Quote for the day…

I don’t know about you, but I have thought about running away more as an adult than I ever did as a kid. – Unknown

Today’s independent commentary deals with these issues:

• The Western Word Poll
• U.S. Senator Bob Dole
• Spotify Wrapped 2021
• FCS Football Playoffs
• Reading Assignments

THE WESTERN WORD POLL:

With the U.S. Supreme Court recently hearing arguments about abortion, this week’s poll question asks, “Will the U.S Supreme Court overturn the 1973 U.S. ruling known as Roe v. Wade?” (Background HERE and HERE)

The results will be posted later this week.

U.S. SENATOR BOB DOLE:

We lost a great American on Sunday. Bob Dole died at 98 years old. He was a real hero – a patriot.

I met U.S. Senator Bob Dole when I worked for U.S. Senator Conrad Burns. I was in Washington, D.C., and Conrad took me and a few staffers into Dole’s office (Senate Majority Leader) and we had a photo taken. We spoke with him for a few minutes, and I joked about the rivalry between Kansas and Missouri (where I am from). I think that was in May/June 1996. A few days later, Dole resigned to run for President. I helped get Dole on the ballot in Montana, and I was in charge of a Jack Kemp event east of Great Falls during the campaign. Kemp was Dole’s running mate.

We could use more patriots like Dole serving these days. May he rest in peace.

SPOTIFY WRAPPED 2021:

If you listen to Spotify, then you probably received your “Spotify Wrapped” notification for 2021. If you don’t know about it, don’t worry, but you may know the music artists who I listened to most in 2021.

I listened to 138 different music artists this year and here are my top five:

1 Eagles

2 Bruce Springsteen

3 Bob Seger

4 Jackson Browne

5 The Chicks

My top songs in 2021 were:

1 Roll Me Away (Seger)

2 Sister Golden Hair (America)

3 The Last Resort (Eagles)

4 No Surrender (Springsteen)

5 Summer of ’69 (Bryan Adams)

I know my favorite rock band, REO Speedwagon, is just out of the top five. Sorry guys!

FCS FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS:

The Montana Grizzlies and the Montana State Bobcats are in the final eight of the FCS playoffs after winning their games this past weekend. Congrats!

If I am reading the bracket correctly, these are the dates/times for the next playoff games:

The #6 Grizzlies will play at #3 James Madison Friday at 5:00 pm Montana Time.

The #8 Bobcats will play at #1 Sam Houston Saturday at 6:30 pm.

These will be tough games for the Griz and Bobcats – good luck to each.

You can view the FCS bracket by clicking HERE.

READING ASSIGNMENTS:

Here are some articles that you should read…

Bozeman, Missoula stand out while others flounder in 2021 LGBTQ+ evaluation
Great Falls is more backward than I thought…

NASA says huge, ‘potentially hazardous’ asteroid will break into Earth’s orbit next week
This is another thing to worry about…

Plumber Finds Cache Of Money Behind Loose Toilet In Wall At Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Mega-Church
I guess I should tear out some walls…

## WEAR A MASK INDOORS IN PUBLIC PLACES ##