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

• Troy Downing the Hunter
• MT GOP-Voting By Mail
• Obama Campaigns
• One More Thing

TROY DOWNING THE HUNTER:

Nothing screams “incumbent confidence” quite like taking a pre-election victory lap to go blast some pheasants. Congressman Troy Downing (R-MT02) apparently feels his reelection race is such a lock that he spent his weekend posing for opening-day selfies with his wife, Heather, and a casual mountain of about 25 dead birds.

Naturally, the internet did what the internet does and immediately turned the victory lap into a roast. The main attraction? A cozy couple’s photo where Downing is holding a break-action shotgun at an angle that looks suspiciously like he’s flagging his wife’s head. Critics were quick to point out that even if the breach is visibly open and empty, Rule #1 of basic firearm safety isn’t “always point the muzzle at your spouse for the aesthetic.”

To cap it all off, other eagle-eyed commenters immediately started running the numbers on the pheasant pile, turning a standard grip-and-grin hunting photo into an impromptu online math class about state bag limits. All in all, a textbook lesson in why you might want to double-check the frame before hitting “post” on opening day.

The next day, Downing posted a short video explaining:

Since some folks are confused, here’s a quick firearm PSA! As a combat veteran and lifelong outdoorsman, let me educate some of my friends on how a break-action shotgun actually works.

It feels like ‘combat veteran’ has become a catch-all answer for a lot of people in Montana. But serving in combat doesn’t automatically make someone a gun safety expert.

People may remember that Downing, in July 2018, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of obtaining resident hunting licenses as a non-resident and unlawfully procuring a permit. As part of his plea deal:

• He was ordered to pay a $2,110 fine plus court fees.
• His Montana hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges were forfeited for 18 months.
• He received a one-year deferred sentence. (Source)

If I were in his boots, I’d refrain from posting any more hunting pictures. It’s hard to project the image of a seasoned Montana outdoorsman when you can’t manage basic muzzle discipline, and your actual credentials include a guilty plea for hunting license fraud.

MT GOP-VOTING BY MAIL:

The Montana Republican Party sent out an email with the following message:

Friend,

Let us be completely clear: we hate mail-in voting.

We prefer voting in person on Election Day, showing an ID, and watching the ballot drop into the box.

But here is the cold, hard reality: thanks to current election laws, ballots are sitting on dining room tables across the state right now, and the Left has spent years perfecting the art of chasing every single one.

If we sit back and complain about the rules while the Democrats run up the score, we will lose.

To win, we must adapt and beat them at their own game.

That is why we launched our official Ballot Chase Operation.

Here is how you can directly power this effort right now:

• [ CHIP IN $50 ]
• → Cover 1 full tank of gas for a field driver chasing ballots.
• [ CHIP IN $175 ]
• → Sponsor a full day of ballot chasing for a ground worker.
• [ CHIP IN $525 ]
• → Sponsor a team of (3) ballot chasers in critical battleground counties.

We aren’t leaving victory to chance. We are chasing down every single vote until the polls close.

Depending on the vehicle used, it might cost $525 for one tank of gas due to Republican (MAGA) policies.

OBAMA CAMPAIGNS:

Former President Barack Obama made several high-profile campaign stops this past weekend (October 24–25, 2026) in Ohio and Michigan, delivering a sharp and highly publicized rebuke of Donald Trump.

Obama ridiculed Trump’s White House renovations and focus on affordability. He joked that the White House looked like “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory” and suggested Trump belongs on HGTV rather than focusing on lowering prices.

You can watch one of his speeches HERE.

ONE MORE THING:

I saw a shirt the other day with the message, “God sent Trump because he ran out of locusts.”

## HAVE A GREAT WEEK ##