Political Trough: Krakauer “Heckler” Gives His Side of Story

The Krakauer “heckler” gives his side of the story.  Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) is blocking an effort by John McCain to allow border patrol agents to be able to do their jobs on the Southern border.  An NSA court ruling has lawmakers on edge. The Otter Creek Coal project is in jeopardy, according to KTVQ-TV.  9 Rules for Being a Conservative Dad.  Those stories and much more are in this week’s Political Trough below:

NewsTalkKGVO.com: Krakauer “Heckler” Gives His Side of Story

Author Jon Krakauer has chided Rolling Stone’s publication of “A Rape on Campus,” a now infamous example of bad journalism about a college rape that never really happened, and even told Salon that “Rolling Stone has a lot to answer for,” but when asked to give answers about his own work at a forum in Missoula, Krakauer took the microphone away from his questioner.

The incident happened just minutes after Krakauer admitted that he engaged in confirmation bias while writing his most recent book, “Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town.” For questioner Thomas Dove, the admission of confirmation bias is key, and points to a fatal flaw in “Missoula,” one that ends up doing “disservice to a very, very serious crisis.”

VIDEO

USA Today: Committee passes bill to give border patrol more access to federal lands

The legislation would grant Customs and Border Protection personnel immediate access to federal land on the Arizona border, including for motorized patrols and the placement of communications, surveillance and detection equipment.

McCain said federal agents now must get permission before entering some federal land or are required to remain on foot on designated paths while drug smugglers and others illegally crossing the Arizona border go wherever they want, destroying wildlife refuges in the process.

Democrat Sen. Jon Tester of Montana said he couldn’t support the legislation, even with the changes. “This allows one agency to do whatever they want,” Tester said, adding that he thought the bill would set a bad precedent.

Politico: NSA ruling puts lawmakers on edge

National security hawks were quick to question the ruling’s durability, citing the potential for other courts to weigh in and the possibility of an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), a co-sponsor of the USA Freedom Act, said the court’s decision could “complicate” — but not necessarily ease — lawmakers’ deliberations.

“I think the senators will be very thoughtful as they weigh their decision on it,” he said. “I’m not sure that really will necessarily sway people one way or the other.”

KTVQ.com: Financial struggles dog U.S. coal industry: Otter Creek project in jeopardy

KTVQ.com | Q2 | Continuous News Coverage | Billings, MT

Excerpt:

Just 5-years ago, the coal future in Montana looked a whole lot rosier.

In March of 2010, the State Land Board leased the Otter Creek coal tracts near Ashland to Arch Coal for $86 million, up front. That deal was based on $15 per ton. Today coal is selling for $13.50 per ton.

” I think we are going to look back and say we were lucky to get 86 million bucks or whatever reason it was,” said Gary Buchanan, co-owner of Buchanan Capital LLC in Billings. “I don’t think coal companies now are in a financial position to bid up an Otter Creek formation and frankly they don’t need it.”

PERC.org: California Drought on the Mike Slater Radio Show

PJ Hill and PERC’s Terry Anderson joined radio host Mike Slater to discuss water in California and across the West.

Bullock rejects effort supported by The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, as Lee Newspapers reports.

Calling the bill’s action “unnecessary,” Gov. Steve Bullock on Tuesday vetoed Senate Bill 245, which would have allowed hunters to purchase a $10 permit to hunt cow elk after the regular hunting season had closed.

“The Fish and Wildlife Commission currently possesses the authority to implement the sort of elk harvest management option represented in SB 245,” Bullock wrote in his veto letter. “Placing such a provision in statute may inadvertently constrain new harvest management options, and interfere with an ongoing, comprehensive review and implementation of new tools for addressing elk population concerns.”

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Doug Kary, R-Billings, who said he was angry to find out about the veto through a friend and not directly from the governor. The bill had passed along a largely party line vote in the Legislature, with most Democrats opposed to the measure.

Fox News First earlier in the week:  BUBBA SAYS SPEECHES TO CONTINUE: ‘I GOTTA PAY OUR BILLS’

Former President Bill Clinton reportedly raked in $104.9 for paid speeches in the first 12 years after he left office, including some that have triggered accusations of payola for favors from his wife’s State Department. But despite those worries, he will continue to give speeches for sums as much as $500,000, telling NBC News “I gotta pay our bills.” The network, which formerly employed Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea, joined Clinton on a trip for donors to his family’s scandal-scarred foundation to get a look at the charitable work done by the group. The former president rejected allegations of pay-for-play in pure Clintonian fashion: he said the foundation never said anything “knowingly false.” This, combined with presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s “dead broke” debacle, suggests that the former first family has Romnesian levels of difficulty in talking about their vast fortune.

Politico Playbook earlier in the week:

— “WSJ/NBC Poll: Marco Rubio Most Broadly Acceptable Candidate for GOP Voters,” by WSJ’s Patrick O’Connor: “[T]hree-out-of-four GOP primary voters now [say] they could vote for the first-term senator, up from 56% in March … The results suggest Mr. Rubio is the most widely acceptable Republican presidential contender among likely GOP primary voters, outpacing former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, at 70%, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, at 61%.” http://on.wsj.com/1IbifJ8

LATE-NIGHT BEST – “Jon Stewart: ‘It Is Not Okay to Shoot Other People Because You Are Offended” — Video http://bit.ly/1FMeRUR

PALACE INTRIGUE — “Extreme secrecy eroding support for Obama’s trade pact,” by Edward-Isaac Dovere: “If you want to hear the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal the Obama administration is hoping to pass, you’ve got to be a member of Congress, and you’ve got to go to classified briefings and leave your staff and cellphone at the door. … And no matter what, you can’t discuss the details of what you’ve read. … The White House isn’t even telling Congress what it’s asking for, they say, or what it’s already promised foreign governments.” http://politi.co/1E3tQFc

Also, from The Hill on Friday- Poll: Clinton trails Bush, Paul and Rubio in NH

From Jim Geraghty’s Morning Jolt e-newsletter: 9 Rules for Being a Conservative Dad

In my favorite essay in this collection, Rob Long, a writer and producer in Hollywood and National Review contributing editor, offers two tips for this conversation. When a son or daughter asks about marriage, compare it to listening to their favorite song — but only that song — for the rest of your life. “Or if you’re not ready to make that kind of commitment, you can keep listening to all of those other songs, skipping happily from track to track, as long as you’re prepared to never listen to your favorite song again.”

His second suggestion: Take your kid to a suburban Starbucks in the middle of the day, a weekday, and point out who is there. Long says you’ll see a lot of middle-aged guys with out-of-date laptops opened to their LinkedIn profiles. They’re networking, e-mailing, resume-padding, consulting, doing whatever they can “to catch up to an economy that seems to be moving just a little faster than they can run along behind it,” Long explains. And then tell your child: “We will all — you can count on it — be lost in the Starbucks wilderness in our lives. . . And when that happens, ask yourself: Will there be someone in my life who knows me, knows how hard I’m trying?”

Long concludes: “When the Men of Starbucks pack up their laptops and toss their napkins and head out into the night, there’s only one thing that will make them feel strong and loved and ready to try again, and that’s their favorite song. Just that one song.”

Rockstar