What's RIGHT in Montana

Live by the race card, Die by the race card

2012-01-03T13:16:00.005-07:00

Last month I read a commentary in the Wall Street Journal - where they were advocating the idea that Obama should not seek re-election for the good of the country - here's the link;

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970203611404577041950781477944-lMyQjAxMTAxMDIwMDEyNDAyWj.html?mod=wsj_share_email

Suprisingly, the op-ed piece was written by two Democrats - not surprisingly, they are both pro-Hillary Clinton Dems -

What brings this to mind was what one of my customers said yesterday, that he had voted for Obama because he's collecting a union pension, but that he wouldn't vote for him again, and that he wished the Dems would nominate somebody else, anybody else.

I explained to him that the Dems would not/could not do that, because it would be racist.

Ever since Obama came on the political scene, anytime anybody disagreed with him, or his (bad) policies, they scream that the opposition is based on racism.

So now they're stuck.

With the latest Rasmussen poll showing Obama losing to Mittt Romney 45%-39% the Dems are now victims of their own strategy.

They're stuck with a sure loser. And they have to force a smile, feign enthusiasm, and go along with it.

LOL

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T15:03:00.002-07:00

The weather is beautiful here in downtown Billings, Montana.

My son-in-law wanted to ride today, so we broke out the motorcycles and spun around the mostly-deserted streets -

I wish all of you lurkers a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year !

The Big, bad BEARS in Tebowtown

2011-12-11T08:51:00.003-07:00

I'm live-blogging from Denver - as we (the family) get ready to go have brunch, then make our way down to Mile High Stadium this afternoon to watch the Denver Broncos host the Chicago Bears.

The BEARS are missing their starting quarterback, and are underdogs, but I think that their special teams and defense will keep them in the game.

No matter how the games go, this will be a talked -about game, just because of Bronco QB Tim Tebow.

The kids, and son-in-laws are up in the nosebleed section, while Lori & I are on the BEARS sideline at about the 15 yard line, about 20 seats up from the cheerleaders -after all, she's the Bears fan.

If I make it to another Denver game, I want to do it in Oakland, and I want to sit near the black hole !

More to follow !

No limits on Dem racism

2011-12-02T19:44:00.003-07:00

Yes, the mainstream Democrats are a very racist group, and when we get closer to the election they will play race to every angle.

Right now, they are busy destroying Herman Cain (GOP primary candidate) because he is a black man, with a new, and refreshing message.

The way that the Obama Team is reacting to Herman Cain shows that he scares the living hell out of them.

The do not want a successful black man, who made his fortune by virtue of hard work, to be out campaigning, telling the minorities that they can do the same thing for themselves that he did.

They want Obama to keep telling the minorities that they are being oppressed, by the white man, and that they need to vote for Dems so that those same groups will get money and programs from the government. (And in the process, keep them as a captive voting bloc)

That's why the media, the Dems, and their cohorts have been dragging out accusations of infidelity against Herman Cain, and smearing him at every turn.

I think that they are overreacting, and that it will backfire on them next year, when the only campaign tactic they have left is to use their old one, which is to accuse anybody who disagrees with The Great Leader a racist.

Why do I think that they are overreacting? Because election history shows, that if you put up a black conservative candidate against a liberal candidate, that the minorities still tow the party line, looking for handouts instead of looking at the color of a mans skin.

For example, look at what happened to Lynn Swan, when he ran against Ed Rendell for Governor of Pennsylvania - Swann was a popular man, yet he only received 8% of the black vote in his failed bid.

So I predict that the Dems will succeed in derailing Herman Cain, and I tell you that I think it's a shame. Herman Cain would be a much better President than Obama, starting on his first day.

I would happily support him.

The RAIDERS are in 1st place

2011-11-21T11:03:00.003-07:00

It's a fun year to root for the RAIDERS !

They are big, nasty, and they like to pound the ball down the field, and it doesn't matter if the other team tries to shut down the run, they do it anyway.

In Minnesota yesterday, they beat the VIKINGS, despite the 'Home Town' refs penalizing them constantly.

So now with 6 games left, Oakland is in 1st place in the AFC West, and I look for them to stay there.

Stop using the word 'Obamacare' - at least in Montana

2011-11-15T07:57:00.002-07:00

I have invented a new word for the federal takeover of our health care system, it should now be called TESTERCARE, in honor of our Dem Senator Jon Tester, who cast the deciding vote on the awful legislation not once, but twice.

Tester isn't campaigning on his votes (surprise) but I don't intend to let him duck them.

And the Supreme Court this week just announced that they will rule on Testercare this year, before the elections, and when they throw it out as unconstitutional I think our voters in Montana will fully realize just how out of touch Jon Tester is with Montanans.

So remember, it's not Obamacare anymore, it's TESTERCARE !

Do not question The Great Leader !

2011-10-27T21:17:00.004-06:00

Good Morning Montana !

I've been meaning to put up a post Monday, when I read this story in The Washington Times, so here it is, a little late;

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/24/obamas-one-man-show/

It appears that there are those who don't like Obama running the Government without the other two branches.

It shouldn't surprise anybody, given the kind of narcissist I believe Obama to be.

He perceives this as HIS time to be another FDR, or Abraham Lincoln, and he will not be denied.

Take Obamacare for example, the only two beneficiaries of Obamacare have been Obamas ego, and the far-left of his Democrat base.

Take getting rid of DADT (Don't ask, Don't tell) as another example - this really isn't much of an achievement for him, and he was careful never to mention that it was one of Bill Clintons policies - written, passed, and carried out by fellow Democrats.

So is Obama a narcissist ?

Here's an excerpt from a 2009 story by Mark Lichterman from 2009;

"One must never underestimate the manipulative genius of pathological narcissists. They project such an imposing personality that it overwhelms those around them. Charmed by the charisma of the narcissist, people become like clay in his hands. They cheerfully do his bidding and delight to be at his service. The narcissist shapes the world around himself and reduces others in his own inverted image. He creates a cult of personality. His admirers become his co-dependents Narcissists have no interest in things that do not help them to reach their personal objective. They are focused on one thing alone and that is power. All other issues are meaningless to them and they do not want to waste their precious time on trivialities. Anything that does not help them is beneath them and do not deserve their attention."

Does that sound like anybody you know ?

Here's the link to the whole article;

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewArticle.asp?id=50561

How badly has/will Obama hurt the Dems ?

2011-10-18T18:54:00.005-06:00

Here are some hard truths for you libs who stop over here -

If the election was held today, Obama loses in a landslide, the GOP increases it's majority in the House of Representatives, and takes control of the US Senate.

In Montana, The GOP takes the Governors office, as well as the Senate seat now occupied by Obamas minion Jon Tester, and retains the Representative seat now held by Denny Rehberg.

The State legislature stays firmly under Republican control.

Why am I so sure ?

Because Barack Hussein Obama, The Great Leader, will be on the top of every ballot.

Obama has had the Midas touch for 3 years, only everything he's touched has turned to shit.

Welcome to State Politics Obama !

Obama - our 'Mouse & the Motorcycle' President

2011-10-05T09:31:00.004-06:00

How many of you remember the book by Beverly Cleary titled "The Mouse and the Motorcycle"?

It was about a mouse, named Ralph, who lived in a Hotel, who made friends with a boy named Keith, and would ride Keiths toys around.

To make the motorcycle go, Ralph would make motorcycle noises, and in the story the motorcycle would go. When he got into Keiths toy ambulance, he made siren noises and the ambulance would go too.

The other night, I saw Obama in an interview, saying that he considers himself the underdog next year, and hopes that people re-elect him because of his 'vision' for America.

Say what?

The man has been President for nearly 3 years, the first two years he had the biggest Dem majorities in the Congress since the days of Lyndon Johnson, they passed everything he wanted to pass without needing a single Republican vote, and he wants to be judged on his 'vision' ?

It's just Obama making motorcycle noises, only in the real world, talk doesn't spin the wheels.

In fact, Obamas talking isn't very effective at anything - let's take a look at his record;

One of the first things he was going to do as President was to secure the Olympics for Chicago, so in Sept of 2009 he jetted over to Denmark to convince them - after all, he was loved by the entire world, was awarded the Nobel prize for being elected, and he wasn't President Bush.

But after he talked to them, Chicago was the first city eliminated.

Wow, what a gifted, persuasive orator. Maybe they should have had some shills come, and faint while he was talking, (aka 2008 campaign rallys), so the IOC would know they were hearing greatness.

All they heard was motorcycle noises.

How about one of his first Presidential speeches - he was going to sign an executive order closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay. It's still open, 2 1/2 years later, because his mythical powers of persuasion failed to persuade anybody.

How about his prowess on the campaign trail, helping Dem candidates - surely he can help Dem candidates, right ?

Wherever he's went and campaigned for Dem candidates, they've lost - a speech from Obama is a death knell for a campaign. Look at what happened to Ted Kennedy's seat, in a safe dem district. Look at what happened to Chuck Schumers seat. look at the Governors races in NY & NJ, and look at last years mid-term elections and the candidates Obama stumped for.

If Montana is lucky, Obama will come campaign for Jon Tester, and make Tester a loser by a landslide.

Today, Obama is out making speeches about his 'Jobs Act'.

More motorcycle noises. If you stop and listen to what he's saying, you'll see how ridiculous it is;

Raising taxes on the wealthy? Where is the link between increasing taxes and creating jobs ?

More stimulus ? The last stimulus failed to help unemployment, so why would he believe that throwing more money at it will work now ? Isn't the definition of insanity to be doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results ?

Obama - Credo quia absurdum - I believe it because it is absurd. (With apologies to Dr. Jack Wheeler who first assigned that credo to Obama)

End of an era

2011-09-27T16:18:00.003-06:00

That's it - the very last Crown Victoria to come off the assembly line.

So if you decide one day to own one of these rear-wheel-drive cars, with a V8 engine in the front, you'll have to look for a used one.

I know that the modern car designs are cheaper, lighter, get better mileage, and have their advantages, but for me, a traditional family car is supposed to be big, have four doors, be rear wheel drive, and your Dad is supposed to have a set of snow tires in the garage that he puts on the car right before the first snowfall.

These cars were built at the St. Thomas Assembly Plant, which has (had) pumped out Ford automobiles for 44 years, and it is now being dismantled, and 200 employees just lost their jobs.

My 2008 Crown Vic just turned over 47,000 miles, and I intend to run it 200,000 more, which means it'll be in the driveway for a good long time. I'm keeping the faith I guess.

The RAIDERS are coming !

2011-09-27T10:42:00.002-06:00

The NY Jets, who have appeared in the last two AFC Championship games, didn't have a good day Sunday.

They made a trip to Oakland, where they were beat down by the RAIDERS 34-24.

The game wasn't really that close - If you take Ladanian Tomlinson out of the game it's a shutout.

The Jets were unable to protect Mark Sanchez, and the RAIDERS defensive line, who are big, and nasty, sacked him 4 times, leaving him with a cut under his eye, and getting x-rayed to see if he had a broken nose.

On offense, Darren McFadden ran all over the field, racking up 171 yards and two touchdowns.

It's about time !

GO RAIDERS !

What does this have to do with a politically inspired blog ?

Nothing really, but next November when the voters sent Obama back to Chicago, and Jon Tester back to Big Sandy, they'll know how the JETS feel today !

Obama's version of Iran-Contra, or Watergate

2011-09-15T22:19:00.003-06:00

Keep an eye on this story - it's just developing.

It's about half-a-billion dollars being given by the Obama regime, in the form of loan guarantees, to a clean energy company that less than a year later has filed bankruptcy, and the (our) money is gone.

The FBI is investigating, the Dems are scrambling, trying to distance Obama/Biden from the scandal, but it's not working thus far, and more details are coming out daily - here's the link to an article that's worth reading;

http://investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/583962/201109061842/SolarGate.aspx

More to follow -

Preview of 2012 - Dem candidates go down because of Obama

2011-09-14T19:58:00.004-06:00

Just as I predicted, Dem candidates have already started losing elections because of The Great Leader.

There were two special elections yesterday, one in Nevada and another in New York.

Nevada is the most telling, because in this special election the GOP candidate won by 20,000 votes. This is in a district that John McCain won by 88 votes in 2008. It shows that the independent voters have ALL abandoned the Democrats.

In New York, the Democrats lost a seat they held for 90 years, in an area that has 3 registered Dem voters for every Republican voter. It was considered a safe seat by the Dems, and was Sen. Chuck Schumers former seat. This was a district that Obama won by 11%, and yesterday the GOP won by 8 points.

That's a swing of 19 points away from the Dems, indicating that the independent voters there have abandoned the Dems also.

This is exactly what is going to happen in Montana next year.

The GOP will win the Governors office, the Montana Senate, and the House of Representatives.

Denny will soundly defeat Jon Tester, and Steve Daines will Denny's position in the House of Representatives.

Thank you Obama -

Why Tester Loses in '12, and loses HUGE to Denny

2011-09-08T20:46:00.002-06:00

This has been quite a discussion at the Lumberyard lately - the race between Denny Rehberg, our lone Representative in the US House, and Jon Tester, our Junior Senator in the US Senate.

If the election was held next Tuesday, Denny wins 57-43 or worse.

Why?

Several reasons -

(1) Denny is popular in Montana. Just 10 months ago, the Dems had all the same issues with Denny, and put up the best candidate they could buy, and Denny mopped up the canvas with him.

(2) Tester cast the deciding vote on Obamacare - twice. This horrible law, which the majority of Americans don't want would not have passed without Testers approval. If he would have voted 'NO' it would have went down. And before the election, I expect the Supreme Court to agree with the majority of Americans and strike the law down.

(3) According to the Washington Post, Tester has voted 90+ percent with Reid/Pelosi/Obama. He is the perfect lackey, who's probably made a deal - votes for re-election money. We'll see where the money comes from and find out, won't we ?

(4) Obama. This election is going the be a referendum on The Great Leader, The Messiah, The Protector of the Poor, the post racial, post partisan man-god, Barack Hussein Obama.

Any Democrat who has openly supported his radical agenda is going to face the wrath of the voters. And the far-left of the Dems, who are upset because Obama has continued the policies of President Bush, think Obama isn't liberal enough, and have no enthusiasm., which equals low Dem turnout.

(5) Testers lies will come back to haunt him. There are lots of news clips, of Tester slandering Senator Burns, and promising to vote to end the wars, or grandly stating how much he didn't support earmarks period, at least until Harry Reid told him to vote for them.

So if the Dems continue the same tired attacks on Denny, and the GOP has aggressive advertising, all the PAC money in DC won't be able to buy Tester another term.

Treasure State Politics

2011-09-08T19:44:00.004-06:00

There is a disturbance in the force.

A conservative ripple in the Montana blogosphere called Treasure State Politics.

Here's a link;

http://www.treasurestatepolitics.com/

Looking at the authors, they are several young Republicans, with a nose for news, and lots of enthusiasm.

I'll put up a link -

Greetings Master !

2011-08-21T18:28:00.003-06:00

Good Morning Montana !

Just in case you don't remember who the man is in the picture above with the President, who looks like he wants to genuflect, it's Senator Jon Tester.

During the Obamacare debate, Denny Rehberg held sixteen listening meetings.

Jon Tester had no public events, but he did do 24 press interviews, and the only public forum he attended was an invitation only town hall with Obama, where The Great Leader took a whopping seven questions.

Then, Jon Tester cast the deciding vote on Obamacare. If he would have voted no, Obamacare was dead. So he was told to vote for it, and he did.

And two months ago, the GOP kept their promise to repeal that awful legislation, and Tester voted to keep it.

I hope Montanans remember next November.

It's not The Great Leaders fault -

2011-08-21T17:57:00.004-06:00

Obama has been on the road this last week -

It turns out, that it's not his fault that his policies have failed, it's just bad luck.

Now that he's almost 3 years into his presidency, blaming President Bush isn't too fashionable, so he's got a lot of other things to blame;

President Bush left office when gasoline was $1.86 a gallon, unemployment was 6.5% in October of 2008, and the economy was reeling from the banking crisis.

Obama was going to fix all that.

He passed a trillion dollar stimulus bill, talked about shovel ready jobs, pushed through Obamacare, stopped drilling offshore for 6 months, etc.

Now gasoline prices have doubled, Unemployment is at 9.2%, and 68 banks have already failed in the US this year. The economy is so bad that the Federal Reserve has pledged not to change interest rates until 2013, and if you look at your next 401k statement, make sure you're not by an open window or you may be tempted to jump.

But it isn't Obamas policies to blame, it was supply disruptions from the Arab Spring, the Japanese Tsunami, the European debt crisis, the BP oil spill, etc., and BAD FAITH.

He probably means not having enough faith in him, and as our Messiah we should have more faith in his divine power, right ?

Let's see what he said in Decorah, Iowa - which is a town I hung out in as a teenager -

"We had reversed the recession, avoided a depression, got the economy moving again. ....But over the last six months we've had a run of bad luck."

President Obama Decorah, Iowa August 15,2011

Boy, I'm glad he pointed that out, just when I thought he was the worst President in History -

So what did he say about bad faith ?

It's the REPUBLICANS fault - even though he controlled the White House, The House of Representatives, and the Senate for the first two years of his presidency.

That's as lame as it gets.

And which of our Senators has went along with every Obama scheme ?

Jon Tester - who is the perfect man-servant for Obama/Reid, Pelosi, voting how he was told, including casting the deciding vote for Obamacare.

Touching Base

2011-08-07T23:00:00.004-06:00

Good Morning Montana !

It's after 11:00 pm on a Sunday night, and I don't have to head up to work in Red Lodge until 6:00 am, so I thought I'd look around the blogs a little -

David Crisp over at The Outpost hasn't been too blog-productive lately, and what he's posted is pretty lame - but to his credit, he's posted a lot more than I have, and he understands as I do that there's no money in blogging, and a persons time can be better used most anywhere -

4 & 20 Blackbirds is kind of interesting, as the far left of the Dems there are stirring up the liberals, and not towing the party line. The Dem civil war is quite entertaining.

The four cowgirls (Dem staffers) are still attacking Denny everyday - I don't know why anybody bothers to post over at such an obviously astroturf site, but a few people do -

I stopped by Left in The West, and looking at Rob's last 6 posts, and I think all of 6 comments were posted - total on them, I can see why Matt & Jay gave up on it - there's no more interest in liberal blogging than there is for liberal talk radio - too bad, since on of my favorite hobbies used to be going over there and proving them wrong -

As far as politics go, it's still 15 months until the 2012 elections, and things couldn't look much better for the GOP.

The Great Leader just presided over the first downgrade of US Credit in history, unemployment last month dropped one-10th of a percent and remains over 9% nationwide, and so far in his presidency his record is very consistent, lots failures, and all unpopular.

I'm sure Obama is glad that the debt-ceiling debate is over, as his team does not want anybody to be talking about how much debt Obama has piled on during the two-year-spending spree he started January of '09.

In Montana politics, Senator Tester would be tearing out his hair if he had enough fingers to do it with, as it's becoming obvious that his strategy of obeying Obama/Reid/Pelosi is going to cost him his Senate seat next year - good riddance.

OTHERWISE - I'm going to start doing some blogging again - but not full steam until November.

What should we talk about ?

8 weeks already ?

2011-04-27T08:58:00.002-06:00

I just double checked the dates, and it appears that I've been AWOL for 8 weeks.

Did you miss me ?

I looked around the blogosphere, and nothing has changed much.

The Dems/liberals are still going through a civil war, between the far-left of the Dem base, and the mainstream liberals. There is no such thing as a conservative Democrat anymore, and from the perspective of a conservative, I must say that's a good thing for us. Come on 2012.

Prsonally, 2011 has started out as a crummy year -

On January 1st, in Arlington Iowa, there was a house fire (a trailer of course) and I lost my Uncle John, and his two Grandkids. My Uncle John was my mothers brother, and he was one of the coolest men I ever met, with a heart of gold. He went back in to get out the two babies, and was killed. May he dwell in Valhalla.

Then last month, another cousin of mine, Ryan Rodenberg, was driving a truck near Garnavillo, Iowa and the truck started on fire, so he pulled it off the road, and it burst into flames. His two small children were strapped in the back seat, and he almost burned his hands off trying to save them, but they were killed, burned to death as babies.

I also lost a brother-in-law to brain cancer - Don Adams, formerly of Billings, who was in Chino Hills, California when he died.

Then, last Friday, I was up at Red Lodge, where I spend much of my time anymore at Rock Creek Lumber, when my phone rang at about 9:00 pm. It was my adopted mothers neighbor in Billings, and she was worried about Jeanne because she hadn't seen her all day, and her lamp wasn't turned on. So, rather than drive in at that time of night, for what was probably nothing, I called up my daughter Katie and asked her to go check on her. Katie called me up, hysterical about 10 minutes later, because she found Jeanne dead on her kitchen floor. I jumped into the Crown Vic with my son-in-law, punched it up to as fast as I could go without slamming into a deer, and made my way back to town. She called 911, and the Billings PD was super. They checked out the house, photographed every inch, and it was like CSI the way they went through the 'scene' looking for any foul play, and fortunately they didn't find anything, it looks like she fell, hit her head, and died.

I got her last 'business' settled over at the funeral home Monday, and got her cremation arranged, and grave markers for both her, and my adopted father who died last May 15th.

We'll have a family gathering at a later date - she didn't want any services, because she didn't think anybody was left to come.

They were hoarders, and it'll take a couple of roll-off dumpsters to clean out their house.

So 2011 will be a year I'd like to forget so far, and I have a generally bad attitude right now.

So I'm still taking a break from blogging - too much real life to take care of.

Taking a break -

2011-02-25T16:25:00.003-07:00

I haven't put up a post for a while -

I went to my Pachyderm Meeting today, and listened to James Knox, and some of our other legislators tell us about the legislature thus far, and things are going well.

They've got legislation in the works to reform workmans comp rates for businesses, encourage natural resource development, and hosts of other business-friendly bills, which are moving forward, despite the cries of the anti-business crowd, and the environmentalists -

Good.

The liberal blogs are all in a panic, because they simply don't like the GOP running the legislature.

Good.

With the 2012 elections 19 months away, there really isn't a lot to blog about.

So I'm going to take some time off.

I'll be back when I'm in the mood.

Thanks for stopping by !

Tester votes to keep Obamacare

2011-02-03T07:14:00.003-07:00

I've known for 4 years now that Jon Tester wasn't the sharpest pencil in the box, but yesterdays vote NOT to repeal this bad, unconstitutional law proves it.

They finally noticed - it only took 6 years

2011-01-31T15:46:00.004-07:00

In todays Billings Gazette, there was an article, pointing out that the Good Guv (Brian Schweitzer) has added 1,000 full-time state jobs since he's took office.

Here's the link;

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_167ef799-7962-5a63-8035-aaa5a3ffc40d.html

This isn't news.

Roy Brown pointed this fact out, as well as the fact that Schweitzer increased State spending 40% also.

And it's not like these positions were actually needed, because the State functioned just fine before.

These levels of State Government are not sustainable, and lowering them are going to hurt.

As I've said before - elections have consequences.

Dem astroturf blog still going - (why?)

2011-01-27T11:51:00.005-07:00

Political Astroturfing - definition;

Political advertising, or a public relations campaign that has been specifically planned by an organization, but is disguised as public, spontaneous behavior, such as a 'Grassroots' movement.

Unless you are new to the Montana blogosphere, the 'Montana Cowgirl' blog appeared last year, and spent months before the election doing a smear campaign on GOP candidates.

After the Dems were handed their worst election day defeat in decades, I assumed that the blog would go away. After all, they failed in their quest to affect the election. Or if they did affect the election, they actually ended up helping the GOP.

Last October, part of the blog was exposed, as it was discovered that there were no less than four 'Cowgirls' - some of them Democratic staffers. Here's a link to one of the stories;

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_1dc5c1c4-dd32-11df-ab6f-001cc4c03286.html

And not only are there four commentators, but they also post their own comments on the blog, with anonymous names.

A few real bloggers go comment there sometimes, but 90% of the coments are from one or all of the 'Cowgirls' themselves.

So my question is this - why is the blog still there?

How are the Dems paying for it?

Somebody, somewhere knows. Inquiring minds would like to know 'The Rest of The Story'.

Those of you who know me, know that I always protect my spies.

Drop me an email.

my email is ecoobs@aol.com

STEVE DAINES FOR US SENATE 2012

2011-01-15T06:40:00.003-07:00

The picture above tells it all.

I listened to Steve Daines yesterday, at my Pachyderm Meeting, and I'm very impressed.

He and his wife Cindy came through Billings, on the end of a statewide tour, getting his campaign underway, and discussing the issues.

If the election were held today, Steve Daines would beat Senator Tester.

It wouldn't even be close.

I'll be putting up a link, and until I do, check out his website;

http://www.stevedaines.com/

More to follow.

Two years of the Obama/Tester team

2010-12-30T11:26:00.002-07:00

In about a week we'll be at the halfway point of the Obama presidency.

Unless you're not from Montana, you'll recognize the picture above is of US Senator Jon Tester exchanging a warm embrace with The Great Leader, President Obama.

Tester has wholeheartedly supported The Great Leader, and the President has been able to count on Tester for his vote, especially on Obamacare where Tester cast the deciding vote.

So how has the President done so far?

Here are a few of his quotes;

"We will act not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth"

Well, no new jobs have been created, only the contrary. Obama campaigned on raising taxes, and being anti-business, and the business world took him at his word, and have shedded jobs since his election. I guess the new foundation is a legacy of national debt that he takes pride in?

"On this day, we come to proclaim and end to the petty grievances and false-promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogma that for far too long have strangles our politics"

How's that post-partisanship working out?

"We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together"

But none of that happened, and though he touted shovel-ready jobs when he had Jon Tester and the Dems pass his stimulus (spending) bill, he later admitted that there actually were none.

"We will restore science to it's rightful place ans weild technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower it's costs."

Has anybody seen health care costs start dropping? I notice that some prescriptions have tripled in out-of-pocket costs over the last two years.

"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed them for so long, no longer apply."

That's one he was actually correct on. HE IS THE MESSIAH, and he had both legislative bodies under his control, and he was going to do whatever he willed, and the American people would take it - up the wazzoo.

"Those of us who manage the public dollars will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and so our business in the light of day."

Transparency? From this administration, who passed bills that they admitted not even reading?
That they passed in the dead of night?

"With old friends, and former foes, we'll work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat and roll back the specter of a warming planet."

Where to even begin with that quote - because the nuclear threat from North Korea and Iran have done nothing but increase, and the religion of man-made global warming has been thoroughly proven wrong. Have you noticed the absence of Al Gore? As I think about our former Vice-President, I keep hearing lyrics from an old Steve Miller Band song....
come on, take the money and run.....come on take the money and run...

This post is getting too long-winded, I'll expound a little more next week.

Happy New Year!

Blast from the past (Traditional Cars part 3)

2010-12-22T08:35:00.002-07:00

So how does an aged design stack up in 2010?

I'll give it a mixed review.

(1) Modern FWD/4WD/AWD cars have better traction control that the 'old' cars. I picked up the Crown Vic over at Archie Cochrane Ford, after they did some warranty work on it, drove out their back gate, and headed left to WalMart on Monday morning, with lots of packed ice.
I couldn't get up that little hill, thanks to hard tires, and no weight in the back of the car.
So I got a set of Winterforce snow tires, a couple of bags of tube sand, and a traction-loc for the differential, and it's a world better. But still not as good on ice as the Windstar.

(2) I had forgotten what a pleasure it is to drive a traditional car. You get in, and the seat is soft, and there is elbow room. You can drive down the road, and you get quiet operation, and a smooth ride. Handling is smooth, and effortless. I could crank out 1000 miles in this car without discomfort. Want to pass somebody? Just step on the gas. If you ever have the urge to try to outrun a Highway Patrol car, I advise you not to try it.

(3) The mechanical part. This 2008 Crown Victoria is far superior to the 'old' cars. In my 1965 Ford Galaxie, if it was cold there was a starting procedure. You would get in, step the pedal all the way down to the floor, to set the choke, take your foot away from the pedal and hit the key. Assuming it started, you sat there and listened, and when it started choking out, you would ever so gently hit the gas pedal, and it would go to half choke. Then you drove gently for a while so it wouldn't stall. With he Crown Vic, you reach in the window and turn the key and it starts and runs. It's glass smooth, and except for the slight rumbling from the dual exhaust it's quiet.
It's engine is a 4.6 liter (281 inch) engine, that makes 250 horsepower at the rear wheel.
To put it in perspective, a 1998 Ford F250 pickup, with a gas-guzzling 460 made 250 hp too.
Amazing. So mechanically, it's far superior to any of the old cars. Comparing it to other modern vehicles, it's the same, because they are also vastly improved.

So what's the verdict?

I love the car.

The say you can't go home again, which is true, since my 1965 Galaxie has been in the junkyard for many years, but getting into the Crown Victoria feels right.

There are a few downsides;

(1) Since so few of these newer Crown Victorias are not Police Cars, people keep seeing me and hitting their brakes. I was coming down Main Street, in the center lane, and traffic started backing up behind me - like I was a pace car. I hope nobody was killed when I turned off and everybody floored their cars - LOL.

(2) Mileage - the 4.6 uses a little more fuel around town than the 3.8 Windstar.

(3) Costs. Everything is expensive for this car. It has 17" x 7.5" steel wheels, and the tires it comes with cost over $200.00 each. The truck lock cylinder (mines stuck) is $63.00, plus labor to replace if you're not mechanically inclined.

So - that's it on traditional cars - the saga is over.

It's back to being a conservative blog.

Traditional Cars - part 2

2010-12-12T09:08:00.007-07:00

You see two contrasting pictures above - a full-sized American Sedan from 1965, and a full-sized American sedan from 2008.

Both weigh about 4000 lbs, have V8 engines, and rear wheel drive.

So, what have we gained/lost in 45 years?

And how does the concept fare against more refined competition?

Well, as I said in my previous post, the 'old' 1996 Ford Windstar is scheduled to become my work car, the 1987 S-10 Blazer is leaving, and the wife is getting a newer car.

The newer car is the 2008 Crown Victoria shown above.

I had to look long and hard to find one, because Ford stopped selling these to the general public after the 2007 year, and made them fleet-sales only.

But I found this one, a low-mileage (38,900) example.

It was a fleet vehicle for the State of Connecticut.

It's got the 'P71' package, and is designated as a CVPI, or Crown Victoria Police Interceptor.

That basically means it's got a few more heavy-duty parts than the standard base model, and is tuned for a little more high-speed power, but it's basically the same car as a standard model.

It's a flex-fuel car, so if they put in E85 fuel somewhere in town, I can burn it.

It's taking a little getting used to, after 14 years in the Windstar, expecially on snow and ice.

It seems to want to do nothing but spin a tire.

So snow tires, and a traction lock differential (posi rearend) are on my Xmas list.

Can you 'go home' again? In 2010 can I be happy with a traditional car?

I'll keep you posted.

What happened to the traditional family car?

2010-11-28T10:14:00.004-07:00

This post has nothing

to do with politics.

It's a commentary

on cars.

Yes - automobiles.

The picture on this

post is of my first car.

Not THE car, but exactly

the same car - a 1965 Ford

Galaxie 500.

This is a perfect example of what cars used to be.

They were full-sized, which meant you could put 3 adults in the front, and three in the back with elbow room.

If you were stuffing kids in the car I believe you could get a total of 10 or 11 in and close the doors if you had to.

These cars came in 2 door, 4 door, and station wagons.

They were all rear-wheel drive.

With a Ford you could get a variety of engines, from a 240 inch straight 6, to a 289 V8, a 352 V8, or a 428 'Police Engine'. For a Dodge, it went from a 225 slanted 6 cyl up to a 440 Magnum.

All the manufacturers had the same options.

Every year, Dad would get out the snow tires and put them on, and he also had a set of chains for deep snow.

There were no front wheel drive cars. There were no hybrids. There were no crossovers.

Power windows were not always an option. If you wanted something high-tech, like an 8-Track player you put it in yourself.

The reason I started thinking about this post is because the 'old' family car, a 1996 Ford Windstar needs to be replaced. It has about 158,000 trouble-free miles on it, but I don't want to trust it for trips across the plains in winter anymore.

So I'm going to junk the 1987 Blazer, buy the wife a newer family car, and I'll drive the van myself until it dies - I want to run it to 200,000 miles first.

Usually it's just she and a bag of groceries, so she's not getting another van.

She's not getting a gas guzzler like a SUV either, not with nearly $3.00 gas.

I'm on a limited budget too.

So I'm on a quest for a traditional family car.

I've told the kids more than once, that it might be 2010 now, but at this house it's still 1955. There's nothing wrong with being a traditionalist sometimes.

The car I get will reflect that.

Full-sized, big trunk, V8 engine, rear wheel drive.

Must have reletively low miles, 30k-40k tops. With modern vehicles, that'll get me 10 years of use.

No Government Motors (GM) cars, because if I buy one it'd be like saying the government takeover was OK by me, and that I don't mind what GM did to Stillwater Mine. (Hello politics)

No Chrysler products either, also a Government Motor company.

So my choices are going to be quite narrow.

I might not be able to find something.

I'll keep you posted.

Frost on the pumpkin

2010-11-23T10:17:00.003-07:00

It's minus 3 degrees in the Yellowstone Valley at this moment -

waaay too cold, too abruptly.

BUT - there is a good side - in that we've had a little 'tracking snow' - so myself and a son-in-law braved the cold to go hunting again.

Earlier in the season the weather was too nice, and I didn't get a shot at anything, other than one desperation shot at a running mule deer buck about 300 yards , as he was headed away at full speed.

But this 5 x 5 whitetail wasn't so lucky, and provided me a nice 150 yard shot, while we was staring at me unconcerned.

The weather can warm up now, and if you're interested, we'll be having backstrap and eggs for breakfast tomorrow -

Post Election Thoughts

2010-11-04T05:18:00.003-06:00

I waited for the dust to settle in the blogosohere to make a post about the election.

I did a little gloating on the liberal blogs, but I was nice about it.

The election turned out about as I expected.

In Montana we elected a strong majority in the Montana House, and a nice, working majority in the Montana Senate.

The Dems proved themselves to be hapless once again, spending $300,000 to beat Roy Brown by 16 votes, only to end up with a 28-22 Senate minority. Kendall Van Dyk will be the most expensive, irrelevant legislator in Helena's history if his slim lead holds.

The GOP is in control of the PSC now, and my friend Brad Molnar will be Chairman, so at least we don't have to worry about wild rate increases for the next couple of years. When the Dems run the PSC they never see a rate hike that they don't like.

Nationally, The Great Leader, President Obama was jap-slapped by the voters, in the worst mid-term results any President has ever seen. The Dems who walked the plank, and voted against their constituents on Obamacare and stimulus are pretty much gone.

The job is only half over.

In 2012 another 1/3 of the Senate is up for re-election, and so is The Great Leader,

So we now need to set our sights on finding a good conservative candidate to replace Jon Tester with.

So I'm going to take some time off from the blogs.

As David Crisp so aptly says; "There's no money in it."

And David is correct.

Plus, this blog was created for one purpose - to keep the liberal blogs in check.

The Dems astroturf blog has gone silent, as they are now running for cover, hoping that all the parties involved don't end up on the front page of the Helena IR or the Billings Gazette.

So I'm taking some time off too.

I'll watch politics, stay involved in the Yellowstone County GOP as much as I can, but I'm not keeping my fingers glued to the keyboard of this DELL laptop.

I'll see you next year.

Turn out the lights when you leave - LOL

Obama starting re-election campaign

2010-10-19T11:24:00.006-06:00

I have heard the question asked

on talk radio as to why President Obama

would be travelling to Delaware to

campaign for Chris Coons.

The polls suggest that Coons is likely to win over Christine O'Donnell by double digits.

Well, let me tell you why. Remember, you read it here first.

So far since his own election, The Great Leader (President Obama) has been death for Democrat candidates that he's campaigned for. Just look at what happened to Creigh Deeds, and Jon Corzine. Or even Martha Coakley.

Thats why Dem candidates are distancing themselves from Obama/Reid/Pelosi. (With one exception, Democrat Dennis McDonald who recently stated that he would have voted for Obamacare)

BUT -

If Obama truly believes that Coons will win, he'll go campaign for him, so he can claim credit for the win.

This is the start of the 2012 election season.

If Coons wins, expect a big party from Obama, where he'll start talking about 2012.

I don't know if Obama is a narcissist, or just narcissistic, but its obvious that the Dem party, and their candidates, exist for HIS benefit only.

The fun starts in two weeks folks.

Obama angers gays (again)

2010-10-15T10:57:00.007-06:00

“This year, I will work with Congress

and our military to finally repeal the

law that denies gay Americans the right

to serve the country they love because

of who they are."

Barack Obama

(State of the Union Address)

I guess that was then, and this is now.

As many expected, The Great Leader and his administration formally appealed Tuesday’s federal court ruling that struck down DADT (Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) - They requested an emergency stay to block Judge Virginia Phillips’ injunction halting enforcement of the policy.

Perhaps this is a political strategy, designed to whip up enthusiasm of his base? LOL

Astroturf - Is this the best the Dems can come up with?

2010-10-09T20:44:00.004-06:00

Astroturfing denotes political, advertising, or public relation campaigns that are formally planned by an organization. but are disguised as spontaneous, popular "grassroots" behavior.

This election cycle, the Dems have launched an anonymous blog, known as the 'Montana Cowgirl Blog' - here's a link;

http://mtcowgirl.com

First; Before you start clamoring for proof - I will tell you that unless somebody gets mad at somebody else, and talks, I have no concrete proof. But if something looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and talk likes a duck, it's a duck.

Lets look at what I know for sure;

(1) The sole purpose of this blog seems to be attacks and smears on GOP candidates.

(2) The blogmeister - 'Cowgirl' is anonymous.

(3) 99% of the posts are anonymous, and appear to be written pretty much the same, indicating that 'Cowgirl' loves having conversations with herself. There are real bloggers who post there - about 10 in the last month that I know and recognize. But they are not a part of this blog, they've just showed up to comment once in a while. The rest of the bloggers appear to be fiction, probably cousins to Harvey, the invisible 6' 3 1/2" tall invisible rabbit.

As I said, there are real bloggers there, but I think they're figuring it out too - There's Larry Kralj - who would be unable to resist, attracted by the fanatical political talk, who I have a soft spot for, because he's one of the few people who used to RUN from Red Lodge uphill to the Beartooth Pass, and must be impervious to pain - Wulfgar (Rob) who being a uber-liberal can't resist either, Mark T. who'll show up just to bicker with Rob, Moorcat - who actually tries to be a voice of reason but gets attacked for it, Pogie (Don) - shows up once in a while, just because it's a blog, and he's a blogger, I think I've seen Ed Kemmick there once, and it won't be too often I think, because Ed doesn't put much stock in anonymous blogs either, and the last three are Matthew Koehler, James Connor, and JA Young.

That's it. Most of the rest of them are simply 'Cowgirl' and her astroturfers.

(4) Whoever is picking up the tab for this blog - probably operatives of the Montana Democratic Party, are carefully hiding their tracks. Their IP address is 97.74.215.188. It goes back to a Go-Daddy.com subsidiary called Domains by Proxy. The only way that Go-Daddy will give you the real identity is if they are involved with a police investigation, or if there are accusations of slander or libel they'll sometimes kick the website out of the proxy, and register them under their own name (hint, hint candidates who are being smeared).

(5) Which MTCowgirl is this supposed to be? There's already other MTCowgirls who blog in Montana. Do you suppose this is a coincidence? Why would they go so far as to hijack somebody's Nicname - just to libel and slander conservative candidates?

http://redgirls.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/14-galleries-3-stoplights-and-a-dream/

http://www.mtcowgirl.us/

(6) If a blog is featured in the Daily Kos - they've got some kind of connection to the Dems;

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/7/6/882179/-New-Political-Gossip-Blog-Launched

So go check it out.

If you're a candidate who's being smeared, call up Go-Daddy in Scottsdale, and complain. According to what I've googled up, they have kicked people out of their Proxy service without warning before - and we'll see who's picking up the tab.

Or, if you want entertainment, you can go there anytime, and read the political raving and ranting from 'Cowgirl' to herself, with a handful of real bloggers thrown in. I read a post tonight, where she started a post, as herself, then referred to herself as a 3rd party, and then accused the guy who caught questioned her of being me. Here's the link - read it carefully;

http://mtcowgirl.com/2010/10/09/cowgirl-gets-a-showdown-with-candidate-on-october-11/

My question still stands - is this the best the Dems can come up with?

Also - Maybe somebody in the know is ready to talk - my email is ecoobs@aol.com - I always protect the identity of spies.

The Great Liberal Hope - Pam Ellis

2010-09-22T18:09:00.005-06:00

Here she is folks - HD47

candidate Pam Ellis.

The liberal blogs, have

been attacking James Knox,

the GOP candidate for HD47

for weeks, so I think it's

only fitting to look at his

opponent, the one that

the libs are hoping they

can smear into office.

Fat Chance.

I invite one and all to

do a little research on Pam Ellis.

Start with the letter she put in the Billings Gazette, pushing Obamacare;

http://billingsgazette.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_7f654da6-849a-11de-9ad5-001cc4c002e0.html

Next, go to her website;

http://pamellis.org/?page=montana

Her website tells us all we need to know about her.

We all know that Governor Schweitzer has this State headed for fiscal calamity with his spending that he was able to push through the legislature. He increased State spending 40%, and added 1,000 new State employees since he's been in office.

SHE PRAISES HIM.

She's been a lifelong liberal educator, who doesn't understand life in the real world. To liberals like her, the taxpayers have lots of money.

She talks about energy development, YET, she's been endorsed by the most radical conservation group in Montana - here's the link; http://www.mtvoters.org/

So do we need another liberal Obama worshiper in Helena? NO.

Do we need another tax & spend liberal in Helena? NO.

The MSSA put out it's grades and endorsements for politicians, concerning their views on gun control. James Knox got the endorsement. And an 'A' rating. Pam Ellis either didn't want to offend the liberals, or she is in favor of gun control, because she refused to respond.

So the liberal blogs have decided to attack James Knox.

The latest attack is about his campaign signs. They don't know what they look like. They don't know where they are. They simply took a facebook post from somewhere, where Knox mentions his signs being stolen, and are trying to make it an issue.

I'm not fooled.

And if you want to go look at this smear campaign, I'll put up some links;

http://mtcowgirl.com/2010/09/21/james-knox-plants-hidden-cameras-in-yard-signs/#comment-2731

http://wulfgar.typepad.com/a_chicken_is_not_pillage/2010/09/james-knox-a-candidate-of-known-quality.html

Utter nonsense, isn't it?

I have a suggestion for the Dems - next time try putting up candidates who are actually in touch with the real world.

Candidate Survey

2010-09-21T16:28:00.005-06:00

Who says the issues are complicated?

The 'Obama Party of Democrats'

2010-09-16T13:25:00.004-06:00

You've seen it here first.

The Dems are finally

starting their transition

from The Democratic

Party to the 'Obama Party'

To the right is their

new logo, a big 'O'

for Obama, with a little

'D' inside it

And it's not 'Change we can

Believe In', It's now

'Change that Matters'

I know that the Dems are on the ropes, but I think that trying to re-brand a political party is a lot tougher than changing 'Black & Decker' to 'DeWALT'

But this is probably just the first step - Next year the little 'D' goes away, and in 2012 the word 'Democrats' will be replaced with 'Obama'

What do you think of the new Party?

2010 Democrat Playbook

2010-09-13T08:27:00.003-06:00

I've been looking around the liberal blogs for a little while now, and I'm seeing the evolution of the Dem playbook for this election season.

They know it's going to be a GOP year, Thanks to The Great Leader, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid.

And shoving through wildly unpopular legislation like Obamacare didn't help them either.

But if you look at the blogs, enough similarities exist to assemble the list of rules that they're all operating under. I'll put up what I've assembled so far;

(1) Anybody who disagrees with The Messiah must be labeled a racist.

(2) The Tea Party must be discredited and smeared.

(3) Blame President Bush for all Obama failures.

(4) If you have a weak candidate, smear their opponent.

(5) Do not mention that The Democrats have ran the House & the Senate since Jan 2007. Do not mention High Unemployment, H1N1, Obamacare, Global Warming, bank bailouts, or taking over the auto industry.

(6) The House and Senate leadership have been careful to bury GOP proposals, so accuse the Republican legislators of doing nothing.

(7) Illegal immigration is good. Defend illegal immigrants at all costs.

As I said, this list is evolving.

Some of it is puzzling. I'm not sure why they're defending illegal immigrants at every turn, and I think it'll backfire on them, kind of like a decade ago when they campaigned on gun control.

Four weeks until mail-in ballots go out - it should be interesting.

Thanks for stopping by - Eric

The game has been called

2010-09-09T09:33:00.003-06:00

I just got an email this morning, informing me that the DCCC has decided that Dennis McDonald is a lost cause (surprise) and that they will focus on other races in an effort not to let the GOP run the table on them.

I was sceptical, so I went to their website to see what races they were pushing, and it turns out my spy was correct - here's the link;

http://dccc.org/content/home-old

Notice no pin in Montana -

Just when I think the Dems are clueless, they surprise me, as I was hoping they'd go all out pushing McDonald.

As usual, I've been proven correct, as I predicted the Dems wouldn't shovel their money against Denny, but it would have been nice to see them do it.

I still say 61-39 Rehberg.

The Starter is out on the truck

2010-08-17T21:52:00.004-06:00

Aplogies to O'Reillys for borrowing the picture of a starter from their website.

It's kind of an odd title for a political blog, but I'll tell you why it's there, and you'll get it.

I promise.

First, my 1987 K10 Blazer is sitting up on jackstands, with the front wheels off, the skid plates and a crossmember underneath it, because the starter failed on it, and I have the part up at the Starter & Generator shop being rebuilt.

I could buy a generic rebuilt one for a little less money at NAPA, O'Reilly's, or Bumper to Bumper, but dangit, that starter lasted for 23 years, until the brushes were wore down to the holders, and the holders were cutting into the armature, so I decided to keep it.

So the truck won't start, won't crank, or even click.

The reason that you're reading this on my blog, is because I was sitting down tonight to see just how bad things are for Dennis McDonald in his race against Denny Rehberg.

I think the "starter" is out on their campaign.

In eight (8) weeks, the mail in ballots go out, and this race is over.

The only speculation there is right now, is how bad McDonald will get thumped.

I'm thinking 69% - 31%.

Really.

There are no ads, no flyers, and even less enthusiasm from the Dems.

Denny is plugging along, doing his customary great job, and cruising to a victory.

Tell me lurkers, why aren't you fired up about this race?

Or if you are, tell me why.

Summertime

2010-08-10T11:36:00.006-06:00

55 days until the mail-in ballots go out.

So far, there are no surprises.

Denny Rehberg is cruising to a 69% - 31% victory - because as I predicted the Dems have pretty much treated Dennis McDonald just like the last several Rehberg opponents. Which means little fund-raising, and even less enthusiasm.

The GOP looks like it'll hold majorities in both houses in Helena, although by my headcount, they won't be veto-proof. Bummer.

Nationally, The GOP is looking good, if the elections were held today the Dems lose 55 house seats, which would be two seats worse than President Clintons beating in 2004.

After the elections, assuming the GOP gets control, expect a lame-duck session, with Reid, Pelosi, Obama trying to push through as much liberal agenda as they can before January when they're gone.

If Obama was smart, he wouldn't do it, but the man is such an elitist, and so arrogant, he probably believes he can teleprompter his way to re-election no matter what he does.

Should be interesting.

Liberal Dilemna

2010-07-09T09:23:00.002-06:00

I don't spend a lot of times lurking at the liberal blogs these days - I've been too busy -

besides - I doubt I'm missing much.

BUT - every once in a while I look around, and see something that reaches new levels of liberal hypocrisy -

Here's one of them - check it out;

http://wulfgar.typepad.com/a_chicken_is_not_pillage/

To understand this, you must understand that Rob (Wulfgar) has in the past claimed to be a gun owner.

Yet he is a liberal, who thinks Hillary would make a great President, and was almost orgasmic when The Messiah, The Great Leader, The Protector of the Poor, President Obama was elected.

It puts him in a dilemna, doesn't it?

The NRA stands up for his rights as a gun owner, yet they work to defeat liberal politicians that he wants to see running the country.

So he chooses to attack the NRA.

Do you suppose Rob has ever hear the old advice, of not biting the hand that feeds you?

Summer lull in the blogs?

2010-07-07T15:54:00.003-06:00

We're just a little over 100 days 'till mid-term elections, and you would expec tthe blogs to be humming - but they seem pretty quiet.

I guess it's up to me to see what I can do -

stay tuned -

Election Day Analysis

2010-06-11T07:09:00.002-06:00

Here is my late analysis;

(1) The voters were not in a mood for change. They are reasonably happy with the status quo.

(2) The voters WERE informed, as evidenced by their showing up to voice their displeasure with out County Attorney, Dennis Paxinos.

(3) Large numbers of Democrats voted on the GOP primary ticket.

(4) Voters were happy to leave blank BOTH names on races where they didn't know either candidate.

(5) Absentee ballots changed the entire dynamic of this election. This election was decided by May 15th.

I have been looking at my own campaign for County Clerk & Recorder, and since hindsight is always 20/20, I can see why I didn't win.

Don't get me wrong, we ran a good race, pulling 8,278 votes (42%) of the vote in a primary against a 4-term incumbent is impressive. If I were that incumbent, I'd certainly have the realization that the voters were watching me, since 42% of his own party want him out of there.

Winning a race like this one, against a 4-term incumbent is always a long shot though, and absentee ballots really lessened the time I had to get my message out there.

Looking at the 9 precincts I won, I can track my campaign perfectly.

3 of those precincts I had sent out a campaign letter to, on the same day the absentee ballots went out.

The other 6 precincts I won were precincts where I spent time on the doors.

Looking at the dates, the precincts I worked in after May 15th I didn't win, because nearly all of the voters in those areas had already voted.

On election day, I went to vote at the Metra at 8:30 am, after the polls had been open for 90 minutes, and I was the 4th live person to have voted. And there were over 700 absentee ballots already in.

So what does this mean?

First, in the fall elections, candidates need to front-load their campaign, big time, to make sure they have done everything they want to do by the first week in October. Because a week after the absentee ballots go out, the election will be over again.

Second, spend most of your time on the doors, because that's the most effective way to win votes. Looking at the precincts I won, they are a roadmap of where I wore out shoe leather.

More thoughts later - have a great day - Eric

Thanks.

2010-06-08T12:58:00.002-06:00

Election day is here.

Win, Lose, or Tie, the election is over for me at 8:00 pm tonight.

Tomorrow I'll pull my signs, breathe a sigh of relief, and try to remember what it's like to have some kind of a schedule.

Thanks to all who supported and encouraged me.

Thanks to all the people who gave out my cards, and literature.

Thanks to my daughter Maggie who is my number one envelope stuffer, literature folder, printer, and campaigner.

Thanks to my daughter Sarah Smith, who is my campaign treasurer.

Special thanks to my wife Lori, who has tolerated the interruption in her life for 5 months.

Thanks to the Montana Shrugged Group, The Midland Empire Pachyderms, and the other conservative candidates.

Results and analysis tomorrow -

Thanks for stopping by - Eric

Final Stretch

2010-05-11T21:14:00.004-06:00

Now that the absentee ballots are in the hands of the voters who requested them, I'd say we're in the home stretch.

So if you got your ballot in the mail today, please make sure you send it back.

Your vote matters.

Especially if you're voting for me, because I need every vote.

The weather was lousy today, sprinkling on me while I was out in precinct 51.

And few people were home, which meant I rubberbanded 300 campaign letters on door handles, and disturbed a lot of dogs sleep.

I'm going to Central Heights tomorrow.

My cell phone is in my pocket; 670-1214 just in case you want to ask me a question, or you can ask here, or email me; ecoobs@aol.com

Thanks for stopping by - Eric

The Blustery Day?

2010-05-01T08:55:00.008-06:00

The weather the last two days has reminded me of a cartoon the kids used to watch, about Winnie the Pooh and the blustery day.

Of course, flying Piglet like a kite seems a lot more dramatic than my plastic garbage cans rolling around the driveway, and the branches breaking off the tree.

Hopefully the wind and the weather will stay away so I can get out and campaign in the precincts.

I'm expecting to see some more election coverage in the GAZETTE this weekend - so far they've only covered my race, and the Reno/Prouse race.

I thought that the article about Jerry was kind of tilted towards the incumbent, as they painted Jerry as some kind of radical/nut job/ tax protester. He's not. Here's the article;

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_020121a0-5352-11df-8b6c-001cc4c03286.html

Jerry is a good, hardworking man, who has firm convictions, and a heck of a nice family.

Every small business owner in Montana takes every tax advantage they can, and Jerry is no different.

So read the article, and let me know what you think - biased towards the incumbent, or not?

Gazette Article

2010-04-27T09:29:00.003-06:00

Matt Hagengruber's article on my race is in the paper today - here's the link;

http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/government-and-politics/elections/article_5415228c-51bf-11df-90a8-001cc4c03286.html

It could have been a few more words, but I'm happy with it.

And that's high praise from me, given my criticisms of The GAZETTE in the past.

Of course, Mary Jo Fox had to chime in with a personal attack right away on the comments, maybe she should get over it that Tussing lost? (Yes, I know the names you hide behind.)

Oh well, I'd be disappointed if she didn't show up I guess.

The article really didn't go into my background very much though.

So I'm going to elaborate a little more.

I grew up as a kid in NE Iowa, and as soon as I was of age I moved to Montana in 1981.

Not having a penny to my name, I hitchhiked here and lived in my Mom's basement at first.

My first job was with Carl Weissman & Sons, working in their hardware store, making the sum of $4.35 an hour and considering myself lucky to have the job.

Customer service was first priority down there, and we had most of the contractor business in town.

I met my wife Lori Kinney there, she had worked upstairs in the office for 4 years.

I was at Weissmans for 2 1/2 years, before I went to work for Senco as their first Inside Sales Rep. they also stressed customer service, and our Manager, Nick Degel, sometimes would say that if if we "lose a customer, we lose an employee".

I still think that's not a bad motivator for employees.

I was at Senco 5 1/2 years.

I then went to Safway Supply, and I was there for 7 years.

At Safway we had a genuine Team Effort, and everybody there could do anybody's job.

We sold tools and equipment, sold & rented scaffolding, and serviced much of what we sold.

Then in 1995, RD Kirkness called me up and wanted to go have a cup of coffee.

I knew RD well, because he was a customer of mine all the way back to Senco, and at Christmastime I'd work with him selling Christmas Trees at West Park Plaza. That was how I came up with the money for Christmas for my first two kids.

His idea was to open up a lumberyard in Red Lodge, and at JB's on the corner of 24th & Central we drew it out on a napkin.

So I left Safway, and started something new.

I had never been a Store Manager before, but I had worked for some good ones, and I knew what needed to be done.

We opened on April Fools Day, 1996.

Customer service was, and is, job number one there too.

If you walk in the door there, you will be greeted, and if they know your name it'll be by name.

If they don't know the answer, they'll get it for you.

In November of that year, we didn't have a Makita Power Tools Rep, so I called up Makita to buy some table saws. I found out that they needed a Factory Rep., and they were interested in talking to me.

I went to work for them two weeks later.

As a Factory Rep, I was responsible for all of Montana, and the Northern 1/4 of Wyoming.

Which meant that I travelled 55,000 miles a year, and spent a lot of nights in Motel rooms.

My customers would call me anywhere from 7 am to 10 pm. I had a policy - if their store was open, my 'store' was open.

BUT - In November of 2000, my wife let it be known to me that she didn't sign on to be a single Mom, and that I hadn't made it to a school function in over two years, and it was time to quit travelling.

So I went back to work at Safway Supply, and put in another 2 1/2 years.

In July of 2003, Cody Irons called me up, because United Rentals needed a Sales Rep. They had a new store, and hadn't had any luck in really getting it going.

Always up for a challenge, I went to work for them.

Fortunately, most of my customers from Safway Supply kept doing business with me. If it wasn't for Sletten Construction, Western Sugar, and a few other big accounts we would have never got it going.

in 2002 they did $40,000 in sales.

In 2003 we did $572,000.

In 2004 we did $859,000.

In 2005 we did $1.100,000.

In 2006 we were on pace to do $1,500,000, but we were merged with another Division of United Rentals, and they decided to do away with the Contractor Supply Stores, and focus on Rentals.

It hasn't worked out too well for them, if you google up their earnings, nationwide, they lost millions in 2008, and 2009. I have been gone from there since October.

This is the story that The GAZETTE didn't tell you, mainly because it's too long winded.

If I am elected, customer service will be job number one down there.

It will be a learning curve at first, but it's not one I'm afraid of.

So, I hope you vote in the June 8th GOP primary, and I hope you give me your vote!

One man, One Vote

2010-04-19T15:50:00.003-06:00

Today, the Yellowstone County is mailing out 66,201 ballots for the upcoming school election.

If you're a registred voter, in the district, one will be in your mailbox, probably Wednesday.

Are you going to be one of the 44% of voters who'll send it back, or will you be one of the 56% that won't bother?

I hope you send it back.

Why?

Because this is your chance to make your voice heard.

If voters approve the levy, your taxes, or rent will increase. Your costs of business will increase. The amount of money in your checking account will be less.

Deciding whether-or-not the schools really need it is up to you.

But if you don't vote, don't grumble.

Maybe you don't like Senior High's curriculum. Maybe you don't think they should drop Latin classes, while keeping pushover classes like 'Family living' or 'Single Survival' or how about 'Culinary Essentials' where they teach you how to read a measuring spoon. We don't need kids to be able to get a classical education over there, do we?

The school board decides that curriculum, and if you don't vote, don't complain about who your trustee is.

So take the time to vote.

Please.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

....Edmund Burke

Campaigning

2010-04-12T21:00:00.009-06:00

Just in case you're wondering whose signs are sprouting up around the county, they're mine.

As you can see, they are gorgeous, red/white/blue signs, 4' wide, by 34 1/2" high.

Thank you Matt Hagengruber, who is getting to be the GAZETTE's top investigative reporter, because I lifted the picture from his article about campaign signs!

I had a high-priced designer do the artwork, my daughter Sarah, who aside from being the Jewelry Manager at KOHLS likes to do graphics.

This is going to be a busy week.

I got up 4 more signs today, and I was offered 10 more properties to put them on today, but since I'm running low on signs I'll scout out the locations to see where they can do the most good.

I've got 3000 door-hangers ready for a literature drop, and my bulk mailing isn't nearly done, but it doesn't go into the mail until the same day as the absentee ballots, May 10th.

So I've got dark circles under my eyes, from sorting out EXCEL spreadsheets with voters names on them.

And I've got myself so broke that I couldn't get out of sight if it cost a quarter to go around the world.

Thursday at noon, there is a rally at the courthouse lawn, Thursday night a fundraiser for Denny Rehberg by the Tea Party movement, and Friday night there's the Aaron Tippin concert at the Shrine Auditorium that's being sponsored by The Conservative Coalition.

I have volunteered to help wherever I could, after all, the chance to meet voters is what it's all about, and what keeps me going.

27 days and counting until the absentee ballots go out - 58 days until election day.

The clock is ticking, and it is NOT my friend!

Keep your favorite candidate in your prayers, whoever it is, OK?

Or, better yet, get involved. After you go vote on election day, make a few phone calls, and make sure your family remembered to vote.

Get a few signs out for your candidate. Everybody has someplace.

Give your candidate a Saturday, and do some literature dropping for him or her. Every flyer you hang on a knob saves them .44 cents.

Give them a contribution. It doesn't matter if it's money, a book of stamps, a $5.99 box of #10 envelopes, or whatever, it'll let them know that they're not out in the wilderness!

End of lecture - LOL - have a great week.

Sen. Tester in Missoula

2010-04-12T13:56:00.002-06:00

I was looking around the Montana blogs a little, and I came upon a good piece over in Havre - here's the link;

http://havredailycorrector.blogspot.com/2010/04/no-earmarks-ever-tester-gets-dose-of.html

Isn't it nice to know that not everybody in Missoula is a leftist?

States lawsuits over Obamacare

2010-04-06T13:06:00.003-06:00

I've spent some time looking over the States Lawsuits challenging Obamacare, and I believe that they are likely to fail.

Here's why - from article VI of the Constitution;

"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof ... shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."

So according to the Constitution, the States can pass all the laws they want, but they are still trumped by Federal law, and like it or not, Obamacare is law.

---

BUT - I think that the first person who is ever penalized for not having health care, who has their paycheck seized, or their bank account raided, has an excellent chance of having the law struck down.

What's the difference?

The difference is that an individual person's rights would be violated if they were assessed a penalty, and their property (money) taken from them by the federal government as part of Obamacare.

I see violations of the 5th, 6th, and 8th amendment, and possible others.

The Great Leader, President Obama, has denied that the penalty is a tax.

So with the protections agains seizures, the right to due process, and taking a persons money with no compensation, any penalties from Obamacare should have constitutional rights lawyers scrambling to come argue the case.

So my guess is that Obamacare will be here a while, until the first penalty is assessed.

Or until we toss out Obama and replace the bill.

F Y I

2010-04-05T10:35:00.008-06:00

FYI

The population of Yellowstone County is approx 143,000 people.

Yellowstone County has 430 Full time employees.

The County's budget for 2010 is $81,973,948 (Yes, nearly 82 million bucks)

The overall taxes budget for 2010 is $33,630,000 - which is up from $32,560,000 for 2009

What is the signifigance of these numbers?

It's to point out that Yellowstone County is a pretty good sized 'business' that is owned by you, the taxpayers.

The way you appoint your 'managers' is at the ballot box.

We have seen turnouts as low as 10% for off-year elections, and in those years, your elected officials were chosen by 1 person out of 10.

So please - make sure you vote this year - the primary ballots are mailing out May 10th, and election day is June 8th.

Given that the polling places have been consolidated, I expect a lot of mail-in ballots.

There are good, conservative challengers this election cycle, so you have the opportunity to make your votes count.

Media smearing Tea Party

2010-03-30T09:12:00.006-06:00

I don't know if any of you were

watching the news coverage last

week about the protests in

Washington D.C., bit it was

reported that the protesters spit

on Georgia Senator John Lewis,

and yelled racial slurs.

I too was willing to accept that

a bad apple had gotten into the

protest, after all, the media reported

that the offender had been arrested,

and that the Senator generously

decided not to prosecute.

There is a slight problem though - it never happened.

Over at The American Thinker, Jack Cashill has exposed the hoax,

(or libel) as he calls it - here's the link;

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/03/a_closer_look_at_the_capitol_s.html

So now, being a vocal protestor of our Government isn't a noble cause, like when the Dems were protesting President Bush, it's a movement to be attacked.

Why isn't this fraud in the news?

Campaign starting off well.

2010-03-24T15:39:00.004-06:00

If you live in the Billings

area, my gorgeous red,

white, and blue signs

are spreading out.

And as I've been getting

them out, I'm being reminded

who my friends are because

the phone is ringing, with

friends getting me sign

spots, and asking how they

can help.

I've just gotten started knocking on doors, and I've discovered that people are in the mood to talk this election cycle.

I've even gotten signs on the lawns of Democrats.

The toughest question people ask me is "Why should I vote for you instead of the other guy?"

And that's a fair question.

First, this is a primary - myself against another Republican. It was President Reagan that said you should never speak ill of a fellow Republican. So I won't. And I really couldn't anyway, because I don't really know the incumbent, and few people I talk to know him either.

I do know that I can improve the level of customer service down there. Because I've worked for businesses in Billings, dealing with the public for about 30 years, and I've improved the service everywhere I've been. Everybody who walks through that door, will be greeted, and if we know their name we'll use it. The phone will be answered on the second ring. And if we don't know the answer to a question, we'll find it for them.

That's something I KNOW I can do.

Also, from 1990 until now, look at how much the world has advanced in regards to handling, storing, and transferring information. One of my goals will be to bring that office out of the electronic stone ages.

And lastly, as a fiscal conservative, my goal will be to make sure that we are efficient as possible, and that no taxpayer funds will be wasted. I know I can do that too.

So, if you are in Yellowstone County, please vote in the primary on June 8th!

Let the Games Begin - Tomorrow

2010-03-15T08:57:00.004-06:00

Today is the
LAST filing day
for State & County
elections.
`
So the campaign
begins tomorrow.
`
You will be seeing
my red/white/blue
campaign signs
sprouting up around
the county.
`
Still some open elections, without a challenger though.
`
There are Challengers for Sheriff, County Attorney, County Commissioner, County Clerk, and there is a challenger for one Judge position too.
`
Still nobody running against the County Treasurer, County Auditor, or the other Judge position either.
`
So if you are willing to serve, todays your day to file, or forever hold your peace - LOL
`
(Or at least until the next election)

Democrats getting desperate.

2010-03-13T09:56:00.007-07:00

I see that the Unions have came out
and picked the Democratic challenger
for Denny Rehberg, and it is none
other than Dennis McDonald.

Here's the link;

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_060a22be-2e28-11df-be7e-001cc4c03286.html

To put it bluntly, McDonald is a poor candidate for them. They couldn't find anybody better than a rich, California lawyer, who put on a cowboy hat and is now a Melville 'rancher'?

Especially since The Great Leader, President Obama is systematically tearing his own party apart with his mounting failures and clumsy politics.

How do the Montana Dems react now?
`
Their first impulse (dumb) is to start the smearing, and mud-slinging. They hope they can diatract the voters from what a poor candidate McDonald really is.
`
They are now going after Randy Vogel, a longtime Rehberg supporter, who is now on Denny's staff. Here's the link;
`
http://www.billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_95a8f88a-2d58-11df-aa2f-001cc4c03286.html
`
His staffer, is accused of accidentally shooting a spike bull elk last fall.
`
No witnesses of course.
`
And they waited months to go after him, until the day after it was announced he was going to work for Rehberg full time.
`
Boy, what a key political issue!
`
Does it smell bad to anybody else?

Montana Shrugged

2010-03-10T19:35:00.004-07:00

In case you're wondering

who's standing on the corner

of 24th & King every Wednesday

at lunchtime, it's the Montana

Shrugged group and their

supporters -

http://www.montanashrugged.com/

In case you don't know what

they mean by Tea Party, they are

a conservative group who believe

that we are Taxed Enough Already.

I was out there, along with Eric Olsen and his group, another conservative candidate, Jerry Prouse, and a crowd of other vocal conservatives, including my City Councilman for this ward, Rich McFadden.

I was real original - my sign simply said TAXED ENOUGH ALREADY -

I like campaigning, because it generally restores my faith in people.

Today was no different. Lots of honks, lots of waves, and there were a couple of cowboys who drove by yelling "Obama Sucks!" as loud as they could.

There were some liberal, Obama supporters who drove by and gave them a thumbs down, or yelled out saying we were racist, or uneducated, but I'm thinking less than 1/10th of a percent.

My sign was really racist, right? "Taxed enough already"

Are those people still in the Obama-trance from over a year ago?

All in all, a good day. So check out their website. The 'meet' every week, letting their voices be heard.

Is the TEA Party a third party, looking to disrupt the electoral process? No.

They are rock-solid conservatives. They are just more vocal about their views.

It's about time.

What part of NO don't they understand ?

2010-03-04T10:23:00.004-07:00

The yard signs are already

going up on the lawns of the

teachers, the liberals, and all

the people who have a financial

interest in passing the school

mill levy.

The BEA (Teachers Union) has devoted a chunk of their web page to it - here's the link;

http://cu.imt.net/~beabillings/

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the teachers earning a living, and I'm generally a union supporter, because I think this town needs every decent job it can acquire.

The Billings Gazette website has attracted a lot of comments, and I'm not to popular over there.

Why?

Because for me, the answer is no.

I will not support this levy.

And I will give you my reasons for that;

(1) We have been deceived in the past. The 'For the Kids' money didn't go to the kids.

(2) The 'Hope & Change' economy we got from The Great Leader, The Messiah, The Protector of the Poor, President Obama has forced most of us to cut back, and we'll be in survival mode until we get him out of office, and until we can undo some of the damage he's causing. The community cannot afford it, especially my retired neighbors who are on fixed incomes.

(3) When the board has very good advice, from financial guys like Jerry Hansen, they ignore it. I'm sure Mary Jo Fox considers herself a lot smarter than the board members, but IMO that has yet to be proven.

(4) They claim to be out of money, and cut classes like Debate, and Latin. Yet they keep the pushover classes. Do our kids need to be taught 'Single Survival' or 'Lifetime Activities'?

So, No means No.

Here's the other side of the coin;

My kids have never had a bad teacher at SD2. Especially at Broadwater Elementary.

The teachers and staff have been great.

I have graduated two now, with two more left to go. In my observations as a parent, I have noticed just one similarity among the students that do well - they have parents that take an interest in their education. Having HS classes that teach how to balance a checkbook, instead of advanced language classes seems like a district with it's priorities out of whack.

Come on lurkers - time to step up - are you for, or against the levy, and why?

Did we learn anything in 2008 ?

2010-02-28T20:14:00.007-07:00

Tomorrow is March 1st -

Primary elections are in
3 months, and the General
election is in 8 months.

The filing period ends in 15 days, and we should have a good idea of the races the next day.

The General Election is easy - vote for the Republican - after all, a RINO is still better than having a Dem in an office.

BUT - the primary is a different matter.

How do you look at it?

Do you support the incumbent, regardless of how conservative the candidate has been?

Do you support the candidate that you think has the best chance to win the General election?

Personally, I've decided to vote for the most conservative candidates. Both fiscally, and socially.

Why?

Because how else are we going to remind everybody that we are the party of Reagan?

How else are we going to pull our party all together?

If you look at the Tea Baggers, they are frustrated by the Dems and the GOP both. They are upset with the politics in Washington, and I don't blame them.

We ARE taxed enough already. Government spending IS out of control.

Our constitutional rights ARE under assault.

We need candidates who understand this also, not candidates who are maybe a 'hair' better than the typical Dem.

So I'm not going to be shy about it.

I am going to support the most conservative candidate in the primary, above all else. And I want my candidate to be a conservative voice for the party.

If one candidate is fiscally conservative, and the other is socially conservative, I'll lean towards fiscally conservative.

As I said, the primary election is the time to choose candidates.

Choose carefully.

I watched much of the Health care Summit

2010-02-27T09:26:00.003-07:00

I watched a couple of

hours of the Great Leaders

'Health Care Summit' and I was

not impressed.

First, the President didn't look very Presidential, he was the Moderator.

Second, it looked like pure political theater, with him giving the Dems a lot more time to talk than he did the GOP, and he, himself talked more than all of the GOP combined.

It didn't work.

Republicans ruled the day when it came to making sound arguments, and offering alternatives to this massive government takeover of the insurance industry.

The President wasn't ready for it, and it visibly irritated him when he was called out.

Both the House & Senate bills are bad for America, and bad for the Democratic party, but I think that Obamas ego is so big, that he thinks he has to be able to claim some kind of success, on something, even if it's a bad idea.

I'm thinking that there are not enough votes in the House of representatives to push the Senate Bill through without any GOP votes. And I'm thinking there are a lot of people in the Senate who are regretting voting for their version of the bill now too.

The Great Leader, The Messiah, The Protector of the Poor, President Obama really couldn't care less about anybodys re-election campaigns, and it shows. He's too desperate.

What do you think will happen?

Any ideas?

Yellowstone County Attorney Controversy

2010-02-22T09:50:00.004-07:00

One of the most-commented stories

I've seen on The Billings Gazette

online version, has been about our

Yellowstone County Attorney,

Dennis Paxinos. Here's the link;

http://www.billingsgazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_711acb44-1b45-11df-8e43-001cc4c03286.html

I have given this a lot of thought, more than I usually give to something like this.

On one hand, he was accused, of sexual harrassment by a former employee. It was investigated by the County, and found to be without merit.

Is that the end of the story? No. His alleged victim decided to sue, and the County refused to release details of the case until The Billings Gazette got a court order.

Paxinos admitted having inappropriate contact with the allleged victim, seven years ago, after hours, in their office. He says it was consensual. She disagrees. And after all, he was her Boss.

But she continued working for him. For years afterwards.

So now what?

Do the Yellowstone County Taxpayers deserve another lawsuit?

Does the alleged victim deserve a day in court?

Does this accusation diminish Paxinos' ability to be our County Attorney?

Does the fact that he admitted being inappropriate seven years ago diminish his ability also?

These are a lot of questions.

First, I believe that if his alleged victim wants to take the risks, personal, and financial, of going after Paxinos in Court, it is certainly her right.

Second, Dennis Paxinos isn't Yellowstone County's 'Father', or 'Husband', he's the County Attorney. He prosecutes criminals. Having poor judgement that particular day doesn't disqualify him from putting people behind bars.

What's the solution?

Let the voters decide.

In our Republic, we elect people to represent us, for a period of time. If we don't like the job they're doing, we can put up another candidate, and let the voters decide. If you believe in America, you have to believe in the will of the people.

So, the County Attorneys term is up Dec. 31st.

He has filed to run for another term, and I really don't remember the last time he had an opponent. In my opinion, we need to have an election. The qualifications are that you have to be a licensed attorney, with 5 years experience, and the filing fee of $534.00. The job won't pay as much as an attorney can make in a good, private practice though, but it's a living wage for them.

An election would clear the air. It would either vindicate Paxinos, or it would replace him.

The deadline is March 15th, at Duane Winslows office in the courthouse.

How about it? Any takers?

James Knox - Candidate HD47

2010-02-20T09:57:00.002-07:00

James Knox, Conservative candidate for HD47 is having an event/fundraiser tonight - here's the link;

http://www.vote4knox.com/pdf/feb20.pdf

James is a Billings businessman, who I endorse because he's a true conservative, he's committed, and understands the issues as well as anyone.

Be there or be square!

Sentimental Drivel

2010-02-17T12:59:00.009-07:00

TOBY

1995 - 2010

Call this a eulogy I guess, because yesterday I had the grim chore of taking the old dog to the vet for the last time.

Toby was 15 years old, mostly deaf, couldn't walk up and down steps very well, fell down a lot, and it was, well, time.

Heck, a year ago, when my wife noticed he was getting skinny, and not wanting to eat anything but soft food, and not chewing on pigs ears anymore, she switched him to softer food, because his teeth were getting pretty well dulled down.

It was a June day, in 1995 when he came wandering up the alley, just a puppy. The kids were playing with him, and I told them to stop playing with him, so that he could find his way back home.

Later that afternoon, some neighbors I knew down at 3rd & Yellowstone, Terry Huck, and Naomi Ingalls came up the sidewalk with him in tow on a leash, trying to figure out where he lived.

The kids (and wife) petitioned me to let him stay, after all, we had an empty doghouse in the back yard, and he wouldn't be any trouble to me, since he'd be THEIR Dog, and they would walk him, feed him, and do everything -

So I agreed that he could stay, OUTSIDE, for a couple of nights, until we figured out where he belonged.

That was almost 15 years ago.

He stayed outside all right, until dusk, the first day, then he started whining, and I pulled out a box, put it in our room, and I listened to him scratch at it and complain until he fell asleep.

Funny how easy they become part of the family.

Toby was just an average American mutt, black as tar, and looked like some kind of flat-haired retriever mix. Smart dog. He mastered the roll over, play dead, lay down, get it, and stay commands in about an hour. I taught him hand-signals for them too, which was a good thing later on, when he lost his hearing.

He was the kids constant companion. In the summer, they'd go out and play, and he'd either try to participate, or just sit and watch them. After a few dunkings in the backyard pool, he understood the pool behavior, and he'd stay just out of splash range. Nobody got within 20 yards of the back fence but what he'd charge over and threaten them.

They even put him on the trampoline sometimes, which he hated, but endured.

He got along with little dogs, loved chasing cats, and had a little-guy chip on his shoulder when it came to big dogs. Toby weighed 38 lbs in his prime, and the one time he saw a 130 lb Akita being walked down the alley, what did he do - but ran over and jumped on him, biting and snarling, and after the other dog had him pinned to the ground, he just layed there and snarled until we pulled them apart.

Did he learn? Nope - he pulled something like that at least once a year.

How do you sum up 15 years? In 5 words - He was a good dog.

He lived a full life, and it was sad to see him declining.

Yesterday morning, I let him in, and he looked at the back steps, looked over his shoulder at me, and then looked at the steps again, and barely made it up the three steps.

It was time.

I called the Vet Clinic, got an appointment, and thought about doing something nice for him, like cooking him an egg or something, but he was sleeping (he sleeps about 16 hours a day anymore) and I figured I'd let him keep his normal routine before we went.

The kids found out, when they got home from school that the dog was gone, and they took it pretty well at first, the words 'Dog Murderer' didn't come up for a couple of hours.

Adios campadre. Vaya Con Dios .

Global Warming

2010-02-10T22:32:00.004-07:00

We've had snow on the

ground here in Billings

for something like 70

days now

We'll probably set a new

record this year for having

snow on the ground the longest,

I think we're at 5th all-time right

now.

Back East, the federal government was shut down today, as the East Coast is getting hammered with record cold/snowfall.

So when's the global warming going to show up?

We're waiting - patiently.

Superbowl Sunday - Great Game

2010-02-08T10:11:00.004-07:00

Well, I predicted the
Game wrong this year.

The Saints brought their best game,
and beat the Colts!

Great game, funny commercials.

As I said, on any given day, any team cam beat any team.

Gosh, only a year to go until the next one - at least next year the RAIDERS have a shot at going!

(The same shot every other team has at this point) - LOL

Superbowl Sunday

2010-02-07T09:15:00.012-07:00

Indianapolis Colts

vs

New Orleans Saints

CBS 4:25 pm Montana Time

I'll take a break from political perspective, and do some sports commentary.

First, on any given day, any team can beat any team.

Just look at my OAKLAND RAIDERS, this year they won the games they should have lost, and lost the games they should have won.

But today, I predict that the COLTS will win, and I'll give you my reasons for that;

(1) The SAINTS defense. They gave up over 400 yards to Brett Favre two weeks ago. If Peyton Manning is on his game, he'll pick them apart.

(2) The COLTS defense. They aren't the huge line of the Minnesota Vikings, but they are very good, and very quick. Those guys can go sideline to sideline all day. They are not easy to run the ball on, even if you have Reggie Bush.

My son-in-law likes to have a Superbowl Party every year, and we'll probably make our way over there around 2:00 pm.

If you are football enthusiasts, I hope you enjoy the day!

SCORE PREDICTION; Colts 42 Saints 28

If you don't like football - SAY WHAT?????

Thanks for lurking.

Call it a campaign blog for a while I guess -

2010-02-03T15:36:00.002-07:00

I've laid low in politics lately, unless

you count being the blogmeister of

this highly vocal and opinionated blog,

or my 'kicking sand in the face' of the

liberal bloggers over at their blogs.

Four years ago, I ran for City Council, and I lost by 30 votes in the primary.

I finished up my term on the Public Utility Board, and the last election cycle there really were not any issues down there that interested me, and with the makeup of the council, there wouldn't have been an opportunity to make much of a difference. My friend Rich McFadden just took that seat, and I wish him well.

This year, there are no city elections, or Presidential, or Gubernatorial races, but there are statewide and county races.

I've always had interest in the County Government, but other than the conversations I have with Commissioner Reno once in a while, when I ask him what's going on at the Courthouse, I pretty much know what I read in the GAZETTE. Not the best source of real news is it?

So, I discussed it with friends & family, and today I went down to the courthouse, plunked down my filing fee, signed on the line, and I am now a candidate for Yellowstone County Clerk & Recorder.

So now there'll be contested races for Sheriff, County Commissioner, and Clerk & Recorder.

I have no ax to grind with the current County Clerk. As far as I know there are no hot-button issues down there. But I know that if the voters entrust me with the job, that I'll apply conservative principles to every decision, and the best interest of the taxpayers will be upheld.

So here we go - a campaign.

Actually, I like campaigning. It restores my faith in people.

When I ran for City Council the last time, my girls & I knocked on every door over by in The Senior High area, and we won that ballot box easily. If I would have had more time, and did a thorough job in just one more precinct I would have won.

Live and learn.

As issues come up, I'll put them up here - fair enough?

City Lights -

2010-02-01T11:12:00.003-07:00

I see Ed Kemmick, over at

the Gazette has turned on the lights

again at his blog.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/opinion/blogs/city-lights/

I started out blogging over there -

But when I've mentioned that in the past, Ed says not to put the blame on him that I'm a blogger !

Go check it out, 10 years ago, his blog ruled the blogosphere.

I'll put up a link -

The Great Leader has spoken !

2010-01-28T22:53:00.004-07:00

Last night, I took the time to watch

the State of The Union address, that

The Great Leader, President Obama

gave to Congress.

It's been analyzed almost everywhere today, except at the liberal blogs -

First, I was correct. He blamed his failures on President Bush. I don't think that'll fly anymore, since he's had total-control of Washington for a year. He blamed the GOP for being the party of 'No' even though he knows that the GOP had good alternate plans that never made it out of committee, voted down on party-line votes.

Second, I've never seen a President get laughed at before, which happened twice last night, when he mentioned global warming, and when he said the budget freeze would hit next year, not this one.

And who wrote this speech? He brought up equal pay for women - a non-issue since the 70's. Did they have to re-write this speech at the last minute?

Third, there was no energy there, nothing like when he was campaigning. Of course, many of those speeches were artificially filled with 'actors' to whip up enthusiasm. Remember the shills carefully placed in the crowds to 'faint' on cue?

He was angry. Angry at us, the voters, for not supporting his spending, and his Health Care Takeover bill. When he said "I will not quit" it was a threat. Much of his speech sounded like a lecture.

He addressed the Democrats there, who want to be re-elected, by telling them

"Do not run for the hills" (Which the smart ones are doing - running away from Obama - fast)

To sum it up, he didn't follow the example of President Clinton, and change his course. He firmly believes that we, the taxpayers, are idiots, who don't know what's best for us. But he does. He is going to continue over the cliff, and I guess he figures that we'll get it eventually.

Worst SOTUS ever?

The Great Leader to address Congress tonight

2010-01-27T13:14:00.003-07:00

Tonight - at 7:00 Montana Time

The first State of the Union address

is to be read off a teleprompter, by

The Great Leader, The Messiah,

The Protector of the Poor,

President Barack Hussein Obama.

He's going to explain a few things

to us.

He will explain that even though

2,200,000 jobs have been lost

since his inaguration, that his spending

(stimulus) bill saved or created

100,000 jobs.

This isn't the speech he planned on giving.

He was planning to talk about closing Guantanamo, and how unemployment was below 8%, and how he got the Olympics for Chicago, and how the voters went Democratic in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. He was also going to tell us about his great accomplishment signing universal health insurance for all.

The problem is that none of these things happened.

He got jap-slapped by the International Olympic Committee, sent back to Chicago embarrassed, and every time he campaigned for a fellow Democrat, that candidate was defeated.

He promise to have an open debate about health care, on C-SPAN, then had his minions write up a bill so complicated that nobody knew what was in it, and bought off votes in backroom deals, in the dead of night. And if you weren't an insider, you didn't get to participate.

His first year has been an absolute disaster, in economic terms, and politically for the Dems.

He will tell us that he is going to freeze government spending, at current levels, which he only increased 24% since taking office.

He is going to tell you that he is now concerned about unemployment.

He is going to say all our problems are President Bush's fault, not his.

He may talk about his 'historic' election again, or about his father, a

goat-herder from Kenya. He may remind you that by electing him

you are absolved for your sin of being white, after all, the Dems love

to play the race card in politics.

So I hope you can tune in.

He will uplift your spirits. Have faith in The Great Leader!

Obama suspects that he made a mistake

2010-01-26T08:30:00.002-07:00

From the POLITICO:

President Obama: Lack of transparency

a 'mistake'

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31990.html

Gee, you think?

Obviously President Obama read this blog, and is seeing his mistakes - LOL

That, or his face is still hurts from getting jap-slapped in Massachusetts.

Either way, it's a start.

Civil War

2010-01-21T15:30:00.004-07:00

Since Tuesdays Massachusetts election

results, where the late ted Kennedy's seat

was won by Republican Scott Brown,

there has been a growing fury within

the Democratic Party.

Too bad for them, but it'll be good for America.

Here's the basic divide;

You've got The Great Leader, President Obama, desperate to accomplish something, even if it's flawed.

And you've got the far-left in the Democratic Party, who were giddy at the thought of having power, who want to get their liberal agenda underway, NOW. This is a 'perfect storm' for them controlling both the White House, and Congress.

But self-preservation is a powerful instinct, and Tuesdays election results have scared the hell out of the Democrat politicians in Washington. They want to run for cover, and they are looking for a way to salvage their jobs with the folks back home.

So what's the problem? Left-wing activists, money-givers, and fund raisers do not take defections lightly. They think that Martha Coakley was voted down because she wasn't radical enough. They are like the mafia - you take their money, there's no getting away from them.

Woe to them who leave the happy family. You'll be like 'The Man without a Country'. Forget the nice committee assignments.

The Dems are being led over a cliff, so to speak, politically. And a large portion of the Dems know it.

Look at our own Senator, Jon Tester. He votes however Harry Reid tells him to, knowing it's not popular with the voters. He didn't even have the guts to hold any town-hall meetings. He knew what the people would say to him about the health care bill. So what will he do? Follow Reid over the cliff, or defect?

Since I've never seen any real leadership, or initiative from him, even when he was in the Montana State Legislature, I think he goes over the cliff.

And don't expect defecting Democrats to go gentle into the night - they might switch parties, or become Joe Liebermans. And the GOP will take them, with open arms in public, and in private they'll explain to them that the GOP DOES keep it's caucus together.

Civil War.

You read it here first.

Performance Review for President Obama

2010-01-20T11:50:00.003-07:00

Well, today is the

one-year-anniversary

of the inaguration of The

Great Leader, The Messiah,

The Protector of the Poor,

Barack Obama.

Since he is my (and your) employee, it's time for him to get a performance review.

Ex = excellent

G = good

S = satisfactory

NI = needs improvement

(1) Economic Policy - NI

Unemployent is at a best 10%, and at worst 18%, depending on who you listen to.

When you pushed through your stimulus (spending) bill, you told us that unemployment would hit 8% if it wasn't passed. It has been revealed that the stimulus failed, in that not a single job was saved or created. You bailed out GM and Chrysler, shafting the stockholders, and warned us that if they were allowed to go bankrupt that it would be economic catastrophe. GM went bankrupt anyway, the billions of dollars are gone, and they are still losing money.

(2) National Security - NI

There were no terror attacks inside America from 9/11 until you were elected. Then we had a crazed muslim soldier go on a shooting spree, and attempted airline bombings. The sight of you seems to encourage the extremists. When your hand-picked General asked for more troops, you had to stall him, and talk to the politicians for months before even meeting with him.

(3) Foreign Policy - S

You are trying to get along with the world, and that earns you an S. Of course, the nations of the world still haven't changed any policy because of their great love for you, but there's still the chance.

(4) Political Skill - NI

You were elected on the promise of Hope & Change. Politifact http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/ has been keeping track of promises - and the record isn't good.

(5) Administration - NI

You have turned much of America over to 'Czars' who have tended to be inexperienced, corrupt, or ultra-liberal. You appoint a new General to fight the war in Afghanistan, then never meet with him, until the story broke on the news. (See National Security)`

I think this review has gone far enough, don't you?

Just one NI means you fail the overall review.

I saw you on TV giving yourself a B+

In what world are you living in - Neverland?

James Knox - HD47

2010-01-20T08:09:00.004-07:00

I just got around to checking out

James Knox's website -

He's running for HD47 this fall.

In case you don't know James,

here's the link;

http://www.vote4knox.com/index.php

James has some qualities I like.

He's Conservative, energetic, and

committed.

He ran for the City Council, and

he learned some lessons there, and

this seems a natural step for him.

I personally couldn't/wouldn't want to go to Helena every other year to serve in our citizen legislature, at least not at this point in my life, but I respect those that do.

You won't see endorsements for James coming from the GAZETTE editorial board - he's not liberal enough.

When he ran for City Council, the endorsement for his opponent was ready to print before he was even interviewed.

Go check him out - he'll be a good one.

Jon Tester - listen up

2010-01-19T19:30:00.003-07:00

Senator Tester, I don't like your

politics, and I doubt if you like mine.

I have something I'd like you to do.

Please keep supporting President Obama, and continue to vote however Harry Reid tells you.

Please support President Obama's Health Care Bill.

Please support Cap & Trade.

Why? Because I want you to have to face the voters in Montana, so we can toss you out on your ear.

You saw what just happened in Massachusetts, and it'll be here soon enough.

President Obama jap-slapped in Massachusetts

2010-01-19T19:02:00.006-07:00

70% of the vote in, and in the Massachusetts

Senate race, Republican Scott Brown is leading

Martha Coakley 53% - 46%

This was supposed to be a sure-thing for the

Democrats, after all, this was TED KENNEDYS

seat, the now-deceased liberal lion of the

Senate.

Even The Great Leader himself, President Obama made 5 campaign stops in the State this last weekend. And not to toot my own horn too much, I thought that the race was too close to call, but as soon as I heard that The Great Leader was going there I called the race for Brown.

President Obama has been slapped so much, that he's probably going to have a permanent twitch.

He went to secure the Olympics for Chicago, was soundly rejected.

He campaigned for Corzine and Deeds in Governors races, in liberal States, and both of them lost.

Why? The voters must be RACIST! Why else would the voters reject such a smart, light-skinned man, with no negro dialect... (thank you Harry Reid for the quote)

I'll tell you why.

(1) The general public doesn't like the idea of President Obama, and his Democratic Congress ramming unpopular legislation through on party-line votes.

(2) People do not like the run-away spending of the Obama era.

(3) People do not like his dishonesty. No lobbyists ? Health Care talks on C-SPAN ? All promised by the Great Leader.

So, let's see if the Democrats learn something from this resounding loss, which will be amplified many times over this fall, and in 2012.

I only hope, and pray, that our Senator Jon Tester keeps following the marching orders of Harry Reid, and keeps voting against our wishes.

'One Term Tester' has a nice ring to it !

1/18/2010 Martin Luther King Day

2010-01-18T14:32:00.003-07:00

Michael King a.k.a. Martin Luther King
(January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)

No mail today, and most State / Federal employees have a paid day off.

Everybody knows that MLK was a clergyman, who spoke for and promoted civil rights for blacks, and said that men should be judged by their actions, instead of the color of their skin.

But did you know;

That his name was Michael King? The name Martin Luther seemed more powerful than Michael, so he started using it, and it was never his legal name.

That while working on his dissertation for his doctoral degree at Boston University, he heavily plagiarized from another author who had done research on a subject similar to King's. As a academic committee later found that over half of King's work was plagiarized, yet would not revoke his doctrine. King was dead by this time, and the committee ruled that revoking the title would serve no purpose. It was also discovered that King's famous I HAVE A DREAM speech was also not totaly his own. He patterned it from a sermon by Archibald Carey,a popular black preacher in the 1950's.

That the Kennedy administration ordered FBI surveilance of MLK because of his communist ties? And that in the course of surveillance it was discovered that MLK was using church money to hire prostitutes? Not once, but many times. Evidence proves that King had numerous affairs with various women plus numerous one night stands with prostitutes; two black columnists reveal that FBI tapes support the charge that King was bisexual having been heard during a sex orgy with his “best friend” Ralph Abernathy. King was also caught running naked after a woman down a Norway hotel hallway during his trip to accept the Nobel Peace Prize!

According to Assistant Director Sullivan, who had direct access to the surveillance files on King which are denied the American people, King had embezzled or misapplied substantial amounts of money contributed to the "civil rights" movement. King used SCLC funds to pay for liquor, and numerous prostitutes both Black and White, who were brought to his hotel rooms, often two at a time, for drunken sex parties which sometimes lasted for several days. These types of activities were the norm for King's speaking and organizing tours.In fact, an outfit called The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, which is putting on display the two bedrooms from the Lorraine Motel where King stayed the night before he was shot, has declined to depict in any way the "occupants - -of those rooms. That "according to exhibit designer Gerard Eisterhold "would be "close to blasphemy." The reason? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spent his last night on Earth having sex with two women at the motel and physically beating and abusing a third.

So when I ask the question, was MLK a man that deserved a National Holiday, does that mean I'm a racist, or a bigot?

I don't think so.

It means that 40 years later, we should be able to take an objective look, and ignore the color of his skin, right?

Neither George Washington, or Abraham Lincoln have their own National Holiday. They have been stripped of that, and lumped together as 'Presidents Day'.

I can think of numerous people more deserving of a National Holiday - other than Presidents Washington & Lincoln -

How about Ben Franklin ? Thomas Edison ? Alexander Hamilton ?

or more modern;

Henry Ford ? Walt Disney ? Chuck Yaegar? Neil Armstrong ?

What do you think? Am I way wrong on this, or not?

Massachusetts Senate Race

2010-01-15T11:55:00.002-07:00

A new Suffolk University poll released yesterday shows that Republican Scott Brown has pulled slightly ahead of his Democratic opponent Martha Coakley in the Massachusetts special election to fill Ted Kennedy's vacant Senate seat.

What's this?

A Republican to fill Ted Kennedy's seat?

Blasphemy ! The Great Leader will be upset !

Actually, this goes to prove what I am talking about.

This race would have been a slam-dunk for the Democrats before the election of The Great Leader, President Obama.

My only hope is that President Obama actually goes to Massachusetts and campaigns for Martha Coakley, which will probably put Brown over the top to stay.

Thus far, he has wisely stayed out of it.

The political pendulum is swinging right, with gathering momentum headed into the mid-term elections. Even if the Dem's pull this one out, just the fact that this seat is even in play is really bad news for the Dems.

I couldn't be happier.

The Hamburger ?

2010-01-14T12:01:00.004-07:00

Here is a post -

That has nothing to do with

politics.

Absolutely nothing.

We were watching the TV last

night, and the latest hamburger

commercial came on.

And I said to my wife, "The

incredible part about this

commercial is that if you

walk into any Burger King,

anywhere, the hamburger

you get will look exactly

like that one."

That got me remembering that Addison Bragg made that same observation, many years ago.

Addison died almost a year ago, and for those of you who are new in town, or not from Billings, he wrote for the Billings Gazette for 30 years. With all due respect to the current 'beat' reporters down there now, Addison was my favorite of them all.

So today, I dug out my copy of Addisons book, and found his observations.

Here was his opinion;

But the buns are just great

WHEN IN SESSIONS OF sweet silent thought, I summon up

remembrances of things past, I always wonder:

What ever happened to the hamburger?

I hasten to add, in the event hate mail starts arriving from the McDonald, Wendy, or Burger King people, I'm not talking about the hamburger the way it is today.

I refer to the product as it was back in the days when a ten-cent hamburger was the norm, a "double" went for the going price of 25 cents - and a "deluxe" included french fries as well.

There are, surely, decent and good hamburgers made today.

They come in plastic bags, in cardboard boxes and an assortment of other containers.

But somewhere, to quote an old city editor of mine, we've lost something.

Sometimes I have the feeling that the hamburger of the computer age - the "fast" food product, if you will have it so - is put together by a computer.

In contour and dimension it smacks of a perfectly engineered piece of meat, geometrically round and hones (or sliced) to micro-smoothness.

The bun on which it is served - to read the glowing praises on the menu - nothing short of magnificence in both texture and decoration.

And todays hamburger is cooked rare, medium, or well, in a matter of seconds by the most recent arrival on the electronic scene.

I can almost see a computer programmer, bending his software to the utmost, to produce the new ultra plus of hamburgers.

My 'vision', however, is obscured by the memory of a black, greasy, and smoking grill, presided over by a man in a T-shirt, rolled-up sleeves bearing tattoos of a past hitch in the Navy - and the solid "splat" of a broad knife or spatula smashing down a hunk of ground beef in the middle, and rounding out (approximately) its sides.

I also remember the slices, thin and fresh, of raw onion as well as the proportions of the tomato slice which blanketed the finished product.

Back then hamburgers came rare, medium or well.

Buns came as they were - unless the waiter followed the order with a hearty order to "burn the bun."

Anyone lucky enough to have ordered a hamburger back in those days had no need of potato chips, french fries - or even a portion of cole slaw to fill out the meal.

Back then you didn't have to ask for lettuce or mayonnaise. It came with the territory.

You didn't even have to flatten the finished product with the palm of your hand so you could take that first bite without dislocating your jaw.

The cook did it - with a deft swipe of his spatula for you.

And the hamburger arrived. hot, moist, dripping grease and bulging with the red and white of tomato and onion.

Don't get me wrong.

I take nothing away from today's hamburgers. I still eat them. I still enjoy them.

But not like I used to enjoy watching steam locomotives.

I suppose that's why I still keep looking for someplace where I can eat a hamburger after having watched it, and smelled it - being cooked on a grill by a guy in a sweaty T-shirt who doesn't have to ask me what I want on it, how I like it cooked - or whether I want it on wheels.

And if you remmber what that expression means, you remember the same kind of hamburgers I do.

Thanks Addison. I remember those burgers

Democrats cannot be racist. No matter what.

2010-01-11T08:39:00.004-07:00

Since it's made the national news this weekend,
lets's have a talk about race in American politics.

In case you didn't see the news, it was revealed
in a book that Senate Majority Leader, Harry
Reid, made some racist comments about
then-candidate Barack Obama.

Reid admitted making the statement, and apologized
for it, and now the Dems think it's OK.

The GOP National Chairman, Michael Steele, who is a black man himself, doesn't think so.

He has openly criticized Reid, and thinks he should step down from his leadership position in the Senate.

What did Reid say exactly?

A new book reported that he was favorably impressed by Obama during the campaign and, in a private conversation, described the Illinois senator as a light-skinned African-American "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."

So, it appears that Reid, like most elite Democrats, do not look too far past the color of a persons skin. It does not surprise me.

Even the Clintons, the darlings of the media are mentioned in the book, with ex-President Clinton seeking support from Senator Kennedy in a phone call saying;

“A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee.”

President Clinton wanted the 'Lion of the Senate's" support for his wife’s campaign – but the move appears to have backfired, with Mr Kennedy opting to support her challenger instead.

It's not a new thing guys. Let's look at recent, and not-so-recent history;

FDR - the liberals hero locked up Americans in Internment camps, based on their race.

Senator Robert Byrd was an open Ku Klux Klan member.

Jesse Jackson calls New York 'Hymietown' - showing his hatred of Jews.

Democrats fillibustered the civil rights act - - Robert Byrd, current senator from West Virginia - J. William Fulbright, Arkansas senator and political mentor of Bill Clinton - Albert Gore Sr., Tennessee senator, father and political mentor of Al Gore. Gore Jr. has been known to lie about his father's opposition to the Civil Rights Act. - Sam Ervin, North Carolina senator of Watergate hearings fame - Richard Russell, famed Georgia senator and later President Pro Tempore.

BUT - it seems to be OK if it's a Democrat that is racist.

In the Montana blogospere, over at the liberals site, they were quick to attack Steele as a racist, carefully avoiding why they were attacking him, here's the link;

http://www.leftinthewest.com/diary/3720/why-hasnt-montana-gop-renounced-antiindian-comments-of-gop-chair-michael-steele

I went over and called them on it, because even though they are afraid to comment over here, I have no such fear.

What do you think - should we have an open discussion about race in America?

Has Reid lost what little respect he has left?

Or is this much ado about nothing?

Yellowstone Young Republicans

2010-01-08T13:26:00.002-07:00

The Yellowstone Young Republicans are having an event tomorrow at 6:00 pm, Beartooth Harley Davidson .

Be there, or be square~

Kendall Van Dyk vs Roy Brown

2010-01-07T07:14:00.005-07:00

I see in this mornings paper that the Gazette is already

trying to push legislative candidates upon us, here's the link;

http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/government-and-politics/article_3776a414-fb2c-11de-bb3b-001cc4c03286.html

I love their comment about the Dems sensing blood in the water -

talk about whistling through the graveyard!

I hate, no, actually I don't hate breaking it to the GAZETTE, that the Dems are poised to lose, and lose HUGE this fall.

Kendall Van Dyk is a likeable young man, but don't read too much into his winning his legislative seat over Shirley McDermott last time. I thought Shirley would win, based on how much good she did for those people over there when she was on the city council, but she fell to the political pendulum that was swinging towards the Dems.

Well, thanks to The Great Leader, The Messiah, The Protector of the Poor, President Obama and the national Democrats, that pendulum is swinging the other way. The public doesn't like what they're doing, and special elections around the country are showing it.

Plus, Kendall now has a (liberal) voting record to scrutinize, that people haven't looked at.

I promise to make sure it is scrutinized, by the handful of people who read the Blogs anyway.

I'm going to put up analysis of both candidates legislative accomplishments, which is a long list for Roy, and a very meager one for Kendall.

Let the games begin !

Nails being driven in the coffin !

2010-01-06T08:54:00.007-07:00

Not often, but once in a while the liberal Democrats surprise me.

And I don't surprise easily.

I'm not talking about their wild, outrageous behavior, such as pushing through unpopular legislation, just to say President Obama accomplished something, but the way they are dooming their own party for the next election cycle.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that President Obamas people are idiots, because they are not. Their policies are failures, but there is a method to their madness.

They want to protect President Obama's job, at all costs, and they are desperate for him to do well at something. Anything.

If that requires giving up control of the House, and the Senate, so be it.

Let's look at the Dems prospects;

Democrat Senator Chris Dodd announces today that he's stepping down, since he is down double digits in early polling, and the party deems he's unelectable.

There are actually billboards in the Southwest saying "Elect anybody except Harry Reid".

North Dakota's Democrat Senator, Byron Dorgan is stepping down.

Colorado Democratic Governor Bill Ritter has announced he 'might not' run for a second term.

I look for Reid, Bennett,Lincoln, Specter, Giannoulias to all go down in flames.

It is rumored that Inouye will retire from Hawaii too.

I think the GOP runs the table in 2010, and 2012.

Our own Senator, John Tester, assuming he follows Harry Reid over the cliff, will be another GOP gain. He could turn it around, by voting against Obamacare, but even when he was in the Montana legislature he never showed that kind of guts. I truly don't think he has it in him.

Max Baucus, despite his recent bad press, will be the nominee of the Montana Democratic Party, for as long as he keeps running. They have been grumbling about him for years, but they have shown in the past that they do not have the fortitude necessary to run a good primary candidate against him.

So to sum it up, if we (conservatives) bring forth conservative candidates, and we let the Dems shoot themselves in the foot, tomorrow will be a better day.

Dawn of a new decade

2010-01-01T08:11:00.002-07:00

Happy New Year Montana !

Goodbye 2000's.

As Ebeneezer Scrooge might have said, It's time to find ourselves another 10 years older, and not another hour richer.

Looking over the ledger on the past decade, I've decided not to miss it.

The decade started out with an imaginary crisis, Y2k -

America was attacked on September 11th, 2001 by Muslim Terrorists, and we've been a country at war ever since. We toppled two foreign countries, installed democracies, hanged Saddam Hussein (good riddance) and found out who our friends in the world are.

The bills came due from the 90's, and there was no way to pay them, triggering the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Al Gore, who was resting on his laurels for inventing the internet, invented a new religion, called 'Global Warming'

Finally, America figured out they didn't like what was happening, and elected an 'empty suit' for President in November of '08, in the person of President Barack Hussein Obama.

The man is a community organizer/lawyer/first term Senator from Illinois, who had never ran anything in his life, yet thanks to a lackluster opponent, and spending enough money to retire the national debt, he was elected.

Fortunately, the damage he is doing will be a good thing, as the political pendulum is now swinging towards the right, with great velocity, and I predict good things to come for conservatives in November.

So goodbye 2000's - don't let the door hit you on the ass.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T10:46:00.004-07:00

No politics or current events today - It's Christmas morning.

The kids are playing their new PS3 game, the dogs are sleeping, and my wife is fussing over her turkey, figuring out the optimal minute to put it in the oven. That's something I don't worry about, because after she takes it out she lets it stand for quite a while before we cut it up anyway.

Today is a good day to just kick back.

I'm tired anyway, since the grown kids with their husbands didn't leave until after 1:00 am this morning.

And the two youngest, 12 & 15, were up well before daylight pulling down their stockings, in the hopes of getting I-Pod Touches in their stockings (Dream on, those things are $279/ea at COSTCO) or some other goodies.

The Son-in-laws did well, in addition to their 'joint' christmas presents they received with my daughters, they each got a nice gift from me. Why? Because if they aren't taking care of my daughters, and if they weren't looking after them, I'd have to be still doing it, and I'm truly appreciative for what they do!

I learned that from an old friend of mine, who's oldest daughter was a very trying child, a real she-bear sometimes. When she was going to her Senior Prom in ND her boyfriend said something to irritate her, and she broke the side window out of his car, tore his rearview mirror off and hit him with it, etc.

My buddy, who was a single Dad, sat her down, and told her not to be acting like that, and how she needed to behave herself, and unbelievably, the boyfriend married her, and they're still married.

Every year my friend gives him something 'real nice' for Christmas, I'm talking like a nice Bulova watch, or a shotgun, a gas grill, or something like that.

I understand that.

Well, I wish all you bloggers & lurkers a Merry Christmas.

Obama & Copenhagen

2009-12-15T13:53:00.006-07:00

Is The Great Leader above the Constitution?

Can he void it at will?

Article 2, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution is crystal clear: “He [the President] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur.”

Apparently not.

Yet, the Great Leader, The Messiah, The Protector of the Poor,
President Obama is headed to Copenghagen, for the Climate Summit,
intending to sign a treaty.

There is no way that 2/3 of the Congress is willing to go along with this scheme to take US taxpayer funds and give them to the rest of the world.

And there is no way 2/3 of our Congress is willing to shut down our industry to acheive some mythical global warming goal.

President Clinton & Al Gore made such an attempt in 1997 (Kyoto), and there was so little support for it that they didn't want to be embarrassed by sending it to Congress, and they didn't.

Yet, today, The Great Leader is asserting that the constitutional principles governing Gore and Clinton in 1997 don’t apply to him in 2009.

Say that again?

Fortunately, I wasn't the only one who noticed - here is a cut & paste of a letter sent to President Obama about this subject;

Dear Mr. President:

I would like to express my concern regarding reports that the Administration may believe it has the unilateral power to commit the government of the United States to certain standards that may be agreed upon at the upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The phrase “politically binding” has been used.

Although details have not been made available, recent statements by Special Envoy on Climate Change Todd Stern indicate that negotiators may be intending to commit the United States to a nationwide emission reduction program. As you well know from your time in the Senate, only specific legislation agreed upon in the Congress, or a treaty ratified by the Senate, could actually create such a commitment on behalf of our country.

I would very much appreciate having this matter clarified in advance of the Copenhagen meetings.

Sincerely,
Jim Webb
United States Senator

What do you think ?

Is President Obama ready to go it alone ?

Will the Congress go along with it ?

Conrad Burns hospitalized

2009-12-10T16:36:00.003-07:00

I see on the news today that
our former County Commissioner and US Senator,
Conrad Burns is today hospitilized
in Washington DC after reportedly suffering a stroke.

I've always supported Senator
Burns, and I wish him a speedy recovery.

Democrats in real trouble

2009-12-05T09:12:00.002-07:00

Looking over the latest polls, the Democrats
are so busy fighting their own internal battles
that they've started really irritating the voters;

In a recent Rasmussen poll, when asked
who they trust on every important issue
the majority of voters are choosing the
Republican party;

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/generic_congressional_ballot

Why are the Democrats in such disarray?

And why is the media ignoring it?

First, you have to consider the make-up of the Dems -

They have nothing resembling a united front, they are a loose coalition of groups, sitting around a table, each one with their own agendas -

They are currently divided over health care reform, which includes abortion, and a public option;

They are divided over The Great Leader and his troop surge in the middle east;

They are divided over the climate bill, the budget, and a variety of other issues.

And to make it better (worse for them, better for conservatives) the recent elections where the voters have tossed out Democratic governors has rightly scared the hell out of a lot of House Members who are up for re-election next year. And yet they are being pushed by Nancy Pelosi to vote for her liberal agenda - or else.

Obama at West Point -

2009-12-02T14:46:00.003-07:00

Last night, The Great Leader, The Messiah,
The Protector of The Poor, President Obama
made a speech at West Point Academy,
to tell the world he was sending 30,000 more
troops to Afghanistan.

It looked very 'staged' and the applause was
less than enthusiastic.

This speech was purely political, and a bad idea.

First, as I suspected, he didn't use the word 'Victory' anywhere in his speech.

He has no plans for winning this conflict, it appears that his handlers don't want him discussing the concept of winning.

Second, if it was a military decision, you'd simply send the soldiers, you wouldn't advertise your plans to the enemy.

So obviously it isn't military, it's political.

When Obama was campaigning, he attacked the Bush administration, saying that the war in Iraq was taking the interest off of Afghanistan, and that he'd focus on Afghanistan.

BUT - earlier this year - over three months ago, the press found out that he had only met once with his hand-picked military commander over there, and that he was ignoring the request for more soldiers.

That put him in a tough spot. If he ignored the request, which is what he wanted to keep doing, he would look even weaker on the war on terror. He was willing to do that until another terrorist attack happened, at Ft. Hood, when an American muslim-extremist-soldier attacked and killed fellow soldiers. He had to do something.

But politically, if he agreed to send more soldiers, he'd piss-off the anti-war Democrats, and he'd leave all the Democrats who worked so hard to engineer defeat in Afghanistan hung out to dry.

So he pledged not to send in the 40,000 troops his general requested, but to send 30,000.

Then in the next breath he promised to bring them home right away.

Ridiculous.

Plus, the reason I say it was a bad idea was because it showed both our allies, and the opposition in Afghanistan that we have no resolve to finish the job.

The Taliban, starting today can simply put away their rifles and bombs, because the Americans are leaving in 2011.

So you won't see many of the population joining the US-led coalition, because they were just told that the US is pulling out.

How would you describe Obama as a military leader?

The words I use are 'Weak' and 'Hesitant'.

Obama's Vietnam

2009-12-01T07:21:00.002-07:00

The Great Leader, The Messiah, The

Protector of the Poor, President Obama,

has finally decided what to do about the

war in Afghanistan.

He's going to make a speech at West Point Academy,

and I suspect that the reason he's doing it there is that

the 'stage' set there will give him some credibility

as a military commander.

What will he say? I'll be surprised to hear any more of the "YES WE CAN!" rhetoric from his campaign, since the only word to describe his military policy would be 'Hesitant'.

I'll be surprised if he talks about 'victory' or 'success' also, because the Dems did everything possible to President Bush to engineer failure in Iraq & Afghanistan, and they'll be upset if he undermines their efforts. In fact, they'll be calling for his head for not cutting & running.

More tomorrow -

City Lights: Does persona change when it goes online?

2009-11-29T16:39:00.003-07:00

Over at the BILLINGS GAZETTE today, Ed Kemmicks
column asks a good question, does a persons personality
change when they start an online discussion?

Here's the link:

http://www.billingsgazette.com/news/local/article_aca4324c-dcb4-11de-abc1-001cc4c03286.html

I've wondered sometimes myself.

Some posters make such wild statements, you have to wonder if they're simply a 12-year-old with a computer, stirring the pot, an escaped lunatic, or a perpetual voice of reason, such as myself.

What do you think - do bloggers have split personalities, or not?

Obama "Apology Tour" continues

2009-11-16T10:31:00.004-07:00

President Obama was in fine

form in China, bowing to the

Chinese leader, in the same

"Yes, Master" posture he used

when he greeted the King of

Saudi Arabia.

The sounds of Bruce Springsteen

greeted the crowd, American flags

were placed next to Red China

flags, and he answered less than

10 softball questions, and was

careful not to offend anyone.

Is anybody here impressed by The Great Leaders handling of foreign policy yet?

And they tremble at the sound of his name

2009-11-12T08:24:00.003-07:00

Congratulations to PSC Commissioner
Brad Molnar -
~
looking over the liberal blogs, he
is hated and feared by the Montana Democrats.
~
Here's the latest link;
~

http://www.leftinthewest.com/diary/3608/links-by-Jay-Stevens
~

Brad scares the hell out of them.
~
Why? Because when he was first elected
to the Montana legislature, he took away a
seat that had always been Democratic, and
were it not for term-limits, he would have done
more than four terms.
~
And in the last election cycle, where Democrats
were simply coasting along on an anti-GOP
sentiment, Brad easily won re-election.
~
Why, you ask? Because Brad is a man who isn't ambiguous, and doesn't try to act like a Democrat for purposes of campaigning.
~
He'll tell you what he thinks, and not waver from it.
~
That's why the liberals are busy attacking him - because there isn't a current 'star' in their party who could run against him and win.
~
I'd run him for Governor if I could come up with the money. And he'd win.
~
How's this sound - Governor Brad ?

November 11, 2009

2009-11-11T11:04:00.003-07:00

Happy Veterans Day.

Speaking as an old-fart I've got a lot of good memories from Veterans Day.

First, It's my brother Evans birthday. He's now an old-fart too - 46 years old.

When we were kids, he always got a parade on his birthday.

It was am important holiday still in the 60's.

Not only was the bank and the post-office closed, but so was everything else. Our town had two gas stations, and only one would stay open.

Every town had a soldiers monument, and the VFW would have a parade, and they would drop a wreath into the Turkey River to honor the Navy & Merchant Marine Vets.

The men who belonged to the VFW would squeeze into their Korea War uniforms, and much to our amazement as kids they were not businessmen or neighbors, they were soldiers, marching in step.

You held your chest out, everybody took off their hat, and you were proud to be an American.
Thank a veteran today if you can.

I'm going to call my little brother, and welcome him to the old-farts club -

My thoughts about Fort Hood

2009-11-09T14:44:00.007-07:00

Last Thursday, the armed man who yelled "Allahu Akbar"

right before he started shooting innocent people at Ft. Hood

was a radical Muslim U.S. Army Officer.

It was a terrorist act.

The warning signs were there.

Malik Hasan had posted anti-american hate speech on the internet.

He loudly criticized U.S. Foreign policy, and praised suicide bombers, using his own name even, because with your administrations weakness and hesitancy he wasn't worried about being disciplined or questioned.

It's time for you, and your administration to 'nut-up' and take a strong stand against any and all muslim extremists.

In the military, there is a don't-ask-don't-tell policy in place for homo's - if anybody finds out they're a homo, they're discharged.

It's time to ban muslims from the military as well.

What do you think - isolated incident, or encouraged by the weakness & hesitancy coming out of Washington ?

Obama Youth ?

2009-11-05T08:31:00.003-07:00

I've poked fun at the
media hype of candidate
and now President, Barack
Obama.

It's something I do.

But I just came across
something that's more than a little
scary.

A typhoon is a little scary.

A naked photo of Hillary, or Janet Reno would
be a little scary.

What I'm talking about is scarier - schoolchildren being made to sing songs praising President Obama in school. It reminds me of the Hitler Youth movement documented on the history channel.

Think I'm going over the edge? Look here:

http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/11/04/elementary-epidemic-11-uncovered-videos-show-school-children-performing-praises-to-obama/

What do you think ?

Obama/Democrats jap-slapped by voters

2009-11-03T22:34:00.004-07:00

It is with no small amount of personal satisfaction,
that I watched the election results tonight, as the
Democrats had their asses handed to them in both
New Jersey, and Virginia.

Republicans swepth through Virginia, winning the Governors
seat and other Statewide offices, and Gov. Corzine in New
Jersey was tossed out on his ear, despite 3 separate campaign trips by
President Obama, the last one on Saturday.

What does this mean? It means that voters are unhappy with the Democrats, because despite their (The Dems) ego's, which led them to think they had some kind of a mandate after last years fluke elections. They don't.

It also means that there are tomorrow a lot of Democratic politicians shaking in their boots at the thought of having to follow Nancy Pelosi over a cliff and pass a bad health care bill.

It'll never happen now.

Pelosi will twist their arms as much as possible, and tell them that if they don't support whatever bill she tells them to support, that they'll be cast out of the 'in' crowd.

But if they do vote for it, they now know that they'll be tossed out on their ear too, like Governor Corzine.

Do you think the Democrats will figure it out ?

'Birthers' still after President Obama

2009-10-29T21:33:00.003-06:00

President Obama may have one less problem to worry about.

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit that claimed Obama is ineligible to be president because he isn't a U.S. citizen.

I've read the claims that supposedly his paternal
Grandmother claimed once to have been present
at his birth in Kenya, but who knows what she
was talking about.

The lawsuit represented the claim by the so-called "birthers" movement that Obama was not born in Hawaii - despite a birth certificate to the contrary -

In a 30-page ruling, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter of California said his court lacked the jurisdiction to rule on a case intended to unseat a sitting president.

I thought this was settled long ago -

BILLINGS GAZETTE is true to form

2009-10-23T10:58:00.002-06:00

Today in the Gazette, what started

out as a 'Make Sure You Vote' column

ended up as just another plug for

the candidates the Gazette endorses.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/opinion/editorial/gazette-opinion/article_cc67b25e-bf7a-11de-a121-001cc4c002e0.html

Typically, they always pick the most liberal, the ones who'll be the quickest to raise taxes and fees, and if neither one fits the bill, they'll first go for the sure-fire winner, or to the lesser of two evils according to their needs.

I've criticized them for years for this, because it's always a 'Gazette Opinion'

If they had the guts, there'd be names under it. But I have yet to see Steve Prosinski take credit for an endorsement. Why ? Because then the editorial board would have to look their neighbors and co-workers, and subscribers in the eye, and be accountable.

Would that be so bad?

I have voiced my support for Dick Clark, and I am proud to have done so. But his opponent, Tom Hanel is a good candidate too. Either one will make a good Mayor. Either one of them will be worlds better than Tussing, or Tooley were, and typically the Gazette wouldn't endorse either of them. But lacking a more liberal candidate, they chose Tom, and I don't know why, and I can't ask anybody, since it was THE PAPERS opinion, not a persons opinion.

So tell us Steve, how did the vote go ? Was there a vote among your editorial board ?

Who was present when the endorsements were made ?

Was there a dissenting opinion?

Come on Gazette, to use a little Montana Slang, Grow a pair, and be accountable next time.

Raiders 13 - Eagles 9

2009-10-19T09:01:00.003-06:00

My beloved OAKLAND RAIDERS

have won another game - in a

surprise upset over the

Philadelphia Eagles.

If they can stop the

reeling NY Jets this weekend,

it'll be the beginning

of a winning streak - 2 games

in a row.

Are the Raiders not really as bad

as they appear ? No, they

really are that bad. They can't run the

ball, Russell can't pass the ball,

or even keep control of the ball,

and their defense has been soft.

Unless they're playing the overrated Donovan McNabb I guess, who's jersey got soiled yesterday as the Raiders defense was in the backfield almost as fast as the ball was.

Will the Raiders beat Mark Sanchez and the Jets this week?