*Reminder- School is starting in many locations, so please be careful and watch out for children walking to and from school. Make sure you stop for school buses with flashing red lights!   

Here are the topics for today’s common sense commentary: 

• Defining Sex in Montana
• The American Flag
• National Guard Troops
• One More Thing

DEFINING SEX IN MONTANA:

The Montana State House Republicans sent a press release yesterday saying they were holding off on sending State Senate Bill 437 to the Governor, “to prevent it from being immediately tied up with ongoing litigation over a similar measure passed last session.” (Source)

That has been going on for four months.

Lee Newspapers is reporting:

Sponsored by Kila Republican Sen. Carl Glimm, SB 437 defines sex as binary in all parts of Montana law. According to the bill, those two sexes are male and female, determined by a person’s reproductive systems. SB 437 is remarkably similar to legislation that was passed and signed into law in 2023, but has since been blocked by multiple legal challenges.

Of course, the Montana House Republican press release used the tired old terms like “activist judges” and “partisan judges,” which means judges with whom the Republicans disagree. 

This is just another goofy attempt by the Montana Republicans that is doomed to fail and will cost the taxpayers thousands of dollars. 

PROSECUTING BURNING OF THE AMERICAN FLAG: 

President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Order called “Prosecuting Burning of the American Flag” that, in part, says:

My Administration will act to restore respect and sanctity to the American Flag and prosecute those who incite violence or otherwise violate our laws while desecrating this symbol of our country, to the fullest extent permissible under any available authority.

You can read the complete Executive Order HERE. 

I would never burn an American flag. That is my choice. You also have a choice. I respect those choices. I served my country in the military so that we could have freedom. 

As the Supreme Court has said, flag burning constitutes a form of “symbolic speech” that is protected by the First Amendment. The majority in Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989), noted that freedom of speech protects actions that society may find very offensive, but society’s outrage alone is not justification for suppressing free speech. 

I find Trump and many MAGAs very offensive, but I press on. 

The Associated Press (AP) reported:

“You burn a flag, you get one year in jail. You don’t get 10 years, you don’t get one month,” Trump said. “You get one year in jail, and it goes on your record, and you will see flag burning stopping immediately.”

So if this Executive Order is challenged in court, will it stand? I doubt it. I would expect all the Supreme Court justices, except maybe Clarence Thomas, to rule against it. 

But you never know. 

ARMED NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS:

The National Guard deployed in Washington, D.C., is now armed. (Source)

What could go wrong? I’m old enough to remember Kent State. (Source)

Trump may use the National Guard to control “crime” in other cities, like Chicago. He wants to make sure he can score political points before doing it.  

I’m thinking that since the Great Falls City Commission is always whining about public safety, maybe they could ask the President to send the National Guard to Great Falls. 

God bless America! 

ONE MORE THING: 

I stopped telling jokes about unemployed people because none of them worked…

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