Montana and Red-State Political News

As I settle down in Helena, I've been finding some great websites about Montana and "red state" politics in general. Here are the ones I've been reading most frequently - take a look, they are great:

Left in the West: A great blog about Montana by Matt Singer, who also writes for Campus Progress.

New West: A new site run out of Missoula devoted to western states. It was co-founded and edited by the same guy who ran the magazine The Industry Standard.

Western Democrat: A site about all things Democratic in the West by Mandate Media's Kari Chisholm, who is based out of Portland, Oregon.

Facing South: Chris Kromm of the Institute for Southern Studies runs this blog that looks at how progressives are making advances in the South, despite the media's portrayal of the region as a conservative monolith.

Swing State Project: A site dedicated to the political happenings in all the "purple" states.

How Iraq Affects The Homefront

Here in Montana, the big worry these days is the upcoming fire season. Because of one of the worst droughts in the region's history, it could be a very bad one. But that's only part of why the situation could be particularly bad. The other factor is that Montana's National Guardsmen are deployed in Iraq.

That's why Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) today demanded that President Bush return the Montana National Guard from Iraq to help fight the upcoming fire season. While President Bush falsely claimed Iraq was an imminent threat to our security, Schweitzer notes that the fires are a real imminent threat to thousands of citizens.

This is a perfect example of exactly how the war in Iraq has drained resources from pressing concerns at home. Will President Bush move to help states like Montana and Idaho which supported him so strongly in 2004, or will he ignore Schweitzer and let the fires simply burn without sending in the necessary reinforcements?

74 U.S. Senate Usurers

USURY:
"An excessive or illegally high rate of interest charged on borrowed money."
Source: American Heritage Dictionary

USURERS:
74 Republican and Democratic U.S. Senators who yesterday voted to kill legislation "to limit consumer interest rates at 30 percent."
Source: Associated Press, 3/4/05

Reid Tells the Brutal Truth About Alan Greenspan

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) today did what very few Senators do in modern politics - he spoke truth to economic power by breaking protocol and calling out Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan for what he is - an economic elitist of the highest order. "I'm not a big Greenspan fan," Reid told CNN. "I voted against him the last two times. I think he's one of the biggest political hacks we have in Washington."

What was Reid talking about? Take a look at just some of the ways Alan Greenspan continues to insult average Americans in his quest to ingratiate himself with his rich friends:

GREENSPAN INSULTS AMERICAN WORKERS: "I would say that if I had my choice, the answer is, of course, yes." - Alan Greenspan acknowledging his support of abolishing the minimum wage, 7/18/01

GREENSPAN INSULTS BLUE COLLAR WORKERS: "I think you can argue it does not really matter whether or not you produce [manufacturing jobs in Ameica] or not." – Alan Greenspan, 7/15/03

GREENSPAN INSULTS ALL AMERICAN WORKERS: "If I had my choice, the answer is of course [I would abolish the minimum wage]." – Alan Greenspan, 7/18/01

GREENSPAN SAYS SENIORS SHOULD PAY FOR MILLIONAIRE TAX BREAKS: "Greenspan told the House Financial Services Committee last week that Congress should make President Bush's tax cuts permanent and -- here's the political bombshell -- pay the $1 trillion cost by cutting Social Security and other entitlement programs." – Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 2/18/04

GREENSPAN INSULTS MILLIONS OF WORKERS WHO LOST THEIR JOB BECAUSE OF THE RECORD TRADE DEFICIT: "The widening to record levels of the U.S. [trade deficit] has been seemingly uneventful." – Alan Greenspan, 2/20/03

GREENSPAN INSULTS MILLIONS OF CITIZENS PLAGUED BY HIGH CREDIT-CARD INTEREST: America’s record breaking $2 trillion in consumer debt is "not a significant cause for concern." – Alan Greenspan, 1/5/04

Reid Tells the Brutal Truth About Alan Greenspan

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) today did what very few Senators do in modern politics - he spoke truth to economic power by breaking protocol and calling out Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan for what he is - an economic elitist of the highest order. "I'm not a big Greenspan fan," Reid told CNN. "I voted against him the last two times. I think he's one of the biggest political hacks we have in Washington."

What was Reid talking about? Take a look at just some of the ways Alan Greenspan continues to insult average Americans in his quest to ingratiate himself with his rich friends:

GREENSPAN INSULTS AMERICAN WORKERS: "I would say that if I had my choice, the answer is, of course, yes." - Alan Greenspan acknowledging his support of abolishing the minimum wage, 7/18/01

GREENSPAN INSULTS BLUE COLLAR WORKERS: "I think you can argue it does not really matter whether or not you produce [manufacturing jobs in Ameica] or not." – Alan Greenspan, 7/15/03

GREENSPAN INSULTS ALL AMERICAN WORKERS: "If I had my choice, the answer is of course [I would abolish the minimum wage]." – Alan Greenspan, 7/18/01

GREENSPAN SAYS SENIORS SHOULD PAY FOR MILLIONAIRE TAX BREAKS: "Greenspan told the House Financial Services Committee last week that Congress should make President Bush's tax cuts permanent and -- here's the political bombshell -- pay the $1 trillion cost by cutting Social Security and other entitlement programs." – Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 2/18/04

GREENSPAN INSULTS MILLIONS OF WORKERS WHO LOST THEIR JOB BECAUSE OF THE RECORD TRADE DEFICIT: "The widening to record levels of the U.S. [trade deficit] has been seemingly uneventful." – Alan Greenspan, 2/20/03

GREENSPAN INSULTS MILLIONS OF CITIZENS PLAGUED BY HIGH CREDIT-CARD INTEREST: America’s record breaking $2 trillion in consumer debt is "not a significant cause for concern." – Alan Greenspan, 1/5/04

Rolling Stone Distorts Moveon

This piece in Rolling Stone about Moveon, while generally positive, concludes by parroting a right-wing charicature of the group, even though it previously acknowledges there is no data to back it up.

Rolling Stone writes: "MoveOn's values aren't middle-American values. They're the values of an educated, steadily employed middle and upper-middle class with time to dedicate to politics -- and disposable income to leverage when they're agitated."

But just a few paragraphs earlier, Rolling Stone acknowledged that there is very little - if any - demographic data on who Moveon members are. Furthermore, there is absoultely no basis for Rolling Stone to claim "Moveon's values aren't middle-American values." As hard polling data from this earlier piece in the Nation Magazine proves, the whole idea of "middle-American values" and "centrism" continues to be distorted by the mainstream corporate media and right-wing punditocracy.

Again, the Rolling Stone article was generally complimentary. But it should get its facts straight before parroting the same tired, old and dishonest Beltway characterizations of what is a massive grassroots, citizen-driven organization.

Salazar Steps Up

A few weeks back, I criticized Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) for helping the GOP confirm Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General. It was a troubling sign from the freshman Senator that I fear boded poorly for his first term in office.

But there has now been a very encouraging development - Salazar is out leading the fight against President Bush's extremist judicial nominees, despite being courted heavily by the White House. Specifically, CNN reports that Salazar "urged President Bush to withdraw all of his renominated judicial candidates, a blow to Republicans who had hoped to get the lawmaker's support to break possible filibusters."

This is a terrific sign from a "red-state" freshman Democrat, especially considering the courage it takes to make this kind of stand when his state is the headquarters for right-wing groups like Focus on the Family. Let's hope Salazar's example is an inspiration for other Democratic freshman whose voting records so far have been less than stellar.

NPR Tonight

I will be doing the taping of NPR's Justice Talking tonight - send in questions, or come to the taping!

No Surprise From the DLC

Just when I thought the right-attacks-on-the-left within the Democratic Party were over, the Democratic Leadership Council is at it again, once again attacking Democrats. The DLC's latest daily installment of vitriol and backstabbing comes from Al From and Ed Kilgore, who are calling for a purge of the left in the party, while laying down cover for those who might bail out on the party's core principles.

Some people seem surprised by that. But let's be clear - its no secret that the DLC is a corporate-funded institution designed to stealthily corporatize the Democratic Party. Like a bad virus, they exist solely to infiltrate and destroy the party from within. As From's totally out-of-touch comments show, their insular, snarky, and self-righteous operation in Washington is increasingly threatened by the grassroots outside the Beltway to the point where they are openly demanding a purge of critical parts of the party, while defending potential turncoats.

On Social Security, for instance, the DLC is already laying down cover for people like Sen. Joe Lieberman, who is flirting with selling out and supporting Social Security privatization. But we should not forget that the DLC has pocketed cash from Wall Street - the very monied interest that stands to benefit from privatization. Lieberman and the DLC have also been on Enron's dole, so their scruples about money and politics is questionable anyway. In other words, the DLC has become about one thing, and one thing only: being a vehicle for Corporate America's cold hard cash to water-down the Democratic Party.

And it doesn't stop with Social Security. Just look at this new article from the American Prospect. The DLC and its "New" (read: corporate) Democrats, "led by former Solicitor General Walter Dellinger, have been cheerleaders for the class-action bill" which limits citizens rights to defend themselves in court against abusive corporations. "Dellinger, of course, now works for Exxon and other large companies backing the tort-reform movement...Likewise, the DLC’s Progressive Policy Institute recently teamed up with Common Good, a corporate-funded tort-reform group that refers to the justice system as 'a tool for extortion,' to push a measure that would take malpractice lawsuits out of the hands of juries.'"

So before anyone gets too crazy or upset about the DLC's latest display of selling out - remember, that's their job. It's our job to expose them for what they really are, and fight for real progressive politics.

Standing Up and Fighting

There's been a lot of talk about Democrats need to stand up and fight. And while some Democrats are taking up the call to arms, some still seem to cower when it comes to confronting President Bush's most extreme policies. Just look at the contrast from this LA Times piece.

In one corner, you have Gov. Bill Richardson (D) of New Mexico (a fine fellow, and decent governor) saying how "gracious" Bush has been in his discussions about slashing Medicaid and Social Security.

In the other corner, you have Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D), who pulls no punches. He comes right out and likens Bush's dishonesty to trying to a livestock auction that fails to tempt buyers.

No disrespect to Richardson, but I'll take Schweitzer's way to fight in a heartbeat - its the only way Democrats are going to make a real come back.

Et Tu, Sen. Keenan?

We all remember how George W. Bush promised he would be a "uniter, not a divider" and bring people from all different political perspectives to forge common ground. And we all remember how he then proceeded to push a far right agenda that made him the most polarizing president in modern times. Unfortunately, as I'm learning here in Montana, that kind of behavior is not limited to Washington, D.C.

As the legislature convened in January of 2005, the Billings Gazette wrote that "Minority Leader Bob Keenan (R-Bigfork) said Republicans planned to cooperate" with his political opponents, specifically promising to work to "find the common good for the common good."

Less than two months later, though, the Missoula Independent reports "Keenan has engaged in a crusade to politically destroy Gov. Brian Schweitzer."

Keenan's crusade has involved everything from killing major initiatives, to playing petty politics. For instance, despite the bipartisan support for a bill improving the state's ethanol economy, Keenan and his cronies tried to kill the legislation . This is a bill, mind you, that has broad support from rank-and-file legislators from both parties. As the Great Falls Tribune editorial board said, the bill is "a win-win-win" for Montana. But that apparently didn't matter to Keenan. What mattered was trying to stop the bill from passing so that the governor couldn't take any credit for it.

Look, I'm not saying people can't honestly disagree with Schweitzer - he's not perfect. But this kind of destructive behavior is not based on any policy disagreement - its based on vindictiveness. As the Missoula Independent reports, Keenan is so focused on destroying his opponents that he "spent more time on the [interview] airing his ethical concerns about Gov. Schweitzer than he’s spent actually researching those concerns." During his wild-eyed diatribe, he actually missed six votes on legislation, just to spew more vitriol.

From the unending witch hunts against Bill Clinton, to Bush's polarizing attacks on his opponents, to right-wing smears of war heroes like Max Cleland, to outrageous smears of AARP and now to these petty local wars, the question is: hasn't America had enough of this crap?

Request Permission for Fly By...

Went flying yesterday in a single-engine Piper Cub over the Gallatin Valley yesterday...we checked out Three Forks, the source of the Missouri River...

Here is the scene before takeoff:



Here is Emily before taking off:



Here is Emily and pilot John McKenna flying over:

New National Op-Ed

Check out this new op-ed of mine that is being published nationally in Knight-Ridder newspapers. It shows how some GOP governors are tacitly indicting the most important economic underpinnings of the conservative movement.