Letter to the editor: Social Security supports those who paid into it — and the economy - by Carol Stewart

Found here.

This barely coherent letter to the editor repeats all the typical leftist bumper sticker slogans about Social Security. It almost seems as though she copy and pasted sentences from various leftist websites in order to construct her letter.

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Our View: In snubbing Helena's overreach, Bozeman wins one for The Gipper - Bozeman Chronicle

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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In an astounding display of ignorance, double think, and illogic, the editorial board of the Chronicle provides us with this opinion piece. The premise is, President Reagan opposed big government, so when the state of Montana tells the city of Bozeman it can't do things, Reagan would apparently approve when the city resists.

We, your humble bloggers, were unable to type for some period of time, so boggled we were by the pure, unadulterated nonsense found in this editorial. We make no guarantees, but will do our best to untangle this mess.

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Letter to the editor: Dissent was once part of our DNA; now we see automatic consent - by Douglas Mawhinney

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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Apparently the letter writer doesn't understand that dissent is only permitted for the Left. Conservatives are shouted down, deplatformed, shadow banned, and boycotted. Here's the Left's position on dissent:

The letter writer bemoans the loss of the 60s protest culture, viewing the past through rose-colored glasses. Such a wonderful time it was. Just, moral, and noble they were. Opposing "the Man," uplifting the downtrodden, free love and free money for all.

Apparently the letter writer doesn't realize that all that supposed "distrust of big government" eventually led to those same people populating the halls of congress, school boards, and the judiciary. 

When the dissenters and protestor got power they became "the Man." They now are the oppressors, the silencers, the policers of conformity.  They are the persecutors, the intolerant ones, they are the ones who silence people who express their dissent. It is the intolerant Left that has wielded the power of government against their adversaries. 

The Left prosecutes grandmothers for silently praying outside of abortion clinics. 

The Left accuses parents of being terrorists for speaking up in school board meetings. 

The Left runs people out of their jobs for violating leftist orthodoxy. 

The Left accuses conservatives of being book banners for opposing pornography in schools.

The Left forces cake decorators to endorse speech they disagree with.

The Left tells you want you cannot say, think, and do. 

The Left, not Trump. 

Burning buildings and taking over entire city blocks is noble and desirable, but a mostly peaceful protest in Washington DC is treason and insurrection. 

Dismantling government power structures is Gestapo tactics, but forcing people to do things they don't want to do is not authoritarian. 

When Trump defunds entire government departments and cuts bloated bureaucracy, that makes him a fascist, but when leftist California governor Newsome bans gas powered vehicles and wants California to be totally net zero, that's a permissible exercise of government power.

When encountering dissent, Trump actually has a rejoinder and doesn't just roll over like previous Republican presidents. The Left doesn't like it when someone disagrees with them, and especially when Trump disagrees with them.

So Trump tells these publicly funded colleges that they are no longer allowed to discriminate on the basis of race. The letter writer wants these colleges to "dissent," i.e., continue favoring certain races over others in its admission and grading practices. This apparently is tyranny.

In actual fact, with Trump as president the leftist oppressors are being negated. The entrenched power structures are being overturned. They are losing their power to control your lives

Leftists stand for, embrace, and implement, oppession, persecution, hate, and division, all the while accusing their political opposition of doing the very thing they're actually doing. 

So the letter writer is completely unaware of his own irony. He really believes the leftist agitprop coming out of the mouths of the talking heads on TV. He thinks that he's being told the truth by the very people who want to take away his freedom, take his money, and force him into government programs and government facilities.

Such is the sad legacy of the 60s anti-war, anti-government, anti-tyrant movement. They are laughable caricatures of themselves. 

They became what they protested.

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Gallatin County Health Department - Happy pride month

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This is a very odd Faceborg post from our county health department. It's really nothing more than pandering, a simpering show of support, with tobacco usage being used as the excuse.

Apparently gays are at higher risk because they smoke more. Do they smoke more? Well, yes. But Gallatin County wants to place blame, and the blame is 100% on external factors. Discrimination, stress, targeted advertising. Why? We don't know, except for the County's clear desire to virtue signal.

As much as they want to blame society and intolerant straights, discrimination is simply a questionable reason for higher tobacco use:

...if tobacco use is conceptualized as a coping behavior resulting from psychological distress associated with social rejection and stigmatization—as is the case in the Minority Stress Model26—then what accounts for the greater disparities in use among sexual minority women compared to sexual minority men?

Indeed, Since lesbians have a higher rate of tobacco use, are they subject to more discrimination than gay men? Of course not, blaming discrimination is nonsense. 

14% of people age 18 and above use tobacco products in Gallatin County. There are 126,000 people in the county, which equals 18,000 tobacco users. We will generously grant that 5% of Gallatin County residents are gay, which is 882 people. We will round that off to 1000 because we are so charitable. 

That is 0.8% of the population. This is what we mean by pandering. 

And because of this supposed stress, Gallatin County believes it's harder for gays to quit than it is for straights. They face "unique challenges." However, there is no evidence that quitting very addictive tobacco products is harder for one category of people than it is for another. Again, Gallatin County is simply trying to ingratiate themselves.

How are gays not offended by this?

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Letter to the editor: Use of term 'illegal alien' diminishes fellow human beings - by Julia Shaida

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This letter writer regurgitates the typical leftist slogans, but she clearly hasn't thought about the issue past what she's read on some leftist website. A little bit of independent investigation might perhaps lead her to more relevant and correct information, such as

Longstanding Supreme Court precedent recognizes Congress as having “plenary” power over immigration, giving it almost complete authority to decide whether foreign nationals ( “aliens,” under governing statutes and case law) may enter or remain in the United States.

We don't wish to be disrespectful, but Ms. Shaida simply doesn't know what she's talking about.
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Letter to the editor: What would Jesus say of those who shun diversity, inclusion? - by Alfred Hanna

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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This is a confused and ignorant letter, full of leftist prescriptions masquerading as Christianity. The leftist starts with his politics, then looks to justify his politics with half-remembered Bible stories. That's what the Left does, dress up their pernicious beliefs with Jesus, using innocuous language and half-truths.

The idea that Jesus would condone any government policy is preposterous on its face. That we would approve of DEI in particular as a government policy is even more preposterous: 

Jn. 18:36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

Jn. 6:15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

The letter writer wants his Jesus in his own image. That is a dangerous position to be in.

We will mostly answer the letter writer with what Jesus Himself said. That's the best way to determine what Jesus would do.

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Peter Strand and Melissa Romano: Attack on Department of Education is an attack on our children

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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Typical leftist equations, that government funding equals solving the problem, that intentions equal results, and that cutting a government program means being against the stated goal of the program.

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The Workers Behind Bozeman’s Boom - by NICK BOWLIN

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This is a classic agendized puff piece, aimed solely at manipulating the emotions of readers. It is replete with sob stories, evil rich villains, and hand-wringing regarding the plight of the leftist Journalist's preferred victims.

Now, we should say that we are not in favor of anyone suffering. And we do recognize that people can be taken advantage of. This is not acceptable. But it also isn't unique to illegal immigrants. But the obstacles in the way of legal immigration, and the abuse and poverty that comes from this, are problems created by government. 

Further, no one has the right to enter the US. The government is constitutionally empowered to protect its borders, and to limit or even eliminate the number of people coming in. The fact that people are oppressed in other countries is not automatically a problem to be solved by the American people. The fact that people want to come for the possibility of a better life does not justify their presence here.

Lastly, no one has forced these folks to come to Bozeman. No one forces them to stay. If they find life unlivable here, there are many other places they could live.

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Has Montana really solved its housing crisis? - Susan Shain High Country News

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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The Chronicle reprinted this agendized "news" article and also posted it on Faceborg. A exchange of comments, found at the bottom, ensued. Our commentary appears after.

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Bozeman book lovers, public libraries celebrate Banned Books Week - by Patrick Bouman Chronicle Staff Writer

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This is another sad example of journalism. The Bozeman Chronicle has been bleeding subscribers for years, partly due to the changing nature of the way people obtain news, and partly due to the Chronicle's substandard reporting due to leftist bias.

The below article commits several errors:

• Accepting the premise of the issue as presented by advocates
• Accepting the magnitude of the issue as presented by advocates
• Accepting the characterization of the opposition as presented by advocates
• Interviewing no one from the opposition
• No statement by those who were quoted (all of them advocates) was questioned or challenged

Because of these errors the article comes off as a puff piece, or even an advertisement.

Lastly, if the reader wants to see that these challenged books are hardly innocuous, there are many youtube videos with people reading the content out loud in front of school boards. These school boards don't like it one bit when it's revealed that what's really contained in these books is porn.

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Letter to the editor: Political balance has long been missing from Montana - Jerrold E. Johnson

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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Dr. Johnson doesn't write letters to the editor as often as he used to. So today's letter gives us more insight into someone who would represent himself as a moderate. It is a scattershot letter without focus or coherence, designed solely for the purpose of bashing Trump and furthering the false narrative of Jan 6th.

Dr. Johnson will advocate for "balance," whatever that means, but doesn't seem to understand that each and every elected official was put in place by the voters of Montana. There is no such thing as "balance," there is only the result of elections.

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Misinformation obscures standards guiding gender-affirming care for trans youth - by Helen Santoro KFF Health News

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This is presented as a news article but it's an opinion piece, replete with biased phraseology, leftist talking points, and deceptive characterizations. What a dismal piece of journalism.

The actual Florida legislation is easily located on the internet. It only 10 pages long, and is succinct and specific. The alarmist reaction to it indicates an obsessive desire to mutilate children and monkey with potentially dangerous medicines and shows a callous disregard for a child's long-term health and well-being. 

All in the name of tolerance, diversity and inclusion.

Also, one of the principle claims of the author is the careful protocol involved in gender transition. Perhaps she might explain this Portland "doctor" chopping up pre-pubescent children.

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Letter to the editor: The destabilizing effects of leisure capital - by Steve Kirchoff

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This letter to the editor is typical leftist agitprop. The letter writer does what all leftists do: foment envy. It's always about the rich oppressor and the exploited worker.

In this case, the letter writer invents a bogeyman, "leisure capital," and blames it for all the economic issues we face. He has his narrative, and seems to think he doesn't have to explain anything. It sufficient for him to simply make statements as if they're unvarnished truth.

Again, typical for a leftist.

Further, the letter writer wanders from Gallatin County to the Montana Governor and legislature to "Yellowstone clubbers" in Big Sky. Does he even know who his enemy is?

Lastly, it concerns us to note that the letter writer is a political science instructor. Hopefully he's not indicative of the state of political science.

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Guest column: The Second Commandment vs. the Second Amendment - by Rep. Ed Stafman Guest columnist

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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The author is a Rabbi and a leftist. The combination seems fatal to logical thought, at least when it comes to guns. He invokes his religious principles as if those should be implemented into law, and parrots leftist talking points as if they're proven fact.

As a liberal screed it ticks all the boxes.

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Bozeman Pride celebrates queer joy despite hateful protesters - by Nora Shelly

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This is a truly astonishing "news" article replete with glaring bias and unashamed advocacy. This "journalist" egregiously takes sides, totally transparent as to who she likes and doesn't like. 

Even worse, it reads like a junior high essay. Professional journalists simply don't write things like "...and things at Bozeman Pride rolled on as planned. Attendees strolled up and down Main Street, stopping into stores and chatting with each other" in news articles. 

This woman should be fired.

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Letter to the editor: Gallatin High admins failed by allowing Tate column - by Erika Madden

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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The letter writer shows her leftist bonafides by opening her letter with all the usual name calling, which she deems "well-documented facts." She is writing to object to a student op-ed in the school newspaper. The student has opinions she doesn't like about a person she doesn't like, and that is sufficient for her to demand he be silenced. She even pursued the issue to the point of complaining to the student advisor and the school principal.  

Moreover, she has taken to social media to express her opinion, and has doubtless called all her leftist friends to goad them into action. Like all leftists, she doesn't tolerate opinions that deviate from The Narrative. She doesn't like any kind of diversity except the approved diversity.

By all accounts Andrew Tate seems like a reprehensible character, so our intent is not to defend him. But we should note that Tate claims to be a Muslim, and is also half African-American. So he ticks a couple of the approved diversity boxes. 

But yet he's a target. Why?

Simple. For the Left, it's never about misogyny, racism, sexism, equity, or diversity. No, those are only convenient excuses. What matters is Tate's ideology. He could be a gay trans black women in a wheelchair, but if he's not Left, he's anathema. If he were Left, he would get a pass on all the things the letter writer accuses him of, because The Agenda is more important than anything. The Agenda is to remove the existing American system (it's systemically racist, after all) and install the Left's system, Marxism. 

Tate's ideology is the complete opposite, which makes any and every attack justifiable. 

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Letter to the editor: Equity under arrest as code for critical race theory - by Stephani Lourie

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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Ms. Lourie employs a classic diversionary technique by claiming something isn't something because it's really something else. She writes, Equity is the moral responsibility of public schools, but is under arrest as code for CRT. Well, this is is actually backwards. "Equity" is code for Critical Race Theory (CRT.) 

CRT doesn't appear in the school district's plan because of the protests. And these protests are notable to Ms. Lourie because of the conduct of the participants. Apparently there is something unseemly about clapping and cheering (things that have never, ever happened in a school board meeting before...), but I doubt she had any concern about the school board meeting where four students complained about the Fellowship of Christian Athletes school club. And that incident resulted in a lawsuit by the school district.

CRT is controversial, so much so that the Bozeman plan doesn't include the term, instead referring to it as something more innocuous: "Multicultural education." Who can be opposed to that? Why would anyone be opposed to critical thinking? Therefore, opposing "multicultural education" is the same thing as denying there is racism, you see. It means "shielding white children" from fact and history. 

Again, classic diversionary techniques.

And she keeps going. She writes of the opposition: A crowded bandwagon is accusing schools of indoctrinating students that our country is pluralistic, complex and not without injustice. No, ma'am. A group of concerned citizens is protesting the indoctrination students into cultural Marxism masquerading as education. And that's what it is, Marxism disguised. 

Ms. Lourie twice mentions a moral obligation, but never mentions what morality that would be. Is it her morality? The school district's morality? Her church's morality? The use of the word "moral" conveys a weightiness of duty far beyond a simple teaching process. This is a "moral" thing, so important, so critical, that to deny her the ability to teach "multicultural education" causes her to violate her moral duty. 

The last thing to note is that Ms. Lourie dutifully parrots the National Education Association talking points about CRT:

She is an NEA member, so it seems likely she is read in on what her union is proposing for all 50 states.

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We all must stand against supremacy, supremacists - letter by Sara Rushing

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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Contrary to the author's statements, it is not ok to be white, and someone saying that it is ok to be white is not automatically being a white supremacist. But of course, the author is content to simply make her assertions as if they were self-evident. This is how the typical leftist functions.

We, however, will document our claims. A quick Google search "white people evil" yields these top results:

• Why are white people so evil and barbaric?
• Teen Vogue Writer: "All White People are Evil"
• Whites are the Source of All Evil
• Why are White People the Most Evil
• Almost All White People are Inherently Racist
• White Men Must be Stopped

She claims, White people have never been told that whiteness is anything other than superior. This is spectacularly false. Whites are typically blamed for every problem in the world today. Whites are routinely shouted down, they are told they are exercising "white privilege," and they are expected to pay reparations. Clearly whites are being told it is not ok to be white.

Ironically, the author herself admits that being white is bad. Whites have the advantage of a system of power and privilege that advantages white people simply for being white, and has shaped up historically in ways that subjugate non-white peoples in more (slavery, genocide) or less (implicit bias) brutal ways.

The overwhelming majority of whites do not fit this description. The overwhelming majority of Americans reject participating in any system that unfairly advantages any race. The overwhelming majority of people simply have no desire to hate or oppress anyone.

Last point. A white person is like any other person. It's ok to be who they are, including their skin color. Their skin color, like any other skin color, does not speak to their character, work ethic, morality, generosity, emotional state, or intelligence. 

Leftists need to have the same attitude about whites as they do for any other race. The fact they don't means, hmm, they're racist.
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Journalists aren’t the enemy; we are you - Chronicle editorial

Found here. My comments in bold.
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This reads like satire. The clueless Chronicle jumps on the "noble media" bandwagon, clearly unaware of its own irony. The turns and twists of illogic in this editorial is why according to Gallup the public trust of the media has fallen to 32%:

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Bozeman ramps up affordable housing effort - By Katheryn Houghton Chronicle Staff Writer

Found here. My comments in bold.
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The City of Bozeman has been pushing for "affordable housing" since at least 2002. but despite their near total failure, members of the city commission persist in their leftist utopian dreams. 

The existing plan, 42 (!) pages long, created exactly zero affordable housing units. Not to be deterred, the commission has created yet another plan. 
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