Thanks for starting your week with The Western Word! Here are the topics for today’s independent commentary:
- U.S. Senate Candidate Debate
- Trump Coming to Kalispell
- Christa Pike Update
- One More Thing
U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE DEBATE:
In case you missed it, the four candidates for U.S. Senate in Montana debated Sunday morning.
MTN News reported that Republican nominee Kurt Alme, Democratic nominee Alani Bankhead, Libertarian nominee Kyle Austin, and independent candidate Seth Bodnar met for a 90-minute debate at the Field and Stream Lodge in Bozeman. The event was sponsored by the Montana Broadcasters Association and the Greater Montana Foundation.
One amusing line came from Alme, who reportedly said, “Other candidates say they’ll rein in Washington spending. I balanced a budget, and I’m ready to go to Washington and do it again.”
Alme will never balance the budget in Washington, D.C. Both parties like to spend, spend, spend.
You can watch the debate HERE. The Montana Free Press covered the debate HERE.
TRUMP COMING TO KALISPELL:
This Wednesday, President Donald J. Trump is coming to Kalispell. He will be campaigning at the Majestic Valley Arena for Republican Aaron Flint in the high-stakes race for Montana’s Western Congressional District.
Click HERE for more information and tickets.
I am not sure that Trump can help Flint or any MAGA candidates. Trump’s approval rating has reached new lows, with multiple national polls tracking his support between 30% and 39% ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. A major Pew Research Center survey places his general approval at just 30%. (Source)
Plus, with the high cost of gas, record-high diesel prices, and groceries costing more and more, I am not sure the MAGA way is all that well-liked these days.
Finally, I am looking forward to hearing what stupid things Trump says.
He recently told a crowd he thought that either the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean could be renamed “Trump Ocean.” (Source)
He wants the MAGA voters to “just pretend I’m on the ballot.” (Source)
Trump also said, “I think we’re going to have a big surprise, because they don’t know what’s happening… Just get out and vote. If you do that, we’re going to win, and we’re going to win big. And we’re going to shove it up their ass.” (Source)
He’s trying to bribe voters. Trump has explicitly pledged that if Republicans win control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, he will give a $5,000 check to American adults. (Source)
CHRISTA PIKE UPDATE:
NPR and other sources are reporting that Christa Pike was released from a local hospital and is back in prison at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Tennessee, her attorneys Luke Ihnen, Randy Spivey, Stephen Ferrell, and Kelly Gleason said in a statement on Saturday.
Readers may remember that Pike had been hospitalized for several days after her botched execution last month, in which she received and survived two doses of the sedative pentobarbital.
I believe the Governor of Tennessee should change Pike’s death sentence to life in prison. It is the appropriate remedy for the screw-up by Tennessee prison officials.
ONE MORE THING:
I had lunch with a chess player last week. It took him 20 minutes to pass the salt…
## HAVE A GREAT WEEK ##
