MontanaBuzz

THE BUZZ

The Great Falls Tribune hit the nail on the head with an editorial that notes that the recent calls by Sen. Jon Tester and Rep. Dennis Rehberg for limits on spending in their Senate contest were just window dressing, and not serious proposals.

The newspaper said it is "common and sometimes considered admirable for candidates for public office to propose ways to limit the "arms race" of fundraising and spending during their campaigns." But, as the Tribune noted, the type of pledge that each side offers is always designed to maximize the advantages that spending limits bring to its campaign while maximizing the harm to his/her opponent.

As the Trib said: "All of this is by way of saying that candidates should dispense with — and voters should ignore — these disingenuous calls for campaign disarmament."

The Trib, by the way, mentioned the role of the Citizen United case in this year's campaign. And other newspapers have had a lot to say about it, including the Christian Science Monitor, which had a recent editorial titled: "Montana's challenge to super PAC's"

Montana has been at the center of the Citizens United controversy because the Montana Supreme Court recently upheld a 1912 Montana law that bans corporate spending on political campaigns, and that decision is on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Just this week, Federal Judge Donald Molloy said he doubts the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold the Montana law, although it appears to be popular in the state.

Meanwhile, some press accounts of the issue haven't gotten the issue quite right. The Christian Science Monitor, for example, said Montana was challenging "super PACs."

In a scathing analysis, Dan Abrams, the editor of Mediate, and the son of noted media attorney Floyd Abrams, recently criticized many in the media for their "shameful, inexusable distortion" of the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling.

Abrams said the two biggest myths the media has created about the ruling are that the court invalidated disclosure requirements in political advertising, thereby allowing donors to remain anonymous, and that the court’s ruling opened the door to wealthy individuals to pour millions into PACs.

Abrams said the right of individuals to make unlimited contributions to PACs was decided by the Supreme Court in a 1976 case. Citizens United applies to corporate and union contributions.

Recent polls show that Democratic Sen. Jon Tester faces an uphill battle to fend off GOP challenger Rep. Dennis Rehberg, according to the National Journal.

Polls conducted in Montana and New Mexico also shine a light on how vulnerable President Barack Obama is, the online political journal said. It said that, in Gallup's Daily tracking data released Tuesday, Obama had an approval rating in Montana of just under 34 percent--a very weak number for an incumbent.

Meanwhile, a recent Democratic poll showed Rehberg with a 46-43 edge over Tester, while a GOP poll showed Rehberg with a 53-42 lead.

Those numbers may explain why Tester has been taking more conservative positions in recent days, including his recent call for an accounting of the federal money that goes to groups that sue federal agencies.

Know where the world's largest snowflake was found? Fort Keough, Montana.

That bit of trivia is courtesy of the "Google Doodle," the piece of art you see on the Google search home page. It was featured last Saturday, and tens of millions of people saw it as they clicked on Google's search page. The art featured a cow grazing in snow-covered ground. Gradually, a giant snowflake floated down, sending birds flying away to avoid being crushed, and drawing the interest of the cow. The snowflake became the second "o" in Google's logo, joining a leafless tree as the "G" and a tower which substitutes for the "l".

Also, when clicked, the doodle brought up this message: "Largest snowflake ever observed: 38 centimeters (15 in) in diameter; Fort Keogh, Montana, United States, 38th January 1887." (For those who don't know, Fort Keogh is an old military fort on the outskirts of Miles City.)

The Guinness Book of World Records gave a nearby farmer credit for recording the size of the size of the snowflake, and describing some as the size of "milk pans," but saying there is no corroborating evidence.

Normally, Buzz runs items in chronological order, but here we're going to make an exception for a new book that relates to the one we featured below. The book is called "TransMontana: A Memoir of Body, Mind and Spirit," and it was written by Helena attorney Roberta Zenker.

Zenker, according to the Missoula Independent, is the former Madison County Attorney Robert Zenker, who, in 2005, was undergoing an identity crisis. He was drinking heavily and contemplating suicide. When he was home alone, he was dressing up as a woman -- one of the few things that gave him solace. For years he hid his secret from his wife and kids, until his wife, Peggy, came home early one day and discovered him in makeup and with another woman's clothes on their bed.

After confessing his secrets, he resigned his county attorney's job and had sex reassignment surgery in 2007. She now works as an attorney for Disability Rights Montana in Helena. She wrote her book in hopes it gave others the courage to come out of the closet like she did.

"Nothing changes in a vacuum," she says. "It's one thing to decry the plight of LGBT people. But it's another thing to say, 'Hey, here I am.'"

Montana fans of romance novels might be attracted by the cover and brief blurbs on "Two Spirit Ranch." The cover shows a cowboy and his beau staring off over a pond into a dreamy sunset. Short descriptions of the book make it sound like standard romance fare: A successful female lawyer flees Manhattan for the less-hectic lifestyle of Montana, where she meets and falls in love with a handsome sheriff. But delve deeper and you find out the rest of the story: The attorney is a transgendered female.

Of course, as Jerry Seinfeld and friends used to say: "Not that there's anything wrong with that." Still, that might give some Montana book buyers pause.

The Copper King Mansion in Butte, built in the late 1800s by William A. Clark, still hosts guests today as a bed and breakfast. (AP / Great Falls Tribune)

At the Copper King Mansion, you can feel like a millionaire

In suit, workers claim corruption in Lake Co sheriff's office

Bitterroot College student charged after brandishing knife

Snowmobiler dies in avalanche near Hungry Horse

Number of calls to state's fraud hotline are growing

Bail set at $100K for Bozemanite who hid in woman's trunk

State divulges more information on public employees

4 Bozeman men arrested on home invasion charges

Belgrade family tries to get back on feet after house fire

UM presidents lays out demands for tamer Foresters' Ball

Tester argues voters will like his record over Rehberg's

State OKs sale of New West Health Services

State's health co-op getting $58M federal start-up loan

Heavy snow expected to hit many parts of Montana

Montanans upbeat about economic future, poll shows

Butte man charged with 7th DUI, endangering family

Judge sends suit against Exxon Mobil to state court

Officials know UM sex assault suspect, but aren't pursuing

Montana gas prices rise, but still trail national averages

Bitterroot Forest steps up timber sales due to beetle kills

High winds, cold air expected to hammer Montana

Belgrade home goes up in flames, but no one injured

1972 Con-Con delegate Bugbee-Jones dies at age 90

Bozeman man faces charges after hiding in woman's trunk

Car hits pole in Flathead, knocking out power to 1,164

Ravalli County violated open meeting law, judge rules

Investigation of FWP employee ends with no convictions

Front Range prepares for impacts of oil, gas drilling

Kalispell man gets probation for theft of federal funds

Bitterroot man gets suspended sentence for sex assault

Flathead man hit with drug charges after dogs attack girl

Rehberg, Tester get most of their money from outside MT

Supreme Court upholds revoked sentenced for molester

6 hikers rescued after overnight stay in Bridger Mountains

Redistricting commission seeks input from public

Polson Ponzi scheme artist to plead guilty

Governor to visit Ireland for 1848 Tricolor Celebration

'Joyful Momma' blog a hit for stay-at-home Belgrade mom

Critics: Impacts of proposed Shelby pork plant overlooked
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Grandmother caring for baby born in Yellowstone Co jail

1 dead, 2 injured after SUV plunges into creek

Glacier Park ranger station badly damaged by storm

Medical pot numbers plunge in wake of prosecutions

Judge orders more environmental review for megaloads

BUSINESS / ECONOMY

Bozeman takes steps to become more business friendly

Founder of Wendy's of Montana dies

Montana logging industry stagnates

Judge rules in favor of Yellowstone Valley co-op

Bozeman backpack maker expands to Europe, Australia

Great Falls is getting new microbrewery and pub

Flathead mill to add biomass boiler, sell power to co-op

SPORTS / OUTDOORS

Griz claw their way to No. 18 in nation's mid-major poll

Cats' Katie Bussey rewrites Big Sky record book on 3s

UM's Jamar earns player of week after rare triple double

Bobcats busted by Cal-State Fullerton, 80-66

Grizzlies sizzle in 94-79 win over Hawaii

In offseason, MSU football undergoes many changes

MSU hires new offensive coordinator from Memphis

Lady Griz outlast Weber State, 62-52

OPINION

Ag is one of Montana economy's bright spots

Limits on corporate election spending are reasonable

Montana's wolf hunt is a tricky balancing act

Feds are out of touch with new rules governing farm life

Reject initiative that elects Supreme Court from districts

Time to take land and livestock back from wolves

Bison hunts outside Yellowstone are better than slaughters

FEATURES

Book review: Growing up gay in Miles City

Ex-archivist marvels over collection at GTF history museum

In 1943, Polson came to rescue of WWII bomber crew

Being black under the Big Sky

Museum of the Rockies offers 'An Adventure in the Arts'

Elderly Manhattan couple will soon race for Alaska

UM ultra-endurance researcher uses himself as guinea pig

Bozeman photographer falls in love with -- and in -- Siberia

CALENDAR

Broncos QB Tebow to speak at Billings fundraiser March 5

Tebow will speak the next day at GTF Christian school

Country legend George Jones to perform at UM March 6

Tebow adds Butte Habitat for Humanity event to MT trip

Tim Tebow to make Missoula stopover March 7

Tim Tebow visits Kalispell Christian school March 7

Bozeman's Blake Shelton concert rescheduled for March

Comedian Brian Regan performs in Great Falls March 31

Comedians Ron White, Rod Carrington bound for GTF

B.B. King performing in Butte and Billings in May

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld returns to Helena May 18

Uncle Kracker will headline Helena fair July 25

Animal expert Jack Hanna visits Great Falls on Aug. 14

Have a tip? Email editor (at) montanabuzz.com

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