Greetings! Here are the topics for today’s column: 

• 60 Minutes & Montana
• Checks and Balances
• U.S. Senator Mark Kelly
• One More Thing

60 MINUTES & MONTANA:

In case you missed it, 60 Minutes did a segment about the proposal to sell off public lands. U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) proposed that the sale of public land would address America’s housing shortage and also help pay down the nation’s debt.

U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke (R-MT-01) was interviewed, and 60 Minutes reported that Zinke was instrumental in getting the land sale proposal killed in the House. He then coordinated with his colleagues in the Senate, where Mike Lee had crafted a special carve out exempting Montana. But that didn’t win over the state’s delegation. The measure was abandoned.

One of the main arguments against selling public land is that when it’s sold then it is gone forever. That is a fact. Don’t sell our public lands. 

Check out the full 60 Minutes report HERE. 

CHECKS AND BALANCES:

Since Donald Trump has been President, I am very thankful for the checks and balances that our founders established in the Constitution. This is so that one branch of the government does not have too much power.  

Yesterday, a federal court judge dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, concluding that the prosecutor who brought the charges at President Donald Trump’s urging was illegally appointed by the Justice Department. (Source) 

I believe these were political retribution cases.

While that may not be the end of the cases against Comey and James, at least the court is making sure that the executive branch has their ducks in a row. 

The Associated Press (AP) did report that Comey was indicted just days before the statute of limitations in his case expired, which could complicate any effort to refile the case. One of his lawyers, Patrick Fitzgerald, said in a statement that Currie’s decision “further indicates that because the indictment is void, the statute of limitations has run and there can be no further indictment.”

Nonetheless, we should be thankful that we have checks and balances. 

U.S. SENATOR MARK KELLY:

I believe that U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) is a patriot and a national hero. He was a Naval aviator who flew several combat missions. He also flew four space shuttle missions. People may not know that Kelly’s wife, then-Arizona Representative Gabby Giffords, was shot and nearly killed in an assassination attempt in Arizona back in 2011. (Source)

The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that the Pentagon announced Monday it is investigating Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona over possible breaches of military law after the former Navy pilot joined a handful of other lawmakers in a video that called for troops to defy “illegal orders.”

The AP also reported that the Pentagon’s statement, posted on social media, cited a federal law that allows retired service members to be recalled to active duty on orders of the defense secretary for possible court-martial or other measures.

The investigation proposed by the Pentagon is hogwash. 

The AP also included a response from Kelly:

Kelly said he upheld his oath to the Constitution and dismissed the Pentagon investigation as the work of “bullies.”

“If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work,” Kelly said in a statement.

The Pentagon should utilize the video as a training tool for all service members. There’s nothing wrong with it. It contains accurate information. 

ONE MORE THING: 

I don’t always whoop. But when I do, there it is. 

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