Columnist Dave Simpson writes, “Do you believe Joe Biden actually received 11,784,985 more votes in 2020 than Barack Obama received in 2008? I don't. I smell a rat.”
An old friend in Casper was home one day when a vaguely familiar guy showed up at his door.
This was in a decidedly working class neighborhood in Casper – not one of the fancy parts.
The guy at his door had served on the Casper City Council, and was running for a seat in the Wyoming Legislature.
It was Chuck Gray, knocking on doors, looking for votes.
My old friend, since retired, is a remarkably talented guy when it comes to computers. He once made the state-of-the-art computer equipment work so well at a newspaper I managed in Illinois that suddenly the owners were flying in to see how he was doing it. He was ultimately offered a job in Casper to work the same wonders out here.
Then my old friend got into telecommunications, became a partner in a company, and did real well for himself.
“I was puttering around inside,” my friend said about the day Gray knocked on his door, “carrying around a chip on my shoulder about how much the state was spending on subsidizing internet service, and at the same time getting in the way of us who were trying to deliver fast and inexpensive internet service.
“I sat and explained a complex and counter-intuitive topic to Chuck, and he got it. I was impressed.”
I bring this up to provide another side of the Chuck Gray story.
In his campaign for secretary of state four years ago, Gray was not the candidate of choice for some. “You're not for Chuck Gray, are you?” they would ask.
His daddy's rich, they said, and bought him his career in politics.
Some even ridiculed him because he's short.
But, then Chuck Gray won, defeating State Sen. Tara Nethercott.
Serving in office, Gray was often the skunk at the status quo garden party. He had repeated run-ins with Gov. Mark Gordon, and two episodes when Gordon reportedly suggested they go outside and settle their differences.
That would be the same Mark Gordon I voted for - twice - but who now seems to apologize for things I believe in – notably calling the bill banning boys from playing girls' sports “overly draconian” and “discriminatory,” and letting it become law without his signature.
In Gray's latest run for office – Wyoming's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives – an opponent has even branded him “China Chuck Gray” in a radio ad. And claims he's a RINO - Republican in name only.
In a word, preposterous.
One of Gray's big issues is election security. I've heard him criticized for that. “It doesn't happen here,” his critics say. And for them, I have one question:
“Do you believe Joe Biden actually received 11,784,985 more votes in 2020 than Barack Obama received in 2008?
I don't. I smell a rat.
I'll be voting for Chuck Gray in August.
Even though his daddy's rich.
And even though he's short.
And with that, let's move on.
Like the price of eggs (a new low of $1.47 per dozen at the two Walmarts in Cheyenne), I pay attention to the price of gasoline.
The day Trump went out of office in 2021, gasoline at the Maverik in my neighborhood sold for $2.39 a gallon. During the Biden years gasoline prices bounced around in the $3 to $4 range.
Last week, due to the war with Iran, gas was selling for $4.34 a gallon at that same Maverik store.
But, I'm not complaining. Because I think these higher costs are like the sacrifices Americans made during World War II, like gasoline rationing, and scrap metal drives.
Paying more temporarily to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran strikes me as small price to pay. Small sacrifice in a country that doesn't ask much of us in terms of sacrifice (other than taxes).
Consider what the world will be like if Trump succeeds in de-fanging that murderous regime in Iran. Consider the Middle East without its main antagonist. Its main funder of terrorism.
I'll pay more at the pump to make the world safer for my granddaughters.
I think of it as our Victory Garden.
Dave Simpson can be contacted at DaveSimpson145@hotmail.com
