Ugh, just when the first corn fed, cornfederate legislature was safely in the history books, the Management Council met. Of course, the same dumb ideas that get rejected repeatedly are back up for reconsideration, at least in part.
I hear we want to do the election review again and redo the same bills that just died three weeks ago ... in exchange for 911 funding.
Tara Nethercott.
The corner crossing bill won't be back, which is too bad.
Vote the WFC out and send them back to pre 1964 Alabama where they'll be happy.
May 13, 2026
I was aware this legislation had been introduced. Frankly, Anti SLAPP provisions are really tricky as they're based, basically, on pre judging a litigants intent.
June 10, 2026
The money has to come from somewhere. Property taxes rise because in no small part new people come in and overpay in the local housing market, and otherwise inflate it.
A better idea would be to have an unrealized sales tax on the sale of real property from other states that
is used by a person within five years of moving to Wyoming.
August 13, 2026
Lawmakers reject proposal for online court records, streamed hearings
Thank goodness. This idea was outright unworkable.
August 29, 2026
Things are going to be rough from now until the the beginning of the next legislative session as the members of the deposed Freedom Caucus be a general pain.
At Least Five Lawmakers Walk Out Of ‘Absurd’ Joint Committee Meeting
August 30, 2026
The WFC food fight at the legislature continues as Chip Neiman took to Facebook to pout over Senators walking out of the recent pointless joint meeting.
As Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives, I’m entrusted with the responsibility of appointing legislators to standing committees. It’s a charge I didn’t take lightly upon my election to the Speakership.
I’m proud of the members of the House Minerals and Appropriations Committees for finishing the job they took up for the interim pertaining to local government infrastructure funding and the Wyoming Business Council.
Today, the Senate walked out on Wyoming cities, towns and counties. Conversely, the House committee members remained steadfast in order to deliver the strongest local government funding model seen in decades. This bill will fund local infrastructure and benefit every local jurisdiction and citizen.
The Legislature isn’t a place for turf warfare.
I worry for the future of the Wyoming Legislature. I encourage those new members coming to Cheyenne, to remember who they serve; not a committee, a chamber or any particular lobbying outfit, they serve the people of Wyoming. See less
Neiman notes that he's Speaker of the House in the legislature, which is true, but he's on his way out and is a lame duck. The complaint that the "Legislature isn't a place for turf warfare" is really rich given that the WFC acted like the first Vandals in Rome in Cheyenne. If it's turf warfare, they started it.
We're going to see a lot more of this. The WFC has been kicked to the curb, but like the the 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French) in the Battle of Berlin, it's going to see that everything is destroyed that it can destroy before it goes.
One common theme we're now seeing in connection with the WFC losing is this one that appears in the comments to Nieman:
Me too! We are quickly becoming a blue state, just as Charlie Kirk predicted!😢
I've scene that more than once now.
People who make that comment are deluded. I don't know about this person, but they're likely also carpetbaggers. Wyoming is a conservative state, but it's not a Turning Point USA Southern Bible Belt state. This is why traditionally there was no support for restricting abortion much here (which I do feel should be restricted, and indeed illegal) and nobody cared much whether somebody was a homosexual or not, which apparently is also no longer the case. The local view, and it was expressed in the Democratic and Republican parties, wsa "I don't care what you do as long as you leave me alone". The WFC didn't want to leave people alone.
As for Charlie Kirk and his predications, I'm increasingly in the "I don't care what Charlie had to say" camp. I don't mean to sound like a Kirk basher, but those politicos and their followers that are Kirk acolytes increasingly don't impress me. Kirk was brought to UW by one of his collegiate admirers who went on to work for Hageman and get canned for following Francoist website, with the same fellow then managing Chuck Gray's campaign. That's a good enough reason not to vote for Gray, although were are are plenty of other reasons not to do so. Anyhow, Kirk never reflected a Wyoming point of view.
September 3, 2026
Wyoming lawmakers change course on property tax reform amid signs of waning support
This is a result of the defeat of the WFC, and that Wyomingites did not rise to the occasion to take advantage of a bevy of potential exemptions, at least one of which was in my view likely illegal.
The last year made it increasingly obvious where local funding came from for municipalities and counties, which likely helps explain this.
It also signals the death spiral of a WFC dream.
September 23, 2026
Outspoken Veterinarians Kill Bill To Let Non-Vets Do Livestock Pregnancy Checks
I'll just be blunt about this.
The same sort of dumb ass movement that backs crap like raw milk as being safe, home delivery by midwives, and "denturists" making dentures without a dentist support stupid ideas like this.
Scientific idiocy has always been part of American culture. It's why people go to chiropractors and think its like going to the doctor. Or why people wear brass bracelets, or take ivermectin for Covid (a really bad and dangerous idea). Or why they think vaccines or dangerous. Or why they think Robert F. Kennedy makes sense on anything.
It really needs to stop.
July 14, 2026
In a blistering opinion, a Federal Court judge ruled that President Donald Trump improperly used a $10 billion lawsuit he filed against the IRS to extract personal benefits from the government and prevented the terms of a settlement agreement from taking legal effect.
And more locally:
July 23, 2026
Headline in the CST:
Wyoming attorneys oppose Trump’s AG pick
71 Wyoming attorneys signed onto the letter. Lummis and Barrasso will ignore it.
August 1, 2026
Charges against an Olympic kayaker for vandalizing the reflecting pool have been dropped.
That was predictable, but what the Justice Department admitted was not. It admitted the damage was the result of "flawed installation by the contractor" as well as "the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026."
Every lawyer associated with this should be dismissed and disbarred. Trump should be impeached. The victim of these false charges should sue for malicious prosecution.
Closer to home:
August 5, 2026
The U.S. Attorney’s Office dismissed all charges against David Hearn, Justin Carreno, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Cameron Thiers for the pool vandalization that never occured. Donald Trump had previously described these people as “SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE". He's the sick deranged people, but people who aren't victims of Trump Derangement Syndrome and think he's something other than a rampaging deranged narcissist know that.
Now, even after the Toddler's tantrums, no charges are pending at all. They never should be.
Lawsuits should, and I predict will, be filed against the government over this.
August 8, 2026
The DC Circuit ordered Trump to halt his illegal ballroom construction but, in a wussy move, stayed its decision for fourteen days in order to allow Trump to appeal, which he, or rather his administration, will.
The Court, in its decision, noted:
Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help.
August 11, 2026
It's not that there aren't some really issues here.
Judge dismisses closed primary lawsuit for the second time
But it does provide a good example of why it hurts things for everyone when a gadfly like Skovgaard decides to play lawyer.
August 12, 2026
Court steps in to counter coup attempt.
Retired Cheyenne attorney renews legal challenge to Secretary Gray’s handoff of voter data feds
Gray violated the law on this and needs to be held fully accountable. Courts looking at this issue have uniformly supported the states that refused to provide the information.
Gray should be made to recover the information he supplied. This was illegal.
August 25, 2026
This doesn't decide the ultimate issue:
Supreme Court allows Trump administration to move forward with order imposing restrictions on mail-in voting
But coming when it does, it may very well be the law in a practical sense this election cycle, and impact the election. It's specifically designed to frustrate Democratic voting. However, as Amy Howe reports:
A separate ruling by the same judge, in a case filed by a different set of plaintiffs, temporarily prohibits the U.S. Postal Service from implementing one provision of the executive order anywhere in the United States. That ruling remains in effect, at least for now.
The decision is flat out wrong and the Supreme Court will regret it. The Democrats are increasingly like to win both houses of Congress this Fall and they will begin to work on major Supreme Court reform. Trump can prevent that while he's in office, but he's becoming the political kiss of death for GOP candidates and when a new Democratic President comes in, this order will come off and the Supreme Court will be radically reformed. Perhaps first up will be age limitations, likely 70 years of old, which will wipe out the conservative majority on the court.
A decision like this one will help bring about that downfall. So does stuff like this:
Supreme Court allows White House ballroom construction to continue for now
The mail in voting one at least has some think judicial reasoning Staying ballroom construction was the obvious choice here and the Court didn't do it. That probably signals that they'll let this insane project go forward.
August 27, 2026
After Election Loss, Reid Rasner Sues A Sixth Person For Defamation
One of Rasner's previous suits is in the CST today on the pending summary judgment motion.
August 31, 2026
The Supreme Court sealed its fate today in holding that the Plaintiffs in a case challenging the legality of Trump's illegal construction of a giant garden shed on White House Grounds lacked standing.
Bullshit.
Justice Roberts, who dissented in the 5 to 4 decision, noted that the construction was likely illegal. It is. This was a standing decision.
So construction will commence and may well get completed. The legality will be ruled upon in the future, and then the heaping pile of shit hopefully blown to the ground by a future administration that will rely on this decision. The Supreme Court will go to 13 members, and an age limitation will be put on the justices guaranteeing a liberal majority on the court for a century.
September 10. 2026
Twenty states filed two separate lawsuits against the government alleging the Trump administration illegally weakened the Endangered Species Act.
September 11, 2026
The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals refused to lift an injunction on the USPS prohibiting the implementation of crybaby's attempt for a fall coup by banning mail in voting.
September 15, 2026
The US Supreme Court decided in a 7 to 2 vote to block the Trump USPS rule prohibiting mail in voting. Alito and Thomas were the two dissenting votes.
Last edition:
Barely hanging on in Wyoming.
Which is really remarkable
Wyoming is one of the few states where Trump has a positive approval rating, probably mostly attributable to the importance of the extractive industries to the economy, and due to agriculture. Trump actually has farmers and ranchers upset now and as he's set to import foreign beef and hasn't really made any immediate actions addressing agriculture's concerns, this trend may continue.
Trump's endorsement of Megan Degenfelder fell flat in the state, and hardcorse Freedom Caucus rank and file were actually upset with his endorsement of Degenfelder followed by Hageman's endorsement of her as well. So some cracks are actually appearing.
And now Trump's at odds with his Wyoming voters over data centers.
We don't see these statistics for Wyoming very often, which is no surprise given the low population of the state, but it will be interesting to see how this develops. If he falls below 50%, and that's close to being the case, it may start a sort of freefall.
Trump only has a positive approval rating in 13 states. Most of these states are ones in which he barely has a positive rating. Wyoming has the highest approval rating of any state, which shows the extent to which Trump's really in trouble. All of Wyoming's neighbors also have positive Trump approval ratings except for Colorado.
I've long thought that most of the Trump "supporters" are just followers. When things begin to fade, and paying high prices at the pump and supporting data centers is creating fading, a lot of former supporters will claim to have never supported him. We see stuff like that all the time.
Just wait for the upcoming toilet paper shortages due to Trump tariffs on Canada.
Suffering privation
One thing about all of this is how absolutely tone deaf the Administration is to the suffering its causing, both here and abroad.
Whether or not Iran was close to getting a bomb at any point during the Trump administration is an open question. But beyond that, Americans, in spite of what we may collectively choose to imagine about certain eras, don't do sacrifice on the home front very well. World War Two was the biggest example of restrictions for a national effort and people hated it. Cheating and the black market was absolutely rampant. The whole concept that the nation all pitched in and glady endured shortages is complete crap. Even one of the most patriotic demographics, farmers and ranchers, notoriously evaded rationing illegally by selling livestock under the table. And that was in a big national effort.
Americans aren't keen on high prices on anything. Protectionist efforts only really work well in an economy if they're introduced really early, or they cause resentment. If you are going to put up restrictive trade barriers, including tariffs, you need to do it nearly immediately, and you better have a really good reason for doing it.
We're doing it because Peter Navarro has Trump's ear and Trump has always liked the concept. Trump's mind on this is rooted in the 1970s when the US was worried about Japanese imports. Navarro is 77 years old. Pining for the economy of the post World War Two world won't work, and making Americans suffer for a pipe dream won't either.
It particularly will not when a rich guy like Trump doesn't join in the suffering. His fans like to note that he's not taking his pay. . . but not that he flies everywhere, including on golf trips, on the government dime.
We are a democracy, dumbass.
The moronic line "we're a republic, not a democracy" has been around for years. I've heard it many times myself and corrected the speaker, usually with the speaker then looking deflated. Democracy and republic are not only not mutually exclusive, they don't even describe the same thing.
Ancient Athens was a pure democracy, everything could be voted on by its citizens. The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy, people vote for the House of Commons and the Parliament then functions as the government. We're a democratic republic, which isn't actually all that difference but which does make for problems if the elected representatives won't do their jobs, as they won't right now. In a parliamentary democracy, they have to.
People who spout the "republic not a democracy" line have not thought out what they're saying at all. Recently, in the MAGA crowed, it's "constitutional republic". I've heard that from MAGAs great and small, including one Harriet Hageman.
It's frankly a stupid comment.
It's been going around the last week, however, so somebody is feeding it out as a talking point for idiots.
And then there's this:
I guess it's humorous, sort of, but then, sort of not.
Miley
Miley Cyrus is provoking outrage as she's put out her last album as "Miley", which apparently somehow upsets fans of Dolly Parton. As I don't care for Cyrus' music or Parton's, it doesn't mean much to me, but what struck me is that when I hit on the news story Cyrus was there wearing see through everything so you can see all of her really horrible tattoos.
They are truly bad.
They're the sort of tattoos that people who are junkies get from other junkies. What the heck?
Last edition:
Very well worth watching!
One thing I would note is that in the 1920s, none of the roads depicted here would have been paved. Teton County's highways wouldn't have been paved until the 1930s, at the earliest.
The camp stove shown in this is quite interesting.
If this is a match of intellects, and it likely is, Canada has already won the trade war.
Carney is undoubtedly a genius and the only international leader currently in office, maybe ever in office, to have run the economies of two different countries. Trump is increasingly obvious of rather low intellect and a real estate developer with a very narrow understanding of the economy, who is in turn heavily influenced by Peter Navarro, a 77 year old economic theorist who uniquely champions tariffs. To make matters worse, Trump is suffering a rapid dementia related mental decline.
The US right now is destroying its own economy.
August 26, 2026
Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs on U.S. steel, aluminum, furniture and clothing (50%), cheese, appliances and some seafood, (25%) and on electronics and tools (15%), effective September 8.
It also pledged aid to Canadian workers.
It was a dollar per dollar match on US tariffs, which it basically offsets.
As a side effect of this, the price of household paper products, toilet paper and paper towels, is climbing.
Thanks Don.
On the contest of intellects, the petulant baby in the Oval Office threatened to rename Lake Ontario the Lake of America or something. Trump actually thinks he renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, even though it remains the Gulf of Mexico in reality. The Lake Ontario thing is incredibly stupid. Nobody reacted positively to it, although I'm sure that administration flunkies will pretend it's a great idea. Curtis Hertel Jr., chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, stated:
Donald Trump has been America first in name only his entire presidency. He promised lower prices, higher wages, and no foreign wars … all of that is bull shit. Renaming th fourth best Great Lake isn’t going to change that.
Americans aren't impressed with the latest Trump stupidity.
Trump shitposts fail to win support for Canadian trade war
On Trump dumping American cattlemen, John Barrasso, Senator from Trump, oh, um, Senator allegedly from Wyoming, posted this on Twitter:
Americans want US beef on the table – not foreign imports. Wyoming ranchers produce the highest quality beef in the world. Our ranchers don't ask for special treatment. They simply want a fair marketplace. It needs to be easier – not harder – for Wyoming ranchers to feed America. I will continue to fight for policies that strengthen Wyoming beef producers and invest in the American cattle herd.
Barrasso is a Trump suck up and hasn't really done much for Wyoming in years. During election cycles he's for whatever he thinks Wyomingites are for and is otherwise a rank cowards pretending he thinks Trump is brilliant when he knows that he's not. Last time he ran he became worried about gadfly candidate Reid Rasner and accordingly pulled to the hard right.
Barrasso must regard the Wyoming livestock industry as sufficiently powerful enough to actually hurt the GOP, or this an issue near enough to the hearts of Wyomingites, that he needs to speak up. He didn't do that when public lands were on the table. It's interesting in part because the Wyoming range cattle industry in particular, and agriculture in general, have been so pro Trump and pro GOP that it's quite literally actually stupid. We posted on this the other day.
Neither Hageman or Lummis have said anything.
Hageman, of course, has incentive not to. She's a Trump endorsee and is now running against James Byrd tof Lummis' seat. This makes her exposed on this issue. If she speaks up, and she's going to have to, it puts her between somebody that supports here that she probably thinks is a heaping bowl of stupid in reality, but then exposing her to voters who she probably figures are more heaping bowls of stupid. Byrd is perfectly suited to exploit this as Hageman comes from a farm/ranch and can't stay silent before she looks like a traitor.
Lummis, of course, comes from a ranch too, but as she's nto running, she doesn't have to say anything. She seems to be bucking for a Trump cabinet post, anticipating that people will jump the Trump ship post election.
Anyhow, on Dr. John:
Beefing over foreign beef plan, Barrasso breaks with Trump administration
Closer to home, businesses have been closing right and left in Casper.
Casper’s Outback Steakhouse closes permanently after nearly three decades of business
Little Shop of Burgers announces closure at end of month
Two locally owned Casper small businesses closing permanently
And, good riddance:
Enough! Evanston Man Says He's Leaving The State Over Property Rights Fight
On other economic fronts, the US came out with its "Economic D-Day" against Iran, which are really sanctions against Iranian trading partners, but not really. It delayed the imposition of them to January 1, 2027, which means they won't happen at all.
August 27, 2026
Will Trump's latest beef plan make your hamburger cheaper? Not much, experts say
Of course it won't. It's not enough of an addition to the supply chain to matter.
But it could impact other things, depending upon where the beef is sourced.
August 28, 2026
INVOKE THE 25TH AMENDMENT YOU COWARDLY BASTARDS
Seriously, we have a fool ordering that Lake Ontario be called Lake America.
The GOP is a complete fucking joke. Trump is the worst President in the American history and is destroying the country.
Headline in the CST:
Officials issue inflation warnings
This is at the big economic summit in Jackson Hole.
I wish they'd have this in Scranton or the Bronx. Jackson is already full of rich carpetbaggers as it is.
August 31, 2026
The US has entered into some sort of deal with Venezuela that has a 25 year life span which supplies the US with oil.
This is frankly naked, rank, colonialism. My predication is that the deal will be voided as soon as this horrific administration is out.
September 1, 2026
Cattle imports from Mexico resumed.
They've been shut down for fifteen months.
Mexico normally imports 1,000,000 head of cattle into the US every year.
This is actually the resumption of importation that had been occurring until the screwworm outbreak. The Trump administration blamed that on the Biden administration, like it does everything else.
Closer to home, yet another Casper restaurant is biting the dust.
House of Sushi in downtown Casper permanently closes
There's been a real rash of these recently. Something is going on. An article in Oil City notes that the list includes Little Shop of Burgers, Benny Montanaro’s Pizza (which I'd never even heard of), and Outback Steakhouse.
GiGi’s consignment store in Casper is also closing.
Next to House of Sushi it appears an entity called Jae's Place is opening in the old Wonder Bar space.
I don't really understand Jae's Place, but apparently its a wester wear store that supports a charitable mental health foundation. That's admirable but frankly opening in that location is desecrating a Casper landmark. The space had been the Wonder Bar more or less continually since 1937, having originally been located in another space. It became a steakhouse under the name C85 a decade or more ago that sold out to Wyoming Rib and Chop which became, you guessed it, another Casper restaurant that closed.
I understand that Jae's Place is a charity so I should not have a non charitable attitude about it, but there's a really old Western Wear store just a block away that I hope is not hurt by this multi state entity and for a long time Casperite seeing this converted into retail is disappointing. Workmen have been busy for weeks molesting the interior so the damage will likely be permanent.
This is the sort of thing that happens when a place has no sense of itself.
As an aside, it's hard to see how a town that has a microbrewery every other door can't keep a legendary bar open.
September 2, 2026
The House passed another stopgap budget bill to keep the government running.
Data centers are becoming a big topic in Wyoming.
Pitching 940-acre data center, Prometheus Hyperscale asks Natrona County to bypass state review
Frankly, I"m not a big fan, meaning not a fan at all, of the big expansion of data centers and I'm absolutely opposed to them being constructed on vacant agricultural land.
This was a hearing in front of the County Commissioners. It looked like each of the current sitting commissioners made some sort of comment at the end, as the Oil City News reports:
Of the five sitting commissioners, only Laird is on the ballot this election. Laird is correct on Donald Trump's position. Trump basically called communities that don't want data centers stupid as life is all about money and he loves money and you should love money because Trump loves money and you should love Trump, and money, but Trump most of all.
This must be a nightmare of Chuck Gray, who has been trying to hate things Wyomingite's claim to hate, and they seem to hate data farms, but Trump, who Gray loves, loves them.
On something Trump and Gray presently hate, wind farms:
Scaled-Down Laramie Range Wind Project Gets Go Ahead After Intense 2-Day Hearing
Something else that's been a topic in the news.
Uinta County Ranch Family Builds USDA Meat Processing Plant From The Ground Up
The Donald Trump beef story gets worse:
Driskill Blasts Trump Meeting World's Largest Meatpacker Before Beef Import Deal
Driskill is in the legislature and has been consistently clear thinking.
September 4, 2026
Maybe Wyomingites will wake up about Trump:
Wyomingites, Trump Differ On Whether Data Center Foes Will Be ‘Backwards And Poor’
Sending more money out, than they're taking in.
Last edition:
Labels: 2026 Election, Agriculture, Cowards, Cynthia Lummis, Food, Harriet Hageman, Health, James Byrd, John Barrasso, Reid Rasner, restaurants and bars, The Second Trump Administration, Wyoming, Wyoming (Casper), Wyoming (Evanston)
Wharton, you owe us an explanation and an apology.
