Rod Miller
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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 MillerMay 05, 2024
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 MillerMay 03, 2024
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 MillerApril 28, 2024
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 MillerApril 23, 2024
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 MillerApril 21, 2024
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 MillerApril 18, 2024
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 MillerApril 14, 2024
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 MillerApril 12, 2024
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 MillerApril 07, 2024
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 MillerApril 03, 2024
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 MillerMarch 31, 2024
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 MillerMarch 24, 2024
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 MillerMarch 22, 2024
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 MillerMarch 17, 2024
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 MillerMarch 15, 2024
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 MillerMarch 10, 2024
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 MillerMarch 08, 2024
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."
Rod MillerMarch 03, 2024
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.
Cat Urbigkit & Rod MillerFebruary 28, 2024
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 MillerFebruary 27, 2024
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 MillerFebruary 25, 2024
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 MillerFebruary 20, 2024
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 MillerFebruary 18, 2024
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 MillerFebruary 11, 2024
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 MillerFebruary 04, 2024
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 MillerJanuary 31, 2024
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 MillerJanuary 28, 2024
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 MillerJanuary 21, 2024
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 MillerJanuary 14, 2024
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 MillerJanuary 07, 2024
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 MillerJanuary 04, 2024
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 MillerDecember 31, 2023
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 MillerDecember 24, 2023
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 MillerDecember 17, 2023
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 MillerDecember 10, 2023
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 MillerDecember 03, 2023
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."
Rod MillerNovember 26, 2023
Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, November 22, 2023
Rod MillerNovember 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 MillerNovember 22, 2023