Highlights From Lowlifes: Montana’s 62nd Legislature

This legislative session it seems Montana is ALWAYS in the news.  We’ve made “The Colbert Report”, “Anderson Cooper 360”, Huffington Post, New York Times, CNN, and according to Speaker Milburn, he was interviewed by the Swedish World Federation Against Drugs on a radio show.  We have yet to confirm this interview’s existence with anyone other than Speaker Milburn, but he assures us that it exists, and naturally, we believe him.  After all, he is the one who informed us that Montana is now known as a “source country, just like Columbia” because of our massive marijuana exports.  Although the session isn’t quite over, as leadership needed a vacation, here are a few highlights from Montana’s 62nd Legislative session.

1. ‎”I’m going to ask that we take a minute here and reflect upon our own hypocrisy.” Rep. Rob Cook R-Conrad. INDEED.
2. “If Jesus Christ himself were here today he would be an opponent of this bill,” Harris Himes speaking against a bill to abolish the death penalty.  Yes, Rev. Himes, if you were in the chair, he may indeed approve.
3. “It’s poison, a kind of poison, it’s kind of like taking arsenic with Valium in it – it will make you feel good until it kills you. That’s the truth.” Rep. David Howard (R-Park City) speaking about medical marijuana.  And we all know marijuana kills…. how many people annually?  That’s right Rep. Howard, ZERO.
4. “It is God himself who said homosexuality is an abomination and he has various punishments for it….. they will surely be put to death”.  Rev. Harris Hines in testimony supporting discrimination of gays. Again, that death thing.
5. “The most important reason to repealing medical marijuana is  that marijuana and its usage is offensive to God”  Rev. Harris Himes.  Himes may want to check out Genesis 1:29
6. “He (Dr. Carlton Turner)  told us he’d take almost any of the other drugs- crank, heroin, methamphetamines under clinical  conditions- but he wouldn’t take marijuana.  Every time they’d done a human test on it, it scared him half to death.”— Rep David Howard admits FEAR motivates him to lie?
7. I’ll never have my brother back,  we need to save others people’s brothers.— Rep James Knox, fighting tears as he pimped his brother for marijuana repeal while inadvertently advocating nanny state government.
8. “My birth mom told me had abortion been legal, I wouldn’t have been calling her.”  Rep James Knox testifying on house floor on an abortion bill, making a great case for post natal abortion.
9. Open Cow, Open Woman, Rep Regier compares women to cows.  This one defies all explanation.
10. “There’s new ways to kill you know, in prisons, they take little pieces of paper.  They take their blood, their saliva and do blow darts on the guards, there are new and unique ways to kill.” —Rep Janna Taylor.  I’m not sure what Taylor is getting at here.
11. “I also voted no on this bill, the body should know that the people who run ponzi schemes, they don’t have any money of their own…. I couldn’t imagine standing in front of my constituents in Park City, where none of them make more than $35,000/yr to say we’re gonna come up with a scheme to get back up to 25,000 of what people have lost investing…….”  –Rep. Dave Howard who thinks his constituency is poor.
12. Two wrongs don’t make a right– Sen. Verdell Jackson referring to victims of rape and incest.  While I’m not a fan of abortion, I wonder if Sen. Jackson would feel differently if he had been raped.
13. ‎”The only way I’d be supportive of that (Dept. of Ag regulating medical marijuana) is if they treated marijuana as a noxious weed.” –Sen. John Brenden (R-Scobey). I grew up in this senate district and I can tell you, nobody up there gives a damn about medical marijuana.  Brenden is a bit noxious himself.
14. “Across the street from the church was a bevy of good-looking young ladies going in and out of this place……they were growing marijuana across the street…. I didn’t know such good-looking women were interested in horticultural prospects”– Rev. Harris Himes. Where do we find these guys? Himes is made for mockery!
15. “I got a medical marijuana business who moved in next door to me and it’s been craziness ever since. You see ’em them behind their shop, behind the commercial building, they got their arms outstretched, they’re trying to fly. I find people sleeping in my vehicles in front of my business. A month and a half ago they buried a van.”– Austin Kaufman, Billings.
16. Rep Ken Peterson: If women would make better choices they wouldn’t get cervical and breast cancer. So defund family planning already.
17. If you act gay in public, Rep Ken Peterson wants your felon ass in jail for a decade.  Ten years in prison will teach you how to be straight, right?
18. Steve Zabawa in SB 423 hearing: “Marijuana is illegal! The state of Montana is gonna get arrested!” Zabawa is no stranger to illegal activity, he does sell cars for a living.  He also hires most of his employees from the Alpha House, a halfway house for men returning to society after being imprisoned for major crimes. Several of his current sales and management staff are felons, actually.  A couple of them defrauded the federal government by filing false FEMA claims after Hurricane Katrina. After serving time, Zabawa hired them back!
19. Sen. Ed Walker saying, “I don’t believe it can be reformed. It needs to be repealed. There are times the voters get it wrong, and that is what happened in 2004.”  I wonder if we may have also got it wrong in 201o when you were elected, Ed.  Just sayin’.
20. “Montana is now considered a “source country”, same as Columbia.“- Speaker Mike Milburn (R-Cascade) I wonder why anyone would bury a van filled with  marijuana if that is the case.  So many questions.
21. “Sometimes the most compassionate answer you can give is no you don’t need this,” Senator Rowlie Hutton (R-Havre) said.  “When you love someone you are willing to do an intervention. I love this state, and it’s time we do an intervention,” concluded Hutton, who wants to take away medicine from the ill. Compassionate indeed.
22. “The people who use medical marijuana for legitimate uses, they’ve been had. I think they probably feel like the dog who gets in the car and as they’re driving they realize they are going to the vet instead of the park. They got in with the wrong crowd,” testified Sen. Edward Walker (R-Billings).  The wrong crowd, Sen. Walker, spends time with you and your buddies at that creepy temple under the rims.
23. Tough DUI laws “are destroying a way of life that has been in Montana for years and years,” said Rep. Hale.  But medical cannabis is WAY too dangerous.
24. “Homosexuals can’t go out into the heterosexual community and try to recruit people, or try to enlist them in homosexual acts,” Peterson says. He provides an example: “‘Here, young man, your hormones are raging. Let’s go in this bedroom, and we’ll engage in some homosexual acts. You’ll find you like it.’” Peterson hasn’t actually seen this happen, he says, because “I don’t associate with that group of people at all… I’ve associated with mainstream people all my life.” Again, those mainstream people hang out at the LDS temple in west Billings.
25. And then we have this beauty.  You be the judge.

Special thanks to Hiedi Handford of Montana Connect Magazine for editing and uploading the 300+ testimony videos.  Other legislative testimony can be viewed on her YouTube channel here. 

Dear Mr Zabawa or Milburn, Essmann, Howard, Knox, and company

UPDATE: Zabawa’s testimony on SB 423 today can be viewed here. This morning another of our bloggers received a Facebook friend request from “Mercedes Benz- Billings”, an auto dealership in part owned by one of our favorite prohibitionists, Brother Steve Zabawa.  A source within one of Zabawa’s businesses confirmed that the Facebook page indeed belonged to Zabawa so she sent a…. factually scathing message in response to the request.  After I posted her words to Zabawa on our blog’s Facebook page earlier today, she posted a comment clarifying the post.  She said that she’d received a polite response from the dealership, from a “product specialist” who claimed to monitor the page.  Although making it clear he understood his employer’s motivations and respected his right to express his opinions, he assured her that not everyone within the dealership was aligned with Zabawa’s agenda.  Because the friend request apparently did not originate with Steve Zabawa, I pondered whether or not he’d ever see her words.  After much (not really) thought, in the case that Zabawa was indeed shielded from the criticism, I took the liberty of posting it here,  utilizing , in vain, our public forum in hopes that Zabawa would notice, take heed, and engage his opponents in a productive discussion.  While the letter was written to Zabawa, the intended target could have been nearly any Republican currently serving in our state legislature as well.  I challenge any puritanical republican to address the concerns mentioned in the following letter:

Nicole French April 6 at 2:08pm

Dear Mr Zabawa, 

Considering your opposition to personal liberties, obsession with control and devotion to driving the legislative process in the opposite direction voters desire, I am puzzled by your motives in requesting my friendship.

It appears a vast majority of your Facebook friends are politically active Republicans, so initially I assumed you were innocently seeking more local political connections, but I suspect your request isn’t so innocent. Do your liberty-minded Republican friends support your determined effort to not only overturn legislation created and approved by our state’s voters, but force seriously ill Montanans to make the unfathomable choice to either participate in a crime or needlessly suffer from a debilitating condition? You may be surprised.

Whether you are aware or not, I have defended your organization in public forums on countless occasions- primarily on principle as I believe each party involved in a conflict deserves an opportunity to dispel false accusations. Isn’t that odd? Although I do not know you personally and generally am opposed to the sort of licentious behavior of which your establishment is regularly accused, I am a principled and honorable human being, always willing to participate in open and honest discussion- which is where you and I obviously differ.

What I find most astounding about your group’s opposition to the creation of a regulated industry is your continual refusal to participate in any sort of pro-active conflict resolution discussion. Although many consider you and the other group members to be truly moronic, I disagree. Your recurrent fallacious testimony quickly elucidates any possibility of a naive ignorance.

I will overlook your unwillingness to acknowledge science and patient testimonials for a moment to examine political principles. Republicans fight for smaller government, a free market, retaining more of what we make, and especially liberty. Although I’m not a cannabis user, I appreciate the freedom to choose, with my physician, alternative forms of treating illnesses. Our federal government runs Amtrak, the US Postal Service, Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid…. the list of insolvent entities goes on and on. The FDA has approved a litany of drugs that kill Americans on a daily basis, but yet so many are comforted by the federal government’s approval or disapproval of substances. It is astounding that any intelligent American would appreciate federal intervention in any manner beyond the power granted by our Constitution.

Liberty is integral to being an American and especially so to many Montanans. Our voters approved the use of this substance and overturning their wishes is truly reprehensible. If this truly “isn’t what Montanans voted for”, those citizens would place reform or repeal on the ballot. To date, no one has successfully done so, so I adhere to the belief that what we have now, however flawed it may be, is closer to voters’ intentions than an outright repeal.

In testimony of marijuana opponents, I hear of frequent abuses of the current statutes, exploitation of patients in pursuit of profits, use in schools, illegal diversion of medical cannabis, the list is endless. What I fail to understand is why those perpetrators are not as a result, arrested. The industry begged regulation and especially for enforcement. Three previous legislative sessions failed to address the concerns and the “frequent abuses” have apparently gone unpunished. Patients who legitimately, effectively, and safely treat their conditions with cannabis are instead the targets of your mission.

Laws aren’t created to provide a substitute for competent parenting and historically prohibition primarily benefits criminals. Actual drug dealers, the predatory sort, not the state-licensed law-abiding providers you are complaining about today, will return to their profitable businesses- without paying taxes, hiring employees, or adhering to any sort of ethical protocol. The dangers to our communities and kids presented by prescription drug and alcohol abuse far surpass those created by allowing legal medical use of cannabis. For this reason, I’m shocked you would continue this obsession while ignoring the most dire dangers facing our state.

We owe our children more than the false “safety” that destroying an industry may provide. We owe them the truth. The truth is, overturning a citizens initiative is an assault on our Constitution and rights. The topic itself, however discomforting you consider it, should not determine that the right of the people to self-govern is void. Montana’s constitution does not define the right to citizens initiative to be inclusive of only what is palatable to the elected.
Montana voters spoke. The governing body has now decided to use the power of position to arrogate. This is a wrongful use of power and is symbolic of the underlining reason the people’s distrust of all things government has become so palpable.

Perhaps your understanding of the long-term repercussions of such action would require a personal stake in it. For your sake, I truly hope that you and your loved ones are never presented with as dire of consequences as you are seeking for Montana’s infirm.

Upon receiving this message, should you decide to address my concerns, I will accept your offer of friendship. You and I won’t necessarily ever agree on this particular issue, but we likely would on virtually all others. I hope, through not only education but by setting a positive example, that someday the vast conflict surrounding this particular substance is reduced substantially.

Sincerely,
Nicole French

Yet another GOP hypocrite lurking in legislature

Zealous advocates of our clients? REALLY?

There seems to be a prevailing theme in the Republicans seeking a full repeal of Montana’s medical marijuana law which was approved by voters in 2004.  Many of the vocal repeal proponents have  made sizable, often exorbitant profits from fledgling cannabis entrepreneurs.  Representative James Knox and Mormon Steve Zabawa,  are high-ranking members of the MONTaliban, an oppressive prohibition  organization  exploiting religious interests in efforts to affect public policy are two of Montana’s most prominent members.  Zabawa attempted to take advantage of an naive and unsuspecting cannabis provider, demanding a percentage of profits in addition to monthly lease payments on property. Knox offered to virtually give away web services to his friend, a marijuana caregiver.  In my experience, $600 for creating a website using a wordpress template is a high price, certainly not a discount, “virtually giving it away”.

Meet Senator Art Wittich, owner of  Wittich Law Firm, which boasts the description “zealous advocates on behalf of our clients”. You may recall him unsuccessfully representing game farm owners against I-143, a citizens initiative banning “pet hunting”.  Wittich is one of the Tea party’s finest, scoring  a perfect rating on the prestigious”Tea Party Questionaire” .  The Tea party doesn’t put a very high value on character, it would appear.  After all, one of the Tea party’s darlings, Representative James Knox has been embroiled in scandal since taking office, as employees and business contacts accuse him of pervasive shady business practices.  Senator Wittich, however; may surpass even Rep Knox’s unethical behavior.  In Thursday’s Senate floor session, a client of Wittich Law firm, A Kinder Caregiver was shocked and hurt hearing Wittich’s testimony favoring repeal.  For more than two years, the medical cannabis business spent a considerable amount of money with Wittich’s law firm, which assisted in providing guidance to ensure compliance with the  I-148, the often vague statute governing Montana’s medical cannabis laws.  A Kinder Caregiver was willing to invest substantial financial resources to retain adequate counsel  in efforts to adhere to state laws so one can only imagine what the business endured, watching their state senator and owner of the firm providing their legal services testify in support of legislation that would not only destroy, but abolish entirely their  industry.  A vote to destroy an important industry in Wittich’s home district indicates several potential character flaws considering the basic expectation that an attorney typically protects the client’s best interests, but to voluntarily provide factually questionable yet persuasive testimony is almost unconscionable.  Wittich could have bridged the vast gap between the patient-driven industry and the pervasive ignorance exemplified by the right-wing in Montana’s legislature.  Even more disturbing was the Senator’s decision to incorporate his own status as a cancer survivor into his arguments in favor of eliminating safe access to cannabis for approximately 30,000 Montana citizens.

A Kinder Caregiver, with discreet locations in three Montana cities, acted responsibly in retaining legal counsel to ensure compliance with the initiative.  After working together for more than two years, they discovered in grand fashion, that the entity providing legal protection had more loyalty to Republican party leadership than to his constituents and clients.  While voting for repeal would have likely damaged the business’s relationship with the firm, Wittich’s testimony and exploitation of his personal health history ensured it.  The firm was fired immediately after the Senate hearing, which approved the revocation of Montana patients’ rights to safely access cannabis, in direct conflict with the desires of Montana’s citizens, as 62% approved the compassionate initiative .

Follow the MONEY:The Truth Behind “Safe Community, Safe Kids”

Do as I say, not as I do!!

Brother Steve Zabawa, LDS faithful (Montaliban/GOP God Squad member) car dealership owner, isn’t known for his integrity.  When Zabawa faced dire economic circumstances, Tony Woolery stepped in to save the auto group from financial ruin.  Woolery, Rimrock Auto Group’s general manager obtains cannabis on behalf of his wife Melanie, who suffers from terminal bone cancer.  To show his sincere gratitude, Zabawa began a campaign to repeal Montana’s medical cannabis law entirely.  Recently, he went so far as to suggest that after it is no longer legal to grow one’s own cannabis, surely some good people in the black market will step up to assist terminal patients by risking their freedom to provide illegal marijuana to them in dark alleys.  Apparently Zabawa hasn’t ever witnessed a friend or relative dying from a horribly painful illness.  May God have mercy on his soul.

Although Safe Community, Safe Kids at first glance appears to be a group composed of vast numbers of soccer mommies and nanny-state advocating citizens, nobody other than Zabawa is willing to put their money where their mouth is. According to financial reports it appears the only person financing the quest to save our communities and kids from the medical use of cannabis is Steve Zabawa.

Financial filings with the Office of Political Practices were due March 15 for all political action committees, yet Safe Community Safe Kids failed to file a timely report.  According to NBC Montana,  there were several fishy stories offered by the group when questioned about their failure to file.

NBC Montana contacted Safe Community Safe Kids to ask for financial reports. The group denied having spent any money on the ads; “nothing, not a dime!.” When confronted with a station ad placement for $816.00, spokeswoman Cherrie Brady claimed the expense was far less than the $5,000 threshold for having to file a report.

After being contacted by Jennifer Hensley, Montana’s political practices commissioner, Cherrie Brady filed a tardy report last night.  The report indicated that expenditures exceeded $15,000, well in excess of the $5,000 threshold cited by Brady.   In the interest of keeping a community safe, one would suspect the list of donors would be massive, but not in this case.  You see, Steve Zabawa, owner of Rimrock Auto Group and Mercedes Benz auto dealerships in Billings was the SOLE donor listed in the filings.  Whether he is actually the the lone financial driving force behind the group or the group is lying, is at this time unclear.  The group has a prominently displayed “DONATE” button on their website, so the absence of any other donors is highly suspicious.  Safe Community, Safe Kids co-founder Susan Smith’s husband Cary Smith is an elected state house representative from Billings, so campaign filings are nothing new to her.  Claiming ignorance of our state’s political practices statutes cannot possibly be excused for Mrs Smith.  UPDATE: Jennifer Hensley has decided against imposing penalties on the group, which promised to file timely reports in the future.

To search for campaign filings for any political action committee (PAC), go to Montana’s Office of Political Practices website.  Select “Committee Report Search” .  In the past, I’ve searched for the Safe Community, Safe Kids financial filings and have only found expenditures and in kind donations from the group’s founders, all actual donors were notably absent on their C6 forms filed quarterly.

In a montanafesto post last week, we exposed Zabawa and Rep James Knox as hypocrites after  documents surfaced tying both of them to attempts to glean exorbitant profits from a medical marijuana entrepreneur.   The  Billings Gazette Monday featured the expose’ in an article titled “Profits and principles mixed in medical marijuana debate”.   Here is a pdf file of Zabawa’s lease contract with Mark Higgins.

419 Daniels St LOI

Perhaps instead of allowing Zabawa, a businessman rumored to have ties to the mafia, to “protect”  us from the medical use of cannabis, we should focus on protecting our community and our kids from shady characters like Steve Zabawa.  His dealerships are plagued with lawsuits from former employees and customers alleging misconduct ranging from failure to honor contractual obligations to fraud, foreclosure, wrongful firing, failure to pay employees, the list goes on and on. Zabawa also has a history of hiring employees out of the Alpha House who are willing to work for virtually nothing during their stay at the halfway house. One of his salesmen, Maurice Gunn was recently arrested passed out in a McDonald’s drive thru in Billings for his 4th DUI while driving a Cadillac Escalade registered to Rimrock Auto Group. He and other Rimrock Auto Group employees served prison sentences after defrauding the federal government via fraudulent FEMA claims as they attempted to profit off of Hurricane Katrina.   Interestingly, Zabawa’s partner in crime, Representative James Knox also has a history of shady business dealings and failure to pay his employees.  Birds of a feather……..

It is clear to me that the genuine hazards for our kids, community and state are hanging out at 2540 Phyliss Lane (Rimrock Auto Group) in Billings.  I’d suggest refusing to do business with such unethical  people. For your information, Cherrie Brady owns the Del Taco restaurants in Billings and James Knox owns KBS Computers.

Montaliban Members Rep. James Knox and Steve Zabawa Exposed as Hypocritical Idiots

Montanafesto made the Billings Gazette today for our expose’ on medical cannabis opponents Rep James Knox and Brother Steve Zabawa, owner of Rimrock Auto Group and Mercedes Benz in Billings.

Memorable quote from James Knox, when asked if he’d ever sold marijuana:  “No, not that I can recall.”  That is code for “yes, but until you dig up someone I sold to, I won’t be admitting that!”

Steve Zabawa told Ed Kemmick of the Gazette that he favored repeal of Montana’s medical marijuana law but would like to see small amounts decriminalized for those who truly need it, like terminal cancer patients.  He was sure to mention that it would still be illegal to cultivate cannabis and was asked how those truly deserving patients would obtain the product.  To which he said, ““I would bet there would be some good people out there willing to meet their needs.”  Nothing like sending seriously ill individuals on a quest through dark alleys in search of “good people willing to meet their needs” at the risk of imprisonment.  Odd Zabawa feels anyone needs it considering he likes to mention that it has no medical value.

After we exposed Knox and Zabawa last week, Knox found it necessary to send a message to the entire legislature claiming that the blog was filled with “slanderous lies”.  Thanks to a legislator who forwarded a copy to one of our bloggers.  Here’s a screenshot.

Really? Slanderous lies, huh? Not nervous at all, Knox!

The blog received a couple of messages from him as well.

Knox claims that marijuana ruined the life of his brother.  Would James Knox’s brother please come forward?  There are almost a million Montanans who would love to speak with him, if he actually exists.  Apparently Knox likes his alcohol, he couldn’t wait to sit in his chair to sip some whiskey last weekend.

Fun weekend plans! Sipping whiskey in a chair with your children. That is love!?

Zabawa implies that his brother’s death from lung cancer was due to smoking marijuana for 35 years….. oddly enough, there has never been a proven link between lung cancer and smoking marijuana.  Marijuana contains antioxidants, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer agents, there are some studies that show it actually slows the growth of lung cancer.  No word on if Zabawa’s brother smoked cigarettes, but my guess is that he did.

Perhaps it is time for the Montaliban to give up on its efforts to control the lives of Montana’s citizens.  If you want cannabis repeal, put it on the ballot.  In the meantime, stop exploiting your family members as well as your faux tears to convey emotional connections to this issue.

Profiting from Hypocrisy

It seems two members of the GOP God Squad, Representative James Knox and Brother Steve Zabawa  have been attempting to profit off of the very substance they call a “scourge”.  Cannabis, the plant that robs Montana of its rough and tough image and puts entire generations at risk, appears to be acceptable to these hypocrites as long as it makes them money.

Brother Steve Zabawa, faithful LDS car dealer, attempted to enter into a lease agreement with Montana Medical Marijuana at the location below.  He reportedly also negotiated with the business to rent his property in exchange for 10% of the net profits of the medical cannabis business.  He mentioned that he’d like the owner to provide his son Zac with employment as well.  Odd that little more than a year later, he’d be testifying in hearings BEGGING for the legislature to repeal the law allowing medical use of cannabis- especially considering his general manager’s wife is suffering from terminal bone cancer and receives help in pain and symptom relief from cannabis her husband obtains on her behalf.  Zabawa wants to take away her ability to sleep.  What a piece of work.               

Here is the actual agreement between Steve Zabawa and Montana Medical Cannabis.

419 Daniels St LOI

Representative James Knox, who has been CRYING as of late about medical marijuana (his brother is an “addict”) provided a quote to design a website for the same business, Montana Medical Cannabis.  He even offered to virtually “give away” his services because he was slow.  Morals in this case appear to be very dynamic, changing based on the potential for profit.   Here is a price quote from Knox.

It is mind blowing to me that Knox is critical on federal intervention on any level… unless it concerns medical marijuana.  Rumors have circulated throughout the cannabis community that Knox was a marijuana dealer prior to being a politician but Knox “cried” at the March 11, 2011 HB161 hearing because he “wants his brother back”.  Good grief…. maybe he feels guilty for getting him “hooked”?  He needs an education….. there is no such thing as marijuana addiction.

Zabawa and Knox want the federal government out of our healthcare.  I agree with them  but you won’t find me praising the feds for raiding legal medical cannabis shops as I know there are now THOUSANDS of Montanans who have no safe or legal access to a medicine that they truly need.

UPDATE: Rep. Knox has asked that we post a retraction as there was apparently a confidentiality disclaimer attached to the email where he offered to “virtually give away” his services to a medical marijuana provider. He has turned this over to his attorney.  We apologize for any inadvertent breach of confidentiality.  We are, after all not attorneys, but volunteer bloggers.  Apparently avoiding immediate consequences of blatant hypocrisy can be achieved by placing a confidentiality disclaimer to the bottom of each page of sanctimony.  Wouldn’t it be much easier to actually practice what you preach?  It never ceases to amaze me that legislators are so quick to condemn the lifestyles of others while partaking in very similar (or worse) activities.  Rep. Knox’s correspondence via Facebook suddenly includes the following message:

This communication may contain privileged and/or confidential information. It is intended solely for the use of the addressee. If you are not the intended recipient, you are strictly prohibited from disclosing, copying, distributing or using any of this information. If you received this communication in error, please contact the sender immediately and destroy this material in its entirety, whether electronic or hard copy. This communication may contain nonpublic personal
information about consumers subject to the restrictions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. You may not directly or indirectly reuse or disclose such information for any purpose other than to provide the services for which you are receiving the information.

UPDATE OF THE UPDATE: Here is the email in question. 
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Brother Zabawa’s Karmic Relief

 

Zabawa is no fan of cannabis, but he sure likes to hire alcoholics

 

Uh oh! Rimrock Auto Group is in some more trouble. According to the Yellowstone County Detention Facility’s website, one of of their managers is currently an occupant.  Oddly enough, he was NOT arrested for using medical marijuana, he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.  This isn’t his first offense, nor his second, or even his third.  Maurice Gunn was arrested yesterday at a Billings  McDonald’s while napping in a Cadillac Escalade featuring a dealer’s demo license plate, one can only assume who owned the vehicle.  Considering Maurice has already been convicted of DUI three times prior, it is questionable whether he even owned a valid driver’s license.

You may recall reading Gunn’s name in the newspaper in 2009,  when he was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay $1,352 restitution for lying to FEMA about being a Katrina victim to get aid. Although Rimrock Auto Group did have a dealership destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Gunn was not among the employees sent to New Orleans and never traveled there.  He wasn’t the only employee of Zabawa’s who lied to FEMA to receive aid that he didn’t deserve either…. In case you are interested in helping a man out, Maurice Gunn’s current bond is apparently 25 grand.

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Steve Zabawa should spend more time interviewing and doing background checks on  his potential employees than testifying against suffering patients who seek relief from medical cannabis.  Keep in mind many of his employees call the Alpha House (a halfway house for felons) home.   Brother Zabawa, obedient Mormon,  has had quite a track record hiring alcoholics.  Perhaps that is where he should focus his passion.

 

Looks like Mr Gunn works for Brother Zabawa.....

 

 

Rimrock Auto Group/Mercedes Benz Owner Declares Mormon Jihad on Medical Marijuana

The owner of Rimrock Auto Group and the new Mercedes Benz dealership in Billings, Steve Zabawa, has reportedly spent $20,000 to run anti-medical cannabis ads throughout next week.  When he isn’t hiring inexpensive employees from the Alpha House or refusing to honor contractual obligations,  Zabawa can typically be found in Helena testifying that his dealerships have been vandalized by medical marijuana addicts.  Brother Zabawa, as he is affectionately known in his Mormon circles, believes that blessings stem from obedience.  Apparently he believes we need to obey him.

Steve Zabawa has a handful of card- holding employees.  The puritanical prohibitionist Mormon anti-medical marijuana activist apparently wants to revoke his general manager’s right to legally provide cannabis to his wife who is suffering from terminal bone cancer.  Sounds like a great guy to me.  I guess it isn’t any wonder that the dealership has been plagued by a string of lawsuits by customers, employees, and business contacts.  The secret service has been investigating the dealership and rumors of mob connections and shady deals have circulated for as long as Zabawa, the obedient Mormon; has owned the dealership.

I would suggest that anyone who is concerned about the government overstepping its bounds by trampling on laws made by the state’s citizens should be donating to the MMGA.  The industry needs to counter the propaganda.

Meet thee saviors, ye lowly Montanans aka Introducing Your God Squad

Savin yous fools from yourselfs.

For your reading and viewing pleasure, today’s post is a linkfest allowing you to get to know some of the key players in the Montana GOP’s quest to save you from yourself.  Most of the links are recent bad press, but a couple of the holier than thous have managed to avoid negative publicity for a few months.  I’ve still included several older links to relevant stories however.  There is no doubt that I missed plenty of stories on plenty of your protectors, but I suffered from information overload as there were just too many great examples of recent hypocrisy within my own party.

Entire Montana GOP: “GOP abandons its principles”

House Speaker Milburn:  “GOP Speaker Caught Skipping Votes to Party” , “Medical Marijuana Repeal Bill Draws Heavy Opposition in MT”

"I promise to vote yes on HB 161"- James Knox

Rep. James Knox: “James Knox Responds, Logic Takes a Beating”, “Interesting Comments From James Knox”, “Knox questions why Don Pogreba doesn’t like threats”, “Why aren’t James Knox and MT GOP focused on jobs?”

Rep Cary Smith (R-Billings) and wife, Susan Smith: “Conservative Constitutional Seminar at Capitol Stirs Controversy”

Mr and Mrs At least we admit to having a moral agenda Smith

Shockley: “Senator Shockley wants medical marijuana OUT of Montana”, “Senator Shockley in wake of open container violation steps down”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve Zabawa (owner of Rimrock Auto Group and Mercedes Benz dealership, passionate LDS supporter of repealing medical marijuana):  “Lawsuits Plague Dealership” Be CERTAIN to read the comments.   “Fed probe looked at Rimrock” “Rimrock Auto Group Stole Parents Identity”

 

Zabawa wants opiate- I mean marijuana- addicts to stop breaking into his car dealerships

Cherrie Brady: “ATTN Montana Caregivers and Patients”, This brilliant piece WRITTEN by Ms Brady: “Is Montana going to pot?”, “Could Montana be the first to repeal Medi-Pot?”