There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. ­- Charles Spurgeon

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:

• Just 18 Months
• Lisa Murkowski
• Bravery
• One More Thing

JUST 18 MONTHS:

The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that a Montana man, Leo James Hagan, 20, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for the drunk driving death of one of his passengers in a car crash in Glacier National Park.

That’s 18 months for killing another human. Just 18 months.

Since it happened on Federal property, one of our “esteemed” Federal U.S. District Court Judges, Brian Morris, presided over the case and handed out the joke of a sentence.

The AP reports that Hagan had faced up to 18 years in prison with up to eight years for the manslaughter conviction and up to 10 years for the assault conviction. The June 2019 crash killed 41-year-old Paul Cadotte. Another passenger received serious injuries.

Judge Morris let Hagan get away with murder. Shameful.

LISA MURKOWSKI:

If I learned anything from years working in politics and writing about it, most politicians are very brave when their name is not on the next ballot.

That’s probably the case with U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). She is up for reelection in 2022.

Murkowski, whom I sometimes admire for her independent streak, said Thursday that the rebuke by Trump’s first Pentagon chief, Gen. James Mattis, toward President Trump was, “necessary and overdue.” (AP)

Murkowski was asked whether she can still support Trump, Murkowski replied: “I am struggling with it. I have struggled with it for a long time.”

At least she has the guts to say that. Several Republicans, both in-office and out, should be saying that they are fed up with Trump.

As for Trump, he went after Murkowski on Twitter with a couple of tweets saying:

Few people know where they’ll be in two years from now, but I do, in the Great State of Alaska (which I love) campaigning against Senator Lisa Murkowski.

In another Tweet about Murkowski he added:

Get any candidate ready, good or bad, I don’t care, I’m endorsing. If you have a pulse, I’m with you!

If things go as many people hope, Trump will be flying to Alaska in two years not on Air Force One, but in his own plane and will be known as a “former” President.

BRAVERY:

On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was asked about President Trump walking from the White House to St. John’s Church for a photo op. Here is how the question was phrased according to the official White House Transcript:

Kayleigh, why did the President feel it was important to go and walk over there, through the park, and to the church?

McEnany responded with:

It was extremely important. Look, the President wanted to send a very powerful message that we will not be overcome by looting, by rioting, by burning. This is not what defines America. And going and standing by St John’s Church was a very important moment.

She should have stopped there. She didn’t. McEnany added:

And I would note that, through all of time, we’ve seen Presidents and leaders across the world who have had leadership moments and very powerful symbols that were important for our nation to see at any given time, to show a message of resilience and determination. Like Churchill, we saw him inspecting the bombing damage; it sent a powerful message of leadership to the British people. And George W. Bush throwing out the ceremonial first pitch after 9/11. And Jimmy Carter, putting on a sweater to encourage energy savings. And George H.W. Bush signing the Americans with Disabilities Act, flanked by two disabled Americans.

I don’t think Trump is entitled to be mentioned in the same sentence with those men.

It was also reported that Trump, his wife, and young son, were rushed to the bunker after a group of protesters hopped over temporary barricades Friday evening. Trump denied going to the bunker, but later changed his story and said he went to the bunker for a brief period to inspect it.

Great googly moogly…

ONE MORE THING:

From the “voting is hard” files…

The Washington Post reported that President Trump originally tried to register to vote in Florida while claiming his “legal residence” was in another part of the country — Washington, D.C. — according to Florida elections records.

The Post added:

The September 2019 registration application listed Trump’s legal residence as 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, the location of the White House. That created a potential problem for Trump: Florida law requires voters to be legal residents of the state. A month later, Trump resubmitted his application to use a Florida address and in March he voted by mail in Florida’s Republican primary.

Beam me up, Scotty!

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