Quote for the Day…
Freedom comes when you stop caring about what others think of you. – Unknown
Today’s independent commentary deals with these people/issues:
- Gianforte, Daines & Rosendale
- Tracy Stone-Manning
- Abbott Endorses Bishop
- The Western Word Poll
GIANFORTE, DAINES & ROSENDALE:
On Tuesday Reuters and other news organizations reported that Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19 should go back to wearing masks in indoor public places in regions where the coronavirus is spreading rapidly, U.S. health authorities said on Tuesday.
The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that Montana health officials announced on Tuesday more than 250 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in a single day for the first time in over five months.
But Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte said in a statement that he is concerned about the growing caseload, but stopped short of recommending that residents wear masks in closed spaces.
U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) issued a statement saying in part:
I do not support mask mandates and believe the CDC’s new guidance for vaccinated individuals to wear masks indoors will undermine confidence in vaccines. I believe Montanans understand commonsense, personal responsibility, and think we should continue to move forward, not backwards.
I am not sure about Montanans understanding “commonsense” or “personal responsibility” – or we would not be in this situation. Some of the far-right-leaning Montanans are dumber than a box of rocks. (See the last session of the Montana Legislature)
As for the other wacko we have representing us in Washington, Representative Matt Rosendale (R-MT/AL), posted a statement from the Freedom Caucus on his Twitter feed that says the Freedom Caucus opposes federal mask mandates and federal vaccine mandates.
As for me, I’ll listen to the health experts and not some rich out-of-state millionaire politicians who know nothing about leadership or freedom.
Read the Reuters report HERE. Read the AP report HERE. Read the statement from Daines HERE.
TRACY STONE-MANNING:
MTN News is reporting that Montanan Tracy Stone-Manning’s nomination to head the U.S. Bureau of Land Management advanced to the Senate floor Tuesday on a partisan 50-49 vote, setting up a final vote on her confirmation later this week. All 48 Senate Democrats and two Independents voted to “discharge” her nomination from the deadlocked Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and send it to the Senate floor for further action; 49 Republicans voted against her.
It looks like U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) will lose this battle after wasting a lot of time spreading lies about her.
I’ve said all along that Stone-Manning will be just fine.
Read the MTN report HERE.
ABBOTT ENDORSES BISHOP:
In a press release, the Laurie Bishop for Montana campaign announced that Montana House Minority Leader Kim Abbott (D-Helena) has endorsed Rep. Laurie Bishop for Montana’s new congressional district.
Abbott has the following to say about Bishop:
“Montanans need someone who will stand up and fight for them in Congress, which is what Laurie Bishop has been doing her entire career. Laurie knows how to win tough races because she listens to and understands the needs of her community, and puts her constituents first while leading with integrity and respect,” Minority Leader Kim Abbott said. “I have watched firsthand how Laurie bridges political divides and brings people together to deliver real results for our state, and I am proud to endorse her because I know she will bring that same compassion and integrity to D.C. as our next representative.”
It will be interesting to see which congressional candidate gets the endorsement of U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT).
THE WESTERN WORD POLL:
This week’s poll question asks, “Should elected officials tell their constituents that they received the COVID vaccine?”
Click HERE to participate.
Results will be released Thursday.
The Western Word 
Horrifying. Seen all of this over the last seventy years. Knew it couldn’t go on forever. Sad for those that follow. Yet I’m sure Punchy G and the flat earthers see no problem.
https://news.yahoo.com/end-summer-weve-known-181857950.html
Not your father’s Republican Party. Maybe rosendork has empath powers too!
https://www.rawstory.com/rachel-hamm-trump-empath/
Which do we think might “undermine confidence in vaccines” more, the CDC recommending that vaccinated persons wear a mask indoors again, or a whole bunch of vaccinated persons catching a breakthrough form of the disease and either spreading it around to the unvaccinated including little kids or getting very sick themselves?
Republican politicians in general seem really hell-bent on encouraging their own voters to kill themselves.
I agree Terry, The problem is: Such outright rank incomprehensibility wins elections.
Maybe fewer election wins in the future if they succeed in killing enough of their own voters. Makes sense to them though, apparently. Perhaps it is the secret RINO plan to rid the party of the extremists.
I realized I made an error in my first comment. The absolute worst cause of undermining confidence in vaccines is clueless politicians and talking heads contradicting the trained public health experts, questioning the efficacy and safety of vaccines, encouraging people to just disregard both, and actively preventing public health officials from doing their jobs – protecting the public. The other day I read where it has gone so far that one particularly nutty right wing state legislature had fired the public health director for doing Covid vaccine outreach to schools, and outlawed ALL vaccine outreach no matter the disease.
Republicans: No Lives Matter.