Bill LaCroix: Legislative Update Jan. 28th

Monday, January 28, 2013

Legislative Update Jan. 28th

Rep. Tom Facey (D-Missoula) introduced SB163 last week. It would “require legislators to disclose cost/payment information for meetings attended”. Within the current context of huge money buying our democracy piece by piece, legislator by legislator, SB 163 demands that a very large percentage of Republican legislators (NO Democrats so far) disclose to what degree they are A.L.E.C. pets (*). Please:

o contact Tom and thank him.

o contact the other senators on the State Administration Committee and ask them why such blatant 19^th century corruption as ALEC is tolerated today (and also to vote for SB 163).

In other good news: the Abolition Coalition will be running a bus to Helena for a lobbying day Feb. 8^th. Please go to their website http://mtabolitionco.org/ for more information on how to catch a ride. I'll be going, so you can contact me, too, at 363-1329.

Now the bad news:

A virulent “Oathkeepers” (**) letter has been circulating amongst and being signed by Republican sheriffs and lawmakers angry at probable gun-control legislation. The letter is lifted almost boilerplate from past Oathkeeper and Sheriffs First (***) declarations and publications. By signing the “oath” local sheriffs and lawmakers pledge to refuse to enforce federal laws they feel are “unconstitutional”, almost incidentally including any new gun laws. Several Montana sheriffs, including Ravalli County’s Chris Hoffman, have either signed the letter or vociferously approved its content. The committee chairmen of both legislative judicial committees—Republican Rep. Krayton Kerns and Republican Sen. Terry Murphy—have also signed the letter, which in effect elevates the craziest and therefore most-dangerous aspects of ‘90s-era “Patriot”/ “Freeman” “nullification” and “county-supremacy” schemes to nominal public policy. Lest we dismiss such treasonous nonsense out of hand, please remember that this has happened before with bad result. Tim McVeigh and Jerry Nichols, for example, mouthed the same paranoid, "constitutional" threats the last go-around we had with the “militia” movement. They would have been proud to have signed such a “Sheriff’s First” letter as the one our Ravalli County sheriff has just endorsed.

Please remember, and remember again, that the N.R.A. is joined at the hip with its life-partner, A.L.E.C., whose corporate members (including the N.R.A.) write “model gun bills” such the “stand-your-ground” laws that have been passed in several states, including Florada and Montana. HB 229, passed during the 2009 Montana legislative session, was carried by none other than the current House Judiciary Committee chair, A.L.E.C. pet, state representative and signer of the latest "Sheriffs-First" oath, Krayton Kerns.

If you’ll take a moment and look at the committee members lists below, you’ll see that Jennifer Fielder, John Trochmann’s protégé (****), is a member of the Senate committee as is Scott Boulanger. The House committee has a lot of ringers, but the one who rings the winning bell loudest today is Rep. Sarah Laszloffy (R-Laurel). Ms Laszloffy :

Is the daughter of former Republican legislator and anti-choice activist and birther, Jeff Laszloffy.
Is “strongly opposed” to defining global warming as a problem (*****).
Is an alumnus of the Bethel Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry where, according to the school’s website, they “equip students to live a supernatural lifestyle.” Not only that, but “the academic instruction at BSSM is unique because it is taught by apostles, prophets and evangelists…not by professors...” (******).
Is 20 years old.

In other words, while not expecting much more than a reasonable person can stand being disappointed by, please contact these members of the House and Senate judiciary committees anyways, and ask them, politely, what the Hell. (?)

(*) http://billlacroix.blogspot.com/2013/01/montana-legislators-who-benefit-from.html

(**) http://www.mhrn.org/publications/fact%20sheets%20and%20adivsories/OathKeepers.pdf

(***) http://alexconstantine.blogspot.com/2009/11/rising-patriot-circuit-star-richard.html

(****) http://billlacroix.blogspot.com/2013/01/jan-23rd-montana-legislature-update-as.html

(*****)http://www.montanavoterguide.com/

(******)http://www.ibethel.org/bethel-school-of-supernatural-ministry

State Administration Committee

Member	Assignment
Ron Arthun	Chair
Dee Brown	Vice Chair
Anders Blewett	Member
Larry Jent	Member
Scott Sales	Member
Kendall Van Dyk	Member
Roger Webb	Member

Senate Judiciary Committee

Member	Assignment
Terry Murphy	Chair
Scott Sales	Vice Chair
Shannon Augare	Member
Anders Blewett	Member
Scott Boulanger	Member
John Brenden	Member
Robyn Driscoll	Member
Jennifer Fielder	Member
Larry Jent	Member
Cliff Larsen	Member
Chas Vincent	Member
Art Wittich	Member

House Judiciary Committee

Member	Assignment
Krayton Kerns	Chair
Gerald (Jerry) Bennett	Vice Chair
Margaret (Margie) MacDonald	Vice Chair
Mark Blasdel	Member
Virginia Court	Member
Alan Doane	Member
Jennifer Eck	Member
Clayton Fiscus	Member
Jenifer Gursky	Member
David Halvorson	Member
Ellie Boldman Hill	Member
Sarah Laszloffy	Member
Dennis R Lenz	Member
Ryan Lynch	Member
Jerry O'Neil	Member
Carolyn Pease-Lopez	Member
Keith Regier	Member
Bridget Smith	Member
Kirk Wagoner	Member
Wendy Warburton	Member

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Why I Blog

Thoreau and Emerson had a discussion in May of 1846 about the Mexican War--our first war that set us on the course we still track today. Conquest of nation-states and the inevitable Imperialism that follows. Emerson counseled his friend that we can supersede the transgressions of a well-meaning State by the Muse. Thoreau wasn't so sure that the State was so well-meaning or that the Muse alone would be enough to supersede it. But he tried both the Muse and "other means" to our everlasting benefit. Civil Disobedience, in the American sense, has always been his child, in large part because he raised it to the level of Literature. "Other means" requires the Muse to be lasting and effective, and vice versa. How would anyone know what the hell you were talking about otherwise, let alone emulate what you're trying to do?

The problem with Progressives today, I think, is that we have been in the habit of letting other people--Rupert Murdoch, the Koch Brothers, Sun Myung Moon--tell our stories for us, people who do not mean us well. We haven't plugged our muse into our political discourse very much, and that's a big mistake. Mark Twain didn't make that mistake, and he was among the first American writers to use the new-fangled typewriter. Why do we children of Twain, Emerson and Thoreau make that mistake now with our new-fangled computers?

For all its faults, Corporate America understands that people are story-based critters, like it or not, and I think we progressives should like it. By definition, people make many important social (read: political) decisions based largely on who's the best storyteller. It’s in our nature, and Corporate Media is a classic example of how Nature abhors a vacuum. We’ve collectively created a cultural ‘narrative’ vacuum by allowing ourselves to be so easily entertained by—Corporate Media! And Nature hates that. She’ll allow the same garbage responsible for that vacuum (Corporate Media!) to be sucked in and to rattle around until it ruins our cognative motors before she’ll let that sad state of affairs stand. I'd ask any "America Firsters" stumbling on this blog and reading this far to consider: Rupert Murdoch is from Australia. Sun Myung Moon, now-deceased but whose creatures, the Washington Times and UPI still walk the face of the earth, was from Korea. The Koch Brothers, of course, were from the sheikdom of Texas. All of them were, and the living ones still are, so obscenely rich they apparently believed they own America simply because they paid for it, and we collectively let them define who among us are “real Americans”?! C'mon!

Although it helps to strive toward the goal, progressives don't have to be great writers, and I'm not claiming to be one. We simply have to acknowledge that we have the better stories and we’re sitting on our best ones. Our truest ones. Multi-national billionaires have better versions of American Liberalism and Progressivism than the real ones told by real Americans? Us? We shouldn't put up with that. Why do we?

Like any historic attempt, we need to find our Voice. Significant action will come only after our contemporary, progressive political muse matures, which it hasn't yet. Not to paint with too wide a brush, but too much of our positions have been framed in intellectual, almost-didactic prose, which, if you don't identify as an intellectual, means boring. Not all of it, just a whole lot of it, but never mind. If history's still a guide--and I hope it still is--there's hope, because when any progressive movement's Muse matures, it generally becomes the baseline for much of Western Civilization’s meaningful and therefore lasting literature. For example, "Mein Kampf" is still in print but I'll bet you'd have to turn over a lot of rocks to find someone to call it 'literature'.

So, this blog. It's a call, I suppose, to elevate our critical modern discussions out of Fox-news-landia back to where intelligent, caring Americans can find their feet and fight back, either with the Muse, by other means, or both. It’s not up to some politician to change the narrative. That’s up to us. So by definition we still have as good a chance as we ever had. Don't lose hope. It’s always been this way. At least in literate societies.

In other words, like Emerson advised and Thoreau partially agreed with: stories matter, and may the best Muse win.