A Montanan usually takes a practical approach. We study a problem, figure out how to solve it, and then do it. That's how I was taught. My Montana roots go back to the 1870s, followed by a long line of tough, practical, conservative Montanans. As a geologist I followed the mold, working i…
Nov 07, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
As I walked past the "entering wilderness" sign with my hunting partner, Zach, I couldn't help but smile. We were going to spend the next few days hunting elk without the sound of old trucks rattling down the road or ATVs zipping up the trail around us. With only our bivvy sacks, sleeping…
Nov 07, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
It is a hallmark of our constitutional democracy that we go out of our way to ensure that everyday citizens are not trampled by a huge, faceless government. Sometimes we fail in that endeavor, but often we succeed. Americans have been afforded, by law, the ability to address legitimate gr…
Nov 07, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
A high-speed crash with a single vehicle running off a rural highway is the most common scenario for traffic fatalities statewide. But as of Tuesday, the city of Billings had counted nine lives lost in traffic crashes so far this year, according to Police Department records. During the 12…
Nov 06, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
Harry Truman could've taught Barack Obama a thing or two about how to deal with a hostile press - basically, by ignoring it.
Nov 05, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
Now that the votes are counted, the hard work begins for the winners of Tuesday's municipal general election. Congratulations to Mayor-elect Tom Hanel and Councilwoman-elect Angela Cimmino. Congratulations to incumbents Jim Ronquillo, Ed Ulledalen and Mark Astle on their re-elections. We …
Nov 05, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
BOSTON - It's been 11 years since I looked through a photo album smuggled out of Afghanistan by a brave young woman. "This is a doctor," she said, pointing to one picture. "This is a teacher." It was impossible to tell one woman from another under the burqas enforced by their Taliban rulers.
Nov 06, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
WASHINGTON - Actress Cate Blanchett, who has played Queen Elizabeth I, is performing here, portraying someone less than regal - flurried, anxious Blanche DuBois, in Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire." If Obama administration officials involved in formulating Afghanistan policy…
Nov 05, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
WASHINGTON - The next health care fight has already started. It's the battle to define the bill that President Obama will eventually sign as a victory for consumers, taxpayers and the common good.
Nov 04, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
WASHINGTON - The idea that the government of a major advanced country would default on its debt - that is, tell lenders that it won't repay them all they're owed - was, until recently, a preposterous proposition. Argentina and Russia have stiffed their creditors, but surely the likes of t…
Nov 04, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
WASHINGTON - During his immersion in his new job, Gil Kerlikowske attended a focus group of 7-year-old girls and was mystified by their talk about "farm parties." Then he realized they meant "pharm parties" - sampling pharmaceuticals from their parents' medicine cabinets. What he learned …
Nov 01, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
WASHINGTON - In the health care debate, the "public plan" is all things to all people. For supporters, it would discipline greedy private insurers and make health coverage affordable. For detractors, it's a way station on the path to a single-payer insurance system of government-run healt…
Oct 28, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
WASHINGTON - When I wrote a few days ago about the growing nervousness of moderate Senate Democrats over the approaching vote to raise the federal debt limit, I had no idea how quickly evidence of that shift in the political winds would appear.
Oct 28, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
Presidents usually turn to their secretaries of state for foreign-policy advice. But Barack Obama must have been channeling Hillary Clinton when he decided to attack Fox News.
Oct 26, 2009 | 12:05 am | Loading…
BOSTON - This story begins, as do so many dramas, at the box office. We are standing in line, three generations defined by a three-tier price structure: senior, adult, child.
Oct 23, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
WASHINGTON - Will the young and hopeful abandon the political playing field to older voters who are angry? That is the quiet crisis confronting President Obama and the Democrats. Left unattended, it could become a formidable obstacle for them in next year's midterm elections.
Oct 23, 2009 | 12:00 am | Loading…
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