2 Helena Handbaskets

It’s pretty well known that most military personnel tend to be largely conservative, but last year President Obumbles managed to find the one general who voted for him in 2008 and promptly installed him as the commander in Afghanistan. Of course, he-who-would-be-PresidentoftheWorld then dithered around and dissed the general a couple of times publicly before finally giving him some – but not all – of the troops the general requested in order to get the job done.

Seems like the relationship between the General and the Commander in Chief may have gone downhill following their little Come to Jesus meeting on Air Force One, and Stan may be busted back to private in the next day or two.

I’m pretty sure that most military officers are informed about the teeny section of the code that advises them that speaking ill in public about the civilian leadership is frowned upon (Art. 88 UCMJ) – but then again maybe there’s a separate school at the War College for liberal generals where they leave this part out. Who knows? They get their weird ideas from somewhere after all. Perhaps it’s just a case of two passive-agressive personalities clashing. Whatever.

One thing’s for sure – General McChrystal sure understands guerrilla warfare – because he just snuck up and lobbed another huge IED at the White House. And although it may cost him a few stars, the good general may end up being one of this country’s greatest military heroes.

Stick around for the after-action and mop-up. The body count and collateral damage might just be interesting.

Well, the ink has dried on Tuesdays returns, and while there is still much to be reviewed, analyzed, and debated, there is apparently one overarching theme that is emerging – here in Montana as well as around the country: Americans, in general, and Republicans, more specifically, owe this president a huge debt of gratitude.

Yep. You read that right. Thank you very much, Barack Obama – we couldn’t have done it without you!

I received this message today and it pretty well spells out the silver lining:

1. It was just two years ago he destroyed the Clinton Political Machine – driving a stake thru the heart of Hillary’s presidential aspirations – something that no Republican was ever able to do. (Remember when a Hillary presidency scared the daylights out of you?)

2. He killed off the Kennedy Dynasty – no more Kennedy’s trolling Washington looking for booze and women wanting rides home. American women and Freedom are safer than they’ve been in years!

3. He is destroying the Democratic Party before our eyes:
Dennis Moore had never lost a race – quit
Evan Bayh had never lost a race – quit
Byron Dorgan had never lost a race – quit
Harry Reid – soon to be GONE
These are just a handful of the Democrats whose political careers Obama has destroyed! By the end of 2010 dozens more will be gone.

In December of 2008 the Democrats were on the rise. In the last two election cycles they had picked up 14 senate seats and 52 house seats. The press was touting the death of the Conservative Movement and the Republican Party. In just one year, Obama put a stop to all of this and will probably give the house and possibly the senate back to the Republicans.

He has completely exposed liberals and progressives for what they are.

He has brought more Americans back to conservatism than anyone since Reagan. In one year he has rejuvenated the Conservative movement and brought out to the streets millions of Freedom Loving Americans. Name me one other time in your life that you saw your friends and neighbors this interested in taking back America!

His amazing leadership has sparked the greatest period of sales of firearms and ammunition this country has seen. Law abiding citizens have rallied and have provided a “stimulus” to the sporting goods field while other industries have failed, faded, or moved off-shore.

In all honesty one year ago I was more afraid than I have been in my life. Not of the economy but of the direction our country was going. I thought Americans had forgotten what this country was all about. My neighbors, friends and strangers proved to me that my lack of confidence of the Greatness and Wisdom of the American people was flat wrong.

When the American People wake up no smooth talking teleprompter reader can fool them! Barack Obama woke up these Great Americans!

Here in Montana, almost twice as many Republicans voted in the primary as Democrats. We haven’t seen that in about a month of Sundays.

Again I want to say Thank You Barack Obama! This is exactly the kind of hope and change we desperately needed.

H/T to my buddy BH

In case you haven’t heard this one yet… (Trust me – it’s not your regular political ad!)

PhoebeHD78_Radio30

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?

A Letter to the Editor in today’s IR extolled the virtues and benefits of taxes. The author, Sarah Wilhelm, is the research director at the Montana Budget and Policy Center, which provides in-depth research and analysis on budget, tax and economic issues. And pretty much has never found a tax or government spending plan it couldn’t embrace, or a corporation it couldn’t excoriate. After extolling the virtues of tax revenues and bemoaning the lack of sufficient resources for more and bigger state programs, Ms. Wilhelm justifies her call for increasing state revenues with the following:

Across the country, state leaders from both parties have responded to the recession by creating new revenue instead of just cutting services. They have closed corporate tax loopholes, collected lost revenues, and in some cases raised taxes. These states’ economies have not been harmed in the short run and will reap the benefits of sound public investments in the long run.

I have just one question: Which states would you be referring to? California? New York? New Jersey, Florida, Nevada, Colorado? C’mon, Sarah – give us a hint. Which states are rolling in all that new cash? The media seems to have missed the good news. And I know our legislators would just love to know where to find a new stash.

Sheesch!