Gianforte administration reconsiders weekend events at the Capitol.

By DARRELL EHRLICK | Editor-in-Chief

"I just wonder if someone who applauds violence against their political opponents is the right person to lead an agency that has struggled to accept limits to the proper use of force.” – U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, as he interviewed former U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin about leading the Department of Homeland Security.

The Montana Supreme Court has said that three bills that were passed on a bipartisan basis meant to address housing shortages by making it easier to add dwelling units in residential neighborhoods meet the state’s constitutional requirements, including the right for the public to give input and comment.

Tempers flared during the United States Senate confirmation hearing of former Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a former mixed-martial arts fighter and plumber who is President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security as Senators raised issues about Mullin’s temper and personality.

Speaking of the U.S. Senate, Congress’ upper chamber starts debate on the controversial SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote, involve the federal government in elections and nearly wipe out mail-in ballots. The measure doesn’t appear to meet the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, but President Trump is urging them to debate and pass the measure, no matter how long it takes, leading to some worrying that Republicans may rescind the filibuster rule.

Even though the United States Supreme Court has ruled that the Trump administration’s tariffs that were imposed unilaterally were illegal, small business owners and residents are uncertain of how to get the refund as the high court has left that to other courts to decide the mechanisms for a possible refund.

Our neighbors in South Dakota have passed a law making it a crime to create a “deepfake” image depicting nudity or sexual activity in an effort to protect residents from having their likeness or image used by artificial intelligence to create a pornographic image.

Protestors coalesce at the United States Capitol to protest the civilian lives that are being lost, largely to the United States’ war efforts in Iran. In addition to bombing a girls school, they point to other civilians who have lost lives in the Middle East as the war spills over to other areas and countries.

Even Republicans in the United States House of Representatives are becoming increasingly irritated with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice’s release of materials related to the Epstein files. Even though Chairman of the U.S. House Oversight Committee James Comer voted against issuing the subpoena, other Republicans joined with Democrats to insist that Bondi show up.

Columnist and attorney Doug James points out that Montana has an addiction problem. It’s not addicted to substances — instead, it’s addicted to building more prisons and jails. And, if we really wanted to save money as well as treat people more humanely, we’d stop investing in cages and start investing in jails.

It’s odd — even jarring — when your kids begin to think that certain things that you grew up with are once again cool. Sometimes, the things that you think were some of the cheesiest or trendiest become once again cool. One of my sons is obsessed with the keyboard-guitar, referred to as a “keytar.” My daughter tends to think it’s a shame that there are not more malls, more food courts and people don’t just wander around as much at places like that. I have to remind them that we spent time in places like malls because we couldn’t remain in constant communication with each other. Remember waiting to use the phone? Or being limited about how long we talk on the phone? Or tying up the phone lines when people were trying to call? Or even being charged for long-distance? And, even when cellular phones arrived, texting was not that easy.

That has changed, but they also seem to love the poppy, happy synthesized music of the 1980s. That was, I’ll admit, pretty fantastic, even if I am personally horrified that the mullet is coming back into style.

But even though the 1980s seemed to usher in a new sensibility on the radio, as we abandoned the lush, full sound of disco for something a bit more edgy and stripped down. Yet that transformation didn’t happen instantaneously. I am a big fan of British pop, and one of the artists who I have admired for his lyrics is Al Stewart. His 1975 hit “Year of the Cat” remains one of my favorite.

In 1978, he put out the “Time Passages” album, and even though it was commercially successful and released during the height of disco, the sounds on the entire album were much more synthesized and modern — a sort of 1980s prototype sound. I stumbled on this little gem about life on a submarine, and I thought it didn’t sound so bad considering all the news of war, high prices and political rancor.

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