Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/category/opinion/page/23/)
The news media are more biased than ever—as well they should be. Whoever said the media ought to be above petty partisanship, blatant favoritism and payback shenanigans had it all wrong. We do expect some professionals to be above bias. Doctors should mend the homeless as conscientiously as they stitch up millionaires. Court-appointed attorneys, underpaid and overworked though they may be, ought to be as conscientious defending a homeless vagrant as a debutante shoplifter. Continue Reading →
Wells Fargo Bank recently agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement for setting up fraudulent bank accounts for existing customers—without their knowledge—and charging those same customers fees for those accounts. (more…) Continue Reading →
The 2016 election has set many new precedents. Here’s one for me: I will vote a straight Democratic ticket. Never thought that would happen. Even in the yellow dog Democrat days in Texas, my argument never varied: elect the best candidates, regardless of party, and they will find a way to figure out the way forward. Elect some Democrats to get the horses to a gallop, and throw in a few Republicans to pull on the reins. Continue Reading →
Much as I rail against the two-party system, it has its advantages when you get down to the bottom of the ballot—you know, those races you meant to check out but never got around to. If you hate taxes, worry about coal-mining jobs and think people should be able to do whatever they want except smoke dope, abort babies and marry the sex of their choice, vote for the Republican. If you love government, worry about global warming and think people should be able to do whatever they want except own guns, burn gasoline and block bathroom access, vote for the Democrat. (more…) Continue Reading →
John Craighead died last month in Missoula. To most people he was known as a grizzly bear expert and an outstanding conservationist. To me, he was all of that, but he was also the guy who broke my Uncle John’s nose. I hasten to add that it happened under legitimate circumstances, during a boxing match at Penn State somewhere around 1938. This memory came to my mind like a gift from above as I was thinking about all the depressing current events I could write about today. Continue Reading →
Our recalcitrant grandson finally made his appearance early Tuesday afternoon, two weeks late and after a day-and-a-half of hard labor in a Missoula hospital. I had been joking that the baby would refuse to appear until after the Nov. 8 election. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that he showed up when Hillary Clinton’s lead in the presidential polls went into double digits. The coast is clearing. Continue Reading →
When a ballot initiative’s chief talking point is wrong in two different ways, it’s time to give it a closer look. Such were my thoughts when I started hearing radio ads for Constitutional Initiative 116, the so-called Marsy’s Law amendment to the Montana Constitution. The ads say it’s time to guarantee “equal rights for victims.”
Wrong. And wrong. People who create crime victims fall into two categories: those who have been convicted of a crime and those who have not. Continue Reading →
Editor’s note: We are pleased to draw your attention to another independent online journalism site covering this part of the world. The masthead at The Bullseye describes its mission this way: “With a focus on environmental and cultural issues in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the broader American West, we are here to champion honesty, transparency and accountability in government and society.” (more…) Continue Reading →
The recent Wells Fargo banking scandal wherein 5,300 employees were scapegoated and fired to cover up a company policy of setting up fraudulent bank and credit card accounts for existing Wells Fargo customers (on which the customers paid fees) reeks, and not just because of the illegal behavior of Wells Fargo. (more…) Continue Reading →
Scholars, political strategists and us media elites with our chauffeured limousines and steak dinners have been struggling to understand the broad appeal of Donald Trump, a man whose contributions to society include possibly paying federal income tax. Is it his fourth-grade speaking level? Is it his brilliant use of repetition? Maybe. But in poring over the transcript of Monday’s debate with Hillary Clinton, it struck us that what we have found in Trump is a Homer for the modern age. Continue Reading →
