May 25, 2022
The New York Times' live updates of developments in the massacre of children and teachers at a grade school in Uvalde, Texas are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here.
There were 27 school shootings with injuries or deaths this year.... The Gun Violence Archive ... has counted 212 mass shootings that have occurred so far this year, as of Tuesday. -- Jaclyn Diaz of NPR
The President of the Murder Capital of the World:
~~~ Matt Viser & Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "President Biden, in remarks that intermingled despair and anger, attempted to shame Congress on gun control Tuesday while openly questioning why the country he now leads has been incapable of coming up with an antidote to the mass shootings that show no signs of abating. A father who has lost two of his own children, a man who has delivered perhaps more eulogies than any living politician, and a president who is confronting numerous challenges was forced, once again, to console a country reeling from tragedy.... It was the second time in the course of 10 days that an 18-year-old in body armor carried a rifle into a building full of unsuspecting people, interrupting everyday life for everyday Americans with terror, mayhem and bloodshed.... Vice President Harris deviated from her scheduled remarks at an evening gala for the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies.... 'Enough is enough. Enough is enough.... 'As a nation, we have to have the courage to take action.'" ~~~
~~~ And there's this, from the report: "Several Republicans said Tuesday that they wanted to wait for more information about the shooting before discussing potential action." Two mass murders in 10 days, one targeting Black grocery-shoppers and one targeting little schoolchildren, and they need "more information"?
Sen. Chris Murphy Tuesday, in the Murder Capital of the World:
~~~ Colby Itkowitz, et al., of the Washington Post: "Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut who once held a 15-hour filibuster on the Senate floor on the need for stricter gun laws in the United States, returned there Tuesday night to plead with his colleagues to find a way to put politics aside and work together to stop the carnage of mass shootings.... The aftermath of Sandy Hook was the closest Congress has come in the past decade to passing any meaningful changes to the nation's gun laws, but when a modest bill to strengthen background checks came to a vote in the Senate, only four Republicans voted for it, while four Democrats, none of whom are still serving, voted against it. Since then, there has been only frustration and anger after mass shootings in places of worship, in stores, at a concert, at a nightclub, at a yoga studio and in schools, making many fear that anyplace in the United States could be next. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) charged Republicans with robbing the lives of young children.... House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) encapsulated the shock and anger felt by Democrats toward their Republican colleagues, also noting that legislation passed in the House last year had been languishing in the Senate.... House Democrats passed two bills in March 2021 to strengthen the country's gun laws by closing what they see as loopholes and expanding background checks for gun purchasers." Politico's report is here.
How many more times will Senate Republicans express outrage at horrific shootings like the one today in Uvalde, Texas, and then block meaningful, bipartisan background-check legislation supported by nine out of ten Americans and most responsible gun owners? -- Rep. Steny Hoyer, House Minority Leader, Tuesday
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said on Twitter that he was 'completely sickened and heartbroken,' that he was 'lifting up in prayer' for the community and that there had 'been too many of these shootings.' Cruz, as well as ... Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), is scheduled to speak Friday at the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Houston, about 275 miles from Uvalde.
Just to be clear fuck you @tedcruz you fucking baby killer. -- Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) ~~~
~~~ Emily Cochrane & Katie Edmondson of the New York Times: "Within hours of the shooting in Uvalde, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, moved to clear the way to force votes as early as Thursday on legislation that would strengthen background checks for gun purchasers, pushing to revive measures with broad appeal that Republicans have blocked in the past. The pair of bills would expand criminal background checks to would-be gun buyers on the internet and at gun shows and lengthen the waiting period for gun buyers flagged by the instant background check system to allow more time for the F.B.I. to investigate. The measures, passed by the House in 2019 and again last year, have languished in the Senate amid Republican opposition. Even as they publicly mourned the massacre that killed 19 children and two adults on Tuesday, Republican senators gave little indication that their positions had changed." The Hill has a story here.
Here's what Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted when he was running for governor in 2015: "I'm EMBARRASSED: Texas #2 in nation for new gun purchases, behind CALIFORNIA. Let's pick up the pace Texans. @NRA"
Steve M.: "... while we're waiting for more information [about the shooter], a parasite named John Cardillo -- a blue-check right-wing commentator with nearly 300,000 followers including J.D. Vance and several GOP members of Congress, posted this: 'If initial reports are accurate and this mass murderer of children was an illegal alien who was being chased by the Border Patrol, Democrats should never again be allowed to hold an elected office in the United States.'... The governor himself said that [the shooter] is a U.S. citizen who appears to have attended Uvalde High School.... Tell me why I shouldn't believe that Cardillo knew exactly what he was doing -- spreading a rage-inducing falsehood, because inducing rage is the right's prime directive. It's what right-wingers do every waking hour of their lives.... Benjamin Goggin [tweeted] 'People have taken the photo of an unassociated trans person with the trans pride flag and are claiming its the Texas shooter Salvador Ramos.... This comes on the heels of Twitter announcing their crisis misinformation policy less than a week ago, where they promised to attach warnings to misleading claims in crisis situations... guess it still needs some work!'... [Business Insider reported,] '... Arizona GOP congressman Paul Gosar spread a false and transphobic claim that the suspected shooter was a "transsexual leftist illegal alien." Gosar tweeted the claim even though authorities had already identified the suspect as an 18-year-old male resident of Uvalde, where the shooting occurred.'"
From the New York Times' live updates of Tuesday's primary election results: "Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia won the Republican nomination for a second term on Tuesday, resoundingly turning back a primary challenge that had been engineered by Donald J. Trump and delivering the former president his biggest electoral setback of the 2022 primaries. Seeking retribution for Mr. Kemp's decision to certify the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, Mr. Trump had personally recruited former Senator David Perdue to run for governor, worked to clear the field for him, recorded television ads, held a rally and even transferred $2.64 million from his political accounts to help him.... ~~~
~~~ "Stacey Abrams will advance to Georgia's general election for governor after running in the state's Democratic primary unopposed.
~~~ "Representative Lucy McBath, who gained national prominence as a gun control and racial justice activist after her teenage son was shot and killed, defeated on Tuesday Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux for the Democratic nomination in the Seventh District of Georgia, according to The Associated Press. Ms. McBath currently represents a nearby district. But under the once-in-a-decade redistricting process, Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed into law a new map that transformed Ms. McBath's district so that it overwhelmingly favored Republicans. The Seventh, a version of which Ms. Bourdeaux currently represents, became strongly Democratic under the new lines, and Ms. McBath chose to run there instead. ~~~
~~~ "Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia Republican official who famously rebuffed former President Donald J. Trump's requests to 'find' enough votes to help him overturn the 2020 election, defeated a Republican primary challenge on Tuesday. Mr. Raffensperger, who serves as Georgia's top elections official as secretary of state, won his G.O.P. primary against Representative Jody Hice, a Republican congressman who voted to overturn the 2020 election and who was backed by Mr. Trump. ~~~
~~~ "Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat who became the first Black senator from Georgia, overpowered his primary challenger on Tuesday to win the chance to secure a full six-year term in November, according to The Associated Press. ~~~
~~~ "Herschel Walker accepted the Republican nomination for the Georgia Senate seat held by Raphael Warnock, dishing out red meat to the partisan crowd by telling them he was ready to save the country from 'a bunch of maniacs too drunk with power' who 'don't even like this country.' ~~~
~~~ "Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose far-right beliefs and confrontational behavior earned her opposition in both parties, won the Republican primary in her Northwest Georgia House district, beating a businesswoman who had garnered support among some in the G.O.P. establishment. ~~~
~~~ "In Georgia, Chris Carr successfully defended a primary challenge from John Gordon, a candidate backed by ... Donald Trump, to secure the party's nomination for attorney general. ~~~
~~~ "Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama won the Republican nomination for governor, according to The Associated Press, surpassing 50 percent of the vote despite facing a barrage of attacks from primary challengers on her right. Ms. Ivey had shifted her messaging in the homestretch of the race to embrace ... Donald J. Trump -- who did not endorse her or any of her competitors -- and to vilify the left. ~~~
~~~ "Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama, who aided Donald J. Trump's effort to subvert the 2020 election and won his endorsement for a Senate seat, only to have the former president turn on him as he slid in the polls, survived that humiliation on Tuesday, earning a place in a Republican primary runoff. Mr. Brooks, a six-term congressman from Huntsville, will face Katie Britt, a former lobbyist, in a runoff election on June 21 after neither received more than 50 percent of the vote, according to The Associated Press. ~~~
~~~ "The race in the Texas 28th Congressional District hasn't been called, but the incumbent Henry Cuellar has maintained a narrow lead over his progressive challenger, Jessica Cisneros. ~~~
~~~ "Rochelle Garza, a civil rights lawyer who fought for abortion access for undocumented teenage migrants in federal custody, won the Democratic nomination for Texas attorney general on Tuesday, defeating the former mayor of Galveston. ~~~
~~~ "Ken Paxton has easily defeated George P. Bush in the runoff for Texas attorney general. It's quite a fall for the Bush dynasty, whose name remains ubiquitous in the state.... Mr. Paxton, whose victory was called by The Associated Press, has been under criminal indictment for securities fraud since 2015, and his own former top aides have accused him of bribery and corruption. ~~~
~~~ "Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary for two years under ... Donald J. Trump, defeated a former radio show host Tuesday to win the Republican nomination for Arkansas governor, according to The Associated Press."
With a concentration on Georgia, Shane Goldmacher & Maya King of the New York Times summarize the election results here. ~~~
~~~ Michael Bender & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times analyze the results vis-à-vis the vengeance of Trump: "Donald J. Trump barreled into Georgia vowing to marshal voters against his enemies and punish Republicans who crossed him in 2020. Instead, Georgia voters punished him for meddling in their state. Mr. Trump picked losers up and down the ballot, most strikingly missing the mark on a third governor's race in three weeks. The dismal record, particularly for chief executives, illustrates the shortcomings of Mr. Trump's revenge tour. Since leaving the White House, and the structure it provided, the former president has erratically deployed his political power, often making choices on a whim or with little clear path to execution. That approach has repeatedly left him empty-handed and raised new doubts about the viselike grip he has held on the Republican Party.... House and Senate bids -- where Mr. Trump's endorsement record as yet is nearly unblemished -- can more easily harness national political winds."
Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Participants in an insurrection against the U.S. government can be barred from holding office, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled Tuesday. The decision came in the case of Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R), who before losing his House primary this month faced a challenge from North Carolina voters arguing that his actions around the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack made him ineligible for future public service. Cawthorn suggested his case was moot given his primary loss, but the court disagreed, given that the election had not yet been certified and because the same issue could come up in another campaign.... The appeals court sided with the voters, without ruling on whether Cawthorn personally engaged in an insurrection or on whether the process state officials planned to use to decide this question was constitutional."
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "On Sunday, amid a growing number of signs that he has lost his hot hand in Republican primaries, [Donald] Trump elevated the idea of 'civil war' against an 'enemy [coming] from within' the United States. Republican leaders responded, as usual, with silence.... Trump was, once again, amplifying a favorite theme of the violent far right.... As ugly as things have been with Trump holding an iron grip over the GOP, they could actually get worse if he feels his grasp slipping and becomes even more incendiary in his provocations.... The casual expectation of violence is spreading." Milbank cites remarks by Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, and GOP Reps. Madison Cawthorn & Marjorie Taylor Greene. "Precisely because of such people, the United States actually is at risk of civil war -- more than at any point in recent history.... A partial democracy, which the United States now is, faces three times the risk of falling into civil war."
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." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "A commission established by Congress last year has suggested new names for nine Army bases that honor Confederate officers, as the American military continues an examination of its history with race that was intensified in the summer of 2020, after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. The commission's recommendations, if approved by Congress and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, would see Fort Bragg -- named after Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg -- renamed Fort Liberty, the only one of the bases that would be renamed for an abstract idea and not a person. In the past, Army bases were largely named for white male soldiers. But the commission's recommendations cover a multicolored swath of Americans, including women and minorities -- two long-ignored populations that have served in or supported the army since its inception.... The Army has long come under fire for honoring treasonous Confederate generals...."
Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Defense attorneys for longtime Proud Boys leader Henry 'Enrique' Tarrio and U.S. prosecutors released 22 minutes of video on Tuesday that recorded his movements in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, including his meeting in an underground parking garage with Stewart Rhodes, founder of the extremist group Oath Keepers. The existence of the video and the interest of FBI and House investigators in it have been reported previously -- including in Tarrio's indictment in March on charges of conspiring to attack Congress that day -- but clips of the recording had not been made public.... Also present at the garage meeting were leaders of two right-wing pro-Trump groups: Joshua Macias, a scheduled speaker the following day, and Bianca Gracia, a Jan. 6 event organizer with White House ties." Includes a 4-minute clip.
Devan Cole of CNN: "A majority of Americans -- 54% -- now say they disapprove of the job the Supreme Court is doing following the leak of the draft opinion showing the justices are poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to a new poll released Wednesday[.] The Marquette Law School poll findings represent a dramatic change from how Americans viewed the court in March, the last time the survey was conducted. Then, 54% of respondents said they approved of the nine justices and 45% said they disapproved. Now, only 44% approve."
"The Age of Constitutional Argument Is Over." Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times: "I have spent years ... have, in urgent conversation about due process and undue burdens, extrapolating from the opacities of Planned Parenthood v. Casey.... There is no burden from an undesired pregnancy that is undue, or at least one that can't be alleviated by putting the baby in a basket and leaving it somewhere safe, as Justice Amy Coney Barrett suggested during the oral argument in December -- an idea that Justice [Samuel] Alito incorporated in his draft opinion.... Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg famously argued that the Constitution's explicit guarantee of equal protection [might have put the right to abortion on firmer footing]... Since nothing else seems to be working, I'll swing for the fences. The 13th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War, prohibits both slavery and 'involuntary servitude.' What is forcing a woman to carry a pregnancy to term if not involuntary servitude?... [But] the message of the Alito draft is that the age of constitutional argument is over."
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." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jacob Bogage of the Washington Post: "Walmart pulled 'Juneteenth ice cream' from its freezers and apologized Tuesday after a social media backlash and accusations of commercializing a holiday meant to commemorate the end of American slavery. The retail giant was set to sell 'swirled red velvet and cheesecake' ice cream in a container adorned with Pan-African colors and an image of two Black hands high-fiving each other.... Walmart's website on Tuesday offered a wide array of Juneteenth products, including a T-shirt with a word cloud of social justice and Black empowerment themed phrases in the shape of Africa and Juneteenth party decorations. Another product listing features a White model wearing a black tank top with the words 'Because my ancestors weren't free in 1976,' an apparent mistaken reference to American independence in 1776." MB: In fairness to Walmart, thousands of companies commercialize every holiday, no matter how sacred or solemn.
Beyond the Beltway
Georgia Senate Race. Walker Lies About a Lie He Told Repeatedly. Daniel Dale & Andrew Kaczynski of CNN: "Herschel Walker, the former football star who is now the Republican nominee for a US Senate seat in Georgia, is piling dishonesty upon dishonesty on the subject of his college education. In December, Walker's campaign website falsely claimed that he had graduated from the University of Georgia, the school he left after his junior season to play professionally.... In April, CNN's KFile team revealed that Walker himself had made the false graduation claim for years -- and that Walker had even asserted that he graduated in the top 1% of his University of Georgia class. But when Walker was challenged about his graduation deception in an interview last week with FOX 5 Atlanta anchor Russ Spencer, Walker declared he had never once said he graduated from the University of Georgia." MB: Obviously, Dale & Kaczynski don't know the rule: IOKIYAR.
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." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Michigan Gubernatorial Race. Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Five of 10 Republican candidates for the gubernatorial nomination in Michigan are ineligible to appear on the ballot because of invalid signatures on their nominating petitions, the Michigan elections bureau said in a report Monday, upending the race little more than two months before the August primary. Those the elections bureau said were ineligible include former Detroit police chief James Craig and businessman Perry Johnson, who have been considered the leading candidates for the GOP nomination for Michigan governor. Others were Donna Brandenburg, Michael Brown and Michae Markey. The Michigan Board of State Canvassers, made up of two Democrats and two Republicans, will meet Thursday morning to discuss the election bureau's report and rule on whether the candidates can appear on the Aug. 2 primary ballot."
New York. Jonah Bromwich & Jan Ransom of the New York Times: "Even as she acknowledged that 'people are dying' in New York City's troubled jails, a federal judge on Tuesday refrained from stripping control of Rikers Island from local officials, instead ordering the city to revise its plan for addressing violence and disorder at the compound. The judge, Laura T. Swain, made the decision at a hearing on Tuesday after listening to arguments from the United States Attorney's Office in Manhattan and others who had raised the possibility of appointing an independent official to run New York City's jails, something that has never happened in the jail system's history. Judge Swain had given the city Department of Correction three weeks beginning last month to come up with a plan to remedy the crisis in the jail complex, where city staffing practices have left gang members in charge of some jail areas, and detainees to languish without food or medical care. But as jail officials were formulating their plan, two detainees died, the city was held in contempt in state court over its failure to provide timely medical care and questions emerged about whether the jail system properly documented a serious head injury suffered by a detainee in April."
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "As the fourth month dawned in the war in Ukraine, the battle was narrowing on Wednesday to a 75-mile-wide sliver of land in the heart of the eastern Donbas region, where Russia's concentrated firepower and shortened supply lines were helping its forces make progress toward a handful of key cities.... Representatives from Finland and Sweden were in Turkey on Wednesday to meet with high-level officials in an effort to address President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's opposition to the Nordic nations' bids to join NATO." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Wednesday are here: "Russian forces are inching closer to the strategic city of Severodonetsk -- but their overall military performance 'remains poor,' according to the Institute for the Study of War think tank.... Meanwhile, the European Union is still trying to overcome opposition from Hungary to a deal on an embargo on Russian oil.... The British government approved the sale of Chelsea Football Club after sanctions were placed on the London-based club's longtime owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich."
Shane Harris of the Washington Post: "Newly declassified U.S. intelligence shows that a Russian naval blockade has halted maritime trade at Ukrainian ports, in what world leaders call a deliberate attack on the global food supply chain that has raised fears of political instability and shortages unless grain and other essential agricultural products are allowed to flow freely from Ukraine. Russia's navy now effectively controls all traffic in the northern third of the Black Sea, making it unsafe for commercial shipping, according to a U.S. government document obtained by The Washington Post."
Valerie Hopkins of the New York Times: "Eight Russian soldiers and mercenaries were charged on Tuesday with the murder of the mayor of a small Kyiv suburb and her family, Ukraine's prosecutor general said. The mayor, Olha Sukhenko, was found in a shallow grave in her village, Motyzhyn, about 30 miles west of Kyiv, on April 2, after Russians withdrew from their positions around the capital. Her husband and son were buried with her. The prosecutor general, Irina Venediktova, said five of the accused men were soldiers in the Russian Army and three were part of the private military group Wagner, which is run by a businessman close to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.... Ms. Venediktova ... publish[ed] the names and photographs of all eight men."
Alan Rappeport & Eshe Nelson of the New York Times: "The Biden administration will start blocking Russia from paying American bondholders, increasing the likelihood of the first default of Russia's foreign debt in more than a century. An exemption to the sweeping sanctions that the United States imposed on Russia as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine has allowed Moscow to keep paying its debts since February. But that carve-out will expire on Wednesday, and the United States will not extend it, according to a notice published by the Treasury Department on Tuesday."
Chico Harlan & Stefano Pitrelli of the Washington Post: "European energy companies appear to have bent to ... Vladimir Putin's demand that they purchase natural gas using an elaborate new payment system, a concession that avoids more gas shut-offs and also gives Putin a public relations victory while continuing to fund his war effort in Ukraine. The system, which involves the creation of two accounts at Gazprombank, enables Europe to say it is technically paying for natural gas in euros, while Russia can say it is receiving payment in rubles -- a requirement Putin imposed on 'unfriendly' nations."
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." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
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." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
News Lede
The Texas Tribune's report of the massacre in Uvalde, Texas, is here.
CNN reports on-air that all of the victims were in one fourth-grade classroom, where the shooter barricaded himself. Tactical forces broke into the room & killed him. The shooter wore some kind of body armor. He had written on TikTok, "Kids, be scared."
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Reader Comments (17)
Ever wonder if the GOP opposition to abortion is meant to ensure an uninterrupted supply of targets for school shooters?
"Just asking."
The madness continues to grow and people refuse to see.
The GOP will be saying we don't need more gun control 'cause
no fetuses were harmed in the last mass shooting.
Bobby Lee,
Oh, the traitors see. They just don’t care. Thousands of innocents, including children in the schools is simply the “price of freeeedom!”
Nothing will be done. And the press (mostly) is too cowardly to hold these people accountable. They’re happy to repeat GQP hiding points: bad apple, anomaly, mental health issues, thoughts and prayerz.
Until the next senseless massacre. Maybe tomorrow.
Did this latest NRA hero leave a “manifesto”? Because even printing stuff like that is catnip for these murderers. Their names should never be mentioned. And lengthy suppositions about “motives” should be tossed aside. Talking endlessly about the racist motivations of the Buffalo murderer only amplifies the white supremacy positions. Replacement theory investigations only repeats their talking points and glamorizes these murderers, encouraging the next massacre.
Asking “why?” avoids the real problem of too many guns available with zero oversight to too many people.
The traitors see. They just don’t care. And they are aided in their efforts to not have to care because there are no consequences for doing so.
Oleaginous anus crevice Ted Cruz offers up his cut and paste thoughts n’ prayerz, likely smirking as he did it, again.
Best response, so far, comes from Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona):
“Fuck you @tedcruz, you fucking baby killer”.
Baby Killer Ted is scheduled to speak in support of guns, guns, guns at the NRA annual gun knobbers convention next week. In TEXAS.
Should be obvious to anyone that repeatedly casting the post hoc "thoughts and prayers" spell doesn't work in the face of our seeming inexhaustible supply of mentally ill murderers.
That shouldn't take no Einstein.
Which leads to this Einsteinism: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
Or not doing something, anythng--over and over.
By which definition the entire do-nothing Republican Party is mentally ill. No wonder they are so quick to provide their standard explanation/ excuse for their unbalanced brothers in arms.
@Bobby Lee
Should I admit I had the same sick thought last night? A corollary to the need the R's see for a continuing supply of cheap labor.
Latest GQP supported massacre death toll now up to 21.
Chris Murphy in his plea yesterday on the senate floor asks WHY?
Biden asks WHY?
Robert Kennedy asked WHY"
MLK asked WHY?
Sandy Hook parents asked WHY, and then mobilized and tried to change the gun laws.
Others have tried.
Can we finally lay these deaths on those in Congress and on Governors who refuse to comply? Call them complicit in these murders? Murphy is begging, on his knees, hands clasped upwards.
There is, I think, a sense of "the last straw"–– intense anger even more than sorrow. Will that be enough? It just might be if we stick with it putting the pressure on those whose sole function is keeping their nests fully stocked with the stuff of money and power.
OR in time America might just be one of those "shit hole countries" that Fatty referenced many moons ago.
The answer to the question "Why?" is capitalism. Mass shooters buy lots of guns and buy lots of ammunition and buy lots of body armor and accessories. That's a lot of money that these murderers spend year after year. The CEOs have yachts to pay for and stockholders need to wring every penny out of the public that they can. Money and greed are why so many have stood in the way of attempting to save a few of these lives we lose every day to gun violence.
@RAS: Yes, and speaking of capitalism, another major part of "why" is NRA & other gun lobby support, in terms of both campaign donations & endorsements. If the NRA -- which ironically started out as a gun safety organization way back when -- supported only candidates who pledged to pass reasonable gun safety legislation, you'd find an awful lot of Republicans and Joe Manchin falling all over themselves to sponsor gun safety bills. The NRA is in shambles; maybe instead of disparaging the NRA (which certainly deserves every bit of opprobrium it gets), we should lobby and/or infiltrate the organization.
Strange thing in the Uvalde massacre. I heard yesterday that the police were chasing (in cars) the shooter because he had shot his grandmother. Then he crashed his vehicle & ran (on foot) into the school. Before he opened fired in the classroom, he was chatting with police, according to a segment I just heard on CNN. Of course I blame the shooter, but -- based on the little I know -- it seems to me that better policing might have prevented this carnage.
I’m waiting for the supporters of mass murder in congress to wag their fingers and condemn anyone calling, at long, long fucking last, for a way out of this madness, for “politicizing this tragedy”. “Now is not the time….blah, blah, blah…”
Sorry, baby killers, now is exactly the time to politicize this latest GQP supported mass murder.
Politicizing issues is how things get done. You want your rights protected (or taken away)? Politicize the issue. Abortion will very soon be illegal in most states. Why? One reason is the religious fanatics politicized the shit out of it. For decades.
When supporters of gun violence and murder like Baby Killer Ted say “Don’t politicize this”, what they mean is “Shut up and go away”. Don’t politicize means don’t do anything.
We really have to stop allowing the baby killers to frame their inaction in the wake of more little kids dead from gunshot wounds as respect for the victims.
Not politicizing gun violence guarantees that it will never abate.
Which, of course, is what they want.
Time for the majority of Americans, who support gun control, to get what they want. So politicize away.
Akhilleus,
Yeah, politicizing for the Right means using an issue for your advantage.
They mean using it selfishly, to amass and maintain power for themselves.
They oughta know.
In the larger, more correct sense of the word, once you expand your view beyond the hermit living alone in his cave, everything we do or say is political.
It's the purpose of our politics that counts. Is it mindful of self alone or of others as well?
Thus the two main parties define themselves.
I'm certain that yesterday afternoon the entire GOP caucus told their staff to dig out, dust off, and update the Thoughts and Prayers letter to make it applicable to the Uvalde shooting.
Just like with Immigration, Inflation, and International relations, they keep doing the same thing over and over. Like those infamous monkeys and the typewriters, maybe they'll write Shakespeare one day but I won't put a penny on it.
Yoo-hoo, FBI, are you reading Twitter lately?
https://democraticunderground.com/100216725595
Florida Representative Randy Fine says: "I have news for the
embarrassment that claims to be our President---try to take our
guns and you'll learn why the Second Amendment was written
in the first place."
Is that free speech or a threat. I'll bet if I tried that my front door
would be bashed in by now and I'd be in chains. But I'm not a
Florida politician. Bet the gun lobby loves him.
When my family finally got a Television I was a junior in High School. My parents hesitated because they didn't want me spending my time watching it––-which I certainly would not have given the sparse fare that was presented at that time. What was interesting to me was my father's propensity for Westerns. He loved all that "shoot em--up -stuff." Here was a rather laid-back Irish , easy going guy, dentist by profession, but an avid hunter and fisherman. Guns were part of his lexicon––he taught both my brother and me how to shoot with a rifle.
I think of this now and can understand people whose guns are like part of their profiles––and the fear in this country that Government can whisk them away or prevent the sales or.....which is ridiculous–– but any mention of curtailing the sales gives them the willies. The fact that any gun control we can muster through congress would not effect these wild west wingers doesn't seem to matter–––They be against it!
However as all of us here have acknowledged it may be many of these gun lovers in all parts of this country that have a problem with reform, but it's thems that hold the pens in government that refuse to do anything cuz it don't suit their place in the sun. (see Ras on capitalism).
Marie posts a reference to the perennially amerciable asshole Paul Gosar, declaring (even in the face of absolute evidence to the contrary) that the latest GQP mass murdering gun knobber is a transsexual leftist illegal alien.
Wow.
Why stop there? If the goal is to ignore facts and make up mendacious shit on the fly with which to inflame the already moronic droolers, why not add in a plethora of right wing hate squad targets?
Here ya go Paulie:
The murderer of our wonderful future Trumpist children was a transsexual, gay, lesbian, nigger, Muslim, BLM, Me Too, Democratic, liberal, CNN watching, library card carrying, Brandon loving, Putin hating never Trumper.
I know I didn’t include every group these motherfuckers hate, but Jesus, how much time you think I have?
... and an alien.
Right. Forgot that. An illegal one, to boot.