Thanks for starting your week with The Western Word! Here are the topics for today’s common sense commentary: 

• Term Limit Lawsuit
• U.S. Senator Mark Kelly
• Strait of Hormuz
• Big Sky Little League
• One More Thing

TERM LIMIT LAWSUIT:

As expected, and reported by the Daily Montanan, House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Fitzpatrick and Rep. Llew Jones, along with Ted Kronebusch, chairman of the Pondera County Republican Central Committee, filed a lawsuit Friday over a term limit decision made by Attorney General Austin Knudsen this week that would remove Jones and Fitzpatrick from the ballot in November. 

The term-limit decision is nothing more than a power grab by Knudsen and MAGA Republicans. They want to get rid of independent leaders like Fitzpatrick and Jones because they answer to their voters, not the party. After losing the primaries, the hard-right is trying to change the rules after the fact. Voters in these districts should be outraged.

I expect Knudsen’s decision will be thrown out. Montana faces serious challenges that require real leadership. We need an Attorney General who focuses on the office’s vital duties. Our top legal official must put public service ahead of political games. 

U.S. SENATOR MARK KELLY:

I received a fundraising email from U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) endorsing and asking for donations to help Sam Forstag get elected in Montana’s First Congressional District. 

There are four candidates in that race: Sam Forstag (D), Aaron Flint (R), Nick Sheedy (L), and Kimberly Persico (I). This race will be one that I will be watching.   

Kelly writes:

Hi Jack, it’s Mark Kelly — U.S. Senator from Arizona.

My life has been defined by service. I’ve flown 39 combat missions, logged 5,000+ hours in over 50 different aircraft, and flown to space four times.

And now I get to serve my great state as a Senator, because folks want representatives that understand the crisis this country is facing. It’s the honor of a lifetime to deliver for Arizonans every single day.

But I can’t do it alone. We need fighters in Congress who will deliver lower costs and better opportunities for working people.

That’s why I’m endorsing Sam Forstag for Montana’s 1st Congressional District.

Sam is a smokejumper, union leader, and working-class Montanan who won his competitive primary without taking a dime of corporate PAC money. Now he’s facing an opponent who has massive corporate backers funding his campaign. If we are going to flip the House, it has to include Montana.

I do hope that Kelly runs for President.  

STRAIT OF HORMUZ:

In case you missed it, President Donald Trump said he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz a “territory of the United States.”   

NBC News reported:

Speaking Friday at a police academy in Nassau County, New York, Trump said Iran was being “very badly defeated,” and once victory was secured, “pretty soon, I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.”

Urging Americans to accept slightly higher gasoline prices, he told the crowd of law enforcement officers that “a tiny little bit more” at the pump was worth the cost of ensuring “a very ⁠evil country” could not have a nuclear weapon, one of his stated reasons for the war.

The war with Iran started on February 28, 2026. I remember when Trump said the war with Iran was over “in the first hour.” In April, he said the war was “near completion.” This month, he said a final victory would happen “very soon.”

Now he says he wants to make the Strait of Hormuz a territory of the United States. Maybe he should try to get it open first. 

 BIG SKY LITTLE LEAGUE:

In case you missed it, the Big Sky Little League 11-12 All-Star baseball team out of Billings fell one game short of the Little League World Series Friday afternoon, suffering a 9-2 loss in the Mountain Region title game to the Nevada state champs from Paseo Verde Little League in Henderson. (Source) 

Congratulations to Big Sky for a tremendous season. 

The Little League World Series starts August 19. (Source)

ONE MORE THING:

Every time I start a diet, lettuce gets recalled. 

## HAVE A GREAT WEEK ##