Welcome to “Caught My Eye!” Make sure you buckle your seatbelt – let’s get going!

If this is your first time visiting The Western Word, the “Caught My Eye” column is posted every Friday morning! This is when I take a quick look at some of the stories I did not have time to write about during the week. I often throw in a touch of sarcasm just to make you smile – or to irritate you just a little.

Today I write about Sales versus Zinke, Daines and Ryan/Murray, Morris/Waters Confirmed, Boehner finds his spine, Megyn Kelly’s hard news reporting, plus we have another winner who is Making Montana Proud!

Scott Sales v. Ryan Zinke:

It was not MTV’s celebrity death match or anything like it, but Scott Sales slammed Ryan Zinke pretty hard during the Voices of Montana right-wing radio show on Wednesday.

They are both Republicans. The attack shows what’s wrong with today’s Republican Party.

Zinke called the radio show to talk about something that I can’t remember, and toward the end of the show, Sales called. Sales was quick to say he respected Zinke’s military service, but it seems to me that was about all he respected. While I don’t have the exact quote, it was something about Zinke supporting spending in the Montana Legislature that Sales did not support. Sales said he could not support Zinke, who is running for U.S. House.

Maybe Scott Sales should remember the quote from Ronald Reagan, “The person who agrees with you 80% of the time is an ally not a 20% traitor.”

Zinke went up a notch or two in my book.

I have my doubts that the Montana Republican family feud will end anytime soon – it’s a feud that’s going on nationally, too. Somebody needs to stand up and be a leader. I also have my doubts that the two state-wide elected Republicans (Steve Daines and Tim Fox) have the guts to stand up to the extremists who have taken the Republican party down the crapper in recent years.

Daines Votes No on Ryan-Murray:

Proving that you never know how he will vote, Congressman Steve Daines was one of 94 members of the U.S. House to vote against the budget agreement. The bill passed the House 332-94.  Daines issued a statement explaining his vote.

Apparently Daines is beholden to (or scared of) the groups that Speaker Boehner railed against (see next section) these last two days.

With his vote, Daines pretty much cemented himself to the Tea Party – and that is too bad.

Boehner Finds a Spine:

Maybe Speaker of the House John Boehner should come to Montana and put some of the right-wing extremists in their place.

On Wednesday he took to task some right-wing outside groups opposing the budget deal before it was announced saying they were “using our members and they’re using the American people.”

On Thursday he did not retreat (nor did he cry). He said these extremist groups have “lost all credibility.”

Moderates need to stand with Speaker Boehner, or he may not be Speaker for too much longer.

Morris/Waters Confirmed:

Montana has two new Federal judges, Brian Morris and Susan Watters. The senate voted 75 to 20 to confirm Morris and 77 to 19 to confirm Watters.

The interesting thing about the road to their confirmation was the cloture votes.

In the past, the senate required 60 votes to invoke cloture (end debate) on judicial nominees. If a nominee did not get 60 or more votes they were probably not going to be confirmed. That was until Senate Majority leader Harry Reid brought forth the “nuclear option” that changed the rules to a simple majority.

The cloture vote for Watters was 58-39 and the cloture vote for Morris was 57-40.

Who knows how the change in the rules played out during the cloture vote, but it does show how fractured the senate has become since the rule change. These two judges would have easily passed a cloture vote before the rule change.

The best advice I can give Morris and Watters is to keep their jokes clean and don’t send them via official e-mail – and to excuse me from Federal jury duty in January…

“Santa just is white”

According to this story in the Los Angeles Times, the golden girl of Fox News, Megyn Kelly, “criticized a Slate article written by a black journalist that questioned cultural depictions of Santa as white and suggested that the traditional jolly and zaftig elf should be replaced by a penguin.”

Kelly’s response, “For all you kids watching at home, Santa just is white.”

Kelly has a new show on Fox that follows The O’Reilly Factor. It’s great that the Fox News leaders are letting her report on these major news stories.

Making Montana Proud:

This section is where I mention people or groups whose actions embarrass Montana in some way.

-From the Great Falls Tribune: “Douglas Leys, 45, of Pendroy is charged with fourth or subsequent DUI and bribery in official matters, both felonies, as well as misdemeanor operation of a vehicle while intoxicated, failure to carry proof of liability insurance, aggravated DUI and partner or family member assault.”

It was also reported that Leys offered one of the officers $500 to let him go.

If past history is any indication, I’m sure one of the local judges will let him go…

One More Thing:

Don’t forget to stretch…

 

## MERRY CHRISTMAS ##