People who stay in the car to listen to music a little bit longer are my kind of people. – Unknown

Welcome to Caught My Eye (CME)!

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:

• Real ID Deadline
• Roger Stone
• The Russians
• The Democratic Debate
• One More Thing

REAL ID DEADLINE:

I’ve written a lot about REAL ID because many people were being stubborn and dumb and did not want to deal with the requirement. The federal law enacting REAL ID was passed way back in 2005.

Last year I wrote these words about REAL ID:

Remember back when the 2007 Montana Legislature passed a law saying the state would not comply with regulations of the REAL ID Act?

Remember back in 2008 when Governor Brian Schweitzer aired a campaign ad showing him shooting clay pigeons, and he said taping a federal ID card to a clay pigeon gave him motivation.

Remember all the politicians, Tester, Daines, Zinke, Bullock, Fox, who were against REAL ID?

It was pure paranoia.

All along I said that “Freedom is not free” and if push comes to shove over REAL ID, the Feds will win.

They did. 

So these freedom-promoting elected officials caved and now the deadline to have a REAL ID-compliant ID is October 1, 2020.

The state of Montana is even running some goofy commercials about REAL ID. By the way, why are local commercials in Montana so terrible? That’s something I will write about another day.

Get all the REAL ID information by clicking HERE.

ROGER STONE:

Reuters reported Thursday that a federal judge sentenced President Donald Trump’s longtime adviser Roger Stone to three years and four months in prison and said his lies to lawmakers investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election posed a threat to American democracy. Stone also has to pay a $20,000 fine.

Stone was convicted in November on seven counts of lying to Congress, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.

The only question left is how long before Trump pardons Stone.

THE RUSSIANS:

The New York Times is reporting that intelligence officials warned House lawmakers last week that Russia was interfering in the 2020 campaign to try to get President Trump re-elected, five people familiar with the matter said.

It was also reported that the President was not too happy that his people briefed the House. I wonder why.

We’re pretty sure that Russia meddled in the 2016 election. We need to ensure that our elections are free from any interference, comrade.

THE DEMOCRATIC DEBATE:

The broadcast of the Democratic presidential primary debate in Las Vegas on Wednesday drew nearly 20 million viewers across NBC and MSNBC, making it the most-watched Democratic debate in television history, the network said. (The Hill)

The debate was a lot like a circular firing squad for the Democrats. I wish they would have allowed the candidates to throw pies or something. Like I mentioned yesterday, I think Trump was the big winner. His popularity is rising since the impeachment and meanwhile, the Democrats are hurting each other with the old circular firing squad.

The tenth Democratic Debate is Tuesday, February 25. It is hosted by CBS News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute. It is being held in South Carolina. (Wiki)

ONE MORE THING;

Don’t forget the stretch…

Have a great weekend!

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