Month: April 2018

by William Skink

How can a political system survive if a majority of people stop participating? From the link:

Nearly two-thirds of adult U.S. citizens will stay away from the polls during the coming midterm elections, and they say they have given up on the political parties and a system that they say is beyond reform and repair, according to a Suffolk University/USA Today nationwide survey of unregistered and unlikely voters.

A majority of those non-voters would like to see a third party or multiple parties.

In Montana, Democrats are responding to the alleged threat of having a Green Party option on the ballot with litigation. Nationally, the DNC is suing Russia, Wikileaks and the Trump campaign over the results of the 2016 election. And for Progressives, the DCCC just got exposed for doing the dirty work of suppressing progressive candidates in favor of candidates who can pass the rolodex test.

Our political system has lost its legitimacy. The Democratic Party and the Republican Party are both deeply corrupt, and the people know it. The will of the public has almost no discernible impact when put up against the will of the lobbyist and the deep-pocket donors.

Democracy is not the political system governing American citizens anymore.

by William Skink

Don’t be misled by the PR Orwellian newspeak coming from the University of Montana, the recently unveiled “Strategy of Distinction” is an obfuscation of the real intent, which is this: use the budget crisis to take a machete to the humanities.

Now, according to this cry for help published in the Missoulian last Sunday, one looming consequence of the proposed cuts is the real possibility UM could lose the distinction of offering one of the premier MFA writing programs in the country.

In the article, a professor I’ve had the pleasure of taking a class from had this to say:

“My question to the public is, ‘Is this what you want?”’ Blunt said. “We are touted as one of the marquee programs at the University of Montana. We are trotted out frequently in that guise. And they are starving us to death.”

The attack on humanities is not new, and not unique to the University of Montana. It is not even limited to higher education in the US, according to this NYT article from 2013:

In the global marketplace of higher education, the humanities are increasingly threatened by decreased funding and political attacks.

Financing for humanities research in the United States has fallen steadily since 2009, and in 2011 was less than half of one percent of the amount dedicated to science and engineering research and development. This trend is echoed globally: According to a report in Research Trends magazine, by Gali Halevi and Judit Bar-Ilan, international arts and humanities funding has been in constant decline since 2009.

Rosemary G. Feal, executive director of the Modern Language Association of America, says the decline in funding for humanities research in the United States is related both to fiscal emergencies and “the devaluing of the humanities, especially by legislators who themselves have not experienced first-hand the value of studying the humanities.”

Last year a task force convened by Gov. Rick Scott of Florida recommended that students majoring in liberal arts and social science subjects should pay higher tuition fees, arguing they were “nonstrategic disciplines.” Reacting against that, an online petition, which more than 2,000 people signed, warned that the differential tuition model would lead “to a decimation of the liberal arts in Florida.”

The attack on humanities is not just some business-minded solution to budget problems, it’s part of a larger attack on our capacity as humans to be connected to our past and to feel empowered to shape our future. A mindless present unmoored from historical context and unconcerned about the suicidal recklessness of our consumption is great for short-term shareholder profits, but terrible for life on earth—all life.

To repeat Judy Blunt’s question to the public, is this what you want, Missoula?

by William Skink

Missoula has a tech problem, and part of that problem is Missoula’s leadership doesn’t think we have a tech problem. They think we have tech solutions, and they are therefore falling over themselves to create tech corridors or tech campuses or whatever the current term is. Tech is going to bring a new dawn to Missoula, right?

The deep, driving urge to court and develop tech has produced a new opportunity in Missoula–and it’s not just the Israeli firm, 4Cast, coming to town. Nope, it’s a strengthening of ties with that totally not racist and very peaceful nation, Israel. But don’t take that from me, take it from the Consul General from San Francisco:

The deputy consul general of Israel on Tuesday credited her country’s strong alliance with the U.S. and the hard work of a Montana economic delegation for landing an Israeli tech firm, which plans to place its U.S. office in Missoula.

Ravit Baer with the Consulate General of Israel’s office in San Francisco, began a 36-hour swing through Missoula on Tuesday to establish diplomatic ties with local leaders and extend Israeli cultural interests.

“A vast majority of what we do is really centered in the Bay Area, just because the Silicon Valley is so important to the Israeli economy,” Baer said in an interview with the Missoula Current. “But we’re doing as much effort as we can to get to all our regions to enhance collaborations within those regions.”

How exciting to be helping the Israeli economy. It’s not like they execute un-armed Palestinians or anything, or have a prominent member of the media issue threats against a 16 year old girl who had the audacity to shock the apartheid state with a slap.

In case you didn’t catch what Ben Caspit said last year, after Ahed was arrested, here it is:

“In the case of the girls, we should exact a price at some other opportunity, in the dark, without witnesses and cameras”

The only thing more shocking than Caspit putting this in print is the utter lack of horror and disgust from those allegedly concerned about the experiences of women at the hands of oppressive powers that seek to humiliate and control them.

The imminent arrival of 4Cast is not the only big tech news making headlines. Unfortunately for Seth Bodnar, his wife and her “advocacy” for the Messina Group is also making news (though the Missoulian quickly got that story off the “front page” of their website).

To summarize this problem, a non-staff spouse is asking for student data and outgoing VP, Tom Crady, thinks that’s problematic:

Chelsea Elander, the spouse of University of Montana President Seth Bodnar, has been playing a significant role in the flagship’s preparation for a recruitment project with The Messina Group, records show.

CEO Jim Messina, who led former President Barack Obama’s 2012 election to a second term in the White House, is a passionate UM alum and longtime friend of Elander’s who volunteered the data analytics expertise of his firm to help UM recruit students. UM has experienced a nearly 30 percent enrollment drop since 2010.

This semester, Elander has been a liaison between UM and The Messina Group in discussions about providing the firm with student and family records. According to UM legal counsel Lucy France, the campus has not given the firm any data.

However, an outgoing vice president is raising concerns about Elander’s requests for information. Tom Crady, vice president for enrollment and student affairs, said Elander does not hold an official job description with the campus, yet she has asked for private records on more than one occasion.

“I’ve worked for 12 college presidents in my career. I have never seen the level of involvement with a presidential spouse that I have seen here and the inappropriate requests for extremely confidential information,” said Crady, who was told in January his contract would not be renewed.

In an attempt to get ahead of this emerging scandal (and that’s what it is), Clayton Christian and his spineless board have already issued a response to the Missoulian article:

The University of Montana and the Montana University System stand firmly in support of Dr. Chelsea Bodnar, spouse of University of Montana President Seth Bodnar, for her efforts to assist the university in enhancing its recruiting efforts.

“We were delighted to know Chelsea would be a strong advocate for the University of Montana alongside of Seth when we hired him as President of the University,” Board of Regents Chair Fran Albrecht said. “The University has always had active spouses who contribute in a multitude of ways. Chelsea’s excitement and enthusiasm for increasing enrollment is to be celebrated and commended. She is contributing her time and resources to helping the University of Montana and I am grateful for her commitment and support.”

While we value the press and the pillar it holds in our society, we simply want our perspective to be shared. The unequivocal truth is that universities across the country are safely and securely using broad data trends (not specific student information) to help attract and recruit students.

Well, glad we got that cleared up, Commish.

Because I have limited time to write this, I won’t even begin to approach how tech utopias like Bozeman and Silicon Valley impact housing. Hint: it doesn’t make it more affordable. Exhibit A: this burned out shack in Silicon Valley listed for $800,000.

by William Skink

No authority sought from Congress. No vote from the UN Security Council. No conclusive evidence of claimed gas attack or time for a thorough investigation. No outcry from the resistance. No critical corporate media reporting framing this as a violation of international law.

No, this is America doing what America does, post-9/11. America the rogue state. America, purveyor of terrorism. No credibility. No consistency of principle. No ability to compare what is happening in Syria to what is happening in Yemen and Gaza.

No hope, no peace, no chance truth will rise above the lies and propaganda. It won’t stop. No one is even trying to stop it anymore.

We just wait for the blowback, which will lead to the next escalation.

And the show goes on…

by William Skink

In the Indy’s Etc. column this week a parenthetical comment indicates the Indy hasn’t found the Missoula County Sheriff’s Department to be forthright in providing information.

For the record, “following” minor celebrities is near the bottom of local newsrooms’ real-news priorities. They’re preoccupied with other battles, like wrestling for access to public information (looking at you, Missoula County Sheriff’s Office, and you, UM Foundation). Readers who prefer fake news have no shortage of options.

So what’s going on? For some interesting insight, here’s Josh Clark–who is challenging the Sheriff once again for Sheriff–in a Facebook post:

Protection and Special Treatment for Sheriff McDermott supporters, Retaliation for Josh Clark supporters.

Commissioners Jean Curtiss, Nicole Rowley, and Dave Strohmaier, you have a huge problem in the Sheriff’s Office. Pay attention and do something about it.
This month is the 5 month anniversary of Deputy Hartsell abusing a prisoner in his custody. For 5 months there has been no transparency from Sheriff McDermott. Deputy Hartsell has been on medical leave. Was Deputy Hartsell ever placed on administrative leave pending an investigation? Probably not. Why wasn’t this investigated immediately after other deputies completed internal complaints and turned them over to Patrol Captain Bill Burt? This investigation should have been done before Deputy Hartsell was ever allowed to go on medical leave at the end of November 2017. Hartsell continued to work his regular shifts, never being put on administrative leave for a pending investigation. The medical leave referenced in the article was apparently due to an earlier, unrelated shoulder injury. This incident was not assigned by Sheriff McDermott for a sergeants use of force review until early February 2018, 3 months after the incident.

Why are we only hearing about this now? Why did this take so long? After all, Sheriff McDermott bragged that all deputies now had body cameras, according to an interview on January 17, 2018 with Peter Christian for News Talk KGVO. Great, there should be some excellent video and audio of the abuse.

There has been no transparency until today, and that is only in Sheriff McDermott’s classic way. Half truths and only reporting what he thinks we already know. I reported on this on March 12 when I announced my campaign for Missoula County Sheriff and Coroner. If you want a more complete look at what is happening under Sheriff McDermott’s watch, please read the articles at joshclarkforsheriff.com or follow me on Facebook at Josh Clark for Sheriff.

Commissioners Jean Curtiss, Cola Rowley, and Dave Strohmeier, 4 years ago, I and my supporters warned you about what Sheriff McDermott and his special deputy supporters were saying they would do. There is even an email series between then Captain Mike Dominick and Human Resource Director Patty Baumgart and then C.O.O Steve Johnson. In that email Dominick warns that McDermott supporters were saying they were going to hire back Doug Hartsell and that would be a negligent hire. Dominick also predicted retaliation against himself and other of my supporters. That email is from August 5 and 6, 2014. Hartsell was hired back to the Sheriff’s Office by Sheriff McDermott on June 13, 2016. I guess the Sheriff wanted to wait long enough to let things quiet down after the 2014 Sheriff election.

The lack of accountability, transparency, and expediency of justice is disgusting. Why is that? Well, we need to remember Doug Hartsell was a friend and campaign supporter of Sheriff McDermott. Doug Hartsell contributed to McDermott’s campaign. Doug Hartsell even drove then candidate McDermott down the parade route in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in March 2014. See attached picture.

Now I would like you to compare Hartsell’s treatment and investigation for abusing a prisoner to that of a Deputy Sergeant that is being accused of allegedly disrupting a training class. This Sergeant, who supported my 2014 campaign, was put on administrative leave with pay, over 2 weeks ago. And then the inquisition started and was headed by Undersheriff Rich Maricelli and Captain Tony Rio Sr.

This all started in the last month or so, when Missoula County and the Sheriff’s Office brought in special meditation and breathing training from The Learning Center at Red Willow. This training was voluntary for the County employees at large, but then a special training session was brought in for the Sheriff’s Office and made mandatory for deputies. So this meditation and breathing class which is best in small groups or one on one, was made mandatory for the deputies in a group of 20 to 30 people. What could go wrong? Not surprisingly, the deputies were not real open to being told, you will meditate and you will deep breath and you will go to your special spiritual place. While this could be invaluable training to help with what deputies deal with on a daily basis, it is not going to work in a large group of cops.

Some deputies asked questions and made statements. Some deputies gave honest “anonymous” reviews of the class. The instructor from Red Willow, who is an Air Force veteran, was hurt by the reviews and the deputies lack of acceptance. Apparently this instructor has never taught a group of cops. The instructor was so hurt, that he said he would not teach the next class of deputies. This infuriated the Sheriff’s Office administration and led to the inquisition by Maricelli and Rio Sr.

Why is this internal investigation being done by Undersheriff Maricelli and Captain Tony Rio Sr. Why is this not being done by Detective Captain Conway? Conway is the one that has been doing internal investigations as recently as Deputy Leonard’s sexual harassment investigation in February. Why is a simple, potential discipline matter taking so long? Are there deeper motives to this investigation? If this is a valid investigation it should not take this long and should not have the taxpayers paying a deputy not to work for over 2 weeks. This is ridiculous.

Remember Captain Tony Rio Sr. was made Professional Standards Captain (internal affairs) after he was promoted to Captain by Sheriff McDermott January 1st, 2015. That didn’t last long though since Sheriff McDermott realized he may not be the best choice for that position. Tony Rio Sr. was also the same newly minted captain that shot an unarmed man, a few minutes after midnight January 1st, 2015. Every deputy that I have talked to that has seen the video of the shooting says it was questionable. Why hasn’t the public seen the video?

Captain Tony Rio Sr. is also the deputy that rammed and totaled his patrol car at the end of a pursuit and then appeared to try to shoot the unarmed suspects but thankfully Rio had a pistol malfunction. That was in November 2016. I have seen that video. That pursuit was over. The suspect was disabled. That was excessive force. I am now hearing, as of last week, that the County Attorney’s Office is requesting that video, but the Sheriff’s Office cannot find it. Really?

At the very least, Captain Tony Rio Sr., should not be involved in this investigation, since his son, Tony Rio Jr. was in the same class and created distractions and was disruptive himself. And yes, Tony Rio Jr. is a deputy. But Tony Rio Jr. is not being investigated for his disruptive behavior by Undersheriff Maricelli or his dad, Captain Tony Rio Sr. Why is Tony Rio Sr. doing this investigation? Is it payback for the deputy sergeant supporting my campaign in 2014?

Undersheriff Maricelli probably isn’t the right person to do this investigation either. Because Undersheriff Maricelli’s wife is one of the instructors that teaches this type of training at The Learning Center at Red Willow. Is there a conflict of interest here? How much did the County and the Sheriff’s Office pay Red Willow? At the very least, Maricelli should be bright enough not be involved in the investigation because it doesn’t look right. Does Undersheriff Maricelli’s wife get paid by Red Willow? She probably isn’t doing this type of work for free but I don’t know. It sure sounds like the County and the Sheriff’s Office is paying Red Willow, and what Red Willow does with that money is up to them. But it does not look right.

I will say to the instructor of this class, if you are having hurt and sad feelings over not being accepted by a group of cops, buck up. These men and women see horrific things every day. They protect themselves by not opening up and not risking more hurt. To demand them to open up in a large group is ridiculous, and when they don’t, for you to have hurt feelings and then complain on the people you are suppose to be helping. Well, all I can say is you probably shouldn’t be doing this type training. You probably don’t even understand what you have done. You have potentially ruined people’s careers because of your unprofessional and naive behavior.

What is the difference between these two “investigations”? Hartsell supported Sheriff McDermott and the deputy sergeant made the mistake of supporting Josh Clark in the last election.

Commissioners Jean Curtiss, Cola Rowley, and Dave Strohmeier, this is on you. You are letting the Sheriff’s administration ride rough shod over your employees, but only if the employees did not support McDermott. While at the same time, you are allowing Sheriff McDermott to drag his feet on abuse by his deputies, if they are friends and supporters. Make it stop. You might be able to prevent further lawsuits! Do what is right for the County. NOW!

Demand change. Vote Josh Clark for Sheriff/Coroner.