In the News: July 4, 2008

Barack Obama returns to Montana. What unexpected words! Obama spent the 4th of July in Butte, MT following up on very successful trips here before our June 3 primary.

Butte and Missoula are Montana's two biggest Democratic strongholds, but they are very different kinds of places. I have often thought of Missoula as Seattle/Portland-East, with hippies and health food and dred locks. Butte, in contrast, is a gritty working-class town orbiting around mining and labor unions before the decline of that industry.

The Post also had a story on a big, and secretive, land deal outside of Missoula, which will open up a significant amount of forest land to McMansion-style development: "Most are the second, third or even fourth homes of wealthy newcomers who have transformed the local economy -- 40 percent of income in Missoula County is now "unearned," from, say, dividends -- and typically visit only in the summer."

They're not building those houses outside Butte, MT. Enough said.

In the news: July 3, 2008

I was a little surprised to hear that Barack Obama has come out in favor of faith-based initiatives receiving governmental support. In addition to the news story, the Washington Post published two opinion pieces on this development: Michael Gerson likes it, as does EJ Dionne.

Of course, I'd have fewer objectives to government support of faith-based initiatives if any of the initiatives so supported grew out of non-Christian (or Judeo-Christian) traditions. As far as I can tell, the Bush administration has limited the understanding of 'faith-based' to Christian only. That, to me, is a real problem. I hope Democrats do better.

But, I remind myself that I am unlikely to agree with every position my preferred candidate takes. In my book, this does not rise to the level of declaring war. But it is not a policy I'm jumping up and down in support of.