Environmentalists: An Eyewitness Account from the Heart of America, by Steven D. Paulson, self-published, 2016. 347 pages, $16. I already know what you’re thinking: No way am I going to shell out 16 bucks for nearly 350 pages of self-indulgent whining about the environment, complete with tedious accounts of public meetings, lawsuits and environmental impact statements. (more…) Continue Reading →
Recent Posts
Spencer may seek Zinke’s House seat
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Richard Spencer, Montana’s most visible white nationalist, is considering a run for the U.S. House seat now held by U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., the Huffington Post reports. Zinke has been nominated for secretary of the Interior in the Trump administration. If he is confirmed for the job, a special election to replace him probably would be held early next year. Spencer is from Texas and spends a lot of time in Virginia, but he claims Whitefish as his home. He said he would run only if he thinks he could win, but he noted that his entering the race would draw national attention to him and his movement. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Last Best Blog, Jeff Essmann, Richard Spencer, Ryan Zinke, Taylor Rose
Rooting for a promising first Montana novel
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The Actor, by Beth Hunter McHugh, Riverbend Publishing, 2015. 228 pages, $22.95. About halfway through “The Actor,” I quit reading the novel for pleasure and started rooting for it. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Culture, Beth Hunter McHugh, Debra Magpie Earling, Deidre McNamer
Zinke’s mixed, or mixed up, record on environment
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To say that Ryan Zinke has a mixed record on the environment may sound like saying that pouring a shot of tequila into a gallon of orange juice makes a mixed drink. U.S. Rep. Zinke, R-Mont., is the apparent nominee to serve as secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior. His confused record on public lands, climate change and America’s energy future is drawing predictable outcries, but he may turn out to be the most environmentally sensitive member of President Trump’s cabinet. True, that’s in part because Trump is filling top jobs with people who tread around the environment like a fresh cow patty. The secretary of state nominee has spent his career with a company that funded climate skepticism. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Opinion, League of Conservation Voters, Northern Plains Resources Council, Ryan Zinke, Steve Daines
Waiting for another chance to remember Rankin
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School District 2 passed up an opportunity last year to name a new middle school after Jeannette Rankin, opting instead for Bataan Death March survivor and longtime Billings artist Ben Steele. The vote was understandable, especially since it gave the community a chance to bestow one last honor on Steele, who died in September. But there will be other schools, and other buildings, and one can only hope that Rankin will be remembered the next time a naming opportunity comes up. Rankin, a Missoula native, not only was the first woman elected to Congress, she was the only woman able to cast a vote in Congress for the constitutional amendment that gave women the right to vote. A new article in the Washington Post reminds us that Rankin sacrificed her political career twice to vote against world wars. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Last Best Blog, Ben Steele, Jeanette Rankin
Richard Spencer messes with Texas, Montana
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Richard Spencer is stirring up trouble in both my native and adopted states. Spencer, who created the term alt-right, is a resident of Whitefish. On Tuesday, he gave a speech in the Texas town where I used to live, at the university where I both taught and studied. Spencer has been spouting the virtues of the white race for years, but last month he gained a dubious national reputation for shouting “Hail Trump” at a conference in Washington, drawing Nazi-like salutes from his white supremacist fans. Even for many hardcore racists, invoking Hitler was going too far. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Opinion, Donald Trump, Montana State University Billings, Richard Spencer, Whitefish
Updating protest in the age of Trump
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Heading into Thanksgiving weekend, I hosted a discussion at Rocky Mountain College on protests. Even though the Coffee and Conversation discussion came after classes were out for the week, and even though a cold front was supposed to be on the way, 20 or so students showed up. Maybe it was the free coffee that brought them out, or the prospect of a long weekend too far from home to spend the holiday traveling. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Opinion, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Missoula County, Rocky Mountain College
A racist bone to pick for Thanksgiving
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Ed Kemmick’s recent story about racist and misogynist comments on social media by a local businessman drew so much interest that it crashed the Last Best News website. It also may have crashed the prospects of the Coffee Tavern, the business Larry Heafner was planning to open. But none of that was the most striking thing about the whole affair. What struck me was this quote from Heafner: “I’m not racist by no means, and I’m not a woman hater.”
The funny thing is, I believe him. Not that he isn’t racist—the evidence in the story is overwhelming—but that he doesn’t believe he’s racist. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Opinion, Curt Schilling, Donald Trump, Larry Heafner, Paul Ryan
TPM: Zinke serving in ‘Snow Job Caucus’
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U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., has been placed in the “Snow Job Caucus” by Talking Points Memo. The caucus, according to TPM, consists of members of Congress who have used “Word Salad to Avoid Giving a Position” on House Speaker Paul Ryan’s plan to replace Medicare with some sort of private insurance and voucher system. Zinke “told a TPM reader that there was no plan to phase out Medicare, therefore he does not support a plan to phase out Medicare,” the liberal web site reported. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., was placed on the “We’ll Get Back to You:” list of those “whose offices were caught unaware, or claimed they would pass on constituents’ concerns.”
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., was listed as opposing the Medicare changes. TPM disputed Zinke’s claim that there is no plan to replace Medicare: “What Zinke’s office says isn’t true. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Last Best Blog, Donald Trump, Jon Tester, Ryan Zinke, Steve Daines
Red state mysteries: Bud Light, Donald Trump
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They got their country back. And they are welcome to it. Colleagues in academia were commiserating last week after Donald Trump’s stunning presidential win. A couple of them stopped by my office for long talks as the results sank in. One wondered how she would explain to her kids that bullying and sexual predation are not OK, no matter what the president says. Continue Reading →
