Posted: July 27, 2010 at 7:53 pm
MT GOP’s latest “attack” is really defense for Rehberg in disguise (oh, and bereft of merit)
We know that Montana Republican Party Director Bowen Greenwood is a career political operative who rose up to be an acolyte of political failure Brad Johnson, one of a very few incumbents ever to be ousted rather than termed. We know that Greenwood, the candidate, couldn’t win his own Republican primary. We know that isn’t why he was hired.
When the higher-ups decided that a number of Republican staffers were not using their jobs to discredit Democrats and protect Republicans, it had them outed and replaced by men like Greenwood who were not so committed to higher ideals. Greenwood won his spurs with the party by manufacturing political attacks on Democrats, first for Brad Johnson and then for Republican legislators during the 2009 session and now for the party.
That’s part of why his recent cries of “sabotage” after a call to ask Rehberg the tough questions at a public listening session ring so hollow.
But there is something more important we must deconstruct here and that is legend of the so-called “listening” done by Dennis Rehberg. Just like one sees when Rehberg takes a vote, Rehberg’s faux town hall meetings, tweets, Facebook garbage, and this waste of our money is just Rehberg following the national Republican Party’s guide lines. He’s all for putting on the appearance of being part of a Democracy as part of a strategy to keep his power, but taking seriously input from his constituents? No. Not that translates into any evident action.
Yes, Rehberg is the master of the superfluous and spam-ish “online outreach” that conceals lack of concern for constituents’ needs and views and lack of action for Montana in the Congress. Those who sign up as Rehberg supporters get online push polls designed more to persuade readers that Rehberg is right than give them a say in his votes. Even if he did write the questions in an unbiased manner, they only go to his supporter list anyway so…what is the point?
Rehberg has stated publicly in Tea Party interviews that he uses automated “Robo-calls” to generate turnout at the listening sessions. Anyone know someone of the progressive persuasion who has ever gotten such a call?
Unfortunately, even those that get into the meetings and are allowed to ask important and tough questions may not get an answer from Rehberg. And even if Rehberg does answer, it’s likely that what Rehberg says won’t even make it into the news reports the next day.
That’s why I think this response from the GOP is completely out of touch. This is an obvious and clumsy attempt to protect their top elected official from tough questions like this from Montanans who want their only member of Congress to hear from a variety of viewpoints and to be held accountable for his votes and actions by those who elected him.
These citizens do their fellow Montanans a favor by passing on information about events at which Rehberg might appear. Mr. Rehberg is supposed to be working for us.
I enthusiastically answer every one of Rehberg’s online polls even as I know that no one is tabulating anything.
Maybe I can help you visualize: Imagine that the political spectrum is a twelve-inch ruler, representing right and left, even though that framework is deeply flawed. Where do American Democrats and Republicans fit?
Go to the right. Waaay to the right, out to nine inches or so. Put the Democrats at eight inches, and the Republicans at nine. Then realize that everything between 8-1/4 and 8/3/4 is overlap – positions that members of either party advocate.
Therein lies American media, debate, campaigns, insight … all of it. I read letters to the editor, and notice that if someone says something about a Republican, it is balanced if someone says something about a Democrat. If only …
Wait, you are not suggesting that your enthusiastic answers might be a form of “sabotage.” These folks are really, really touchy about this kind of thing. Beware.
Also, I prefer to think of the American political system as a giant hula hoop. There are some issues where moderates of both persuasions agree and places where the less mainstream views of each party meet.
I like it! Accountant’s are linear thinkers. That’s me.
It’s surprisingly hard to find a succinct objective biography of Rehberg. Everything about the man seems to be spin.
For example, Is he really a rancher? Did he, or his family, raise goats? Did he inherit his ranch? Did he eventually give up ranching to go into real estate development?
Is his a rags-to-riches story? Or is it the story of someone who inherited money and used it to make more money?
Turner, I think you are on to something. It would be very interesting to have a true sense of his background. Do you think that perhaps because he has been a politician for his entire adult life that the spin because the dominant information on his background?
As I see it, this man: Inherited 50 million or some dollars from mom and dad, became a career politician, handed over the family ranch to a real estate developer, got so much money and power he stopped caring what he did.
I was reminded by Dave Rye when I mentioned his inheritance that his Dad is still alive. So Denny has a deep conflict of interest in the Estate Tax debate, as his Dad’s estate when it becomes so will be one of the few in Montana to would actually pay that tax.
And, truth be told, if the old man dies in 2010, it’s a windfall for Denny.
Oh, and before I forget, as far as I know, Denny has never held a private sector job, nor need the income from one, nor seen the business end of a shovel.
But posturing is essential in politics, and they all do it, so don’t focus just on the R’s.
Ok Denny Rehberg I must say does a great job of communicating or atleast is doing that this year, cause I would say I have atleast 50 emails from him in my inbox. Second he does a good job of visting the smaller communities of Eastern Montana I know he holds town hall meetings in everyone but I can say the same thing about Governor Schwitzer, plus I can say this that Tester has an excellent superb staff in Glendive and Baucus has a staff as well there. And Rehberg with the cowboy hat and talking like a rancher does resinate with Eastern Montana folks. Now whats not going to resinate with Eastern Montana folks at least from my perspctive is 1. having a chief of staff up on poaching charges and having left an elk to rot after he shot it, now if he would have poached the elk and kept the meat thats another story and maybe I’d have some sypothey. Next is sueing the firefighters in Billings now out here we have mostly volunteer fire departments and they put out a lot of grass fires and there are usually atleast 2 or 3 grass fires a year in my county and never in the 28 almost 29 years Ive been alive in this county has our fire department gotten sued in fact they get beer and dinners and thank you cards and letters, and the grass grows back the next spring so give me a break. Now this Bowen Greenwood fellow he seems to me to be a snake something slimy that I’d want to stay away from.
When Rehberg visited our town he made the statement that he was, “a goat farmer”. He also said he was probably the only ,”goat farmer’, in Congress. Now I don’t know if this is true or do I care, but at least at that time he did have a profession. I never had a chance to ask how many goats he had, or where this goat farm was, or if he hearded the goats, or if he made money as a goat farmer. But evidently he does since as I understand he is the 7th riches person in Congress. Guess there must be gold in then thar goats..