SPAIN IS BURNING
Leaders meet in Madrid to mark world day to fight drought


Children and adults cool off in a fountain in a park by the river in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Spain's weather service says a mass of hot air from north Africa is triggering the country's first major heatwave of the year with temperatures expected to rise to 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit) in certain areas. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Fri, June 17, 2022,

MADRID (AP) — Politicians and experts are meeting in Madrid on Friday to discuss ways to tackle drought and the increasing spread of deserts across the globe.

The half-day meeting to mark the United Nations’ World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought will be attended by Ibrahim Thiaw, executive secretary of the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification, or UNCCD.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is to give an opening speech and U.N. Secretary General António Guterres will address the conference by video.

The meeting will bring together numerous experts, including Kenya’s Patricia Kombo, founder of the PaTree Initiative to help Kenya achieve 10% forest cover by getting students to plant trees.

The UNCCD says that between 1900 and 2019, droughts have impacted 2.7 billion people in the world, and caused 11.7 million deaths. Forecasts estimate that by 2050 droughts may affect over three-quarters of the world’s population.

Spain’s Ecological Transition ministry says 75 percent of Spanish land is vulnerable to desertification and this is increasing.

The meeting comes as Spain is suffering an unusually early heat wave that has helped fuel wildfires across the country.

The focus of the meeting will be on encouraging early action to prevent disastrous outcomes.

“Droughts have been part of human and natural systems, but what we are experiencing now is much worse, largely due to human activity,” Thiaw said in a statement.

“Recent droughts point at a precarious future for the world. Food and water shortages as well as wildfires caused by the severe drought have all intensified in recent years.”

Turkish drone strike in north Iraq said to kill 4 militants


Fri, June 17, 2022

IRBIL, Baghdad (AP) — A Turkish drone targeted a vehicle traveling in Iraq’s Kurdistan region on Friday, killing four Kurdish militants, Iraq’s Kurdistan’s counter-terrorism service said.

In a statement, it said the drone struck the jeep in the town of Kalar in the northern province of Sulaymaniyah. A fifth passenger was wounded and was being treated in hospital.

The militants were from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, and has led an insurgency in southeast Turkey since 1984 which has killed tens of thousands of people.

Turkey regularly carries out airstrikes into northern Iraq and has sent commandos to support its offensives. In April, it launched its latest offensive, named Operation Claw Lock in parts of northern Iraq - part of a series of cross-border operations which it started in 2019 to combat the outlawed PKK who are based in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq.

The Turkish defense ministry said in a tweet Friday that 6 PKK “terrorists” were neutralized in Iraq as part of an ongoing military campaign, but did not offer more details.

African brain drain: '90% of my friends

want to leave'


Cecilia Macaulay - BBC News
Fri, June 17, 2022, 6:09 PM·5 min read

A new survey of more than 4,500 young people in Africa, aged 18-24, has found that 52% of them are likely to consider emigrating in the next few years, citing economic hardship and education opportunities as the top reasons. The BBC spoke to five young people in Nigeria and South Africa who said they do not feel safe in their countries and lack access to work opportunities, but for those in Ghana the picture looks very different.

"The Nigerian insecurity is so appalling," says 18-year-old Ayoade Oni from Lagos. This is one of the main reasons he wants to leave Nigeria.

Last year he was nearly kidnapped in "broad daylight". He was on his way home from the phone repair shop when a gang approached him, demanding he hand over his belongings.

He resisted and was "walking very fast" to try and get away. He thought he had found refuge when he stumbled on a nearby shop with people inside who tried to lure him in, telling him he was safe with them.

But it was a trap.

Suddenly, a bus driver pulled up and warned him the people were "kidnappers", instructing him to get inside the vehicle. "That saved me that day," he recalls.

Nigeria is currently facing a kidnapping for ransom crisis, with perpetrators collecting millions of dollars over the years, according to a Lagos-based think-tank.

"I can't go out at night, my parents won't even allow me," Mr Oni said. They have set him a curfew to be home by 18.30 each night.

A "high unemployment rate, poor health sector, low standard of living [and] little to no job opportunities", are the other reasons Mr Oni cites for wanting to leave the country.

As for eventually getting a job after he graduates with a degree in Computer Science, he is not optimistic. Most graduates are left with no option but to compete for the "few employment positions available, with most people being employed by connections or corruption", he said.

If he left Nigeria, and relocated to Canada where he has his heart set on, he would have no intention of moving back. Most of his friends feel the same: "90% if not all of them" want out, he says.

The statistics from the African Youth Survey 2022, carried out in 15 countries by the South African Ichikowitz Family Foundation, back up Mr Oni's pessimism.

Young Nigerians have the most negative opinion in the whole continent about the direction their country is headed, with 95% saying things are going badly. Of all those surveyed, just 28% felt positively about the trajectory of their nation.

Graphic about youth survey

The world needs to wake up and invest in Africa, so that young Africans do not feel they have to move abroad to achieve their dreams at the expense of their home countries, according to the man behind the survey, Ivor Ichikowitz.

"It's bigger than a brain drain," Mr Ichikowitz told the BBC Newsday programme. "This group of people, 18 to 24 year olds in Africa, are saying: 'We are going to improve our lives, even if it means having to up and leave and go somewhere else.'"

Graphic about youth survey

He said the fact so many young Africans wanted to move abroad could cause a migration crisis, describing it as "alarming".

In the previous edition of the African Youth Survey conducted before the pandemic, most of the young people interviewed wanted to stay in their home nation and build a life for themselves there, Mr Ichikowitz said.

A lot of the young people his foundation spoke to wanted to move to South Africa, Europe or the US. But although South Africa was seen as "the holy grail" for many in other African countries, those in South Africa begged to differ, and wanted to move to the US or Europe, he said.

It is in the interests of the whole world to keep young Africans, who estimates say will make up 42% of the world's young people by 2030, "constructively engaged in Africa", Mr Ichikowitz said.

That is exactly what some young people in Ghana who the BBC spoke to plan on doing.

Ghanaians feel the second-most positive on the continent about the future of their country after Rwanda, with 56% saying they are pleased.

"I can make it in Ghana because even though there are not strong institutions, and our systems seem to be weak - the lack of these could also mean that a smart social climber can break those barriers," says 24-year-old Julius Kwame Anthony, the head of the National Union of Ghana Students.

"Relocating abroad may look rosy but nothing is really promised out there," he continues.

Similar sentiments were echoed by 33-year-old businessman Ernest Larmie: "This is home, if I'm able to solve the problems here, when the next generation comes, they can also benefit ," he says, questioning the logic behind moving abroad, just to help another country develop at the expense of your own.
'Women are not safe'

But for others, passionate arguments about developing their community will not wash, and the trauma they have faced in their home country has left them itching to leave.

One young South African woman, who requested to remain anonymous, says the high crime rate in the country has made her want to emigrate, on top of her struggles to find a job since graduating last year.

She says she was raped in 2019 while walking from campus to her student accommodation and has not felt safe since.

Pre-pandemic, between 2018 and 2019, sexual assault and rape counted among the crimes in the country with the biggest increases.

"It just feels like the odds are against us as young women. Not only can we not roam the streets safely, we are also battling with unemployment."

Another young South African woman, Mapula Maake, 23, agrees that the employment situation in South Africa is poor, and this is why she is thinking of moving abroad.

"Migration might be the only solution to this rather saturated job market," she says.

In March South Africa recorded a record high unemployment rate of 35.3%.

Ms Maake describes it as a "national crisis" and pleads that "the government should be taking steps to invest in graduates".

Graphic about youth survey

Additional reporting by the BBC's Thomas Naadi in Accra and Nobuhle Simelane in Johannesburg
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'A third of Africans' want to migrate

'A lost generation': UN expert issues urgent call for help to stop Myanmar junta's war on children



Iris Jung
Fri, June 17, 2022

Thomas Andrews, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, reported the Myanmar military junta’s “relentless attacks” on children.

Located in Southeast Asia, Myanmar is a country that borders Thailand, Bangladesh, India and China. While the majority of the population (54 million) identifies as Buddhist, there are multiple ethnic groups, including Rohingya Muslims.

When Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won the general election on Feb. 1, 2021, the generals and military — who had supported the oppositional party — claimed fraud and forcefully seized power in a coup d’etat. The country is now ruled by military commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing, who has been internationally condemned for his violence against resistance and ethnic minorities.

“As conditions continue to deteriorate in Myanmar, and the military junta continues its attempts to hide the truth, I remain steadfast in pursuing my mandate to document and report on the situation of human rights in Myanmar,” Andrews said per the United Nations.

In his June 14 report, Andrews stated, “Myanmar’s junta is at war with the people of Myanmar, and children are the war’s innocent victims … The military’s 1 February 2021 coup has meant disaster for Myanmar’s children.”

Andrews detailed that the military attacks have “displaced more than 250,000 children” in addition to the 130,000 children in “protracted displacement” and half-a-million Myanmar child refugees in other countries. The junta has also detained over 1,400 children, with 61 children held hostage, 382 children killed or maimed and 142 recorded cases of child torture. Furthermore, the current state of the country places 33,000 children at risk of death due to failed immunizations, and 1.3 million children lack nutritional support. Due to the junta’s attack on schools and academic institutions, 7.8 million children remain out of school.

According to Andrews, “the relentless attacks on children underscore the depths of the military junta’s depravity and its willingness to inflict immense misery and hardship on innocent victims.” If action is not taken, he warns that “Myanmar’s children will become a lost generation.”

“The stakes of Myanmar’s children, and for Myanmar’s future, could not be higher,” Andrew warned in his report.

He said the UN and its other entities “must respond to the crisis in Myanmar with the same urgency that they have responded to the crisis in Ukraine,” arguing that the “suffering of children is further reason why the international community must rethink and reset its response.”

“While the future of Myanmar is in the hands of the courageous people who are willing to risk everything to resist the junta and save their children, stronger support from the international community is imperative,” he concluded.

From June 17 to 23, Andrews will conduct a mission to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to share his observations of the situation in Myanmar.

Further information on the Myanmar crisis and methods of aid can be found at the UN Refugee Agency and Rescue.org.

 REIGNING IN CHINESE OLIGRARCHS
Xi Says China’s Corruption Still Severe and Complicated



Bloomberg News
Sat, June 18, 2022

(Bloomberg) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said corruption in the country remains severe and complicated even though progress has been made in the battle against graft.

The “stubbornness and danger” of corruption cannot be underestimated, CCTV cited Xi as saying. He was speaking at a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Friday.

Xi vowed zero tolerance on corruption and asked senior government officials to keep themselves and their family and relatives in check. He called for senior cadres to adhere to a moderate and clean relationship between the government and business community.

China’s Politburo declared its anti-corruption dragnet of financial institutions a success on Friday, in a potential sign of relief for the $59 trillion sector, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection’s probes had helped strengthen the party’s leadership over the financial sector and prevented risks, the Politburo said.

Dave Bautista Shares Sweet IG Post to Celebrate His Lesbian Mom



The actor also preemptively shut down any haters.

BY RACHEL KILEY @RACHELKILEY

JUNE 17 2022 

Dave Bautista is sticking up for the LGBTQ+ community in a heartwarming and no-nonsense Instagram post about his own family.

The former pro-wrestler is best known in the acting world for his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise as Drax the Destroyer in the Guardians of the Galaxy films – a tough alien with a lovable soft side, which is not unlike Bautista’s own reputation.

That supposed dichotomy was on full display when Bautista posed in a trucker hat and a fitted t-shirt boasting a rainbow above the words “BE YOU” in a post shared on the ‘gram.

“I was always proud of who my mom was because she was always proud of who she was,” he wrote. “In your face, ‘F*ck you if you don’t like it,’ unapologetically loud and proud. And her son [paid] attention. BE LOUD, BE PROUD, BE YOU.”

In case it wasn’t clear enough, Bautista also tagged the post with #PrideMonth and #ProudSonOfALesbian.

This is hardly the first the actor has spoken about his mother, Donna Raye, or his support of the LGBTQ+ community. He’s used Pride month to sing her accolades in the past, writing in 2019 that “every decent part of me as a human being is directly because of my mother.”

“A strong lesbian raised a strong man and I couldn’t be more proud of her,” he said at the time.

Bautista also used his platform in 2019 to speak out against a bishop who had been discouraging Catholics from supporting LGBTQ+ activities during Pride Month.

That’s the kind of ally we like to see!

The 'Simpsonville Slaughter,' a Kentucky Civil War massacre we tried to ignore | Opinion


Berry Craig

The Courier Journal
Fri, June 17, 2022, 7:20 AM·3 min read

Editor's note: this story details historic violence that some may find upsetting. The author also quotes archived newspaper articles from a time period when "Negroes" was standard terminology instead of Black Americans.

"If a race has no history … it stands in danger of being exterminated," warned historian Carter G. Woodson, the “Father of Black History" and the founder of Black History Month.

Confederate guerrillas exterminated approximately 22 Black U.S. soldiers near Simpsonville in Shelby County, Kentucky late in the Civil War. But the “Simpsonville Slaughter” isn’t in most history books because “until fairly recently the efforts — even the existence — of African American troops have been largely ignored,” according to Murray State University historian Bill Mulligan.

A state historical society roadside marker on U.S. 60 west of Simpsonville tells about the Jan. 25, 1865, massacre of the troopers, members of Company E, Fifth United States Colored Cavalry. (The Army designated Blacks as “United States Colored Troops.”)

Flanking the marker are 22 white marble military tombstones, rowed up soldierlike, with names of the fallen men. The Stars and Stripes fly over the site.

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Some of the troopers may have been survivors of the October, 1864, Saltville Massacre in Virginia. After the battle of Saltville, some of the victorious Confederates murdered a number of wounded U.S. soldiers, most of them Fifth Cavalry troopers.

Historical marker, 22 tombstones along U.S. 60 mark the site of the Simpsonville Slaughter

“Armed Black men were a Southern white nightmare brought to life,” Mulligan added. "When Black units did engage in combat with rebel forces, very few prisoners were taken. Simpsonville, Saltville and Fort Pillow [Tenn.] are extensions of this killing. Black soldiers were part of the visceral fear of empowered Black men — they were to be slaughtered so as to erase their existence."

The outlaws, on horseback, struck while the horsemen, detailed as foot soldiers, were driving a herd of around 900 cattle to Louisville from Camp Nelson, their base near Nicholasville, the Jessamine County seat. Part of Camp Nelson, the largest recruiting station for African American troops in Kentucky, is preserved in a park, Camp Nelson National Monument.

“About 22 men killed and at least eight severely wounded,” says the olive green metal sign with gold letters. Most of the recruits were former slaves.

Several newspapers in Kentucky and other states reported the slayings, condemning the bloodshed as the “Simpsonville Slaughter.” The mass killings outraged the Louisville Journal. “It is presumed that the Negroes surrendered and were shot down in cold blood,” the paper reported on Jan. 26.

Fifteen guerrillas, armed with six-shot revolvers, surprised the 80 troopers just after they left Simpsonville on a bitterly cold winter day. Snow blanketed the ground.

About 40 soldiers were in front of the herd. A like number trailed the cattle. The men were largely on their own because "their officers stopped to warm at various houses along the road," the Journal said.

The Journal said the guerrillas surprised the rear group and stampeded the herd. “It was a horrible butchery, yet the scoundrels engaged in the bloody work shot down their victims with feelings of delight,” the Journal told its readers.

The paper described the massacre site as “a terrible scene" in which "the ground was stained with blood and the dead bodies of negro soldiers were stretched out along the road.” Local citizens helped tend the wounded and also bury the dead in a common grave. The surviving soldiers managed to escape to Louisville.

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“The massacre was largely forgotten in historical accounts until 2008, when the Kentucky African American Heritage Commission awarded a Lincoln Preservation Grant to the Shelby County Historical Society to investigate the Simpsonville Slaughter,” according to The Kentucky African American Encyclopedia. “Locals assumed that the victims of the attack had been buried in a mass grave in a nearby African American cemetery that had been abandoned for 40 years.”

The mass grave couldn’t be found, but the county historical society was able to fund the historical marker which was dedicated on the 144th anniversary of the massacre, says the encyclopedia.

Berry Craig is a professor emeritus of history at West Kentucky Community College in Paducah and an author of seven books and co-author of two more, all on Kentucky history.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: A Kentucky Civil War massacre we almost forgot | Opinion

‘Star Trek: Discovery’ EP says casting of Michelle Yeoh, Sonequa Martin-Green sparked racist hate mail



Editorial Staff
Fri, June 17, 2022, 

Executive producer of “Star Trek: Discovery” Jenny Lumet recently revealed that some viewers sent racist hate mail targeting actors Sonequa Martin-Green and Michelle Yeoh.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lumet said the backlash was in response to the 2017 series premiere, featuring Martin-Green and Yeoh walking on a planet.

“The hate mail!” she exclaimed. “’There are no Black people or Asian people in space!’ Yeah, I know. It’s tricky. There’s the blue guy over there and a tentacle guy over there, but Michelle Yeoh? What the f*ck is she doing there?”

“Star Trek: Discovery” is the first installment of the series to feature a Black woman, Martin-Green, as its lead. Yeoh also takes on the prominent role of Emperor Philippa Georgiou.

The casting decision prompted some controversy from Trekkies, notably by a Fox News contributor who claimed that the franchise was heading in the direction of “woke politics.”

George Takei, who played the iconic role of Hikaru Sulu in the original cast, famously tweeted a response to the opinion piece, writing, “Who wants to tell him?”

The actor also added the hashtag #IDIC in reference to what fans would recognize as the Vulcan philosophy, “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination.”

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M 101; INSIDER TRADING

Justice Department makes public search warrant targeting Sen. Richard Burr over stock trades


Sarah D. Wire
Fri, June 17, 2022,

Federal investigators are reviewing whether Sen. Richard M. Burr, at right in 2019, illegally used information from congressional briefings about the coronavirus to sell $1.65 million in stock just before the pandemic hit. (Associated Press)

The Justice Department on Friday made public a search warrant it used to obtain Sen. Richard M. Burr’s cellphone in 2020 as part of an investigation into his stock trades at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The department released the search warrant and accompanying affidavit in response to a lawsuit brought by the Los Angeles Times. Much of the affidavit was heavily redacted and provided few insights into the evidence the FBI had gathered and used to obtain permission from a federal judge to seize the phone.

Justice Department attorneys argued in court papers filed Friday that much of the information should remain blacked out, in part, because it includes "extensive details of interviews with private third-party witnesses whose role in the investigation is not publicly known." The Justice Department, which had fought the disclosure of the records for more than a year, lost a recent key appeals court ruling that set the stage for their release.

The fight over the records stems from a federal investigation that began in 2020 into whether Burr, a North Carolina Republican who is not running for reelection, illegally used information from congressional briefings about the coronavirus to sell $1.65 million in stock just before the pandemic hit. Burr was never charged with any crimes connected to the trades.

The Times first reported in May 2020 that federal agents, relying on a search warrant, had obtained Burr’s cellphone as part of their investigation. The Justice Department confirmed in its court filings on Friday that it dropped that investigation in January 2021. A month later, the Times filed its lawsuit, arguing the records should be made public.

A federal appeals court in March overturned an earlier ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell that had blocked the public’s access to the search warrant, citing Burr's right to privacy. The court ruled that Howell had misapplied the law in her May 2021 order and did not take into proper account the public’s interest in the materials.

Howell last month ordered the Justice Department to make public a redacted version of the materials and explain why parts of it should remain sealed.

A lawyer for Burr and a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Attorneys for The Times, who work for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Burr was one of several senators — including California Democrat Dianne Feinstein — whose sale and purchase of stock at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic were scrutinized by the Justice Department for potential violations of a congressional insider trading law. But his was the only case in which warrants were obtained. All investigations were closed without charges being filed.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Montana governor under fire for vacationing during flood


 

MATTHEW BROWN and AMY BETH HANSON
Thu, June 16, 2022, 10:17 PM·4 min read

RED LODGE, Mont. (AP) — As punishing floods tore through Yellowstone National Park and neighboring Montana communities, the state's governor was nowhere to be seen.

In the immediate aftermath, the state issued a disaster declaration attributed to the Republican governor, but for some reason it carried the lieutenant governor’s signature.

It wasn’t until Wednesday — more than 48 hours after the flood hit the state — that Gov. Greg Gianforte’s office acknowledged he was out of the country, though it wouldn’t say exactly where he was, citing unspecified security concerns.

Gianforte finally returned on Thursday night from what his office said was a vacation with his wife in Italy. But he found himself facing a torrent of criticism for not hurrying home sooner and for not telling the public his whereabouts during the emergency.

“In a moment of unprecedented disaster and economic uncertainty, Gianforte purposefully kept Montanans in the dark about where he was and who was actually in charge,” said Sheila Hogan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party.

Gianforte, 61, is a tech mogul elected governor two years ago. He made headlines when he body-slammed a reporter the day before winning a seat in Congress in a 2017 special election. He initially misled investigators about the attack but eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault.

While Gianforte was away, Montana's lieutenant governor served as acting governor. And in Gianforte's defense, his office said he was briefed regularly about the flooding, which caused widespread damage to small communities in the southern part of the state and had threatened to cut off fresh water to Billings, the state’s largest city.

But Gianforte’s critics seized on his mysterious disappearance and started the mocking social media hashtag #WhereIsGreg. Montanans and others traded wisecracks about Gianforte and the Appalachian Trail — a reference to former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who disappeared in 2009 and had his staff tell reporters he was hiking the Appalachian Trail while he was actually having a tryst with his lover in Argentina.



Montana reporters started asking more questions after noticing Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras’ signature on the flood-disaster declaration.

“Truthfully, it speaks for itself. It just does,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester of Montana said of the governor's AWOL status as he toured flood damage in Red Lodge on Friday. “When you’re in public service, there are things that take precedent, and this is pretty important.”

Gianforte finally toured the flood zone Friday but didn't address his absence. He instead encouraged visitors to still come to the Yellowstone region.

“Here’s a very simple message for people that have planned trips to Yellowstone Park: We’re open. You’ve got to come. There’s so much to do in Montana," he said. "The vitality of our communities depend on it, and your families need what we have in Montana."




The floods washed away roads, bridges and houses and closed all of Yellowstone, threatening some of the communities on the park's outskirts that depend heavily on tourists visiting one of America's most beloved natural attractions.

Yellowstone officials said they could reopen the southern end of the park as soon as next week, offering visitors a chance to see Old Faithful and other attractions. But the northern entrances in Montana, which lead to the wildlife-rich Lamar Valley and Tower Fall, could be closed all summer, if not longer.

Scott Miller, a commissioner in Carbon County, where flooding heavily damaged the town of Red Lodge and other areas, said Friday that he had been able to contact the governor by phone when he needed to and that the state did not neglect any duties.

“The fact that the governor has been on vacation — there’s been no hiccups,” Miller said. “That’s why you have people in your cabinet.”

In Red Lodge, Tester hesitated to criticize the governor, acknowledging he was in Washington this week working on a bill for veterans.

“Some could say, ‘Jon, why didn’t you come back Tuesday or Wednesday?’” Tester said. “These are hard situations. I don’t know what his circumstances were. ... I’ve got a decent working relationship with the governor and want to continue that.”

___

Hanson reported from Helena, Montana. Associated Press journalists Brian Melley in Los Angeles, Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Lindsay Whitehurst in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.

 

Montana’s AWOL Guv Refuses to Say Where He Is as State Battles Once in 500-Year Floods

Josh Fiallo
Thu, June 16, 2022

William Campbell/Getty

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, whose tagline is “leading the Montana comeback,” may finally be coming back to Montana.

The Republican governor, elected in 2020, spent the past workweek galavanting in Tuscany, Italy, as his constituents battled some of the worst floods in the state’s history, reports 8KPAX. Now, after at least four days away on a “personal” trip, Gianforte’s office confirmed the governor is expected back in the capital city of Helena sometime Thursday night.

The damage may already be done for Gianforte, however.

Montanans were kept in the dark about his whereabouts for days, only alerted to his absence—not just from Montana, but the entire continent—when reporters noticed an executive order declaring a disaster was signed by Lieutenant Gov. Kristen Juras on Monday and not Gianforte himself. The governor was also absent from all official briefings about the floods.

Gianforte’s office later told the Helena Independent Record that the governor “verbally authorized” the disaster declaration and gave Juras authorization to act on his behalf.

Flooding in Yellowstone has destroyed roads and houses.
National Park Service

Meanwhile, devastating flood waters washed away dozens of bridges and miles of roads in Yellowstone National Park, which is partially in Montana, and forced 10,000 visitors out from the indefinitely closed park on Monday.

Those floods worked their way downstream and continue to ravage the lives of Montanans, 87 of whom were rescued from flood waters by the National Guard.

The floods have also wreaked havoc away from the riverfront. High waters caused the water treatment plant servicing Billings, the state’s most populous city, to close earlier this week, forcing officials to beg residents to conserve water. After being down to just a day’s supply by Thursday morning, the plant was able to restart. But the threat of flooding elsewhere remains.

“None of us planned a 500-year flood event on the Yellowstone when we designed these facilities,” Debi Meling, Billings’ public works director, told the Associated Press.

Gianforte’s office admitted Wednesday the state’s leader was on a “personal trip” out of the country, but withheld his exact location for “security reasons.”

This silence from Gianforte has led critics to paint him as the new “Cancún Cruz,” a reference to Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s jaunt to Mexico last year as his home state froze over amid deadly power outages and freezing temperatures.

“Greg Gianforte pulled a Ted Cruz and is vacationing out of the country while Montana blunders its response to massive flooding,” tweeted Raw Story reporter Bob Bringham of Bozeman, Montana.

But comparing Cruz to Gianforte is not apples-to-apples. For one, Gianforte has provided no explanation for his stay in Europe, while Cruz belatedly attempted to paint his untimely escape as an act of fatherhood, accompanying his daughter to Mexico before returning the next day. Cruz also booked his flights as Texas was in crisis, while Gianforte’s get-a-way—his second in two weeks—was planned in advance, his office said.

This isn’t the first time Gianforte has made national headlines for the wrong reasons. He once body slammed a reporter on the campaign trail for a seat in Congress in 2017. Three years later, as he ran for governor, his political director and spokesman reportedly bashed a parked car next to his pickup truck, slamming his truck’s door into the other vehicle.

Gianforte’s office did not respond to multiple calls, emails and direct messages from The Daily Beast on Thursday about when his Italian holiday began and what took him so long to get home.

Reporter Maritsa Georgiou, of Newsy, says she obtained a time stamped photo that shows the governor in Italian wine country. The photo itself has not been released by Georgiou, however.

Others in the state heard similar rumors about Gianforte’s whereabouts. Former Democrat Representative Reilly Neill, who ran for governor in 2020, said Thursday she heard from three people that Gianforte was vacationing in Italy but the trio wished to remain anonymous.

Neill declined a phone interview with The Daily Beast on Thursday, saying she would soon lose cell service as she drove to the areas surrounding Yellowstone. With Gianforte’s return apparently imminent, perhaps he will be doing the same sometime soon.