It’s Friday – are you ready for the weekend?  Are you really ready?

If this is your first time visiting The Western Word the “Caught My Eye” column is posted every Friday morning right here!  It’s where I take a quick look at some of the stories I did not have time to write about during the week – and I often throw in a touch of sarcasm just to make you smile.  So, get ready to head into your weekend armed with knowledge and a smile.

Today I talk about Cuts to our Nuclear Arsenal, McCain in Great Falls and a Tester welcome, the Downpour Music Festival, Max’s Vacation Plans, Joe Biden, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Romney & Taxes, Hooliganism, and I pry open my political inbox and share.  There’s a lot more so read on…

Deeper Cuts to Nuclear Arsenal?

A report recently posted on the InsideDefense.com website says, “The United States should offer to reduce its nuclear arsenal significantly below current treaty requirements to no more than 1,000 deployed strategic warheads and 500 strategic delivery vehicles if Russia is willing to reciprocate…”

There’s also talk that the United States and Russia should “accelerate the pace of reductions already planned under New START.”

I still think there’s a chance that one or two missile bases (there are three) will be closed.  Sadly, the world is a very dangerous place, but missile bases are the low-hanging fruit on the defense tree.  Our country is broke and our government needs to make some drastic cuts.

McCain in Great Falls:

Although he did not campaign in Montana in 2008 (he won the state nonetheless), U.S. Senator John McCain, a veteran and ranking minority member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, will be Great Falls (MT) today for a Veterans Roundtable with Congressman Denny Rehberg.  Info about the event can be seen HERE.

The real reason McCain is in town is to help Rehberg get elected to the U.S. Senate.  There will be a fundraiser Friday night for Rehberg that McCain is attending.  Tickets start at $100.

Tester Welcomes McCain:

On page 5A of Friday’s Great Falls Tribune, the Montanans for Tester campaign welcomed Republican Senator John McCain to Montana with a full-page ad which you can see HERE (click on the ad to enlarge).  Tester thanks McCain for “standing with Montanans against Citizens United” the recent Supreme Court case that prevents the government from restricting independent political expenditures by corporations and unions.

Although it was probably very costly to purchase the ad, this is another smart move by the Tester campaign…

Downpour Music Festival:

If you are near Great Falls (Montana) this weekend you should attend the Downpour Christian Music festival which is being held at Montana Expo Park.  It is FREE.  The festival starts (today) Friday at 4:00 p.m. with one of my favorite bands, The Hope Movement, and concludes Sunday with Church in the Park at 11:00.

For more information visit the website HERE.  See you there…

Jack’s Political Inbox:

During the political season I receive hundreds of e-mails from candidates, elected officials, and/or groups (from all political parties) promoting a cause, many just hoping they get mentioned (in a kind and gentle way) on The Western Word website!  So I select a few each week that “Caught My Eye” and share them with my readers.  This week I picked three that I think you will enjoy…

–David Axelrod from the Obama Campaign did not wait too long before he hit send on anti-Paul Ryan stuff.  On Saturday afternoon Axelrod sent me an e-mail with the subject, “Video: Get to know Paul Ryan” where he writes, “This morning, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan stood on a platform in Norfolk, Virginia, and introduced themselves to the country as ‘America’s Comeback Team.’  ‘Go Back Team’ would be more appropriate — because a Romney-Ryan administration is the definition of a fast track back to the failed, top-down economic policies of the past.”

Politics is a contact sport…

–Erik Iverson, the Campaign Manager for the Rehberg Campaign, sent me an e-mail on Thursday with the subject, “Crickets.”  Iverson wrote, “Three days ago, Denny offered a very simple challenge to Senator Tester: explain to Montanans why you believe President Barack Obama deserves to be re-elected.”  Iverson goes on to say, “Denny enthusiastically laid out the case for why he (like the majority of Montanans) will be voting for the Romney-Ryan ticket.”

And I thought Rehberg was supporting Michele Bachmann for President…

–Joe Biden sent me an e-mail on Sunday with the subject, “Romney’s choice” where he said, “Starting now, we can expect even more wealthy, right-wing ideologues lining up to support the Romney-Ryan ticket.”  Biden then said some very important words that all candidates and campaign workers should read, “Every single day from now until Election Day matters.  At the end of it, we’ll all ask ourselves if we did everything we could to make sure that we are able to keep fighting for change.”

The day after Election Day is too late for “What if…”

Vacation Plans:

U.S. Senator Max Baucus is using his August vacation to head to New Zealand and Japan to promote U.S and Montana trade.

It’s a tough life being a U.S. Senator…

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals:

There’s a lot of talk about the “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” program that started Wednesday and thousands of people are taking part in the program which basically allows young illegal immigrants to work legally in the United States.  It does not provide lawful status or a pathway to permanent residence or citizenship according to the rules for the program which are listed HERE.  The Associated Press takes a look at the issue HERE.

Unlike many folks, this program does not bother me.  I feel very safe in my bunker…

Joe Biden:

I like Joe Biden, but I also feel for his “handlers” as sometimes the Vice President goes off script and sometimes he crashes and burns.  The Los Angeles Times has the story HERE.

As a communications major I love to listen to speeches.  With some people like Biden, it’s like watching a skier take on a tough downhill course – you are watching and leaning with every move and when it’s over you finally exhale in relief. 

It’s also tough for the staffers when they are staffing an event and they worry that at any moment their boss may crash and burn.  When he/she does the crash and burn, they know that within the next few hours the news will not be good – so you make the calls and circle the wagons.  Then there are the newspapers the next day.  Hopefully when it happens, it will all be over in 24 hours – but then you have the campaign ads to look forward to…

Romney & Taxes:

Mitt Romney drove his campaign into the income tax ditch again by telling folks (somewhat proudly) “he has paid at least 13 percent of his income in federal taxes every year for the past decade.”  Democrats and many others said he needed to release his returns to prove it.

Romney was trying to explain his stance on Medicare when the income tax issue came up.  I heard that the three network evening newscasts led off their show with the income tax story Thursday evening.

In my humble opinion, it is past time for Romney to come clean about his income taxes and release them to the public…

Happy Birthday:

Belinda Carlisle from the Go-Gos turns 54 today.  Favorite song – “We got the beat.”

Since it’s Friday you should crank it up…go ahead crank it up…your boss won’t care.

Hooliganism:

From the “you can’t make this up file” CNN reported this morning that “Three members of the punk rock band Pussy Riot were found guilty today on charges of hooliganism, Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency reports.  The three women were brought to trial after they performed a song critical of President Vladimir Putin in a cathedral in Moscow.”  Read the story HERE.

The BBC is now reporting, “Three members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot have been jailed for two years after staging an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral.”

After reading this I am happy to be living in the USA…

One More Thing:

Don’t forget to stretch…