We haven’t heard a whole lot of hollering and gnashing of teeth over the I-164 Ballot Initiative, commonly known as the “Pay-Day Loan” measure, but nonetheless the fight between those backing the initiative and those opposing it has been intense and passionate. On the other hand, the media circus that has chronicled every parry and thrust in the oft-times soap operatic drama of the proposed health curriculum of the Helena Public School District has raised awareness of this issue to one of the most widely discussed in the Helena Valley.

So why should they be juxtaposed in this post? Well, perhaps because they’ve both been on my radar this week and I have some thoughts about them.

The first thing that comes to mind is that the proponents of both issues will prevail: I-164 is expected to pass with as much as an 80% – 20% margin. The health curriculum will be implemented regardless of the will of the community; the administration has played this game before and they know how to play it to win it.

The second thing then that puzzles me is how, in what is purported to be such a “Republican” year, these two bleeding-heart liberal, feel-good, progressive, socialist measures will be so successful.

Let’s look at I-164 for a minute. If this isn’t a an anti-free market, anti-business, do-gooder, Big Brother measure, I’ve never seen one. “Oh, those poor people who get sucked into the monster clutches of these heartless, greedy, corporate b*st*rds”. You’ve seen the editorials and letters to the editor, lamenting the fate of the unfortunate sucker soul who turns to these lenders when they have a sudden emergency or find themselves with too much month left at the end of the money. Oh, woe, oh, woe. So into the fray charges the 400. Well, the “400% Is Too High” warriors anyway. Their loins girded with righteousness, confident that they fight on the side of angels.

How adroitly they brush off the claims of the pawn shop owners and title lenders that they offer a product that isn’t available elsewhere. “Pshaw”, they reply. “Banks and credit unions abound and are more regulated; they will offer these short-term, small consumer loans at lower interest rates and with more compassion”, goes the pious mantra. The teensy fact that nothing has been stopping said banks and credit unions up to this point goes unacknowledged by these do-gooders; certainly the profit motive will suddenly be suspended once the voters have spoken, they seemingly imply. (Funny how those same banks have been the subject of such vitriol and disdain for the last 18 months or so, huh?)

So, too, are the lenders’ and owners’ warnings that the success of this measure will result in layoffs and higher unemployment in an already depressed economy ignored. When there is much good to be gained for the suffering masses, the pain and suffering of the few must be borne. By the few, of course.

And thus, those swell folks who brought you “Healthy Montana Kids” are poised to march into the victor’s circle again. And – like the Healthy Montana Kids program – in two years, we can look back and find that, while the supporters have cheered their victory and lauded their efforts at every opportunity, the problem has not gone away and the benefits are largely non-existent. Those poor suckers who turned to the mean, nasty villains who charged those outrageous rates will still be out there, turning to black-market, unregulated loan sharks; and the “good old days” where someone with lousy credit could be at least somewhat assured that the business he turned to was licensed and following the legal constructs imposed on the industry will be nothing more than a fond, but distant, memory.

Once again, the bleeding hearts have misdiagnosed a problem and have prescribed the wrong medicine. Instead of recognizing the fundamental problem that causes so many people to get into trouble and turn to these sources to bail them out is because they haven’t been taught sound financial management skills. The vicious circle that these people find themselves in is not caused by the pawn brokers and title lenders; it’s a result of poor judgement and planning on their part. I-164 will not solve the problem. The demand will continue – only the supply will be gone. But nature abhors a vacuum, so the demand will be met – somehow.

Which brings me to the health curriculum proposed by the Helena School District. Since the effort is being led by the same type of elitist, liberal, “we know better than you what is good for your child” mindset, the end result is likely to be similar, albeit for entirely different reasons. It is the misdiagnosis of what ails the patient that is at fault. It’s not that our kids don’t know enough about sex at an early age, it’s that they know too much and have no appropriate context in which to place the knowledge. And, although the district is attempting to address the issue, these highly educated administrators have ignored an irrefutable fact of life: Kids tend to stop listening to adults after they hear what they want to hear. The only way the message is going to be conveyed successfully is if the school and the parents are working together, each reinforcing the efforts of the other. Given the acrimonious nature of the debate so far, and the deep-seated resentment and mistrust generated by the heavy-handed, non-transparent process utilized by the school district, the odds of that happening are somewhere in the slim-to-none range.

So, here again, in two years we will evaluate the impact of the liberal agenda. Will there be fewer teenage pregnancies? Will STDs be on a steady, measurable decline? Will our students be able to spend their school days in an accepting, bully-free environment? Will pigs fly?

It’s unfortunate that these two very real problems are being given such short shrift. They both deserve better. Like maybe if the school board would work with parents and develop a K – 12 program that teaches children how to make smart money choices so that the demand for those high interest loans is diminished. And then when the parents feel like they can trust the school board to work with them, maybe they can work together to develop a comprehensive health program that will really work for the children.

Write-in campaigns are almost always an exercise in futility. Every once in a while, though, the stars align just perfectly and a candidate with high name recognition, a weak opponent, a ton of money, and a short, easy-to-remember-and-spell name comes along.

Alaska’s 2010 senatorial election doesn’t look to be one of those times. Poor Lisa Murkuski Murkwski Whosis.

NOTE TO CANDIDATE: If your campaign team can’t spell your name rite wright write CORRECTLY! – for the website, you might want to reconsider your decision.

Just a thought.

Ok – so following on the heels of the last post, maybe the theme of this post is not-so-politically-correct, but then I don’t get accused of being politically correct all that often anyway…

Today’s primary election in Delaware (along with Nevada’s, South Carolina’s, and Alaska’s earlier contests) brings to mind an old Chinese proverb – “Kill the chicken, but make the monkeys watch” (or in some translations, “Kill the chicken to scare the monkey” – my Chinese isn’t that precise – but I’m sure you get the point either way.)

There’s lots of chatter out here in conservative blogland about the message that is being sent with these elections and the relative merits thereof. The consensus seems to be that the success of these come-from-behind (or out-of-nowhere) TEA party conservatives is a good thing for the Republican party because it will serve as a reminder to the “elitist RINO” faction that they had better toe the conservative line or suffer the consequences. I have some reservations about the validity of that philosophy in that I’m not sure just what exactly the “conservative line” is. Be that as it may be, however, I do think the message has real potential as a warning for all incumbent senators and reps running for re-election for the next seven weeks: Vote against the will of the majority of the American electorate and the odds of your continued employment could be in jeopardy. This goes for all incumbents – Republicans and Democrats alike. I base this astute observation not so much on the results mentioned above as on the turnout.

Conservative voters are motivated.

In Montana last June we saw almost a 2-1 advantage of Republican ballots over Democrat in a state that traditionally is pretty even. In Delaware – a heavily blue state – today the turnout was 12% Democrats, 32% Republican. Other states have experienced similar numbers. You can say all you want about the quality of the candidates, the message, and how and with whom it resonates – but in the end the motivation of the electorate trumps all conventional wisdom when it comes to election results. “They” said O’Donnell couldn’t beat the really popular Castle. “They” said the same thing about Joe Miller running against the entrenched Murkowski machine. And “they’re” still saying that Sharron Angle can’t beat Harry Reid. “They” don’t have a great track record this year so far.

I say if the Obama administration tries to shove any more of their unpopular agenda down the throats of the American public, any incumbent who supports that effort is likely to be toast in 2010 and those senators who are safe this year, but are running in 2012 better learn Chinese real fast. The majority of Americans are fed up with being ignored and dissed by their elected officials.

You saw it last year at the town hall meetings and you’re seeing it this year in the primaries: Round up the chickens – it’s time to teach the monkeys a lesson.

The recent TEA Party kerfluffle here in Helena has underscored just how much of the message that we should have learned from 9/11 seems to have been missed by some. An essay in the Onion way back then was a thought-provoking reminder of the basic “love thy neighbor” message of most religions. Re-reading it today, one paragraph particularly struck me (but I have to quote more to give you the flavor and context):

GOD ANGRILY CLARIFIES ‘DON’T KILL’ RULE
Responding to recent events on Earth, God, the omniscient creator-deity worshipped by billions of followers of various faiths for more than 6,000 years, angrily clarified His longtime stance against humans killing each other Monday. “Look, I don’t know, maybe I haven’t made myself completely clear, so for the record, here it is again,” said the Lord, His divine face betraying visible emotion during a press conference near the site of the fallen Twin Towers. “Somehow, people keep coming up with the idea that I want them to kill their neighbor. Well, I don’t. And to be honest, I’m really getting sick and tired of it. Get it straight. Not only do I not want anybody to kill anyone, but I specifically commanded you not to, in really simple terms that anybody ought to be able to understand…I tried to put it in the simplest possible terms for you people, so you’d get it straight, because I thought it was pretty important,” said God, called Yahweh and Allah respectively in the Judaic and Muslim traditions. “I guess I figured I’d left no real room for confusion after putting it in a four-word sentence with one-syllable words, on the tablets I gave to Moses. How much more clear can I get?

…Worse yet, many of the worst violators claim that their actions are justified by passages in the Bible, Torah, and Qur’an. “To be honest, there’s some contradictory stuff in there, okay?” God said. “So I can see how it could be pretty misleading. I admit it—My bad. I did My best to inspire them, but a lot of imperfect human agents have misinterpreted My message over the millennia. Frankly, much of the material that got in there is dogmatic, doctrinal bullshit. I turn My head for a second and, suddenly, all this stuff about homosexuality gets into Leviticus, and everybody thinks it’s God’s will to kill gays. It absolutely drives Me up the wall.” …Growing increasingly wrathful, God continued: “Can’t you people see? What are you, morons? There are a ton of different religious traditions out there, and different cultures worship Me in different ways. But the basic message is always the same: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Shintoism… every religious belief system under the sun, they all say you’re supposed to love your neighbors, folks! It’s not that hard a concept to grasp.”

“Why would you think I’d want anything else? Humans don’t need religion or God as an excuse to kill each other—you’ve been doing that without any help from Me since you were freaking apes!” God said. “The whole point of believing in God is to have a higher standard of behavior. How obvious can you get?”

So how does this tie into the TEA Party controversy? It comes down to people trying to justify un-Godly behavior in the name of lofty principles.

I tend to be a smart aleck and admit I have a quirky sense of humor, so I don’t tend to get offended too often when somebody is being verbally clever and witty even if the message is a little inappropriate – but when I read about the FB exchanges (the actual FB link has been taken down, so this is the best I can link to now) between Tim Ravndal, Kristi Allen-Gailushas, and some of their friends I was more than offended, I was disgusted. Not surprised, mind you – but offended and disgusted. Tim and Kristi had both been publicly discussing the proposed sex-ed curriculum for the past several weeks, and it was obvious from their comments that neither of them was very open-minded about the school district’s agenda, especially in relation to homosexual issues – about which they were very aware and outspoken. Common pejoratives fell trippingly off their tongues in group situations. These self-proclaimed “Christians” and “Patriots” had no compunction about demeaning a segment of the population and arguing for limiting their civil rights. This is the basis of hatred that leads to violence and murder, and the unimaginable slaughter of not just one or two but thousands in the name of God.

If we take nothing else away from that horrible day, can we please just stop a moment and remember that one Commandment?

Oh – here’s how the essay ended…

“I’m talking to all of you, here!” continued God, His voice rising to a shout. “Do you hear Me? I don’t want you to kill anybody. I’m against it, across the board. How many times do I have to say it? Don’t kill each other anymore—ever! I’m fucking serious!”

Upon completing His outburst, God fell silent, standing quietly at the podium for several moments. Then, witnesses reported, God’s shoulders began to shake, and He wept.

It’s not enough to simply remember – we have to vow “never again”.

You have to wonder just what he’s been doing for all those years…

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, facing a tough re-election bid in one of the states hardest hit by the recession, said today that the economic downturn was not his fault. “I had nothing to do with the massive foreclosures here,” Reid said during an appearance on the ABC News/Washington Post “Top Line” program, adding that he also had no part in contributing to the state’s dismal unemployment figures. At 14.3 percent, Nevada’s unemployment rate ranks the highest in the country.

So I guess if he isn’t responsible for any of the bad stuff, he doesn’t get credit for any of the good stuff either. Which leaves the question – why is he even there?

Hopefully the voters of Nevada will elect a RESPONSIBLE senator this year!

Back in March of 2008, the growing phenomemen that became Barack Obama was described by one of his soon-to-be followers, Glynnis MacNicol, with a prescient sense of foreboding:

Here’s the thing. I like Barack Obama. What I’m increasingly liking less, however, is the evangelical nature with which his supporters are trying to convert me to the cause. Lately it’s begun to feel a tad abusive and on more than one occasion I’ve felt like some sort of atheist at a Pentecostal service, or a meat-eater at table of vegetarians. Recently it’s been my experience that it’s not enough to say that I like Obama, the sense I get is that I must LOVE him. I must fully and completely believe that he is the biggest and greatest gift to American political life ever. There are no shades of grey where Obama is concerned.

Even before that, one black columnist, MIchael Fauntroy, at Huffington Post lamented:

It’s hard out here for Black pundits/analysts/commentators who haven’t come around to drinking the Democratic presidential nomination front-runner Barack Obama is the best-thing-since-sliced-bread-how-did-we-ever-exist-as-a-nation-without-him-this-is-our-last- best-chance-to-elect-a-Black-president-so-we-better-support-him-see-I-told-you-racism-is-dead Kool-Aid. In too many segments of the country — black and white — to express any skepticism about Barack Obama is considered political heresy. I’m blown away by this discovery, because it suggests a dangerous group think: Obama is the only agent of change and to not praise him at every opportunity is to support the status quo.

Now, just two scant years later, the hopium seems to be wearing thin, if not out.

Independents – that ever-so-deeply-rooted-in-jello (politically speaking) group of voters – who slurped the Obama Kool-Aid like wanderers lost in Death Valley for 40 days and 40 nights are now madder-than-hell and demanding their money votes back. Republicans who never much liked The One, but who thought “teaching that RINO McCain a lesson” seemed like a great idea at the time, have re-evaluated that brilliant move and have come back from the dark side. And, in what may be considered most surprising of all, Democrats – the Professional Left as well as the Rank Amateurs – are losing their enthusiasm for the object of their former affection too.

I suspect that Obumbles wasn’t quite thinking along the lines of this kind of recovery when he wound Joe (the Gaffmeister) Biden up and turned him loose banging his little drum and tooting his trumpet about the “Recovery Summer”. Turns out, that’s exactly what we’re experiencing, though.

The American people are no longer drunk on the empty promises of a new kind of politics, and all the other folderal and fiddlefaddle that was wrapped up and sold as the Elixir of Hope ‘n Change by the snake oil peddler-in-chief.

All it took was: Continued high unemployment; a falling stock market; a couple of trillion dollar stimulus bills; a bunch of bank bail-outs; nationalizing General Motors and billions of tax dollars in union hush money; propping up Freddie and Fannie; a 2,500 page health care bill complete with all sorts of bureaucratic red tape, higher costs, and death panels; an ill-conceived legal attack on a sovereign state trying to control rampant illegal immigration, drug smuggling, kidnapping, and murderous Mexican gangs; astronomical federal deficits and out-of-control Washington spending; bowing and scraping to foreign kings; friends like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Charlie Rangle, Barney Franks, and Maxine Waters; and, now, a Victory Mosque at Ground Zero.

Amazing what a good 12-step program will do to sober up a bunch of Kool-Aid drunks, isn’t it?

And, in case you are still under the delusion of Obumble’s motives:

Obama ignores the wishes of the American people, something neither FDR nor Clinton would ever do…Obama sees the public as his enemy, a stumbling block that he needs to get around if he is ever to reach his goals. For Obama, the public is an entity to deceive and manipulate if possible, and he regards it contemptuously rather than respectfully. He no longer needs to inspire people. He just needs to exercise power over them.”

How’s that Hopey Changitude working out for you now?

Three preschoolers. Minimal supervision. A can of baby powder.

White powdery fingerprints abound at the crime scene.

Busted!

Cutest miscreant ever!

At a time when most of us are focused on vacations, enjoying the beauty that is a Montana summer, and the upcoming November elections, one man may be looking a little further down the road – to November 2012. And all Americans may owe much to him come this December for his foresight and timely actions.

THE MAN.

Steve Daines. Fifth generation Montanan. Family man. Businessman. You can read his biography here, but trust me – he’s the real deal. Genuinely nice guy. Smart. Articulate. Wise. A strong fiscal conservative who understands what it takes to do business in a global marketplace. An entrepreneur who creates jobs. A proven leader.

THE MESSAGE.

America and Montana cannot afford to continue down the path we have been traveling. We have to live within our means and we have to put government spending on a serious diet. The formula is simple: Smaller Government = Stronger America. Steve put it even more astutely, “As it’s been said…prior generations operated under the principle of ‘work hard, pay off the mortgage..and give the ranch to the kids’. We live in a generation that’s mortgaging the ranch, and handing the debt off to the kids. That is flat out wrong. ”

THE MISSION.

Most political sages are agreed that the mid-term elections will devastate the Democrats’ majorities in both the House and Senate, and while that initially seemed like it would put the brakes on the runaway socialist agenda of the Obama-Reid-Pelosi cabal, recent word from Washington shed new light on the President’s plan for his lame-duck Congress: Ram through Cap-and-Trade, Immigration Reform, Card Check, and God-only-knows-what-other-redistributive crap Obumbles can think of. The theory being that this will be their last and only chance to enact their anti-American agenda and the congress critters who came up short on November 2 don’t have anything more to lose, so what-the-hell, go-for-broke. It’s not an unrealistic theory. Scary as hell though.

Enter brave, forward thinking leaders like Steve Daines. The momentum for his entrance into the 2012 race against Jon Tester is growing and puts our junior senator on notice that his votes on these issues WILL cost him his job in 2012 if he goes against the will of his MONTANA constituents.

Jon-Boy has already demonstrated clearly that he was more committed to representing the liberal-socialist agenda of Washington rather than the clear and unambiguous will of the majority of Montanans when he voted for Obamacare last year and failed to hold open townhall meetings around the state. He’s got at least two strikes against him now; one more and he’s OUT. Having an announced opponent may be sufficient to take Jon’s vote out of the sure-thing column during the lame duck session.

It’s a numbers game for the Progressives. They’ve thrown the dice and found that their agenda is not quite as popular as they thought it was, so they have only one option: act while they have the votes. The President needs every D vote he has and then some. And that’s the reason that Steve’s possible candidacy is so exciting. Our 41-vote firewall in the Senate doesn’t give us much comfort: One renegade republican and voila! – Progressives win again. Keeping the Republican caucus intact is no easy trick. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine are never sure things. Lindsey Graham has shown wonky tendencies on Climategate/Cap and Trade and immigration.

If there’s one thing that we have learned since January, 2009 it’s that Hope is not a great strategy. We can’t just hope that the lame-duck congress doesn’t pass all this bad legislation. Taking some of the votes out of the D’s column because the Senators who will stand for election in 2012 are more invested in their own future employment than Obama’s is a good strategy. Four vulnerable senators – both Ben Nelsons (Nebraska – “Cornhusker Kickback” and Florida “Gator-Aid”), Claire McCaskill (Missouri), and Kent Conrad (North Dakota) are already nervous about their chances, so the nose-counters have been factoring a couple of defections there. Conventional wisdom didn’t put Tester in that boat, so Reid has been counting on his vote. A strong challenger, not just waiting in the wings, but out there talking to the voters, sharing a positive pro-jobs/economic vision for Montana is not only a good political strategy, it’s a great message for a successful campaign.

It’s not time to lose our focus on the 2010 elections, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be strategically keeping an eye on 2012 too. Take a minute from your busy summer activities to become a fan and send our message to Jon Tester:

MONTANA IS WATCHING.

And just remember – the person who wrote this probably drives and votes – and may have already reproduced.

This is supposedly from a San Francisco newspaper. I can’t vouch for the authenticity, but I can’t imagine anyone being able to make this up either.