Editorials

ENTERPRISE EDITORIAL: Help save Montana’s past by preserving ghost towns

Published on Fri, 06/09/2017 - 1:14pm

The vigilantes grabbed Bannack Sheriff Henry Plummer from his bed in the middle of a cold January night in 1864 and led him to the gallows outside of town. His entreaties for his life under flickering torchlights were rejected, and he was summarily hanged.

The gallows on which the shady sheriff met his end are gone, but a replica stands on the spot today. You can see it and the amazing preserved gold mining town of Bannack this summer if you get a hankering to visit some Montana ghost towns.

AP Analysis: Qatar crisis exposes a long Gulf family fight

Published on Tue, 06/06/2017 - 7:40pm

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Gulf Arab nations often get considered one giant family, as many ruling tribes intermarried and have long ties stretching back to the days before oil turned dusty fishing villages into skyscraper-studded metropolises.

But if the last day has proven anything, it's that every family fights.

The diplomatic standoff between Qatar and its neighbors has exposed longstanding faults running just under the surface of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional body meant to serve as a counterbalance to Iran.

ENTERPRISE EDITORIAL: Politics and bad news are out, songbirds are in

Published on Fri, 06/02/2017 - 2:10pm

If the sometimes nasty competition between candidates Greg Gianforte and Rob Quist was for the birds, some thoughts on Montana birds themselves might be in order to let folks recuperate from that hard-fought campaign for the U.S. House seat.

Judging from what’s been showing up at our bird feeders and in the countryside, this has been a boom year for songbirds across Montana, in contrast to a rather tepid season last year.

GUEST EDITORIAL: Their turn to buy a round

Published on Wed, 05/31/2017 - 2:46pm

This may be more of a guy thing but, at the risk of offending our female readers, we will venture forth nonetheless.

Besides, there is valuable information here for any woman seeking a mate.

EDITORIAL: Goodbye to nasty campaign ads ... until next time

Published on Tue, 05/30/2017 - 4:59pm
To say elections have gotten more polarizing is to state the obvious. A case in point: The just-concluded race for Montana’s open seat in the House of Representatives. Divisive as it was, there is one thing on which all sides seem to agree: The end of the negative political ads is a welcome blessing.

From attack ads seeking to ruin a person’s reputation to contrast ads showing one candidate as all good and the other as pure evil, on television, radio, and in print, this short campaign seemed to go on forever.

Manchester bombing puts it all in perspective

Published on Fri, 05/26/2017 - 3:37pm

The suicide bombing at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people and injured scores May 22 night sent shock waves through the world. 

All terrorist attacks are horrific, but this one seemed especially savage in that it targeted young teens having a fun night out. How much more evil — and that is the only fitting word for it — can you get than killing children?

ENTERPRISE EDITORIAL: No place for violence in Montana politics

Published on Thu, 05/25/2017 - 1:57pm
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Greg Gianforte may have single-handedly snuffed his political aspirations Wednesday after being charged with assault for allegedly “body slamming” a reporter.

Even if Gianforte pulls off a win in the race for the U.S. House of Representatives, there will surely be calls for him to step down.

Attacking someone for asking a question you don’t like is unacceptable behavior and is not representative of Montana or anywhere in this country, for that matter.

GUEST EDITORIAL: New class of servants

Published on Wed, 05/24/2017 - 3:53pm

The newscaster was babbling on about the guy’s long career. He said the words “public servant” repeatedly.

And that made some sense.

It seems the guy he was talking about had worked for government a long time. So, naturally, given he worked for the government, the newscaster employed the words “public servant” several times to describe the guy. It is what newscasters do when referring to government workers.

Hats, caps and Montana politics

Published on Fri, 05/19/2017 - 10:09am

The old adage, “The clothes make the man,” could be paraphrased for Montana politicians and candidates as “The hat makes the man.” 

Or not.

Perhaps in no other state as Montana does headgear carry so much weight for a political figure. This has been especially borne out during the race to fill the U.S. House seat vacated by Ryan Zinke. It could be argued that hats, or lack thereof, have been the subtext of the campaign.

GUEST EDITORIAL: Best actors are in D.C.

Published on Thu, 05/18/2017 - 10:31am

I know we’re all supposed to have our undies in a bunch this week over James Comey but his firing is too much like the Oscars to spawn a lather.

Every year media-types go aflutter over the list of the films nominated for ‘best movie’ — their description, not ours. The titillation is rarely shared by the rest of us — largely because most people have never seen the movies Hollywood thinks are so good.

To say it another way, we just don’t know enough to care.