Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 19, 2025
Friday, August 15, 2025
Lex Anteinternet: Wyoming crowd boos Hageman retort that protections...
Lex Anteinternet: Wyoming crowd boos Hageman retort that protections...: Wyoming crowd boos Hageman retort that protections against greenhouse gases based on ‘false science’ : U.S. Rep. Hageman's comment didn...
And it appears she will be visiting Casper.
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The 2026 Election, 3rd Edition: The Self Inflicted Wound Edition.
And can they recover?
A major turn occured in the Wyoming election when all three of Wyoming's congressional delegation members supported Mike Lee's Deseret Dream to swipe Federal lands for land raping purposes. The move was hugely, overwhelmingly, unpopular in Wyoming, but the delegation in part assessed the voters dim, and in part, trusted on them to forget.
Right now, it doesn't look like they will.
And the candidate are beginning to line up. We have, so far:
Governor:
GOP.
Eric Barlow. Barlow is a state senator from the 23rd district and announced earlier this week. So far, he's receiving a lot of accolades from the none Freedom Caucus Republicans and condemnations from the populist Freedom Caucus, which frankly makes him the front runner.
Brent Bien. Bien is retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel and another member of the recent Wyoming crowd who declares "after sucking on the government tit my whole life I hate the government and know best for people who haven't had such secure jobs as me". He's on the far right.
Joseph Kibler. Kibler is a web designer and might as well drop out right now.
Reid Ranser. Far right gadfly who doomed his chances, which were non existent anyway, by filing a lawsuit which states that he's a homosexual and was slandered by certain GOP figures. The slander aside, branding yourself as a homosexual is a bad political move in this atmosphere. He's highly likely not to be the only homosexual running for a statewide office or perhaps in office, but Wyomingites tend not to draw attention to themselves in that manner during an era such as the one we currently live in.
Waiting in the wings are Chuck Gray, who is already campaigning for something on the far right wing of the far right, save when it comes to nuclear power, were the populist are flower children, so he is too. Holding Gray up is Harriet Hageman, who seems likely to try to run, but whose position in opposition to the Federal lands is likely to sink any campaign of hers, or at least seriously damage it.
Also waiting in the wings is Mark Gordon, who has clearly not wanted Gray to replace him. With Barlow throwing his broad brim in the ring, he likely won't run now.
August 15, 2025
This is interesting:
Wyoming crowd boos Hageman retort that protections against greenhouse gases based on ‘false science’
Wyoming crowd boos Hageman retort that protections against greenhouse gases based on ‘false science’: U.S. Rep. Hageman's comment didn't go over well in Pinedale, where residents struggled for years to clean up health-threatening pollution from oil and gas drilling.
Pinedale calls itself the "Icebox of the Nation" and the introduction of oil and gas operations near it are relatively new. Given both of those, it clearly didn't drink the GOP Koolaide on global warming being a fib.
Hageman has so far received rough crewed treatment in Pinedale, Rock Springs, and Laramie. I suspect she would in Casper as well. I also suspect she might want to start thinking about selling her house in D.C. and looking to move back to her brother's ranch, as she may be out of work next year.
Labels: 2020s, 2025, 2026, 2026 Election, Climate Change, Harriet Hageman, Petroleum, Wyoming (Pinedale), Wyoming (Sublette County)
Wyoming has been a prime example of "if I make money from it, it must be perfectly okay". If we could grow big fields of opium here, we'd be loudly in favor of heroin.
Given that, and given that a lot of Wyomingites are imports from warmer regions of the country, people here are huge climate change deniers, even though if you've lived here your whole life its extremely obvious that its going on.
And Hageman comes from the agricultural which is bizarrely resistant to accepting the reality of climate change, even though if nothing is done, it'll destroy their livelihoods.
So she no doubt thought stepping in front of a Sublette County audience would mean that the "climate change is a fib" line would be well received. It wasn't.
Something is finally really starting to change here. Part of it is that people are waking up to reality, and part of it is that Hageman took a stand for something Wyomingites detest, transfering the Federal lands, and then basically asserted we were dumb for not supporting it ourselves. She's so all in on these positions, she really can't change them, and stepping in front of audiences makes her situation worse.
Last edition:
The 2026 Election, 2nd Edition: The early season.
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 101st edition. The Vandal in the museum.
Of all the countries in the world, we and we only have any need to create artificially the patriotism which is the birthright of other nations.
Agnes Repplier, Americanism, in The Atlantic, 1916.
A letter from the illegitimate Trump occupational regime in the Oval Office to the Smithsonian:
The Honorable Lonnie G. Bunch III
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution
1000 Jefferson Dr SW
Washington, DC 20560
Subject: Internal Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions and Materials
Dear Secretary Bunch,
We wish to begin by expressing our appreciation for the brief tour you gave us recently of the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and by acknowledging your work on behalf of the Smithsonian Institution, as well as the Institution’s role in shaping public understanding of American history and culture. We are completely aligned with your statement that the Smithsonian is “a welcoming place of knowledge and discovery for all Americans.” We are grateful that you and the Board of Regents have expressed your commitment to the non-partisan, educational mission of this great institution.
As we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our Nation’s founding, it is more important than ever that our national museums reflect the unity, progress, and enduring values that define the American story. In this spirit, and in accordance with Executive Order 14253, Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, we will be leading a comprehensive internal review of selected Smithsonian museums and exhibitions. This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.
This review is a constructive and collaborative effort — one rooted in respect for the Smithsonian’s vital mission and its extraordinary contributions. Our goal is not to interfere with the day-to-day operations of curators or staff, but rather to support a broader vision of excellence that highlights historically accurate, uplifting, and inclusive portrayals of America’s heritage.
The review will focus on several key areas:
- Public-facing Content: A review of exhibition text, wall didactics, websites, educational materials, and digital and social media content to assess tone, historical framing, and alignment with American ideals.
- Curatorial Process: A series of interviews with curators and senior staff to better understand the selection process, exhibition approval workflows, and any frameworks currently guiding exhibition content.
- Exhibition Planning: A review of current and future exhibitions, with particular attention to those planned for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
- Collection Use: Evaluation of how existing materials and collections are being used or could be used to highlight American achievement and progress, including whether the Smithsonian can make better use of certain materials by digitizing or conveying to other institutions.
- Narrative Standards: The development of consistent curatorial guidelines that reflect the Smithsonian’s original mission.
Initially, our review will focus on the following museums. Additional museums will be reviewed in Phase II.
- National Museum of American History
- National Museum of Natural History
- National Museum of African American History and Culture
- National Museum of the American Indian
- National Air and Space Museum
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- National Portrait Gallery
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Materials Request
To initiate this process, we respectfully request that each of the museums listed above designate a primary point of contact and provide the following materials to our team (including for online content):
- 250th Anniversary Programming
- Exhibition plans, draft concepts, and event outlines related to America 250.
- Supporting materials such as proposed artwork, descriptive placards, exhibition catalogs, event themes, and lists of invited speakers and events.
- Current Exhibition Content
- Catalog and programs for all current and ongoing exhibitions, including budgets.
- Digital files of all wall didactics, placards, and gallery labels currently on display.
- Traveling and Upcoming Exhibitions
- Full index of scheduled traveling exhibitions (2026-2029).
- Proposals, projected schedules, and preliminary budgets for upcoming exhibitions over the next three years.
- Internal Guidelines and Governance
- Curatorial and staff manuals, job descriptions, and organizational charts.
- Documentation outlining the chain of command for exhibition approvals, scheduling, and content review.
- Internal communications or memos pertaining to exhibition or artwork selection and approval processes.
- Index of the Permanent Collection
- Access to an inventory of all permanent holdings.
- Educational Materials
- Teacher guides, student resources, and supplementary educational content linked to current exhibitions.
- Digital Presence
- URLs and descriptions of official museum websites and exhibition-related microsites.
- External Partnerships
- A list of active partnerships with outside contributors including artists, historians, nonprofits, and advocacy organizations.
- Grant-Related Documentation
- Copies of grant applications and funding agreements tied to past or current exhibitions, particularly those that influence content or presentation.
- Current artists featured in museum’s galleries that received a Smithsonian grant.
- Surveys and other evaluations of visitor experience
- Responses to surveys and other forms of evaluating the experience of visitors to the Smithsonian’s museums and users of digital content.
Timeline
To ensure clarity and coordination across all parties involved, we have developed the following implementation timeline:
Within 30 days of receipt of this letter, we anticipate:
- Each museum to submit all requested materials outlined in the first four bullet points above, including current exhibition descriptions, draft plans for upcoming shows, America 250 programming materials, and internal guidelines used in exhibition development.
- Review of America 250 exhibition and program planning and connect with curators and staff about their specific proposals.
- A staff liaison from each museum will be designated to serve as the primary point of contact throughout the review process.
- Our team will begin on-site observational visits, conducting walkthroughs of current exhibitions to document themes, visitor experience, and visual messaging.
Within 75 days:
- Museums are asked to submit the remaining requested documentation (items 5 through 10), including promotional literature, grant data, educational materials, and guided tour content.
- Our team will begin scheduling and conducting voluntary interviews with curators and senior staff. These conversations will help us better understand each museum’s goals and the broader curatorial vision guiding the institution.
- Each museum should finalize and submit its updated plan to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary and ensure coordination with the White House Salute to America 250 Task Force to align messaging and public engagement.
Within 120 days:
- Museums should begin implementing content corrections where necessary, replacing divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate, and constructive descriptions across placards, wall didactics, digital displays, and other public-facing materials.
If all benchmarks are met on schedule, we anticipate completing our review and preparing a final report for your review in early 2026. This report will include museum-specific assessments, institutional trends, and constructive recommendations for future exhibition strategy.
We view this process as a collaborative and forward-looking opportunity—one that empowers museum staff to embrace a revitalized curatorial vision rooted in the strength, breadth, and achievements of the American story. By focusing on Americanism—the people, principles, and progress that define our nation—we can work together to renew the Smithsonian’s role as the world’s leading museum institution.
We look forward to working alongside you and your team to ensure these iconic institutions remain vibrant, trusted, and inspiring for generations to come.
Lindsey Halligan
Special Assistant to the President and Senior Associate Staff Secretary
Vince Haley
Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council
Russell Vought
Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Management and Budget
The term "Americanism" goes way back. I know that it was used by Theodore Roosevelt, for example, who as an advocate of it. Indeed, he delivered more than one speech on the topic. I'm a fan of Theodore Roosevelt, although less than I once was, and I don't admire his jingoistic advocation of Americanism, although it has to be realized that it came at a different point in our history, and tended to combat a growing sense of internationalism as well as "hyphenation" in various American identities.
Starting particularly in the 1920s, Americanism began to change from a focus on celebrating an American identity, to being pro White Anglo Saxon Protestant. Roosevelt delivered a speech to The Knights of Columbus at Carnegie Hall on October 12, 1915, for example, which meant that the solidly American former President of Dutch ancestry, who was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church, felt comfortable addressing a body of Catholics. Indeed, that was somewhat the point as Catholics were by that time a major voting block, but WASP American culture detested them and saw them as alien. Roosevelt didn't want them to be alien, but American, meaning he was not only taking a stand against people identifying as "Irish American" or "German American" (two major Catholic groups), but also as White Anglo Saxon Protestants.
Roosevelt was not a racist.
By Woodrow Wilson's administration, a lot of Americans were reviving the thought that if you were an American, you needed to be a WASP. The Red Scare contributed to that in a major way. The country illegally deported people simply for being on the radical left, including some who were American citizens.
Imagine. . . deporting an American for not being the right kind of American. . . sound familiar?
This sort of Americanism became strong in the 1920s, although roots of it were clearly there before, and it continued on into the 1930s as sort of a plant of some of the opponents of Franklin Roosevelt, although Americanism took a real hit during that time period. It revived, however, in an ugly fashion after World War Two were it was once again associated with the far right.
It's been a feature of the revived post Reagan far right for some time, and has really been picked up by the populists supporting Trump. They cloak themselves with the flag and tattoo what they think are patriotic things on their forearms, not appreciating that our forbearers' might not necessarily be all that keen on their views.
Part of what is happening here is that Americans have frankly always had a difficult relationship with history, and they still do. Americans as a group do not know their history well, and tend to reduce it to highlights, and often associate those highlights with patriotic bromides. The Mayflower passengers were, for instance, a bunch of people seeking religious freedom in the American mind, not a minoritarian Protestant sect that neither the English or the Dutch were keen on tolerating, and they were not tolerant themselves (and, to add to it, most of the Mayflower passengers were not "pilgrims". The American Revolution was all about and only about liberty, people believe, and didn't start off as a protest over tea tariffs (oh my) and have as a goal unrestrained settling of Native lands and forced conversion of the Quebecois to the Church of England. Half the country seemingly believes that the Civil WAr wasn't about slavery, when that's all it was about. The Winning of the West doesn't feature any uncomfortable colonial aspects of it. And the dropping of the Atomic Bomb was certainly moral.
Like many things in our current culture, the counter revolution going on here has its roots in a post Vietnam War revolution which really did go too far. Early radicals, like those before the end of World War Two, often were in fact really radical, but they often really loved their country two. One Marine Corps officer who won the Silver Star during the Second World War, for instance, was an avowed Communist who had fought in the Spanish Civil War. Today people like Donald Trump and Chuck Gray would go into screeds about him, just as Trump has about Zohran Mamdani. A person doesn't have to be, however, conservative or Christian to genuinely love the United States.
Going back, however, to the post Vietnam War Era, it seemingly was the case that during the war some on the American left came to actively detest their country, and as part of the general culture of the times, the band aid was ripped off of some of our problematic past. For people with a serious interest in, and knowledge of, history, much of that was irritating, but there were those who were generally shocked by it as their knowledge of history apparently stopped at 4th Grade. Even now, for example, I'll have people come up to me who are reading A People's History of the United States and cite something as if its a blisteringly knowledgeable new revelation. I'm not interested in anarcho-socialist Zinn's interpretation of US history much, and I'm always skeptical of anyone who titles anything as "A People's" anything, as that claims too much for your work and yourself, but still, the "revelations" people come up with are topics that anyone who graduated from high school should have a pretty good command of.
But then, many Americans have no real command of history. Entire events in American history, and world history, are unknown, I think, to the vast majority of Americans, which makes them easy targets for revisionist of the right and the left.
We're seeking a lot of far right revisionism going on right now. This sort of stuff is part of it.
Last edition:
CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 100th edition. Downfall, Despair, and hoping for DeGaulle.
The 2026 Election, 2nd Edition: The early season.
July 6, 2025
I started drafting this, barely, as the Big Ugly started its final set of debates in the Senate. As I did that, this came out Musk broke, for the second time, with Trump, and claimed he'd form a new party if the Big Ugly passed.
Well, good for him.
I'm not posting this a a cheerleader for Musk. Musk is very much part of what's wrong with the United States. He's a poster child for what occurs in a country where has unrestrained capitalism. His caring about people claim can be doubted. The largest donor to the 2022 election, and the former Gauleiter of DOGE, there's no reason to trust that his view of what the nation's politics ought to look like comport with an actual decent set of political beliefs.
But this does symbolize something I'd noted at the time.
The 2026 election has begun.It'll interesting to see how this pays out.
Lummis is up for reelection, assuming she runs, and she will. She'll blame the Democrats for anything that goes wrong, and talk about being the Cyberqueen.
If she faces a solid challenger, after the Public Lands vote, she'll be in trouble.
The House seat is also up. Hageman won't run for that however, she's going to run for Governor. She's going to lose that.
Chuck Gray is going to run for the House, and he'll lose that.
Times are changing. Whether or not The Big Ugly passes, Trump has shot his bolt. True acolytes can wear "Trump was right about everything" truckers caps, but the opposite is proving to be true.
And this is about to get a lot worse for the GOP.
cont:
And now Nebraska's Don Bacon. The Congressman is in a district that's becoming increasingly Democratic, and my guess is it likely now will be a Democratic seat. The Republicans only hold a seven seat majority right now, which will be reduced to a five seat majority once the Democrats fill two vacant seats. Even assuming the Republicans hold every seat they currently have with out Bacon, that would reduce them to a four seat majority.
But they won't hold every seat. The House will flip.
cont:
Even Elon suddenly woke up.
At the time I posted that, I noted the departure of Don Bacon from the candidate rolls for the next election. Now, Tennessee's Mark Green has outright left. The GOP held 220 seats and the Democrats 213, but two of the unfilled seats will go to Democrats once vacant seats are replaced, reducing the pre Big Ugly margin to 220 to 215. With Green actually now gone, that's 219 to 215.
The House will return to the Democrats in the 2026 election.
By that time, it's my guess that the utility of Donald Trump will be gone, and the utility of being shocked that he has dementia will set in.
J.D. Vance will be President by then, with the NatCons hoping that he isn't tainted by anything that went wrong under Trump. Without Vance, nothing that's happened so far will last very long.
What will occur in the Wyoming midterm, which will address in another post on a somewhat separate theme will be really interesting. There's a good chance that Hageman and Lummis won't survive the midterms and that Gray will be defeated in his effort to climb the next rung of the latter, a sign that he'll he'll soon leave the state entirely, it no longer serving any purpose for him.
July 10, 2025
Interesting article pointing out that Musk's third party effort is a long shot, but still has a shot.
Already, I'd note, the one thing the Democrats and the GOP are agreeing on right now is that you must not vote for any new Musk party.
Not that I would. The values that the South African Mass Sperm Donor Billionaire hold are very far from mine. DOGE was stupid beyond belief. And frankly, I don't think that the Federal Government needed to be smaller in the first place, and that the common belief that it does is simply a "common sense" bromide that people believe because they believe it. But he is right about the looming budget crisis. I'd fix that much differently than Musk would.
But I don't think his party, should he form it, can necessarily be discounted. By next election the declining Trump, will sound more and more like mush. Trump already often sounds like this:
Or this:
The room to take Trump on is increasing, and the question is how much the NatCons really want to invest in a bowl of oatmeal as a figurehead. That could prove to be a bad strategy.
One thing I'll note is that I have a thread I haven't posted yet pondering a sort of Wyoming Party. I should have finished it as I could sort have been to this topic first.
And Musk certainly has the cash to get his views out. As he does that, the GOP will spend a lot of cashing yelling "don't listen to the right wing nut!"
Of course, the Democrats will agree with the Republicans on that, as not voting for a third party is the one thing they agree on. . . which is ironically one of the things that an American Party could point to as a reason to vote for it.
I'd also note that if an American Party was intelligent, which there's big reason to doubt that it would be, and carved off some of the real conservative topics from the GOP, and was actually fiscally conservative, it might appeal more broadly than the GOP suspects.
In more local news, former primary candidate Reid Rasner, who ran to the right of John Barrasso, and who forced Barrasso to run to the right of himself, has filed a lawsuit in the 2nd Judicial District against far right former state senator Anthony Bouchard for defamation.
July 10, 2025, cont.
So, the news on Ranser and Bouchard seems more clear. Rasner claims that Bouchard ruined a major economic deal he was working on to buy TikTok by emphasizing that Rasner is a homosexual, which Rasner does not deny. Bouchard had a sexual scandal of his own that came to light earlier on, which, the way I typed it out, would seem to suggest that Rasner's being a homosexual is a scandal, which he doesn't deny (his orientation) in his lawsuit.
Bouchard dropped out of the legislature after his own rather gross sexual scandal came to light, so the fact that he'd make any kind of a big deal out of Rasner's homosexuality is really petty. Apparently screwing and impregnating 14 or 15 year olds, albeit when he was 19, is not as bad as Rasner having same sex attraction. At least, the argument seems to be, you are screwing the opposite gender, so that's better. I'll leave that to others to judge. But why would one far right figure go after the other?
Proper sexual orientation seems to be the only reason. So, really, in the MAGA world screwing a 14 or 15 year old when you are 19 is, well, one of those "Romeo and Juliet" type of deals, to use Bouchard's words, but being a homosexual is just wrong.
Of course, from an Apostolic Christian point of view, sexual relations are only licit between a man and a woman inside a valid marriage, which can occur only once, while both of the couple are living. Inclination doesn't matter, and is not sinful inside itself. But that's not the modern United States, where a serial polygamist is the alleged President and who was a friend of a procurer (which perhaps he was unaware of), but he's okay as he has the right attraction. Most Populist Americans seem to believe that there's nothing really wrong with 1960s sexual libertine behavior, as long as its directed towards the opposite sex.
Rasner must figure his bolt is shot politically, as publishing himself as a homosexual will kill any chance he has of office in contemporary Wyoming. He's not the first Wyoming homosexual to have sought office, and three Wyomingites who were homosexuals have served in elective office, with two of them being open about it. I'd be stunned if there aren't any now, other than the one legislator who admits to being homosexual. Indeed, it'd be interesting if the sexual conduct of every Wyoming political figure came to light so that the MAGA adherents could be exposed to the full sunlight. Maybe they're all pure in their carnal desires, and properly oriented, but I'd be surprised.
An interesting thing here, I'd note, is that Rasner ran to the right of Barrasso, which puts him in full NatCon territory. The NatCons feel that homosexuality is a total abomination. This points out a really curious aspect of it, however, as individuals who can carry the Populist banner don't seem to see a conflict with those who would basically burn them at the stake. No matter what a person thinks of it, homosexuality wasn't something that traditional conservative Republicans cared about at all. Hardcore NatCons sure do.
July 11, 2025
The Secretary of State, whose job in Wyoming is to be a Secretary, is once again criticizing the Governor, whose job is to govern.
Gordon Defends Energy Platform; Gray Says Wind, Solar A ‘Woke Clown Show’
Gray clearly can't stay in his own lane, and is clearly running for something else. Wyomingites are pretty sharply divided on him, with the far right seeing him as some sort of brilliant crusader, and many others seeing him as a self serving buffoon looking for the spotlight to shine on himself.
July 22, 2025
In what was very clearly the first political campaign rally of Chuck Gray's 2026 campaign for Governor, Chuck spoke at The Hanger in Bar Nunn.
Spewing his usual stew of nonsense decrying "the radical left", he then turned against Radiant Energy, which has reportedly received opposition in Bar Nunn. Chuck has learned how to sound like a diehard full Trump right winger except on things unpopular, at which point he becomes nearly a Green Peace activist. You really can't thread his positions together in a straight line.
He also predictably railed against Governor Gordon. Gordon is theoretically barred from a third term, but only theoretically. Gray clearly feels that Gordon may be running, and the fact that Gordon hasn't been a far right drone has made him the target of Gray's ire.
An interesting thing here is that this the opening of his attempt at the Governor's office. Very reliable inside information had Gray going for Harriet Hageman's seat, but this would suggest that might have changed, or that Gray just doesn't have anything real to discuss. If Hageman decides to run for a second term, which as an opponent of public lands she might regret doing, Gray won't challenge her. Hageman may know, however, that her chances for the Governor's office are now dead in the water. For that matter, her chances of reelection to Congress may be as well, but there she can try to deflect attention by clinging tightly to her support of the still popular, in Wyoming, for right now, Trump.
You also can't really explain why a Secretary of State would need a "town hall". The job is about as interesting as wall paper paste if it's actual role is discussed.
July 29, 2025
From the Cowboy State Daily:
Worth noting, Hageman might not be as popular as she once was following her support of Mike Lee's land grab effort.
July 30, 2025
Gordon among nation’s most popular governors despite criticism from right flank, poll finds: National survey of Wyoming voters shows Gordon’s popularity has remained steady throughout his tenure.
July 31, 2025
August 2, 2025
The site:
Hageman has condemned the site as promoting violence due to its use of a rifle theme, which is pretty ironic for the GOP in Trump's era.
August 11, 2025
I suspect people are beginning to get a bit nervous about what their support of the land disposal move will mean at the ballot box.
They should.
One reason I suspect this is that billboards thanking the politicians are showing up. Two billboards featuring all three are thanks from "the energy industry', and ironically show the background of the Tetons.
That presumably means petroleum and coal, but it's really hard to say. The energy industry wasn't under attack to start with, so its not even clear what the thanks is for. Why do they need to be thanked?
Somebody wants everyone to remember, I guess, that all three stand with the "energy industry". We knew that. They stand with us on public lands. That's the point.
Another one around here thanks John Barrasso from the health industry. That's laughable. It's supposed to be for cutting waste from Medicaid. His support of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. says all you really need to know about where Dr. John's heart really lies.
Both Barrasso and Gov. Gordon were at some health related event last week. I've lost track of what it was. Barrasso isn't up for reelection for years, so all of this image redirection is really interesting.
August 13, 2025
Sen. Eric Barlow will run for Wyoming governor: The Gillette Republican and former Speaker of the House will vie for the state’s top post in 2026.
This is the first really significant announcement in this race. Barlow is a somewhat known name, and definitely a serious candidate. He's a Wyoming native (which Gray is not), a working rancher (which Hageman is not) as well as a veterinarian and apparently not well liked by the Freedom Caucus (which Gray and Hageman are).
There's reason for some cautious optimism here, although I frankly don't know that much about him.
The 2026 race goes into a different phase at this point. It's actually on. Gray and Hageman. . . as well as Gordon, have to decide what they're going to do. Hageman at this point may choose to stay in the House of Representatives, or try to. Gray has to run for something, but his chances of a long term political career are evaporating.
Barlow noted he wasn't going to run a nasty campaign right away:
Barlow knows it will get ugly. If either Hageman or Gray run for Governor, it will by default. Gray can't order breakfast at McDonalds without going into a tirade about left wing communist news media conspirators, it's his brand. Hageman would likely not go nasty, but her populist backers would.
Speaking loudly in Barlow's favor, the real MAGA crowd is already attacking him on social media, according him of being a RINO. In Wyoming, the accustors in that category are Cornfederates, that crowd that figures everything went wrong since Lee surrendered at Appomattox and are deep into the lastest wacky conspiracy. Indeed, Barlow's announcement gave them a chance to declare, as I saw in one comment, that he "didn't protect us during COVID", by which they mean he didn't deny COVID existed and everything was A-Okay, which even their beloved leader King Donny didn't state.
So there's some hope here.
And this will conclude this edition.
Last edition:
The 2026 Election, 1st Edition: Spring Training Edition.
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