Good News – The Western Word is coming to you, STILL, I repeat 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…

The greatest prison people live in is the fear of what other people think. ― David Icke

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

• Liberty Rally
• Office of Public Instruction
• One More Thing

LIBERTY RALLY:

There was a “Liberty Rally” held at the state capitol in Helena, Sunday afternoon.

Yes, a “Liberty Rally.”

I’ve read several reports from the event which estimated the crowds to be anywhere from 350, to 500, to 600, to 750. It sounds like President Trump was counting. He would probably say the crowd was “HUGE” and the biggest event ever held at the capitol.

From the videos I saw, there were very few people wearing masks. There wasn’t a lot of social distancing, either. There were campaign signs for Trump. Some people who must have felt inadequate in the big crowd carried guns.

In my humble opinion (not really) many of these people are a few fries short of a happy meal. Maybe Montana has a low number of COVID-19 cases, but we haven’t had the testing that other places have. Social distancing and masks can prevent the spread.

As of Sunday, there were 433 cases with only 10,898 tests conducted. The population of Montana is about 1.06 million.

Maybe we’ll see a spike in cases because of this, who knows. Those attending placed themselves in danger as well as the people they will come in contact with back in their counties. They placed the police who were monitoring the event in danger, too.

The rally was not about freedom. It was about a bunch of ignorant people being tired of staying at home and deciding to do something stupid.

Further reading: GF Tribune, Lee Newspapers, MTN News.

OFFICE OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION:

The Superintendent of Public Instruction, Elsie Arntzen, posted the following poll on her official Facebook page:

President Trump has released his guidelines for “Opening Up America Again”. Montana is a local control state and I will continue advocating for local communities to have control over how education should proceed. Do you want your schools to re-open this year or wait until the fall?

As I get ready to publish this column, the results are:

• RE-OPEN THIS YEAR: 31%
• WAIT UNTIL THE FALL: 69%

There are over 7,000 votes. I know if I was a teenager I’d be voting for “wait until the fall,” and I’d be telling all my friends to vote that way, too. I’m sure some parents are ready for the kiddos to go back.

There were also several interesting comments. Some were intelligent and well thought out; other comments not so much.

ONE MORE THING:

Today is 4-20 Day!

In case you don’t know what 4-20 or 4/20 or 420 is, THIS ARTICLE in Vox explains that 4/20 is the day tens of thousands of Americans gather around the country to celebrate a drug that remains illegal in the US: marijuana.

The possession of marijuana is illegal under federal law, but in 11 states it is legal for recreational use. The medical use of marijuana is legal in 33 states, including Montana. (Wiki)

I support the legalization of marijuana for recreational use (21 and older) nation-wide.

Check out THIS ARTICLE from “High Times”: Timeline: The History of 4/20.

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