by Travis Mateer
Surprising no one who tracks Montana politics, the Republican party is once again showing how they manage to lose despite MASSIVE winning at the polls just a few short months ago. The gridlock that descended on our time-limited legislature SHOULD raise alarm among normal citizens, while raising questions like ARE THEY IDIOTS? Instead, a different question seems to be wafting from local media about this latest drama, like this: is it ENTERTAINING?
If you’re a struggling Montanan still reeling from the spike in property taxes, no, the dysfunction in Helena is NOT entertaining, but if you’re a state senator from the losing party by the name of Ellie Boldman, it’s apparently PASS THE POPCORN time (emphasis mine):
The standoff in the chambers was often punctuated by jokes, jabs and colorful disruptions, as many lawmakers bemoaned the strange turns of the evening.
Early in the night, as Regier reviewed a stack of motions proposed by Sen. Josh Kassmier, R-Fort Benton, another Republican audibly whistled “Entry of the Gladiators,” a circus theme song, into the chamber’s tense silence.
At another point in the meltdown, Ellsworth ducked into a Senate hallway to vape. He returned to the threat of an ethic complaint by Sen. Barry Usher, R-Laurel, for violating decorum.
Another lawmaker, Sen. Ellie Boldman, D-Missoula, broke out a large bucket of popcorn during another brief pause. The delay was requested by a Republican lawmaker who asked that printed copies of each bill be handed out to members’ desks.
I’m glad Missoula’s BOLDMAN had a moment of levity that made it into print because her political party is in desperate need of it. In just a single month Donald Trump has unloaded an avalanche of real consequences unlike anything political watchers have ever seen, and those who voted for him are LOVING it.
Is Trump FLOODING THE ZONE?
If you put aside any feelings that might cloud your judgement about this unprecedented flurry of political action occurring, and you watch Steve Bannon in the following interview, I guarantee you will have a new appreciation for what’s happening. Here it is:
Bannon has A LOT to say in this interview, including where the focus of geopolitics is shifting (the arctic), but it’s his desire for RADICAL TRANSPARENCY that interests me for the purposes of THIS post for reasons that will soon become clear.
In her bid for reelection, Missoula’s Mayor, Andrea Davis, is pitching her intention to make local government MORE RESPONSIVE. Could this have anything to do with the quick political reversal imposed by local citizens FLOODING THE ZONE with their collective NO to “urban campers” being allowed to take over local parks?
The obvious answer is yes because, as I said in yesterday’s post, the issue of homelessness is kryptonite for our local cabal, who like to nest and incubate their power brokers within the HIC (Homeless Industrial Complex). That’s why the manner in which I’m about to bring RADICAL TRANSPARENCY to one of our adorable little socialists on Council is going to be, I hope, illuminating for readers regarding the tactics being directed at me, a citizen journalist whistleblower.
What I’m about to share is incredibly risky, but so is allowing claims I’ve physically and sexually abused a local woman to circulate without publicly refuting this claim, a claim made by a sitting member of City Council to a supporter of mine last September, and which I believe is part of an insidious campaign to destroy my ability to do what I’ve been doing for 15 years with my local writing. Here is a select portion of the comment:
For now I’m keeping the identity of the Council member sorta anonymous, though my quick transition to the topic of a NEW “Authorized Camping Site” might give away which of the two socialists thinks they can act like Nancy Mace and make due-process-defying accusations under the legal shield provided to members of Congress when speaking from the floor.
The case made in an op-ed last summer for the city to repeat the Authorized Camping Site debacle, which I called an unmitigated disaster in 2022, begins with a claim of simplicity that I find to be totally disconnected from reality (emphasis mine):
Last August, I submitted a referral for rotating authorized campsites to address multiple issues related to survival camping in Missoula. The idea was to provide a simple solution to a complicated issue by identifying two properties in each ward, supplying basic services such as trash bins, sharps bins, and porta-potties, in an effort to ensure our unhoused neighbors have a safe, predictable, and clean place to rest.
A SIMPLE SOLUTION? Really?
Speaking as someone who led the newly created Homeless Outreach Program (at the time), this paragraph is incredibly troubling. When you add the fact I’ve communicated directly with a source inside the private security company that ran this site as a citizen journalist whistleblowing about the HIC, it gets even worse.
When I talk LOUDLY and publicly about my BIG concerns with the “anti-human trafficking” organization known as the LifeGuard Group, run by the chaplain of the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office, Lowell Hochhalter, and heavily supported, financially, by Governor Gianforte, it’s because I hear things from my sources, like how a victim of human trafficking was kept at the Authorized Camping Site after someone in a position of authority asked the private security staff to keep this victim “off the books”, so to speak.
Another facet of the unmitigated disaster I documented with the Authorized Camping Site was the drug dealing happening inside this city-run space, drug dealing that continued having impacts with the poor homeless people our distributor of propaganda, the Missoulian, told us sob stories about.
This kind of community-damaging behavior, enabled by city officials who should have known better happened under the noses of Sheriffs and State Attorneys getting Federals dollars to fight drug trafficking, specifically meth. When I wrote about how politically ambitious Sheriffs, like T.J. McDermott, were going to have a problem using Project Safe Neighborhood meth busts to run for political office on, I didn’t expect the utter collapse of Democratic influence nationally, rippling down to our State Attorney, Jesse Laslovich, who got gloriously booted from his position recently.
Here’s an excerpt from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle promoting Laslovich’s supposed Project Safe Neighborhood achievements in the story about his abrupt dismissal (emphasis mine):
During Laslovich’s tenure, his office focused on prosecuting drug trafficking and violent and sexual abuse crimes occurring on Montana’s six Indian reservations that are within federal jurisdiction for major crimes; building strong partnerships with other federal, tribal, state and local law enforcement agencies; addressing violent and firearms crimes in communities across the state through initiatives like Project Safe Neighborhoods and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces; and protecting civil rights for all Montanans. The office continued its work to protect children from sexual predators, abusers and traffickers, and to catch fraudsters, the news release stated.
Was Jesse Laslovich a Democratic political cog who put party before community safety? I don’t know, maybe local media should ask his cousin, the chief-of-staff for Jon Tester, a Democrat Senator who ALSO said adios recently after Montana Democrats got slaughtered at the polls, ending the reign of Mr. Pearl Jam selling his Big Sky flattop haircut style to DC insiders.
I hope those who are doing their best to shut me down understand what’s at stake and what I have already sacrificed to bring my perspective to readers who might be able to do something more substantial about it. For me the cost has included a marriage, two art studios, a job, my reputation, portions of my sanity, and my ability to leave the state, but despite this cost, my dedication to finding out the truth about one case in particular remains unwavering.
While I wait for Matt Jennings’ County Attorney’s office to decide whether or not more criminal charges against me are warranted, you, dear reader, are free to give me money, which I am in fairly constant need of, and you can do so by donating to Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF)
Thanks for reading!
