The Monday Memo

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Welcome to February!

The Western Word is coming to you from deep inside an underground bunker in Montana – where we’re helping to deprogram the Trump cult one column at a time…

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

  • Daines & the Gazette
  • Executive Orders
  • Voter Suppression
  • Now We Know
  • One More Thing

DAINES & THE GAZETTE:

A faithful reader pointed out that once again the Billings Gazette editorial board went after U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT). This time the Gazette is upset that Daines is telling people to “stand united, move forward together and have a peaceful transition of power.” This was after he helped stoke the flames of insurrection.

You can read their editorial HERE.

Here is how they finished their editorial:

You have a great deal of work to do to restore any measure of credibility. The best thing you can do is apologize and accept accountability for your actions, which you have yet to do.
We’re not over it. We shouldn’t be. And you can’t get us there by trying to gloss over a ghastly attack on America’s government.
It’s time to cowboy up and admit you were wrong.

The funny thing about the Gazette going after Daines (by the way, I agree with them completely) is that in today’s political world, Daines and his supporters take the anti-Daines editorial as a badge of honor because they consider media viewpoints fake news and from the liberal left. Heck, Team Daines might even hold a ceremony as Daines proudly pins the article on the wall of his DC office.

Editorials are so infrequent from the Montana newspapers these days that they don’t do much good. The best place to get opinions and commentary about current issues in Montana are from blogs – and it’s been that way for several years.

EXECUTIVE ORDERS:

You may have a crazy country bumpkin Cousin Scott or an Uncle Bob or Grandpa Jim who posts stupid right-wing things that are seldom accurate.

The newest thing they are posting about is that Biden is signing Executive Orders (EO). They may add that Biden said, “You can’t legislate by executive order unless you’re a dictator.”

That line is false. (Source)

Sure Biden is signing EOs. That’s what Presidents do. There are reports that Biden has signed 42 EOs. There are also reports that 13 of them reversed Trump’s EOs. (Source)

I did a quick check and from November 3 (Election Day), until noon on January 20, Trump signed 26. Overall, Trump finishes with 220 EOs in four years. Barack Obama has 276 EOs in eight years and George W. Bush had 291 in eight years. (Source)

Facts are a hard thing for people like Cousin Scott, Uncle Bob, and Grandpa Jim – it’s mostly because they are an uneducated bunch.

VOTER SUPPRESSION:

The Associated Press (AP) reported over the weekend that Republican lawmakers in statehouses across the country are moving swiftly to attack some of the voting methods that fueled the highest turnout for a presidential election in 50 years.

We’ve seen it here in Montana. The Republican clowns in the Montana Legislature want to end same-day voter registration.

The Republicans in Montana swept all the statewide races and control the State House and Senate. There was a record turnout in 2020. Now the Republicans want to hinder voter participation. Beam me up, Scotty!

It’s actually pretty easy to not be shitty human beings. The Republicans in the Montana Legislature should try it sometime.

NOW WE KNOW:

During his State of the State address last week, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte let us know why he made Montana his home:

I knew from my first trip to Montana nearly 45 years ago that I wanted to make Montana home. That’s when Tim Frable introduced me to Montana. His deep love of this state was infectious. He had trained at Malmstrom Air Force Base and flew missions in a P-51 over Japan during World War Two.
Tim was my junior-high science teacher, and in 1976, he drove me and 17 other ninth graders to Red Lodge to hike into the back country. We hiked to Black Canyon Lake, Grasshopper Glacier, and onto the Lake Plateau.

So, if you don’t care for Gianforte being the Governor of Montana, blame it on his junior high science teacher.

ONE MORE THING:

Sometimes getting unfriended on Facebook is magical – it’s like the trash took itself out. –Pinterest

## WEAR YOUR MASK ##

2 thoughts on “The Monday Memo”

  1. I worked two pipelines here in Montana, I’d be surprised if 10 to 15 % of the people hired were from Montana. I recall most were from down south and belonged to a Union 798. They brought their welders, operators, teamsters and laborers with them. The real grunt work was done by the locals and were treated liked they should have been happy to be included. Both jobs just lasted a summer and if it wasn’t for the overtime that consisted of 7 days a week 14 hr. plus days it wouldn’t be worth it. I learned a little about price gouging as we passed through the state also.

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