This week has been so weird it is hard to know where to begin. Indeed, the list of losers is a long one, while the number of winners can be counted on one hand.
To begin with there is the strange and tragic saga of former NBA star, Lamar Odom. Last weekend Odom reserved a four day stay at the Love Ranch in Nevada. The ranch is actually a legal brothel located 80 or so miles outside of Las Vegas. Just prior to his arrival he apparently began a bender so epic in nature not even a pro like the late Hunter Thompson would have attempted it during his prime.
According to reports, by the time he was found unconscious in his bed on Tuesday, he had tooted a few lines of cocaine, drank most of a bottle of brandy, downed around 10 tabs of, Reload-72 Hour Sexual Performance Enhancer, and run up a tab of $75,000. While it isn't completely clear what caused the medical emergency, it is known that, despite Reload's over the counter availability, the FDA has warned against using it in conjunction with alcohol and drugs.
Mr. Odom is now on life support in a Las Vegas hospital.
On the same day the medics were called to the Love Ranch, the democratic candidates for president were in Vegas for their first debate. The clear winner was Hillary Clinton who easily proved herself to be the class act of the field.
At the same time, Lincoln Chafee and Jim Webb came across as a couple of two bit cranks while, Martin O'Malley nailed a too little, too late score with an eloquent closing statement.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders turned out to be a one note Johnnie. His, "Screw Wall Street," message came through loud and clear, but he seemed adrift on other issues, especially foreign policy. In addition his surprisingly soft stand on gun control was not only exposed to a national audience, but deftly exploited by former Secretary of State, Clinton. By the time the exchange wound down he was gesturing wildly and babbling about cultural differences between rural and urban states.
Meanwhile in Oklahoma, the people who run the Department of Corrections are fighting to keep from appearing in front of a multi-county grand jury.
The state's tea party Attorney General, Scott Pruitt wants to know who is to blame for the DOC screwing the pooch before the execution of Richard Glossip. The confusion was so bad the whole dreadful ceremony had to be postponed at the last minute by the governor.
The main reason for the fuck up looks to be no one at the Oklahoma Department of Corrections knows how to order the right drugs used in executions, or read the labels on bottles already in stock.
Glossip's execution was postponed because someone noticed--just before the injection was to take place--the state was getting ready to use Potassium Acetate, rather than Potassium Chloride. It wasn't the first time the mistake has been made, although, to Glossip's great relief, it was the first time anyone realized it before the hot shot was administered.
Back in January an autopsy proved Oklahoma mistakenly used Potassium Acetate in its three drug mix when it executed Charles Fredrick Warner. An AP reporter who witnessed Warner's death said that the convicted child rapist and murderer's last words, were, among other things, "It feels like acid. My body is on fire. No one should go through this."
Warner's initial date with the needle had been delayed in April of the previous year. That's when things went terribly awry during the execution of Clayton Lockett. It took Lockett 43 minutes to die after he began flopping around on the gurney like a boated tuna instead of going quietly into Forever Land. The scene was so grotesque prison officials blocked the assembled witnesses from watching the entire horrific affair.
The attorney for the DOC, former state Attorney General, Drew Edmondson, claims that since there has been no allegation of a crime, an appearance by his clients is beyond the jurisdiction of the grand jury. He also threw in some stuff about conflict of interest since the state's AG office also represents the Department of Corrections in other matters.
Edmondson's main problem is Pruitt doesn't give a shit about such legal nuances. He has eyes on the governor's mansion in 2018. He desperately wants to prove to the local right wing rubes he can crush all manner of incompetent liberal bureaucrats entrenched in state government. You can bet that is how he is going to play it in the press and to the voting public.
So there we have it--just another week riddled with crazed carnal self abuse, hookers, politicians, and people who simply can't read.
And yes, the bar is now open.
10-16-15
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