Thursday, March 24, 2011

HB 516 Brings Death Threats to Sponsor

About a month ago the House passed HB 516 which was sponsored by Representative Kris Hansen from Havre on a vote of 62 – 37. This bill attempts to limit what can or cannot be done by local municipalities regarding passage of ordinances that disagree with State law on “protected” classes. It states;



NEW SECTION. Section 1. Local governments -- limitation on enactments. A local government ordinance, resolution, or policy may not contain, as a protected class, any classification not specifically included as a protected class under the provisions of this part

The gay and transgendered population took exception to this bill as being homophobic because it would eliminate a recently passed ordinance by Missoula providing special protections to their gay and transgendered community. The bill was quickly labeled as a hate bill by the Democrats but many others disagree and say it is all about cities overstepping State law. They claim that this bill would only prohibit cities from adding any classifications that are not currently in State law.

When this bill hit the floor of the house we started hearing tales of threats towards Ms. Hansen including a veiled threat from Representative Ellie Hill from Missoula letting Hansen know “her days were numbered”  While we at the Corrector are not going to take a position on this bill we have to wonder about the irony of the people who want to be accepted in our communities making threats towards people with which they don’t agree.  We have just been sent the following message by one of the local Politicos that was left on Representative Hansen’s phone where her life was actually threatened over her sponsorship of this bill.

What is particularly interesting to me is that once this bill reached the Senate the lackluster bunch of Republicans basically stabbed Representative Hansen in the back and failed to move the bill out of committee because they were afraid of “bad press”  So much for the girly-boys in the Senate having any “balls”   The Senate was only able to muster 4 votes in favor of hearing this bill and surprisingly 2 were from our area. Democrat Senator Jon Windy Boy and Republican Senator Rowlie Hutton joined Republican Senators Art Wittich from Bozeman and Ed Buttrey from Great Falls in support of at least hearing the bill in the Senate.  The balance of the Republican Senators cowered in the back of the chambers clutching their diapers and hoping none of the House Republicans would notice they had stuck the blade in Ms. Hansen's back.

No matter what your opinion of this bill is I have to wonder how many think the following message was an appropriate lobbying technique. Tell us what you think about this message which, we are told, is very similar to others left for Ms. Hansen.



21 comments:

  1. The world is full of nuts. It takes a pretty classy guy to leave a lady a message like this

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  2. This is just a continuation of the lack of civility that has graced our land for some time now. Just recently during the election an attack ad (my opinion) was sent in the mail. This listed a candidates home phone number to call. I checked out the group that mailed it. The group had a ruling against it for violating Montana law concerning campaign contributions. This group was first formed in Colorado by political activists before expanding into Montana. I wonder how many calls the candidate received that could be put in the category 'threatening'? This problem is not one sided but is something everybody should be concerned about. Please keep it 'Big Sky Country - The Last Best Place' not 'Bigot Sky Country - The Last Best Place to Hide' (thank you Freemen and Uni-bomber).

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  3. All this abuse for about $8 per hour pay at the legislature.

    The guy leaving the message must be from Havre because that’s how we treat everyone we disagree with. Hope he doesn’t forget to boycott her business also

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  4. If all the people so quick to label this bill would have actually read this bill(I did) you could see it was about cities overstepping their rights and making the law currently on the books really difficult to enforce. Kris is extremely smart and saw that this would be a nightmare. Yes it got lableled a hate bill because of the group Missoula was trying to protect, but that was not the issue are we going to pass an ordinance in Havre to protect *Cat Loving Onion Eaters". Look at the scope of what she was trying to do. Unfortunately Kris who is one of best and brightest we have sent to Helena gets thrown in with Warburton, much to my distress. As a landlord I appreciate her trying to protect everyone's rights.

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  5. It is sad that anyone in public service is forced to endure this type of harassment.

    The Democrats must have their chests filled with pride knowing their operatives are running this type of offense. If the Democrats had put this kind of effort into actually running for office they might have won and not had to play catch up with dastardly tactics such as these after the fact. I hope the police can track down this lunatic.

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  6. although i dont at all condone what that guy said, i could hear the frustration in his voice. From a young age were taught the value of voting, let your voice be heard, get involved etc.. which is all a bunch of crap in this neck of the woods. Because, go ahead, fight your fight, cast your vote, only to have someone reapeal it in the end. This isnt the only situation proving that.

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  7. If Kris needs a side arm for defense I have quite a selection she can choose from which she can borrow for her term as our legislator.

    I would also be happy to see if I could rally enough of my friends to provide a well armed body guard 24/7 for the remainder of the session.

    Just let me know

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  8. threats are unacceptable...

    that being said...
    we are moving backwards with this bill. while it is dressed up as a princess of the court protecting authority, it is really a whore of the court, a shot at the locality of missoula's right, and probably duty, to protect gays from discrimination and abuse.

    libertarians should be upset by this bill...
    it proposes further centralization of government.

    but then...
    what could you expect from a person with history in an organization which adores secrecy and respects no human rights on the planet.

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  9. Is it any surprise that there is frustration with our local representation that ran on creating jobs are wasting their time with bills that are making Montana into a national joke with bills like this? This only shows that the Repubs are completely inept when it comes to actually governing. Mz Hansen's actions concerning the rights of gays in another community are indeed intriguing given her personal sexual orientation and the havoc it has produced locally in the city of Helena no less.

    Thank You Sen Hutton for removing yourself after your planned Sarah Palin style exit from our midst. I,for one,will not miss your wingnuttedness and holier than thou attitude concerning about how everyone else should run their lives.

    Wendy,Wendy,Wendy, I would like to thank you for your efforts to protect us fron the emminent invasion from our hostile neighbors to the north with your militia bill. Your bill to be able to have guns locked in your car at your place of employment is sure genius if you drive a Shcwanns truck. Maybe, eh?

    Hopefully we will have serious people run for office in the next cycle..People who have ideas about creating jobs instead of giving our state away to special interests. Trickledown has never worked but it has bought a lot of poor politicians wanting their 15 minutes of fame.

    WHERE ARE THE JOBS YOU PROMISED.

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  10. I have a feeling that Miss Hansen can take care of herself, but if need be, put me down for a shift on her protection detail.
    Personally I don't want to see a hodgepodge of laws around the state. I don't think Havre should be able to ban cell phones when driving either. Not that I agree with such behavior.
    I want to be able to go from one town to the next and not guess at what is legal and what isn't.

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  11. "Great minds discuss Ideas Mediocre minds discuss Things Small minds discuss Other People"

    Great quote Eh Jake? Funny you don't practice what you preach.

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  12. jimbo...

    you are thinking this legislature is defensible as anything other than third rate charlie chaplin?

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  13. Just tryin to fit in here,Jimbo

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  14. Considering your sexual orientation Jake it is not surprising that you would support the gay community but this bill is about equality not gays.

    Warburton hasn’t worked at Schwans for 4 or 5 years so that tells me you really don’t keep up with what is going on and the accuracy of your facts is not to important to you on your posts

    My question is WHERE ARE ALL THE JOBS OBAMA PROMISED?

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  15. anybody who claims to be for freedom does not want government restricting freedom.
    who cares who's gay?
    how many jobs have the clowns in helena produced?
    zero.
    too busy shutting down freedoms.

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  16. It is not the states job to create jobs. It is their job to create an atmosphere where WE the citizens of Montana create jobs.

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  17. somebody is not doing their job...
    no?

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  18. This bill is NOT ABOUT GAY RIGHTS.

    It has been labeled that way by people in oposition and the label seems to have stuck. Read the bill and watch the hearing arguments on the capital website before you make idiotic comments

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  19. This bill in and of itself may not be about gay rights but it is being pushed by legislators who have VERY STRONG and narrow minded opinions regarding gays. When you and your religion are pushing you to pass a bill of this nature.... it becomes "about gay rights". The people opposing this bill will never see any further than that.

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  20. It would be a good idea for a city to have a city ordinance that mandated you go to church every Sunday and see what the left has to say about that. All of a sudden the state constitution would be very important

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  21. NOT ABOUT GAY RIGHTs....

    you are exactly right...
    what it IS about...
    is the right of localities to pass ordinances not sanctioned by the state.

    but the bill exists strictly because missoula extended "special protections" for gays.

    so...
    it sort of is about gay rights.
    and that's what the psycho-christos intended.

    hey...
    libertarians...
    time to be upset again.

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