Only in America.

The Bozeman TEA Party organizers (designated as right wing-nuts by the MSM) have been working diligently to put together their follow-up to the Tax Day TEA Party – a big whoop-de-do on the 4th of July. Part of the celebration was to be a parade on Main Street in downtown. As things are wont to be, the local bureaucracy reared it’s bureaucratic head and collided with the First Amendment. Turns out that Freedom of Speech isn’t quite the same thing as free (lower case) speech. And the City of Bozeman has a price tag for shutting down the street. Well, since the TEA Party group wasn’t all that interested in forking over more money to pay for city services that they felt should be covered by the tax dollars already in the community coffers, they raised a bit of a ruckus at the city council meeting the other night and got the elected officials to overturn the bureaucrats’ decision to charge to close the street.

Enter the left wing-nuts. Calling themselves the “Green Coalition of Gay Loggers for Jesus”. Honest. I couldn’t make that up. And they decide to have their own parade in downtown Bozeman. But – here’s the kicker – they offered to pay the cost for closing the street by raising funds as a protest against the TEA Party group. They actually raised about $500 more than they needed. You have to hand it to them.

So the celebration goes on in Bozo in fine American style. Left and right; solemn and snarky; serious and silly in equal parts. Patriotic through and through.

Freedom to be who we are and what we are. Freedom to think what we want and say it out loud – no matter who is listening or whether or not they agree with us. And ultimately the Freedom to Celebrate America because someone else has paid the price. For that I am humbled – mostly because of the sacrifice of those who have paid and are willing to pay the ultimate price – but also for those who saw a way to make a political point with a smile and a contribution to a cause. It’s the American Way. God bless us – every one of us!!!

So here’s to the Green Coalition of Gay Loggers for Jesus. Listen and sing along.

The employment report that came out today was, shall we say, disappointing a bitch? No matter how much Baracko tries to put a happy face on the economy, facts are stubborn things. And the number one fact is, about 1 out of every 10 Americans is out of work. And the second fact is, the unemployment rate keeps escalating despite all the money ($800 billion – start counting – dollars) thrown at the problem since January. And the third fact is – things aren’t going to get better anytime soon.

But, you say, The One promised that he knew the answers; he had the plan to change. All we had to do was trust him – we can spend our way out of a recession (keep counting!). YES, WE CAN – SUCKERS! (And we’re counting…)

So why aren’t things getting better instead of worse? Where are all those “shovel-ready” projects (are you still counting?) that have been waiting for the shovels since February? Why aren’t the bridges being built? Where is all the desperately needed new infrastructure – the bridges, the dams, the highways? We obviously have lots of shovelers and the money to buy enough shovels (are you anywhere close to $800 billion?), but nothing is happening out there to turn the gloom and doom into sunshine and lollipops (or pixie dust and unicorns if you prefer). As far as I have been able to tell, nobody has even started building the “emergency shelters” to get prostitutes off the streets. I mean, c’mon – how much planning and prep does it take to build a whorehouse??? And this administration can’t even get that job done????

Where are all those damn jobs?

I guess it’s time to bring in the big dogs:

Since this summer camp thing was a spur-of-the-moment thing, the Camp Director hasn’t really thought out the activities for the day. Swimming? Thanks, but actually we’re drowning in debt. Staying out of the rising water seems like a better plan. Hiking? Lovely day for it. Does anyone have any idea where we’re headed? Horseback riding? Gosh – all I can see out there are horses’ rear ends.

So what’s say we indulge in a couple of my favorite pastimes – political gossip and speculation. Sound like fun?

I’ll start with some inside baseball from Big Sky Country. Whispers on the street have it that our Republican (yeah, right!) Lt. Governor will be retiring soon, so that state senator Dave Wanzenried (D-Missoula) can step in to get a leg up on the Gov’s seat in 2012. The news here is not so much that Bohlinger may be exiting stage left, but that Wanzenried would be the designated replacement. Not that Dave doesn’t have gubernatorial aspirations, but – jeeze, pleeze. They have to have more bench strength than that!!

Along a similar vein, announced Dem candidate Dennis McDonald who is challenging Montana’s lone republican Congressman, Denny Rehberg, seems to be floundering in a sea of antipathy verging on hostility. Evidently the funds haven’t been pouring in to the former Democrat Party Chairman’s coffers the way they need to be to wrest the one remaining statewide conservative seat. Not really surprising, since the California transplant is pretty much regarded as “all hat, no cattle” around the state. So the big boys in the back room are puffing away and blowing a bunch of smoke up the skirt of Whitney Williams – daughter of former Congressman Pat Williams and State Senator and Majority Leader, Carol Williams. The Williams family are huge Hillary supporters, by the way, and although they couldn’t swing the state for Clinton in the primary, I suspect there’s more than one favor to be called in. Whitney has an impressive resume to go with her family background and could be a formidable candidate, but for one teeeney-weeney little thingy: She left Montana years ago and hasn’t been back except to check in with Mumsy and Daddikins from time to time and do some post grad work at UofM. Obviously, Montanans aren’t exactly offended by a non-resident representative in DC (Max Baucus hasn’t lived in the state since he was first elected in 1978!), but it might be a bit harder to justify importing a community organizer from Seattle just to run against a guy who still regards Washington as the place where he works and Montana is where he lives. We like that kind of thinking here. But the speculation is a ton of fun.

On the national scene, HillBuzz favorite and Hillary replacement Kirsten Gillibrand is likely to have a challenger in Carolyn Maloney, the long-time Congresswoman who is known in these parts as one of the strongest and most out-spoken anti-gun advocates in the House. She couldn’t get elected dog catcher around here, but is apparently a serious threat in NY. HillBuzzers may have to do a little campaigning for Ms. Gillibrand.

Ok – my lunch break is about over – so now I’m turning this over to you guys. What’s going on in your corners of the country? Who’s in? Who’s out? Who cares? Share!!!