The Other McCain

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WHO IS ‘MONTANA COWGIRL’?

Posted on | August 4, 2012 | 17 Comments

WASHINGTON, D.C.
During the question-and-answer session following a panel discussion at the Americans for Prosperity Summit at the Washington Hilton, a Montana activist stood up and began to explain a scandal involving a liberal blogger in his home state.

The anonymous “Montana Cowgirl” blog has been doing professional-style “oppo” research work against conservative activists in the state. Two years ago, the Associated Press reported that “Montana Cowgirl” was working from a state government IP address:

The Department of Administration, provided with detail on the IP address of some posts, was able to identify that the blogger had been accessing — all day long at times — the state wireless guest system through a hookup in the Office of Public Instruction using an Apple Macintosh laptop.
The agency spokeswoman at the time, Jessica Rhoades, said neither she nor anyone else at the agency was doing it. Rhoades, who recently went to work for the governor’s office, said the agency’s information technology found at that time the wireless system could theoretically be accessed by someone sitting in the parking lot.

John Adams of the Great Falls Tribune observed at the time:

[W]hoever MT Cowgirl is, that particular blogger has shown an “uncanny knack” of tracking down insider information before anyone else, including most journalists, and has been a major cheerleader of [Democrat] Gov. Brian Schweitzer.
Speculation about her/his identity has been a hot topic for many months within Montana’s political circles. MT Cowgirl blogs with a ferocity and frequency that’s dazzling, but she does so anonymously and without any accountability. She doesn’t hesitate to post a “rumor,” and she has at times angered fellow progressives.

It is believed by some Montana activists that “Montana Cowgirl” is actually an attorney employed in the governor’s office. Paying a political opposition researcher from taxpayer funds would almost certainly be illegal and yet, as the activist who raised the issue  at today’s AFP panel pointed out, there has been no investigative follow-up on this potential scandal, and the media have mostly ignored it.

So the question remains: WHO IS ‘MONTANA COWGIRL’?

Category: Montana

Comments

17 Responses to “WHO IS ‘MONTANA COWGIRL’?”

  1. Peter Ingemi
    August 4th, 2012 @ 2:20 pm

    And most importantly is she Fedoraphobic like the Chick Fil A protester folks?

  2. ThomasD
    August 4th, 2012 @ 2:35 pm

    ” …[T]he wireless system could theoretically be accessed by someone sitting in the parking lot.”

    Presumably that loophole has been closed.  Otherwise it is conceivable someone could photoshop Schweitzer’s face onto some bestiality pix and post them on the internet from the parking lot.

    Does MT have a FIOA?  Maybe someone should request server logs showing if anyone within the offices has accessed the website?

  3. DaveO
    August 4th, 2012 @ 2:59 pm

    Theoretically, there are security cameras covering the parking lot.

    Theoretically, as the authorities can describe the computer as an Apple MacIntosh, there is enough information for the authorities to contact Apple for the owner’s information.

    Theoretically, the Information Security Office has the information, and can provide it with a FOIA request.  

    More than likely, given the information that Montana Girl posts rumours ahead of the news cycle and is fiercely loyal to the governor (behavioural indicators), that the Governor’s staff already know who Montana Girl is.

    Accusations of her being a racist TEA Partier from Texas to follow.

  4. PaulLemmen
    August 4th, 2012 @ 4:00 pm

    Just imagine the witch-hunt were she conservative in outlook …

  5. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    August 4th, 2012 @ 4:07 pm

    Fedoras in Montana are rather dude-ish Pete!  They tend to prefer traditional cowboy Stetsons there.  Although granted the Fedora by far beats out a beret (unless green and worn by a member of the U.S. Armed forces).  

  6. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    August 4th, 2012 @ 4:15 pm

    I posted on this…  I am going for Olympic FMJRA gold and out doing even the great Phelps in links this week.  There are three TOM links in this post alone.  

  7. MrPaulRevere
    August 4th, 2012 @ 4:19 pm

    Having spent a few moments poking around the John Adams link above, it would seem one Rosanna Y. de la Cruz is a logical suspect. Like Neal Rauhauser, shes a ‘social media consultant’ and is a passionate Apple user: http://about.me/rydelacruz

  8. Mortimer Snerd
    August 4th, 2012 @ 4:30 pm

    Montana has a democrat governor?  God help us!

  9. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    August 4th, 2012 @ 4:41 pm

    Montana has always been conservative and populist in politics.  But everyone loves guns, hunting and fishing.  

  10. MrPaulRevere
    August 4th, 2012 @ 4:42 pm

    Theres a whole boatload of plausible deniability here: “The agency spokeswoman at the time, Jessica Rhoades, said neither she nor anyone else at the agency was doing it.” It could be a contract worker(s) employed by the Gov. or various Dem. party affiliates. And they are using ‘guest wireless system’ presumably available to non state workers.

  11. Rich Vail
    August 4th, 2012 @ 5:17 pm

    Nothing to see here, move along…

    Because she’s a Liberal, the locall JournoLists won’t investigate her.  It’s’ that simple…because she’s on “their”side it doesn’t matter that what she’s doing is illegal.  It will be forgiven and swept under the rug.

  12. DaveO
    August 4th, 2012 @ 6:31 pm

    A lot of Californians emigrated to Montana, and have been californicating the state ever since.

  13. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    August 4th, 2012 @ 7:23 pm

    Bastards fuck up everywhere they go.  

  14. RhymesWithRight
    August 4th, 2012 @ 7:27 pm

     Don’t have to imagine — as a conservative blogger I’ve had to deal with local Democrats trying to get me fired from my teaching job because my views make me “unfit to work with children”.  I don’t blog from school (indeed, I can’t even access my site from school), so I know what would happen if my posts started to appear during school hours based upon actual experience — I don’t change my time stamp for daylight savings time and had my classroom internet access  records investigated at the behest of a local Democrat activist who filed a complaint with my district because one post seemed to have been made five minutes before the end of my workday (it was actually made from home, 55 minutes after I got off work).

    Find her, and nail her to the wall if she is a government employee doing political work on the taxpayer’s dime

  15. K-Bob
    August 4th, 2012 @ 7:53 pm

    I could be a Social Media Consultant.  But I would hate myself in the morning.

  16. PaulLemmen
    August 5th, 2012 @ 8:48 am

    I agree with you 100%.
    NB: You really need to be careful in responding to me, lest that mob with torches and pitchforks appear outside your virtual door as they did Zilla’s. TOM is too big to be assailed but smaller blogs and bloggers are fair game to those who hate me for my past sins/crimes.

  17. The Elusive “Montana Cowgirl” | Right Wing News
    August 5th, 2012 @ 9:31 pm

    […] AFPF just concluded their Defending the American Dream Summit at the Washington Hilton this past weekend and at one of the panels, which I was unable to attend, there was a discussion about the elusive Montana Cowgirl. Cowgirl is a liberal blogger who is exceptional at ascertaining information on conservative activists.  With four sessions occurring at the same time, it’s impossible to see everything, but luckily R.S. McCain was able to blog about the discussion surrounding this troublemaker. […]