Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist. 78th Edition. We'd like to inform you that terrible things are being done in your name, edition.

The caption comes this week from a letter the publishers of The New Republic wrote to Stalin, when one of their reporters wrote back on atrocities being committed in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s. 

Crowd jeers Hageman at tense Laramie town hall. She calls them ‘hysterical.’: Wyoming’s lone congresswoman faced tough questions and angry constituents Wednesday night.

Not just Laramie, but also solidly Republican Rock Springs and Evanston.

Indeed, all over the country, when Republicans show up in their home districts.

Indeed, the event in Evanston was so notable that a populist apologist felt compelled to write an Op Ed for the Cowboy State Daily.

Jonathan Lange: Barbuto’s Miscalculation Released The Flying Monkeys

Lange you may, but probably don't, recognize as Rev. Lange of the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church, who has his own blog, Only Human.  He's reliably pro Trump and Pro Populist, which brings up one of the real ironies of populism, which is deeply religious people supporting a movement lead by some wildly irreligious people, as we've discussed elsewhere, so we'll only note that Trump is, in Christian terms, an adulterer living in an adulterous irregular relationship as well as being a serial liar, and Musk is an atheist.  Lange came to the attention of some in the state by opposing the successful bill to make child marriage illegal.

But we digress.

What's really notable, is that even here in deep Trump country people are really reacting to DOGE and aren't happy about it.

And that's not all they aren't happy about.

March 24, 2025

A coal mine near Kemmerer is laying off 28 workers.

Tesla chargers have been vandalized with swastikas in Rock Springs.

Kemmerer balked at an immigration detention center.

In far Western Wyoming coal continues to fail, as it will, as coal's days are over, but that hasn't caused deeply Republican Kemmerer to say "yes, we'll sign up for the deportation frenzy" and take an immigrant concentration camp.

Interesting.

Anyhow, I'll give Hageman credit for simply going to Laramie, where she must have known that she'd encounter real hostility.  But her response to a LGBTQ was really wrong headed in a city that's sought to overcome the murder of Matthew Shepard for decades.  

She called the crowd "hysterical".  They weren't hysterical, they were angry.

So far Hageman hasn't toured north of the Union Pacific, which is interesting.  I wonder why, sincerely?

Someone else who is touring is Bernie Sanders, and AoC.

They drew a crowd of 30,000 or more in Denver last week, which Sanders says is the largest crowd he's ever spoken to.

AoC is obviously considering running against the pathetic Chuck Schumer.

Also, in Colorado:

Walking the fine line of ‘all of the above’: Two Republicans from #Colorado add names to letter calling for restraint in gutting of #climate legislation — Allen Best (BigPivots.com) #ActOnClimate

One of the really interesting things that's starting to happen in the Trump world is the same thing that happened in the Socialist left world during the 20s and 30s, that being the belief that the dear leader doesn't know about what the Party is doing.  I saw this on Facebook, which is just about as far to the left as Wyomingite's normally go, from somebody who is about as far to the right as possible.

So again, in our home State of Wyoming, the left wing lunacy continues to try to rob Wyoming of more original beauty. My understanding is that the Duncan Ranch was to be used for Agriculture and ag based education only. How is it that these are even being considered?!?! Anyone that knows this area can attest to its beauty yet now, that is threatened. I warned people that the State Lands and BLM would be the next spots for these to be in the crosshairs. Those who have allowed these on their private property have opened the door for them to continue to push for this failed technology. So here it is, they want to build on public ground like it's no big deal. There are already whispers of eminent domain coming into play for the future of these cancers as well. It must stop! There is absolutely nothing green about the agenda they push. Wyoming is Oil, Gas, Coal  Agriculture, and Tourism. We are not some waistland where you can just stand your turbines up and collect a check. Our Natural Resources are the reason our State isn't bankrupt like the liberals who surround us. Why are we so worried about pandering to these other states that don't follow or respect our way of life? At one time a few years ago, the Natrona County Commissioners agreed 4 to 1 to allowing all of these turbines just North of Casper at 20 Mile Hill. They did so even tho there was standing room only in the courthouse in opposition. So now, there are windturbines in our back yard. It's sickening. Blinking lights at night as far as you can see. The beautiful sunrise that generations of my family has enjoyed for years is now ruined by towering monstrocies.  However, when it came time to vote on those commissioners who's term was up, WE THE PEOPLE replaced them. Now, we have a commission who is strong for the people. The most recent green deal that came before these new commissioners for approval got shot down 3 to 2. They understand Wyoming doesn't want this crap in our back yard.

My point is, whoever is not standing for Wyoming, needs voted out and if we want to protect our Wyoming and our tax dollars, these projects need to be met with lots of opposition by, "We The People".

The Duncan Ranch, which this individual is worried about, justifiably, is not in Natrona County.  It's in Converse County, which never saw any kind of industrial project of any kind it didn't like.  And the rancher, and that's what he is, who is upset, is justifiably upset, but he's being about as green and distributist as can be, and doesn't know it.

Anyhow, these projects weren't backed by a bunch of raving environmentalist here.

Hydrogen project major wind farm at & near Duncan Ranch, seeks state approval this week

They were backed by major heavy industry.  And by the county its in, which has supported every single one of these projects without question.  Indeed, the only County Commission which didn't support one was the Natrona County Commission, which actually was largely made up of the same people who had supported the prior ones in the county, in spite of what the Facebook fellow says.  I think there's only one new Commissioner.

Trump seems backed by billionaires.  

People don't really seem happy with what's actually occurring.

By the way, one of the things that's occurring is that the Trump Administration is going to require you appear in person to apply for Social Security. . . while they're also closing Social Security offices.  Rock Spring's office is being closed.  Casper's isn't listed, but the entire building is suggested to be sold, which could mean that Casperites would have to probably drive three hours to Cheyenne, or five to Denver.

Not to worry, no billionaire will be harmed by this decision.

Postscript:

From Rep Hageman's newsletter:

Rock Springs Social Security Office Update

Late last week, we began receiving calls from constituents concerned by a media article reporting that the Rock Springs Social Security Office was closing. I immediately reached out to the agency and was able to confirm that the allegation was inaccurate. The agency has canceled the lease for an ancillary hearing room it no longer uses, and those hearings will now be held at an alternative location, but the office itself will remain open. You can read more about the new SSA efficiencies here.

Last edition:

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist. 77th Edition. A bridge too far?

Labels: Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, Russo Ukrainian War, The Second Trump Administration, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Vladimir Zelinsky, Zeitgeist

Saturday, February 21, 1925. A Republican President declares American Forest Week.

Fapper Fanny for this day in 1925.

There used to be an era when Republicans cared about conservation.

Declaring American Forest Week

Date: February 21, 1925 

In proclaiming American Forest Week, I desire to bring to the attention of all our people the danger that comes from the neglect of our forests.

For several years the Nation has observed Forest Protection Week. It is fitting that this observance be enlarged. We have too freely spent the rich and magnificent gift that nature bestowed on us. In our eagerness to use that gift we have stripped our forests; we have permitted fires to lay waste and devour them; we have all too often destroyed the young growth and the seed from which new forests might spring. And though we already feel the first grip of timber shortage, we have barely begun to save and restore.

We have passed the pioneer stage and are no longer excusable for continuing this unwise dissipation of a great resource. To the Nation it means the lack of an elemental necessity and the waste of keeping idle or only partly productive nearly one-fourth of our soil. To our forest-using industries it means unstable investments, the depletion of forest capital, the disbanding of established enterprises, and the decline of one of our most important industrial groups.

Our forests ought to be put to work and kept at work. I do not minimize the obstacles that have to be met, nor the difficulty of changing old ideas and practices. We must all put our hands to this common task. It is not enough that the Federal, State, and local governments take the lead. There must be a change in our national attitude. Our industries, our landowners, our farmers, all our citizens must learn to treat our forests as crops, to be used but also to be renewed. We must learn to tend our woodlands as carefully as we tend our farms.

Let us apply to this creative task the boundless energy and skill we have so long spent in harvesting the free gifts of nature. The forests of the future must be started to-day. Our children are dependent on our course. We are bound by a solemn obligation from which no evasion and no subterfuge will relieve us. Unless we fulfill our sacred responsibility to unborn generations, unless we use with gratitude and with restraint the generous and kindly gifts of Divine Providence, we shall prove ourselves unworthy guardians of a heritage we hold in trust.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States of America, do recommend to the Governors of the various States to designate and set apart the week of April 27 – May 3, inclusive, 1925, as American Forest Week, and, wherever practicable and not in conflict with State law or accepted customs, to celebrate Arbor Day within that week. And I urge public officials, public and business associations, industrial leaders, forest owners, editors, educators, and all patriotic citizens to unite in the common task of forest conservation and renewal.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

DONE at the city of Washington this twenty-first day of February in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and forty-ninth.

The New Yorker premiered.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Aleksandar Tsankov declared that an internal state of war existed in the country.

David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was born in Fresno, California.  Growing up in a family that had strong rural Californian roots, he was haunted in some ways by passing eras, which shows itself in his films.  He was a film making genius whose works were nonetheless flawed by his wreckless demeanor and drug and alcohol abuse.

It was, of course, a Saturday.

Last edition:

Wednesday, February 18, 1925. Mayflower Hotel opens.

Labels: 1920s, 1925, actors and actresses, Lodging, Washington DC

Sunday, February 8, 1925. The Lost World.

The Lost World premiered.

Parliamentary elections were held in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes with the People's Radical Party (Narodna radikalna stranka or NRS), led by Prime Minister Nikola Pašić gaining 15 seats. The populist party had evolved from a radical populist socialist party into a conservative one.

Actor Jack Lemmon was born in an elevator in Newton, Massachusetts.

Lemmon was a great actor, but personally highly insecure, something that perhaps reflects itself in his portrayal of worried characters, of which there are some very notable performances.  He died in 2001 at age 76.

Radical environmentalist Alice Mabel Gray died at age 43.

Last edition:

Monday, February 2, 1915. Serum run concludes.

Labels: 1920s, 1925, 1925 Serum Run, actors and actresses, Aircraft, Calvin Coolidge, Mail, Retail, Work

Tuesday, December 16, 1924. Looking back.

The Spanish confiscation (Desamortización española) law, authorizing the government of Spain to steal the property and lands of the Catholic Church, a popular enlightenment and Reformation despoliation that happened in many places, was repealed. 

The barbarity had been in place since 1766.

Amongst other things, the law resulted in millions of acres of forest falling into private hands, being deforested, with the cost of reforestation exceeding the value of their sales.  The confiscations of the 19th Century were one of the biggest environmental disasters in Iberian history.

The Supreme Court of Hungary confiscated the property of former president Mihály Károlyi for high treason. He had been convicted of negotiating with Italy in 1915 to keep the Italians out of World War One in exchange for Austrian territory, and for allowing a communist revolution to happen in 1919 by deserting his position.

Last edition:

Saturday, December 13, 1924. Albanian invasion.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, Albania, Art, Yugoslavia

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

 

Going Feral: Destruction of the wild.

Going Feral: Destruction of the wild.:   

Destruction of the wild.

 

Not-so Muddy Mountain Road

Great.

Making a formerly pretty wild area an effective city park.

This is just the kind of bullshit that ruins everything.

I hope the 4x4s coming off the muddy roads rip this newly paved road to shreds as soon as possible.

Clearly a bitter post on my part.

I"ve gone up the existing Muddy Mountain Road since I was a child.  I've hiked up the one that preceded it as well numerous times when the current road was closed, something that's declined in enjoyment as the motorized ATV crowd goes up and down the same road getting to listen to the racket their vehicles make (you can literally hear them for miles).

There's a lot about this that's flat out wrong.  One of those things is the absolute hypocrisy of Wyomingites, or in this case Natrona County residents, who loudly proclaim that the government shouldn't spend money on this or that, and then turn right around and subsidize the paving of a road for no reason, other than to allow people to flood the back country more easily, and with less effort.  The road literally serves no purpose other than recreation, that's it, and makes it easier for people to get there with no real effort.

Indeed, the existing road was a good one, and had I been around when it was put in, I probably would be p.o.ed as well.  

Meanwhile, in the winter, the same department that put in this road, if we have snow, won't be able to plow out the county roads that service the oilfield and ranches.

Earth Day, 2024. Native to this place.

We have become a more juvenile culture. We have become a childish "me, me, me" culture with fifteen-second attention spans. The global village that television was supposed to bring is less a village than a playground...

Little attempt is made to pass on our cultural inheritance, and our moral and religious traditions are neglected except in the shallow "family values" arguments.

Wes Jackson, Becoming Native to This Place

Today is Earth Day, 2024.

In "Red State", which now means more than it used to as the Reds in the Red States are supporting the Russian effort to conquer Ukraine, and hence are aligned with what the old Reds would have wanted, it's not going to mean all that much.  I don't expect there to be much in the way of civil observances.

I saw a quote by somebody whose comments I wouldn't normally consider, that being Noam Chomsky, in which he asserted that a certain class of people who are perceived (not necessarily accurately) as something beyond evil, as they're putting all of humanity in jeopardy for a "few dollars" when they already have far more than they need.  That is almost certainly unfair.  Rather, like so much else in human nature, mobilizing people to act contrary to their habits is just very hard.  And some people will resist any concept that those habits are harmful in any fashion.

Perhaps, therefore, a bitter argument is on what people love.  People will sacrifice for that, and here such sacrifices as may be needed on various issues are likely temporary ones.

Of course, a lot of that gets back to education, and in this highly polarized time in which we live, which is in part because we're hearing that changes are coming, and we don't like them, and we've been joined by people here locally recently who have a concept of the local formed by too many hours in front of the television and too few in reality.  We'll have to tackle that.  That'll be tough, right now, but a lot of that just involves speaking the truth.

While it has that beating a horse aspect to it, another thing we can't help but noting, and have before, is that an incredible amount of resistance to things that would help overall society are opposed by those who are lashed to their employments in nearly irrevocable ways.  In this fashion, the society that's actually the one most likely to be able to preserver on changed in some fashions are localist and distributist ones.   Chomsky may think that what he is noting is somehow uniquely tied to certain large industries, but in reality the entire corporate capitalist one, which of course he is no fan of, as well as socialist ones, which he is, are driven by concepts of absolute scale and growth.  That's a systematic culture that's very hard to overcome and on a local scale, when people are confronted with it, they'll rarely acknowledge that their opposition is based on something that's overall contrary to what they otherwise espouse.  We see that locally right now, where there are many residents opposed to a local gravel pit, who otherwise no doubt make their livings from the extractive industries.

But I'd note that this hasn't always been the case here.  It was much less so before the influx of outsiders who stayed after the most recent booms.  And that too gives us some hope, as the people who are of here and from here, like people of and from anywhere they're actually from, will in fact act for the place.

Related threads:

• An Agrarian Manifesto

Today

Blog Mirror: Earth Day Resolutions That Will Actually Help the Earth (hint: A Meatless Life Isn’t One of Them)

Earth Day, 2022

Lex Anteinternet: Some odd things you can do for the environment on Earth Day that may or may not have occurred to you.

Today is Earth Day for 2021. . .

Earth Day, 2020

Earth Day, 2019

Today In Wyoming's History: April 22

Wednesday, April 12, 1944. Soviet invasion of Romania fails, Withdrawal of Crimea commences, Victor Emmanuel makes retirement plans.

The First Battle of Târgu Frumos, the attempted Soviet invasion of Romania, which the Soviets and Russians don't really agree was attempted, ended in Axis victory.

On the same day, the Germans began withdrawing from Crimea, which was rapidly falling far behind Soviet lines.  The Red Army occupied Tiraspol, northwest of Odessa.

Romanian destroyer Regele Ferdinand.

The evacuation was by sea, and it was one of the most significant operations of the Romanian Navy during World War Two, with both the Romanian and German navies taking part.  In spite of Soviet efforts,  7,000 German and Romanian troops from Crimea in phase one of the operation, and 113,000 would ultimately be taken out.  This was impressive, but has to be balanced against the decision in error not to withdraw from Crimea earlier, which was due to Hilter's instance that it not occur.  Axis personnel losses during the evacuation were in fact massive.

King Victor Emmanuel announced plans to step down from office and appoint Crown Prince Umberto of Piedmont "Lieutenant of the Realm" upon the Allies taking Rome, which they were having trouble doing.

The I-174 was sunk off of Truk by a B-24.

The National Religious Broadcasters Association was founded in Columbus, Ohio following the Federal Council of Churches proposing to ban paid religious programming and limit broadcast personalities to individuals approved by their denominations which would have effectively removed Evangelicals from the airwaves.  The Association sought to preserve Evangelical access to the airwaves.

Religious broadcasting was different at the time. While there was some Catholic broadcasting, it was really quite limited and would remain so until the establishment of EWTN in 1981.  Most broadcasting was accordingly Protestant.

Improvising.

 

Service truck made stateside on base from Dodge WC. April 12, 1944.

1940s, 1944, 3/4 ton, 4x4, Dodge, Dodge WC, Dodge Weapons Carrier, U.S. Army, World War Two

The Summer Lake State Game Management Area was established by the State of Oregon.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, April 11, 1944. Plowing.

1940s, 1944, Aircraft, boats and ships, Boston Massachusetts, Crimea, Equine Transportation, Netherlands, Pacific, Red Army, U.S. Air Force, Victory Gardens, World War Two

Missing the point: Blog Mirror; Dennis Sun: Biden's Climate Change Actions Will Be & How They Affect Agriculture

From the Cowboy State Daily:

Dennis Sun: Biden's Climate Change Actions Will Be & How They Affect Agriculture

The real thing that will affect agriculture, particularly the beef industry, is in failing to attempt to arrest climate change.

I've long been utterly baffled by; 1) grazers failure to get a clue over climate change, and 2) ongoing agricultural admiration for the Republican Party.

More than anyone, those who graze ought to be able to freakin' wake up and notice that the climate ain't what it used to be.  I'll hear ranchers talk about it, but they seem incapable of closing the circle. Gee, it's been warm. Gee, it's been dry. Gee, we have no grass.

D'uh.

But climate change? Nope, not happening.

Now there are some exceptions. The late Pat O'Toole, who married into a Carbon County ranching family, was one.  But by and large ranchers simply refuse to believe that something is happening, even while worrying about what is happening.

Hmmm. . . 

And ironically, practices in the industry which gave it a larger carbon footprint are quite recently  Older ranchers can easily look back on an industry that wasn't diesel powered.

On the GOP, ranchers seem to have a really dedicated belief that the Republican Party protects their ability to do what they want.  In reality, the Democrats have preserved ranch lands themselves. The GOP is more of the development party, which never ends up actually benefitting ranchers.  I'll them complain about this too, but not close the circle.  Why is this oil company in my pasture?  Why are squatters trailers showing up all over.  Why are out of state rich buying this up and not doing anything about it?

Why indeed?

Maybe because of how we vote and whose support we choose to ignore.

Southern Rockies Nature Blog: Greens and Guns

Southern Rockies Nature Blog: Greens and Guns: Ted William's recent article in Audobon lambastes hunters, anglers, and environmental activists for failing to make common cause. In ...

Interesting comment.

I have long thought this very thing. 

Saturday, February 3, 1823. Spencer Fullerton Baird, First U.S. Fish Commissioner, born.

 

Spencer Fullerton Baird, First U.S. Fish Commissioner, Born (1823)

Going Feral: Match makers.

Going Feral: Match makers.: 

Match makers.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service captured a Mexican Wolf (a type of wolf, not a wolf that is literally from Mexico) in hopes of that she'll breed with one of two captive Mexican Wolves at a facility in New Mexico.

The US is attempting to restore the endangered population.

Messed Up Animal Ecology. Why you can't separate out your favorite animal, and demonize your least favorite, and make a lick of sense.

The other night on the local news, some guy from some environmental outfit was yapping about "wild horses", equating them "with other wild animals like deer and elk", and suggesting that cattle need to be removed from the range.

One of the things he brought up about cattle were their numbers, in comparison to "wild" horses.

His argument was intellectually bereft, but then arguments in this area often are.

Winslow Homer painting of a (fairly thin looking) plow horse.  Lots of "chunks" were let go in the 30s when their owners droughted out, their descendants still roaming the range today.

There are no wild horses in North America at all.

None, nada, zippo, "0".

There are a little over 64,000 feral horses, all in the West, in the Western United States.  If we include burros, which at least nobody pretends are a wild animal, there are 82,000 feral equines.  

All wild equines stem, at the very oldest, from animals that were brought on to the continent in 1519.  Quite a few probably don't really have any Spanish blood in their veins at all, and hail from horses much more recently brought in. There's fairly good evidence that in the upper West horses came down out of Canada, not up from Mexico.  

Some poor coureur des bois awakened one morning, in other words, and thought "Chu dans marde! Mon cheval est parti!"

"Bourgeois" W---r, and His Squaw" by Alfred Jacob Miller, depicting a coureur des bois and his Native American spouse.  This is a famous painting, but we're not supposed to like it now.  One art museum notes about it:  "These words, which shaped how Miller's contemporaries viewed the watercolors, reveal the racism and sexism embedded in 19th-century exploration and colonization of the western part of what is today the United States."  Oh, horse crap.  Most trappers were culturally French, and the French had intermixed with the native population from day one.  This could just as easily be "guy and his wife."  The comment itself imposed an Anglo-American view on a Franco-American and Native American landscape.

Moreover, the introduction date to the Native Americans, at least on the Northern Plains, is much more recent than supposed, and even then, they didn't take them right up.  Indeed, among the Shoshone it produced a big argument, with the arguers, mostly young men, taking off and acquiring the name "The Arguers", i.e., Comanche.

In the 1930s, a lot of farmers in the West droughted out and simply let their horses go, including stocky draft horses, i.e., "chunks". Then again, in the 1970s the numbers of wild horses expanded as recent imports abandoned pasture pets out on the range and went back to their homes in Port Arthur, or wherever, and even now some of that happens.  The majestic broom tail of the range today may have been Little Becky's 4H project before she left for UW, died her hair purple, and started protesting for Hamas.

Okay, so what about cows?

Long horn in a herd of Angus or Black Baldies.  I'm not really sure how this bovine ended up in this herd.

They came in at just about the same time, or earlier.  Cattle were brought to the Caribbean as early as 1493 by Columbus, which is really early.  "In 1492 Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue", but in 1493 the livestock truck, basically, pulled up to the dock.  Cows can and do go wild, but nobody gets very romantic about it, and there isn't a Wild and Free Ranging Cow Act.  Nobody goes by the moniker "Wild Cow Annie".  A wild cow we had went rogue and recruited other cows to her rogue wild cow band, which shows how wild they can get.  A neighboring rancher, caught her and shipped her as a menace. We got the check, and were happy for that end.

There are about 90,000,000 head of cattle in the United States as of this past summer, down from 100,000,000 in 1998.  

Okay, that's a lot of cows.

Which bring back our ignorant protagonist's point.  Before Columbus came and said "let's stock this range and lose some horses doing it", he seems to argue, the rangeland was empty of large ungulates.

Um, nope.

There were something like 50,000,0000 to 75,000,000 buffalo.

But, gee, Yeoman, that would mean that the entire ungulate supporting range of North America has always had a lot of large ungulates on it. . . 

Yep, that's what it means.

Currently, there are about 20,500 Plains bison in wild herds and an additional 420,000 in commercial herds, which we are supposed to pretend are wild herds.

Given our inability to accurately state how many head of anything were on the Pre Columbian landmass, what this basically tells you is the ungulate population hasn't changed very much.  Overall populations of large wild animals, i.e., "big game" are way up, however, due to water projects and farmed fields.

So the entire Cow Bad/Horse Good argument is pretty flawed.

Now, the line of last defense on this is that cows cause global warming. That's because cows fart.

Buffalo don't.

Umm. . . 

Well, buffalo do, but only Febreeze.

Well, no, they fart methane too.

In reality, all mammals fart, but some fart more than they otherwise would due to diet.  You already know this due to your coworker who has, every day, the Lumberjack Special at Hefty Portions for breakfast, followed by the Ejército del Norte special at El Grande Conquistador for lunch, a quart of scotch around 2:00 p.m., and goes home and has his spouse's Roast Wildebeest Surprise for dinner (all Keto approved, of course).  The only real argument here, therefore, is that maybe cattle ought not to be finished off on corn, which they probably wouldn't normally do unless somebody left a gate down. That likely makes them gassy.

Lascaux painting of aurochs, approximately 36,000 years ago.  Note also the deer/roebucks and horse depicted.

Taking this out worldwide, I'd note, cattle are native to the entire rest of the planet in some form, save for Australia.  Wild cattle ranged Europe, Asia and Africa.  They aren't new here, and they've been wondering around chewing their cuts and farting for longer than we've been a species.

So back to environmental destruction.

The first real notable example of it was Cottonwood bottoms in the American West.  During the winter, buffalo hang out in them.  Feral horses took it up.  And mounted Native Americans, who previously had a pretty limited impact on the environment, did too.

But you can't really say anything about that.

Blog Mirror: Fill ‘er up: #Colorado’s reservoirs hit 100% of normal for the first time in 3 years — Water Education Colorado

 

Fill ‘er up: #Colorado’s reservoirs hit 100% of normal for the first time in 3 years — Water Education Colorado

The Baggage Train.

Going back to that WyoFile editorial, one of the replying letters stated this:

Sorry Kerry, buy you couldn’t be more wrong about Harriet Hageman – you made the mistake of trying to predict how she will be judged in history on one issue which will rapidly decrease in importance as Trump goes down in flames.

The only way to predict how Harriet will be viewed in her new roll as a Representative is to do an in-depth review or her substantial record in the courts – particularly the Federal court system. Its my understanding she has been one of the most successful and foremost natural resource attorneys in the United States and has argued cases at the highest level. To understand her experience in this field of natural resources one must recognize there are less than 10 really experienced individuals in Wyoming who have proven over the years their expertise in the field of natural resources. They include Jill Morrison, Doug Thompson, Ken Hamilton, Angus Theumer, Dan Hielig, Karen Budd Falen, Harriet Hageman and maybe a few more. Harriet is near the top of this distinguished list of competence.

The bottom line is that Harriet can be expected to be one of the most knowledgeable natural resource experts to ever be elected to Congess. If she equals or exceeds her past performance she will have a major impact on natural resource issues in the house. It will be important to see which committees she is appointed to and whether she can put together a staff of truly talented experienced natural resource experts.

Her unique experience as a natural resource attorney positions her to write amendments to legislation, existing laws which could redefine the ESA, Clean Water Act, Wild Horse and Burro Act, Wilderness designations, etc. and do this in a House of Representatives controlled by the Republications at least for the next 2 years. Never under estimate a person who has proven over and over that she is all about competence, competence, competence. The Donald Trump thing will wilt in the very near future and we’ll see Harriet in the legislative setting instead of the court room setting. Will she be as successful in Congress as she has been in the courts. Based on past performance, I think Harriet will be as influential.

This taps into something that's been bothering me throughout this election, or rather, maybe several somethings.

Those are; 1) when does "being a lawyer" credit you as a candidate, and when does it discredit you, in the public eye, 2) does the propaganda on lawyers match the reality, 3) does anyone really believe that having been a successful lawyer in private practice means you're going to be a big wheel in Congress, and 4) if Hageman's record is correctly cited, why would we support it?

First, a disclaimer, which I've noted before. As noted here, I knew Hageman slightly at one time.  Early on, because of her circle of friends, I frankly assumed she was a left wing Democrat.  At that time she was shy and hardly spoke, so my assumption was probably way off, but if it was way off, she was a unique personality in that her friends must have been way outside of her political beliefs.

That actually credits a person.

Indeed, one of the people like me, who had friends that were in her circle of friends, is mentioned in the letter above.  And that person definitely has very left wing beliefs and is married to one of Hageman's school year friends who also have very left wing beliefs, at least based on their views at the time, and their careers since.

Interesting.

It's additionally interesting as that person would most likely be on the opposite end of the spectrum on all the issues listed.

That brings up the point that lawyers careers tend to reflect the work that was available when they started off.  It doesn't necessarily reflect their personal views.  In the case of the person I'm thinking of above, it does, as their choices in career paths would reflect that.  In at least one other person listed above, it probably does as well, although they took a big diversion from their pathway at one time.

Hageman?  

Well, I don't know.  She did seem to develop, from what little I know of it, a career that focused a lot on water law at one time and then branched into something else, that being the representation of far right interests on various land and environmental issues.  I know of her representing a super wealthy import on a house construction case, however. Perhaps that was a favor of some kind.

Most lawyers actually are at least a little left of center.  Even the self-proclaimed right wing lawyers I know tend to actually be left of center, a little.  I've met a few really right wing lawyers, but in those cases one was a fellow who was so wealthy he really didn't have to do anything, and who came from a very conservative background (I also know a very left wing lawyer who was so wealthy the lawyer didn't actually have to do anything).

Of the three really right wing lawyers I've known over the years, two of them were from, you guessed it, somewhere else.

Is Hageman really right wing?  Well, she is now, and has no choice but to be.  Her father was a right wing legislator, and she's from Ft. Laramie, so if she is, she probably came by it naturally.  If she originally wasn't, she is now, and she has to be.

Which will make her irrelevant in Congress.

Which, in an out-of-order sort of way, brings us to number 3 on our list "3) does anyone really believe that having been a successful lawyer in private practice means you're going to be a big wheel in Congress"?

I can't think of any examples.  Can you?

Let's start with the letter writers citations here:

The bottom line is that Harriet can be expected to be one of the most knowledgeable natural resource experts to ever be elected to Congess.

Well, setting aside Herbert Hoover, maybe.

Hoover was a mining engineer. 

If she equals or exceeds her past performance she will have a major impact on natural resource issues in the house. I

How so?  Legal work is presenting your case to a jury or judge, and in this line of country, probably mostly to a judge.

That, frankly, doesn't mean squat in terms of arguing policy in Congress. 

The House of Representatives has 435 members, who all think of themselves as being the judges.  And unlike a real judge, they aren't, and don't have to be, constrained by what the law is and, while they should be constrained by the facts, they have never been.

They also all think themselves equal in their expertise to you, and really don't give a rats ass what your pre Congress career is.

Put another way, does anyone really think that AoC is going to think, "wow, Harriet, you know so much, I'm going your way!"  Or, for that matter, that Keven McCarthy is going to think "I struggled for years and sold my soul to become Speaker of the House, but I'm deferring to you Harriet".

Not bloody likely.

Particularly, and this is important for Wyomingites to realize, the House represents the population of the United States, which is about 70% aligned against what Harriet is seems to be for, based on her record.

Which takes us to this:

Her unique experience as a natural resource attorney positions her to write amendments to legislation, existing laws which could redefine the ESA, Clean Water Act, Wild Horse and Burro Act, Wilderness designations, etc. and do this in a House of Representatives controlled by the Republications at least for the next 2 years. 

Bar har har har!

Uh huh. The House is Republican, barely. 

The Senate, isn't.

The Oval Office, isn't.

You have to be delusional to believe that any legislation is coming out of the House with a right wing point of view on the ESA, the Clean Water Act, the Wild Horse and Burro Act, or Wilderness designations in the next two years.  

No freakin' way.

And if the last several elections cycles have shown, the rules about when houses switch are now broken.  If Donald Trump continues to whip the ass cart towards the cliff, the chances are just as good that you end up with a Democratic House and Senate in 2024.

Particularly if the GOP Rockettes in the form of Marjorie "Jewish Space Laser" Taylor Green and Lauren "Insurrection Barbie" continue to draw so much press.  Far right House female  House figures look more evil female villains in Marvel Comics right now that serious policymakers.  If you are a far right angry congresswoman, and that's the presentation that Hageman has given so far, firmly riding the Trump Ass Cart, do you really think you'll be taken as a serious potential policymaker?

Indeed, does any Wyoming politician have that street cred right now?  Senator Barrasso did at one time, but the GOP has seemed to use him recently to personally blame Joe Biden for gas prices when they go up, but not credit him when they go down.  Lummis might be faring the best right now, and she's clearly working on breaking away from the Wyoming GOP, with her sights set on a cabinet position in a future GOP administration she figures won't be Trump's.

Indeed, how the next two years go, with Lummis acting independently and Hageman beholden to Trump, will be interesting. 

And frankly, most Wyomingites aren't haters of Wilderness. Out on the street, it's easy to find Republican Wyomingites who would add more. That's an upper level GOP thing and one of the many examples of how they are out of sink with the electorate. Same with the Clean Water Act.  You can get visceral reactions to the ESA mostly because the right has hated it since day one. 

The Wild Horse & Burro Act matters to ranchers, and I don't like it, but most people don't think about it at all.

All of which is to say that I don't expect any Congressional action at all in these areas.  In 2024, the Wild Horse and Burro Act, the ESA, etc., will all be there, and Harriet Hageman's opinions on them will not have mattered one bit.

Which covers not only topic 3, but topic 4.

What about topic 2?

Well, maybe, in her case. The New York Times supported that view, that she was a lawyer who worked against environmental regulation for decades, and they're surely no fans of Hageman.

Well, what about 1.  Funny how that works.  If somebody's a lawyer, and their views seem to agree with yours, that means a lot. If they're a lawyer, and their views differ, they're a dirty bastard.  The High Country News, before she was a candidate or even close to being one, in 2009, stated the same thing, more or less.  So that claim seems to be correct.

But again, does that credit you?

Witness the Secretary of State election.  Chuck Gray complained that Tara Nethercott was a lawyer and was only campaigning for the salary, an absurd proposition. First thing he does his hire a lawyer to be on his staff.

Weird how that worked.

Which gets back to the letter writers point that we don't know how we're judged in history, until we're judged in history.  His point is that Hageman may overcome having a front row seat on the careering ass cart due to her background and skills.

And maybe she will.

But in order to do that, she'll have to get out of the ass cart quick, as otherwise she's just going to be wrecked baggage. And that's not an easy thing to.

"Tail Gunner" Joe McCarthy.  Richard Milhouse Nixon.

Two conservatives who didn't react, when they could have, both of whom might have been very much differently remembered than they are today.  By the time that McCarthy hauled in the Army in front of the House Committee on Un American Affairs, the bloom was off the Communist under every bush rose.  He should have known that and wrapped things up, stating they'd gone as far as they could, and have gotten back to things later. Instead, he rode that wagon over a cliff.  

Nixon should have exposed the Watergate burglars. He didn't order them to actually do anything. If he had, he'd have completed his second term, destroyed the negative evidence against him, and be remembered as the President who got us out of Vietnam.

Part of taking trips into dangerous territory with the baggage train is knowing when to leave it.