Thursday Thoughts

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Happy Halloween! I love your mask!  Here are the topics for today’s column:

  • Cascade County GOP
  • Montana Sheriffs & Tester
  • MT GOP Chairman
  • Senate Republican Leader

CASCADE COUNTY GOP:

During the primary, I heard reports and received a photo of RINO (Republican In Name Only) stickers being placed on some Republican candidates’ signs. 

I happened to see a post on the “What the Funk” Facebook page about it going on in the general election with Republicans damaging signs and sticking RINO stickers on Republican campaign signs. One sticker placed on a county commissioner candidate sign says “Supports Dangerous Drugs.” 

There’s no room in the Montana Republican Party for moderates. The MAGAs have taken over, and most Republicans do not have the backbone to fight for their party. A few MAGAs were defeated in the primary in Great Falls, and that was a great start.  

Check out the “What the Funk” Facebook post HERE. 

MONTANA SHERIFFS & TESTER:

This is a follow-up to yesterday’s commentary…

In what looks like a coordinated attack from several sheriff’s departments in Montana and fueled by MAGA talk radio, about 10 sheriff’s departments complained about campaign ads by U.S. Senator Jon Tester that told about the funding he had helped obtain for their counties. The ads in the local newspapers also showed patrol cars. 

NBC News reported that one sheriff, Jason Frederick of Roosevelt County, took to social media to challenge the ad’s assertion that Tester secured over $1.8 million for the county’s law enforcement. He made an ass out of himself. 

So NBC News contacted Tester’s campaign for clarification, and they provided a document confirming the $1.8 million goes back to 2019 and is distributed through grants to the sheriff’s office, Fort Peck Tribal Police, Wolf Point Police, and the county’s general fund. That includes several federal grants, an Operation Stonegarden grant, and FY24 U.S.

Frederick now has egg on his face. 

I think the sheriffs probably coordinated this. They must be pretty dense as their main funding source is Tester, who has the seniority and position on the Appropriations to bring home the bacon. 

Of course, there is also the possibility that they believe in the constitutional sheriff ideology and think they (the county) – not the state or federal governments – should control all land within its borders, and the county sheriff should be the ultimate law enforcement authority in the U.S. (Source)

Any normal person knows the constitutional sheriff ideology is bullshit. 

Like I’ve said on social media, this was a nothingburger. Just MAGA politics. MAGA failed. 

MT GOP CHAIRMAN: 

The chairman of the Montana Republican Party, Don “K” Kaltschmidt, seems to be going off his rocker. He’s posted some hateful tweets. I think the pressure of having a candidate like Tim Sheehy who has so many scandals is too much for him. I imagine the polls he has seen are not good news. Kaltschmidt can’t seem to post a message on “X” without calling someone a liar in some form. 

In THIS POST he says U.S. Senator Jon Tester is lying again and says that Tester HATES veterans. I know that Tester does not hate veterans. As a veteran myself and a former staffer to U.S. Senator Conrad Burns, I know that Tester runs a top-notch constituent services program that helps Montana veterans. I have recommended veterans contact Tester over Daines, Zinke, and Rosendale. 

Plus, Tester is the Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, so that also helps Montana veterans immensely. Montana veterans have clout with the VA because of Tester’s chairmanship. It would be a shame to lose it.

Basically, Kaltschmidt is full of it. The pressure of the political season is getting to him. He’s an embarrassment. 

SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER:

U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) loves to get behind a microphone or in front of the camera and talk. He can’t answer tough questions. One of the most dangerous places to be is between Daines and a camera/microphone.  

Daines is not running for reelection yet, but he just had to get some press about nothing. He announced that he won’t be running for Senate Republican Leader to replace Mitch McConnell. 

Who cares? We are just a few days from an important election, Steve. It’s not always about you. 

Daines is not leadership material. He comes across as weak and cowardly.

My thoughts are U.S. Senator John Thune should be the Senate Republican Leader. Thune saved a whole Air Force Base in South Dakota and beat the Senate Majority Leader (Daschle). Thune helped expand the Powder River Training Complex while people like Daines came out against it. 

Fast Fact: Thune rode in my vehicle when he came to Montana to campaign years ago. Good guy. I still get Christmas cards from him. 

## HAPPY HALLOWEEN ##

5 thoughts on “Thursday Thoughts”

  2. The Cascade County MAGAs are going sticker crazy!

    RINO and supports drugs stickers defacing he signs of the adult-in-the-room Republicans, plus those stickers some unknown write-in candidate wanted to plaster all ballots to gum up the tally machines.

    Should probably take a look at the COPP financial reports and see who is spending a lot of money at a sticker vendor or on print-your-own sticker stock.

    Reminds me of my elementary and East Jr. High days when kids would plaster stickers all over their vinyl notebooks. Except those were cool, Rat Fink and Alfred E. Neuman and so on.

    • Sticker lady’s favorite line of poetry. Actually kinda fun to watch her rage, rage against the dying of her too short light as a commissioner. A MAGA flash in the pan is a terrible thing to waste!

      ”Do not go gentle into that good night,Old age should burn and rave at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

  3. Excellent post today. All good stuff. If I could though I would like to add one thing that I think has been massively overlooked by Montanans regarding Sheehy’s associations and dealings from his past. In other words, I would like to put two and two together and see what we get. I think it’s vitally important to understand just whom Timmy is really representing. Hint: it ain’t you, Joe six pack average Montanan!

    ”You ride with an outlaw, you die with an outlaw.” Great Lonesome Dove line. Just whom does Shady ride with?

    As I read the following article, I couldn’t help notice that most people have NO understanding of why this is happening. Let’s put this article together with another.

    https://dailymontanan.com/2024/10/30/montanas-mobile-home-park-residents-struggling-to-stay-in-their-homes-as-lot-rent-rise/

    And why is this happening? Because private equity firms are buying up every piece of property in the country, then selling them at huge price increases or raising rents so high as to drive renters out. But it’s not just real estate. They are buying everything they can, including restaurants, veterinary clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, essentially everything. You have no idea who the owners are for all the businesses you’re dealing with.

    And guess who Shady Sheehy’s best buddies and contributors are? That’s right. Folks in private equity, or legalized theft as I like to call it. Banditry!

    ”For a contest far from Wall Street, Sheehy’s campaign has attracted the attention of some of finance’s biggest names, including Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of Citadel LLC, the hedge fund and trading powerhouse. Last fall, Griffin donated $5 million to a Super PAC called “More Jobs, Less Government” that has spent almost $11 million this year, or 96% of its receipts, supporting Sheehy, Federal Election Commission records show. They also show that Stephen Schwarzman, the billionaire co-founder of The Blackstone Group, a New York City-based private-equity giant that invested in Bridger, has given $5 million to the “More Jobs” Super PAC over the past year.

    “Tim Sheehy cares deeply about America and has an extraordinary record of achievement as a decorated Navy Seal, rancher, and proven business leader,” Griffin said in a statement provided by a spokesperson.”

    https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/09/tim-sheehy-may-turn-the-senate-red-but-is-he-really-a-successful-businessman-.html

    So, maybe Tim should explain to all the residents of mobile home parks throughout the country how he “cares deeply about America” by consorting with folks who are ripping them off like bandits! Read the entire article to understand who Shady really is. It’s quite enlightening.

    ”Ride with outlaws, die with outlaws.” And Tim is definitely riding with guys who most Montanans if they knew would consider to be bandits. His campaign needs to die, and the laws need to be reformed to rein in this unprecedented greed before there’s nothing left. Timmy’s riding with the wrong bunch and he knows it, yet he still pretends to be one of us! It’s that honor thing again. It requires too much honor and integrity which Tim is sorely lacking to tell the truth about himself. Honesty is a Montana value that is lost on Tim.

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