Quote for the day…
Be the reason someone smiles today. – Anonymous
In today’s column, I take a quick look at these people/issues:
>Gianforte & COVID-19
>VA Secretary & Tester
>TWW Poll
>Court Cases
GIANFORTE & COVID-19:
I was not too surprised to read that Montana Governor Greg Gianforte tested positive for COVID-19.
The Associated Press reported that Gianforte plans to isolate for 10 days on the advice of his doctor and public health guidance.
It is kind of ironic that Gianforte is listening to “his doctor” and “public health guidance.” Most doctors and public health officials encourage people to social distance and wear masks. The mask mandate was ended by Gianforte.
This would be a great time for Gianforte to urge Montanans to mask up and practice social distancing. I won’t hold my breath.
Get well soon, Governor!
VA SECRETARY & TESTER:
Being the chairman of a U.S. Senate committee has its perks. U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) is chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs committee and that gives him a lot of clout.
Overall, Tester has more clout than U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) and U.S. Representative Matt Rosendale (R-MT/AL) combined.
It was not much of a surprise that the new Veteran Affairs Secretary, Denis McDonough, made Montana his first stop – and he is visiting Montana for three days.
Applause to Tester for making this happen.
Read the Associated Press report about the visit HERE.
TWW POLL:
Don’t forget to participate in the latest poll from The Western Word that asks you to grade the Montana Legislature thus far.
Click HERE to participate.
The results will be released on Thursday.
COURT CASES:
There were a couple of decisions released by the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday that caught my attention.
According to the Associated Press:
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who was fighting a Connecticut court sanction in a defamation lawsuit brought by relatives of some of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Good for the relatives. Now it’s time to hold Jones accountable.
Read the full AP report about the Alex Jones case HERE.
According to the AP:
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a case over former President Donald Trump’s efforts to block critics from his personal Twitter account. The court said there was nothing left to the case after Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter and ended his presidential term in January.
Now that is funny.
Read the full report from the AP HERE.
The Western Word 
“I trust Montanans with their health and the health of their loved ones” … “I do trust Montanans to make the right decisions for themselves and their family.”
— Greg Gianforte, talking about lifting mask mandate, Dec. 2020
“When it comes down to it, I trust Montanans, and together we can combat this public health and economic pandemic with personal responsibility by looking out for one another”
— Greg Gianforte, announcing he would life mask mandate two days later, Feb 2021
But now with Greg himself coming up infected, those statements sure look like some misplaced trust in the personal responsibilty of Montanans not to mention poor character judgment.
Oddly enough, Gianforte supposedly got his first vaccine shot this past Thursday. Diagnosed positive just 3 or 4 days later means he was probably infected by some irresponsible Montanan in just the day or two before his shot, and/or Greg was not making the right decisions for himself and his family.
Now let’s get busy and sign that relief money bill that punishes cities and counties for continuing mask mandates. They are unnecessary. We can simply trust our fellow Montanans to do what is right to protect others.
Terry- Great points to show Gianforte’s hypocrisy. Thanks, JmB
Pray to God they can help all vets. Fifty years later, we Nam vets are still waiting to be believed about Agent Orange. The government hopes that we’ll all just hurry up and die off. Problem solved. I feel terrible that we learned nothing from Vietnam. I can’t bear to watch another generation of soldiers going through the same thing all over again.
https://dailymontanan.com/2021/04/06/va-not-giving-benefits-to-veterans-with-possible-burn-pit-complications/
Larry – Exactly. Thank you for your service. Thanks, JmB