Welcome to February! Here are the topics for today’s independent commentary:
- Marc Racicot
- Miles City Community Living Center
- Randy Pinocci Trial Date
- Quinnipiac University National Poll
MARC RACICOT:
MTN News is reporting that former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot is again breaking with Republican leadership, signing onto a court filing supporting efforts to keep former President Donald Trump off the ballot in 2024.
That means Racicot won’t be getting any Christmas cards from the MAGA folks. He will be called a “Republican In Name Only” (RINO), which I’m pretty sure won’t both him one bit.
It’s good to see that some of the old-school Republicans have the guts to go against Trump. Trump is bad for the United States, and I salute Racicot for taking action.
Read the complete report HERE.
MILES CITY COMMUNITY LIVING CENTER:
In a press release provided to The Western Word, U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) announced a new Miles City Community Living Center will be built to replace the existing long-term care veterans facility. As Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tester helped secure the funding that will be used to build this new facility and pushed VA leadership for years to ensure delivery of the project. He was also the only member of the Montana delegation who voted for the funding used to establish this new facility.
This is wonderful news for my fellow veterans. Tester’s position as Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee is paying off for Montana veterans. It would be terrible to lose his 18 years of clout in the U.S. Senate.
RANDY PINOCCI TRIAL DATE:
The Daily Montana is reporting that a trial date of April 30 has been set for Public Service Commissioner Randy Pinocci. Pinocci, a Republican who represents a wide swath of central and eastern Montana, was arrested in September after failing to appear in court for a disorderly conduct misdemeanor charge.
He was arrested the following month on two felony charges of witness tampering. Pinocci has denied all charges and also disputed the validity of the warrant first issued for his arrest.
The Daily Montanan also reported that Pinocci’s lawyer, Mark Parker, said a new trial date is set for April 30, but he hopes the county prosecutor will drop the charges. “I just am unconvinced, with what I’ve seen, this matter should have been in criminal court,” said Parker, a Billings attorney. “But it is. And so it has to be taken seriously.” However, Parker said his desk is piled high with “odd little claims” against both Republicans and Democrats in public office, and it concerns him.
I’m not sure if Parker was very clear in saying what he meant, but I hope he does not think that elected officials should be given a pass, no matter the charges.
The law applies to all, or so they say…
QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY NATIONAL POLL:
This is pretty good news for the Biden campaign…
The following information was taken from a Quinnipiac University national poll press release:
As signs point to the 2024 presidential election being a repeat of the 2020 race between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Biden holds a lead over Trump 50 – 44 percent among registered voters in a hypothetical general election matchup, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll of registered voters.
The Poll also found that in a hypothetical 2024 general election matchup between President Biden and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, a former United Nations Ambassador and South Carolina Governor, 47 percent of voters support Haley and 42 percent support Biden.
In a five-person hypothetical 2024 general election matchup that includes independent and Green Party candidates, Biden receives 36 percent support, Haley receives 29 percent support, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. receives 21 percent support, independent candidate Cornel West receives 3 percent support, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein receives 2 percent support.
The Western Word 
Local GF activist Jasmine Taylor has a new video on Facebook wherein she details an anti-LGBTQ hate campaign currently being waged against one of our local downtown businesses, Luna Coffee. One or more of Great Falls’ fine upstanding local haters apparently at it again. Will our local elected officials say anything?
https://www.facebook.com/jasmineforhd22/
Good Morning Jackie,
Thank you for your comment on the Miles City Vetrans Home improvements. I was struck by the fact that Senator Tester did not have the support of the other three members of our Washington delegation on this project. This includes Ryan Zinke whonever fails to tout his military service. (Except the parts about his financial impropriaties.)
So, I would ask you as a veteran of the U. S. Air Force, a former staffer to a Republican Senator and a person very familiar with Montana voters the following question:
“Why would any Montana veteran vote to replace Jon Tester with either Tim Sheehy, a out of state multimillionaire proposed by Senator Daines who refused to support the Veterans Home or Matt Rosendale, another out of state millionaire, who also voted against this project, clearly voting against their own self interest and that of their fellow veterans?”
I look forward to seeing the responses from your wide and varied readership.
Thank you.
Politics is a funny game. The folks who voted against it will have their talking points ready when asked. Both R and D play games with votes. The bottom line is a majority in the House and Senate thought it was worth a yes vote. Our GOP guys did not.
Seniority in the senate is very important. That’s why Tester should be reelected. Ironically, I felt the same way about Burns in 2006. Montana lost some clout for a few years after he was defeated. We lost planes, missiles, and personnel at Malmstrom and the air guard. We can’t afford to let that happen again. Thanks, JmB
I agree with your comment on seniority. But it still doesn’t address why the average MT veteran would support people who don’t support them.
I have a hard time imaging a “talking point” on refusing to help veterans in your own state that would pass the laugh test. Thank for the response though!