fly fishing, conservation and politics.
I don’t agree with Jeff Flake on much but he sure got this right.
The free press is the despot’s enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy. When a figure in power reflexively calls any press that doesn’t suit him “fake news,” it is that person who should be the figure of suspicion, not the press.”
Journalists play a major role in the promotion and protection of democracy and our unalienable rights, and they must be able to do their jobs freely. Only truth and transparency can guarantee freedom.”
Source: Mr. President, stop attacking the press – The Washington Post
Brooks ask the right questions. So where are we headed? As an advocate and journalist I will continue to strive for excellence and I refuse to accept the “Trump standard of acceptable behavior.”
In every war, nations come to resemble their enemies, so I suppose it’s normal that the anti-Trump movement would come to resemble the pro-Trump movement. But it’s not good. I’ve noticed a lot of young people look at the monotonous daily hysteria of we anti-Trumpers and they find it silly.
This isn’t just a struggle over a president. It’s a struggle over what rules we’re going to play by after Trump. Are we all going to descend permanently into the Trump standard of acceptable behavior?
Or, are we going to restore the distinction between excellence and mediocrity, truth and a lie? Are we going to insist on the difference between a genuine expert and an ill-informed blow hard? Are we going to restore the distinction between those institutions like the Congressional Budget Office that operate by professional standards and speak with legitimate authority, and the propaganda mills that don’t?
There’s a hierarchy of excellence in every sphere. There’s a huge difference between William F. Buckley and Sean Hannity, between the reporters at this newspaper and a rumor-spreader. Part of this struggle is to maintain those distinctions, not to contribute to their evisceration.
O’Dell Creek holds a special place in my heart.
The first time I saw it was in August 2006 with Alex Diekmann. Alex and I worked together at the Trust for Public Land; he was a project manager, and I was a lobbyist. He found the places to protect, and I helped find the resources to try and protect them. One of the last times I was with Alex we fished O’Dell together.
The O’Dell project as it has come to be known is the conservation vision and hard work of Jeff Lazlo. Jeff has made O’Dell Creek wetlands restoration an award winning model for citizen-driven conservation. In doing so he created a source of cold, clean water and a haven and breeding ground for native cutthroats in the Madison River.
Alex’s death was a blow to many of us, but his legacy of fishing and conservation I am delighted to say lives on in his youngest son Liam.
Liam writes of fishing and conservation for Mountain Journal. His latest article, For Every Great Trout Stream, There’s a Conservation Map, is his story about working on Lazlo’s, Granger Ranch, home to O’Dell Creek.
I thought the way you learned about trout was by catching them. But my project taught me how and why a good trout stream exists. Clean, cold water filled with healthy amounts of natural fish food doesn’t just happen.”
Liam is a fine young outdoor writer, and his work reflects a conservation ethos steeped in things he learned at his mother’s and father’s side. His articles in Mountain Journal are worth the read.
If you don’t know Mountain Journal, it is a new publication keeping a weather eye on the Yellowstone ecosystem. They are a not-for-profit public interest journalism outfit, check it out and shoot them a few buck so they can keep lights on and the presses running.
Don’t tell me you vote doesn’t count! The only time your vote doesn’t count is when you don’t vote.
Shelly Simonds the won by one vote in the recount. She was the Democratic candidate for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. Her win creates a 50-50 split in the Virginia House.
There is no mechanism for breaking ties in the House. It will all come down to deal making.
Source: In Virginia, a 11,608-to-11,607 Lesson in the Power of a Single Vote
E.J. Dionne in the WaPo sums it up nicely.
The key to corruption is operating in the dark. This bill is a mess of opaque provisions that almost no one outside the ranks of tax lobbyists understands — because many of these giveaways were written or inspired by lobbyists themselves.Needlessly rushing a massive special-interest tax bill through Congress is the antithesis of good government. This doesn’t seem to matter anymore, even to Republicans who built reputations as champions of moderation, openness and rectitude.
Source: Republicans are joining a festival of corruption – The Washington Post
