Showing posts with label 2026. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2026. Show all posts
Friday, October 30, 2026
Monday, October 12, 2026
Lex Anteinternet: The 2026 Election, 24th Edition. Voting for Gray and Hageman is morally unconscionable. So what to do?
Lex Anteinternet: The 2026 Election, 24th Edition. Voting for Gray a...: Kristallnacht in 1938. A lot of people who had voted for the Nazis had been stampeded there by the assertion that it was the Nazis or the...
Kristallnacht in 1938. A lot of people who had voted for the Nazis had been stampeded there by the assertion that it was the Nazis or the Communists, both of which were populist parties. The smiling couple probably wasn't smiling by 1945, assuming that they were both alive.
The 2026 Election, 24th Edition. Voting for Gray and Hageman is morally unconscionable. So what to do?
The first rule of logic: Chesterton's Fence:
There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it."The second rule of logic: Hanlon's Razor
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
It's tempting to say that this will be an election like no other, and indeed, I think it is in many ways. In terms of American elections, it's the most important election, even though it's a midterm election, since the the Election of 1860. It's the election that will determine if Trump continues to rule as an insane dictator, or if the nation can begin to turn the path towards constitutional democracy.1
Things like this make this a critical election:
On the Cornell rapes:
Letitia James is a corrupt person…And I feel badly for whoever she's looking at because they won’t get a fair shake.
He later called James a "dog".
I'm an actual conservative. I am not a populist. Conservatives believe that man if flawed and that we should be careful to conserve things that have worked or are part of culture until we know what the reason for casting it aside would really be.
The sixth rule of logic: Yeoman's Gate:
Before you go through a gate to get to the other side of a fence, completely figure out, to the extent you can, where the path goes.
Conservatives believe that man is fallen and that our natures and the nature of the world, in its pure form, is dictated by an outside existential, that being God to most conservatives, and nature to some. We don't cast away easily, and we believe the Natural Law ultimately controls most things.
Conservatism has been killed by Donald Trump.
The most significant force around Trump is that of populism. Populism believes that the "will of the people" is endowed with some sort of magic virtue. The question is, who are the people? It's never all the people. Populists always regard themselves as "the people" and other people as the enemy of the people. They're easily lead by demagogues At one time they followed Bernie Sanders around like puppies, now they follow Donald Trump. The besotted populists believe that the will of the people is magically transmitted to Trump who is always right.
Trump is a dangerously sick man.
Trump has never been an admirable one. We could go into it, but people who claim he's "Godly" are rank idiots. Indeed, a significant portion of Trump supporters at this point are the absolute bottom of the bell curve. He's deeply immoral and is committing the United States to deeply immoral acts. Fortunately, the bloom is off the rose at this point, and it appears highly likely that the GOP, which has fallen down on its duties in Congress, will be tossed out. Due to weirdness of Trump's cabinet, we'll have to endure Trump for two more years, probably.
The problem for real conservatives, however, and particularly for Catholics, or indeed for Catholics whether they are conservative or not, is how to vote.
In the Catholic Tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation.
Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, No. 13.
In Wyoming, some of the choices will be easy. Eric Barlow, the Republican, is the easy choice over Democrat Ken Casner or Dixiecrat Rebecca Bextel. It's not even close. Effectively, the races for Governor, Secretary of State, and Superintendent of Public Education are over, and will all go to good Republican candidates.
But the candidates for the House and Senate are a nightmare.
Chuck Gray is a co-religious about whom the public knows nothing. A far right right winger born with a silver spoon in his mouth he washed up in Wyoming as his daddy, who doesn't live here, has a radio station here. He barely won the primary for Secretary of State, after having been an abrasive personality in the legislature, by running on lies. Since the moment of his taking office in that position, he's been running for something else, and the House of Representatives fell to him when Harriet Hageman decided to run for retiring Cynthia Lummis' position.
Gray has been a horrible Secretary of State and he'll be a horrible Congressman. His campaign was basically that he loves Trump more than Trump loves Trump. Trump is a horror. This is a good reason not to vote for Gray, as if any additional reasons were needed. If he wins, and he's likely to, he'll be worthless as a junior member a minority party who knows nothing about the state he's supposed to represent.
The Democrat is Lisa Kinney. I just heard her speak, and she speaks very well. She didn't have the chance to get into specifics, but they can be guessed at. I'd be surprised at best if she wasn't "pro Choice", which is pro infanticide.
The Libertarian is Shaun Johnson. I heard him speak too but he also didn't really have the chance to get into specifics. The one interesting thing I heard him say is that he wouldn't caucus with the Republicans or the Democrats.
I don't think that Johnson has any chance. I think Kinney has an off chance.
I suspect that if Kinney wins, Christensen will run against her in 2028 and likely take the seat. I think he's planning on running.
The choice this year, therefore, is between Kinney and Gray. Voting for Kinney is saying no to Trump insanity. Voting for Gray is saying yes to Trump insanity. That's about it.
At the Senate level the Democrats have a really good candidate, James Byrd. The Republicans have a really horrible candidate, Harriet Hageman, who stabbed Liz Cheney, a former friend of hers, in the back so that she could crawl over her dead political body to go to Washington, where reportedly she already owned a house. If she was voted out, she'd never come back. She's shown contempt for her own state on public lands while there, making her potentially an even worse candidate than Gray.
She received a lot of votes in the primary, in spite of being such a horrible candidate. It'll take a lot for Byrd to overcome it.
So here's where we are at. We cannot vote for Gray or Hageman. Voting for them is voting for the insanity of Donald Trump and the ongoing destruction of the American democracy. Can we morally vote for Kinney and Byrd, or do we not vote at all on those races. Not voting on them may very well be like voting for Gray and Hageman. It's an interesting, and paramount, moral question.
Footnotes
1. And save the "we're a republic not a democracy" crap. That's brainless twaddle. Our Constitution creates a democratic republic and people who say that should have their right to vote, drive a car, or speak a sentence revoked.
Last edition:
The 2026 Election, 23rd Edition. Stein's Law meets the GOP. The hints of a mutiny edition.
Saturday, October 10, 2026
Lex Anteinternet: The 2026 Election, 23rd Edition. Stein's Law meets the GOP. The hints of a mutiny edition.
Lex Anteinternet: The 2026 Election, 23rd Edition. Stein's Law meets...: If something cannot go on forever, it will stop. Herbert Stein. September 23, 2026 Something is actually going on in the GOP for the first t...
Bextel claims that Harriet Hageman went after Barlow in a major way in a discussion with her personally, claiming that she said he was "pure evil". Bextel is clearly a bit baffled why Gray and Hageman don't come to her aid in her race.
The fact that Gray is a "true friend of MAGA" is the very reason that Chuck ought to be sent to be a toilet bowl scrubber in the Kremlin. The question is who to vote for.
The 2026 Election, 23rd Edition. Stein's Law meets the GOP. The hints of a mutiny edition.
If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.
Herbert Stein.
September 23, 2026
Something is actually going on in the GOP for the first time since the Dixiecrat MAGA insurgency took control of the party and made it a populist party.
Bit and pieces of the signs are everywhere, all of a sudden. Stein's Law has arrived.
GOP candidates are in trouble all over the country and now they're starting to dump Trump. A good example of this is Congressman Ashley Hinson, who is trying to do the same thing that Harriet Hageman is trying to do, which is to move into a retiring Senator's spot. She's in real trouble in that effort and recent polls indicate that she's behind. The Republican seat appears slated to go to a Democrat. The GOP sent out John Barrasso to stump for her, an odd choice as Barrasso isn't inspiring on his alleged home turf, but the thought must have been that the Senate Whip could show how Hinson winning would help the Dear Leader.
Well, that message didn't seem to take. So Hinson started to bolt. From her Facebook.
Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran. We need to use every option at our disposal to provide some relief from high prices.
That includes suspending the gas tax, pausing diesel exports, unleashing E-15 everywhere we can, reinstating the $1/gallon biodiesel tax credit, and creating a diesel relief program to help our farmers and truckers being crushed by the high costs.
While doing this, we should also ensure our highway trust fund is replenished, so that Iowans don’t suffer from crumbling roads and bridges while relief comes our way now. These actions to lower costs are needed ASAP, and the war needs to be brought to a successful and immediate end.
I am working every day to deliver bipartisan results for Iowans and I will work with anyone who is ready to tackle this challenge immediately.
She otherwise demanded that the war against Iran be stopped.
Hinson had voted against the War Powers Resolution every time it's been voted on in the House, and did so just a week prior, so she's voted to keep the war rolling. Now she wants it over. Fuel prices are the reason why.
Closer to home, there are all of a sudden all sorts of die-hard right wingers who are criticizing Trump. Whether that translates over to opposing Trump lover Chuck Gray and Trump supported Harriet Hageman is another thing, but there's definitely stirring in the ranks.
Indeed, Cowboy State Daily carpetbagging columnist Dave Simpson went into a "boo hoo' fit about the whole thing, wondering if the imaginary Sweet Home Alabama Wyoming he believes to have existed has gone "wobbly".
Go home Dave. You drank too much WFC Kool aide.
Elsewhere, Wyoming teachers are organizing against the attempt to bankrupt the state:
Teachers, hospital leaders launch $1M campaign to fight property tax ballot measure
And it's been noted that Wyomingites are voting their interests:
Beyond that, the revolt is getting large enough that as early as it is, we're now seeing the non Trump GOP start to reemerge from the bunkers for the 2028 races, with Chris Christie having basically indicated that he's running.
Elections are not over, until their over, but it is clear that the GOP, and for that matter Trump, have no idea on how to hold on to the Senate, let alone the House. Doubling down on all the old tired lines (the Red Chinese are coming to have babies, date your daughters, steal your lunch) isn't working. The MAGA base was always the demographic that was most vulnerable to an economic downturn and now it's suffering. Agriculture, a Republican base, can't deal with the high fuel and fertilizer prices. Trucking can't deal with the high prices either. Regular people don't like the high prices at the grocery store and nobody likes the high fuel prices in the West.
This can't and won't be fixed by the election. The war against Iran won't be over and fuel prices will be high unless a ban on exports tanks the price of diesel, which it likely won't.
It took a lot, but people seem to be waking up to being lied to. Moreover, as that happens, Trump gets weirder and weirder by the day.
One place that appears now almost inevitable to go to the Democrats is Texas, where Texas Democratic Senate James Talarico has seen a 28-point swing in vote share against Ken Paxton.
Cont:
Fresh from getting its head handed to it in the primary, where its endorsements didn't pan out for the most part, the Dixiecrat controlled central committee of the Wyoming Republican Party has endorsed the property tax cut bill that would gut local governments like fish.
Basically, the Dixiecrat Wyoming Freedom Caucus hates the Gubbement and figures that stuff like education and the like can be handled by Ella Mae back at home.
September 24, 2026
September 25, 2026
Dixiecrats are moving over to their rightful home:
Rod Miller wrote an op ed on this and I've been meaning to post on it, so I'll just comment here. Bextel moving over to the Constitution Party, delusional though she is, is a good thing if it causes other Dixiecrats of the WFC to follow her, and they should. Here, a prominent Hot Springs politician has done just that.
The Constitution Party, which believes in a double secret constitution written in crayon and visible only through secret decoder glasses may pull over 10% in the election, which would make it a good place for people from the WFC to pack up their gray kepis and go and be "real". As is actually they, not traditional Wyoming Republicans, who are the aberration, they'd be doing themselves a favor, they'd have more voice in the CP, but the Republican Party and the State one as well. It'd allow the GOP to shake off the chains of the Confederacy which the WFC is attempting to bind it with.
In this environment, it might be noted, it's amazing that the Democrats can't get more traction than they are, but they aren't. Byrd still stands a good chance, but he's about the only one outside of the very few Democrats holding seats in the legislature.
September 29, 2026
From here on out in the election we're going to see Bat Shit Crazy on full display nearly every day.
Apparently not realizing that the election is a referendum on Donald Trump, a couple weeks ago Trump urged votes to imagine he's on the ballot.
The Republican problem is that voters are doing just that.
If people think back to the 2024 Presidential Election, most voters were never very keen on Trump. The most commonly expressed opinion going into the election was that voters disliked both candidates. The Democrats screwed themselves by running Biden, which was simply insane. Republican voters in the primary were in part MAGA true believes, but that misses the point that a lot of Republicans have left the party. When Biden dropped out, way too late, the Democrats did the typical Democratic thing and killed themselves by nominating a Kamala Harris, about the most irritating candidate they could have found.
2024 is in the rear view mirror of course, but what's been missed in the Trumpian Reign of Terror is that most people went into 2025 disliking Donald Trump and it's gone downhill from there, something made worse by the fact that this administration is made up of the cynical advantageous and those with some agenda, often a deluded one.
With that mix, Trump has had a free hand in acting like a mad king, and he's made the most of it. People with an agenda, moreover, are fully exercising their one and only chance to try to pull it off.
Trump's pretty clearly aware of this, in spite of his addled state. It explains the constant effort to build monuments to himself. In spite of what some in the far right Evangelical camp believe, there's pretty good reason to doubt Trump's belief in an afterlife. He certainly hasn't lived like he believes in one. So he's trying to make sure we remember him as a great man in terms of architecture and conquest.
It's all going to fail.
Trump doesn't seem to be able to grasp that people do not love him. He's a narcissist who is profoundly in love with himself. The worst, therefore, nightmare of his life is unfolding. A lot of motivated people who range from horrified to absolute contempt are going to boot the GOP out of the House, and now it looks like the Senate, and for the very reasons that Trump has urged us to do. They're voting on him, as the GOP has become a sycophantic personality cult.
People don't love him.
From now until the election Trump will pull out all the stops to try to keep the result he fears from happening. Anything he can legally get away with he will try. It'll be a long month until the election.
On not loving Trump, it's a shame Wyomingites don't have a better option to contest Chuck Gray.
Gray has made a career out of loving Trump more than Trump loves Trump. That's about all he has going for him. We're about to send somebody completely unqualified to do anything for the State to Congress. Would that somebody other than Johnson and Kinney were running. Neither stand a chance, and they don't really deserve to.
If none of the above were an option in that race, that'd be the one that would win.
Speaking of Gray, Gray has been showing up at UW football games recently and having pictures taken with students.
It's pathetic.
September 30, 2026
Wyoming Secretary of State and GOP candidate for Congress Chuck Gray emerged from hiding from debate requests, while he's not going to UW football games to be photographed with students, to congratulate the Supreme Court for temporarily upholding
October 1, 2026
The backers of a data center in Natrona County invited Republican candidates for the County Commission to tour the site and omitted the Democratic candidates.
The GOP candidates are Lisa Jamieson (Democrat), Matt Keating (Republican), Ray Pacheco (Republican), Candace Machado (Democrat) and Dallas Laird (Republican).
We haven't addressed this race much yet, but Laird is a 1,000,000 years old and needs to go. Keating was a somewhat controversial commissioner and then a somewhat controversial assessor. He's been battling cancer. Pacheco is a City of Casper councilman. Machado was a controversial mayor of Evansville.
October 4, 2026
The Gillette News Record ran an article about a Campbell County event of the meet the candidate type in Gillette for Bextel. It was held at The Railyard, which is a restaurant in Gillette. It's a fair sized restaurant but not huge. Apparently about 20 people went, which shows how little interest Bextel's campaign is drawing.
Her campaign does receive media attention as she's able to run it and it's so unusual. I hesitate to post on her regularly as it makes her look like a bigger deal than she really is. It is interesting however.
For one thing, Bextel keeps stating the "I didn't want to do this but had to" type of line. Nobody has to run for anything. What that really means is that the Dixiecrat is suddenly awake to the fact that Wyoming isn't 1960s Alabama and is terrified of what that means.
Also, Bextel continues to use some crude language. I guess that's no shock in this day and age but at least to some it sort of edges her towards Southern White Trash, which isn't a good look for anyone.
Those in attendance asked why Hageman and Gray (Gray stayed at her house, apparently, while campaigning) haven't come to her support.
As if.
Politics is a backstabbing game and there's no way that Hageman and Gray are going to buck the GOP for anyone.
Some local politicians showed up, which risks their being associated with her. I don't blame them for showing up, but the press coverage might be a deterrent to that occurring in the future.
October 5, 2026
More on the Gillette News Record article.
Bextel claims that Harriet Hageman went after Barlow in a major way in a discussion with her personally, claiming that she said he was "pure evil". Bextel is clearly a bit baffled why Gray and Hageman don't come to her aid in her race.
She also has a theme, or maybe a sort of obsession, with "weak men", which she claims include the current Governor, Barlow, and some other male Republicans. It's odd.
Bextel has always been a curious figure, to the extent we know anything about her, but her naivete on why Hageman and Gray (she mused she wondered what they have on Hageman), is amusing. Gray and Hageman are on a glide path to higher office, in spite of not being very good choices, and they don't want to ruin it by supporting Bextel who is a crash and dive to political oblivion.
And once again we see the South sort of rearing up in the Dixiecrat Wyoming Freedom Caucus. Bextel crudely claimed she had bigger "balls" than Barlow and interprets them not being in Nathan Bedford Forrest's Partisan Rangers as their being weak males. There's a certain sort of peculiar early 20th Century literary quality to this.
Becky, the Southern Damsel, coming to rescue us all. . .
Go home Becky.
October 6, 2026
Just looking at net chatter, the boo hoo Dixiecrats who think they are conservatives are appearing to break for Bextel in surprising numbers. She won't win, but it'll be interesting to see if the Constitution Party is able to ride her back into 10% of the vote and be qualified as a "major party".
That wouldn't be a bad thing if it drug the Allemands, Bears, etc., over to that party, where they really belong.
I'm guessing they won't make the 10%.
As was seen in the last election, the Dixiecrat WFC is noisy as well as deluded, but it doesn't enjoy much support from real Wyomingites.
Another question is whether the Democrats are able to make 10% themselves.
They should, as one of the GOP candidates, Chuck Gray, is held widely in contempt. The problem is that the Democrat opposing him is Lisa Kinney.
Gail Symons wrote an op-ed on this topic for the Cowboy State Daily.
I'm seeing a lot of moderate Republicans declare support for Kinney, and some for Johnson, but both candidates are really unattractive options. Kinney is singularly uninspiring and comes from the ancient Democrat demographic that caused the Democrats to slip into oblivion here. If the candidate came from the Mike Sullivan wing of the party, Chuck would be doomed. In spite of GOP support for her, Kinney is really hard to get enthusiastic about.
So is Johnson for that matter, and the Libertarians in general.
A debate would be really helpful but Chuck is hiding and won't debate.
For people like me this is really a problem. I'd like to see Gray loose so badly that he moves to Russia and takes a job as the toilet bowl cleaner in the Kremlin, but both of the other two candidates are really lacking. The Libertarian Party in general is always subject to a caution flag, although in Wyoming Libertarians are often moderate Republicans looking for someplace else to go following the Dixiecrat seizure of the party.
This one will be interesting to see how many people just can't vote for the other two non GOP candidates and therefore simply don't vote. My guess is that there will be a lot. My guess also is that Kinney will take a larger percentage of the vote than Democrats normally do on this race, which is usually about 25%. I could see her getting at least up to 30%, maybe 35%. I don't expect Johnson to do as well, but he might be able to draw 10%.
Overall, it's not impossible to imagine Kinney and Johnson together pull down over 50% of the vote, but probably not much more than that. Still, if that happens, Gray will be a Congressman with the minority of the vote.
Of course, this year, who knows. It's not completely impossible that Wyoming might elect a Democrat, although by the slimmest of margins, to the House for the first time in years. If it did, it would have a member of what's going to be the majority party in the House, and it would really give the Freedom Caucus the middle finger salute.
It'll also be interesting to see how many votes Byrd draws. Lummis' opponent in 2026, Merav Ben-David, drew 27% of the vote in an election in which former Congressman Lummis was going to win no matter what. Hageman has a lot more fanatic supporters than Lummis ever did, but she also has a lot more people who detest her as well. Byrd is a much stronger candidate than Ben-David, and Hageman has been hiding from debating him. Hageman showed up at a town hall somewhere recently and gave her usual poor performance. She's not good at handling negative questions at all, which is surprising given that she was a practicing attorney. Byrd might outright slaughter her in a debate.
Hageman also is taking flak from the disaffected Dixiecrats of the Freedom Caucus. Bextel complained in a town hall in Gillette about Hageman not endorsing her. Hageman endorsed Degenfelder in the Governor's race which upset the Dixiecrats as they, and the GOP they control, had endorsed Bien. Of course Trump endorsed Degenfelder, it was the point of her entire campaing, and Hageman sure wasn't going to buck Donald on that. Still, some disaffected WFC types are now mad at Hageman a bit.
I suspect they'll get over it, but a tiny percentage will write in Bien or just refuse to vote. One WFC person I know fairly well has outright declared they will not support Hageman, and another gadfly local WFC member has indicated that they're writing in Bien.
Byrd is definitely going to do better than Ben-David. I'm guessing that Byrd will draw at least 35% of the vote. That's not enough, of course, to get elected, but I'd also guess that Bien will still draw about 5% of the vote. That'd still leave Hageman with 60%, and that's likely, but it's not completely impossible that she draws under 50%.
October 7, 2026
Donald Trump, who loves Donald Trump, endorsed Carpetbagger Chuck Gray, one of the founders of the Dixiecrats in Wyoming, who has campaigned on loving Trump even more than Trump loves Trump. Hid did so on his Twitter like platform, Raging Delusional Lies Social, stating:
The fact that Gray is a "true friend of MAGA" is the very reason that Chuck ought to be sent to be a toilet bowl scrubber in the Kremlin. The question is who to vote for.
Former Gov. Mike Sullivan says that person should be Lisa Kinney.
Sullivan's endorsement shows how dim people have become in Wyoming, not because of the endorsement, but because the carpetbagging migrants fail to realize that Wyoming has had Democratic Governors fairly frequently until just recently. Sullivan is a Democrat and always has been, but one of the social commentary Twitter Twits came in to accuse him of being just that, having presumed that Sullivan must be a Republican.
Sullivan was gracious to Gray, he's a gracious man, noting something that I didn't know, that he's worked for Wyoming Right To Life. And he provided more information on Kinney than I had known.
Sullivan was a great Governor, but frankly I really doubt his endorsement will make a difference in the election. I also doubt Donny's will. People who are weak or lazy enough to pay attention to his endorsement were already going to vote for Chuck.
Early voting started yesterday in Ohio with people lining up before dark vote. According to polls, Democrats turned out in larger numbers than Republicans, but Republican voters may very well not be voting for Republican candidates.
Early voting has started here in Wyoming as well. With the races set, the major endorsements made for the most part (I'm sure more are to come), we'll close out this edition.
We'll probably also go down to the Courthouse this week and vote.
Appendix
Last edition:
Labels: 2020s, 2026, 2026 Election, Alabama, Bill Allemand, Carpetbaggers, Chuck Gray, Dixiecrats, Donald Trump, Harriet Hageman, inflation, James Byrd, Questions for politicians, Rebecca Bextel, Taxes, Tom Lubnau, Wyoming Freedom Caucus
Additional labels:
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Sunday, September 20, 2026
Harriet Hageman goes after Conservation Easements.
Wyoming sportsmen, and frankly everybody, cannot support the candidacy of Harriet Hageman. She's in the public lands hater category.
She just introduced this bill.
119th CONGRESS 1st Session |
H. R. 2773
To provide that the Secretary of the Interior may not enter into certain conservation easements with a term of more than 30 years, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 9, 2025
Ms. Hageman (for herself and Ms. Fedorchak) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
A BILL
To provide that the Secretary of the Interior may not enter into certain conservation easements with a term of more than 30 years, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Landowner Easement Rights Act”.
SEC. 2. Limitation on conservation easement terms.
After the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary may not enter into a conservation easement with a term of more than 30 years.
SEC. 3. Renegotiation of conservation easements.
At the request of an owner of land that is subject to an eligible conservation easement, the Secretary shall—
(1) not later the 6 months after the Secretary receives the request from the landowner, provide to the landowner—
(A) a detailed map of the easement; and
(B) notice of the current fair market value of the easement as determined by the Secretary; and
(2) renegotiate the terms of the eligible conservation easement, including—
(A) a term not longer than 30 years; and
(B) payment by the Secretary to the landowner in an amount equal to the fair market value of the easement, as determined by the Secretary under paragraph (1)(B), minus the amount paid by the Secretary for the eligible conservation easement being renegotiated (adjusted for inflation); or
(3) allow the landowner to buy back the eligible conservation easement or a portion of the eligible conservation easement at fair market value, as determined by the Secretary.
The Secretary shall notify the owner of the land subject to that conservation easement of the owner’s right to submit a request under section 3—
(1) not later than 3 months before the conservation easement becomes an eligible conservation easement described in section 5(2)(A); and
(2) not later than 1 year before the conservation easement becomes an eligible conservation easement described in section 5(2)(B).
In this Act:
(1) CONSERVATION EASEMENT.—The term “conservation easement”—
(A) means a voluntary, legal agreement between a landowner and the Secretary that limits use of the land in order to protect its conservation values; and
(ii) related to utilities.
(2) ELIGIBLE CONSERVATION EASEMENT.—The term “eligible conservation easement” means a conservation easement that—
(A) has been in effect for longer than 30 years; or
(B) was put into effect before 1977 without the creation of an official corresponding map.
(3) SECRETARY.—The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Interior.
This just guts conservation easements that the Federal Government participates in. It make the easement no easement at all.
Saturday, September 19, 2026
Rebecca Bextel Says Legal Battle With Wyoming Game And Fish Is Political
Wealthy carpetbagger acts like a wealthy carpetbagger in Lincoln County.
Go back to Alabama where you belong, Becky.
Federal approval of the pumped-storage project at Seminoe Reservoir is on hold as the Bureau of Land Management calls for additional environmental review.
Federal approval of the pumped-storage project at Seminoe Reservoir is on hold as the Bureau of Land Management calls for additional environmental review.
Saturday, September 12, 2026
Friday, September 11, 2026
Lex Anteinternet: The 2026 Election, 22nd Edition. The Stupid on Stilts Edition.
Lex Anteinternet: The 2026 Election, 22nd Edition. The Stupid on Sti...: From Greed , 1925. We're making a fortune. So if the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000. It will be called the Trump Di...
The 2026 Election, 22nd Edition. The Stupid on Stilts Edition.
From Greed, 1925.
We're making a fortune. So if the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000. It will be called the Trump Dividend. Congratulations.
Donald Trump at the GOP Midterm Convention.
A person would have to be stupid on stilts to believe that promise, and a similar one has been extended before.
Seriously, what kind of a dumbass believes anything Trump promises at this point?
The fact that the GOP is having a "Midterm" convention is itself an example of outright desperation and hubris on the part of Trump. Trump loves Trump and you must love Trump, so he's reminding you of Trump Love so that you love him and vote for the GOP candidates to show your mindless cult like love.
The fact of the matter is that everything associated with Trump is going badly and his approval ranking is sinking like a rock. In Wyoming it's down to 54% and the impact of the tariffs on Canada haven't even hit yet, much. The war hasn't ended, inflation is about to ramp back up, and Trump's own weirdness is now too weird for anyone to ignore. The result is that Democrats, who were slated to take back the House, now appear likely to take back the Senate as well. Even in Wyoming there's some hint that the Senate may be in play and it's clear that a large number of people really aren't keen on Chuck Gray, who has been pretty quiet since the primary.
Indeed, I've seen a little lashing out at John Barrasso, who isn't running for anything. Now days we mostly see Dr. John looking at Donald Trump as if he, Barrasso, is suffering from a severe case of constipation. He may be, as he's kept his true views on everything, none of which we know, bottled up inside of himself for so long. Anyhow, if people are mad at Barrasso, who seems to have forgotten which state he's from, it doesn't bode well for Hageman and Gray, although they are both clearly the favorites.
This does bring us to some questions that should be asked in the next two months, however. Those being:
1. Do you support the undeclared war against Iran, and if yes, how do you justify no declaration of war existing?
2. On data centers, a big deal here in Wyoming, are you against them like seemingly the majority of Wyomingites are, or for them, like Donald Trump is?
3. What is your position on public lands?
4. For people who go outside, there are clearly environmental matters to be concerned about. Do you have any concerns, and if no, just don't tell us "it's a big fib", as that's just telling us that you'll lie for votes. What is your justification?
5. Epstein files. Why aren't they being released.
6. What is your real plan for balancing the budget and addressing the debt and show us that it works.
7. Do you support ending the trade war with Canada?
A note, prior endorsements on running candidates are below. I'm doing that in this edition so as to not clog up the first part of it too much.
September 11, 2026
Two events occured yesterday which should; 1) cause a sane nation to invoke the 25th Amendment and 2) cause every Republican running for office to have to answer where they stand or never be voted on again.
The first.
Trump sworn his acolytes in so that they will be able to be called up as Long Knives to attack the upcoming Republican defeat in November.
It's not the pledge to go out and vote. Frankly, most MAGA isn't paying any attention this anyway.
It's the pledge to cheat.
Things Trump says cannot any longer be dismissed. People who think that one liner means nothing are ignoring recent history. He intends to steal the election. If he pulls that off, if he's still living and semi coherent, he intends to serve a third term.
The second was a truly bizarre video based on the Paul Harvey "God made farmers" video of years ago with a "God gave us Trump" theme.
This latches on to the extreme Evangelical leg of the MAGA stool. It would make most Christians of any branch absolutely cringe, and to claim a Divine mission like this may be very well blasphemous.
The questions that should be asked, and of any Republican candidate?
1. Will you support the results of the November election no matter what they are. If there's any hedging at all, tell the person they don't have your support for anything whatsoever.
2. Do you believe that Trump has a Divine mission? Any answer than an unqualified no should disqualify the candidate.
I can guarantee you that almost any GOP candidate, particularly if they don't know your view going into the question, will waffle and not give a straight answer.
Prior endorsements and race list:
And so we're off and running for the General Election, which in Wyoming's case means the election is pretty much over for the statewide races. Sure, the contest officially carries on, but chances are that the Republican nominees will take everything.
Still, this year, there's a chance, here and there. . .
So, our early predictions.*
Governor:
Republican. Eric Barlow
Barlow is a rancher, veterinarian, and long time legislature.
He's won this race and the General Election in this case is a mere formality.
Democrat. Kenneth Casner
75 year old making his third pointless bid for the Governor's office. He won't win, everyone knows he won't win, and he shouldn't be running.
Casner's appearance says something, however, about the state of the Democratic Party in Wyoming, and it's the opposite of what's happening in much of the rest of the country. In much of the country Democratic voters are rising up and tossing out geezer candidates, but in Wyoming the Democratic ranks are so depleted the Democrats are falling back on them, which is not a good sign.
Casner would have done his party a favor if he hadn't run.
Constitution Party: Rebecca Bextel.
The Constitution Party is a gadfly far right political party which was once the home of people who now populate the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. Indeed, it's their proper home, which shows in the one candidate of theirs which we know to exist, Rebecca Bextel.
The central figure in CheckGate, Bextel is flat out delusional and is running as she feared that Brent Bien would lose and there would not be any candidates running for the true interpretation of the Double Secret Constitution known only to the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. Bextel appears to seriously believe that Barlow could only win if vast hoards of Democrats, which don't exist in Wyoming crossed over to vote for Barlow and that in the general election the great mass of MAGA/WFC true believers will carry the day.
With the WFC having received a titanic dope slap in the primary, a rational person in her position would drop out. But then, running as a Constitution Party candidate shows demonstrated irrationality.
Endorsement: Barlow by far.
Secretary of State
Republican: Robert Short.
Short is an excellent choice and will take the office.
Democrat: Bryan McCarthy.
McCarty actually has an impressive business background and has worked as an auditor. He should be given credit for running, although he probably should have run for State Auditor.
He's going to lose and it's not even going to be close.
Endorsement: Robert Short.
State Auditor
Republican Kristi Racines won an uncontested Republican primary race and no Democrats ran.
State Treasurer
Curt Meier won his bid to run again in the primary for the Republicans and no Democrats ran.
Senator
Republican: Harriet Hageman.
63 (soon to be 64) year old incumbent Congressman with a terrible record on public lands who came up due to the "hate Cheney" wave two years ago. If she wins, she'll be 70 at the end of her first term.
Democrat: James Byrd.
72 year old former legislator, geophysicist, and businessman. Really impressive overall, but he is in his 70s.
This race features two candidates who are pushing what we regard age limits. Hageman is a nightmare of a candidate however.
Byrd actually stands a chance in this race, but it's a real uphill battle.
Endorsement: We won't vote for Hageman, which leaves Byrd the only realistic choice, and by and large he's a good one, but we aren't doing an endorsement yet.
House of Representatives
Republican: Chuck Gray
Gray is a carpetbagger about whom Wyomingites know utterly nothing, other than he's an adoring sycophant of Donald Trump, he sent Wyoming's voter rolls to the Federal Government illegally, he has a nasty public personality, and he's a Californian who went to Wharton. About him personally, we know utterly nothing.
Having received only 25% of the primary vote, his election to the House can't be assured.
Democrat: Lisa Kinney
About the worst candidate the Democrats could have chosen for this position, 75 year old Kinney can't win the office and is a remnant of an earlier era in more ways than one. Her being the nominee is a sign of the absolutely pathetic state of the Wyoming Democratic Party.
Libertarian: Shaun Johnson
Like the Constitution Party, the Libertarian Party has become so obscure their state's organization doesn't even list their candidates. This is the only one we know to exist.
Johnson is a lawyer presently in Thermopolis. I don't think he stands a chance, but I'll note that former Wyoming legislator Tim Stubson, who once ran for Congress, has endorsed him, which shows the depth to which a lot of Republicans despise Chuck Gray.
Write In: Kevin Christensen?
A building movement to mount a write in campaign for Christensen, who ran in the GOP primary, exists. He came up late in the primary election and got 21,632 to Chuck's 31,222. While that's about 9,000 more votes, both Balow and Gilat, both seen as early possibilities for defeating Chuck, received over 10,000 votes. Even gadfly Reid Rasner received a little over 10,000 votes.
If we had Alaska's system, Christensen, along with Friess and Balow, would be on the election in the Fall. If we had the system in which the top two vote getters were on the ballot, Gray and Friess would be. Given all of this, there's a really strong indicator that many of those who voted for a candidate other than Gray would vote for Christensen.
Overall, therefore, this race remains in a state of flux while its seen if enough momentum can build up to create a write in campaign for Christensen against a well funded Chuck.
Endorsement: Kevin Christensen. I'm early in doing this, and I note that some disaffected Republicans are saying they'll vote for Kinney. But Kinney is at best a lesser of two evils.
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Republican: Steve Harshman
Harsham is a long time Wyoming educator from Natrona County who was in the legislature for many years. He's an excellent choice for this office.and he will win it.
Democrat: Ana Cordova.
Cordova won the contested Democratic primary. She's a Wyoming native and extremely well educated. She only returned to the state recently, however, and really has no chance in this race.
Endorsement: Harshman.
Prior related recent threads:
Labels: 2020s, 2026, Adam Kinzinger, Canada, Donald Trump, Evangelical, Food, Immigration, inflation, Taxes, The Second Trump Administration, The Trump Trade War with Canada, Trump Trade Wars, United States
Last edition:
Labels: Bill Allemand, Constitution Party, Democratic Party, Economics, Industry, Joe Porambo, Karlee Provenza, Keenan Morgan, Libertarian, Ogden Driskill, Republican Party, Rod Miller, Tamara Trujillo, Wyoming (Natrona County)2026 Election, Ana Cordova, Brent Bien, Bryan McCarty, Chuck Gray, Eric Barlow, Harriet Hageman, James Byrd, Kenneth Casner, Kevin Christensen, Rebecca Bextel, Robert Short, Shaun Johnson, Steve Harshman, Wyoming
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