Thankfully I’m being nonpartisan today and giving you both a D and an R. Let’s just get right into it.
Shit, we’re in trouble.
Why do I say this? Because I ran across this tweet today from HD 58’s Seth Berglee:
The Brainwashing of Seth Berglee
Headed to DC for a tax and fiscal policy legislator training session. Looking forward to it! #mtpol #MTLeg #learning #movingforward
— Seth Berglee (@berglee_seth) December 1, 2014
You can get a lot of stuff on this anti-ALEC site here, but all you really need to know is that it’s big, corporate money funding a lot of 'money-in-their-eyes' candidates that just want to steal a piece of the American Dream instead of earning it.
I’ll be completely honest with you, however – with Tester and Bullock deep within dark money’s pinch, I’m not sure they’re really the best boys on the block for us anymore. In fact, I’m wondering if the two new GOP representatives to Washington we just got might even be less corrupt!
Did Vietnam teach us nothing? Fuck their hearts and minds – leave them alone and let them do whatever the hell they want! They’ll love you a lot more for it!
I want to say that Berglee is a new legislator and there’s really no voting record and no endorsements to really get into on him. He’s got time to make a name for himself, however. I just wonder if he’ll choose the moderates or the…well, what the hell am I saying? He’s with ALEC, I wouldn’t count on him being purged from the GOP ranks in Montana. Yep, in a few years he’ll be spouting nonsense and shooting legislation from the hip. Isn’t that ALECs' goal – dumb legislators that do what they’re told when they’re told to do it?
I hope Seth Berglee doesn’t go over to the dark side – he looks smart and charismatic and like he could go places. I dunno, maybe that’s just not good enough, and performance-enhancers are needed.
The Adventures of Jenny Eck
Yep, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State paid for those two weeks, which I’m guessing ran into the tens of thousands of dollars, but that’s just going off the airfare quotes for these six people ($2,586 per person on Priceline).
It’s not like we have a national debt or anything. And don’t try to convince me that we can better spend that money on something else. I mean, those six people got an experience that you just can’t get, and knowledge you just can’t find online, like:
- Figuring out 98% of Australians vote;
- The Australian Federal Minimum Wage is $16.75 ($14.25 US);
- Aussies don’t tip in restaurants;
- Income taxes are 37% in Australia;
- Australian students don’t repay loans until they’re earning $50,000 a year.
Jenny Eck was the big beneficiary of this boondoggle, at least her need for a vacation was the beneficiary. She represents Helena’s HD 79, seen here:
Well, let’s be honest – that won’t happen. It’s clear from Eck’s website that when she goes on an exchange, as she did with Smith College, she’ll fall in love with the place and then move there. So I’d expect we won’t be seeing much more of her after this session, as she’ll be living Down Under.
Listen, if you’re going to act like a fucking idiot, I’m going to run you right through the ringer and then the mud afterwards. This is plain dumb. Oh, let’s not get into voters saying you could learn something about government right here by rolling up your sleeves, and let’s not discuss the millions living hand to mouth each month that would be boggled by such a living-in-the-clouds mindset. Remember, most of the people elected or running for office today aren’t interested in those people – there’s no money in it for ‘em.
But that’s laughable – she couldn’t. Oh, she’d try, and it’d be fun watching her splutter about and make a further fool of herself. But she won’t be making a fool out of you. Because when you see photos of her out there in nature, you know damn well as a taxpayer you got ripped off.
But Jenny had her day of fun in the sun, so what does it matter? What do you matter at all?