Caught My Eye…

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Quote for the Day…

Sometimes you meet someone, and you know from the first moment that you want to spend your whole life without them. – Unknown

Welcome to 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:

  • Republican Outrage
  • Montana Attorney General
  • Montana’s Districting & Apportionment Commission
  • One More Thing

REPUBLICAN OUTRAGE:

Rape is a very serious offense. When someone is accused of rape, a full investigation should be completed. If the person accused is found guilty, they must be punished by the full force that our laws allow.

Several Montana Republicans were outraged after it was reported by Lee Newspapers that a humanitarian evacuee from Afghanistan was charged with sexual assault in Missoula earlier this week.

Read the complete Lee Newspapers story HERE.

Lee Newspapers reported that Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, and U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale are calling for President Biden to stop Afghan resettlements in Montana. Of course, the fruit loops on conservative talk radio in Montana were just as outraged.

While we should all be outraged over someone being raped in our state, I think the outrage was more to score political points against President Joe Biden than anything.

According to Statista, Montana is ranked #11 in “Forcible rape rate per 100,000 inhabitants” coming in with 55.3 per 100,000. That data is from 2020. Maybe I missed it but did Gianforte, Daines, Rosendale, and the conservative radio folks have any outrage for these victims?

The elected folks are all in positions where they could toughen the laws. Did they?

The three stooges (Gianforte, Daines, Rosendale) said they were concerned about the vetting process. They don’t think the Afghan refugees are being fully vetted. They don’t know. As for the vetting, maybe it would be a good idea for the legislature to put in place a vetting process for everyone making Montana their home (just joking). We may keep a few rich people out of our state who assault reporters, embarrass the state and buy elections.

Now we’ll spend the next few days watching our three stooges on Fox News and social media with their feigned outrage…

MONTANA ATTORNEY GENERAL:

After finding out that Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen was helping selected people with medical problems, I was wondering what number to call to ask for assistance.

I was supposed to be “probed” a few months ago, but after the insurance paid their part they said I would have to pay about $1,250 out of pocket for the “home” movie. I thought I could donate a few hundred, and maybe Knudsen would send a Highway Patrol officer to the hospital to strong-arm them? Maybe some other elected officials could help!

Of course, I would never do that, but the fact is that Knudsen has put a stain on the Montana Attorney General’s office. The latest abuse of power was as reported by Lee Newspapers said that Knudsen sent a highway patrol officer to St. Peter’s Hospital in Helena to investigate claims made by family members of a woman hospitalized with COVID-19. Supposedly other elected officials got involved in the medical treatment.

The Montana Free Press (MTFP) reported that a growing chorus of critics say Austin Knudsen has been overstepping his legal authority as Montana’s Attorney General, a criticism that was renewed this week when news broke that Knudsen’s office dispatched a Montana Highway Patrol officer to St. Peter’s Health hospital in Helena.

Will anything be done about this abuse of power? Nope. When one party runs the whole show like the Republicans do in Montana, they can do what they want – even if it kills a few constituents.

The honorable thing would be for Knudsen to realize he is way in over his head and resign, but that won’t happen.

MONTANA’S DISTRICTING AND APPORTIONMENT COMMISSION:

We should all hope this latest episode of gerrymandering ends soon.

I was hoping that my home would be in the western district of Montana, but it looks like I will be in the eastern district of Montana.

Fun Fact: A Matt Rosendale sign will not appear in my yard!

The Associated Press (AP) reported that Montana’s redistricting commission has honed in on two maps dividing the state into two congressional districts, after the commission’s nonpartisan chair said she disapproved of all nine maps proposed earlier this month by the two Republican and two Democratic commissioners.

MTN News reported that Montana’s Districting and Apportionment Commission was expected to bring out a single draft map for the state’s two new congressional districts Thursday. However, enough disagreements remained that they instead moved forward two proposals for the public to weigh in on.

In the original nine map plan, I liked Map CP 2. It also received the most votes in my poll.

Next time they do this, maybe the leaders who appoint these people will consider if their appointees have a least half a brain.

ONE MORE THING:

Follow me on Twitter @TheWesternWord – I will follow you back!

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## HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND ##

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10 thoughts on “Caught My Eye…”

  2. Montana Trump stooges. There are more than three. We know who Curly is. Daines and Rosendale will need to debate for Moe and Larry. The Stooge crowd, we have many, could vote. It is lower than low to be a stooge for a fake-hair orange-faced STOOGE.
    D.V.F.T.P. (don’t vote for these people).

  3. Montana may be #11 in rape but it is running seriously behind at only #13 in hate crimes. By making a big deal out of an accused rapist’s race or nationality or ethnicity instead of just calling a rapist a rapist, Republicans Gianforte, Daines, and Rosendale are obviously working hard to stoke the fires to get us up to snuff in the hate crimes category as well.

    Meanwhile in the #11 rape and #13 hate crimes (and #3 DUI) state, our Republican AG spends his time and state resources to bully medical staff over unapproved Covid treatments someone heard about on right wing talk radio.

    Welcome to the conservative white Christian nationalist paradise, where we don’t really care that much about crimes per se, but we sure do if they can be used as an excuse to try and keep out or imprison “the other”.

      • 80-100 rapes per year in Missoula before the Afghans even came to town, and never a peep out of these clowns. Just the regular boys-will-be-boys rate one must expect in a rugged red-blooded American state, apparently.

  4. Good job again today, Jackie.

    You really hit the nail on the head concerning our four top elected officials. They must be in full agreement with the assertion that “it’s okay if you are a Republican.” Unfortunately, they and presumably many of their supports are also okay with this rank hypocrisy.

    I applaud your speaking out on the subject, particularly regarding AG Knudsen. Who else might have a state trooper (or four) show up at their home or business on the direction of the AG for some unclear purpose and questionable authority?

    We have seen this before in our world history and lost many millions of lives in the process.
    Do we recognize it in our own State?

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