Attack Ads in Northeast Montana

I guess some of my liberal opposers will be saying “you’re a fine one to talk about attacking someone in print” and I suppose you’d be a little bit right but this kind of politikkin’ is something more better suited to Texas or Colorado.

What I’m yakkin’ about is the mailer young Michael Burns sent out asking for support as he attempts to become our HD33 representative in Helena.

The very first thing that struck me as odd was the picture on the flyer of Casey Knudsen. The original shows Casey with long hair, baseball cap on backwards and his arm around a female. It’s evident for the local Malta folks what this picture is all about but to someone barely off the bus it’s political trash talk trying to make Casey out to be one of those mindless cap-on-backwards- beer drinking, woman chasing idiots like the ones who yell “get in the hole” as a golfer tees off on a par five.

What this transplant feller doesn’t know is that the picture was taken seven years ago when Casey was about 18 and had a license to wear his cap any way he wanted. What Mr. Burns doesn’t know is that the young lady in the image is his sister Bobby who was one of the Hi-Line’s premier ladies high school basketball players and college super-stars. They were celebrating the M-Ettes winning the Class B State Championship.

It also sounds like Mr. Burns is simply giving lip service to the bison issue that he wants to indicate that Mr Knudsen has “no published opinion” about. Maybe Casey hasn’t come out in print but get him one-on-one about the bison and he’ll fill your ears for sure. He’s definitely not a supporter of so-called “free-roaming” bison anywhere in Northeast Montana.

I’ve been “home” about 17 years and am still considered an outsider by some of the old-timers. I know not to speak poorly about the local kids. When they make mistakes on the basketball court I know enough to sugar coat it when I write my sports stuff. I chose this area for retirement because of my 60 year-old memories of what it was like back in the day.

A lot has changed. Some for the better, some for the worse. I’m not sure there is a whole lot I would like to change.

I’ve lived in towns that looked good to the Californians so they moved in to get better churches, better schools, less crime and less population. Jackson, Wyoming comes to mind. Pretty soon the newbies are running for the city planning commission, the county commissioners office, Sheriff, school board and are bringing all their California ideas that they left California to get away from.

My idea is that if one wants to say something disrespectful about an opponent one should sit down with the adversary, ask questions and learn the real truth about one’s foe. It’s clear Mr. Burns didn’t give Mr. Knudsen that courtesy.

I say Northeastern Montana is not a place for attack ads. Leave that to the professionals i.e Trump, Clinton, Sanders, Rubio, Cruz and Limbaugh.

That’s it for now folks. Thanks for listening.