Some thoughts on, but primarily a question about my home state
HOW MANY IN MONTANA ARE OVER-RADICALIZED?
Montana was in the national news recently, in its undemocratic and belligerent treatment of a transgendered elected state representative from Missoula, my city. It was of course embarrassing to me, to be linked by very similar activity from MAGA Republicans in a far traditional southern state. But it is very frightening as well. And the question as to the breadth and width of this within this very large, sparsely populated state comes to my mind often.
“Ask questions, if you would learn; philosophic, philanthropic, political.”
— L. A. Tarascon
TARASCON, LOUIS A., born in Marseilles, 1747, emigrated to the United States in 1789; a French - American republican and philanthropist; died, September, 1840.
“An able man is not ashamed to put questions both to the humble and the wise.”
— Tshang.
TSHANG; a Chinese philosopher, disciple of Confucius .
“The question is the same, for it springs from the same ground: the human situation, the conditions of the human existence. The answer varies…”
— Eric Fromm
Erich Seligmann Fromm (March 23, 1900 – March 18, 1980) was a German-American social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was a German Jew who fled the Nazi regime and settled in the U.S. He was one of the founders of The William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis and Psychology in New York City and was associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory.
The governor and the legislature have determined that the Inalienable Rights clause in our Constitution from 1972 does not apply to those of a woman and her choice over her body. Here it is for you to read and decide for yourselves.
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
ARTICLE II. DECLARATION OF RIGHTS
Part II. DECLARATION OF RIGHTS
Inalienable Rights
Section 3. Inalienable rights. All persons are born free and have certain inalienable rights. They include the right to a clean and healthful environment and the rights of pursuing life's basic necessities, enjoying and defending their lives and liberties, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and seeking their safety, health and happiness in all lawful ways. In enjoying these rights, all persons recognize corresponding responsibilities.
Since the 2020 elections our governor has been a man called Greg Gianforte. He came to Montana with his millions from New Jersey to become a Montanan.
Let’s go to Eastern Montana, near my birthplace, and to a dinosaur museum. I have one in my hometown as well but this one is quite different.
The Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum is a private dinosaur museum in Glendive, Montana, in the United States. The museum was founded by Otis Kline, and is owned by the non-profit organization Advancing Creation Truth. It promotes a Young Earth creationist (YEC) explanation of evolution based on a literal interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative in the Bible. This creationist museum promotes the belief that dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time, including a belief that dinosaurs were on Noah's ark. Built between 2005 and 2009, mostly with volunteer labor, the structure is valued at about $4 million, not counting the value of the exhibits.
But how does this relate to our Governor Gianforte, one must ask?
The Gianforte Family Foundation, started by tech businessman and now Governor of Montana Greg Gianforte, donated a replica of a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton and the funding for an Acrocanthosaurus exhibit. By some accounts, Gianforte was the largest single donor to the project. Records indicate that the Gianforte foundation has donated approximately $290,000 to Advancing Creation Truth.
One can certainly hold whatever views you may wish to have in a democratic republic, and it might be good and well if such a person might shy away from leading a state, but this is not the case for Montana today. There is reason to have deep skepticism of the governor of this state, and a distrust goes along with that in my opinion. As one who studied science and engineering within Montana schools, it’s absolutely abhorrent that this type of fantasy is promoted to young impressionable children. My high school science teacher founded my hometown’s museum. He excavated many of its dinosaur bones, taught at Princeton University for a time. He would absolutely be gobsmacked at this nearby museum, and the ridiculousness of it, and their hubris in creating it.
Montana Political History, and two of its leaders, to place context of my writing, and to put some credence to my disbelief in the state’s current character.
Montana has had its leaders in the US Congress over the years, upmost in my mind was Democratic US Senator Mike Mansfield, who while being Majority Leader in the US Senate came to my tiny Montana high school to address us in the early 1970s. I must admit I don’t recall his speech to us, but the way he spoke and carried himself made a great impression on my mind. Below are some of his thoughts.
“The crisis you have to worry about most is the one you don't see coming.”
— Mike Mansfield
“There are very few advantages to outliving one's generation. One of them is the opportunity to see how historians describe and evaluate that generation. Some historians do it better than others.”
— Mike Mansfield, to US Senate March 24, 1998.
I have waited thirty-five years to give this speech, never expecting to do so. I wish to quote from that address to present views that I believe are as relevant today as they were more than a third of a century ago. But before I do so, I would like to quote Lao Tsu, a Chinese philosopher of ancient times, who said, "A leader is best when the people hardly know he exists. And of that leader the people will say when his work is done, `We did this ourselves.'"
— Mike Mansfield, to US Senate March 24, 1998.
"But, Mr. President, insofar as the performance of the Senate as a whole is concerned, with all due respect, these comments in time wasting have little relevance. Indeed, the Congress can, as it has--as it did in declaring World War II in less than a day--pass legislation which has the profoundest meaning for the entire nation. And by contrast, the Senate floor can look very busy day in and day out, month in and month out, while the Senate is indeed dawdling. At one time in the recollection of many of us, we debated a civil rights measure twenty-four hours a day for many days on end. We debated it shaven and unshaven. We debated it without ties, with hair awry, and even in bedroom slippers. In the end, we wound up with compromise legislation. And it was not the fresh and well-rested opponents of the civil rights measure who were compelled to the compromise. It was, rather, the exhausted, sleep-starved, quorum-confounded proponents who were only too happy to take it.
— Mike Mansfield, to US Senate March 24, 1998.
"There has been a great deal said on this floor about featherbedding in certain industries. But if we want to see a featherbedding to end all featherbedding, we will have the Senate sit here day in and day out, from dawn until dawn, whether or not the calendar calls for it, in order to impress the boss--the American people--with our industriousness. We may not shuffle papers as bureaucrats are assumed to do when engaged in this art. What we are likely to shuffle is words -- words to the President on how to execute the foreign policy or administer the domestic affairs of the nation. And when these words pall, we will undoubtedly turn to the Court to give that institution the benefit of our advice on its responsibilities. And if we run out of judicial wisdom, we can always turn to advising the governors of the states, or the mayors of the cities, or the heads of other nations, on how to manage their concerns.
— Mike Mansfield, to US Senate March 24, 1998.
Michael Joseph Mansfield (March 16, 1903 – October 5, 2001) was an American politician and diplomat. A Democrat, he served as a U.S. representative (1943–1953) and a U.S. senator (1953–1977) from Montana. He was the longest-serving Senate Majority Leader and served from 1961 to 1977. During his tenure, he shepherded Great Society programs through the Senate.
Born in Brooklyn, Mansfield grew up in Great Falls, Montana. He lied about his age to serve in the United States Navy during World War I. After the war, he became a professor of history and political science at the University of Montana. He won election to the House of Representatives and served on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs during World War II.
And of a Montanan Republican US House Representative much before my time. I live near a peace center operating in her name.
“Men and women are like right and left hands; it doesn't make sense not to use both.”
— Jeannette Rankin
“Small use it will be to save democracy for the race if we cannot save the race for democracy.”
— Jeannette Rankin
“Bribes are not offered in such a way that you can prove them, and in order to prove that I didn't accept a bribe, I had to run.”
— Jeannette Rankin
“It is important for people to be able to read all sides of every question; for a feeling of national unity does not come from one-sided or inadequate information, but from a sense of freedom impartially secured and of opportunity equalized by a just government.”
— Jeannette Rankin
Jeannette Pickering Rankin (June 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973) was an American politician and women's rights advocate who became the first woman to hold federal office in the United States in 1917. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from Montana in 1916; she served one term until she was elected again in 1940. As of 2023, Rankin is still the only woman ever elected to Congress from Montana.
Each of Rankin's congressional terms coincided with the initiation of U.S. military intervention in one of the two world wars. A lifelong pacifist, she was one of 50 House members who opposed the declaration of war on Germany in 1917. In 1941, she was the sole member of Congress to vote against the declaration of war on Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
I end with my verse, a question which stays on my mind. Perhaps those on the right flourish in knowing that we question where they intend to take us, an act of owning us perhaps. Such is the condition in which we find ourselves. I know that one from Missoula is their enemy, at least to many of them. If more than only contempt will occur, I’m uncertain of that. They may also cherish the hint of violance unto others as their trump card, pun completely and fully intended.
36th Posting, May 11, 2023