I am starting to think I will never be old enough to know better. – Unknown
Tuesday’s Quick Hits is the column where I post a short narrative from recent major stories and provide brief commentary.
Today’s quick hits deal with these important subjects:
- Update – Stapleton and Israel
- PolitiFact’s Lie of the Year 2019
- Trump & Debates
- Meme of the Day
- One More Thing
UPDATE – STAPLETON AND ISRAEL:
If you subscribe to this blog, then you were one of the first to know that Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton was heading to Israel this week.
One thing I did not know when I posted the story was who was paying for the trip. I said that I hoped it was not the Montana taxpayers.
The Great Falls Tribune reported about the trip several hours after The Western Word. They found the following answer to my concern:
The trip is part of the American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) Project Interchange. Stapleton is among the 11 members of the first delegation from the National Association of Secretaries of State to visit Israel in partnership with AJC, according to a news release.
There was no cost to the state for Stapleton to take the trip, his staff said.
I have no problem with Stapleton taking this trip. The problem I have with Stapleton is he has disappointed me. Several years ago he showed promise as an elected official, but in the last few years, he seems like a drive-by candidate running for any office and not being happy with the office in which he was elected.
POLITIFACT’S LIE OF THE YEAR 2019:
Congratulations to President Donald Trump! He won PolitiFact’s lie of the year for 2019.
President Trump’s claim that the whistleblower got his phone call “almost completely wrong” is PolitiFact’s 2019 Lie of the Year.
You can watch the announcement video and accompanying story from PolitiFact HERE.
This is Trump’s third win of “Lie of the Year.”
TRUMP & DEBATES:
I am concerned about a story I read in The Hill that reported President Donald Trump might try to skip the debates put on by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) next year.
There are three Presidential debates scheduled in September and October 2020. There’s also a Vice Presidential debate in October 2020.
According to the CPD:
The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) was established in 1987 to ensure, for the benefit of the American electorate, that general election debates between or among the leading candidates for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States are a permanent part of the electoral process. CPD’s primary purpose is to sponsor and produce the quadrennial general election debates and to undertake research and educational activities relating to the debates. The organization, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) corporation, sponsored all of the presidential debates in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016.
According to FactCheck.org:
President Donald Trump wrongly claimed the Commission on Presidential Debates was “forced to publicly apologize for modulating” his microphone in the first 2016 general election debate. The bipartisan commission did not apologize for any willful tampering, but acknowledged, “there were issues regarding Donald Trump’s audio that affected the sound level in the debate hall.”
If Trump declines to participate, it will make him look more like a dictator.
MEME OF THE DAY:
Is it “Happy Impeachment” or is it “Merry Impeachment?” I don’t want to offend anyone!
Check out other funny memes, cartoons, and real news on The Western Word Facebook page where there’s something to get everyone’s blood boiling or make you laugh!
ONE MORE THING:
The sad news is there is no NFL football game this Thursday night. The good news is there are THREE GAMES on Saturday!
You can see the schedule HERE.
Enjoy…
The Western Word 