Is this any way to run a railroad?
Mr. Daffy Duck, Esq.
Yes, who needs an off his nut republican like Mike Lee when you have battalions of tekkies who don't know their asses from holes in the ground?
This morning Kathleen Sebelius went before congress and tried to explain it all. While she apologized and claimed she was as frustrated as everyone else, she didn't get into the tangled details of what is going wrong with the healthcare.gov site that is the home of the Affordable Care Act. It is probably best she didn't, because at this point it is becoming increasingly clear no one knows what is going on with it.
In fact, the confusion is so grand one federal health care official was quoted as saying 700,000 people have submitted applications either through the site, or over the phone, but Sebelius admitted the administration has "no reliable data" on how many people have successfully enrolled in the program.
I'm no expert, but here is an idea, Kathleen, run hard copies of the enrollments and count them.
Actually, back in the day I was involved in the roll out of a new computer program. I will admit it was far more simple than healthcare.gov and and in truth was nothing more than a hotel rooms reservation and revenue reporting system. I signed on to lead teams into the field to train the back office personnel how to use it. When I arrived in Boston in the summer 1986 I was told the roll out was right around the corner. However, a month before the system introduction, testing began and glitches and bugs started to swarm like vast hordes of tsetse flies rising out of the swamps. We held our first training seminar in the spring of 1988, a full year and a half behind schedule.
The only reason I tell that story is because apparently the people in charge of putting the ACA site in place didn't begin testing it until two weeks before the start up. I know technology has changed, but, if true, that tells me it either took far longer than anticipated to build the site, or the rubes who designed it considered themselves so brilliant they assumed their end product would be flawless. In either case the guys behind the curtain at the Wizard's palace in Oz have proven themselves to be far more effective than Ted Cruz has ever been in gumming up the works.
The truth is probably closer to this. The Obama administration has, from day one, been confronted with a bunch of brutes who are in Washington for only one reason--to sabotage his presidency. They really don't care about governing, all they want to do is dump every thing the black guy in the oval office has proposed, or managed to get passed into the trash dumpster and if they're lucky impeach his Muslim/socialist ass. As we saw this month they are so determined to destroy this presidency they were willing to shut down the government and bring us to the point of defaulting on every treasury bond out there.
Faced with that sort of nihilistic ferocity the administration felt compelled to start up the site on time. They did so not only because they knew if they got the ACA out there people would buy into it, silencing the critics, but also because--and this is paramount--a bunch of over confident computer geeks told them, " Dudes, no problemo."
What we saw today with Sebelius ranks right up there with the most bizarre episodes of the old, "Twilight Zone" television program. Republican congressmen and women, the very same people who wanted the web site destroyed less than two weeks ago, were condemning her because people couldn't access it.
This is the very last thing Obama needs right now. The flawed site casts doubts about the entire plan and gives the GOP a platform to stand on. They can and will claim tech support incompetence is somehow directly related to the details of the ACA itself. It won't be true of course, but hey, the truth has never stopped them in the past, so why should it now?
If I had a couple of gin and tonics in me I'd blame this whole thing on republican paid tech moles who are dedicated to ruining the entire Affordable Care Act.
Oh, if it were only so.
Indeed, the current situation would be simpler and far more explainable if both were true .
sic vita est
10-30-13
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
Wendy Davis, Ted Cruz, and Rhett Butler
I've always had a weakness for lost causes once they're really lost.
From Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
Maybe that is why I have a soft spot for Wendy Davis. She is the gritty Texas state senator who took to the floor about four months ago and delivered a 13 hour filibuster which opposed a draconian anti-abortion bill being voted on in that chamber.
She was, in fact, the inspiration for Ted Cruz's marathon in the United States Senate a couple of weeks ago. Of course he'll never say that, at least not out loud. In addition there are a couple of stark differences between what she and he accomplished. The Cruz speech wasn't a true filibuster. It was simply his ego on display for nearly a day. U.S. Senate rules had stipulated a strict limit on the length of debate in advance and after time had expired the vote on the proposed gutting of the Affordable Care Act was going to take place no matter what. His reading of "Green Eggs and Ham," something Davis couldn't do because she actually had to talk about the issue on the floor and nothing else, didn't accomplish a single thing. The vote took place at the scheduled hour and Cruz and his pals got their arses kicked just like everyone knew they would.
Davis, on the other hand, besides talking on point for hours on end, actually ran the clock out on a special legislative session that had been called by Governor Rick Perry in order to get the measure passed. Her filibuster gummed up the works, which is what a filibuster is supposed to do. Well, at least for a little while. Because of her the Texas legislature was forced to adjourn, much to Perry's chagrin, and he had to call a second special session to get the bill rammed through so he could sign it.
The proposal passed during the next attempt, but today a federal judged ruled it unconstitutional, which was about as surprising as the sun setting in the west. NBC reports that U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel decided the law would, "impede efforts of abortion providers to do what they judge is best for their patients and would unreasonably limit a woman's access to state abortion clinics."
The law was specifically designed to restrict a woman's personal health care options so severely that in reality she wouldn't have any at all. It required doctors who perform abortion procedures to have admitting privileges at a hospital within a 30 mile radius of their place of practice. Planned Parenthood estimated a third of all clinics in Texas would have to close because of that provision. It didn't stop there though, the law also required for all procedures to occur at an ambulatory surgical center, which would have disqualified 37 of the 42 women's clinics operating in Texas.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott released a statement saying he would file an emergency appeal with the 5th Circuit Court. He claims the law was passed to "protect women and fetuses." Mr. Abbott is currently running for governor of Texas.
Which brings us back to Wendy Davis. After she honorably emulated Davy Crockett at the gates of the Alamo, Ms. Davis also decided to run for the head job in Austin.
Well, why not? Someone has to don't they? You can't leave it to them without any sort of argument.
While I wish her well, the brutal truth is the odds are decidedly against her. There hasn't been a democrat serve as governor of Texas since 1994 and there hasn't hasn't been one hold a statewide office since 1998.
To show you what she is up against, a 2009 poll revealed a full 31% of the rubes living south of the Red River believe Texas has the right to secede from the union. 18% of them think the state should do just that.
At some point, as the Hispanic population grows, Texas might be in play for democrats, but we haven't gotten there yet. In 2008 Tarrant County elected Wendy Davis, but in 2012 the state of Texas elected Ted Cruz.
In the end there is nothing quite like some healthy fantasies to warm the heart. Hey, Wendy if I could, I'd vote for you in a minute and before things are over with, hopefully, I can even slip your campaign a few bucks. Lets call it the Rhett Butler in me.
Just don't tell Scarlett. She is far more a realist than I am. And--there is that whole saving for the escape to Belize thing we have to keep in mind.
sic vita est
10-28-13
From Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
Maybe that is why I have a soft spot for Wendy Davis. She is the gritty Texas state senator who took to the floor about four months ago and delivered a 13 hour filibuster which opposed a draconian anti-abortion bill being voted on in that chamber.
She was, in fact, the inspiration for Ted Cruz's marathon in the United States Senate a couple of weeks ago. Of course he'll never say that, at least not out loud. In addition there are a couple of stark differences between what she and he accomplished. The Cruz speech wasn't a true filibuster. It was simply his ego on display for nearly a day. U.S. Senate rules had stipulated a strict limit on the length of debate in advance and after time had expired the vote on the proposed gutting of the Affordable Care Act was going to take place no matter what. His reading of "Green Eggs and Ham," something Davis couldn't do because she actually had to talk about the issue on the floor and nothing else, didn't accomplish a single thing. The vote took place at the scheduled hour and Cruz and his pals got their arses kicked just like everyone knew they would.
Davis, on the other hand, besides talking on point for hours on end, actually ran the clock out on a special legislative session that had been called by Governor Rick Perry in order to get the measure passed. Her filibuster gummed up the works, which is what a filibuster is supposed to do. Well, at least for a little while. Because of her the Texas legislature was forced to adjourn, much to Perry's chagrin, and he had to call a second special session to get the bill rammed through so he could sign it.
The proposal passed during the next attempt, but today a federal judged ruled it unconstitutional, which was about as surprising as the sun setting in the west. NBC reports that U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel decided the law would, "impede efforts of abortion providers to do what they judge is best for their patients and would unreasonably limit a woman's access to state abortion clinics."
The law was specifically designed to restrict a woman's personal health care options so severely that in reality she wouldn't have any at all. It required doctors who perform abortion procedures to have admitting privileges at a hospital within a 30 mile radius of their place of practice. Planned Parenthood estimated a third of all clinics in Texas would have to close because of that provision. It didn't stop there though, the law also required for all procedures to occur at an ambulatory surgical center, which would have disqualified 37 of the 42 women's clinics operating in Texas.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott released a statement saying he would file an emergency appeal with the 5th Circuit Court. He claims the law was passed to "protect women and fetuses." Mr. Abbott is currently running for governor of Texas.
Which brings us back to Wendy Davis. After she honorably emulated Davy Crockett at the gates of the Alamo, Ms. Davis also decided to run for the head job in Austin.
Well, why not? Someone has to don't they? You can't leave it to them without any sort of argument.
While I wish her well, the brutal truth is the odds are decidedly against her. There hasn't been a democrat serve as governor of Texas since 1994 and there hasn't hasn't been one hold a statewide office since 1998.
To show you what she is up against, a 2009 poll revealed a full 31% of the rubes living south of the Red River believe Texas has the right to secede from the union. 18% of them think the state should do just that.
At some point, as the Hispanic population grows, Texas might be in play for democrats, but we haven't gotten there yet. In 2008 Tarrant County elected Wendy Davis, but in 2012 the state of Texas elected Ted Cruz.
In the end there is nothing quite like some healthy fantasies to warm the heart. Hey, Wendy if I could, I'd vote for you in a minute and before things are over with, hopefully, I can even slip your campaign a few bucks. Lets call it the Rhett Butler in me.
Just don't tell Scarlett. She is far more a realist than I am. And--there is that whole saving for the escape to Belize thing we have to keep in mind.
sic vita est
10-28-13
Friday, October 25, 2013
Deadly Tricks and No Treats: Welcome to Our Nightmare
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under't.
Big Bill Shakespeare: Macbeth, Act I, Scene V
It would seem a few of our children have come to believe life should imitate some of the more rambunctious video games out there. Unluckily for us, a number of their parents have provided them with the means and psyches to make that breath taking leap from dark fantasy to bloody reality.
It has been a wretched week indeed.
Monday, Jose Reyes, a Sparks, Nevada Middle School student brought a 9.mm Ruger to school with him. Before it was over two classmates were wounded, a math teacher, Michael Landsberry, was dead and so was he. Police say he got the gun from his parent's home. They are still trying to determine which button was pushed to set him off in such a deadly fashion.
Little did we know that was just the beginning.
On Tuesday, Melissa Ann Ringhardt, 19, was baby sitting 5 year old John Read and a 6 month old infant. She dragged out a hand gun because, reportedly, she was scared of being in the house alone. As we all know by now, she wasn't alone. The two children were there with her. She left the gun, she'd apparently gotten out of a gun safe in the home, on the coffee table when she went to take a nap. Before she woke up John Read found it and accidentally killed himself with it. Ringhardt has been charged with "abandoning and or endangering a child." Bail was set at $250,000.
Tuesday evening up in Danvers, MA, two people were reported missing. One was Philip Chism, 14 year old scoring leader on the Danvers High School JV soccer team. The other was math teacher, Colleen Ritzer. Chism, originally from Tennessee, was a first year student at Danvers. Ms. Ritzer, 24, was a second year math teacher.
According to various reports, what happened that day was right out of the most twisted parts of Clive Barker's brain. Ritzer had Chism stay after school to study for a test which was coming up on the next day. She had apparently caught him aimlessly doodling rather than taking notes earlier in her class. An hour or so later, she went to use the girls restroom on the 2nd floor because the faculty restroom was locked. Security cameras showed young Chism donning a pair of white gloves and going in after her. Sources say he struck Ms. Ritzer at least twice then slashed her throat with a box cutter. He stuffed her body into a large portable recycling bucket, trundled it out to the woods near the school, dumped her body, and covered it with leaves. Afterward he changed out of his bloody clothes, using spare garments he had in his backpack.
After he was done, Philip Chism walked a couple of miles to a movie theater, where he watched the Woody Allen film, "Blue Jasmine." After the end credits rolled, he smashed both his and Ritzer's cell phones in the parking lot. Finally, he strolled over to a local Wendy's to grab a bite to eat. He used the teacher's credit card to pay for the meal.
Police later found him wandering down a road and a little past midnight discovered Colleen Ritzer's body in the woods.
Predictably, everyone at the school was shocked. No one could believe either Ritzer, a magna cum laude graduate of Assumption College and unabashedly enthusiastic teacher was dead, or that Chism, the somewhat shy new comer, had done it. Chism has been charged as an adult. His next court appearance will be in late November.
On Wednesday, an unnamed 11 year old boy was arrested in Vancouver, WA and charged with attempted murder. Police popped him as he carried what was described as, several knives, a gun, and 400 rounds of ammunition into his school. There is no official word as to why he attempted such an act, but actually we all know exactly what it was that motivated him. He did it because he was mad at someone, or something and thanks to a parent, or guardian, he could.
The Oklahoman reported today that police arrested 16 year old Brajuan Napolean yesterday. He is alleged to have gotten into an "altercation" with a 17 year old early Sunday morning in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, OK. Police say Napolean did what so many teens are doing now days when involved in a confrontation. He pulled out a gun then shot and killed the kid he was arguing with. He was charged with first degree murder.
And last, but not least, in Santa Rosa, CA, the latest reports are that 13 year old Andy Lopez Cruz was shot seven times on Tuesday by a Sonoma County deputy sheriff. Cruz was carrying a plastic replica of an assault style weapon which two patrolling deputies mistook for the real thing. According to several media sources Cruz was walking away from the deputies when they called out twice for him to drop the "weapon." He began to turn toward them without doing so and one of them immediately opened fire.
The founder of something called the Police Accountability Clinic and Sonoma Helpline, Elbert Howard was outraged. He was quoted as saying, "He's a child and he had a toy. I see that as an overreaction to shoot him down."
Well, Brother Howard, unfortunately the problem is they aren't always toys. Just ask them in Sparks, Vancouver, and at old Columbine High.
As horrifically tragic as it is, it appears Andy Lopez Cruz ended up paying for the sins of a bunch teens and tweens he never met and wasn't the least bit like, but who have been all too real, far too many times.
To paraphrase Alice Cooper, welcome to our nightmare.
mors vincit omnia
10-25-13
But be the serpent under't.
Big Bill Shakespeare: Macbeth, Act I, Scene V
It would seem a few of our children have come to believe life should imitate some of the more rambunctious video games out there. Unluckily for us, a number of their parents have provided them with the means and psyches to make that breath taking leap from dark fantasy to bloody reality.
It has been a wretched week indeed.
Monday, Jose Reyes, a Sparks, Nevada Middle School student brought a 9.mm Ruger to school with him. Before it was over two classmates were wounded, a math teacher, Michael Landsberry, was dead and so was he. Police say he got the gun from his parent's home. They are still trying to determine which button was pushed to set him off in such a deadly fashion.
Little did we know that was just the beginning.
On Tuesday, Melissa Ann Ringhardt, 19, was baby sitting 5 year old John Read and a 6 month old infant. She dragged out a hand gun because, reportedly, she was scared of being in the house alone. As we all know by now, she wasn't alone. The two children were there with her. She left the gun, she'd apparently gotten out of a gun safe in the home, on the coffee table when she went to take a nap. Before she woke up John Read found it and accidentally killed himself with it. Ringhardt has been charged with "abandoning and or endangering a child." Bail was set at $250,000.
Tuesday evening up in Danvers, MA, two people were reported missing. One was Philip Chism, 14 year old scoring leader on the Danvers High School JV soccer team. The other was math teacher, Colleen Ritzer. Chism, originally from Tennessee, was a first year student at Danvers. Ms. Ritzer, 24, was a second year math teacher.
According to various reports, what happened that day was right out of the most twisted parts of Clive Barker's brain. Ritzer had Chism stay after school to study for a test which was coming up on the next day. She had apparently caught him aimlessly doodling rather than taking notes earlier in her class. An hour or so later, she went to use the girls restroom on the 2nd floor because the faculty restroom was locked. Security cameras showed young Chism donning a pair of white gloves and going in after her. Sources say he struck Ms. Ritzer at least twice then slashed her throat with a box cutter. He stuffed her body into a large portable recycling bucket, trundled it out to the woods near the school, dumped her body, and covered it with leaves. Afterward he changed out of his bloody clothes, using spare garments he had in his backpack.
After he was done, Philip Chism walked a couple of miles to a movie theater, where he watched the Woody Allen film, "Blue Jasmine." After the end credits rolled, he smashed both his and Ritzer's cell phones in the parking lot. Finally, he strolled over to a local Wendy's to grab a bite to eat. He used the teacher's credit card to pay for the meal.
Police later found him wandering down a road and a little past midnight discovered Colleen Ritzer's body in the woods.
Predictably, everyone at the school was shocked. No one could believe either Ritzer, a magna cum laude graduate of Assumption College and unabashedly enthusiastic teacher was dead, or that Chism, the somewhat shy new comer, had done it. Chism has been charged as an adult. His next court appearance will be in late November.
On Wednesday, an unnamed 11 year old boy was arrested in Vancouver, WA and charged with attempted murder. Police popped him as he carried what was described as, several knives, a gun, and 400 rounds of ammunition into his school. There is no official word as to why he attempted such an act, but actually we all know exactly what it was that motivated him. He did it because he was mad at someone, or something and thanks to a parent, or guardian, he could.
The Oklahoman reported today that police arrested 16 year old Brajuan Napolean yesterday. He is alleged to have gotten into an "altercation" with a 17 year old early Sunday morning in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, OK. Police say Napolean did what so many teens are doing now days when involved in a confrontation. He pulled out a gun then shot and killed the kid he was arguing with. He was charged with first degree murder.
And last, but not least, in Santa Rosa, CA, the latest reports are that 13 year old Andy Lopez Cruz was shot seven times on Tuesday by a Sonoma County deputy sheriff. Cruz was carrying a plastic replica of an assault style weapon which two patrolling deputies mistook for the real thing. According to several media sources Cruz was walking away from the deputies when they called out twice for him to drop the "weapon." He began to turn toward them without doing so and one of them immediately opened fire.
The founder of something called the Police Accountability Clinic and Sonoma Helpline, Elbert Howard was outraged. He was quoted as saying, "He's a child and he had a toy. I see that as an overreaction to shoot him down."
Well, Brother Howard, unfortunately the problem is they aren't always toys. Just ask them in Sparks, Vancouver, and at old Columbine High.
As horrifically tragic as it is, it appears Andy Lopez Cruz ended up paying for the sins of a bunch teens and tweens he never met and wasn't the least bit like, but who have been all too real, far too many times.
To paraphrase Alice Cooper, welcome to our nightmare.
mors vincit omnia
10-25-13
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Life in the NRA's World
On Monday we had to deal with yet another school assault. Michael Landsberry, a teacher was shot to death as he tried to talk a 9.mm Ruger semi automatic pistol out of the shooter's hand. Two Sparks, Nevada Middle School students ended up wounded and the twelve year old perpetrator died of a self inflicted gun shot. It turns out the still unnamed youth got the firearm used during the deadly affair from his parents. Police have been quoted as saying the mother and father are fully cooperating with the investigation. When asked if they could be charged with a crime if it was found they were negligent in keeping the gun out of their child's hands, police said it was a possibility.
Almost lost in the news on the next day was word out of south east Texas that a five year old boy, John Allen Read, accidentally shot himself in the head with a .40 cal. hand gun. His live in baby sitter, Melissa Ann Ringhardt, 19, told police she was carrying around the weapon because she was scared to be in the home alone.
In fact she was so terribly frightened she decided to take a nap in the bedroom, while leaving the loaded weapon on a coffee table in the living room. Unfortunately, she really wasn't in the home alone. Young John Read was there with her, as was a six month old infant. At some point, while she snoozed away, the child found the gun and discharged it. Ringhardt discovered his body after she woke up. Because there wasn't a working phone in the home, she carried the mortally wounded Johnnie Read, along with the uninjured infant, down the street to a grandparent's house to make the call to 911. She has been charged with "abandoning, or endangering a child," and bond has been set at $250,000.
Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy, Clint Hodgkinson was quoted as saying, "People have the right to bear arms and with that comes great responsibility. If someone somehow puts a firearm in a place where a child is able to get that weapon, you've committed an offense."
Yeah, well there is a lot of that going around lately.
CNN reports:
Last week in Fayetteville, NC a two year old girl got her hands on her father's hand gun and shot herself to death. Dear old dad is currently facing manslaughter charges.
Two months ago in Dundee, MI a three year old found a .40 cal handgun belonging to a friend of the family on the floor of a closet in his parent's home. He was also killed by an accidental shot to the head. Proving that Michigan is a tad more lenient when it comes to this sort of thing, the owner of the weapon was charged with "careless discharge of a weapon" which is a misdemeanor.
In June a New Orleans five year old girl found a .38 cal. weapon at home while her mom was out shopping. After the accidental shooting the mother was charged with cruelty to children. However, later, after her child died at a hospital, prosecutors upped the ante to 2nd degree murder, which a judge promptly threw out. The D.A.'s office says it plans to appeal the ruling.
Of course there are other ways a kid can end up dead from guns. Yesterday in Santa Rosa, CA, Sonoma County deputies spotted a 13 year old boy walking down the street with what appeared to be an assault style weapon. A department spokesperson told members of the media the deputies repeatedly ordered him to drop the rifle, but for reasons we'll never know he didn't. They opened fire, killing the child. The "weapon" was a toy replica. As the deputies unsuccessfully administered first aid they found a plastic gun in his waist band.
Welcome to the American paradigm. It is designed and carved in stone by an all powerful lobby called the National Rifle Association. It makes everyone feel like they must have a weapon. There are no tests to see if you're as stupid as a lump of clay, or as crazy as a bed bug on acid before you buy one, because the NRA doesn't want there to be one. And despite what they say over and over in their perverse and unceasing propaganda campaign, the NRA doesn't give a rat's ass if you're responsible with a weapon or not. The epidemic of gun violence has become so wide spread the police aren't taking the slightest chance with anyone, even 13 year olds. Despite having a three year old crawling around the home, people don't lock away their hand guns because they're convinced they'll need them in a hurry if some stranger begins banging on the door. Yes, now it is shoot first and ask questions later. Paranoia and freedom have become one and the same. A few dead toddlers and 8th graders are simply the price we pay for both.
The NRA might not cause people to go crazy, or be stupid, but they certainly are enabling them to buy weapons without any questions asked--which allows the nuts and dolts to shoot up a school, or leave a .40 caliber pistol laying around the house so babies can blow their heads off.
The National Rifle Association has managed to shape this society into their own image and, like them, we've become crude, deadly, and utterly dystopian.
The truth is we should all be ashamed. We aren't though. We're too busy cleaning our guns to worry about things like that.
sic vita est
10-23-13
Almost lost in the news on the next day was word out of south east Texas that a five year old boy, John Allen Read, accidentally shot himself in the head with a .40 cal. hand gun. His live in baby sitter, Melissa Ann Ringhardt, 19, told police she was carrying around the weapon because she was scared to be in the home alone.
In fact she was so terribly frightened she decided to take a nap in the bedroom, while leaving the loaded weapon on a coffee table in the living room. Unfortunately, she really wasn't in the home alone. Young John Read was there with her, as was a six month old infant. At some point, while she snoozed away, the child found the gun and discharged it. Ringhardt discovered his body after she woke up. Because there wasn't a working phone in the home, she carried the mortally wounded Johnnie Read, along with the uninjured infant, down the street to a grandparent's house to make the call to 911. She has been charged with "abandoning, or endangering a child," and bond has been set at $250,000.
Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy, Clint Hodgkinson was quoted as saying, "People have the right to bear arms and with that comes great responsibility. If someone somehow puts a firearm in a place where a child is able to get that weapon, you've committed an offense."
Yeah, well there is a lot of that going around lately.
CNN reports:
Last week in Fayetteville, NC a two year old girl got her hands on her father's hand gun and shot herself to death. Dear old dad is currently facing manslaughter charges.
Two months ago in Dundee, MI a three year old found a .40 cal handgun belonging to a friend of the family on the floor of a closet in his parent's home. He was also killed by an accidental shot to the head. Proving that Michigan is a tad more lenient when it comes to this sort of thing, the owner of the weapon was charged with "careless discharge of a weapon" which is a misdemeanor.
In June a New Orleans five year old girl found a .38 cal. weapon at home while her mom was out shopping. After the accidental shooting the mother was charged with cruelty to children. However, later, after her child died at a hospital, prosecutors upped the ante to 2nd degree murder, which a judge promptly threw out. The D.A.'s office says it plans to appeal the ruling.
Of course there are other ways a kid can end up dead from guns. Yesterday in Santa Rosa, CA, Sonoma County deputies spotted a 13 year old boy walking down the street with what appeared to be an assault style weapon. A department spokesperson told members of the media the deputies repeatedly ordered him to drop the rifle, but for reasons we'll never know he didn't. They opened fire, killing the child. The "weapon" was a toy replica. As the deputies unsuccessfully administered first aid they found a plastic gun in his waist band.
Welcome to the American paradigm. It is designed and carved in stone by an all powerful lobby called the National Rifle Association. It makes everyone feel like they must have a weapon. There are no tests to see if you're as stupid as a lump of clay, or as crazy as a bed bug on acid before you buy one, because the NRA doesn't want there to be one. And despite what they say over and over in their perverse and unceasing propaganda campaign, the NRA doesn't give a rat's ass if you're responsible with a weapon or not. The epidemic of gun violence has become so wide spread the police aren't taking the slightest chance with anyone, even 13 year olds. Despite having a three year old crawling around the home, people don't lock away their hand guns because they're convinced they'll need them in a hurry if some stranger begins banging on the door. Yes, now it is shoot first and ask questions later. Paranoia and freedom have become one and the same. A few dead toddlers and 8th graders are simply the price we pay for both.
The NRA might not cause people to go crazy, or be stupid, but they certainly are enabling them to buy weapons without any questions asked--which allows the nuts and dolts to shoot up a school, or leave a .40 caliber pistol laying around the house so babies can blow their heads off.
The National Rifle Association has managed to shape this society into their own image and, like them, we've become crude, deadly, and utterly dystopian.
The truth is we should all be ashamed. We aren't though. We're too busy cleaning our guns to worry about things like that.
sic vita est
10-23-13
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Chaos in Sparks: The Body Count Continues to Rise
Details have started to emerge from the smoke and chaos in Sparks, Nevada. Yes, yesterday was just another lovely autumn morning during which someone tried to kill a bunch of people because--well, we don't know exactly why yet--although the obvious reasons were he was pissed off, crazy, and had access to a loaded semi automatic pistol.
For those of you unfamiliar with them, semi automatic pistols are designed to do one thing and one thing only. That is kill human beings as quickly and efficiently as possible. They serve absolutely no other purpose. Americans buy them at what we call, sporting goods stores.
Math teacher, Michael Landsberry, a former marine and a member of the Nevada National Guard was shot and killed when he tried to stop a student at Sparks Middle School from firing at classmates outside the school building before the morning bell rang. He was married and a step father of two girls. He had survived two tours of duty in Afghanistan, which is a war zone.
The shooter, who has yet to be identified, reportedly killed himself before police arrived. He was 12 years old. He wounded two fellow students who are in stable condition and expected to survive. Physically that is, there is no telling how many psychiatrists will be deeply involved in their lives for quite some time. That is what happens when you have to recover from gun shot wounds received while waiting on home room to begin and you're not located anywhere near a war zone.
One witness interviewed by NBC News said, Landsberry intervened after the shooting began, told the kid to stop, and held out his hand for the pistol. The shooter yelled, "No," then gunned him down. Other witnesses say that during the deadly spree the shooter yelled, "Why you people making fun of me? Why you laughing at me?"
There is no word regarding where the shooter got the weapon. Presumably Nevada state law doesn't allow a 12 year old to walk into a gun shop and buy one, but given the current power of the NRA, that fact will have to remain unconfirmed at this moment. In all probability he snatched the weapon from a parent, relative, or neighbor who had bought it for self defense. At least that is the usual excuse following acts of madness like this. When Adam Lanza ran amok barely 10 months ago in Connecticut every weapon he used at Sandy Hook Elementary was legally bought and paid for by his mother.
Not long after the gun fire began in Sparks, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder addressed the International Association of Police Chiefs in Philadelphia. He told the gathering the number of active shooter incidents in this country has tripled since 2009. He defined an active shooter as an individual who engages in killing people in a confined and or populated area. You know, like a school yard, or a movie theater, or a naval headquarters. In his speech he said so far in 2013 there have been 12 active shooter episodes in the United States, although it was unclear if that total included Sparks, or not. In any event, the number of people shot and killed during this sort of craziness has risen 150%.
In the next couple of days look for some dreadful NRA wanker to make a statement along the lines of, if we would just allow more people to carry guns, acts like these would cease. It is bull shit so far fetched it makes the Obama was born in Kenya theory look utterly plausible.
Everyone already has a gun for God's sake and the bodies are piling up faster than ever. Why don't we just tell all the drunks who are driving themselves home tonight to have another shot of tequila before hitting the road? Indeed, "Go ahead pal, knock one back--it will steady the nerves and clear the ol' noggin' right up."
For those of you keeping count, Slate and @GunDeaths now say there have been 9,693 media reported gun deaths since December 14th of last year. The last time I checked the statistic the number was 9,199. So in 11 days an additional 494 people have been killed by guns in the United States. The study claims if you throw in unreported gun deaths, things like accidents and suicides among others, CDC statistics indicate the actual number of gun related deaths in the nation is a little over 28,000.
You can say many things about Americans, but you'll never be able to accuse us of being bad shots.
How long, oh Lord? How long? This insanity has to stop.
sic vita est
10-22-13
For those of you unfamiliar with them, semi automatic pistols are designed to do one thing and one thing only. That is kill human beings as quickly and efficiently as possible. They serve absolutely no other purpose. Americans buy them at what we call, sporting goods stores.
Math teacher, Michael Landsberry, a former marine and a member of the Nevada National Guard was shot and killed when he tried to stop a student at Sparks Middle School from firing at classmates outside the school building before the morning bell rang. He was married and a step father of two girls. He had survived two tours of duty in Afghanistan, which is a war zone.
The shooter, who has yet to be identified, reportedly killed himself before police arrived. He was 12 years old. He wounded two fellow students who are in stable condition and expected to survive. Physically that is, there is no telling how many psychiatrists will be deeply involved in their lives for quite some time. That is what happens when you have to recover from gun shot wounds received while waiting on home room to begin and you're not located anywhere near a war zone.
One witness interviewed by NBC News said, Landsberry intervened after the shooting began, told the kid to stop, and held out his hand for the pistol. The shooter yelled, "No," then gunned him down. Other witnesses say that during the deadly spree the shooter yelled, "Why you people making fun of me? Why you laughing at me?"
There is no word regarding where the shooter got the weapon. Presumably Nevada state law doesn't allow a 12 year old to walk into a gun shop and buy one, but given the current power of the NRA, that fact will have to remain unconfirmed at this moment. In all probability he snatched the weapon from a parent, relative, or neighbor who had bought it for self defense. At least that is the usual excuse following acts of madness like this. When Adam Lanza ran amok barely 10 months ago in Connecticut every weapon he used at Sandy Hook Elementary was legally bought and paid for by his mother.
Not long after the gun fire began in Sparks, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder addressed the International Association of Police Chiefs in Philadelphia. He told the gathering the number of active shooter incidents in this country has tripled since 2009. He defined an active shooter as an individual who engages in killing people in a confined and or populated area. You know, like a school yard, or a movie theater, or a naval headquarters. In his speech he said so far in 2013 there have been 12 active shooter episodes in the United States, although it was unclear if that total included Sparks, or not. In any event, the number of people shot and killed during this sort of craziness has risen 150%.
In the next couple of days look for some dreadful NRA wanker to make a statement along the lines of, if we would just allow more people to carry guns, acts like these would cease. It is bull shit so far fetched it makes the Obama was born in Kenya theory look utterly plausible.
Everyone already has a gun for God's sake and the bodies are piling up faster than ever. Why don't we just tell all the drunks who are driving themselves home tonight to have another shot of tequila before hitting the road? Indeed, "Go ahead pal, knock one back--it will steady the nerves and clear the ol' noggin' right up."
For those of you keeping count, Slate and @GunDeaths now say there have been 9,693 media reported gun deaths since December 14th of last year. The last time I checked the statistic the number was 9,199. So in 11 days an additional 494 people have been killed by guns in the United States. The study claims if you throw in unreported gun deaths, things like accidents and suicides among others, CDC statistics indicate the actual number of gun related deaths in the nation is a little over 28,000.
You can say many things about Americans, but you'll never be able to accuse us of being bad shots.
How long, oh Lord? How long? This insanity has to stop.
sic vita est
10-22-13
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Purging the RINOS
So in that alternate universe known as the tea party, the pure of heart are rising up to challenge the treasonous Republicans In Name Only who finally acknowledged reality this past week during the budget/debt ceiling crisis. It is a motley bunch who seems to be completely out of touch with not only the polls, which show the nation quickly souring on the tea party act, but sanity itself.
Matt Bevin, who is running against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, pounced on his opponent with all the subtlety of a starving jaguar. He released a video in which he said, "Now it seems Mitch McConnell has cut and run from another fight. Making deals with democrats like Harry Reid to raise the debt ceiling limit without consideration for defunding or even delaying Obamacare."
McConnell is no stranger to tough campaigns. He currently has a spot on the web which accuses Bevin of past tax problems and falsely claiming on a resume' he had attended MIT.
According to Bevin's wikipedia biography, which he probably composed himself--because it reads exactly like a campaign advertisement--the candidate graduated from Washington and Lee University, opposes bailouts, amnesty for illegal aliens, and pay increases for congress. He is president of Bevin's Manufacturing Company. They make bells.
In South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham is opposed by Lee Bright. Bright accused Graham and other republicans of "surrendering." He issued a statement saying, We'll stand with Ted Cruz, we'll stand with Rand Paul, we'll stand with Mike Lee. You'll have a fourth up there fighting the battle. I'm ready to go to war."
As my youngest daughter used to say, "whatever."
Obviously it takes a special type of person to refer to himself in the imperial "we." Bright is a state senator. His signature piece of legislation to date was a bill that would have exempted all fire arms manufactured in South Carolina from any sort of federal regulation. Unfortunately the measure failed, but he has promised to reintroduce it.
In Mississippi, Thad Cochran is facing a guy named, Chris McDaniel. McDaniel was quoted as saying not only did the GOP surrender, but, "Cochran failed to stand his ground for the American people." McDaniel is a lawyer, state senator, and former right wing radio talk show host. The Jackson Free Press notes there were 62 separate updates to his wikipedia profile in the month of April alone. That would be about the same time he decided to run against Cochran.
Finally in Kansas there is the sad case of Pat Roberts. Roberts didn't even vote for ending the shutdown, but sometimes even crass stupidity isn't enough. Dr. Milton Wolf, who is running against him, notes, "Roberts has voted to raise the debt ceiling 11 times in his more than three decades in congress."
Wolf is a part time diagnostic radiologist. In his blog, he refers to himself strictly in the third person, as if some neutral journalist is writing about him. He says he is a columnist for the Washington Times, has appeared on Fox and Friends, on the Hannity show, the Rush Limbaugh radio show, shared stages with Laura Ingraham and Michelle Malkin and is a "leading conservative voice in America." He also says he is Barack H. Obama's cousin and is probably the only tea party member the president knows.
Obviously the Doctor has never heard of Ted Cruz, because the president certainly knows him.
And there is the situation. The true Aryans have had it with these Trotskyite traitors. Heads will be taken and the horror of Obamacare will be defeated once and for all, even if the economy and the nation must be burned to the ground in order to achieve the ultimate victory.
At some point this gruesome nonsense is going to end. The death twitches of white rule will ebb and we'll regain our common sense. It took a while to get through McCarthyism, and the House on Un-American Activities witch hunts, but we did. The trick is surviving until these brutes commit acts so barbaric even the most conservative of us turn away from them in shame.
Uhura, pass the beer.
Mr. Sulu, you have the con.
10-19-13
Matt Bevin, who is running against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, pounced on his opponent with all the subtlety of a starving jaguar. He released a video in which he said, "Now it seems Mitch McConnell has cut and run from another fight. Making deals with democrats like Harry Reid to raise the debt ceiling limit without consideration for defunding or even delaying Obamacare."
McConnell is no stranger to tough campaigns. He currently has a spot on the web which accuses Bevin of past tax problems and falsely claiming on a resume' he had attended MIT.
According to Bevin's wikipedia biography, which he probably composed himself--because it reads exactly like a campaign advertisement--the candidate graduated from Washington and Lee University, opposes bailouts, amnesty for illegal aliens, and pay increases for congress. He is president of Bevin's Manufacturing Company. They make bells.
In South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham is opposed by Lee Bright. Bright accused Graham and other republicans of "surrendering." He issued a statement saying, We'll stand with Ted Cruz, we'll stand with Rand Paul, we'll stand with Mike Lee. You'll have a fourth up there fighting the battle. I'm ready to go to war."
As my youngest daughter used to say, "whatever."
Obviously it takes a special type of person to refer to himself in the imperial "we." Bright is a state senator. His signature piece of legislation to date was a bill that would have exempted all fire arms manufactured in South Carolina from any sort of federal regulation. Unfortunately the measure failed, but he has promised to reintroduce it.
In Mississippi, Thad Cochran is facing a guy named, Chris McDaniel. McDaniel was quoted as saying not only did the GOP surrender, but, "Cochran failed to stand his ground for the American people." McDaniel is a lawyer, state senator, and former right wing radio talk show host. The Jackson Free Press notes there were 62 separate updates to his wikipedia profile in the month of April alone. That would be about the same time he decided to run against Cochran.
Finally in Kansas there is the sad case of Pat Roberts. Roberts didn't even vote for ending the shutdown, but sometimes even crass stupidity isn't enough. Dr. Milton Wolf, who is running against him, notes, "Roberts has voted to raise the debt ceiling 11 times in his more than three decades in congress."
Wolf is a part time diagnostic radiologist. In his blog, he refers to himself strictly in the third person, as if some neutral journalist is writing about him. He says he is a columnist for the Washington Times, has appeared on Fox and Friends, on the Hannity show, the Rush Limbaugh radio show, shared stages with Laura Ingraham and Michelle Malkin and is a "leading conservative voice in America." He also says he is Barack H. Obama's cousin and is probably the only tea party member the president knows.
Obviously the Doctor has never heard of Ted Cruz, because the president certainly knows him.
And there is the situation. The true Aryans have had it with these Trotskyite traitors. Heads will be taken and the horror of Obamacare will be defeated once and for all, even if the economy and the nation must be burned to the ground in order to achieve the ultimate victory.
At some point this gruesome nonsense is going to end. The death twitches of white rule will ebb and we'll regain our common sense. It took a while to get through McCarthyism, and the House on Un-American Activities witch hunts, but we did. The trick is surviving until these brutes commit acts so barbaric even the most conservative of us turn away from them in shame.
Uhura, pass the beer.
Mr. Sulu, you have the con.
10-19-13
Thursday, October 17, 2013
What We've Learned in the Last Sixteen Days
This is the end
Beautiful Friend
This is the end
my only friend, the end
of our elaborate plans, the end...
by Tony Jackson, Ben Roberts, and Aaron D'Arcy; The Doors rendition of the lyrics are currently playing over and over in the brains of United States Senators, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz.
Well, at least until January 15, 2014. That is when this "deal" between the suddenly steely nerved democrats and the shattered fragments of the republican party ends.
We've learned several things in the last sixteen days, many of them are not the least bit hopeful.
Number one is that Standard and Poors' economists estimate the government shutdown, engineered by the tea party wing of the republican party, cost the economy an estimated $24 billion and took a 0.6% chunk out of the 4th quarter GDP growth. This from a gang of werewolves who claim they want to cut back on government spending in order to improve the economy.
Number two, it proved without a doubt there is no longer one republican party. The entire GOP has splintered into at least three groups. The tea party is one, the traditionalists are another, and then there is the religious right. It has become increasingly clear they hate each other almost as much as they despise Barack Obama. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's primary opponent, who is straight from the dark heart of the tea party, has already issued a press release stating, McConnell, "sold out conservatives," because he brokered the deal to save the economy with Harry Reid. In other words, he conspired with the enemy. On the other end of the spectrum, even before the entire sordid affair began, John McCain called linking passage of a budget to the defunding of Obamacare a, "fool's errand." North Carolina Senator Richard Burr said it was the "stupidest idea I've ever heard off."
Number three, while the republicans took the biggest hit in the polls, Obama said it best this morning when he looked at television cameras and stated, "there are no winners here." The GOP approval rating is at an all time low, but the same is true for the entire congress. One poll showed 60% of Americans want to fire everyone who now holds a seat in either the House or Senate. If you're an incumbent, no matter what the party, you might want to start thinking about new career opportunities.
Number four, the republicans utterly failed in what amounted to an act of political extortion. It was indeed, "a fool's errand." Their popularity sank like a stone, they managed to put hundreds of thousands of people out of work for 16 days, the economy took a huge hit, and in the end, they got one minor concession from democrats. In the meantime, the ACA actually grew in popularity despite a tangled and maddening web of technical failures during its start up and the president's approval ratings held steady or went up by a couple of points depending on which poll you were reading.
Number five, the president finally found the backbone to stand up to that savage pack of baying hounds. While the GOP's traditionalists could see disaster looming, the freshly minted tea party hacks blundered ahead assuming the president would cave into their demands if they just acted rabid enough. As a whole, they displayed a complete lack of understanding of, not only how things really work, but what happens when you threaten a man who has nothing more to lose. Did they not know the president can't run again? Not only did he have the best hand at the table to begin with, but he had absolutely no fear of going all in, because for him the whole poker game ends in January of 2017, no matter what happens right now. Ultimately the result was, for the second time in 12 months, the republicans got their asses kicked by Barack H. Obama.
Number six, we found out, Ted Cruz is certifiably insane. From the very beginning this hasn't been about jobs, the economy, the government, or even Obamacare--it has been all about him. He had to have known the numbers from the very outset. For God's sake even Princeton grads can count. Given that knowledge, one has to assume he either thought an armed public would rise up and support him in vast numbers--a sort of Cruzian coup de'etat--or democrats in the Senate and Barack Obama himself would yield to his superior intellect and say something like, oops we were wrong. We're sorry--here, run the place while we're in a time out.
The sham filibuster was the most lewd and garish display of egotism ever seen by the American body politic. By the time he bought the tennis shoes he stood in to deliver it, he knew the votes would never be there. He also knew Senate rules had limited the debate. But there he was, yammering away for no other reason than the entire shutdown debacle was his moment in the spotlight and by God he was going exploit it to the maximum. When asked about his party's falling poll numbers a few days ago, he simply refused to believe them. Even yesterday the delusions persisted when he claimed if Senate republicans had stood by the members of the House, rather than fighting among themselves, the outcome would have been, "very, very different."
How could it have been? Does the man think the laws of basic math will change just because he wants them to? Is the word veto beyond his comprehension? Frighteningly, the answer to both questions is probably yes.
The final vote in the Senate to stop the madness, at least temporarily, was 81-18. The House vote was 285-144. That means 18 United States Senators and 144 Representatives voted in favor of defaulting on every outstanding government loan and putting not only the national economy, but the finances of almost the entire world into a tail spin, simply because they loathe Barack Obama.
Now there is statesmanship.
So what happens in January? You would think the tea party just learned a hard lesson and wouldn't waste every one's time and money with another hopeless banzai charge. After all, the democratic majority in the Senate won't magically disappear between now and then and Barack Obama will still be sitting in the oval office. Unfortunately, by now it should be painfully obvious to everyone, these thugs don't think like the rest of us. Before the budget nightmare even began they'd voted to repeal Obamacare 40 plus times while knowing each and every one of those attempts would go no where. No, you can't count on logic, common sense, or even sanity when it comes to some of these dreadful clowns.
That would be the seventh thing we've learned in the last few weeks.
We'd all do well to remember it in November of 2014.
Next stop--immigration reform.
sic vita est
10-17-13
Beautiful Friend
This is the end
my only friend, the end
of our elaborate plans, the end...
by Tony Jackson, Ben Roberts, and Aaron D'Arcy; The Doors rendition of the lyrics are currently playing over and over in the brains of United States Senators, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz.
Well, at least until January 15, 2014. That is when this "deal" between the suddenly steely nerved democrats and the shattered fragments of the republican party ends.
We've learned several things in the last sixteen days, many of them are not the least bit hopeful.
Number one is that Standard and Poors' economists estimate the government shutdown, engineered by the tea party wing of the republican party, cost the economy an estimated $24 billion and took a 0.6% chunk out of the 4th quarter GDP growth. This from a gang of werewolves who claim they want to cut back on government spending in order to improve the economy.
Number two, it proved without a doubt there is no longer one republican party. The entire GOP has splintered into at least three groups. The tea party is one, the traditionalists are another, and then there is the religious right. It has become increasingly clear they hate each other almost as much as they despise Barack Obama. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's primary opponent, who is straight from the dark heart of the tea party, has already issued a press release stating, McConnell, "sold out conservatives," because he brokered the deal to save the economy with Harry Reid. In other words, he conspired with the enemy. On the other end of the spectrum, even before the entire sordid affair began, John McCain called linking passage of a budget to the defunding of Obamacare a, "fool's errand." North Carolina Senator Richard Burr said it was the "stupidest idea I've ever heard off."
Number three, while the republicans took the biggest hit in the polls, Obama said it best this morning when he looked at television cameras and stated, "there are no winners here." The GOP approval rating is at an all time low, but the same is true for the entire congress. One poll showed 60% of Americans want to fire everyone who now holds a seat in either the House or Senate. If you're an incumbent, no matter what the party, you might want to start thinking about new career opportunities.
Number four, the republicans utterly failed in what amounted to an act of political extortion. It was indeed, "a fool's errand." Their popularity sank like a stone, they managed to put hundreds of thousands of people out of work for 16 days, the economy took a huge hit, and in the end, they got one minor concession from democrats. In the meantime, the ACA actually grew in popularity despite a tangled and maddening web of technical failures during its start up and the president's approval ratings held steady or went up by a couple of points depending on which poll you were reading.
Number five, the president finally found the backbone to stand up to that savage pack of baying hounds. While the GOP's traditionalists could see disaster looming, the freshly minted tea party hacks blundered ahead assuming the president would cave into their demands if they just acted rabid enough. As a whole, they displayed a complete lack of understanding of, not only how things really work, but what happens when you threaten a man who has nothing more to lose. Did they not know the president can't run again? Not only did he have the best hand at the table to begin with, but he had absolutely no fear of going all in, because for him the whole poker game ends in January of 2017, no matter what happens right now. Ultimately the result was, for the second time in 12 months, the republicans got their asses kicked by Barack H. Obama.
Number six, we found out, Ted Cruz is certifiably insane. From the very beginning this hasn't been about jobs, the economy, the government, or even Obamacare--it has been all about him. He had to have known the numbers from the very outset. For God's sake even Princeton grads can count. Given that knowledge, one has to assume he either thought an armed public would rise up and support him in vast numbers--a sort of Cruzian coup de'etat--or democrats in the Senate and Barack Obama himself would yield to his superior intellect and say something like, oops we were wrong. We're sorry--here, run the place while we're in a time out.
The sham filibuster was the most lewd and garish display of egotism ever seen by the American body politic. By the time he bought the tennis shoes he stood in to deliver it, he knew the votes would never be there. He also knew Senate rules had limited the debate. But there he was, yammering away for no other reason than the entire shutdown debacle was his moment in the spotlight and by God he was going exploit it to the maximum. When asked about his party's falling poll numbers a few days ago, he simply refused to believe them. Even yesterday the delusions persisted when he claimed if Senate republicans had stood by the members of the House, rather than fighting among themselves, the outcome would have been, "very, very different."
How could it have been? Does the man think the laws of basic math will change just because he wants them to? Is the word veto beyond his comprehension? Frighteningly, the answer to both questions is probably yes.
The final vote in the Senate to stop the madness, at least temporarily, was 81-18. The House vote was 285-144. That means 18 United States Senators and 144 Representatives voted in favor of defaulting on every outstanding government loan and putting not only the national economy, but the finances of almost the entire world into a tail spin, simply because they loathe Barack Obama.
Now there is statesmanship.
So what happens in January? You would think the tea party just learned a hard lesson and wouldn't waste every one's time and money with another hopeless banzai charge. After all, the democratic majority in the Senate won't magically disappear between now and then and Barack Obama will still be sitting in the oval office. Unfortunately, by now it should be painfully obvious to everyone, these thugs don't think like the rest of us. Before the budget nightmare even began they'd voted to repeal Obamacare 40 plus times while knowing each and every one of those attempts would go no where. No, you can't count on logic, common sense, or even sanity when it comes to some of these dreadful clowns.
That would be the seventh thing we've learned in the last few weeks.
We'd all do well to remember it in November of 2014.
Next stop--immigration reform.
sic vita est
10-17-13
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