However, the Great Falls Tribune reported hat Scott is wrong:

Broadwater County election officer Rhonda Nelson said the error on the 11th precinct ballot was between her office and the private contractor who printed and mailed the ballots.

“There was no state involvement in this error,” Nelson said. “There was nothing that the state should have done or could have done differently. The error was entirely between the software company and my office.”

Scott  refused to acknowledge he’d gotten it wrong, which shows he doesn’t even know how the office he’s running for works.  County election officers are responsible for printing ballots.

Scott began his campaign by insulting teachers. He declared that Linda McCulloch, the current Secretary of State (SOS), is a “lifelong bureaucrat” and for that reason is not qualified to be SOS. McCulloch is a lifelong teacher, so Aspenlieder has now brought the national GOP war on teachers to Montana, by calling teachers “bureaucrats.”

Scott opposes mail ballots–perhaps because the allow more people to vote.  In voicing his opposition to the practice he even insulted rural communities. He railed on a vote-by-mail proposal that McCulloch voiced support for (she supported it because it would have saved the state two million dollars annually.)

Scott stated that:

“voting is about all these rural communities have left.”

In other words, Scott  thinks rural folk need the diversion thay a trip to the polls provides, since they have nothing else in their lives.

The glitch impacted 125 ballots.  All the voters are being notified by phone of the error and sent new ballots.

The state of Missouri, in its infinite wisdom, just approved adding Rush Limbaugh to their “Hall of Famous Missourians” which also includes the American Indian and young mother Sacagawea, of Lewis and Clark fame. Wonder which of his many insulting terms for women he would apply to her?

Yet while Priest depicts McKinnon has the rule-of-law candidate, her biggest supporters–Priest and the TEA Party–are intent on forcing a law that would mean the exact opposite.  I’m talking about nullification. Montana State Senator Jason Priest (R-Red Lodge) is one of the nullification movement’s leaders.

The concept of nullification was a key feature of the most extreme legislature in Montana history–nearly a dozen bills to declare federal authority “null and void” or unenforceable in Montana were introduced by Republicans during the 2011 session.  However, the fact that the Supreme Court would declare the bills unconstitutional helped Democrats and moderate Republicans join forces to defeat the nullification bills time after time.  Governor Schweitzer called the bills “anti-American.”

Besides seeking a nullification-friendly Supreme Court, TEA Party Republicans are also pushing a constitutional amendment to let state legislatures nullify federal laws. They’re calling the amendment the “Repeal Amendment”. 

Jason Priest (R-Red Lodge) is listed among the dozen or so supporters of the amendment.

Priest says:

“Montanans are a liberty-minded people and I will proudly sponsor the Article V application for the Repeal Amendment in the Montana Legislature to send a clear, strong message to Washington that we are a sovereign state with Montana-made solutions to today’s challenges.”

Priest is the TEA Party Republican who made national news for posting comments to Facebook using  “hateful, homophobic talk” to argue his dislike for paying taxes.

Curiously, the poll also said that Schweitzer would likely carry the state of Montana if he made a 2016 presidential bid. I guess that’s no small thing, given how tight presidential races are nowadays. This phenomenon, should it ever occur, would mean a six point net electoral college swing, since the Rs would lose what is now an automatic, no-questions-asked prize of three electors.

Max Baucus still does not like what he sees from Public Policy Polling regarding a possible head-to-head matchup against Schweiter in 2014. For the second time, PPP is reporting that Baucus trails Schweitzer handily, by double digits among likely Democratic primary voters.

Curiously, the Poll also says that while Schweitzer is strong with Dems, he also garners a positive approval rating from one out of four Republican voters. No doubt these are the twenty five percent of Republicans who are literate and thus able read the newspaper (which often contains headlines about the state’s large budget surplus), unlike their more conservative bretheren who accept at face value the propaganda dished out by the GOP establishment and officeholders.

The poll also looked at Montanans’ views on gay marriage.  Montana voters think it should be illegal by a 48/41 margin. Meanwhile,  the better news is that 64% of voters support some form of legal recognition for gay couples- either gay marriage or civil unions- to only 32% who are opposed to any.

In the email, Greenwood wrote:

I am  first and foremost a follower and friend of a guy named Jesus of Nazareth. Nothing else even comes close.

Aware that his missive would be picked up and transmitted around, Greenwood clearly is keen on sending a message to the holy rollers in his party that he is One Of Them.

As this relates to the governor’s race, it’s been previously assumed that Greenwood is not a Rick Hill supporter, because of Hill’s lack of right-wing bona fides, Greenwood’s appearance in a Ken Miller video, and Greenwood’s support of Rick Santorum. I would say the email supports the notion that Greenwood likes the Miller candidacy.

And recently Miller has become more direct, himself, about highlighting his own status as “A Christian,” on his website and in debates.

Greenwood might also be worried about a religious insurrection within his party, and wants to appear to be a religious nut so that he can keep his job when the wheels come off in November. Right now the Montana GOP is run mostly by Helena insiders, but is staring at the real possibility of twelve straight years of Democratic control of the Governor’s office and 16 straight years controlling the Attorney General’s office and Land Board. If this comes true in November, there will be a Republican Revolution, but not the kind that the GOP enjoys celebrating, unless you happen to be one of the ecstatic rioting Tea Partiers holding the pitchfork that is hoisting the asses of Greenwood and Will Deschamp, the Party Chairman).

And there is another more subtle thing going on here.

Right-wingers have been led into a self-reinforcing delusion, ever since McCain lost to Obama, that if a moderate Republican candidate loses an election it’s because the candidate made the mistake of trying to appeal to independent voters. Be a true right-wing conservative and you will always win, say Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck to their daily audiences of twenty million foaming, gullible ignoramuses.

This thinking allows right-wing leaders and shouters to have their cake and eat it. They can say “I told you so” if and when candidates like Mitt Romney or Rick Hill get defeated. And the purveyors of this Theory of Conservative Purity themselves become more relevant in the off-season. Their followers, meanwhile, can take solace in the fact that arch conservatism is The Way, and that Republicans can only lose elections for failing to follow The Way. This is exactly the bed that has been made for Mitt Romney, by Santorum and Gingrich, Beck and Limbaugh. When Romney loses, they’ll say its because a false conservative, not a true one, was nominated.

For a Party activist like Greenwood, this delusion has a more practical application: it sets up a good position from which to dump on a GOP candidate who loses.

It’s an easy out. For when Rick Hill loses (and he will be the nominee, and will lose to Bullock), Greenwood will signal to the base of his party, “I told you so.” This, even though Ken Miller would himself strand no real chance of winning a general election. But how could this be disproven if Miller never gets the nomination? It can’t, and that’s the beauty of it.

The entire Greenwood email is pasted below the fold.

Write-In Bowen Greenwood for Clerk of Supreme Court!   The Website Is Live This e-mail newsletter is about the campaign to write-in Bowen Greenwood for Clerk of the Montana Supreme Court. You’re receiving it because you’re a friend, acquaintance, well-wisher, or non-enemy of Bowen’s. Today www.bowengreenwood.com is up and running and ready to accept visitors. Check it out! By now, many of you have probably heard about the write in campaign — probably because you were all on the first e-mail. This newsletter will cover three subjects: Why should you care, why me, and what can you do to help. Why should you care If you’re a Republican, there are two reasons you should care. First, it’s good to have our point of view represented in every race. If you’re a Republican, smaller government, lower taxes, and stronger families are important to you. If they’re important, people should be able to vote for those ideals. But right now, in the Clerk of Supreme Court race, there is no candidate who represents those ideals. That’s why we need to write in our own. Moreover, there’s a self-interested reason why Republicans should care about this effort. As a voter is marking his or her ballot, the tendency is to keep voting the same party all the way down the ticket, unless something breaks the chain. So if we win the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Governor, and other races — as we are likely to do — a majority of voters will be in the midst of a long string of Republican votes when they come to the Clerk of the Montana Supreme Court. If we break that string by not having a candidate in this race, it decreases the odds of Republicans winning the races that come after Clerk on the ballot. If we want to win Republican elections, we need a Republican name on the ballot for Clerk of the Montana Supreme Court. This write-in campaign is the only way to get one. Maybe you’re not a Republican. Since this is my personal e-mail list, about the only way to get on it and not be a Republican is 1) be my mother or 2) be a reporter. If you’re a reporter, here’s why you should care about this. A write in campaign with a serious intention of winning has never happened before. It may never happen again. You may go your whole journalistic career and never cover another write in who might actually pull it off. My friend, this is news. Getting onto a statewide ballot as a write-in candidate does not exactly happen every day. If I pull it off, and you covered it before it happened, people will be impressed. Why Bowen Greenwood I am  first and foremost a follower and friend of a guy named Jesus of Nazareth. Nothing else even comes close. But of all that other stuff, the most important things are: I am in favor of creating good-paying jobs by developing our natural resources. I am in favor of reducing regulations, repealing Obamacare, lowering taxes, and more. I am so strongly in favor of our Second Amendment rights that you could arm a third-world country from my garage. Pro-life, pro-family, pro-marriage, pro-American, and more. What can you do to help? First, forward this e-mail. I’m serious. Right now, you’re probably thinking, e-mail forwards are usually just stupid chain letters, dirty jokes, or boring. But this one is different. This e-mail represents a real, honest-to-goodness people’s effort to place a name on the ballot. This is citizen self-government in the purest possible form. By forwarding this e-mail, you are telling friends who might otherwise never know, that they can make a real, tangible difference in the November election. So even though you hate forwards, even though you delete every one you get, even though your friends have asked you to stop forwarding political diatribes, I’m still asking you to please forward this e-mail. Next, visit www.bowengreenwood.com. The website is chock full of ways you can help. It explains the write-in process, it’s got guidance about letters to the editor, it’s got a good picture of me taken by my friend Jessica — all that AND a sample ballot picture. Go look at www.bowengreenwood.com, click on “how can I help,” and get started. Conclusion This matters. It matters big time. By participating in this write-in campaign, you can make a real, measurable difference in Republican races all the way down the ballot. Are you thinking of writing in Bowen Greenwood for Clerk of Supreme Court? Great. But it’s not enough. If you’re going to write in my name and stop there, then don’t bother. Your vote won’t put us across the finish line. But the votes of all your friends and family might. So forward this. Facebook this. Tweet it, tell your friends, and become annoying about it. If you don’t, don’t bother writing in. I am asking for your vote, yes. But I am asking for more than that. Please spread the word. Paid for by Bowen Greenwood, 2153 Alpine Drive, Helena, MT  59601. Republican.www.bowengreenwood.com Heading 4 Repeatable content blocks:Repeatable sections are noted with plus and minus signs so that you can add and subtract content blocks. You can also get a little fancy: repeat blocks and remove all text to make image “gallery” sections, or do the opposite and remove images for text-only blocks! Heading 4 Repeatable content blocks:Repeatable sections are noted with plus and minus signs so that you can add and subtract content blocks. You can also get a little fancy: repeat blocks and remove all text to make image “gallery” sections, or do the opposite and remove images for text-only blocks!

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Reason # 1: Dennis Rehberg

Let’s start with the man at the top of your ticket.   As we all know, one of the biggest challenges your party seems concerned with is coming up with a socially, and more importantly, legally acceptable excuse for raping women.

As an example of this, look at Congressman Rehberg’s vote to prevent certain situations from “counting” as rape. Up for debate was a bill to regulate who got to decide whether or not to have the rapist’s baby, Mother Jones via Think Progress reported. Women who were to be excluded from getting the choice: those who are drugged or verbally threatened and raped, minors impregnated by adults, and women who say no but do not physically fight off the perpetrator for fear of being murdered.  This would exclude abortions as an option for women who were raped in these circumstances (drugged and unconscious, 13 year old girls impregnated by 55 year old pervs, and women who keep still for fear of being murdered) from Medicaid coverage.

Dennis Rehberg was also busted pretending to support breast cancer awareness while voting to end mammogram coverage. (Note: A mammogram is a test for breast cancer.)  He opposes equal pay for women–the guy even flipped off a pregnant constituent.   Rehberg tried to end funding for Planned Parenthood twice in the last year. The  TEA Party Congressman cosponsored and of course voted for H.R.358, the “Let Women Die” bill. H.R.358 would force doctors to let women die rather than provide abortion care.

“Back in my days, [women] used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives; the gals put it between their knees and it wasn’t that costly.”

A little while ago Congressman Dennis Rehberg said the War on Women was “fabricated.”

Reason # 2: Rick Hill

Just last month, former Congressman Rick Hill, who is running in your GOP primary for Governor, endorsed legalizing insurance company discrimination against women.  This means insurance companies would be allowed to charge women more for health coverage, or to exclude women’s health needs like mammograms from coverage–which is currently illegal. He’s the subject of a recent television ad about how his first wife went public over the abuse and adultery she suffered though.

In 2000, Congressman Rick Hill criticized challenger Nancy Keenan for being a single woman without children. Keenan, a former teacher, responded by saying she “wanted to have children,” but was unable to because of a hysterectomy. She also noted: “nothing is more devastating when a doctor walks into the room and says you’ll never have children” [Great Falls Tribune, "Hill Unleashes First Campaign Volley," May 25, 1999]

Republicans never seem to mention Rick Hill’s voting record.  Perhaps that is because Hill voted in support of a $115 billion cut in Medicare – a program that helps mostly women (who live longer). Hill also curbed payments to hospitals that serve a large number of poor and uninsured people who would see Medicaid payments shaved by $15 billion, and cut $2 billion from health oxygen benefits to seniors and the disabled.  These cuts also predominantly impact women and children.  Women are usually the one’s who bear the burden of caring for aging parents and family members with disabilities. [HR 2015, Roll Call 241, 6/25/97]

Reason # 3: GOP Legislators

h/t RastaMon

Republican legislators have twice compared women to animals to convince each other to vote for anti-women bills. Coincidentally (??), your men in the legislature also openly posted pornographic images of women and animals on their Facebook pages.

During the 2011 legislative session, you Republicans tried to legalize insurance discrimination against women. You also tried to pass an entire slate of anti-woman bills. The fact that the bills were unconstitutional didn’t stop you. It got so bad that word on the street is one of the attorneys hired to draft the unconstitutional bills quit halfway through the session.  He later began a campaign for Congress–on the Democratic ticket.

One of the bills would have forced women seeking an abortion to undergo a mandatory trans-vaginal ultrasound.  In other words, before she can get a abortion–which is her Constitutional right–she must be penetrated–with or without her consent–by an ultrasound wand in a procedure that serves no medical purpose whatsoever.  (No, the other kind of outside the tummy ultra-sound won’t work because it is too early in the pregnancy.)

There are, of course, many more reasons why the Montana Republican Party is repulsive to women, but when dealing with Republicans, it is best to give information in small doses, that you might digest it more easily.  At least now, you’ll have no excuse for pretending ignorance in the news.

Rehberg, who called Pell Grants the “welfare of the 21st Century”,  was on campus Friday at the Gallatin County Lincoln/Reagan Dinner.  He did not use his visit to back away from his anti-student position nor did he apologize to students for his idiotic remarks. Instead, Rehberg came to their campus and broke the rules–littering the campus with Rehberg campaign signs.

The first photo, taken by Cowgirl campus tipsters, shows a Rehberg sign on campus. The second pic shows the cops telling Rehberg’s people to pull them down.

Basically, this is just another dick move from Rehberg. He doesn’t care about the campus. He doesn’t care about the campus rules. He doesn’t care enough to bother to pretend like he cares.

Dennis Rehberg probably doesn’t even care that his views, his campaign, and his garbage aren’t exactly a welcome site on campus.

The GOP dinner was apparently the only thing Dennis Rehberg did this weekend. While Jon Tester was busting his hump holding public meetings in Missoula and speaking to graduates at Montana Tech, Rehberg was holed up talking only to his party faithful. That seems to be all he cares about.

These ads popped up on the internet the other day–apparently the work of some Dartmouth college students.

This is the legacy of Montana State Rep. Jerry O’Neil (R-TEA, Columbia Falls) who has been failing to wreak havoc on American democracy and justice for over thirty years through an….eclectic hodge-podge of approaches. O’Neil went on the radio this week to explain what started it all.   It is not clear exactly what he is talking about, but it involves a cult and appears to be an attempt to explain his fixation with legalizing fake lawyering.  Basically, after his wife left him for a cult called the “Fatima Crusaders” the obsessive O’Neil says he could only address the situation by representing himself in court.  He sued the cult for causing his divorce. O’Neil is not an attorney.

The Columbia Falls community deserves better than a crackpot who is obsessed with a single issue related to his own personal life.  People want a representative who cares about jobs and quality schools.

O’Neil’s career has been a series of failures to make drastic alterations to the justice system to fix his nutty personal problems. Perhaps it was O’Neil’s inability to sound coherent that precipitated a foiled run for Supreme Court.  There was also a failed Constitutional Amendment to end the “discrimination” that prevents those with no education from practicing law. He even got himself into the legislature so he could blunder an attempt to move jurisdiction over the bar from the Court to the legislature.  (This would let the bright minds in the legislature decide which Burger King employees could become lawyers–education be darned).

I’m sure O’Neil would say he knows lots and lots about the law. That doesn’t mean he’s succeeded in abiding by it.   A mailer last election cycle explained in no uncertain terms that O’Neil’s legal experience includes being:

Held in Contempt of Court (stood trial and was found guilty November, 2004, Lake County court)

Charged with Practicing Law Without a License (cited by Supreme Court commission, 2001)

and

Abuse of an Elder / Exploitation of an Incapacitated Elder / Trespassing
(issued formal warnings by the State, March 2010; ordered to cease and desist his conduct)

In the infamous Bat Crap Legislative Session of 2011, O’Neil can take credit for a botched go at legalizing fake lawyering, and even a run at getting rid of some elections so that legislators can hand pick our U.S. Senators.

O’Neil lost again. If, instead of launching his first scheme against law and justice, he had sought education instead, his potpourri of attacks on the justice system might have at least been more successful–if not exactly relevant to his consituents. Of course, he may have flubbed getting an education too. TEA Partiers are not known for their love of schooling.

Now that he’s put his actions into better context, I hope you’ll see this TEA Partier’s life’s work for what it was: a great success.  We needn’t remember O’Neil as the crackpot who tried to ruin democracy as we know it, but rather as the nutjob who thankfully continued to fail at doing so for thirty years.

Laszloffy’s profile had previously included her attendance at the “school” where students of all ages come to learn how to live  ”a supernatural lifestyle” including how to cast out demons and bringing the dead back to life.  [Here's the screenshot]

The reference was removed after the Cowgirl blog brought her background to light. Now, the page simply says Laszloffy “went to homeschool.”

Taylor on the Ropes

A Flathead area property owner is taking on Republican Rep. Janna Taylor for paying less than 20 bucks in property tax for lakeshore property and raking in over a million dollars in federal farm subsidies. In fact, the TEA Partier is the number one recipient of government farm subsidy cash in the Montana Legislature.

Anne Marie Semsak, in a well-written letter in the Missoulian this week writes:

It is a matter of public record that Rep. Janna Taylor owns 15 acres, including 660 feet of Flathead lakeshore property, near Rollins, for which she pays $19 annual property tax, plus a little over $2,000 for the improvements on the land – house, dock and outbuildings. Her taxable value is $400,031.

We own 4.87 acres with 180 feet of lakeshore with two older houses and a mobile home. Our taxable value is $1,064,136.

Taylor is a state legislator, entrusted to fairly serve her district. She lists “rancher” on her biographical information, but their ranch is in central Montana, far from this legislative district. I have not seen “cherry farmer” on any of her information. One could conclude that she is taking advantage of the agricultural exemption, and I find this disturbing.

Taylor made waves in the Montana legislature for her hypocrisy in government spending and her statement that the death penalty is needed to address prisoner spitballs.  Taylor is running for the Montana Senate against incumbent Sen. Carmine Mowbray (R-Polson) in the June 5 primary elections.

Tim Baldwin (R-Crackpot) Running in Derek Skees’ footsteps for Whitefish House Seat

Whitefish residents thrilled to find TEA Party Republican Derek Skees aiming for statewide office and abandoning his legislative seat are re-thinking their good cheer.  That’s because TEA Party Republican Tim Baldwin, son of Chuck Baldwin, is running in his place.  Baldwin is basically Skees with a law degree + uber-religious conservative + has dad with ties to the white supremacy movement–a truly scary thing.

In the video below, Baldwin discusses his theory on why true Christians don’t need to follow the law if they decide they don’t like the evil government:

Elizabeth Best Campaign Ad Up

Montana candidate for Supreme Court Elizabeth Best has a campaign ad up.  Here it is: