I think this is the kind of thing we need to read, understand, and implement nation wide. Especially in the "Red States." Hope for change begins with us! This is a very well written essay on Montana politics and progressives in the state. A must read, as is the book by the author called Left Out!.
From
Z Magazine
A Red State Paradox: Montana on the Cusp
By Joshua Frank
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Montana is not what it used to be. Small family-owned farms have been taken over by corporate behemoths. Public forests have been squandered and sold to the highest bidder. Racism is increasing. Poverty is rampant. Native Americans are being corralled onto even tighter plots of land. However disheartening it all may seem, there are still voices of hope rumbling across the vast Big Sky.
Montana doesn't clearly fall within the predictable blue state/red state dichotomy. Don't get me wrong; this is still Bush country--"W" stickers are flaunted on oversized SUV bumpers. Yellow Support the Troop magnets have been slapped on most every Ford truck. There is no question that these flag waving Montanans voted overwhelmingly in favor of George W. Bush last November. Republicans here are a dime a dozen.
I grew up out here on the eastern side of the continental divide in Billings, which is the largest city in Montana with a population of 90,000-plus. Billings, dubbed America's "Crank Capital" by Time in the late-1990s, is nestled beneath the shadows of 500-foot sandstone cliffs. The snow-capped Rockies are due west. The Yellowstone River cuts through the south end of town. It's searing hot in the summer and bitter cold in winter. A 40-minute drive southeast will park you in the impoverished and desolate Crow Agency (Indian reservation), which houses the memorial for the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
Much has changed since I left Billings eight years ago. A Mormon temple has been erected on the outskirts of town near a glitzy country club. Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Barnes and Nobles, Starbucks, dozens of tasteless eateries, and countless cookie-cut-out homes--all the destructive amenities that decorate our suburban landscapes--have relentlessly extended the city's boundaries.
Read the rest HERE!