Montana Cowgirl is operating at full throttle. Earlier this week came the story of Lord Gianforte attempting to keep the commoners off the king’s forest and now the news of his attempt to buy a large piece of public education real estate to go with his private Petra Academy.  Cowgirl’s story speaks for itself and the Regents should be sweating around the collar about now.

There’s a side story here. The Montana University System and the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education have a long history of selling off buildings, in a manner of speaking.  A few easy examples: Washington Grizzly Stadium at the University of Montana and the Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship at Montana State University.  Jake Jabs, now there’s a name.  In 2011 Jabs donated $25 million to MSU.  Two years later the Board of Regents moved through an agenda which included the name of the school and a building in response to his most generous donation.  That $25 million looks more like a purchase instead of a donation.

On its surface Jabs’ purchase appears to be out of benevolence. A few layers down, Jabs has an interesting perspective on business and in particular, organized labor.  Jabs essentially bank rolled a Colorado ballot initiative called Amendment 47 or more simply put, right-to-work.  In fact, a headline from The Colorado Statesman in 2008 reads ‘Jabs sheds camouflage, shows right-to-work stripes’.  Another article from the same year in the Denver Business Journal reads ‘Jabs touts right-to-work initiative’.  http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2008/10/06/daily19.html  Unfortunately, labor leaders got to the sitting Board of Regents too late with what should have been obvious information and construction was a sure thing.  Montana’s campuses are organized wall-to-wall and labor has a long history of working closely with MUS and OCHE to maintain harmony.  A building named after Jabs just doesn’t sit well.

Washington, Jabs, Gianforte. They all offer up, by Montana standards, substantial amounts of money to struggling campuses and the Regents who can’t seem to find a win to increase funding for public universities and colleges as each legislative session passes.  Despite a donor’s past record, personal beliefs, character, and now political aspirations, the Regents are more than happy to take those ‘donations’ in return for a new building with a name on it.  It could be to them, money is just green so they just take it and no one will remember in a few years anyway.  But history stands as anyone will see when they enter the campus of Montana Tech and are greeted by none other than Marcus Daly, Copper King.  Daly has a place at Tech.  Daly also has a place in politics, he bought and sold.  Jabs has his receipts.  Candidate Gianforte has his bid in for the pending sale.

TGTJ

‘Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s a part of.’

Why does Montana have low wages? It’s the price we pay to live and recreate here. Isn’t that what our parents always told us? Ask just about any native Montanan about their childhood and they’ll tell you stories of camping, fishing, hunting, hiking, rock hounding, exploring and just playing in the mountains of Montana. And where does all of that take place? Primarily on public lands. And how do Montanans get to that public land? Primarily through access routes and access sites. One such example is a fishing access site and one such site is on the East Gallitin River in Bozeman. And who is the not so good neighbor of that public access site? Gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte. That would be the same candidate who wants to ‘create jobs’ and bring Montanans back home to work. But clearly not to play.
Gianforte would have us believe this is all just a misunderstanding. He loves to have people park on his property and canoe down the river, even though in his complaint they were harming his property. The real story is that ‘Greg For Montana’ hired the now guilty Art Wittich to sue the very state Gianforte hopes to spend his hard earned money to become the CEO of. Talk about ‘tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are’. From the multiple stories floating around it sounds like there was a flurry of exchanges between Wittich and FWP back in 2010 (about the same time he was engaged in illegal campaign coordination), yet none of those exchanges have been made public. (No doubt the highly trained and bloodhound state bureau of Lee Enterprises will sniff out those emails in short order.)
Back to public lands. Gianforte has clearly aligned himself with key players involved in attempts to bring federal lands under control of the state land board and then with a slate of candidates who’s only mission in being elected is to gain control of the land board. In their minds, this will dawn a new day of land control for the purpose of economic development and resource extraction. Also read that to mean the sale and locking off of public lands.
Gianforte had to paths to follow on this access issue. Pay a friendly visit to FWP and talk through the issue and ask them to take a look to see how they might resolve in the best interest of all parties, to include recreationalists. Or hire an angry, anti-government attorney to sue the State of Montana and then let the case just drop and allow him to bring it to court another day, perhaps on a day in November when the votes are counted. Greg’s path is clear as the court records show. And as clear as his path was, his course for the future of Montana is also clear, public access will no longer be public and public lands will no longer be public.

TGTJ

‘Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s a part of.’

Have you ever seen the Class C high school running back stagger out on to the field to carry the ball one more time after he’s been hit in the head about five times too many for his, or anyone else’s good? Then you’ve seen Larry Jent enter yet another election cycle.  On the last day to file and almost at the last possible minute Larry dropped off his paper work and entered the Montana Attorney General’s race as though he had been planning it all along.

Jent is no stranger to state wide or national races. He’s also no stranger to the bleary eyed look of the regularly defeated.  Most recently he slogged through a gubernatorial primary against now Governor Steve Bullock.  To all who watched it take place it was not only embarrassing but downright uncomfortable to have to talk to Jent through his painfully short race.  It should also be noted that the Democratic Party that now appears to embrace him for entering the race all but shunned him at their 2012 nominating convention.  If you were fortunate enough to not have experienced the awkwardness of the day then you missed Jent barely being introduced in a room of mildly attentive delegates.  In contrast, a packed lunch and fiery introduction of Bullock by then Governor Brian Schweitzer.  The stage had been set and Larry was dealt yet another staggering blow.  Everyone knew it, except Larry.

Fast forward another four years to some of those same players who should now be enjoying whiskey in the glass and you’ll quickly put together who is embracing Jent for yet another run towards a line he can’t cross. You see, Larry just can’t win an election and should have stuck to, in his own words, being a simple country lawyer.  Well, a West Point graduate simple country lawyer.  Maybe the old guard players stood on the sidelines discussing how they’d have played the game and just couldn’t stomach what was taking place and, again, tapped Larry on the shoulder.  More likely, he was shoved on to the field.

Back before there was a race, and much to the disgust of the Democratic Party, organized labor came out early to endorse Attorney General Tim Fox. And to make matters worse, Fox is a republican.  Clearly, labor examined the race, examined the lack of energy by the democrats, examined the inability to recruit a reasonable candidate, examined Fox’s record as AG and examined Fox’s record with labor.  One plus one is two and the problem was solved. Word has it that Jent started sniffing around labor for a co-endorsement, rather, emissaries came on his behalf.  More likely, the ‘smarter than the rest of you’ players who taped Larry up again came of their own accord to plant the idea of an endorsement.  And for no other reason than the fact that Larry is a democrat who was a reasonable legislator.  True to his nature, Larry has been late off the snap for that process as well.  The current guard of labor surely won’t devalue themselves by marginalizing their process.

There are two great ironies in this play. First, by suiting Larry up yet again and letting him stumble out on to the field, Tim Fox has been given a spring board and an actual race.  Had he been left alone he would have run against no one, barely campaigned and been given no opportunity for a victory speech in November.  The field is now set for a 2020 Governor’s race by Fox and given his track record that may not be such a bad thing. The problem for democrats is that he’s got open field in front of him and the goal line is 2020.

The second and most disturbing irony has been in motion for some time and was last most evident as democrats waited with anticipation for a reluctant Steve Bullock to announce that he would run for governor in 2012. The problem?  Long game planning.  Former leaders who are now sitting back to enjoy that whiskey should have been identifying and developing leaders for the next race and the next generation of progressive believers.  When Pam Bucy ended up on the losing side of the scoreboard in 2012 the democratic party nodded off to sleep off the hangover of winning a US Senate seat and every state wide office, except one.  That nap lasted almost four full years.  No conversations, no identification, no encouraging and no preparing.  Unfortunately, this isn’t a symptom isolated to an attorney general’s race or Montana.  The current presidential race has left most recognizing that you can vote for the lesser of two evils, it’s still evil.  In fact, for both parties, it’s just the same tired players trotted out on to the field, again and again.

So don’t pity bruised and battered Larry Come Lately. He’s just trying to carry the ball and convince himself, and the party faithful, that he can cross the goal line.  But if you don’t want to see this game played out yet again it’s high time to get to work on the future and let the old whiskey drinkers enjoy their glory years together on the porch, as far away from the action as possible.

TGTJ

‘Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s a part of.’

What’s the difference between Greg Gianforte and Raleigh, North Carolina? About 2000 geographical miles.  Otherwise, and after what the North Carolina Legislature and Governor did this week, they are one in the same.

Earlier this week the North Carolina Legislative body ramrodded legislation through to Governor Pat McCrory’s desk for signature in a mere twelve hours. Normally common folks like us might applaud this kind of efficiency from a group of lawmakers and even encourage Congress to take note.  Unfortunately in this case the purposeful speed was intended to move quickly before public ire could be brought upon the North Carolina house of the people.  In essence, the law prohibits local governments from extending basic civil rights protections to gay and transgender people.  According to McCrory the law was needed to prevent a man from using a woman’s bathroom, shower or locker room as may be granted by a local ordinance.  After all, it is truly government’s job to “…stop the breach of basic privacy and etiquette.”  Never mind that this law is probably unconstitutional.

The upshot is that multiple organizations and large businesses are speaking out against this fast tracked legislation. The NBA is signaling that it may move the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte. And the NCAA, which is scheduled to hold a tournament in Charlotte in 2017 will ‘monitor’ the situation.  American Airlines issued a statement that such laws discriminate and go against their belief of equality and are bad for economies of states.

Travel back those 2000 miles and to the year 2014. The City of Bozeman, Montana was considering a non-discrimination ordinance in May of that year.  And who came out as the most notable opponent?  Current gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte.  In a May 12, 2014 Bozeman Daily Chronicle article Gianforte’s communication via email with the City Council expressing his concerns is cited and contained in its online version.  Gianforte is concerned that ‘Homosexual advocates try to argue that businesses are leery of locating in towns that aren’t friendly to homosexuals.  I believe the opposite is truer.’  Gianforte also believes the earth is only 6000 years old, that man and dinosaurs lived in harmony and that a biblical flood didn’t allow Noah to consider retirement.  He does put his money where is theological mouth is as the largest funder of the Montana Family Foundation (which Susan Gianforte chairs) and is linked to funding groups who praise attacks on homosexuals.  In his ever evasive style, Gianforte refuses to answer when asked his position on non-discrimination ordinances.

As a religious man, surely Gianforte is a fan of Jesus Christ. Now how would JC look at all this?  JC was a small businessman for a while when he worked as a carpenter.  Let’s say JC gets a call to build a bathroom and arrives at the worksite.  He knocks on the door, the customer answers and is transgender.  Does JC take two steps back and say “No can do!  You pose a threat to small businesses, privacy and etiquette.”?  Probably not.  JC, from all accounts was a kind person.  JC likely builds the bathroom, shares some bread and wine and moves on to the next job with the expectation that his kindness and humanity are spread to others by his last customer, transgender or not.

Montana is not North Carolina, nor should it ever become so.

TGTJ

Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s a part of.

VOTER BEWARE of this tweet from Greg Gianforte!    Why?  Because it’s corporate pandering of the worst kind and, quite frankly, a serious threat to the Montana that we all treasure.

The average Montana voter probably isn’t aware that the Board of Land Commissioners, more commonly referred to as “The Land Board,” is comprised of Montana’s top elected officials   or that Montana even has a land board.  The Land Board is ancillary to their official duties and requires no specific requirements other than being popularly elected but they are required to make informed decisions on land use, including: grazing and farm leases, timber harvests, leases for oil, gas and mining operations, easements for powerlines, roads and driveways, recreational use fees, cabin lease fees and land sales and exchanges.   They oversee the use of some 5.2 million acres of land that was passed on to the state by that big bad federal government in 1889 upon statehood.  By an act of Congress, any revenue generated by the leasing of this land is used to support public education.   

Now look back at that tweeted picture of ‘the new state land board (come 2017)…’ and take into consideration who they are and what they stand for.  Gianforte, Rosendale, Fox, Arntzen and Stapleton.  Two are out of state millionaires who have spent less than 20 years in Montana (one of whom apparently does more hunting of drones than birds); one is a born and raised Montanan; the other two are termed out legislators with dismal voting records who appear to be looking for a new place to land.   What they do represent is a group tied in with controversial land grabs by private entities and citizens across the USA.    Of course they all believe they can better manage not only the state lands under the care of the land board but what the hell, let’s take all that federal land too!   And while we’re at it, how about selling a few million acres here and there.  Locking up the king’s forest won’t be a problem since there’s a few thousand acres left for the common folk to use if they can afford a day off.

The agenda is not one of sustainable land use through careful approaches to resource extraction to minimize long term damage while maximizing financial gains.  The agenda is not one of sustainable jobs for workers and in turn generations of work for generations of Montanans; their goal is no different than that of the Copper Kings, lumber barons, or corporate agriculture; extract the treasures of Montana and turn it into a wasteland in the interest of corporate greed.  Those who toil on the land will not be left with a rocking chair on the porch from which to greet their grandchildren.  Instead both the land and the workers will be exploited and left with nothing in the end: no land to hunt, fish, camp and hike on let alone provide a decent paying job.

A picture is worth 1000 words; in this case it’s worth five:  if they win, Montanans lose.

TGTJ

‘Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s a part of.’

Stay tuned.