I Wasn't Aware that These Were Local Issues

I must be out of touch.

I had no idea that transsexuals, and concealed firearms were the most important issues facing me and my neighbors in rural Phillips County.

I would have thought the closing of the local retirement home -- one of seven shut down last year across the state -- or perhaps rail safety, would top the list. Maybe a general lack of rural health care or failing infrastructure in Montana’s small towns might pique constituents’ interest.

But no.

Apparently we’re more concerned about cross-dressers and shooting each other. That is if we believe the folks we elected to lead us.

The Republican-led state legislature spent an inordinate amount of time this session on transsexual issues of little importance to the average Montana.

Our local state representative, Casey Knudsen, R-Malta, is carrying a bill to amend the state constitution to allow us all to carry concealed weapons without a permit.

Both transsexuals and permit-less carry are national GOP talking points, but I wasn’t aware they were local issues.

Little did I know.

Republicans, it seems, have difficulty thinking for themselves.

While one of the reasons for the closure of the local retirement center was inadequate Medicaid reimbursement rates, which are set by the Legislature, this crop of legislators tells us the greater problem is sexual orientation.

Instead of addressing train safety in light of recent catastrophic derailments across the country, Knudsen chose to make it a right to hide a pistol in every Montanans’ pocket. We never know when we may have to shoot each other.

It’s not an original idea. A similar GOP push to arm the populace is currently under way in Florida.

There’s an old saying that all politics are local, but I’m not buying. Except for the fact that Knudsen is local, the issues he seems to care about aren’t.

His constituents live in a railroad town without a retirement home. He seems to have forgotten that, or more likely, is getting his orders from elsewhere.

I find it hard to believe that folks up here on the Hi-line spend much time thinking about trans issues.

And permit-less concealed carry? That’s simply embarrassing. We need to be better armed? Why? Isn’t one mass shooting a week enough?

But oh, yeah, that’s right. We’re Montanans. Like the governor said not too long ago, we can be trusted to make the right decisions.

Just not about suicide or drinking and driving, or voting, apparently.

Parker Heinlein is at [email protected]