Happy Holidays and welcome to “Caught My Eye!” Fill up your coffee cup, and enjoy my commentary about these topics:

• Cascade County Elections
• Abortion Rights
• Elsie is Exploring
• Rudy Giuliani
• The Whoppers of 2023
• Football Roundup
• One More Thing

CASCADE COUNTY ELECTIONS:

Apparently, the folks at KRTV were not told of the change of the meeting date and time for the County Commissioners to discuss who to hire to run the Elections in Cascade County.

KRTV reported:

Cascade County commissioners had planned to meet on Thursday, December 21, to determine who will fill the role of elections administrator.
However, when KRTV reporter Cade Menter arrived, he was told they had changed the day and time.
The meeting is now scheduled for 11 a.m. on Friday, December 22.

I would suggest that reporters across the fruited plains subscribe to The Western Word. It never hurts to have information and hear a different view.

I hope the circus ends soon with the Cascade County Elections office. I’m tired of it being the lead story/commentary on this blog.

ABORTION RIGHTS:

MTN News is reporting that Montana voters may have a chance next year to decide whether access to abortion should be specifically protected in the state constitution. A proposed constitutional amendment, backed by Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, would add language to the Montana Constitution establishing “a right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion.”

According to Gallup’s May 2023 update on Americans’ abortion views, 34% believe abortion should be legal “under any circumstances,” 51% say it should be legal “only under certain circumstances,” and 13% say it should be illegal in all circumstances. (Source)

If this constitutional amendment gets on the ballot, look for tons of money to be spent by both sides – and it will be nasty.

The MTN article/story is written/reported by Jonathon Ambarian, who does an outstanding job keeping the state informed about Montana politics.

ELSIE IS EXPLORING:

As you probably know Elsie Arntzen has formed an “Exploratory Committee” to run for Congress in the Eastern District. I guess she will run if Matt Rosendale decides to run for Senate or President or something else.

In checking out her website, I see that she has hitched her candidacy to the pandemic, saying:

“Elsie stood against the COVID crazies, against lockdowns, and stood up for Parents. Now, Elsie is ready to fight for Montana and stand up to DC and the radical left.”

I guess I’m one of those “COVID crazies.” I wore a mask while in public. I lost count, but I think I’ve received four COVID shots. I applaud the leadership of Governor Steve Bullock whose mandates probably saved lives.

According to an article I read in the National Library of Medicine:

State mask mandates reduced new weekly COVID-19 cases, hospital admissions, and deaths by 55, 11, and 0.7 per 100,000 inhabitants on average. The effect depends on political leaning with larger effects in Democratic-leaning counties. Our results imply that statewide mandates saved 87,000 lives through December 19, 2020, while a nationwide mandate could have saved 57,000 additional lives. This suggests that mask mandates can help counter pandemics, particularly if widely accepted. (Source)

I’m sure the MAGA nutjobs can counter that article from some right-leaning group or person who claims the opposite.

RUDY GIULIANI:

In case you missed it, CBS News and other sources are reporting that former New York City mayor and Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani filed for bankruptcy Thursday, according to a court filing. Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy less than a week after a jury ordered him to pay $146 million in damages to Fulton County election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who sued him for defamation. He estimates his liabilities are between about $100 million and $500 million. The damage award was originally set at $148 million, but the federal judge presiding over the case later reduced it to $145,969,000.

CBS News also reported: “This maneuver is unsurprising, and it will not succeed in discharging Mr. Giuliani’s debt to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss,” Michael Gottleib, a lawyer for the two women, said in a statement.

Rudy got drunk on the MAGA juice and Trump used and abused him and discarded him.

THE WHOPPERS OF 2023

The wonderful folks at FactCheck.org have put together their list of whoopers told in 2023.

The list is worth the read – especially if you have some MAGA nutjobs visiting over the holidays!

The complete list can be found HERE.

FOOTBALL ROUNDUP:

There are college or NFL games almost every day until January. How cool is that? The closer we get to New Year’s Day, the bigger the games in college football.

The NFL schedule this week is a little funky. Last night was the Thursday Night game and there will be two games on Saturday, 10 games on Sunday, and three games on Monday, which is Christmas day.

My Chiefs play the Raiders at Arrowhead on Christmas day.

One of the Saturday games, Bills at Chargers, will only be shown on the Peacock streaming service. If it was the Chiefs playing, I would have to subscribe. Since it is not the Chiefs, I will probably listen to the game via Sirius XM radio.

Check out the NFL schedule HERE. Check out the Bowl schedule HERE.

ONE MORE THING:

Several years ago, I voted this song “Renegade” with having the best opening lines. What do you think? Do you have a better one?

Oh Mama, I’m in fear for my life from the long arm of the law
Lawman has put an end to my running, and I’m so far from my home
Oh Mama, I can hear you a-cryin’, you’re so scared and all alone
Hangman is comin’ down from the gallows, and I don’t have very long
(Yeah!)
“Renegade” -Styx
(Video)

## HAPPY HOLIDAYS ##