Hello Monday! It’s time for another odds and ends edition from the past weekend! When there are several stories out there that I want to comment about, I combine them into one column and call it “Potpourri” or “Odds & Ends” or something catchy to get your attention.

Today’s topics include:

• Montana Cowgirl Blog & Phil Drake
• Montana’s Expert Political Scientist
• City of Great Falls
• Gun Laws & Gallup
• Benghazi Circus
• Saturday Night Live

Montana Cowgirl Blog & Phil Drake:

The Montana Cowgirl blog is on my reading list and in my RSS feed. The Cowgirl posted a story Sunday called, “’Temporarily Out Of Business’: State GOP Defunct.” You can read it HERE.

The most interesting part of the story (for me) was the part about Great Falls Tribune reporter Phil Drake:

…especially since the reporter Drake was once a writer for for what was the only conservative blog (though a paid one) in the state, the Montana Watchdog which is now defunct (Drake never entirely convinced anyone that he was himself a conservative, and many people knew better). How enjoyable it is to see him now ridiculing the people he used to be paid to try to make seem competent.

I learned something. I did not know (or remember) that Drake had been a writer for Montana Watchdog.

If correct, that piece of information will make me view his columns differently.

Montana’s Expert Political Scientist:

I got a kick out of reading about Montana State University political scientist David Parker’s take on Congressman Ryan Zinke running for Speaker of the House.

I first wrote about it here at The Western Word on Wednesday saying it was a “clever move” that gets Zinke attention. I also said that in the long run this little announcement that was gobbled up by the gullible Montana media will end up helping Zinke where it counts most: in the campaign pocketbook.

Professor Parker wrote about it on Thursday in his blog. Montana Public Radio posted a story about Zinke and Parker with the headline: “Expert: Rep. Zinke A Longshot For Speaker.”

We have an expert in Bozeman! Congrats Professor Parker!

City of Great Falls:

Last week it was reported that the City of Great Falls Human Resources Manager had been arrested on a charge of felony tampering with or fabricating evidence. (Source)

A year or so ago another high-profile employee got into trouble and in my humble opinion, it was not handled well. The Deputy City Manager was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, but according to reports pleaded guilty to a lesser reckless driving charge. According to the City’s website, the Deputy City Manager is still employed.

It will be interesting to see how this latest arrest plays out and is handled by Great Falls City Manager Greg Doyon.

Gun Laws:

According to Gallup polling 55% of Americans say they want laws covering the sale of firearms to be stricter than they are now, a distinct rise of eight percentage points from 2014. The poll was just released this morning. Read it HERE.

Get prepared – that knock on your door might just be Obama coming after your guns!

I wrote about mass shootings recently. You can read my column HERE.

Benghazi Circus:

Mark your calendars – Hillary Clinton will testify in front of the House Select Committee on Benghazi this Thursday. (Source)

It has already been publicized a few times that the reason for the Committee is to damage Clinton’s presidential campaign. If I were the Secretary I would not show up. If I did show up, I would give an opening statement and then get up and walk out.

Saturday Night Live:

In case you missed Saturday Night Live, they did a sketch about the Democratic Presidential Debate. It was pretty funny. Watch it HERE.

Bernie Sanders was played by Larry David. He nailed it. The part about banks chaining their pens to desks was hilarious.

## GO ROYALS ##