On this Memorial Day, as candidates around Montana gear up for their final push before the primary election, James Grady reminds us of another time, another politician. Maybe a better time. Certainly a more pleasant man.

Of all the chiseled stones standing silent watch over us in these uncivil and dangerous political times, this Memorial Day consider one modest white-marble slab on a green hillside at Arlington National Cemetery:

Michael
Joseph
Mansfield
PVT
U.S. Marine Corps
Mar 16 1903
Oct 5 2001

Butte’s miners taught Mike a live-or-die mantra: “Tap ‘er light.” Too much explosive power and the mine collapses on top of you. Too little and the blast hides what you seek under the rubble of half-hearted effort. And if you’re careless — BOOM!

Tap ‘er light is how Mike managed the politics of America when we managed to have politics that worked for America.

Mike’s insistence on decency and modesty was the opposite of naïveté. He came from an American time and place where politics meant meanness, corruption and murder. Seeing how that “worked,” Mike reasoned that fairness and respect are the best tactics and strategies to make democracy feasible, to get wealth worth having out of the mess we call politics. You have to tap ‘er light lest politics and government explode in your face or bury you in darkness.

This Memorial Day, when you hear “Taps,” think of one lone Marine private on watch at Arlington. For one moment, for just one heartbeat, remember his mantra, his plea, his benediction and farewell, his proven successful political strategy to win a better tomorrow and save us from bloody explosions or being trapped by darkness in this mine shaft called politics where we all must live:

Tap ‘er light.

To all of you who aspire to walk in the footsteps of such a leader, take a few moments to read the entire piece. And for the rest of us, as we make our positions known to those who represent us, perhaps we, too, should be mindful of the miners’ mantra.

Sometimes you just have to finally admit it – if you want to win an election – the easiest and surest way to get the job done is simply to skip all the artifice and purchase enough votes to assure a victory.

So far that strategy has been successful in getting Debra’s office pet, Eyepod, into the final round of the Independent Record’s Pet Pin-up Contest.

Since the contest is a fundraiser for the Newspaper in Education Literacy Project, we figured that in this situation the ends do justify the means and plan to continue investing not only in Eyepod’s election, but also in the education of Helena’s kids. The final round of voting starts today and ends on the 28th, so you still have time to join the fun. Five dollars buys you 20 votes – a bargain – especially when you compare it to the financial expenditures some politicians make in contested elections.

C’mon – Vote early, vote often, VOTE Eyepod!!!

**H/T to Kathleen for the peek into Eyepod’s underwater literary activitiy.**

I want to search for my bliss… Ummm, wait – let me rephrase that. I want to develop my artistic creativity. Yeah, that’s it.

Pony up suckers.

Yesterday, the gang at CNBC interviewed Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) regarding the financial reform bill the D’s are pushing. At one point in the interview, Rick Santelli – he of the famous “Tea Party Rant” – let loose with another brilliant, right on target barrage at the patronizing bullpuckey the Congresscritter was serving up as justification for the legislative shell game they’re playing on Capitol Hill.

Say what?????!!!!! They could reform Fannie and Freddie, but they won’t because it’s too complicated???? If that isn’t a WTF answer, I’ve never heard one in my life.

From Speaker John Boehner:

Democrats are not only unwilling to reform Fannie and Freddie, they are doubling down on the failed government mortgage companies – burning through hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars in the process. As the Washington Post noted in a report today: “Under the terms of the government’s 2008 emergency takeover of Fannie and Freddie, the Treasury must pump money into either firm whenever its worth, as measured by assets minus liabilities, goes into the red. Late last year, the Obama administration pledged unlimited backing.”

For years, Republicans raised red flags about Fannie and Freddie’s financial condition and proposed responsible reforms only to be thwarted by Democrats who have deep political ties to the worst offenders. These same powerful Democrats are now pushing for a financial reform bill that doesn’t even address the need to fix these government mortgage companies. As the Wall Street Journal wrote last week, “reforming the financial system without fixing Fannie and Freddie is like declaring a war on terror and ignoring al Qaeda.”

So just to make sure us remedial kids get this right: They know there’s a problem. They know what the problem is. They know there’s a solution to the problem. They aren’t going to fix the problem because it’s too hard.

I have an idea.

Let’s use an old-fashioned concept that my father used to fall back on when I was a kid and didn’t want to complete a task because it was too hard to do. He made the consequences for not doing the assigned task more unpleasant than the effort to do it:

If your’e not up to the job you’re fired! (“I Can See November From My House”)

There seems to be a serious disease infecting Democrat political candidates in the Helena area: Affiliation Disclosure Disorder. This new and relatively perplexing affliction is most recently evidenced by the lack of the legally required disclaimer on the radio ads for two high profile, very Democrat candidates – Joe Cohenour and Mary Caferro.

In Joe’s case, I can understand his desire to distance himself from his party. House District 78 was one of the few local districts that went into the McCain/Palin column last election – it’s no longer a guaranteed D win. In addition, there was a concerted effort by the Democrats to find a viable candidate to oppose him in the primary. Having lost the school board election four years ago, Joe probably knows that he can’t count on the usual suspects and loyal district Dems to get him that coveted extra chance to feed at the public trough, so he must have figured that his best bet is to distance himself from a party that doesn’t really want him and hope that enough “undeclared” voters will see his name on the ballot and put name recognition over party designation in the primary.

As for Mary, I can’t quite figure it out. Certainly, it can’t be an oversight – she’s played in the sandbox for too long to claim that she doesn’t know the rules. And Senate District 40 is pretty much a safe liberal bastion in the heart of the People’s Republic of Helena – so she can’t be trying to avoid the cooties, as it were. Distancing herself from any possible similarity to Dave Gallik has merit, but is hardly definitive as conclusive proof of her susceptibility to the contagion.

It’s a puzzelment, for sure. Why are these two fairly well-known Democrats now suddenly adverse to proclaiming their long-time liberal ties? Why is Joe not proudly touting himself as a Democrat candidate for HD 78? How come Mary’s radio spots don’t end with the mandated party affiliation?

Sudden onslaught ADD. Hmmm…. Could it be fatal?