By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
The Montana Secretary of State Office approved the ballot a measure that would mandate the legislature be equally represented by men and women. Presently, women hold 41 of the 150 seats in the state legislature. There are several more processes to surmount before the ballot measure becomes listed on the general election ballot. A signature drive follows and must obtain valid signatures of ten percent of the total voters in Montana and ten percent in each of the forty legislative districts. The signature gathering with the requisite signatures must be collected by June 20th if to be placed upon the ballot.
While certainly laudable in an effort to obtain greater participation of women in the political process, which is still not at parity, the likelihood of this measure, if it becomes law, surviving a constitutional challenge is weak.
On the surface there might be districts having a mandatory gender for a position and voter or other candidates are discriminated against solely based on sex and not qualifications generally requisite with any candidate. It surely can be divisive
Some might argue having a greater percentage of women in any parliament or legislature tends to bring in a better perspective and bring about more balance. When there was the effort in years past to organize and enable a parliament in war torn Afghanistan, many NGOs, local women’s groups, and international stakeholders mandated that women be included. It certainly was a laudable goal, considering the terrible suffrage in that country and subjugation of women there. Perhaps, maybe it might lead to less testosterone fueled extremes and more a voice of reason.
But does such a model have a place in Montana or other states, or is this just a form of reverse suffrage?
What do you think?
Source: Fox News
By Darren Smith
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
Did you guys see this item I posted last January? Your adrenaline fix. There are a couple of cool videos in the comments too.
http://jonathanturley.org/2014/01/05/your-sunday-adrenaline-fix/
Paul Schulte –
Fortunately, my youngest got a GoPro for Christmas, although, I’m not sure whether she would lend it to me
Porkchop – if the youngest is still living with you, just seize it. If not, go to her abode and steal it. Not sure how expensive they are but probably cheaper than the Lay-z-Boy. 🙂
Charlton – will check you video later. It is dinner time here. 🙂
Paul Schulte —
Sadly, my wife has a fear of heights — when we drove Going to the Sun (west) about 15 years ago, I couldn’t convince her to try the touring cars; she sat inboard in the rental minivan with her eyes closed whenever we were moving. The girls liked it a lot, though. It was actually quite nice to see the touring cars in the west slope video.
I think I need to rig a joystick on the Lazyboy or, maybe, some kind of rope-and-pulley arrangement. Also will probably need to retrofit the seat springs so that there is more flex to allow better weight shifting for steering. Possible I could use the front footrest as a kind of front spoiler and also engage it in the steering mechanism.
No, I’m _not old enough_ to have driven the Hysham Hills pre-interstate. :-p But I do remember a couple of very cross-heavy areas between Havre & Great Falls and between Great Falls & Missoula
Porkchop, those are gorgeous video’s, beautiful country. Wouldn’t mind taking that trip myself. By the way, it shouldn’t be too hard getting the lazy-boy up there, I believe you were going to put it on wheels, right? Just ask Schulte to take you up in a truck and…. let her rip coming down. Ought to be a very interesting ride. I’m sure that would be a trip you won’t soon forget.
Now, make sure to get lots of pictures of you and Lazy-boy making the trip.
Paul Schulte: I’m not sure the Gravity ride is completely open now, I just know the brochure we were given by the tour guide said it was 8 + miles long. Aw….. don’t feel bad about the pictures of you on a tiger, I’m sure you were thinking that was about as close to a tiger as you would ever get………….. Understandable. Besides Carrousels are fun, in fact I have a collection of carrousels Been collecting about 15 years. Whenever I see a real one, I can’t resist riding it, I just love carrousels.
Me – put Going to the Sun on your bucket list. And take the tour car when you go, it is worth the price. 🙂
I think Porkchop is going to have to use a GoPro camera for his trip down, he is going to be too busy steering to take pictures. He is probably going to need a long hot shower and change of clothes, if he survives to the bottom. 🙂
Porkchop – did you ever drive the Hysham Hills between Miles City and Billings before they put in the Interstate? That was both and E ride and a death trap. It was filled with white crosses.
Charlton:
Nice video. Apropos of the Montana theme here, you might enjoy these. I gotta figure out a way to get a Lazyboy up there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTg0mEvLIUs
Porkchop – Going to the Sun should only be done in the Park touring cars. It was designed to be seen from them. Last time I went there was 12 feet of snow and the top and everybody ran to the fireplace in the lodge to thaw. 🙂
Your biggest Lay-z-Boy problem is going to be cornering. Before you try it here though I think you will need a lot of beta testing. 🙂
me: Then it becomes a classic contest of skill versus heart. Cue Rocky Theme.
Porkchop:
I am a scrapper but considering your oldest is a boxer, I might just concede and let her have it. Then, it is between her and the youngest one who gets it.
Me:
It’s your bottle; you can make a conditional gift of personal property. Donative intent governs, but you should probably put it in writing to avoid disputes with my heirs. The youngest one is very determined when whiskey is involved.
Porkchop:
1. Not really, but I truly suspect your chances of survival might not be too good so what would it matter?.
2. When you actually go for it, I might consider upping the ante another bottle. By the way, if you don’t make it, can I keep the bottle?
me:
You’ll never really know which, though, will you? 😉
Only one bottle? 🙁
Mr. Stanley, that is quite a ride, try making that ride pulling a camper (for the first time) for 30 miles. This road looks just like the one I drove, leaving Charleston W.VA, straight up a mountain, no place to pull over with nothing but hairpin, horseshoe and S curves the entire way. Beautiful countryside and good memories. I would have been happy to see a church after 30 miles of that road. Thanks
Schulte: Be honest with Porkchop, he needs to know the Gravity car ride is on rails and runs only by gravity for 8 1/4 miles.
Me – I have been honest. I did not know if they reopened the entire original ride or not. I am much more interested in trying it if the whole thing is there. 🙂 It just looks fun as hell. Last summer I embarrassed all my relatives when I rode the carousel at the St. Louis Zoo. However, they were kind enough to take pictures they could share with co-workers. Before you ask, I rode the tiger. 🙂
This is one of my favorite roads in these parts. Highway 194 Starting at Banner Elk and ending at the Mast General Store at Valle Crucis, NC. Somebody told me they were re-engineering the road, which will make it a much less interesting trip. Especially if they change the infamous Dugger S-Curve at 5:34 in the video. That is the historic Holy Cross Episcopal Church at Valle Crucis on the left at 7:47. Some riders and drivers may feel a need to stop for a moment to give thanks they survived the trip.
This is a guy who does the trip on a bike. He must clank when he walks.
Porkchop and Me – I am thinking you need one of those chutes they use for para-gliding (open all the time). I would not do it with wheels smaller than 26″. Me – I think the idea is to go downhill, not off the cliff – at least that is my idea. I am not a dumb as I look. 🙂
Paul Schulte & Porkchop:
Porkchop, I must confess that I’ve come to the sad conclusion (Long, long ago actually) that you really must be a nut job or just plain full of BS, of which I highly suspect the latter. Now, I’m not quite sure about Schulte though, …………………He doesn’t seem to be as far gone as you….. but I guess given time and your friendship, he will get there eventually. Just let me know where you want the bottle sent and when. I’ll watch for it in the news. Can’t you just see the headlines: “A REALLY, OLD, OLD MAN RIDES LAZ-Y-BOY ON WHEELS OVER CLIFF, PARACHUTE FAILS TO OPEN!”………..In lieu of flowers, send Scotch —-several cases needed.
Paul Schulte:
The tree was completely unrelated to the distillery. The distillery came later.
It cost me a puppy, but I wanted a new dog anyway. 😉
Me – I have seen pictures of the old 1880s sleds for the Gravity Ride. It is like a sleigh. There were no reports of injuries. 🙂 And nobody was wearing protective gear, unless you consider top hats and bonnets protective.
Paul Schulte:
Seriously, man, I negotiated down from full body armor! But since “me” points out that there is a sheer cliff on one side, maybe I’ll invest in one of those wingsuits, or borrow my youngest daughter’s parachute and helmet cam. I still have several joints that have not been replaced yet.
So, you may be wondering if this kind of behavior runs in the family. It kind of does . . .
The morning of the day my youngest daughter graduated from college, she got up early to jump, and, because of the wind, ended up having to choose between landing against the side of a Holiday Inn or in a tree. She chose the tree — the parachute did not look good after they cut her down. She almost missed graduation. (And she works for a distillery.)
My eldest daughter was a champion intercollegiate boxer while attending a well-known military college.
So
me: No flowers, please. Send Scotch (or, given the date, Irish Whiskey) instead. I’ll be asking the same of my daughter — well, it won’t be Scotch, but they make a very passable rye.
Porkchop – was the tree incident directly related to working in the distillery? Glad you got down to just the helmet but when you ‘man up’ you are not supposed to negotiate. And what was the cost?
Porkchop: At least the luge has sides on both sides. Now I think that would be a great ride but Mountain on one side, sheer cliff on the other and not being able to handle heights (unless I’m in complete control) = terror. Your wife may be right……….. don the helmet and…Go For It Man! Oh, yes, let me know what hospital to send flowers to.