Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet. – Roger Miller

These topics caught my attention in the last 24 hours:

• Little Shell Chippewa Tribe
• Triple Homicide in Great Falls
• Trump’s Letter

LITTLE SHELL CHIPPEWA TRIBE:

There’s one step left for the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe to gain federal recognition and that is for President Donald Trump to sign the bill, which is the National Defense Authorization Act.

The bill has passed both the House and the Senate. (GF Tribune)

Congratulations to U.S. Senators Jon Tester (D) and Steve Daines (R) and U.S. Representative Greg Gianforte (R) for getting the ball over the goal line. It was nice to see them work together to accomplish something this important.

Since July 2006 when then-Congressman Denny Rehberg introduced H.R.5804 – Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians Restoration Act of 2006 until today, members of the Montana delegation have pushed for the federal recognition.

Congratulations to the Little Shell Tribe for obtaining federal recognition. It took much too long.

TRIPLE HOMICIDE IN GREAT FALLS:

It’s always sad to hear about a murder in your town, but hearing about the triple homicide that occurred in Great Falls early Tuesday morning is sobering.

Although the details are still emerging from authorities, it did not keep the Facebook lawyers and sleuths from providing some dumb commentary throughout the day.

The Great Falls Police Department issued a press release early in the process which was good. A school was closed and that was announced to the public early in the morning.

Later in the morning, officials from the Great Falls Police Department, with the Cascade County Sheriff, the County Attorney, and an official from the State Department of Justice held a press conference. It was streamed on Facebook.

It was worthless. They said little from their prepared statements. They should have waited until more information was available.

The local press was also worthless. The press asked a few pertinent questions and before we knew it, the Chief of Police yelled “one more question” and that was it.

It was like the press did not want to ruffle any feathers and those holding the press conference were afraid to say anything.

While they may handle the day to day policing of our community with professionalism, the local police and sheriff’s departments are ill-equipped to communicate with the public during major events.

TRUMP’S LETTER:

President Donald Trump sent Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi a six-page letter. Many said the letter was like a collection of long tweets.

You can read the whole letter HERE.

The U.S. House is set to take up the two articles of impeachment today (Wednesday).

The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board said Trump’s letter was “a giant, overheated expression of grievance, a vitriolic attack backed mostly by half-truths, unsubstantiated assertions and whiny misrepresentations.” (The Hill)

The funniest reporting about the letter came from the Huffington Post with this headline:

Trump’s Six-Page ‘Tantrum’ To Nancy Pelosi Gets Torn Apart On Twitter

It did, too. Read it HERE.

My favorite tweet came from Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq):

I wrote a letter to my parents once that was eerily similar in style and tone to what the president just sent to Pelosi.
My parents said it didn’t change the fact that I wasn’t getting ice cream until I ate all of my broccoli.

Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) pointed this out:

If you ever wondered why Trump’s team doesn’t want him to testify under oath, just read this letter.

Have a great Wednesday and enjoy the impeachment proceedings!

 

##END##