Columns

By now, most of us have learned of the shocking recordings of Tim Sheehy at Montana campaign events talking about “bonding with all the Indians while they’re drunk at 8 a.m.,” and having “Coors Light cans flying by your head” while riding in the Crow parade.  Mr. Sheehy, who grew up in a lakeside mansion in Minnesota, presented those false anecdotes to largely white audiences as representations of Indian people—leaving unmentioned, for example, the growing numbers of tribal members who’ve made their way through school and earned advanced degrees despite obstacles that Mr. Sheehy cannot even imagine.  Mr. Sheehy’s ignorant stere...

“I love working the polls!” a friend told me recently. “It strengthens my trust in the whole process. And it’s fun getting to help eligible voters flex their civic muscles.” I think about my friend’s experience as I hear stories about mistrust in our elections.  ...

For 23 years Robert G. Natelson served as Professor of Law at the University of Montana.  Professor Natelson is one of America’s best known constitutional scholars and author, whose constitutional research has been cited repeatedly by justices at the US Supreme Court, federal appeals courts, and a...

The Montana Newspaper Association surveyed candidates for the state legislature, Public Service Commission and statewide offices about their positions on government accountability, transparency and the right to know. Of 281 candidates receiving survey, 111 responded, or about 40%. Among respondents &mdash...

“The truth will set you free.” We’ve all heard this iconic sentence, but what does it mean, really? More importantly, what exactly is the truth? That depends on whom you are asking. Because I’ve come to believe that each of us has our own truth. What is my truth, with a capit...

U.S. women now live in a country where they’ve been relegated to second-class citizens courtesy of the Supreme Court, whose conservative majority ignored 50 years of precedent and overturned the constitutional right to abortion nationwide. Abortion policy now falls to individual states, and now nearly ...

As a nurse practitioner in Missoula, prior to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), I was initially surprised that so many patients came from rural areas - especially Lake County. Some had very little money, and could be late because they had hitchhiked or waited on a ride from a friend. Ours was a specialty practi...

Montanans deserve a Senator that respects all of us, not one that uses damaging punchlines that divide us.  Senatorial candidate Tim Sheehy’s disrespectful comments about Native people send a dangerous message - that he is okay using negative and tired stereotypes about Montana Indians in an at...

We’re in the midst of a presidential election.  This column has nothing to do with politics. (I bet you’re breathing easier now, huh?) But the business of politics got me thinking - about language and communication and the words we choose to use to explain our angle on things. Fo...

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