Happy 4/20 day. Celebrate accordingly!
Quote for the day…
There are two reasons we don’t trust people. First – we don’t know them. Second – we know them. -Unknown
In today’s column, I take a quick look at these people/issues:
- Voting in Montana
- Maxine Waters
- The Western Word Poll
- One More Thing
VOTING IN MONTANA:
It just got harder to vote in Montana thanks to the Republican Legislature and Republican Governor Greg Gianforte.
They are so scared they may lose their majorities that they are putting roadblocks in the way to keep people from voting.
Lee Newspapers reported that Gianforte announced Monday he had signed a pair of GOP-sponsored bills increasing restrictions on voter identification required to vote in Montana’s elections and ending same-day voter registration.
The Republicans want voters to jump through a bunch of hoops to vote and provide multiple IDs to identify themselves. It’s crazy.
Voting should be as easy as possible for everyone.
Read the article from Lee Newspapers HERE. Check to see how your state Representative and Senator voted on these bills and if you don’t like voter suppression, vote for their opponent in the next election.
Also, vote for whoever runs against Republican Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen.
MAXINE WATERS:
CNN and several other sources are reporting that the judge overseeing former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin’s trial in the death of George Floyd said Monday that Rep. Maxine Waters’ comments could be grounds for appealing a verdict in the trial. Waters on Saturday night had called for protesters to “stay on the street” and “get more confrontational” if Chauvin is acquitted in Floyd’s killing, comments immediately seized on by Republicans who claimed that Waters was inciting violence.
Waters is a U.S. Representative from California and represents the 43rd District which is around Los Angeles. She has been a Representative since 1991 and she is 82 years old.
While I don’t agree with Waters on much, I do believe that she has the right to express herself. It’s a freedom of speech thing, but it seems those on the right (this time) find her freedom of speech wrong.
I even saw a post from a blog saying “Impeach And Remove Maxine Waters. Now.”
The only problem is that Waters can’t be impeached. The silly wight-wing wabbits posting this must have missed that in their eighth grade U.S. Government class if they got that far in school.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) knows Waters can’t be impeached. He called for her censure. They could try to get her expelled, which Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) announced she would introduce a resolution to do just that on Sunday. (The Hill)
Information about “Discipline & Punishment” in the U.S. House can be found HERE. In the Senate, it can be found HERE.
THE WESTERN WORD POLL:
Don’t forget to participate in this week’s poll that asks, “Are you for or against Vaccine Passports?”
Click HERE to participate. The results will be posted Thursday.
ONE MORE THING:
I saw this on Twitter from Ben Rosen (@Ben_Rosen) and wanted to share:
MONDAY: mass shooting
TUESDAY: mass shooting
WEDNESDAY: mass shooting
THURSDAY: mass shooting
FRIDAY: mass shooting
SATURDAY: mass shooting
SUNDAY: mass shooting
REPUBLICANS: we gotta do something about trans people playing sports
The Western Word 
A bit long, but a very good article on what our bozo legislature is trying to do. Some of their bizarre bills now make sense. They are a devious back door attempt to circumvent existing law and the will of the voters. Bassturds.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/montana-smith-river-black-butte-copper-mine-1155156/?fbclid=IwAR1kh2GSr–s_tutLSUYIwi7Hd0qA69z_9ucKBukYLpm4U2XvcYctUfSUEo
Read the voting link. Voter registration card, no longer good enough ID? Old law, a Sam’s club card, picture and name was good ID. When our ID law to vote went into effect I was an election judge. A fishing license was good as it was government issued. One of the first persons to vote that presidential election when the ID law went into effect was a tiny Catholic nun from the Ursulines. She was hard of hearing, had no ID and I had to yell loudly saying that she could not vote without ID. She left to get something. Everyone in line after they saw what happened to her started pulling out ID. One guy had the fishing license.
Mary – interesting story. As you noted, not all people have the proper ID. I think the state, since they are making it harder to vote, should make it easier and free to get a proper ID. It should be easy to vote. Montana made it harder. Thanks, as always, for your comments. -JmB