Month: April 2018

Former Rep. Matthew Monforton of Bozeman is a stand up guy and a friend of mine.  He understands the politics of Montana as well as anyone.  He’s on the warpath against the latest scheme of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.  He spells it out in this article in The Resurgent.

This is my most favorite kind of politics:  putting down megalomaniacs like Zinke.  My buddy Bob Clarke, a political hit man from Pennsylvania, and I took out down a Zinke type, former Interior Secretary Wally Hickel.  We took him out in the Republican primaries for Governor of Alaska in 1978 and 1986.  We could have taken him out again in 1990, but our godfather, former Gov. Jay Hammond, called us off.  And we spent virtually no money doing it.

My son and Reagan Project co-founder Brendan lives in Bozeman, and is very interested in politics.  This little project, named for the moment Montana Republicans for Integrity, would be a good introduction to my kind of politics.

In the course of my life I saw three great tragedies, none of which would have occurred without the others:  The assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assumption of office of Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War.

My son Darren believes there’s a Rule of Three in this world.  Maybe he’s right. In 1968 we had the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and the rise of Richard Nixon.

Good things come in threes as well, like my two granddaughters and one grandson.  And, for Catholics, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

We isn’t just twice the word that I is, it’s also how things get done in this world.  A couple of state legislators who I respect have agreed to begin working with me on my Fix Article Five Amendment (FAFA?).

Progress will be reported as it occurs.

Its creatures may come and go, but the swamp is forever.

Until we weaponize Article V.

Two of our best friends in law school were Tom and Mally Pitaro of Brockton, Mass., home of the Brockton Brawler, Rocky Marciano.  Tom was a working class Italian  Catholic, and a staunch Democrat.  Like virtually all Massachusetts Catholics, he idolized the Kennedy family.  Tom was a very bright guy, and I thought this devotion a little strange.  But to him and his family, a Kennedy could do no wrong.

“Chappaquidick” is the best film I’ve seen in years, and Bruce Dern deserves an award for his portrayal of Joe Kennedy, Sr.   Seeing a movie like this is almost enough to restore a little respect for Hollywood.  They got everything right.

I guess you had to have been alive when Jack Kennedy was President in order to really understand the career of the runt of the litter, Teddy.  As President, with brother Bobby as Attorney General, the last thing Kennedy wanted was his youngest brother running for a Senate seat that he was totally unqualified for.  But old Joe insisted.  Teddy wanted to be famous too, so Jack and Bobby  had no choice but to go along with it.

This movie is so good that it even makes you sympathize a little with Teddy.  If you had three older brothers like Joe Jr., Jack, and Bobby, all of whom were true American heroes, killed in service to their country, you might not turn out so well yourself.

He couldn’t fill their shoes.  Few men could.