A shrimp peel in Choteau, Montana is becoming kind of like a box of chocolates- you never know what you’re gonna get. Turns out, the conservative Shrimp Peel scored a pretty good crowd. Senate Majority Leader Art Wittich (R-Bozeman) tells me they counted close to 150 who showed up for the event Saturday… (for background, see below)
Photo courtesy Art Wittich:
PRIOR POST
Political Trough: A Tale of Two Shrimp Peels
“Are you over weight and out of shape?” The EPA wants to know. That and more is in this week’s Political Trough…but first:
Tale of Two Shrimp Peels? Lets do Bubba Gump promos-“Conservative shrimp, moderate Shrimp, Shrimp Creole, Shrimp Kabobs” #DasAboutIt #MTPol
— Aaron Flint (@aaronflint) April 4, 2014
Without going into the back and forth of why there are two events (I think it would be a blast to attend ALL the events), The Choteau Acantha has this: A Tale of Two Shrimp Peels
•The first shrimp peel is set for Saturday, April 5, at the Choteau Pavilion. The event begins with cocktails at 5 p.m. and a shrimp and spaghetti dinner at 6 p.m. with speeches to follow. Montana state Sen. Art Wittich of Bozeman is the keynote speaker. The cost is $30 per person and tickets will be sold at the door. A newly formed nonprofit corporation, Teton County Republican Shrimp Peel Inc., is sponsoring this event. Jim Anderson of Choteau, a local businessman and a Republican candidate for House District 17, is the registered agent for this corporation. Jim’s son-in-law, Ben Collins, is the president of the corporation’s board of directors. Jim says the corporation will wait until after the June primary election to determine how to spend any profits from the dinner. He says that at least three options will be considered: donating the money to the Teton County GOP Central Committee, donating the money to a conservative cause, or donating the money to nonprofit, civic-oriented organizations in Teton County.
•The second shrimp peel is set for Friday, May 2, at the Choteau Pavilion. The event begins with cocktails at 5 p.m. and a shrimp and spaghetti dinner at 6 p.m. with speeches to follow. U.S. Senate candidate Steve Daines has been invited to be the keynote speaker, though as of press time, he has not confirmed. The cost is $30 per person and tickets will be sold at the door. The Teton County GOP Central Committee is sponsoring this event. Proceeds from the dinner will go to the Teton County GOP Central Committee. Central Committee Chairman Lew Clark says the Central Committee will use the revenue to support GOP candidates in the general election in November.
“Are you over weight and out of shape?” The EPA wants to know, as Breitbart.com reports:
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking Older Adults With Asthma,” said another.
The federal government wasn’t selling diet pills, and it wasn’t seeking victims for a class action suit – it was soliciting human subjects for experiments that would expose them to air pollution.
So this is how they find people for their “studies.”
Meanwhile…Politico: Vulnerable Democrats still wary of Obamacare
Republicans note that the administration will not disclose how many of the 7 million have actually paid for their policies, how many people signed up for Medicaid who weren’t eligible before or how many of the people buying insurance didn’t have it before.
“People have to sign up for Obamacare,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee strategist Brad Dayspring. “They are forced to by law. That doesn’t mean they like it, and politically that is a big difference. Don’t let the White House or Democrats who voted for the unpopular law play you for an April fool.”In Montana, newly-appointed Democratic Sen. John Walsh said in a recent radio interview: “I didn’t vote on the Affordable Care Act and there’s been a lot of problems with the Affordable Care Act, so I am disappointed.”
That last line was quite odd, given that the appointed one, John Walsh, already publicly spoke in support of Obamacare.
And, after the Montana Democratic Party endorsed Walsh before the upcoming June primary, the liberal MTCowgirl blog (seen as a voice of the camp connected to the popular former Gov. Brian Schweitzer) had this to say:
But I am ambivalent about this move by the Party. Bohlinger was once a Republican, yes, and voted also against choice, and he will have to answer for that in this election. But he has since switched sides and supports choice, and progressives probably should keep in mind that though he has quacked like a Republican duck for many years at Schweitzer’s side, it was deliberately for the political benefit of the Schweitzer administration. Bohlinger worked hard every two year to get Democrats elected.
… And again, I am not sure that the Party should be proclaiming people as Democrats or Not Democrats. We have to leave room for people to be able to change parties.
James Conner, a liberal blogger from the Flathead Valley of Montana, appears to concur.
Conner: Democratic Officials should not be bashing Bohlinger and Adams
The leadership’s argument that Bohlinger and Adams are not true Democrats stinks of moral decay. Bohlinger and Adams are, figuratively speaking, lately-come-to-Jesus Democrats, sinners who renounced their transgressions and now embrace the true faith. They’re being flogged not because of a past flirtation with the Republican Party, but because they didn’t genuflect to Harry Reid and the other Democratic honchos who fear a primary.
Amidst all the bluster…AP: Utility alleges fraud in Montana wind farm deal
A California utility that invested in a Montana wind farm has accused the developer of fraudulently concealing that federal wildlife officials recommended the project get a permit in case it harms eagles.
San Diego Gas & Electric and a subsidiary of Spanish wind developer NaturEner filed dueling lawsuits in California and Montana stemming from a dispute over the wind farm near Cut Bank.