Ok – I left work at 5, the temperature was balmy and there was nary a flake in the air. A block later, it was raining. Within 10 minutes the wind was howling and the rain had turned to sleet. NBD. This is Montana, it’s December. Next thing I know, snow is whirling and swirling so hard visibility is practically nil and – I am not kidding! – it’s thundering and lightening is flashing across the sky.

Hey, I know you can have all four seasons in one day in Montana – but in one storm?!?!? If this is climate change, I’m not so sure I’m ready for it.

One of the most brilliant humorists on the internet is Iowahawk, and this video of one of his recent columns is destined to be a classic. Enjoy!

It’s winter in Montana
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At twenty-five below.

Oh, how I love Montana
When the snow’s up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I’ll hang around
I could never leave Montana
‘Cause I’m frozen to the ground!

Let the Light of the World decorate your home this Blessed Holiday Season and throughout the New Year.

May this be the Merriest Christmas ever for you and yours!

As we move toward a new greener future, there may be a few things we hadn’t considered…

The American public has long been known as the most generous in the world. Earthquakes, sunamis, epidemics, famine, hurricanes, tornadoes – you name it – natural or man-made disaster anywhere on the planet and we’re right there with help. Our hearts and wallets open with amazing speed and few, if any, questions asked.

This year is no different: Wall Street falls on tough times and our elected officials in the blink of an eye offer $700 billion of our hard-earned dollars to help out those poor souls who can’t make it on their half-million dollar annual salaries while scamming the pants off of the unsuspecting “investor class”. That was after they doled out a chunk of change to Freddie and Fannie and AIG to save them from the consequences of some incredibly stupid (not to mention criminal) business decisions. And, in what is, hopefully, his last act of “compassionate conservatism”, President Bush threw another few billion at the Big Three (or Two of the Big Three, anyway) to thwart a potential tanking of the last vestiges of the American manufacturing industry. Now we learn that we’re making one more Santa Claus gesture this holiday season: We’re giving every single one of our Senators and Representatives a $4,700 raise.

It never ceases to amaze me how thoughtful and giving we Americans are.

In these tough economic times (which will most likely turn into “brightening economic times” on January 21, but we’ll discuss that later) our own governor in a politically sensitive gesture announced that there would be no Inaugural Ball to celebrate his re-election and the successful Democrat sweep of all statewide offices. Media reports around the state applauded this decision. The Helena Insufficient Independent Record going so far as to give it a “Thumbs-up to Gov. Brian Schweitzer for deciding against having an inaugural ball early next year. Given the state of the economy, and the fact that he’s busy cutting back on his proposed state budget, holding a glitzy inaugural celebration would have been a rather tone deaf thing to do.”

But late last week, termed-out Senator Dave Gallik sent out letters on his official stationery imploring fellow Montanans (probably mostly lobbyists – but I don’t know that for a fact. It’s just who got hit up four years ago) to fork over some moolah for the big Inaugural Party at the Great Northern Hotel.

Guess in Brian’s World there’s a huge difference between a glitzy ball and a big party. I think the only difference is that the governor doesn’t have to wear a tux or dance with his wife with the crowd looking on.

There’s a reason that many of us supported Fred Thompson’s bid for the presidency – unfortunately we didn’t see enough of this side of him during the campaign. If sarcasm were a commodity, the increased use of it in this video would cause the price to skyrocket. Sit down and watch the whole thing. He nails the economic issues facing us and brilliantly skewers the “experts” who continue to bring forth the most asinine solutions to the problems.

By now you’ve probably heard about the Governor’s secret meetings in Anaconda that he supposedly has held every year with his staff and directors. Just because we haven’t ever heard of them before, doesn’t mean that they didn’t occur. Doesn’t matter. The topics on the “agenda” aren’t really THE topic of interest anyway.

Perhaps there really is a Santa Claus and Montana may get one of the best Christmas presents ever! Governor Schweitzer really is on the short list for Obama’s Energy Secretary. Who knew my wish might come true?

Of course, that’s left the Gov’s staff and the Democrat House leadership with a conundrum – John “I’m a Republican” Bohlinger. What to do, what to do? Kinda hands this side of the aisle a puzzlement too. We haven’t exactly overwhelmingly embraced the Lt. Gov for the past four years. Although – truth be told – in spite of the media accounts to the contrary, he was warmly welcomed at the L & C Republican Caucus in February – the only Republican function he’s actually attended since taking office. (I know, he couldn’t participate in the voting – he was a registered voter in Jefferson County – not Lewis & Clark – not our fault he didn’t show up at the correct caucus location. Guess it was because we had a bigger and better party with more TV cameras.)

So does John change his stripes and change his official affiliation to “D” – or stay true to his avowed party and sway the House to Republican control, and appoint fellow “R’s” to key positions within the administration?

RINO or DINO? It’s the big question for Montana politicos tonight.