by William Skink
A new post at Intelligent Discontent provides more evidence that Democrats in Montana are clueless, especially here in the Missoula bubble. The post–titled Eee-gads, we better pay attention–is penned by Sue Malek, a Democratic member of the State Senate.
Here are some of the issues politicians like Jon Tester and Chuck Schumer are telling Malek to be worried about now that year zero of the Trump era has descended on the former utopia run without issue by Obama:
Our president has proposed cutting millions from every Forest Service program. Public lands are in grave danger, Senator Tester says.
Trump plans private-public partnerships to rebuild our roads and bridges. Expect toll roads coast-to-coast, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says.
Trump insults and castigates allies who’ve helped defend of democracies around the world. He withdraws from the Paris Climate Accord. Germany and the EU step up to fill the void.
Tensions between Qatar and other gulf states increase and Turkey forms a new military alliance with Qatar. Trump takes credit.
Trump proposes huge cuts in all programs for low-income, disabled and elderly so he can cut more taxes for the wealthy and build the US-Mexico wall.
Eee-gads is right, Sue Malek. It’s almost like you are not aware of Tester pushing more logging mandates and undermining the Endangered Species Act, or the many, many reasons not to trust a Wall Street Democrat like Schumer.
With regards to Trump castigating allies who have helped defend democracies around the world, I’m not sure what the hell Malek is talking about. She can’t be talking about our Arab allies, because they most decidedly do not support democracies. Israel doesn’t either.
If Democrats like Sue Malek were paying attention BEFORE Trump was elected, maybe they wouldn’t have gotten their asses kicked so badly. Maybe they would have realized that income inequality exploded under Obama because he chose to bail out Wall Street over Main Street, and that the continued military interventions have increased terrorism, allowing ISIS and Al-Qaeda affiliates to emerge to expand into new territories.
Here is the problem: Democrats like Sue Malek were not paying attention during the Obama years, which means they most certainly weren’t holding their own party accountable. Now that they are suffering from Trump depression and getting overwhelmed by current events, politicians like Malek are imploring us to pay attention:
It’s up to us to pay attention, even when we don’t want to. It’s up to us to protect the equal rights of all our citizens. It’s up to us to hold our congress people responsible.
Most of us have been sick about Trump since the Republican National Convention attendees led by a former general in the US military chanted “Lock her up” and Trump stated he would not accept the results of the election.
I was glad to have four months of distraction being in the Montana legislature this year. During the session, my friends suffered with Trump depression. But now we all know depression is not an option.
Sure, Sue Malek, go protect those equal rights of all our citizens, like that teenager Obama blew up with a drone strike because his dad was a terrorist. What, you didn’t know Obama ordered the execution of US citizens without due process? I guess you weren’t paying attention back then, oh well.
Some of us continued paying attention even after Obama was elected and lulled Democrats into a deep slumber for nearly a decade. I know, weird. But because we didn’t willfully disengage from educating ourselves on the abuses of American imperialism, we have the unique capability of seeing Trump as a part of a continuum, and not some horrendous aberration that came out of nowhere.
At least you and your depressed friends can commiserate together about the horrors of the Trump regime, Sue Malek. For those of us who continued paying attention to the atrocities of US imperialism under Obama, there was no concerted resistance movement to alleviate the sickness we felt that a slick-talking Democrat duped so many willfully ignorant Democrats.
JC
It seems like Hillary Clinton is the one not to accept the November 2016 election as she has blamed everyone and everything under the sun but herself. I have yet to find many of the bubble democrats of Missoula,Helena or Butte blaming the one person responsible for the Donald sitting in the oval office that being in my mind HRC. I also seen no plan in Sen. Malek article or in fact any state or national democrat plan to take any Montana legislative seats or national congressional seat back from GOP control. All I hear from National Democrat Chairman Perez is screaming the F word which may be cool with some 20-30 years old non-voters but doubt it secures many votes nor is it a plan.
The underlying problem: “The base” now represents less than 25% of the number of eligible voters. Democrats scream “our democracy” all the time. However, for those who are paying attention they might as well scream “we’re all insane.” Democrats seem to be genuinly incensed by Trump’s lies, but cannot stop lying. Compulsive or pathological liars make up less than 5% of the population. First rule-of-holes: Stop digging.
If one were interested in paying attention, here’s something to think about: The Unraveling Financialization Of The U.S. Economy – Things To Come, By Howard Kunstler http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/47229.htm
Yeah, the level of denial about the unraveling is amazing. When it begins, people will be stunned. As it progresses they will be devastated. And what happened the last time we had a major disruption in the financial world? A depression then a world war to exit it. The next depression will be far worse than the last, as will the war. And those in denial view us who mention this with the attitude we’re nothing more than kooks on the corner with “The End is Near” signs.
FWIW: In Early May I wrote Senator Malek, who is my Montana State Senator, after she had this OpEd appear in some papers around the state: http://missoulian.com/opinion/columnists/defend-public-lands-against-hj/article_e7885ac9-8865-5c28-9181-e05440546b69.html
It was a good OpEd, but it totally ignored the fact that Senator Tester and groups like the Montana Wilderness Association (Whom Senator Malek says she’s “Affiliated” with on her campaign FB page) also tried to release a bunch of Wilderness Study Areas in Montana for logging, motorized recreation and development. I wrote Senator Malek this letter on May 4th, 2017.
She did respond, which was nice of her, and said, “I have a lot of studying to do about this whole issue because of its importance to me personally and most importantly to our state and country. I appreciate you passing on this information.”
Part of the larger issue here is that some likely well-intentioned folks in politics like Senator Malek are just getting bad information from groups like Montana Wilderness Association on a host of public lands and Wilderness issues.
Hi Sue,
Thanks for voting against HJ 9 and speaking out in support of Montana’s Wilderness Study Areas.
It’s worth remembering that Senator Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act which was supported by the Montana Dem Party and groups like Montana Wilderness Association, would have fully released these Wilderness Study Areas for logging, motorized recreation and/or development:
Axolotl Lakes Wilderness Study Area
Bell and Limekiln Canyons Wilderness Study Area
Henneberry Ridge Wilderness Study Area
Hidden Pasture Wilderness Study Area
Tester’s FJRA also would have released a portion of the following Wilderness Study Areas for logging, motorized recreation and/or development:
Blacktail Mountains Wilderness Study Area
Centennial Mountains Wilderness Study Area
Farlin Creek Wilderness Study Area
Humbug Spires Wilderness Study Area
Ruby Mountains Wilderness Study Area
Sapphire Wilderness Study Area
West Pioneer Wilderness Study Area
For certain, I wish these facts weren’t true, but anyone who actually took time to read through Senator Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act knows the truth about this.
It would be nice if Montana Dems and Montana groups with “Wilderness” in their names could be on the right side of the Wilderness Study Area issue, but unfortunately that’s not the case.
Cheers,
Matthew Koehler
Paul Craig Roberts had a wonderfully depressing article today. All about the continuing descent of america under the watch of Obama and democrats. I’ll just throw out a bunch of one liners, as there are so many to chose from that are apropos, I can’t pick out the best.
“Clueless Missoula Democrat Sue Malek,” as you refer to her, votes the right way 100% of the time on bills that relate to your local concerns: homelessness and senior issues. But because she has a ‘D’ after her name and doesn’t weigh in on global issues, you vilify her. Smart play, Skink.
income inequality is not a global issue, and your party is no longer responsive to people struggling economically because they sold out to Wall Street decades ago. in Missoula, there is still a lack of access to treatment and services for chronically homeless people despite all the studies and plans and lip service from Democrats, while bond after bond is passed, making housing less and less affordable. I don’t know what votes you are referring to, or what Democratic fairy tales you believe in, but the reality I see on the ground working directly with people every day is not pretty, it’s not improving, and when the economy tanks what are Democrats going to do, keep blaming Russia?
I don’t know why you let Pete comment here when ID bans certain responders over at his place.
ID is offline right now, so I guess we’re all banned. 😉
I need a good reason to ban someone, and Pete doesn’t give me a good reason to do anything other than barely tolerate his sad apologetics for loser Democrats.
Just you, I think. Have a lovely day.
Hey Don, the elections over so you can start pushing gun control again.
You’re irrelevant, Skink, which is too bad because on a very rare occasion you write a decent post about homelessness or city government. But usually it’s just scouring Intelligent Discontent for something nasty to write about Democrats … personal attacks leveled against someone trying to do the right thing, like Sue Malek. And since we’re making sweeping generalizations, here’s mine: all poets are self-absorbed assholes (that’s not really true but neither is, “your party is no longer responsive to people struggling economically”). Of course, it’s much easier to toss brickbats than get involved and try to effect change but, hey, you’re St. Skink, defender of the old and homeless. No one but you is trying to help society, and, as you say, all Democrats are the same and just as bad as Republicans; all mainstream journalists, except maybe those at Russia Today, are corrupt and anyways, you’re too cool to vote. Shit, Skink, you’re the one who’s “clueless.”
your party is irrelevant, Pete. a thousand lost legislative seats, lost governorships, lost congress, lost credibility, lost working class… I guess, being such a loser, it’s easier to lash out at critics and blame foreign agents than it is to admit your political ideology is a graveyard of failure. is it too early for a drink, Petey?
There you go again with the sweeping generalizations. I don’t blame foreign agents. I think Russia meddling in our elections is the least of our problems. I worry about a gutted EPA and the denial of science. I worry about the assault on our public school system. I worry about an attorney general who wants to lock up more people and a interior secretary who is eviscerating our public lands. I worry about a defense budget that is bigger than the next eight countries combined. I could go on.
What you do, Skink is insult people with no knowledge of who they are or what they stand for. I work with Democrats everyday on a local and regional level. Most of them, not all, are advancing a progressive agenda that helps the poor, the working class, the disenfranchised… They’re involved in environmental causes or the social justice movement. Many of them are critical of national Democratic leadership and most of them are Bernie supporters.
You are hopelessly naive when it comes to politics and more judgmental than Swede or Eric. There are shades of gray which you can’t fathom. That is why I take great offense at your Democratic Party broadsides: “clueless, losers, ignorant” … Then there’s the “too early for a drink?” You’re a class act, Skink.
I don’t see much substantive criticism of Dems ever coming from ID, or whatever new name Don picks for his partisan blog. Bernie got screwed and you just took it like the partisan punks you are. Trump won, which I predicted would happen a week before the elections, because neoliberals control your party and suppress that progressive agenda you claim to be forwarding to help the marginalized people in this town who can’t afford to live here. don’t you own rentals, Pete? if so, you are benefitting financially from the unaffordable trend in housing. but hey, at least you’re working on that ever-elusive progressive agenda. I’m sure that will make the homeless and elderly happy knowing good Democrats like you are here to help. now I got to go, my lunch break is over. adios Petey
No, I don’t own any rentals.
please don’t bash my blog at your site where I am not allowed to comment.
Have you actually tried commenting at The Montana Post? I see nothing in our settings that says you’re blocked.
not recently, but the last time I did multiple comments never posted.
“Not recently,” says Skink. So that would be a ‘no’.
test comment went through. we will see how long it lasts this time.