First, the bad news.  You might not consider yourself a culture warrior, but, like it or not, you’re in a culture war, and it’s being fought in all kinds of new-information ways, like memes and bot-farms.  If that seems a bit intimidating, don’t worry, one key feature of MY weapon of mass instruction (WMI) is its playful and inviting look, since the main medium I’ve used to construct this weapon is plastic toy bricks.

Do I feel a little like Oppenheimer having built a device more devastating than a thousand memes?  I do, but unlike Oppy, only I know how to operate this complex narrative delivery system masquerading as toy bricks, and that’s just PART of the good news I’m here to convey.

Since the audience at Western Montana News tends to be more conservative, I want to commend conservatives for a level of meme-savviness the left is incapable of achieving, as was noted in the fallout of the Biden Administration’s attempt to hire a meme-manager.  

Why can’t the left meme?  At risk of over-simplifying, I’d say the main factor has been the left’s embracing of cancel culture, which rippled through modes of entertainment, especially comedy.  Is it any wonder the most successful memes are the ones that make people laugh, and that the things that make people laugh are, too often, the same things the left finds triggering and in need of canceling?

Where conservative meme-culture fails, I excel.  I don’t need an internet connection or Telegram account, for one thing, and I’m not preaching to the choir.  I’m an oddity in meat space with what appears to be a non-threatening assemblage of toy bricks, and the allure has been nearly universal.  People approach, they smile, they ask if they can take a picture, and I oblige, assessing what features to draw their attention to.  

After Missoula’s City Council spent a marathon session on Monday discussing a resolution to limit “urban crisis camping”, I decided to add an urban camp to my WMI.  Now I’ve got provocative, tantalizing narrative elements from the ground-level, where I’m throwing an End Times Party, to the upper zones, where my toy Trump figure flies around on a pig-headed baby.  I’ve even got that German dude with the mustache who likes trains almost as much as our County Commissioner, Dave Strohmaier.

When I accurately assess my audience, and properly pace my response to the common question, “What’s going on here?” I have the potential of gaining a new reader for my mission to expose local corruption.  And when I overload someone’s circuits with tales of local intrigue, they might not check out the blog, but I suspect they help me out in other ways, like with word-of-mouth exposure.

While I haven’t been using my WMI for long, the results have already been amazing.  I have collected more stories about a certain Detective, talked to dozens of people, and even made some money!  And the real secret behind my success?  I’m having FUN while doing it!

Outside the Missoula bubble, small town Montana is also struggling with changes that locals are worried and suspicious about, like Thompson Falls.  For these municipalities, Missoula is an example of what they DO NOT WANT their own communities to look like.  Here’s a quote from the link that illustrates what I’m talking about:

Heather Berman, Sanders County Resource Advisory Committee coordinator, said there’s no plan for development on the public land known as Mule Pasture, a common concern spread within the group. Berman said there’s been misinformation about the property.

In some ways, this opposition can be traced to a worry of irresponsible growth.

“For me, I know where I came from. I watched our town explode and change into a place that you didn’t recognize,” Wing said. “Missoula. Look at Missoula. There’s crime. There’s gangs. There’s all kinds of things happening.”

Citizens clash with local government in Thompson Falls over transparency. NBC Montana. June 7, 2024.

Yes, it’s true, Missoula has ALL KINDS OF THINGS happening, and this summer one of the things happening will be ME and my WMI, so stay tuned!