A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.
Ideological cleansing in the Montana GOP. Montana Cowgirl has a transcript of a Republican meeting in Bozeman in which well known legislators expressed, in pithy language, unhappiness with some of their colleagues for their sometimes voting with Democrats in the 2015 legislative session. Reading it, I was reminded of this passage from Barry Goldwater’s acceptance speech at the 1964 Republican National Convention:
Anyone who joins us in all sincerity, we welcome. Those who do not care for our cause, we don’t expect to enter our ranks in any case. And let our Republicanism, so focused and so dedicated, not be made fuzzy and futile by unthinking and stupid labels.
I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.
They want a more tightly disciplined party. But if they take this crusade to excommunicate the heretics much further, they’ll end up an authoritarian cult.
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Does everyone hate the electric company? After posting my analysis of how Flathead Electric’s high base charge distorts the true cost per kilowatt hour, I received a note from a Republican legislator:
I’ve included a sample of what a base charge does to very low usage - we were away for the month [February]. This is Missoula Electric and their base charge has since increased to $26.
His true cost per kWhr was 17.9 cents. It would have been 16.4 cents had his utility been Flathead Electric.
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Vandalism by do-gooders. At Intelligent Discontent, Don Pogreba looks at the Montana Meth Project’s latest artwork and doesn’t like what he sees. Neither do I. And I especially don’t like this:
Despite this precipitous decline in revenue and significance, the Meth Project still saw fit to reward its executive director with a salary of $130,770, more than 53% of the program’s revenue.