Campaign Trail News

Dale entered a recovery program during the past session. I believe the program focused on substance abuse, specifically alcoholism. I had doubts Dale would make it back. The Speaker and powers to be allowed Dale to remain in the body in order to receive treatment. From the stories I heard, I feared the worst for Dale. Following a strict and successful regiment in a Great Falls facility, Rep. Mortensen returned to our body.

We lost Dale a few weeks back. He died with many years of life before him. Maybe his immune system was weakened, I do not know. Dale was a conservative, I’m not; but one shouldn’t make generalizations concerning one’s political leanings. Surprises are the beauty of the legislature. I will always remember Dale’s compassionate floor speech concerning the renaming of ColumbusDay to Indigenous Peoples Day. Dale supported the change, a bill sponsored by my Democrat colleague and candidate for State Auditor, Shane Morigeau. Rep. Mortensen recalled a sweat lodge ceremony he had experienced. I believe Dale was a livestock brands inspector, affording him the opportunity to meet Montanan’s invested in ranching and agriculture.

The bill easily passed the House and then met it’s death in the Senate. Likely it will pass next session barring a veto (I think most gubernatorial candidates will support the renaming). Columbus was a scoundrel BUT he should not be forgotten or erased from our children’s history books. The holiday deserves a freshening up and I could think of no better way than honoring out first peoples in the country we reside in and love.

Dale made the connection and in doing so better understood the humanity of such a change, likely understanding that need more than many of us in the body. Dale and I got closer, with similar interests in other topics. The Montana Legislature is a place that allows folks from differing political affiliations to find the elusive common ground and create laws to make us better. I will miss Representative Mortenesen, HD44, Billings.

It is worthwhile to access the January 26th column in the NY Times by media correspondent, Michael Grynbaum @grynbaum. TruNews is a news outlet by 21st century standards, which seems intent on taking down the long professed standards and scholarship necessary to provide worthy news and editorial coverage. TruNews and it’s founder Rick Wiles (a pastor!), recently described Mr. Trumps impeachment as a “Jew Coup” planned by a “Jewish Cabal”. Wiles is full of conspiracy theories and likes to proclaim an imminent apocalypse.

This obnoxious piece of the media landscape received press credentials from the White House and ended up in Davos as a bona fide news outlet. First amendment rights? Certainly I don’t have the right not to be insulted by such speech, but making this swill purveyor more credible through the White House staff granting legitimacy? Spare me!

In an online video by Wiles, he goes on to say in respect to the impeachment, “That’s the way the Jews work. They are deceivers. they plot, they lie, they do whatever they have to do to accomplish their political agenda. ” Pure and simple, this guy is an anti-semite and while practicing his disgusting opinions, he also smears Christianity downward to a dark place, far from the main stream of religious and political thought…at last I hope that’s still true!

Rep. Ted Deutch, Florida, tweeted, “I can’t believe the day I attend an event at Yad Vashem marking 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, anti-Semites were given WH credentials to broadcast from European soil”

Anti-semitism continues to ramp up and we all need to respond to individuals and the new media portraying such opinions for what it really is: Hatred to those they fear.

Bryant, his 13 year old daughter Giana and seven other passengers perished in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. The Bryant’s were in transit to a youth basketball tournament, Kobe a coach for the team Giana was a member of.

Let’s get one issue out of the way. A decade or so back in time, Bryant was involved in a possible rape of a hotel employee. The case was dismissed but a civil suit reached a financial settlement to the hotel employee. Bryant showed contrition in statements to the press. He moved onward, seemingly to a good place both in the NBA and as an avid supporter of women’s sports.

The world seemed to take a sudden timeout at the untimely announcement. Games needed to play, literally minutes after the occurrence. Energy was sucked out of the arenas in North America as news spread of the crash. Kobe was a magnificent basketball player, a perfectionist of the art of roundball, and the proverbial hard ass to both himself and all others who failed to dedicate more than 100% of themselves to all phases of the game. Some of us like that sort of think. Maybe we think of our own shortcomings; finding solace in the world of sports and now the associated social media that is unescapable. We the former players and aging fans prescribe to the player, the teacher, the entrepreneur, those who exceed their potential. For sure, we take the bait of an escape of the common and mundanity of life. Sometimes we need it.

Yesterday, LaBron surpassed Kobe in all time scoring, placing him third place on the all time list. A retired Kobe was magnanimous. Kobe was spreading his wings into movie production and other worthy projects including his sports academy in Thousand Oakes.

What they said:

“You think about his family and his friends and the struggles they are going through. You just want to go home and kiss your kids and your wife. The rest is irrelevant right now” Marc Gasol, Toronto Raptors

“He was a very international player, spoke several languages (Spanish and Italian), played all over the world. I think he was very relatable” David Robinson, former NBA great, San Antonio Spurs.

The name of the book is “Breaking the Two Party Doom Loop” and comes our way by the author Lee Drutman, a political scientist and a senior fellow in the Political Reform Program at New America. Before the 1990’s the two parties equaled four in their bifurcation with liberals and conservatives on the Democrat side and conservatives and moderates within the Republicans. (To a high degree this is still the makeup of the Montana House, which contributes to two productive session in 2017 and 2019.) The two parties at the national level have culled their ranks resulting in a true two party democracy with zero-sum partisanship. The result have left the American people pessimistic of national politics accented by 68% of respondents favoring a multi-party (3rd party) solution.

Drutman presents a comparison of the electoral process in peer western nations. He goes into depth in such an alternative (Australia and Maine and many places in-between), of ranked choice voting where the second and third choices on a ballot with a list of candidates are used to reach a final candidate that garners a plurality. He also creates additional parties to more accurately reflect the political preferences of Americans; from Christian traditionalist to progressives and those stops in-between. Lacking the previous divisions in the parties, Drutman suggests that two parties cannot adequately be inclusive to take on social and economic policy differences composing political preferences in our nation.

Drutman who admits to being a Democrat is passionate about the need for rationale change in election process. How will change occur? Drutman posits that change of such significance may only be possible as a result of hyper- extreme acrimony and violence . Let’s hope not though we have plenty of the former. Watch the hearings if you dare). There is a bill in congress slowly building that calls for a rank choice for congressional races. Let’s add the use of Big Blue, the chess playing IBM to implement redistricting at a 50 state level and the removal of a party labels from Secretary of States who direct elections as self-identified partisans.

This bill offers a template for change to restore trust, and participation in the election process. It is expertly researched and written for the layperson interested in best-practice election systems.

In the 10-29 New Yorker, Janet Malcolm reflects upon her personal history. Malcolm is of Czech origin immigrating to the United States on the eve of World War 2.

She writes, “After the Nazis marched into Prague, in 1939, it no longer mattered what kind of Jew you were, whether you spoke Czech or German, lit Hanukkah candles, or, as we did, ate carp soup on Christmas Eve. ALL JEWS WERE VERMIN TO BE EXTERMINATED..Anti-Semitism was a fixture of the Czech state, as it was of every other European state.”

On Oct 21, a misanthrope killed eleven Jewish worshipers in the Tree of Life Synagogue. He found comfort and support within the on-line social network GAB. Richard Spencer, a part time Whitefish white supremacist and provocateur is a member of GAB. What should you do if you hear of a GAB entry that is disturbing, to the level of yelling fire in a crowded movie theater? I suggest you act by informing law enforcement. I suggest that you do not assume someone else will do so.

Do you know about Red Flag laws?  A Red Flag law allows law enforcement to react to a very dangerous posting; along with other pieces of evidence. As radical as the following reads, the following might be a Red Flag law; law enforcement upon an order from a court may remove weapons from an individual displaying EXTREME anti-social behavior. It might include suicidal tendencies or violence that likely will be acted upon. The removal of weapons is temporary. A court appearance follows and a judge determines the threat and appropriate actions. It seems to work in Indiana of all places. Before we became so, so polarized, the NRA gave a pass to the near unanimous passage  of the law by the Republican legislature of Indiana. Maybe not appropriate for Montana? Don’t know. I do know that minus the hyperbole and partisanship, lawmakers must react to extreme acts of injustice. A killing in a house of worship is an assault on civilization and our constitutional rights.

Anti-Semitism is back with vengeance with recorded incidents off the charts. Based on lies, conspiratorial theories and social media as an outlet for such extreme anti social behavior, we are revisiting the polluted mind-set of Europe in 1939.

Political leaders must exhibit behavior that does not foster or give permission for such anti-social behavior. Political leaders must offer answers through state and federal laws. In doing so, they offer lasting comfort to the threatened and bereaved.

 

I found the Red Sox hat in the middle of Edgewood Place. I started wearing it on the campaign trail. The Team evoked a response from constituents, usually positive.  A wayward Yankees fan expressed respect as did I to the that ancient rival. The many miles and years from the east coast had mellowed the most ardent booster.

I sat in the bleachers for two world series games in 1967. The tickets arrived in the mail (can you imagine). We played the mighty St. Louis Cardinals with the likes of Gibson, Shannon and Flood. The game went seven games and what is called the impossible dream, one that saw the Sox recover from the doormat with the Washington Senators in 1966 to mastery of the game, ended in the great Gibson overpowering the Sox in his third start of the Series. In an era where relief pitchers are stringing together games, Gibson’s feat is historic. Maybe pitchers didn’t need Tommy John surgery at young ages back then because grade school kids weren’t over managed and in possession of an arsenal of pitches  destined to inflict future premature damage. The day of the seventh day was much like the mid-October weather in Northwestern Montana in this election year. Mounted police on horseback entered the field to maintain order following the last out. No need though.  There was a quiet disbelief that a team that could defeat the likes of the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox in the old 10 team American League (no divisions)  just had to be entitled to a Series victory. So, it was a quiet, somber post game. Fans did’nt exit Fenway swiftly.

No long ago from that Series date, Updike  penned the famous article in the New Yorker about Ted Williams last at bat, a home run at 42 years of age (take that Tom Brady), and as characteristic to the iconoclastic Williams, and refused to recognize the standing ovation from the 8,000 or so fans in attendance.

The Red Sox were real losers back then. They were slow to integrate and had the reputation as an organization of a pampered, soft clubhouse.

The Red Sox cap was a constant companion. It was at times an ice breaker. Politics can be crappy. I’ve tried to make it right with a dose of sportsmanship and levity.  We win by being sincere and loyal to set of values that elevate the conversion around government and policy.

The impossible dream happened in 1967. May we be inspired to carry ourselves like mature adults and act on behalf of our constituents

In the last month of knocking on doors I’ve expanded my “universe” to include Republicans.  The data I use is not without errors but nevertheless it is valuable to risk rejection based on party affiliation to better understand House District 5.

A Trump supporter was defensive after answering his question on my party affiliation.  He says, “You can’t buy my vote. He’s done a lot of good things, like a tax cut…you Democrats have nothing to offer….What are Democrats offering?” A pertinent question and I started to answer, “I want a fair tax policy”. I was interrupted as  he interjected, “You know Hillary is a criminal, I’m reading a new book on Hillary” Now I interrupt, “I didn’t vote for Mrs Clinton, I chose to write in a candidate” (I did write in Bloomberg  who ironically re-joined the Democrat party last week).  “You wanna read the book when I’m finished?” he asked. “Sure, I’ll take a look, so let me give you my card. Here’s some priorities, a little about me and let me underline my phone number. Call me when you are done.”

Maybe he is a retired mill worker or one of the diminishing pot-line workers at the Aluminum Plant…the engine of a past era.  It’s worthwhile that we better understand one another. A friend comes in many political stripes.

Some talking heads (I think the ones who are especially pulling hard for a conservative court majority), are saying, “It’s perfectly normal for a young man to spend seven minutes drunk, living out his sexual fantasy with a drunken female (the talking heads assume they are all willing bystanders), it’s a coming of age event ages 15-22.”

Shoving one’s penis, unsolicited, at a high school or Ivy League school party is not grounds for disqualification to enter the court, I think.   Espousing that corporations are less than human, waterboarding is inhumane and cruel and unusual punishment or abortion might involve privacy IS a disqualification from this court with the man who  nominated the candidate and the mostly men who are voting on the appointee.

It’s perfectly okay to be a gentle, humane male. Maybe Kavanaugh is getting a raw deal, maybe not. We’ll never really know.

And, it’s hard to be an adolescent. The rules of the road seem like a moving target. Lust vs. reason and compassion.

The answer (as far as Supreme Court appointments go), is to return to the 60 vote requirement. I know they seem unrelated, boorish behavior on one hand  and forcing a super majority to ensure a consensus candidate. But I think it would help a lot.

The national stuff is awful. I continue to be impressed with the conversations I have with the good residents of House District 5.  Acting maturely is a heavy lift for some. You deserve less politics, more folks with a collaborative spirit, and men treating men and women with kindness and respect.

 

 

 

Our federal political system has gone into the cesspool. You deserved much better. You’ve served your country well!

Thank you Senator.

James Bakke donated land to the city of Whitefish for use as a park. Bakke the artist can be seen around Whitefish and may be best viewed in the book by Whitefish resident Donna Hopkins.  I recommend you visit the park on West Seventh and review his work.

Maybe I’ve seemed too accommodating to the the interests of developers. I can wax eloquently regarding the cities growth plan, infield development for residential/ resort usage and conditional use permitting.  I’ve knocked on a lot of doors in a lot of neighborhoods. Many people believe that the city is annoyingly overcrowded and the volume of resort orientated development has reached a level that places the interests of many citizens below the interests of project applicants. The growth plan might be looked as the bible for predicting the type of growth we will experience. The zoning attempts to meet the Plan’s goals by providing orderly, objective outcomes.  A planned unit development or PUD is an overlay to zoned parcel allowing flexibility and the trading of outcomes and density (mixing commercial applications and affordable housing units as examples within a PUD). The aforementioned does not necessarily result in  harmonious projects in the eyes of the public, nor in public safety (the capacity of Wisconsin Ave?). Property owners choose uniquely different paths in their aspirations for a project. I’ve been told by a very good source that the developer of the mixed use housing project on Monegan Road is working on a low profit margin to deliver deed restricted, higher end of the affordability equation housing for Whitefish workers. If so, your willingness to address affordability is appreciated.

In my opinion, The Quarry, across from Alpine Market fails to serve the greater public interest when scrutinized for permanent housing, affordability, and public safety. Possibly the zoning was an improper application of the growth plan. Possibly the powers to be failed to adequately up date the growth plan to consider capacities of our community…capacities of our roads, capacity of our waste water treatment plant, and possibly most importantly, the opinions of our residents.

Back to Bakke. I think Mr. Bakke was one of those old timers, lacking the ostentatious ways of contemporary society. You read about unassuming people who die and leave millions of dollars to charitable organizations. They quietly saved and wisely invested their modest incomes.  Bakke chose not to “commoditize” his assets, specifically the land on Seventh Street West.

Visit the park Mr. Bakke left for we the people. We politicians will try to convince MDT and the County that Wisconsin is over capacity. Vote wisely and continue to question authority.