Cowboy State Politics

In 2026 the Cow Pie has published 31 articles about conservatives' ties to Jackson. They have published ZERO about Barlow's. There's 17 posts on Barlow's page about Jackson, none from the Cow Pie.  Why? 

Monday Barlow was in Jackson and was asked about his climate activism. He claimed that any suggestion that he's anti-energy is just false. That doesn't explain why he told Congress we have to "move beyond non-renewable sources of energy."

In trying to explain the carbon capture mandate, Barlow said the administration at the time was pushing it. When 2020 HB200 was passed, Donald J. Trump was President and it was 9 months before the election.

The argument they always use is "if it saves just one life" then it's worth it.  Really that doesn't make any sense.  A whole bunch of people die from falling down the stairs every year.  No one is going to say we should outlaw them because of that. But that's the argument that's being used with Flock cameras. Oh, and, police can't do their job without them. The real question should be do these things violate the Constitution.

Jake in the Cow Pie had a proponent of Flock cameras on his show this morning. Really, his argument was two-fold: they've been around a long time and they make us safer.  Neither of those mean these cameras don't violate your rights.

Friday on the Cowboy State Daily Morning Show, Rod Miller claimed that I was responsible for a controversial post on the Sheridan County GOP Facebook page. He claimed to have read that in an article. Really, he was basing it on a social media post by Gail Symons in which she accused me of writing the post. Jake Nichols agreed with him. But, none of it is true.

No one at the Cow Pie (CSD) bothered to call and ask me if I wrote the post. They didn't ask if I had access to the page in question--all of them assumed I did. The Cow Pie didn't respond to my request for comment on their morning broadcast. 

The worst part? Rod Miller knew he couldn't confirm what he was saying; on the front page of the Cow Pie's website, he said it anyway.

For most races in Wyoming, the Primary Election is it.  In years past, that's the case for Wyoming Governor's mansion also.  But not this year.  Rebecca Bextel is mounting a third-party challenge to Eric Barlow.  While she was in Sheridan for a few campaign events, I sat down with her during today's edition of Cowboy State Politics Live.

It's been a while since I played an episode of the Live program on the podcast, so I thought today I would play the whole thing for you.  Ken and I also discussed the Star Plunge in Thermopolis and why that's turned into a giant mess. Who could have foreseen that the government getting involved in business would turn out that way?

Also, we spent some time at the top of the show going over Cyrus Western, Eric Barlow and Mark Gordon's completely disingenuous praise for the EPA's recent ruling.

While we shouldn't ever forget September 11th and what happened to our country, in many ways, September 12 is just as important.  We did something that hadn't been done in a long time--we came together.  Don't let anyone tell you that right now we are more divided than we have ever been.  It's not true. 10 months before Sept 11, we didn't know who the President was going to be. That wasn't official until Dec 12, 2000. We didn't have social media at that time but for months George W. Bush went through derangement syndrome before it was a thing.  Amid all of that, we still came together.

Harriet and Chuck are not attending the General Election PBS debates.  Why should they? Debates are always about risks and rewards for candidates.  There's a lot of risk and zero reward where PBS is concerned.  And they're probably going to win anyway.  But of course, the Wyoming media isn't explaining those reasons for you--they just (unknowingly) printed a page and a half of reasons why both candidates should and did said no.

Replay of Cowboy State Politics Live September 9.  Agent 29 is back! NOW, the Democrats are complaining about PAC's they can't control.  Liz Storer set up a PAC to defend liberal Teton County politicians.  Kangaroo Mike Gireau says it's "distortive." Whatever that means.  Are we now at AGI with AI?  That's a terrifying prospect. And lots more.

Eric Barlow has a history of supporting medicaid expansion.  He said so in the PBS debate before the election.  But he also argued for it on the floor of the House in 2021.  It's not "Flat-out false" as he claims.

The 50% reduction in residential property taxes will be on the November ballot. There's a ton of misinformation about it.  When you look at the numbers, if county commissioners just stopped wasting taxpayer money it wouldn't be a big deal.  Residential property taxes only account for a small portion of overall revenues.  In Sheridan, the commishes could have build two ugly flower pots for what the property tax reduction would amount to.

Barlow's campaign spokeswoman, Rebekah Fitzgerald leads an organization, Wyoming FREE, that is backed by former Barack Obama Administration and campaign officials. Since 2023, Wyoming FREE has taken over $600,000 from an organization called Article IV.  That group is run by a list of former Obama officials.  That Barlow chose to Fitzgerald to speak on his behalf, it tells you everything you need to know about him. 

"It's just flat-out false." That's how Barlow responds to any criticism of his record.  He has a really long history of supporting medicaid expansion. He's in favor of moving away from fossil fuels.  At least, that's what he told CONGRESS. And, he has opposed bans on sanctuary cities--for years.  His response to all of it is that it's false.  His extensive legislative record doesn't lie.

Sheridan County Deputy Attorney Clint Beaver and Sheridan County Deputy Clerk Kim Hein insisted that no pictures could be taken or anything recorded at the hand-county audit held today 8/29. Beaver hilariously tried to claim that one section of the Constitution allowed him to violate another one.