11/4/2006
Walking the floor…
by Shane Mason on 11:23 pm.
I am doing the modern day version of ‘Flowers on the Wall”.
Countin’ flowers on the wall
That don’t bother me at all
Playin’ solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one
Smokin’ cigarettes and watchin’ Captain Kangaroo
Now don’t tell me I’ve nothin’ to do
I cleaned my garage today. Made two trips to the dump, where I saw the abortion plane flying around. Sat down at my computer 1353 times. Had no idea what to do so I did stuff like google for ‘watermelon’ or ‘how are aluminum cans made’. I go to google news and look at the headlines but can’t focus enough to read an entire article. I was entertained by the Insane Fisherman’s take on the Victory Rally. Watch TV for a few minutes, but my wife changes the channel every time a Burns commercial comes on. I have tried to write 234 posts here. I want to write something that will make this all be over and done with a happy ending. I can’t. My computer is simply not that powerfull.
We are though. Tomorrow I am going down to the dem headquarters to help canvas the neighborhoods, get out the damn vote. Tell people to get off their behinds and get down to the polls. Scott is doing it. Jay is doing it. Troutburst is doing it. Everyone is doing it. You do it too.
[update] Even if you don’t have a ‘local’ demo office, go out and talk to your neighbors, your family, folks at church. Be brave. I have a bumper sticker on my car that I think of often in this sort of situation:
| Comments (18) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, democrats, elections, political |
IMPORTANT: Here’s what’s at stake
by Shane Mason on 12:35 am.
We are all sharing an important moment here. Montana has the power to make a change, a real change. This opportunity doesn’t come to Montana that often, so we should seize the day. We have a real opportunity here and we must not squander it.
Conrad Burns has claimed a number of times that he has faith in President Bush’s war strategy. He praised this ’secret’ strategy to stay the course in the Billings debate, and every other debate before and after. Though a dozen retired generals have called for Rumsfeld’s resignation, George Bush and Conrad Burns say that we should stay the course. The Army Times, The Marine Corps Times, The Air Force Times and the The Navy Times announced that they would call for Rumsfeld’s resignation on Monday. President Bush made a statement on the campaign trail last week that Donald Rumsfeld was his guy and would have his position for the remainder of the Bush administration. President Bush will stay the course in Iraq and Conrad Burns will provide his lockstep support of the failed policy in Iraq if is re-elected.
So, what’s at stake here? What are the real consequences? Are there any? I will put it below the fold out of respect for the gentle souls among us, but you should look because it is very real.
(more…)
| Comments (30) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, elections, political |
11/3/2006
The Most Corrupt Man in Montana
by Shane Mason on 6:35 am.
Scandals, bribery and greed follow Burns like dust followed Pigpen on Peanuts. It’s all over him like a cheap suit (or white on rice). This isn’t really new, but it is rearing its head again. I have never seen his Washington office, but I am pretty sure that Burns has a sign outside his office that says:
FEDERAL JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS
$5000
I wonder if he issues coupons or has bluelight specials? It constantly amazes me how cheap that dude will sell us all out for. A new report called Money Trails to the Federal Bench details how American justice is up for sale to the highest bidder. It details how Burns took the maximum donation from a judge candidate just one day before recommending him for a federal appointment.
Burns is crooked and it stinks to high heaven. Read the full report here [PDF Document].
| Comments (23) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, Conrad Burns, dickhead, elections, political |
11/2/2006
I just called to say…
by Shane Mason on 11:35 pm.
Remember that John Tester will be holding a “Rally for Change” along with Governor Scweitzer and Max Baucus at the Capitol Rotunda Friday at 10:00 am. Also, he will be in Bozeman with Baucus Saturday evening at 6:00 pm at the Wilson school gymnasium. While I was telling people that on the phones tonight, I had the good fortune to find Wulfgar on my call list. It is always good to chat with him.
Find the event near you here. Great Falls, Havre, Laurel, Red Lodge, Livingston, Townsend, Boulder, Hamilton, Missoula and Billings are still ahead.
| Comments (0) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, democrats, political |
Links to the linker…
by Shane Mason on 10:20 am.
Since Jay spends so much time putting together those great links pages, I am afraid that no one is linking to some of his better work. He has a couple of posts recently that are must reads.
Jay talks about the conservative thought police in an interesting piece about recent trends from the right. He questions the Billings Gazette’s endorsement of Dennis Rehberg and discusses their endorsement of Jon Tester. Not afraid of anything, he has a good piece on the ultra-rich sticking it to the regular-rich. Check them all out.
| Comments (3) | Permanent Link | Categories: arts, cultural, food |
11/1/2006
Max Does the Right Thing. Thanks.
by Shane Mason on 11:14 pm.
I pointed out how sleazy it is that Burns has been trying to piggy back on Max Baucus’s popularity. He has been pulling a page from the Rehberg playbook and campaigning as a democrat, using Baucus’s record and hiding his own. Following the radio ad that ran in the Butte area disputing Burns’s claims, Tester is now running a television ad where Max sets the record straight. Matt McKenna says the ad will be running statewide and
you would have to be under a large rock in a deep hole not to see this ad over the next week
In truth, I think that the ad is very powerful. See for yourself.
| Comments (7) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, Conrad Burns, dickhead, elections, montana, political |
Senate Online Poll, Please Vote
by Shane Mason on 3:00 pm.
Quick. Go to the Billings Gazette and vote for the senator of your choice. It is right on the front page. The current results are:
Conrad Burns 57%
Jon Tester 40%
Stan Jones 2%
with about 25,000 votes.
| Comments (14) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, elections, political |
Burns is Embarrassing Us Again…
by Shane Mason on 10:15 am.
Burns once again made the state of Montana look stupid in the national spotlight. This time it was the Daily Show. They showed clips from the Helena debate where Tester claimed there was no plan in Iraq and Burns responded that there was a plan, only it was a secret plan. Stewart looked completely bemused and thanked Burns for protecting Bush’s super secret plan that was so secret he was not even telling the Army about it…
Stewart notes that a vote for Jon Tester is a vote for blowing Bush’s elaborate super secret plan…
Video of the debate
See the whole episode at Comedy Central.
UPDATE: Touchstone let us know in the comments that the video is up at Crooks and Liars.
| Comments (7) | Permanent Link | Categories: Conrad Burns, dickhead, montana, political |
They Are The Dividers…
by Shane Mason on 12:00 am.
President Bush will be here later this week to stump for Conrad Burns. Is he coming here as the decider? The uniter? No, he coming as the divider. Here is a preview from speeches he has made this week:
“When it comes to listening to the terrorists, what’s the Democrats’ answer? It’s just say no. When it come to detaining terrorists, what is the Democrats’ answer Just say no. When it comes to questioning terrorists, what’s the Democrats’ answer? Just say no. When it comes to trying terrorists, what’s the Democrats’ answer. Just say no.â€
He is not saying ‘the Republican plan to keep America safe is better than the Democrats’. What he is saying here is that we want the terroris to succeed. We want to see American lives lost. This isn’t how we work together, this is how we marginalize 50% of the American population.
“The Democrat approach in Iraq comes down to this: The terrorists win, and America loses.â€
I could point out that with over 100 Americans killed in Iraq this month, his approach to Iraq is working out really poorly. I am not saying that he wants us to fail. I am simply pointing out that he is incapable of a coherent strategy. There is a difference here. I am not questioning his motivation as he questions all democrats.
You can say that my ideas are wrong and I will have an active and spirited debate with you on that. However, if you question my motivations or patriotism then the debate is off the table and a fight is on the table. Too often that is what it comes down to from both sides and it is simply not OK. We have heard it time and again from this president and Conrad Burns. I hear it echoed here from thoughtless commenters “The democrats want us to fail in Iraq“. No, we don’t want to see people die. We don’t want to hear the death tolls everyday. If that was our goal we would not be trying to force a strategy, we would let Bush’s ’secret’ plan continue. Failure is where that secret plan is headed.
We want America to succeed with its values intact: the values of acceptance, equality and all the right granted us in the constitution. We want us to be the nation that works together to solve it’s problems. We don’t want to be a country that marginalizes 50% of it’s population. We want to be a country called The United States of America. We are done with dividers, we want uniters. We are taking our country back and we are starting on Tuesday.
| Comments (17) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, Conrad Burns, dickhead, elections, ideologues, montana, political, republicans |
10/30/2006
Never Never Never. Well, sometimes.
by Shane Mason on 12:34 am.
OK, a lot then.
Oh yeah. This is very real folks. Get the fact sheet here. Conrad, you got pwnd!
| Comments (6) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, Conrad Burns, dickhead, elections, political |
10/29/2006
Monday Tester Events
by Shane Mason on 11:02 pm.
If you are near any of the following locations on Monday and want to see Jon Tester, I would encourage you to do so. Just meeting him will help convince you that a vote for him is the right thing. These events are part of the Countdown For Change Tour, with stops all over Montana. Check for one near you and go down to show your support.
Miles City
7:00 a.m.
Breakfast
Eagles Club
24 N 8th Street
Forsyth
10:00 a.m.
Rally
Speedway Cafe
811 Main Street
Crow Agency
12:00 Noon
Rally
Apsaalooke Center
Multi-purpose Building
Lame Deer
3:00 p.m.
Rally
Charging Horse Casino
| Comments (0) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, democrats, elections, political |
Legislative races
by Shane Mason on 8:46 am.
As Matt noted last week, the legislative races are in the final stretch. Many of these races are important but have been overshadowed by the US senate race. The Helena IR is running a story on the battle for control of the legislature. Also, there is a thumbnail sketch of several of the key races.
As you go out next week to knock on doors and deliver literature for Tester and Lindeen, perhaps you can double you effort with one of these candidates.
| Comments (2) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, democrats, montana, political |
Really Really dirty little man
by Shane Mason on 1:25 am.
OK, I have not seen this article, but I heard a radio ad for Tester where Baucus talks about it. Then tonight I saw one of the Burns commercial that started it all. I will summarize it here:
Burns and Baucus. Baucus and Burns. Burns and Baucus. Baucus and Burns. Baucus Baucus Baucus, so vote Burns.
Heh, you’ld think they were best friends. Not so, it seems:
HELENA - Democratic Sen. Max Baucus cried foul Friday over Republican Sen. Conrad Burns and the national GOP using his name in advertisements and fliers that suggest he backs Burns over Jon Tester for the Senate.
“I don’t like it,†Baucus said in a phone interview. “It misleads Montana voters and it implies that I don’t support Jon Tester. I strongly support Jon Tester. I think he’s the better man.â€
Baucus said Burns has ignored a letter from his chief of staff and a phone call from Baucus asking him to refrain from using his name in the radio ads, which have now expanded to television.
Talk about a sniveling little man trying to piggyback on another’s record! The central message is: “Baucus is a senator and you like him. I am a senator too, so you must like me.”
“It’s very misleading,†Baucus said. “I’ve raised a lot of money for him (Tester). I think he’s going to be by far the better senator. He’s honest, he’s hard-working, he’s smart.â€
That’s all Burns has left folks. “You like Max because he is a good guy, so vote for me. I think that Tester should take Maxes radio message to the TV:
“You might have heard ads from Conrad Burns using my name. Well, let me be very clear: I support Jon Tester. I believe in Jon because he is a straight shooter, a real Montanan and just a good guy.â€
| Comments (14) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, Conrad Burns, democrats, dickhead, elections, montana, political |
10/28/2006
Coffee Talk
by Shane Mason on 3:30 pm.
OK, my friend Linda Richman is feeling a bit verklempt and asked that you discuss issues amongst yourself. She suggested some topics:
The Thighmaster was neither a thigh nor a master. Discuss.
Duran Duran was neither Duran nor Duran. Discuss.
I’ll suggest some of my own too.
We all know that the Republican’s have had a tremendous get-out-the-vote machine. Is it possible that there is an organized covert hamper-the-vote machine?
Another note: if this touted Republican get-out-of-the-vote machine is so good, why do Democrats trump Republicans among likely voters? Could it be that we are pissed off and republican corruption?
Former Bush administration official David Safavian gets 18 months in jail for assisting lobbyist crook Jack Abromoff. Matt McKenna ask if Burns is next. My guess? Any indictments are being held up until after the election.
My wife just got a push poll call from 1.703.961.8297 (Virginia) that was an obvious push poll. With all of these reported, shouldn’t our republican Secretary of State Brad Johnson do something about this? Maybe he is too busy making commercials? Wonder what he’ll be running for in 2 years?
The economy is slowing and The GDP falls. Is it possible that the Government tried to pull an Enron? In other news, Chevron is pulling in big money.
| Comments (7) | Permanent Link | Categories: Front Page |
10/27/2006
What happened?
by Shane Mason on 10:28 am.
If we’re an arrogant nation, they’ll resent us; if we’re a humble nation, but strong, they’ll welcome us. And our nation stands alone right now in the world in terms of power, and that’s why we’ve got to be humble, and yet project strength in a way that promotes freedom.
George Bush October 12, 2000
These are wise words. What happened? They were always just words. Things have gone terribly wrong. We need leadership that will not only say these words and understand them. It’s simple, Jon Tester and Monica Lindeen Convince one person that you know to vote that would not have voted otherwise. Volunteer, the stakes are huge.
| Comments (8) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, elections, political |
Broken Government
by Shane Mason on 8:31 am.
If you haven’t been watching the CNN series Broken Government this week, you need to. It is an excellent review of the last 6 years. Tonight’s episode was a great discussion on the grab of executive power and overreach in the last several years. It is an eye opening experience to me. For instance, I had no idea that Dick Cheney’s lifelong goal has been an expansion in executive power. Video footage doesn’t lie and this policy of imperial executive goes back to his time in Richard Nixon. It shows views from both sides, but the truth is obvious.
In light of recent expressions by ABC that it openly favors conservative views based on the Fox model, it is nice to see a news channel looking at the truth. If you watch this and say that it is liberal biased, that’s because you havn’t had you eye open for the last 6 years or maybe the truth hurts.
| Comments (13) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, elections, ideologues, overreach, political, republicans |
10/25/2006
Think they are adapting?
by Shane Mason on 9:06 pm.
How are things going in Iraq President Bush? Are we winning, losing? What?
“Absolutely we’re winning,” the president asserted.
Oh? I have heard a lot about the government in Iraq taking the load of this civil war off of our shoulders. Do you think that al-Maliki can handle that?
Bush voiced confidence in al-Maliki, calling him “the right man” for Iraq now.
So, to reassure the voters in America that things are on course, you spoke last weekend of drafting a timetable for them to take control. I have even heard that we could see a massive troop reduction in Iraq over the next year. You are working with the Iraqi government on that, so they must be pretty excited?
Al-Maliki also criticized the top U.S. military and diplomatic representatives in Iraq for saying his government needed to set a timetable to curb violence in the country. “I affirm that this government represents the will of the people and no one has the right to impose a timetable on it,” he said.
Oh, OK. We are ‘winning’ the war still though right? I mean, we are making raids and arresting bad guys, right. They appreciate that, right?
In Baghdad, the Iraqi leader took a hard slap at the United States for a raid by U.S. and Iraqi forces on the stronghold of a Shiite militia led by a radical anti-American cleric on whom Al-Maliki relies for political support. Al-Maliki said the raid “will not be repeated.”
Well, at least we have this grand new direction and amazing flexibility to deal with the ever changing enemy. Maybe we can even get the Iraqi government on our side.
I am telling, don’t be fooled. Bush isn’t honest about what is happening in Iraq and Burns isnt honest about what is happening in Iraq. We need leaders that will tell us the truth and work to find a real solution.
| Comments (13) | Permanent Link | Categories: foreign, iraq, political |
Crahing the States Diary
by Shane Mason on 4:13 pm.
Last week, three guys traveling across country blogging and filming a documentary called Crashing the States came through Montana. They stayed at our house for a few days while visiting with the Tester campaign. They were able to attend the debate in Great Falls AND watch V for Vendetta with me. What more could you want in life? You can read more about their visit here.
It is, in its essence, the heart of the Libertarian Democratic ideal–the idea that personal freedom, open space and opportunity are paramount, and any government policies that interfere with that ideal, whether they come from the left or the right, are unwelcome. The conservatives in these states are along the lines of the more traditional conservative–they do not buy into the new corporate-funded theocratic authoritarianism of the current manifestation of the Republican Party.
On their last day they interviewed my good buddy Craig and I at the General Merchantile. I thought the conversation went well, but we’ll have to see if it makes it into the movie. The best part of the whole thing to me? Craig gets his picture and quotes in the DailyKos!
We met up with bloggers on opposite ends of the political spectrum: On the left side, we had Shane, whom I have previously introduced; and on the other was Craig of MontanaPolitics. The discussion that ensued was very interesting, and Craig made a lot of interesting points concerning the nature of the political atmosphere in Montana. He agreed that Tester’s supporters were far more energized than Burns’, and that from his standpoint it was more likely that Tester would win.
But here again, Craig’s attitude says a lot about the rise of Libertarian Democracy in the state. Craig is a traditional conservative who doesn’t feel like he has a horse in the race. Craig talked about the fact that Burns is running ads that attack Tester for making the statement that he would repeal the Patriot Act. What Craig said that the Burns campaign apparently doesn’t understand is that among Montanans, the Patriot Act simply isn’t very popular because it is seen as an unnecessary intrusion of government power into the personal arena. And while Craig strongly disagrees with Shane and with Tester about the best way to solve America’s problems, he says that the national party didn’t seem to be interested in solving problems any more. Craig said that he didn’t view himself as a Republican–he viewed himself as a conservative, and that the Republican candidates still fit in with his views more often than not, but in the case of Bush and Burns, it was hard to see exactly what is so conservative about them.
| Comments (2) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, democrats, elections, montana, political |
Conservative magazine’s positive review of Tester
by Shane Mason on 6:00 am.
Kos has a story about the Weekly Standard’s profile of Jon Tester that is quiet interesting. The funny thing here? The conservative magazine did 100% better job than our so called ‘unbiased’ local media has ever done of being fair. Anyway, it is worth the read. I just noticed that Jay wrote on this over at 4 & 20 Blackbirds
While you are at it, check out this interesting piece at the DailyKos about a posters phone call to Burns’s HQ. Wow.
| Comments (5) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, elections, political |
10/24/2006
They have had 6 years
by Shane Mason on 10:07 pm.
I have a question. The republicans have had almost complete control for the last 6 years. What have they done for us? I don’t want to know what they haven’t done or what they have done poorly. I don’t want to hear about the bad things. There are plenty of conservatives lurking around here, I want to know why you support Burns and the Bush administration. What have they done to prove themselves worthy of your vote? This is your open microphone, say what you will.
| Comments (21) | Permanent Link | Categories: '06, Conrad Burns, elections, montana, political |
