A reader tipped me off to a new blog in town -- and, boy, it's a doozy. It's called "The Montana Capitol Blog" (out of Helena?), and you should bookmark it ASAP. For a taste, here's "Capitol Blogger" on the recent attempt by the Montana GOP to attack the voting rights of 6,000 Montanans:
So, let's see, the way the world is ordered, I should be able to obtain a firearm under any circumstance, preferably totally free of government interference.
But, when it comes to my vote, I may need to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt to an elections bureaucrat that I am eligible to participate because someone of Jake Eaton's ilk challenged me?
Maybe I should ask Jake and Erik Iverson to attend a weekend gun bonanza with me and challenge the credentials of 6,000 attendees who are there to purchase their very own piece and "amanition" free of "govmint regalation" and certainly no damned inconvenient waiting period.
If anything, the right to vote is more sacred and important to US citizenship than the right to bear arms. The process of open elections and the secret ballot are what our government derives its power from. Don't believe me, check out the Federalist Papers no. 49, which states "...the people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is derived..."
That is, if our votes are taken from us, the legitimacy of our government is in question.
So, yeah, it's pretty silly a bunch of folks who backed Brad Johnson's secessionist movement over the DC Gun ban are saying...nothing...over Jake Eaton (and Erik Iverson's?) attempt to disenfranchise 6,000 Montanans. But then, when has Iverson and Rehberg ever stood up for basic civil liberties? From the secessionist post:
Remember, this group's ringleader - Rehberg - has folded each and every time in the face of government authority when civil liberties have been on the line. Patriot Act. Real ID. Torture. Habeas corpus. Domestic spying. Warrantless wiretapping. He supports waging war without a declaration from Congress, and the theory of the unitary executive. In short, his stance on civil liberties was succinctly expressed by our state's Republicans' choice for president:
"Our most basic civil liberty is the right to be kept alive."
We've certainly come a long way from "live free or die," eh?
Anyway, this post was supposed to be how cool The Montana Capitol is, but I got carried away. Oops. But then, that's my job. In any case, I'll be talking about that blog again today, because the Capitol Blogger (I picture a mask and cape) has written a couple of posts reminding us why it's important to elect a Democratic legislature, something I've been trying to communicate here... |
