Tagged: John Adams

Posted: January 16, 2013 at 8:56 pm

Leaked Emails Show Civil War in Montana GOP

The big news today, if it is news at all, is that Republicans in Montana are at war with each other.

Some juicy emails [PDF] were published by the Great Falls Tribune Wednesday, showing the machinations of rightwing Republicans such as Jeff Essmann and Art Wittich as they try to vanquish the moderates, led by ousted Senate President Jim Peterson. Presumably, these missives were leaked by one of the moderate legislators in the scrum, who thought it would be good to publicize the schism.

There are some hilarious exchanges, and the article in the Trib, by John Adams, is required reading for anyone interested in Montana Politics. It’s fun to observe the various leaders, or aspiring leaders, openly agitating against the opponent faction.

But it is also quite disturbing. For the emails reveal that the objective of Tea Party Republicanism is to control all branches of Government, with absolute power, in its entirety. Here is an excerpt from a September 2012 e-mail by Essmann to his ultra-conservative cohorts (the subject line of the email is “Agenda Control”) about how a redistricting of legislative seats will make the ultimate goal achievable:

Jon Bennion was able to draw a map with 63 safe Republican seats. If we can implement the long term strategy we will be in a position to actually elect a majority of conservatives in both bodies, adopt conservative legislation and have a court that will uphold it.

And here is one from Art Wittich, describing efforts to get rid of moderates in GOP primaries:

We must help the purge along. Hopefully, a new phoenix will rise from the ashes.

Sadly, these writings and many of the other emails that were disclosed to the Tribune reveal an almost jihadist mentality at work. The right wing of the GOP views itself as an historic movement seeking a distant, ultimate triumph in which the opposition will be vanquished and the right-wing view of the world will be imposed, imposed upon all Montanans even if a majority of the voters don’t want it.

How can this type of thinking possibly be the basis for a successful political movement? It can’t, which is why Republicans are currently circling down the toilet nationally. America has a two-party system and regardless of what party you are in, to be taken seriously and help the greater good you must work with the opposition, and accept the fact that your opponents are not enemies, but simply a counterbalance representing the viewpoints of many.

Posted: January 13, 2013 at 8:53 pm

Baucus Speaks with Montana Press

Here is a rare live video interview with Sen. Max Baucus, recorded by John Adams of the Great Falls Tribune when the Senator was in town to speak to the Montana Legislature. Adams has the video up at The Lowdown. You don’t often see Baucus answer questions at length from reporters, so this video is worth watching.

Posted: October 12, 2011 at 6:01 pm

Real ID Redux: A Surprising Vote from Rehberg

The last time the Homeland Security Department tried to come into Montana and make a major power play to take away our rights in the name of protecting us, Congressman Rehberg was happy to oblige. He threw his full support behind the effort.

It was called the REAL ID Act, and was an act of Congress that would have required every American to carry a federal security card. The idea was that each state would convert its driver’s license into a super-charged, high-technology data storage device which would be tracked by a central system. That program was so unpopular that Schweitzer pretty much got re-elected running against it. In fact, shortly after Rehberg voted for it, a statewide outrage ensued and Rehberg had to publicly apologize for his vote. I seem to have a recollection of him sheepishly admitting that he hadn’t even understood what he was voting for.

But now he’s made it two in a row. Denny must have some kind of secret passion for the Department of Homeland Security (Perhaps he is angling for a job there, should the GOP take the White House).

It turns out that Rehberg recently voted to give the Director of Homeland Security full and complete control over all federal lands in Montana that are within a hundred miles of a border. Massive swaths of Montana are being handed over to the Department of Homeland Security.

Pogie has a couple of good posts on this bill: Dennis Rehberg Co-Sponsors Bill Endorsing Massive Federal Land Grab, Threatening Hunting and Fishing Access and Does Representative Rehberg Really Want a Safe Border? John Adams also wrote a piece about it that can be found on his blog, Montana Lowdown.

This is a strange way indeed for Rehberg to be voting. One would think, heading into an election year, that Rehberg would be rattling his sabre at Washington, DC, trumpeting states rights and blasting the federal government for being too intrusive, especially given his dark history of voting the wrong way when it comes to the Department of Homeland Security. But now he has voted again to deliberately hand over authority over Montana to the Federal homeland security department, to give the Director blank-check authority over massive sections of grazing lands, park lands and forests in Montana, with no check on the power.

Twice is not an accident. This man simply does not get it, and he needs to go.