Commentary
Doped up on disinformation
Just after the sacking of the U.S. Capitol, a friend of mine sent me a typical post found on the MAGA45 page of the emergent social network MeWe: Military arrests and takedowns begin this weekend and continue for the next 13 days…International raids have already begun. Italy has also been found complicit in our election […]
O’Loughlin: HB162 won’t help Montana’s lowest-income seniors
Nearly every session a bill comes before the Legislature seeking to further exempt Social Security income from Montana income tax, and every session the Montana Budget & Policy Center opposes. Why? Montana already exempts the majority of Social Security income from state tax, and our system largely mirrors the federal exemption structure. Today, for the […]
Gov. Greg Gianforte’s First ‘State of the State’ speech
Here is the full text of Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte’s first “State of the State” speech as prepared.
Fox: American Prairie and Phillips County find common ground
Last week, Phillips County officials unanimously voted to approve a new bison grazing and disease management agreement with American Prairie Reserve. This agreement resolves American Prairie’s long-standing variance request to the County’s Bison Grazing Ordinance. It is the hard-won result of constructive talks with our team, the Phillips County Conservation District, and livestock industry representatives. […]
Ehrlick: The fall of the committee of Usher
“We’re not going down the rabbit hole of racism, because there are immigrants from all over the world that are every color on earth, and we’re not doing racism in this hearing,” – Rep. Barry Usher, R-Billings, shutting down comments during a legislative hearing on sanctuary cities when someone referenced white supremacy. Barry Usher’s words […]
The time that media companies silenced a national figure… in 1938
In speeches filled with hatred and falsehoods, a public figure attacks his enemies and calls for marches on Washington. Then, after one particularly virulent address, private media companies close down his channels of communication, prompting consternation from his supporters and calls for a code of conduct to filter out violent rhetoric. Sound familiar? Well, this […]
Violent extremists stand with Donald Trump — as do many of my Marine buddies
We will remember the attacks of Jan. 6 with the same horror as we remember the terrorist attacks of 9/11. While there was far less loss of life at the U.S. Capitol, our loss of national dignity was far worse. We know President Trump incited and encouraged the mob that perpetrated the attack. During the […]
Daines’ high-stakes bet
Politicians, by nature, are calculators, oddsmakers, bettors, bookies. They bet on winning and losing all the time. Montana Sen. Steve Daines bet on President Donald J. Trump. But following the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Daines changed his wager. That day a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol, erected a gallows, killed a U.S. […]
Ehrlick: For people who love freedom, these lawmakers have a funny way of showing it
I need the lawmakers to make up their mind. And personally, I am rooting for them. Apparently, the government has more of an interest in my health than I thought, and I think it’s mighty big of them to want to take over. I am in my mid-40s, paunchy, and I’d really like someone else […]
A meteor, aliens or just a magnificent view?
CADOTTE PASS – This is big country up here on the Continental Divide, even bigger if you’re searching for the skid marks of an 1865 UFO. Whether or not James Lumley, “an old Rocky Mountain trapper,” was telling a tall tale when he got back to St. Louis, his story thrust this low crossing over […]
Transgender athletes: Let the kids play
Today, the Montana legislature heard two bills that affect transgender youth. One levies fines against physicians for providing medically appropriate care for transgender kids, even though we do so in accordance with best practice guidelines from our medical societies. Putting that aside for the moment, the other bill, known now as House Bill 112, or […]
Forest Service fails to consider the impacts of illegal motorized used
The Alliance for the Wild Rockies is challenging the Forest Service’s failure to analyze impacts to threatened grizzly bears from widespread illegal motorized use across Helena-Lewis & Clark National Forest, which stretches 2.8-million acres through central and north-central Montana. Illegal motorized use includes motorized use on “closed” roads by driving around gates or barriers or […]