My name is Jay Stevens and I’m the founder and some-time contributor of 4&20 blackbirds, a progressive Montana blog on national, state, and local politics and culture.
My online persona – Touchstone – derives its name from the ducal fool in Shakespeare’s play, As You Like It. In the play, and as a court jester, Touchstone’s job is to point out the folly and vanity in others. Of course he does so foolishly and with a too great regard for his own opinion.
I’ve always seen myself as a traditional trickster – overly clever with a blindness to my own failings. Maybe that’s why, according to numerology, or astrology, or whatever, my tarot card is “The Fool,” symbolized by a young man gazing up at the stars while walking off a cliff.
Yup, that’s me.
I’m currently living in an infill development in Missoula, Montana, with my wife and two children – the twins “Mr. Proud” and “Ms. Marvelous” – who were born in 2004. My wife is a published environmental writer and journalist and I am in the computer software industry. I currently do some neighborhood grassroots organization for the Missoula County Democrats, but I have no other official political association with any organization.
I was born and raised in the Berkshire mountains of western Massachusetts. I’ve since lived in Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Germany, and Russia. I’ve traveled extensively and had wicked adventures.
I’ve waited tables, washed dishes, dug ditches, worked on construction crews and telephone banks, taught elementary education and college composition, painted a waste treatment plant, spent a summer as a counselor at a nature camp, acted, dabbled in journalism, was a proofreader, copy editor, technical writer, software tester, and product manager, and once spent six joyless weeks behind the counter at UPS during a Christmas rush. I played baseball, soccer, and rugby. I pole vaulted in high school and was a downhill ski racer starting at age seven. I play classical guitar badly. I hike when I can. I am an avid Red Sox fan.
All of these experiences contribute to the central joy of my life: I am a writer of fiction and poetry.
Ultimately what got me interested and active in blogging and politics was the violations against the Constitution by the Bush administration and its allies. Hopefully in a few months I can return to my family and writing.
You can find the bulk of my political commentary at Left in the West.
-
Recent Comments
Pronghorn on Legislative Session 2009: You… jhwygirl on Legislative Session 2009: You… Ellie Hill on We’re Welcoming a New B… Eboy on 23% Increase in Homelessness i… pj on As they say: “The more t…
September 15, 2006 at 6:39 pm
Just saw your interview on NOW. I’m probably the same guy as you in Indianapolis- middle-aged with a job, house, wife and mortgage and I salute you for the work you are doing in Montana. You deserve a new senator and I hope you get it!
September 15, 2006 at 7:16 pm
Thanks for the ‘bio’, you were just terrific on the NOW show, I hope many of your generation are as practical and idealistic and successful in their aspirations as you appear to be. It is a joy and pleasure to know that such intellect and talent is providing a thoughtful approach to the future of our nation. It was a pleasure to see and hear your thoughts and comments. Good luck and best wishes in all your future endeavours.
September 15, 2006 at 9:18 pm
Interesting bio, Jay. NOW should give you a real boost. Although substantially older than you, I share your concern for the direction the country has taken. If we can keep this medium free from commercial ownership, blogs like yours may emerge as a huge force in reshaping the way we do politics. (Yours, by the way, is the first blog I’ve ever logged onto.) Best wishes for success from an Idaho neighbor.
September 16, 2006 at 4:07 am
We have laws that are supposed to reveal the source of funding to political parties and politicians so as to allow US citizens to know how our government is influenced. ….We can discover which corporations and supposedly how much they have contributed to politicians doing their bidding….Many domestic corporations or entities have majority foreign ownership, even large farms. .Do the citizens of this country really know how much influence is projected on their lives by finances and support of foreign interest for foreign interest?
To change America, we must change the Senate is the manter of the liberal Democratic Party. Why is the Democratic Party wanting to change America? Wasn’t the United States stronger before allowing non-citizens participation within our scope of influence by being in position of controlling our economy through oil, and media ownership? the joining the
Off shore Oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico, written by our Department of Interior during the Clinton administration, were bought by consortiums that include foreign oil companies and have shorted US citizens as much as 10 billion $ in royalties. Does that mean that the Arabians will even profit from oil drilled from our territory?
September 16, 2006 at 4:09 am
Off shore Oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico, written by our Department of Interior during the Clinton administration, were bought by consortiums that include foreign oil companies and have shorted US citizens as much as 10 billion $ in royalties. Does that mean that the Arabians will even profit from oil drilled from our territory?
September 16, 2006 at 4:58 am
Hi Jay…was impressed with your appearance on NOW which I caught at 4:30 this am, on repeat, and am glad. after all, that I did awaken at that ungodly hour!
Would like to have you consider linking to our website, The American Liberalism Project (ALP). If you google us we are coming up 2nd after the Wikipedia definition of liberal. My colleague, Jim Brett, and I have been up and running for some time now and are doing our utmost to dispell the myth of liberalism being a dirty word.
Please visit, and keep on keeping on! We need you!
September 16, 2006 at 9:39 am
I agree The Bush.Cheney/Rumsfield triumverate is destroying Our Country. That is Our fault for leaving any and all Democrates and Republicans in office for the last 6 years. Except for Ron Paul in The House and Russ Feingold in The Senate, you will find that f in Congress are willing to stick their necks out and ask for the Impeachment of Bush & Company.
I suggest this solution: Urge 75% of voters to turn out this fall and in all cases vote for the Chalenger and against the Incumbent. This will recycle Congress in 6 years and eleminate the present culture that is all but impossible to destroy.
Can you honesly say there is much difference between the two parties??? They give lip service around election time saying there is a difference. Then it is the same old same old for the next 2 years. This is our last chance to start this important grass roots movement lest we secumb to what Lincoln said: “You Get The Government You Deserve”.
Please help to get this started. I give you all the credit. Please excuse the spelling as there is no spell check>
Sincerely Bob
September 16, 2006 at 1:11 pm
Hey.. I saw your note about me on your site. Send me a note and we can get caught up.
September 16, 2006 at 2:03 pm
I saw the NOW program yesterday and was very excited to hear about you and the Jon Tester. Boy I hope Jon wins! As an ex-Montanan I am personally interested enough in the race to have donated $50 to the Tester campaign. (Maybe he’ll call me!)
I am a graduate of Sentinel High in Missoula (’66). I was just in Missoula for a Class of ‘66 reunion in late July, I really enjoyed my visit. I now live in Plano, Texas.
I just read in a Time article that after Ohio’s Ney, Montana’s Burns is next on the FBI’s list.
“A lot of the conduct to which Ney has pleaded guilty is similar to the alleged conduct of Senator Conrad Burns and his staff,” points out Melanie Sloan, Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a non-profit watchdog group.”
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1535551,00.html
September 19, 2006 at 3:57 pm
Why do Americans put up with the lack of democracy, and quality and qualified representation in taxation? We allow our hard-earned money to be taxed to support things we don’t believe in or support. We are force by our federal government to support Planned Parenthood’s abortion-mills for instance. It does not matter that half of us are pro-life; we are still made to pay for abortions.
Also, why should our winnings such as Lottery, or what have you, be taxed by the federal government? The federal government has nothing to do with the luck, instincts, wisdom, knowledge, and personal initiative that we individually use to win something. Why do we let the federal government penalize and exploit our good future?
Furthermore, why do we allow the federal government to tax our personal investment activities? The federal government has nothing to do with, and does not participate in the personal investment research, the luck, instincts, wisdom, knowledge, time and effort, and personal initiative that we individually apply to be successful investors.
These approaches to over taxation are not positive reflections of a healthy democracy. They are reflective of exploitation, abuse of power, and self-consuming and self-destructive savage capitalism. I know a lot of money is required to run our government, but the government should be a more efficient and effective steward of our tax dollars. Payroll income taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes are enough to cover all government operational needs. The greed and wastefulness has to be eliminated.
If all of an individuals taxes are added together (sales, city, state, and federal) they add up to about 50% of our income. Another way of looking at this is—the government guarantees itself a 50% return on our invested (time and energy) labor. This is usury, and is immoral and unethical, yet we accept this as the wonderful working of the world’s best democracy. When in reality, we are only 50% better off than people in Red Communist China.
We Americans need to ask why and how well our tax dollars are being spent, and hold elected political leader accountable. Aborting babes is not tax dollars well spent, and $500 billion in an unnecessary Iraq War is not tax dollars well spent. The cost of wars of choice must be accurately calculated beforehand. It is extremely costly to bury 3,000 dead soldiers, to provide medical-care to 30,000 injured soldiers, to support their families for a lifetime, and for all the materials that are consumed in war.
Our government agencies (FBI, CIA, Arm Forces) are heavily weighed with white-male-supremacy, and their white-wing biases and bigotries. This has lead to government agencies that are dysfunctional, and are dangerous to national security as was brought to our attention by 9/11. Inter-agency communications were marginal at best, and intra-agency communications were close to non-existent. Our tax dollars were not, and are not well spent in and on these agencies. The answer to this problem is simple; implement multiculturalism and diversity across the board.
Middle-eastern countries, cultures, and radical groups have a point about the savagery of our capitalism, and the critical dysfunctional aspects of our democracy. The UK and USA has interfered with their sovereign governance, encroached on their lands, exploited the fractious nature of Middle-eastern cultures, manipulated cultural differences to pit them against each other, and coveted their natural resources for over 100 years. This is why they hate America, Americans, and the British.
This unfortunately is what we stand for, and is the essence of our misplaced patriotism.
September 19, 2006 at 4:08 pm
The book “Static”, posted on your website, gave me an idea about doing an Ad or Graphic with Bush, Cheney, Rove, and Rice heads sculped into “Mount Rush to War”.
September 20, 2006 at 8:57 am
well, well, well. I’m drinking my coffee early Saturday morning watching PBS, wondering whatever happend to my old Berkshirite friend, when what do I see but Mr. Jay Stevens on the tube…. A very nice surprise. Good luck with Mr. Tester – he seems authentic & will be a great addition to the senate for all of us.
JT
September 21, 2006 at 12:16 pm
Don’t know how to blog yet. Saw NOW program. Want to update public on fast breaking news story on Northern Cheyenne Reservation.
October 7, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Hey fellow patriot. 4&20 Blackbirds caught my attention, and since I believe there are no coincidences I felt compelled to send you this link to see and share.If you cant access it thru the link just go to “Google Video” and type in search word , “constitution class for patriots by Michael Badnarik”,and share it with whomever you can, its some powerful stuff. Check out my white wolfdog on my wife’s websites 2nd page. Best wishes to you & yours.Peace.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8321747074978323622
December 23, 2006 at 1:49 pm
I’m not sure if you have recently seen but a Montana website promoting the candidacy of Mitt Romney has surfaced. Check it out at http://montanansformitt.com/westernromancecompany.com/
December 23, 2006 at 1:52 pm
Sorry, wrong link. just google, “Montanans For Mitt Romney”. you’ll find it there somewhere.
January 23, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Hello Jay,
Just stumbled onto your website and your comments on Brad Johnson. You are Dead Right On! This guy is a boob, I am a lifelong republican, for crying out loud I was at this guys wedding(by the way his wife is a lovely little thing, she has to be mortified). He has to self-destruct you’d think, Mark Simonich is the brains behind him (Simonich from the Martz Administration and Jeff Gerrard, a former Rehberg staffer in Helena). Let’s hope Linda McCullough makes mince meat out of him in the next election……I’ll help! Keep up the good work!
February 17, 2007 at 2:43 am
I would like to meet with you to discuss your perceptions regarding the work of the Montana PAARP board, the origin of HB 628 prior to the 2005 legislative session and the current licensing bills for programs in the 2007 legislative session. Some of the conclusions in your writings are incorrect. For example, the real reason the PAARP board recommended continued study time in its final report was that, primarily due to the very late appointment of board members, the board met 15 times to accomplish much work conducting registration, surveys, town hall meetings, examinations of existing regulations and visits to programs. The board completed the fact finding and finished the report just days prior to the deadline for presenting the report to the interim legislative Economic Affairs Committee. It did not have time to analyze the data to make further recommendations at that time. “No wonder they failed to accomplish anything” does not come close describing the work of the PAARP board.
Another example is your true statement that Senator Eliot’s bill does not include programs that are “an adjunct ministry of a church incorporated in the state of Montana.” It does, however, include all other faith based programs in the state. “Faith based” and “adjunct ministry” are not the same. This provision was amended into HB 628 by Rep Jeannie Windham because, due to the very contentious nature of an evenly divided house, it was necessary for the passage of the bill. It is a provision in the current SB 288 which, if left intact, will likely guarantee the demise of Sen Schmidt’s bill when it reaches the house. I can explain why (i.e. the politics and policy issues) if want to hear more.
HB 628 was never intended to be the final regulatory mechanism to establish ethics, standards or licensing for private programs. It was the first small step and probably the only step that could survive the 2005 session. There are similar factors at work during the current legislative session and, since the house and senate are likely to be unreceptive to one another, much work will be required for either bill to pass.
Please contact me for more information( Ph 406-827-4440). I will be happy to visit you in Missoula to continue this discussion.
Sincerely, Paul Clark
PS “Elliot’s bill” is actually sponsored by Rep Bob Lake from Hamilton.
December 31, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Jay, I see that you were a pole vaulter. That’s good. How high did you go? Did you make it over fourteen feet? Just curious. Please, expound a bit on pole vaulting. You see, I vaulted in the pre-fiberglass poles day. It was a different sport back then.
March 21, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Enjoy your work in LitW … one piece you wrote last week had me thinking you may be a Socialis like Frank Krowmkowski and i.
Do you know Tim Carpenter also of MA and Red Sox Fan?
We’re gearing up to press on AIG Senator Baucus and his Health scheme _ Montanans for Single Payer… can you get on board with us?
William Crain
Co-State Coordinator PDA Montana
Peace & Justice Forums, Billings, MT co-producer
May 18, 2009 at 12:50 pm
My book club is looking for biographical information on Kim. We are discussing Chrysalis.
I’m hAVING trouble finding out much. Thanks
June 13, 2009 at 10:08 am
MEOW—A Cat Poetry Anthology
Please pass along to those who will be interested…
Wanted: Poems about cats, involving cats or cat-like in their nature for a poetry anthology to be published in Fall 2009. (We’ll even consider poems about Catwoman and the Broadway musical Cats.) All genre of poetry will be considered from haiku to sonnets to limericks to free verse.
Looking for short poems not exceeding 50 lines that reflect the author’s best efforts. Original, unpublished work is preferred. Previously-published exceptional work will be considered. Include full citation. No reader or submission fees. No remuneration for accepted work. A portion of any profits will be donated to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the first humane society to be established in North America — an excellent organization dedicated to the care of cats, dogs and all non-human friends. /www.aspca.org/
Email poems and a brief three- to five-sentence bio to meow.poetry@yahoo.com Submissions can be either in the body of the email or as an attached Word.doc. Email subject line should read: Meow Submission: Your Name.
Deadline: July 1, 2009
Poets will receive emails of acceptance / rejection, and notification when the published book is available.