Links…

January 19, 2007 in Links

Enjoy ’em while they’re hot! I’m on vacation for a couple of weeks. Posting will be spotty. Enjoy the links… 

Jon Tester posts his daily schedule online! Shame on you, those who doubted!

Tester drills those that let oil companies get away without paying royalties for leases on public lands.

The Good Guv wants a tax incentive for movie-makers who film in Montana.

Dillon’s second mayoral recall petition was submitted Wednesday. Moorcat has all the details.

Kemmick comments on Lange’s weird and ill-considered “parental values” bill.

Pogie mulls Tom McGillvray’s (R-Billings) and Rick Jore’s (C-Ronan) attempt to do away with same-day voter registration. Knobye reveals just who would be left out of the democratic process by the conservatives’ bill, and Ed Kemmick thinks it a “solution in search of a problem.” That’s very diplomatic, Ed.

Is Bill Sali really as stupid and rude as everyone says he is? Why, yes, he is.

Morality police get their panties in a knot over a cuss word. Meanwhile as many as 8 million Americans are homeless.

The cure for cancer found? Looks like we won’t find out, because there’s not much profit in it…

The Notorious Mark T takes issue with the WSJ’s anti-Chavez editorial.

The House rolls back Big Oil’s subsidies. I don’t know about you, but I’m beginning to like this new Congress.

Senate Republicans filibuster ethics reform. It’s funny how they’re becoming caricatures of themselves…

The administration bends a little and allows detainees some basic human rights. It’s a start.

Alberto Gonzalez has a…ahem…unique way of interpreting the Constitution. Does he really believe the cr*p he’s spouting? Or just doin’ his job?

Iraq War to cost $2 trillion? What a colossal waste of money…

Hm. Maybe the ongoing war in Iraq really has to do with who’s doing well in the conflict…I mean, how else can you explain our continued presence there when a large majority of Americans want us to leave. (Not to mention almost all the Iraqis.

Which is probably why Dick Cheney turned away Iranian offers to help stabilize Iraq back in 2003.

A Spocko update: KFSO gets hammered, but Disney, so far, gets away unscathed.

White House Correspondents Association not only picks 1970s-era comedian Rich Little to address their luncheon with the president, they’ve ordered him not to make fun of either the president or Iraq.

The moment you’ve all been waiting for: O’Reilly on the Colbert show! And Colby on the O’Reilly Factor!

Brad Johnson opposes same-day voter registration

January 19, 2007 in 2007 Legislative Session, Brad Johnson, Rick Jore

by Jay Stevens 

Can you believe this?

The man who’s ultimately responsible for all of our Election-Day problems – secretary of state Brad Johnson – has come out against same-day registration:

The secretary of state’s office is supporting a measure to do away with same-day voter registration in Montana, arguing it could help prevent a repeat of problems that occurred during the state’s 2006 election.

Republican Secretary of State Brad Johnson is in favor of a bill that would require voters to register before Election Day, his chief of staff, Mark Simonich, said Thursday.

Simonich said Election Day 2006, the first year in which same-day registration was allowed in the state, was “somewhat chaotic” because county election officials were required to simultaneously register voters and run elections.

Interesting. Especially because much of the chaos can be lain directly at Johnson’s feet. It was his office, after all, that failed to provide clear voting guides for Montanans. It was his office, after all, that failed to provide easy access to registration rules. It was his office that failed to help voting precincts prepare for the possible crush on election day, on a day when a nationally prominent and historically important Senate race was to be decided.

Instead, Brad Johnson was plastering Montana roadways with this:

That’s right, Johnson was erecting billboards across the state featuring his face and an American flag — ostensibly there to provide voters with election information. Of course, only an idiot would deny that they were campaign posters. For what, Brad? Governorship in 2008?

Perhaps Brad’s office would be best served by eliminating elections altogether. That would make his job easier, wouldn’t it?

In any case, it’s definitely odd that Johnson uses as evidence the chaos he’s in no small part responsible for to do away with a popular voting law. If you were the suspicious type, you might think he tried to sabotage same-day registration…

(In a side note, the most repulsive comment in the article comes courtesy of Rick Jore:

Jore said those who wait to register until the last minute also may not be well-informed on the issues.

Of course, after that comment – if we follow Jore’s logic – we should probably disenfranchise the voters of HD 12.

Or, to paraphrase David Crisp, who could have been talking to Rick Jore:

But if standards for competence and productivity were imposed, wouldn’t you miss voting?

Zing!)