Here we go! These are the topics for today’s column:

• Ballots & Voting
• Migrant Encounters
• Rivals, Critics, & January 5 

BALLOTS & VOTING: 

My household received our ballots in the mail on Saturday. According to a report from Lee Newspapers, 502,327 ballots were mailed on Friday. 

I’m kind of torn about what to do – should I vote early or wait until closer to Election Day? 

It was also reported by Lee Newspapers that with 22 days until Election Day, there are over 782,000 registered voters in Montana, more than in 2020 and 2022. Residents are eligible to register to vote up to and on Election Day, so that number will likely increase. 

If I remember correctly, the MAGAs wanted to forbid registering and voting on Election Day. Twenty-three states and Washington, D.C., have implemented same-day registration, which allows any qualified resident of the state to register to vote and cast a ballot at the same time. (Source)

I think the MAGAs, especially Donald Trump, said that voting by mail was fraud and cheating. He recently said, “Now we have this stupid stuff where you can vote 45 days early…I wonder what the hell happens during that 45?” At the same time, the MAGAs are encouraging people to vote by mail early. (Source) Silliness. 

Don’t forget to vote!

Read the Lee Newspapers story HERE.  

MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS:

I happened to read an article from the Pew Research Center from earlier this month that reported after reaching a record high at the end of 2023, the monthly number of U.S. Border Patrol encounters with migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico has plummeted so far in 2024.

Pew also reports that the Border Patrol recorded 58,038 encounters with migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in August, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the latest available government statistics. That was a 77% decline from 249,741 encounters in December 2023, the most ever recorded in a single month.

Just imagine how much the numbers would have declined if Donald Trump had not killed the bipartisan border bill for political purposes. 

It seems we are on the right track and that should please voters. After this election season is over in early 2025, maybe the House and Senate can work out another bipartisan plan that President Harris can sign. 

Read the Pew Research Center report HERE. 

RIVALS, CRITICS, & JANUARY 5:

Former President Donald Trump is unstable. His brain is turning to mush and he is saying more and more outlandish things during his speeches. 

Recently NBC News reported that Trump is ramping up his rhetoric depicting his political rivals and critics as criminals while dropping a long trail of suggestions that he favors outlawing political speech that he deems misleading or challenges his claims to power. The former president has developed a tendency to claim that speech he disapproves of is illegal, even if it is protected by the First Amendment.

We love the First Amendment here at The Western Word. The MAGAs of Montana are not that happy with this website, but I don’t care. It’s something like, “I’ll give you my keyboard when you pry it from my cold dead hands.”  

NBC News reported, “He reminds me of Hitler and the rise to power,” said Dan Geiger, a retired Pittsburgh resident. “The more he lies the more it’s accepted by his faithful followers.”

I think Geiger hit the nail on the head. Trump wants to be like Putin or Hitler. He is unhinged. 

Last night, Trump told folks at his rally to vote on January 5. Mediaite reports:

The crowd cheered, and Trump urged them to vote two months after election day, which this year is Nov. 5.

“So we’re gonna take care of it, you and me,” he added. “I’ll tell you, if everything works out and everybody gets out on January 5th, or before. You know, it used to be, you’d have a date. Today, you can vote two months before, probably three months after. They don’t know what the hell they’re doing. But we’re gonna straighten it all out. 

Trump’s elevator is not going all the way to the top floor. He is too old. 

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