The Great Falls Tribune is reporting today that U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) made his inaugural visit as a U.S. Senator to Malmstrom AFB yesterday for a tour and press conference.

Mr. Tester was, “Clad in a borrowed flight jacket…” Thank goodness Malmstrom does not have tanks, or we might have had a Dukakis moment!

Seriously though, it was reported that, “Tester conceded it would be difficult to overcome the recommendation to eliminate the missiles…” But, he said he “would work with Montana’s senior senator, Max Baucus to do so.”

The next question should have been “How do you and Senator Baucus plan on doing this?” It appears this question was not asked.

I remember that Mr. Tester contended during his campaign that the planes at Malmstrom were lost during Conrad Burns’ (R-Mont.) watch. He failed to mention that Max Baucus (D-Mont.) was the senior senator then, too. Now, the ball is completely in their court. Max and Jon have the majority in the House and Senate. They control the agenda. So, get it done.

It does not look promising to The Western Word. If they do manage to keep the 50 missiles, The Western Word will sing their praises.

Plus, a bigger problem they have is about funding for the F-15s coming to the Montana Air National Guard. This funding was screwed up when the Democrats did not allow votes on appropriations bills before the last election. Then, they flushed many of the bills down the toilet, including funding for many valuable Montana projects.

Best of luck, gentlemen! The Western Word will be watching.