Well why not? It gives us something to do while we wait on the next lunatic to open fire in a school, or mall. Besides, those big dollar contributors need to know who to start thinking about as a possible winner and who to stay away from. After all we wouldn't want a repeat of 2012 when Sheldon Adelson bet the house's money on a 12th century leper named, Newt Gingrich.
The latest poll was conducted by The Washington Post and ABC and the numbers show us a couple of interesting things and some so obvious you have to wonder why the question was even asked.
In the latter category we find that among democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton is the preferred nominee by 73% of those polled. Her closest possible opponent is Joe Biden with a pitiful 12%. Elizabeth Warren came in at 8%, although she insists she won't run. Looking at the numbers who can blame her? Even at this early juncture the best strategy on the left side of the road would be to start jockeying for the second spot on the ticket. Indeed, barring some unforeseen catastrophe, the only reason the democrats need a convention in 2016 is to get some free network air time.
On the right end things are a bit murkier. Leading the field right now is Paul Ryan, congressman from Wisconsin, failed vice presidential candidate, and the darling of people who describe themselves as white, protestant, and evangelical. He polled at 20% in a crowded field. Interestingly enough, besides uber anglos, he also scored biggest with less conservative members of the party and younger voters. Admittedly the real race starts next year, but the early betting was, Rand Paul would do best with the twenty something crowd.
Speaking of the junior senator from Kentucky, at least in this survey, he didn't fare well. Paul was favored by 11% and is mired in 5th place in a 6 man pack. The only person who trails him at this point is Marco Rubio who polled 10% and is as dead as any duck can get.
The good news for Paul, if one can call it that, is Ted Cruz, late of Alberta, was the first choice of only 12%, despite being preferred by 28% of the tea party wing. Once adrift from that dizzying realm however, the Texas senator pulled in only 4% of those asked.
Actually the second place name was a bit of a surprise, although it probably shouldn't be. Running only 2 points behind Ryan is former Florida governor, Jeb Bush. When you think about it this bunch isn't overwhelming and Bush has the royal purple pedigree. On one hand he might be able tone down the fire and brimstone without alienating the far right. On the other, is the American public ready for a third Bush dynasty? Not to mention, someone around here is bound to remember both his old man and brother screwed the economy beyond belief during their tenures, so why should we trust the latest reboot of the Bush family.
Chris Christie is stuck in the middle of the maddening crowd with 13%, proving he might have gone, as Cornelius Ryan wrote, a bridge too far. It is no surprise his weakest showing was among the tea party howlers, but still, he did 2 points better with them than Cruz did in the real world.
The most interesting message which can be read into all of this is the media is so focused on Christie as the republican candidate they appear to have ignored Ryan and Bush altogether. The poll included the now seemingly mandatory hypothetical match up between the NJ governor and Mrs. Clinton, which she won by 12 points. But no one asked a similar question when it came to Clinton vs. Ryan, or Clinton vs. Bush and both of them, at least at the moment, have what, in some quarters, could be called substantial leads over him among republicans.
Of course any poll this far out is rather like picking a fantasy baseball team before the season starts. There is no telling who will have a great year, go into a dreadful slump, or blow out a knee in April and be done before he ever really gets started.
What we do know is the latest numbers indicate the tea party act is starting to wear thin. Their influence definitely seems to be ebbing. Hopefully, we'll soon remember them as just another genetic anomaly--one which can't reproduce--a mutant of evolution gone so terribly wrong it was condemned to the trash heap of species too gruesomely weird to survive.
The next stop is Sochi and every Islamic terrorist who can build a bomb and buy a ticket on a Russian bus.
Hey--be there, or be square.
1-30-14
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Oklahoma Politics: The Arch Liberal James Lankford and T.W. Shannon Knows Something We Don't
Here is how weird things have gotten on the right side of the aisle. The state's largest newspaper, The Oklahoman, reported today OK congressman James Lankford had this to say in response to the president's state of the union speech last night:
"I heard no constructive recommendations to Congress, or the American people to reduce our debt, remove federal barriers to economic growth, or strengthen our families. Oklahomans want to pick their own health care plans, and they want to keep their doctor. They want a thriving economy and safe communities. In a state that has driven the energy industry nationwide, we do not want to endlessly wait on a federal permit from Washington to lead us to energy independence. Oklahoma families want conservative solutions, not more sound bites."
Boy, he sounds pretty darned conservative doesn't he? Indeed, try as you might you can't find anything in that statement that contains even a trace of some crazy ass liberal philosophy.
Well, not everyone sees it that way. The uber conservative super pacs/hit squads, Heritage Action and Club for Growth claim long tall Jim is way too liberal. So much so they vow to work as hard as they can against him when he runs for Tom Coburn's soon to be vacant senate seat later this year.
Both super pacs have been a tad fuzzy on who they'll spend their big bucks on, but there could be a clue, also tucked away in the pages of today's, The Oklahoman. The paper reports two republicans have announced they will run and a third is considering entering the race. Tulsa Congressman Jim Bridenstine is the one on the fence. Not one to waste time, Eric McCray, whose main career experience is in the heating and air conditioning business, has thrown his hat in the ring. Then enters one, T.W. Shannon.
Mr. Shannon hails from Lawton, home of Ft. Sill, down in the southwestern part of the state. He was elected to the Oklahoma state house in 2006. He took over as speaker of that august body in January of last year. He is another one of the fire breathers from the right rim of the local party. He is also African-American and a card carrying member of the Chickasaw Nation.
According to The Oklahoman correspondent, Chris Casteel, "He has been courted by the national republican party and was apparently being groomed for higher office."
He, seemingly, has a problem though. Because of campaign finance laws young, Mr. Shannon can't use any of the money he's squirreled away for re-election to the Oklahoma house in a race for a federal seat. On the other hand, Jim Lankford, because he is currently in congress, doesn't have to deal with such an inconvenience. Every dollar he has raked in for his re-election run to the U.S house can be used for a senate campaign. As Casteel puts it, "...so Lankford will have a huge head start (when it comes to a political war chest)..." That's an even a bigger deal than usual in this race, because Coburn quit early with little or, no real notice. In reality there is no time for, "exploratory committees," to test the water for potential sugar daddies. You are either in, or out and you'd better hit the ground running, gunning, and spending the big bucks a state wide campaign requires right now--as in yesterday.
Casteel writes, Shannon has released a list of backers which includes some local movers and shakers, but since time is of the essence, the odds are the speaker knows several things you and I don't--and--Lankford and his people are probably just realizing. Two of those things would be the cell phone numbers of the the guys who run Heritage Action and Club for Growth. The third would be how much cash they're willing to give him.
Yes, God bless America. The actual votes still count, well, some of the time, but they're expensive buggers and it's best not to dive into the pool without knowing how deep it is.
The real time wager is that, T.W. Shannon knows exactly where the bottom lays.
1-29-14
"I heard no constructive recommendations to Congress, or the American people to reduce our debt, remove federal barriers to economic growth, or strengthen our families. Oklahomans want to pick their own health care plans, and they want to keep their doctor. They want a thriving economy and safe communities. In a state that has driven the energy industry nationwide, we do not want to endlessly wait on a federal permit from Washington to lead us to energy independence. Oklahoma families want conservative solutions, not more sound bites."
Boy, he sounds pretty darned conservative doesn't he? Indeed, try as you might you can't find anything in that statement that contains even a trace of some crazy ass liberal philosophy.
Well, not everyone sees it that way. The uber conservative super pacs/hit squads, Heritage Action and Club for Growth claim long tall Jim is way too liberal. So much so they vow to work as hard as they can against him when he runs for Tom Coburn's soon to be vacant senate seat later this year.
Both super pacs have been a tad fuzzy on who they'll spend their big bucks on, but there could be a clue, also tucked away in the pages of today's, The Oklahoman. The paper reports two republicans have announced they will run and a third is considering entering the race. Tulsa Congressman Jim Bridenstine is the one on the fence. Not one to waste time, Eric McCray, whose main career experience is in the heating and air conditioning business, has thrown his hat in the ring. Then enters one, T.W. Shannon.
Mr. Shannon hails from Lawton, home of Ft. Sill, down in the southwestern part of the state. He was elected to the Oklahoma state house in 2006. He took over as speaker of that august body in January of last year. He is another one of the fire breathers from the right rim of the local party. He is also African-American and a card carrying member of the Chickasaw Nation.
According to The Oklahoman correspondent, Chris Casteel, "He has been courted by the national republican party and was apparently being groomed for higher office."
He, seemingly, has a problem though. Because of campaign finance laws young, Mr. Shannon can't use any of the money he's squirreled away for re-election to the Oklahoma house in a race for a federal seat. On the other hand, Jim Lankford, because he is currently in congress, doesn't have to deal with such an inconvenience. Every dollar he has raked in for his re-election run to the U.S house can be used for a senate campaign. As Casteel puts it, "...so Lankford will have a huge head start (when it comes to a political war chest)..." That's an even a bigger deal than usual in this race, because Coburn quit early with little or, no real notice. In reality there is no time for, "exploratory committees," to test the water for potential sugar daddies. You are either in, or out and you'd better hit the ground running, gunning, and spending the big bucks a state wide campaign requires right now--as in yesterday.
Casteel writes, Shannon has released a list of backers which includes some local movers and shakers, but since time is of the essence, the odds are the speaker knows several things you and I don't--and--Lankford and his people are probably just realizing. Two of those things would be the cell phone numbers of the the guys who run Heritage Action and Club for Growth. The third would be how much cash they're willing to give him.
Yes, God bless America. The actual votes still count, well, some of the time, but they're expensive buggers and it's best not to dive into the pool without knowing how deep it is.
The real time wager is that, T.W. Shannon knows exactly where the bottom lays.
1-29-14
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
The S.S. Chris Christie Flounders, Rand Paul Creeps Toward the Center, and Hasta Luego, Marco
The good ship, S.S. Chris Christie continues to take on water and as the engine room floods, people like Rand Paul are attempting to sound more centrist--more, how should we put it--Christiesque. Indeed, it seems Paul has read the polls and he has begun a direct play to the passengers and crew who are taking to the boats.
The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows Christie's favorability rating has dwindled to 22%. That is down 11 points from last October. During the same time frame the percentage of those who rate him as unfavorable has risen from 17% to 29%.
The coalition the governor was hoping would carry him to the white house included conservative democrats, independents, and mainstream republicans. It is a no nonsense, screw the gridlock, let's get something done group, both the right and left extremes have no use for. Unfortunately Governor Christie's numbers have suffered there too. While his favorable status among republicans shrank by only 7%, he took a 35% hit among democrats, and more importantly, a 20% whack upside the head by independents. It would seem people want to get stuff done, but they'd prefer it without rigged traffic jams and political arm twisting better suited to back alley shakedowns. To drive home the point, when asked who they would vote for if Christie ran against Hillary Clinton, the poll showed Clinton leading, 50% to 37%. Before his aides clogged the pipe at the George Washington Bridge on purpose, her lead had been a mere 48% to 45%.
Sniffing a void, Rand Paul has suddenly begun to appear on television screens across the land, talking about how, "out of ten issues we can agree with the president on two or three of them and that is what we should focus on." That certainly sounds reasonable, especially when you compare it to the fire and brimstone of Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and the perpetually confused Marco Rubio.
On NBC the other day Paul claimed, among other things, women were winning the war against women. He talked in glowing terms about how American women are growing influential and successful without any help from the government. In doing so he deftly ignored the plank in the GOP platform which calls for an end to all abortions, no matter what the reason. He also dodged the issue of women catching a break from their health insurance companies when it comes to purchasing birth control meds and devices. Perhaps he considers both matters not a war, but rather minor skirmishes. He added, "I think the victimology and all this other stuff is trumped up." On the same subject he took a shot at Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband, calling the former president a, "predator." While letting us know who he would run against in 2016, Bill rather than Hillary, he fudged a few details in regard to Monica Lewinsky, but they were so minor only someone like, Texas State Senator Wendy Davis would have been held accountable for them.
His final bit of television wisdom was that while the GOP needed to be more inclusive, Christie would be in trouble during the primary season because the game, at that point, is so conservative in nature.
His astute observation is a bit of an understatement. If the hard right wing could have found anyone with half a brain in 2012, Mitt Romney would have never been the party's nominee. However, they couldn't, so the republicans had to settle for a wooden loser suffering from total disconnect to anyone making less than six figures a year.
Meanwhile, the junior senator from Kentucky is showing some 21st century campaign savvy. He has established a site where people can, "join him" with his class action law suit against the National Security Agency. Those who do are then asked to contribute, "generously" to the legal expenses incurred by the suit and not coincidentally added to a growing data base of possible supporters.
Obviously the great danger with any shift toward the center, even if it's only lip service, is that those same tea party hacks who found Romney unacceptable will turn on him--and when they do it will be with a terrible vengeance. Yes, in some parts around here, the words compromise and bipartisanship are simply unacceptable and only the true of heart need apply.
In all honesty, Paul carries the stench of an also ran with him. His libertarianism only goes so far, especially when it comes to things like immigration reform, drugs, and what amounts to a neo isolationism. At certain intersections no one, left, or right, likes what his politics are all about.
Everything is speculation at the moment--after all the prom has just started and there is no telling who will be elected the king, or queen. My money is on Christie continuing his slow slide into quicksand during the next few months, an eagle eye on Paul's speeches and the accusations of plagiarism that accompany them, especially if his numbers climb--then finally, masses of tea party loons swooping down onto the streets like rabid gargoyles, howling that Ted Cruz is the next messiah.
And lastly--Marco, we hardly knew ya and tragically, that's all it took. Hasta luego, hermano.
sic vita est
1-28-14
The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows Christie's favorability rating has dwindled to 22%. That is down 11 points from last October. During the same time frame the percentage of those who rate him as unfavorable has risen from 17% to 29%.
The coalition the governor was hoping would carry him to the white house included conservative democrats, independents, and mainstream republicans. It is a no nonsense, screw the gridlock, let's get something done group, both the right and left extremes have no use for. Unfortunately Governor Christie's numbers have suffered there too. While his favorable status among republicans shrank by only 7%, he took a 35% hit among democrats, and more importantly, a 20% whack upside the head by independents. It would seem people want to get stuff done, but they'd prefer it without rigged traffic jams and political arm twisting better suited to back alley shakedowns. To drive home the point, when asked who they would vote for if Christie ran against Hillary Clinton, the poll showed Clinton leading, 50% to 37%. Before his aides clogged the pipe at the George Washington Bridge on purpose, her lead had been a mere 48% to 45%.
Sniffing a void, Rand Paul has suddenly begun to appear on television screens across the land, talking about how, "out of ten issues we can agree with the president on two or three of them and that is what we should focus on." That certainly sounds reasonable, especially when you compare it to the fire and brimstone of Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and the perpetually confused Marco Rubio.
On NBC the other day Paul claimed, among other things, women were winning the war against women. He talked in glowing terms about how American women are growing influential and successful without any help from the government. In doing so he deftly ignored the plank in the GOP platform which calls for an end to all abortions, no matter what the reason. He also dodged the issue of women catching a break from their health insurance companies when it comes to purchasing birth control meds and devices. Perhaps he considers both matters not a war, but rather minor skirmishes. He added, "I think the victimology and all this other stuff is trumped up." On the same subject he took a shot at Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband, calling the former president a, "predator." While letting us know who he would run against in 2016, Bill rather than Hillary, he fudged a few details in regard to Monica Lewinsky, but they were so minor only someone like, Texas State Senator Wendy Davis would have been held accountable for them.
His final bit of television wisdom was that while the GOP needed to be more inclusive, Christie would be in trouble during the primary season because the game, at that point, is so conservative in nature.
His astute observation is a bit of an understatement. If the hard right wing could have found anyone with half a brain in 2012, Mitt Romney would have never been the party's nominee. However, they couldn't, so the republicans had to settle for a wooden loser suffering from total disconnect to anyone making less than six figures a year.
Meanwhile, the junior senator from Kentucky is showing some 21st century campaign savvy. He has established a site where people can, "join him" with his class action law suit against the National Security Agency. Those who do are then asked to contribute, "generously" to the legal expenses incurred by the suit and not coincidentally added to a growing data base of possible supporters.
Obviously the great danger with any shift toward the center, even if it's only lip service, is that those same tea party hacks who found Romney unacceptable will turn on him--and when they do it will be with a terrible vengeance. Yes, in some parts around here, the words compromise and bipartisanship are simply unacceptable and only the true of heart need apply.
In all honesty, Paul carries the stench of an also ran with him. His libertarianism only goes so far, especially when it comes to things like immigration reform, drugs, and what amounts to a neo isolationism. At certain intersections no one, left, or right, likes what his politics are all about.
Everything is speculation at the moment--after all the prom has just started and there is no telling who will be elected the king, or queen. My money is on Christie continuing his slow slide into quicksand during the next few months, an eagle eye on Paul's speeches and the accusations of plagiarism that accompany them, especially if his numbers climb--then finally, masses of tea party loons swooping down onto the streets like rabid gargoyles, howling that Ted Cruz is the next messiah.
And lastly--Marco, we hardly knew ya and tragically, that's all it took. Hasta luego, hermano.
sic vita est
1-28-14
Sunday, January 26, 2014
A Long Saturday at The Mall in Columbia
It is never going to end. In fact the acts of violence and mayhem are coming so quickly now it could be the United States has reached the tipping point and is headed straight into the black hole of absolute anarchy.
The scenes on CNN, MSNBC, and FOX yesterday were all too familiar. Helicopter views of a shopping mall, spread out over several acres, its parking lots filling quickly with all manner of police tactical squads. Yes, just another day and another demented guy with a gun here in the good ol' U.S. of A.
The details are fluid, but the big picture remains numbingly the same.
A 19 year old dude named Darion Marcus Aguilar, who still lived with his mom, buys a Mossberg shotgun in December. It is a perfectly legal transaction, because the police have never heard of him. He has absolutely no criminal record and hey--it's a shotgun, not some sort of assault style weapon like an AR-15, or even a hand gun. For all anyone knows the guy is nothing more than a big fan of the A&E television series, "Duck Dynasty," and just wants to take up the sport of hunting.
He resided in, College Park, MD, the same burg as Brianna Benlolo. She was 21 years old and the mother of a two year boy. That is when things get a little hazy. NBC reports local police have yet to find any connection between the two. However the online edition of, "The Mail," claims Aguilar and Benlolo had dated, but she ended the relationship and was now involved with a 25 year old guy named Tyler Johnson. Both Johnson and Benlolo work at Zumiez. It is a store that specializes in skate boards, snow boards, plus sports clothing, and accessories. It is located a short drive away at The Mall in Columbia.
Whatever the case, Aguilar takes a cab to the mall yesterday morning. He is carrying a couple of bags which contain the shotgun and, according to police, a whole lot of ammunition, plus, just for fun, a crudely made explosive device.
He walks in the Zumiez store after hanging out in the mall for an hour or so and opens fire. Benlolo and Johnson are killed. Another person is wounded in the foot. Four more are injured as mall patrons are thrown into a panic. Finally, as these frenzied losers always seem to do, Aguilar kills himself and the nightmare ends--well, at least for everyone who isn't related to, or is friends with Brianna Benlolo and Tyler Johnson.
Police have searched the house Aguilar and his mother shared. NBC says they confiscated computers and "documents." They are still actively looking for a motive--that would be the one besides the obvious--that Darion Marcus Aguilar was as crazy as a bed bug on meth.
The gun crowd, as usual, is saying everything would have been fine and no one, but the shooter would have been killed if everyone in the mall had been carrying a concealed weapon. There is little doubt a new round of conspiracy theory videos will appear on You Tube. Every single one of them will claim the whole gruesome episode was just another government psy-ops, false flag, plot--one backed by the MK Ultra gargoyles, the New World Order, the Illuminati, and the fucking tuba section of the University of Oklahoma marching band--you know, all those devious sonsofbitches hell bent on depriving us of our guns and precious bodily fluids.
Think not? Go to You Tube and enter, Sandy Hook Hoax and see what comes up. Or, you can simply read any of the comments sections below the NBC reports to catch a whiff of what the NRA cranks think. Believing them is to believe, everything and everyone is to blame--except the guns.
Thanks to the overwhelming presence of firearms and wide spread insanity, we have basically become a third world nation in the throes of civil warfare so perverse it can't even be described as tribal. We are, in the end, quite demonstrably, too immature and dangerous to possess them.
Every time you think of the simplistically cruel NRA line which maintains banning guns would mean only criminals would have them, keep in mind the names, Darion Marcus Aguilar, Jimmy Holmes, Adam Lanza, Dylan Klebold and scores of others who have murdered family, friends and strangers over the past few decades. Not a one of those deadly geeks had a criminal record.
Hell, at least with the armed criminals we know where we stand. The terrible truth is, it's all the law abiding citizens who own guns we have to worry about. They are the ones killing us in the schools, malls, shopping centers, and theaters. They are the reason huge numbers of people at that Columbia, MD mall knew, as the cable news networks reported, what to do after they heard the first shots.
Indeed, the supposed good guys are the real killers. And--tragically--they are the ones who have lowered us to what Hunter S. Thompson once said is the level of, dumb beasts.
sic vita est
1-26-14
The scenes on CNN, MSNBC, and FOX yesterday were all too familiar. Helicopter views of a shopping mall, spread out over several acres, its parking lots filling quickly with all manner of police tactical squads. Yes, just another day and another demented guy with a gun here in the good ol' U.S. of A.
The details are fluid, but the big picture remains numbingly the same.
A 19 year old dude named Darion Marcus Aguilar, who still lived with his mom, buys a Mossberg shotgun in December. It is a perfectly legal transaction, because the police have never heard of him. He has absolutely no criminal record and hey--it's a shotgun, not some sort of assault style weapon like an AR-15, or even a hand gun. For all anyone knows the guy is nothing more than a big fan of the A&E television series, "Duck Dynasty," and just wants to take up the sport of hunting.
He resided in, College Park, MD, the same burg as Brianna Benlolo. She was 21 years old and the mother of a two year boy. That is when things get a little hazy. NBC reports local police have yet to find any connection between the two. However the online edition of, "The Mail," claims Aguilar and Benlolo had dated, but she ended the relationship and was now involved with a 25 year old guy named Tyler Johnson. Both Johnson and Benlolo work at Zumiez. It is a store that specializes in skate boards, snow boards, plus sports clothing, and accessories. It is located a short drive away at The Mall in Columbia.
Whatever the case, Aguilar takes a cab to the mall yesterday morning. He is carrying a couple of bags which contain the shotgun and, according to police, a whole lot of ammunition, plus, just for fun, a crudely made explosive device.
He walks in the Zumiez store after hanging out in the mall for an hour or so and opens fire. Benlolo and Johnson are killed. Another person is wounded in the foot. Four more are injured as mall patrons are thrown into a panic. Finally, as these frenzied losers always seem to do, Aguilar kills himself and the nightmare ends--well, at least for everyone who isn't related to, or is friends with Brianna Benlolo and Tyler Johnson.
Police have searched the house Aguilar and his mother shared. NBC says they confiscated computers and "documents." They are still actively looking for a motive--that would be the one besides the obvious--that Darion Marcus Aguilar was as crazy as a bed bug on meth.
The gun crowd, as usual, is saying everything would have been fine and no one, but the shooter would have been killed if everyone in the mall had been carrying a concealed weapon. There is little doubt a new round of conspiracy theory videos will appear on You Tube. Every single one of them will claim the whole gruesome episode was just another government psy-ops, false flag, plot--one backed by the MK Ultra gargoyles, the New World Order, the Illuminati, and the fucking tuba section of the University of Oklahoma marching band--you know, all those devious sonsofbitches hell bent on depriving us of our guns and precious bodily fluids.
Think not? Go to You Tube and enter, Sandy Hook Hoax and see what comes up. Or, you can simply read any of the comments sections below the NBC reports to catch a whiff of what the NRA cranks think. Believing them is to believe, everything and everyone is to blame--except the guns.
Thanks to the overwhelming presence of firearms and wide spread insanity, we have basically become a third world nation in the throes of civil warfare so perverse it can't even be described as tribal. We are, in the end, quite demonstrably, too immature and dangerous to possess them.
Every time you think of the simplistically cruel NRA line which maintains banning guns would mean only criminals would have them, keep in mind the names, Darion Marcus Aguilar, Jimmy Holmes, Adam Lanza, Dylan Klebold and scores of others who have murdered family, friends and strangers over the past few decades. Not a one of those deadly geeks had a criminal record.
Hell, at least with the armed criminals we know where we stand. The terrible truth is, it's all the law abiding citizens who own guns we have to worry about. They are the ones killing us in the schools, malls, shopping centers, and theaters. They are the reason huge numbers of people at that Columbia, MD mall knew, as the cable news networks reported, what to do after they heard the first shots.
Indeed, the supposed good guys are the real killers. And--tragically--they are the ones who have lowered us to what Hunter S. Thompson once said is the level of, dumb beasts.
sic vita est
1-26-14
Thursday, January 23, 2014
See You Around Joe, Hillary in Your Den, and the GOP Prison Riot
See you around, Joe, thanks for the last eight years, and here is a gold watch for your trouble. We all hope you enjoy where ever it is vice presidents go to retire.
Yes, Brother Biden may have had an inclination to run for the 2016 democratic presidential nomination at some point, but inside he had to know any such enterprise was doomed with Hillary Rodham Clinton in the mix. Now it has become official.
NBC News is reporting the democrat's largest Super Pac, Priorities U.S.A. Action is endorsing the former first lady and secretary of state. That means bucks--lots of them--and they are all headed straight onto the airways enabling Mrs. Clinton's puffy mug to appear in your den sooner than you think.
If that wasn't enough, the final nail was the naming of Jim Messina and former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm as co chairs of the Clinton fund raising committee. Messina was the brains behind the first true 21st century presidential campaign. It was a sleek machine which utterly befuddled Mitt Romney's crew, handed Barack Obama the 2012 election, and established a new paradigm in American politics--one where the role of electronic and social media is preeminent.
Given today's report there is really only one question left regarding the democrats when it comes to 2016. Who will Hillary pick as her running mate? Indeed, the only thing which could possibly stand in her way now is some sort of unforeseen health issue.
The same cannot be said when it comes to the republicans. In fact by the time we get to 2016 it appears various factions of the GOP will be in the throes of what amounts to the political equivalent of a prison riot.
The Joe McCarthy wing will feature crazed jitterbuggers like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and God only knows who else. These are the yokels playing hard and fast to the delusional tea party hacks who have an inordinate amount of influence in republican primaries, especially the ones held south of the Ohio River. In truth, the party is so divided, Utah Senator Mike Lee will be giving the tea party express response to the 2014 state of the union address. It is unclear who will make the, "official" republican party reply. This isn't the first year someone from the tea party edge has tried to rebut the president's agenda independently of the mainstream, but Lee's rant will certainly highlight the splintered nature of the GOP. It is also a sure and painful indication the divides aren't healing, even in the face of a well financed pro like Clinton looming on the horizon.
On the other side of the republican coin, NJ Governor, Chris Christie has problems of his own making. NBC is reporting his staff's skulduggery has begun to catch up to him. A Rutgers-Eagleton poll show his local numbers beginning to shrink. His job approval rating in the Garden State is still 53%, but that figure is 15% lower than it was in November. In addition his favorability rating has gone from 65% to 46% and those who think of him negatively have grown to 43%. The bad news is the numbers may be worse. According to NBC, the poll was part way finished before Dawn Zimmer, the Mayor of Hoboken, started howling about extortion when it came to Hurricane Sandy relief funds. Who knows what it might have shown if everyone taking it had known about Zimmer's accusations?
Nationally, in the last NBC-Marist poll, the governor was viewed positively by 26% of those asked and negatively by 28%. Those aren't exactly, "Go out there and knock 'em dead, Chris," figures.
It is easy to see Hillary Clinton moving back into the white house at this point, but 2016 is a long way off. Besides, in addition to everything else, there could be some reservations in the voters minds when it comes to one party holding onto the presidency over an extended time. In the last six plus decades a single party has controlled the oval office more than eight years in a row only once, although Al Gore had to get mercilessly screwed to keep the record intact. There is something about the same, or similar leadership over long periods that makes Americans of both parties a tad queasy. Mrs. Clinton got a small taste of it when she ran against Obama in the 2008 primaries. There was, during that pre convention season, the distinct feeling of Clinton Overload among some democrats.
Whatever the case, stay tuned--the endless search for power is going to start heating up before we know it. And that is whether we like it, or not.
sic vita est
1-23-14
Yes, Brother Biden may have had an inclination to run for the 2016 democratic presidential nomination at some point, but inside he had to know any such enterprise was doomed with Hillary Rodham Clinton in the mix. Now it has become official.
NBC News is reporting the democrat's largest Super Pac, Priorities U.S.A. Action is endorsing the former first lady and secretary of state. That means bucks--lots of them--and they are all headed straight onto the airways enabling Mrs. Clinton's puffy mug to appear in your den sooner than you think.
If that wasn't enough, the final nail was the naming of Jim Messina and former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm as co chairs of the Clinton fund raising committee. Messina was the brains behind the first true 21st century presidential campaign. It was a sleek machine which utterly befuddled Mitt Romney's crew, handed Barack Obama the 2012 election, and established a new paradigm in American politics--one where the role of electronic and social media is preeminent.
Given today's report there is really only one question left regarding the democrats when it comes to 2016. Who will Hillary pick as her running mate? Indeed, the only thing which could possibly stand in her way now is some sort of unforeseen health issue.
The same cannot be said when it comes to the republicans. In fact by the time we get to 2016 it appears various factions of the GOP will be in the throes of what amounts to the political equivalent of a prison riot.
The Joe McCarthy wing will feature crazed jitterbuggers like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and God only knows who else. These are the yokels playing hard and fast to the delusional tea party hacks who have an inordinate amount of influence in republican primaries, especially the ones held south of the Ohio River. In truth, the party is so divided, Utah Senator Mike Lee will be giving the tea party express response to the 2014 state of the union address. It is unclear who will make the, "official" republican party reply. This isn't the first year someone from the tea party edge has tried to rebut the president's agenda independently of the mainstream, but Lee's rant will certainly highlight the splintered nature of the GOP. It is also a sure and painful indication the divides aren't healing, even in the face of a well financed pro like Clinton looming on the horizon.
On the other side of the republican coin, NJ Governor, Chris Christie has problems of his own making. NBC is reporting his staff's skulduggery has begun to catch up to him. A Rutgers-Eagleton poll show his local numbers beginning to shrink. His job approval rating in the Garden State is still 53%, but that figure is 15% lower than it was in November. In addition his favorability rating has gone from 65% to 46% and those who think of him negatively have grown to 43%. The bad news is the numbers may be worse. According to NBC, the poll was part way finished before Dawn Zimmer, the Mayor of Hoboken, started howling about extortion when it came to Hurricane Sandy relief funds. Who knows what it might have shown if everyone taking it had known about Zimmer's accusations?
Nationally, in the last NBC-Marist poll, the governor was viewed positively by 26% of those asked and negatively by 28%. Those aren't exactly, "Go out there and knock 'em dead, Chris," figures.
It is easy to see Hillary Clinton moving back into the white house at this point, but 2016 is a long way off. Besides, in addition to everything else, there could be some reservations in the voters minds when it comes to one party holding onto the presidency over an extended time. In the last six plus decades a single party has controlled the oval office more than eight years in a row only once, although Al Gore had to get mercilessly screwed to keep the record intact. There is something about the same, or similar leadership over long periods that makes Americans of both parties a tad queasy. Mrs. Clinton got a small taste of it when she ran against Obama in the 2008 primaries. There was, during that pre convention season, the distinct feeling of Clinton Overload among some democrats.
Whatever the case, stay tuned--the endless search for power is going to start heating up before we know it. And that is whether we like it, or not.
sic vita est
1-23-14
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
A Deadly Tuesday
Some days the bodies pile up so quickly it is hard to keep track. The truth is it gets so bad on an afternoon like this, there is a huge temptation to simply shut down both the computer and TV, then kick back with some Beethoven in a shadowy room. Yes, let the mind drift with the music and imagine you're on a peaceful, solitary, journey to someplace civilized, like the planet Neptune.
Alas, it isn't to be though. There is, at least today, no escaping this violent and grotesque ball.
Last night on the Chester, PA campus of Widener University an unnamed student was shot to death as he sat in his car outside an athletic facility. The campus was locked down until 6am this morning when a school spokesperson issued a statement saying, "All indications are this was not a random act of violence."
Not to be outdone, some guy at Purdue University walked into a class room in the electrical engineering building this morning and shot yet another student to death. The gunman surrendered himself to a police officer after he left the scene. Apparently this was a personal beef too. He didn't threaten, or shoot anyone else.
Also, earlier today, three bodies were found in an on base housing unit at Ft. Hood. Early reports state one man and two children, described as military dependents, were discovered. Other details have yet to be released so it is unknown what weapon, or weapons were used in the killings.
In New York City, police have been picking up various body parts along the shore of the East River since last Thursday. Today they announced a DNA match with a missing teenage autistic boy who disappeared 3 months ago.
Out in Oakland, Dinyal New told the media, "Somebody is failing these kids. They feel like it is okay to murder these kids. They have no remorse or understanding afterward." Ms. New speaks from experience. 21 days ago she had two sons named Lee and Lamar. Lee was gunned down New Year's eve. Lamar was shot to death Sunday along with a friend. Neither of New's kids were out of their teens. According to the MSN report, Oakland police have yet to identify any suspects.
Finally, Bert Sanders was interviewed in Roswell, NM today. Bert's daughter Kendal was wounded last week as she stood in the gym of Berrendo Middle School. She was one of two who were shot by a fellow, still unidentified, student. Bert assured us the shooter, "is not a bad boy," and his parents are, "good people." Well that might be, but police say the good boy planned the assault prior to the attack, although he didn't have any specific targets in mind. In fact he went so far as to warn a couple of his pals to beat it before he pulled the weapon out of a duffel bag. The shotgun he used belonged to the good people who had altered the stock so it had a pistol type grip--which isn't something you normally see in, say, "Field and Stream." Sanders finished his chat by saying his daughter thinks the shooter made some bad choices.
That's one way to put it. Another would be, as Warren Zevon once wrote, "Well, he's just an excitable boy."
Ah yes, just another deadly Tuesday here in the home of the free.
As always, stay low, keep moving, and don't bunch up. There is no telling who will open fire next.
1-21-14
Alas, it isn't to be though. There is, at least today, no escaping this violent and grotesque ball.
Last night on the Chester, PA campus of Widener University an unnamed student was shot to death as he sat in his car outside an athletic facility. The campus was locked down until 6am this morning when a school spokesperson issued a statement saying, "All indications are this was not a random act of violence."
Not to be outdone, some guy at Purdue University walked into a class room in the electrical engineering building this morning and shot yet another student to death. The gunman surrendered himself to a police officer after he left the scene. Apparently this was a personal beef too. He didn't threaten, or shoot anyone else.
Also, earlier today, three bodies were found in an on base housing unit at Ft. Hood. Early reports state one man and two children, described as military dependents, were discovered. Other details have yet to be released so it is unknown what weapon, or weapons were used in the killings.
In New York City, police have been picking up various body parts along the shore of the East River since last Thursday. Today they announced a DNA match with a missing teenage autistic boy who disappeared 3 months ago.
Out in Oakland, Dinyal New told the media, "Somebody is failing these kids. They feel like it is okay to murder these kids. They have no remorse or understanding afterward." Ms. New speaks from experience. 21 days ago she had two sons named Lee and Lamar. Lee was gunned down New Year's eve. Lamar was shot to death Sunday along with a friend. Neither of New's kids were out of their teens. According to the MSN report, Oakland police have yet to identify any suspects.
Finally, Bert Sanders was interviewed in Roswell, NM today. Bert's daughter Kendal was wounded last week as she stood in the gym of Berrendo Middle School. She was one of two who were shot by a fellow, still unidentified, student. Bert assured us the shooter, "is not a bad boy," and his parents are, "good people." Well that might be, but police say the good boy planned the assault prior to the attack, although he didn't have any specific targets in mind. In fact he went so far as to warn a couple of his pals to beat it before he pulled the weapon out of a duffel bag. The shotgun he used belonged to the good people who had altered the stock so it had a pistol type grip--which isn't something you normally see in, say, "Field and Stream." Sanders finished his chat by saying his daughter thinks the shooter made some bad choices.
That's one way to put it. Another would be, as Warren Zevon once wrote, "Well, he's just an excitable boy."
Ah yes, just another deadly Tuesday here in the home of the free.
As always, stay low, keep moving, and don't bunch up. There is no telling who will open fire next.
1-21-14
Monday, January 20, 2014
More Jersey Politics, Ransom Notes From the DPRK, and Bad Craziness in Maryland
Admittedly, it could simply be another rotten acid flashback, but at this terrible moment it appears New Jersey governor Chris Christie is morphing into Richard Milhous Nixon right before our very eyes. Yes, the closer we look, the more we hear, all things political in Jersey are starting to look petty, vengeful, vile and corrupt--everything Nixon aspired to be.
The latest revelation is by Hoboken mayor, Dawn Zimmer. She is running around telling everyone who will listen, including the U.S. Attorney for NJ, super storm Sandy relief money is being withheld from her burg because she won't support an urban redevelopment plan Christie wants. According to her, the governor is set on a specific real estate development company for the construction. The firm is represented by a law firm headed by David Samson, who Christie appointed as the chairman of the NJ Port Authority. Zimmer also maintains it ignores a large section of Hoboken she says is in similar distress just because the company isn't interested in investing in those areas.
Zimmer claims Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno approached her in a parking lot and told her if she didn't play ball the city's share of the recovery money would be delayed. Guadagno flatly denies it, calling the charges, "false, illogical, and offensive." Zimmer claims that is exactly what Guadagno told her she'd do if the mayor went public with this ugly little bit of extortion. Zimmer also says she is willing to tell her story under oath and take a polygraph exam.
Christie's spokespersons, "categorically" denied the accusation, then blamed "partisan politics," and MSNBC in that order for the whole mess. The Gov's people also pointed out while Hoboken has received only $340,000 in recovery funds so far, it is scheduled to get $70 million in the near future.
So here is what has transpired in the last month and a half. There was the September traffic nightmare in Ft. Lee which, by December, was directly linked to a Christie Port Authority appointee and a senior member of the governor's staff. A promising set of meetings between the mayor of Jersey City and high ranking officials of the governor's, office regarding economic development were suddenly cancelled after he refused to endorse Christie's re-election. Then there was a questionable tourism ad campaign, financed with relief money, which prominently featured Christie and his family during an election year. And now we are looking at possible dirty dealings in Hoboken featuring both political extortion and a buddy-buddy urban renewal plot meant to profit close associates of the man in the governor's office.
Oh yes, Dick would have been proud. Just imagine what will, or won't happen in all those blue states if Brother Christie is elected to the white house. Here is a man who knows what to do with a grudge.
Meanwhile the North Koreans paraded American Kenneth Bae in front of the cameras for a press conference of sorts. Bae, dressed in a prison uniform, "confessed" to anti government acts. He also said, "I believe my problem can be solved by close cooperation and agreement between the American government and the government of this country."
This is known in other parts of the world as a video ransom note. At least Bae hasn't gone the way of Kim Jong-un's uncle, who was reportedly fed live to a pack of ravenous hunting dogs in front of a crowd of 300 animal lovers.
Unfortunately for Bae, the Ambassador to the World, Dennis Rodman couldn't do anything for him while he was there earlier this month. Rodman, upon his return to the U.S. immediately entered re-hab because apparently that is what you do after you've been a pal of the North Korean leader over an extended period of time.
Finally, last Friday police in Germantown, Maryland were called to a house where they found two chidren, ages one and two, stabbed to death. Two others, ages five and eight, were taken to the hospital with multiple stab wounds. The cops arrested Monifia Sanford and Zakieya Avery and charged them with two counts of murder and two of attempted murder. Sanford and Avery were living together after having met at a church called, Exousia Ministries. A quick check of the site. Bible Study Tool.com tells us Exousia is a New Testament Greek term meaning, among other things, "power of choice and liberty to do as one pleases." In addition it can also mean "power of authority and right."
Both Sanford and Avery have told police they stabbed the children as part of an exorcism rite being performed in order to drive the devil and demons out of their bodies. Avery is the mother of all four victims. She is also utterly--to use another Greek word--trelos.
So there you have it, just another Monday in the books.
As Dan D. Dynamo used to say, "Watch out for flying chairs."
1-20-14
The latest revelation is by Hoboken mayor, Dawn Zimmer. She is running around telling everyone who will listen, including the U.S. Attorney for NJ, super storm Sandy relief money is being withheld from her burg because she won't support an urban redevelopment plan Christie wants. According to her, the governor is set on a specific real estate development company for the construction. The firm is represented by a law firm headed by David Samson, who Christie appointed as the chairman of the NJ Port Authority. Zimmer also maintains it ignores a large section of Hoboken she says is in similar distress just because the company isn't interested in investing in those areas.
Zimmer claims Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno approached her in a parking lot and told her if she didn't play ball the city's share of the recovery money would be delayed. Guadagno flatly denies it, calling the charges, "false, illogical, and offensive." Zimmer claims that is exactly what Guadagno told her she'd do if the mayor went public with this ugly little bit of extortion. Zimmer also says she is willing to tell her story under oath and take a polygraph exam.
Christie's spokespersons, "categorically" denied the accusation, then blamed "partisan politics," and MSNBC in that order for the whole mess. The Gov's people also pointed out while Hoboken has received only $340,000 in recovery funds so far, it is scheduled to get $70 million in the near future.
So here is what has transpired in the last month and a half. There was the September traffic nightmare in Ft. Lee which, by December, was directly linked to a Christie Port Authority appointee and a senior member of the governor's staff. A promising set of meetings between the mayor of Jersey City and high ranking officials of the governor's, office regarding economic development were suddenly cancelled after he refused to endorse Christie's re-election. Then there was a questionable tourism ad campaign, financed with relief money, which prominently featured Christie and his family during an election year. And now we are looking at possible dirty dealings in Hoboken featuring both political extortion and a buddy-buddy urban renewal plot meant to profit close associates of the man in the governor's office.
Oh yes, Dick would have been proud. Just imagine what will, or won't happen in all those blue states if Brother Christie is elected to the white house. Here is a man who knows what to do with a grudge.
Meanwhile the North Koreans paraded American Kenneth Bae in front of the cameras for a press conference of sorts. Bae, dressed in a prison uniform, "confessed" to anti government acts. He also said, "I believe my problem can be solved by close cooperation and agreement between the American government and the government of this country."
This is known in other parts of the world as a video ransom note. At least Bae hasn't gone the way of Kim Jong-un's uncle, who was reportedly fed live to a pack of ravenous hunting dogs in front of a crowd of 300 animal lovers.
Unfortunately for Bae, the Ambassador to the World, Dennis Rodman couldn't do anything for him while he was there earlier this month. Rodman, upon his return to the U.S. immediately entered re-hab because apparently that is what you do after you've been a pal of the North Korean leader over an extended period of time.
Finally, last Friday police in Germantown, Maryland were called to a house where they found two chidren, ages one and two, stabbed to death. Two others, ages five and eight, were taken to the hospital with multiple stab wounds. The cops arrested Monifia Sanford and Zakieya Avery and charged them with two counts of murder and two of attempted murder. Sanford and Avery were living together after having met at a church called, Exousia Ministries. A quick check of the site. Bible Study Tool.com tells us Exousia is a New Testament Greek term meaning, among other things, "power of choice and liberty to do as one pleases." In addition it can also mean "power of authority and right."
Both Sanford and Avery have told police they stabbed the children as part of an exorcism rite being performed in order to drive the devil and demons out of their bodies. Avery is the mother of all four victims. She is also utterly--to use another Greek word--trelos.
So there you have it, just another Monday in the books.
As Dan D. Dynamo used to say, "Watch out for flying chairs."
1-20-14
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