Guess what? 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…

I love sarcasm. It’s like punching people in the face with words. – Unknown

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

• Rosendale – Scheduling Conflicts
• Amash for America
• Wear Your Mask, Pence
• Trump & Meat
• One More Thing

ROSENDALE – SCHEDULING CONFLICTS:

I happened to read a story on the ABC/FOX Montana website that reported Republican candidate for Montana’s lone seat in the US House, Matt Rosendale, is declining an invitation from the Montana Farmers Union to debate other candidates for the US House seat this Saturday.

It was also reported in the article that the debate will feature the other 5 Republicans running against Rosendale. They are Debra Lamm, Joe Dooling, John Evankovich, Corey Stapleton, and Mark McGinley. Democrats, Kathleen Williams, and Tom Winter have also agreed to the debate.

Rosendale’s people cited “scheduling conflicts” as the reason.

I’m not sure what it is with these millionaires moving to Montana and then not wanting to participate in the political process. Earlier, Greg Gianforte declined to participate in a debate. Rosendale is from Baltimore. Gianforte is from San Diego. We may even see Steve Daines, who is running for re-election decline to participate in debates. Daines was born in California.

On another note, I am not sure why the leadership of the Montana Republican Party is letting six Republicans run in the U.S. House primary. I’m not sure the strongest candidate can be found in a six-way primary. Nonetheless, this is probably good for the Democrats. They may win this seat for the first time since Pat Williams held the seat until January 1997.

AMASH FOR AMERICA:

The Hill and other sources are reporting that Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.) announced Tuesday that he has launched an exploratory committee to seek the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination.

I love Independent candidates!

Does Amash have a chance of winning? No.

Will he hurt Donald Trump? Maybe. Trump lovers will say no way.

I think if there is a well-known Libertarian in the race, he/she could take away enough votes from Trump to cause him to lose some of the battleground states.

Trump’s margin of error is very slim in 2020. Some polls show him struggling in the battleground states.

Visit the Amash for America website by clicking HERE.

WEAR YOUR MASK, PENCE:

We all remember Donald Trump being warned not to look directly at the sun during the solar eclipse, but doing it anyway because he is a dork.

I thought Vice President Mike Pence was a little smarter, but I guess not.

Recently, Pence visited the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, and despite the Mayo Clinic telling visitors to wear masks Pence did not. The Mayo Clinic reportedly briefed the VP’s office on the requirement beforehand.

When asked about it, Pence gave a Trump-like answer saying he was tested often, and:

And since I don’t have the coronavirus, I thought it’d be a good opportunity for me to be here, to be able to speak to these researchers, these incredible health care personnel, and look them in the eye and say thank you.

Twitter went wild because the mask does not cover the eyes.

One of my readers said she thought that wearing a mask would make Pence appear weak in Trump’s eyes.

One person Tweeted that Pence saying he was tested often is like saying, ‘Well my pregnancy test was negative so…’

It was ignorant and irresponsible for Pence to not obey the rules. The Mayo Clinic should not have allowed him to enter without a mask.

TRUMP & MEAT:

Reuters is reporting that President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered meat-processing plants to stay open to protect the food supply in the United States, despite concerns about coronavirus outbreaks, drawing a backlash from unions that said at-risk workers required more protection.

I’m not sure I like this, but I want to learn more. Thoughts?

ONE MORE THING:

This following headline from Reuters caught my attention:

Piglets aborted, chickens gassed as pandemic slams meat sector

You can read the sobering article by clicking HERE.

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