The Western Word is coming to you, STILL coronavirus free, from deep inside an underground bunker in Montana. The bunker also serves as the worldwide headquarters for The Western Word blog!

Quote of the day…

How to avoid contact with coronavirus stupidity: Wash your hands often and don’t touch your Facebook. – Nick Anderson Editorial Cartoons

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

• Gallatin County (MT)
• Set Them Free
• REAL ID
• Silly Outrage
• One More Thing

GALLATIN COUNTY (MT):

I’m not sure if congratulations are in order or not, but Gallatin County (MT) with the county seat of Bozeman, leads Montana with the most confirmed coronavirus cases (16). That was the count as of Monday afternoon. (MTN News)

Overall, Montana has 45 cases, which increased by 11 since Sunday.

I believe the confirmed cases will go up as more testing becomes available.

We are still coronavirus free here at The Western Word world headquarters!

SET THEM FREE:

MTN News reported that Montana Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike McGrath is asking judges statewide to release nonviolent and other jail inmates to reduce crowding and protect against the spread of coronavirus.

McGrath invited all the released inmates to a barbecue at his home this weekend in celebration of Spring break (just kidding).

Maybe I’m behind the times but if someone is in jail, in most cases, I think they deserve to be there. If McGrath thinks some should be released, why were they even there in the first place?

Plus, does this request from McGrath encourage people to commit nonviolent crimes because they won’t serve time?

Finally, McGrath is getting up there in years (72). Is anyone double-checking his work?

REAL ID:

The two U.S. Senators from Montana were so excited that President Donald J. Trump had extended the deadline for REAL ID, that I thought they were going to wet their pants.

Both Steve Daines and Jon Tester took to social media to announce the news. Tester issued a press release about it.

Daines said that extending the deadline was, “Something I’ve been pushing for. Thank you, President Donald J. Trump. This is great news for Montanans. Meeting the REAL ID deadline is the last thing folks should be worried about right now.”

Tester said, “Montanans should be worried about keeping their families healthy, not standing in line at the DMV to fill out government paperwork. The deadline to obtain a REAL ID to fly commercially has been delayed—helping folks remain in compliance with the law while keeping families safe.”

USA Today reports that the new deadline will be announced soon.

SILLY OUTRAGE:

I giggled all the way through U.S. Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s speech on the Senate floor yesterday. McConnell was upset that Senate Democrats did not support his coronavirus bill. Right after his speech, the bill did not get enough votes to be brought forward for a second time.

After reading some of the outrages on social media, I again received a good laugh. You see, most people on social media have forgotten how a bill becomes a law and are very ignorant about the process.

So after the second loss, both sides had to go back and do some compromising. In the U.S. Senate when they don’t have the votes to move a bill forward, they need to compromise with the other side. When House and Senate bills are passed and they are not the same, they must compromise. The Senate and House must also pass a bill that will be signed by the President.

It’s the same whether it’s a bill dealing with the naming a post office or a bill dealing with the coronavirus.

The way it looks, everyone will get a piece of the gigantic pie. I suggest that instead of picking sides, the constitutional experts on Facebook and Twitter chill out – and go wash your damned hands.

ONE MORE THING:

The doctor is in the house! That is “Doctor” Donald J. Trump. He may be killing people when he talks about drugs. Here is a report from NBC News:

An Arizona man has died after ingesting chloroquine phosphate — believing it would protect him from becoming infected with the coronavirus. The man’s wife also ingested the substance and is under critical care.

The man and his wife watched the coronavirus press briefings where President Trump talked about the potential benefits of chloroquine several times. During the March 19 briefing, Trump said:

Now, a drug called chloroquine — and some people would add to it “hydroxy-.”
Hydroxychloroquine. So chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine. Now, this is a common malaria drug. It is also a drug used for strong arthritis. If somebody has pretty serious arthritis, also uses this in a somewhat different form. But it is known as a malaria drug, and it’s been around for a long time and it’s very powerful. But the nice part is, it’s been around for a long time, so we know that if it — if things don’t go as planned, it’s not going to kill anybody.

“… it’s not going to kill anybody.”

“Doctor” Donald Trump is playing a medical doctor/pharmacist on television. He should shut the &*^% up and let the experts handle it.

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