When is a newspaper not a newspaper? Apparently when it is “the Montana Independent”.
Many of us received this slick newspaper looking thing in our mailboxes recently, complete with a recipe and crossword puzzle. However, it takes a lot of additional research to find out it is not a newspaper, not independent, and apparently not a lot about Montana.
Real newspapers include a section listing the Publisher, Editor, contact information, deadlines, and most importantly, their membership to the Montana Newspaper Association. The “Independent” has none of these.
The only clue to who these people are, and therefore their motivations is the return address of “The American Independent Foundation”. After a little more investigation, we find that the current leader, David Brock, has been described by Time as “one of the most influential operatives in the Democratic Party” and graduated from Cal Berkley. So much for independent.
While Brock resides in Washington D.C., there were many writers that came together in this mailer that may understand Montana better. These writers reside in New York, New York; Maryland; Atlanta, Georgia; Washington, D.C.; and Seattle, Washington. So much for understanding Montanans. There is a token Missoula resident that splits his residency with Washington, D.C.. Somehow his experience writing books on western horticulture has given him unique insights on Montana’s complex governmental issues.
So, what do these outsiders think are important issues to Montanans? Well, Senator Tester is praised for spending $23M of taxpayers’ money. Is it to help us Montanans deal with runaway inflation? Improve infrastructure to make us more competitive? Maybe a program to create skill sets to improve making a living in Montana? Nope, this money goes back to federal environmental projects that just happen to be inside Montana state lines.
He is also praised for co-sponsoring a bill for mobile homes as a temporary fix to Montana’s housing crisis.
There is an article on how selected crimes in selected areas is down, articles how one judge (formerly a Democratic House Representative) disagrees with Gianforte while another Judge sided with the $4B/year Reproductive Care/Abortion industry over Montanans seeking what they consider reasonable restrictions on the industry. There is an article on how Matt Rosendale is for the deaths of women during pregnancy, and of course the old standard of government healthcare.
Two other articles that these out-of-staters think must be important to us include a full two-page article on a beautiful young Native American being honored. Is she being honored for improving job opportunities on the Reservation? Is she being honored for returning to the reservation to teach? Is she serving as role model for Native American youth in achievable ways to improve their and their families’ lives? No, she is an actor nominated for an Academy Award, and an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts from the University of Montana.
The last article must be the most insulting as a resident of Montana. It is an article about Kevin Costner telling us how government should be run. You may know Costner as the California multi-millionaire who got paid multi-millions to pretend to be a Montana multi-millionaire. The Montana Independent gives Costner the title “American Everyman”. If this is true, many of us are missing the “everyman” paycheck.
This whole Montana Independent production leaves two major questions:
• Why the lack of transparency that this is a mailer from liberal, out-of-state people that is intended to affect the elections in Montana? Why do they feel they can’t be honest about who they are and how they want us to vote? • How could they have so totally missed the issues that are important in Montana? How can they not understand that Montana families face runaway inflation, lack of opportunities, security at our borders, and Federal overreach that impacts our way of life?
As a Pastor pointed out, it is still chilly enough in the mornings for a fire, so the Montana Independent may still have some value.
