Welcome to Friday and to those of you who get a three-day weekend – Congrats! To those of you serving as U.S. Senators and Representatives, enjoy your week off…

If this is your first time visiting The Western Word, the “Caught My Eye” column is 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 some sarcasm just to make you smile. So get ready to head into your weekend armed with knowledge and a smile.

Today I write about Tester’s Committee Assignments, Electric City Weblog, Dark Money, Johnson trial, the Hagel filibuster, the cruise, the meteor, and much more!

Tester Committee Assignments:

I was very happy to see that U.S. Senator Jon Tester has secured a seat on the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations subcommittee, which means he (and Montana), will have real clout on military issues for the first time since 2006. That is good news for Malmstrom AFB and Montana’s National Guard and their supporters.

Being on the Veterans Affairs Appropriations subcommittee coupled with his seat on the Committee of Veterans’ Affairs is a great thing for Montana veterans as well.

Things are looking up…

Electric City Weblog:

And just like that, the Electric City Weblog (ECW) has decided to call it quits with a “Lights Out” column that was posted on Sunday, which means there isn’t much of a conservative blog presence in Big Sky Country these days.

We both started blogging around the same time (The Western Word on January 10, 2005 and ECW on February 24, 2005) and probably agreed on more things than not.

The Great Falls Tribune said goodbye to ECW in Friday’s paper and mentioned The Western Word. You can read their opinion HERE.

ECW was a beacon of light for conservatives. That light is now extinguished…

Dark Money:

No, “dark money” is not what is used by the “Dark Knight.”

Montana Governor Steve Bullock (Democrat) and Montana State Senator Jim Peterson (Republican) joined forces and revealed their plan to combat the so-called dark money in Montana politics. Peterson will introduce a bill called the Transparency, Reporting and Accountability in Campaigns (TRACE) Act.

The Great Falls Tribune has the story HERE.

It’s good to see some folks in Helena working together, but I imagine the far-right Republicans are probably not too happy with Peterson. I salute him and Bullock for working together.

Johnson Trial:

It’s been interesting to follow the rape trial of former University of Montana quarterback Jordan Johnson this week. Several times each day while reading the Tweets I find myself thinking Johnson is guilty and then not guilty. It looks like being a juror on this case will be tough.

A big thanks to the Missoulian (@Missoulian) and their reporters for the Tweets from the courtroom (what did we do before Twitter?).

I was happy to see the Twitter hashtag #UMRape changed to #JohnsonTrial.

I thought it was interesting to read that the Judge gave each side 1441 minutes to present their case. I guess justice does have a time limit even when a person’s future is at stake.

Hagel Filibuster:

Let’s face it – the Republicans in the U.S. Senate are really a piece of work these days. Now we know how some the Republicans feel about enlisted people (Chuck Hagel was an enlisted person, as was I). On Thursday the Republicans filibustered the Hagel nomination, who is the President’s nominee for Secretary of Defense.  By the way, Chuck Hagel was a Republican Senator…

Maybe Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid should have pushed for better filibuster changes…

Republicans tried to claim they were not filibustering Hagel’s nomination. A breaking news alert from Fox News reported, “Senate Republicans hold up Chuck Hagel’s nomination to lead the Pentagon, marking the first time the chamber has successfully filibustered a Cabinet nominee.” A CNN Breaking News alert reported, “Republicans blocked Chuck Hagel’s nomination for defense secretary, with Democrats failing to get the votes to break a filibuster.”

What is also shameful was how freshman senator Ted Cruz (Texas) smeared Hagel just before the Senate Armed Services Committee voted on his nomination. By the way, Ted Cruz never cared enough about this country to serve a single day in the military.

It has been a shameful display by Republicans. The next vote on Hagel is February 26 (after the senate is back from vacation). If Cruz has any manners he will head to the senate floor and apologize to Hagel – Texas has big military presence that could be in jeopardy now.

The Cruise:

It was nice to see the 4,200 passengers aboard the disabled Carnival cruise ship Triumph arrived safely at a port in Mobile, Alabama, last night. It sounded like a nightmare. I’ve never been on a cruise, and I might never go on one now.

Maybe we should send our elected officials on a cruise…

Hit by a Meteor:

According to OMG Facts, “The odds of a meteor landing on your house are 1 in 182,138,880,000,000.” OMG Facts also puts it in perspective with, “Your odds of becoming the President of the United States, dating a supermodel, or contracting mad cow disease are much much better than your odds of your house getting hit by a meteor. You’re also more likely to witness a UFO or die from either a shark attack or from contact with hot tap water.”

The Associated Press today reported, “A meteor streaked through the sky and exploded Friday over Russia’s Ural Mountains with the power of an atomic bomb, its sonic blasts shattering countless windows and injuring more than 750 people.”

Are there any supermodels in Russia?

One More Thing:

Don’t forget to stretch…