So I was watching the latest episode of the Showtime series Shameless the other night when I witnessed something profound.

*spoiler alert*

The drunken patriarch of the family, Frank Gallagher (played brilliantly by William H. Macy), had been laying the groundwork for a long-con on a woman who is dying. Slowly he ingratiates himself with little favors, exploiting her loneliness and fear. It becomes apparent his target is her city pension, not just to the viewer but too his mark as well. When she calls him on it, he lays out a justification for why she should do it. It’s a convincing pitch; he wins her over by pledging to keep her memory alive after she dies, that she’ll be remembered; he’ll even go once a week to church to light a candle for her. I think what Frank digs deep to touch is a more profound fear than just death; it’s a fear of the total obliteration of self, of having no trace left behind of your life on earth.

But it’s all a con, and the awful turn in this agreement between an alcoholic and a dying woman comes when a beeper goes off while the woman is in the shower. You see, she’s waiting for a heart to become available, because she needs a transplant, which Frank knows, which is why he calls the hospital and tells whoever on the other end of line that the needy organ recipient had already died.

It gets even worse, but I don’t want to ruin the whole episode. Needless to say, the show earns its title, with every episode.

I am actually going somewhere by mentioning all this. Shameless is an important narrative being told about the ravages of alcoholism, a narrative newspapers can report on, but can’t fully contextualize. Editors can certainly push certain aspects of the symptoms, like featuring three separate stories related to alcohol abuse in the Montana section of the Missoulian a few days ago, or focusing on “Transients” without getting in depth about why our culture turns so callously against drunks who have drunk themselves into the misery of perpetual intoxication on the streets, but it shouldn’t be their responsibility alone to tell us why these things are happening under our collective noses.

A comment here at 4&20, posted this morning by “Opal”, reminds us again of what continues to happen here and all over the country:

Apparently another homeless person has died on the sidewalk in Missoula. The death is being reported on Keci and Kpax, but not in the Missoulian this morning. The Irony of the death on the same day as the project homeless connect event, and during the city’s homeless awareness week. Sad.

As the city slowly develops its 10 year plan to end homelessness, I hope the role alcohol plays in destroying people’s lives is fully considered.

While that happens, there will continue to be those on the margins of our society who slowly drink themselves to death. They all have their stories and their reasons, and those stories, I would argue, are really important for us as a society to listen to, to understand, because there have to be better ways for communities to respond to chronic issues, like alcoholism.

A problem, it should be noted, that may only get worse as economic conditions decline.

Baucus pulls a Rehberg

The rhetoric was pure Rehberg but it came from the mouth of Max Baucus.  On the heels of the State of the Union address, the first comment from our congressional delegation was Max blasting Obama for not ramming through the Keystone XL pipeline.

Granted, it was just a local TV news snippet and I’m sure the station was looking for the most controversial quote, but Max gladly provided it.

He joins the ranks of Joe Leiberman, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu and Blanche Lincoln as party skanks.  Montana Republicans should be grateful that Max Baucus is their senior senator.

Baucus says he’s “quite disappointed” that Obama didn’t reference the pipeline.  Here’s the link to the 10 p.m. newscast.  Max is about four minutes in.  Viewing not recommended for those with a queasy stomach.

On the other hand

In light of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, both Baucus and Tester are pushing for a Constitutional amendment that would regulate campaign spending.  This will be no cakewalk as it takes two-thirds of both chambers and three-quarters of the states (38 states?) to ratify the amendment.  Maybe just making our elections publicly financed would be easier, although I’m sure that, too, would end up in SCOTUS.

Of course Rehberg likes the idea of unlimited corporate influence in elections.  He believes there just needs to be more “sunlight” (or transparency) in campaigns, which mens a five-minute scroll of all the contributors at the end of a sixty-second negative hit spot on TV.  Yeah, right.  Like we can’t already figure out where all the millions of dollars are coming from.

It will be interesting to see how aggressive Congress is in advancing this amendment and how accountable members will be to citizens (and by citizens, I don’t mean corporations).

Update: Here’s Pogie’s take on Rehberg and Citizens United.

Stress can be like a caged animal caught in your chest, kicking your bowels, stiffening your limbs. Today it bit me good, and so I’m taking a mental health day. After I decompressed for a while, I picked up the book of poems currently gracing my night stand—Reading Novalis In Montana, by Melissa Kwasny. I flipped through and settled on a poem that but smacked me good (it’s actually the second poem of a twelve poem series). Thanks, Melissa!

*

2 Soul

There is something all right in giving yourself halfway
if you understand the danger, the hugeness of the thing,
that you’re not up for it. All night the moon shines,
showing you how trees breathe. Pines become the thing
they are that you forget, those with whom you live your life.
You could go out into the world or in and leave the thing,
which is like a bridge, clear for the others.
Twice in the backyard, a flash of yellow in the willows,
once getting wood, once calling out your door. What thing
was its south, its side of shadow? Everything—
seasons, directions, elements, the moon—divides itself
into colors and gestures, into secondary lodgings
of the half-breed or the deciduous though some things
are blind: blind soul of thunder, blind soul of feathers
on its back. The dark clouds are ominous, bringing things
that you need. Yet the mind continues to cast out
like a prison beacon for suspects, to pounce on something
it barely sees. You want instead to be chosen, gifted,
touch your hands on the earth to remember and remember.
The sky is silver from last night’s rain in the low spots
below the mountain. The sky is not one thing
but many highs and lows. As a child, it hurt you when things
were ugly—a bar, an alley, a tar roof to sunbathe on,
all of it so tired and unhappy, certainly never happy
to see you. The green world then became
your happiness, those with quiet voices and four souls.

—Melissa Kwasny

During the first era of Newt, I didn’t really give a shit about politics. I was just your average privileged white male midwest suburban teenager maximizing my fun time during the ’94 Republican revolution and subsequent contract with America.

What does stick out quite vividly is the political and legal battle over what President Clinton did or did not do with his penis. It was around this time in my life that I started developing what would later become a serious allergy to “social conservative” family values.

Hate is too strong a word, but I really despise the social conservative, Focus-on-the-Family-type morality crusaders who stand against the simple dignity of legal rights for gay couples, which is why Newt Gingrich’s victory tonight makes me so happy.

Newt or Mitt, it ultimately doesn’t matter, social conservatives are going to be gagging to the polls either way, and that makes me smile. The tea party wave they’re still riding on is currently crashing; their political darlings don’t stand a chance. Now they must choose between the corporate Mormon vulture capitalist who incubated Obamacare in Massachusetts, or the serial monogamist/wannabe swinger (polygamist?) who was ousted as speaker on ethic charges and later pocketed cash lobbying for Fannie Mae.

If I was Axlerod I’d be tweeting smug sports analogies too. But instead of reproducing that tweet, I’d like to end with a tweet from Markos:

I don’t ever want to hear Republicans talk about “family values” ever again

This week’s LWPS takes a look at Frank Marshall Davis, a black poet and alleged communist who played a prominent role in influencing our president, the closet Marxist, Barack Obama.

I received Davis’ book of collected poems, titled Black Moods, last week. I tried to find the most outlandish poem in the collection, and settled on the poem “To Those Who Sing America”. The poem, slightly altered from its original format, is below the fold. But beware, dear readers, if Davis influenced our president, altering the ideological course of his life, then there’s no telling what effect his verse may have on you…

*

TO THOSE WHO SING AMERICA

Well, gentlemen
You flag wavers
You rabble rousers
You who ask that I sing America
On patriotic occasions—
Here is one question:
What do you know of the song you chant?
You begin
“My country! ’tis of thee”
But here the patter ends.
Gentleman,
Haven’t you forgotten
Something?

~

“My country! ’tis of thee…”

(On the shores of this, my country, dwell Plenty in a forty-room mansion and Poverty in a one-room hovel…a nation turned prostitute for the fat pimps of Politicians and Captains of Industry…Sundays all rise to serve a crippled Nordic God…His torn-out eyes replaced by dollar signs…His belly bloated with the greasy gravy of the Profit System…His spindly shanks molded from the spavined bones of the hungry workers…His doddering frame supported by the props of Federal Dole and Government Subsidy…this is my country with the star spangled robe snatched away)

“Sweet land of liberty…”

(Do you remember Sacco and Vanzetti in Boston, Tom Mooney in California, nine Scottsboro boys in Alabama?)

“Of thee I sing; …”

(Yes—with words approved by the Daughters of the American Revolution, Ku Klux Klan, American Legion and Boards of Censors of forty-eight states)

“Land where my fathers died!…”

(While strong-arming the Indian owners…starving to fill money sacks of Mistermorgan, Misterdupont, Mistermellon…human guinea pigs testing crazy social systems)

“Land of the Pilgrims’ pride!…”

(The Pilgrims, gentlemen, had not seen my country as a land of peons down South, wage-slaves up North…her wooded hills stripped to stony nakedness by lumber corporations…signboards selling beer and bunion cures blocking her native scenery…lynched black bodies swaying from trees in a morning breeze)

“From ev’ry mountain side…”

(Including airy skyscraper and penthouse for the few, disease cradling tenement for the many)

“Let freedom ring!”

(Although the rich are counting dividends and dodging income taxes while the poor are scrambling for crumbs dropped from the Table of Capitalism, let us hush…the Politicians and Professional Americans wish to lift their voices in song)

~

We shall stop here
My flag waving friends
You don’t remember
The other verses
Anyway…

—Frank Marshall Davis

It’s more than a bit shocking – regardless of your political persuasion, I’d like to think – when a state senator and a congressional primary candidate champions the short-term economic boom to the shops in downtown Billings that occurred when Exxon spilled crude from its pipeline into the Yellowstone River this past July.

That’s the kind of thing you’d expect our current Representative Denny Rehberg might say, given his love for oil & gas industry money – Representative Rehberg ranks 14th in receipts of oil & gas industry money of all recipients there in Washington.

Instead, it was state senator Kim Gillan (D-Billings) who made the remark at a forum for several of the candidates held by The Policy Institute this past weekend. I have tremendous respect for The Policy Institute. They’ve provided excellent policy testimony – especially on budget issues – to legislative committees. Frankly, it’s a bit surprising that Gillan would say such a thing given the audience.

During a Q&A moderated by former Representative Pat Williams, candidates were asked about the Keystone XL pipeline by TransCanada – whether they thought the pipeline was good or bad (or both) for the economy. Gillan was up first with her answer – and I wish I had some video or audio, but alas, audio and video were not permitted – and she said that “there are people in Billings that think the oil spill was a good thing, that it was good for business. They are looking at their watches and asking can we do this again next year?”

The room fell quite with shock. First murmurs…then low boos. What. Was. She. Thinking?

One also has to wonder the company she keeps. Where – even if she was attempting a joke – something like that were considered funny.

Somewhere along the line I read that Montana has the most EPA cleanup sites. The Milltown Dam to Anaconda cleanup is the largest cleanup site of all. Helena (her district) has a big old cleanup site they’re trying to figure out what to do with right now, doesn’t it?

I’m guessing Gillan thinks all that is good economic development too.

Her remarks have been bugging me since I heard about them – I’ve often pondered if there wasn’t a certain attitude in the legislature with regards to mining/oil/gas development that was a lot of “let it roll” combined with “it’ll be a big cleanup site in the future.” Her remarks lead me to believe that I just may not be completely cynical…that there’s actually some truth to what should be pure fiction.

Gillan ranks first in the Democratic field for pulling in cash ($124,145 this last Q), followed by Franke Wilmer ($107,117) and Dave Strohmaier ($49,078). By comparison, Republican Steve Daine’s collected $546,327.

Yeah. Over a half a million buckaroos, Montana.

~~~~~~~

Gillan’s out for me with this kind of news. At least this cleared up any lingering doubts I had about being open to persuasion.

Dave Strohmaier, for his part, has done quite well, picking up a number of endorsements. Strohmaier’s also been hard working and well received around the state. At this weekend forum he got glowing reviews. His answer to the Keystone XL question called for more thorough economic and environmental studies – and he questioned the moving target on the number of long-term jobs it would create.

Franke Wilmer is a strong candidate, having served 3 legislative sessions in the House, representing moderate Bozeman. She’s a scrapper, too – just read her biography).

On Keystone XL, Wilmer pointed out that if “you take the jobs out of the pipeline, no one likes the pipeline.” She went on to point out this is the reason we need to strengthen our unions. “If we had a stronger unions to negotiate for clean jobs,” said Wilmer, “this wouldn’t even be an issue.”

Thank Goddess these two got it right.

This winter storm is phenomenal, and not just because of its humbling disruption to our daily routines. Extreme weather like this does something to a community, something encouraging. And because I’m a writer, I wrote something about it.

Stay safe, Missoula!

*

when snow won’t stop falling
when the world becomes whiteout
and the landscape, fused by fluff—
the town shuts down
and people do what they can for each other

Dave Gallik’s resignation as Commissioner of Political Practices was quick and fast – Great Falls Tribune reporter John S. Adams continues the scandal story this morning with news of events at the Capitol yesterday, which include Gallik repeatedly stating that the staff had called the police on him, despite that apparently not being true.

I have to say, to me, it almost comes off as him making light of the situation as he walked off to the Governor’s Mansion to discuss his resignation.

What is disturbing in Adams’ story is not the soap-opera scene (which the public seems to need as blame is apparently cast on vengeful women), but the apparent lack of any oversight on the Commissioner of Political Practices. Or the lack of anyone willing to step up. Adams goes through the three offices that the office staff apparently reported their allegations to:

Two staff members from the commissioner’s office told the Tribune they raised detailed concerns about Gallik’s behavior with Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s office and the Legislative Audit Division. They said they also reached out to Attorney General Steve Bullock’s office, but were told by an attorney who works on political practices complaints that the matter did not fall within the attorney general’s jurisdiction.

So they went to the three most logical choices and all three failed to address the situation? And right now the State Administration and Veterans Affairs Interim Committee is trying to determine who has the authority to oversee the office?

Don’t you think Montana should of had these things figured out? There’s so much to say about what is wrong with what Adams’ lays out in his article, I don’t know where to begin. Luckily, I’m tired as it’s been a long day and tomorrow’s another. I do love winter.

It’s easy to get caught up in all the soap opera scene of this situation. It’s also pretty childish to immediately start a defense by making accusations of political motivations against Adams. Given his history for accuracy, quite frankly, it be best for most of the parties involved that this die a quick death.

It’s a sad state of affairs when rather than address the issues of oversight of the chief political oversight office in this state, we’re more concerned with the motivations behind the whistleblowers who attempted to seek compliance with what is – afterall – state law.

When accusations are thrown against a reporter when none of the facts have been called into question.

And guess what? With some oversight of the office, Dave Gallik might have still been in office today. Had any one of the three offices that the office staff contacted with their allegations had then contacted Gallik and reminded him of state policies, he might have taken a different path.

One nagging question I have? Was Gallik told that he could do his private practice and rental property work from his state office? I’m guessing SAVA will eventually figure that out?

~~~~~~~

A number of people around the Montana blogosphere have also written this story up. Don Pogreba has a couple of posts now (I actually missed his first post), and here is Don’s piece on Gallik’s resignation.

James Conner – who, really, all of you should be reading – has two posts up, one on Improving Montana’s commission on political practices and another The Political Practices mess.

Jack the Blogger also kicks in with his analysis of the mess of the office, first having called on Gallik to resign, and today with his assessment of the ineffective mess that is the Office Of Political Practices.

ALSO, Gregg Smith over at Electric City Weblog had this analysis of the situation and how it correlates with past allegations by the GOP. He also has a quick take on the resignation that undoubtedly has some truth to it, even though he admits it to being entirely speculatory.

Finally, Montana Watchdog, a conservative newsource for state politics, has a few posts also. Here’s Phil Drake’s piece on Gallik’s resignation.

With Dave Gallik resigning, there’s been quite a frenzy of speculation. In the comment thread of j-girl’s post, some comments from James C. and Pete T. caught my attention, and considering some other headlines in the paper today, deserve some additional consideration. Here are the comments :

James: If the job paid better, much better, we might get better people, and people who don’t feel the need to moonlight.

Pete: While I tend to agree, James, by Missoula payroll standards, $57+k ain’t chump change. If this job opens up, I’m available.

James: It may not be chump change by Missoula standards, Pete, but I don’t think that’s the standard against which the commish’s ought to be measured. It’s an important position and the salary ought to be commensurate with the responsibility, and with the professional credentials necessary to do the job well. We do get what we pay for. In this case, we didn’t pay for much and we’re not getting much.

I see James point of view, and agree whole heartedly that a salary “ought to be commensurate with the responsibility”, but all I need to do to rattle that notion is mention teachers.

According to teacher-portal, a teacher in Montana has an average starting salary of $25,000, and an average overall salary of just under $40,000. I’m not sure if those numbers hold up, but they sound about right from those I know who teach in Montana. Considering the responsibility of, you know, helping to shape the future of America by teaching its youth, I’d say we, as a society, are failing big time.

But not everyone in education gets so meagerly compensated. Here’s the headline that jumped out at me this morning: Regents Likely to Pay Higher Education Commissioner $283K Salary.

I guess the thinking goes, in order to attract quality candidates, the salary and benefits need to be comparable to similar administrative positions. Here is a big chunk from the article.

That annual salary is a pay increase of $69,487 above what Commissioner of Higher Education Sheila Stearns earns currently, but it’s the same annual salary as University of Montana President Royce Engstrom and Montana State University President Waded Cruzado.

The state has offered Christian a deferred compensation package worth $455,000 over 10 years, if the commissioner stays on for five or more years. That is slightly less than the deferred compensation plans offered to both Engstrom and Cruzado, which are worth $500,000 each.

The deferred compensation plan becomes available to the 46-year-old Christian at age 65, when he will receive $35,000 annually for three years and $50,000 annually for seven years, totaling $455,000 over a decade. The plan is a way for the university system to sweeten the pot for Montana’s upper-level university management, who are generally making $60,000 to $80,000 less than their counterparts in four surrounding states, said Kevin McRae, associate commissioner for communication and human resources.

But being competitive doesn’t make sense for this particular pay increase, because the position was never advertised or opened to the public, something that has caused a little bit of grumbling. But grumbling doesn’t really seem to bother the decision makers. It didn’t back when Alex Apostle got his lavish pay increase (after asking teachers to basically forego theirs), and it won’t now.

Economic disparity is a serious problem that those at the top don’t have to take seriously (yet). They have their rationalizations, and if that doesn’t work, they can afford private security.

It’s too bad those same rationalizations don’t work for those lowly teachers who toil in overcrowded classrooms and buy their own supplies.

I remember seeing something recently about the Finnish education system, so I looked around and found this BBC News report. Here is a little tidbit that sounds so nice, I wish it applied here, in the states:

Teaching is a prestigious career in Finland. Teachers are highly valued and teaching standards are high.

Maybe someday we’ll be able to say the same for our teachers. Because despite all the rationalizations, I fail to see how paying administrators more money will make our education system any better. Instead of increasing the quality of teachers, it will just increase the cleverness of formulaic schemes to bring drop-out rates down.

Boy. What to say about Great Falls Tribune state reporter John S. Adams’ most recent investigative piece exposing misuse of state funds by Dave Gallik, Commissioner of Political Practices?

The evidence is pretty damning – considering it seems that the entire staff of the department is standing by the accusations.

Seems Gallik is utilizing his office to run his private practice, logging pay hours that weren’t worked (over half!) and increasing the contract outsourcing of legal work.

How’s that for stimulating the economy?

The Commissioner position is appointed. It’s a six-year term. During the past legislative session, Governor Brian Schweitzer appointed Jennifer Hensley to head up the empty seat – an appointment that was rejected in the last days of the session (if I recall correctly – feel free to interject) due to objections over Hensley’s political background.

Gallik was then appointed, leaving the post temporarily filled, where Gallik would surely be asked to resign should the chief executive post eventually go to Republicans.

Political shenanigans from both parties aside, it’s a disgrace to see this kind of activity out of the Political Practices Commissioner for multiple reasons – first and foremost for his misappropriation of state tax dollars. In this case – do read Adams’ story – Gallik is not only en flagrante over his use of the office for his own private enterprise, he’s downright self-righteous about his perceived ability to do so.

Further, Gallik is a lawyer. Isn’t this sort of activity an ethics violation by the pithy standards of the Montana State Bar? Gallik is giving all lawyers a bad name, and he’d doing it out of the Office of Poltiical Practices.

(Probably not) finally – We got an election year coming up. Is this the oversight the citizens of Montana are going to have over this upcoming election?

Sad.

I’m guessing with this last story, supermontananreporter John S. Adams won’t have a front seat at Schweitzer’s last State of the State address.