The legislature is gone and there is a song in our hearts. It’s one of those good old country songs “Ain’t no trash in my trailer since the night I threw you out.”
This legislature seemed to operate on the old axiom, “If it ain’t broke, fix it.” And fix it they did. There has never been an issue with trans youth and sports in Montana, but the Republicans wanted to fix that by telling trans youth they aren’t trans anymore, and by telling doctors what they can and can’t do. There have never been problems with people being unable to murder others with guns in Montana, but they fixed that. Terrorists, domestic abusers, and even the heavily inebriated can now legally carry weapons of mass destruction into almost any place in Montana. It is still illegal to kill people once you are inside, but perhaps the next legislature will fix that.
Montana has not had enough people getting sick and dying of Covid 19 and its related effects. We aren’t number one, but the legislature took a good shot at fixing that. We won’t let health officials do their job, and we won’t allow towns to make decisions for themselves to protect their citizens.
Too many people voting who aren’t voting the right way? Voter suppression is the fix. Not enough taxpayer dollars going to support the burning of coal at Colstrip? Fixed. Too many rights for women and doctors making their own decisions about their bodies? Fixed. Too many towns banning vaping that is hooking their young people on nicotine? Fixed. Are judges making decisions based on the law rather than partisan beliefs? Several fixes are being tried.
So what can we do about this? I have several proposals. 1. Have the voters elect only people who have a basic sense of decency and intelligence. 2. Allow the legislature to meet only every other year. 3. Have the Supreme Court disqualify every law that violates the constitution without regard to politics. 4. Elect a governor who will use common sense, decency, and a regard for the Constitution to veto really bad legislative acts.
OK, so we tried all that, and it didn’t work. I guess my number 5 Proposal is to change our country song from the trailer trash one to the oldie but goodie, “Now that we’re both miserable, I hope you’re happy.”
