Montana Headlines

• John O'Sullivan on Gov. Palin

  Number of comments: 4
  We're still making up our minds about Gov. Sarah Palin. Not, mind you, about whether she was a brilliant choice on McCain's part (she was,) whether she would have made a good VP and been capable of stepping into the Oval Office "on Day One" (she would have been at [...]
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  Posted: December 23, 2008, 12:57pm EST
  by Montana Headlines

• Ayn Rand's relevance

  Number of comments: 7
  Ayn Rand's novels, especially her more mature works such as Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, have been justly famous and influential. It is difficult to read those two books and look at the world in quite the same way again.
  
  In a recent Newsweek interview, the current head' [...]
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  Posted: December 13, 2008, 5:51am EST
  by Montana Headlines

• Things are getting confused at LITW

  Number of comments: 0
  It's one thing to let the folks at Left in the West take a victory lap or two -- hey, the lefties had a pretty impressive year, and they have earned the right to gloat and strut like peacocks for awhile as far as we're concerned.
  
  But let's try' [...]
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  Posted: December 12, 2008, 6:35pm EST
  by Montana Headlines

• P-base polling

  Number of comments: 0
  Good stuff over at Montana Main Street Blog regarding the new P-base poll results. What sticks out?
  
  1. ...a record 75% of Montana voters want the state to encourage more timber, mining, oil & gas development while only 14% are opposed. 63% believe Montana’s environment is currently well [...]
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  Posted: December 11, 2008, 9:14pm EST
  by Montana Headlines

• Moving off campus

  Number of comments: 0
  Victor Davis Hanson, who often brings a fresh perspective to commentary on contemporary politics and society because of his training and experience as a classicist, has a great piece in City Journal in which he elegantly describes the role that a classical college education (i.e. the kind where one [...]
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  Posted: December 09, 2008, 5:56am EST
  by Montana Headlines

• Newspapers -- in need of fiscal resuscitation?

  Number of comments: 7
  Ed Kemmick offers an elegy for the disappearing newspaper, a noble beast that once thundered in huge herds across this country.
  We sympathize, although not to the point of believing that newspapers should receive government subsidies. Perhaps Kemmick was in jest, but as we pointed out some time [...]
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  Posted: December 07, 2008, 7:06pm EST
  by Montana Headlines

• Where is Obama taking us?

  Number of comments: 0
  Medved is certainly right that the chattering class on the right needs not to go into automatic attack mode against Sen. Obama over the silliest little things.
  
  One certainly hopes that the gushing Gerson is right in thinking that Obama's early Cabinet choices mean 4 years of' [...]
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  Posted: December 06, 2008, 4:38pm EST
  by Montana Headlines

• A question for the Billings Gazette

  Number of comments: 1
  Why wasn't this on the opinion page?
  
  It advocates for a specific policy.
  
  It is indistinguishable from the kind of information/opinion piece that is routinely published in the Op-Ed section.
  
  It ends with a specific call to action.
  
  So it belongs on the opinion' [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2008, 12:46pm EST
  by Montana Headlines

• Critiquing the Bush legacy

  Number of comments: 6
  When things head south electorally for Republicans (as they did in this most recent election,) it is important to look back critically on the ideas, political tactics, and personalities involved in the debacle.
  
  A perspective that is often forgotten, especially when Republicans are in power, is that of the [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2008, 3:29pm EST
  by Montana Headlines

• On gerrymandering and redistricting in Montana

  Number of comments: 1
  Matt Singer at LITW again repeats his argument that Republicans overperformed in the 2008 legislative elections, citing the total number of votes cast statewide.
  
  As noted before in a previous post here, this is a deceiving number in the House races (we didn't analyze the Senate' [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2008, 12:10pm EST
  by Montana Headlines

• Christopher Hitchens on the Clintonistas -- Kudlow on the Obama economic team

  Number of comments: 0
  Christopher Hitchens is shocked! Specifically, he is dismayed at the choice of Sen. Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. He recounts the mind-numbing list of ways in which the Clintons have, in his (quite reasonable) view, put themselves and their financial/political interests ahead of the national interest in their [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2008, 8:21am EST
  by Montana Headlines

• Who won the state House of Representatives voting?

  Number of comments: 2
  Matt Singer notes that there were just under 230,000 votes for Democratic House members in Montana this year, compared to just under 220,000 for Republicans.
  
  Where we would disagree with Singer is that he implies that Democrats just didn't get their votes in the right places -- i.e.' [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2008, 5:16pm EST
  by Montana Headlines

• Tony Blankley on the conservatism of tomorrow

  Number of comments: 0
  In his post-election post-mortem, Tony Blankley perhaps had the most pointed and convincing comments we have yet seen from a conservative.
  
  Of course, Blankley hit a soft spot for Montana Headlines from the start by quoting from William Blake's haunting poem "Jerusalem," so that wasn't really fair [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2008, 3:16pm EST
  by Montana Headlines

• Orwell on the patriotism of paying taxes

  Number of comments: 3
  This per John Derbyshire's internet radio program. As Derbyshire says, you can't go far wrong with a quotation from George Orwell. This is from August 1940, while the Battle of Britain was raging, and the fate of the free world hung in the balance:
  
  I wrote a long [...]
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  Posted: October 27, 2008, 11:46am EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• What would Milton Friedman say?

  Number of comments: 1
  We have had occasion before to mention Peter Robinson, whose fine "Uncommon Knowledge" program is a successor of sorts to William F. Buckley's "Firing Line."
  
  A fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Robinson recently had a small piece in Forbes, in which he sat down with [...]
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  Posted: October 20, 2008, 8:03am EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Murchison on James Polk

  Number of comments: 2
  There are few art forms that are more enjoyable than reading a good book review. It is a sort of a cheap thrill (quite literally,) since one gets much of the benefit of a book without having actually to purchase and read it. Thus, for many of us who are [...]
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  Posted: October 17, 2008, 6:38pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• A new director at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

  Number of comments: 0
  And the editors of The New Criterion are ecstatic. Readers have been listening to them fretting over the impending retirement of Philippe de Montebello -- someone who in their eyes had managed to be "a unique moral and aesthetic force in a museum world besotted by the meretricious glitter" [...]
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  Posted: October 15, 2008, 12:52am EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• The election is over

  Number of comments: 10
  No, that's not a prediction as to any outcomes -- it's just an existential decision on the part of the Montana Headlines editorial staff. It's not that we don't have any opinions about the ongoing campaigns and the various tussles and tangles of this election. It's just that it is' [...]
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  Posted: October 10, 2008, 5:14pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Camille Paglia on Palin

  Number of comments: 3
  One of the most enjoyable writers on Salon is Camille Paglia, a strong Obama supporter and feminist -- but who also has the unfortunately uncommon ability to view contemporary feminism through a relatively apolitical lens. This, of course, translates into an ability to admire Gov. Palin and her accomplishments [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2008, 10:33pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Impending economic doom -- another angle

  Number of comments: 1
  
  It's amazing that no one else had the foresight to anticipate this particular economic crisis. Watch:
  
  
  
  
  
  As the man says, there is an urgent need to develop products for marginally politically active liberals to throw their money away on. Scary, but almost certainly true.[...]
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  Posted: October 03, 2008, 3:36pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Can Palin climb the Ifill tower?

  Number of comments: 5
  By now, most everyone has heard that Gwen Ifill, moderator of this year's Veep debate, has a book timed to come out when the new president takes office in January that not too subtly celebrates the considerable political achievements of Sen. Obama -- and that this fact wasn't disclosed [...]
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  Posted: October 01, 2008, 6:33pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Thanks, Congressman Rehberg

  Number of comments: 3
  This bailout bill was just too much to swallow, and we're glad to see that Rehberg didn't swallow it.
  
  Yes, we have heard all of the arguments about how the economy will go into meltdown because of its failure -- isn't that called an "adjustment?"
  
  It is' [...]
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  Posted: September 29, 2008, 4:10pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Workers' Comp -- more than you might like to know

  Number of comments: 0
  To check out what would appear to be the rather sorry state of the Worker's Compensation Program in Montana when compared to, well, just about any other state, go to Montana Main Street Blog to take the quiz.
  
  The last question is the kicker: our state Supreme' [...]
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  Posted: September 25, 2008, 5:42pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Victor Davis Hanson on wisdom

  Number of comments: 6
  One of MH's favorite authors is Victor Davis Hanson -- farmer and professor of classics, conservative political pundit and military historian. What's not to love (other than his excessive enthusiasm for the Iraq War?)
  
  He recently wrote a column that, in a much more elegant way, touches on [...]
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  Posted: September 24, 2008, 5:13pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• PSC Commissioner Brad Molnar -- Montana Headlines interview (Full text)

  Number of comments: 0
  MH: Commissioner Brad Molnar, welcome to Montana Headlines -- thanks for taking the time to do this interview.
  
  First, we've got to ask this question: are you related to Thomas Molnar…
  
  Brad Molnar: Yes. First cousin.
  
  MH: Hold on, wait for the rest of the question.' [...]
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  Posted: September 24, 2008, 5:00am EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Biden -- "no coal plants here in America" (Sorry, Montana)

  Number of comments: 0
  So much for the 50-state strategy. According to our governor, we are the "Saudi Arabia of coal" (just when the plans to dig it up and turn it into electricity are going to materialize is quite another matter) -- but it sounds like the Obama-Biden team is saying one thing [...]
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  Posted: September 23, 2008, 12:35pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• PSC Commissioner Brad Molnar -- Montana Headlines interview (Part 2 of 2)

  Number of comments: 10
  
  Read Part I here.
  
  _____________________________
  
  
  MH: Let's touch on a few specifics, starting with your public comments condemning the "right to work" plank inserted into the platform at the recent GOP convention. For the record, MH opposes such laws, too. What on earth happened up in [...]
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  Posted: September 23, 2008, 5:00am EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• PSC Commissioner Brad Molnar -- Montana Headlines interview (Part 1 of 2)

  Number of comments: 16
  MH: Commissioner Brad Molnar, welcome to Montana Headlines -- thanks for taking the time to do this interview.
  
  First, we've got to ask this question: are you related to Thomas Molnar…
  
  Brad Molnar: Yes. First cousin.
  
  MH: Hold on, wait for the rest of the question. [...]
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  Posted: September 22, 2008, 5:00am EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• The one you've all been waiting for -- Brad Molnar's Montana Headlines interview starts tomorrow

  Number of comments: 0
  Things have been a little quiet around MH, as readers may have noticed, but we've not been idle. We've still got some good interviews coming up, starting with PSC Commissioner Brad Molnar this week.
  
  We hope that this coincides with one of Wulgar's periodic ratings sweeps-weeks for right-leaning Montana [...]
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  Posted: September 21, 2008, 5:14pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Wiki-wipe -- Or... remember when it wasn't acceptable to do politics using the state's equipment?

  Number of comments: 2
  Remember when $50 worth of phone calls related to fundraising for a 527 group made by staffers from Gov. Martz's office was enough to cause a major upheaval that administration?
  
  Well, then, you perhaps remember when the Montana press cared deeply about keeping the political operation separate from [...]
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  Posted: September 17, 2008, 4:55pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• SNL skit with Palin

  Number of comments: 0
  It was brilliant.
  
  Again proving that SNL continues to be one of the most keen and (dare we say it?) fair and balanced observers of the political cultural scene.
  
  Give us more. [...]
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  Posted: September 15, 2008, 11:41am EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• OK, we give -- Democrats are smart and sophisticated, Republicans are stumblebums

  Number of comments: 13
  It has been a fairly regular feature of Montana Headlines to engage in honest self-analysis of the right side of the political spectrum. After all, does it really hurt to admit that those on the left are smarter, better educated, more sophisticated, better read, more widely traveled, etc.? Why argue [...]
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  Posted: September 14, 2008, 5:06pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Gov. Palin and the Bush Doctrine

  Number of comments: 5
  Not having watched the interview, and only having heard some indirect chatter about Gov. Palin hesitating about the "Bush Doctrine," it was irresistable to want to avoid studiously following any more of the chatter until having the chance to go through the exercise of how one would have answered that [...]
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  Posted: September 12, 2008, 11:35am EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Dem. Attorney General McGrath plays politics with the law -- and he wants to be our Chief Justice?

  Number of comments: 2
  Read the outstanding Electric City summary of just how wrong-headed (and downright contrary to basic legal principles) McGrath's decision not to investigate the govenor is.
  
  Remember, the Montana Supreme Court has twice in the last decade made crucial and direct partisan interventions on behalf of the Democratic Party. [...]
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  Posted: September 11, 2008, 7:10pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Meddling with the election process -- a laughing matter? Apparently the governor thinks so

  Number of comments: 5
  
  Read it and laugh -- if you think that sort of thing is funny. [...]
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  Posted: September 10, 2008, 7:19pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• McCain up big in new Montana poll

  Number of comments: 0
  As Montana Headlines has pointed out, the selection of Sarah Palin for Veep should make Montana a wrap for Sen. McCain, even in a worst case scenario. The most recent Rasmussen poll shows McCain leading 53% to 42%
  
  More importantly, 70% of McCain supporters in Montana say that [...]
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  Posted: September 09, 2008, 3:36pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Election Day Shenanigans by the governor?

  Number of comments: 5
  The governor apparently told a lot of east-coast trial lawyers with fat wallets that he used his authority as governor to grease the wheels on the Tester express.
  
  Since the media is currently obsessed with questions about the activities of a certain Alaska governor, we can surely expect [...]
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  Posted: September 09, 2008, 10:55am EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Apologia

  Number of comments: 0
  David Crisp at Billings Blog is displeased with the updated response offered on a disputed MH post, calling it "even by blogsphere standards, remarkably ungracious."
  
  One one word of self-defense before moving on: It is important to point out that the word "Olympian" was intended in the [...]
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  Posted: September 09, 2008, 9:24am EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• The New York Times editors weigh in with surprising opinions on the issue of experience in the Vice Presidency

  Number of comments: 0
  
  From the Gray Lady herself:
  
  Where is it written that only senators are qualified to become President? . . . Or where is it written that mere representatives aren’t qualified, like Geraldine Ferraro of Queens? . . . Where is it written that governors and mayors... are too [...]
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  Posted: September 08, 2008, 6:06pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Now that's what a real convention bounce looks like!

  Number of comments: 0
  USA Today/Gallup has McCain/Palin leading Obama/Biden by a whopping 10 percentage points -- 54% to 44% -- among likely voters. The lead among registered voters polled was 50% to 46%
  
  The shift from pre-convention to post-convention was 8 percentage points among registered voters and 13 points among likely [...]
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  Posted: September 08, 2008, 11:01pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Why the naysayers are wrong about Palin's experience (and McCain's "experience argument")

  Number of comments: 5
  Conventional wisdom was that in choosing Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain had forfeited the "experience" argument that was supposedly the only possible argument that someone as unworthy as McCain could make for being more deserving of the White House than the Olympian Sen. Obama.
  
  That complaint was wrong from [...]
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  Posted: September 06, 2008, 12:47am EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Some notable praise for Gov. Sarah Palin

  Number of comments: 1
  First, Michael Reagan pays her the biggest compliment possible -- saying something about her that he has steadfastly refused to say about anyone else.
  
  Second -- leave it to the Brits to praise Gov. Palin in a particularly entertaining way. [...]
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  Posted: September 04, 2008, 7:34pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Gov. Sarah Palin hits it out of the park -- now when is she coming to Montana?

  Number of comments: 1
  As noted in the last post, for the choice of Gov. Sarah Palin to be proven wise, Palin is going to have to show that she can perform on the national stage. She will have to do more than survive -- she will have to thrive.
  
  If tonight's spectacular [...]
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  Posted: September 04, 2008, 12:02am EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Rich Lowry nails it regarding the left's reaction to Gov. Sarah Palin

  Number of comments: 8
  Great article. Read it.
  
  The virulence of the reaction of the left and the personal tone that the feeding frenzy has taken is indeed largely culturally-based. Even out here in fly-over land (Lowry notes that Palin is in a part of the U.S. so remote that it technically [...]
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  Posted: September 03, 2008, 9:51am EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Gov. Palin understands federalism?

  Number of comments: 1
  It's just a little thing, and perhaps we're reading too much into it, but browsing through old video clips of Gov. Sarah Palin, it caught our attention in this interview with Charlie Rose, that Gov. Palin twice used the phrase "these United States."
  
  Again, it is just [...]
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  Posted: September 01, 2008, 10:49am EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• McCain - Palin ticket is a sure winner in Montana

  Number of comments: 5
  While the Obama campaign doubtless still harbors dreams of a Montana upset, the selection of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska should shatter them and cause them to move on to truly battleground states. We now better understand why the McCain campaign, in spite of the polls, has elected not to [...]
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  Posted: August 31, 2008, 1:38am EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Someone to energize the base and to look to the future -- VP Sarah Palin

  Number of comments: 5
  One of our faithful readers and favorite commenters -- the venerable Dave Rye -- commented some time ago on a Montana Headlines post that Sarah Palin was the perfect conservative pick. He also worried that because she was so perfect, it probably doomed her to being ignored by the McCain [...]
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  Posted: August 29, 2008, 2:02pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• The One has chosen Biden as the one -- McCain choice of Pawlenty now imperative

  Number of comments: 0
  Not that conventional wisdom is infallible, but every news report seems to boil down McCain's choices (leaving aside the pro-choice headfakes) to Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Gov. Mitt Romney.
  
  There is no point in belaboring all of the reasons for Pawlenty being the obvious choice, but it shouldn't [...]
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  Posted: August 23, 2008, 10:33am EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• Another good commentary on Obama and the state of the race from Gerard Baker

  Number of comments: 0
  From the guy who brought us one of the finest parodies of Obama-mania, again, courtesy of the London Times. [...]
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  Posted: August 22, 2008, 9:03pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines

• More reaction on the governor breaking the law

  Number of comments: 0
  What Western Word said.
  
  LITW comments on the above "crowing" post. (Did Jay read the same post that everyone else did? Or do crows sound different in Missoula than they do in Billings?) A point that should be clarified is that Jay read the MH post [...]
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  Posted: August 22, 2008, 5:27pm EDT
  by Montana Headlines