One of the keys to the right-wing communication infrastructure in this country is the shock jock radio circuit. Every state has one or two morning or afternoon DJs who scream about the latest paranoid fantasies, a kind of circuit of Rush Limbaugh writ small and local. In New Jersey, it was Carton and Rossi, who repeated rumors about Corzine, and did hours of radio during drive time advertising the virtues of Doug Forrester.  

In Montana, it's a guy named David Berg. Berg is all over talk radio radio in Montana, and he is a local political force. His daily one-hour, call-in radio show is broadcast out of Billings, Montana by the Northern Broadcasting System weekdays from 9-10 am.  In 2004, he "defended the sanctity of marriage" by continually screeching about how the world would end if guys or girls married each other, ensuring that a gay marriage ban would  pass by more than a 2 to 1 margin.

Berg is very popular, and he may run for state office in 2008.

Berg likes marriage. A lot. Before I explain what that means, I'll go into a little bit of his history. Berg is an import to Montana, arriving from California in 1994. His real name is Dave Fulwiler, and he fancies himself a comedian, having written a book called 'Gripes of Wrath'. He also fancies himself a real Montanan, bragging about his marriage into 'a family of ranchers, farmers, and rodeo contestants'.

Berg/Fulwiler has been married twice, which already calls into question the sanctity of his marriage(s).  He had a life in California married to one woman, separated from her, moved to Montana, then married anew.  The dates of the first marriage and divorce, though, are a bit odd.  On July 13, 1998, his first wife in California filed for divorce.  Then on July 15, 1999, according to court papers in my possession, that divorce was granted by the court.

As for the second marriage, Fulwiler married his second wife on September 4, 1998, a good nine months before Fulwiler's first marriage was legally over.  This is according to the Billings Gazette.

Notice the problem?

From the court documents I have, it looks like Fulwiler was still married to his first wife when he married his second wife in Montana. Montana's law on regular old non-gay marriage is pretty clear: "If a person has been previously married and the dissolution granted, a certified copy of the decree must be presented at the time of application for a marriage license."  The penalty for not doing so is $100 and a misdemeanor.

But don't take my word for it, check out Fulwiler's divorce settlement.  By an odd quirk, in California divorce records are public, and a source sent me the settlement which I turned into a PDF.  You can see the dates for yourself, though I've redacted the name and personal information of his first wife.

I have several questions.

1. The court documents seem to indicate that Fulwiler's first marriage wasn't even dissolved when he entered into his second marriage.  Is there some explanation here, other than bigamy?

2. Montana law required Fulwiler to present evidence of his first divorce to the state before being granted a marriage license.  But how could Fulwiler present such evidence if he wasn't yet divorced? And if he didn't tell the court he was previously married (and still married), then does that mean he would have violated Montana law by not disclosing any of that?

David Berg's daily one-hour, call-in radio show is broadcast out of Billings, Montana by the Northern Broadcasting System weekdays from 9-10 am Mountain Time. 1-866-627-5483 is the call-in number.

This seems like something to talk about. If you're from Montana and want to chime in, do it in the comments, or email me at stoller at gmail.com.