If I were to remain silent, I’d be guilty of complicity. ― Albert Einstein

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:

• Airmen of Color
• CDC & Trump
• Prepare to Defend
• One More Thing

AIRMEN OF COLOR:

The Great Falls Tribune reported that Airmen of color at Malmstrom Air Force Base (AFB) don’t always feel welcome in Great Falls, City Manager Greg Doyon said Tuesday. Doyon told City Commission members that he and other residents met with a “Tiger Team” comprised of Black Air Force personnel Tuesday.

I am not Black, but many years ago I came over Gore Hill on I-15 to report to Malmstrom AFB after being stationed at Andersen AFB, Guam. While I was not too excited about the frigid weather that February day, I found Great Falls to be a welcoming city with several businesses offering military discounts. When I decided to exit the Air Force my wife and I could have moved just about anywhere, but we decided to raise our family in Great Falls.

I worked in the missile complex for several days at a time while stationed at Malmstrom. I do personally know that some Black Airmen I worked with did not feel welcome going into businesses when traveling in the missile complex.

It’s great to discuss how Great Falls can be more welcoming to those of color stationed at the base. Communication is the key to solving the problem. As an added benefit, they should involve leaders from surrounding counties where many Airmen work and travel.

CDC & TRUMP:

After watching and reading some of the testimony about the coronavirus from the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, and then watching President Donald Trump tell reporters that Redfield had misspoken and was confused, I can understand why people will hesitate to take the vaccine when it becomes available.

Redfield testified to Congress under oath and said for a vaccine to be “fully available to the American public, so we begin to take advantage of vaccine to get back to our regular life, I think we are probably looking at late second quarter, third quarter 2021.”

Redfield also touted the use of masks and said wearing a mask can be just as effective as a vaccine. That did not make Trump happy, either.

While the release of the vaccine for public use should be based on nothing but science, hearing Trump tell reporters that a doctor heading the CDC had misspoken and was confused, I will have a hard time believing that politics will not be playing a huge part when it’s released.

Many Americans will feel the same way. A Pew Research Center survey found:

There are widespread public concerns about aspects of the vaccine development process. On the heels of a pledge from nine pharmaceutical companies to ensure that a potential vaccine would meet rigorous standards, the Center survey finds three-quarters of Americans (77%) think it’s very or somewhat likely a COVID-19 vaccine will be approved in the United States before its safety and effectiveness are fully understood. And when asked about the pace of the vaccine approval process, 78% say their greater concern is that it will move too fast, without fully establishing safety and effectiveness, compared with just 20% who are more concerned approval will move too slowly, creating unnecessary delays.

We need to let science run its course and let doctors do their jobs free from politics.

PREPARE TO DEFEND:

Your favorite right-winger will probably be posting the following on social media soon, so be prepared:

Soros-Backed Coalition Preparing for Post-Election Day Chaos — ‘We’re Going to Fight Like Hell’

What is not disclosed in the article I found on Breitbart News is that those on the right are doing the same things to prepare for a possible fight.

I see a lot of posts from the righties about George Soros, who has money to burn it seems. On the right, we have Sheldon Adelson who pumps tons of money toward Republican candidates as well as the Koch family.

Everyone has plenty of money.

I hope we have a clear and decisive winner by the morning of November 4. I also hope that the winner is Joe Biden.

You can read the full Breitbart article HERE.

ONE MORE THING:

Tuesday night President Donald Trump participated in a town hall meeting on ABC. It was not good for Trump. Fox News’ Laura Ingraham even criticized the town hall as an “ambush” on Trump.

I’m sure Trump believes he did wonderfully.

Trump was asked about his claim that the coronavirus will just go away. Here is how Forbes reported it:

“You’ll develop herd—like, a herd mentality. It’s going to be—it’s going to be herd-developed,” Trump replied in response to host George Stephanopoulos, who had just asked the president to clarify his statement that the virus will “go away without the vaccine.”

The whole “herd mentality” must be a lot like his shrinking “herd” of MAGA supporters.

## VOTE ##