montanamaven

Alright, before you assume we’re talking about real grizzly bears, we’re not.We’re talking about the group of far-right Republican women who are dominating press coverage as they work to “do their part in taking back America and defending her like a mother would a cub.”In short, this is an emerging political network for conservative women who are “growling” loudly about the lack of “common sense” (according to Sarah Palin) in today’s political arena.Palin first described herself as a mama grizzly in her Read more…

The wing spectrum is a common method used to classify political party positions and affiliations. But “which is which” you might ask in your attempt to take wing of your own.Simply stated, the “left wing” includes progressives, social liberals, social democrats, socialists, and in extreme cases communists and anarchists.Contrarily, the “right wing” includes conservatives, reactionaries, capitalists, monarchists, nationalists, and fascists.Historically, these terms appeared first during the French Revolution of 1789 when members of the National Assembly became divided and were literally seated to the “left” and “right” of the President dependent upon how their support of the king was aligned.The contemporary “left” in the United States is usually understood as Read more…

Alice in Wonderland may have had her trippy moments along her journey, but you can bet she never imagined that one of her tea parties would culminate in an American political movement. For those who may not fully understand the movement and believe it merely denotes a sharing of tea and crumpets, following are some tidbits to get you more aligned.

• The Tea Party movement emerged in 2009 through a series of well-coordinated national and local protests
• These protests were predominately in response to several laws (the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and a large number of health care reform bills)
• The “Tea Party” name has nothing to do with Read more…

There are a lot of people walking around under the assumption they are a Democrat, or that the people they’ve included in their inner circle are Democrats. But guess what? That may not always be the case. In a lot of instances people will just Velcro themselves onto what they perceive to be the party affiliation in which they wish to be aligned (or have heard their friends and family talk about).So, for all those who aren’t exactly sure what a Democrat truly stands for, following are some highlights that provide an overview so you can take ownership of your own opinion.

• Democrats typically favor societal minorities such as Read more…

There are a lot of people that assume they are either one political party or another, or that the person they may be speaking with fully understands the nuances of the political party they have aligned themselves. Guess what? That’s not always the case. In a lot of instances people will just glom onto what they perceive to be the party affiliation in which they wish to align themselves (or have heard their peers talk about).So, for all those who aren’t sure exactly what a Republican stands for, following are a few highlights that provide broad brush strokes so you can hone in on your own opinion.

• The Republican Party is more socially conservative than others
• Republicans generally oppose gay marriage, oppose abortion, and oppose embryonic stem cell research
• The Party has a strong belief in Read more…