Fall colors abound and the crisp evening air reminds me that the cold is near.
Fall is the time to pick apples, ship cattle and prepare for winter.
This year, the Wyoming legislature’s budget session is predicted to be icier than even the big winter Don Day has predicted.
This week I was mulling on the many people with shrouded intent, circling and opining. Then I heard a piece of advice: “Nothing can change until the unspoken is said. The greatest failure of leadership is to lack courage.”
So many of us are externally focused on chaos. Flailing our arms about in survival mode, worried about the next bill to pay and the next fire to extinguish. Others are concerned about proving a point, being the loudest, speaking the most often. Some are endlessly focused on the next PC cause or buck to chase.
So if it is our duty to lead through actions and works, how should you say the unspoken? Talk is cheaper than it’s ever been. Anyone can have a podcast or puke their words to an audience that can’t hold him or her as accountable as in the old days.
Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
In a nutshell – not everything that is in front of you is for you. Not every thought that crosses your mind is a good one.
I would love to see us refine our dialogue. Sharpen our history and wit.
I was watching an interview with a CIA operative who discussed a psy-op test: if the opinion that is coming out needs people to be silenced, it is a psy-op and there are psychological operations at play. If people have to be silenced or publicly shamed, because of their basic information, that silencing is a psy-op.
This budget session I want to see our leaders, on all sides come with the heat. I want to see talking points with deep historical references, connections on why these things matter to people, stories and hard numbers. Instead of placating the psy-op, move on from the illogical and just plain stupid.
We are done with talking points and outrage, on all sides. It is time to elevate.
From the policy passed, to how the language is written, to how the dialogue is held, this budget session must send the message that no part of the conservative agenda is a “campaign” talking point.
Messaging to the citizens of the state about how these things impact them is essential.
How do we run a state on a leaner budget? How do we fund the local services we enjoy without the bureaucratic waste? What programs can build jobs and economy in our state without picking winners through perpetual subsidy?
We don’t need to hear any more about why the elite establishment thinks wrongly. We don’t need to ignite grassroots with the messaging of what the psy-op is. The ones who know, know. And the ones who don’t, probably never will. Don’t waste your time letting them suck the air out of the room.
We are waiting for you to find the waste, and then tell us what the plan is.
Finally, don’t underestimate the power of an untapped younger generation. New data suggest Gen Z will be the most conservative generation since the Great Depression era. This is a generation that saw school through a COVID lens, grew up with social media, and is inherently attracted to the counter-culture concepts of MAGA.
These youths long for nostalgia and patriotism that is pure. Give it to them. Tell them about it. Tell them what you are finding. Go where they are and dialogue with them. Inspire them and ask for their advice too. They will be the ones living in these communities and envisioning a future for Wyoming.
They don’t want Wyoming’s message to be one of conformity, I can tell you that. Build for them, and with them.
Cowboy State Daily columnist Cassie Craven is a University of Wyoming College of Law graduate who practices law in Wyoming. She can be reached at: longhornwritingllc@gmail.com
