Always give your best, never get discouraged, never be petty; always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself. – Richard M. Nixon

These topics caught my attention in the last 24 hours:

• Impeachment Hearings
• DACA & SCOTUS
• Sandy Hook
• MT GOP Gubernatorial Debate
• One More Thing

IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS:

The first televised impeachment hearings are upon us. Both sides will be playing to the cameras and since they are being held during the daytime, look for them to have a soap opera feel. That may not be fair to soap operas. Maybe I should have said a circus feel.

President Trump says it’s a circus.

I saw a report that President Trump’s schedule is open on Wednesday morning, so look for his tweets throughout. He was already hitting Twitter Tuesday night.

I will also be on Twitter giving my independent thoughts (@TheWesternWord). I will be posting stories on The Western Word Facebook page, as they are available. Click HERE to view them.

About all the Democrats can hope for is that they damage Trump enough that he can’t win reelection. He’ll probably be impeached in the House, but he won’t be convicted in the Senate because Republicans run that side of the capitol.

As for Republicans, about all they can hope for is that this whole ordeal makes people feel sorry for Trump. Some of the far right-wingers are already posting on Facebook that this is a witch hunt.

Trump is not looking good in the polls right now, but that can change quickly and it will also depend on who the Democrats nominate.

Reuters, as usual, as a great report on the impeachment hearings that you can read HERE.

DACA & SCOTUS:

If you read the reports from the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) hearing about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, then you probably are thinking that the Supremes will side with President Trump.

We probably won’t find out until June or so.

The Associated Press reported:

Sharply at odds with liberal justices, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed ready Tuesday to allow the Trump administration to abolish protections that permit 660,000 immigrants to work in the U.S., free from the threat of deportation.

Trump said on Twitter, “If Supreme Court remedies with overturn, a deal will be made with Dems for them to stay!”

I’m not sure that I would trust Trump on this one, but the DACA people may not have any other choice.

About the only thing I think we know for sure is if the majority of DACA people were white, Trump would not have a problem with them.

SANDY HOOK:

Good news – Reuters is reporting that the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday dealt a blow to the firearms industry, rejecting Remington Arms Co’s bid to escape a lawsuit by families of victims aiming to hold the gun maker liable for its marketing of the assault-style rifle used in the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre that killed 20 children and six adults.

Reuters also said a key part of the lawsuit says that the Bushmaster AR-15 gun that the killer used – a semi-automatic civilian version of the U.S. military’s M-16 – had been illegally marketed by the company to civilians as a combat weapon for waging war and killing human beings.

Another line from the Reuters report that is key:

The U.S. Congress has not enacted new gun control laws in the wake of the mass shootings largely because of Republican opposition. 

I hope the families of the Sandy Hook massacre win this one.

MT GOP GUBERNATORIAL DEBATE:

There was some more news about the three Republicans running for Montana Governor. The three are U.S. Representative Greg Gianforte, Montana Attorney General Tim Fox, and Montana Senator Al Olszewski.

Should we call them the three stooges?

The Great Falls Tribune reported that Greg Gianforte cannot participate in the November 26 debate because it is family time. After thinking about it, the Republican Party of Lewis and Clark County decided not to be the “official host” of the debate.

Gianforte has some clout.

But the debate will go on with just Fox and Olszewski. I hope they have a cardboard Gianforte participate.

The Tribune reported that the Fox campaign said Webb Brown, former president of the Montana State Chamber of Commerce, will serve as moderator.

They should use a Montana journalist or someone like Aaron Flint from Montana Talks radio program to moderate the debate. Give them a free turkey for doing it.

I’m sure we’ll see Gianforte go the Steve Daines route and post some family photos of him showing off the latest expensive hunting gear and/or some scenery photos from a place that typical Montanans can’t afford.

ONE MORE THING:

Don’t forget to vote in The Western Word’s “Favorite Sitcom Theme Song” poll. You can participate in the poll by clicking HERE.

After you vote, click on the “Share” button on the poll to send it to your timeline or you can post a link on Twitter. Tell your friends to vote!

The results will be posted on Friday.

 

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