Poor turnout

Last week, the voters of Missoula booted an incumbent commissioner in her primary and elected as county attorney a woman who left the CA’s office to defend a high-profile rape case. By “the voters of Missoula” I mean “one in four registered voters.” Turnout for last week’s primaries was dismally low, but they decided the offices of county attorney and sheriff nonetheless. Maybe those positions are too important to leave to the twisted reasoning of hardcore voters, and more of us should vote. That’s the bold position I take in my most recent column in the Missoula Independent, which also contains Valerie Stamey jokes. You should read it instead of a real blog today, and I should take a nap. We’ll be back tomorrow with Friday links.

This photo by Alex Sakariassen is quickly becoming the most-used image in Combat! history.

The sum news disseminators of western Montana are so close to producing one Ravalli County treasury item per day. This morning, we hear from KGVO that embattled treasurer Valerie Stamey claims no one has contacted her about the audit and investigation of her office. It’s possible that’s because she’s the primary object of that investigation. It’s possible that most government officials would not comment on an ongoing investigation, particularly not to imply that it is bullshit. But Stamey is not most government officials. My column today in the Missoula Independent tries to come up with a unifying theory of Stamey, based on her bizarre ad lib while leading Bitterroot Republicans in the Lord’s Prayer. Surely, someone who adds a joke to a prayer must be a particular kind of person, but what? “Sociopath” is too easy. We’ll be back tomorrow with Friday links.