[voices]
Prideful senator
STREET TALK Asked Tuesday, June 18, on the University of Montana campus. by Tommy Martino
This week the Indy writes about a slew of Seattle restaurants and bars with Montana themes. If there was one thing you wished Montana could share with big cities what would it be? Follow-up: What’s one thing you wish a big city could share with us?
Meagan McKay: A sense of community. I’m from LA and the lack of diversity here creates a sense of belonging and togetherness that LA can’t because of so many people. More range on the home: I think that some more diversity would help certain aspects in the state of Montana.
Steve Amish: Less traffic. It would make everyone happier. Ironic answer: I would say restaurants. It’s not that there aren’t a lot of great restaurants in town but you can’t get the same quality that you would get in a big city.
Mark Grimes: Well, you can’t. Montana is Montana. But access to the outdoors and fewer people. Chow towns: The variety of restaurants. You can’t really get that if you don’t have a big population.
I believe each one of us has the moral obligation to leave this place in as good or better shape than we found it for our kids and grandkids. That responsibility also means making sure everyone has the opportunity to succeed regardless of whom he or she loves. We’re at a decisive moment in our history as Americans because we have the opportunity to achieve that equality. For many, LGBT Pride Month is a time to reflect on the values of equality and independence. Especially the values we hold dear from the Declaration of Independence: “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” These principles are the cornerstone of our great nation, and are what make it the envy of the world. During Pride Month, it’s appropriate to consider the ways we’re working to make Montana and our nation a more just society where all can pursue happiness as they see fit, regardless of whom they choose as a partner. While it seems that not many folks are working together in Congress, I’m proud that we passed a strong Violence Against Women Act this year. The Violence Against Women Act provides $4 million to support 50 Montana programs. And, for the first time ever, it provides protections for our LGBT community. It’s time we recognize that LGBT survivors deserve equal access to these important resources. In Montana, we believe in personal freedom. We believe the government shouldn’t interfere in the people’s private business. That’s why I agreed to co-sponsor efforts to repeal the Defense of Mar-
riage Act. There are more than 1,000 rights and obligations the federal government grants to married couples that samesex couples are denied. It’s time to end marriage discrimination, which is why I supported overturning the Defense of Marriage Act. Simply put: The federal government should not be interfering in the personal decision of who an adult chooses as a partner. When it comes to the workplace, it is unacceptable for anyone to be fired simply because of their sexual orientation. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act
“We all have a role in making sure that Pride Month is not just something we check off on the calendar.” (ENDA) will help protect workers from this type of discrimination and I look forward to moving forward on this legislation in the Senate as soon as possible. Members of the LGBT community are our neighbors, brothers, sisters and friends. They are community leaders who bring the kind of diversity to our nation that makes it strong. We all have a role in making sure that Pride Month is not just something we
check off on the calendar. “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” for all Americans is what we are called to strive for every day of the year. U.S. Sen. Max Baucus Washington, D.C.
A few words on greed In modern America, cancer is the plague. But a far worse plague is greed. Insidiously, greed is engendering malignancy in politics and government while, simultaneously, denaturing the Natural World. It’s corrupting this republic of ours and, similarly, it’s corrupting the wellbeing and viability of Planet Earth’s eonsold but rather fragile “sufficiencies” (which are increasingly rendered insufficient by greed’s idiocies and ruinousness). Obviously, we must begin to identify and repudiate greed’s most egregious and sociopathic exponents, and insist that human intelligence replace human greed as the determinant of what “rules us” as a species. If we fail in that undertaking, do we not risk becoming heirs to a catastrophic outcome that absurdly contradicts our notable achievements and our higher human promise? Who are the greedy? And should their idiocy and incorrigibility be allowed to condemn all of us to despotism, environmental collapse and existential despair? Human greed is implicitly at odds with a fundamental, intrinsic generosity in the universe, and should not be obeyed when it presumes to assert its preposterous, misbegotten “authority.” Tom Azzara Missoula
[Comments from MissoulaNews.com] Backtalk from “The road to Taylor Swift,” June 13 Natasha Boote: Appreciation of outdoor recreation—hiking and backpacking in particular. My friends from home won’t go hiking with me. More medley: Theater and art and there could also be more diversity, including food.
Adam Hoge: Local breweries and beer. We have so many great breweries in the state. Buffalo steaks, too. Country boy: I’m more of the outdoorsy person. The city ain’t got much to offer for me.
[4] Missoula Independent • June 20 – June 27 , 2013
No folk fan “Personally, I don’t trust anyone who looks down on pop music. ‘A guy and his guitar’ gets on my nerves after about 10 minutes.” Posted June 13 at 5:36 a.m.
be a glamorous older sister and Pied Piper that helps bring young women safely through the dark and dangerous woods that our culture has become. Long, long live Taylor Swift, Princess of Nashville!” Posted June 13 at 6:28 a.m.
Swift praise
Ungrateful snob
“You are a Mother Who Gets It, in a way that lets adults allow for Swift’s personal, professional and character excellence. Ms. Swift is an extraordinary person in her own right, but has also chosen to
“Let me get this straight. You win a prize for FREE tickets to a concert that sold out in under three minutes. You get FREE hotel stay. You get a FREE ride from Montana to Utah. And all you can do is say
L
how much of a torturous experience it was with the exception of the three hours of the concert? What an ungrateful snob. Wow!” Posted June 14 at 6:43 a.m.
The full story “If anything, I think the writer did a great job of expressing her gratitude for T-Swift, the gift of music, her daughter, and the entire experience. Are you sure you read the entire story?” Posted June 14 at 8:52 p.m.
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