Plenty of topics released on the press

Alex Strickland

Every so often someone will call the Eagle office wondering why we have not responded to their e-mail. Occasionally, it’s because their missive did not warrant a response, but more often it’s because our junk mail filter snagged it by accident or it simply got lost in the deluge.

I tell everyone that it’s nothing personal, but I get a lot of e-mail. And the vast, overwhelming majority falls into the category “press release.” These often mind-numbing documents flow in from every group, agency and organization you can imagine, sometimes in celebratory fonts, usually with superlative proclamations. But every so often a good one crops up and makes it into the paper, or at least into this column.

The last week has been a week of revelatory e-mails, the first of which informed me that the Boy Scout popcorn I purchased months ago (and ate moments later) was voluntarily recalled amidst the national peanut salmonella scare. Being an Eagle Scout myself, I had little choice but to purchase the tainted snack when the adorable little Cub Scout came knocking, but still, not great news.

The second release worth noting came in Monday morning, carrying possibly the best line so far this year.

Written by Senate Minority Aide Alex Corcoran, the release concerned the much-maligned bill to create a state pancake. Anyone looking for a titanic waste of taxpayer money need look no further than such a silly proposal, but this release told a bit more of the story. A group of Missoula third and fourth graders have crafted the bill and while their teacher Angie Palin admits “I know how many people feel this is a fluff bill,” she contends that 90 elementary school kids are learning a valuable first-hand lesson about how government works.

And if this tale of legislative learning wasn’t enough to warrant a second look, there is, of course, Corcoran’s fine line. While describing the supporters of the bill to name the huckleberry whole wheat pancake the official Montana flapjack, it is noted that “No members of the powerful waffle lobby are expected to testify in opposition.”

Now I just have to wait by my computer for the waffle lobby’s inevitable response.