Welcome! Here are the topics for today’s column (It’s rated A++++): 

• Austin Knudsen
• Dog Tag Buddies
• Times New Roman
• Trump – Dolls & Pencils
• One More Thing

AUSTIN KNUDSEN:

Big news coming out of Helena this week! Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has been elected President of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) for the 2026 election cycle.

Since President Joe Biden left office, Knudsen has had few issues to file lawsuits over, so he undoubtedly has more time on his hands to tackle other matters. 

I would like to know if Knudsen can still hold the President position if his law license is suspended for 90 days for violating 41 counts of professional conduct. Knudsen appealed the suspension to the Montana Supreme Court, and we are still waiting for the court to issue a final ruling.  The oral arguments about his appeal occurred in late March 2025. Do they think we’ll forget about it? 

I have heard that Knudsen is one of many people looking to run for Montana Governor. 

The Helena IR covered this story (HERE). 

DOG TAG BUDDIES:

I saw a story on MTN news about Dog Tag Buddies, a nonprofit that pairs veterans with service dogs across Montana, which is warning that its largest source of funding could disappear at the end of the year and says the loss would have potentially life-threatening consequences.

According to MTN News, Dog Tag Buddies operates seven training sites across the state. The organization relies primarily on a federal grant, the Wounded Warrior Service Dog Program, for about 80% of its budget, but Congress did not appropriate funds for the program in the fiscal 2026 budget.

The thing that irritates me about the story is that the Executive Director traveled all the way to Washington, D.C. in an attempt to meet with the Montana congressional delegation, but was only able to meet with staff.   

Executive Director DeeDe Baker traveled to Washington, D.C., in September to speak with Montana’s congressional delegation but was only able to meet with staff members. She and other nonprofits are now urging Congress to restore funding through reprogramming or a supplemental appropriations bill.

“It’s discouraging,” said Baker. “I don’t think that even sitting down and having these conversations with them, that they fully understood the impact that it has on the organizations and the veterans that we are trying to serve.”

I hope Montana’s congressional delegation sees the story and sets up a meeting with the Executive Director. I also hope they can secure funding for this important program. 

TIMES NEW ROMAN:

Earth-shattering news was announced Wednesday evening by Reuters:

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor Antony Blinken’s decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.

The department under Blinken in early January 2023 had switched to Calibri, a modern sans-serif font, saying this was a more accessible font for people with disabilities because it did not have the decorative angular features and was the default in Microsoft products. (Source)

This is important work for a Secretary of State. I wonder how little Marco (as Trump used to call him) feels about Cambria, which is the font I use. 

TRUMP – DOLLS & PENCILS:

President Donald Trump, a billionaire, told folks at a rally in Pennsylvania that their kids don’t need many gifts, like pencils and dolls:

“You can give up certain products. You can give up pencils…Every child can get 37 pencils. They only need one or two. They don’t need that many, but you always need you always need steel,” Trump said.

“You don’t need 37 dolls for your daughter. Two or three is nice. You don’t need 37 dolls,” he added. (Source)

The kids from MAGA families are going to be disappointed this Christmas when they don’t receive 37 pencils and 37 dolls. 

ONE MORE THING:

I am going to need some of you guys to start getting weirder. I cannot keep pulling all the weight. 

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