Constitutional Reverence

The cold fog hung in the morning air. The rising sunshine blared through the mist, fending off the hungry ghost of fall’s killer freeze. Freshly made garlic rows glimmered in the morning sun as ground cover shielded the bare earth underneath.

Hundreds of feet of garlic cloves will soon be planted into the autumn earth, just like we’ve done for decades prior on the farm, to nurture another generation of bulbs.

As I drove to the grocer this morning, gathering provisions for my mom’s upcoming birthday, I saw two elderly women arranging election yard signs. With silver hair pulled gracefully into buns, the women stood re-elect Supreme Court Justice Ingrid Gustafson signs on the street corner in the neighborhood.

I imagined what the elderly women were thinking as they walked the sidewalk. It’s nutty how Montana’s leadership has repeatedly attempted to forcefully repeal basic freedoms to choose when and if to become parents. 

The forced-pregnancy ideologues knowingly passed unconstitutional bills in the last state Legislature. If voters send just two more zealots to the Montana Legislature, they’ll quickly work to dismantle our constitutional rights. 

The well-dressed women had likely advocated for their rights over the decades, now working for a new generation of Montanans seeking to protect their right to privacy and freedoms from an overreaching government chock-full of fanatical politicians. 

Justice Gustafson has five years of experience on the Montana Supreme Court and 20 years of experience as a state judge. She’s the right person, at the right time, for the job to keep Montana open and accessible to all people regardless of our personal beliefs.

In that ballot that’s likely sitting on the kitchen table, if you opted to vote by mail, is the Montana Legislature’s referendum to further erode rights which people have taken for granted for a half century. LR-131 is an assault on our constitutional right to medical privacy. It harms families and healthcare workers.

Montana is at a crossroads. Hyperpartisanship is eroding our way of life. Our live and let live attitude is why many people prefer Montana. A person can choose how to live and our politicians should remain out of our personal business.

Luckily for Whitefish long-term local Dave Fern is running for re-election. Dave is a trusted friend and will represent townspeople. Dave and his wife Heather have lived here for decades and raised three children. He advocates for important local issues like worker housing, safer streets, lower property taxes, open lands, and public education. 

Andrea Getts, who grew up in Columbia Falls, is one hard and dedicated worker. I listened to her recent interview on AM radio where she kindly articulated the need for hometown representation that reduces homeowner property tax increases due to the last Legislature, enhances public education, and promotes the local economy to create more jobs.

Angela Kennedy in Kalispell is a mom of two young adults. Kennedy says that she’ll defend your rights. Kennedy will work for education, governmental accountability, curtailing healthcare cost, and support worker housing from the state level. 

Good, smart people like John Repke, a candidate for the Public Service Commission, will help fix the $92 million electricity and gas increase recently adopted by the utility review board. Repke, with his strong business background, would be a welcome change to a PSC currently composed of ideologues. 

In a clear signal that traditional Montanans want to show reverence for our constitutional government, Republican stalwarts Gov. Marc Racicot and Secretary of State Bob Brown endorsed Monica Tranel for Congress. That’s good news.

If voters throughout Montana don’t turn out to cast ballots, particularly in swing state House districts like Columbia Falls, Whitefish, and Kalispell, the upcoming Legislature will intensify their work to dismantle our constitutional rights and freedoms.