Although it is still 53 days until the Presidential Inauguration, I am already preparing to celebrate the salvation of our democracy. Due to COVID, my wife and I will be laying low this holiday season. That means with the money we save from not hosting holiday parties, we will be not holding back on the Inauguration. Cha-ching! I plan to take the day off work to enjoy the huge crowds, much more bigly than in 2016.

I have a what will be a 10 year old bottle of Bink Winterkoninkske that we purchased at Brouwerij Kerkom during our 2012 trip to Belgium. This is an occasion to open it (believe me, after the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2018 I was ready to open it then, but I was so drunk by the end of the game it would have been a waste). That said, I also have a Baltic Porter on tap (it is dark beer season).

For food....debating between steak and lobster or traditional Scandinavian smorgasbord fare like meatballs, ham, gravlax, kalops, dilled cucumbers, and the like. Leaning towards the smorgasbord, as all that stuff can be cooked in advance and I can focus on watching the Secret Service haul off Dishonest Don the Con in a paddy wagon.

Will Donny employ a White Bronco to exit the White House to Mar-a-Lago? Don't go to NYC, Cyrus Vance Jr. awaits your criminal organization with warrants. Which is why I understand Jared and Ivanka are moving to New Jersey.

I am so excited! How are the rest of you celebrating America finally becoming sane again?

Then we can start Joe's impeachment. And start paying 70% taxes that nut case of a v.p. what's

And exactly what would the impeachment be for. I don't want to hear about anything that is part of a conspiracy theory. Let's have facts. Not made up facts but provable facts. Nothing from Rudy or the Orange Mennace.

The 70% taxes is on people making over $400,000 a year. Glad to know you're doing so well.

We will be affected too what higher taxes. Not the 70% . And as impeachment isn't what happens when you get elected president now.

Well, when gianforte and company pass a sales tax, I suppose you'll be right...

Gunnar Emilsson wrote:

Although it is still 53 days until the Presidential Inauguration, I am already preparing to celebrate the salvation of our democracy. Due to COVID, my wife and I will be laying low this holiday season. That means with the money we save from not hosting holiday parties, we will be not holding back on the Inauguration. Cha-ching! I plan to take the day off work to enjoy the huge crowds, much more bigly than in 2016.

I have a what will be a 10 year old bottle of Bink Winterkoninkske that we purchased at Brouwerij Kerkom during our 2012 trip to Belgium. This is an occasion to open it (believe me, after the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2018 I was ready to open it then, but I was so drunk by the end of the game it would have been a waste). That said, I also have a Baltic Porter on tap (it is dark beer season).

For food....debating between steak and lobster or traditional Scandinavian smorgasbord fare like meatballs, ham, gravlax, kalops, dilled cucumbers, and the like. Leaning towards the smorgasbord, as all that stuff can be cooked in advance and I can focus on watching the Secret Service haul off Dishonest Don the Con in a paddy wagon.

Will Donny employ a White Bronco to exit the White House to Mar-a-Lago? Don't go to NYC, Cyrus Vance Jr. awaits your criminal organization with warrants. Which is why I understand Jared and Ivanka are moving to New Jersey.

I am so excited! How are the rest of you celebrating America finally becoming sane again?

Really? In a State that elected Greg "Thumper" Gianforte, Steve "dis" Daines, and a whole host of other austerity-minded folks to govern Montana, the notion of celebrating the return of "sanity" is non-sequitur. Montana had better choices! You've become the epicenter proving grounds for the America Legislative Exchange Council agenda. You're not "sane" enough to see that the ALEC agenda is all dressed up in "religious freedom","small-business/chamber-of-comerce freedom" garb(age) and the true Koch Bros. libertarian (no government) agenda is slid in under that "freedom of choice" pretense. You have willingly and overwhelmingly voted for austerity. What's sane or celebration worthy about that?

With reference to Agent Orange, the last four years have been filled with well-meaning Americans running about saying "this isn't who we are". I say b u l l s h i t! Nationally, 73,923,495, including 343,647 in Montana, and 4,205 in Custer County, of you ARE this way and IMO have questionable sanity. How anyone could have voted for someone who put children in cages and let a virus kill grandma is beyond me. Sanity will return when these people see the error of their ways.

No celebrations for you!

[Edited by Richard Bonine (11/29/2020 11:54:44 AM)]

Richard, points well taken, but I have a different view point.

Letting the Republicans control the state and allowing them to pass their agenda, is exactly what I am looking forward to.

Once the consequences of their legislation becomes clear, and the state tanks,there will be a significant percentage of Republicans whose IQs are above 90 will realize this is not good for Montana.

But, never underestimate the stupidity of the Trump base.

Gunnar it is probable that we will never regain what we are about to lose. We have allowed out-of-state millionaires to buy this state. Who is going to eventually clean up their mess and how will the millionaires repay themselves for their investment? They will cut taxes to corporations and the wealthiest in this state (Direct payments to themselves) while they subject us to an austerity society. They will cover the giveaway to the wealthiest and corporations by raiding our Coal Tax Trust Fund and, when that isn’t sufficient, they will install a general sales tax so they can tax even the poorest Montanans.

Once they have depleted our Coal Tax Trust Fund it will be gone forever. If they manage to impose a sales tax on us we will never be able to rid ourselves of it. Governor-elect Gianforte, who has been genuflecting at the feet of Trump, is pushing the same old ideology that has caused problems for our state in the past. We’ve seen it before, giveaways to out-of-state corporations, thoughtless elimination of regulations, and fiscal recklessness, including slashing taxes for the wealthy. So what do you suppose religious wingnut Gianforte is going to do to our environment, our economy, our social networks, and just as important, our public lands? Prepare for the calamity about to befall this State with the election of Gianforte and his unenlightened cohorts.

Also, Gianforte and his Republican cronies will begin diverting funds for public education to secular private schools under the guise of "school of choice". These schools do not have a constitutional mandate to provide a Free Appropriate Public Education for all students in their district regardless of whatever issue the student(s) may have. These private schools can choose to enroll those students that they feel will be the easiest to educate and deny admittance to those who do not “fit in” (for whatever reason). This means they can deny admittance to children of many categories such as special needs, discipline issues, LGBTQ, homeless and any other perceived reason.
The loss of state funding will need to be made up at the local level in the form of loss of programs or increased property taxes to fill in the gaps. The Republican controlled Legislature has been eroding the State’s share of education funding for the past several sessions.

Isn't up to parents to decide where they send them their children . The government failed at running schools.

Gunnar Emilsson wrote:

Richard, points well taken, but I have a different view point.

Letting the Republicans control the state and allowing them to pass their agenda, is exactly what I am looking forward to.

Once the consequences of their legislation becomes clear, and the state tanks,there will be a significant percentage of Republicans whose IQs are above 90 will realize this is not good for Montana.

But, never underestimate the stupidity of the Trump base.

You have Joe and nut job in office doesn't that make you happy . And it's about time to get some to run the state that won't sell us out. Better then joke whey had.

I have no problem with rich folk sending their kids to private schools,providing they pay for everything.Robbing public education funds[already underfunded]to "help" the privleged is wrong.
Before anyone starts blaming teachers and the system for public education failing,maybe they should take a better look at some of these kid's upbringing.My parents taught me respect-especially for my elders and teachers.Now days there are more and more parents that just can't believe their little princess or prince could or would of said/done that.
Jim Micheals,Howard Ledke,and Fred Anderson didnt fail me....they inspired me.

This is absolutely hilarious.

And it's about time to get some to run the state that won't sell us out. Better then joke whey had.

How the rich Republican elite can continue to snooker the slow-witted in their party is fascinating to me. How stupid can you get? I don't think we have reached rock bottom.

Gunnar Emilsson wrote:

This is absolutely hilarious.

And it's about time to get some to run the state that won't sell us out. Better then joke whey had.

How the rich Republican elite can continue to snooker the slow-witted in their party is fascinating to me. How stupid can you get? I don't think we have reached rock bottom.

You poor thing. It's the rich and all powerful democrat party that's playing you for a fool.

Starting to think porterhouse steak will be the main course, given that I have one in the freezer.

If Jerry could package up and send me some drops of his salty tears, that might even be better than Worcestershire sauce. ::

I know that Jerry probably hasn't run across this in any of his youtube classes yet, but his comment above is reflected in point #8 of Umberto Eco's Ur-Fasism: "The enemy is both weak and strong"

https://www.openculture.c...scism.html

In addition to having the countdown to National Sanity running all the time, I am planning a quiet personal party to celebrate the inauguration. I am SO looking forward to being able to read the national news without saying, Good Lord, they really can get worse. And worse. And worse.

Statewide is going to be a disaster. I doubt if the school will even be able to pay a teacher's aide next year if I go back to work after the Repubnigans get done with slashing funding and granting tax breaks to the rich. I certainly can't afford another Repubugnican tax break. The last tRump one raised my taxes $700!

So, it will be both a good four years and a dreadful four years. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. . .

Amorette, could you please list the best stuff? It seems to be the the worst of times and the worser of times and today it just got to be bizarre. This is a dark day for America. I worry about the inauguration. Could this be the beginning of the end of the great experiment?

I will list the best stuff, Tucker.

Four years ago, in 2016, Trump and the Republican party swept in and took control of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the executive branch.

Fast forward to 2020, and the Democrats regain control of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the executive branch.

All in repudiation of the worst president ever, Donald J. Trump.

As a long-time cynic, it gives me hope that the majority of Americans are not as stupid as I think they are. That the majority of Americans are good people, who love thy neighbor, and reject divisive rhetoric from an extreme side, to put America first.

I think it's a new dawn in America. As far as Montana is concerned, we are so screwed.