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How about a Christmas truce in Montana’s partisan political war?
It’s all too obvious that “peace on Earth, goodwill toward men” is getting real hard to find these days. Red-hot shooting wars are going on all over the globe and the concerns about those conflicts expanding, not shrinking, are very real. Yet, when it comes to “leading by example” there’s not much to be […]
Pitiful partisan ping-pong on Montana property taxes
While Montanans are writing the very large checks for their insanely high property tax bills our politicians continue to play a pitiful game of partisan Ping-Pong. It’s Republicans’ fault say the Democrats. No, it’s the Democrats’ fault say the Republicans. And in the meantime, residents are expected to pay up or the government takes your […]
Giving thanks for Montana’s visionary conservationists
It’s that time of year to be grateful for the good things, people and places in our lives. And given how quickly our state is changing in these days of endless promotion and development, Montanans might want to give thanks for those visionary conservationists who saw what was coming, broke with those who claimed the […]
Clown-car Freedom Caucus tries crashing the federal government again
What do you get when you put a bunch of people who hate government in office to run government? The antics of the so-called Freedom Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives answers that question with their latest nutty attempt to shut down the federal government — and they’re trying their best to do just that. Rational […]
Time to Put the toxins back into Berkeley Pit
As Butte faces yet more trauma from its 40-plus year Superfund struggle to remediate the environmental damages from historic mining and smelting, an old idea has resurfaced. Namely, instead of digging up more of the area to build yet another “catbox cleanup” repository and bury toxic tailings and soils, why not put the wastes back […]
Tester’s ‘categorical exclusions’ cut the public out of decision-making on public lands
There’s a very troubling trend among federal and state government agencies to use “categorical exclusions” to forego environmental analysis on projects — many very large projects — on public lands. While the proponents say the exclusions speed up the process, the simple truth is they cut the public out of the opportunity to review and comment […]
Trump flounders as lawyers flee his side
Anyone under indictment for 91 criminal and civil charges including everything from election tampering to fraudulent business practices might start to crack from the stress. With the potential to lose his properties and maybe wind up broke in a prison cell, it’s no wonder the 77-year old former president is getting more erratic by the […]
The tragic illusion of geopolitical control
For centuries, colonial powers stomped around the globe, crushing indigenous resistance, enslaving their people and stealing their resources. It was called “The Great Game” by the likes of Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, the Dutch and many others competing for control, influence and wealth. In the end, their illusion of geopolitical control collapsed like the myth […]
Water (and waste) run downhill – and our rivers pay the price
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know water — and rivers — run downhill. That would be just fine if all we still got from our majestic snow-capped mountains was some of the cleanest water on the planet. But that’s not the case because water picks up and carries downhill all the vast variety […]
Republican division comes home to roost
There’s an old saying that some people are so mean if there’s no one else to fight, they fight with themselves. That’s exactly what’s happening right now in Congress as the paper-thin Republican House majority turns on itself in an ugly attempt by extreme right-wingers to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy’s big “crime” is […]
Americans have had it with our broken, dysfunctional political system
The nation and its 335 million citizens are facing a federal government shutdown due to the inability of Congress to govern. But if politicians think the people support their endless bickering and inability to do their job, they best check a new poll from the Pew Research Center with shocking results that show Americans have had it […]
Local government fed up with state leaders
It’s truly bizarre to see local governments revolting against and threatening to sue the state when Republicans hold every statewide office but one in Montana, a super-majority in the Legislature, and Greg Gianforte in the governor’s office. Why? Because local governments have had it with “government overreach” by the Legislature that limits local governments on […]