own Devil incarnate!  He wants to change what schools teach. He went against his state health officials in regards to masks and vaccinations. He forced a state health official out of office and hired an ill-equipped and uneducated loyalist to lie to Floridians about the Covid crisis and how to guard against it. Everything that was in the Trump play book, soon found its way into his. He recently walked into a school classroom and immediately told several students standing near the front of the room to take off those damn masks. If he had blond hair and was a bit more orange colored, it would have been frightening!

He is a good ol' southern boy who is still fighting the government and seems more than proud to carry the mantle that was once unceremoniously tossed about by Trump.

We do not need another Devil incarnate. There are reports that DeSantis is seriously considering a run for president in 2024 if Trump doesn't run again. That probably means DeSantis will be in the race.

We do not need a Ron DeSantis for president.

Ginny's Being Bad. . .

Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, is being accused of raising hell on and/or before the January 6, 2021 Insurrection on our Capitol. 

Ginny, as she is known by friends, is an activist of the highest order on the list of radical Republicans in Washington D.C.  With her bullhorn in hand, she is ready to fight the good fight for all that is unholy, highly undemocratic, and underhanded. At the very least, she is definitely under suspicion for inciting the Jan. 6th Insurrection!

Far be it from any of us to say she can't back whatever causes motivate her. The problem, however, is that her hubby, Justice Thomas, continues to participate in cases related to her political activities. He is the one whose conduct should be questioned.

Lower court judges are bound by a code of conduct that requires recusal for conflicts of interest, or even if their impartiality might be reasonably questioned, but for some reason Supreme Court justices are permitted to decide for themselves whether recusal is appropriate in a given case.

"It is striking that in more than 30 years on the Supreme Court, you have never - not once - recused yourself from a case because of a conflict of interest presented by professional political activities of your wife, a prominent Republican strategist who has been involved in some of the most controversial matters to come before the Court," wrote a March 8 letter that was sent from several progressive groups to Justice Thomas. The court's public information office refused to comment on the letter.

It's time for Justice Thomas to either give up his job, be removed from his job, or silence his wife.  While she is free to rant against our nation, the justice should be compelled to give her "an offer she can't refuse" or leave the court and let her "cheerlead the domestic terrorists' attack forces." It is reported that she is deliriously happy being married to a supreme court justice and she evidently believes it gives her "status" she craves in order to carry out her activism!  

If this is what she calls "status" and feels compelled to be an activist against our government, I think maybe - for the good of the nation - I'd shorten her leash about two hundred yards and hope she learns how to heel. 

Just a thought.

 

Kneel, Montana - Austin Almighty is in the building. . .

Will the AG Every Learn That

His Powers Are Not Almighty!

"The state Supreme Court said in a Tuesday order the Montana attorney general erred in halting a ballot initiative from going out for signature-gathering.

The proposed ballot initiative aims to add new environmental protections to stretches of the Gallatin and Maddison rivers.

The court's unanimous opinion, written by Chief Justice Mike McGrath, also indicated that the attorney general lacks the authority to reject a proposed ballot initiative on the basis that it amounts to a government "taking" of private property. And, in a nonbinding concurring opinion, McGrath went further, writing that the authority to determine the constitutionality of ballot proposals rests solely with the courts - not the AG.

The court directed Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen to approve a final signature petition form to allow the environmental groups proposing the initiative to start collecting signatures to place it on the ballot."                                 -from the Helena Independent Record, 3/18/2022

The Montana Republican Party is working overtime to get loyalists on the state Supreme Court. They are getting tired of losing cases and getting their butts kicked in the process.  It has been one step forward and two steps backward for these power-hungry, autocratic, gestapo-like Montana Republicans! 

They need to learn that they don't get everything their way just because they won an election.

They need to understand we have laws for a reason.

Messing With The Vote Count Is Their Game. . .

 The Republican Party's

Worst Nightmare

is if Every Registered Voter 

VOTED!

Just think about it. Every registered voter fills out their mail-in ballot, absentee ballot, or  went to the polls on election day and VOTED! What a sight that would be. And what an election result that would be, too!

It would also be the Republican Party's worst nightmare and most likely the end of their political party! You see, their only chance to win an election is to cheat. It is not due to external forces, either. Their problems are of their own making and so far they are hell bent to keep on the same course.

It's simple - voter suppression is their name and messing with the vote count is their game. They're also getting pretty good at screaming fraud in a packed polling place. And, if none of that works, they have stacked loyalists in key state election official positions when they come out losers in the election. 

Everything they do is as obvious as the nose on your face. Still, they have managed to acquire that look of magnificent innocence when they are accused of tampering with our election system.

The Republican Party is playing with fire. They are trying to keep their base of scoundrels under their wings while they fleece the rest of us on election day, but hey are fooling no one but themselves. We must also consider the possibility that maybe it's the only shot they have at success. The Republican Party, after all,  is definitely in a downward spiral toward extinction unless they want to join the rest of us and our democracy!

It certainly doesn't take a Blogger Wordsmith to figure this out.

Vote Blue in 2022

Opinion by

John Watson

   

 

A Radical Right Winger wants on our Montana Supreme Court. . .

James Brown is a member of the Republican Party and is on the Montana Public Service Commission representing District 3. Brown assumed office on January 4, 2021 and his current term ends on January 6, 2025.

He is currently running for election as judge of the Montana Supreme Court. Brown is on the ballot in the primary on June 7, 2022. He is the only candidate who is not a sitting judge.

Brown was a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Montana. He voted to support Donald Trump at the convention.

He reportedly said, "The reason I'm running for the position on the Montana Supreme Court is because folks from Montana reached out to me in the last several weeks after seeing who had filed for the Court and asked me to consider running."

Those "folks who reached out to him" are all Republicans and they all think they need to stuff a Republican on the bench in order to get more of their disgustingly inhumane laws that were passed by their friends in the legislature, signed by the governor, and are now fighting for survival in the court system.

Don't let this guy anywhere close to our state supreme court. He is a Trump acolyte and a rabid Republican!

The Montana Republican Party is working overtime at trying to destroy our Montana values, and this guy is one of their recent hires. 

Vote him down. He already has a job at our PSC until Jan. 2025 and he and his all-elephant commission have already screwed up that institution.

We have to pull the plug on these radical Republicans from way out in right field and let them disappear down the drain!

VOTE BLUE IN 2022! 

They have taken our nation to the brink. . .

 Blood on their Hands - Hate in their Hearts

A very important election is coming to America Nov. 8, 2022 and it will need everyone's full attention. If you are squeamish about raw, unbridled, and unabridged talk about a political party that is not like the other one, then perhaps you shouldn't read any further.  But if you want to do your part to bring America back to sanity, then please read on. 

The former president still has a death grip on many members of the Republican Party of Trump, and he is inserting strong loyalists into Republican primary races to edge out incumbents who have spoken against him. It will create an anxious moment for voters because it will force them to "put their allegiance where their mouth is." Will they stick with "the evil one" or return to the candidate of the Grand Old Party? It will be interesting.

Democrats believe they can counter this sadistic move by crossing over in any state primary that allows it and voting for the incumbent. The thinking is it will eliminate Trump's "cronies" in the general election. However, if we use Wyoming as an example, this ploy may backfire. The former president has offered up a radical loyalist to oppose Liz Cheney in the primary. If the Democrats cross over and vote for Cheney and she wins, the Democrat candidate will have to face Cheney. Which candidate would be easier for a Democrat to beat? Cheney is widely accepted and has a great approval rating. 

My choice, as a Democrat, would be to campaign against the Trump acolyte in the general election who is a radical bumpkin and who just flew in from somewhere in outer space.

According to news reports, however, Democrats are in favor of cross-over voting in any state that will allow it.

I have always believed in meeting all problems head-on and relying on the voters to do the right thing. The current Trump Cult, however, only knows one way to win: Cheat! 

The Republican Party of Trump has blood on their hand and I'm not ready to give them help in washing it off just yet. They should not be allowed to return to normalcy- if, indeed, they want to -  until they have suffered the consequences of their evil actions! 

They are responsible for taking this nation to the brink - and we are still looking over the edge today!

America's Price-Gouging and Greed: The Capitalistic Way

They're robbing us blind - and we shouldn't take it any longer. . .

 

Tyson Foods is the largest food company in the United States. Yes, they're not just chicken any more. While some Americans searched through cupboards and the bottom of their freezers for something to eat, Tyson was living high on the hog, as they say. Their profit picture took a nose-dive in 2021 and they limped across the finish line with a paltry THREE BILLION DOLLARS. One billion of it was in just the last quarter! And that was after one or two food recall losses, too.

But is Tyson the only price-gouging greedy-gut here? Not by a long shot!

A pack of 50 Kimberly-Clark N95 masks cost $2,319 in October 2021. By mid-January 2022, the same box of masks cost $5,715, according to the Groundwork Collaborative, an activist group focused on economic issues. 

But wait. . . there's more!

Lawmakers say it's price-gouging and greed, and it's not just happening in pandemic-related supplies. the cost of diapers, food and even drugs has skyrocketed dramatically in recent months as corporations have increased prices and maintained healthy profit margins.

To make matters even worse, large corporations have openly bragged to their investors about the obscene profits they are churning out. They are overtly saying, "read it and weep because you can't do anything about it." And, evidently we can't because we run right down to the store and keep buying.  We are idiots!

"Corporate greed motivated large companies to use the pandemic and supply chain issues as an excuse to raise prices simply because they could - and still can," said House Chairman Rep.. Frank Pallone (D-NJ).

So, what can we do?  One thing we must do is refuse to buy products from companies that we know are gouging us. We need to start watching news stories about the abuse. No one is going to take care of this for us - we must get pro-active and handle the crime ourselves. What is most irritating to us is the fact that this gouging continues and we haven't heard from any of our congressional people even talk about it.  This assault on the American people's wallets is in the billions - if not more. Perhaps those corporate lobbyists are getting their money's worth at our expense. And perhaps that is the central reason why no one in Washington is talking about it!

These crooks are cheating their own loyal customers! It's time to stop it at their retail outlets!

 

From Loser, to Country Music Man, to POTUS. . .

Corey Stapleton is somewhat of an American politician who served in the Montana Legislature from 2001-2009 as a Republican. In 2012 and again in 2014 he ran unsuccessfully for Governor and Congress, respectively. In 2016, he was elected Secretary of State. for one term. He then ran for U.S. House and lost to Matt Rosendale. (That would ordinarily tell us all we need to know.)

Recently, Stapleton launched a country music career, releasing his first album earlier this year.

Today, he is "testing the waters" for a possible run as a Republican candidate for President of the United States in 2024. Maybe this is a publicity stunt to sell more albums, but we could tell him it wouldn't be a very good one.

He is probably best remembered as Montana's Secretary of State by the number of ads that were supposed to be about his office, but were suspiciously like a personal campaign of some kind for Corey Stapleton. the man.

Perhaps most telling about the guy is his track record that includes a loss to Rep. Matt Rosendale. That is a very telling story about his substantial lack of political prowess, because we can think of several obnoxious people on skid row who should be able to beat Matt Rosendale! 

While we haven't heard Stapleton's country western album, it seems to me that to run for President of the United States of America might take a bit more chutzpah and a lot more experience. Some believe the Republican Party is a dying cult and they are in dire straits to find a new leader. 

We could advise them that Corey Stapleton is probably not the man they are looking for.

"She was a female creature having a head of hair consisting of snakes. . . "

The Poster Child of Republican Election Fraud

Colorado's Mesa County Election Clerk, Tina Peters, has been indicted on 13 counts of election tampering and misconduct. 

Peters is the quintessential example of a Republican partisan who believes it is her right to embrace election-fraud conspiracy theories. She has been indicted on 13 counts of election tampering and misconduct. Her actions have made her a hero to election deniers across the country. Her charges stem from her alleged efforts to secretly copy hard drives from Dominion Voting Systems equipment, according to officials. 

As in other states like Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Georgia, the truth about the true election fraud committed by Trump and his wayward acolytes will surface and his game will end. . . one sorted story at a time.

However, to add insult to injury, Tina Peters (R) is, at present, running for the GOP nomination for Colorado secretary of state.

This is a story that should appear on every television network news hour and on the front pages of every newspaper across the country. It personifies the conspiracy theory lies that swept across our nation like the Covid pandemic and turned our 2020 election into a mockery. Even worse, it incited the worst insurrection on our U.S. Capitol in modern history.

Tina Peters is but one of hundreds of Republican stooges that were carrying out the will of their leader, Trump, who practiced the black art of sorcery of the occult. The warlock left many corpse strewn across the country of people who thought they would be rewarded by adhering to his wicked discipleship, but were sorely mistaken. 

Others, like Tina Peters, even believed they could rise to a more elevated position in the Republican cult by continuing to do his bidding. They, also, will learn their fate soon enough.

There will one day be justice for such traitors. If these people are allowed to tamper with our votes, how will our democracy survive? If this crime has no consequences - what crime does?

 

I'm feeling a little cramped . . .

So, you want to move to Montana. Well ain't that a hoot.

Montana has had a fairly constant influx of out-of-staters cramping our elbow room. As one guy said, "They're coming with a computer, an on-line high-paying job, and a pocket full of cash." They are able to jump on a house for sale, offer more than the asking price, and buy it before the natives even have a chance. 

A recent poll asked the question, "Where did you move from, stranger?" The top two states mentioned are Washington and California. For years, Montanans had been moving to those two states in droves. 

So why the reversal?  What do they see in Montana now? The breathing room hasn't changed all that much. Maybe it's the clean, fresh air we have that they didn't find somewhere else. Or, as an acquaintance said to me, "Montana is quite a bit "redder" these days." Lord, I hope that isn't the reason the right-wingers are coming back to "Capistrano." Think about it:  More crowds, more rich guys making money via their home computers, and. . .REDDER!

When you think about it, though, rich guys all crowded up and working at home does sound like just the place for them. They could hold their CPAC conventions high in the mountains and under the stars - away from everyone!

We have rich movie stars and ultra-rich sports stars moving to our state in droves.  They don't mess with our elbow room too much because they like to build mansions on the top of our mountains. Up there, they can be any political stripe they want and  sniff our rarified air to their hearts' content. But down here where we Montana natives live, we would kind of like to see the right-wingers in a corral or something. I ain't saying anything is terrible wrong with 'em, you understand, but I ain't saying anything is very right with 'em, either. 

The Montana I've known for 84 years doesn't deserve these high-minded, high-steppin,' power-and-money right-wingers. They have infiltrated our political offices and are in the process of changes our laws to fit their own lifestyle. 

This is highly unnerving for the "Last Best Place."

Out-of-State folks are always welcome, but we will take great offense at anyone who wants to make it into something that isn't "Montana!" 

And if it's the political scenery you admire, remember this, it's like our weather: It's bound to change - real soon!

 

"The Most Hated Man In Helena?". . .

Consider this piece of information from the Montana Free Press regarding how the Montana Attorney General is "taking care of business. . . "

"A monthly retainer fee of $10,000.00 is being paid by the Montana Department of Justice to the law office owned by Emily Jones, a Billings attorney and law school classmate of Attorney General Austin Knudsen. As MTFP (Montana Free Press) reported this week, Jones, whose husband is a prominent GOP political strategist, is taking a leading role in helping the department manage a civil case docket that includes the slate of bill challenge cases being tracked by MTFP's Laws on Trial project."   - from Montana Free Press

I encourage everyone to get connected to the Montana Free Press. They are doing a great job of keeping us informed. 

It has been reported that Montana's Attorney General is quite proud of the fact that he has been referred to as "the most hated man in Helena." We should point out one thing to him: A guy named Rudy Giuliani was also considered the most hated attorney in and around the White House. That, of course, hasn't worked out too well for him.

Craig Wright of Helena slammed AG Knudsen with a scathing Letter to the Editor this morning in the Helena Independent Record and ended it by saying, "You tout your Christian values while squandering taxpayers' money in pursuit of your own political agenda. No, you're not hated Mr. Knudsen; that would take too much energy. You're just pathetic."

As I think about the turmoil of Montana Republicans who now hold office, such as Gov. Gianforte, Sen. Daines, Rep. Rosendale, and also Candidate Zinke, an even more troubling thing seems to be happening. Because they were swept into office in 2020 on a "Red Tide," they see themselves as invincible. The are impervious to the needs of Montanans. They, like their legislative counterparts, like the idea of being the captains of their ships and with them it's full speed ahead - legal or illegal, for the good of the people or just for their own good. And, it's their-way-or-the-highway for the rest of us..

We have to watch them closely and when "we see something, we say something."  Let's not let them get away with any more shenanigans. 

Pale face speaks with forked tongue. . .

"There  is nothing more precious in our democracy than the right to vote."

Montana Republican Senator Steve Fitzpatrick

SD10 - Great Falls and Cascade County

Strange words to come from the lips of a Montana Republican State Senator when his Party has introduced bills that have made it harder for Montanans to vote.  The world of "Trump Lies" is not dead yet - it is still alive and well in the Montana Republican-controlled Legislature.

Sen. Fitzpatrick wrote a column in the Helena Independent Record this morning ranting against the Racicot-Brown proposal to change our Primary Elections to a "Top Two" system. That would make our primary elections non-partisan and those with the top two vote count would fight it out in the general election. 

Sen. Fitzpatrick sponsored a bill to amend the absentee ballot eligibility.

Sen. Fitzpatrick voted to prohibit same day voter registration.

So, tell us Sen. Fitzpatrick. . . how important is that "precious right to vote." You, sir, are part of the problem - not part of the solution!

We Montanans need to pull the stopper on these Republicans and flush them down the drain. Their kind of thinking is only found in an authoritarian rule of government - where they can say one thing while voting for another. 

An Opinion by

John Watson

 

Not the sharpest - or cleanest - knives in the drawer. . .

How much embarrassment does Montana have to live with? These four men of the Montana Republican Party of Trump are putting us to the limit! Each one has done something to make the "Last Best Place" a national embarrassment.'

First, Gov. Gianforte violated a state hunting requirement in July 2021 when he trapped and killed a wolf near Yellowstone National Park without first taking a mandated trapper education course, according to state officials. He was also arrested for body-slamming a reporter who asked him a question he didn't want to answer. He was fined and ordered to take Anger Management Therapy. Earlier this year, Gianforte legally also killed a radio-collared mountain lion in the Greater Yellowstone Area that generated national headlines, and one wildlife advocacy group said the incident raises more significant concerns beyond the killing of the animal. 

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines was asked by Twitter officials to take down a photo of Ukraine President Zelensky that he took from a Zoom call he and other senators had with the Ukrainian President. He had been cautioned not to use the photo because it may give the president's location away to the enemy. Dumb.

U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale is always up to something weird. He is, of course, a Trump-Republican and he announced last week that he is "more concerned about our southern border than what's going on in Ukraine, and America has no moral obligation to interfere with Russia or Ukraine."

And then there's Ryan Zinke. He is looking for another bite of the apple by announcing his candidacy for Montana's second U.S. House of Representative seat. "Abuse of office" charges that resulted in his resignation as Secretary of the Interior (under his old friend Donald Trump) still hang over his head. Funny thing - Montanans don't seem to know where Zinke even lives. He does have a home and a yacht in California, if anyone is interested. 

Recently, Montana's longtime columnist, George Ochenski, had a piece in the Helena Independent Record and the headline read:  Gianforte and Rosendale: National Embarrassments!"

Maybe Mr. Ochenski would like to include Daines and Zinke in his next column. 

Oh, Montana. . . The "Last Best Place" is sinking behind the mountains and beyond yonder sunset!

This has been my home for eighty-four years (minus two years I spent in the army) and I have never seen the Republican Party's elected officeholders so anti-Montana and anti-Montanans! We have been taken over by a bunch of out-0f-staters who are in it for money and power. 

So, what are we going to do about it?

 

 

My home town will never smell the same again. . .

 

Liars on the Levee

A trio of Republican politicians were invited to my home town of Fort Benton, Montana for the "First liar doesn't have a chance" Chouteau County Republican Central Committee's Lincoln-Regan Day Dinner Sunday afternoon, Feb.27, 2022. About 125 folks showed up at the Ag Center to show their support for Attorney General Austin Knudsen, U.S. Representative Matt Rosendale, and U.S. Rep. candidate Ryan Zinke.

Montana's attorney general told the crowd how our state has "a judge problem and a state supreme court problem." Someone asked if making judges and supreme court justices file for election under a political party designation would help. I interrupted and said, "no, we can always tell Republicans just by the smell."  It didn't go over to well with those in the gathering.

Rosendale said he loves to get back to Montana and sleep in his own bed whenever he can. I spoke up again and said, "I've been told you haven't slept in that bed for more than a year." That didn't get much applause, either. He said he's voted "no" 283 times on stuff the Democrats wanted to pass. He couldn't remember what they were for - probably just stuff for the American people. He didn't mention that that "stuff" was also for the Montana people.

Zinke, who is running for the new U.S. House seat from Montana, didn't have much to say.  I think he is finding out that the less he says, the better off he is. Montanans don't know where he lives, the status of the federal investigation into his reason for resigning as Secretary of the Interior under Trump, or why he doesn't just go get a "real" job to supplement his Navy Seal retirement funds.

I kept my mouth shut and didn't ask Zinke any questions. I figure he's already in enough trouble with voters.

All in all, it was a sad day for me. To watch these three guys lying to the good people of Chouteau County was too much. 

Fort Benton is rich in history. The levee saw many river boats dock and unload there. It was at one time the world's farthest inland port.

On Feb. 27, 2022, three Republican politicians floated in and dumped there, and it became the world's "farthest from the truth" port.

My home town will never smell the same again.

Election statistics and dreaming of days of yore. . .

Let's take a trip down memory lane as we skip through the poison ivy, sage brush, and rattlesnakes. The year is 2020 and the national election has just wound down. Joe Biden won the popular vote of 81,253,0978 and his opponent, Donald Trump, garnered 74,222,958. More importantly, Biden won the electoral vote 306 to Trump's 232. The rest we'll try to forget!

The vote breakdown was as follows: 34% identified as Independent, 33% identified as Democrat, and 29% identified as Republican.  The total vote was the largest in U.S. history.

The mid-term election is set for Nov. 8, 2022 where all 435 U.S. House seats are up election and 34 U.S. Senate seats are up for election. Fifteen Republicans and thirteen Democrats are on the ballot this year, while six other seats remain open after senators announced they are not seeking reelection - five Republicans and one Democrat.

The next presidential election is set for Nov. 5, 2024.

That's it, folks. Let the fun begin. 

Two major things on everyone's mind for the 2024 presidential: Will Joe Biden's age stop him from running again, and will Donald Trump's ability to stay out of prison allow him to run again? Or, more important, what do the voters think about these two guys?

Wouldn't it be nice to have a normal election again?  We go to bed on the night of Nov. 5th - knowing who won the darn thing, and the loser conceded during a friendly phone call. Like the good old days of black and white television and the kids all came home before curfew.  Remember those days?  Mom and dad saw the kids faces during dinner instead of the top of their heads as they scrolled those damn hand-held devices from hell!

Sorry, I got carried away for a minute.

Some Things Can't Be Swept Under The Rug. . .

The U.S. House Committee investigating the treasonous Capitol insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021 said last Wednesday night that is has evidence showing former President Trump and his associates engaged in a "criminal conspiracy" to prevent Congress from certifying the presidential election results of 2020.

If the Russian invasion of Ukraine was not hogging all of the news, this  would be the biggest breaking news story of the year.

We all know how guilty he and his circle of traitors have been, but when the House Committee arrives at this conclusion, we all need to pay attention and anxiously await the Department of Justice's work. This is serious! 

Think about what they tried to do. Think about their absolute disregard for our constitution, our rule of law, and our democracy. These people tried to overturn our national election for President of the United States and hand it over to the loser. They attacked our Capitol building, threatened to kill the Vice President, and caused death, serious injuries of our law enforcement, and brought our nation to its knees.

We must never forget this and we must not let the guilty escape the consequences of their vicious and treasonist assault on our nation.

There is a great fear in America that if given enough time, this attempted mutiny of our ship of state will be swept under the rug and the guilty will go free. Our democracy was already being challenged by this group of power-hungry Republicans of Trump, and their plans to prosecute a coup just compounded the problem. Today, their traitorous members of Congress are beating the drums for further attacks. They should be charged and convicted and not be allowed to ever hold elected offices again!

Our Department of Justice must now take up the evidence and build a further case against these criminals.

If we do not punish those who have committed such a heinous act as this, we will be confronted with this criminals such as these, again and again.

We must protect our democracy!

Montana's Evil Elephants are still at it. . .

The Montana Legislative Chapter of the Republican Party of Trump Cult still has a dozen or so bills that are rolling around in our court systems. They were bustin' at the seams to write terrible anti-rights bills as soon as they entered the Capitol. They obviously knew the bills would be challenged but they wanted to show us how tough and in control they were.

On April 26, 2021, the Montana Governor signed three bills restricting abortion access in the state that the GOP-controlled legislator passed, celebrating it as a success after several attempts to pass similar measures in previous years were vetoed by form Democrat governors. The bills ban abortion after 20 weeks of gestation, require health care providers to give pregnant women the opportunity to view an ultrasound before performing an abortion, and place several restrictions on abortion pills, including requiring that they be administered in-person rather than through telehealth. The govern said, after signing the bills, that "It's a promising day, a day that will go down in our state's history as we defend life."

Last Friday, February 225, 2022,  a Montana law that limited abortion providers was ruled unconstitutional by a district judge, blocking a law that would have stopped advanced practice registered nurses from being able to perform early abortion services.

The wheels of justice grinds slow, but it grinds, non the less.

We will await further word from the other anti-abortion bills that are under scrutiny in court cases around the state. The state GOP were only interested in seeing these bill passed. What happens to them in court is of little concern to them. They pertain to Montana women and girls - and who among us thinks that they are of any concern to a Republican? (unless, of course, they happen to be on the state GOP A-list)

We will remove these folks from our elected offices and get things back on track again. They've had their fun, celebrated their short-lived victories, and spruced up their re-election campaign portfolios.

Big deal. Small chances. 

VOTE BLUE IN '22

Rosendale is a Republican Obstructionist. . .

Rep. Matt Rosendale  (R-MT) has been a Republican obstructionist in the U.S. House of Representatives as long as he has been there, and he isn't getting any better!

"He voted with a small cadre of GOP naysayers, just 14 in total, to vote against establishing June 19th each year as a national holiday to commemorate the end of slavery, a measure that also received unanimous support in the Senate. Forty-eight states, including Montana, already recognized the day as a sate or ceremonial holiday.

Rosendale has voted to align himself with the most extreme elements of Congress - the caucus of denial, those who voice support for law enforcement but won't even acknowledge the heroism of the police who risked their lives to save those same members of Congress from a violent mob on Jan. 6th. He voted against awarding the Congressional Gold Metal to police officers who defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6th insurrection. The measure passed 406-21 in the House and unanimously in the Senate.

If we're looking for constructive legislation aimed at solving problems that are facing Montanans, we need to look to someone else."                                       - excerpts from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Montanans are woefully underrepresented in Congress. Rep. Matt Rosendale found a ripe patch of Republican voters in Montana to help him get back to his beloved Maryland. We gave him a free ride home. Now, let's make sure he stays there!

VOTE BLUE IN '22!