Greetings! Today is Friday, September 15, 2023, and here are the topics for today’s commentary:

• Busse For Governor
• Tester & CNN
• Flu Shot Clinic
• One More Thing

BUSSE FOR GOVERNOR:

In a press release sent to The Western Word, former firearms executive Ryan Busse announced his bid for governor to protect the Last Best Place from Greg Gianforte’s dangerous, failed leadership. Busse is running as a Democrat.

Busse, 53, is an author and former firearms executive who helped build the gun company Kimber from Kalispell between 1995 and 2020. Over his 25-year career, Busse directed the sales of nearly three million Kimber firearms. His memoir, Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America, was published by PublicAffairs (Hachette) in 2021. Busse was born near the Kansas cattle ranch homesteaded by his great-grandfather. He is an avid hunter, angler, and champion of public lands, and has held leadership positions with Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and Montana Conservation Voters. Busse and his wife Sara live in Kalispell and have two teenage sons.

From what I saw on social media, it seems that this announcement excited Montana Democrats. That’s a good thing. You can visit the Busse for Governor website by clicking HERE.

TESTER & CNN:

U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) was hit pretty hard in an article posted on the CNN website yesterday. The Western Word (TWW) was one of the first to share the article on social media.

The article was titled, “Jon Tester failed to fully follow through on ethics pledge at center of 2006 campaign” which seems to be a little late considering this is 2023.

The article talks about Tester promising, “I’ll end secret meetings with lobbyists. At the end of every business day, I will post a list of every in-office meeting that I or my staff has had with a lobbyist,” Tester pledged in 2006.” CNN says: “But a review of archived versions of Tester’s Senate website shows that while he did post his own meetings, no staff meetings were ever posted – which an expert noted would leave out most of the crucial work being done on legislation by special interest groups.”

There was also a mention of Tester posting his schedule and CNN found though Tester initially pledged to post his schedule every day, a CNN review found the schedule was posted sporadically – sometimes with weekly or monthly updates instead of daily. In 2021, Fox News reported there was a nearly three-month gap when Tester’s schedule was not posted, which his office said was due to staff error.

Then there was the annual “audit” that Tester promised. I think at some point I volunteered to do the audits since I had about 12 years of knowledge about the inner workings of the Senate office. CNN found that though Tester’s campaign and office frequently promoted the audits of Tester’s office, CNN found no examples of the office posting about them since 2012 or sharing the results. Tester’s office did provide CNN the names of judges, who they say conducted the audits in the years since 2012, but at least two of the five judges involved in public audits were donors or had a spouse who was a donor to his 2006 campaign. The judge who conducted the audit in the 111th Congress in 2011, donated several thousand dollars to Tester’s 2006 campaign. The wife of the judge who conducted the audit in the 110th in 2009 Congress donated $1250 to Tester’s 2006 campaign as well.

I’ve been around for a while and worked in and written about politics. I’ve found that all politicians promise things, and when they don’t deliver they roll out some talking points on why they didn’t deliver. Tester made a lot of promises leading up to his election in 2006, that people like me thought were bullshit. Montanans bought it and bought the lies spread about his opponent. Tester was elected in 2006 by 3,562 votes.

The Republicans have tried several times to beat Tester, but have failed. I don’t see that changing in 2024.

Read the complete CNN article HERE.

FLU SHOT CLINIC:

The Cascade City-County Health Department posted a notice that they were having a “Drive-Thru Flu Shot Clinic” next Wednesday (Sept. 20) in Great Falls at the Montana ExpoPark from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

I was amazed at how many anti-vaxxers there were who made comments about flu shots. Some of the comments were just silly and uneducated. Most of the comments have been taken down as of this morning.

The bottom line is if you want to get a flu shot, get one. If not, don’t. I will be getting one, just as I have every year for as long as I can remember. I plan on getting the new COVID shot, too. I’m thinking about getting the Shingles and the Pneumonia vaccines, too.

ONE MORE THING:

As the seasons change, so do we. May we be aware we are shifting just like the wind. – Unknown

## HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND ##