If you listen close you can hear Senator Dee Brown’s nails on a chalkboard voice cackling about the spending of tax payer dollars.  Well, except in this case since her fellow teacher, Elsie, is spending those dollars.  So just what does $3000 buy Arntzen anyway?

Last week the Lee papers ran a story about the cost of the ‘investigation’ with their usual repetition of details.  But it does raise a few questions. Why does Arntzen need to hire a human resources consultant to review policies and procedures if OPI already has a human resources manager on staff?  And, if the OPI has access to additional human resource support through the Department of Administration why is she paying an outside firm to do the same work she could get for free from DOA?  Questions that wouldn’t need to be asked in any other scenario since it would be logical to use the knowledge of in-house resources.

Jim Kerins’ and CMS have made a living off state government dating back some twenty years now and certainly far more than a measly $3000 dollars.  Having said that, it’s rather strange that CMS would take on this project.  It’s short term, cheap and in one sense, risky.  Kerins’ has managed to thread the political needle for quite some time by taking on projects with the state that don’t result in any kind of political agenda. Until now.  This time his work will either support the allegations of an OPI leader who clearly has a political agenda or find a few misfiled documents.  A failed witch hunt.

Arntzen ran for office on what she portrayed as the sins of past Democratic leadership.  Unfortunately, when she finally walked into the buildings that house OPI for the first time she found no smoking guns or dead rats.  Instead she discovered an underfunded facility and underpaid staff.  Bear in mind, she has some responsibility in that given her voting record and lack of support for both public education and government agencies, to include OPI.

So Kerins’ has taken on a $3000 project that’s set to end next week on the 28th.  We’re all on the edge of our seats wondering what his investigation/review will reveal.  And at this point, Kerins’ is going to have to find something to feed Elsie.  She’s made a spectacle herself and continued missteps are something $3000 won’t cover up.  One thing Kerins’ should remember when he hands Arntzen that smoking gun, his fingerprints will be on it too.

TGTJ

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

 

Yesterday Superintendent Elsie Arntzen  invited the U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos to visit Montana.  Nothing surprising here and nothing new at all.  To Arntzen’s credit it’s something she should be doing.  It’s good for Elsie to take a step with the right foot for once given the past couple of weeks she’s had, even though she’s only been in office a few weeks.  So why would this rise to the level of yet another post?  Click the link, read it, read it twice.  It’ll take a couple of times to sift through the poor writing.

Of its several oddities is her reference to Montana as a ‘frontier’ state and having ‘frontier schools’.  Do you suppose she’s referencing some old map that shows the region as a frontier or is Elsie trying to lure DeVos out on a long train ride and then a stagecoach trip from Havre to Helena?  Perhaps DeVos will have the good fortune to shoot a few buffalo from the window of the train as it passes a grazing heard.  Or it could be that Arntzen is just trying to personify a mystique from days of old now that Montana has finally broken into the current century with indoor plumbing, electricity, cable TV, and grizzly bear free schools!

So really, Arntzen deserves a gold star for getting her letter out.  She wants to showcase her office and Montana’s ‘frontier’ schools.  Now comes the oddity from yet another email tip.

Tim Tharp, Interim Deputy Superintendent sent out an email to all staff at OPI letting them know he’d be visiting with them soon to understand how they ‘contribute’ to OPI.  Had the transition gone more smoothly over the last month this would seem like a reasonable gesture.  In reality the new administration has no clue about the day to day functions of OPI and now they need to find out just what they are doing.  Tharp intends to ask five simple questions and get to know each OPI employee in just five minutes; sort of like six minute abs.  One can only imagine the questions:  ‘What is your quest?’ ‘What is the wind velocity of an African Swallow?’ ‘If you were a tree, what kind of a tree would you be?’ ‘Hammer or nail?’ ‘X-ray vision or gills?’. How does Arntzen plan to bring Devos up to speed about education in Montana when she truly doesn’t know?  Perhaps that’s really a rhetorical question since it insinuates that DeVos knows something about education as well.  Maybe together using DeVos’ twitter pencil they can figure out the three “R’s” of education.

Fun Family Feud question:  What do Arntzen and DeVos have in common?  Survey says…A vote from Steve Daines!

TGTJ

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

 

First it was an investigation, then it wasn’t, now it is?  This afternoon’s email brought a tip showing that Jim Kerins and CMS have ineed been retained by Elsie Arntzen regarding student proficiency reporting.  Kerins began contacting OPI staff via email yesterday morning to introduce himself as a ‘Human Resources Consultant’ and explain the general objectives of his ‘investigation’.

Are you confused as to what a Human Resources company knows about student proficiency?  You should be.  Maybe Elsie knows something about them that the rest of us don’t. Nothing to worry about here for the OPI staff though, Kerins assures anonymity through a very complex numbering system based on personal recordings in his office or if they so choose, the Principal’s office.   And then there’s Kerins potential methods of information extraction: the rack, the iron maiden, hot coals, read one of Elsie’s speeches?

In the words of Paul Harvey, ‘Stand by for news’….

TGTJ

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

 

 

 

Representative Kirk Wagoner has either found a conscience or is carrying on the work that Greg Gianforte proposed when he announced he’d create an office of ‘Government Accountability’.  Two of Wagoner’s seven bills this session are written to increase protections for state employees, also known as ‘whistleblower’ bills.  Seems reasonable until you take a look at his record and then the idea that there’s probably an agenda behind the two bills.

Wagoner earned an unimpressive 14% from the Montana AFL-CIO for the 2015 session.  To earn a 14% he only had to vote ‘Right’ on two bills which really doesn’t point anyone in the direction of a pro-worker representative.   For example, Wagoner voted ‘Wrong’ by voting AGAINST the state employee pay plan when the House held a blast vote to bring it out of committee.  Just twenty minutes later he voted ‘Wrong’ again when he voted FOR Representative Art Wittich’s Right to Work bill in a second House blast vote.  Hardly the indicators of a legislator who’s chief concern is the welfare of the many state employees in his district.

House Bills 202 and 208 provide for protections for state employees who believe they are on to corruption they’ve uncovered in the work place.  By no means is this meant to insinuate that it doesn’t happen.  The problem is that Wagoner was only able to produce one, yes one, former state employee who may, or may not have, lost their job after having ‘blown the whistle’.  Exhibit A,  Carol Bondy ,is currently exercising her right to challenge her firing which she believes took place with out cause.  Bondy also referenced a subordinate who was terminated but is represented by a union and filed a grievance.  It’s important to point out that Wagoner mentioned that employees represented by a union have these protections already but that a small percentage of state employees belong to a union.  No doubt the unions view their over 60% state employee membership as small considering they would much rather be representing 90%.

Of course there’s more to a story like this so here are some dots to try to connect.

Bondy may or may not have passed information on to Representative Tom Bernett and others around the time of the Medicade expansion efforts in the 2105 session.

Tom Bernett was the subject of a 2012 campaign complaint alleging he had illegally coordinated with American Traditions Partnership.

Bondy is being represented by James Brown. James Brown represented American Traditions Partnership in 2012.

The activities of American Traditions Partnership in 2012 were the basis of SB 289 to reform Montana’s campaign finance laws.  Wagoner, of course,  voted against that bill.

Or maybe none of those dots connect and it’s all just coincidence.

Wagoner’s sudden concern for state employees is a complete departure from his past record and alliances.  It’s unfortunate that a handful of Democrats have been duped into believing his efforts are sincere when in reality this is nothing more than a shot at the Governor and his administration.  It would seem high time for the D’s in the House and Senate to circle the wagons and protect their own.

Finally, there’s an oddity here.  During the 2015 session Wagoner championed gun silencer bills.  In 2017 he’s carrying whistleblower bills.  Can’t wait to see his 2019 theme, if we are all so lucky to be graced once more with his presence.

TGTJ

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

 

There is a knight errant who stalks the halls of the 65^th Legislative Assembly wielding a handful of bills that legislative pundits have labeled dead on arrival.  Four of her bills have already been tabled in committee lending credence to the claims made by the doubters of Representative Mary Ann Dunwell (HD 84).  In the vaunted chambers of the “Peoples’ House,” it does not take long to get the impression that Representative Dunwell is the Doña Quixote of the legislature tilting at windmills others give a wide birth: HB 215 revise oil and gas tax laws – tabled in committee; HB 169 raise the minimum wage in Montana – tabled in committee; HB 275 expanded safety standards for workplace health and safety for public employees – tabled in committee; HB 210 revise liquor laws clarifying distance requirements with respect to schools – tabled in committee.  And then there were two.

Doña Quixote has not given up on her last two bills. HB 309 revises housing laws for disabled and criminally convicted individuals.  Doesn’t sound like a real barn burner for the Republican majority but I’m sure the left of left, you know those who helped shut down the Montana Development Center in Boulder last session, love it and it does sound noble.  But let’s be honest it is the proverbial snowball pitched into the realm of the original Great Satan.  And then there was one.

HB 341 has all the earmarks of a special interest bill considering the Doña Dunwell is a state employee.  As such, revising the travel expenses and per diem for state employees seems somewhat self-serving, but let’s peel that back a bit like an onion.  The current rate for in-state and out-of-state travel were set by HB 74 carried by Representative Gay Ann Masolo in 1997. 1997!   Five bucks for breakfast six for lunch and twelve for dinner and if you go beyond the borders of Montana hang onto your hat…eleven for breakfast twelve for lunch and a whopping twenty-three for dinner.  BRING ON THE FEAST!  Are your eyes watering yet?  And then there were none.

Let’s not be too hasty about brushing aside our Doña Quixote. Representative Dunwell might seem a bit naïve bringing bills of this stripe to the legislature especially when her party is the minority, but neither does she deserve derision from those in both parties, but what is particularly galling is snickering from the House of Labor who seemed to have forgotten what it’s like to rise up “in dubious battle.”  Oh don’t get me wrong they haven’t lost the ability to act the martyr but over the last four decades they have forgotten that martyrs suffer in their dying for the cause.  I can already hear the howls from The Gibraltar, “get thee behind me you collective bargaining denier!”   In the meantime, Representative Dunwell, Doña Quixote, fights the fight against incredible odds, aware or not, that the jaded on both sides of the aisle silently curse themselves for their lack of courage in dubious battle.

T-Bone Slim – “Wherever you find injustice, the proper form of politeness is attack.”

The first month of Superintendent Of Public Instruction Arntzen has been odd and disappointing, to say the least.  But really, if you know and pay attention to who Elsie is, did you expect anything less?

The office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction touches literally hundreds of thousands of lives in Montana: students, teachers, administrators, parents, custodians, tax payers, advocates, lunch room ladies, grandparents and school secretaries to name a few.  You would think that anyone interested in the job would have both the concern and character for the job.  Then you would need to take a closer look at Elsie Arntzen to find the truth: she’s not fit for the job on either of those levels. A voting record speaks volumes and former Representative, and now, Superintendent Arntzen has volumes of votes.  Beyond the typical educational policy advocacy groups such as MEA-MFT who have made no bones about publishing that deplorable record, the Billings Gazette  clearly pointed out that Arntzen has already had the opportunity to positively affect public education when they endorsed Melissa Romano.  Those are undeniable facts.

During the 2007 legislative session, Arntzen found herself splashed across the daily papers in Montana after having been a passenger with then Representative Scott Baggio when he was arrested for driving under the influence.  Two ironies played out in this arrest: the pure and pious Elsie was a member of the Yellowstone County DUI Taskforce and Baggio was driving a vehicle owned by Harry Klock, a former bar owner.  Both Arntzen and Klock claimed to have no idea that Boggio was ready to blow a whopping .14 into the breathalyzer.  Understandable, it’s tough to recognize a drunk driver when you’re probably drunk yourself.  Again, all tangible facts. 

Now for the less ‘tangibles’.  Within days of the embarrassing arrest which left the then would be OPI chief guilty by association, her mother showed up in Helena and stayed for the rest of the legislative session.  Momma’s entrance on the stage of debauchery was the end of baby girls’ nights out with her new found friend Boggio. It was rumored and hushly spoken in the Capital halls that the kindred republicans had a bit more at play than bumping up on a curb within eyesight of the Helena Police.  Arntzen managed to stay out of trouble for the rest of that session and her mother kept a tight grip. 

The 2009 legislative session brought a new Red Lodge legislator who didn’t favor Arntzen’s type so all was safe.  It was confusing then to see Arntzen’s husband show up each Friday and escort the apparently ‘fallen flower’ off the house floor and whisk her away for the weekend and avoid any flashing lights.  Rumors never cease though.  Uncomfortable exchanges continued and those who found themselves to be the object of Arntzen’s attention passed along stories of hugs from Arntzen that lasted just a little too long and eye contact that made them want to run home and shower with a fresh bar of LAVA.  People don’t always see things as they may be, it’s entirely possible Arntzen is just a nice, loving and caring school teacher.  Then again….

TGTJ

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

 

North America’s Building Trades Unions met with President Donald J. Trump the other day and the Union Bosses came away from the experience feeling the love.  That same day President Trump signed an executive order putting the final nail in the coffin of the Trans Pacific Partnership to the delight of union leaders across the country.  Trump promised that together they were going to put a lot of people back to work.  He followed that up a day later with executive actions to resuscitate the Keystone XL Pipeline and Dakota Access Pipeline.  Could it be the “Great Satan” rank and file union members were warned about is actually a New Deal Rooseveltian in Republican clothing?  But wait!

Let’s not forget that he also issued an order for a broad hiring freeze on all federal government jobs.  Trump called it a stopgap measure to control the growth of government until his budget director can come up with a plan to reduce the federal workforce.  This drew a swift criticism from the American Federation of Government Employees as well as AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.  He extends an open hand to one part of the house of labor and a closed fist to the other.  Let’s not forget that union density in the United States is greatest in the public sector or that just about every private sector union has bargaining units in the public sector.

In the meantime, we have a Republican congress that has already lined up to shut down a major part of the Democratic Party’s war chest.  Even though President Trump gets to chose a Supreme Court nominee, his pick has to get the nod from Congress.  Let’s not forget that not too long ago public sector unions dodged a bullet with the untimely death of Justice Antonin Scalia and the resulting 4-4 split on Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association.  The next SCOTUS case against public employee unions and charging fair share is already in the queue just waiting a ninth justice to break the tie.  If you think that ain’t gonna happen then you better turn in your medical marijuana card.

Now this reads a lot like an us versus them in the labor movement, divide and conquer, but yet private and public sector unions understand they need one another to survive or if they don’t then they should read some recent history about what happened in Wisconsin.  Getting “Walkered” by the right seems like a given in this political environment.  Before the Trades get twitter-pated with the new administration they need to remember the old fable about the scorpion and the frog…the scorpion just couldn’t help it because it was in his nature.

T-Bone Slim – “Wherever you find injustice, the proper form of politeness is attack.”

 

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionsists, and I did not speak out-

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me- there was no one left to speak for me

Martin Niemoller

Few would need to Google the passage to understand its meaning or its origin.  But just in case, and to save you the time, it was written by a Nazi concentration camp survivor who initially supported Adolf Hitler’s ascent to power.  Niemoller realized his mistake when Hitler placed nationalism and the state above all else, including faith.  He was arrested for forming a group of clergyman who opposed the new leader and spent eight years in two different camps.  Niemoller chose to rise and resist.  And it was too late.

On January 21, 2017 millions of the world’s people chose to rise and resist.  Millions felt these words whether they knew them or not and millions took to the streets in peace.  America has a new president who has chosen his own message and delivery through a controlled press, selected journalists, hired audience, shut down phone lines and contact with the White House and now ‘alternative facts’.  We are at the edge of what Niemoller saw in 1937.  Maybe it seems extreme to compare the current mental, emotional, political, and economic state of the US to a 1937 Germany.  After all, we are not suffering massive inflation and unemployment rates over 20 percent.  Or maybe in terms of the propaganda

 

machine, we are in the same place as a German nation on January 30, 1933, and have been for the last ten years.  Maybe if there were millions who marched, millions who were not drawn in by the awe of nationalism, promises of a world power revived, blind obedience to a ruling party who ministered by threats which later grew to become violence and murder, millions would have lived.  What if they had chose to rise and resist instead?

History is written with the bones of passive fear,  intimidation and in the end attempts of wholesale genocide.  The Turks, Nazis, Russians, Khmers Rouge.  Central America, Rwanda, Bosnia, Iraq, Middle East, African Continent.  We here in the US should not be so quick to presume innocence from any acts of genocide, bear in mind our own march across the continent and the native peoples who stood in the way of westward expansion.  But what if millions had risen and resisted rather than stood by consoling themselves behind closed doors because they were not a Socialist, a Trade Unionist or a Jew?

Millions should be listening to the messages of nationalism, paying attention to the divide and conquer tactics of a new administration and prepare to rise and resist.  Millions should be dispelling the lies, the alternate facts and pushing back against the growing deceptions.  Millions should continue on with what was started last Saturday and never let up again, because we shouldn’t ever be in this place again.   Some two days since the Women’s March, Trump is set to give the green light to Dakota Access and the Keystone pipeline.  Camps of resistance stand in the way.  Will millions form a human shield?  Millions should…but will they?

 

A more timely thought: ‘When they kick at your front door, How you gonna come?’ (The Clash)  Or will you stand alone at your door because you were not a Socialist, or a Trade Unionist, or  Jew?

TGTJ

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

 

 

Across the nation millions are on the move with dignity and grace.  Montana, once again, showed its greatness with some 10,000 women, children, men and dogs converging peacefully on the grounds of the Montana State Capitol.  There was no vandalism, no rioting, no blindside punches and no calls to violence.  Only calls to resist, organize, agitate and remain vigilant.

It was truly a beautiful sight to behold; women of all ages, children dressed for a day in the cold and snow, men in proud support, tribal members in full regalia, LGBT, all races, veterans, Labs, German Sheperds and mutts.  A sea of pink hats, signs, mittens snow pants and rosy cheeks.  What was missing?  Counter protestors, subversive instigators and agitators.  A true peaceful event in the spirt of the first amendment of United States Constitution.  Be proud Montana, this is who you are and who you have always been.

To the organizers, drivers, set up crew, clean up crew, sponsors and anyone else who put this march together here in Montana and across the nation, and most importantly to those who showed up, a most heartfelt and tearful thank you.  You have brought inspiration and renewed spirit.

Today must mark a crossing of the line of no return and we must all put our shoulders to the cause.  Today ‘The Donald’ and his followers must feel the fear of a disturbance in the force.

TGTJ

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

 

An Oath.  January 20, 2009. There were tears of joy and speechless smiles that expressed the hope of the day and of the future. January 20, 2017. There will be tears of joy and speechless smiles that express the hope of the day and the future.  America has turned on its axis.  Eight years ago half the nation stared blankly at the other half in disbelief that it was actually happening.  Today, half the nation stares blankly at the other half in disbelief that this is actually happening.  Astonishing but true.  Donald Trump is to be sworn in as the President of the United States of America.  No amount of consternation over his conflicts of interests, lack of tax returns, tweets or tiny roaming hands will stop it.  He will need to self destruct on his own and one half will need to wait and regroup.  We have elected a narcissistic megalomaniac such as the world has not seen in more than half a century.  Whether any of us want to admit it or not, Trump was elected by ‘our’ hand and will only fall when ‘we’ come to terms with our own faults and inactions.  It is a herculean task, however, and as half the nation proved, it can be done.

‘Don’t waste time mourning, 0rganize!’  Joe Hill

A Ball.  Meanwhile, closer to home, Governor Bullock has already taken the oath and there is to be a celebratory ball.  An second term inaugural ball.  A quick look at the score card, again.  Montana voters cast their ballots for Trump (R), Zinke (R), Bullock (D), Fox (R), Arntzen (R), Rosendale (R), Stapleton (R), Montana Senate 32/50 (R), Montana House 59/100 (R). The only victory belongs to Bullock.  Yet we should celebrate.  If we can buy ball tickets we have money we didn’t give to Jenuea, if we can buy a ball gown we have money we didn’t give Romano, if we can donate to a ball we have money we didn’t give Laslovich.  If any of that is the case, then the defeat hangs around our neck as much as it does the party that abandoned them.  A gala ball.  An analogy.  When the British evacuated at Dunkirk they did not celebrate.  They gave thanks at having escaped, healed, took assessment of what was left, developed alliances, consolidated resources, grew stronger and defended themselves from the threat above. They, along with their allies, quietly and deliberately prepared to deliver a devastating blow.  Democrats should be quietly giving thanks for what they did salvage in this election and put the money away for 2018.

‘We must be very careful not to assign deliverance the attributes of victory.’  Winston Churchill

Some Shame.  Like Hillary Clinton, the Executive Director of the Democratic Party disappeared after the election and has made rare appearances since.  A few of those fleeting glimpses are canned video clips made from her office at party headquarters.  In the true spirit of her catholic school upbringing, Keenan delivers a healthy dose of old school shame to you and anyone else watching.  ‘Is this what you voted for?’ Now don’t you just feel awful about what you’ve done?  Well you should.  Now she should ask ‘and how many of you have I converted and brought back into the democratic fold?’  The likely answer, none.  Much like her strategy through the election, this won’t work and will only further alienate a disenfranchised base.  After all, and like it or not, this is what the majority voted for.  It’s high time the ‘principals’ of the party take a look at that threat from above, the resources they have left and prepare for tomorrow.  That tomorrow will take new and bold leadership that is willing to listen to the base with an open mind and the idea that a lesson is to be learned which will allow the results to change.  Keenan isn’t watching, Keenan isn’t listening, Keenan is only talking.

‘Where there is no vision, there is no hope.’  George Washington Carver

TGTJ

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