Welcome to another exciting week! Here are the topics for today’s common-sense commentary:  

• U.S. Senate Montana 2026
• Protest in Great Falls
• U.S. Senator Tim Sheehy
• Elk Antlers/ElkGate
• Coming of Age
• One More Thing 

U.S. SENATE MONTANA 2026:

I’ve seen some interesting rumors on social media the past few days about a plan to defeat U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT). 

Over at the What The Funk 406 Blog, Ken Toole writes:

So, now the rumor getting all the buzz in Helena hallways is that there is a group, paid political consultants (ie Fireweed) and others, promoting a run by University of Montana President Seth Bodner as an independent against Daines. Doing so would virtually hand this election to Steve Daines. The best they could achieve is to split the anti-Daines vote between the Democrat and the Independent. In the process they further weaken the Montana Democratic Party. It’s hard to understand how all of these so-called smartest people in the room come up with these harebrained schemes. 

On social media, a post from Patti Prinkki Keebler (@PattiKeebler) had this warning:

Ds should be alarmed.  Rumored game plan allegedly by peeps close to Schumer, DSCC, & power brokers & consultants: Run a known Dem in US Senate primary and win, then withdraw, leaving only Daines and Seth Bodnar (the “independent.”) Winning “strategy”? Bah.

I recall that back in 2014, someone had the grand idea to send U.S. Senator Max Baucus to China as the U.S. Ambassador. Governor Steve Bullock (D) appointed Lt. Gov. John Walsh to fill Baucus’s vacant Senate seat and keep the seat in Democrats’ control. Walsh was accused of plagiarism and withdrew in August. He was replaced by Amanda Curtis. Daines beat Curtis with about 58% of the vote. In 2020, Daines was reelected with 55% of the vote.

I don’t care for Daines and would love for him to be retired, but I don’t think the above idea has any merit. 

PROTEST IN GREAT FALLS:

I saw a post on the Nextdoor app that caught my attention. Of course, I don’t know if it is true or not, so I won’t list the names of the accused. 

Here is part of the post:

Today while a small group was gathered infront of the federal courthouse to peacefully protest the human rights violations of the Trump administration, a passerby was so offended that she pulled over, parked her blue ford, and decided to attack some of those holding signs. She grabbed a flag pole from a man in his 70s and she spit on another peaceful protestor.

Everyone should be able to peacefully protest without being spat on or having a flag taken from them. Be better. 

U.S. SENATOR TIM SHEEHY:

KXLF in Butte is reporting that about 50 protesters gathered outside Montana Senator Tim Sheehy’s (R-MT) office on Granite Street in uptown Butte on Friday, demanding representation and a town hall meeting with their senator.

It was also reported that members of the Indivisible movement, a nationwide grassroots organization, carried signs and waved at passing cars during the lunch hour demonstration. The group protested various political issues, including the Trump administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies.

If I were a betting man, I would bet that Sheehy will not hold an in-person town hall meeting during his term. I would also bet that the other members of the Montana delegation will not hold in-person town hall meetings. 

I would like to see a town hall meeting with all the members of the delegation in one location for two hours. I’m sure law enforcement would provide the security if asked. That would be safe, and they could all brag about meeting face to face with their constituents, like members used to. 

ELK ANTLERS/ELKGATE:

As many readers know, I have been keeping tabs on the three Montana National Guardsmen who were accused of using a Blackhawk helicopter to collect elk antlers. 

An article in the Helena Independent Record gave us some additional information:

Although exact details from a closed-book military probe of three Montana Army National Guard airmen who landed a helicopter on private property in May in picked up elk antlers remain unclear, the Guard acknowledged Tuesday the antler airlifts aren’t unprecedented. 

No discharges are pending for any of the guardsmen, according to Lt. Col. Thomas Figarelle, Montana National Guard chief public affairs officer.

“By way of a thorough inquiry, we can confirm isolated incidents of collecting antlers (with a military aircraft) have occurred previously,” Figarelle said. “(The Montana Army National Guard) issued clear directives no antler collecting of any type is authorized. This is misuse of government property inconsistent with our standards. We are not going to tolerate it.”

Maybe we need to call this ElkGate. This is a leadership issue – a failure of leadership. We need full disclosure. 

COMING OF AGE: 

On Saturday (January 10, 2026), The Western Word turned 21 years old. 

It all started on January 10, 2005, with an idea to let my thoughts be known. As many long-time readers have noticed, my opinions have changed somewhat over the past 21 years. Many of my opinions have changed since MAGA entered the scene and ruined our country. 

I want to thank all the readers who visit this website each week. You are very much appreciated. I also love those who leave comments. All opinions are welcome. 

We currently have around 630 subscribers. It is free to subscribe. The X account for this blog has over 1,100 followers. All that was done without spending a dime on advertising.  Thank you! 

Please, no parades. Large donations are welcome! 

One More Thing:

Get out there and be the reason someone increases their meds today! 

## HAVE A GREAT WEEK ##