We’ve got just about 5 weeks to go now, give or take.
I don’t really have a lot to complain about, but I do have some old posts I can cobble together, just a mishmash of thoughts if you will.
Let’s just get right into it.
Analyzing the Amanda Curtis Studio
On that day I headed over to The Flathead Memo like I often do and I saw a post and it was interesting, as they often are. This particular post had a link to a new Amanda Curtis video, so I went and checked it out.
I’m sad to say the video was very boring, but I will say that the set decorator was magnafique!
I also have to shake my head at the campaign. No advertising, no major campaign logo, not a whole lot on the internet.
I dunno, call me old fashioned, but I thought we had to go out there and beat the shit out of the other guy to get elected. It’s just not feeling like that’s the case anymore. Maybe politics has changed.
Marijuana in Montana
Is this what you want to be spending money on? They're not doing this foolish nonsense in Washington in Colorado anymore...they have sense there!
Let's stop wasting money on pot, start making money off of it, and solve a lot of this political turmoil we have in the state every two years over our budget in the process.
Some Thoughts on Steve Daines
We need to bring jobs to this state, not send them to China. I’m glad we have Max Baucus in China, someone that will steer some good business our way and benefit the state – there’s no reason to be ashamed to help others make money.
I think Daines wants to help others make money, just those in New York and California and maybe even in Europe…pretty much anyone but the people that are working hard 9 to 5 each day here.
It’s understandable that the Republicans are scared – when Curtis turns that youth vote out it’ll tip those scales in her favor big time.
Forests in Montana
You hear it a lot – shouting, name-calling, grandstanding and spewing forth nonsense. No, we’re not talking about a Cat-Griz game, we’re talking about our forests, and specifically the debate on what to do about them.
Montana has 20 million acres of national forests and 6.3 million acres of road-less areas. Recently there have been many stories about our national forests in the news and these mainly stem from timber sales and beetle kill. Oh, and global warming, we don’t want to forget that one.
Besides that, however, you’ll also see our senators and representative get in on the tweeting action. Most of this stuff takes places at #mtpol, which is the main social media area for Montana politics to be discussed. It’s a real playground and occasionally you get some useful information from it.
When it comes to our national forests, well…not so much. Typically it’s that shouting that I mentioned above, and when that stuff starts up it’s hard to figure out what’s going on.
It makes you not want to care about forests, quite frankly. Was it like that before 1986? I'm pretty sure when these forests were started around 1906 Roosevelt wanted them left as they were.
Well, what does responsible management mean? After the 1910 fires it was clear they needed something, and we got the exact opposite of what we needed, policy-wise.
So now we sell trees. But this alienates some of the Democrats' base. Well, where else are those environmentalists going to go and vote - Republican?
Could it be more damaging to alienate those Republicans you need to work with to actually get things done that affect a far greater number of people than forests do?
Big Democratic Shindig in Missoula on Saturday
Maybe I’ll head on down there – I’m a little disappointed I didn’t head down to the City Council tonight, but I’ve got a three-year-old and wife that needs free time in the evenings.
Will I go to the parade on Saturday and take some pictures? We’ll see. Until then, I hope you’ve enjoyed these random political thoughts about Montana.