You don’t win a debate by suppressing discussion; you win it with a better argument. – Frank Sonnenberg

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:

• Dumb vs Dumber Update
• Voting by Mail
• The Military & Trump
• One More Thing

DUMB VS DUMBER UPDATE:

In Monday’s column, I wrote about a Missoula County District Judge John Larson, who was substituting for a Cascade County District Judge in Great Falls, finding a man who was called for jury duty in contempt for not wearing a mask. He sentenced the man to jail for 24 hours. I said the Judge should have fined him.

I then wrote about rookie Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter issuing a news release criticizing Larson for holding the man in contempt of court for refusing to wear a mask.

I finished the column by writing, “In this situation Judge Larson is dumb and Sheriff Slaughter is dumber.”

Later in the week, Great Falls City Commissioner Rick Tryon penned a column for the E-City Beat titled, “Lefty Blogger Mike Brown Calls Sheriff Slaughter ‘Dumb’ & ‘Rookie’”

You can read “Righty” Tryon’s column HERE.

For the record, I said Slaughter was “dumber” not “dumb.”

As for the “rookie” remark, Slaughter is in his first term as sheriff and he never held the position before, so he is a rookie just as Tryon, who is in his first (and hopefully last) term as city commissioner is a rookie.

Rookie – a person who is new to an organization or an activity. (Source)

Tryon goes on to write:

Brown sitting around on his arrogant butt, behind his keyboard criticizing a lifelong law enforcement professional like Sheriff Slaughter, calling him ‘rookie’, would be laughable if it weren’t so pathetic and inappropriate.

As I was reading Tryon’s column out loud to family and friends, the following line had tears of laughter rolling down our cheeks:

Brown just comes off as an ignorant, lazy jackass for implying otherwise.

Thank you! I’ve been blogging since 2005, so nothing much bothers me in the name-calling department.

I voted for Slaughter, but in this situation, he messed up, as did the judge.

I also voted for Tryon one time and after he lost a close race to Tracy Houck (whom I also voted for) he, to use his own words, acted pathetic and inappropriate. I decided to never honor him with my vote again.

VOTING BY MAIL:

MTN News reported this week that the Trump campaign, national Republicans and the Montana Republican Party filed suit Wednesday to overturn Gov. Steve Bullock’s August order allowing Montana counties to conduct the Nov. 3 election with mail ballots.

That, my friends, is an attempt to suppress your vote.

We used voting by mail totally for the June 2 primary here in Montana. It was a record-high turnout. I heard of no fraud.

Now almost 40 of the 56 Montana counties want to use vote by mail in November, but the Republicans are afraid that more people voting will hurt their candidates.

Trump is destroying the GOP.

THE MILITARY & TRUMP:

I voluntarily joined the military partially because of the way Ronald Reagan honored those in uniform. The 2020 Presidential election may be decided by those wearing the uniform.

A new poll shows active-duty troops are flocking to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden just two months before the November election. Just over 41 percent of those military personnel surveyed by Military Times say, if the election were held today, they would cast a ballot for the former Democratic vice president. Slightly more than 37 percent say they would vote for the president.

Trump had almost a 20 point lead over Hillary Clinton in the same poll in 2016.

If a new report from The Atlantic is any indication, the military (and veterans) may never care for Trump again.

Multiple sources tell The Atlantic that the president has repeatedly disparaged the intelligence of service members, and asked that wounded veterans be kept out of military parades.

Trump canceled a visit to Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018 telling aides, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.”

The Atlantic also found that on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 Marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed.

We all remember Trump talking about the late Senator John McCain, “He’s not a war hero. I like people who weren’t captured.”

It turns my stomach that someone like Trump can become President. Shame on us.

Read the full story from The Atlantic HERE.

ONE MORE THING:

For this Nation to remain true to its principles, we cannot allow any American’s vote to be denied, diluted, or defiled. The right to vote is the crown jewel of American liberties, and we will not see its luster diminished. – Ronald Reagan

Make sure you register and vote!

Click HERE to register!

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