Month: May 2022

Mark Sweeney was senator representing Anaconda, Phillipsburg and Deerlodge. He passed away unexpectedly in the midst of a primary race for the new eastern congressional district. In one of my last conversations with Mark at a recent Local Government Interim Committee meeting, we discussed the invasion of Ukraine by President Putin. The conversation lead to mutual concern and admonition of the sitting congressman, Matt Rosendale. There’s a place for avoiding overseas conflicts as we’ve learned from failed and expensive forays into no-win situations. Senator Mansfield warned President Johnson of the consequences of involvement in Vietnam and Secretary of State Powell memorably coined the phrase “You break it, you own it” despite his faulty intelligence regarding Sadam Husein’s chemical weapons. Rosendale’s isolationist stance is worrying. As a sovereign nation, Ukraine looked west to the European Union as the country aspired to be transparent in trade and be a western liberal democracy. This was a threat to the Putin’s hegemonic rule of order in eastern and central Europe. The dissolution of the Soviet Union was a mistake, according to the Russian president.

I perceived Sweeney as an old style Montana citizen politician. As Democrats fall off the political map in rural and suburban Montana, Sweeney offered a template of sorts, a roadmap perhaps, for rural Democrats. Words and rhetoric matter. Issues such as second amendment rights, support and funding of law enforcement, public land access, support of agriculture, and strong public schools are issues important to many voters. Many Democrat leaning voters cross over in the primaries to have a proportional say in their political future. With Democrats difficult to elect, the nuances or often substantial differences among Republican candidates, are cause for independents and Democrats participation. Sweeney would have likely won the primary (he still could as his name remains on the ballot). He would have likely been part of a three way race that includes Independent Gary Buchanan, a respected Billings business man and former member of Republican and Democrat state administrations. Mark would have loved the race. What would the impact of an independent have been on a race that included Mark Sweeney? We can now only conjecture.

The US Senate unanimously (by voice vote), approved the appointment of Bridget Brink as ambassador to Ukraine. I watched a You Tube video of Brink in her former job as the Ambassador of Slovakia participating in the dedication of a nature trail and historic home of two young survivors of the Nazi’s rule of the area. She’s a most impressive person, skilled speaker, advanced degree from the London School of Economics, fluent in about five languages and wife and mother. President Trump had appointed her to her last post and he made a wise decision in doing so. Hurray for something, in that we find a bit of common ground between Presidents Biden and Trump. We need unity and lots of it to get through the most challenging of times. We may be heading into stagflation where there is inflation and a shrinking of the economy. Covid is not so coy in reminding us to dig up our our masks. Violent crime seems to be on the increase with Buffalo shooting a reminder of the potential evil that lurks.

So there is needed relief of weaponized issues in seeing Ambassador Brink gaining nomination in such a seamless fashion. There were naive isolationists during the turbulent and troubled years before World War 2. So too, are there isolationists here and now including our Congressional Representative Rosendale, the eastern Montana Candidate for Congress. Regular order, the term coined by John McCaine, must be maintained in Europe. As Ukraine looks west towards the EU and a liberal democracy, this regular order must be maintained for the future of the civilized world. This is a battle against a despot with significant skills and ambitions. Good and Evil.

We have an ambassador in Kiev and a Ukrainian nation with will and resolve. May we focus on what really matters.

I finished this 563 page and to my surprise felt optimistic. Like, what is there to be optimistic about? This slightly futuristic, a little sci-fi, looks at global warming and the policies and impacts on people and geography in a year not too far from now. The Ministry of the Future is an agency tasked with establishing scientific and economic policies address warming. It is run by a smart civil servant from Ireland and tracks her travails through attempts to bargain with national banks to navigating through safe houses to prevent potential threats on her life. The book is a celebration of earth as the last best place for human life, animal life and our amazing tapestry natural wonders.

There is enough real science and economics (a global carbon coin), to lay a roadmap for lowering temperatures. Along the way you will visit refugee camps (a solution is presented to people without nationhood ), eco-terrorism (an unfortunate method to knock off the evil unrepentant fossil industrialists), large scale water pumping projects in Antartica to name just a few. This is a dense read with details that are so well researched. This seems to be a super realistic novel and since the book ends on a positive note, and since the times, they have been not easy, I took it to heart that we may come out of this.

The book cover (2020 publishing date), proclaims, One of Barack Obama’s favorite books of the year”. That might be good enough for you to give this book a read.

I have never made abortion rights a piece of my campaigns. Previous to the Supreme Court leak, it seemed stare decisis held the status in check from the federal perspective. There was a time not that long ago when abortion was not a political issue. A Republican Supreme Court on a vote of 7-2 voted to enshrine legalization of abortion in Roe/Wade. Life and Choice were not tenants of the party platforms. I think we were better off when the topic was left to one’s religious and ethical compass. Here in Montana we look to the Armstrong case from 1999 for guidance on near term decisions the court might make on abortion restrictions. The states relatively modern 1972 constitution places significant importance on the concept of privacy suggesting the limited role of government in the making of such personal decisions. Compelling interest of the state from the Armstrong case was aligned with the viability language within Roe. As medical advances shift the date of viability so to might compelling interest shift in the state’s (the fetus), interests. Likely, a significant deviation from that decision will require either a change in the court that might look more like the federal court or a state constitutional amendment which outlaws the practice. Popular opinion, even in an increasing red state like Montana, weighs on the side of choice. I think a fast tracked amendment through a super majority Republican legislature, directly for vote by the people, will face an uphill fight for passage. It is more likely, as the state supreme court elections become more politicized (just look at the James Brown mailer you likely received ), the court will shift to the right.

Will abortion rights become a political issue in the upcoming mid-term elections in Montana? Will Republicans seek moderation from their party by voting for the opposition. The leak by a court staffer opens a potential pandora’s box. I’m paying attention to opinions at the doors regarding abortion,