Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you’ll live… at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin’ to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take… OUR FREEDOM! – William Wallace

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

• Twitter & Free Speech
• Steve Daines
• Watch Out
• Football
• One More Thing

TWITTER & FREE SPEECH:

President Donald J. Trump was permanently banned from Twitter on Friday. Some confused his Twitter ban with a free speech issue.

Probably the best explanation came from David C.W. Parker, Professor/head of political science at Montana State University via Twitter:

Gentle reminder: The First Amendment protects speech from government action…not the action of PRIVATE companies.

Here is the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

This week should be interesting. There are reports that the House could impeach the President this week.

STEVE DAINES:

U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) has been and still is a big supporter of President Donald Trump.

I was unhappy that Daines announced that he would be objecting to the Electoral College votes during the joint session of Congress. After he helped fan the flames and Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. He decided not to object. That was the right thing to do.

Then after Trump was permanently banned from Twitter, Daines posted the following on his social media accounts:

Big Tech censoring @realdonaldtrump & the free speech of American citizens is on par with communist countries like China & North Korea.

This is a slippery slope that the United States must not go down. We must protect our most precious right as American citizens, not censor it.

Apparently, Daines did not pay attention during his classes about the constitution. Those commenting pretty much eviscerated Daines in the comment sections of Facebook and Twitter for his dumb remarks.

I commented on his post, writing:

In the immortal words of Buford T. Justice, Senator Daines is a “Dumb sumbitch!”

In case you don’t remember, Sheriff Buford T. Justice was a fictional character played by Jackie Gleason in the films, “Smokey and the Bandit.”

Some want Daines to resign. I am fine with that. He’s ruined after last week. There is a Change.org petition “Steve Daines Should Be Recalled or Resign” that at posting time had been signed by over 19,000 people.

You can sign it HERE.

WATCH OUT:

The Hill is reporting that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) on Friday issued an executive order allowing a legal challenge to the constitutionality of a November voter-approved amendment to legalize recreational marijuana in the state.

I expect Montana Governor Greg Gianforte (R) to try something similar and/or the Republican clowns in the state legislature to try to stop voter-approved legalization of recreational marijuana.

With the revenue the legalization of recreational marijuana will bring to the states, and the safeguards that will be in place, it is asinine that the legislature is not all hands on deck to get the rules in place to quickly allow it to be sold.

FOOTBALL:

Don’t forget the College Football Playoff National Championship is tonight (Monday, January 11) Alabama vs. Ohio State. I hope it is a good game! The game will be televised on ESPN and other platforms. It starts at 6:00 Montana time.

Also, we survived the Super Wildcard Weekend in the NFL with six games Saturday and Sunday.

There are eight teams left. There are two games on Saturday and two games on Sunday. Click HERE for the schedule.

Go Chiefs!

ONE MORE THING:

Sunday (Jan. 10) was The Western Word’s 16th anniversary or birthday. Anyway, it was the date The Western Word started!

It all started on January 10, 2005. I have averaged 262 posts per year during these 16 years.

Every day I still get the urge to write my thoughts and blow off some steam. Thanks for reading! Onward and upward!

 

## WEAR YOUR MASK ##