Greetings! Here are the topics for today’s independent commentary:

• The President’s Speech
• Election Day Voter Registration
• Swim in the Swamp

THE PRESIDENT’S SPEECH:

Before President Trump’s speech to Congress started, I posted the following message on X:

Trump’s address in two sentences:

1. The bad stuff is Biden’s fault 
2. The good stuff is because of me 

That’s just about 100% accurate.

Decorum went down the toilet Tuesday night. While I have never voted for Trump, I do have a certain amount of respect for the Office of the President. I did not like the way the Democrats treated the President during his speech. One Democratic Congressman was thrown out. As for Trump, he provoked the Democrats several times in his speech. He called U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” in the last part of his speech. Trump constantly said negative things about former President Joe Biden. That should be a no-no.  

We see other countries have fights during their government meetings, I don’t think we are far from it in the USA. The signs held by the Democrats were juvenile. The Democrats not standing for the President or his guests showed poor taste. 

If the Democrats accomplished anything Tuesday night, they showed people they were sore losers. Elections do have consequences. Try harder next time.

According to the American Presidency Project, President Donald Trump’s speech last night was 1:39:32 (Source). It was too long. The speech was riddled with lies and half-truths as is typical for a Trump speech.

You can read some of the fact-checking articles HERE, HERE, and HERE. 

Just for fun on X, I posted the following question:

What has Trump done about the eating of the dogs, eating of the cats?

That post had received almost 11,000 impressions by the time I was ready to post this column. It had 54 likes.

The Associated Press (AP) has a report about the speech HERE. 

The White House had not posted the transcript by the time this column was posted, but they did post a press release attacking the Democrats. Read it HERE. 

ELECTION DAY VOTER REGISTRATION:

In my perfect world, it would be easy to register and vote, even on Election Day. I also think you should have a valid ID to vote. If you can’t afford an ID, the state should give you one for free. 

But here in Montana, it seems the Republicans want to put up roadblocks for people who want to register and vote on Election Day. Take for example Senate Bill 490, sponsored by Eureka Republican Sen. Mike Cuffe. 

According to Lee Newspapers, the proposal would allow for people to register until the end of the day on the Friday before election day, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Saturday before election day, and until noon on the day of the election. Voters would not be able to register the day before election day. Currently, Montanans can register to vote up to noon the day before election day and until polls close on election day.

I was waiting for the part where the bill stated that left-handers could register on this day and right-handers on a different day. The bill is just about that silly. 

Election officials complain about the long lines on Election Day. The easy answer is for the legislature to allocate more funding to hire additional staff for the rush on Election Day. Don’t change what we currently have.

Lee Newspapers also reported that in a 2014 ballot referendum, Montanans voted against eliminating same-day voter registration by 14 percentage points.

Twenty states and Washington D.C. allow for election-day voter registration. 

SWIM IN THE SWAMP:

A Republican House member in the Montana Legislature threw in the towel on Monday. 

According to the Daily Montanan, Rep. Rob Marshall, R-Hamilton, posted on social media Monday morning that he intended to resign his position at noon, and confirmed to media he’d submitted his resignation letter to the Speaker of the House. The three-term legislator blamed corruption among elected officials in the Capitol and the Department of Justice, who are “bought and paid for” by lobbyists, specifically those in the tobacco industry. 

“This is a resignation because I don’t want to swim in the swamp anymore,” Marshall told reporters. “Why would I want to stay? I’m not a corrupt person. Why do I want to stay around a bunch of corrupt people?”

He was also quoted:

“The Attorney General’s bought and paid for, leadership’s been bought and paid for … You know, they’re all in it. They’re all involved in it, along with the lobbyists,” Marshall said. “The lobbyists run this capitol. Don’t ever think that the people have a say up here because you don’t.”

This whole legislative session has been a circus. 

## GOD BLESS AMERICA ##