Quote for the Day…
Nothing haunts us like the things we don’t say. -Mitch Albom
In today’s column, I take a quick look at these people/issues:
- Levine vs Grubich
- Reefer Madness
- 60 Minutes
LEVINE VS GRUBICH:
The Great Falls Tribune has posted articles about the contest for Cascade County District Judge, which pits current judge, David Grubich, and former judge, Michele R. Levine, against each other.
You can read the Grubich article HERE and the Levine article HERE.
Levine was appointed by former Democratic Governor Steve Bullock but was not confirmed by the Republican state senate. Grubich was appointed by the current Governor, Republican Greg Gianforte.
The whole situation reeked of a good old boy backroom deal. That’s why I will be voting for Levine in the upcoming election.
Some dirty politics are going on in this race. Levine contends in this Facebook post that fake news was spread about her before the vote in the state senate. Recently she said one of the state senators was at a fundraiser for her opponent and is openly supporting him.
Earlier, I wrote about Grubich saying in an interview with KRTV, “Politics isn’t what got me this job.” I called that bullshit and wrote, “That is exactly what got you the job and you know it.”
I always check to see who candidates are getting donations from and who the candidates gave money to when they were not candidates. Voters should look at websites like “Open Secrets” to see who is giving and getting.
Make sure you register and vote!
REEFER MADNESS:
Great Falls City Commissioner Rick Tryon took exception to the Great Falls Tribune story titled, “Great Falls voters will decide whether to allow marijuana businesses in the city.”
On the right-wing blog, E-City Beat, Tryon writes:
The Great Falls City Commission is NOT asking local voters to do anything other than vote on the issue of whether or not they want weed shops and other types of marijuana businesses inside city limits.
The placement of the ballot question is in accordance with Montana Code Annotated, specifically authorized under HB 701.
The Commission is NOT advocating one way or the other or “asking voters to prohibit” weed businesses here. Period.
A vote “For” is a vote for prohibiting weed shops etc. in Great Falls city limits.
A vote “Against” is a vote against prohibiting weed shops etc. in Great Falls city limits.
I hope what the commissioner is saying is accurate. I hope he provides a copy to the Great Falls Tribune to post on their opinion page.
If what the commissioner is saying is so, I will be voting “AGAINST” prohibiting weed shops in Great Falls. I think they have every right to be there just like bars and casinos.
60 MINUTES:
Anderson Cooper of 60 Minutes did an interview with the new Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber.
One of the interesting things Barber had to say was about partisanship:
Blind partisanship destroys everything– except baseball. I’m a St. Louis Cardinals (LAUGH) fan and I’m stickin’ with that, no matter what. But, so many things– in– in church life and beyond that are areas where we have an opportunity to– to unite to solve problems, and we pass over that opportunity over and over again to shoot at the other team.
It’s worth the time to read or watch the story, HERE.
The Western Word 
Trebas is becoming quite the constitutionalist lawmaker after sucking up to Slaughter. He is now beholden to no law but his own or those of his choosing. Almost. When Elizabeth Best put the smack down on Jeremy, he finally found Jesus. But not before finding enough courage to make a complete ass of himself at a public forum. Apparently he felt the need to defend Slaughter from the truth. I don’t think Jer possesses the intellect to be much of a threat to anyone but himself. He’s the MAGA equivalent of comic relief!
https://www.krtv.com/news/great-falls-news/2018/10/17/trebas-faces-order-of-contempt-for-sitting-in-on-closed-proceeding/
Even if the public rejects the GF city commission’s effort to ban weed shops, it will not be just like bars and casinos, the commission’s most favored businesses. They have already decided that even if the voters say yes to weed shops in GF by voting no, those voters didn’t really mean weed shops actually in town like bars and casinos … like anyone with a lick of common sense would think if voters decided that. Nope. So the city manager and commissioners have used their positions of power to thwart in advance the will of addled voters who might accidentally vote to allow, by pre-emptively zoning any and all marijuana businesses to heavy industrial only.
That comprises something like just 35 commercial spaces in a few small edge-of-town plots of land, similar and/or next door to where the county already exiled them. So no possible lease income for all the other commercial property owners of Great Falls, too bad no new weed businesses if those few spaces are already leased, and not one bit more convenient for the voters who might have voted to allow those businesses.
Manager Doyon gave the game away when he said the commission should be making it as hard as possible for people to buy weed. Votes and the people who cast them do not matter. He knows better. And a 4-1 (?) majority of our commission including its two professed “conservative, individual freedoms loving, don’t tread on me, get government off our backs” members eventually voted to do precisely the manager’s bidding. Because they know better, too.
Thanks. What a mess.