Greetings! Here are the topics for today’s column:
- GOP Midterm Convention
- States that Vaccinate the Most
- Planned Parenthood of Montana
- One More Thing
GOP MIDTERM CONVENTION:
In case you missed it, the Republican Midterm Convention is happening in Dallas on September 9/10.
President Donald Trump is telling Republicans to pretend he is on the ballot in November.
“The problem that we have is they say that Trump does great when he’s on the ballot,” said Trump, speaking in the third person. “But when he’s not on the ballot, his people don’t come and they don’t vote.
“So, what I really want you to do is pretend please, that I am on the ballot,” Trump said at the rally for South Carolina Republican Sen. Darline Graham, who is running for her seat this fall. (Source)
There’s a small problem. Trump has a 33% approval rating. (Source)
Republicans from Montana are attending the event. MTN News is reporting that about 30 delegates, alternates, and guests from Montana are in attendance. Attorney General Austin Knudsen was scheduled to kiss Trump’s ass speak at the convention. (Source)
MTN also reported that several Republican officeholders and candidates from Montana are staying away from the convention.
STATES THAT VACCINATE THE MOST:
From my friends at WalletHub…
With vaccines preventing 3.5 to 5 million deaths per year worldwide, according to the WHO, the personal-finance company WalletHub released its report on the States that Vaccinate the Most in 2026, as well as expert commentary, to identify where Americans are most protected from preventable diseases.
WalletHub analyzed the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 16 key metrics, ranging from the share of children, teens, and adults vaccinated against various diseases to the share of people without health insurance.
Montana is ranked #36.
I am glad they released this report. It reminded me to schedule my annual Flu and COVID vaccinations.
Read the complete report HERE.
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF MONTANA:
The Montana Free Press (MTFP) and other sources are reporting that Planned Parenthood of Montana is opening a clinic in Bozeman.
MTFP also reported that Planned Parenthood of Montana has clinics in four major Montana cities — Great Falls, Helena, Missoula and Billings — where they offer a range of services, including prescribing medication for abortions earlier in pregnancy. But the nonprofit only offers in-clinic abortions for patients at two of those locations: Missoula and Helena. Other abortion providers — Blue Mountain Clinic and All Families Healthcare — also offer medication and procedural abortions in Missoula and Whitefish.
The Bozeman clinic will offer abortion services.
MTFP pointed out that abortion in Montana is legal and constitutionally protected up to the point of fetal viability following the passage of CI-128 in 2024.
While my personal hope is for fewer abortions in our country, I respect individual autonomy. A woman’s reproductive choices should be left to her, her medical provider, and her faith—free from outside interference.
ONE MORE THING:
Someone threw a bottle of mayo at me. I said, “What the Hellmann!”
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I wonder if the folks in Georgia that call handing out water to people standing in line to vote, vote buying, will be ok with their 5000 dollar checks.
The boast about doing great when he’s on the ballot conveniently neglects 2020 when he got shellacked, last time he was this unpopular.
And just because pretending he’s on the ballot is all it takes, that’s it nothing else, he promises to throw in a kicker: An offer to buy everyone’s vote for $5,000 a head using our own money in the form of an additional $1 trillion of national debt. Not at all corrupt and brought to you by the party of fiscal responsibility.
Maybe Trump and the MAGAs will combine the $5,000 bribe with the tariff dividend check? -JmB
Yeah it was a bribe.
But.
Dems say we’ll give you free groceries, free healthcare, free daycare, free buses, and forgive you student loans and billions in reparations.
That doesn’t seem to be working for the Dems. They don’t control the House, Senate, and WH. -JmB
According to the CDC there have been only two verifiable deaths from acute measles infection since 2000. During this same time period, there have been 104 reported cases of death after vaccination for measles.
Thanks for your comments, but it’s not exactly true what you said.
Here is what I found. There have been more than two measles deaths since 2000 — including one in 2015, three in 2025, and more in 2026 alone, which is now the worst measles year since elimination. As for the “104 deaths after vaccination,” that number comes from VAERS, a system where anyone can report any death after any vaccination, with no requirement to prove it was caused by the vaccine. It counts coincidences, not confirmed harms. CDC’s own guidance says VAERS reports shouldn’t be interpreted as evidence of causation. So the comparison isn’t apples to apples — one side is an undercount of verified deaths, the other is unverified raw reports. -JmB
ever heard that saying about it being better to remain silent than to speak and remove all doubt?
I guess not…
If that’s truly all the deaths in the USA caused by measles then the measles vaccine must be doing a pretty darn good job.
Meanwhile here’s some information that compares international measles vaccination rates over time to international measles death rates. The chart about African countries since 1980, starting with 391,000+ deaths in 1980 down to 33,600 is pretty convincing.
https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/winning-against-measles-five-charts-tell-remarkable-24-year-story
Great information. Thanks. One of the main obstacles is the anti-vax nutjobs spreading false information.
Vaccines work. -JmB