In the spring of 1968 the Oklahoma City Public School District was chock full of schools filled to the brim with students and teachers. It was also, with only a few exceptions, segregated, not by law, but reality. My graduating class that year had right at 500 students. Only two of that number were African-American. The city's black kids, thanks to run amok housing discrimination were pretty much restricted to two high schools, Douglass and Northeast, both located on the east side of town.
That year federal Judge Luther L. Bohanan, an appointee of John F. Kennedy, ruled that despite restrictive housing practices, OKC's school system would, by God, integrate one way, or the other. The other way turned out to be by redrawing district lines and busing students across those lines when need be starting with the fall semester.
At that moment a couple of things happened. There was a mad scramble by white parents to get their children into private schools, which there were precious few of at the time. When that didn't work for them, they began a mass migration into suburban districts.
Despite the upheaval, which was rooted solidly in racism, there was very little talk, if any, about home schooling. It probably isn't a coincidence, that despite the racial furor, the vast majority of church goers in the state of Oklahoma back then were members of main stream protestant denominations. What is now known as evangelical Christians were still on the fringe and comparatively few in number. The great rush to deliberate academic ignorance had yet to begin.
That's all in the past now. Thanks to television, aggressive recruitment and the main stream Christian Church's support of civil rights issues--racial, feminist, and sexual orientation--evangelicals have become the face of Protestantism in America.
In other words The Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and others--with the notable exception of Southern Baptists--like the old school systems, watched their numbers dwindle as non denominational, rock music infused, bible literalist, mega churches bloomed and have grown like weeds.
Along with the unraveling of traditional schools and main stream Protestant churches we've seen the rise of home schooling. Indeed, now that even some of the suburban schools have significant numbers of black kids and teachers still teach--you know--actual science and at times nearly accurate versions of history--many have come to believe home schooling is the only way to save their children's souls. Or at least prevent them from learning the universe is billions and billions of years old and there is such a thing as evolution.
Yes, but there is also an even darker side to the practice. Home schooling, especially in Oklahoma can hide a multitude of sins. Just ask the fifteen year old boy who was found in Meeker, OK on July 12th.
According to reports he was forced to live in the family barn, was routinely beaten, at one point had been wounded by a shotgun blast in the leg, and was so malnourished he barely weighed 80 pounds. Because his parents were home schooling him no one from any state agency had the authority to check on his welfare.
In fact right now the only Oklahoma requirement for home schooling is that parents promise to conduct, "classes," 180 days a year. There is no oversight, no text book requirements, no third party testing, and there isn't a single provision which allows a school district nurse, doctor, or official from checking on the student's progress, or well being.
The kid in Meeker isn't the only one. Yesterday's The Oklahoman reports there is a web site which lists more than a dozen cases of child abuse in the state which were perpetrated and prolonged under the guise of home schooling. At least two young people were murdered. One, Shane Coffman was pulled out of public school in the fall of 1995. Early in 1996 his bones were found in a freezer behind a trailer home. Authorities believe he was already dead when dear old Mom told school personnel not to worry about his absences because she had decided to home school him.
A representative for an Oklahoma home schooling organization, one advocating, "Christ-centered home education," was asked about some sort of system of checks on home schooled children. Dana Wilson, told reporter, Josh Wallace, "It would be unfair to subject the thousands of home schooling families in the state to burdensome, obtrusive, regulations, because of a few people who broke the law."
One can only wonder what her stance is when it comes to sobriety check points which the OKC cops periodically set up in this burg in order to make sure everyone on the road is straight enough to drive.
Yes, if we're going to randomly make sure you're not drunk behind the wheel shouldn't we also take the effort to find out whether you are actually teaching your kid as opposed to beating him, or her to death?
Back when I was driving a cab and being a wildly unsuccessful novelist I would periodically pick up a single mother in a blue collar neighborhood. She used Yellow Cab each day in order to get to and from a bus stop located six, or seven blocks away. One morning she told me she was home schooling her teen aged son because he was always getting kicked out of my old high school alma mater for fighting.
I asked her how it was working out for him. Her response was, "I don't know, he studies while I'm at work."
True story.
God only knows where that boy is today and how many more kids are being educated at home like he and Shane Coffman were. Who can tell? As this is written, Oklahoma law won't let us find out and people like Dana Wilson are determined to make sure we never do.
sic vita est
7-30-18
Monday, July 30, 2018
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Oklahoma Politics: The People May Have Spoken, but the Bureaucrats are Still in Charge
Chelsea Church has worked at the Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy since 2012. She took over as executive director last year after the previous director died. According to OKC's daily paper, The Oklahoman, tomorrow, during a special meeting of the board, the odds are pretty solid she'll be fired.
Well hey, that is what goes down when you are foolish enough to offer someone a bribe via a phone text. Indeed, it would seem, despite overwhelming historical evidence, there are still those in the government and elsewhere who think, no matter what they write, their texts, emails, and other social media posts will never become public knowledge, or cause them professional harm.
When they're inevitably brought down by their rank hubris, or naivete the only truly intelligent response to their actions comes from the eminent sociologist, Bugs Bunny. He refers to such persons this way, "What a dope, what an Ultra-Maroon."
Church's troubles began almost immediately after Oklahoma voters stunned not only her, but evangelicals, right wing corporate types, and big pharma by overwhelmingly passing State Question 788. That happened on June 26th of this year, making the legal sale and possession of marijuana for medical purposes a reality. The victory came despite an avalanche of crazed lies aired on TV stations across the state which told the public things like, You and your kids will be exposed to dope heads smoking marijuana openly at the local McDonald's.
According to today's story by Dale Denwalt, her sordid little tale began on July 7th. That's when an attorney working for the Oklahoma Department of Health--the people who are adopting rules and regulations regarding implementation of the bill--sent Ms Church a text. The lawyer, Julie Ezell, says she was "joking," when she told Church, I should quit and come to work for the Board of Pharmacy.
The Executive Director seized on the joke and responded with, "PLEASE!!!!" Then she added, "You get me a pharmacist in (a marijuana) dispensary and then come to our office. I guarantee I can do more than u have now." For whimsey's sake she added a winking emoji with its tongue sticking out.
Just to make sure Ezell understood the offer was genuine Church later texted, "If this settles down I would honestly love to talk to you about OSBP. We have statutory authority for an attorney and I think u would be a great fit. U tell me what it would take for u to jump ship and we need to talk!!!!"
Then, as actor Mac Brown once said in a movie, came the weird part. Despite the generous offer of a better job in exchange for her help, Ezell told the health department rubes that making a regulation requiring every dispensary to have a pharmacist on duty was so nuts it guaranteed a multitude of future law suits. She was ignored and the reg was put in place. Within 48 hours the department was hit with two court actions challenging not just the new rule, but the entire process, because the sessions had been held in secret, violating the state's open meeting law.
And no, it doesn't stop there. Ezell has problems of her own on the electronic front. When the public found out exactly how much the Department of Health was fouling up the intent of SQ788 they went a little, should we say, ape shit. In the midst of the outcry Ezell claimed she was starting to get threatening emails from supporters of the measure.
It turned out the threatening emails came from a fake online account Ms. Ezell established a few days earlier. She had, in fact, sent them to herself, thereby committing a felony after she quite publicly contacted the police about them. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is claiming she did it in order to get attention and sympathy.
What it got her was criminal charges--which she is now trying to wiggle out of by having her attorney tell everyone who will listen she is cooperating fully with the authorities as they pursue the bribery case against, Chelsea Church.
In the mean time, just two days away from SQ788's enactment date, the state Attorney General has told the Department of Health it completely over stepped its authority on several of the draconian restrictions it established, including the whole pharmacist in the dispensary thing. The department big-wigs are now--sans Julie Ezell, who has resigned--"reconsidering," their decisions.
Right.
Ladies and gentlemen, no matter how sick you are, don't plant that new garden of botanics just yet. The people may have spoken, but the bureaucrats are still in charge.
sic vita est
7-24-18
Well hey, that is what goes down when you are foolish enough to offer someone a bribe via a phone text. Indeed, it would seem, despite overwhelming historical evidence, there are still those in the government and elsewhere who think, no matter what they write, their texts, emails, and other social media posts will never become public knowledge, or cause them professional harm.
When they're inevitably brought down by their rank hubris, or naivete the only truly intelligent response to their actions comes from the eminent sociologist, Bugs Bunny. He refers to such persons this way, "What a dope, what an Ultra-Maroon."
Church's troubles began almost immediately after Oklahoma voters stunned not only her, but evangelicals, right wing corporate types, and big pharma by overwhelmingly passing State Question 788. That happened on June 26th of this year, making the legal sale and possession of marijuana for medical purposes a reality. The victory came despite an avalanche of crazed lies aired on TV stations across the state which told the public things like, You and your kids will be exposed to dope heads smoking marijuana openly at the local McDonald's.
According to today's story by Dale Denwalt, her sordid little tale began on July 7th. That's when an attorney working for the Oklahoma Department of Health--the people who are adopting rules and regulations regarding implementation of the bill--sent Ms Church a text. The lawyer, Julie Ezell, says she was "joking," when she told Church, I should quit and come to work for the Board of Pharmacy.
The Executive Director seized on the joke and responded with, "PLEASE!!!!" Then she added, "You get me a pharmacist in (a marijuana) dispensary and then come to our office. I guarantee I can do more than u have now." For whimsey's sake she added a winking emoji with its tongue sticking out.
Just to make sure Ezell understood the offer was genuine Church later texted, "If this settles down I would honestly love to talk to you about OSBP. We have statutory authority for an attorney and I think u would be a great fit. U tell me what it would take for u to jump ship and we need to talk!!!!"
Then, as actor Mac Brown once said in a movie, came the weird part. Despite the generous offer of a better job in exchange for her help, Ezell told the health department rubes that making a regulation requiring every dispensary to have a pharmacist on duty was so nuts it guaranteed a multitude of future law suits. She was ignored and the reg was put in place. Within 48 hours the department was hit with two court actions challenging not just the new rule, but the entire process, because the sessions had been held in secret, violating the state's open meeting law.
And no, it doesn't stop there. Ezell has problems of her own on the electronic front. When the public found out exactly how much the Department of Health was fouling up the intent of SQ788 they went a little, should we say, ape shit. In the midst of the outcry Ezell claimed she was starting to get threatening emails from supporters of the measure.
It turned out the threatening emails came from a fake online account Ms. Ezell established a few days earlier. She had, in fact, sent them to herself, thereby committing a felony after she quite publicly contacted the police about them. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is claiming she did it in order to get attention and sympathy.
What it got her was criminal charges--which she is now trying to wiggle out of by having her attorney tell everyone who will listen she is cooperating fully with the authorities as they pursue the bribery case against, Chelsea Church.
In the mean time, just two days away from SQ788's enactment date, the state Attorney General has told the Department of Health it completely over stepped its authority on several of the draconian restrictions it established, including the whole pharmacist in the dispensary thing. The department big-wigs are now--sans Julie Ezell, who has resigned--"reconsidering," their decisions.
Right.
Ladies and gentlemen, no matter how sick you are, don't plant that new garden of botanics just yet. The people may have spoken, but the bureaucrats are still in charge.
sic vita est
7-24-18
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
America Disgraced by the President in Helsinki: How Long O' Lord Before the GOP Admits Putin Has Something on This Malevolent Clown
We knew the meeting with Putin was going to be bad after the disaster in Brussels late last week. How else could it go after the President of the United States, for the first time in the history of NATO, publicly chastised practically every member state and accused them all of, not being fair, to America?
Then came the surprise press conference after the Brussels get together. On the podium he stated the meeting with U.S. allies had been highly successful. while at the same time hinting, none to subtly, America might go its own way if the rest of NATO doesn't pony up not only on defense spending, but through trade concessions. One talking head on MSNBC noted it was like watching a mob boss working a protection racket shakedown.
Finally during the same presser came a moment, so bizarre and disturbing no Hollywood screen writer would dare come up with it. In front of God, the international media, and millions of viewers, Donald John Trump proclaimed himself a, "Stable genius."
It was a statement which prompted the 94 year old WWII veteran living on Pheasant Lane to declare, "He's the craziest son of a bitch I've ever seen." This from a man who voted for Ronald Reagan twice, George H. W. Bush once, Bush the younger two times, and John McCain.
Later, after hobnobbing with the Queen of England, Mr. Trump took a quick little trip to Scotland for a round of golf at one of his resorts--proving everyone prepares for a one on one sit down with a ruthless autocrat differently.
What followed yesterday on a Helsinki stage was the single most obsequious performance by an American head of state, ever. In truth the only thing missing was a Presidential blow job, although for all we know that happened during the closed door two and a half hour meeting held earlier.
The reaction was swift, vitriolic, and not just from democrats. Senator Jeff Flake, R-AZ said, "I never thought I would see the day when our American President would stand on the stage with the Russian President and place blame on the United States for Russian aggression. This is shameful."
John McCain wrote, "Today's press conference in #Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American President in memory."
Senator Jim Lankford, R-OK tweeted, "I trust the assessments of Dan Coats, Gena Haspel & their teams more than I trust a former KGB agent, Vladimir Putin. U.S. Presidents should meet w/ foreign leaders. But we must unequivocally denounce Russia's election interference attempts & human rights abuses around the world."
Newt Gingrich called Trump's performance, "...the most serious mistake of his presidency..."
The outrage continued. The wife of the American ambassador to Russia accused the President of throwing his own people and country under the bus. Another retired pol aimed a tweet at Trump's cabinet, it read, "Resign, if you have any honor." Obama's former CIA director called his actions, "...nothing short of treasonous"
Trump's initial response was to blame the harsh criticisms on--who else--the media. This morning he tweeted, "While I had a great meeting with NATO, raising vast amounts of money, I had an even better meeting with Vladimir Putin of Russia. Sadly, nothing is being reported that way--the Fake News is going Crazy!"
This afternoon he finally seemed to realize how deep he'd stepped in it. In other words it dawned on him the media hadn't reported anything. They simply aired the joint news conference, letting him expose himself as a Russian dupe. During an impromptu meeting with the press he claimed he had inadvertently used the wrong word--would vs wouldn't--when questioned about why he didn't think Russia interfered with the election.
What he said on Monday, with Putin standing next to him, was, "I have President Putin. He just said it's not Russia. I will say this, I don't see any reason why it would be, but I really do want to see the server." He then continued with a lengthy whine about--that's right--Hillary Clinton's missing emails which included, "What happened to Hillary Clinton's emails? 33,000 emails gone--just gone. I think in Russia they wouldn't be gone so easily."
No, but plenty of dissident Russian politicians and journalists certainly are gone so easily.
He rambled on, but what is the use? It was pure Trump bullshit. He was the wronged party all along while Hillary Clinton was the evil one. Yes, that's the ticket, there was a huge criminal, deep state, conspiracy and she was at the center of it.
Today he also offered that Obama and the FBI knew about the Russian interference prior to the 2016 election, but did nothing because they assumed Mrs. Clinton would win. When she lost they suddenly made the hacking a big deal. His administration, on the other hand, is on top of the situation. Oh, and by the way, as I said yesterday, Vladimir Putin has offered to help with Robert Mueller's investigation into the perfidious behavior of, uh, Vladimir Putin. All we have to do is turn over Mueller's sources of information to the Russians.
Right.
How long O' Lord will it take for republicans to admit Putin has something on this malevolent clown? It is the only way to explain behavior such as this. My best guess is his properties served as a money laundering conduit for Russian mobsters and oligarchs. Although honestly, I would prefer it to be something more lurid--you know--tapes of him and a former Miss Universe contestant performing sex acts so incredibly deviant they would shock even Howard Stern. Hey, it's the romantic in me.
Well, I can always hope.
Ladies and gentlemen, as you can guess, the bar is open.
7-17-18
Then came the surprise press conference after the Brussels get together. On the podium he stated the meeting with U.S. allies had been highly successful. while at the same time hinting, none to subtly, America might go its own way if the rest of NATO doesn't pony up not only on defense spending, but through trade concessions. One talking head on MSNBC noted it was like watching a mob boss working a protection racket shakedown.
Finally during the same presser came a moment, so bizarre and disturbing no Hollywood screen writer would dare come up with it. In front of God, the international media, and millions of viewers, Donald John Trump proclaimed himself a, "Stable genius."
It was a statement which prompted the 94 year old WWII veteran living on Pheasant Lane to declare, "He's the craziest son of a bitch I've ever seen." This from a man who voted for Ronald Reagan twice, George H. W. Bush once, Bush the younger two times, and John McCain.
Later, after hobnobbing with the Queen of England, Mr. Trump took a quick little trip to Scotland for a round of golf at one of his resorts--proving everyone prepares for a one on one sit down with a ruthless autocrat differently.
What followed yesterday on a Helsinki stage was the single most obsequious performance by an American head of state, ever. In truth the only thing missing was a Presidential blow job, although for all we know that happened during the closed door two and a half hour meeting held earlier.
The reaction was swift, vitriolic, and not just from democrats. Senator Jeff Flake, R-AZ said, "I never thought I would see the day when our American President would stand on the stage with the Russian President and place blame on the United States for Russian aggression. This is shameful."
John McCain wrote, "Today's press conference in #Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American President in memory."
Senator Jim Lankford, R-OK tweeted, "I trust the assessments of Dan Coats, Gena Haspel & their teams more than I trust a former KGB agent, Vladimir Putin. U.S. Presidents should meet w/ foreign leaders. But we must unequivocally denounce Russia's election interference attempts & human rights abuses around the world."
Newt Gingrich called Trump's performance, "...the most serious mistake of his presidency..."
The outrage continued. The wife of the American ambassador to Russia accused the President of throwing his own people and country under the bus. Another retired pol aimed a tweet at Trump's cabinet, it read, "Resign, if you have any honor." Obama's former CIA director called his actions, "...nothing short of treasonous"
Trump's initial response was to blame the harsh criticisms on--who else--the media. This morning he tweeted, "While I had a great meeting with NATO, raising vast amounts of money, I had an even better meeting with Vladimir Putin of Russia. Sadly, nothing is being reported that way--the Fake News is going Crazy!"
This afternoon he finally seemed to realize how deep he'd stepped in it. In other words it dawned on him the media hadn't reported anything. They simply aired the joint news conference, letting him expose himself as a Russian dupe. During an impromptu meeting with the press he claimed he had inadvertently used the wrong word--would vs wouldn't--when questioned about why he didn't think Russia interfered with the election.
What he said on Monday, with Putin standing next to him, was, "I have President Putin. He just said it's not Russia. I will say this, I don't see any reason why it would be, but I really do want to see the server." He then continued with a lengthy whine about--that's right--Hillary Clinton's missing emails which included, "What happened to Hillary Clinton's emails? 33,000 emails gone--just gone. I think in Russia they wouldn't be gone so easily."
No, but plenty of dissident Russian politicians and journalists certainly are gone so easily.
He rambled on, but what is the use? It was pure Trump bullshit. He was the wronged party all along while Hillary Clinton was the evil one. Yes, that's the ticket, there was a huge criminal, deep state, conspiracy and she was at the center of it.
Today he also offered that Obama and the FBI knew about the Russian interference prior to the 2016 election, but did nothing because they assumed Mrs. Clinton would win. When she lost they suddenly made the hacking a big deal. His administration, on the other hand, is on top of the situation. Oh, and by the way, as I said yesterday, Vladimir Putin has offered to help with Robert Mueller's investigation into the perfidious behavior of, uh, Vladimir Putin. All we have to do is turn over Mueller's sources of information to the Russians.
Right.
How long O' Lord will it take for republicans to admit Putin has something on this malevolent clown? It is the only way to explain behavior such as this. My best guess is his properties served as a money laundering conduit for Russian mobsters and oligarchs. Although honestly, I would prefer it to be something more lurid--you know--tapes of him and a former Miss Universe contestant performing sex acts so incredibly deviant they would shock even Howard Stern. Hey, it's the romantic in me.
Well, I can always hope.
Ladies and gentlemen, as you can guess, the bar is open.
7-17-18
Monday, July 16, 2018
The Gutting of Oklahoma State Question 788
You have to hand it to outgoing Oklahoma Governor, Mary Fallin. She is a sly one.
Think not? First she flummoxed the NRA and that vast gaggle of state legislators who are in their pocket. This summer, right before the state house and senate adjourned for the year, both chambers overwhelmingly voted to allow anyone--including the dude who shot up Louie's Grill and Bar after hearing demonic ducks--to openly carry a handgun without any sort of training, or permit.
Fallin waited until after the session ended before vetoing the measure, thus avoiding the ugliness and humiliation of having her veto overridden, which it surely would have been. Her act forced the gun fetishists to do one of two things. Either call a special session themselves, which would have stranded them in Oklahoma City during the middle of the primary election season, or wait until next year when she is out of office to pass it again. They chose the latter.
So, good for her right? I mean at least she temporarily foiled those demented goofs who are convinced they can't have sex if the government messes with their, "right," to unrestricted possession of firearms.
Yeah, well, besides being against untrained idiots packing guns she also opposed State Question 788, which legalized marijuana use for medical purposes. Unfortunately for her and the rest of the anti cannabis crowd, that bill went before the voters rather than the state legislature. In June it passed big time.
However, the new law wasn't very specific when it came to rules and regulations concerning the distribution and makeup of medicinal pot. Everyone, including myself, assumed she would be forced to call a special session of the legislature to hash out, so to speak, the details.
Silly us.
Fallin immediately saw such a move was fraught with danger for not only herself, but the GOP rubes in the senate and house. First, there are still some runoff races a few of the law makers have to deal with in late August and then the general election arrives in November. Second, the very last thing your average Oklahoma legislator wants to do in an election year is hand the public yet another reason to throw their ass out. Let's face it, even they know fouling up a measure which was just approved in a landslide by voters isn't particularly smart politics.
Indeed, you almost could smell the ads coming, Ladies and gentleman the incumbent is imposing impossible sanctions and regulations on a measure you, the voting public, passed by a large margin. He, or she is deliberately subverting your will! Elect me, because I will never betray you in that way!
No that's not something a local pol wants to deal with when the prevailing popular sentiment already is to oust everyone at NE 23rd and Lincoln on general principle alone.
In addition, Fallin had her own problem with a special legislative session. Once those crazy bastards got back to the capitol building there wouldn't be anything stopping them from moving past the marijuana question to, you guessed it, scuttling her veto of the aforementioned gun bill.
So what does she do? Why, hand the whole business off to Department of Health bureaucrats who not only aren't accountable to voters, but also vehemently opposed State Question 788 in the first place. In other words the same people who ran anti SQ788 ads so perversely false and misleading no reputable TV station should have aired them, were given free rein to regulate it.
Within days, after a series of secret, not to mention possibly illegal, meetings, all sorts of new, "rules," meant to hamstring the distribution of medical marijuana were put in place. Like the one that bans licensed outlets from selling pot which can be smoked. Or another which forbids edible marijuana to come in the form of candy, or any sort of confection which, "might" appeal to children. Then there are restrictions on the amount of THC each product can contain--it is a level so low at least one wag compares it to the state law which says cold beer can only be sold if it contains less than 3.2% alcohol. (A law which voters repealed two years ago, but still hasn't been acted on thanks to legislative fol-de-rol) My personal favorite, though, is a stipulation which states each dispensary must have a pharmacist on duty during operating hours.
All this in a state where highly addictive opioids, manufactured by an amoral multi-billion dollar industry, are handed out and consumed as if they are M&Ms and the most profitable rural business is manufacturing meth.
The only good news to come out of the right wing subterfuge is a spike in support for State Question 797. It is now over two thirds of the way to the required number of signatures which would land it on the ballot in November. That's right, Governor Fallin and the rest of you assholes, fuck with us and we the people will fuck with you. If it passes SQ 797 will legalize marijuana for recreational purposes throughout the state of Oklahoma.
If it makes it to the ballot does it stand a chance? Conventional wisdom says no, but then that's what many said about the now gutted SQ 788 and it won with over 57% of the vote.
Evangelicals, arch right wing corporate types, and slaves to big pharma shouldn't worry though. Even if it were to pass the same slime who are in the process of neutering State Question 788 will be in charge of regulating recreational marijuana.
And if they are willing to screw over the chronically ill and dying like they are now, just think what they'll do when it comes to recreational users.
It is a scary thought.
7-16-18
Think not? First she flummoxed the NRA and that vast gaggle of state legislators who are in their pocket. This summer, right before the state house and senate adjourned for the year, both chambers overwhelmingly voted to allow anyone--including the dude who shot up Louie's Grill and Bar after hearing demonic ducks--to openly carry a handgun without any sort of training, or permit.
Fallin waited until after the session ended before vetoing the measure, thus avoiding the ugliness and humiliation of having her veto overridden, which it surely would have been. Her act forced the gun fetishists to do one of two things. Either call a special session themselves, which would have stranded them in Oklahoma City during the middle of the primary election season, or wait until next year when she is out of office to pass it again. They chose the latter.
So, good for her right? I mean at least she temporarily foiled those demented goofs who are convinced they can't have sex if the government messes with their, "right," to unrestricted possession of firearms.
Yeah, well, besides being against untrained idiots packing guns she also opposed State Question 788, which legalized marijuana use for medical purposes. Unfortunately for her and the rest of the anti cannabis crowd, that bill went before the voters rather than the state legislature. In June it passed big time.
However, the new law wasn't very specific when it came to rules and regulations concerning the distribution and makeup of medicinal pot. Everyone, including myself, assumed she would be forced to call a special session of the legislature to hash out, so to speak, the details.
Silly us.
Fallin immediately saw such a move was fraught with danger for not only herself, but the GOP rubes in the senate and house. First, there are still some runoff races a few of the law makers have to deal with in late August and then the general election arrives in November. Second, the very last thing your average Oklahoma legislator wants to do in an election year is hand the public yet another reason to throw their ass out. Let's face it, even they know fouling up a measure which was just approved in a landslide by voters isn't particularly smart politics.
Indeed, you almost could smell the ads coming, Ladies and gentleman the incumbent is imposing impossible sanctions and regulations on a measure you, the voting public, passed by a large margin. He, or she is deliberately subverting your will! Elect me, because I will never betray you in that way!
No that's not something a local pol wants to deal with when the prevailing popular sentiment already is to oust everyone at NE 23rd and Lincoln on general principle alone.
In addition, Fallin had her own problem with a special legislative session. Once those crazy bastards got back to the capitol building there wouldn't be anything stopping them from moving past the marijuana question to, you guessed it, scuttling her veto of the aforementioned gun bill.
So what does she do? Why, hand the whole business off to Department of Health bureaucrats who not only aren't accountable to voters, but also vehemently opposed State Question 788 in the first place. In other words the same people who ran anti SQ788 ads so perversely false and misleading no reputable TV station should have aired them, were given free rein to regulate it.
Within days, after a series of secret, not to mention possibly illegal, meetings, all sorts of new, "rules," meant to hamstring the distribution of medical marijuana were put in place. Like the one that bans licensed outlets from selling pot which can be smoked. Or another which forbids edible marijuana to come in the form of candy, or any sort of confection which, "might" appeal to children. Then there are restrictions on the amount of THC each product can contain--it is a level so low at least one wag compares it to the state law which says cold beer can only be sold if it contains less than 3.2% alcohol. (A law which voters repealed two years ago, but still hasn't been acted on thanks to legislative fol-de-rol) My personal favorite, though, is a stipulation which states each dispensary must have a pharmacist on duty during operating hours.
All this in a state where highly addictive opioids, manufactured by an amoral multi-billion dollar industry, are handed out and consumed as if they are M&Ms and the most profitable rural business is manufacturing meth.
The only good news to come out of the right wing subterfuge is a spike in support for State Question 797. It is now over two thirds of the way to the required number of signatures which would land it on the ballot in November. That's right, Governor Fallin and the rest of you assholes, fuck with us and we the people will fuck with you. If it passes SQ 797 will legalize marijuana for recreational purposes throughout the state of Oklahoma.
If it makes it to the ballot does it stand a chance? Conventional wisdom says no, but then that's what many said about the now gutted SQ 788 and it won with over 57% of the vote.
Evangelicals, arch right wing corporate types, and slaves to big pharma shouldn't worry though. Even if it were to pass the same slime who are in the process of neutering State Question 788 will be in charge of regulating recreational marijuana.
And if they are willing to screw over the chronically ill and dying like they are now, just think what they'll do when it comes to recreational users.
It is a scary thought.
7-16-18
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Trump on the Road: Pissing Off Friends and Kowtowing to Putin
Here is how insane it has become. Donald J. Trump, the President of the United States of America will show up in the United Kingdom Thursday after publicly insulting the 28 other members of NATO yesterday and today. The tension between Trump and the British--really all Europe plus Canada--is such the U.S. embassy warned American travelers in the U.K. to, "keep a low profile," while he is in the country.
That's right, citizens of this nation who are abroad have been officially told by the State Department they might incur the wrath of locals if they reveal themselves as Americans, not in Beijing, or, Moscow, or even Pyongyang, but, God Bless the Queen, London, England.
Trump's latest assault on NATO began right before he left for Brussels. It came primarily through Twitter during what many of us assume was a wild bender fueled by multiple Big Macs, massive amounts of fries, plus heavy doses of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, and untold toots of uncut Colombian cocaine.
One read, "We do have a lot of allies, but we cannot be taken advantage of. We are being taken advantage of by the European Union." He went on to add that U.S. spending, "...helps them a lot more than it helps us."
The howling didn't stop there. "On top of that," he wrote, "we lose $151 billion on trade with the European Union who charge us Big tariffs (&barriers).
The obvious theme here, as always, is an appeal, or rather an affirmation of what the trailer park fascists have come to believe as gospel. Our supposed allies are ungrateful leeches out to fuck America. He continued, "NATO countries must pay MORE, the United States, must pay LESS. Very Unfair."
Just in case anyone didn't get the message about how the poor old U.S. is being ruthlessly scammed by those crafty con artists in Europe he added, "The United States is spending far more on NATO than any other Country. This is not fair, nor is it acceptable."
Then, right before boarding the big blue and white bird to jet off to Brussels, he told reporters, "NATO has not treated us fairly."
Finally, he delivered a Trumpian shot which, off the subject of NATO, still displayed his utter disregard for one of our closest allies. He accused the Germans of becoming a, "captive," to Moscow because they are getting ready to sign a natural gas pipe line deal with the Russians.
Ah yes, now there is some real 21st American diplomacy.
In response to his caterwauling 50,000 Britons have pledged to take to the streets tomorrow, accompanied by a giant balloon which portrays Donald Trump as a diapered baby in the midst of throwing a tantrum.
It is hard to argue their point. Not to mention highly tempting to start a, "GoFundMe," account so we can get that damn balloon over here in time for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
A nice thought, but let's get back to that whole captive to Moscow thing. On the heels of this craziness The Big Orange Guy is set for a one on one sit down in Helsinki Monday with his pal/idol/blackmailer, Vladimir Putin. God only knows what form of kowtowing El Don will be shamelessly performing in Finland that day. Whatever shape it takes we can be assured it will drive the wedge begun by him even deeper between America and the people we've called friends for nearly a century.
Well, you do what you have to when dealing with an ex Russian spymaster who has the goods on you.
Indeed, we can say many things about Vladimir Putin, but you have to acknowledged he has accomplished what Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, and even Herr Hitler couldn't--he has split western Europe and the U.S. farther apart than they've been since about 1900.
And all of it is thanks to Donald John Trump and his prior criminal enterprises involving Putin's oligarch buddies.
Hey, as the Trumpster himself put it the other day, "Putin may be the easiest (meeting) of them all. Who would think?"
Actually, Don, given what has transpired the last couple of years, that would be just about every last one of us.
Ladies and gentlemen, the bar, for obvious reasons, is now open.
7-11-18
That's right, citizens of this nation who are abroad have been officially told by the State Department they might incur the wrath of locals if they reveal themselves as Americans, not in Beijing, or, Moscow, or even Pyongyang, but, God Bless the Queen, London, England.
Trump's latest assault on NATO began right before he left for Brussels. It came primarily through Twitter during what many of us assume was a wild bender fueled by multiple Big Macs, massive amounts of fries, plus heavy doses of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, and untold toots of uncut Colombian cocaine.
One read, "We do have a lot of allies, but we cannot be taken advantage of. We are being taken advantage of by the European Union." He went on to add that U.S. spending, "...helps them a lot more than it helps us."
The howling didn't stop there. "On top of that," he wrote, "we lose $151 billion on trade with the European Union who charge us Big tariffs (&barriers).
The obvious theme here, as always, is an appeal, or rather an affirmation of what the trailer park fascists have come to believe as gospel. Our supposed allies are ungrateful leeches out to fuck America. He continued, "NATO countries must pay MORE, the United States, must pay LESS. Very Unfair."
Just in case anyone didn't get the message about how the poor old U.S. is being ruthlessly scammed by those crafty con artists in Europe he added, "The United States is spending far more on NATO than any other Country. This is not fair, nor is it acceptable."
Then, right before boarding the big blue and white bird to jet off to Brussels, he told reporters, "NATO has not treated us fairly."
Finally, he delivered a Trumpian shot which, off the subject of NATO, still displayed his utter disregard for one of our closest allies. He accused the Germans of becoming a, "captive," to Moscow because they are getting ready to sign a natural gas pipe line deal with the Russians.
Ah yes, now there is some real 21st American diplomacy.
In response to his caterwauling 50,000 Britons have pledged to take to the streets tomorrow, accompanied by a giant balloon which portrays Donald Trump as a diapered baby in the midst of throwing a tantrum.
It is hard to argue their point. Not to mention highly tempting to start a, "GoFundMe," account so we can get that damn balloon over here in time for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
A nice thought, but let's get back to that whole captive to Moscow thing. On the heels of this craziness The Big Orange Guy is set for a one on one sit down in Helsinki Monday with his pal/idol/blackmailer, Vladimir Putin. God only knows what form of kowtowing El Don will be shamelessly performing in Finland that day. Whatever shape it takes we can be assured it will drive the wedge begun by him even deeper between America and the people we've called friends for nearly a century.
Well, you do what you have to when dealing with an ex Russian spymaster who has the goods on you.
Indeed, we can say many things about Vladimir Putin, but you have to acknowledged he has accomplished what Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, and even Herr Hitler couldn't--he has split western Europe and the U.S. farther apart than they've been since about 1900.
And all of it is thanks to Donald John Trump and his prior criminal enterprises involving Putin's oligarch buddies.
Hey, as the Trumpster himself put it the other day, "Putin may be the easiest (meeting) of them all. Who would think?"
Actually, Don, given what has transpired the last couple of years, that would be just about every last one of us.
Ladies and gentlemen, the bar, for obvious reasons, is now open.
7-11-18
Friday, July 6, 2018
Scott Pruitt Finds Out the Hard Way the National Media Isn't Quite the Same as Oklahoma's
Given who Scott Pruitt worked for and the cast of vile characters around him, it takes a lot to earn the reputation as the most corrupt, self serving, venal, beast in the current administration. Our man, Scotty pulled it off though with an imperial aplomb not seen since Dick Nixon, Spiro Agnew, and John Mitchell were roaming the halls of power in Washington D.C.
Fortunately for the environment and common good he's gone now. He announced his resignation yesterday in a letter to his boss which was heavily laced with religiosity and appallingly devoid of responsibility. Well, what should we expect from a guy who twice authored state legislation to establish a father's, property rights, over their wives, lovers, and victims unborn fetuses?
Anyway, that's all in the past. The only truth now is, at the moment he quit yesterday, both the former Administrator of the EPA and the President of the United States carefully avoided the fact, Scott Pruitt is just another Donald Trump appointee proven too arrogant and criminal to survive in the national spotlight.
Mr. Pruitt hit the mean streets of Washington 17 months ago without any real national footprint. Coming from a small, bright red state, his political history was just sparse enough to make him seem like one of those Washington Outsiders the new Trump administration claimed to value so highly. He had spent eight years in the Oklahoma state senate and another six as its attorney general. His main claim to fame during those formative years was his obsessive need to sue the Environmental Protection Agency nearly as often as he changed ties.
We now know it was during this stint in state government he acquired an insatiable taste for old fashioned graft. Yes, behind the scenes, he discovered how incredibly easy and profitable it is to work closely with big money and lobbyists.
He partnered up with GOP donor and local nabob, Bob Funk to buy Oklahoma City's AAA baseball club. His share of the purchase was financed by a loan he took out through SpiritBank which is based in what, at the time, was his senate district. Pruitt's official salary back then was a little over $38,000 a year. The team reportedly cost $11.5 million. His exact stake in the franchise remains unclear, as does the amount of the loan and interest rate he had to cover.
Later he and four of his pals bought a furnished home in OKC from a telecommunications industry lobbyist for $100,000 less than market value. One of those friends was another lobbyist, a second was a health care executive, a third was the head of his local PAC. The fourth was a fellow attorney who worked as yet another registered lobbyists for business interests seeking to gut Oklahoma's worker's compensation laws. Pruitt and the attorney, Ken Wagner, shared living in the house while on, state business and Pruitt was promoting legislation to, you guessed it, radically change the state's worker's comp laws in ways Wagner was cheerleading for.
Both the ball club and home were eventually sold for hefty profits. Then, after Pruitt took over the EPA he hired Wagner as a regional affairs advisor.
None of this wildly reprehensible shit was made public at the time, because every major news organization in the state, both print and television, are nothing more than republican propaganda outlets--think minor league versions of FOX News. It wouldn't be until the big boys at places like CNN and other national media sources finally began digging into the sordid business that the average Oklahoman would find out about any of it.
Now we can understand why, when he made it to Washington, ol' Scott went around doing things like renting a $50 per night condo from the wife of a lobbyist who represented industries with matters pending at the EPA. Why not? He had done it before and no one in the media had blinked so much as an eye.
Unfortunately for Brother Pruitt, MSNBC isn't Oklahoma City's KWTV and The Washington Post and New York Times will never be confused with The Oklahoman, or The Tulsa World.
One can suppose the rest of it, the horrid record of hubris and complete disregard for federal regulations--not to mention a predilection for spending money on bizarre luxuries which you normally see only in run amok lottery winners and third world dictators--can be blamed on an ego unhinged by office and surroundings. However, it is easy to see where the beginnings of his behavior came from. It was rooted in Scott Pruitt's earliest political life and his conviction he could get away with whatever the fuck he wanted.
We can also see why Donald Trump appointed the guy to be the head of the EPA. Not only were his politics correct, but so was his utterly amoral attitude when it came to making deals with questionable people in order to rake in untold amounts of cash.
Indeed, in the end, Scott Pruitt was and is nothing more than a reflection of The Big Orange Guy himself. It's just too bad that son of a bitch won't follow his former EPA director's lead and also slink off into the night.
Well, we can't have everything can we? No, at least not yet.
sic vita est
7-6-18
Fortunately for the environment and common good he's gone now. He announced his resignation yesterday in a letter to his boss which was heavily laced with religiosity and appallingly devoid of responsibility. Well, what should we expect from a guy who twice authored state legislation to establish a father's, property rights, over their wives, lovers, and victims unborn fetuses?
Anyway, that's all in the past. The only truth now is, at the moment he quit yesterday, both the former Administrator of the EPA and the President of the United States carefully avoided the fact, Scott Pruitt is just another Donald Trump appointee proven too arrogant and criminal to survive in the national spotlight.
Mr. Pruitt hit the mean streets of Washington 17 months ago without any real national footprint. Coming from a small, bright red state, his political history was just sparse enough to make him seem like one of those Washington Outsiders the new Trump administration claimed to value so highly. He had spent eight years in the Oklahoma state senate and another six as its attorney general. His main claim to fame during those formative years was his obsessive need to sue the Environmental Protection Agency nearly as often as he changed ties.
We now know it was during this stint in state government he acquired an insatiable taste for old fashioned graft. Yes, behind the scenes, he discovered how incredibly easy and profitable it is to work closely with big money and lobbyists.
He partnered up with GOP donor and local nabob, Bob Funk to buy Oklahoma City's AAA baseball club. His share of the purchase was financed by a loan he took out through SpiritBank which is based in what, at the time, was his senate district. Pruitt's official salary back then was a little over $38,000 a year. The team reportedly cost $11.5 million. His exact stake in the franchise remains unclear, as does the amount of the loan and interest rate he had to cover.
Later he and four of his pals bought a furnished home in OKC from a telecommunications industry lobbyist for $100,000 less than market value. One of those friends was another lobbyist, a second was a health care executive, a third was the head of his local PAC. The fourth was a fellow attorney who worked as yet another registered lobbyists for business interests seeking to gut Oklahoma's worker's compensation laws. Pruitt and the attorney, Ken Wagner, shared living in the house while on, state business and Pruitt was promoting legislation to, you guessed it, radically change the state's worker's comp laws in ways Wagner was cheerleading for.
Both the ball club and home were eventually sold for hefty profits. Then, after Pruitt took over the EPA he hired Wagner as a regional affairs advisor.
None of this wildly reprehensible shit was made public at the time, because every major news organization in the state, both print and television, are nothing more than republican propaganda outlets--think minor league versions of FOX News. It wouldn't be until the big boys at places like CNN and other national media sources finally began digging into the sordid business that the average Oklahoman would find out about any of it.
Now we can understand why, when he made it to Washington, ol' Scott went around doing things like renting a $50 per night condo from the wife of a lobbyist who represented industries with matters pending at the EPA. Why not? He had done it before and no one in the media had blinked so much as an eye.
Unfortunately for Brother Pruitt, MSNBC isn't Oklahoma City's KWTV and The Washington Post and New York Times will never be confused with The Oklahoman, or The Tulsa World.
One can suppose the rest of it, the horrid record of hubris and complete disregard for federal regulations--not to mention a predilection for spending money on bizarre luxuries which you normally see only in run amok lottery winners and third world dictators--can be blamed on an ego unhinged by office and surroundings. However, it is easy to see where the beginnings of his behavior came from. It was rooted in Scott Pruitt's earliest political life and his conviction he could get away with whatever the fuck he wanted.
We can also see why Donald Trump appointed the guy to be the head of the EPA. Not only were his politics correct, but so was his utterly amoral attitude when it came to making deals with questionable people in order to rake in untold amounts of cash.
Indeed, in the end, Scott Pruitt was and is nothing more than a reflection of The Big Orange Guy himself. It's just too bad that son of a bitch won't follow his former EPA director's lead and also slink off into the night.
Well, we can't have everything can we? No, at least not yet.
sic vita est
7-6-18
Monday, July 2, 2018
Jarrod Ramos Murdered Journalists Because He is Nuts: Cruel Trolls Torment Survivors Because They Believe in Don Trump
In July, 2011 a journalist for the Annapolis, MD based paper, The Capital Gazette wrote a column which was titled, "Jarrod Wants to be Your Friend." The editor at the time, Tom Marquardt approved the piece and ran it in the publication with, we can assume, no reservations about its content, or subject, Jarrod Ramos.
Ramos, after all, had just pleaded guilty to harassing a woman who, according to the Gazette filed three separate restraining orders against him, all of them successful. He was hit with a 90 day suspended sentence and 18 months probation. In addition he was ordered to be evaluated by a shrink and attend counseling by either a psychologist, or psychiatrist. He was also instructed to stay away from the woman and her family. It never dawned on anyone to tell him not to go near the newspaper.
In 2012 Brother Ramos filed a defamation suit against The Capital Gazette, Marquardt, and the reporter who wrote the story, Eric Hartley. For unknown reasons he represented himself during the proceedings, although, given the guilty plea, it is easy to guess he couldn't find a lawyer to take up his case.
He lost in court, but didn't forget, or cool down. Over the next few years, through social media, he posted increasingly aggressive and threatening messages condemning the paper and its employees. Even though over time Marquardt retired, relocated to Florida and Hartley moved on to another job, Ramos' Twitter campaign continued. In fact, the tweets and Facebook entries become so concerning, Gazette execs reported him to the police. The cops took a look at the tirades then quickly came to the conclusion this grudge obsessed guy didn't pose any threat to the company's employees.
His last post on the Twitter account came Thursday afternoon at 2:37pm. It read, "Fuck you, leave me alone."
We all know what happened next. A scant few minutes later, Jarrod Ramos, first barricaded the back door to the paper's offices, then went in the front firing away with a pump action shotgun. Before he was captured, reportedly cowering beneath a desk, four journalists and one sales rep were dead.
President Donald J. Trump immediately sent out his, "thoughts and prayers," via, what else, Twitter. Later he told an audience, "Journalists, like all Americans, should be free from the fear of being violently attacked while doing their job."
His words sent Reuters' on line, " Breakingviews," editor, Rob Cox into a rage. He took to Twitter with a message that read, "This is what happens when @realDonald Trump calls journalists the enemy of the people. Blood is on your hands Mr. President. Save your thoughts and prayers for your empty soul."
It didn't take long for Reuters to renounce Cox's tweet. The ultra conservative Washington Times gleefully reported, Reuters is considering taking action against him because of his outburst.
What the Washington Times didn't report, but The Gazette did is that after the shooting the reeling publication received an unspecified number of anonymous phone calls and emails threatening further violence against journalists while others cruelly celebrated the killings. At least one demanded the paper fire a reporter because, after witnessing the murders of her friends and co-workers, she cursed on air during a TV interview.
Obviously Jarrod Ramos was bat shit nuts long before Donald Trump began routinely trashing the media by incessantly calling them, "Fake News," and "...the enemy of the American People!" In truth there is no evidence at this time Ramos had any political beliefs one way or the other--although within a few days it is pretty much guaranteed right wing trolls will be telling every Trumpist on Facebook and other places he was a former Clinton hit man; probably the guy who offed Vince Foster.
No, Jarrod Ramos isn't a product of Donald Trump, he is a product of America itself and our insatiable lust to settle every argument with a gun. On the other hand, those vile fuckers who made the vicious phone calls and wrote the emails are. You can smell Trump's anti first amendment stench all over them.
Rob Cox later apologized and deleted his tweet. He said he wrote it before he knew the real circumstances behind the shooting. We probably won't ever know if he is telling the truth, or just attempting to save his ass.
What we do know for sure though is none of the monsters who called and wrote The Capital Gazette will be apologizing for anything. Those geeks revel in their brute ignorance. And--just like, The Big Orange Guy, they will remain steadfastly convinced, no matter how compelling the evidence, any news which does not validate them, or their politics is fake--while the purveyors of it are, forever, The Enemy of The American People.
sic vita est
7-2-18
Ramos, after all, had just pleaded guilty to harassing a woman who, according to the Gazette filed three separate restraining orders against him, all of them successful. He was hit with a 90 day suspended sentence and 18 months probation. In addition he was ordered to be evaluated by a shrink and attend counseling by either a psychologist, or psychiatrist. He was also instructed to stay away from the woman and her family. It never dawned on anyone to tell him not to go near the newspaper.
In 2012 Brother Ramos filed a defamation suit against The Capital Gazette, Marquardt, and the reporter who wrote the story, Eric Hartley. For unknown reasons he represented himself during the proceedings, although, given the guilty plea, it is easy to guess he couldn't find a lawyer to take up his case.
He lost in court, but didn't forget, or cool down. Over the next few years, through social media, he posted increasingly aggressive and threatening messages condemning the paper and its employees. Even though over time Marquardt retired, relocated to Florida and Hartley moved on to another job, Ramos' Twitter campaign continued. In fact, the tweets and Facebook entries become so concerning, Gazette execs reported him to the police. The cops took a look at the tirades then quickly came to the conclusion this grudge obsessed guy didn't pose any threat to the company's employees.
His last post on the Twitter account came Thursday afternoon at 2:37pm. It read, "Fuck you, leave me alone."
We all know what happened next. A scant few minutes later, Jarrod Ramos, first barricaded the back door to the paper's offices, then went in the front firing away with a pump action shotgun. Before he was captured, reportedly cowering beneath a desk, four journalists and one sales rep were dead.
President Donald J. Trump immediately sent out his, "thoughts and prayers," via, what else, Twitter. Later he told an audience, "Journalists, like all Americans, should be free from the fear of being violently attacked while doing their job."
His words sent Reuters' on line, " Breakingviews," editor, Rob Cox into a rage. He took to Twitter with a message that read, "This is what happens when @realDonald Trump calls journalists the enemy of the people. Blood is on your hands Mr. President. Save your thoughts and prayers for your empty soul."
It didn't take long for Reuters to renounce Cox's tweet. The ultra conservative Washington Times gleefully reported, Reuters is considering taking action against him because of his outburst.
What the Washington Times didn't report, but The Gazette did is that after the shooting the reeling publication received an unspecified number of anonymous phone calls and emails threatening further violence against journalists while others cruelly celebrated the killings. At least one demanded the paper fire a reporter because, after witnessing the murders of her friends and co-workers, she cursed on air during a TV interview.
Obviously Jarrod Ramos was bat shit nuts long before Donald Trump began routinely trashing the media by incessantly calling them, "Fake News," and "...the enemy of the American People!" In truth there is no evidence at this time Ramos had any political beliefs one way or the other--although within a few days it is pretty much guaranteed right wing trolls will be telling every Trumpist on Facebook and other places he was a former Clinton hit man; probably the guy who offed Vince Foster.
No, Jarrod Ramos isn't a product of Donald Trump, he is a product of America itself and our insatiable lust to settle every argument with a gun. On the other hand, those vile fuckers who made the vicious phone calls and wrote the emails are. You can smell Trump's anti first amendment stench all over them.
Rob Cox later apologized and deleted his tweet. He said he wrote it before he knew the real circumstances behind the shooting. We probably won't ever know if he is telling the truth, or just attempting to save his ass.
What we do know for sure though is none of the monsters who called and wrote The Capital Gazette will be apologizing for anything. Those geeks revel in their brute ignorance. And--just like, The Big Orange Guy, they will remain steadfastly convinced, no matter how compelling the evidence, any news which does not validate them, or their politics is fake--while the purveyors of it are, forever, The Enemy of The American People.
sic vita est
7-2-18
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