Dress rehearsal for legislative distractions

It’s supposed to be the legislative session, not the silly season, but sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.

Even though the Legislature doesn’t officially meet until Jan. 5, the hijinks got started early last week when House Republicans issued a new legislative dress code.

The idea of a dress code isn’t in itself completely out of bounds. Lots of businesses, including the Inter Lake, have a dress code, and sometimes, yes, they do sound a bit like a “junior high dress code,” as some critics called it, but there are perfectly good legal reasons why dress codes are written the way they are.

So we won’t criticize the specifics of the dress code, which call for men to wear suits or sport jackets and dress pants, ties, dress shirts and dress shoes and women to wear a suit, dress slacks, shirt, jacket, and dress blouse or suit-like dresses and appropriate shoes.

The problem really isn’t so much with the dress code, which basically is an elaboration of what is expected for “formal business attire.” The problem is that the House Republican leadership — in particular Speaker Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson — instituted the policy without consulting with Democrats or even their own Republican colleagues, thus setting off a firestorm of Twitter chatter and mockery.

Let this be a lesson to them: Distraction from legislative priorities does not always come in the form of exposed cleavage or miniskirts.

Icy doe’s warm-hearted hero

It was an effort above and beyond the call of duty on Dec. 3 for a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks game warden.

An unlucky deer had been splayed out on the ice in Bigfork Harbor for three days, unable to stand or get off the ice.

Tony Grant, who lives on the south side of the harbor, called Fish, Wildlife and Parks for help — and 10 minutes later warden Chuck Bartos appeared on the scene.

Bartos crept onto the ice, grabbed the helpless doe and guided her off the thin ice and into the brush, where he helped her stand on all four legs and then walk off.

It was a simple act of kindness to wildlife, for which both Grant and Bartos should be thanked.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.