Do not be afraid of dying. Be afraid of living with nothing to die for. -Unknown

Welcome to another exciting edition of Caught My Eye (CME)!

CME is the once a week column that is posted 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.

Here are the topics that “Caught My Eye” this week:

• Gianforte Lifts Restrictions
• Montana Attorney General
• Montana Legislature
• The Rosendale Four
• Pastor Bob Rodgers
• One More Thing

GIANFORTE LIFTS RESTRICTIONS:

It was not much of a surprise but on Wednesday, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte issued a new directive to replace several directives related to the pandemic.

“Improving our response to the pandemic has been my top priority,” Governor Gianforte said. “Today, I am issuing a new directive that removes or replaces the cumbersome layers of the existing ones. These new directives are clear. They are practical. They are commonsense. And they are easy to understand.”

So are driving under the influence laws and speed limits, but people break them all the time. According to this source, Montana ranked worst for drunk driving problems (2018), with more fatalities per 100,000 people than any other state. Congrats.

The governor’s directive repeals regulations on Montana small businesses, including restrictions on hours of operation and capacity.

I believe local health officials will have the final say in this matter. It could get nasty.

We are seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases across the country. I don’t think now is the time to relax any restrictions, but Gianforte owes those who put him there, so he had to act quickly even if it means killing off and sickening a few more Montanans – it’s time for happy hour!

I think he wants so badly to pull the trigger on doing away with the mask mandate that he can taste it. I bet Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota is laughing at him.

It’s already getting old hearing Gianforte say Montanans are practical and use commonsense. He needs to take a look at the Republican clowns in the state legislature and rethink his talking points.

MONTANA ATTORNEY GENERAL:

It might have been better off for Montana’s new Attorney General Austin Knudsen to start with something vanilla like, “Don’t do drugs” but according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, he went after the Gallatin County Attorney:

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen ordered Thursday that the Gallatin County attorney dismiss a lawsuit against Rocking R Bar for violating a 10 p.m. closing time ordered by the county health board to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

But County Attorney Marty Lambert fired back, rejecting the order and saying that Knudsen didn’t haven’t any say in the matter because the state isn’t a party in the case. 

So now we have the start of a pissing match. This should be fun.

I am not an attorney and I don’t play one on TV, but my free advice is that maybe they can get Montana Governor Greg Gianforte to intervene. He seems to have experience with the justice system and the county attorney in Gallatin County.

MONTANA LEGISLATURE:

The Associated Press (AP) reported that Republican leaders in Montana’s Legislature rejected an effort Thursday to make stronger an agreement that lawmakers will wear masks while meeting with legislative staffers in their offices to discuss bill drafts, amendments or other issues, saying it wasn’t needed.

The AP also reported that Kyle Schmauch, the communications director for the Senate Republicans said, “Regardless of the word used, legislators are required to wear masks in staff areas, and they know and understand that.”

Well, alrighty then…

It is a crying shame that the Montana legislature is even meeting. It should have been delayed until later in the year. They are creating a superspreader event. They don’t even have a mask mandate, because they made it political. It’s asinine.

THE ROSENDALE FOUR:

U.S. Representative Matt Rosendale (R-MT-AL) announced the first four pieces of legislation he is cosponsoring to “help reform the federal government by increasing transparency and changing incentives.”

I wonder why nobody else ever thought of doing that…

Let’s take a look at “The Rosendale Four.”

He is cosponsoring H.J. Res. 12 which will amend the Constitution to establish term limits for members of Congress.

This is a bill that is introduced each Congress. It’s dead on arrival. I don’t think we need term limits, especially for the seat that Rosendale now holds. The recent officeholders (Daines, Zinke, and Gianforte) all had big heads and decided they wanted another title. In doing so, they screwed over Montana in the seniority department.

He is cosponsoring H.J. Res. 3 which will amend the Constitution to require a balanced budget.

This is another bill that is introduced each Congress. It won’t pass. If it did pass, they would just find some way around it.

He is cosponsoring H.J. Res. 7 which will amend the Constitution so that if members of Congress do not pass a budget prior to the beginning of the fiscal year they do not get paid.

I think most U.S. Representatives from Montana have supported this one time of the other. It won’t pass. Most members can do without their pay anyway.

He is cosponsoring H.R. 46 “One Bill, One Subject Transparency Act” which will require every bill enacted by Congress be limited to only one topic that is reflected in the bill’s title.

I doubt this bill goes far, but it is probably the only one that has a chance of becoming law – a slim chance.

Rosendale is off and running or should I say re-running the top hits from past officeholders. I’m disappointed, but not surprised.

PASTOR BOB RODGERS:

I happened to see a clip of Pastor Bob Rodgers of the Evangel World Prayer Center in Louisville, Kentucky, and I was shocked and in disbelief.

I did some checking and found out it was true. Read/watch HERE.

Apparently, Rodgers is upset over the election results. Here is part of what he said:

“Father, those that have lied, those that have stolen this election, those that have cheated, I place the curse of God upon them. I curse you with weakness in your body. I curse you with poverty. I curse you with the worst year you’ve ever had in the name of the Lord.”

I am a Christian. I read/listen to the Bible daily. I’ve never heard of this. Rodgers needs to step down.

Pastors should NEVER take sides in an election. They should encourage voting and encourage prayer for those in public office.

Over the past four or so years, I have grown discouraged by the actions of our country’s faith leaders – both locally and nationally. These actions are ruining churches and Christianity.

ONE MORE THING:

A reminder to anyone saying Trump didn’t participate in the insurrection: Bin Laden didn’t fly the planes. –The Other 98%

## WEAR A MASK ##