Caught My Eye…

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Happy Friday – Here are some issues that caught my eye:

  • Only Filthy Rich Need Apply
  • Cascade County Clerk & Recorder
  • Utah & Social Media

ONLY FILTHY RICH NEED APPLY:

A story from Politico this week caught my attention, and it has ties to Montana. Here is the headline:

“Republicans are looking for Senate candidates who are filthy rich”

Politico reported:

The NRSC’s new chair, Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, has placed an emphasis on trying to secure candidates who are either exceptional at fundraising or personally wealthy, according to a source familiar with his thinking who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about strategy.
“It’s helpful,” Daines said in a brief interview. “We’ve got some work to do to catch up.”

Politico also disclosed who Daines’ “golden goose” is in Montana:

In Montana, the home of Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, a top GOP target, Republican recruiters are eagerly courting (Tim) Sheehy, a Navy SEAL-turned-aerial firefighting pilot. He is the founder of Bridger Aerospace, which was valued at $869 million last year.

I’m not sure there’s enough money to get Sheehy the name recognition he needs to be competitive in Montana. Sure, money will buy lots of commercials, but after a few days, voters tune them out.

Right now the only person who might be competitive against Tester is Governor Greg Gianforte, who was ranked near the top in wealth when he was in the U.S. House. Gianforte has name recognition – good and bad. He would still lose against Tester.

It’s pretty sad that only rich people can be elected to these offices. It’s getting to be that way in many elected offices in Montana – and that means we don’t always get the best and brightest to represent us. (SEE MONTANA LEGISLATURE)

You can read the whole article from Politico HERE.

CASCADE COUNTY CLERK & RECORDER:

I think the Cascade County Clerk and Recorder’s office is a circus and it is run by a bunch of MAGA clowns.

Every day something new happens. Recently a meeting scheduled for Thursday with the County Commissioners and the Clerk and Recorder, Sandra Merchant, was canceled. The Electric reported that the Great Falls Public Schools (GFPS) nor the Sun River School district were not initially notified. They both have elections coming up and both have a lot of questions regarding the elections.

In the story about the cancellation, The Electric reported:

Brian Patrick, GFPS business operations manager, emailed Sandra Merchant, county clerk and recorder, and her employee Deveraux Biddick early March 22 to get an update, to which Biddick replied, “Sandra has tested positive with the China Virus – Covid-19,” and that commissioners had canceled the meeting.

“China Virus?”

Is the person named Deveraux Biddick trying to be a mini-Donald Trump and use xenophobic attacks? Several people on The Electric’s Facebook page pointed out that the comments were racist.

Remember this from the New York Times:

President Trump on Wednesday defended his increasingly frequent practice of calling the coronavirus the “Chinese Virus,” ignoring a growing chorus of criticism that it is racist and anti-Chinese.

We all know that Trump was racist, but we had to put up with it and his lies until he was up for reelection and then we got rid of him. Sandra Merchant should issue a statement condemning the remarks from her employee. Normal people would terminate that person’s employment.

It was also reported that Biddick signed a petition that asked commissioners to:

  • ban all electronic voting equipment, excluding Automark machines
  • voting be allowed with valid identification only
  • ban mail-in ballots except for overseas, military, disabled or other qualified persons
  • ballot turn in on election day only, with one day counting
  • create smaller precincts for voting and counting
  • clean voter rolls by requiring all qualified county residents to reregister

So now he works in the election office? Great googly moogly.

With each passing day, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that Merchant and her people are not the right people to be running elections in this county.

You can read The Electric report HERE.

UTAH & SOCIAL MEDIA:

The Associated Press (AP) reported this week that children and teens in Utah would lose access to social media apps such as TikTok if they don’t have parental consent and face other restrictions under a first-in-the-nation law designed to shield young people from the addictive platforms.

I can’t help but think the next target for the lawmakers in Utah will be rock and roll music…

Read the AP report HERE.

## LEAVE TIKTOK ALONE ##

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9 thoughts on “Caught My Eye…”

  1. Good Morning Jackie,

    Cascade County’s Clerk and Recorder problems are getting worse. With employees with public relations skills like Ms. Biddick, there doesn’t seem to be much depth to backstop the elected official. My suggestion for a recall is looking more necessary with each passing day. Those local elections problems could be devastating to the schools.

    In addition to being filthy rich, it appears that if you want to get nominated for high public office you also need to live in an ultra rich enclave like Gallatin County provides. Not sure if you also have to be a hardcore religious conservative like Daines and Gianforte but it seems par for the course. I guess they tolerate AG Knudson because he answers the bell to fight for every cause they push on every level, local, state and federal. Maybe its the big, white cowboy hat.

    It is going to take years, if ever for Montana to recover from these folks. Their strategy was to get elected, now they don’t want the responsibilities. A sad state of affairs in my opinion.

    • I think most people in Cascade County have sore necks from shaking their heads in disbelief so much about the election office.
      Probably lots of Tylenol being sold. Thanks, JmB

  2. A FYI, I have seen the elections office minion Biddick referred to as a “she” in most news stories. But I don’t know for sure Devereaux’s preferred pronoun.

    As for Daines recruiting millionaires for the senate, bravo Steve. There aren’t nearly enough old rich guys totally out of touch with regular people and society in general, solely interested in cutting their own taxes, in the Republican party as it is. They would represent us well.

    • Haha – I did not think that I made the he/she mistake but I did! I even did some research looking for the correct pronoun! I corrected it.
      As for the filthy rich, it’s getting harder and harder to find a middle or lower class candidate to run. I guess they all have jobs that helps pay for those tax breaks. Thanks, JmB

      • I was trying to imagine Daines’ decision making process …

        “Let’s see now, our problem is grass roots voters are giving way way more money to Democratic candidates. How do we fix that?

        a) Policies and candidates that will appeal to more grass roots voters so they will contribute more $ to Republicans.
        b) Seek out filthy rich extreme rightwing guys like me who still won’t appeal to grass roots working stiffs, but they can fund their own campaigns so hopefully have a chance to come to Congress and help me cut more taxes for myself.”

        Steve went with b.

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