The Wednesday Read

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Here are the issues that caught my attention for today’s column:

  • Montana Transgender Lawmaker
  • GF Library Mill Levy
  • Voting in Cascade County

MONTANA TRANSGENDER LAWMAKER:

The Associated Press (AP) and several other sources are reporting that Montana Republican leaders will vote Wednesday on censuring or expelling lawmaker Zooey Zephyr, a transgender state representative who has been silenced in the House since last week after telling colleagues that if they voted for a bill to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender children they would “have blood on their hands.”

I am ashamed of the Montana Legislature over this issue. All across the country, people are seeing how backward the Republican leadership is in Montana. It’s embarrassing for our state.

There’s an easy solution. Zephyr has already been silenced for several days. That should be punishment enough for the Republicans. If they censure or expel Zephyr, that will lead to further protests and more embarrassment, and who knows what else for Montana. I don’t think that Zephyr has done anything wrong. She provided valuable information from the transgender angle to the legislature on bills dealing with transgender issues. The Legislature should thank her for educating them. It does not mean they have to vote for what she believes.

Then, what is also troubling is we have some Republicans, like State Senator Jeremy Trebas of Great Falls, who have misgendered Zephyr in tweets on purpose. He thinks he is a big shot. Misgendering trans people on purpose is hateful and wrong. I have always felt that Trebas was a piece of shit, but now I am certain.

You can read the AP story HERE.

LIBRARY LEVY:

As most readers know, I will be voting for the library mill levy. The library provides a valuable service to all the residents of Great Falls.

There’s a group (called Liberty & Values) that does not want to see the levy passed. They have a billboard on 10th Avenue South in Great Falls urging people to vote “No” on the levy for the library. (See it HERE) They cite the reasons for voting against the levy as “No Pornography” “No Drag Queens” and “No Tax Increase.”

The only one of the three that is a valid point is “No Tax Increase.” If you vote “No” then there won’t be a tax increase. I think this tax increase is worth it. The part about pornography in the library is a joke and the drag queen issue is dumb. Both issues should be decided by parents or guardians and not some MAGA group.

Correct and accurate information about the Library Mill Levy special election can be found HERE.

People who belong to the group that purchased the billboard are why Great Falls can’t have nice things.

On a funnier note, WTF406.com posted the following:

“Some of the far-right crowd that hangs out in Great Falls formed a group to oppose the library mil levy with the usual attacks about drag shows, promoting pornography and generally that reading books is unAmerican. They named their new group The Liberty and Values Project. Upon hearing that news, WTF 406 looked to see if they registered the new name with the Secretary of State’s office. Turned out they hadn’t, so we did and notified them to quit using our registered business name.”

Hehehe… Good job!

VOTING IN CASCADE COUNTY:

The Electric reported that Sandra Merchant, Cascade County clerk and recorder, conducted the public test of the vote tabulator on April 25. About 100 people attended the test that has been conducted in recent years with little public interest at Exhibition Hall in Montana Expo Park.

From what I read in the article, there was some confusion. There was some heated discussion.

In other words, after reading the report from The Electric and seeing other reports, and hearing from people, I still do not have trust in the process or the people in charge of it.

The Electric article can be read HERE. KRTV reported on the test HERE.

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20 thoughts on “The Wednesday Read”

  1. Did you see this! https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/michigan-clerk-who-doubts-election-results-faces-recall/ar-AA1aB80j?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=73cddd66ce994d85aa7dee141bca4418&ei=21  Ruth 414 5th St N Great Falls MT   59401 (406)315-3265

  2. Well the Montana House GOP may have thought they won today by ousting Rep. Zephyr but they really dug a bigger hole and are galvanizing a national movement against anti democratic Republican party. The movement is led by the twenty ,thirty and early forty year old persons that are feed up with what they seen in Tennessee and now Montana , silencing by so called decorum rules any one that doesn’t agree with the GOP. I watched two law professors today on a news show that one this is actually more like fascist behavior what was done to Zephyr today and number two she probably has a good legal case against House leadership by Montana Constitution. Zephyr was live this evening on 3 cable networks. In last 4-5 hours since this banning of Zephyr there has been 32 major news outlets with this ban as the led story. I’m just really struggling trying to understand where the hate comes from against this small group of trans. in this state by the Montana Republicans . Exactly what do they fear especially from this well mannered intellectual woman who speaks truth with facts. This isn’t high school where you can send a student to the office to silence them, Rep. Zephyr is a duly elected representative of 11,000 people. This is far from over. I have been very critical of the Montana GOP this past year,but the Montana Democrat Party Officers needs to get off their asses,come up with a plan and alot of money to knock off 2-3 of these GOP idiots in the House and 1-2 seats in the senate before next session. They can’t leave 30+ seats with no candidates. I’m now an Independent but good government needs a balance for good legislation to pass.
    I apologize to Jackie for replying so much today but this last week has seen Montana’s name drug through the mud by the GOP for no reason .

  3. One of the greatest speeches ever given in those chambers. Compare Zooey’s speech to any given by any MAGA, and you see by comparison what low life bigots, thugs, and cowards they are. She is an amazing woman. She belongs to Montana history now. I kept thinking that the cowardly Regier would gavel her for speaking the truth again, but apparently he thought better. She basically reiterated what she had said before but was not gaveled this time. Of course the MAGAs will have blood on their hands as a result of these bills, but they’ve been instructed by their MAGA billionaire donors to not care.

    https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/trans-montana-lawmaker-banned-from-chamber/article_c9242048-7d49-57f5-a4fe-d13f0018fe09.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

  5. Watching this live Montana House GOP want Rep. Zephyr banned from floor,gallery and anti room,but can vote remotely . So they doubled down,more embarrassing news out of Helena for the national news.

      • Where were the good sensible Republicans in Montana House today in all voting lockstep with the so-called Freedom Caucus in voting 68-32 to kick Rep. Zephyr off floor and gallery for remaining session. Where were Ed Buttrey ,LewJones, and David Bedey so called GOP moderates,obviously the are so afraid of 21 members of Freedom Caucus or the just have thrown away all their core beliefs for what. Rep. Zephyr gave a passionate speech today,while GOP speakers rambled on about decorum, honor and respect. None which they have shown Zephyr. I actually laughed when Republican Moore said “we deserve better .” Yes we certainly do but it’s not coming from this group of GOP legislators.

      • Buttrey and Jones are pussies.
        They toe the MAGA line these days or face being insignificant. -JmB

      • Old case of gotta go along to get along.

        When you read the bills that most of these people introduce, especially the GF contingent, you realize their primary motivation for being there in the first place is to get legislation passed that benefits their personal businesses.

        Sacrificing a transgender woman on the altar of Almighty Mammon is a small price to pay.

      • I believe that. It’s true all across Montana.
        Now Montana is known for bigots.
        -Thanks, JmB

  7. I emailed ‘Tucker’ Regier to express my opinion. I told him Rep Zephyr should indeed apologize. Just not to him. She probably should apologize to her actual Dem colleagues in the House, and to the constituents who elected her, for putting up with his spite-filled bigotry as long as she did. She represents true Montana values, which seem to be incomprehensible to the MAGAts.

    I’m eagerly awaiting his demand that I apologize to him. I hope he holds his breath while he’s waiting.

  8. There are two timely stories about the Legislature’s assault on all things LGBTQ or suspected of possibly being LGBTQ) at the wtf406 site this week.

    The first is a summary of how Great Falls legislators have voted on five anti-trans or anti-drag bills. Every GF legislator has voted yes on each one, except that Ed Buttrey voted “no” on one of the five. I used to think Buttrey as well as Fred Anderson, Wendy McKamey, and even Nikolakakos were somewhat moderate and respected Montana’s old “live and let live” approach to personal freedoms, but now it appears they ‘ve been all been swept up in the Montana GOP’s extreme right “christian” (with a little c because there’s no Christ in what they’re doing) homophobic fever & authoritarianism this session.

    https://wtf406.com/2023/04/montana-gop-dangerous-bigots/

    The second is a troubling account of how a local person helped chaperone a dance for LGBTQ youth, and the first thing they had to do was map out all the escape routes and hiding places in case of a nutjob attack. That’s something most of us never even consider when we’re organizing events. I can’t even imagine the experience of minority type groups who are forced to live in that kind of constant fear, fear due to hatreds stoked by the talking heads in media as well as our own legislators who are so busy “protecting” us all. Supposedly.

    As an illustration of the type of violence those words and actions of legislators and hate mongers leads to, there’s a news story from this year in Great Falls linked at the very bottom, about a local citizen who apparently intentionally for anti-transgender reasons crushed a transgender person against a wall with his truck, resulting in serious injuries. And then ran off.

    Zooey was right – these Montana legislators stoking hatred and division literally have blood on their hands, and should be ashamed. Instead, they’re probably very proud of what they’ve wrought. Anything to get these “others” out of sight and out of mind, even if it requires physical assaults.

    https://wtf406.com/2023/04/blood-on-your-hands-isnt-a-threat-its-a-consequence-of-gop-policy/

  9. I am rather fond of the logo for that new “Liberty and Values” hate group. It pictures a hand yanking the American flag off the stage in favor of what looks like a KKK cross about to be burned.

    Maybe they are about some “values” of some sort but sure not about liberty for all Americans and all God’s creations. Just them.

    https://www.facebook.com/LibertyandValuesMT

  10. Trebas was a piece of shit Name-calling that might be a compliment. Human shit, any shit is almost a miracle if you think about it. Nourishment enters and is transformed into a well-formed turd . Somewhere in the process, Trebas was transformed. He has lots of company.

  11. Mike, I am mystified about objections to mail ballots. What is it that folks think is happening that makes them so opposed to this method? It increases voter participation, which in general terms favors Democrats, but here in Montana that hardly matters. It’s more fiscally responsible, as well, which should make Republicans happy. Can you enlighten me? It’s hard to get folks on the other side to have a civil conversation about it.

    • They feel there can be a higher chance of cheating/fraud if there are mail in ballots. Like someone else filling it out or a chance it could be tampered with in the mail.
      They want people to just show up on Election Day, show ID, and vote. That hurts turnout.
      Mail voting helps Democrats so that is one of the main reasons the Republicans are against it. – JmB

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