I got back a few hours ago from the Montana Historical Society in Helena today, which meant I had to drive back and forth from Missoula, or about 230 miles. Then I looked through old documents from the 1910s.
So I hope you’ll excuse me for venting a bit, and kind of saying what I think. More than likely it’ll piss you off. If I were a congressional candidate right now this might piss off party handlers or antagonize swing voters.
Here we go.
So I hope you’ll excuse me for venting a bit, and kind of saying what I think. More than likely it’ll piss you off. If I were a congressional candidate right now this might piss off party handlers or antagonize swing voters.
Here we go.
- ISIS: I’m not worried about ISIS hurting me or my family here in Montana. If my wife was going to New York again, like she did a couple weeks ago, I might tell her to be careful. But really, I’d rather waste $10 billion this month on digging huge ditches all throughout New England, cutting down all the power lines, and then burying them. I’m tired of hearing about those damn things coming down each winter in ice storms.
- Border: A lot of people are angry at Obama for letting refugees from South and Central America stay here until after the elections. Why are they still here? How much have we spent? I will say that $3.7 billon on refugees seems like a drop in the bucket to what we’ll piss away in the Middle East before Halloween. And really, what are a few hundred thousand when there are 51.2 million displaced people around the world because of war?
- Obamacare: A lot of people aren’t angry at Obama for stalling the healthcare marketplace from opening until after the elections. I hate controls on the market like that. If I could only shop at Shopko 3 months of the year I’d probably just not shop there at all. I still don’t know how I’ll afford Obamacare, and Montana Democrats still haven’t put forth a plan. I guess I’ll just use that emergency savings fund I was trying to build up.
- Counties: Montana needs fewer counties. It’d be good to have the legislature study the cost of county infrastructure and payroll for places with few people. Could we get it down to 50 counties at first, then maybe back to 30 or so? That damn Dan McKay put the idea into everyone’s head back in 1912 that it was the right thing to do. Dumb bastard was born in Scotland – what’d he know? Cost us big time, and will continue to unless we fix it.
- Legislators: What ideas are freshmen legislators going to have in January when the 2015 Legislature starts? I’m thinking they’ll have few if any. I’ll tell you a few right now: district court judges, homeowner association compacts, wolf hunting licensing fees...just look through the old articles on this site for ideas.
- School Districts: How many school districts do we have in Montana? How much do they all cost? If there were one less, would the world end? I’d like to see fewer of those things, and I’m sure many students would agree with me, mainly because they have no idea what it is their school district does. In that regard, they’re exactly the same as most voters.
- Primaries: I’d like to see more reporting on when Montana’s primary system came about, more reporting by the major newspapers. I’d like to see the Secretary of State’s office put out better versions of their primary records, and I’d like them to dig up records that date before 1912. Right now it seems like there’s really no justification by the Democrats to keep the primary open, other than that they like it that way.
- History: I’d like more funding of the Montana Historical Society so people in this state could know more about their history and therefore shoot down opposing arguments like low-flying discs from some hunter’s well-aimed shotgun.
- Apartments: I’d like to know what the hell those apartments on Mount and Russell here in Missoula are. Why are they so big, how much will they cost, are they squeezing out landlords? What are the machinations of the city on this one, and why were they built there and not on the Old Mill Site?
- Ridicule: I’d like to see a candidate that just beats the shit out of the other guy. No tying arms behind backs, not staying on message – the message is to just get as many voters to laugh at the other guy and fill up that red-face counter. I’d like to see a candidate spend all of their money before October and use that as a justification for me giving them more. I’d like it if a candidate really manipulated the hell out of the media to deliver a message that could result in FCC fines. I’d like TV ads that are so stupid and cheesy and local-like that they make me laugh. I want campaign signs that elicit. I want all that and more and I’m sure I’ll be wanting for awhile.
