May 24, 2022

Afternoon Update:

Tyler Pager & David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Biden is expected to sign an executive order Wednesday aimed at bolstering police accountability, a move that could re-energize federal reform efforts as the nation marks the second anniversary of the police killing of George Floyd, according to multiple people briefed on the announcement.Floyd's family members, civil rights advocates and law enforcement officials are expected to join the president at the White House for a signing ceremony at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Biden will call for the creation of national standards for the accreditation of police departments and a national database of officers with substantiated complaints and disciplinary records, including those fired for misconduct, the people briefed on the matter said. The executive order also will instruct federal law enforcement agencies to update their use-of-force policies."

Ruth Graham of the New York Times: "Leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention announced Tuesday that they were preparing to release a secretly maintained list of hundreds of ministers and church workers they say are credibly accused of sexual abuse. The existence of the list was revealed Sunday in a bombshell report on the denomination's handling of sexual abuse over the course of the past two decades. The report, produced by a third-party investigator and totaling almost 300 pages, alleged that the denomination's top leaders had suppressed reports of sexual abuse, opposed proposals for reform, and denigrated and discouraged abuse victims who approached them for help. One of the report's most shocking revelations was the existence of an internal list of 703 suspected abusers, compiled by an employee of the denomination's executive committee, its national leadership body."

Indiana. Casey Smith of the AP: "Republican lawmakers in Indiana voted Tuesday to override the GOP governor's veto of a bill banning transgender females from competing in girls school sports and join about more than a dozen other states adopting similar laws in the past two years. State senators voted 32-15 in favor of overriding Gov. Eric Holcomb following the same action in a 67-28 vote by the House earlier in the day. Holcomb had said in his veto message that bill did not provide a consistent policy for what he called 'fairness in K-12 sports' when he unexpectedly vetoed it in March. The override votes were nearly party line and no lawmakers changed their votes from earlier this year. Four Republican senators joined all Democratic senators in voting to uphold the veto. In the House, three Republicans voted to sustain the veto, while one Democrat supported overriding it."

Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: At Davos, "former U.S. secretary of state Henry A. Kissinger said Monday that Ukraine should cede territory to Russia to help end the invasion, suggesting a position that a vast majority of Ukrainians are against as the war enters its fourth month.... Kissinger urged the United States and the West to not seek an embarrassing defeat for Russia in Ukraine, warning it could worsen Europe's long-term stability.... The 'status quo ante' [advocated] by Kissinger ... refers to restoring a situation in which Russia formally controlled Crimea and informally controlled Ukraine's two easternmost regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has emphasized that part of his conditions for entering peace talks with Russia would include a restoration of preinvasion borders."

Israel/Palestine. Zeena Saifi, et al., of CNN on the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh: "... Abu Akleh, a 51-year-old Palestinian-American was killed by a bullet to the head at around 6:30 a.m. on May 11. She had been standing with a group of journalists near the entrance of Jenin refugee camp, where they had come to cover an Israeli raid. While the footage does not show Abu Akleh being shot, eyewitnesses told CNN that they believe Israeli forces on the same street fired deliberately on the reporters in a targeted attack. All of the journalists were wearing protective blue vests that identified them as members of the news media.​... Videos obtained by CNN, corroborated by testimony from eight eyewitnesses, an audio forensic analyst and an explosive weapons expert, suggest that Abu Akleh was shot dead in a targeted attack by Israeli forces."

~~~~~~~~~~

Maya King of the New York Times: "The United States' political focus will shift to the South on Tuesday with elections in Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas that will signal voters' views on national issues and the strength of ... Donald J. Trump's endorsement power." King runs down some of the top contests.

Josh Boak & Aamer Madhani of the AP: "President Joe Biden opened his last day in Asia on Tuesday by holding talks with a trio of Indo-Pacific leaders that includes Australia's new prime minister on his first full day on the job and India's Narendra Modi, with whom differences persist over how to respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Biden, Modi and Japan's Fumio Kishida launched the Quad summit by welcoming Australia's Anthony Albanese to the club and expressing awe at his determination to join the informal security coalition by rushing to Tokyo immediately after being sworn in on Monday.... Biden will meet separately with Albanese and with Modi after the four-way gathering of the security group known as the Quad."

** Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has revised rules governing the use of force by law enforcement agencies overseen by the Justice Department, requiring federal agents to intervene when they see officials using excessive force or mistreating people in custody. The rule change was circulated on Friday and posted on the department's website on Monday -- two days before the second anniversary of the death of George Floyd, who died beneath the knee of a Minneapolis police officer as other officers looked on.... The changes represent the first revision of the department's use-of-force policy in 18 years.... The new rules will apply to the Justice Department's entire work force, including agents and officers with the F.B.I., the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The department does not have the authority to impose the requirements on local police forces or sheriff's departments, though the Biden administration intends for the document to be used as a template for localities." The Washington Post broke the story. MB: A 180 from Trump's urging officers to rough up suspects.

Jordan Libowitz & Caitlin Moniz of CREW: "The Secret Service has spent nearly $2 million of taxpayer money at Trump properties, literally paying Donald Trump for the right to protect him and his family, according to government records obtained and analyzed by CREW. Newly acquired records show roughly $1.75 million being paid to Trump's businesses; however, these records appear to be incomplete. Previously published records, by CREW and others, which do not appear to be included in the documents, account for thousands more in Secret Service spending at Trump properties, bringing the likely grand total closer to $2 million."

Felicia Sonmez, et al., of the Washington Post: "The House Ethics Committee said Monday that it is investigating a trio of GOP lawmakers over allegations ranging from accepting a 'free or below-market-value trip' to Aruba to engaging in an improper relationship with a staffer. One of the lawmakers, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), is a freshman who lost his GOP primary battle last week. The other two are Reps. Ronny Jackson (R-Tex.) and Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.)." CNN's story on the investigation into Cawthorn is here. CNN's report on the investigation of Jackson is here.

The Trump & Rudy Show Gets Ready for Prime Time. Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "The House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol is expected to stage six public hearings in June on how Donald Trump and some allies broke the law as they sought to overturn the 2020 election results, according to sources familiar with the inquiry.... According to a draft schedule reviewed by the Guardian, the select committee intends to hold six hearings, with the first and last in prime time, where its lawyers will run through how Trump's schemes took shape before the election and culminated with the Capitol attack." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Fear of Cream Pie. Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "According to a Daily Beast review of court transcripts in a lawsuit a protester has brought against Donald Trump, his former attorney Michael Cohen explained in detail a conversation he overheard between the former president and his head of security that contradicts what Trump previously testified under oath.... Cohen was a last-minute witness in a lawsuit brought against Trump where he is accused of siccing his security team on protesters outside of Trump Tower before he became president. In a previous deposition, Trump has denied involvement. However, as the new report states, Cohen gave testimony that he was in the room when the protesters were discussed and, under questioning, stated Trump asked security head Keith Schiller, 'Did you see that there's a demonstration going on? Get rid of them,' to which Schiller reportedly replied, 'Okay, boss.'... As a side note, the Beast report also reveals Cohen also testified Trump lived in fear of being 'pied' after it happened to Microsoft founder Bill Gates.... 'For some reason that upset Mr. Trump terribly. We were all instructed that if somebody was to ever throw anything at him, that if that person didn't end up in the hospital, we'd all be fired[.]' You can read more here -- subscription required." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The list of Trumpophobias is getting longer. He's afraid of germs. He's afraid of blood. He's afraid of women's bodily fluids, especially breast milk & menstrual flows.He's afraid of slopes & stairs. He's afraid of "dangerous fruit." He's afraid of cream pies.

The U.S. Constitution, as written and ratified, is a sort of contract between the government and the governed. The body of the Constitution, in general, defines the government's power over the people. The Bill of Rights and a number of subsequent Amendments, in general, define the people's power. Case by case, the confederate Supremes are chipping away at the people's power. ~~~

~~~ Supremes Take the "Justice" Out of the Justice System. Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "The US supreme court on Monday gutted constitutional protections that for years have provided a federal lifeline to innocent prisoners facing prolonged incarceration or even execution following wrongful convictions stemming from poor legal counsel given to them by the states. In a 6 to 3 ruling, the newly-dominant rightwing majority of the nation's highest court barred federal courts from hearing new evidence that was not previously presented in a state court as a result of the defendant's ineffective legal representation. The decision means that prisoners will no longer have recourse to federal judges even when they claim they were wrongfully convicted because their lawyers failed to conduct their cases properly. The decision eviscerated the supreme court's own precedent in a move that the three liberal justices called 'illogical' and 'perverse'. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor slammed the decision, warning it would leave 'many people ... to face incarceration or even execution without any meaningful chance to vindicate their right to counsel'. The ruling in Shinn v Ramirez was written by Clarence Thomas...." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times report, which did not make the online main page, is here. The Washington Post report is here. MB: Because, relatively speaking, not many people will be convicted of major crimes they did not commit because their attorneys were negligent, I suppose this decision doesn't sound very important, or at least not to the editors at the New York Times. Likely fewer people will die because of this decision than will die because of the Supremes' expected decision to overturn Roe. But Monday's decision is still the rescission of a fundamental Constitutional right and, inevitably, it will affect poor people -- who cannot afford high-priced legal counsel -- much more than it will wealthier defendants. Ever since the Supreme Court decided Gideon in 1963 & Miranda in 1966, Americans have believed they have a right to adequate counsel. That is not true any more.

Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico report on testimony in John Durham's prosecution of David Sussmann, an attorney who brought information to the FBI about the Trump campaign's possible interactions with Alfa Bank, a Putin-linked financial institution.

** Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "... with its endemic corruption, repression of sexual minorities, de facto state control of media, constitutional manipulation and an electoral system designed to give supermajorities to the ruling party whether the votes are there or not, there is little that is democratic about [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orban's democracy. For American conservatives, however, the degradation of Hungarian democracy is a feature, not a bug, of Orban's rule.... Hungary ... is a showcase for how a reactionary movement in an ostensibly free society might seize control of the state to reshape society in its own image. And the goal, for both Orban and his American admirers, is the suppression of 'wokeness,' a pejorative for a broad range of progressive ideas about race, gender and sexuality.... Which is to say that this CPAC session may have been held in Hungary so that conservatives can learn a little more about how they might unravel American democracy in order to impose their cultural and ideological vision on the country.... For all the talk [among U.S. 'conservatives'] of 'America First,' there is a deep disdain among members of this group for both Americans and the American political tradition." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If there is anything or several things in your political belief system that makes you think you should vote Republican, let Bouie's column be your guide. If you care anything for your own Constitutional freedoms, for women, for LGBTQ people, for non-White people, for, for, for, then you cannot in good conscience vote for Republicans. So swallow your conservative impulses & vote Democratic.

Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: "D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D) on Monday sued Mark Zuckerberg, seeking to hold the CEO of Facebook parent company Meta liable for data abuses and for misleading Facebook users about their privacy protections. The suit, filed in D.C. Superior Court, alleges that Zuckerberg directly participated in decisions that enabled the Trump-allied political consultancy Cambridge Analytica to siphon the personal data of millions of users. Racine sued the company over its data practices in 2018 in a case that is ongoing, but he is now seeking to fine Zuckerberg personally over his role in the events."

Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "The sultans of Silicon Valley are in a political snit, with some billionaires suddenly turning against Democrats. It's not just Elon Musk. Other prominent players, including Jeff Bezos, have lashed out at the Biden administration, and we now know that Oracle's Larry Ellison participated in a call with Sean Hannity and Lindsey Graham about overturning the 2020 election.... It's hard ... to imagine what kind of bubble Musk lives in that he could declare Democrats 'the party of division and hate.'... What's going on here, I'd argue, isn't mainly about greed (although that, too). It is, instead, largely about fragile egos.... What wealth can't always buy ... is admiration. And that's an area in which the tech titans have suffered major losses.... The rich are different from you and me: They are usually surrounded by people who tell them what they want to hear."

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Monday blocked Catholic University from auctioning off a gingham dress worn by Judy Garland in 'The Wizard of Oz,' one day before it was set to be put up for bids that some expected to generate up to $1.2 million for the school's drama department. U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe ruled that a Wisconsin woman's lawsuit claiming ownership of the dress had enough merit to proceed, and that the garment could not change hands while the case is pending in federal court in Manhattan.... The dress at issue is one of six authenticated by experts as having been worn in the famous 1939 film by Garland.... In 1973, the dress was given as a gift to the Rev. Gilbert V. Hartke, the longtime head of Catholic University's drama department who died in 1986.... Earlier this month, Hartke's niece, Barbara Ann Hartke, sued to block the sale after learning about the plans to auction the dress from news reports.... Catholic University countered that the dress was gifted to the institution, and that Gilbert Hartke's vow of poverty as a Dominican priest means he didn't intend to personally own anything of value."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here: "Pfizer and BioNTech said on Monday that preliminary findings of a clinical trial of children younger than five showed three doses of their coronavirus vaccine produced a strong enough immune response to meet the criteria for regulatory authorization.... A spokeswoman for Pfizer said comprehensive results from the trial will be disclosed next month." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post has a story, which is free to nonsubscribers, on the Pfizer clinical trial of young children.

Beyond the Beltway

How Democracy Dies. Ron Brownstein on CNN: "Proponents of Donald Trump's discredited lie about rampant fraud in 2020 are running for positions of authority over election administration in virtually every state expected to decide the 2024 presidential race, an explosive trend dramatically underscored by Tuesday's bitterly contested Georgia Republican primary.... Republicans across the country are steadily nominating candidates echoing Trump's falsehoods about the 2020 election in contests for governor, attorney general and secretary of state.... Republican candidates echoing Trump's disproven claims of fraud about 2020 have already been nominated, or are seeking nominations, for positions with control over election machinery in all five of the states that flipped from supporting Trump in 2016 to Biden in 2020 -- Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Republican candidates touting similar arguments are also in strong positions to win GOP nominations for key election positions in states just outside that inner circle of most competitive contests, including secretary of state races in Nevada, Minnesota and Colorado.... And ... Republican legislators are moving a flurry of bills to change the rules for both voter access and election administration."

Florida. Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on Monday ruled it is unconstitutional for Florida to bar social media companies from banning politicians, in a major victory for tech companies that are fighting another appeals court ruling that allowed a similar law in Texas to take effect. In a detailed, 67-page opinion, a three-judge panel of the court -- all appointees of Republican presidents, including one named by Donald Trump -- unanimously rejected many of the legal arguments that conservative states have been using to justify laws governing the moderation policies of major tech companies after years of accusing the tech companies of bias against their viewpoints.... The panel found that tech companies' moderation decisions are protected by the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from regulating free speech."

Georgia Gubernatorial Race. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Former Senator David Perdue ended his Trump-inspired campaign for governor of Georgia with a racist appeal to Republican primary voters on Monday, accusing Stacey Abrams, the Black woman who is the presumptive Democratic nominee, of 'demeaning her own race' in how she has described the state's problems.... Mr. Perdue cast Ms. Abrams as an outsider in a state that has been her home since high school."

Texas Congressional Race. Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "The latest battle in the fight for power in the Democratic Party between centrists and liberals will be decided [in Texas] Tuesday, in a runoff between Rep. Henry Cuellar and challenger Jessica Cisneros that has pitted top members of Congress against left-leaning activists. Tens of thousands of primary voters will decide whether to nominate Cuellar, 66, the only antiabortion Democrat in the U.S. House, or go with Cisneros, an immigration attorney who turns 29 on Tuesday. Cisneros has focused sharply in the closing stage of the race on abortion, while Cuellar has kept his campaign pointed toward border security. Tuesday's vote will test the potency of these two polarizing issues in a region that has shifted to the right in recent elections. Cisneros, who's raised $4.5 million, has called Cuellar the 'Joe Manchin' of Texas, comparing him to the conservative West Virginia Democrat whose votes have blocked liberal priorities on health care, child care and abortion rights."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The Guardian's live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Tuesday are here: President Volodymyr "Zelensky, speaking Monday via video to the forum in Davos, Switzerland, said that sanctions should be pushed to the maximum, 'so that Russia and every other potential aggressor who wants to wage a brutal war against a neighbor knows exactly what this is leading to.' Also Monday, Germany's energy minister indicated that the European Union's deadlock over a Russian oil embargo may be nearing resolution.... In another new coalition effort, 20 nations agreed to provide Ukraine with new weapons including U.S.-made Harpoon anti-ship cruise missiles, 'rocket systems' and howitzers, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said.... Mr. Zelensky said an attack on a military training center in the Chernihiv region of northern Ukraine last week had killed 87 people, far more than initially estimated, making it one of the deadliest strikes since the Feb. 24 invasion began." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Tuesday are here: "European leaders condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine as it reached its three-month mark Tuesday. Speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Putin 'made a big strategic mistake' in invading Ukraine, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accused Russia of 'trying to trample the aspirations of an entire nation with tanks.' Russia has increased the intensity of its operations in Donbas.... A regional official said Severodonetsk remains under Ukrainian control but is being pummeled by nearby Russian forces who are 'destroying the city completely.'... Yet a semblance of normality appears to be returning to some other parts of Ukraine. More than 2 million Ukrainians have crossed back into the country since Feb. 28, border authorities said.... Since last fall, the United States has boosted its military presence in Europe by about 30 percent to approximately 102,000 troops."

Anton Troianovski of the New York Times: "A midlevel diplomat at Russia's United Nations mission in Geneva, [Boris] Bondarev on Monday became the most prominent Russian official to resign and publicly criticize the war in Ukraine since the invasion on Feb. 24.... 'Those who conceived this war want only one thing -- to remain in power forever, live in pompous tasteless palaces, sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire Russian Navy, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity,' Mr. Bondarev said in [an] email [to colleagues].... 'I simply cannot any longer share in this bloody, witless and absolutely needless ignominy,' Mr. Bondarev wrote.... Mr. Bondarev's message was the latest instance of unrest in the Russian elite to emerge in the public eye.' A related NYT item was linked yesterday. The AP's story is here, and also was linked yesterday afternoon. MB: Let's hope Bondarev doesn't have to go back to Russia.

The AP reports on how life in Russia has changed since Putin invaded Ukraine: "Moscow's vast shopping malls have turned into eerie expanses of shuttered storefronts once occupied by Western retailers.... While the multinationals were leaving, thousands of Russians who had the economic means to do so were also fleeing, frightened by harsh new government moves connected to the war that they saw as a plunge into full totalitarianism. Some young men may have also fled in fear that the Kremlin would impose a mandatory draft to feed its war machine. But fleeing had become much harder than it once was -- the European Union's 27 nations, along with the United States and Canada had banned flights to and from Russia.... Many significant independent news media shut down or suspended operations." Russian businesses too are having difficulties.

Paca, Paca, Frappuccini. Jacob Bogage & Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "Starbucks announced Monday that it will exit the Russian market, joining such corporate giants as McDonald's, ExxonMobil and Netflix in pulling out of the country over its invasion of Ukraine. The coffee giant has 130 shops in Russia, which account for less than 1 percent of its annual revenue, according to CNBC.... Nearly 1,000 companies had curtailed operations in Russia as of Monday, according to a widely followed list maintained by Yale University."

The Remarkable Compassion of the Trump Family Mob. Even when one of them pretends to give a damn, she just can't pull it off. Thanks to a friend for the link:

What a perfect metaphor for the utterly useless vanity that is Ivanka Trump: her standing at a double-sided, self-serve buffet table pretending to serve a little boy for a photo-op.

(Note to wardrobe: “No aprons. No hair nets! NO EXCEPTIONS!”) https://t.co/GFhEOLvj6N

— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) May 23, 2022

News Ledes

New York Times: "Global stocks fell on Tuesday, giving back some of Monday's gains and returning to the downward drift in recent week...."

AP: "Two people were dead and more than a dozen children hospitalized as multiple medical centers cared for people injured in a shooting at a Texas elementary school, hospital officials said Tuesday. Police have said the suspected shooter is in custody. Thirteen children were taken by ambulance or bus to Uvalde Memorial Hospital after an active shooter was reported at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, about 85 miles (135 kilometers) west of San Antonio, officials with the hospital said.." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: At 4:46 pm ET, MSNBC reported that Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed that 14 children & one teacher are dead; the suspect, who is "not at large," is 18 19 years old. Abbott not saw the suspect is dead. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: Some outlets, including the New York Times & NBC News, are reporting that 19 children and three adults, including the shooter, died today.

Comments

[Akhilleus]

Princess Ivanka deigns to hobnob with the little people, pretending to serve a hot lunch to a little boy. There’s gotta be a grift there somewhere. These transactional termites don’t say “hello” without the expectation of a payoff. Oh, look. Is that Paul Ryan in the background pretending to wash a pot?

[Akhilleus]

The Father of all Nanny States

(Yeah, I know the line requires “mother”, but we’re talking misogynistic patriarchal assholes here.)

Confederates, for many years, have gone full howler monkey about the “liberal nanny state”. But what’s more nannified than telling women that the Traitor State will make life altering decisions for them. That they have empowered private citizens to spy on them and rat them out if they leave the state for a medical procedure, or go to the “wrong” doctor. They also have decreed that families with transgender kids will be refused necessary healthcare because they, in their Traitor Nanny Wisdom, have decided that they hate those people, and people they hate are persona non grata in the Traitor State.

The list of areas of Americans’ private lives being overseen by the Traitor Nanny State is long indeed. Remember how the Decider instructed investigators to look at books checked out from libraries and video rentals?

The Traitor Nanny State Supremes have ruled that there is no privacy, no place they won’t be in charge, no rooms they won’t be watching.

Ready to pounce.

Oh, nanny! Not the cane again!!

[RAS]

And once again they show that there are no good Republicans, John Roberts the media appointed centrist joined in on keeping innocent Americans locked behind bars or headed for execution.

[Forrest Morris]

Note in the photo of Princess Ivanka, above, that she for once has
her hand in her own pocket instead on in the taxpayers pockets.
This was part of her 'image enhancement tour.' It'll have to be a
very long tour to help that image.

[Patrick]

In the story about the House Ethics Committee investigations above, at the CNN link on the Ronnie Jackson (R-Texmeth), is this:

"... In a letter, Jackson’s attorney Justin Clark argued that the GOP congressman complied with FEC regulations, saying that “all expenses” at issue were made for campaign purposes, including for fundraisers and “a roundtable for stakeholders.” "

OK. It's good to know that donors to RJ's campaigns are considered to be "stakeholders" . They invest in Wildcat Ronnie and and if he's not a dry well he'll throw off dividends or increase their share value, or both.

The transactional nature of Dark Money, and PAC-people, becomes more evident the more they speak, and they don't seem to feel the need to hide it much anymore.

Best congress money can buy.

[Marie Burns]

@Forrest: Yeah, Ivanka is probably pocketing tips from the starving widows & orphans.

[Ken Winkes]

Same old, now really old, Kissinger.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/24/henry-kissinger-ukraine-russia-territory-davos/

Chile knows he always did harbor a fondness for autocracy.

[Akhilleus]

More. And more. And lots more.

Ho-hum. Another active shooter in an an elementary school. Kids in the ER. Where?

Texas. Natch. Although these days it could be anywhere. It’s Confederate Rapture. Everyone with guns. No controls, no stopping the killing, because FREEEEEDOM!

On another side, this country has a long history of an appalling distaste (at least in public) for sex (ewwww!). The Supreme Court is ready to lower the boom (again) on women who have unauthorized sex. How dare they! Icky gays and trans people? Call the cops!

Meanwhile, the holy roller supporters of treason and insurrection and guns in the Southern Baptist whatchamacallit have been outed for covering up decades of sexual abuse and “grooming” (exactly, to the syllable, of what they accuse Democrats and liberals, with zero evidence, of doing.) potential victims; but IOKIYAR! Right? Look for this enormous story to have legs smaller than a Hummel figure.

Sex not condoned by the right (ie, husband on top, wife on bottom, get it over with quick, and NO orgasms!) has been scandalous in ways that mass murder is not, and never will be, by the traitor class.

Sex: bad

Guns: yippee! (Orgasms now allowed).

Today I saw the perfect depiction of this weird fucking (oops, sorry…
”weird” fucking is right out) dichotomy. A guy strode by me into a convenience store wearing a t-shirt that blared “Size matters!”

At first, because of the obviously sexual reference, I thought perhaps the guy was bragging (only the teeny tiny brag about size, at least that’s what women have always told me…) .

But no. On closer inspection, I saw that size, for this guy, referred to larger caliber ammunition. Because of course it does.

He wasn’t bragging about sexual prowess, he was celebrating the size of the hole he could make in a living body.

Perfect.

Reminded me of a dark chamber piece of a movie from 1954, “Suddenly”, starring Frank Sinatra as an ex-GI assassin setting up in a house overlooking a railroad siding and preparing to kill the president as he made a stop in the eponymous small California town of the title.

If you’ve never seen it, it’s a taut, no frills little movie with an excellent cast. The town’s sheriff, played by Sterling Hayden, also a vet, susses out the Sinatra character’s emotional baggage as the people held hostage in the house try to understand why an American would want to murder the president.

“I did a lotta choppin’ during the war, sheriff” says a clearly gun crazed Sinatra character. “I get it” says the sheriff. “I knew guys like you in the army. Rather kill a man than kiss a woman”.

And there it is. The Right wing in a nutshell. Sex? Evil, bad, weird. Guns and violence? Yesss! More, please!

Know what the name of Sinatra’s character is? The guy aiming a high powered rifle at the epicenter of American democracy?

John Baron. The alter ego Trump always used to fluff up his wealth and phony achievements.

Can’t make this stuff up.

Meanwhile, another school shooting…

Thoughts and prayerz.

And remember: John Baron lives. And he’s got you in his sights.

[Akhilleus]

Jesus, 14 children shot dead? I saw an early report which didn’t offer any information about the latest Republican sponsored mass murder.

Will Abbott give the shooter a (posthumous) medal?

[Akhilleus]

Can’t wait to read how TuKKKer and Hannity and Cruz and Cotton and the rest blame Joe Biden (if you didn’t know, KKKarlson blamed the Buffalo massacre on Biden; his daily screeds against black Americans had nothing to do with it).

Oh, wait, I’m hearing that the latest Republican massacre was carried out by a lone wolf bad Apple mentally unstable person.

Nothing to worry about.

14 students and one teacher.

The shooter was a Republican (per NPR). How will Fox turn him into a liberal BLM supporter of abortion.

[Akhilleus]

How much more of this Republican sponsored murder can we take? Wingers scream that abortion is murder, but they have no problem with ACTUAL MURDER. More guns!!!!!!’

[Ken Winkes]

"Like mass shootings? Vote Republican."

I expect consolation and outrage from the President. It is always so, but I do wish Biden would include that bumper sticker message.

Mentally ill? Sure, I'll go with that. But why do Republicans insist on handing them guns?

A death cult, indeed.

[Akhilleus]

FascistLand

What can we take from the fact that CPAC (Crooks who Prefer Anal Cysts) decided to hold their anti-Semitic, anti-democratic weenie roast in Viktor Orban’s authoritarian fantasy land?

Last year they held their Bund rally in DeSantis Land.

I guess Florida wasn’t fascist enough for them.