{"id":11656,"date":"2016-04-18T07:33:03","date_gmt":"2016-04-18T13:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/?p=11656"},"modified":"2016-04-18T07:33:56","modified_gmt":"2016-04-18T13:33:56","slug":"montana-ethic-project-our-history-heroes-and-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2016\/04\/montana-ethic-project-our-history-heroes-and-character\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana Ethic Project: Our history, heroes and character"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tooley\"<\/a>

Joey and Libbie Early<\/p>

Chuck Tooley talks about “The Montana Character.”<\/p><\/div>\n

This is the seventh\u00a0chapter of the 32-part video series \u201cThe Montana Ethic Project.\u201d This chapter features Chuck Tooley speaking on \u201cThe Montana Character.\u201d Tooley is a former mayor of Billings\u2014the longest-serving mayor in the city’s history, in fact\u2014and now the owner of Tooley Communications. You can watch the whole video below. After reading the preamble to the Montana Constitution, Tooley begins his presentation by saying:<\/p>\n

“I believe that the majesty of our state reinforces the character of our people. I feel Montana in me as\u00a0much as I feel a part of it. When I fill my lungs in the wide open spaces, or in the forest, or in the\u00a0mountains, or on the banks of a rushing stream it connects me to all creation.<\/p>\n

“And I\u2019m not the only one.”<\/p>\n

Here is another, edited excerpt from Tooley’s\u00a0presentation. He has already mentioned how Charlie Russell and Jeannette Rankin were the two Montanans whose statues represent the state in the\u00a0National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol<\/em>:<\/p>\n

“Alongside Charlie Russell stands Jeannette Rankin, a Montana rancher\u2019s daughter and the first woman\u00a0elected to the United States Congress. Jeannette ran on a platform of, among other things, National\u00a0Suffrage for women, protective legislation for children, and preparedness that would make for peace.<\/p>\n

“Her first vote after taking her seat in the House of Representatives was against America\u2019s entrance into\u00a0World War I. She did not return to the House after that term, but 22 years later she was elected again to\u00a0Congress and took office in 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7th <\/span>of that year,\u00a0Congresswoman Rankin voted against a declaration of war. As a woman she said, \u201cAs a woman, I can\u2019t\u00a0go to war\u2026 and I refuse to send anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

“What does it tell you about a state of ranchers and miners and farmers and loggers and businessmen\u00a0when it elects the first woman to Congress? And what does it tell about a state that is steeped in\u00a0patriotism, and whose soldiers who have a proud record in battle, when it chooses Jeannette Rankin for\u00a0National Statuary honor?<\/p>\n

“It tells me that Montanans value integrity over any individual political issue. They value courage and\u00a0conviction over expedience.”<\/p>\n