Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
The 2026 Election, 18th Edition. Primary Voting Commences Edition. Vote like your future and that of your state depends on it, because it does, part two.
August 2, 2026
I wasn't going to do this, but the last thread just became too darned long and was creating havoc in the blog accordingly.
So, here we have our 18th edition for this season. We'll abstain on predicting this one will run all the way until the primary, but the primary is only a little over two weeks away.
Here we note a very interesting item:
Joan Barron: Is A GOP Sea Change On The Way?
Phil Roberts, the legally trained University of Wyoming professor predicts that Harriet Hageman will lose. That amounts to a prediction, without him saying so, that Sam Mead will win.
I sure hope he's right.
Hageman has been characterized by being nasty in public, while in the background she behaves more like a conventional Congressman. Be that as it may, up until just a week ago or so she was a diehard Trump fan and in the category of enemies of public lands. When concerned Wyomingites wrote to her about their concerns on public land she basically called the stupid.
She needs to go.
A prediction if she does. Wyoming "ranch girl" or no, she'll never come back. She owned a house in D.C. before she was even elected.
The author here notes that he voted last week. And, we voted for:
Governor: Barlow.
Senate: Mead
House of Representatives: Christensen.
Secretary of State: Short.
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Harshman
On people needing to go, Chuck Gray needs to depart politics, and preferably the state, as well. Based on early rumors, that might well happen, but if it does, it looks like it may be Steve Friess who gains the state's seat in Congress. Friess is seemingly really cutting into Gray's numbers.
At the same time, it's pretty clear that Kevin Christensen is also rising. Christensen is gaining the support of moderate Republicans and those concerned about public lands. Early on it was assumed these votes would go to Balow but Balow has really disappointed in this race to date, including making statements that would cut towards Trump when, as Barron has noted in her article, people even in Wyoming may be moving in the opposite direction. I expected Balow to lead this race early on and hoped for her to replace Gray, but now I'm in the camp that has gone to Christensen.
August 4, 2026
A variety of odds and ends.
First, the real Republicans placed an add with Real Republican candidates in the CST:
(OPINION) Plenty of Jack
Stubson is correct, Friess is basically flooding the zone with money and this is a test of whether, basically, a candidate in Wyoming can buy a seat in Congress. That well trod road is the same one that Gray managed to trod to his current position as Secretary of State, albeit barely.
Friess flyers who up in my mailbox constantly and the last one was really telling. It promised to pass the SAVE Act.
Any candidate promising to pass the SAVE Act shouldn't be voted on for anything ever as its wholly anti democratic. It also promises to "Buck mail-in voter fraud" which it claims will help prevent liberals from stealing the election.
There's no threat liberals are going to steal an election, but the MAGA GOP is trying to steal the 2026 election right now.
Freiss was the target of a black money mailer by some group styling itself the Hometown Action Network. It's shows Friess being bucked off a horse and notes he's not local. It doesn't come out for anyone, however. We'd have to presume it's pro Gray, who nobody has ever seen with a horse.
Indeed, of those running for this position who are the top contenders, Gray, Friess, Christensen, Rasner, and Balow, we know by far the least about Gray. Indeed, hardly anything at all is known about him personally.
Neither Gray nor Friess deserve a vote.
Rasner, of course, will receive very few. His candidacy is doomed and he's sort of faded from view. I did see one large Rasner sign the other day, but it's safe to say at this point his political career in Wyoming is over. What he's serving to do right now is to carve votes away from Gray, and that is a public service. The question is whether those votes carved away end up going to Friess or a better candidate.
Going back to Albany County, a former Democratic candidate for the US House is running for a seat as an Albany County Commissioner.
Ben-David promises a scientific approach in bid for Albany County Commission seat
A climate change activist and former researcher, Merav Ben-David said water security is her top priority. She is one of four Democrats competing to be one of the party’s two nominees.
August 5, 2026
This notes an interesting feature of this election, that being politicians taking more credit for something than their entitled to, or backing something that isn't controversial at all.
First the backing:
This is the flipside of the false accusation:
Barlow Says Attack Ads On Sex Changes And Illegal Immigrants Aren't True
And then there's the bold position on a non issue. Every single candidate claims to support the 2nd Amendment. From Wyoming? D'uh.
The campaign propaganda is therefore really not helpful. Some PAC is pointing out that Friess is a rich carpetbagger. Well, so is Gray. So was Chapman.
Still, some things are revealing. Friess notes he'd back the SAVE Act. That means he's in favor of reducing democracy. Friess, Gray and Degenfelder would all propose marriage to Trump.
People are looking beyond these. Yesterday a really conservative Republican I know, and a thoughtful one, told me he was supporting Giralt I'm not, I'm going for Christensen, as are two other people I personally know.
August 6, 2026
Rep. Jayme Lien called WYDOT to complain about the placement of Rob Hendry sign. Rob noted it with bemusement and posted a photo of a questionable Lien sign in terms of placement.
Chuck Gray was apparently his recently spastic self in a debate for the House. He posted thereafter a peppy owning the libs post, but he's coming across as an ass, as he is one. His interview by a Cowboy State Daily female reporter, which is on video, is really a prime example. That alone would preclude his election in a decent society.
All indications are that Christensen is really moving up.
Bob Ide called Lisa Engebretsen's supporters "Camo Clad Leftists"
Ide runs around dressing like a cowboy, and apparently has some ranching background and some cattle, but he's landlord. The Camo Clad Engebretsen supporters are local outdoorsmen who are awake to Ide's grab the Federal land stand.
Ide needs to leave the legislature. Better yet, he can give up on being a landlord and head out into the sticks and punch cows full time. He already has the clothes and everything.
This is the first time, by the way, I've seen a politician accuse sportsmen of being "leftists".
August 7, 2026
One to close the week out on:
Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 7. The jackass in a tin barn edition.
We weren't really ready to start a new one of these, but Chuck Gray has been in such rare form recently as it starts to look like he's going to lose in ten days and his dreams of a carpetbagging political career be crushed, that it mandates it.
Gray, as Secretary of State, sits on a variety of state boards and has been using that position to attempt to advance his campaign for higher office, any higher office, all along. Generally in the global warming is a fib camp, he at one time was okay with development projects of all types but now is anti "woke wind". Lots of people don't like the viewscape and land use aspect of wind and solar farms, and he's hoping to tap into that dislike, but he's such a disagreeable pissant he can't seem to say it that way. Nor can he explain his prior positions.
The real gem in this is that he almost voted to preclude use of an access road to a power substation that provides power to farmers on the basis that it might receive electrical power from solar farms or wind farms or provide power to data centers.
When the State treasurer noted that this meant, he changed his vote, but had to blame the whole thing on somebody else.
Data centers are now big in the news around here, and for good reason. Gray is opposing them as he figures it's good politics. Put a gigantic strip mine in over the same area, and he'd be all for it. It's difficult to tell from one moment to the next if Republican candidates this year are members of the Flat Earth Society or Greenpeace.
Gray is particularly disgusting. He's consistently rude and nasty. It's difficult to understand why anyone would vote for him, unless they're really duped.
On Chuck, columnist Tom Lubnau came out with a column belatedly endorsing Steve Friess. The column is a good one.
I like Lubnau but there's no way on earth I'm voting for Steve Friess. Friess is higher grade of carpetbagger Trump suck up than Chuck Gray, who is simply vile, but they're cut essentially from the same cloth. Friess, granted, isn't a jackass, but that's the main difference between the two of them.
Lubnau admits he had another favorite but started to be swayed by the big mass endorsement of Friess last week by a collection of Republican figures. He'd earlier criticized Friess campaign which he criticized as "anyone but Chuck", and there is some of that view going around. Quite frankly, I can say that anyone would be better than Gray. But that means he abandoned a better candidate at least in part because he through Friess is the second in line contender.
We're not so sure of that. It appears that Christensen has been coming up like crazy. He's the only Republican whose views actually alight with most of the state's voters and the only one who has a background common to Wyomingites.
He might be able to pull it off.
August 8, 2026
Trump backed U.S. Rep Andy Ogles, Tennessee, went down in defeat to Charlie Hatcher, the Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture from 2018-2025.
Trump backed Navy Veteran Amir Hassan lost his primary bid Michigan's 8th Congressional District to Thomas Smith, who had actually earlier dropped out of the race.
Hmm. . . .
News reports have shown that Friess, Rasner and Gray have spent massive amounts in their bid for the House. Friess has now spent more than Rasner, who has spent a huge amount.
Frankly, the expenditures here justify not voting for any of these people in no small part because, in relative terms, very little of the money comes from inside of Wyoming and quite a bit of it is self funding. A person who would spend $1M or more in family money for an office that pays what these do, isn't acting prudently and won't once they take office, if they do.
August 9, 2026
The Oil City News published some letters to the paper today, which in their case almost amount to small op-eds in some circumstances.
Some are really worth reading.
(LETTERS) Chuck Gray’s data handling and ‘election integrity,’ Sen. Ide’s voting record
The first letter's points are so well delivered that they're impossible to counter. Had Joe Biden's administration asked for Wyoming's voter registration information Chuck Gray would have refused to deliver it. Indeed, it'd be a major plank of his current bid for office.
But as Trump asked for it, well, that's okay with him.
The administration's efforts have been knocked down now by over twenty courts. But as Wyoming is sitting like a bump on a log on this, there's no chance of Wyoming retrieving its confidential information or of Gray being tried.
This really should go to Court. What a judge should do is order Chuck to retrieve the data within 24 hours of an injunction to that effect being ordered or to go to jail for contempt for every day he can't get it done.
The fact that Gray sprinted to deliver confidential information to the Federal Government is simply appalling. And it also provide plenty of evidence of what think intellectual greul the Freedom Caucus, which Gray helped bring to Wyoming, is serving. They really aren't interested in Freedom.
August 10, 2026
Well, we're in the last full week of campaigning.
As I figured it would, the flyers are as thick as flies at a picnic right now. Yesterday one for Hageman, one for Short, and one for Friess showed up, along with a letter from Scott Smith, who is running for treasurer.
A walker showed up as well, with a joint flyer for Hageman and Bien, the second time they've showed up. He politely left with his flyers when informed his mission was pointless.
Apparently attack flyers are being circulated in favor of Pete Fox, implicitly, by attacking Elissa Campbell. They claim she voted in favor of abortion when in fact she voted against the clearly unconstitutional laws that have in fact been ruled unconstitutional by the Wyoming Supreme Court.
On that issue, I'm as opposed to abortion as any living human being, but the WFC really shows the lack of courage of its convictions here. It was the proto WFC folks who amended the state's constitution to protect us from the Obama death panels. . . a product of their fevered imagination. This could all be fixed by repealing the health decisions amendment but they won't attempt it as they know that most Wyomingites aren't die hard anti abortion. So they need to try to force their view through the courts, something they supposedly hate happening. It didn't work and now they're attacking the courts and also using the topic to try to preserve if not expand their place in the legislature.
This sort of cowardly behavior is really a hallmark of the current GOP. The lockstep votes in Congress really show it.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic Senatorial candidate from Michigan, showed up on Face the Nation last weekend.
Dr. El-Sayed is freaking the Democrats out nationally as he's yet another Democrat whose branded as a Democratic Socialist. The Democrats are in fear that the primaries are going to ruin their chances of taking back Congress through the choice of "extreme" candidates.
I don't think so.
I think that the Democratic party is misreading a national shift in young voters views, but I'll deal with that in a separate thread. Anyhow, Dr. El-Sayed, in his interview, didn't come across as a Socialist at all, but rather as . . . a Distributist. Indeed, he nearly used the classic line of Chesterton about the problem with capitalism being too few capitalists, and he declared himself to be a capitalist, making a distinction between capitalism and corporatism, which we've often made here. He also spoke extensively about health care for all, which frankly isn't that scary of idea for most people under 65 years of age anymore.
Soon thereafter Donald Trump posted this:
And that says a lot about the mindset of those still supporting Trump, and who assume you support Trump. You are supposed to love a wealthy vapid playboy who is a serial polygamist and has no personal or demonstrable religious beliefs at all, and who is making the rich richer and the poor poorer, because, well, he's white and people like El-Sayed are darker. And you are supposed to hate Elissa Campbell because the Freedom Caucus is too cowardly to try to take on a constitutional amendment they now know was the product of paranoia. And you are supposed to support Degenfelder and Hageman as Trump endorsed them, even if that means, implicitly, supporting what we've noted above as well as a losing war in the Middle East.
And for some people, that will be enough.
FWIW, El-Sayed was actually asked about the photo and really reacted to it, saying:
He’s right. One in which your overlords are two people who don’t like each other but joined in the interest in making billions of dollars off of you, or two people who genuinely love each other enjoying some pancakes together who want to come together to build the kind of America where we can raise a family and that family has goes things.
You’ve got two different visions of America: Donald Trump’s vision is the one you’re living in right now. Can you afford your gas? Can you afford your groceries? Do you believe, when you look your kids in the eye, that they’re going to have a better future than you did?
El-Sayed is a very quick thinker and an excellent speaker. That's a really pointed reaction. I frankly don't know what Knavs' reason for being with Trump is, but it's hard not to feel a bit sorry for her at this point and when they're both together, it's a little creepy.
El-Sayed went on and stated; "Sarah and I like each other. I don’t know about the first lady and the president, but from what I’ve heard, it’s a bit of a rocky road."
That's a pretty good defense.
On a somewhat different note, following up what I've noted above, I pass a place every day which is sprouting an ever growing crop of WFC candidate signs. All the main ones are there, Bien, Hageman, etc., but also people like Jeske. The funny thing is, I know that the premises owner is a felon whose son is the pen for a felony.
Their criminal problems aside, it's pathetic. By all appearances these people aren't doing well but there they are, supporting a group of people who would screw them completely. Why?
I'm sure there's a whole boatload of speculation on that very topic, but this year, it's oddly common.
Last edition:
The 2026 Election, 17th Edition. Primary Voting Commences Edition. Vote like your future and that of your state depends on it, because it does.*
The 2026 Election, 18th Edition. Primary Voting Commences Edition. Vote like your future and that of your state depends on it, because it does, part two. More labels.
.jpg)
Meteorologist Don Day Calls New Farmer's Almanac Winter Forecast 'Voodoo Magic'
I've really always wondered about why people consult these almanacs on the weather.
Meteorologist Don Day Calls New Farmer's Almanac Winter Forecast 'Voodoo Magic'
Going Feral: Wyoming corner-crossing pioneer Brad Cape dies at 55
Monday, August 10, 2026
CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist 142nd Edition, 25th Amendment Watch, 22nd Edition. Worry.
If you aren't afraid of what's going on with the United States government and Donald Trump's increasingly demented brain, you should be. We've really entered the Twilight Zone on this one.
Tom Nichols, the columnist for The Atlantic, nailed it in this MS Now interview, in which he stated:
Nichols: It’s almost like we have a relative in the room, and there’s something deeply wrong with him. And we’ve all agreed not to talk about it. But there is something deeply wrong with him.
His friends know it, his critics know it. His staff, I’m sure, knows it. The world knows it. World leaders know it. And most importantly, our enemies know it, which is why they don’t take him seriously.
Nobody hangs on his words. They kind of do, but mostly out of freakish curiosity to see what kind of wild thing he’s going to say next, not because his words have any inherent meaning or reflect policy.
You know, I spent years teaching students that when the president speaks, it’s policy, and you must pay attention when the president speaks because nobody can contradict him.
Now, you know, are we really cutting off all trade with Spain? Who knows? Maybe. Maybe not. It might have just been a stray electron, you know, careening around inside his brainpan. Who knows?
But this is really dangerous because in the middle of all this stuff—and we can laugh about, you know, the Islamic Republic of Japan and all of that—but he made several statements about an ongoing war that the United States is losing. And no one’s even trying to pretend that they can make any sense of it.
And I’ll just add one last thing that you just brought up.
If this were any other president, this would be a national crisis. I mean, Joe Biden got somebody’s name wrong, and it was headlines. The president gets all kinds of things wrong, completely, you know, is out to lunch at an important NATO summit, and, you know, it’s Wednesday.
This is a crisis.
Trump's brain was really on full display over the past week while he was attending the NATO summit.
During a public meeting with Zelensky, he referred to him as Putin. For that matter, he claimed:
We had 11 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan.
The same man who can't get out of the war claimed:
In one day, we could knock down every single bridge in Iran. There's not a thing they can do about it ... if we have to, we'll take them out. They have desalinization plants. We'll take them out if we have to ... maybe we'll take over Kharg
Attacking desalinization plants would likely be a war crime.
On the bogus Red Scare:
I would be the greatest communist in history. I'd be right up there with Leneeen.
On Spain, which he liked the next day or day after:
Spain is a wasted cause. We don't want to do any trade business with Spain anymore, by the way. I'd like to cut it off. Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. Cut off all trade with Spain, please. Including visits. We don't want anything to do. They're hopeless. Bad
The roadside bomb is a bomb that goes on when you're driving your little around, and it goes on and you have no legs, no arms, and no face.
Green New Scam where we were scammed. The whole country was, I wasn't scammed. I got it right from the beginning… they were saying wind was so wonderful, so wonderful, except you couldn't, watch your television, they wanted to watch the debate. Donald Trump against Sleepy Joe Biden. Nobody could watch it because the wind wasn't blowing. Remember that?
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:Section 1. Purpose and Policy. Pursuant to the Presidential Memorandum of December 5, 2025 (Aligning United States Core Childhood Vaccine Recommendations with Best Practices from Peer, Developed Countries), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) completed a scientific assessment, which identified a set of consensus vaccines that are consistently recommended in all peer countries and found that the United States currently recommends more childhood vaccines than any peer nation, including more than twice as many vaccine doses as some European nations (scientific assessment). The scientific assessment also found that, instead of implementing vaccination mandates, most peer nations maintain high childhood vaccination rates through public trust and education. In the United States, by contrast, individual States set mandatory vaccination requirements that children must meet to attend school.Executive Order 14407 of May 29, 2026 (Realigning United States Core Childhood Vaccine Recommendations With Best Practices From Peer, Developed Countries), committed the Federal Government to ensuring that Americans are receiving the best scientifically supported medical advice in the world, as well as to protecting religious liberty and parental authority. However, implementation of my Administration’s prior directives regarding childhood vaccines has been delayed due to litigation over the composition of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and separate updates to the Federal vaccine schedule. Therefore, I am taking further action to reaffirm that it is the policy of the United States that the core childhood vaccine recommendations should be aligned with scientific evidence and best practices from peer, developed countries while preserving access to vaccines currently available to Americans. Further, it is the policy of my Administration that Federal programs and funding should support maximal parental choice over childhood vaccines, consistent with the Federal Government’s constitutional and statutory obligations and the fundamental principles of personal autonomy and informed consent.Sec. 2. Recommendations for Childhood and Adolescent Vaccines. (a) Based on consultation with my advisors and review of available scientific evidence, it is hereby declared that the United States recognizes Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations informed by the three distinct categories of childhood immunization recommendations identified in the scientific assessment, as specified below:(i) immunizations recommended for all children: measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal disease, human papillomavirus, and varicella;(ii) immunizations recommended for certain high-risk groups or populations: respiratory syncytial virus monoclonal antibodies, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal B, meningococcal ACWY, and dengue; and(iii) immunizations based on shared clinical decision-making: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza, and COVID-19.(b) The Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations also recognize that the combined measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine should be administered in three separate single-disease shots once such products are domestically available and that, to the maximum extent feasible, all childhood immunizations should be administered at separate medical visits.(c) Each executive department and agency shall review the Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations and take any appropriate steps to advance them, to the fullest extent allowable by law.(d) States and territories are advised to review the Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations and consider updating relevant laws and regulations that define the scope of immunization requirements for contexts such as school enrollment and attendance based on the scientific assessment and best practices from peer, developed countries.(e) The United States will routinely reassess the Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations according to the findings of the HHS Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines as specified in section 3 of this order.Sec. 3. Improving Vaccine Research and Options for American Parents. The Secretary of HHS, through the HHS Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines, shall, within 90 days of the date of this order, present plans to the President through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy to, to the extent appropriate and consistent with applicable law:(a) offer options to administer core childhood vaccines, starting with MMR, as single vaccines rather than combination products/doses, including by working with the private sector and other countries as appropriate, while guaranteeing continued availability of combination vaccines and those vaccines recommended for shared clinical decision-making;(b) assess the ideal timing and sequencing of all core childhood vaccines and adjust the Federal childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule as appropriate based on gold‑standard science;(c) develop additional alternative adjuvants to aluminum and conduct comparative safety and efficacy studies;(d) ensure continuous evaluation of the risk/benefit profiles of all childhood vaccines based on United States and international data; and(e) improve vaccine safety monitoring, transparency, and research.Sec. 4. Maximizing Parental Choice over Childhood Vaccines. (a) The Attorney General shall take appropriate measures to further meritorious legal actions challenging State laws that conflict with States’ constitutional and Federal statutory obligations related to parental authority, religious freedom, disability accommodations, and equal protection under the law, including, to the extent applicable under Federal law, States’ obligations to provide religious and medical exemptions from childhood and adolescent immunization requirements.(b) The Departments of Justice, Education, and HHS shall take appropriate action to ensure that their contractors and grantees, including States and localities, are compliant with their constitutional and Federal statutory obligations related to parental authority, religious freedom, disability accommodations, and equal protection under the law, including, to the extent applicable under Federal law, their obligations to provide religious and medical exemptions from childhood and adolescent immunization requirements.Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.(d) The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of Health and Human Services.DONALD J. TRUMPTHE WHITE HOUSE,
They have a vaccination that’s the size of a bottle of soda poured into a child’s body.
Nothing bad can happen from what we're doing. Nothing bad can happen. It's possible it doesn't work. I don't think that's much of a possibility, frankly.
If you feel sorry for him, don’t feel so sorry, because he’s vicious.I really don’t feel sorry for him.