The lineup of potential Republican candidates vying for the honor of being Montana’s next governor is starting to look like the chorus line of, well, A Chorus Line. It’s hard to believe that so many are willing rush into the morass that will be left by the current inhabitant of the office, when wiser men would be loathe to tread.

Rick Hill, Corey Stapleton, Ken Miller and Jim O’Hara all have solid Montana roots and can each lay claim to having held elective office and some kind of government as well as private sector experience, even though Rick is the only one to have successfully run a statewide campaign.

The last two – Neil Livingstone and Chuck Baldwin (who hasn’t officially announced, but has been dropping hints like a six-year-old three weeks before Christmas) are stretching like Gumby to create a plausible narrative to justify their presence in the ring. It’s hard to see where a background as a DC-based world-wide security/terrorism expert and erstwhile Fox News talking head (“But I still have a Montana driver’s license.”) or as a southern Baptist preacher-turned radio commentator turned Ron Paul disciple has much to offer this state. But each of them inevitably appeals to a segment of the population. A small segment certainly in some cases, but a segment nonetheless.

And that’s where the problem lies. Anybody remember the senatorial primary in 2008? There were enough Republican candidates running to replace Max “You Don’t Expect Me to Read the Bills” Baucus to be confused with a sandlot football team.

That worked out really well, don’t you think?

Does it help that It’s a long time between now and the 2012 primary? Perhaps one or more of these men will recognize that the guy looking back at them in the mirror every morning is not the next governor of Montana.

Lest history continue to repeat itself…

Words are unnecessary.

Good ol’ Max. From Fox News…

But Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and an instrumental character in passage of the law, lamented those who say the $1 trillion, 10-year bill costs too much.
“It does cost a trillion dollars. But it raises a trillion dollars so it costs nothing,” he said…

The poor guy must really believe in the tooth fairy.

You just can’t fix that much stupid.

That ever-so-perfect commentator, Chris “Tingly Legs” Matthews, may have to cut favorite conservative targets, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, a bit more slack in the future. Seems he, too, may be subject to that human tendency to sometimes make a mistake:

The Panama Canal in Egypt???? WTF???

And the leader of the free world hasn’t got a clue which end of the phone to talk into.

HIs VP Joe, the Gaffmeister, Biden is first out of the blocks with an official statement of support for Mubarik, claiming the kerfluffle is nothing more than, “an expression of ‘middle-class folks’ looking for ‘a little more access and a little more opportunity’.” In the meantime, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried desperately to verbally prop up the floundering regime, first by denying that a problem existed and then by claiming that the whole thing is little more than a minor dust-up on the road to democracy in a strategic Middle Eastern country that can be solved if everybody just works together. Or something.

Oh, sure.

Anyone feeling like the grown-ups need to take over?

Too bad there aren’t any in this administration.

Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell commenting on the arrest of two doctors butchers at the Women’s Medical Society clinic in Philadelphia:

“All of those of us who are pro-choice abhor this, because it casts a negative light on that movement. All of us believe abortion should be legal, but that it should be safe. Clearly, what this physician was doing is not safe. It’s not safe for the mother. It’s certainly not safe for the fetus.”

Not safe for the fetus???

You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me.

Has anyone ever said anything as frigging STUPID as that???

About a month ago Montana’s governor bully-in-chief made a news splash when he accused the legislators of being the “biggest boozers” in the state. Many of these fine individuals were justifiably insulted, especially considering the well-deserved reputation BS has cultivated for indulging in a nip or two whenever the spirits move him.

Well now that the session is in full throttle, it seems that the gov’s words may have some unintended consequences. Local hospitality establishments are already noting a significant decline in revenues from previous years.

Economics 101: Lower revenues for Montana businesses = lower taxes to the state.

Seems the administration’s rosy budget numbers may be in more jeopardy than previously thought.

Wanna drink to that, Governor?

Rep. Ken Peterson (R-Billings) presented his bill to address croneyism to the House State Administration committee last Thursday. HB145 would “Require resignation of legislative seat prior to taking government job”. Rep. Peterson introduced the legislation in response to the current administration’s liberal policy of – or policy of liberally – appointing or hiring sitting legislators to executive positions in the administrative branch. He’s probably correct in calling that an unconstitutional infringement on the separation of powers between the branches of government. His response, however, was akin to using an elephant gun to take out a flea on a donkey’s butt.

HB145, as written and introduced, prohibits any federal, state, or local government employee or contractor from being a legislator. As the testimony during the hearing pointed out, that would impact at least 16 members of the current legislature. Even his fellow republicans on the committee could clearly see the flaws in the bill; some of them valiantly offering to assist him in amending the bill.

In the interests of public service, let me offer the following:

Amend the bill to read: “An Act Prohibiting a sitting member of the Montana House or Senate from seeking or accepting an exempt or non-exempt position in either the executive or judicial branches or on any compensated advisory board of any state executive or judicial agency during the legislator’s term of office…” and then make the rest of the language reflect that specific change.

Rep. Peterson is a lawyer, not a doctor, but he ought to be able to come up with a proposal that addresses the issue – elected officials rewarding “friendly” legislators with cushy state jobs – without killing the patient in the process. HB145 in its present form is botched surgery at best; legislative malpractice at a minimum.

It’s tough when stark raving reality bites one in the lower posterior. House Republicans are learning that the hard way. Yesterday’s vote on the Legislature’s feed bill has to have more than a few of them slapping themselves upside the head. Already the Governor and the Democrat party and the lapdog media are pummeling them with their own words and gleefully hoisting the petards bearing unsuspecting political neophytes. [Ed. note – I’m not providing links to the liberal blogs – they can generate their own traffic. You know how to find them if you want.]

Well-intentioned attempts to reconcile legitimate expenditures and tax increases with catchy campaign promises are suddenly proving to be frustrating at best. All those catchy sound-bites about cutting spending and smaller government, no matter how sincerely meant during the election cycle are quickly becoming the victims of real governance. If the other guy can frame the attack on a bumper sticker, and you need a whole page to defend your position, you lose.

Our new Republican legislative majority is caught firmly between a rock and a hard place. And there are 80 more days left to go.

Now we know what “tyranny of the minority” really means.

Bummer.

Since about fifteen minutes after the tragic shooting in Arizona on Saturday, the liberal blogs, FB pages, and Twits were giddily blaming Sarah Palin and the TEA Party as the motivation for the perp’s actions. With absolutely no evidence to substantiate these claims, the sunami of vitriolic rhetoric lay all the blame at the feet of conservatives. Even when more information revealed the shooter to be “face down in the Fruit Loops” at best, and most likely politically LIBERAL, the progressives and government-controlled media continued the anti-conservative rants. Well, this guy pretty well expresses how I feel about these jerks. Pardon the language, but I, for one, think he’s right-on…

H/T to AFinch at Honey Trails