I don't know about you, but I can't wait for this election to be over already. It's that point in the election cycle where the political ads have turned from simply annoying to downright disgraceful. Mudslinging and character assassination are the norm, but this year it seems like the national political powers that be have decided we Montanans are to get an extra helping of destructive class resentment in our ads.
You know the ads I'm talking about. The ones that slam people who moved to Montana decades ago and became wealthy building successful businesses here as "carpetbaggers" and "rich out-of-staters." Or how about the ones that attack candidates for owning a nice home they rent out to tourists on vacation.
Or the ones that sneer disapprovingly at people who *gasp* happen to have bought a nice ranch in central Montana. I have some questions for the people who write these ads: If becoming successful from building a business in Montana is not representative of "Montana values," then what is? And what good is a value system that doesn't celebrate the hard work, dedication, and smarts it takes to be a successful entrepreneur? Should Montanans never aspire to own a mansion in Big Sky or a nice piece of ranch land? Why not? Why should someone moving to Montana — bringing their families, jobs, businesses, talents, wealth etc. with them — be considered a bad thing? Genuinely, please explain that.
At what point exactly does someone who moves here become "Montanan"? I'm a fourt.