Caught My Eye…

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Quote for the Day…

We have come to live in a society based on insults, on lies and on things that just aren’t true. It creates an environment where deranged people feel empowered. – Colin Powell

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 look at some of the stories I did not have time to write about during the week.

Here are some of the things that “Caught My Eye” this week:

  • Civil Conversations
  • Texas & Abortion
  • One More Thing

CIVIL CONVERSATIONS:

Just a few minutes after reading the Billings Gazette editorial, “Gazette opinion: Let’s keep the COVID conversations civil here in Montana” a friend emailed me and asked if I knew that a Great Falls City Commissioner had called me a “dimwit” on his Facebook page.

I had not heard about it, but I was sure that an elected official calling a person, a constituent, who helps pay his salary a “dimwit” was surely not correct. I was wrong. Here’s the backstory:

Earlier in the day, I had posted a meme from Neil deGrasse Tyson (the astrophysicist) about COVID on The Western Word Facebook page. A few followers and I debated the meme, and a friend made some great points, so I deleted it. I also deleted a retweet of the meme on my Twitter page.

Before I had deleted it, the friend forwarded it to Great Falls City Commissioner Rick Tryon who added these comments:

This was posted by some dimwit named Mike Brown on his local blog that nobody ever reads.

Before I go on, I’d like to thank my mom and dad, my wife, my kids, my sisters, and at least two other people who read my blog.

Full disclosure: My parents and sisters are dead, so I am not sure they read it.

Tryon has criticized me several times over the years calling me a “lazy jackass” and a “lefty” in one column.

He has gone after the Great Falls Tribune, and I read last night that he is now mad at KRTV and their digital content producer (and fellow veteran) Dave Sherman.

I am fine with criticism from anyone. My blog has been in existence since 2005. I put my name on every post. I allow comments.

I worked for U.S. Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) for 12 years, so I am very accustomed to criticism and threats from constituents. Before that, I served my country in the U.S. Air Force for almost 12 years.

I have called Tryon a “righty” once or twice and a “sore loser” for his actions after losing a close city commission race. From this point on I will refer to him as Commissioner. I hope he starts acting like one.

The Gazette closes their editorial saying:

Elsewhere across the country, disagreements over masking and vaccination have led to verbal abuse and physical assault.
We need to take a deep breath and remember that our strength as Montanans is helping each other, not yelling at each other.

Amen to that.

TEXAS & ABORTION:

The pro-life folks are probably going to party hard this Labor Day weekend with the U.S. Supreme Court deciding not to block a new Texas law that severely restricts abortions.

In case you missed it, the Associated Press reported that the court voted 5-4 to deny an emergency appeal from abortion providers and others but also suggested that their order likely wasn’t the last word and other challenges can be brought.

So now other states will model their abortion laws after Texas.

President Joe Biden said in a statement

I am directing that Council and the Office of the White House Counsel to launch a whole-of-government effort to respond to this decision, looking specifically to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice to see what steps the Federal Government can take to ensure that women in Texas have access to safe and legal abortions as protected by Roe, and what legal tools we have to insulate women and providers from the impact of Texas’ bizarre scheme of outsourced enforcement to private parties.

I think the easy way to fight the Texas abortion law is to allow civilian abortion providers to provide services on military bases. There are 15 active military bases around Texas.

You’ve heard it before, but elections have consequences. I have not been too keen on one party controlling everything. That is the way it is in Texas. It curtails compromise.

As for elections having consequences, probably the biggest thing former President Donald Trump will be known for is that in four years he was able (with the help of U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell) to get three of his nominees on the U.S. Supreme Court: Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett.

So, will the Texas abortion law stand if the U.S. Supreme Court hears it? I doubt it, but with the conservatives controlling the court, nothing is certain.

More information about the new law can be found HERE.

ONE MORE THING:

Many readers have probably heard about the “Sip ‘n Dip Lounge” in Great Falls.

The legendary “Piano Pat” passed away earlier this year so the Sip ‘n Dip is looking for a new musician. They have narrowed the search down to five people.

The five people have posted videos to watch. You can vote for your favorite musician at the Sip ‘n Dip website by clicking HERE.

## HAVE A GREAT LABOR DAY WEEKEND ##

15 thoughts on “Caught My Eye…”

  1. Larry,
    “even the Catholic Church wasn’t that bad”
    Don’t think abortion is allowed for rape, incest or saving the life of the mother.

  3. This is absolutely unacceptable and will continue until there are some consequences for these jerks. If the police won’t do anything, local citizens will have to either citizen arrest these morons and hold them for the police, or “oh so gently” remove them from the area with a warning not to return. Enough is enough. Colin Powell is right on when he says deranged people feel empowered. In my younger days I would have enjoyed sending them on their way.

    https://www.rawstory.com/jennifer-jenkins-school-board-mask-protest/

    • The other shoe drops. It’s about more than abortion. It’s also about birth control, and forcing their bizarre sexual mores on us all. To include no exceptions for rape and incest tells you all need to know about these folks. Hell, even the Catholic Church wasn’t that bad. These christofascists are the exact same folks who fought against legalized birth control. I have followed them closely for about the last forty years. I know them well. They will not stop until forced to do so. I’m old enough to remember the pre pill days. That’s where they want to take us again. Women better find the courage to fight back.

      https://www.rawstory.com/bill-limiting-abortion-inducing-pills-heads-to-gov-greg-abbott-s-desk-to-be-signed-into-law/

      • A little background for your younger readers. I remember when Loretta Lyn wrote her song called The Pill. A great song by a great artist. Many radio stations refused to play it! They objected to the content. They were against the pill because of religious reasons. They figured that now that women could enjoy sex without worrying about pregnancy, it was game over for the country. They would allow their sexual desires to run wild. And the traditional family as man in charge was gone.

        Years later I heard an interview with Loretta regarding that song. She said that she had endless country doctors come up and thank her for writing it. Seems that after hearing that song, all those hill folk women in Kentucky had finally understood that there was a way to limit the numbers of kids they had. Prior to that, it was kid after kid after kid. It was an horrific situation. But Loretta was one of them. And she had educated them with her music.

        These Texas bills want to take us right back to those days. Male domination. No sex for enjoyment, only procreation. Keep the women from straying. Somehow this will strengthen the “traditional” godly family. I view it as female genital mutilation by other means. A good wife is one who is allowed no pleasure from sex insuring that she will remain faithful and not tempted to stray.

        https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/birth-control/griswold-v-connecticut

      • My favorite country lady. When I was in Nam, out on post every night, we had a radio station. ‘Course, it was all country. Sometimes, they would play nuthin but Loretta. I fell in love with this lady. They played this song even though it was banned in the states until ‘75.

      • I heard that Punchy G is looking for people to serve on his citizen panel to handle complaints about his own draconian abortion bills that are coming down the pike. Here are some early candidates.
        They look quite impartial to make health care decisions for young active women!

        https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/241338895_216951187156105_1220625988151068447_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=dbeb18&_nc_ohc=RU2JbMahIvkAX_lxYC_&_nc_ht=scontent-sea1-1.xx&oh=c7f0591733728e78d7e114e00aac7d18&oe=6159ADAE

  4. It occurs to me that the Texas abortion law could be a model for additional laws that tackle other hot button issues. Say for instance gun control. How about if some liberal state like New York or California or Illinois was to pass a law allowing any citizen in the USA to sue any gun shop or show or private seller anywhere who was found to have been the source of a firearm used to commit some gun crime in the state, or even an employee of that source, as well as anyone who might have helped get that gun into the hands of the criminal – trucking companies, government officials who provided the roads, etc?

    Or let’s say damage from climate change or pollution. Don’t need the government to act and be subject to court oversight, just bypass all that and empower civilian bounty hunters to sue them into oblivion without any fear of consquences like having to pay court costs for frivolous suits. Just bypass all government involvement and turn the bounty hunters loose.

    It’s an interesting can of worms.

    • Terry -Thanks. Other states are going to copy the Texas abortion law for sure. Some good ideas you have there. -JmB

  5. The commissioner’s latest “That gosh darn comment moderating liberal media!” dollhouse sized tempest in a teapot is notable primarily for the humor aspect of being published on a local blog that is infamous for deleting comments and banning posters, especially if they dare criticize an action of that particular commissioner. I’ve also heard his own Facebook page is not a friendly place for critical comments or posters.

  6. Before he became a Commissioner I caught musician Tryon busking at a local bar. He has the ability to play in two keys at once, reminded me of a trip to the zoo. Having said that I believe he’s a better musician than Commissioner. I did put a dollar in his jar though. He needed new strings.

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