To be honest I’ve wanted to spray a lot of people with Lysol before this all started. -Unknown

Welcome to another exciting edition of 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:

• U.S. Census – Montana
• Vote By Mail Montana
• National Rifle Association
• Michelle Obama
• One More Thing

U.S. CENSUS – MONTANA:

On Monday the U.S. Census Bureau announced that they were going to stop counting people on September 30 instead of the previously announced deadline of October 31.

I had quite a laugh when I heard of the “outrage” from elected officials across Montana referring to the change of dates. Some wrote letters. Some fired off press releases. The Montana press covered it.

My question for the Governor, Lt. Governor, Senators, Congressman, commissioners, and Joe Six-Pack: Where in the hell were these concerns in January through July?

Montana’s response rate is 46th in the nation. Only 56.7% of Montanans have completed the 2020 Census. The national response rate is 63.1%. The elected officials have failed to promote the 2020 Census, many of them because they are tied to President Trump, who has said some negative things about the Census, and they do not want to tick him off.

Some Montanans are afraid of the ‘gubment’ and it shows in how they don’t participate in something as simple as the 2020 Census.

Maybe if they raffled off a rifle or two they could get better participation!

VOTE BY MAIL MONTANA:

The Great Falls Tribune reported that Montana Governor Steve Bullock issued a directive Thursday leaving the decision to counties to expand voting by mail and early voting for the November general election due to concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Tribune also reported that the directive is similar to one the Democratic governor issued for the June primary and counties that decide to vote by mail must still allow in-person voting. All counties must ensure appropriate social distancing to provide safe voting and voter registration for all Montanans.

I wonder if President Donald Trump noticed.

I have voted by mail for several years. It’s safe and secure. I love it!

NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION:

In case you missed it, NPR reported that the attorney general of New York took action Thursday to dissolve the National Rifle Association following an 18-month investigation that found evidence the powerful gun rights group is “fraught with fraud and abuse.”

So what does this mean? It means NRA members will be out in full force this election helping to elect Second Amendment advocates. The members will dig just a little deeper into their pockets to help their candidates. Oh, and there will be more guns sold.

Maybe Attorney General (AG) Letitia James, a Democrat, should have waited a few months before pulling the trigger (pun intended). Nonetheless, I can’t wait to see the fundraising emails this triggers (pun intended).

This suit will take years to resolve. It will be a long shot (pun intended) for the AG to win.

MICHELLE OBAMA:

It was reported Thursday by CNN and several other organizations that former First Lady Michelle Obama says she’s suffering from “low-grade depression.” She said the reasons for the depression were the pandemic, race relations in the US, and the political strife surrounding it all.

Within a few minutes, the haters were out in force ridiculing her. Shame on them.

When people are ridiculed for revealing personal information that could help others, it keeps others from coming forward.

Obama is not alone; people are concerned about the pandemic, race relations in the US, and what is happening in politics.

Thank you, Michelle Obama.

ONE MORE THING:

Today’s column was brought to you by the country of Thighland.

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