I figured we could all use a little chuckle.

To All My Democrat Friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes
for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress,
non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice
holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the
religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your
choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or
traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or
secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful,
personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of
the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not
without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures
whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not
to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country
nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . Also, this wish is
made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability,
religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

To My Republican Friends:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

In case you have a hard time staying up on which of the presidential hopefuls most closely resembles you when it comes to politics, or if tend to be concerned about a given candidates level of political involvement, the good folks at Beliefnet have the perfect tool for you; the God-o-meter.  This tool uses a top secret algorithm to deliver a 1-10 indication of how religious candidates currently are.  From the meter’s page:

The God-o-Meter (pronounced Gah-DOM-meter) scientifically measures factors such as rate of God-talk, effectiveness—saying God wants a capital gains tax cut doesn’t guarantee a high rating—and other top-secret criteria. Click a candidate’s head to get his or her latest God-o-Meter reading and blog post. And check back often. With so much happening on the campaign trail, God-o-Meter is constantly recalibrating!

Currently Fred Thompson is just a 5; clearly not the true conservative many were hoping for.

TheGoogle

For those of you who have trouble with the inter-tubes, or know someone who has, TheGoogle might be the solution you are looking for:

Inspired by Jeff’s recent demographics post at Speedkill and Craig’s frequent posts on interesting search terms, I thought I might check and see how people find us.

Here are some of the more interesting search terms that people have used to make their way to Montana Netroots this month:

moorcat netroots - 19 times
testicle festival - 17 times
allied steel buildings lawsuit
dear abby archives
erik iverson and felony
mike lange montana legislature quotes - ( we have some good ones )
montana republican party chris wilcox
montanas contreversy - (maybe the folks at MTPundit made this search )
moorcat

So, that’s how you reel in the readers. Write about Moorcat and testicles with the spell check turned off.

[Update] Here are some popular search terms since the beginning:

jon tester
brett byers montana (someone likes to google themselves!)
colby natale (someone else likes to google themselves!)
rick jore
brad johnson montana paper trails electronic voting
denny rehberg 2008
mark tokarski (wow, talk about some vanities)
scott lessley democrat (google vanity again?)
shane mason (yeah, I google me)
betsy hands montana
brad johnson montana
jockstrap
steve gallus
john sinrud montana legislature
art noonan state capitol helena mt
montana republicans
julie french
montana republican swears at schweitzer
montana blogs
snyders and birth control
randy vogel subpoena
max baucus
big problems in montana
dick cheney dictator
birth control and montana
snyder drug montana
richard notkin
cpi wage increase
kendall van dyk
donald young helena montana

So, there are two things to take away from this. The first is that we might make a difference here. I would suspect that many of these were regular people looking for information. They got that information here. The second point is that we might be an empire of vanities.

President - Hillary Clinton Vice President - Bill Clinton hmmmm

I just finished my call in radio show with Craig. I think that it went really well, mostly because Craig knows how to keep the ball rolling. We had calls from our very own Cece and PJFinn, both added nicely to the conversation at hand. Thanks guys.

Now, you don’t have anything better to do, so listen. Craig has a nifty player on his site, you can stream it, download an MP3 file, download a WMA file or visit the archives of Small Town Long Street.

Good stuff Craig is doing there.

I think that we could all use a bit of levity. I know a little bit about the computer mouse, but I was surprised when it was revealed to me the mount of technology and labor that goes into moving it around your computer screen.

WOW…Yet another record!

It is being reported that Sen.Barack Obama has been placed under Secret Service protection which is the earliest ever for a presidential candidate.

According to Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff authorized Obama’s protection after consultations with the congressional advisory committee.

Further, Obama requested the protection. Under normal situations such requests are sent to the congressional panel for approval or rejection.

Something new? No – If you look at recent past requests, Clinton was also under protection. However keep in mind that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, one of Obama’s rivals, has a Secret Service detail that is provided to all former first ladies.

Hmmmmmm – If you also research past elections Democratic candidates John Kerry and John Edwards received their protection in February 2004 as they were competing for the party’s nomination.

Yet, Obama’s detail comes nine months before the first votes are even cast. It seems that Federal law allows candidates to seek protection if they meet a series of standards, including public prominence as measured by polls and fundraising.

According to the Associated Press, Obama had dismissed any concerns about his own security, but he also would not answer directly when asked if he had received death threats.

Watch the NEWS @ 10:00 P.M. and then you tell me…What’s UP with that?

10:37 p.m. UPDATE:
Least we forget the G.O.P. gig on TV – That translated is: Gray-Old-& Pale … Thanks to Jay Leno BTW

A reader sent me an interesting piece of information that I thought I might pass along. Apparently, some Montana expatriots in the DC area have been holding a “Testicle Festival” in the DC area for the past 4 years. The next one will be this Saturday the 28th.

“It’s a shame that most folks inside the beltway have never experienced the rugged west, never savored the delicacies harvested from spring-born calves,” said one of the organizers. “We’re pleased to bring a small slice of Montana to D.C.”

The really funny part is that is themed “The Original Sack Lunch”.  There is  more information in the form of a press release and contact information below the fold. If anyone is in the DC area and misses home, now is your chance…
Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Abby:
My husband is a liar and a cheat. He has cheated on me from the
beginning, and, when I confront him, he denies everything. What’s worse,
everyone knows that he cheats on me. It is so humiliating. Also, since
he lost his job five years ago, he hasn’t even looked for a new one. All
he does all day is smoke Cigars, cruise around and bullshit with his
buddies while I have to work to pay the bills.
Since our daughter went away to college he doesn’t even Pretend to like
me and hints that I may be a lesbian.
What should I do?
Signed, Clueless
***************************************
Dear Clueless:
Grow up and dump him. Good grief, woman. You don’t need him anymore.
You’re a United States Senator from New York . Act like one.

TAXES!!!!!

Hi folks:

It’s that time of the year everyone dreads so I thought this might bring a bit of humor.

Enjoy!

Dear Internal Revenue Service:

Enclosed you will find my 2006 tax return showing that I owe $3,407.00 in taxes.

Please note the attached article from the USA Today newspaper dated 12
November, where in you will see the Pentagon (Department of Defense) is paying
$171.50 per hammer and NASA has paid $600.00 per toilet seat.

I am enclosing for (4) toilet seats (valued @ $2,400.) and six (6) hammers
(valued @ $1,029.) which I secured at Home Depot, bringing my total
remittance to $3,429.00. Please apply the overpayment of $22.00 to the
“Presidential Election Fund,” as noted on my return. You can do this
inexpensively by sending them one (1) 1.5″ Phillips Head screwdriver, (see
aforementioned article from USA Today newspaper detailing how H.U.D. pays
$22.00 each for 15″ Phillips Head screwdrivers). One screw is enclosed for
your convenience.

It has been a pleasure to pay my tax bill this year, and I look forward to
paying it again next year.

Sincerely,

A Satisfied Taxpayer

OK - I know this is politics at it’s worst

However, there are two questions to be settled in the Smith case.

A.) Who is the father?

B.) Where will she be buried?

On today’s NBC Today show they led out the attorney’s on all sides and the two questions above are to be settled within days. This circus will hopefully come to a close soon but I am curious on where everyone here stands and how they would answer the two questions above. As for me, I think Mr. Stearn will outlast the rest and Anna Nicole will end up resting next to her daughter as it is clear she purchased burial plots there.

As for the rest of the circus I doubt that will be over any time soon and that IS sad! After watching some of the courtroom proceedings I can hardly believe this is a U.S. courtroom but I am SURE it will lead to a movie.