It was early July and we were
trailing cattle from the Little Horn Parks up to the
high country. Each morning we threw a couple hundred
pair into the timber at the mouth of the trial and
let them mosey up to Sardine Lake during the heat of
the day. In early evening, we circled in behind the
stragglers and pushed them up the mile long, 1600
foot climbing trail. We would break out on top just
at dark and then dog trot back down to our spike
camp in the bottom of the Little Horn Canyon.
The second evening, a violent thunderstorm blew in,
but the dense timber of the deep canyon limited our
view of this growing monstrosity. Within minutes, we
were swallowed by darkness, and we scurried to get
the herd to the top and retreat back into the canyon
before the brunt of the storm clobbered us. We were
not successful. In the broken rims at timberline, we
became the scampering target of a spectacular
electrical storm.
The lightning was striking the rims all around us
and violently shattering the blackness with blinding
flashes of light. The booming thunder was muffled by
my mother’s instantaneous shrieks following every
lightning strike. (Apparently, Mom had forgotten the
inherent risks clause about being a rancher’s wife
and envisioned dying peacefully in her sleep back
home rather than being fried like a hotdog from a
lightning bolt—silly Mom.) Had the storm been
forecasted, we could have skipped the evening circle
and easily cleaned the trail the following morning.
This brings me to my point.
An equally dangerous, but predictable storm is
brewing today. One-third of Americans see it coming
and are bracing for impact, while one-third welcome
the storm as the perfect path to fundamentally
transform our republic into a Marxist utopia. (The
remaining third are sitting on the sofa watching
Oprah. Once the storm passes they will step out on
the porch and wonder what happened to their
country.) Ponder the three points of the extended
forecast.
Point one: Progressives have choked industry with
regulatory red-tape. A record 100 million Americans
no longer work, with 46.2 million on food stamps, so
annually this imbalance adds another trillion to our
16 trillion dollar debt. In less than a century,
American initiative, ingenuity, and self-reliance
has been transformed into perfect dependency on
government.
Point two: America’s cow herd is at record low
numbers (97.8 million) and we are facing a drought
larger than the 1930’s Dust Bowl. Subsidized ethanol
production shifts corn from food to fuel production
worsening the impact of the drought. Failure of our
grain crop in the Midwest affects our limited beef
supply, as well as the production of pork and
poultry. By decree, agencies such as the USDA and
EPA are regulating land, air, water and thereby its
production, so the government now has greater
control over all forages than ever. This forage is
available for livestock consumption in drought
stricken areas…with government permission. (The
phrase “government permission” is alarming.)
Point three: In the 1935 Dust Bowl there were 127
million Americans, today there are over 300 million.
Considering the above, guess what is forecast for
dinner? Yep, empty plates. It is maddening we stood
still while the progressives regulated our great
land of plenty into a land of lack. My three terms
in Montana’s House has taught me the progressives
will spin this predicament actually demonstrates the
need for expanding assistance programs; cuts are
simply out of the question. Never forget,
progressives feel charitable ladling watered down
soup into the bowls of an endless line of starving
Americans…especially when some other schmuck paid
for the soup.
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