The truth is still the truth, even if no one believes it. A lie is still a lie, even if everyone believes it. -Unknown

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

• The Militia
• The RGA & Cooney
• The Jobs Report

THE MILITIA:

Just about everywhere there have been protests regarding the murder of George Floyd, we have seen or read about some militia being there for some reason acting as though they are tough guys.

In Billings, Montana, on Sunday the Billings Gazette reported:

Protest signs outnumbered the rifles, shotguns, pistols and knives brought by dozens of armed people, mostly men. At least one man wore armor and had what appeared to be a sword sheathed at his side.

Some of the armed people had no group affiliation. There were more than 20 members of a group called the Yellowstone Militia.

One person carrying an AR-15 was so brave that he would only identify himself as a “concerned citizen” according to a photo in the Gazette.

In my opinion, all they are trying to do is intimidate people. Maybe they hate minorities and hope to scare the few away who make Montana home.

Some of the photos I saw in the paper and watched on television reminded me of Barney Fife of Mayberry fame. I can only imagine how fast they would run if the shit hit the fan.

I would guess that some of the militia are sorely lacking in other parts of their lives and want people to be scared of them.

If these “brave” militia wants to make an impact, I’d suggest heading to the closest recruiting station and signing their name on the line like many of us did in our younger years.

Many veterans, like me, are laughing our asses off at these “tough guys.”

THE RGA & COONEY:

I love to watch campaign ads. I don’t care which side of the fence they come from, if they are good then I will tip my hat. If they are lies, I will tell you that, too.

The RGA Right Direction PAC, an organization supported by the Republican Governors Association (RGA) released an ad going after Democrat Mike Cooney, who is currently the Lt. Governor and is running for Montana Governor. Republican Greg Gianforte is his opponent.

The ad is a look back at the career of Cooney and says he was first elected to the Montana House of Representatives in 1976 – Happy Days was the number one show on television, the Ford Pinto was the hot car, and gas cost just 59 cents per gallon.

It’s a cute ad.

The RGA then calls Cooney a “career politician” which ruins the ad because it is not true. There are gaps in Cooney’s history where he was not holding elective office – something that would be needed to be a “career politician.”

Of course, I imagine the RGA thinks a Republican “career politician” is just fine and that is why people hate politics these days.

Here is some career information about Cooney that comes from two different sources:

• Cooney was first elected in 1976 to the Montana House of Representatives and served through 1980.
• He then served three terms as Secretary of State, from 1989 through 2000.
• He was a state Senator from 2003-2010.
• From 2001 to 2006, he served as Director of Montana Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies.
• Before his appointment to the Office of Lieutenant Governor, he served as Deputy Commissioner for the Montana Department of Labor and Industry.

If you are going to do attack ads, it would be great if they were factual.

You can watch the ad HERE.

THE JOBS REPORT:

Friday afternoon the President held a press conference where he took no questions from the press. The reason for the “press conference” or “Statement” was for the President to tout a better than expected jobs report that showed 2.5 million jobs were added in May. The President said it was a “great day for our country” and touted that “We’ve made every decision correctly” during the pandemic. (WH Transcript)

The President was cheering about a jobs report that had been inaccurate for two months. Forbes reports:

Unfortunately, after delving into the footnotes of the numbers, it now looks like the jobs report has been inaccurate for the last two months. BLS has admitted that government household survey takers mistakenly counted about 4.9 million people as employed, although they were unemployed.

Had the mistake been corrected, the unemployment rate would have risen to 16.1% in May. The corrected April figure would have been more than 19.5%—rather than 14.7%.

I guess we can call this another lie from Trump. There’s no way he was not briefed about the mistake.

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