A Fond Farwell to Ed Butcher

It’s with some sorrow that I read the news this evening that Ed Butcher has decided to hang up his tinfoil hat and retire from the Montana Legislature. Now, I’m not sorry that he won’t be voting in the House any more, and I’m not sorry that the people of House District 29 are likely to have a sane representative, but I’m deeply sorry that I won’t have Ed to write about any more.

How can I thank the legislator who defended us from the UN’s clever world government designs, who warned us about the threat of a COMMUNIST MUSLIM in the White House, and who boldly led the charge against our great natural enemy –horses?

I can’t thank you enough, Representative Butcher, and today’s story about your retirement makes that abundantly clear. What other legislator would go out of his way to make two absurd statements in his final news story as a member of the House? Only Ed.

I’m certainly going to miss observations like this:

“Basically, what it boils down is right now I’m up to my eyebrows trying to get nuclear energy into Montana,” Butcher said. “The wind thing is nothing but a damn farce and only functions with huge subsidies. The environmentalists have killed coal, and the businesses and the people are going to be destroyed after we lose the power contracts in 2012.”

It’s that kind of clear-headed thinking that characterized Butcher’s time in the Legislature. Who else has the courage to attack the insignificant amount of subsidies currently offered to wind projects while nuclear power advocates are holding their hands out for as much as $1.6 trillion in federal loan guarantees for an historically unprofitable industry?

And who else has the kind of courage it takes to admit that he worked diligently to pass legislation just to line his own pockets?

Butcher also said he’s shepherding his horse slaughterhouse idea by trying to find a market but is purposely keeping it low-key until construction starts because so much “animal-rights stuff” is directed at him.

So long, Representative Butcher. This blog, if not the state, will miss you.

Tagged as: Ed Butcher

Article by Don Pogreba

Don is an English/Debate teacher and debate handbook author who lives in Helena, MT, and who can't imagine living anywhere other than this glorious state. Much of his writing happens late at night and he is unlikely to respond to your comments during the day.