It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up. ― Babe Ruth

Welcome to the big column to end the week, “Caught My Eye” (CME)!

If you are a first-time visitor, welcome! CME is the once a week column that is posted here every Friday morning. This is when I take a look at some of the stories I did not have time to write about during the week. There may be some sarcasm and pointed independent commentary so be warned!

Here are the topics that “Caught My Eye” this week:

• Ukraine & China
• Schiff & the Whistleblower
• Evangelist Franklin Graham
• Trump Approval
• One More Thing

UKRAINE & CHINA:

Apparently, President Donald Trump believes he is above the law. He is already being investigated for asking Ukraine to investigate his possible political opponent former Vice President Joe Biden. On Thursday he said on camera that he thought the Ukraine president should investigate Biden and then added that China should investigate the Bidens, too.

I guess he did not add Russia because they are already helping him.

The media went wild. It was mostly crickets from Trump’s party, which makes one wonder how many laws will Trump break before someone in his party has the guts to tell him to grow up, obey the law, and abide by the constitution.

I wish elected officials would, for once, put the law above being reelected.

The chair of the Federal Election Commission took notice of Trump’s comments. She retweeted an earlier message from herself emphasizing, “it is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election.” (The Hill)

More and more Trump is getting in the face of the American people, his opponents, and the media, and acting like he is above the law. He gets easily pissed and I’m afraid he may do something terrible.

Unfortunately, we may find out if, as Trump said, “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”

What have we become?

SCHIFF & THE WHISTLEBLOWER:

The Democrats and the left-leaning media were cruising along on their way to impeaching President Donald Trump when they hit a bump in the road.

The New York Times reported:

The Democratic head of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, learned about the outlines of a C.I.A. officer’s concerns that President Trump had abused his power days before the officer filed a whistle-blower complaint, according to a spokesman and current and former American officials.

This little detail opened up a new can of worms. It helped Trump.

As for Schiff, his spokesperson said:

“Like other whistle-blowers have done before and since under Republican and Democratic-controlled committees, the whistle-blower contacted the committee for guidance on how to report possible wrongdoing within the jurisdiction of the intelligence community,” said Patrick Boland, a spokesman for Mr. Schiff. 

This information should have been disclosed from the very beginning by Schiff. Now it looks like his people may have helped the whistleblower write the report – at least that is what I expect Trump and his people to contend over and over.

If you are hell-bent on impeaching a president, you better have your ducks in a row.

EVANGELIST FRANKLIN GRAHAM:

Earlier this week, Evangelist Franklin Graham posted the following message on his Facebook page:

The socialist Democrats’ message to the United States of America is: 1. We’re going to take your guns, and 2. We’re going to impeach your president. Dr. Robert Jeffress warned on Fox News that this could “cause a civil war-like fracture in this nation from which this country will never heal.” I don’t know about that, but I can tell you this could lead to conflict that nobody wants if they continue down this road. Pray that God would change the hearts of Democratic leaders in Washington and that they would see the dangerous road that we’re on.

I was a big fan of Franklin Graham’s father, Billy, but I think Franklin does more harm than good especially when he gets involved in politics and chooses sides.

I don’t think leaders of churches should pick sides in politics.

Graham says that we should “Pray that God would change the hearts of Democratic leaders in Washington” but I think, as an evangelical myself, that we should pray for God’s will and all leaders from the President on down to the local officeholders. I don’t think that Graham realizes that God loves us all – or maybe he forgot.

So I will be praying for the will of God for our country. I’ll also pray that God changes the heart of Franklin Graham.

TRUMP APPROVAL:

As we get closer to the 2020 Election, approval ratings are more and more important to the candidates. Job approval ratings above 45% are best when running for reelection.

As for President Trump, Gallup Polling posted the following this week:

Americans are more likely to approve of President Donald Trump’s job performance than they are to approve of him as a person in the latest Gallup poll, with his ratings on these measures coming in at 40% and 34%, respectively. The largest gaps in Trump’s job and personal approval ratings are among Republicans and weekly churchgoers — both with double-digit gaps. Democrats’ approval ratings on the two dimensions are essentially the same (5% job and 6% personal).

Trump has a tough road ahead, but his reelection also depends on who he has as an opponent.

Read the complete Gallup report HERE.

ONE MORE THING:

The Great Falls City Commission is reviewing mural designs for the city’s new 139-foot-tall water tower on Gore Hill.

The Great Falls Tribune has photos of six designs. You can see them by clicking HERE.

Here are my ideas:

• A Minuteman III missile coming down just before impact would be great. It would also freak a lot of people out as they drive into or out of town.
• Put the City of Great Falls logo on the top, and add, “It’s not the end of the world, but you can see it from here.”
• Paint in big letters, “Nothing to see here, move along.” I am sure the Chamber would like this one.
• Put the City of Great Falls logo on the top and add, “Last stop before Canada.”
• Paint it to look like the old Big Stack.

Have a great weekend! Thanks for reading! 

 

##END##