Rod Miller

Rod Miller: A Big Stone House In Wyoming Sand

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "I grew up in a house made of native stone situated on the biggest active sand dune system in North America. The house was built around 140 years ago. Lowes and Home Depot didn’t exist back then, so those old-timers had to improvise to get building material to the site."

Rod Miller: Hey, Pharmacy Board: It's Government's Responsibility To Listen

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "The Wyoming Board of Pharmacy, with armed Highway Patrol officers providing security, were at no risk of life and limb from an unarmed crowd of Wyoming citizens exercising their rights under the First Amendment."

Rod Miller: The “Nouveaux Elite” And Democracy By The Numbers In The 307

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "A scant 24% of voting-eligible Wyomingites took the time to cast their ballot in America’s Great Experiment in democracy. That mathematically changes the concept of 'one person, one vote' into 'one person, four votes.'"

Rod Miller: Recollecting Doug !@#%ing Crowe

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Crowe pulled out the frozen carcass of a muskrat. He blended the rodent with tequila and triple sec into the sixth or seventh pitcher of hooch. Reports vary from 'nobody knew the difference' to 'the dog wouldn’t even touch it.' Draw your own damn conclusion."

Rod Miller: Rumors Around the Ol’ Campfire, Part Deux

Columnist Rod Miller writes: “Gossip around the ol’ campfire surmises a sudden vacancy in the Secretary of State’s office, a new gunslinger in town and scorched earth dessert.”

Rod Miller: The Achilles Heel Of The Wyoming Freedom Caucus Is Cowboy Football

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "If the Freedom Caucus wants to trim UW’s DEI budget, then most folks in Wyoming won’t quibble. But they’ll shoot themselves in the foot if their efforts result in Cowboy football becoming a Division II program."

Rod Miller: Tyin’ the Knot – Wyoming Style

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "It is a little-known and under-appreciated fact around the ol’ campfire that I am a man of the cloth, and am ordained to perform weddings, circumcisions and exorcisms. I have officiated at five weddings to date. All five couples are still married and happy together."

Rod Miller: New Faces Around The Ol’ Campfire

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Straggling in to take their places around the campfire, our cowboy crew griped about the day they just had. Breaking in a new trailhand is never easy, but today was the first day riding herd for a dozen or so tenderfooted newbies."

Rod Miller: Peevish Populace Poses Problem for Puzzled Politicians

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "As the dust settles over the shifted tectonics of Wyoming politics after the primary, one factor at play in the election stands out to me: voters in Wyoming are pissed."

Rod Miller: Sam Western’s “The Spirit of 1889” – Essential Reading in The Big Empty

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Wyoming's constitution is so progressive that it collectivized resources like water and wildlife, and preserved them in public hands. Today’s Republicans would hoot and holler at 1889’s GOP and call them socialist at best and Chinese Communists at worst."

Rod Miller: The Wyoming Freedom Caucus Wins Some Big Pots

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "When the voters dealt the river card in Tuesday’s primary election, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus hit some inside straights and walked off with a lot of chips. All the bluffs and tells of the game were over."

Rod Miller: A Brief Refresher Course On Wolf Reintroduction In The Big Empty

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Over beverages at the Buckhorn, my old amigo Walt Gasson and I reminisced about the 'return' of wolves to Yellowstone. We agreed that it is a sordid tale of western love and betrayal. All it lacks is a high noon shootout on a dusty street."

Rod Miller: Lines Drawn in Wyoming Soil Should Not Be Crossed

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Two examples of folks crossing a line in Wyoming and suffering for it popped up lately. I view this as very heartening. Its important to know that lines still mean something in a society where it seems that anything goes."

Rod Miller: Political Statesmanship In The Big Empty

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "An incredibly graceful act of political statesmanship occurred in Wyoming the other day, and we all should know about it. And we should all think about it."

Rod Miller: The Wyoming Freedom Caucus Elected Me Their New Chairman

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "When folks who read Casper Planet or other sources of satire wring their hands and whine that somebody should do something about all the lies, they’re correct. And the somebody who should do something is the reader."

Rod Miller: Wyoming Is a News Desert With a Helluva Lot of Rain

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "To call Wyoming a news desert is fake news. More folks are reading Wyoming news today than ever before. They’re just not getting ink on their fingers as they read it."

Rod Miller: Mail Call Around the Ol’ Campfire

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Joe the Wranger pulled a glossy door-hanger from his chap pocket. It says that Wyoming is fixin’ to be taken over by baby-eatin’ Bolshevik bombthrowers, an’ if we wanna save our Wyoming Values, we gotta vote fer these Freedom Caucus knuckleheads that came here from back east.”

Rod Miller: Wyoming’s Shameful New Political Club – The Cowards Caucus

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Several Wyoming legislative candidates are refusing to engage in political debates this season. The reasons they give for their refusal vary, but it all boils down to political cowardice, pure and simple."

Rod Miller: This Cowboy’s Hat (With Apologies to Chris LeDoux)

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Cookie stopped washing dishes long enough to say, 'Some folks can wear a cowboy hat, an’ some purely cain’t. That’s jes how God made the world, and there ain’t nothin’ that li’l sumbitch can do about it.'"

Rod Miller: When Transparency Wins, Wyoming Wins

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "You may not realize it but you, as a Wyoming citizen, won a landmark court victory the other day. The Wyoming Department of Education and its leadership were slapped down hard before the bar of justice for trying to keep secrets from us."

Rod Miller: Term Limits And Vox Populi In Wyoming

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "I hope that the Supreme Court will reject anyone telling Wyoming voters whom they can and cannot vote for. I hope they affirm the right of the individual Wyoming voter to support whatever candidate they damn well please."

Rod Miller: Don Bolles, Nosy Investigative Journalists and Your Right to Know

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Wyoming needs more not fewer investigative reporters turning over powerful rocks to see what lies beneath, regardless of how loudly the powerful will howl. Too many folks are willing to turn a blind eye toward corrupt power."

Rod Miller: Counting Hands Around The Ol’ Campfire

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Supper was over and our favorite crew of cowboys sat around the ol’ campfire enjoying roll-yer-owns and the simple pleasures of a Wyoming night. Then the talk turned to politics."

Rod Miller: 2000 Mules Around the Ol’ Campfire

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "'I saw that li’l Secretary of State feller in town the other day,' said Panhandle, 'He was walkin’ kinda funny like he had a bad buck-off.' 'Naw,' Cookie answered, stirring the beans, 'He just got his ass kicked by the County Clerks again...'"

Rod Miller: The Presidential Debate, Democracy and the Law of Entropy

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Here we are, a nation of 350 million people, living in a democratic republic, and these two old farts are the best we can do? Give me a break!"

Rod Miller: Backtracking For Lost Things in the Big Empty

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Most horses have some realization deep within their equine hearts that God created them to work cattle and I could tell this li’l guy would make a good one."

Rod Miller: From Beavers to Coal, Five Wyoming Booms

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "When fur trappers of the 1830s stood hip-deep in the numbing waters of Wyoming’s far west side, they began our first industry. International demand for beaver fur for fashionable headwear created wealth where none existed before."

Rod Miller: A Special Session of the Ol’ Campfire Caucus – The Fight Against America’s Silent Killer

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Sourdough dogwhistled into the night and cowboys’ heads snapped to attention. 'This Special Session of the Ol’ Campfire Caucus will come to order,' he growled."

Rod Miller: Keeping an Eye on AI (While AI Keeps an Eye on Us)

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "My son Vic’s AI-assisted campaign for Cheyenne’s mayor has a lot of folks scratching their noggins. Count me in that crowd. Anything new or unknown creates fear among humans. That’s instinctive and healthy."

Rod Miller: Searching For The Center Of The Big Empty

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Ask anyone where the political center of Wyoming is located and all you’ll get is confused glances. The political center of Wyoming does not seem to be where it used to be. But that’s not true. The center hasn’t moved. Only people’s ideas of the center have moved."

Rod Miller: Do Artificial Brains Wear Artificial Stetsons?

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "It was an instructive and interesting exercise to 'work' with artificial intelligence to crank out a column. You saw the result. It was hyperbolic, exaggerated and full of cowboy vernacular. Campfire gossip on steroids."

Rod Miller Told An AI Bot To Write His Column; It Came Up With This

Rod Miller's mind-bending experiment of the week was to tell an artificial intelligence bot to study his past columns, then write one for him. This cowboy concoction was its answer.

Rod Miller: Another Nuclear Boom in Wyoming

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Wyoming might be on the cusp of a new energy revolution that will see radioactive minerals and rare earths supplant hydrocarbons as the targets of choice for our shovels and drill rigs. We, in Wyoming, have perfected the art of dragging ourselves kicking and screaming from one change to another."

Rod Miller: Ebb Tide For The Wyoming Freedom Caucus

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "This election is where Real Wyoming stands up to the carpetbagging, out-of-state, gnarly orthodoxy of cowboy-cosplaying Freedom Caucus interlopers and affirms its roots. This election is where we prove that our colors are Brown & Gold."

Rod Miller: In Praise of Flawed Horses

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "The poor guy had two strikes against him from the git-go. But he had something intangible that convinced me not to ship him. I can’t describe what that something was. Midnight turned out to be one of the best horses I ever rode."

Rod Miller: “Honor Wyoming” Dishonors Everything About Wyoming

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "These Honor Wyoming videos weren’t produced in Wyoming by Wyomingites, and their message is more Hollywood than Hot Springs County. And the folks behind this snake oil show won’t stand up on their hind legs and claim responsibility for their work."

Rod Miller: Fake Electric Cows – A Cautionary Campfire Tale

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Stetsons were tipped back as heads were craned toward the black sky, eyes following a pin-prick of light that moved slowly among the stars. 'Is that it?' asked Rimrock, 'Is that Biden’s cow-trackin’ satellite?'"

Rod Miller: Tally Book

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "My granddad Kirk kept a small spiral notebook in the pocket of the wool shirt that he wore regardless of the weather. My own tally book was a tad fancier. It was a Daytimer with a leather cover..."

Rod Miller: NIMBY Version 4.0 – or – The 21st Century Invades Wyoming Along I-80

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "The major projects in Kemmerer and Cheyenne will bring trainloads of money into Wyoming. But too many Wyomingites are too afraid of change and they’ll resist them because 'that’s not how grandpa did things.'"

Rod Miller: A Political Focus Group Around the Ol’ Campfire

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "With the race for Wyoming governor a mere two short years away, dusty drovers sat around the ol’ campfire and pondered their roles as political pundits. 'Hey, I know,' said Sourdough, 'Lets form a focus group an’ help that li’l Secretary of State feller get elected.'"

Rod Miller: How I Acquired My Nonpareil Vocabulary

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "I grew up around some pretty salty, down-to-earth cowboys out there in the Big Empty. My rustic tutors would whisper, 'Rod, go ask your Mom what %@$&#@ means.' I did this so often, you might conclude that I loved the taste of Lava soap."

Rod Miller: Experimenting With Political DNA In The Big Empty

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "The Wyoming Freedom Caucus, or Genetically Modified Republicans (GMRs), as I call ‘em, are the tragic result of a failed experiment in the laboratory of politics."

Rod Miller: Mavericks & Illicit Sex Around The Ol’ Campfire

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Yeah, they got it written in their bylaws or some such. If a cow strays from the herd, it means that their heart’s not in it an’ they lose the right to be called a cow.”

Rod Miller: Fun With the Wyoming Public Records Act

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "If a city attorney - authorized and paid by the citizens - can keep secret from those citizens their legal advice to a city in Wyoming – a city authorized and funded by the citizens - that secrecy violates the very first principle of government that our Constitution laid out."

Rod Miller: Enough Already – Or – The Final Liberation Of Wyoming’s Political Parties

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "The Weston County contingent is proposing amendments to the Wyoming GOP bylaws that would complete the party’s transition from the legacy Republican Big Tent to a tiny blanket fort with room enough for only diehard fire-breathers who know the password and wear the secret decoding ring."

Rod Miller: Big Iron, Little Hips & Gunplay Around The Ol’ Campfire

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "'Where the hell is my big cookin’ pot?' Cookie brandished a butcherknife at the hands gathered around the ol’ campfire. Latigo Lou from Lingle answered, 'That li’l Secretary of State feller, the one that wants to be governor, he took it down to the creek for target practice.'”

Rod Miller: A Broncpeeler in Drag

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "I have dressed up as a woman exactly twice in my life. And I didn’t do it to be sexually attractive to anyone, and I didn’t dress in drag to make any sort of a political statement."

Rod Miller: Bride Of Chucky – Or – Advice To The Lovelorn From The Ol’ Campfire

From the campfire, columnist Rod Miller writes, "That li’l feller who was here the other night, our Secretary of State, is he really runnin’ for governor?” Joe the Wrangler said, “Yep, but it’ll be a tough go for him. He’s single. Ain’t got no wife.”

Rod Miller: An Easy Win for the Wyoming Freedom Caucus

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Joe Ricketts intends to build a chi-chi destination resort for other zillionaires in a pristine corner of Wyoming, and -- get this -- he wants to change the name of Bondurant to 'Little Jackson Hole.' I kid you not!"

Rod Miller:  “We the People” And Our Marching Orders

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "It rubs me the wrong way when some folks take a phrase from our Constitution and use it out of context for their own political gain. That displays a cynical lack of understanding and respect."

Rod Miller: Keep It Real, Wyoming

Columnist Rod Miller writes "Logan Gilbert pitches for the Seattle Mariners and doesn’t believe that Wyoming is real. There’s also a Reddit group that disbelieves Wyoming as well, and there are over a thousand members."

Rod Miller: Flip-Flops Around The Ol’ Campfire

Columnist Rod Miller writes: “'They’ll mine this gravel over my dead body!!' squealed the Secretary. 'They’ll pry that gravel from my cold dead hands!' The Kid stood and asked, 'If you don’t want it mined, why the hell did you lease it in the first place?'"

Rod Miller: Ban Human Ignorance, Not the Free Press

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "If politicians are worried about surveillance of the American public, they need to repeal the Patriot Act. I’m less worried about Facebook spying on me than I am about my own government doing the same damn thing."

Rod Miller: The Invasion, Redux

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "My message to the Wyoming Freedom Caucus is, if you can’t find good homegrown candidates and you need to import out-of-state ringers to run for the offices you covet, Wyoming sees you. Weakness like that is hard to hide."

Rod Miller: Saving Daylight Around the Ol’ Campfire

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Dawn was still just a milky rumor in the eastern sky when Cookie started the campfire. Drowsy cowboys snored in their bedrolls, sounding like a chainsaw fight."

Rod Miller: Should Government Really Operate More Like A Business?

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "How many times have you heard someone say in frustration, government should operate more like a business. That’s like saying that if a saw isn’t cutting the way you want, use a hammer."

Rod Miller: Wyoming’s Freedom Caucus Grinches

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "The Wyoming Freedom Caucus should be called the Big Empty Coalition of the Easily Upset, and their flag should display a string of tightly clutched pearls. Their grumpiness is what will limit them as a political force."

Cat Urbigkit & Rod Miller: The Lookout At The Halfway Mark Of The Legislative Session

Columnists Cat Urbigkit and Rod Miller discuss the Wyoming budget session as they see it shortly after the halfway mark. Both agree there are too many non-budget bills introduced and too many peacocking gubernatorial hopefuls.

Rod Miller: Remembering Pat O’Toole, Wyoming Visionary

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "My old friend Pat O’Toole has ridden on up ahead of the herd to scout a new countryside for water and good grass. You can bet your bottom dollar that, when we catch up with him, he will have picked out the perfect spot to rest."

Rod Miller: Will the Real “Establishment” Please Stand Up?

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Does hot water come out of your sink faucet when you turn the handle? Yep, you guessed it...'The Establishment' again, the ones who built the infrastructure to bring to your home the blessing of indoor plumbing. The Freedom Caucus had absolutely nothing to do with that miracle."

Rod Miller: Rep. John Bear Puts His Foot In His Mouth

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "I hope the citizens in the small communities east of Gillette are as pissed off as I am. To tolerate John Bear as their representative is just like tolerating Dr. Kevorkian as the family doctor."

Rod Miller: Stampede!! - Or - A Runaway Convention In The Big Empty

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Because of the muscle-flexing of GOP chair Oral Eathorne and the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, the Wamsutter Convention Center and Monster Truck Arena has been designated as the venue for the Convention of States."

Rod Miller: Walt Gasson’s “Craven Creek” – Dispatches From The Beating Heart Of The Big Empty

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "The cottonwood is the official state tree of Wyoming. In his collection of essays, 'Craven Creek,' Wyoming author Walt Gasson makes a strong argument that it is, in reality, the Family Tree that shades us and roots us deep in the thin Wyoming soil."

Rod Miller: Taylor Swift And Trump Around The Ol’ Campfire

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Right after Jewish space lasers, devil-worshipping pizza pedophiles, Cuban mind-control particle beams, zombifying pharmaceuticals and hidden Sumerian messages in dirty books, who comes down the pike? Taylor Swift, sent by George Soros and Bill Gates. Wake up, people!”

Rod Miller: Zombie Werewolf Commie Voter Fraud And Chuck Gray To The Rescue!

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "As a champion of limited government and individual freedom, Chuck Gray is proposing a government solution to a problem that really doesn’t exist by imposing restrictions on the individual. That, saddle pals, is the epitome of hypocrisy."

Rod Miller: Border Wars and Politics – A Modest Proposal

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "The border between the U.S. and Mexico leaks like a firehose today and 'border security' is nothing but a myth along that southern line on our map."

Rod Miller: Naked Campfire Politics in The Big Empty

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Hey, did y’all hear that Rep. Wood Chip is gonna introduce a Genital Intimidation bill? It's a law against intimidatin’ other folks with yer equipment."

Rod Miller: Good Dog Henry’s Only Job

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Good Dog Henry barks at a lot of stuff that really ain’t there. Vampire zombies, Jewish space-laser intergalactic terrorists, ghost grizzlies, undead proselytizers, juju men and political canvassers from the Other Side..."

Rod Miller: Of Milking Stools and Politics in the Cowboy State

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "While it's early yet, it appears that the centrists are noticing that there are barbarians just outside the gates and are pushing back with their checkbooks."

Rod Miller: In Memoriam -- Bob Johnson, Outlaw Wrestling Coach

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "'Coach' has always been a term of deep respect to me. It means teacher, mentor, trail boss and, in rare instances, friend. Bob Johnson was my wrestling coach at Rawlins High School, and he was all that and more."

Rod Miller: The Sport Of Kings In The Home Of The Horse

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "It is a little known factoid that the horse was born in Wyoming. The earliest fossilized ancestor of the modern horse, Eohippus, was found in the northern Big Horn Basin, at the foot of the Pryor Mountains. Eohippus was a dog-sized critter, hardly the magnificent animal that we know today."

Rod Miller: Baseball, Lightbulbs and Carbon County

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "I hail from Carbon County, one of the five original counties in territorial Wyoming that stretched from Colorado to Montana. And I want to tell you why, when we approach the Pearly Gates, we’ll be met by God driving his dusty ol’ ranch truck with County 6 plates."

Rod Miller: The Thousand Dollar Horse

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "The Marlboro Man showed up at the ranch at the crack of dawn with a horse trailer. While we normally raised our own horses, Darrell Winfield had a proven eye for horses and it was always worth taking a look."

Rod Miller: Football Fever In The Big Empty & The Swamp

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "The Pokes will play in a mid-range but respectable bowl, somewhere between the Rose Bowl and the Dental Floss Bowl. I fully expect our lads to send Coach Bohl into retirement by whupping Toledo like the family mule. Go Pokes!"

Rod Miller: Apologia of a Booksellin’ Cowboy

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "I liquidated my net worth -- state retirement, my stock in the ranch, drained my piggybank and opened Joe Pages Bookstore & Coffeehouse in downtown Cheyenne."

Rod Miller: Barbarians At The Gate Or A New Dawn for Wyoming?

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "If the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, as they themselves predict, actually runs the table during next year’s election, what can we expect? Don’t laugh, it could happen."

Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Rod Miller: Mark Gordon Ain’t No Will Kane

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Give me a break. Saying you’ll duke it out and then backing down? Any respect I had for Mark Gordon as a political leader vanished with his 'lets get it on' followed by his 'no mas.' Maybe he just wasn’t cut out to be a cowboy."

Rod Miller: The “Cowboy Diaspora” & Deep Wyoming Roots

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "When our young cowgirls and cowboys hanker to stretch their legs and see what lies on the other side of yonder ridge, we should encourage ‘em. We should pack ‘em a lunch and let ‘em know they’ll always have a home to come back to."

Rod Miller:  The Kelly Parcel -- Fertile Ground for Creativity

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Under an auction, the Kelly Parcel could wind up in the hands of some fatback greedhead developer who would slather the countryside with McMansions, strip malls and roundabouts. Or a Russian oligarch or a Saudi prince could snap it up and do God knows what with it."

Rod Miller: Debate in the Cowboy State? Great!

Columnist Rod Miller says he does his best to help with climate change. "...all those bubbles rising in a frosty glass of Pabst Blue Ribbon are bubbles of that dreaded gas. When I drink it all down, I am sequestering carbon in my body, thus doing my part to save humanity."

Rod Miller: The Media Landscape in Wyoming is Changing

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "If you mount up on a tall horse and survey the media landscape in Wyoming today, you’ll see an unavoidable truth. The venerable old institutions of newsprint journalism are mere shadows of their former selves."

Rod Miller: Schroeder And Inner Circle Broke The Law Besides Looking Like Nincompoops

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Not only did [the Wyo Dept. of Education's] secrecy look sketchy as hell on its face, their reluctance to divulge information violated the Wyoming Public Records Act. It took an order from a District Court judge to pry the requested records from their sneaky hands."

Rod Miller: The Wyoming Public Records Act At Work

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "It's a disturbing video. Graphic, violent and a man dies in it. But the public has every right to see it. I'm referring to the deputy’s body cam video of a fatal confrontation that Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak recently released." 

Rod Miller: Can Wyoming’s Center Prevent An Outbreak Of D.C. Fever?

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "What Matt Gaetz and his fellow House conspirators attacked was not just a sitting speaker of the house, but also the institution itself."

Rod Miller: The Center Must Hold – In Wyoming And The World

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "The siren song of extremism is seductive. It offers a sanctuary where the human mind can take it easy and just go with the flow of some belief system imposed by others. Extremism requires no mental labor, just blind obedience."

Rod Miller: Police Misbehavior And The Critical Role Of The Free Press

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland has broken a couple of stories about police misbehavior in Thermopolis. We are watching a real life instance of the power of a free press play out before our eyes in real time."

Rod Miller: Politics Around the Ol’ Wyoming Campfire

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Chatter around the ol’ campfire devolved into hoots and hollers as each cowboy sang the praises of his own favorite candidate and called everyone else a bunch o’ damn RINOs. The campfire vocabulary was reduced to one and two-syllable words, and finally to grunts, growls and chest thumps."

Rod Miller: How Safe Are Our Persons And Houses In Wyoming? 

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "A cop in Thermopolis broke down a citizen’s door without a warrant of any kind and against the advice of the county attorney's office. A gunfight resulted, with the household resident dying and the cop being wounded." 

Rod Miller: Friday Night Lights in Wyoming’s Lower East Side

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Confession – I’m a sucker for high school football. My son Vic and I caught the first win of the season for the 2A Burns Broncs in that bucolic little southeastern town out on the edge of America’s amber waves of grain."

Rod Miller: The Empty Head of the Sagebrush Rebellion Raises Itself Again

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "If the Freedom Caucus was too lazy or too proud to get involved in the fed’s planning process on the BLM’s Draft Management Plan from Day One, but then cry crocodile tears when the horse is out of the barn, they aren’t worth listening to."

Rod Miller: Government Secrets vs. The Wyoming Public Records Act

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "In a free society like ours, citizens should know more about government than government knows about us. Knowledge is power, right? When government keeps secrets from its citizens, it becomes a secret government."

Rod Miller: Rep. Lauren Boebert -- You Can Take The Girl Out Of The Trailer Park, But…

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "The Grand Old Party would be well -advised, when choosing their spear-carriers to represent the moral high ground when it comes to sex, to find a handmaiden who can keep her knees together, her hands to herself and her thong in place."

Rod Miller: The Ol’ Campfire & The Salvation Of Wyoming Politics

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "I finally met Dan Sabrosky around the ol’ campfire when he came up to me and introduced himself. Dan and I have spent months lobbing “truth bombs” and laughing emojis at each other, behind our keyboards. But, after a firm handshake and looking one another in the eye, the dynamic changed."

Rod Miller: Transparency and Political Courage in the Cowboy State

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "When it comes to the political courage to back up their hot air, WyoRINO is woefully lacking. I suppose that, if you lack cojones, you are better off concealing your cowardice behind a cloak of anonymity."

Rod Miller: Nels Smith - Another Tall Tree Gone From Wyoming’s Skyline

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "When Sen. Al Simpson eulogized the passing of Gov. Ed Herschler, he said, 'A tall tree is gone from Wyoming’s rugged skyline.' When Wyoming’s titans pass, I always think of those words. And there have been damn few trees taller in our state than Nels Smith.

Rod Miller: A Better Mousetrap for Wyoming’s Flawed Election Code

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "A recent vacancy in the Sheridan County Commission set the wheels in motion for the Republican Party to once again behave like a dysfunctional HOA in a gated community full of rednecks."

Rod Miller: Old Men, Fire and Politics in the Big Empty

The herd had stampeded during a thunderstorm in the middle of the night. They scattered so severely that Rimrock, the night rider, dragged into camp to say, "They’re out there in little bunches. Some bunches have three or four in ‘em, some bunches have a dozen. But there are a lot of bunches out there than don’t have any in ‘em.”

Rod Miller: The Wyoming GOP Rides For Too Many Brands

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Columnist Rod Miller writes, "When I was a young lad learning to buy horses, the best advice anyone ever gave me was, 'Count the brands.' If a horse had more than one brand, it meant that he was a problem for somebody."

Rod Miller: We’re Not In Kansas Anymore, Toto. This Is Wyoming

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "When the police chief of Marion, Kansas, raided the office of the small local newspaper a week ago, he did nothing more than reinforce James Madison’s truism that the freedom of the press must not be abridged."

Rod Miller: U.S. Women's Soccer Team Comes Across Like Spoiled Losers

On the U.S. women's soccer team collapse, columnist Rod Miller writes, "Leave the politics to folks who are a lot better at it than you are, and forget about scoring points with identity groups who might look at you as their champions while the world looks at you like spoiled losers."

Rod Miller: That Time I Lost A Bet To A White Supremacist Knuckle-Dragger

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "This is a sordid tale about the doomed path of mixing gambling with fringe politics. There must be some obscure warning in Leviticus about this sort of dangerous behavior. Ma must have cautioned me about the risks. If so, I’ve clearly forgotten."

Rod Miller: A Connecticut Yankee At Frontier Days

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "I just returned from the strangest journey. You’ll recall that more than a century ago, Mr. Twain rapped me sharply on the noggin and sent me back in time to Camelot. Maybe you’ve read about it."

Rod Miller: It's A Big Government Problem, Not A Free Speech Problem

Columnist Rod Miler writes, "Don’t for a minute think that your enemy is freedom of human expression. Books aren’t trying to replace you as a parent, big government is."

Rod Miller: Gordon Has A Chance To Be Great. Will He Take It?

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "The Freedom Caucus has presented Gordon with the chance to stand strong like a real First Amendment trail boss. If he wastes this chance and knuckles under to their demands, he will brand himself as nothing more than their stable boy."

Rod Miller: Celebrity Worship Around The Ol’ Campfire

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Things are getting just a tad weird around the ol’ campfire lately. While they try to dodge the smoke, my saddlepals are all gushing over this movie, or that song, or which famous person is speaking God’s honest truth."

Rod Miller: Chasing Rocks – Or - How Not To Look Like An Idiot 

Columnist Rod Miller got his first pair of glasses when he was out gathering cattle with his dad. "I thought I saw a bunch of cows off in the distance at the base of a ridge. When I got to the ridge, I found out they were only big rocks. I had to confess to Dad that I had wasted half an hour trying to round up rocks."

Rod Miller: “The Machine” And The Consent Of The Governed

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "It is an uncomfortable fact of life in a free society that dissent should not only be tolerated but encouraged as the natural leavening of our political system, regardless of whether it is the Left or the Right doing the dissenting."

Rod Miller: My Umpteenth Column About Free Speech

When I read Clair McFarland’s recent brace of articles about Biden wanting to censor freedom of speech on social media, it pissed me off. I get pissed off any time that government wants to strangle our most fundamental American liberty to freely speak our minds.

Rod Miller: “Affirmative Action” Is Unconstitutional In The Equality State

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "There is no waffle language in the Wyoming Constitution. And therefore no room in the Equality State for affirmative action or protected classes. Those might be noble concepts in other states where equality is subject to modifiers, but our founding document renders them moot."

Rod Miller: Methinks U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland Whines Too Much

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Merrick Garland is whining that criticism is a threat to the 'independence' of his outfit, the U.S. Department of Justice, and thereby a threat to democracy itself. It's hard to threaten something that no longer exists."

Rod Miller: Time Machines, Rattlesnakes and Rock & Roll in Carbon County

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "For my money, there is no more beautiful and peaceful place in the Cowboy State than where the Encampment River joins up with the North Platte to produce a the kind of green that makes Ireland ashamed."

Rod Miller: Higher Education, Free Speech And Hurt Feelings In The Cowboy State

Columnist Rod Miller writes, “Now UW finds itself hauled into court for abridging a preacher’s freedom of speech in the student union. … Let’ s be clear, free speech is often uncomfortable, annoying and offensive.”

Rod Miller: Stay Square, Wyoming!

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "If Wyoming annexed a neighboring county, we’d just look weird. Viewed from above, it would look like we had suddenly grown a disturbing new appendage, or a tumor. Or a massive new zit."

Cormac McCarthy: An Evening Redness In The West

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "I used to wait like a kid at Christmas for McCarthy to come out with a new book ever couple years or so. No more waiting for me. His work is done."

Rod Miller: Get Off Rod Miller’s Lawn!

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Don’t let a wet spell or two fool you into complacency; the high creeks and rivers you see in Wyoming today are nothing more than fossil water being recirculated. The need to conserve this essential but finite resource is as critical as ever."

Rod Miller: Cowboys and Teslas, a Cautionary Tale

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "I have a healthy skepticism about newfangled electric vehicles replacing those gas-guzzling trucks on the ranch. I have an uneasy mental image of a one-ton crew cab 4WD pickup with a six-horse fifth wheel trailer powered by an electric motor struggling to make it out of the barnyard."

Rod Miller: Books! - Or – Johannes Gutenberg For The Humanity Hall Of Fame

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "If you think books will corrupt your kids’ minds, be a better parent. If you think that reading Mein Kampf will turn Junior into a Nazi, or Das Kapital will turn Sis commie, then do a better job of teaching them to be Americans."

Rod Miller: The TikTok Generation Inherits The Big Empty

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "We need to pass along to the TikTok Generation a profound respect for nature. They need to have a sure and certain knowledge that this place will kill you if you are careless. And that survival often means relying on your neighbors."

Rod Miller: Josh Hawley Preaches “Manhood" In New Book And Wyoming Men Laugh

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Josh Hawley is the last person qualified to preach to Wyoming men about what it means to have a pair. The first glaring difference between Hawley and a real Wyoming man is that we don’t run away from a fight, regardless who started it, as he comically did."

Rod Miller: Identity Theft in the Big Empty – A Solution

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "I’m not selling myself cheap! If you wanna be Rod Miller, you’ll need to open your wallet. If you are serious about acquiring my identity, then put your money where your mouth is."

Rod Miller: Advice to Politicians -- Think First, Then Speak

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Lord knows what prompted Casper Mayor Bruce Knell and Laramie Rep. Karly Provenza to hit the 'send' button before considering the possible consequences of their post. Perhaps they thought they could score easy political points with their base."

Rod Miller: Frankly Speaking About the Wyoming GOP

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "The Wyoming Republican Party will choose a new chairman here in a few days. Both candidates are named Frank, and both hail from the same county and wear cowboy hats. That’s where the similarities end."

Rod Miller:  Woke Fascists in Wyoming Or Political Speech 101

Columnist Rod Miller writes: Words like 'fascist' and 'woke' are used as pejorative shorthand for anyone who doesn’t adhere to one political view or another. Words like that don’t do anything to elevate our political conversation. Rather, they are used to emphasize and reinforce an 'Us vs. Them' mentality."

Rod Miller: Partisanship Is The Disease, Not The Cure

Rod Miller writes: “State Rep. Chris Knapp, a Republican from Gillette, says that Wyoming needs more partisanship in our public life, not less. That’s like your doctor telling you that you need more herpes in your body."

Rod Miller: Wyoming Should NEVER Hide Her Heritage!

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "The two of the most powerful symbols of Wyoming’s heritage, Esther Hobart Morris and Chief Washakie, deserve to be back out in front of the State Capitol. Concealing our rich heritage and hiding these symbols of who we are as a state in some underground passageway is a slap in the face of our common history. It makes us appear ashamed of two of our giants."

Rod Miller:  Strange Dance Partners - Or - Friendship, Politics and Free Speech in the Cowboy State

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "In the midst of this shitstorm, Karlee Provenza found support from a very unexpected quarter. Sen. Anthony Bouchard publicly stated that he honors her First Amendment right to free speech. That took some serious huevos."

Rod Miller: When C.J. Box Killed Me (A Wyoming Tragedy)

It's no secret that Box likes to populate his novels with characters named after folks he knows in real life. That’s how I found myself transformed into Rodney “Mandan” Miller in his first book, Open Season.

Rod Miller: The Legacy of C.J. Box's Joe Pickett in the Big Empty

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "There is an entire generation of red-shirted, green pickup-driving Wyoming game wardens who came of age reading about and identifying with Joe Pickett, and I found myself curious about how that has affected their work."

Rod Miller: The Case For Exclusion In The Equality State 

Columnist Rod Miller writes: Biological males should be excluded from all-female organizations such as the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority at UW. No matter how firmly he is convinced that he is a woman, he is still a dude doing sleepovers in a houseful of women.

Rod Miller: Wolves, Bears, the Endangered Species Act and Bedtime Stories

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "The root of the problem is an American public that views wolves, bears and feral horses as something other than what they truly are – resources needing human management in a fragmented and urbanizing West."

Rod Miller:  Eathorne’s Charge — The High-Water Mark of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "Couple the Freedom Caucus losses in many Wyoming county elections along with their dismal record of success in the legislative session, and the writing is on the wall. Folks in the Cowboy State are starting to tire of Freedom Caucus bluster and bullshit."

Rod Miller: High Noon In Bondurant (or) Doug Vickrey Is Cowboy As Hell

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "The cowboy is Doug Vickrey, a Sublette County commissioner who has had a bellyful of billionaire big talk and bullshit. Vickrey says, and I quote, 'I would like Mr. Ricketts to know that with all his wealth there are some things in this world money cannot buy, and by God I’m one of them.'"

Rod Miller: Stick It Where The Sun Don’t Shine

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "Our elected representatives in Wyoming government still meet in secret to make side deals out of the public eye. They continue to try to pull the wool over our eyes and to hamstring the institution entrusted to keep the public informed – our free press."

Rod Miller: March Madness and Human History

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "Participation trophies throughout history have included having your village plundered and burned, your land taken, your gods overthrown and your children sold into slavery by the winner. Knowing that alone should make you want to toughen up and hone your competitive skills."

Rod Miller: Fun With Nicknames and a Cartoon

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "Youll recall that a week ago, I challenged yall to come up with a moniker for folks in the Big Empty who call everyone else RINO (Republican In Name Only) and you, friends and neighbors, didnt disappoint."

Shooting the Breeze With Cat And Rod: Final Throes of the Legislature

Columnists Rod Miller and Cat Urbigkit write: "Now about Romeo Bouchard. Hes Wyomings version of Marjorie Taylor Greene, but with an anger management problem..."

Rod Miller: What Do We Call Folks Who Call Other Folks RINOs? Conserpulists, Populervatives??

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "What do we call folks who call other folks RINOs? Its not logical simply to call them Republicans, since the Wyoming GOP defines Republican as anyone registered with the party."

Rod Miller: Drugstore Conservatives in Wyoming’s Freedom Caucus

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "The Freedom Caucus wraps themselves in scripture and preach about a battle with Satan, and how Wyoming must be saved from atheist, baby-eatin communists. They confuse the halls of our legislature with the pulpit of their church."

Rod Miller: A Challenge To Sponsors Of The Moronic Crossover Voting Bill

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "For years we have watched the legislature try to impinge on the voting rights of Wyoming citizens by outlawing crossover voting, with each effort dying somewhere in the legislative process. But each time it fails, this wrong-headed notion crops up again like a persistent case of herpes."

Rod Miller:  An Open Letter to Frank “Oral” Eathorne

In an open letter to GOP chair Frank Eathorne, columnist Rod Miller writes: "Ill gladly dance on your coffee table and tell the world that you, Oral, dont amount to a gnat on Bud Brimmers butt and you aint worthy to carry Jack Speights jockstrap."

Rod Miller: Peddling Influence in the Big Empty

Columnist Rod Miller decides to be a social media influencer like Alix Earle who was paid $70k last weekend just for strutting around Jackson looking cool. But first he had to get a full body wax...

Rod Miller: Kitchen Tables in Wyoming

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "If we believe that the family is the basic building block of our state, then families gathered around the table are our most effective legislature, our most solemn church. Here is where we teach our young the fundamental skills that life requires."

Rod Miller: High Noon in Drugstore Wyoming

Columnist Rod Miller writes: Someone call John Wayne! Hordes of hippie celebrities from Hollywood, rainbow sodbusters from Sacramento, and beatnik bitcoin billionaires from Burbank are pouring across our unprotected square border to steal our rodeos."

Rod Miller:  “Coach” – Say It With Respect

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "His players revered Coach Young not only because he helped them win, but because he helped them become better men. Masculine virtue isnt only winning, but also becoming better men, fathers and citizens. A proud dad could ask for no better influence on his jock son than that."

Shooting The Breeze: Legislative Update With Cat And Rod

Two weeks in, Cat and Rod discuss the 67th Wyoming Legislature: "The good thing about the rules debate is that it took time away from everything else, and I think the less time spent developing legislative solutions to nonexistent problems, the better."

Rod Miller: “The Paradox of Plenty,” Dave Freudenthal’s Unfinished History of Wyoming

In reviewing former Wyoming Gov Dave Freudenthal's new book, Rod Miller writes: "Pardon the mixed metaphors, but Freudenthal eloquently describes the kicking-the-can-down-the-road, all-eggs-in-one-basket corner into which we in Wyoming have painted ourselves."

Rod Miller:  It’s a Small World After All

Gloomy columnist Rod Miller writes: "Overcrowding breaks the equilibrium of social order, resulting in Darwinism where only the strongest survive. I think thats what is happening in the world today."

Rod Miller: A Chinese Fire Drill in the House of the American People

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "It is doubly disturbing to read that Wyomings 'home grown' Freedom Caucus wants to closely identify with the D.C. version, and introduce that deconstructionist anarchy into our own legislature."

Rod Miller: In Memoriam — Bill Budd, Wyoming Cowboy

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "Bill Budd left his bootprints all over the dusty flanks of the state he and we all love. His passing on Jan. 2 is cause for us all to mourn, but also to celebrate a life lived in service to Wyoming."

Rod Miller: It’s a NECKERCHIEF, Dammit, It’s Not a Scarf

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "The kid could have worn stiletto heels and a bustier from Victorias Secret to the branding and not drawn more ridicule. But, like always, he worked like a demon and drank his share of beer."

Rod Miller: Ghosts Of Wyoming Governors Past

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "Herschler hired me right off the ranch to work in his office in 1984. He interviewed me in the Cloud 9 Bar just a whisker before Happy Hour. There was likely a glass of Cabin Still & water in front of him..."

Rod Miller: Cold Snaps I Have Survived

Columnist Rod "Santa Claus" Miller writes: "Ive loved Christmas ever since I was a bundled up little kid, standing out in the windblown yard forty miles from town with snot frozen on my upper lip, listening for sleigh bells. Merry Christmas, y'all. Stay warm!"

Rod Miller:  In Praise of Disturbing Words

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "Take hate speech, for instance. It is not the words that are doing the hating, the words are just symbols for human thought or emotion. Doing away with the words will do nothing to get rid of hate."

Rod Miller: We Can’t Let Trump Off The Hook For His Treachery Against Our Constitution

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "Regardless of how many MAGA memes youve seen with Trump portrayed as some flag-draped, screaming eagle uber-patriot, the man places himself above the Constitution and isnt afraid to say so."

Rod Miller: A Fading Orange Sunset, and a Primo Political Prank

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "Folks are starting to see through Trumps bullshit. The crowd is starting to realize that the emperor is buck naked, and it aint a pretty sight."

Rod Miller: Unsolicited Advice to Wyoming Democrats

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "If your party needs two hundred-thousand votes to win a statewide office, but only fifty-thousand of your fellow Wyomingites buy into your message enough to cast their votes your way, then dont blame the voters. Blame your message."

Rod Miller: Thanksgiving And The Separation Of Church And State (What The Mayflower Really Brought To The New World)

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "Ill go out on a limb here and say that Thanksgiving is NOT the favorite holiday of Neo-theocrats and Bible-thumpers, like those religious zealots in the Wyoming Republican Party."

Rod Miller: Of Men and Horses and Death

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "I have had to put down good horses that were injured beyond a vets ability to treat. I hated doing it, but it needed to be done out of compassion and yes, love for a suffering horse."

Rod Miller: Hypocrisy in the Wyoming GOP, The Sequel

Columnist Rod Miller writes: Where does Frank 'Briefly Oral' Eathorne get the gall to lecture us on the sanctity of marriage? He just went through a messy divorce because of his serial infidelities."

Rod Miller: Thunberg vs. Michelangelo and More Hijinx in Yellowstone

Columnist Rod Miller writes: The remains of Butterfly Isaaksen, a climate activist from Copenhagen, were found today near Fishing Bridge where she had apparently super-glued her hands to a badger."

Rod Miller:  Team Normal And Its Chances For A National Championship

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "We all love going to the circus, but we want to wake up in our own beds next morning. I think this is the point Liz Cheney made when she said that the humiliation of the 'Red Wave' was a victory for Team Normal."

Rod Miller: Harvest Time in the Field of Yard Signs

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "Until the party of Herschler, Sullivan and Freudenthal can once again appeal to the center in Wyoming, then the hyphen D behind a candidate's name will remain the kiss of death."

Rod Miller:  My Imaginary Rich Friends Try To Steal My Identity

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "Invariably there are two or three tempting offers from folks I dont know in Burkina Faso or the Ivory Coast who want to make a very rich man of me."

Rod Miller: Wyoming Education And The Cult Of Moloch In Cowboy Country

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "The Left wants to use the classroom to turn out rainbow unicorns. The Right wants to convert the classroom into a public catechism."

Rod Miller: The Hypocrisy of the Wyoming GOP

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "Today's GOP has turned its back on the voters of Wyoming as evidenced by its refusal to support Ogden Driskill, the clear winner of the primary in Senate District 1."

Rod Miller:  Bob Budd’s “Otters Dance” Belongs on Your Bookshelf.

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "I read Bob Budd's 'Otters Dance' as a cautionary tale, warning us against human hubris in the face of a natural world that we often try, and just as often fail, to control."

Rod Miller: 5G Connectivity In The Big Empty

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "My old coal-fired, steam-driven flip phone died the other day. This is the unit I got to replace the phone that a horse named Woody tried to eat, and drowned it in horse slobber."

Rod Miller: Hate Speech In Wyoming – A Solution

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "If hateful speech offends you, then express yourself. Stop being a silent majority."

Rev. Rod Miller’s Sunday Sermon: Lauren Boebert Is A Hypocrite

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "Rep. Lauren Boebert, Colorados lap dancer turned Congresswoman, wants the United States to be a 'Christian nation.' Sixty-one percent of her fellow Republicans agree with her."

Rod Miller: Observations At The Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame

Columnist Rod Miller writes: "My dad, Frank Miller, was posthumously inducted into the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame on Saturday in Cheyenne. My bro, Dr. Mark Segundo Miller and I agree that he was the best cowboy we ever saw or even heard about, and the best man we ever knew."