Quote for the Day…
I am thankful for all those difficult people in my life. They have shown me exactly who I do not want to be. – Unknown
Today’s independent commentary deals with these people/issues:
- Recreational Marijuana
- Legislative vs Judicial
- The Western Word Poll
- Return to Tradition
- One More Thing
RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA:
Good news!
MTN News is reporting that Montana Governor Greg Gianforte has signed off on the Montana Legislature’s final plan for implementing recreational marijuana in the state. Gianforte signed House Bill 701 into law on Tuesday, May 18. The bill was the Legislature’s long-debated final proposal to amend Initiative 190, the marijuana legalization measure voters approved in November.
Now we’ll get to see how it’s implemented.
Read the MTN News story with a link to the bill HERE.
LEGISLATIVE VS JUDICIAL:
Lee Newspapers is reporting that Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Mike McMahon on Tuesday temporarily blocked a legislative subpoena for a Supreme Court justice’s communications, writing in an order that the Legislature appears to have exceeded its investigative authority. McMahon wrote in the Tuesday order he would have to be “blind” to not see that the Legislature’s recent subpoena for Supreme Court Justice Jim Rice’s records is not a legislative effort but instead a clash over records of political interests.
To put it in words that Republicans in the state legislature will understand, the Judge basically said, “Stay in your lane, bro.”
I doubt this fight is over. The Republicans probably won’t give up until they control the state Supreme Court – then “Sunlight is the best disinfectant” won’t be that important to them.
Read the complete article from Lee Newspapers HERE.
THE WESTERN WORD POLL:
This week’s poll question asks, “Should the Montana Board of Regents legally challenge the new state law that allows firearms on college campuses?”
Click HERE to vote. Results will be posted Thursday.
RETURN TO TRADITION:
CNN and other sources reported that the White House released the 2020 tax returns for both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, restoring a presidential tradition that had been ignored under former President Donald Trump.
In a statement, the White House said:
Today, the President released his 2020 federal income tax return, continuing an almost uninterrupted tradition. With this release, the President has shared a total of 23 years of tax returns with the American public.
As for the Vice President:
The Vice President and the Second Gentleman also released their 2020 federal income tax return, as well as state income tax returns for both California and the District of Columbia. Including today’s release, the Vice President has published 17 years of tax returns.
Any person with common sense knows that Donald Trump lied over and over about his taxes. Besides Joe Biden beating Trump in the Electoral College and popular vote, Biden leads Trump 23-0 in the release of tax returns.
Read the full CNN article HERE. Read the White House statement with links to the tax returns HERE.
ONE MORE THING:
I am vaccinated and you should be vaccinated, too.
Find COVID-19 Vaccines Near You by clicking HERE.
The Western Word 
Poor GG and his kooky outta state pals still haven’t accepted the fact that this is Montana and not Tomainia! Ya just don’t get to stroll in and remake it into something unrecognizable. But like with all arrogant morons, they’ll push it just as far as they can until someone pushes back, as the judiciary is now doing. It pains me to see so many of these recently arrived republicans in the Lege like GG, Usher, Skees, Fieldler, etc. making policy as if they owned the state. Unfortunately, our immigration policy is much too lax!