Rural Montana Political Action Committee.  That sounds like a benign enough organization; it sounds like it could even be beneficial in some parts of the state.  But apparently it's only beneficial if you happen to be a lesbian.

Rural Montana PAC was formed earlier this year by a who's who of environmentalist type folks--not exactly what you have in mind when you think of Alzada--with the purpose of "electing candidates who will improve the quality of life in rural Montana."  Rural Montana's executive director, Aaron Browning, is a veteran of the Idaho Democratic Party and the Northern Plains Resource Council, not exactly organizations with the best interest in mind for rural folks.

According to their latest PAC report, the only contributor of note to the PAC was the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which came in with a generous $8,000 contribution as of May 17 deadline.  The rumor around Helena is all that money is being spent on behalf of openly-lesbian Senate candidate Christine Kaufmann.

Isn't that interesting?  Now, there's nothing that would prohibit the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund from paying for their own independent expenditures in Montana, so why would they funnel money through a stealth environmental group?  What is it they're trying to hide? 

The Clean Water Restoration Act issue flared up again yesterday as Congressman Rehberg took Gov Schweitzer to task for his support of a bill that would have drastic impacts on Montana water rights.

The Gov has tried to "clarify" (read: reverse) his position on the Act by releasing a litany of excerpts from his verbal testimony before the US House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, and the pro-Schweitzer blogs have been working overtime trying to create some cover fire for their boss.

But the facts make it pretty clear.  In his submitted testimony (which has been widely touted by environmental groups) Schweitzer makes it clear that he supports the legislation.  Further, Schweitzer wrote a letter to Congressman Rehberg last year requesting that he cosponsor it.

Sorry, but the "clarification" isn't fooling anyone.  What the Gov should do is recant his position and join the growing opposition to the legislation.

We didn't say anything when Bob Kelleher filed as a Republican for US Senate, er Parliament.  And we didn't say anything when we learned that Republican Shay Garnett was wanted by the authorities in Indiana for "stalking, harassment, and invasion of privacy", (he later pulled out of the race).

But enough is enough.  We feel compelled to say something lest the Republican Party be completely overrun with loons running for office.

The latest example is the discovery that we have an alien chaser running as a Republican for Attorney General.  Unfortunately, we're not talking about the type of aliens who sneak over the Mexican border; we're talking about the little, green variety.  You know: flying saucers, Roswell, warp speed, Alf, etc.

It seems that when Lee Bruner isn't running for Attorney General, he spends his free time participating in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.  Lee's been participating in this alien hunt since at least 1999.  So far it appears that he's not made contact.

This is a general plea to Erik Iverson, Jake Eaton, and all the rest of the leadership at the MT GOP--please, in future elections do a better job of screening your prospective candidates.  We know you can't control who files for office, but the least you could do is point out to some of these kooks the fact that some of their undesirable, eccentric, or outright strange habits could come to light and portray the entire party poorly.