I was not at all surprised when I received an e-mail late Friday afternoon from possible U.S. House candidate, Dennis McDonald, regarding the accident involving Congressman Denny Rehberg and State Senator Greg Barkus. This is politics, right?
First, the e-mail arrived in my inbox about 4:28 p.m. on Friday afternoon, which did surprise me. This is a time when politicians and office holders send out stuff they don’t want anyone to read. (more…)
Welcome to the new home of The Western Word. All the posts from the old Western Word were imported for your viewing pleasure. For those frequent readers, please change your bookmark.
Importing all my old posts will allow my critics the ability to catch me changing my mind! But, it’s my blog so that’s my choice. I have lived long enough to change my mind a time or two (or three).
I’ve been blogging since January of 2005, and decided it would be nice to “rent” this domain name: thewesternword.com (more…)
National Security:
Back in July, I tweeted about the agreement between Russia and the United States to cut the number of nuclear warheads to between 1,500 and 1,675 each. I commented at that time, this may signal the closure of a Minuteman missile base in the future (there are only three left). (more…)
I took a little vacation time this last week to catch up on some things around the house and relax. I was watching the coverage of the 9-11 ceremonies on Friday morning. As usual, I was checking Twitter to see what was happening in the world, when I read a Tweet that said something like this:
“Coast Guard confronts boat as Obama visits Pentagon, police scanner reports say shots fired.”
Quickly I headed to the Reuters mobile web site and read the short story posted there. I then headed to CNN’s site and checked the info there. I checked several cable news channels to catch the news about it. (more…)
I completely agree with Gregg over at Electric City Weblog regarding his post entitled, “Feigned Outrage” about the silliness that is being posted from the left side of the blogosphere about the boating accident a couple of weeks ago.
He writes, Reading the ‘left side’ of the blogosphere, though, one finds the breathless ‘coverage’ of the Denny Rehberg accident to border on the silly. These people pluck ‘facts’ from news stories and rumors and extrapolate all sorts of perceived misdeeds on the part of our Congressman, all while we really know nothing about the fundamental fact in issue. And all while a young man lies in a hospital bed. (more…)
The President gave his speech last night to Congress and the American people. Of course, Obama gives great speeches (with a teleprompter) so that was the easy part. Overall I gave Obama a five out of 10 on the speech. The five was for his delivery. Partisanship and length cost him in my book. (more…)
The healthcare issue is hitting fever pitch today, with President Obama addressing a joint session of Congress tonight in a ”Hail Mary” attempt to find some common ground. It seems the expectations are very high for Obama. Too high in my opinion.
Here we are in September and the new Democrat Congress and White House have shown that they are not exactly ready for prime time. On the other hand looking back, the Republican-controlled Congress and White House did not do much better, although they spent a lot less of our money. (more…)
Here are a few things that caught my attention this week.
Healthcare:
Max Baucus has been ineffective as the senate leader on this issue. In fact, if he was running for office in the next couple of years and the right candidate came along to run against him, he would lose – maybe to a primary challenger because even folks in his own party are sick of him.
When history is written about the senate career of Baucus, he will be known as an ineffective leader who failed to produce any significant legislation in 30+ years.
The Obama “back to school” speech:
I have to agree with the White House when they said the uproar over the President’s speech to school children has “reached a little bit of the silly season.”
My 11 year-old asked if I thought she should listen to the speech. I said, “Of course, he’s our President.” I added, “Although I don’t agree with him on many issues, I think anytime you can listen to the President, you should.”
If she does listen to the President’s speech, we’ll discuss it when she gets home.
Also, my wife is a public school teacher and some parents were worried she might “make” her students listen to the speech.
By the way, I voted for McCain. That vote is looking pretty good these days.
The Obama Healthcare Speech:
Since Max Baucus has not come up with a plan and since many of the other plans are facing obstacles, President Obama will address a joint session of Congress Wednesday night. It’s a good deal that he did not plan on giving this address on Thursday night-the opening of the NFL season!
Realistically, the GOP smells blood in the water – especially since the Town Halls that Democrats held in August (except for Tester and Baucus, who held zero) showed many people don’t like these plans.
If the Democrats want to govern, they have the votes – but they seem to be fighting amongst themselves. If the Democrats don’t take this historic opportunity to govern, they may not get another chance for decades.
Sarah Palin:
There was an interesting article in Politico about all the ethics charges filed against her. In short, this sentence should settle it, “To date, all of the complaints that have been processed by state officials have been dismissed.”
Checkpoint to Nowhere:
In case you have not read the article in the National Review by my friend, Travis Kavulla, about a stimulus boondoggle in Big Sky country, you should. Click HERE to read.
Kavulla does a fine job in shining light on the $15 million earmark that was given by the Department of Homeland Security to the border ports in Daniels County, Montana, where one port has a busy day with an average of three visitors.
Career Homeland Security officials had their own priority list of places that needed this funding, but it became political. That’s not good for our nation’s security when a couple of fellas like Senator Max Baucus and Senator Jon Tester (who have no national security experience) can earmark money for projects that are not on or are way down the list.
One fact that Kavulla did not mention is that in 2006, U.S. Senate candidate Jon Tester said Congress was spending money like drunken sailors. Now, I don’t know if Congress is spending money like crack-heads or what, but Tester surely loves the taste of the pork he campaigned so hard against.
Montana could sure use a couple of new U.S. Senators.
The Boating Accident:
More and more information is coming forth about the boating accident that Congressman Denny Rehberg was involved in with State Senator Greg Barkus and three others.
Of course, there are conspiracy theories galore about the accident and several rumors have popped up. I will wait until the officials finish their investigation before making comments.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the people injured in the accident, especially Rehberg’s state director, Dustin Frost. Frost is a fine young man. Get well soon, my friend.
Van Jones:
OK, how in the heck do I get a job as a Czar? I am thinking “Blogging Czar” or “Veterans Czar.”
The past of Mr. Van Jones, President Obama’s green jobs czar, is coming back to haunt him. Obama should ask for his resignation. There are plenty of folks who could use a job these days who have kept their mouths shut.
Jobs:
This Labor Day I am thankful to have a job. Unemployment rate just hit a 26-year high of 9.7% the other day. It’s Obama’s baby. Chisel it into history. Your party is in charge.
Football:
I decided to take a little vacation next week and enjoy some time off. Football season is here. Today, the NFL rosters must be cut down to 53 men. If you make the 53 man roster, you are an instant millionaire. There’s still a chance for those who have been cut, because in football, like life, another man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
Catch you on Twitter!
