Happy Pi Day 2014! Thanks for stopping by.

If you are a first-time visitor, “Caught My Eye” is posted right here 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 to make you smile – or to irritate you just a little.

Everyone and everything is fair game!

Today I write about Yellowstone County Republicans, Emergency War Orders & Malmstrom AFB, Republicans who filed as Democrats, Montana High School Association, Brent Musburger, Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, Funniest Pinterest Pins of the Week, plus we have a winner who is Making Montana Proud – so read on!

Yellowstone County Republicans:

The Billings Gazette reported this week that “GOP congressional candidate Drew Turiano has been branded a racist by the Yellowstone County Republican Party and turned away from the group’s key political event.”

While I wouldn’t know Drew Turiano from Drew Carey, I thought the comments from the Yellowstone County Republican chair were interesting:

“We asked Mr. Turiano not to attend our event because we have no intention of allowing him a platform to spread hate and intolerance,” said Jennifer Owen, Yellowstone County Republican chairwoman. “There is simply no place for racism in this party.”

The executive director of the Montana Republican Party basically agreed with her comments.

I wonder what happens if Turiano shows up?

Turiano must be the third strike. First we heard about the watermelon joke posted on Facebook, and then we heard several terrible comments from the Yellowstone County Treasurer, now we have Turiano.

We can all hope that the comments about there being no place for racism in the party are genuine, and that everyone is held to those rules. We’ll be watching…

Emergency War Orders:

Yesterday the Associated Press published a 1,300 word story about the problems at U.S. nuclear missile bases. The story was initially titled, “Air Force Nuke Crew Failings Worse Than Reported.”

It’s also more serious than reported, too.

The AP pinpointed where the alleged cheating was occurring at Malmstrom AFB, Montana:

“The allegation at Malmstrom is that information on ‘emergency war orders’ exams, which test how a launch crew would handle classified messages related to missile targeting and launch, was shared in advance among launch officers.”

Emergency War Orders (EWOs) dealing with missile targeting and launch – even to civilians that sounds pretty darned important.

Who knows where this will lead. It’s now an issue of trust. It will take years to regain the public’s confidence – and Air Force missile bases may not have that long. The lack of leadership at the O-5 & O-6 level is inexcusable.

A Democrat is a Democrat…

John S. Adams of the Great Falls Tribune asks, “When is a Democrat not a Democrat?” in his story posted Thursday about Republicans who filed as Democrats for Montana’s primary. I mentioned in my last column that the Montana Cowgirl blog was all over this issue.

Montana Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee director Lauren Caldwell told Adams “It is sort of dirty politics at its worst. The goal appears to be to deceive voters.”

Ya think? I wonder if Caldwell wishes her side had done it first because anything goes in politics.

Basically if you really want to be a red, white, and blue Republican these days you almost have to submit to DNA testing, so maybe that was the reason behind it.

Realistically, it could make campaigns a lot more interesting (and our legislature) if it were easier to get on the ballot as an Independent candidate in Montana.

Montana High School Association:

I have to yell “C’Mon Man” at the Montana High School Association (MHSA) for scheduling state tournament games at 9:00 a.m. Maybe it’s been this way for years and I never noticed, but I thought it was a misprint when I read on the class AA girls Basketball tournament bracket that the first game would be played at 9:00 a.m. in Billings. This was even after the clocks were set ahead this past weekend for daylight saving time making it a double whammy.

I guess the MHSA does not want the players to be at their best for the state tourney. We are talking about teenagers here. I doubt teams had few if any 9:00 a.m. games during the season, so why start now? I understand that students are in school before 9:00 a.m., but playing basketball is different than sitting in class.

All state tournament games should start at noon or after, even if it means adding a day to the tournament or cutting down on the number of teams that go to state.

C’Mon MHSA – scheduling morning games is ridiculous, so change it.

Brent Musburger:

He will not be announcing the Saturday night college football games on ABC, but he will be announcing SEC games for the next three seasons on the new SEC Network. He won’t be calling the semi-final or national championship games, either.

Musburger took the changes in stride. He told Sports Illustrated that he will be watching those games from Montana. He added, “I’m in a very good place. I’m an old guy with a three-year contract and I can afford to buy my own beer.”

Good for him.

Making Montana Proud:

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

-From the Missoulian: “Ravalli County commissioners voted unanimously Monday to direct the county attorney’s office to file a ($29,000) lawsuit against interim treasurer Valerie Stamey.”

The most interesting part of this little story is the commissioners appointed Stamey to the Treasurer position.

Maybe the Ravalli County commissioners should file a lawsuit against the Ravalli County commissioners for incompetence…

Malaysian Airlines Flight 370:

If you have time and want to help search for the missing plane from your computer, find out how HERE.

The whole situation surrounding the missing plane is amazing…

Funniest Pinterest Pins of the Week:

For a Friday smile, check out the latest from the Pajamas & Coffee blog HERE.

My favorite, “If you ever want to call a family meeting, just shut off the Wi-Fi router and wait in the room where it’s located.”

One More Thing:

Don’t forget to stretch…

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