Ramblings

With the holidays, most people are not reading blogs and if you are like me, you are spending time with family and playing with new toys.  There have been a few things that caught my attention over the past few days, like Montana’s failure to combat drunk driving, Max Baucus slurring his speech, security, and Texas Tech football.  (more…)

Published in:  on December 30, 2009 at 1:02 pm Leave a Comment

Merry Christmas!

We have much to be thankful for this Christmas. We are truly blessed. Please take a moment to say a prayer for those away from their loved ones this Christmas protecting our freedom. Enjoy the video. -Jack

Published in:  on December 24, 2009 at 5:39 pm Leave a Comment

The Circus: Act II

Faithful readers may remember the circus that is going on at the Great Falls International Airport with the “authority” Board each month during their meetings.  You can read my past comments about the circus HERE and HERE.

Bad news to report:  The circus continues.  Instead of the board members just quitting and going on with their lives (I recommended that), they have now decided to spend close to $40,000 (probably more) to search for a new director, although the one that they now have (Cynthia Schultz) is doing (and has done) a very commendable job for over 10 years.

Great Falls is known for spending money on stupid things.  This is another example.   (more…)

Published in:  on December 20, 2009 at 4:23 pm Comments (2)

Costly?

I was waiting to hear about the Montana State Legislature’s Law and Justice Interim Committee study of Montana’s DUI laws.  They recently met in Helena.  I wondered if they would make any recommendations to toughen our DUI laws or continue to let Montana lead the nation in drunk driving.

So, I was quite peeved when I read the headline, “Lawmakers Told Stiffer DUI Laws Will be Costly” (more…)

Published in:  on December 19, 2009 at 7:09 pm Leave a Comment

Drunker Than Ever

If you’ve watched the news or read a newspaper lately, you’ve probably seen the shenanigans going on in Washington, D.C.

If this was a comedy on television, it would be a blockbuster in the ratings because it is so hilarious.  Many of their press conferences sound just like what an adult would hear at a daycare center

Sadly both parties are leaderless.  The good thing is that Senators are in Washington doing the late-night votes, but on the other hand that keeps them away from their constituents, although here in Montana you must be invited to be able to speak to our Senators.   (more…)

Published in:  on December 18, 2009 at 5:48 pm Leave a Comment

Over The Top

When your name is in almost every newspaper and on most websites across the world for recommending your mistress for U.S. Attorney, giving her a large pay raise, having her help plan your divorce, and taking her on junkets, what’s a U.S. Senator to do?

If you’re Max Baucus, you fire off a press release trying to divert attention away from the bad and concentrating on the good things that you can claim you have done for your state– like telling Montanans that the Gitmo detainees are not coming to Montana.   (more…)

Published in:  on December 15, 2009 at 7:00 pm Leave a Comment

Max, MAX!!!

Sometimes when public officials do or say certain things, we shake our heads in disbelief.  Many heads are looking like a bobble-head dolls this week after reading about the escapades of Montana’s Max, Senator Max Baucus.

I commented earlier about Montana U.S. Senator Max Baucus and nominating his girlfriend for U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana.  Heck, that was just the tip of the old iceberg.

You don’t have too look very far in Google today to see the crap is piling up around Baucus.

For example: (more…)

Published in:  on December 11, 2009 at 6:00 pm Comments (1)

Conrad Burns

As you may have heard, former U.S. Senator Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) suffered a stroke Wednesday night.

My thoughts and prayers are with the Senator, his family, and friends.  He is currently in the Georgetown University Hospital.

When tragedies like this happen, we are all on the same team – the prayer team.

Get well soon, my friend.

Published in:  on December 10, 2009 at 7:05 pm Leave a Comment

Baucus Poll and Junkets

The Flathead Beacon has a poll up on their website asking, “Does Sen. Baucus Nominating His Girlfriend for U.S. Attorney Warrant an Ethics Investigation?”

Check it out HERE.

Maybe a better question would be “Does Sen. Baucus dating his state director warrant an ethics investigation?”

Additionally, The Hill newspaper reports that “Hanes traveled abroad with Baucus twice in ‘08”

You can find it HERE.

Hot Air follows it up with a more pointed headline, “Baucus took girlfriend on taxpayer-funded junkets in 2008.”

You can read it HERE.  They also comment about the junior senator from Montana, Jon Tester, and his part in the mess.

And it keeps getting deeper.

Published in:  on December 7, 2009 at 6:40 pm Leave a Comment

Montana’s Max – An Embarrassment

Friday Nights:
In the political world, Friday night is a great time to release a story that you want buried – to do minimal damage – to slide by without much notice.  That did not happen to Max Baucus Friday night or Saturday morning.

Friday night around 8:32 p.m. (Montana time) I received an alert with the Roll Call story about Max Baucus. Max Baucus has been in the news a lot lately because of the healthcare bill, so his name pops up a lot.  Instead of just deleting the latest of many alerts I read it.  Here is what it said:

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus’ office confirmed late Friday night that the Montana Democrat was carrying on an extramarital affair with his state office director, Melodee Hanes, when he nominated her to be U.S. Attorney in Montana.

I subscribe to Roll Call, so I read the entire story and made a couple of calls and then posted the alert on this blog.  Soon it was all over the web.

It was a tactical release from the Baucus camp.  The DC media sensed something was brewing and were probably calling his office often to confirm.  In other words, the sharks were circling and Baucus’ spokesman probably held them off for a few days and, with all hands on deck, the spokesman issued a carefully worded e-mail release late Friday night confirming their suspicions.   (more…)

Published in:  on December 5, 2009 at 1:41 pm Comments (1)