Re-opening Pragmatic Revolt

I have kept the option of re-opening Pragmatic Revolt open and have been considering it for a while now. Since I am re-doing my websites (both Moorcat.com and Apache Gun and Blades), I have decided to make some changes here as well. I want to keep this site focused on my crafting, knifemaking, gunsmithing and Montana Life so I am re-opening Pragmatic Revolt for all topics relating to Politics (with the exception of gun/knife politics). I will add a link to Pragmatic Revolt when I it is back up and ready for prime time.

I hope that you will continue reading Montana Bullets and Blades as I will be covering many topics here that you won’t see elsewhere. I also hope that you will spend at least some time viewing Pragmatic Revolt, even if you do not agree with my political views. It takes people of all political spectrums to make our country run and each of us has a part to play in the politics that shape our world.

Moorcat

Mayor Election Heats up in Dillon

Mail in ballots for Dillon’s General Election began arriving last weekend and the race to see who will be Dillon’s next Mayor has really heated up with some real surprizes.

Primary Race -

Five people threw thier hats into the ring for Dillon Mayor - the current Mayor, Marty Malesich, the current City Council President, Tom Straugh, Formor City Councilman, Mike Klakken, Lynn Giles and Paul Pilgram. To no great surprise, Malesich won the primary election with 312 votes and Tom Straugh secured the other spot on the General Ticket with 254 votes. Mike Klakken took third with 238 votes, Lynn Giles recieved 210 votes and Paul Pilgram received 157 votes. What should be pointed out about the results, though, is that Tom Straugh, Mike Klakken, Lynn Giles and Paul Pilgram all ran campaigns to “change the way business is done in Dillon” - in short, claiming that Malesich does not conduct city business well. Looking at it that way, it appears that a vast majority of Dillon Citizens want a change in city administration. Further, it should also be pointed out that Klakken and Straugh were only seperated by 16 votes. It looked grim for Mayor Malesich after the primary votes were announced.

Klakken Re-enters the race as a Write-in Candidate -

The landscape for mayor changed radically shortly before the General Ballots were sent out. Mike Klakken re-entered the Mayor’s race as a write-in candidate. In a three-way race (Malesich, Straugh, and Klakken), the sitting mayor’s loyal minority will have more effect than in a two way race between Straugh and Malesich. More importantly, many still feel that Straugh is simply a “lighter” version of Malesich and his “change of heart” over the last six months is nothing more than an act to seperate him and Malesich in the eyes of the voters. The key to the race will come down to who pulls the votes that originally went to Lynn Giles and Paul Pilgram.

Predictions and Analysis -

In my opinion, Straugh lost the race the minute Klakken filed as a write-in candidate. The people who voted for Lynn Giles in particular and Paul Pilgram to a lesser extent are far more likely to vote for Klakken than for Straugh. Further, both Lynn Giles and Paul Pilgram have written letters endorcing Mike Klakken for Mayor.

The question, at this point, is whether Klakken will get enough votes to overcome the Malesich loyal minority. The votes are certainly out there. If Klakken receives his original 238 votes, and 2/3rds of the votes originally given to Giles and Pilgram (another 242) he will overcome the 350 - 400 votes Malesich is likely to recieve. Futher, he will easily overcome the 300 votes Straugh is likely to recieve. On the other hand, if he and Straugh split those votes evenly, it will be a much closer race with anyone’s guess who the winner will be.

A rumor circulated earlier on this month that Malesich was going to conceed from the race once the ballots were set out. Had he done that (and endorced Straugh to his loyal minority), the race would have been effectively over - Straugh would have won by a comfortable majority. I did not really believe these rumors when they surfaced and see no indication of Malesich bowing out now. Further, with an apparent ego that doesn’t fit inside City Hall and every chance that he may once again squeek out a victory, I personally can’t see Malesich conceeding. He is spending a lot of money on advertising as well (full page adds in the Dillonite Daily, etc) and I do not believe that he would spend that money if he was not going to finish the race.

Straugh’s despiration is also showing. Recently he put an add in the Dillonite Daily claiming that he had been endorced by Paul Pilgram (as well as a number of other people). That was obviously an outright lie as Paul Pilgram has sent a written letter of endorcement to Mike Klakken. Lynn Giles has also endorced Mike Klakken and both letters of endorcement have been published multiple times in the Dillonite Daily.

I believe the results of the election will be close between Mike Klakken and Malesich. I think that Mike will get the needed 2/3 rds of the Giles/Pilgram votes and win the election. I also believe that Straugh will come in a dismal third in that race.

Endorcement -

I can’t and won’t tell anyone how to vote. What I will do, is tell you how I voted and more importantly, why.

I voted for Mike Klakken and wholeheartedly endorce him. While he is not as elequent a speaker as Straugh, he has proven time and time again that he serves the Citizens of Dillon. He has always been fiscally responcible and has stated many times that annexation should only be done when it is beneficial to both the City and the property being annexed. He has spoken out against the questionable practices of our current City Administration and worked diligently to involve the Citizens of Dillon in the decision making and planning process of City Government. He has called for transparency in both City Dealings and City Documents and been snubbed publically by both Malesich and Straugh for doing so.

My opinion of Malesich is well documented on both this blog and my former blog, Pragmatic Revolt. I would not vote for him if he was running unopposed.

In the two years that I was actively following the City Council, with the exception of Lynn Westad, Straugh was the most supportive individual in City Government for Malesich. Much of the questionable things Malesich did during that two year period could not have been accomplished without Straugh’s backing. Straugh voted for limiting public participation in City Government, he voted to move public comment to the end of City Council meetings and he supported the many times Malesich refused to provide public communications to the City Council.

All of a sudden (after announcing his candidacy for Mayor), Straugh has a “change of heart”. He is suddenly concerned about Malesich’s practices and makes flowery speeches about how the City Council should question Malesich’s agenda (though his voting record still supported the Malesich agenda…). He sent a letter to a select percentage of people that signed the Recall petition agaisnt Malesich basically throwing Malesich under the bus. He starts writing a weekly column in the Dillonite Daily (in my opinion he spends more time tooting his own horn in that column than he does actually providing information to the citizens).

I see Tom as the consumate politician. He recognised that the majority of people in town are unhappy with Malesich and even though he has advocated the same policies Malesich has, he is slicker than Marty. He turns on an easy smile, tells people what he thinks they want to hear and asks for thier vote. Unfortunately for him, a lot of people aren’t buying it - the primary vote proves that.

In short, I support Klakken for his honesty and integrity. He isn’t as well spoken as Tom, but he believes in what he is saying and is willing to work with the citizens of Dillon in a partnership. In my opinion, Tom will rule, Klakken with represent. There is a big difference.

Moorcat

Busy and new member of family

I have been insanely busy trying to get things done before fall sets in. So far, I have completed the project with our front median, started replacing the concrete sidewalks where they have disintegrated, replaced the steps for our side deck and repainted most of that deck, as well as other, less involved projects - just in time to start harvesting our garden and herbs. It has been a very busy summer. We have also welcomed a new member into our family - a cute, ragdoll calico kitten named Anck-Sunamun (Suni for short).

Front Median -

Out in front of our house, we have a 6′ median seperating our sidewalk from the road. When we moved in, this median was covered in rock but the weedstop below the rock was poorly put in and weedstop itself was breaking down. This median has been nothing but problems for us since we moved in - rock continually being knocked down onto the sidewalk, weeds (many noxious) growing unchecked in the rock, people slipping in the loose rock because of the incline of the median etc. Further, when I had to replace the street side shutoff valve to the house last year (buried 6′ beneath the median) it was a nightmare trying to remove the rock, dig to the valve and then fill the hole back in. I decided this year that the rock had to go.

the rock in front of our neighbor's yard - our weeds were worse because of the grain trucks that pass our house

the rock in front of our neighbor

 

First I removed the rock out front. This included a good deal of dirt as well just to get rid of the worst of the weeds. I then dug up the median with a shovel to a depth of 10″ and rototilled the broken up soil to finish removing the rocks and prepare to put down grass. After flattening the soil back out, and leveling it between the concrete sides with a homemade scraper, I planted a fast growing northern grass mix.

Inside of a week, we had grass coming up and now, two to three weeks later, we have a decent bed of grass. I still have to overseed the area again to hit the spots I missed, but the front is looking much better and it will be far easier to maintain than the rock was.

new grass growing

new grass growing

 

Now I just have to figure out what to do with all the loose rock and soil I pulled out.

rock and dirt that still have to find a new home

rock and dirt that still have to find a new home

 

Sidewalk repair -

Again, when we moved in, the sidewalk leading to the apartment downstairs was crumbling badly. Each year, this has gotten worse and it has spread to a few other sections of concrete. This year, it was time to do something about it. First, I had to dig out and breakup the bad sections of concrete. When I did this, it became apparent what the problem was - at some time previous, someone had poured a 1″ cap of concrete onto an existing slab. It was this cap that was crumbling (though the concrete pad underneath was in pretty bad shape too.

After a day of digging, using a bar and sledge to break up the concrete into managable sections, and using a wheelbarrow to remove it, I had finished digging out the bad sections of sidewalk.

8 feet by 3 feet section at bottom of stairs to deck

8 feet by 3 feet section at bottom of stairs to deck

 

This section at the bottom of the stairs to the deck, had been “free poured” - meaning that they didn’t even use forms. The concrete in this section varied between 2″ thick and 7″ thick. It was somewhat unsurprising that it had cracked and broken up.

11 feet by 3 feet section of sidewalk to replace

11 feet by 3 feet section of sidewalk to replace

 

Today I will be building forms for pouring new concrete. Tomorrow I will level the holes out and put in gravel under the pour. I should be pouring these sections next week.

Garden and Harvest -

Our Garden did really well this year (we are so NOT planting squash next year - we have enough for years to come). Harvest is already underway with squash, cucumbers, peppers and some of the herbs. We still have at least 10 more days of growing season left (at least according the national weather service) so we should still get at least one watermelon, beans, tomatos onions, and more of what we are already harvesting.

A decent crop this year

A decent crop this year

 

A New Member of the Family -

A few nights ago, a calico Ragdoll cross kitten followed our soon-to-be son in law home from work. She stayed outside for a couple of days but everytime I came outside, she wanted to be petted and held. When my wife returned from New England, she wanted to see the kitten and it took all of five minutes for her to decide she wanted to keep her.

It has turned out to be a lot more painless than I thought. The kitten took to the litter box as fast as our older cat, Furby, did. It took her about half a day to figure out that the dog was harmless and a few more days to get Furby to stop hissing at her. “Suni” has become a new member of the family and she seems content to be so. We still have to get her to the vet to get her shots and in a few more weeks, we will get her spayed, but she has already charmed her way into our hearts.

Suni with our Beagle, Optimus

Suni with our Beagle, Optimus

Anck-Sunamun - Suni for short

Anck-Sunamun - Suni for short

Moorcat

Why I am NOT attending the Obama “Town Hall” in Bozeman

For weeks, my wife and I have been trying to plan a weekend trip to Bozeman to see my brother. We haven’t seen him since Christmas (he works insanely hard and has little time to travel to Dillon) and I miss him and his wife. Understand that we planned this trip before finding out that President Obama was coming to Bozeman the weekend we were traveling there.

When the plans were announced that President Obama was visiting Bozeman that he would be having a short “Town Meeting” about the “Health Care” issue, I was really excited. As someone that has some very strong views on the issue and has posted a lot about it in the last month, I was finally going to get the words directly from “the horse’s mouth”.

That was, until I attended the Stevensville Creamery Picnic Parade. It seems that the blind rage expressed by many on the right of the Health Care issue spilled over into the Parade. I personally saw both the signs in question and it really makes me sad that this issue - which effects EVERY single American - can’t be discussed in a reasonable and adult fashion. A few have commented on the breakdown of reasonable discourse on the subject Here and Here.

It seems that there is already a protest planned for the Obama visit. Since the event requires tickets to get in, they are going to line the area surrounding the event so that they can be as disruptive as possible. They have even called for support for the protest from right leaning bloggers from around the state. Understand that these are not the professional protestors following around the Congress Critters trying to get a feel for what the public wants - these are actual Montanans who, instead of wanting to actually listen what the PRESIDENT has to say on the matter, they want to disrupt the proceedings, denying those Montanans that can attend the oppurtunity to have a say with our Chief Executive.

When was the last time a sitting President actually visited Montana? Can you remember it? How many times will Montanans get a chance to actually see a sitting President and offer up our views on the Country or how some planned legislation should be handled?

Instead of seeing this as an oppurtunity to do some good (whatever your view of “good” is, this fifth grade rejects have chosen to be as disruptive as possible - not only ruining thier chance for meaningful dialog, but ruining the chances of thier fellow Montanans.

I am ashamed of these people and even more ashamed that they claim to be responcible conservative Montanans. There is nothing responcible about this. If you disagree with the President, fine. It is your right. I disagree with many of the things he has to say about Health Care. That does not inspire me to make an ass of myself and deny my fellow Montanans of a chance for reasonable exchange with the man.

My wife and I have decided to forgo the Obama visit. We do not want to deal with the crowds, the hupla and the protest. Thanks, assholes, for ruining what could have been a once in a lifetime experience.

Moorcat

Dillon City / Beaverhead County Suit in the News

In Dillon, it is common for one governmental agency to sue another. There have been many suits involving various parts of the Dillon Government and most of them appear to be nothing more than “appendage measuring contests”. In fact, at many City Council meetings, Mayor “Recall” Malesich has been heard to say (with a large smirk on his face), “If you don’t like {insert rediculous action here}, sue me”.

Nothing illistrates this mentality as readily as the current action between The City of Dillon and Beaverhead County over the seating of the County’s representative to the Dillon Planning Board.

History -

This situation goes back a ways - to the idea that the City of Dillon and the Beaverhead County Government should work together on planning growth in the 1 - 3 mile “doughnut” around Dillon. This idea is actually a pretty good one, given the way that area is growing and the general animosity of many of the people that live in that area against the City of Dillon and how they operate.

A task force was setup with members of the Dillon Planning Board, County Planning Officials and members of the community - both in the City Limits and those living in the “doughnut”. It came as no surprise that there findings included a general concern over the way the City of Dillon handles annexation, and the general distrust of those people in the contested area being under the rule of the Dillon City Government.

It was decided that, using a new law, the Dillon City Government would explore the possibility of joining with the County and making a “Joint Planning Committee” to help address those issues. It was doomed from the start.

Depending on who you talk to, there were a number of reasons for it’s failure. Mike Riley and Lynn Westad (members of the Dillon City Planning Board), claim that the County violated meeting notice rules and they also claim that Larry Volkening, a representative of the County, lied to the Beaverhead County Commissioners when reporting to them. The County claims that the City of Dillon showed no interest in actually working together with the County - instead it appears that the City of Dillon wanted control over the contested area. Whatever the situation, the City decided to pull out of the Joint Planning Committee. The County continued with the work without the City of Dillon’s representation.

Bill Volkening’s appointment -

The City of Dillon Planning Board was set up to include one member appointed by the County to represent thier interests. In the five years I have been in Dillon, that has always been a rocky relationship. One county representative quit, citing a lack of cooperation from the City and the City’s mayor. Enter, Larry Volkening.

When the Beaverhead County Commissioners chose Larry Volkening to be thier voice on the Dillon Planning Board, he was immediately blocked by Mike Riley and Lynn Westad. Mayor Malesich - citing state law - brought Larry’s appointment to the Dillon City Council and both Lynn Westad and Mike Riley spoke at length about why Larry shouldn’t be seated. Dillon City Council President, Tom Straugh, during his remarks, made it quite clear that “I plan to vote against it.”

The rational was that, there is a section in our charter that gives the Dillon City Council the ability to deny any appointment made by the Dillon City Mayor. Since Volkening’s appointment came through the Mayor (even though it was a County Appointment), the Dillon City Council had the right to deny it. Mayor Malesich made the comment that such a denial was “not appropriate” in this case. The City council voted not to seat Volkening at that meeting 6 - 0.

When this was reported to the County Commissioners, they once again stated they wanted Larry Volkening as thier representative. Once again, Mayor Malesich presented that appointment to the Dillon City Council and once again, the Dillon City Council denied the appointment.

Writ of Mandamus -

The saga once again enters familiar territory when dealing with Dillon City Politics - Beaverhead County filed a Writ of Mandamus suit against the City of Dillon, claiming that the City had no right to deny thier choice for County Representation. The city responded and about a week ago, this issue was seen by District Court Judge Tucker.

Tucker’s decision was that the County’s claim doesn’t meet the “extraordinary” requirements of Mandamus, but that it could fall under “a declaratory judgement”. A conference was set up for Aug 13th (today) to discuss scheduling for this hearing.

Summary -

At the heart of this matter is who has the bigger appendage. This is a pushing contest that best belongs on a third grade playground, not in a district court. Let me give you an analogy to consider.

Let’s say I was being sued. I hire a lawyer to represent me and go into court to face the matter. Instead of arguing the suit, the person suing me says that I am not allowed to use the lawyer I hired because he is not acceptable to them.

This arguement is no different. Regardless of how much Lynn Westad and Mike Riley dislike Larry Volkening, they don’t have the right to say he can’t represent the County. The County has the right to chose thier own representative. Further, I have to agree with an editorial in the Dillon Tribune - that it shows piss poor leadership skills on the part of Tom Straugh to push for the City Council to deny Larry’s appointment.

Worse, this has cost the taxpayers of Dillon no small amount of money that would have been better spent elsewhere. I would love to see just how many hours Wilber Gilbert has been paid (and will be paid in the coming month) to deal with this situation. He is actually the only one “winning” in this suit. Where was his objections to the actions of the City County in denying the appointment (or his legal advice on the legality of doing so)? For months, the County hasn’t been represented in the Dillon Planning Board decision/recommendations, for months the citizens of Dillon have been subjected to this appendage waving contest and the taxpayers are paying the bill. The County citizens in the “doughnut” have even more reason now to believe that being under the City is NOT in thier best interests and forget cooperation between county officials anytime the City needs something from them.

Isn’t it about time we get rid of these jackasses who constantly cost us money with no return on the investment?

Moorcat

Update on Gunsmithing room

The first set of furniture is done and installed in the gunsmithing room. It isn’t pretty but it is certainly functional and cost less than $100.00 to build. Two more phases to go. I should be done with all of it by the first week in August.

These pieces were constructed of OSB and 1″ X 2″ but they are more than sturdy enough for my needs. More importantly, they are modular so if we end up not purchasing this house, we can move them fairly easily to a new location.

The next phase will involve building some more storage units, my desk, and two more bookshelves. The last phase will be building two more storage units, my gunsmithing bench, one last bookshelf and one more gun cabinet. I can’t wait for this project to be done so I can finish my shop and get to making knives again.

Moorcat

High School Reunion

Last Saturday, my wife and I attended the Stevensville Creamery Picnic Parade and then went to my 30th High School Reunion. It was interesting for me as (with one exception) I had not seen any of these people since I graduated High School. In fact, I didn’t graduate with my class because I graduated early to go into the US Navy.

I have to admit, I was somewhat trepidatious about attending. I was somewhat of a troublemaker in School (I know you find that hard to believe…). I certainly wasn’t one of the most popular people and even though I lettered in Football, Track and Speech and Debate, I wasn’t really part of any of the usual clics in High School. If I belonged to any group, it was the “tree people” - you know, the ones that stood out in the parking lot under the trees and smoked cigarettes.

Unsurprisingly, since this was my first High School Reunion, and I have changed radically in looks since High School, not many people recognised me. I actually found it amusing that many of the people I did run with had no idea who I was and a few of the more popular people that I didn’t run with recognised me immediately. It wasn’t until we visited my daughter on the way back to Dillon, that we figured out why so few people could recognise me. In my late 20’s, I had an accident while working on a motorcycle that broke my jaw in two places and both my cheekbones. In rebuilding my facial structure, the doctor actually narrowed my face quite a bit and the end result is that I now look like my younger brother.

It was, of course, really nice to see my best friend in High School, Phil. He and I were very close and stayed in contact even after I left the area. We have had long periods of time when we didn’t talk, but Phil is still one of the few people I would do anything for.

Of course they had old yearbooks there (I wish I still had the two I bought while in high school), and my wife took great pleasure in pointing out the pictures where I was wearing those reversable Sear’s Toughskin slacks.. you know the ones, with the green and white stripes going down the legs, virtually assuring that a girl would never talk to me. During my Freshman year, my mother and I went to war over my school cloths and at the heart of that war was those damn Sear’s slacks. Unfortunately, even though I won the war (I only wore Jeans after that), those damn pants are immortalized in my freshman yearbook.

The reunion was also a little sad. Two of the people I was fairly close to in high school have since died of cancer. It is sad (and somewhat sobering) to think that we are all getting older - not me of course, I am going to live forever.

If you get a chance to go to a High School Reunion, I really do recommend you go - even if you were not the  most popular person in your class. Old rivalries are usually forgotten and many just remember the good times. You might just find yourself surprised and actually enjoy yourself.

The Class of '79

The Class of

 

More class of 79 - more people showed up for this one

More class of 79 - more people showed up for this one

 

My best friend, Phil and I

My best friend, Phil and I

 

Moorcat

Congress bans Children’s Books?

Please someone tell me they are joking…

New Congressional Law makes Children’s books illegal

This has got to be some kind of joke. What evidence exists that these pre-1985 children’s books pose some kind of threat? I actually have a number of them (many were mine when I was growing up) that I have either saved for my own children/grandchildren or are collectable books. Some of those books date back to the mid-twentith century or earlier.

Talk about a nanny state…

Moorcat

Assumptions hinder discussion on Health Care

For the last couple of weeks, Gregg, over at Electric City Weblog has been encouraging some discussions about Health Care and Health Care reform. While I agree with the idea of a reasonable discussion on Health Care issues, I do question some of the (apperent) assumptions being made by both Gregg and the various people commenting on these discussions.

1) Democrats (Progressives, Liberals, Marxists - insert label of choice here) want Free Health Care -


This is the first of many apperent assumptions I want to address. While I am not a Democrat/Liberal/Progressive/Marxist, I have yet to see anyone commenting at Electric City Weblog advocate for “Free Health Care”. Even Gregg seems to make this assumption when, in his latest discussion post on the subject, he asks

So, I ask this question sincerely of those who advocate of a government system: Is it simply your position that health care should be provided to everyone for free?

This is a poor way to get a discussion going. In fact, it seems that Gregg is practicing something that he (and others) have faulted Mark T of practicing - exageration. At no point, in any of the many discussions on Electric City Weblog (or any other Montana Blog that I can find) has anyone asked for Health Care to be free. This begs the question “Why would Gregg ask the question that way?”. To me, the answer is self-evident. You put the “opposition” into the position of having to argue a philosophy they, themselves, don’t believe in and you avoid the actual discussion taking place.

The fact is that no one involved in these discussions have posted that they believe that health care should be free. Regardless of the program put forward (or the ideas given by many people on both sides of the debate), they all have a cost attached to them. Most of the discussion has been about health insurance, not health care anyway.

2) Everyone that wants Health Care Reform must be a Democrat/Liberal/Marxist/Socialist -

This is just plain dumb. Since an overwhelming majority of people see issues with the American Health Care system, (far more than there are Democrats/Liberals/Progressives/Marxist/Socialists) then it is stands to reason that at least some the Independants and Republicans see issues with the American Health Care System and feel that reforms need to be made.

Worse, this assumption is counter productive. You certainly don’t build consensus by alienating potential allies - especially the ones that are like minding in philosophy. Take me for example. I tend to be fairly conservative. I also see major issues with the Health Care system and believe that some reform is necessary. Do you think for a second that are you likely to get my buy in to your arguments when you are calling me a Marxist or Socialist? Not very smart and certainly not the way to foster any kind of common ground. In short, you are cutting off your nose to spite your face and it minimizes your effectiveness to getting your views considered in the long run.

3) Republicans/Conservatives are only tools of the Insurance industry and aren’t interested in working on Health Care Reform -

Like (2) above, this assumption is simply silly. There are many Conservatives that believe there are issues with the current health care system and that some form of reform is not only necessary, it is inevitable. By name calling and ignoring our input, you only minimize any chance that lasting reform will ever happen. You may have a Democratic President and a 58 vote majority in the Senate, but that does not mean that you can simply ignore half of the population with impunity.

Further, you don’t have to be a Republican or Conservative to be “and insurance industry tool”. Our Senior Senator, Max Baucus is under attack by both Democrats and Republicans for his “behind closed doors” insurance industry friendly Health Care Reform Bill.

4) ObamaCare will hurt (insert your group of choice).

Let’s make something very clear. As of this writing, there IS NO OBAMACARE bill being considered. Period. It doesn’t exist. Anyone refering to an Obamacare bill is trying to scare you, solicite money or support from you or is just plain pulling your chain. While there are a few bills being considered, (Baucus’s bill in committee and the Health Care Reform bill being considered in the House for starters), none of them is the (Dreaded or Celebrated depending on which side of the debate you are on) ObamaCare Bill. It hasn’t been written, it hasn’t been discussed in either the House or Senate and is nothing more than a boogieman argument used by people trying to lie to you. Get over the hype and try to stay focused on the actual issues being discussed. Don’t waste your time arguing with any idiot who refers to ObamaCare. They have proven they are idiots the minute they mention it.

There are more assumptions but most of them stem from the 4 above. If you can avoid these distractions, a meaningful discussion on Health Care and how to address it can be had. I welcome any such discussion here and will continue to participate in the ones going on at ECW.

Moorcat

Dressing Appropriately

As a prelude to this story, let me make something clear… I am secure enough in my own masculinity to not suffer from homophobia and I am not a religious fanatic that believes that everyone who follows an alternative lifestyle (sexually) is some kind of abomination that needs to be eraticated from the planet. That said, I found this story on CNN to be particularly painful…

The video may not be safe for work as many employers scan for catch phrases that exist in this video…

Now I really don’t care that Silverton’s mayor is a transsexual male. If the people of Silverton don’t care, it is none of my business. They elected him and it was clear when he was running for the position that he was a transsexual.

What I found… interesting.. about this story is not the the fact that the mayor follows an alternative lifestyle, but how he is representing his position as Mayor. This situation would be no different if the mayor was a 20 something knockout woman. If she wore a backless mini-dress to speak (as Mayor) to a group of students, I would be complaining too. His/Her choice of attire was not, by any means, responcible or representative. To make matters worse, it appears that the town of Silverdale has a dress code for thier elected officials and I certainly don’t think his/her attire even comes close to meeting that standard.

This story harkens back to something I learned in my younger, activist days. If you want people to take you seriously about your choices (be in an alternative lifestyle, a political movement, or a protest of some injustice you see in the world), dressing to shock people is not the way to go about it. People stop listening to you or taking you serious (focusing instead on your outragious clothing and actions) and you do more harm to your cause than good. If this person wants to be taken seriously, he should have given more thought about his attire when speaking to a group of youth from the Silverton Together organization.

Moorcat

Bad Behavior has blocked 15 access attempts in the last 7 days.