I recently bought a toilet brush. To make a long story short, I’m going back to toilet paper. – Anonymous

Today’s independent commentary deals with these people/issues:

• Bad Week for Daines
• Tester & Morning Joe
• One More Thing

BAD WEEK FOR DAINES:

U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) has had a bad week since he sent out a Tweet supporting President Trump and his racist views against the four congresswomen.

The Montana Standard editorial team said the following bout Daines’ response:

Senator Daines, that piece of bluster and deflection is beneath you and the United States Senate seat you hold.
You had a chance to take a courageous stand last week against the President’s racist and unacceptable language. As a Republican senator, your voice would have carried some weight. It could have set an example.
But instead you decided to double down on hate.

Then the Montana Standard added this piece of advice about Daines being afraid to hold in-person town hall meetings:

Maybe you should hold some real town halls, not just controllable “tele-town halls” and orchestrated meetings with supporters, because we believe this response shows you’re distressingly out of touch with real Montana values.
We are disappointed.

Many of us share those views. Daines is a chickenshit for not standing up to Trump and for not standing up for free speech even if he disagrees with it.

The Great Falls Tribune ran an opinion in the Sunday paper from The Montana Association of Rabbis, who represents rabbis in Billings, Bozeman, Missoula, and Whitefish.

They said they were unanimously appalled by the ongoing torrent of racist incitement and personal attacks that President Donald Trump continues to direct against Democratic women of color in Congress. The association is unanimously appalled and surprised by Sen. Steve Daines’ support of the president’s views and attacks.

Daines has had a bad week.

TESTER & MORNING JOE:

U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe last week and was asked about how he won reelection in the Trump state and what he would tell other candidates about how they can win in 2020.

After a long list of Tester saying what the candidates should talk about in the election, Tester added, “I think you need to go back and punch him in the face. I mean the truth is this guy is bad for this country.”

The conservatives went wild spreading the “punch him in the face” line. The Montana Republicans quickly sent a fundraising email and several conservative websites followed.

Here is part of the transcript:

“Well, I think you don’t take the bait that President Trump came out here. You say that what he has done is absolutely disgraceful for the country and call it for what it is — which is racism. Then you talk about things like high costs of health care, high costs of higher education. What you’re going to do on the southern border to help stop the situations down there.
“I think those — the kind of issues that really hit home, how you’re going to invest in infrastructure and how you’re going to pay for it, I think those are the issues that really will move the folks who will get you elected. I don’t think, even in states where Donald Trump won big, that it does you any good running away from Donald Trump. I think you need to go back and punch him in the face. I mean the truth is this guy is bad for this country.”

Although I don’t know for sure, I am pretty certain Tester did not mean to literally punch Trump in the face, but if that would have come from, let’s say, Representative Greg Gianforte, I would be thinking differently.

You can see the whole interview by clicking HERE.

ONE MORE THING:

The time has come! A few NFL training camps kicked off last week and the rest of the camps start this week.

Click HERE for the dates and location of the camps.

The first pre-season game, the annual Hall of Fame Game, is August 1. This year it’s the Broncos and the Falcons.

Week #1 of the pre-season is August 8-10. The regular season kicks off September 5.

Go Chiefs!

 

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