Month: March 2022

by Travis Mateer

One of the most enjoyable moments of my recent trip to Kansas City was taking the kids to see the WWI Memorial and the exhibit honoring their great grandpa, John Lewis Barkley. Even more exciting (for a bibliophile like me) was the honor of bringing back an original copy of his book, No Hard Feelings.

For anyone who may be confused about what a decorated hero of war looks like, here’s a picture I took (sorry for the glare):

And here’s what makes him “decorated”.

There’s also a picture of the medal of honor he received, but you get the point.

When I worked at the homeless shelter in Missoula, I had a vested interest in vetting street claims of veteran status because, if the claims were legitimate, resources might be accessible for housing and other support services.

It’s an obvious rule of thumb when you consider the nature of military work, especially the covert and clandestine variety: those who talk are usually full of shit.

In all my seven years only one client seemed to be genuine with his claim of covert military ops, and that’s because he didn’t really claim anything at all other than being somewhere we weren’t supposed to be. Anything more, he said, would put ME in danger.

The way he said it, I believed him.

I really am aiming at helping here, because if David Barsotti is NOT good at identifying REAL veterans of war, I feel like that could be problematic for him. And David has enough problems, like an urgent need for a bed, recliner, night stand and Roku.

Why else would this poor, disabled man use the courts to obtain these crucial items?

Hopefully David Barsotti can obtain these items and get comfortable for his first lesson in identifying real veterans, because it’s already started on Facebook. Lesson #1 comes courtesy Jason Maxwell. Thanks Jason!

Another veteran I know told me about Don Shipley, a Navy SEAL who had a popular YouTube channel outing valor grabbers until he outed Nathan Phillips, touching a political live-wire that got him banned. Too bad. There’s apparently plenty of work for guy like Don to do when it comes to people misrepresenting their service, or lack thereof.

In addition to Jason Maxwell bringing attention to David Barsotti’s bullshit claims of combat–including a bullshit assertion that the pirate accoutrement he wears to cover his eye is necessary due to an IED explosion–the private investigator, James Terry, has been hitting the airwaves. Here’s his second appearance on a North Dakota radio show.

One of my main complaints about James Terry is how firmly he has placed his lips in the vicinity of Sheriff Toth’s ass–figuratively speaking, of course (James hasn’t been in Montana, physically, to do his PI thing, so ACTUAL ass kissing wouldn’t be possible). That said, Mr. Terry HAS produced results, although what he said in his most recent radio appearance ensures one key witness DOES NOT want to speak with him again.

I had been asked several times by James Terry to help him get some publicity, even on my own podcast, but I put him off precisely because of my worry he would burn people, like the person who claims David Barsotti told her he was ACTUALLY THERE and saw Rebekah drown in the Clark Fork river.

It’s too bad James Terry shared unnecessary details about this person, like where she works, instead of sharing other relevant details about other relevant people, like how Sheriff Toth supposedly told James Terry about reprimanding David Barsotti for TEARING DOWN Rebekah’s missing persons posters around town.

The rabbit hole that is this case continues to get stranger and stranger, including basic assumptions, like the date Rebekah went missing. Was it July 20th, 2021, or was it earlier? And WHY is the 911 call STILL not being released to the family?

There are people out there who have answers to these questions, or pieces that could lead to answers, and those people should think long and hard about the cost of NOT coming forward.

I’ll leave it there, for now. But trust me when I say more is coming.

Thanks for reading.

by Travis Mateer

I am simply LOVING the opposition that has formed against the Engen rubber-stampers, led by Daniel Carlino.

The latest indication that all is not well in Zoom Town is the battle to defer as much costs for sidewalks onto homeowners as possible. With so much financial pressure building across the socioeconomic spectrum, it’s down right offensive that ANY costs are being placed on homeowners, especially while Engen loyalists, like the Sippy’s, get a cool hundred grand for their new commercial property acquisition.

Here’s the latest Missoula Current effort to shame Carlino for his NO vote.

Council member Daniel Carlino suggested the current program was inequitable, but other council members disagreed.

“When we talk about equitability, we’re assuming that for the city to pay for all sidewalks, that it’s going to come out of our General Fund, and that means every resident of Missoula will have to pay for all sidewalks,” said council member Mirtha Becerra. “I think we have to be careful when we start talking about being equitable.”

Some opponents of the current program, including Carlino, believe the city should cover the entire cost. He suggested that the revenue should be pulled from the General Fund, even if that places the cost on all taxpayers, as other council members noted.

Before this quote, the Gomer article makes it sound like homeowners have a VOLUNTARY opportunity to get a GREAT deal on financing sidewalks. Missing is the context that three years ago homeowners were being FORCED to spend upwards of $20,000 in some cases for sidewalks.

Here’s one of the key complainers from that time period who got Engen to change his mind about the program (probably because she knew him from her job at the Missoulian):

At least one of the Slant Street homeowners who led the charge via social media was pleased with the steps taken Friday afternoon.

“Thank you to Twitter & FB friends, and the S. O. , & Mayor Engen and my parents (who taught me to be a big mouth & stand up for myself.),” homeowner Kathleen Kimble wrong on Facebook. “EGREGIOUS SIDEWALK BILLS ARE ON HOLD FOR NOW, IMMEDIATE PROJECT CANCELED. City will work on better kinder formula for paying for sidewalks/ curbs.”

Kimble, however, urged local residents to stay involved in the process, lest they again be saddled with sky-high sidewalk assessments.

Yep, I think Kimble has a GREAT suggestion for residents, because if they don’t stay involved, the schemers in local government will stick it to you EVERY TIME.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned, because there is so much more to come!

by Travis Mateer

The question posed in the title of this post is about a program run by a non-profit I used to work at, Missoula Aging Services. The Veteran Directed Care program is described at the website like this:

If you are a veteran, you may be able to receive support for living independently at home through the Veteran Directed Care program.

The Veteran Directed Care (VDC) program empowers qualified veterans to hire and supervise personal care aides to help with daily needs. The VA determines the eligibility of the veteran and qualification is based on the veteran’s level of need. Participants work with a dedicated MAS Care Coordinator to create a plan that fits their individual situation.

The liar with an eyepatch, who I understand has been a participant of this program from sources I’ve spoken with directly, is David Barsotti. I know David is technically a veteran because he served for a whole FOUR MONTHS, a fact derived from the DD214 document handed out at trial.

To be eligible for this program, David Barsotti would need to be a resident of either Missoula or Ravalli County. That’s why I my ears perked up when David drunkenly told the responding Sheriff Deputy in the body camera clip I saw at trial that he used to live “60 miles out” from Superior. That detail seemed significant to me, since I had been looking into the geographic eligibility of David receiving care after realizing Mineral County residency should have disqualified him from eligibility.

Here’s a screenshot from the Missoula Aging Services website regarding eligibility:

I became VERY interested and alarmed about this aspect of David Barsotti’s supposed persona (wounded veteran) after speaking to one of his caregivers last month, Brandy Walker. She was telling me some things that didn’t add up about ANOTHER caregiver, Bevin Adams, who just happened to be the last person to see Rebekah Barsotti before she went missing.

If you think that’s curious, check out this Facebook post Bevin wrote on July 21st, 2021, just ONE DAY after Rebekah was reported missing.

The language in this post is incredibly strange when you know it’s coming from the person who supposedly met with Rebekah at the Town Pump in Superior, Montana, before Rebekah disappeared. I mean, what’s more worrisome, the potential loss of a DOG’S life, or the wife of the man you’re caretaking for?

It gets even more curious (and alarming) when you know Bevin started working at Missoula Aging Services less than a year before Rebekah went missing, then shifted (I think) from working at the non-profit to working DIRECTLY as David’s caregiver.

Or maybe not. It’s not exactly clear. Just like A LOT of things aren’t exactly clear in this case, like what pray tell Sheriff Mike Toth is doing. That link goes to a March 6th post that got quite a lot of views. I guess I’m not the only one wondering what’s going on.

Toth, who HAD planned on running for Sheriff (he was appointed when the previous Sheriff resigned), suddenly decided NOT to run “for personal reasons”. That’s how Monte Turner reported it in this Q&A with Ryan Funke.

On Aug. 3, 2020, Mike Toth took the oath to be sheriff of Mineral County. He was appointed by the county commissioners following the resignation of Sheriff Mike Boone. 

For personal reasons, Toth decided not to run for the position, but two people that are already employed have registered for the primary and their names will be on the ballot in the Tuesday, June 7 election. 

Undersheriff Wayne Cashman was hired by Toth within minutes of his own acceptance of his position. Sgt. Ryan Funke has been with the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office for over four years.

What does one do when so much seems so utterly broken in a neighboring county’s criminal justice system? The trial I wrote about quite subjectively was allegedly prosecuted by the Deputy County Attorney, Debra Jackson. I say allegedly because I’m beginning to think Debra threw the trial.

Why did you have witnesses ready to testify, but didn’t call them, Debra? That seems really odd. Am I just seeing the tip of some monstrous iceberg that has everyone worried could bring down the entire ship?

To ensure the AG’s office is aware of the blossoming clusterfuck, I sent Kyler Nerison a constructive update via email to pass along to DCI (Division of Criminal Investigation).

Here’s a snip:

So far I haven’t been contacted by DCI, and really, it doesn’t matter. Anything their investigation turns up just goes to the County Attorney, and in this case that’s a woman who one of the private investigators thinks is having intimate relations with Sheriff Toth.

Therefore, to answer the question posed in the title of this post, HELL YES a Veteran program could be taken advantage of by a liar with an eyepatch, especially when so many jokers are slapping on face paint and playing their controlled little roles in this tragedy too many assholes are trying to turn into a farce.

If there are any adults in the room, now would be a good time to stand up and take charge.

Thanks for reading.

by Travis Mateer

The title of this post, in my humble estimation, is an unspoken benefit of replacing local Missoulians with desperate refugees from the places our foreign policy is fucking up. That desperation will equate to gratitude at being some of the lucky few who get to escape, and those who are THAT grateful for their new lives will definitely NOT get all uppity, unlike disgruntled locals.

Here’s some of the liberal savior content (only slightly different than Christian conservative savior content) from the tone-deaf International Resettlement Agency office in Missoula as delivered by the dedicated stenographer of liberal talking points, Martin “Gomer” Kidston:

As the humanitarian crisis builds, President Joe Biden this week placed a new wave of sanctions on Russia and pledged to welcome up to 100,000 refugees into the U.S. Some of them are expected to land in Missoula in the coming weeks and months.

Eamon Fahey, deputy director of the International Rescue Committee’s office in Missoula, said they’re ready to get to work.

“It likely means we’re going to be welcoming some Ukrainians to the community, and a lot sooner than I had expected,” Fahey said. “I certainly thought we’d see some folks displaced by the conflict over there, but this just means it’s going to happen sooner than expected. This is becoming very local. We’re going to be helping place displaced people from that conflict in our community.”

My intolerant, knee-jerk reaction is to tell Eamon Fahey to go fuck himself, but that’s not very constructive. Instead I’ll remind readers of a different kind of fucking that occurred recently, and that’s the non-consensual fucking allegedly done by an Afghan refugee last October.

Missoula’s liberal savior class–who I assume are eagerly anticipating what kind of food trucks Ukrainian refugees can deliver to Saturday markets–are probably hoping the dumb public just forgets that little incident. And if they don’t, well, let’s see how many of ’em can continue to afford to live in this valley as refugees from places like Ukraine, Afghanistan, California and Seattle resettle here.

To help with the disgruntlement of replacing locals with desperate foreigners during a housing crisis, the Missoulian has a fresh piece of pro-refugee propaganda by Zoe Buchli, titled ‘A Bright Future’: Afghan refugee shares journey of resettlement to Missoula. Here’s the part where the family gets help finding housing:

Once they arrived in Montana, Sakha’s family worked with the IRC in Missoula to find housing. The four bounced around from hotels to temporary housing before landing in a two-bedroom apartment in the South Hills. Since then, they’ve settled into a spacious single-family home they’re renting in the Franklin to the Fort neighborhood.

Isn’t that nice? Meanwhile, our homeless population continues to proliferate while societal ills, like drug abuse, are leading to more and more young women getting drugged downtown. And while this is happening, Missoula’s elite brain trust continue depicting the public (who hasn’t been replaced yet) as borderline retarded when it comes to cognitively grasping the complexity of Tax Increment Financing.

“We are embarking on a communication campaign to help educate Missoulians and our surrounding residents about how it works,” said Dunn. “Then hopefully they can understand it better, and then when they’re educated about it and see what kind of things we can do with tax increment then everybody can have their own opinion and have their judgments, but I think it’s important to educate yourself before you have those opinions.”

Yes, that’s right, the MRA Business Manager, Jil Dunn, doesn’t think you fucking dummies should have an opinion until you get EDUCATED by their new propaganda graphic and other “teaching” tools.

Resisting the urge to tell Jil Dunn to go fuck herself, I’ll instead point to MY teaching tool, the three-part docu-series about Mayor Engen’s use of Tax Increment Financing, titled Engen’s Missoula.

With new spring growth pushing through the thawing earth, now’s as good a time as any to inoculate yourselves against Ellen Buchanan’s MRA coercion campaign.

Thanks for reading! And if you’re feeling generous, you can help me recoup the costs of content production by donating to my GoFundMe page.

by Travis Mateer

A trial was held in Mineral County on March 25th and the person on trial, David Barsotti, was ultimately found NOT guilty of the misdemeanor charge he faced for PFA (partner/family assault).

I attended most of the trial and was therefore able to see, along with the jury, the body camera footage of the responding officer to the 911 call on March 9th, 2021. For those NOT aware of the Rebekah Barsotti missing person case, this is roughly four months before Rebekah went missing.

I’m going to offer a very subjective interpretation of what I saw in that footage based on my own reliance on alcohol and how that dependency impacted my partner of 20 years because I think the insights might be helpful in finding answers to where Rebekah might be.

The first clip of the body camera footage shown at trial was the Deputy’s interaction with David Barsotti. The Deputy entered the house after being told by Rebekah that David had his dogs, which could be threatening, and several guns; a shotgun, AR-style long gun, and a handgun.

David is located by the Deputy in the master bedroom, down a hallway. The dogs are in crates and David is hiding under a blanket, fully clothed, with a belt on and magazine clips attached. The Deputy brings David out to the living area and proceeds to get David’s side of the story.

David proceeds to make a lot of excuses for why he got VERY drunk and allegedly scared his wife enough to warrant a 911 call, excuses like a TBI (traumatic brain injury) and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).

I used similar excuses to justify my excessive drinking, referencing things like getting assaulted by a meth head, having knives pulled on me, and other fun traumas from working at the homeless shelter whenever I REALLY had to throw out a smokescreen to deflect from the behavior that was causing my wife concern.

During the interaction with the Sheriff Deputy, David Barsotti is given a heaping pile of benefit of the doubt that he really is a wounded combat Veteran with a legitimate service animal and a mental health condition that his wife triggered when she awoke him from sleep.

According to Rebekah, who is shown in a lengthy clip AFTER the jury sees David’s pity party, it was HER who was awoken by David banging on the wall with a boot. In the clip Rebekah presents as NOT drunk and her ability to keep her shit together is one of the things David’s lawyer, Paul Ryan, did a good job exploiting.

Rebekah’s calmness during her interaction with the Deputy is difficult to put into context for those who don’t understand co-dependent dynamics, and is therefore easy to interpret as evidence that Rebekah COULD NOT HAVE BEEN as scared as she is claiming.

What people might not understand is that managing emotional responses to avoid triggering an alcoholic is a part of the dysfunctional dance, and the thing Rebekah says in the clip that rings true to me is how stupid she felt. I’ve heard similar things in counseling about how stupid my wife felt after making excuses and downplaying my drinking to my family.

The obvious difference between me and David Barsotti is that I decided to man up because I love my family and I want to be a better person.

What kind of person is David Barsotti?

Is he a poor victim of the harsh reality of war, reduced to limp around a courtroom with his emotional support pup thanks to the ravages of combat?

Or is David Barsotti a lying, manipulating addict who saw his VA caregiving scheme getting compromised by his legal partner?

Who is the REAL DB?

And, more importantly, where the hell is his wife?