The right cheese for an afternoon whine

Rick Dow — guest columnist

The day after Thanksgiving is for leftovers and laziness. It is a weekday, but yet it feels like a weekend day; a day with a different tempo, a day to be enjoyed in a kick back kind of way. It is a day where time alternately stands still and flies by all at the same time. It is a day where, before I knew it, it was time for a quick gander at the Havre Daily News.

Pat Williams' guest column caught my attention. Not long into it, I realized that I would need some cheese from the fridge to fully enjoy this whine. Should it be a feta from Greece? Probably not; that government is in near collapse and citizens are rioting in the streets thanks to out of control entitlement spending. Should it be Brie from France? No, again; they just went berserk because the retirement age was raised from 60 to 62 years of age. The best cheese to complement this American political whine would be Velveeta. American in origin and a signature product of Kraft Foods Inc., listed on the New York Stock Exchange, ticker symbol KFT. With a slab of Velveeta in hand, I sat down to read the rest of the article.

Mr. Williams states that the elections of 1952, 1960 and 1964 were all high watermarks for Montana registered voters actually voting. It should be noted that in 1952 Dwight Eisenhower/Nixon earned 59.4 percent of Montana' votes. The election results of 1960 showed continued support for Nixon over Kennedy 51.1 percent to 48.6 percent of the ballots cast. In 1968, the highest year for voter participation in Montana at 86.4 percent, Nixon earned 50.6 percent of the Montana vote to 41.6 percent, which went to Democrat Hubert Humphrey. The results for 1972, which had only slightly lower Montana voter turnout at 84 percent, Montana voted for Nixon 57.9 percent to McGovern's 37.9 percent. Montana has voted for the Republican candidate during the years 1968 through 2008 for President with the notable exception of Bill Clinton's 37.63 percent of the vote in 1992. All of these numbers and percentages do not point to a vindictive anti-government chanting electorate as described by Mr. Williams. Instead it reflects the country as a whole, right of center. It is pertinent to note that Nixon is credited with the phrase "The Silent Majority. " Montana for the most part reflects that sentiment. The people of Montana understand that our government is supposed to be a small "r" republican form of government. There is a strong desire for liberty and autonomy here, and a realization that those who promise "free stuff" will take a piece of everyone's freedom in return.

We used to learn in school about the importance of voting. This technique was not, however, renewing the rolls of voters sympathetic to Democrat presidential candidates fast enough. The president had after all been a Democrat in only 12 of the 40 years preceding Bill Clinton's election. The time had come for a mass voter registration program. President Clinton within the first four months of his inauguration signed the Motor Voter Law. This was designed to increase voter registration whenever citizens came into contact with a government agency, be it the DMV or social services or at Armed Forces Recruitment Offices. Radical activists Francis Piven and Richard Cloward were the architects of the bill. One way that the bill gained bipartisan support was the provision that states periodically remove those who are ineligible to vote from their rolls, including dead people, those who had moved, and felons. In 2009 Deputy Attorney General Julie Fernandes announced "We have no interest in enforcing this provision of the law. It has nothing to do with increasing turnout, and we are just not going to do it. " Ergo, 44 states still do not require photo identification of all voters before receiving a ballot. Additionally, some politicians see the approximate 12 million illegal aliens as nothing more than a means to perpetuate their own power within government, cynical but true.

How does hiring a group to register disengaged Montana residents become a cause for concern? This seems to be a very practical and worthwhile effort. Is there any major difference between this strategy and the readily available framework used by private and public sector unions to register their members? Of course not, and it would be wise to remember that no matter who gets you to register to vote, your vote is still private and confidential. We have the best system in the world, even if your candidate loses; ultimately we all end up winning. Cheer up. 2012 and 2014 will be here before you know it. Sour grapes doth a sour whine make, but Velveeta still goes great with it.

(Rick Dow is a freelance writer from Havre.)

The day after Thanksgiving is for leftovers and laziness. It is a weekday, but yet it feels like a weekend day; a day with a different tempo, a day to be enjoyed in a kick back kind of way. It is a day where time alternately stands still and flies by all at the same time. It is a day where, before I knew it, it was time for a quick gander at the Havre Daily News.

Pat Williams' guest column caught my attention. Not long into it, I realized that I would need some cheese from the fridge to fully enjoy this whine. Should it be a feta from Greece? Probably not; that government is in near collapse and citizens are rioting in the streets thanks to out of control entitlement spending. Should it be Brie from France? No, again; they just went berserk because the retirement age was raised from 60 to 62 years of age. The best cheese to complement this American political whine would be Velveeta. American in origin and a signature product of Kraft Foods Inc., listed on the New York Stock Exchange, ticker symbol KFT. With a slab of Velveeta in hand, I sat down to read the rest of the article.

Mr. Williams states that the elections of 1952, 1960 and 1964 were all high watermarks for Montana registered voters actually voting. It should be noted that in 1952 Dwight Eisenhower/Nixon earned 59.4 percent of Montana' votes. The election results of 1960 showed continued support for Nixon over Kennedy 51.1 percent to 48.6 percent of the ballots cast. In 1968, the highest year for voter participation in Montana at 86.4 percent, Nixon earned 50.6 percent of the Montana vote to 41.6 percent, which went to Democrat Hubert Humphrey. The results for 1972, which had only slightly lower Montana voter turnout at 84 percent, Montana voted for Nixon 57.9 percent to McGovern's 37.9 percent. Montana has voted for the Republican candidate during the years 1968 through 2008 for President with the notable exception of Bill Clinton's 37.63 percent of the vote in 1992. All of these numbers and percentages do not point to a vindictive anti-government chanting electorate as described by Mr. Williams. Instead it reflects the country as a whole, right of center. It is pertinent to note that Nixon is credited with the phrase "The Silent Majority. " Montana for the most part reflects that sentiment. The people of Montana understand that our government is supposed to be a small "r" republican form of government. There is a strong desire for liberty and autonomy here, and a realization that those who promise "free stuff" will take a piece of everyone's freedom in return.

We used to learn in school about the importance of voting. This technique was not, however, renewing the rolls of voters sympathetic to Democrat presidential candidates fast enough. The president had after all been a Democrat in only 12 of the 40 years preceding Bill Clinton's election. The time had come for a mass voter registration program. President Clinton within the first four months of his inauguration signed the Motor Voter Law. This was designed to increase voter registration whenever citizens came into contact with a government agency, be it the DMV or social services or at Armed Forces Recruitment Offices. Radical activists Francis Piven and Richard Cloward were the architects of the bill. One way that the bill gained bipartisan support was the provision that states periodically remove those who are ineligible to vote from their rolls, including dead people, those who had moved, and felons. In 2009 Deputy Attorney General Julie Fernandes announced "We have no interest in enforcing this provision of the law. It has nothing to do with increasing turnout, and we are just not going to do it. " Ergo, 44 states still do not require photo identification of all voters before receiving a ballot. Additionally, some politicians see the approximate 12 million illegal aliens as nothing more than a means to perpetuate their own power within government, cynical but true.

How does hiring a group to register disengaged Montana residents become a cause for concern? This seems to be a very practical and worthwhile effort. Is there any major difference between this strategy and the readily available framework used by private and public sector unions to register their members? Of course not, and it would be wise to remember that no matter who gets you to register to vote, your vote is still private and confidential. We have the best system in the world, even if your candidate loses; ultimately we all end up winning. Cheer up. 2012 and 2014 will be here before you know it. Sour grapes doth a sour whine make, but Velveeta still goes great with it.

Rick Dow is a freelance writer from Havre.