Professional wrestling returns to Great Falls, with the top card match beginning Tuesday at 9:30 AM December 12 in the EXPO Park arena.
The tag team match pits the Mayhem Boys against the team of Saint Joans of Arc in an epic struggle to determine who runs the Cascade County Elections office. It looks to be a down-for-the-count exciting event of which we have not seen in quite a few years.
What makes this contest unique is that a team of two men, Briggs and Larson, will be going tooth and nail against a team of two women, Merchant and Grulkowski. At this point we do not know who will be doing the announcing, but it should be worth the price of admission for sure.
Fans of both teams are lining up to provide plenty of hoots and hollers.
Backing the Boys are the Great Falls School District, the local Democratic Party, and Election Protection Committee. The Saint Joans are backed by over 14,000 voters and the vast majority of Republicans.
There will be no pre match before the main event, so get there early. At this point we do not know if beer and corn nuts will be available.
A few things you should know about the so-called ‘Election Protection Committee’ here in Great Falls – it is NOT a local government commission, nor is it a legally appointed committee. Their ads appearing on the front page of the Great Falls Tribune as local mail-in ballots are being received by eligible City election voters is just another dirty trick from the local Democratic machine and the complicit Great Falls School District, to which the greatest share of your local tax dollars go.
EPC is simply a group of self-appointed vigilantes who view politics as a blood sport where lying, cheating, and stealing are parts of their modus operandi.
Their end game is to discredit, slander, and besmirch the duly elected Cascade County Clerk and Recorder, Sandra Merchant, who is also charged with the supervision of elections. In doing so, they are akin to a losing basketball team who can’t win on the court so accuses the other side of cheating and starts a brawl.
One look at the EPC membership and spokespersons will tell you everything you need to know about it – it’s comprised almost entirely of sour grapes Democrats who lost in previous elections and their family members.
Our advice is to ignore EPC’s attacks against our duly elected Cascade County Clerk and Recorder, and FIRST report any problems with your ballots to the Cascade County Elections Office. EPC cannot solve any problems, they can only create them.
And E-City Beat will be reminding everyone about some of these same EPC people who will be candidates in the upcoming 2024 state legislative elections and what they’ve been doing and saying when they think voters aren’t paying much attention. E-City Beat is paying attention, and saving the receipts.
The ‘Election Protection Committee’ would like you to believe that they are protecting the flock, but they are really wolves in sheep’s clothing. Don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes.
Recently the local WTF406 blog attempted to silence E-City Beat. They failed.
WTF406 is a far left opinion blog run by Cascade County Democratic Central Committee Chair Helena Lovick and CCDCC former/current precinct committee person Jasmine Taylor.
Both are also failed Democrat candidates for state legislature.
Apparently Lovick and Taylor actually believe they can silence opinions and information with which they disagree by using dirty tricks like trying to co-opt an already in-use, copyrighted name.
Here’s a Facebook post dated 10/4/23 from the ‘Jasmine Taylor For Montana’ page:
No, WTF406 does not own this blog.
And this isn’t the first time these Democrats have tried to silence peoples voices in Great Falls – they deployed the same tactic against a local group called ‘Liberty And Values MT’ a few months ago because they didn’t like that groups message.
Someone should inform Lovick and Taylor that E-City Beat will not be silenced no matter how hard they try, and that an expensive and lengthy legal action may be forthcoming if they continue.
Someone should also inform the Cascade County Democratic Central Committee and their 2024 candidates that their official silence on these attacks by their Chair and officer against the First Amendment rights of Great Falls citizens is tantamount to complicity and will not go unanswered now or in the upcoming 2024 local campaigns.
Editors note – Today, October 9, 2023 is Columbus Day. Here is a re-post of a piece I wrote last year which contains my commentary on Columbus Day from 2021. E-City Beat✓ will neither cease nor desist from exercising our First Amendment rights no matter how hard the clowns at WTF406 (Democrat Jasmine Taylor and Cascade County Democratic Central Committee Chair Helena Lovick) try to squash freedom of speech.
‘Below is a re-post of an article I wrote last year for Columbus Day.
First, though, I want to comment on a recent post from the ‘Jasmine Taylor For Montana’ Facebook page.
Taylor is an current/former official with the Cascade County Democratic Central Committee, a current/former precinct captain and former failed Democrat candidate for state legislature and Great Falls city commission.
She is also a divisive, racist, extremist who is largely responsible for turning the local Democrat party into the laughingstock it has become. Why local Democrats would allow a loser like Taylor to represent their ideas and values is a baffling question indeed.
What is the purpose of a public Facebook post like this from a Democrat official (“…for Montana”, really?) other than to demonstrate to a tiny minority of kooky extremists how ‘woke’ she is?
One might as well insert “Great Falls voters” in place of “Christopher Columbus” on the picture below because that seems to be Taylor’s attitude towards this community.
Taylor and others like her think they’re edgy and oh so hip by posting garbage like this, but really they’re just dumb and totally out of touch with this community.’ – ECB 2022
Here’s the article from last year.
“Like many Italian Americans I recognize Columbus Day as a way to take pride in my Italian heritage.
Unfortunately, once again this year there are those would like to take Montana in the direction of other states like Hawaii, Oregon and South Dakota, in the elimination of Columbus Day.
Those voices, including the usual state legislators and apparently everyone who works for the Great Falls Tribune, seem willfully ignorant of a couple of important facts.
First, Columbus never set one foot in what we now call America.
Secondly, history is replete with examples of indigenous peoples in America conquering and taking neighboring tribes as slaves, stealing their land, brutalizing and raping women, engaging in human sacrifice and torture as well as committing atrocities including acts of cannibalism.
No racial or ethnic group is pure and innocent when it comes to treating fellow human beings badly. Those who constantly single out white Europeans as monsters while ignoring the atrocities committed by other groups and individuals do so mostly for selfish political reasons.
Their hypocrisy is clear to anyone interested in the facts.
So I would ask the local Great Falls finger pointers and virtue signalers, like those at the Great Falls Tribune who make money on the Lewis and Clark advertising brand, how they feel about the fact that Clark himself held slaves and the Corps of Discovery helped open up the West to American expansion and the “exploitation” of indigenous peoples?
Where are the calls to eliminate the statues of Lewis and Clark in and around Great Falls?
Where are the demands to get rid of any mention of Lewis and Clark in our local celebrations or in the naming of local restaurants and other businesses and tourist sites?
Please, be consistent or be quiet.
Philip Faccenda – Proud First Generation Italian American“
POSTSCRIPT
Christopher Columbus wrote in his Lettera Rarissima, “Let those who are fond of blaming and finding fault, while they sit safely at home, ask, ‘Why did you not do thus and so?” “I wish they were on this voyage; I well believe that another voyage of a different kind awaits them, or our faith is naught.”
To quote a piece by John Hirschauer, Contrary to the simplistic picture painted by academics, the indigenous cultures Columbus encountered were as assorted as those of any other peoples in history. While it might be true that some such cultures fit the nomadic, tranquil image pushed by the revisionists, not even close to all of them did. Which leads to an inevitable follow-up to those who would eliminate Columbus Day in favor of “Indigenous People’s Day. Which “indigenous people” do you have in mind? Is it the Kalinago people, who ate roasted human flesh, with a particular affinity for the remains of babies and fetuses? Is it the Aztecs, who killed an estimated 84,000 people in four days in their consecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan?
As historian Samuel Eliot Morison, in his book The Great Explorers noted, Columbus “had his flaws and his defects, but they were largely the defects of the qualities that made him great – his indomitable will, his superb faith in God and in his own mission. That will and faith make him a man worthy of this, the day on which we honor him.
The Election Protection Committee (aka Pete Fontana, Jane Weber, Jasmine Cassandra Taylor, Sharon Patton-Griffin, et al) is busy instructing the public on Facebook to NOT CONTACT THE ELECTIONS OFFICE if they have an issue or alternately, if they come into the office, to request court-appointed monitor Lynne DeRoche be present while speaking with election office personnel.
Posted in their Facebook group by Sharon Patton-Griffin:
“If you have a question or concern regarding an election, please do not call the Elections Office, instead, email the address below.
Likewise, if you go to the Elections Office, please do not speak to any employee there without first having Lynne DeRoche, Election Office court-appointed monitor, join you at the counter.”
The “address below” is the Election Protection Committee’s email. The post also tells the public to call Jane Weber if they want to speak with someone with the EPC.
None of these people are current elected officials. In fact they are just a group of self-appointed ‘sour grapes’ former or wannabe elected officials who resigned or lost past elections, or the relatives of said losers. They have no official designation or authority.
The big question is — why is the Election Protection Committee acting like it’s an official entity for collecting and disseminating complaints and information?
First, some people recognize June as ‘Pride Month’.
Second, Governor Gianforte signed a bill banning ‘drag queens’ from reading to kids in libraries and some other public spaces.
Third, the Great Falls Public Library is asking voters for over $1,000,000 more per year to expand their programs.
The conjunction of these three events raises the question: Does the Great Falls Public Library intend to sponsor another ‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ for kids on their ‘Kids Place’ YouTube video channel next month, as they did in 2021?
If so, the Library Board and Director Susie McIntyre should inform the public right now of their intention to do so and not wait until they know the results of the June 6 levy vote.
No Mother Goose Here
It should be noted that the stories read by the local drag queens during 2021 ‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ for kids sponsored by your public library were not innocent Mother Goose or Humpty Dumpty tales – they were stories promoting the LGBTQ+ social/political agenda.
Including a story about a very little boy going to the doctor and hearing about becoming ‘transgender’. Here’s the screenshot from the story being read to your kids, sponsored and promoted by your tax dollars.
You can watch the entire video here on a previous post from E-City Beat.
There has been a near frantic effort in Great Falls by a small group of locals to not only delegitimatize the upcoming Great Falls Public Library mil levy election but to smear the duly elected Cascade County Elections administrator, Sandra Merchant.
There are a few facts which some local media outlets don’t seem to be interested in reporting but which are important and relevant to the issue in question.
Family Ties
One of the founders and main spokespersons for the recently formed Election Protection Committee, which was demanding the resignation of Merchant before she ran even one election in Cascade County, is Pete Fontana – brother of Democrat Rina Fontana Moore who lost her position to Republican Merchant in last November’s election.
In addition, the lawyer who was chosen by the library to represent them and has filed suit against Merhant’s office is Raph Graybill, son of Jessica Crist, a GFPL Board of Trustees board member.
Political Party Affiliations
Graybill is a progressive Democrat activist, former Governor Bullock legal staffer, and failed 2020 candidate for Montana Attorney General, losing in a near landslide to Austin Knudsen 42 to 58 percent.
Another founding member and vocal critic of Merchant is Jane Weber, former Democrat Cascade County Commissioner who resigned her seat in 2020. Democrat Don Ryan was appointed to Weber’s seat and then lost in 2022 to Republican Rae Grulkowski.
Another prominent member of the Election Protection Committee demanding Merchant’s resignation is far left Democrat activist Jasmine Taylor who lost elections for legislature and Great Falls city commission.
Conclusion
So family ties, progressive Democrats, and losing Democrat candidates seem to make up the bulk of the visible public opposition to the people’s choice for Cascade County elections supervisor.
Any concerns about Merchant’s competence or ability to run local elections, and there are legitimate questions and concerns, lose credibility when you look at the possible motivations and partisan history of the people attacking her.
It looks like the Election Protection Committee isn’t really interested in seeing successfully run elections – they seem more interested in spreading discord, mistrust, and havoc.
If you want to know what politicians really think then you have to be reminded of what they say when they think voters aren’t listening or watching very closely.
E-City Beat has been keeping track of what the most ‘progressive’ local Democrats running for state legislature were Tweeting when they thought voters weren’t paying attention.
And it’s quite different from the image they’re trying to put forward now that it’s election season.
So here’s a brief rundown of what Jasmine Krotkov, Barbara Bessette, and Melissa Smith actually believe – which is not the feel-good, ‘moderate’ happy talk they’re trying to palm off on Great Falls/Cascade County voters now.
Jasmine Krotkov, Candidate for HD25
Looks like we know where Krotkov stands on teaching critical race theory in our public schools.
Employees who lost jobs for refusing vaccine mandates, take note.
Trickle down economics is a ‘killer’? Pure garbage from Krotkov!
Barbara Bessette, Candidate HD24
Is Bessette running to represent all of us – or just ‘the resistance’?
Oh, it ‘sounds like’ our Lt. Governor is a racist, huh? What a dangerous and bigoted presumption by Bessette, a candidate for state legislature.
Unacceptable, nasty, and hateful Tweet from Bessette.
Melissa Smith, Candidate HD23
Nice reminder of Smith’s priorities for our community.
Do we really want someone like Melissa Smith in public office deciding who should and ‘should not have money’?
Wait, ‘we could just stop burning fossil fuels’? You mean like in my car that takes me to work in the morning and in my home this winter?
There’s more, lots more, but I think you get the basic idea here.
Krotkov, Bessette, and Smith are nowhere near ‘moderate’. They are far left ideologues with an agenda that they intend to push if elected.
Don’t let them succeed in pulling the wool over your eyes.
Today, October 12, is the actual Columbus Day anniversary even though the federal holiday was Monday.
Below is a re-post of an article I wrote last year for Columbus Day.
First, though, I want to comment on a recent post from the ‘Jasmine Taylor For Montana’ Facebook page.
Taylor is an official with the Cascade County Democratic Central Committee, a precinct captain and former failed Democrat candidate for state legislature and Great Falls city commission.
She is also a divisive, racist, extremist who is largely responsible for turning the local Democrat party into the laughingstock it has become. Why local Democrats would allow a loser like Taylor to represent their ideas and values is a baffling question indeed.
What is the purpose of a public Facebook post like this from a Democrat official (“…for Montana”, really?) other than to demonstrate to a tiny minority of kooky extremists how ‘woke’ she is?
One might as well insert “Great Falls voters” in place of “Christopher Columbus” on the picture below because that seems to be Taylor’s attitude towards this community.
Taylor and others like her think they’re edgy and oh so hip by posting garbage like this, but really they’re just dumb and totally out of touch with this community.
Here’s the article from last year.
“Like many Italian Americans I recognize Columbus Day as a way to take pride in my Italian heritage.
Unfortunately, once again this year there are those would like to take Montana in the direction of other states like Hawaii, Oregon and South Dakota, in the elimination of Columbus Day.
Those voices, including the usual state legislators and apparently everyone who works for the Great Falls Tribune, seem willfully ignorant of a couple of important facts.
First, Columbus never set one foot in what we now call America.
Secondly, history is replete with examples of indigenous peoples in America conquering and taking neighboring tribes as slaves, stealing their land, brutalizing and raping women, engaging in human sacrifice and torture as well as committing atrocities including acts of cannibalism.
No racial or ethnic group is pure and innocent when it comes to treating fellow human beings badly. Those who constantly single out white Europeans as monsters while ignoring the atrocities committed by other groups and individuals do so mostly for selfish political reasons.
Their hypocrisy is clear to anyone interested in the facts.
So I would ask the local Great Falls finger pointers and virtue signalers, like those at the Great Falls Tribune who make money on the Lewis and Clark advertising brand, how they feel about the fact that Clark himself held slaves and the Corps of Discovery helped open up the West to American expansion and the “exploitation” of indigenous peoples?
Where are the calls to eliminate the statues of Lewis and Clark in and around Great Falls?
Where are the demands to get rid of any mention of Lewis and Clark in our local celebrations or in the naming of local restaurants and other businesses and tourist sites?
Please, be consistent or be quiet.
Philip Faccenda – Proud First Generation Italian American“
POSTSCRIPT
Christopher Columbus wrote in his Lettera Rarissima, “Let those who are fond of blaming and finding fault, while they sit safely at home, ask, ‘Why did you not do thus and so?” “I wish they were on this voyage; I well believe that another voyage of a different kind awaits them, or our faith is naught.”
To quote a piece by John Hirschauer, Contrary to the simplistic picture painted by academics, the indigenous cultures Columbus encountered were as assorted as those of any other peoples in history. While it might be true that some such cultures fit the nomadic, tranquil image pushed by the revisionists, not even close to all of them did. Which leads to an inevitable follow-up to those who would eliminate Columbus Day in favor of “Indigenous People’s Day. Which “indigenous people” do you have in mind? Is it the Kalinago people, who ate roasted human flesh, with a particular affinity for the remains of babies and fetuses? Is it the Aztecs, who killed an estimated 84,000 people in four days in their consecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan?
As historian Samuel Eliot Morison, in his book The Great Explorers noted, Columbus “had his flaws and his defects, but they were largely the defects of the qualities that made him great – his indomitable will, his superb faith in God and in his own mission. That will and faith make him a man worthy of this, the day on which we honor him.
There was a comment from Great Falls GOP legislative candidate Steve Gist on the ECB Facebook page recently that went like this:
“Please be aware that Democratic candidates in Great Falls and around the state are going around claiming they are either Independents or Moderates. My constituents are telling me this. DO NOT Be FOOLED by these deceptive practices.”
Good advice. Don’t be fooled.
So starting today E-City Beat will be running a series of reminders of what local candidates were saying before campaign season started, when they thought no one was paying attention, demonstrating that the local Democrat machine is STILL dominated by the same far left ideas and candidates for state legislature that Cascade County/Great Falls voters rejected in 2020.
We’ll start with Barbara Bessette, who lost her run for re-election in 2020 to Steven Galloway in Great Falls HD24 where she is running again this cycle.
Here’s a charming Tweet from Bessette. Makes one wonder how she could possibly work with fellow legislators if elected, given her opinion of them here.
“F*** yes”, agrees Bessette, our U.S. Supreme Court “is an active shooter” and police make a habit of filling Black men with “60 holes”.
Apparently Bessette doesn’t think much of white men, so why is she asking for their votes?
Finally here’s Bessette wearing her “Hail Satan” shirt. She thinks it’s cute and funny and mocks anyone who considers it offensive.
I wonder if she would be so cavalier and snarky if someone posed publicly in a shirt with a mocking portrayal of indigenous peoples’ religious beliefs, or a cute cartoon ridiculing Islam.
