Welcome! Here are the topics for today’s column:

• Most Patriotic States
• Shooting in Minnesota
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• One More Thing 

MOST PATRIOTIC STATES:

The personal-finance website WalletHub recently released its report on 2025’s Most Patriotic States in America, with Montana coming in second. Virginia was first. WalletHub’s report also found that blue states were more patriotic than red states. 

According to WalletHub:

Montana is the second-most patriotic state, in part because it has a relatively large voter turnout. 69.2% of the state’s voting population turned out for the 2024 presidential election, and nearly 46% voted in the 2020 primary election (the highest primary turnout in the country).

Montana ranks second in the nation for jury service, a result of its notably high participation rate, it also has the second-highest number of Americorps volunteers, and over 37% of residents volunteer for some sort of organization in general. For comparison, in only 10 states, the volunteer rate is above 35%.

In addition, Montana has 102 veterans for every 1,000 civilians, the fourth-highest number in the country.

Congrats to my fellow Montanans! Click HERE to see the full report.

SHOOTING IN MINNESOTA:

My prayers to the people of Minnesota.

Vance Boelter was apprehended by police Sunday night, officials said, and is alleged by law enforcement to have carried out a political assassination. He’s been charged with two counts of second-degree murder for the fatal shootings of state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark in their Brooklyn Park home early Saturday, after first shooting Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, who both survived, at their home in Champlin. (Source)

Many stories are going around on social media about the alleged shooter. Some are true and others are false. 

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has a detailed story about Boelter HERE. They contend he was a conservative, and one of his friends said he voted for Donald Trump. It was reported he attended Trump campaign rallies. Authorities say Boelter left behind lists of Democratic lawmakers and abortion providers as targets. The list included Minnesota’s two U.S. Senators. He was appointed by former DFL (Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party) Gov. Mark Dayton to the Governor’s Workforce Development Board in 2016 and reappointed by Gov. Tim Walz three years later. (Source) Several reports say his vehicle contained “No Kings” flyers.  

The Associated Press has some background information HERE. 

Of course, some Republicans tried to score political points without knowing the facts. Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah repeatedly suggested Boelter is not just a leftist but a “Marxist” and linked him to Walz in an X post: “Nightmare on Waltz Street.” Lee also wrote: “This is what happens when Marxists don’t get their way.” (Source)

Mike Lee is an ass. 

The Daily Beast reported that Donald Trump Jr. got fact-checked live on air after he went on a bonkers rant claiming that political violence is “mostly caused” by Democrats and labeling the suspect in the fatal shooting of a Democratic Minnesota lawmaker a “leftist.” Check it out HERE. 

Junior is not a smart man. 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS:

The Mirror is reporting that an executive order from President Donald Trump has given the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) the power to deny healthcare to veterans based on their political affiliation and marital status.

I was skeptical when I read the article, but then I saw that a U.S. Senator had chimed in about the article. 

U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, released the following statement on new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital guidelines from the Trump administration explicitly eliminating language requiring healthcare professionals to care for veterans regardless of their politics and marital status, and allowing doctors and other medical staff to be barred from working at VA hospitals based on their marital status, political party affiliation or union activity:

“Health care isn’t just a special privilege Trump gets to dole out to veterans who agree with the President—it’s a moral obligation our country owes to every single man and woman who serves in uniform. Anyone who doesn’t understand that has no business leading our armed forces in any way.

“It’s outrageous that President Trump and Secretary Collins are effectively green-lighting discrimination against wide swaths of our veteran population and the doctors who serve them. Under Trump’s new rules, veterans can be blocked from getting care, and doctors can be barred from working at VA hospitals for the sole reason that they may be unmarried, belong to a union, are registered Democrats, or identify as gay or trans—it’s appalling and un-American. Servicemembers defend our country in uniform whether they’re Democrat or Republican, married or unmarried, they have already proven they are worthy of VA care.  They shouldn’t have to fight again when they’re home to get benefits they have earned.

“President Trump is going out of his way to discriminate against veterans and ripping up the sacred contract we make with our veterans that we will take care of them when they come home, and that they are entitled to the best health care our nation has to offer. This is bigotry, plain and simple, and it cannot be allowed to stand—and I sincerely hope my Republican colleagues would agree.

“It’s disgusting that this policy was ever allowed to go into effect, and I will not let it fly under the radar. This policy must be rescinded immediately—this administration is not immune to public pressure and now is the time for everyone to speak out.” 

This is very wrong, if true. 

ONE MORE THING:

Those who like my posts are happier, more intelligent, and better-looking than those who don’t, according to a study I made up. (Source)

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