Here is how weird it can become in the Oklahoma legislature.
A reporter for The Oklahoman, Ben Felder wrote two things happened yesterday in the house Health and Human Services Committee. First, as pro and anti choice fans gathered in the halls of the capitol the committee passed SB 195. It was, "written," by Senate President Pro Tempore, Greg Treat, whose district covers a sliver of far northwest OKC and gerrymanders west and south through some suburbs.
The law, as written, will completely outlaw abortions in Oklahoma the very minute the Supreme Court of the United States overturns the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision which made them legal. In the trade it is called a, "trigger bill."
In other corners this is known as betting on the come. Usually it's a sucker move, but given the makeup of the Supreme Court and the health of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who knows what will transpire in the next year, or so.
When it passes Oklahoma won't be the first state with such a law. Five others already have nearly identical legislation in place. Just a coincidence you ask? Hardly. State legislatures, Oklahoma's included, are full of illiterate right wing flamers who usually can barely spell their names. Actually authoring legislation is completely beyond them.
No, stuff like this comes from conservative PACs and think tanks who write the bills, then circulate them among local legislators. Those representatives and senators fill in the blanks--you know, like the name of their state--then present them as if they were all their own.
Treat's bill was opposed by four members of the committee, three democrats and one republican, Joseph Silk, R-Broken Arrow.
Silk's outrage was palpable. Felder quoted him as saying to the committee, "If you're interested in protecting life, Senate Bill 195 does absolutely nothing right now. This body stands by and does nothing to actually end the greatest massacre this nation has ever seen."
Silk, of course, had written his own bill regarding the issue. SB 13 would have certainly done something, "right now." If passed it would have immediately made performing an abortion a heavy duty felony. That's the only way you can describe a charge of homicide, which is exactly what the measure demanded, no ifs, ands, buts, or coconuts.
The committee chair, Jason Smalley refused to even consider, Silk's proposal. His reasoning was quite logical. He saw no use in passing a law which everyone in their right mind knows would be struck down immediately by the courts. Treat agreed, mainly because he has experience in that area.
In 2014 he pushed a bill through the legislature which required abortion providers to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles of their clinics. That law didn't even make it into the federal system. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in 2016 after a myriad of stays and lower court rulings.
Reality and sanity, however, never deters a person like, Joe Silk. Afterward he told the gathered anti choice rowdies--who booed Treat and Smalley, not to mention the pro choice crowd with gusto--"Does the state of Oklahoma need the court's permission to stop the killing of innocent children? The answer is no."
It's a statement so demonstrably wrong, it's doubtful even Donald Trump would utter it. Or not, you never know what that wild and merrily mixed up guy will say.
Whatever the case, Mr. Silk's bill is dead, at least for this session and Greg Treat's will, no doubt, be passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor. That's what happens when democrats are outnumbered 39 to nine in one chamber and 77 to 24 in the other. Not to mention having a chief executive who once questioned the practice of vaccinating children against things like Rubella and the flu.
Yes, when we turned to the right in Oklahoma we went way out there. So far, in fact, the state's motto should be, Conservatives Uber Alles: Crazy, Crazier and the Craziest. Well that, or Down Here it Might be Cruel, but it Damn Sure Ain't Unusual.
Ladies and gentlemen, as you can guess, the bar is most definitely open.
2-26-19
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Friday, February 22, 2019
Constitutional Carry in Oklahoma: Fear and Thunder Fans Win Out
Last year the Oklahoma legislature passed what was called a, "constitutional carry," bill. The law, as it was written then, would allow those poor souls who are too scared to leave their homes unarmed the ability to carry a gun anywhere in the state without any training, restrictions, or permits.
In her last days as governor, republican Mary Fallin vetoed the act moments before the legislature adjourned. Her timing prevented those wild eyed gun lovers in her party from overriding the nixing of the bill, which, thanks to the near non-existence of democrats in both state houses, was assured.
So Fallin was a gutsy, sane, voice of reason--not to mention one politically savvy operator, right? Sorta, kinda. The veto was timed perfectly, however her motives were more convoluted than simple opposition to unleashing herds of armed idiots.
In fact, Ms. Fallin was decidedly under the influence of the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce.
This famously anti labor group realized the 2018 measure contained wording which might just cause Oklahoma serious problems in what we call, the business sector. The way it was written the law would, as said before, let anyone to carry a gun, either openly, or concealed, anywhere, no matter what the venue. It also prevented event sponsors, or owners of businesses, from banning weapons on their property.
Someone was smart enough to point out to the then governor since the NCAA refuses to book tournament events someplace where guns are allowed. Oklahoma City would cease to be the annual home of the Women's College Softball Championship. In addition any hope of hosting future NCAA basketball regionals in OKC, or Tulsa would be lost.
It also meant places like the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University wouldn't be able to prevent gun toting fans from any of their sporting events, or campuses. Indeed, administrators and security officials were facing the prospect of a bunch of armed football fanatics, caught up in a frenzy of school spirit and binge drinking, opening fire on officials, coaches, players, and opposing fans who pissed them off. Not to mention all those professors who have to hand out failing grades to high strung right wing frat rats.
Ah, but it didn't stop there. The National Basketball Association also bans guns at all it's team arenas. The way the law read, the Oklahoma City Thunder, thanks to league rules, would have to pull up roots and jump on a plane back to Seattle. Such a move would be an economic catastrophe for downtown OKC the likes of which hasn't been seen since the days of urban renewal in the 1960's--a time which rendered the area virtually deserted after five pm on weeknights and every weekend.
No, Fallin's veto wasn't about her personal beliefs, it was pure business.
Now there is the same sort of bill getting ready to be passed by the legislature. Only this one has been edited to allow private property owners and sponsors to ban guns from their businesses and events. The new Governor, Kevin Stitt has already said he'll sign it, Meanwhile college presidents have breathed a sigh of relief. Clay Bennett and the rest of the Thunder ownership have also relaxed and the State Chamber of Commerce has declared itself neutral on the issue.
Yes, the current attitude of the state's movers and shakers has become a resounding, So long as it isn't at our place, you stupid fuckers can go shoot as many people as you want.
To be fair and balanced the new bill does say convicted felons and those who have been adjudicated to be mentally ill are prohibited from owning, or carrying a firearm. Unfortunately we all know how effective that provision has worked out lately. Just ask them in Parkland, FL.
But hey, only a good guy with a gun, right? Yeah, well, tell that to Oklahoma cops who will soon have a split second to decide which persons holding smoking guns are the, "good," shooters and which ones aren't.
This is madness. All these gun quacks want us to believe they are simply defending their constitutional rights. In truth they're nothing but a bunch of cowards, frightened of everything and everyone they see.
There is no other alternative explanation. Unless, of course, we want to get into that whole erectile dysfunction thing.
Although, on second thought, maybe we'll leave that subject for another day.
2-22-19
In her last days as governor, republican Mary Fallin vetoed the act moments before the legislature adjourned. Her timing prevented those wild eyed gun lovers in her party from overriding the nixing of the bill, which, thanks to the near non-existence of democrats in both state houses, was assured.
So Fallin was a gutsy, sane, voice of reason--not to mention one politically savvy operator, right? Sorta, kinda. The veto was timed perfectly, however her motives were more convoluted than simple opposition to unleashing herds of armed idiots.
In fact, Ms. Fallin was decidedly under the influence of the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce.
This famously anti labor group realized the 2018 measure contained wording which might just cause Oklahoma serious problems in what we call, the business sector. The way it was written the law would, as said before, let anyone to carry a gun, either openly, or concealed, anywhere, no matter what the venue. It also prevented event sponsors, or owners of businesses, from banning weapons on their property.
Someone was smart enough to point out to the then governor since the NCAA refuses to book tournament events someplace where guns are allowed. Oklahoma City would cease to be the annual home of the Women's College Softball Championship. In addition any hope of hosting future NCAA basketball regionals in OKC, or Tulsa would be lost.
It also meant places like the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University wouldn't be able to prevent gun toting fans from any of their sporting events, or campuses. Indeed, administrators and security officials were facing the prospect of a bunch of armed football fanatics, caught up in a frenzy of school spirit and binge drinking, opening fire on officials, coaches, players, and opposing fans who pissed them off. Not to mention all those professors who have to hand out failing grades to high strung right wing frat rats.
Ah, but it didn't stop there. The National Basketball Association also bans guns at all it's team arenas. The way the law read, the Oklahoma City Thunder, thanks to league rules, would have to pull up roots and jump on a plane back to Seattle. Such a move would be an economic catastrophe for downtown OKC the likes of which hasn't been seen since the days of urban renewal in the 1960's--a time which rendered the area virtually deserted after five pm on weeknights and every weekend.
No, Fallin's veto wasn't about her personal beliefs, it was pure business.
Now there is the same sort of bill getting ready to be passed by the legislature. Only this one has been edited to allow private property owners and sponsors to ban guns from their businesses and events. The new Governor, Kevin Stitt has already said he'll sign it, Meanwhile college presidents have breathed a sigh of relief. Clay Bennett and the rest of the Thunder ownership have also relaxed and the State Chamber of Commerce has declared itself neutral on the issue.
Yes, the current attitude of the state's movers and shakers has become a resounding, So long as it isn't at our place, you stupid fuckers can go shoot as many people as you want.
To be fair and balanced the new bill does say convicted felons and those who have been adjudicated to be mentally ill are prohibited from owning, or carrying a firearm. Unfortunately we all know how effective that provision has worked out lately. Just ask them in Parkland, FL.
But hey, only a good guy with a gun, right? Yeah, well, tell that to Oklahoma cops who will soon have a split second to decide which persons holding smoking guns are the, "good," shooters and which ones aren't.
This is madness. All these gun quacks want us to believe they are simply defending their constitutional rights. In truth they're nothing but a bunch of cowards, frightened of everything and everyone they see.
There is no other alternative explanation. Unless, of course, we want to get into that whole erectile dysfunction thing.
Although, on second thought, maybe we'll leave that subject for another day.
2-22-19
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Bernie is Running, but 2020 is a Different Game: It is Time to Get Out of the Way
It is a cold ugly day here on the southern plains. One which matches the mood of the country perfectly during this age of Donald Trump. And, just like Brother Don's, presidency the bleak skies seem to signal a long dismal, perhaps never ending, winter of discontent.
In response to this dreadful experience vast numbers of democrats are throwing their hats into the political ring to run against the current resident of the White House. So many, in fact, it appears the only ones not running are political comedian, Bill Maher, documentarian, Michael Moore, freshman congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (not for lack of wanting, but instead that bit in the Constitution about an age requirement) and myself. I'd include my wife, but you never know what she might do as the field continues to expand exponentially.
The latest entry isn't even a democrat, but we've seen him before. Senator Bernie Sanders is back with his brand of Euro-socialism and a bag of promises chock full of ideals no one west of the Hudson River and east of the Sierra Nevada mountains wants to pay for.
Earlier this morning, the Vermont senator told a CBS interviewer, "We're gonna win." It is unknown at this time if he was speaking of his campaign, or his political philosophy, which are two completely separate things.
Indeed, this time around it's a different game. It isn't just Bernie vs. Hillary--the leftist renegade up against the democratic establishment--it's Bernie vs. a lot of people who are new, or almost so on the national scene.
They currently include five sitting senators, four of them women, one, an African-American man. Besides them, there is, so far, one sitting congresswoman committed to the race. One openly gay mayor. A Latino who was formerly in Barack Obama's cabinet. Plus, three other guys who have as much of a chance as the late actor, Tom Laughlin. You know, the guy who played Billy Jack in a couple of overwrought B movies which did ok with young people while critics panned them. That's right, after the acting gig was over he ran for president a couple of times..
Plus there are other potential candidates who aren't on the list yet. One is former Vice President, Joe Biden. Another is the charismatic Texan, Beto O'Rourke. Then there are the billionaire, Michael Bloomberg and Ohio Senator, Sherrod Brown. Finally there is former Obama AG, Eric Holder.
Out of that entire crowd only Biden and possibly Holder could be considered establishment democrats.
Yes, unlike 2016 Senator Sanders will now face a whole gaggle of rip roaring left leaning fire breathers all of whom are younger than him--most by a lot. In fact the only ones even close to him in age are Biden and Bloomberg. They're both a year younger. Elizabeth Warren is eight years his junior and Eric Holder is 10.
You take away those four and everyone else, except South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg and Hawaiian congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, are at least 20 years younger than he is. Buttigieg and Gabbard are both 40 years younger.
Of course youth doesn't necessarily make one a viable candidate. No, it is money and it is organization. Senator Sanders may have the organization, but there is going to be a massive scramble for those, grass root donations from this moment on. Yes a lot of people, not just him, are going to be emailing small donors asking for their $20, or $50 and most of those contributors can only pitch in once.
Obviously the crowd at the gate will thin considerably after the first two turns in Iowa and New Hampshire. However the brutal truth is, with the exceptions of Dick Nixon, Hillary Clinton, and incumbents there isn't a candidate in modern history who has had more success the second time around the track. And both Nixon and Clinton had to wait eight years for it to happen.
Bernie Sanders no doubt knows this. So much so his doomed 2020 run smells to be nothing more than another attempt to push democrats further to the left. Honestly though, even that's going to be a tough nut to crack this time around. Liz Warren, Kamala Harris, and some others on board are already there. Or at least to the very edge of what much of the American body politic will buy into.
I underestimated him in 2016--I don't think I have now.
Senator, it is time give up the ghost. Leave it to the kids in 2020 and pray one of them can slay the beast. Honestly, you're time, along with Joe's and Eric's, is done. So, please, all of you, just get the fuck out of the way.
2-19-19
In response to this dreadful experience vast numbers of democrats are throwing their hats into the political ring to run against the current resident of the White House. So many, in fact, it appears the only ones not running are political comedian, Bill Maher, documentarian, Michael Moore, freshman congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (not for lack of wanting, but instead that bit in the Constitution about an age requirement) and myself. I'd include my wife, but you never know what she might do as the field continues to expand exponentially.
The latest entry isn't even a democrat, but we've seen him before. Senator Bernie Sanders is back with his brand of Euro-socialism and a bag of promises chock full of ideals no one west of the Hudson River and east of the Sierra Nevada mountains wants to pay for.
Earlier this morning, the Vermont senator told a CBS interviewer, "We're gonna win." It is unknown at this time if he was speaking of his campaign, or his political philosophy, which are two completely separate things.
Indeed, this time around it's a different game. It isn't just Bernie vs. Hillary--the leftist renegade up against the democratic establishment--it's Bernie vs. a lot of people who are new, or almost so on the national scene.
They currently include five sitting senators, four of them women, one, an African-American man. Besides them, there is, so far, one sitting congresswoman committed to the race. One openly gay mayor. A Latino who was formerly in Barack Obama's cabinet. Plus, three other guys who have as much of a chance as the late actor, Tom Laughlin. You know, the guy who played Billy Jack in a couple of overwrought B movies which did ok with young people while critics panned them. That's right, after the acting gig was over he ran for president a couple of times..
Plus there are other potential candidates who aren't on the list yet. One is former Vice President, Joe Biden. Another is the charismatic Texan, Beto O'Rourke. Then there are the billionaire, Michael Bloomberg and Ohio Senator, Sherrod Brown. Finally there is former Obama AG, Eric Holder.
Out of that entire crowd only Biden and possibly Holder could be considered establishment democrats.
Yes, unlike 2016 Senator Sanders will now face a whole gaggle of rip roaring left leaning fire breathers all of whom are younger than him--most by a lot. In fact the only ones even close to him in age are Biden and Bloomberg. They're both a year younger. Elizabeth Warren is eight years his junior and Eric Holder is 10.
You take away those four and everyone else, except South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg and Hawaiian congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, are at least 20 years younger than he is. Buttigieg and Gabbard are both 40 years younger.
Of course youth doesn't necessarily make one a viable candidate. No, it is money and it is organization. Senator Sanders may have the organization, but there is going to be a massive scramble for those, grass root donations from this moment on. Yes a lot of people, not just him, are going to be emailing small donors asking for their $20, or $50 and most of those contributors can only pitch in once.
Obviously the crowd at the gate will thin considerably after the first two turns in Iowa and New Hampshire. However the brutal truth is, with the exceptions of Dick Nixon, Hillary Clinton, and incumbents there isn't a candidate in modern history who has had more success the second time around the track. And both Nixon and Clinton had to wait eight years for it to happen.
Bernie Sanders no doubt knows this. So much so his doomed 2020 run smells to be nothing more than another attempt to push democrats further to the left. Honestly though, even that's going to be a tough nut to crack this time around. Liz Warren, Kamala Harris, and some others on board are already there. Or at least to the very edge of what much of the American body politic will buy into.
I underestimated him in 2016--I don't think I have now.
Senator, it is time give up the ghost. Leave it to the kids in 2020 and pray one of them can slay the beast. Honestly, you're time, along with Joe's and Eric's, is done. So, please, all of you, just get the fuck out of the way.
2-19-19
Saturday, February 16, 2019
A State of Personal Emergency Sets a Precedent: The Price of Hypocrisy and Karma
There is perhaps nothing in the world more appalling and more breathtakingly laced with obvious falsehoods than a Donald J. Trump speech delivered off the cuff. His appearance yesterday in the White House rose garden absolutely confirmed it.
Yes, watching Don Trump's performance a little more than 24 hours ago was rather like coming to the stunning and horrifying realization aliens from another dimension do indeed live among us. It was a rambling, disjointed, barely literate address which time and time again lurched off into lengthy self laudatory tangents. In fact there were points when the actual subject of the appearance--declaring a national emergency to fund his, Great Wall--seemed utterly lost in all the narcissistic blather and accompanying blizzard of half truths, outright lies and false statistics.
Let's face it, most Americans are used to a politician hedging the truth now and then when it benefits him, or her. What we bitterly resent is a president who thinks we are stupid enough to believe lies so grotesquely huge and transparent even my four year old grandson can see they're bullshit.
There is no national emergency, even the dimmest of wits know that. Hell, he even admitted it. What Don Trump was declaring yesterday is a personal emergency. He couldn't get his oft promised, Wall, built when the GOP controlled both houses--he blamed that arch liberal, Paul Ryan for the failure--and now he is squared off against Nancy, by God, Pelosi and a democratic controlled House of Representatives.
After getting his head handed to him during the government shutdown and realizing there actually is a woman out there he can't fuck, bully, or pay off, El Don finally got the message when it comes to democrats approving money for, The Wall. It is written on a huge sign which reads, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."
So yesterday DJT did something which he and every conservative member of congress has previously and vociferously condemned. Donald Trump, the President of the United States, circumvented congress in order to get his way. He didn't do it to stymie fictional armies of foreign criminals storming the borders. He did it to mollify The Almighty Base and the power elite of his propaganda wing such as Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. He did it because he knows he needs each and every one of those xenophobic sons of bitches in the year 2020.
Unfortunately even an abject power grab couldn't satisfy them all. The terrible truth is there is always someone out there crazier than you are. After yesterday's declaration, presented with the elocution of a sixth grader gone amok on cocaine, the perpetually acerbic Ann Coulter told a radio host, "The only national emergency is that our president is an idiot."
Oddly, Ms. Coulter basically echoed liberal film documentarian, Michael Moore. He tweeted, "You can't declare a "national emergency," when you ARE the national emergency." That's right, it appears the old adage about politics making strange bedfellows is true.
Now congressional republicans, all those men and women who have historically argued the Department of Defense should get every penny available plus some, are watching as their own president prepares to steal billions from the DOD budget.
Well, no one ever said hypocrisy is cheap.
Neither is Karma. Every GOP member of congress knows Trump set a precedent yesterday. That's what happens when you declare a national emergency for purely political reasons. Those same people realize the door just opened in the future for someone like, let's say, Elizabeth Warren, to do exactly the same thing. Only when Ms. Warren does it, after she cites the exemplar of former President Trump, she'll be talking about halting the sale of AR-15 rifles rather than building a wall.
Trust me--that moment is coming. And when it does all you gun quacks out there can thank Donald John Trump for it.
2-16-19
Yes, watching Don Trump's performance a little more than 24 hours ago was rather like coming to the stunning and horrifying realization aliens from another dimension do indeed live among us. It was a rambling, disjointed, barely literate address which time and time again lurched off into lengthy self laudatory tangents. In fact there were points when the actual subject of the appearance--declaring a national emergency to fund his, Great Wall--seemed utterly lost in all the narcissistic blather and accompanying blizzard of half truths, outright lies and false statistics.
Let's face it, most Americans are used to a politician hedging the truth now and then when it benefits him, or her. What we bitterly resent is a president who thinks we are stupid enough to believe lies so grotesquely huge and transparent even my four year old grandson can see they're bullshit.
There is no national emergency, even the dimmest of wits know that. Hell, he even admitted it. What Don Trump was declaring yesterday is a personal emergency. He couldn't get his oft promised, Wall, built when the GOP controlled both houses--he blamed that arch liberal, Paul Ryan for the failure--and now he is squared off against Nancy, by God, Pelosi and a democratic controlled House of Representatives.
After getting his head handed to him during the government shutdown and realizing there actually is a woman out there he can't fuck, bully, or pay off, El Don finally got the message when it comes to democrats approving money for, The Wall. It is written on a huge sign which reads, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."
So yesterday DJT did something which he and every conservative member of congress has previously and vociferously condemned. Donald Trump, the President of the United States, circumvented congress in order to get his way. He didn't do it to stymie fictional armies of foreign criminals storming the borders. He did it to mollify The Almighty Base and the power elite of his propaganda wing such as Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. He did it because he knows he needs each and every one of those xenophobic sons of bitches in the year 2020.
Unfortunately even an abject power grab couldn't satisfy them all. The terrible truth is there is always someone out there crazier than you are. After yesterday's declaration, presented with the elocution of a sixth grader gone amok on cocaine, the perpetually acerbic Ann Coulter told a radio host, "The only national emergency is that our president is an idiot."
Oddly, Ms. Coulter basically echoed liberal film documentarian, Michael Moore. He tweeted, "You can't declare a "national emergency," when you ARE the national emergency." That's right, it appears the old adage about politics making strange bedfellows is true.
Now congressional republicans, all those men and women who have historically argued the Department of Defense should get every penny available plus some, are watching as their own president prepares to steal billions from the DOD budget.
Well, no one ever said hypocrisy is cheap.
Neither is Karma. Every GOP member of congress knows Trump set a precedent yesterday. That's what happens when you declare a national emergency for purely political reasons. Those same people realize the door just opened in the future for someone like, let's say, Elizabeth Warren, to do exactly the same thing. Only when Ms. Warren does it, after she cites the exemplar of former President Trump, she'll be talking about halting the sale of AR-15 rifles rather than building a wall.
Trust me--that moment is coming. And when it does all you gun quacks out there can thank Donald John Trump for it.
2-16-19
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Two Different St. Valentine's Day Massacres
A year ago tomorrow Nikolas Cruz entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. It didn't take him long to perpetrate a St. Valentine's Day Massacre which dwarfed the original one in Chicago 88 years before.
Time and body counts aren't the only differences between the two events. Up in Chicago it was a case of one bunch of mobsters hitting another. Seven members of the town's North Side Gang were gunned down in a garage by four guys, two of them dressed as cops. The weapons of choice were Thompson sub machine guns. There were a lot of rumors regarding the shooter's identities, but ultimately no one was ever charged. That includes Al Capone who is widely believed to have paid for the job, but was warm and happy in Miami the day it happened.
Here in the 21st century we don't call such barbarity a, "massacre," any more. The preferred term these days is, "mass shooting."
Whatever we call them, they're a lot more common than they used to be and they are rarely pulled off by gangsters.
No, Nikolas Cruz is a lot of things, including bat shit crazy, but he wasn't then and isn't now a member of any organized gang. He's just another good ol' American born kid.
The weapon he used, despite his lengthy history of mental health issues, was legally purchased at a Florida gun shop a year before the rampage. Unlike Al's boys, he didn't have to steal it from some military armory, or buy it on the black market.
He gave that gift to himself--it was, what else, an AR-15--four years after psychiatrists recommended he be involuntarily committed to a residential treatment center, It was one year after a school resources official also advised he should be locked away involuntarily under what is known as the Baker Act. Wikipedia reports two school counselors agreed with the assessment, but an unnamed mental institute didn't. It was also a year after an anonymous caller to a local police tip line claimed Cruz had threatened to shoot up the school.
The somewhat tepid response by Florida legislators to the attack was first to defeat a measure which would have banned the sale of semi-automatic, military style weapons in the state outright. Instead, they, among some other things, raised the age to purchase such guns from 18 to 21 and threw in a three day waiting period for the sale to go through.
The same day the new law was enacted the NRA sued the state, saying such a restriction violated the rights of people ages 18 to 20 because they are considered adults by the constitution. As far as it is known, no one has thought to bring up the fact you have to be 21 in this country buy a bottle of beer. That's right, it would seem in the minds of many beer is far more lethal than semi-automatic weapons.
And don't say the difference is that gun ownership is in the constitution, but alcohol isn't. Actually it is twice. The first time is when the nation, as a whole, went a little nuts and banned it nationwide--leading directly to the first St. Valentine's Day massacre. Then it is again in the XXI amendment which lifted the ban, making it legal for adults to buy and consume alcohol in most states. Indeed, downing a Budweiser is just as much a constitutional right as owning a gun, yet you have be 21 to legally buy it everywhere.
All of which leads to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. It found 69% of Americans want either strong, or moderate restrictions on firearms. 55% said they want to make it tougher to own guns. At the same time only 14% of those same people said they were, "very confident," their elected officials understood their views on guns. A mere 8% said they were, "very confident," their representatives would do something about the issue of gun control.
Reuters reports NRA fundraising has taken a dip in the last two years, however much of it is because the gun crowd has Donald John Trump in the White House. They know he is on their side, so why bother? The news agency quotes NRA spokeswoman, Jennifer Baker as saying, "There's less to do because we've been so successful over the years. We continue to defeat gun control legislation across the country while passing gun rights legislation."
Yes, and kids and teachers, like those 17 murder victims at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, continue to die and crazed psychos still walk into stores and legally buy what amounts to weapons of mass destruction.
Hey, who needs Al Capone when you have guys like Nikolas Cruz roaming the streets and the NRA fouling the body politic?
2-13-19
Time and body counts aren't the only differences between the two events. Up in Chicago it was a case of one bunch of mobsters hitting another. Seven members of the town's North Side Gang were gunned down in a garage by four guys, two of them dressed as cops. The weapons of choice were Thompson sub machine guns. There were a lot of rumors regarding the shooter's identities, but ultimately no one was ever charged. That includes Al Capone who is widely believed to have paid for the job, but was warm and happy in Miami the day it happened.
Here in the 21st century we don't call such barbarity a, "massacre," any more. The preferred term these days is, "mass shooting."
Whatever we call them, they're a lot more common than they used to be and they are rarely pulled off by gangsters.
No, Nikolas Cruz is a lot of things, including bat shit crazy, but he wasn't then and isn't now a member of any organized gang. He's just another good ol' American born kid.
The weapon he used, despite his lengthy history of mental health issues, was legally purchased at a Florida gun shop a year before the rampage. Unlike Al's boys, he didn't have to steal it from some military armory, or buy it on the black market.
He gave that gift to himself--it was, what else, an AR-15--four years after psychiatrists recommended he be involuntarily committed to a residential treatment center, It was one year after a school resources official also advised he should be locked away involuntarily under what is known as the Baker Act. Wikipedia reports two school counselors agreed with the assessment, but an unnamed mental institute didn't. It was also a year after an anonymous caller to a local police tip line claimed Cruz had threatened to shoot up the school.
The somewhat tepid response by Florida legislators to the attack was first to defeat a measure which would have banned the sale of semi-automatic, military style weapons in the state outright. Instead, they, among some other things, raised the age to purchase such guns from 18 to 21 and threw in a three day waiting period for the sale to go through.
The same day the new law was enacted the NRA sued the state, saying such a restriction violated the rights of people ages 18 to 20 because they are considered adults by the constitution. As far as it is known, no one has thought to bring up the fact you have to be 21 in this country buy a bottle of beer. That's right, it would seem in the minds of many beer is far more lethal than semi-automatic weapons.
And don't say the difference is that gun ownership is in the constitution, but alcohol isn't. Actually it is twice. The first time is when the nation, as a whole, went a little nuts and banned it nationwide--leading directly to the first St. Valentine's Day massacre. Then it is again in the XXI amendment which lifted the ban, making it legal for adults to buy and consume alcohol in most states. Indeed, downing a Budweiser is just as much a constitutional right as owning a gun, yet you have be 21 to legally buy it everywhere.
All of which leads to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. It found 69% of Americans want either strong, or moderate restrictions on firearms. 55% said they want to make it tougher to own guns. At the same time only 14% of those same people said they were, "very confident," their elected officials understood their views on guns. A mere 8% said they were, "very confident," their representatives would do something about the issue of gun control.
Reuters reports NRA fundraising has taken a dip in the last two years, however much of it is because the gun crowd has Donald John Trump in the White House. They know he is on their side, so why bother? The news agency quotes NRA spokeswoman, Jennifer Baker as saying, "There's less to do because we've been so successful over the years. We continue to defeat gun control legislation across the country while passing gun rights legislation."
Yes, and kids and teachers, like those 17 murder victims at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, continue to die and crazed psychos still walk into stores and legally buy what amounts to weapons of mass destruction.
Hey, who needs Al Capone when you have guys like Nikolas Cruz roaming the streets and the NRA fouling the body politic?
2-13-19
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
The State of the Union: One Glove on Melania, Tiffany in White, and More Narcissistic Braggadocio
Donald John Trump delivered his slightly overdue State of the Union speech last night. Known as the SOTU in 21st century newspeak, Mr. Trump's address had all the thrills of a car with a dead battery. So much so one young soul two seats down from Mrs. Trump went fast to sleep in the middle of it.
Besides the benumbed boy, many were more interested in the symbolism involved with, 1: Why his wife was wearing just one glove when she entered the chamber and 2: What was his daughter Tiffany saying to her Dad and the world by her choice of wardrobe.
Of course, several answers to both mysteries are possible. It could be Melania Trump simply forgot her other glove. Maybe she had already taken one off and just waited until she was seated to remove the other. One Twitter wag speculated it was a secret tribute to the late Michael Jackson. While that seems a tad far fetched the fact is once she was seated she did pull the glove off. It is unknown if she left the hall after the speech glove less, or not.
Tiffany Trump's choice to wear all white is a bit more worthy of a conspiracy. Every woman legislator was invited by female democrats to wear white, the color of the suffragette movement. In response members of the right wing all wore dark colored clothing, while every democratic lawmaker who is a woman did wear white, including House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
Twitter immediately lit up. Was Tiffany Trump openly rebelling against her old man? Was it a passive aggressive message to him? Is she a democratic mole inside the family busily ratting her father out to the main stream media? Or, was it a humiliating case of her not getting the memo regarding last night's dress code?
We will probably never know the answers to these questions and it remains utterly unclear as to why any of us should give a rat's ass about them in the first place.
Meanwhile The Big Orange Guy, droned on spewing out lies, misleading statistics, and the narcissistic braggadocio we've all come to expect. In the middle of it he threw in a bit about rejecting the politics and rhetoric of revenge, resistance, and retribution.
Everyone in the chamber applauded that line, while few believed a word of it. In fact it didn't take long for the daughter of Arizona's late Senator, John McCain to publicly rail about Trump's abject hypocrisy.
Meghan McCain, pointed out El Don had spoken to network anchors just hours before the speech. During the talk he called, former Vice President Joe Biden, "dumb," said Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer was a, "nasty son of a bitch," then complained about John McCain's vote to keep the Affordable Care Act alive. Because he always has to make it personal he told the assembled lot, "By the way, he (McCain) wrote a book and the book bombed."
Actually the book, "The Restless Wave," reached number one on the New York Times non fiction bestseller list twice, but, hey, when you're attacking a guy who passed away six months ago who needs facts. After all, legally, you can't libel the dead.
After watching Trump's line on TV get applause Meghan McCain's response was, "For me, it was a Kabuki theater virtue signal, the entire speech, last night, towards his base."
While it is doubtful Donald Trump even knows what Kabuki theater is, he certainly understands how to play his base like a fiddle. That's why he also told both houses of congress, "...partisan investigations must end."
Yes ladies and gentlemen the democrats are persecuting me just because I'm a republican and I'm working to Make America Great Again.
No, Don, while we can't speak for Tiffany, we do know all those other women who wore white last night aren't after you solely because you're a republican. They want your head because you are breathtakingly corrupt and quite possibly treasonous.
And that, in the end, is the true state of the union.
2-6-19
Besides the benumbed boy, many were more interested in the symbolism involved with, 1: Why his wife was wearing just one glove when she entered the chamber and 2: What was his daughter Tiffany saying to her Dad and the world by her choice of wardrobe.
Of course, several answers to both mysteries are possible. It could be Melania Trump simply forgot her other glove. Maybe she had already taken one off and just waited until she was seated to remove the other. One Twitter wag speculated it was a secret tribute to the late Michael Jackson. While that seems a tad far fetched the fact is once she was seated she did pull the glove off. It is unknown if she left the hall after the speech glove less, or not.
Tiffany Trump's choice to wear all white is a bit more worthy of a conspiracy. Every woman legislator was invited by female democrats to wear white, the color of the suffragette movement. In response members of the right wing all wore dark colored clothing, while every democratic lawmaker who is a woman did wear white, including House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
Twitter immediately lit up. Was Tiffany Trump openly rebelling against her old man? Was it a passive aggressive message to him? Is she a democratic mole inside the family busily ratting her father out to the main stream media? Or, was it a humiliating case of her not getting the memo regarding last night's dress code?
We will probably never know the answers to these questions and it remains utterly unclear as to why any of us should give a rat's ass about them in the first place.
Meanwhile The Big Orange Guy, droned on spewing out lies, misleading statistics, and the narcissistic braggadocio we've all come to expect. In the middle of it he threw in a bit about rejecting the politics and rhetoric of revenge, resistance, and retribution.
Everyone in the chamber applauded that line, while few believed a word of it. In fact it didn't take long for the daughter of Arizona's late Senator, John McCain to publicly rail about Trump's abject hypocrisy.
Meghan McCain, pointed out El Don had spoken to network anchors just hours before the speech. During the talk he called, former Vice President Joe Biden, "dumb," said Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer was a, "nasty son of a bitch," then complained about John McCain's vote to keep the Affordable Care Act alive. Because he always has to make it personal he told the assembled lot, "By the way, he (McCain) wrote a book and the book bombed."
Actually the book, "The Restless Wave," reached number one on the New York Times non fiction bestseller list twice, but, hey, when you're attacking a guy who passed away six months ago who needs facts. After all, legally, you can't libel the dead.
After watching Trump's line on TV get applause Meghan McCain's response was, "For me, it was a Kabuki theater virtue signal, the entire speech, last night, towards his base."
While it is doubtful Donald Trump even knows what Kabuki theater is, he certainly understands how to play his base like a fiddle. That's why he also told both houses of congress, "...partisan investigations must end."
Yes ladies and gentlemen the democrats are persecuting me just because I'm a republican and I'm working to Make America Great Again.
No, Don, while we can't speak for Tiffany, we do know all those other women who wore white last night aren't after you solely because you're a republican. They want your head because you are breathtakingly corrupt and quite possibly treasonous.
And that, in the end, is the true state of the union.
2-6-19
Saturday, February 2, 2019
Super Bowl LIII: The Chicken Apocalypse, Stings, Scams, and the American Way
Yes, Super Bowl Sunday is upon us once again. That's right, for millions of chickens from sea to shining sea the apocalypse has arrived. Their wings will be devoured by voracious omnivores as beer is swilled by the gallon. In addition pizza delivery people will be working non stop for hours as places like Domino's and Papa John's happily suffer through their version of the post Thanksgiving, "Black Friday."
Indeed, you can say many things about Americans, but you'll never be able to accuse us of not overdoing everything.
Of course the Super Bowl, like many nationwide events, is a crassly capitalist affair. For this year's game in Atlanta it is reported CBS is charging $5.1 to $5.3 million for a mere 30 second spot. That's what happens when a television network can guarantee an advertiser 100 million plus viewers will be watching their sales pitch.
On the shadier side, others have been charging less for more, let us say, private products and services. Media sources are reporting metro police, assisted by Homeland Security investigators, have already rounded up close to 50 people in the greater Atlanta area and hit them with various sex trafficking charges.
During the stings, which were carried out by undercover personnel over social media sites and in local motels, the authorities recovered more than 2000 counterfeit, "items." While the cops wouldn't specifically say what the, "items," were it is generally believed most, if not all, were fake tickets to the game.
Such suspicions were reinforced when Homeland Security released a statement warning buyers to purchase tickets only from reputable sources.
Yeah, well that doesn't always work either.
Fox News has said police are currently searching for an Atlanta area business man named Ketan Shah. Shah, who owns a, Digital Xpress printing store in Norcross, GA, is accused of collecting $750,000 from various people for Super Bowl tickets he apparently never had. His marks included acquaintances, friends of his relatives, and his own mother.
Since Shah was well known, he was a board member of the Georgia Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, the victims--not to mention dear old mom--assumed their cash up front deals were safe.
Silly them. According to Shah's wife he's been missing for weeks now. He not only left her dangling in the wind, but also his 12 year old son and a daughter who is a student at the University of Georgia.
In the midst of all this chicanery the New England Patriots, who used to be the Boston Patriots and for a brief moment, the Bay State Patriots, will meet the Los Angeles Rams tomorrow in, The Game.
The Rams have their own history of conning people into believing them. They started out in 1936 as the Cleveland Rams. By 1946 they were playing in LA. In 1984 they blew town for St. Louis, then two years ago went back to Los Angeles. God only knows where they'll end up next. The only thing certain is before they move again the team's owners will extract concessions from their new home's naive tax base worth millions of dollars to them and them alone.
Hey, if you're going to pull off a scam go big like Ketan Khan and the Rams before you hit the road looking for new suckers to bilk.
It is, after all, The American Way.
2-2-19
Indeed, you can say many things about Americans, but you'll never be able to accuse us of not overdoing everything.
Of course the Super Bowl, like many nationwide events, is a crassly capitalist affair. For this year's game in Atlanta it is reported CBS is charging $5.1 to $5.3 million for a mere 30 second spot. That's what happens when a television network can guarantee an advertiser 100 million plus viewers will be watching their sales pitch.
On the shadier side, others have been charging less for more, let us say, private products and services. Media sources are reporting metro police, assisted by Homeland Security investigators, have already rounded up close to 50 people in the greater Atlanta area and hit them with various sex trafficking charges.
During the stings, which were carried out by undercover personnel over social media sites and in local motels, the authorities recovered more than 2000 counterfeit, "items." While the cops wouldn't specifically say what the, "items," were it is generally believed most, if not all, were fake tickets to the game.
Such suspicions were reinforced when Homeland Security released a statement warning buyers to purchase tickets only from reputable sources.
Yeah, well that doesn't always work either.
Fox News has said police are currently searching for an Atlanta area business man named Ketan Shah. Shah, who owns a, Digital Xpress printing store in Norcross, GA, is accused of collecting $750,000 from various people for Super Bowl tickets he apparently never had. His marks included acquaintances, friends of his relatives, and his own mother.
Since Shah was well known, he was a board member of the Georgia Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, the victims--not to mention dear old mom--assumed their cash up front deals were safe.
Silly them. According to Shah's wife he's been missing for weeks now. He not only left her dangling in the wind, but also his 12 year old son and a daughter who is a student at the University of Georgia.
In the midst of all this chicanery the New England Patriots, who used to be the Boston Patriots and for a brief moment, the Bay State Patriots, will meet the Los Angeles Rams tomorrow in, The Game.
The Rams have their own history of conning people into believing them. They started out in 1936 as the Cleveland Rams. By 1946 they were playing in LA. In 1984 they blew town for St. Louis, then two years ago went back to Los Angeles. God only knows where they'll end up next. The only thing certain is before they move again the team's owners will extract concessions from their new home's naive tax base worth millions of dollars to them and them alone.
Hey, if you're going to pull off a scam go big like Ketan Khan and the Rams before you hit the road looking for new suckers to bilk.
It is, after all, The American Way.
2-2-19
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