Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Here are the topics for today’s column:

• Marc Racicot Opinion
• Trump Wins Golf Championship
• Arlington National Cemetery
• Democratic Party’s Favorability Rating
• Brackets Are Set
• One More Thing

MARC RACICOT OPINION:

An opinion piece by Marc Racicot, former attorney general and governor of Montana, hit the papers this weekend. Find it HERE. 

Racicot asks, “Have they no decency?” 

He, in part, writes:

The peril confronting our nation and state today is real and existential. Granted, President Donald Trump calling for the “termination” of the Constitution because unspecified “articles” were used to victimize him is vengeful and deranged. But it is also careless and reflects a complete lack of propriety and respect for the Constitution that so many Americans gave their lives to protect and preserve.

And here in Montana, for the third legislative session in a row, a major thrust of some Republican lawmakers has been the evisceration of judicial independence without which a constitutional government falls apart. There are two flagships in the fleet of bills introduced. One to expensively create an entirely new array of courts with judges appointed by the governor (SB 385). And the other, a bill requiring nonpartisan judicial candidates in the future to declare a political party affiliation. (SB42) 

Those bills, and over two dozen others, are designed to debilitate and weaken the judicial branch, to subject it to the control of the legislature, to politicize it, and to thereby assure the preordained rulings the legislative sponsors demand. 

I agree with Racicot’s opinion about the attack on our judicial branch. Many from the MAGA don’t understand what Racicot said here:

The delegates to both the United States and Montana constitutional conventions purposely created three distinct branches of government and strictly prohibited one branch from encroaching upon the power of another. 

Our system of checks and balances is under attack from the MAGA crowd. We can’t let one branch of our government run over the other two. If it happens, we all lose. 

TRUMP WINS GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP:

I remember several years ago when Russian President Vladimir Putin played hockey, scored several goals, and made some assists, but nobody got close to him during the match. (Source)

Then we had North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il play an almost perfect round of golf. It was reported that in his first-ever game of golf, Mr. Kim finished an 18-hole round on a 7,700-yard course in Pyongyang with a score of 38 under par, recording from five to 11 holes-in-one. This is the same “athlete” who bowled a perfect 300 on his first attempt. (Source) 

So when I heard that our very own dictator-want-to-be, Donald Trump, won his golf tournament, I had to chuckle. Fox News reported:

Trump announced in a Truth Social post on Sunday that he won a golf tournament at his club in Palm Beach County, Florida – noting that it would likely be his “last.” (Source) 

I think he is lying about it being his last…

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY:

The Washington Post and several other sources are reporting that Arlington National Cemetery has scrubbed information about prominent Black, Hispanic and female service members and topics such as the Civil War from its website, part of a broader effort across the Defense Department to remove all references to diversity, equity and inclusion from its online presence.

One of my favorite leaders, Gen. Colin L. Powell, the youngest and first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, information was scrubbed. 

These actions are wrong in so many ways.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S FAVORABILITY RATING: 

I happened to see over the weekend that the Democratic Party’s favorable rating is at a new low.

CNN reported:

Among the American public overall, the Democratic Party’s favorability rating stands at just 29% – a record low in CNN’s polling dating back to 1992 and a drop of 20 points since January 2021, when Trump exited his first term under the shadow of the January 6 attack at on Capitol. The Republican Party’s rating currently stands at 36%.

I don’t think the 36% for the Republicans is anything to cheer about. 

The Federal Government did not shut down on Friday because some Democrats went along with Republicans in the U.S. Senate to pass the bill. That caused a lot of anger within the Democratic caucus. It gave the Republicans a clear win. 

I think the MAGA party will implode with their power. It might be best for the Democrats to keep their powder dry and watch the implosion. The Democrats need to decide who will lead them and if this person will lead them from the moderate angle or the far left. 

BRACKETS ARE SET:

The Men’s and Women’s NCAA tournament field is set with the games starting this week. That means there won’t be a lot of work getting done for the remainder of the month. 

Check out the women’s bracket HERE. 

Check out the men’s bracket HERE. 

I normally play the bracket challenge on the ESPN app (Men/Women) I may also play the USA Today bracket challenge and the one on Yahoo Sports.

ONE MORE THING:

I think I am approaching my “Best If Used By” date.

## HAVE A GREAT WEEK ##