The Montana GOP organized a little rally today in East Helena.

For those of you who don’t know, East Helena is a little burg about 5 miles east of the state’s capital city, with it’s own distinct personality. I’ve lived here for over five years now and have come to treasure and appreciate it’s unique attitude. Politically, EH is actually pretty conservative – in the old-time sense. It was – and largely still is – a blue collar, union community, but it is deeply, thoroughly, unequivocally patriotic. The local VFW is the social center of the town, and the 4th of July parade is straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

So what happened on this quiet Halloween Sunday afternoon in East Helena, Montana is a veritable gobsmacker.

As I left my house, I noticed a city police car parked in the middle of the parking lot between the City Pool and JFK Park. Just as I reached the stop sign at the end of my block, a little gold PT Cruiser pulled up next to the officer. I continued up the few blocks to “Beautiful Downtown East Helena” where I joined up with the three dozen or so supporters who were gathering at Memorial Park on Main Street waiting for the GOP campaign bus to arrive. A few minutes later, a lone city police officer drove up and advised us that we had to disperse. He explained that someone had complained about our little gathering and because we did not have a permit, we had to leave. As we visited with the officer a bit more, he told us that the Democrats had applied for a permit that was denied by the City Council, and so they objected to our gathering and called in a complaint to the police and he had no choice but to act on the complaint. While we were talking to the officer, that same little gold PT Cruiser drove past us several times – obviously closely watching the encounter.

Being the good citizens we are, we quickly conferred, and moved the rally about ten yards further down the street to “private property”.

No real harm done. (Heck – everybody at the rally was a bullet-proof Republican, so there were no minds or votes to change.) Or was there? Isn’t there a little clause in the Constitution that guarantees Americans the right to peacefully assemble? And what about that “Freedom of Speech” thingy?

Tomorrow I plan to check out the city ordinances regarding such assemblies as well as the story about the city denying the Democrats a permit to hold their rally, because I find that offensive and frankly, pretty hard to believe. If the local Democrats wanted to hold a peaceful gathering in a local public park, they very much should have had the opportunity – and I would have been as upset as anybody if they were refused a permit.

Shame on our city leaders if they did, in fact, deny the Democrats the right to hold a political rally.

But I’m still a bit flabbergasted about the “complaint”. It must have come from a Democrat of the pre-school mentality (“If I can’t have one, you can’t either!”). Not that the complaint had any real effect on our rally, but as I walked by the memorial marker listing the names of local heroes who had sacrificed their lives for us and the United States Constitution, it saddened me that partisan affiliation so blinded my fellow citizen to the inalienable rights that we are all guaranteed that she felt she had to personally take steps to deny those rights to us.

Shame on her.

TEA minus 2 and counting. So I have a few thoughts to share…

The student mock election results are interesting on a couple of fronts: First – the turnout was perplexing. Supposedly, over 15,000 students participated, yet the results only reflect the votes of about 5,000. The obvious conclusion is that the youth vote is always hyped and the actual percentage of votes is far less than expected. Yet 33% isn’t too far below the average turnout for younger (under 30) voters in an off-year election usually, so casting aspersions would be inappropriate. Of more interest to me are the results of some of the questions. The kids seem to be pretty centrist in most of their choices – probably more reflective of their parents’ views than their teachers’. Particularly in light of the environmental propaganda the students are subject to from kindergarten on, the majority of votes on the energy question come down on the side of common-sense, free market positions. Of course, that’s offset by the overwhelming support for health care as a “human right”. The votes on immigration again seem pretty pragmatic and fundamentally logical – a center-right position, probably in line with how most Montana adults would vote. Generally speaking though, I think the kids who participated are to be commended for their citizenship, and as a grandmother, I am pretty sure the future will be in good hands.

Second issue: Alaska. What a power struggle! For all of you out there who have discounted the political in-fighting in the GOP, Holy Buckets, Batman. The old-guard Murkowski camp versus the Palin/TEA Party has gone completely out of control. A major battle ala Clash of the Titans. Would that I had the popcorn concession.

Add to the mix an apparent conspiracy by the local CBS affiliate reporters to create a story that would have a huge negative impact on the Miller campaign. Nothing like the media becoming the story, huh? This will grow legs and will probably continue well past the election. For years, conservatives have rallied against the MSM – and stuff like this goes to prove their case. “Corrupt bastards”, indeed. Stay tuned.

Finally: Charlie Crist, Bill Clinton, and the Florida senate race. Oy, vay.

You just have to love American politics.

Election 2012 starts Wednesday, November 3. Get ready…

Politics, as we all know, is a blood sport, and few who enter the ring emerge unscathed.

However, one of the most scathing blows of this election was landed in the HD78 race between Joe Cohenour and Steve Gibson.

For those of you who haven’t focused on this contest, a bit of background: Joe is a pretty well-known guy in the Helena/East Helena area. He is an unabashed liberal/progressive, firmly committed to endorsing every big government program that comes down the pike (including the new sex-ed curriculum he just voted for). As a highway patrolman, he’s frequently involved in one-on-one contacts with his constituents, and for some reason he usually isn’t regarded as a “real swell guy” following those visits. He’s also been on the East Helena School Board – but lost his seat a few years ago to a largely unknown newcomer, a feat that requires a certain amount of eyebrow raising, to say the least. The word around town is that folks really like his wife, Jill, who previously held the seat, but are not so impressed with Joe. Ergo, the man himself keeps a pretty low profile during the race. Minimal door-knocking – that sort of stuff. But East Helena is still a company town and unions still have a significant impact on the district. And unions, as we all know, ALWAYS support the Democrat candidate.

Except in this race. The Montana Association of Troopers – the Highway Patrol guys – have endorsed the other guy – Steve Gibson. That’s right. Joe’s comrades in arms – when given an opportunity to support one of their own – turned their backs. Holy buckets, Batman! I mean – they could have just stayed out of the race, right? Yeah – they could have done that, but, no! The guys that work with Joe – the ones who know him best, took a look at this contest and chose to throw their lot in with the other guy.

Wow.

Huge.

You know those strange bedfellows that politics sometimes makes? Talk about a strange break-up – sheesh! Betcha things are a little awkward in the HP locker room these days.

Poor Joe. It’s tough when any relationship goes south, but it’s got to be a real killer when the guys you’ve literally trusted with your life assess things and decide to throw you overboard.

When your friends and family won’t vote for you, it’s time to take a serious look in the mirror. Sorry, Joe – they’re just not that into you.

And definitely time for voters to fill in the box for Steve Gibson.

Word on the street has it that a perennial progressive politician from the Peoples’ Republic of Helena is none too sure that the career path he had mapped out for himself isn’t about to run right smack dab into a major detour. Oh-oh…

In what was supposed to be clear sailing to a second term on the Public Service Commission where he could serve as the chair-apparent for a couple of years and then transition blissfully into the master suite at 2 N. Carson St., Ken (the Tool) Toole is suddenly coming to the realization that he maybe should have been paying a bit more attention to 2010 instead of 2012. Oops…

Seems that – like so many of the Progressive Persuasion – Kenny discounted the mood of the electorate by a percent or two too much this year and now is faced with the prospect of the same kind of unemployment that far too many Montanans have dealt with as a result of their elitist, big-government, short-sighted, anti-prosperity, business-killing agenda. Awww….

While Kenny worshipped at the altar of anthropomorphic global warming, endorsing high-priced environmentally questionable green energy policies that increased costs for Montana consumers, those same consumers were watching him play the same old shell game. With one stroke he was leading the charge to enact a new law to publish the private financial information of hard-working private citizens, and at the same time he supports granting a big interim rate increase to the largest public utility even before determining whether it is justified or not. That kind of inconsistent, indefensible class warfare often results in significant collateral damage.

And it appears that Kenny is standing real close to the bull’s eye.

Close enough to catch some flak anyway.

No wonder he’s getting nervous.

This probably won’t make him feel any better:

This has to be one of the best political ads ever:

‘Nuff said.

To the shock and surprise of virtually no one, Judge C.B. McNeil ruled that I-164, the predatory lender initiative, will remain on the ballot. As of today (Friday), the payday lenders have not filed an appeal with the Montana Supreme Court (likely knowing that they haven’t got a snowball’s chance in hell of winning).

So with the odds of passage even better than Denny Rehberg’s, might the measure’s supporters ultimately be claiming a Pyrrhic victory?

As noted in the post below, the basic demand for these types of loans will not change as a result of the new law. So what happens next? Could one or more of the tribal nations step into the breach? Would the sovereign status of the Indian nations allow them to open such businesses on the reservations – and possibly “branch” out through the internet, or even with brick and mortar locations?

Supply is going down and demand is certainly not disappearing as a result of this measure. Ergo, Economics 101.

Opportunity?

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.