Missoula City Voters...You've Got (Hate) Mail

Rude. Unwise. Illegal and Improper.

These are words mainstream residents are using to describe the e-mail brouhaha engulfing liberal-progressive members of the Missoula City Council.

So what is this e-mail hubbub all about?

Well, it appears that some of our upstanding aldermen have been using their city-issued laptops and e-mail accounts to conduct a meeting-inside-a-meeting during Missoula City Council sessions.

In these e-mails, certain council members do everything from swap votes to diss the public.

…the topics run the gamut. Councilors are “talking” about amendments. They're discrediting the public. They're scheduling lunch meetings and even making jokes.

What’s the problem with this, you say?

It seems that these secret communications reveal a covert attempt by liberal-progressive members to conduct important city business outside of the public view.

Several e-mails sent during public meetings show a group of council members privately strategizing about matters on the agenda.

And legal experts also say the practice is probably illegal under Montana’s open meeting statute.

Clem Work, a professor and legal scholar at the University of Montana School of Journalism, said...the public doesn't get a chance to participate in the meeting taking place by e-mail because they don't get to hear or see the interchange of ideas.“I think council members sending e-mail messages back and forth to each other during City Council on any substantive matter whatsoever certainly violates the spirit of open meetings laws."

But why should you really care?

Because not one of these members has even mouthed an apology. And to top it off, Council members Rye, Childers, Marler, Strohmaier and Jaffe aren’t even the slightest bit embarrassed for getting caught secretly badmouthing citizens and fellow council members.

Instead, they have attempted to circle the wagons with really LAME explanations.

E-mailing council members defend their communications as expedient, and say the public has ample access to city government in Missoula. E-mail allows them to quickly vet an idea among trusted colleagues to see if it would survive on the floor, they say.

“There's not enough hours in the week to talk to death about everything,” Rye said.

Yet there is ample time to talk about chickens, the Iraq War and the Pledge of Allegiance.

And that goes to the heart of the problem on our city council.

This group has governed in a liberal-progressive echo chamber for the last two years, focusing on progressive cause-celebs while ignoring the mainstream issues voters care about, like filling potholes, planning our growth, and looking for ways to make government more responsive and efficient.

Missoulapolis points it out best when she mentions that these are the same folks who "are in charge of a $124 million budget.” Our fair city deserves better.

The Scoop agrees with the words used by mainstream residents, but he would like to add a few of his own… Throw The Bums Out.

Missoula needs to elect a group of mainstream Democrat, Independent and Republican candidates that are not aligned with the lock-step liberal-progressive movement.

We need a council willing to listen to the people...not one that pays more attention to partisan marching orders that are delivered via e-mail.

The Elk Are Coming...The Elk Are Coming...

The Scoop is a little quiet this weekend, hanging-low with friends and family and enjoying Elton John, UM Homecoming and the Griz game. I'm also showing some out-of-town visitors around the valley and working on a new post about who I think would make a great Governor.

Anyways, just this morning I was telling my guests that the fall elk herd was due to show up in Grant Creek any day. And what would you know, they are starting to assemble on Haystack Mountain this afternoon! (This, of course, is the unofficial name of the mountain. As you can guess from the photo, it also has another unofficial name.)

Here is my first photo of this illusive group. I counted about thirty-five elk, surrounded by the red box in this photo. (The Scoop photo department needs some new equipment, preferably something with a telephoto lens and a non-cardboard exterior)

You can enlarge the photo by clicking on it; the herd looks like a little colony of ants. Last year, the herd grew to about three hundred before they disappeared into the foothills.

What an amazing Montana weekend!

Conservative Montana Blogs: The Last Best Primer

Mike over at The Last Best Place has produced an insightful and comprehensive summary of conservative Montana bloggers.

If you are new to the Montana blogsphere, this is a not-to-be-missed list of Who's Who to help you build your bookmarks.

Of course, Mike mentions the Scoop.

What would Montana be without our daily dose of Big Sky common sense? We shudder at the thought.

What he didn't mention was that HE runs a pretty darn good blog himself, and the Scoop recommends making TLBP a frequent read.

Mr. Googles is an avid reader, but would like to see a little more Elmo and a little less Michelin Man.

You might want to cover your eyes.

Gary, Some People Out There Want You Dead. They Are Called Terrorists...

...and they hate you. The only thing standing in their way is:

TEAM AMERICA!

Ok, so I was reading Missoulapolis today and a post by Carol reminded me of one of my favorite movies of all time.

The premise: a group of secret agents defuse a global terrorism plot led by kingpin Kim Jung-Il. The North Korean dictator fools a bunch of lefty movie stars (members of the F.ilm A.ctors G.uild) into the plot, preying on their misguided liberal philosophies.

Our heroes: a pack of politically incorrect, not-so-bright marionettes led by a guy named Gary.

This movie skewers infamously outspoken liberals like no other. Since it is from the creators of South Park, it pokes fun at everybody. It makes Blazing Saddles look like a church camp production. It is not for the easily offended. (Wulfgar, that means you).

Anyways, here are two clips.

The first, a really funny "unofficial" trailer.

The second, an adults only, profanity-using Team America recruiting video, inspired by the movie. This one pokes fun at military recruiting videos that flex a little too much muscle.

The movie, while not very successful at the box office, has inspried a cult following on the internet and YouTube.

Enjoy, and God bless our fighting men and women, who fight the REAL threats of global terrorism every day.

Thank you for keeping America free!

UNOFFICIAL TRAILER



F*** YEAH! (I warned you, not for the faint of heart)

The Lost Art of the God's Eye

As a lad, my brothers and sister and I used to spend most the summer at our family cabin on Flathead Lake.

I remember lots of really fun times: swimming, picking berries in the forest, beach glass collecting, hide-and-go-seek, paddling around in my raft, monopoly marathons.

But I also remember that as the summer stretched on, we would get dreadfully bored. The novelty of swimming 24 hours a day was not as compelling to our pruned little bodies in August as it was in June...or July.

Like a lot of kids we filled our time with hobbies and crafts. But as the summer drew on, these projects would get more and more EXTREME.

What started in June as simple stick carving would escalate into the manufacture of complex wooden rubber band rifles by summers end. Each year would build on the last. By the end of our last summer, we were just a few short weeks away from an operational nuclear device; or at least the crab apple and sling-shot equivalent.

So, the Scoop was please to see my nieces and nephews exercising a little more creative restraint this summer.

One of these crafts was learning how to make a God's Eye- a stick and yarn sculpture that looks a lot like a Native American dream catcher.

I still have one of these I made in grade school that hangs on our Christmas tree. And, as is true for anything with bright colors, Mr. Googles was enthralled by each one, and eager to pose with some of the finer specimens.

Anyways, this is a fun and relaxing activity if you are interested in picking up this lost art.

As for other projects, I'd post the schematics for the rubber band rifle, but I'm afraid it will fall into the hands of the enemy.

We still have one more trip to make up to the lake this year, and the Scoop doesn't want to lose the upper hand.

Of course, I'd love to hear if you have any fun, boredom-reduction strategies from your childhood.

Why A Liberal-Progressive Can't Win & A Mainstream Conservative Can't Lose

Wouldn’t it be great if a political candidate could appeal to all types of people: moderates, liberals, conservatives and even…gulp…progressives?

Maybe, but in reality this is the stuff of fiction found only in West Wing reruns and Brian Schweitzer commercials.

Americans are philosophically different, concerned and committed to carrying out their points of view. We may not have a choice, as political philosophies may even be something we are born into.

While this does not mean we can’t find political consensus, it does define the playing field upon which that consensus is found.

Even moderates are committed to being…well…moderate. You have met these folks. They are the ones that say, “If only there was a candidate that was a fiscal conservative and social liberal, then they would easily win and everybody would be happy.”

But like the progressive-liberals that wrong-headedly think someone like Barack Obama, Howard Dean or Al Gore can win the White House, moderates are also unlikely to ascend under their own power.

The reason: neither group has enough votes.

A recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll, conducted over the summer, focused on identifying the demographics of voter philosophy.

And what did it show? Compared to previous polls of its kind, individual party affiliation may change over time, but political philosophies remain mostly constant.

It also showed what similar polls have shown for decades: the dominant political philosophy in America is conservatism.

At ~38% of the voting public, this doesn’t mean that conservatives can win elections alone, but it does show that conservatives have a deeper base of support than you would ever guess from the mainstream media.

Other findings that defy mainstream media stereotypes:

- The smallest tracked philosophical demographic? Liberals at 21.67%.

- The philosophical demographic with the lowest income? Moderates with more than 68% of families making less than $50,000 annually.

- The political philosophy with the largest percentage of minorities? Moderate with 21% of moderates being Hispanic and 14% being African American.

- The political party with the most education? Republican with 40% of voters having at least a college degree.

- Political affiliations where more than 35% of voters identify themselves as being evangelical or born-again Christians: Republican at 50% and Independents at 36%.

But the bottom line is what conservatives may find of most interest: when added together, a conservative-moderate coalition makes up a whopping 71% of all voters.

But when you add all moderates and liberals together, you just cross the half-way mark at 55%.

This is a good reminder to all conservatives that a mainstream coalition with moderate voters goes unmatched.

That is also why the only place a liberal-progressive like Matthew Santos can beat a moderate conservative like Arnold Vinick for President of the United States is on the West Wing.

It certainty couldn't happen anywhere else.

You Got Your Solstice In My Equinox

Actually, that never really happens in Montana. Seasons seem to run pretty much on schedule, rarely intermingling.

The last couple years, the Scoop has noticed that things seem to happen almost to the day of the solstice or equinox. Spooky!

Like earlier this year in June, right after experiencing a single warm day that felt somewhat summer-like...BOOM... snow fell on Snowbowl to remind us that summer was not quite here.

I marked on my calendar that the last bits of snow fell on Snowbowl on June 15th, melting just a few days before the Summer Solstice. The summer then ran on-schedule for a long and hot 90-days.

And then yesterday, on the first day of the Autumnal Equinox, it snowed for the first time on Snowbowl, reminding us summer has come to a close.

Here is a picture (a little dark) of the first white peaks; unseen until the clouds cleared a little earlier this evening.

Snow often times marks the beginning and ending of summer, and did so in an especially timely manner this year.

The Scoop of Montana: Dairy Queen

Ok, so Dairy Queen is not unique to Montana.

But how many states can claim to have one in almost very town? In Eastern Montana (the Scoop's homeland), it is not uncommon to find a small town with only a gas station, bar, church, post office and, you know it, a DQ.

At Scoop Montana we are starting a new "Best of Montana" feature, highlighting the treasurers of life under the big sky.

If you have one to share, let us know at scoopmontana@gmail.com.

And as Jeff Foxy Worthy said it best..."If your Dairy Queen closes for the winter... you might just live in Montana."

For Missoulians looking to get a final fix, there is no better DQ than the neighborhood store at 1735 South Higgins.

You still have about five weeks; the final day before winter closing is Sunday, November 4th.

Mr. Googles will be there sporting a cherry dipped cone.

Liberal-Progressive Math: 1+2=1

It seems as if liberal progressives at hopping mad at Senator Baucus for not using his power to pull troops pre-maturely out of Iraq.

And, they have come up with another brilliant idea: Recruit and run an anti-war candidate against him!

As he heads into his sixth U.S. Senate election, Democrat Max Baucus is under fire from the liberal wing of his own party, some of whom are trying to recruit a “peace candidate” to run against him.

“We've spent over $1 trillion killing one million Iraqis,” said Richards, who lost a three-way Senate primary last year to Jon Tester, who won the general election. “Stopping this slaughter is more important than anyone's political career.
We need to run a peace candidate in the primary in order to establish peace as ‘the issue' for the general election."

"Only when Max faces sound opposition will he begin to do what is right.”

Where have these folks been? Max has a peace candidate running against him, it is Republican Mike Lange of Billings.

If being anti-war is the most important issue (certainly more important than anyone's political career) then they can read about Mr. Lange's anti-war position in today's Missoulian.

It's not just liberal Democrats who are taking issue with Democratic U.S. Sen. Max Baucus' early support for the Iraq war. Baucus' lone Republican challenger, state Rep. Mike Lange of Billings, also faults the senior senator for being part of a Congress that was too willing to rubber-stamp President Bush's war designs.

“I absolutely would not have voted to go to Iraq,” Lange said in a recent interview. “If I felt there was a threat to our nation with nuclear arms and if I had hard, unequivocal proof, if I knew that my sole goal was Saddam Hussein, I would have taken him out. But I would not have occupied (Iraq). We had no strategy whatsoever on how to deal with the aftermath.”

“I would encourage Baucus, (Sen. Jon) Tester, (Rep. Denny) Rehberg and everybody else in Congress to come up with as many different ideas as they can to get us out of there,” said Lange, whose son has enlisted in the Army. “I just don't want to see troops there for 10 years.”

Of course, liberal-progressives will never back Mike Lange; even if they never find an "anti-war" candidate of their own.

The reason? Progressive anti-war rethoric is not really about ending the war. It is about advancing a left-of-center philosophy to redistribute wealth and implement their version of a socialist uptopia. The war needs to end because it is diverting money away from their utopian projects like free abortion clinics. And, Mike Lange, or anyone in their right mind, would never support this vision. Lange is a true fiscal conservative.

What gets the Scoop is that these are the same folks that ran Ned Lamont for the U.S. Senate against Joe Lieberman, and got totally thumped by mainstream voters. They think Max will change his mind when they apply some electoral pressure. Not gonna happen.

Liberal-progressives can never understand that an opponents may take a different positions because they believe what they are doing is right. Instead, progressives like to conjure up stories about how their enemies are corrupted by outside influences. (Baucus, if you read the whole story, is corrupted by the rich, big business and the pharmacutical lobby...)

Why else would someone be against the utopian vision?

It is simple math to figure out that running a left-wing progressive liberal will only strengthen Senator Baucus' position as a conservative democrat; the position he needs to win another term.

But like wealth redistribution, this is another idea where you get out less than you put in.

And, as we all know, progressive liberals are not so swell at math.

A Double-Espresso for Mr. Schwanke... Why Governor Schweitzer Can Be Beat

Bill Schwanke recently gave Republicans a piece of his mind.

The gist: Don’t waste your time or talent running anybody against Governor Brian Schweitzer or Senator Max Baucus.

They’ll be sacrificial lambs.

There’s little to indicate that any Republican candidate, however attractive, will stand a chance against Baucus or Schweitzer. They’re too well entrenched, and by all indicators, too popular, to be unseated.

But in classic Schwanke humility that the Scoop wish he shared a little more of, Bill said he might not be totally closed on the issue.

If somebody has some strong, strong evidence that Baucus and/or Schweitzer truly are vulnerable my mind might be changed. But it would have to be double-espresso strong.

The Scoop thinks Schwanke is right on Baucus: he is as invulnerable as a politician can get. He has real power in Washington. He is humble and someone we generally like. He also has paid attention to issues on both sides of the isle. And let’s not forget he has $4 million in the bank. He already has the Scoop's vote.

After making the titanic mistake of throwing out Conrad Burns, Montanans won’t trade another truck-load of seniority, influence and accomplishment for a jar of snake oil. To steal a line from Burns, Baucus " Delivers for Montana". And in 99% of elections, that’s what matters.

But, the Scoop doesn't share the same assessment about Schweitzer. He is a crafty campaigner, and well financed. But that is were the comparison ends.

Schweitzer suffers from four problems that topple incumbents:

1. Schweitzer is under-accomplished: I can’t think of a meaningful thing he has done that anybody with a billion dollars, a monkey, and a dart board couldn’t have accomplished. We have to remember he promised to be more than an administrator, and with our historic challenges, that is what Montana needs.

One example: Where’s the evidence of the big economic changes he promised with his energy initiative: New energy plants? New out-of-state businesses or significant investments? Something to show Montana is “Open for Business” other than the slogan? We have lots of plans, programs and energy bills and tax credits, but show me a single big company that is doing something new in Montana?

All talk and little action? All slogans and little substance? Publicity hound? I'll let you decide, but that is what the Scoop thinks.

2. Schweitzer has become part of the government problem: He has broken significant reform-oriented campaign promises that were the key to his election. Remember how he promised to governor as a Republican and a Democrat, working on behalf of Montana?

The reality is that he has presided over the most partisan government in recent history and has shrunk from any roll as a bi-partisan statesman. During the end of the last legislative session, when he could have helped ease tensions and promoted consensus in the Legislature, he left the state to be on a liberal talk show and attend some political fundraisers. It sounds like a Republican talking point, but it also happens to be the truth. Montana needs leadership and Schweizter hasn't provided it.

On top of this he has ethics issues around rewarding political operatives, family and friends with nice state jobs. But studying Schweizter's ethical laspes and double standards would take a whole other post.

3. Schweitzer is out-of-touch with mainstream Montanans on key issues: He promised to governor as a fiscal conservative, but rather has grown government by historic proportions. State spending increased 21% after the last session. It increased 12% the session before. At this rate, state government will be between one-third to one-half bigger by the time he leaves office.

He has squandered the state surplus through unnecessary spending and refused to return money to over-taxed Montanans who are struggling to pay increasing tax bills. He has exacerbated systemic education problems by adding a well intentioned by under funded program (Full-Day Kindergarten) on top of a system that is already poorly organized and funded. The problems with corrections and entitlement programs: they don’t have enough money!

Schweizter is dodging all the big problem his "big ideas" were supposed to help fix. Tom Siebel has done more to address our corrections problem in the last four years than Schweitzer. Maybe he should be governor?

4. Schweitzer is increasingly unlikable: Montanans are concerned about constant feedback from Democrats, Republicans and non-government types that work closely with the Gov. They report he is a partisan bully, especially if he doesn’t get what HE wants.

It would be one thing if it where just Mike Lange and Judy Martz, but this quiet drum beat comes from all sides. A few brave souls say this to the press; many others talk about it quietly at parties, looking over their shoulder like they are waiting for the Gestapo to arrive.

Nobody likes a bully.

And for a much lesser reason, we are all sick of Jag.

Even if Schweizter stays, the mutt has got to go.

The Real Scoop: Montana’s love affair with Schweitzer is over. Mainstream Montanans want an alternative.

Good Republicans like Bob Keenan should not shrink from this fight. They wouldn't be a sacrificial lamb. They would find deep support across the state and, if they ran a strong but losing campaign, would build future goodwill.

Bill, the Scoop doesn't think these are weak reasons; but that they are double-espresso strong.

We'll let Montana decide. But first, the Republicans need to put forth a strong candidate.

We All Hang Out With Losers...But Most of Us Learn To Move On

It appears that mainstream Americans are catching onto MoveOn.org and rejecting their brand of political extremism.

A recent Gallup poll shows that after all the testimony and the MoveOn hit-job, General Patraeus is both better known and better liked.

According to the Sept. 14-16, 2007 poll, 61% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Petraeus, while 22% have an unfavorable opinion...

Other nation-wide polls show what these supposed anti-war progressives feared most: the September Iraq report card didn't swing public support against the war. In some cases, it appears Patraeus even changed some minds, particularly on Capital Hill.

By a wide margin of 72-25, even the U.S. Senate condemned Move On's horrible ad.

They had to; the tide is turning not only in Iraq, but in our public square. Americans want to win and protect our freedom from terrorist thugs. We know that a defeat in Iraq will lead to more defeat elsewhere. You don't have to ask General Patraeus. We've know this since General Patton.

The irony is that MoveOn is going to find out what the Scoop already knows: the liberal progressive senators they backed in the last election are a bunch of weak-kneed, political opportunists. This includes our own Senator Jon Tester, who is reinventing how to play both sides of the war politics fence. Not quite the straight talk he promised and we expected.

Like Tester, these folks will continue to ditch MoveOn whenever voters rankle at MoveOn's radical tactics.

This is a case where politics DOES NOT make strange bedfellows.

We all first experienced this in high school -- losers hang out together. Who didn't hang out in the smoking section because it looked like it might be cool? And it was...for about a minute.

Lefty Democrats and MoveOn are in disarray. Their supposed "anti-war" campaign has been revealed for what it really is -- a defeatist, selfish political ploy to gain the upper hand in the American game of partisan politics. It has nothing to do with what is right for our country, our soldiers and the Iraqi people.

The Real Scoop: The big political threat of the Iraq war is not a long-term Republican exile if we are to be defeated; it is a long-term Democrat rebuke if we are to win some measure of victory.

And it will spell the end, at least politically, for progressive war-opportunists everywhere.

Unfortunately, we are all apt to hang out with losers. But most of us wise up and "move on."

Get Your Pink Bunny On? I Don't Think So...

Forward Montana has launched a unique voter registration drive in Missoula, using cute college girls in pink bunny ears to snag otherwise unsuspecting male voters.

It appears they are also using a young man in pink bunny ears to snag, well, other types of unsuspecting male voters.

Sorry... but I never knew a girl to go for a guy in pink.

Anyways, the campaign is not without it's appeal, and the Scoop lauds anybody for registering folks to vote.

But, it does go to show what an amazing snow job progressive liberals have to conjure up in order to make their cause appealing. This video is so loaded with sex it makes Grey's Anatomy looks like the McNeal-Lehrer Newshour.

Not interested in helping undermine our country so we can lose a war we are winning in Iraq?

Ok then, how about a cute college girl in a tight pink shirt?

A note to all college kids approached to "get your bunny on"...read the fine print about what these folks support. If you agree, great. If not, register to vote and vote your own mind.

It might be fun to experiment with things in college, but joining a bunch of folks who want to turn our town into an urban ghetto like Seattle or Berkeley is not one of them.

Most of you can get laid on your own.

And what about a Matt Singer in pink bunny ears?

Even these folks know some things can't be dressed up.

The Phantom Photo II

The Scoop needs to run silent for a few days.

Mr. Googles needs a daddy and the world needs saving.

So, I thought it would be fun to run another Phantom Photo contest during this moment away...with a slight rule change.

The contest will run until 6pm Monday night, at which time we will reward whoever answered correctly FIRST. But, a correct answer doesn't end the game, since the person could be wrong. They could also be right, but I may not be around to tell them.

This one is a little harder.

Name the item partially pictured below.

P.S. - Still working on why I think Schweitzer is beatable. The post is still a work in progress; so many reasons yet so little space.

Congratulations to MT Sentinel, for the correct guess, a stapler.

The Phantom Photo

Did any of you live in Great Falls in the late 1970's and early 80's, and listen to KQDI radio during morning drive-time?

If you did, you may remember THE SECRET SOUND.

This was a competition where DJ's Mike Dalton and Wendy Carpenter played the same sound every day, over the radio, until a selected caller guessed what it was. Each day there was an incorrect guess, the money pot grew!

I can remember one competition went on for months. I think the sound ended up being a a garage door crushing a tin can, or something like that.

Well, the Scoop would like to bring this game back, but in the form of a picture. And without the money pot. :-(

Let me know if you can guess what this is a picture of. Of course, this picture is just a segment of a picture of a larger object. The winner has to be specific. You can submit guesses via post or e-mail.

The champion gets the prestige of knowing they beat the Scoop.

It took less than an hour to get a correct response. Somewhere, Mike Dalton and Wendy Carpenter are shaking their heads.

THE WINNER: Mike over at THE LAST BEST PLACE . He nailed it by guessing that the photo is of a Gillette razor.

A Reason to Celebrate!

The Scoop was blessed with our 1000th unique IP visitor yesterday, sometime in the mid-afternoon while Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts was speaking at UM.

I guess we can rule out that it was him.

Not bad for a site that is roughly a month old and that has been monitoring visitors for sixteen days. Of course, I have to thank the myriad of sites that link to and mention the Scoop.

Thanks! It has been fun being the new kid on the Montana blogshere block.

We also are developing a hard-core readership. Folks are from all across Montana. Not sure if they are here for the political talk or to keep tabs on the illustrious Mr. Googles. It's split based on the page visits. We are averaging about 75 repeat visitors and a a few hundred page-reads a day. Not quite a big blog yet, but growing.

Oddly, the Scoop got a lot of e-mails on the Optical Illusion, so I think a celebratory puzzle should be in the works.

And, maybe at 2500 I'll acknowledge the unique IP and award a prize. Rumor on the street is that the Governor himself is a reader of various western Montana blogs, given his IP was published on New West last year.

The Gov, and you, may want to tune in tomorrow for my post on why I think he can be beat.

Jon Tester: A Disaster At Year One

Montana Senator Jon Tester, who claimed that eighteen years in the U.S. Senate corrupted veteran Montana Senator Conrad Burns, has shown that what supposedly took his predecessor two decades has taken him little more than ten months.

Except he has no positive accomplishments to show.

In stunning back-to-back revelations, it was reveled that Tester both received money from criminally disgraced fundraiser Norman Hsu and used what little Congressional influence he does have to strike down a legislative action that would have negatively affected a political organization that gave him bocu bucks.

The group was liberal extremist organization MoveOn.org, which contributed $88,000 to his recent campaign. As acting chair of the Senate earlier this week, Tester torpedoed a motion by Texas Senator John Cornyn to denounce MoveOn for their reprehensible advertisement claiming that General Petraeus had betrayed the United States by leading our successful surge in Iraq.

And to top it off, Tester only returned the Hsu donations after tremendous pressure from the press and political watchdog groups. He wanted to wait to see if Hsu was criminally charged first. (He was, with a $2M bail).

Is this "Jack Abramhoff Revival Week" at the Tester Office?

These are serious and damaging revelations for a man that promised to clean up Washington by fighting lobbying groups that shell out money for favors. He promised to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

What is bad news for Tester is even worse for the mainstream Montanans that hoped Tester would be a change to business-as-usual in the U.S. Senate. Since his election a little under a year ago, Tester has managed to ignore or undermine almost every reform-oriented campaign promise he made.

This includes his overnight conversion from the arch-enemy of Congressional earmarks to champion of the public dole. In combination with Senator Baucus, Tester is sponsoring almost $1 billion dollars in earmarks for Montana.

Tester has showed us one thing in his first year...He was either horribly naive or blatantly deceptive during his campaign for the Senate.

Neither are of these are the Montana values I had hoped he would take to Washington.

-------------------------------

BONUS SCOOP:

And from the Irony Files, comes the Tester campaign ad titled "Cab". Remember the line "special interests will never hitch a ride in this truck." ?

We wish it was so, Jon. We wish it was so...

Great People = Great Blogs

The Scoop attended a social gathering of mainstream Missoula bloggers tonight and had a blast!

What I thought had the potential to be as boring as a high school AV club reunion ended up being a fun, educational and entertaining time.

In addition to the Scoop, Missoulapolis, Rabid Sanity and Dave Budge were in the house.

The Salacious Scoop:

1. Budge ordered the appetizers. They brought them to the table with a forklift. It became quickly evident why he hosts The Spoon.

2. Missouliapolis walks her talk; she really does drink Dancing Trout and is as down-to-earth as you would expect.

3. Rabid was full of life. He gave us some advice on how to get out of a DUI, although I’m not sure I’d remember any of it drunk. I think he should immortalize this advice in a permanent post, or better yet, in a tatoo on my hand.

4. Scoop had to leave early so I could go home and put Mr. Googles to bed. Nobody had a lampshade on their head when I left, but I wouldn’t completely rule out that the evening didn't end that way.

The Slightly More Factual Scoop:

1. All of us value independence. You won’t see team blogging from this group, at least not yet. None of us are willing to give up the satisfaction and experience of running our own show, and the authenticity of being ourselves and reflecting our own unadulterated ideas.

2. We all have full time jobs and blog as a hobby. Daddy Soros didn't pick up our tab.

3. We are a mature cast. Average age…somewhere in the mid-40’s, although I think Rabid has had a face-lift, so it’s hard to tell. We are definitely a lot older than the 20-something net rooters running around the blogsphere in their diapers.

4. Politically, opinions represented life on the center right political spectrum: from moderate to conservative (fiscal, conservative, neo) to libertarian to ex-hippy. Some of us change colors depending on the issue.

5. At least two of us were disaffected Democrats and one a disaffected Republican. Not a lot of pure party politics in this crowd.

6. We did agree on one thing - Lefty bloggers lack a sense of humor. They are way too dark and serious. They lack any passion for normal life beyond their spitting, straight-from-the-talking-points opinions. Of course, this made us laugh a lot.

To my new blogger friends…thanks for the great evening. I’m looking forward to next month.

And, I can tell now why these folks have such great blogs; they are great people.

Vote for Monte - Early and Often

In our most recent Scoop Montana poll, watching Grizzly or Bobcat football has ranked as the most popular fall past time in Montana, followed by electioneering.

So to pander to our growing multi-interest readership, we are pleased to share with you the Capital One Sixth Annual All-American Mascot competition, were Monte, our incredible Grizzly mascot (and former competition winner) has again been nominated.

You can vote online at http://www.capitalonebowl.com/.

This week, Monte is matched up against Brigham Young mascot Cosmo, and he is currently up by 4128 votes.

Let's go kick some Cosmo ass.

----------------------------------------

Other mascots against which Monte will compete in future weeks.

University of Akron – Zippy

Univ. of Southern Mississippi - Seymour
Brigham Young University – Cosmo

Cougar Syracuse University - Otto
University of Georgia – Hairy Dawg

UCLA – Joe Bruin
University of Minnesota – Goldy Gopher

University of Virginia - Cavman
Virginia Tech - HokieBird
University of South Carolina – Cocky

Western Kentucky University – Big Red

Elections Update - Some Clarity, Some Questions

The Missoulian reported today that 42,190 ballots were mailed to voters, and they are using this as the divisor in determining a voter turn-out rate of 23.36% for yesterday's election.

This begins to clarify my questions from last night, but not fully. Of course, I can only find this story in the print edition (Page A12, Mail-in Ballot System Helps Boost Turnout).But, they do have an online story that reports the 23.36% without the divisor.

Attempting to get the full scoop, I called the elections office and asked why they report in the FINAL UNOFFICIAL COUNT that 60,563 registered voters where eligible to vote in yesterdays election, rather than 42,190.

The answer...the lady who has the details was temporarily out of the office. I called during lunch. I'll try her back later and see what she says.

It seems odd to me that they would give one number to the Missoulian, and submit another into the formal, legal process that ends up with the Secretary of State. Maybe it's a mistake or due to some crazy reporting formula that only government can invent.

Anyways, the Scoop doesn't want to give up until I know all the facts.

Do any of you know what I am missing?

Side Note: Even if the turnout is a bit higher than listed in the FINAL UNOFFICIAL COUNT, there still where more ballots returned in the mail as "undeliverable" than cast by actual voters. 23.36 % vs. 26%

I think our Elections Office does a fair job. They certainly work hard. But, I think they are trying a little too hard to declare a mail ballot victory when serious questions remain.

It is unsettling to the Scoop that the Missoulian reports that elections head Vickie Zeier doesn't see anything wrong with the process.

"Having seen a record-breaking turnout and few problems, she won't be making any changes to the system before the general election ballots are mailed Oct. 16."

Does that mean 11,000 ballots will be mailed to bad addresses again next month?

It is even more unsettling that the Missoulian doesn't dig deeper into these potential issues by asking simple questions like this.

FINAL UNOFFICIAL Missoula Municipal Primary Election Results

How much fun is this! The Scoop beat the Missoulian by posting final primary election results to the web first! By about 30 minutes!

And, we are the first and only to report that total voter turnout was a dismal 16.27%. Only 9855 of 60,563 registered voters voted!

Ok, stop the presses... I thought this mail ballot system was supposed to significantly increase turnout? Like into the 40-60% range?

Even odder, didn't the Missoulian report that the County Elections Office had already received ballots from 18% of voters as of last week? What happened to the other 1.73%?

And what about the 20% voter turn-out rate that our Elections Officer reported to 4&20 Balckbirds just yesterday? In this same post didn't 4&20 also report that the Elections Office was predicting a big turnout around 30%?

Did somebody make a forecasting boo-boo? Did some people come take their ballots back? Can you do that? (If you are not too embarrassed to admit it, can you take back a vote cast for Jon Tester?)

Did nobody vote in the last two to four days of the election? Or was the Elections Office and the lefty blogs working together to forward a pet idea, at the expense of reality? Is there a mistake in the report posted online by the Elections Office? Do we really have 60,563 registered voters, with a 2000 census population of 57,953? Did they accidentally list the registered voters for the county, rather than the city?

I think there are some questions to be answered, and to top it off, I can no longer find the story on Missoulian.com that reported the 18% number. Something is wrong here. We'll have to wait and see what the Missoulian reports tomorrow. Maybe I'll stand corrected, and there is a simple reason behind the turnout report.

On a completely different topic, do you remember that the Scoop wrote last week about the return ballot issue?

Over at 4&20, they overplayed my comments by suggesting that I was claiming that massive voter fraud was going on in Missoula County. Which, of course, I was not. I said it could be happening because the numbers don't add up. If I was the person responsible for maintaining the election integrity in our county, and 25% of our mail ballots came back in the mail as "undeliverable", I'd start asking some serious questions. (And maybe this has happened, but it has not been communicated well to the public)

Mr. Talbot at 4&20 tries to hastily wash away the issue, by claiming we are a college town with a migratory population of students. (A statement he got from our Elections Office). But nobody is doing the math. With roughly 60,000 registered voters, 25% of the voters is 15,000 people.

The University doesn't have that many students. This also assumes that 100% of student are registered to vote and that absolutely none of them file change of address cards or re-register to vote at any of the fifty or so voter registrations tables set up on campus each election cycle.

The bottom line...I don't buy the answer, and neither should you.Something is wrong in Missoula County. The number are not adding up.

And it does not seem like anybody is seriously looking at the numbers and asking why. Or, if they are, we have not heard yet.

Unofficial Final Election Results (by Ward)

First, a big thank you to all the candidates that ran. You make our democracy work!

Contested Races

Ward 2
Dave Huerta: 218 votes or 14.84%
Don Nicholson(i): 700 votes or 47.65%<----- WINNER
Pam Walzer: 541 votes or 36.83% <----- WINNER
Write-In: 10 votes or .68%
Total Votes: 1469

Ward 4
Alan Ault: 403 votes or 17.12%
Jerry Ballas(i): 748 votes or 31.78% <----- WINNER
Joe Gorsh: 128 votes or 5.44%
Lyn Hellegaard: 584 votes or 24.81%<-----WINNER
Denver Henderson: 479 votes or 20.34%
Write-In: 12 votes or .51%
Total Votes: 2354

Ward 6
Ed Childers(i): 578 votes or 44.53% <-----WINNER
Martin Guthrie: 310 votes or 23.88%
Lewie Schneller: 402 votes or 30.97% <-----WINNER
Write-In: 8 votes or .61%
Total Votes: 1298

Uncontested Races

Ward 1
Justin Armintrout: 493 votes or 33.40%
Jason Wiener: 941 votes or 63.75%
Write-In: 42 votes or 2.84%
Total Votes: 1476

Ward 3
Doug Harrison: 793 votes or 44.42%
Stacy Rye(i): 980 votes or 54.90%
Write-In: 12 votes or .67%
Total Votes: 1785

Ward 5
Christine Prescott: 600 votes or 42.43%
Renee Mitchell: 797 votes or 56.36%
Write-In: 17 votes or 1.20%
Total Votes: 1414

Percent Reporting: 100% or 62 of 62 precints.
(i) = Incumbent


Here is a link to the official results just posted at the Missoula County Elections Office results.

Cows and Mountains

On Sunday, the Family Scoop took a field trip to the top of Snowbowl ski area, to take in the Missoula valley before summer slipped away.

Needless to say, IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. Here are some photos from the excursion.

On our ride up Grant Creek valley, we came upon a herd of cows at the Grant Creek Ranch. A few of the cows were cooling off in the irrigation system, but we weren't fast enough to get them on film. The calves were so big we couldn't tell them all from the mommies.

This momma looks like she is still carrying a calf. Impossible for September. She looks like I felt after the country ribs.


Once we got to the top of the mountain you couldn't help but notice the still smoldering Black Cat fire. This view is from the backside of Snowbowl looking down at the Evaro area.

A great photo of the Missoula Valley, from the top of the mountain.


A view from the chairlift on the way down (you didn't think we walked, did you?).

The chairlift is open in the summers on Saturday and Sunday, for hikers, mountain bikers or just the curious, like us. This was the last weekend, and we were the last riders of the summer season, taking the final chair on the way down. For $7 a person, we thought it was a great deal.


A picture of the expanded Snowbowl ski lodge, which boasts a cozy bar and serves a great brick oven-fired pizza (from what I hear). We went home and had more ribs.

No Need to Register

The Scoop apologies for taking what I will only explain as an unexpected hiatus.

For the last 24 hours, I converted the site to allow registered visitor only.

Welcome back. No registration needed.

The Gift That Keeps On Giving - Our First Rusty Scoop Award

And the first winner of the Rusty Scoop Award (reluctantly given to folks that are so totally clueless and out-of-the-mainstream that they beg for notice) is... Sherry Roe of Missoula.

She wins for having a mouth large enough to fit both feet.

You may remember Sherry for her absolutely ridiculous comment earlier this week on the KECI evening news, so incredible that the Scoop labeled it "The Dumbest Thing Ever".

It seems that Mrs. Roe wants our illustrious mayor to smack down the university for her inability to get Elton John tickets. And she is trying to organize an angry mob.

Instead of going home after her TV interview and discovering what a immature fool she made of herself, she decided to pick up a pen and write a letter to the Missoulian.

In her huffy missive, Roe calls for a personal apology from President Dennison. I guess the statement issued the day of the fiasco wasn't a big enough mea culpa for her.

Roe is so aggrieved by the fact that she won't be able to "dance with members from my community" that she encourages "would-be Elton John concert procurers not to be complacent, but rather contact the mayor as an ambassador for us all and request the university become accountable for their indifference toward such fine citizens of the Garden City."

Give us a break, Mrs. Roe! There are a lot of things to not be complacent about, but this is not one of them.

The Scoop has a different idea. Instead of calling the mayor, how about if you go serve a meal at the Poverello Center, give some money to help build the new facility for Watson's Children Shelter, or work with your church to help Habitat for Humanity build a home for people in real need.

These are the real issues that people should not be complacent about. And, I'm sure that John Engen can list about one-thousand more.

Mrs. Roe, the university may have shown their indifference to the fine citizens of the Garden City. But, I'm afraid to that you may not be one of them.

If anybody owes the community an apology, it is those among us that have used this opportunity to focus on our own trivial, selfish needs.

Missing an Elton John concert may be a small hardship, but not compabale to lacking a roof over our heads or a meal in our stomachs. It certainly is not enough to organize a citizen army. We need to teach our kids that there are bigger issues in life than the X-box being on the fritz.

And for that, Mrs. Roe, you (and half of Missoula) get the Rusty Scoop.


(Which, unfortunately, would have come with Elton John tickets, but we forgot to allocate them).

Celebrating Our 500th Unique Visitor

Sometime late last night, while the Family Scoop was deep in slumber, we had our 500th unique IP visitor; at least since we started tracking visitors one week ago today.

We have to thank fellow Montana blogs, like Missoulaopolis, MT Politics, The Montana Misanthrope, The Hammond Report, Dave Budge, and The Last Best Place, among many others, for helping people find Scoop Montana.

We also have to thank the netrooters at Left in the West, Montana Netroots and 4&20 Blackbirds. Even though they mistakenly believe that Scoop Montana is strictly a conservative blog under some foreign direction, it was nice to get some recogition for making arguments strong enough to get their attention.

Sorry guys, not all of us are on the payroll of George Soros.

As our more seasoned readers know, the Scoop is just about life and politics under the Big Sky.

We have no other agenda than to enjoy good times with our family and friends, share it with others, and make sure that main stream Montanans are heard in the midst of all the partisan bikering that goes on in Helena, Washington, and on most other blogs.

Thanks for reading. And thanks in advance for telling your future friends about Scoop Montana.

-Scoop

p.s. - Mr. Rehberg, when do I get the first check? Mr. Googles needs some diapers. Badly.

Hey Budge - These Good Enough for The Spoon?

At the Scoop, we have a dedicated reader that is shy and reserved. She typically asks questions via e-mail, rather than post.

In tonight's mailbag, I was asked how the country ribs where; the ones that I briefly mentioned earlier.

They were delicious, I do say, and photogenic.

Just see for yourself!

Mr. Googles, in particular, found them very appealing. He could barely contain himself while waiting for daddy to take this picture; being already locked and loaded in his high-chair.

But the real question is not whether they were good enough for the Scoop...but whether they are good enough for The Spoon?

We await the judgement of the Master.

Two Fantastic Candidates

Even though preliminary results show that only 18% of registered voters have cast ballots so far in the current municipal primary elections, you can't miss the electioneering going on across Missoula.

City residents can vote by mail ballot between now and Tuesday, September 11.

On our family drive today, it was heartening to see strong support in the form of yard signs for two of the most qualified candidates; Don Nicholson of Ward 2, and Doug Harrison of Ward 3.

If you haven't yet sent in your ballot, please give these two upstanding gentleman your consideration.

A quick read of their Missoulian candidate questionnaires will reveal what the Scoop already knows; these are two mainstream candidates who will work hard to support managed growth, sound fiscal discipline and sensible policies for housing and transportation.

A city council with Nicholson, Harrison and a majority of mainstream candidates, will be less likely to focus their time on ridiculous issues like the Iraq War and whether or not we can have chickens in town.

They won't have our transportation program myopically focus on bike lanes at the exclusion of vehicle traffic. Their response to traffic management will be more than just "let's build another round-about" because it works in Vermont.

This council would be more likely to stop the ten-year history of council in-fighting and bring our town together, so we can responsibly plan our growth before we lose the distinctive small-town favor of our community.

The current council advances big-city notions like infill, large scale public housing and a continued growth of city services that is already behind the ballooning of your property taxes.

They are fine with Missoula looking more like Seattle or Berkeley than a family-friendly mountain town that is part of the rural Rocky Mountain west.

Are you?

Wasn't It Just Spring?

Even though the Scoop's favorite season is the fall, it seems like summer has come and gone without much notice. Not sure if is was the month of smoke, or the delivery of our second child, Mugglesworth, that made it fly by.

To celebreate this beautiful day, the Family Scoop is going to take a little nature appreciation drive around the valley, and finish with a bbq of slow-baked mequite country ribs. It is still not too late to have some end-of-summer fun!

To prepare for the trek, I'm clearing old photos off my camera.

Seem like it was just the other day I took this photo of our blooming lilac bush (taken over Memorial Day weekend in May).

We also got a little lazy this summer and planted petunia's in place of more ornamental plants that require daily watering. The petunia's have gone crazy, especially with the smoke, clouds and rain of the last month.

The Scoop is contemplating how to get them out of the pots in preparation for winter; lucky I still have a month to contemplate.

The Real Scoop: UM Should Call TicketMaster, Focus on Education

The Scoop likes Newt Gingrich.

Not as a presidential candidate, but as a champion of innovative, reform-oriented policy.

Republicans will wander the desert until they refocus on the party’s core principle that the best government is limited and local. Democrats will be sent back to the desert if they continue to grow government like they are under "Big Government" Brian Schweitzer.

Newt knew this fifteen years ago, and rescuing American from the blue-print of big government was the lynch-pin for his Republican revolution. He also knows it better now than ever, and continues to provide advice and guidance to those in government that will listen.

In the video below, Newt talks about the world that works well and the world that does not. Watch it and you'll see things going on around you that you didn't notice before.

Take for example the Elton John ticket fiasco. This occured because somebody at UM thought they could do something better than a proven free-marktet business.

This happens inside of government far too often. Public institutions should partner more with free-market enterprises and spend less time investing our tax dollars into duplicative systems and services that simply do not work.

That is why the smartest thing the manager of the UM Ticket Office could do is pick up the phone and call TicketMaster.

Better yet, UM should divert the effort and resources away from building an internal ticketing system, and put it into strengthening academics. This is what they are good at!

Even though the Scoop disagrees that UM folks are underpaid, I wouldn't argue they are overpaid. Matter of fact, you get what we pay for, and this money would be better spent retaining or attracting talented professors to teach our kids.

Mini-Scoops from the Missoula Municipal Elections Desk

THE FALSE HOPE OF MAIL BALLOTS?

The Missoula County Elections Office has reported that about 18% of voters have completed and returned ballots for the primary municipal election, the first to utilize an all-mail ballot system. With an average of about 40% turn-out in primary and off-year elections, this number seems low…very low.

And weren’t mail ballots supposed to help significantly increase turnout? I guess we’ll have to see, as there are four days for more ballots to stream in.

The Scoop is skeptical that there will be any noticeable increase over past years, and is worried mailed ballots open the door wider to increased voter fraud.

SWEEPING THE RETURN BALLOT ISSUE UNDER THE RUG

Speaking of voter fraud, a more amazing, and completely under reported figure, is the number of ballots that have been returned by the postal service due to the listed voter not living at the registered address, which is an alarming 25% for this election. And this is after change of address forms and re-registrations have been processed.

At 29%, the undeliverable rate is highest in Ward 1, and at 17%, the lowest in Ward 5. Isn’t it the job of our County Elections Department to make sure the election rolls are clean and accurate prior to the election?

The Scoop thinks this is another red flag that massive voter fraud could be occurring in Missoula County right under our nose. We have spoken to the Elections Office, and let’s just say they don’t seem to be concerned at all. It is amazing that the office responsible for sniffing out any form of voter fraud doesn't even show a bit of interest.

SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION REFORM - ONE GREAT IDEA

The Family Scoop was surprised to get a second ballot in the mail yesterday, for the local school bond mill levy. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to have bundled this ballot into the municipal ballot we received a few weeks ago?

The Scoop knows that citizens outside the city participate in the school bond election, but wouldn’t we have saved lot of money combining the city-based ballots? This opens up an old wound I have about school elections in the first place...

Mainstream Montanans should be outraged that our school districts have established special, out-of-the-way, elections where an increasingly small number of people make the rules for the whole. Last election, less than 11% of voters in the Scoop's district approved a levy that added ~$450 to my tax bill. While I supported this effort, the process left me wanting.

It should be state law that school elections must fall on our regularly scheduled election days, and attract at least a 40% turnout of voters to approve a mill levy. The argument that regular elections don’t sync up with the school budgeting calendar are hogwash – the Scoop says you can easily change the calendar.

Mainstream Montanan's should insist that schools are accountable to the voters.

Mr. Googles Loves Puppets

And don't you just love puppets too?

I'm not talking about the scary and twisted Howdy-Doody type of puppet, but rather muppet-like puppets.

You know, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Beaker, et-al.

The whole Family Scoop also loves the muppet-like Sesame Street characters, and at least one of us has been loving them for almost 30 years.

As you can see here, Mr. Googles is over-the-moon for Elmo, but we have noticed that he tunes out the show when the adults start moralizing about things, like sharing and going poo-poo in the potty. Go figure.

Anyways, I think all of these characters were created by Jim Hensen, but I don't really know. This isn't a HISTORY OF THE MUPPETS post.

But, it is a touch of true muppet magic to share with each of you.

So grab the kids and watch one of Mr. Googles favorites.

It's is fun for kids and adults, and will have you humming this strange tune for days.

Starving at UM? Hardly.

Today I heard the SECOND DUMBEST THING EVER. (it has been quite a week)

A colleague, in speculating about the root-cause of the Elton John ticket fiasco, said that the real reason things didn’t work out is that we don’t pay folks at UM enough to encourage them to do a full, competent job.

Our expectations, quite simply, should not be so lofty.

The Scoop was uncharacteristically stunned. I wasn't even sure from which angle to attack this horribly ungrounded claim. First, some of the most dedicated and talented people I know work at UM. And secondly, I didn't think they were that bad off financially.

So, in typical Scoop fashion, I went to work to shed some light on the pay issue.

What are employees at UM paid?

As reported in the last issue of In Business Monthly, a Missoulian publication that profiles leading western Montana businesses, UM spends about 60 percent of their $120 million dollar budget on salaries, not including benefits. (As you would expect, this information is only in the print addition, page 11, and not online)

So, that means UM spends $71.4 million on 1,475 full time equivalent positions, or an average salary of $48,406.78 per position. And this does not include additional income that is paid to employees from grants and gifts.

How does this compare? It is 106% of the median U.S. income, 113% of the median Missoulian income and 134% of the median Montana income.

Not the subsistence wages you have been hearing about? Well, the pay at the top is pretty good too.

George Dennison,UM President, makes $191,047 annually, which is 133% of the median of what a large company CEO makes, 165% of what a small business CEO makes, 206% of what a non-profit CEO makes, 158% of what an average hospital CEO makes, 172% of what an average state governor makes, 165% of what a major federal cabinet member or elected leader makes, and 198% of what a large school district head administrator makes. (comparisons courtesy of payscale.com)

Other top spots also pull respectable annual salaries:

• VP of Admin and Finance, $139,900
• VP for Research and Development, $143,900
• Executive VP, $114,500
• Head Football Coach, $124,200
• Head Basketball Coach, $115,000
• Head Women’s Basketball Coach,$123,800

The Scoop is a big believer that markets determine salaries, and I'm not claiming these folks are overpaid. We need to pay well to attract good people; this is not the place to skimp.

But, the Real Scoop is that my colleague is flat wrong; employees and administrators at UM appear to be paid just fine.

Our expectation should be that university employees execute their job with skill and appreciation. Or, they should quit, and take a lesser paying job in the community.

Montanans are tired of hearing about how higher education employees are not paid enough.

It simply is not true.

And I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues

The Scoop literally heard the dumbest thing ever today.

But, we'll cover that in a moment.

First, the Real Scoop: It seems that folks in Bozeman and Missoula spent the day waiting in line for Elton John tickets.

The difference: waiting in line in Bozeman paid off. In Missoula? Not so much.

As the day unfolded, the Scoop encountered an increasing number of angry Missoulians that spent the last two days in line, thinking they were getting some preferential treatment, but in the end were left ticket less.

Let's just say these folks got an advanced preview of nationalized health care.

Seems that the computers in these ticket selling locations either did not work or could not keep pace with the smarty-pants who chose to buy tickets online.

At one location, where 500 people were waiting with "preference bands," only five tickets were sold to a single person. In other ticket locations, NO tickets where available.

Holy crap, some heads are gonna roll in the IT Department. Except, of course, when the University of Teflon is involved.

In classic hand-washing fashion, UM quickly released a statement on their website:

The Adams Center Box Office at The University of Montana deeply regrets that the process advertised concerning Elton John ticket sales simply did not work.

Ok, we've seen this before. It is the first paragraph of every University apology memo. You just fill in the blanks (illustrated).

But, there was more:

Although all information regarding the sale underscored the fact that there is no guarantee a buyer with a wristband would be able to purchase a ticket, sellers at The Source, Worden’s Market, and Southgate Mall were unable to capture any inventory from the system to make a sale.

Ok, so instead of blaming a person, let's blame it on the computer.

In the future, when a show with such high demand is offered, the Adams Center Box Office will hold a limited inventory of tickets for sale at all ticket outlets to create more opportunity for those who want to purchase at the Adams Center window or a local outlet.

There we go. The real reason. Somebody didn't think this out and maybe, just maybe, there never was any inventory allocated in the first place. The computer is vindicated again!

Anyways this whole mess leads to THE DUMBEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD, which has nothing to do with the University memo.

As I was catching the last few minutes of KECI's 5pm account of the ticket chaos, they profiled the lucky duck mentioned above that managed to be the only person at one location to get all five tickets sold.

And, as you would expect in our overly entitled world, she was pissed. I got fifty bucks that says she is a Democrat.

Her honest-to-goodness request..."I hope that (Missoula Mayor) John Engen will rally for the people of Missoula and fix this situation".

What the hell does John Engen have to do with this? Is he going to rub his magical bobble-head doll and make it all better? How about we call in the National Guard?

Or, how about just being grateful that you managed to snag the only five tickets available. I hope for humanity's sake that her seats are in the nose-bleed section, behind John Engen.

A mayor can do a lot of things. But fix something at the University of Montana?

Some things are even out of God's hands.

The Missoulian's Big Scoop - We Are Having an Election!

It seems as if the emerging western Montana conserva-blogers are starting to get some notice.

In an abrupt about-face, the Missoulian started running candidate profiles on-line, in-totality and before the election ended.

Not only that, but with a scant seven voting days remaining, they are featuring it as "BREAKING NEWS" on missoulian.com.



And the really funny part...this is "breaking news" to the Missoulian.

Gauging by a quick article count, the Missoulian thinks the issue-of-the-day is whether or not we should have chickens in town.

Here is some more breaking news for our local rag: Mainstream Missoulians don't give a crap about chickens in town.

But we do care about things like ELECTIONS.

If you were an avid reader of some overly paranoid lefty blog, you might immediately think there is a conspiracy afoot.

Further reflection might lead you to think that someone over at the Missoulian must be trying to divert our attention away from the real record of this city council: prioritizing the Iraq war over potholes, dissing the Pledge of Allegiance (and our vets), covering up the fifty-meter pool fraud, and lecturing the public about how a single-lane West Broadway is really good for us--we just don't know better.

And the really great part about the Missoulian running the candidate profiles on-line? The Scoop can't hardly wait to link to all the kooky stuff the liberal-progressives said in them!

But first, I must contain myself and give a huge thanks to Ms. Missoulapolis. I doubt that without the criticism Ms. "M" rightly heaped on the Missoulian, these profiles would have never seen the light of day...or at least in time for the election.

Anyways, stay tuned to The Scoop's continuing election coverage, and read all the candidate profiles yourself. The profile on Pam Walzer is worth it alone.

And, in the end, you may see why these folks are the smart, mainstream Missoula candidates that deserve your vote.

Missoula Smoke-Out Continues

The smoke is back in the Missoula valley. It returned Thursday and has thickened each day since. Word on the street is it is coming from Idaho... here are some photos the Family Scoop took on the way back from the grocery store.


A view of Mount Sentinel and the east valley. (The red arrow points to the "M")


A view up Grant Creek, where it is a little clearer. (The red arrow points to Snowbowl ski area)


A view up the Bitteroot - looks to be worse the further south you go. But, that my just be an optical illusion.



... and Mr. Googles, a little cranky from his elongated stay at Rosauer's.

An Open Letter to Missoula-Area Mill Workers

To: All Unionized Missoula-Area Mill Workers (the 177 of you left)

The Scoop feels badly that mill jobs keep disappearing and that western Montana is slowly losing thousands of good-paying jobs. It seems like a regular occurrence to see another media story about a mill closing, laying off workers or generally struggling to make ends meet.

My compassion deepens as the cost of living in our area increases and housing slowly creeps out of range for working-class Montanans.

But, like any normal individual, my compassion has limits. Especially for people that refuse to help themselves.

You see, too many of you have put your fortunes in the hands of unions, which are not saving your jobs. They are making you lose them. Partisan bosses, who care more about national politics, are taking your hard-earned dues and using them to support fringe environmentalist candidates that want to end your way of living.

These liberal-progressive plotters are quietly executing this radical agenda under the guise of more affordable run health care, housing, transportation and you fill-in-the-blank. They appease union members with these issues, but don't fight for what really matters: your job.

If you don’t act soon, all you may have left are government hand-outs.

Of course, if the thought of replacing your current good-paying mill job with a few minimum-wage jobs at one of the new environmental non-profits in Missoula is comfort enough, then keep up what you are doing.

If you only take one things away from this post, let it be a clear understanding of your fate. If you continue to support your current union leaders and the politicians they pick, you WILL LOSE YOUR JOB.

The Scoop is 2:2 on predictions, so I wouldn't test your luck.

Simple facts tell the truth. As reported today by the Missoulian, union mill jobs have declined by 94% since the late 1970’s.

That is to say they have almost disappeared. And, unfortunately, these are not folks just leaving the union and keeping their jobs. You can't do that in Montana. They are losing their jobs, period.


Connect the dots. Demand that your unions fight these environmental radicals. Make sure they support political candidates that will promote responsible forest policies that will save our mills. Make sure the political parties that the unions support distance themselves from the folks trying to destroy your industry and way of life.

Get rid of the unions if they do not.

And know that you are not alone. There are many of us that want to help, but first, you need to help yourself.

Beach Glass Strip Mining

Remember the good old days in Montana – before big business came and invested billions to build roads, highways, dams, railroads, farms, electrical facilities, afforadable housing and generally ruined everything?

Well, The Scoop spent part of Labor Day weekend longing for days gone by.

It seems that some out-of-state interlopers have perfected a new method of beach glass strip mining on the shores of Flathead lake.

And it employs vast amounts of cheap child labor! (gasp)

Over are the days of slowly walking the shore, hoping to eye the glimmer of a little wave-softened gem.

Can’t they buy this crap at Pottery Barn and leave mine alone?

I only need about a hundred more pieces to finish my mosaic!

A Beautiful Night on Flathead Lake

The Brother Scoop, who is visiting with his family, took this photo a little earlier tonight. It was a beautiful night indeed, and a little somber, as another summer in Montana comes to a close.

John Edwards: Making Liberals Feel Pretty

Ok, I know this video has been circulating on the Internet for the better part of the year, but given John Edwards is coming to Missoula in a few short days, I thought I would dust it off.


It shows Edwards (overly) primping for a television appearance, in a way that makes 2002 Republican Montana Senate candidate Mike Taylor look like Rambo.

Matt Singer,over at Left in the West, seems to be primping for the Edwards visit in a similarly, overzealous fashion.

He can hardly contain himself, explaining why Republicans supposedly hate Edwards. I guess we are terrified of Edwards because he is a legitimate business person who has turned against the system of free-enterprise.

Libs in Montana usually reserve this level of excitement for when they unearth an Eastern Montana farmer willing to express semi-socialist views.

But Montanans know that to fundamentally hate free enterprise and free markets, is to hate democracy. They are the same thing.

What I don't get is why anybody, Republican or not, would be terrified of this guy. Even if he wins his long-shot bid for the Democrat nod, America, and Montana, wouldn't back him. And, it is for reasons more than just his hair.

It's that John Edwards is another Democrat hypocrite willing to criticise the very system he used to coin a fortune. Montanans know this is the same system that makes America the First Best Democracy, and Montana, the Last Best Place.

On a side note, The Scoop is excited to see Elton John...but even more excited to watch the progressives go over the cliff this week for Edwards.

I wonder who will have the prettier hair?

Happy Labor Day

While the Scoop doesn't even claim to be an amateur photographer, I do like this photo of Flathead Lake at sunset.

We are lake-bound tomorrow, to celebrate Labor Day with family. The Family Scoop hopes the smoke stays away so we can have a few more great sunsets like this one.

Mr. Googles is looking forward to playing on the beach with his cousins. He likes the all-you-can-eat rock buffet. Here he is last year mid-meal.

Talking about food, we might try out something this weekend from Dave Budge's new culinary site, The Spoon.

A great new blog, but surely something you won't want to confuse with The Scoop.

We wish you all a happy holiday...where ever you may be!

Optical Fun

Everybody loves a fun puzzle, brain teaser or optical illusion.

Here is one for readers of The Scoop. Stare at the new Scoop logo in the center of the picture. Slowly, the surrounding colored circles will disappear, then reappear, then disappear again.

This is due to retina fatigue. It seems that our eyes tire after staring at an image long enough, and get a little lazy.

Hopefully not what you normally experience at The Scoop.

For more fun optical illusions visit brainbashers.com

Mainstream Missoula Needs a New Newspaper!

Of course, the Scoop has no particular insight here, as most folks I know crab about the biased coverage, lack of insight and hypocritical views in the news and editorial pages of the vaunted Missoulian.

And, for being such a righteous voice of the Garden City, it is surprising how poorly they execute their own role as local informer.

The Scoop has delighted in the coverage at Missoulaoplis about how our local rag has completely missed the fact that an increasing number of Missoulians have will have already voted via mail long before they even see the candidate profiles run in the paper.

Meanwhile, the Missoulian devoted thirty-seven column inches today to the current progressive cause celeb: the chicken ordinance!

The Scoop’s main criticism is that the Missoulian has historically exercised a liberal-progressive bias through the selection and placement of stories and from the point of view from which they are written.

Their main filter: government is good, private enterprise is bad.

Liberal politicians are community champions fighting for the rights of the under privileged. They are not judged using the same standards as conservatives, who are automatically distrusted. Government boondoggles by liberals are well intentioned mistakes; for conservatives they are ethical lapses, signs of incompetence, or special interest scandals. Liberals can say one thing and do another, with their complete lack of sincerity going totally unnoticed.

My main gripe – they won’t admit it.

Let’s take a brief walk through today’s issue:

1.Front Page: “Bonner Farewells” You’ll never see the Missoulian thanking a for-profit enterprise for providing affordable housing to area citizens for over fifty years. Instead, they find some ungrateful, entitled sap that has a disgruntled view about how they have done it and hand over the front page. They have the gall to say these people were forced out, as if they owned the property themselves and were not given more than two-months notice.

Of course, they never mention the crazed environmental movement that has placed this good company, this person’s job, and our local economy in jeopardy.

2. Yet, in the neighboring Montana Section “Affordable Housing Will Start at $99,000”, the Missoulian lauds a non-profit that has half the success and is attempting to do exactly the same thing, except without contributing to our tax base.

The Real Scoop: these houses may only costs the buyer $99k, but private citizens are paying the rest through non-profit donations, subsidies, tax breaks, and increased property taxes to current landowners. The total cost is still what the market determines, it just boils down to who pays.

3. An article about Senator Tester being up-to-his-ears in earmarks doesn’t quite get the front page coverage as his condemnation of earmarks did last year. He is supporting twenty five earmarks for Missoula alone, and ~$1 Billion in earmarks for projects across the state. This story is lost in the B section and not even posted online.

4.My favorite is the Religion section where articles routinely question religion like a mini-editorial page. The almost full-page story today: “New Mother Teresa Book Shows Struggle with Faith that Prompts Re-Examination of Her Legacy”.

The Misoulian Achilles heal: the same businesses they routinely criticise and undermine with their liberal progressive agenda pay the bills through advertising revenues. The Scoop would love to see the market create some alternatives.

And let's hope they can create a half decent website. The new Missoulian site is horrible.

You still can't find a damn thing. But I have to wonder if it isn't intentional?

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P.S.- It would be unfair to not point out Bill Schwanke and his blog Piece of Mind. He is the solitary voice of reason at the Missoulian. The Scoop, and mainstream Missoulians, would like to see more "pieces of his mind" on the opinion page.