Rod Miller
Latest from Rod Miller
Rod Miller: A Campfire Christmas
Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Twas the night before Christmas, ‘round the ol’ campfire. Coyotes were howlin’ out past the picket wire."
Rod MillerDecember 22, 2024
Rod Miller: Wyoming's Signature Cocktail Is The Ice Slough Mint Julep
Columnist Rod Miller writes, "When the julep hits your gullet, it’s like drinking brimstone distilled in lye, with an after-taste of death on the trail. But you’ve come this far, so you drink it all. Momma keeps making juleps ‘til the jug is empty."
Rod MillerDecember 15, 2024
Rod Miller: Wyoming Democrats & the Elusive “Different Result”
Columnist Rod Miller writes, "So, Democrats in the Wyoming Legislature were cold-shouldered when committee assignments were recently handed out. As expected, they grumped and groused about being left out. That’s really the only response available to them because they simply don’t control enough seats to effect any other outcome."
Rod MillerDecember 09, 2024
Rod Miller: The 10 Worst Things In Wyoming In 2024
Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Number 6 – The 'out of order' signs, and police tape that encircles the Independence Rock rest area as you are on your way home from Frontier Days, with your intestines full to bursting with funnel cakes. And you lock your keys in the car."
Rod MillerDecember 08, 2024
Rod Miller: Mutton Conductin’ in the Cowboy State
Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Coyotes are the reason Dad finally got out of the sheep business. He tried everything to keep them from murdering our sheep. He even bought a helicopter to hunt coyotes and that didn’t even make a dent. Coyotes are smart as hell, and they just kept out-thinking us."
Rod MillerDecember 01, 2024
Rod Miller: Dear Li’l Chucky, Let’s Rumble!
Columnist Rod Miller writes, "On 'The Cowboy State Daily Morning Show With Jake last Monday, Secretary of State Gray accepted my months-long challenge to a debate. Needless to say, my nostrils flared and my pupils dilated with anticipation."
Rod MillerNovember 27, 2024
Rod Miller: Free Speech and the Hypocrisy of the Wyoming GOP
Rod Miller writes, "It’s almost as if the Wyoming Republican Party wants to prevent any voice other than their own from being heard out in the Big Empty. It’s almost as if Party leadership wants Wyomingites to hear only their officially-sanctioned speech."
Rod MillerNovember 24, 2024
Rod Miller: Gen Z Around the Ol’ Campfire – or – Kids These Days
Columnist Rod Miller writes, "A yellow bus from Big Empty High School had pulled up to cow camp in the pale pre-dawn, and dropped off a dozen or so juniors and seniors for their annual field trip to the sticks. Their broncpeeler chaperons paired off with a newbie apiece, and set out to do cowboy work."
Rod MillerNovember 21, 2024
Rod Miller: Red Shirts, Green Pickups, Murdered Muleys and Me
Columnist Rod Miller writes, "I was gratified to see that a woman, Angi Bruce, was given the nod to replace Brian Nesvick as Game and Fish Director when he retired. I certainly wish her the best, because I nearly got that job decades ago."
Rod MillerNovember 17, 2024
Rod Miller: In Praise Of Tricksters And The Free Press
Columnist Rod Miller writes, "If you read something that offends you or calls into question your basic beliefs – say, in a column in Cowboy State Daily – feel free to read no further, and go back to your pep rally."
Rod MillerNovember 14, 2024
Rod Miller: Defining Moments in Our Democracy
Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Given the magnitude of voter turnout this year, and the margins in contested races, there can be little doubt that the people have spoken loudly and clearly. That, to me, is a source of pride in our country and our state."
Rod MillerNovember 10, 2024
Rod Miller: Triggered by Democracy? Seek Aromatherapy!
Rod Miller writes: “If pansy-ass students don’t have enough confidence in their own political beliefs to subject them routinely to the democratic process of wins and losses, they are better off making slime. They sure as hell won’t have what it takes to fight for them.”
Rod MillerNovember 08, 2024
Rod Miller: Wyoming Gets Off the Couch, Like Those Cowboys at Lexington
From what I saw today at Storey Gym, nobody can say with a straight face that the people of Wyoming weren’t given a chance to speak. I have never seen so many people waiting to vote. I, for one, am impressed and humbled."
Rod MillerNovember 05, 2024
Rod Miller: When You Vote in Wyoming, Ignore the Fear-Mongering
Columnist Rod Miller writes, "According to Oral Eathorne, our elections are rife with crime. And according to Li’l Chucky Gray, since Colorado and the Big Elsewhere seem to have problems running secure elections, we in Wyoming are similarly threatened."
Rod MillerNovember 03, 2024
Rod Miller: Will The Freedom Caucus Lead The Charge For Government Transparency?
Rod Miller writes, "Maybe this is where the Wyoming Freedom Caucus proves its worthiness of the trust the voters have placed in them. If the Freedom Caucus’ campaign rhetoric about openness and transparency in government is not just a bunch of hot air, they’ll lead this charge."
Rod MillerOctober 29, 2024
Rod Miller: Drugstore Cowboys in Westonistan
Columnist Rod Miller writes: "Will the commissars of Westonistan decide that their new borders, and the rich Ivermectin deposits within them, aren’t adequately protected by law enforcement and the military based in Cheyenne? Will they decide to raise a standing army of their own to do the job?"
Rod MillerOctober 27, 2024
Rod Miller: Snow Is Just Another Four-Letter Word
Columnist Rod Miller writes: “I sincerely believe that hell will not be a hot place. It will be a cold, dead, snow-covered ridge-top where the wind never stops blowing and you forgot to put on your long johns.”
Rod MillerOctober 20, 2024
Rod Miller: Where the Sun Don’t Shine In The Wyoming Legislature
Columnist Rod Miller writes: "There should be no 'safe spaces' in the capitol where legislators can go to hide so their feelings don’t get hurt by a curious press or a demanding public. Any public official in Wyoming who thinks otherwise would be well-advised to remember Richard Nixon."
Rod MillerOctober 16, 2024
Rod Miller: There Are Two Kinds Of People In This World, The Cow Crew Figures
Columnist Rod Miller writes: “Rawhide from Rawlins, who had a year of community college under his Stetson, offered his educated opinion. ‘The only two kinds of people in the world are men an’ woman. I read that in a biology book once.’”
Rod MillerOctober 13, 2024
Rod Miller: Remembering Yellowstone On Fire In '88
Rod Miller writes, "I was working in Governor Sullivan’s office when the Park caught fire in ‘88. As the news spread around the country, it caused the same sort of visceral reaction among folks. Yellowstone was on fire!"
Rod MillerOctober 09, 2024
Rod Miller: Blooming Flowers & Political Hypocrisy In The Cowboy State
Rod Miller writes, "For my money, it is Cowboys (capital C) like Scott Harnsberger who may be the only thing that saves the Wyoming Republican Party from spiraling down into an authoritarian abyss of gnarliness that would make the Founders of the U.S. and Wyoming, both of whom cherished plurality and free speech, puke."
Rod MillerOctober 06, 2024
Rod Miller: REAL Republicans & Broncpeelers Around The Ol’ Campfire
Columnist Rod Miller writes, "Rawhide from Rawlins exclaimed, 'I got a text from ‘em, the Wyoming GOP I mean, an’ it said iff’n I didn’t swear to be a REAL Republican, I’d come down with a case o’ cooties from a Haitian hooker. They invited me to a rally to take the blood oath.'"
Rod MillerOctober 02, 2024
Rod Miller: Stewing Pumpkin Spice Liver & Onions
Columnist Rod Miller writes, "I want Cowboy State Daily readers to know that Clair McFarland is not the only writer in the stable who can pen warm scenes of domestic tranquility that take place in the kitchen."
Rod MillerSeptember 29, 2024
Rod Miller: Beer and Chinwags With Dead Folks Around The Ol’ Campfire
Columnist Rod Miller writes, “'Supposin’ ya had a time machine,'” blurted Little Joe the Wrangler, out of absolutely nowhere, 'an’ you could go back in history an’ have a beer with anyone you want. Who would ya have a beer with?'”
Rod MillerSeptember 25, 2024
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 MillerSeptember 22, 2024
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 MillerSeptember 20, 2024
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 MillerSeptember 18, 2024
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 MillerSeptember 15, 2024
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 MillerSeptember 12, 2024
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 MillerSeptember 08, 2024
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 MillerSeptember 06, 2024
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 MillerSeptember 01, 2024
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 MillerAugust 28, 2024
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 MillerAugust 25, 2024
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 MillerAugust 21, 2024
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 MillerAugust 18, 2024
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 MillerAugust 11, 2024
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 MillerAugust 04, 2024
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 MillerAugust 01, 2024
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 MillerJuly 28, 2024
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 MillerJuly 27, 2024
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 MillerJuly 21, 2024
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 MillerJuly 16, 2024
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 MillerJuly 14, 2024
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 MillerJuly 09, 2024
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 MillerJuly 07, 2024
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 MillerJuly 05, 2024
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 MillerJune 30, 2024
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 MillerJune 28, 2024
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 MillerJune 26, 2024
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 MillerJune 23, 2024
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 MillerJune 18, 2024
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 MillerJune 16, 2024
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 MillerJune 14, 2024
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 MillerJune 09, 2024
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 MillerJune 05, 2024
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 MillerJune 02, 2024
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 MillerMay 30, 2024
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 MillerMay 26, 2024
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 MillerMay 21, 2024
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 MillerMay 19, 2024
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 MillerMay 12, 2024
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 MillerMay 10, 2024
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