Trebas Fails to Apologize for Anti-Semitic Tweet

Trebas Fails to Apologize for Anti-Semitic Tweet

Trebas Spreads Anti-Semitic Lies

Earlier this week, Great Falls Senator Jeremy Trebas retweeted a horribly offensive Anti-Semitic tweet. We’ve included the tweet at the end of the article, but we ask that you don’t share it on your socials. (Why? Because we don’t want to further spread these harmful and inaccurate tropes about Jewish people. After discussion we decided it was important for folks to actually see what Trebas shared. People need to see that this ugliness really exists, and that Senator Trebas is actively contributing to it.)

If you aren’t familiar with the many forms of anti-semitism, that particular tweet is based on “blood libel.” Blood libel is the entirely FALSE allegation that Jewish people use the blood of children for ritual purposes. No, seriously. This disgusting lie has been used for centuries to persecute – and justify the MURDER of- Jewish people. 

Trebas’s disgusting retweet resulted in him being called out by the Montana Human Rights Network, Montana Jewish Project, and the Anti Defamation League  You can read all of those responses here:

https://www.mhrn.org/resources/mhrns-response-to-sen-jeremy-trebas-antisemitic-retweet?fbclid=IwAR3g8XZ4tXpo8hddRrlNA_JCHQ1gdNv8nzS8LdxyKcNQ8J-IKMy7Yz0mALA

https://www.facebook.com/montanajewishproject

https://twitter.com/ADLPNW/status/1737540722608476453?fbclid=IwAR086jXSzABELV4qtz0FWln26og9Qk4CZBiq49uxIgaqiG-a6dN6OfKe88M

When the Montana Jewish Project voiced their concerns regarding  Trebas’ retweet, his first response was to publicly argue with them. Apparently Trebas felt he was owed a personal phone call rather than a public call out. To be clear, he wasn’t owed this. No one should have to tell a state senator that it’s not okay to spread lies that Jewish people use the blood of children in rituals. I mean, even typing that sentence is wild, right? Regardless, Trebas’ first instinct was to act like he himself was the wronged party. Unfortunately for ol’ Jeremy, the Montana Jewish Project had attempted to contact him first. Seemingly, Trebas had not checked his messages from his legislative accounts. Although the Montana Jewish Project now reports they had a productive phone call with Trebas, an apology is still nowhere in sight.

Trebas’ History of Bigotry

Over the past year, Great Falls has been inundated with Neo Nazi activity.  We’ve seen our Black, Jewish, and LGBTQ+ neighbors targeted by hate literature and our downtown littered with nazi propaganda. Some local Republicans have taken an actual stance, condemning this activity and even helping us clean it up. Then there’s Senator Trebas and his ilk. Rather than fighting this flurry of hate, Trebas instead contributes to it.

We’ve already written about Trebas’ extreme anti-lgbtq views, and his disgusting behavior towards Rep. Zooey Zephyr. You can read about that here: https://wtf406.com/2023/04/transphobic-trebas-hateful-twitter-rant-reported-by-nbc/ 

 We even contacted the Great Falls Rescue Mission, where Trebas serves as Director of Operations. (Their lackluster response made it clear they aren’t taking any measures to protect the unhoused from Trebas’ bigotry.) So, here we are again. Senator Trebas is using his public platform to spread hate, and this time it’s towards the Jewish community.  

Where’s The Apology?

Trebas did indeed remove his offensive retweet, which is a positive step. It’s also the bare minimum and doesn’t take any real accountability for the damage he’s already done.  He didn’t say “Hey guys, sorry I spread horrible, harmful, completely libelous things about the entire Jewish community.” He didn’t acknowledge the impact this has on Great Falls, or the very real ways rhetoric like this results in violence. He didn’t even accept responsibility. Instead, he’s seemingly trying to sweep this bad behavior under the rug because he’s been called out by more than just the Left this time.

Forgive us if we don’t feel  hitting “delete” rights the wrong he has done here. There’s no place for Anti-Semitism in Great Falls, and least of all from those who are elected to represent us.

So, we’ll go ahead and ask for it formally now.

Senator Trebas, when can Great Falls expect your public apology?

 

The Grinch in Great Falls

The Grinch in Great Falls

By Pamela Carroll

On Tuesday, December 12, 2023, the Grinch revealed itself in Great Falls, Montana. I saw the mean-spirited character manifested in citizens of Cascade County. 

Cascade County Commission held their bimonthly meeting at the Expo Park in anticipation of large public attendance. Commissioner Joe Brigg brought forth a resolution to remove election duties from the Clerk and Recorder. This resolution has been talked about for several years. 

Public comments were heard from over one hundred people. With many more in attendance to witness the spectacle of vile and spiteful testimony. This went on for seven long and excruciating hours. 

As I sat in the audience listening to the public comments, I was so ashamed of the behavior of those speaking in opposition to the resolution. These are my neighbors who used threats, yelled, and told outright lies. The Bible quotes were thrown out over and over to attack commissioners Joe Briggs and Jim Larson. Two pastors in our community spewed hateful words. Not once did I hear these so-called church attending people speak to the call to love thy neighbor as thyself. It was like watching school yard bullies and toddler temper tantrums. Never in the 62 years that I have lived in Great Falls have I ever experienced anything like the hateful actions and words that I saw that day. I fought back tears of sadness that day for my community. 

The restraint shown by Commissioners Joe Briggs, Jim Larson and those that spoke in support of the resolution is to be commended. Supporters spoke with decorum and integrity while expressing their concerns for the election process that has been flawed since Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant has taken office. They stuck to the facts and kept religion and emotion out of their testimony. 

We are in need of change in Great Falls and around Montana as this type of extremist behavior spreads and basic community norms around public discussion and debate dissolve. Perhaps, the most disturbing aspect is the appeal to theocratic ideals which could not be more un-American. This country was founded on a fundamental separation between church and state, and we have upheld that value, embodied in the First Amendment to the Constitution, for almost 250 years. The opponents’ dogmatic appeal to a narrow-minded, intolerant brand of Christianity would be ridiculous if it were not so fundamentally dangerous and unconstitutional. 

There is hard work ahead for all reasonable people of goodwill in this community and across Montana to try to bring us back to a semblance of decency and behavioral norms of civility and respect necessary for the community to not only survive but thrive. “Love thy Neighbor no Exception.”

Representative Steven Galloway Asserts Abortion Responsible for Labor Shortage . . .Huh?

Representative Steven Galloway Asserts Abortion Responsible for Labor Shortage . . .Huh?

Well, you probably already heard about the marathon County Commission meeting to take testimony about eliminating election administration from Clerk and Recorder, Sandra Merchant.  For the record, the Commission decided the right thing to do was have elections handled by someone who knows what they are doing, a novel thought! We’ll be publishing more on that later.

This post focuses on one of the more bizarre claims made by a Merchant supporter.  There were plenty of weird statements, but we think Representative Steven Galloway takes the cake.  After waiting almost to the end of public comment, Galloway rose to impart his wisdom to the Commissioners. Saying he is concerned about the county’s ability to find qualified applicants to administer elections, Galloway continued, “You can’t find employees, because the population is decreasing – through people not having kids, having abortions, we’ve got folks that are retiring.”

Check out the full article here:  https://dailymontanan.com/2023/12/12/cascade-county-clerk-and-recorder-stripped-of-election-duties/

So, let’s look a little more closely at Galloway’s assertion.  First, is the population of Montana really declining?  Well, the answer to that one is “No.”  Since 2010, Montana’s population grew 13.3%.  Of course Cascade County is not seeing the same growth as Gallatin, Missoula and Flathead Counties. During the same period, Cascade County grew 4.1%.  https://usafacts.org/data/topics/people-society/population-and-demographics/our-changing-population/state/montana/

https://usafacts.org/data/topics/people-society/population-and-demographics/our-changing-population/state/montana/county/cascade-county/

But the thing that really caught our attention was his assertion that abortion is a contributing cause to our labor shortage. In 2021, 1,728 abortions were performed in Montana. (FYI of those 73% were chemical). Montana’s population in 2021 was 1.104 million.  Don’t rush for your calculator, that amounts to 00.0015%.  Hardly a big enough number to cause an unemployment problem.  But facts coming from Merchant’s supporters were in short supply during the meeting.  

If Galloway really wants to do something about the labor market, he should get his head out of his right-wing play book and consider supporting reasonable immigration reform, rather than building a barbed wire fence around the country. 

 

 

EPC Demands Misinformation Be Removed From County Website

EPC Demands Misinformation Be Removed From County Website

Late last week, an alarming and factually inaccurate post appeared on the Cascade County Website. The Election Protection Committee responded, asking the County to remove the post immediately. Read the full letter below:

To: Cascade County Commissioners Joe Brigg, Jim Larson, Rea Grulkowski County Clerk and Recorder, Sandra Merchant and County Attorney Josh Raki.

Greetings,

We are writing to respond to a post placed on the County Elections Website lobbying the public to oppose Resolution 23-62. We believe the post is highly inappropriate. It is also inaccurate. For example, the first sentence in bright red block letters states: “To all registered voters in Cascade County- your right to vote is in jeopardy! Regardless of how the controversy over the resolution is resolved no one will lose their right to vote.

The next sentence states, “Two of the County Commissioners have stated their intention to nullify the 14,000+ votes that were cast November 8, 2022, for the current Clerk & Recorder/Elections Administrator.” No county commissioners have stated an intention to nullify any votes. The argument is ridiculous. Anytime a political organization changes the law, you could say that it has “nullified” the votes of the supporters who adopted the law in the first place.

The post goes on to say the resolution is ….”overthrowing the election that took place and appointing a person of their choosing-not chosen by the people-to run the elections in the future.” The fact is Sandra Merchant will remain the Clerk and Recorder. She will continue to receive a salary, she will still have an office, oversee the vitals records, recordings and internal auditing functions of the position.

If passed, this resolution is changing the duties of the Clerk and Recorder’s office which is clearly within the purview of the County Commission. In fact this has already been done in seven Montana counties and more are likely to follow. There was no hue and cry when the accounting functions were removed from the clerk and recorder’s office. This is not a new idea; Commissioner Briggs brought this proposal forward long before Sandra Merchant was elected because it has been his belief that the election official should be a nonpartisan position.

With all of that said, given Sandra Merchant’s poor performance and the continuing litigation being faced by the county thanks to her errors and incompetence, we are fully in support of removing the election duties from her supervision and placing them in the hands of an experienced administrator supervised by the Commission.

We request that the unethical post be removed from the website with a statement that it was both inaccurate and inappropriate. We are researching the legality of county resources being used to lobby for a political position on a legally presented resolution.

Ken Toole for The Election Protection Committee

Editors Choice: Der Führer Cometh

Editors Choice: Der Führer Cometh

By: James C. Nelson, Montana Supreme Court Justice (Ret).

Have you ever thanked God that you never lived Nazi Germany? Well don’t  get off your knees just yet; you might still find out what that was like. 

Donald J. Trump is straight out of fascism’s, central casting: think Hitler (who  Trump seeks to emulate and whose speeches he quotes), Bolsonaro (whose legacy  and tactics he endorses), Orbán (who he endorses and who is the darling of the reactionary GOP and Fox News) and Putin (with whom Trump is bonded). 

If elected, Trump intends to be America’s first dictator in the mold of the  foregoing authoritarians or “strongmen.” 

Trump (along with Steven Miller, and other lickspittles and sycophants) has  openly proclaimed his plans for America if he’s elected President in 2024. Indeed,  his formal plans have names–Project 2025 and Agenda47—and come complete with  a 920-page policy book from 400+ contributors, orchestrated by the right-wing  Heritage Foundation. 

Specifically, here’s a summary of what Trump has in store for us: 

Hiring and training an army of 54,000 loyalists ready to hit the ground on  inauguration day, to be appointed to government jobs and positions vacated  when the civil service, administrative agencies, FBI, DOJ and intelligence  agencies are purged of Trump’s enemies;  

Establishing concentration camps to hold aggressively rounded-up,  unauthorized immigrants, pending their deportation by the “millions each  year;” 

Placing loyal military officers over social engineering and non-defense  matters including climate change, critical race theory, and manufactured  extremism; 

Invoking the Insurrection Act, on Trump’s first day in office, and declaring  martial law so as to use the military against political opponents and unrest and  protests on election day;

Criminally prosecuting those designated by Trump for “retribution,” and  “revenge” including President Biden and his family, Democrats, and former  cabinet, staff, military officers, and public officials deemed “disloyal” when  he was President; 

Politicizing the federal civil service and undermining laws aimed at  preventing corruption and cronyism; 

Totally controlling federal agencies that presently operate with a great deal of  independence, with all reporting directly to Trump; 

Ending separation between the White House and the DOJ that prevents  presidents from using prosecutions for political purposes; 

Dehumanizing political opponents, by, for example, referring to them as thugs  and “vermin;” 

Gutting the Justice system and firing career prosecutors; 

Gutting the National Security and Intelligence apparatus; 

Requiring local law enforcement agencies to use controversial stop and frisk  practices; 

Banning travel to and from Muslim countries;  

These plans have been openly and defiantly proclaimed by Trump. Indeed,  his vitriol and promises, coming from a candidate for the highest and most  powerful office in the free world, are without precedent. 

Trump, who gives all the appearances of being mentally deranged and  paranoid, functions on the basis of only three premises: (1) will it make me look  good?; (2) will I make money doing it?; and (3) will it allow me to seek revenge  and retribution on my enemies?. He has no concern for political norms or  customs; he has no concern for the rule of law; and he has no concern for our  Country, its citizens, its institutions, its government or its Constitution. He is a  pathological liar. He promises be judge, jury and executioner; a law unto himself  alone. He promises to be America’s dictator-in-chief. 

In the 2024 presidential election we will have two choices: vote for democracy  or vote for Trump. 

If you vote for the latter, stay on your knees and practice your one-arm salute. Sieg heil!

Cascade County Chaos Continues

Cascade County Chaos Continues

After multiple embarrassing blunders and missteps, the Cascade County Commission today approved the canvas of the Great Falls Municipal Election.  Widespread media coverage shows the depth and breadth of ineptitude displayed by Commissioner Rae Grulkowski and Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant. There’s been a lot to keep up with, and if you, like the average GF resident, preferred to spend your holiday eating turkey instead of monitoring the minutiae of dysfunctional local government, you may have missed some news. Don’t worry, dear reader. We’ve done the work for you and rounded up the funniest and most informative articles highlighting  Sandra Merchant’s No Good Very Bad Week. 

Here are a few of our favorite highlights from Merchant’s cirque de failure.

“Jasmine Taylor, a former Democratic candidate for the legislature, said Grulkowski tried to circumvent commissioners Briggs and Larson, who refused to participate in an improperly noticed meeting, by asking other elected officials to hold the meeting.

And that didn’t work out for you, and thank God it did not,” Taylor said. “Because can you imagine if we had other elected officials up there with a farce of a canvass that you held? You cannot complain about your co-workers not coming to you when you go behind the scenes and behind their back and try to circumvent normal public processes in Cascade County.”

Read the full story here: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/11/28/cascade-county-commission-votes-to-restructure-chairperson-selection-process/?fbclid=IwAR16fDYmkoPCdnMbePjVacZY7Gmky8PBLdTpBv-JnXusljfkdPnyP4kyU-w

“Briggs said he moved to adjourn last Wednesday’s meeting after he noticed several discrepancies in the post-election reports for the outlying communities of Cascade and Belt. He noted that the canvass was a significant departure from past elections, with commissioners not receiving materials prior to the meeting and not being presented with the information needed to compare the number of ballots processed by vote-tabulating machines with the number of ballots returned by voters to the elections office.
Merchant did not respond to multiple messages requesting comment.”

Read the full story here: https://montanafreepress.org/2023/11/28/cascade-county-misses-election-canvass-deadline/

“Looking at (the Secretary of State’s) report and comparing it to the tabulator machine results for the town of Belt and the town of Cascade – the numbers of ballots received did not match,” explained Commissioner Rae Grulkowski. “Commissioner Briggs made a motion to table until the Secretary of State’s Office could be reached to conclude why those numbers were different.”

Read the full story here: https://www.newsbreak.com/news/3242654584429-when-will-it-count-cascade-county-s-nov-7-election-results-still-in-limbo?_f=app_share&s=a3&share_destination_id=MjIyODA3MDU2LTE3MDA5NDM2NTI3NDc%3D&pd=0F4sIC3l&hl=en_US&send_time=1700943652&actBtn=null&trans_data=%7B%22platform%22%3A1%2C%22cv%22%3A%2223.46.1%22%2C%22languages%22%3A%22en%22%7D&fbclid=IwAR17LY483tJBbRE5o6VP7ERDBo4UFd_wQeSdfEH41xy4eWz4pTsmXkzt2XU

“Jane Weber, former Cascade County Commissioner and co-founder of the Election Protection Committee, a resident-organized watchdog group, noted the canvass diverged from the usual process even before it started. Weber said in her written testimony never in her 10 years on the commission had she witnessed a canvass where commissioners didn’t get necessary reports from the Clerk and Recorder prior to the meeting. “This process today was a sham designed to outlast the public who came to make comment. I’m embarrassed and deeply troubled for any future elections in this county chamber,” Weber said.

Read the full story here: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/11/24/cascade-county-commission-tables-election-canvass-amidst-ballot-tally-confusion/?fbclid=IwAR3fGBPw6qfOgDA8tXzfD2zslcSzB9kUbr0GICDoKeBGdcvrskyQGeNxWVM

We’ll have more on the fantastic failures of Merchant and Grulkowski later this week. For now, enjoy this cartoon, as a treat.