Quote for the Day…

A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle. – Italian proverb

Caught My Eye (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:

• Hate in Great Falls
• More Political Hit Pieces
• Student Debt Cancellation
• One More Thing

HATE IN GREAT FALLS:

This week there was a “suspicious death” reported at the First United Methodist Church in Great Falls. As far as I know, the identity of the person has not been released as of posting time here at The Western Word.

KRTV has the story HERE.

Since the death was on the First United Methodist Church (FUMC) property and that is where there used to be a homeless camp, the Facebook lawyers and Facebook social workers came out in force posting on several accounts.

The haters of the homeless in Great Falls came out in force, too, even though we do not know if the person was homeless or was someone walking by the church or maybe even someone who works at the church who died.

We just don’t know.

It was not a good showing for Great Falls on social media. One person commented on a local official’s Facebook page, “Ok one down.” Another person chimed in, “It was just a matter of time. FUMC now has blood on their hands.”

Someone commented, “There was a Indian girl 9 months ago found near there too,” and someone replied, “A girl from India?”

One of the more considerate people wrote, “It’s a wonder that so many homeless people have so many struggles with all the pre-judging without even knowing what may have happened.”

Amen to that.

The bottom line is that someone – a son or daughter lost their life. Maybe they were a father or mother? Maybe they were a sister or brother to someone? The nutjobs who comment on social media showed their bias and hatred toward this, so far, unknown person.

It was a sad day for Great Falls. We should be disappointed by the haters in our community. Be better.

MORE POLITICAL HIT PIECES:

Last week I wrote that you can almost set your clocks to it. I was talking about the political hit pieces from the various groups arriving around the same time the ballots hit the mailbox.

Both sides do it and some of the fliers are pretty funny. Some are poorly written, and others are just plain dumb. I actually like them.

But we all know that many voters, especially the MAGA folks, are dumber than a box of hair, so they probably eat these lies up.

On Thursday, I received a flier from the Montana Republican State Central Committee attacking Democrat Melissa Smith in the HD 23 race and promoting Republican Scot Kerns.

I reside in House District 23, and I followed Kerns in the last legislative session. He is a full-blown MAGA follower in my opinion.

The flier was not an original, as the Montana Republican State Central Committee used the same front of the flier to attack Democrat Jacob Bachmeier in the SD 12 race.

See the Bachmeier hit piece HERE.

Click HERE and HERE to see the front and back of the flier attacking Smith.

Visit the Smith for HD 23 Facebook page HERE.

I will be casting my vote for Melissa Smith.

STUDENT DEBT CANCELLATION:

Thursday was a good day for the Biden Administration and for people seeking relief through the student debt cancellation program.

First, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected an appeal from a Wisconsin taxpayers group seeking to stop the Biden administration’s student debt cancellation program. Barrett was a Donald Trump pick for the Supreme Court. (AP)

Then, U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey in St. Louis dismissed an effort by six Republican-led states to block the Biden administration’s plan to forgive student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans. Autrey wrote that because the six states — Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina — failed to establish they had standing, “the Court lacks jurisdiction to hear this case.” (AP)

Autrey was a George W. Bush pick for the United States District Court in the Eastern District of Missouri.

This was a tough loss for the MAGA crowd – and to compound things, two Republican-appointed judges made decisions that favor Biden’s student loan debt plan.

I wonder where Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s lawsuit is…

ONE MORE THING:

Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady made some noise this week when he compared an NFL season to military deployment.

Brady said, “I almost look at like a football season like you’re going away on deployment in the military, and it’s like, ‘Man, here I go again.”

I like Tom Brady; he is the GOAT of NFL quarterbacks, but as a veteran with almost 12 years on active duty, I think that remark is about as dumb as it comes. It shows he knows little about the military.

I’m sure that our military personnel would like to make the money that Brady makes on his little “deployment.”

Brady did apologize for the remark saying, “Earlier this week, I made a statement about playing football and the military, and it was a very poor choice of words. I just want to express that to any sentiments out there that people may have taken it in a certain way, so I apologize.”

Read the Sports Illustrated report on Brady HERE.

## HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND ##