As we all know (well, most of us anyway), Montana’s Republican caucuses are going to be held tonight and only elected Republicans and elected party members can participate. I’ve read some various outrage and disbelief over the closed nature of the caucus (from the left, of course), but to be honest I can’t really relate to the hand wringing. This isn’t because I like the idea of a closed caucus; but I understand why the decision was made (if we were able to register to vote with a party affiliation, then I would expect the process would be open to those who declare themselves Republicans, but I digress). My apathy over the issue grows from my feeling that this closed caucus will allow me precisely as much say in who the Republican candidate will be as our June primary did: exactly none.

Yes, I could have signed up to be a “captain” (or maybe a lieutenant in charge of cocktails), but I’m not a “joiner”; I never have been and likely will never be. I think there are a lot of Montanans and a lot of Americans who feel the same way. Those who oppose my political view will probably take solace in this, as it leads to a more disorganized opposition. But knowing this still does not motivate me to put up with the annoyances of ’sharing with the group’, however irresponsible that may be. I don’t care what group we’re talking about, there will always be pecking orders, backslapping, and odd shaped hors d’oeuvres. Life is too short to waste on such aggravation, and I’d rather spend my time on other things, such as casting my irrelevant opinion out into the world’s greatest time waster. So it goes that I have no vote today, and when I do vote in June, my selection will be irrelevant. I’m not going to get worked up about it, though, because there isn’t a damn thing I’m going to do about it.