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Looks like my boy Schweitzer has decided to lead a national civics lesson. Check this out:

``I'm going to stand up among a bunch of elected governors and say, 'Are we going to allow the military without a shot being fired to effectively do an end-run coup on civilian government? Are we going to allow that?''' Schweitzer said. ``We're going to have a little civics lesson for some leaders who are apparently out of touch in the military.''

That's just the beginning of his response to the Bush administration's latest thoughts on allowing the military to lead domestic disaster response efforts. And yes, he is dead on. There is absolutely no reason to go to this extreme. The federal government should help coordinate disaster response, not militarize it. Schweitzer understands that, and next week it looks like he's going to make sure that the rest of the nation's governors do as well.

Yet another example of how Bush's brand of big government conservatism is alienating the region that gave birth to the conservative movement itself - the West. This absolutely will NOT fly out West, and the GOP should know that. For god's sake - Bush himself is supposed to be from Texas. Does he really think Texans will so willingly give up their independence like this?

On the flip side, my guess is that Nevada Senator Harry Reid knows this lesson and knows it well. His state is the heart of sagebrush country, and there is no way those people will ever - and I do mean ever - stand for this plan. I've bene saying this from day one on this blog, but in the end it would be incredibly ironic if the GOP coalition split in part over Western states rights issues. Back in the 1970's the Democratic New Deal coaltition split at least in part along the exact same lines, and just like today it was an almost entirely self-inflicted wound.

There's movement out West. Stay tuned. Stay tuned...

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