The Commentariat -- October 4, 2017
Late Morning Update:
Tillerson Tries to Appease Moronic Boss with Surprise News Conference. Louis Nelson of Politico: "Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that he has never considered resigning his position, disputing an NBC News report that he was on the verge of such a move over the summer. 'The vice president has never had to persuade me to remain as secretary of state because I have never considered leaving this post,' Tillerson said in remarks delivered from the State Department. Tillerson did not directly address whether he had called Trump a 'moron,' as NBC reported. 'We don't deal with that kind of petty nonsense,' he said when asked about the report." Mrs. McC: CNN said its reporters had confirmed the "moron" remark, which we all know is accurate. And, no, it isn't "petty nonsense" when the Secretary of State expresses his belief that the POTUS* is a moron. It's cause for international concern.
*****
Trump Plays Paper-towel Ball in Puerto Rico. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump ventured on Tuesday to a storm-ravaged American island territory where residents have felt neglected by their government, telling Puerto Rican officials that they should be proud that only 16 people were known to have died in Hurricane Maria. 'Sixteen versus in the thousands,' Mr. Trump said, comparing the storm's certified death toll to the 1,833 killed in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. 'You can be very proud of all of your people, all of our people working together. Sixteen versus literally thousands of people. You can be very proud.'... The trip marked a well-worn routine for a president on his fourth visit to a disaster zone in two months: a pep rally-like briefing with officials in an aircraft hangar, a quick drive past twisted houses and uprooted trees and a brief, friendly encounter with victims of the destruction. And like his earlier travels, it had its peculiar moments: He also gently tossed rolls of paper towels into a crowd that gathered to see him at Calvary Chapel, outside the island's capital, San Juan." ...
... Akhilleus's commentary, below, on the paper-towel toss is essential reading. ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Gosh, it looks like such fun. I'll bet destitute Puerto Ricans will get a kick out of that. Oh wait, -- they'll never see it because they don't have power, & even if they did, their entire homes, including the teevees, may have been destroyed. ...
... AP: "The death toll from Hurricane Maria has climbed to 34, the governor of Puerto Rico said Tuesday. The last estimate of the death toll was 16." At 8:15 pm Tuesday, this was a breaking story, to be updated. ...
... Louis Nelson of Politico: "The mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, strongly denounced Donald Trump Tuesday night after the president visited the island, calling him the 'miscommunicator in chief.'... 'He was insulting to the people of Puerto Rico,' Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said Tuesday night on MSNBC hours after meeting Trump face-to-face at a briefing with Puerto Rican leaders and the president. Beyond the briefing, Trump also toured damaged areas and helped distribute supplies, flicking paper towels into a crowd with the motion of a jump shot in basketball. All of it, Cruz said, was disingenuous.... 'He kind of minimized our suffering here by saying that Katrina was a real disaster, sort of implying that this was not a real disaster because not many people have died here,' Cruz said. 'Well you know what? They're dying. They don't have the medical resources.'" ...
... Esme Cribb of TPM has a rundown of Trump's "most jaw-dropping remarks" from his Puerto Rican trip.
Brad Heath of USA Today: "Jared Kushner and ... Ivanka Trump re-routed their personal email accounts to computers run by the Trump Organization as public scrutiny intensified over their use of private emails to conduct White House business, internet registration records show. The move, made just days after Kushner's use of a personal email account first became public, came shortly after special counsel Robert Mueller asked the White House to turn over records related to his investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Trump associates. It also more closely intertwines President Trump's administration with his constellation of private businesses.... Lawyers and cybersecurity researchers said the move was puzzling. Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor, said that while the emails Kushner and Trump sent and received through their personal accounts could well have been innocuous -- locating them on computers run by the Trump Organization 'certainly creates the appearance of potential impropriety.' Mariotti said the move raises questions about who at the Trump-owned company might have access to emails regarding White House business." ...
...
Manu Raju, et al., of CNN: "A number of Russian-linked Facebook ads specifically targeted Michigan and Wisconsin, two states crucial to Donald Trump's victory last November, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the situation. Some of the Russian ads appeared highly sophisticated in their targeting of key demographic groups in areas of the states that turned out to be pivotal, two of the sources said. The ads employed a series of divisive messages aimed at breaking through the clutter of campaign ads online, including promoting anti-Muslim messages, sources said." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: While it's certainly possible that the Trump campaign coordinated with Russian operatives on some of these efforts, it seems just as likely that the Kremlin could read published polls to determine for themselves whom to target with their ads & fake news screeds.
Pruitt Celebrates Earth Day with ALEC. Eric Lipton & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "For lunch on April 26, Scott Pruitt, the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, dined with top executives from Southern Company, one of the nation's largest coal-burning electric utilities, at Equinox, a white-tablecloth favorite of Washington power brokers. That evening, it was on to BLT Prime, a steakhouse inside the Trump International Hotel in Washington, for a meal with the board of directors of Alliance Resource Partners, a coal-mining giant whose chief executive donated nearly $2 million to help elect President Trump. Before those two agenda items, Mr. Pruitt met privately with top executives and lobbyists from General Motors to talk about their request to block an Obama administration move to curb emissions that contribute to climate change. It was just a typical day for Mr. Pruitt.... Since taking office in February, Mr. Trump's E.P.A. chief has held back-to-back meetings, briefing sessions and speaking engagements almost daily with top corporate executives and lobbyists from all the major economic sectors that he regulates -- and almost no meetings with environmental groups or consumer or public health advocates, according to a 320-page accounting of his daily schedule from February through May, the most detailed look yet at what Mr. Pruitt has been up to since he took over the agency.... Even the revised schedule, however, does not provide the full details of Pruitt's activities. For example, the calendar shows that Pruitt attended 'Earth Day Events' in Dallas on April 22 and that afterward he flew to Tulsa. But EPA travel vouchers show that Pruitt's travel registry for that day indicate that he was to be in 'Tulsa to conduct meetings in the state and to serve as a keynote speaker for ALEC event.'"
Tillerson Says Trump Is a Moron. Carol Lee, et al., of NBC News: "Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was on the verge of resigning this past summer amid mounting policy disputes and clashes with the White House, according to multiple senior administration officials who were aware of the situation at the time. The tensions came to a head around the time ... Donald Trump delivered a politicized speech in late July to the Boy Scouts of America, an organization Tillerson once led.... Just days earlier, Tillerson had openly disparaged the president, referring to him as a 'moron,' after a July 20 meeting at the Pentagon with members of Trump's national security team and Cabinet officials, according to three officials familiar with the incident. While it's unclear if he was aware of the incident, Vice President Mike Pence counseled Tillerson, who is fourth in line to the presidency, on ways to ease tensions with Trump, and other top administration officials urged him to remain in the job at least until the end of the year." Mrs. McC: Tillerson may be a lousy Secretary of State, but at least we know he understands the level of Trump's intellect.
Jennifer Medina, et al., of the New York Times: "Before he mowed down concertgoers from a perch high in a hotel tower, Stephen C. Paddock created a ring of surveillance around him, with video cameras in his suite and in the hallway, law enforcement officials said on Tuesday.... The cameras -- apparently intended to warn of approaching threats -- along with the 23 guns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and other equipment found in the gunman's hotel suite, suggested a thought-out plan to have plenty of time to wreak carnage while holding the police at bay. Local and federal investigators were also eager to interview the gunman's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, who had been in the Philippines. She arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday night and was met by the authorities.... Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said that at a minimum, she might shed some light on what was going through the mind of the gunman, who killed himself as the police prepared to enter his room." ...
... New York Times: "Marilou Danley, the girlfriend of the gunman in the Las Vegas mass shooting, is expected to return from the Philippines to the United States for questioning, a federal law enforcement official said on Tuesday. The authorities are scouring the personal and financial history of the gunman, Stephen Paddock, 64, just days after one of the deadliest mass shootings in the United States, which left 59 people dead and about 500 others injured. A law enforcement official said Mr. Paddock wired thousands of dollars to the Philippines and the F.B.I. was scrutinizing the transaction. At least one of the rifles the gunman had in his hotel suite on Sunday was outfitted with a 'bump stock,' a device that would enable it to fire hundreds of rounds per minute, according to law enforcement.... Bump stocks are legal and inexpensive, with some versions advertised for $99.... In 2013, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California proposed outlawing bump stocks, but Congress has not acted on her proposal. She proposed a ban again on Tuesday.... President Trump on Tuesday ... said that there would be some sort of discussion about gun legislation, but was not specific. 'We will be talking about gun laws as time goes by,' Mr. Trump said as he prepared to leave Washington for hurricane-battered Puerto Rico." Emphasis added. ...
... William Wan, et al., of the Washington Post have more on Paddock's background & some on his relationship with Danley. ...
... Bannon Supports Mass Murder. Jonathan Swan of Axios: "I asked Steve Bannon whether he could imagine Trump pivoting to the left on guns after the Las Vegas massacre. 'Impossible: will be the end of everything,' Bannon texted. When asked whether Trump's base would react worse to this than they would if he supported an immigration amnesty bill, Bannon replied: 'as hard as it is to believe actually worse.'... Trump's allies, both inside and out of the White House, are mostly sure he'll resist because he owes too much to the NRA and its supporters...."
McConnell's Idea of Gun Control: "Particularly Inappropriate." Burgess Everett of Politico: "Mitch McConnell did not want to discuss gun control on Tuesday. The Senate majority leader shut down all talk of legislative remedies to gun violence after a man killed 58 people in Las Vegas on Sunday night and injured hundreds more, mirroring the Tuesday morning remarks by his GOP counterpart in the House, Speaker Paul Ryan. McConnell declared this is simply not the time to be talking about legislation targeting firearms.... 'It's particularly inappropriate to politicize an event like this. It just happened within the last day and half. Entirely premature to be discussing about legislative solutions if any,' McConnell said." Mrs. McC: According to this 2016 report by Funny or Die, which followed McConnells's vote against modest gun control, McConnell had at the time received $1,261,874 in NRA campaign contributions bribes (thanks, Marvin S). ...
... Ryan's Idea of Gun Control. Mike DeBonis & Kelsey Snell of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Tuesday that Republican leaders have no plans to advance a bill that would make it easier for Americans to buy gun silencers. The focus on the legislation, which passed a House committee last month, was magnified Monday after the shooting in Las Vegas on Sunday night.... 'That bill is not scheduled now; I don't know when it's going to be scheduled,' said Ryan (R-Wis.). 'Right now we're focused on passing our budget.' The Las Vegas shooting is the latest incident of mass violence to put Republican lawmakers on the defensive over their opposition to new gun restrictions -- and, in some cases, their efforts to eliminate existing ones." According to Politico, Ryan received $336,597 in gun lobby money between 1990 & 2017. ...
... Thune's Idea of Gun Control. David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Sen. John Thune (R-SD) on Tuesday responded to calls for increased gun control after the massacre in Las Vegas by telling reporters that shooting victims had a responsibility to protect themselves from gunfire.... 'I think people are going to have to take steps in their own lives to take precautions,' he opined. 'To protect themselves. And in situations like that, you know, try to stay safe. As somebody said -- get small.'" Mrs. McC: I guess we have to give Thune credit for taking blame-the-victim to a new level. Even Trump hasn't thought of this one. Thune, BTW, is 6'4", & many have remarked he looks presidenty. Maybe so, but this is one reprehensible SOB who has proved he really knows how to "get small." According to Funny or Die, Thune had received $628,645 in NRA bribes (thanks, Marvin S) as of 2016. ...
... I guess Scalise just didn't make himself small enough, his bad. -- Gloria, in today's thread
... Inhofe's Idea of Gun Control. Huh? Tara Golshan of Vox: "Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) on Tuesday reiterated a normal Republican talking point that gun laws don't affect gun violence, with a twist: It's the existence of 'sanctuary cities' that creates a lawless culture fostering mass shootings like the one in Las Vegas, he said. Two days after a lone white American gunman killed more than 58 people in Las Vegas, what is now considered one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern US history, Inhofe said the country is 'inundated with permissive laws' -- like those in 'sanctuary cities' where local law enforcement doesn't enforce all federal immigration laws -- perpetuating the 'cultural problem' behind mass shooting. 'That has a lot more to do with [mass shootings] than gun owners laws,' Inhofe told me. 'You can go ahead and break a law and you can come to a sanctuary city, and they wouldn't enforce the laws.'" Oddly, Inhofe had taken in a mere $65,191 from the NRA by 2016, according to the Funny or Die report. But Politico wrote that Inhofe received $121,100 from all gun lobbyists between 1990 & 2017. ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: There's a question as to whether or not the winger arm of the GOP considers Las Vegas a sanctuary city. Jeff Sessions designated it as such, but Las Vegas authorities argued with him in July, saying the city cooperated with ICE. Jeffbo said he'd look into it. Maybe this is what Inhofe is talking about, but who knows? These NRA retainers will say anything. Nevada, not surprisingly, has mighty permissive gun laws -- but that of course is not what Inhofe means by "permissive laws" that encourage mass shooting murders. Because Second Amendment. ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: My Idea of Gun Control. Outlaw semi-automatic & automatic weapons & all devices that enhance firing rifles & pistols. Institute a required federal buy-back program. Severely limit the number of firearms any one person may own or access. Limit the amount of ammunition any one person may purchase. If a person wants to buy a new firearm, he must turn in the old one. To purchase a new long gun, the buyer must provide proof of purpose; e.g., a valid hunting license. Pass a federal law legalizing tasers. Look to countries like Great Britain for other means of gun limitations. Make gun-ownership difficult & undesirable but not impossible. Become a civilized nation.
... New York Times Editors: "Residents of Nevada voted in November to require background checks for most private gun sales, closing a loophole in federal law. But nearly a year after the ballot measure passed, these checks aren't being made because state officials have claimed, with little evidence, that there's no way to carry out the policy. Such background checks might not have prevented the massacre in Las Vegas on Sunday night; the gunman, Stephen Paddock, is not known to have a significant criminal record and appears to have bought at least some of his guns from dealers required to vet buyers. But it has been shown that requiring checks on private sales of guns, such as at gun shows and over the internet, makes it harder for felons and other prohibited people, like those who have been committed to mental institutions and drug addicts, to buy firearms." ...
... Khaled Beydoun, in a Washington Post op-ed: "Despite the scale of the attack and Paddock's being armed with more than 10 rifles, Las Vegas Sheriff Joe Lombardo immediately dismissed any ties to terrorism, classifying Paddock ... as a 'local individual' and a 'lone wolf.'... But if Paddock were Muslim, his status as a local individual would be entirely irrelevant, and the motive of 'Islamic terrorism' or 'jihad' would likely be immediately assumed, even without any evidence.... Trump continues to carry forward counter-radicalization policing -- the signature anti-terrorism program installed by former president Barack Obama -- which seeks to identify and arrest 'homegrown' Muslim radicals.... But why is one person 'homegrown' while someone else is a 'lone' or 'local wolf'? An extensive list of exemptions has become available to white culprits of mass violence, most notably 'lone wolf' or 'insane,' and the Las Vegas shooting adds the status of being 'a local individual' to the roster." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: I suppose we could classify terrorist attackers as being people who had social or political agendas, as opposed to attackers who simply chose victims of opportunity. If you're a victim, of course, it may seem a distinction without much difference. So if someone wants to kill black people -- Dylann Roof -- or Republicans -- James Hodgkinson -- then they're "terrorists." Still, it seems to me that many times, such terrorists, including those of the Muslim faith or with Middle Eastern roots, adopt agendas for the sake of convenience: they want to be infamous or they want to commit suicide by cop. Or whatever.
Alan Rappeport & Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "Republican leaders are backing away from a proposal to fully repeal an expensive tax break used by more than 40 million tax filers to deduct state and local taxes amid pushback from fellow lawmakers whose residents rely on the popular provision. The state and local tax deduction is estimated to cost $1.3 trillion over the next decade and its repeal is central to paying for a sweeping tax rewrite unveiled last week by Republican lawmakers and administration officials. But elimination of the provision has emerged as a flash point in the nascent debate over the plan, with Republicans in high-tax states worried about backlash from residents who could see their tax bills rise.... The state and local tax deduction has its fair share of critics, including conservative lawmakers who argue it is an unfair federal subsidy of wealthier states with high taxes. They also argue that it tends to benefit wealthy taxpayers who itemize deductions on their tax returns.... Bruised by criticism that their tax plan could prove costly to many middle class Americans, Republican leaders in Congress have assailed [a Tax Policy Center] study as inaccurate and they continued to lash out at it on Tuesday." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Our friend Sen Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, of Graham-Cassidy infamy, is all for repeal of the state-and-local tax deduction. He said it was unfair to Louisianans to have to "subsidize wealthy taxpayers in California who write off the state's high taxes." Really? According to this analysis by WalletHub, California gets back less than a dollar for every dollar it pays into the federal government; Louisiana gets back more than three dollars. That is, California is a "giver" or "donor" state, while Louisiana is a big "taker" state. "Wealthy Californians" are heavily subsidizing Louisiana. Not sure if Cassidy has been taking lying lessons from Trump & Ryan or if he was already a very, very good BS artiste.
Burgess Everett & Seung Min-Kim of Politico: "There's a growing faction inside the Senate Republican Conference, and it looks like bad news for Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump: The devil-may-care caucus. Unbeholden to Republican orthodoxy and freed from the burdens of imminent reelection campaigns, more GOP senators are flexing their independence...." "Members" include] John McCain, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Rand Paul and Bob Corker.
News Lede
Washington Post: "Biophysicists Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson have won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for inventing new and better ways to see molecules. The Nobel committee praised the trio in its announcement Wednesday 'for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution.' Cryo-electron microscopy is 'a cool method for imaging the materials of life,' said Nobel committee member Göran K. Hansson from Stockholm. The development allows scientists to visualize proteins and other biological molecules at the atomic level. Dubochet, 75, a Swiss citizen, is a professor at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. Frank, 77, born in Germany and now a U.S. citizen, is a Columbia University professor in New York. Henderson, 72, of Scotland, works at Cambridge University in Britain."
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Reader Comments (15)
I think its high time we wholeheartedly embraced Ryan's verbiage and ideology. We should correctly and relentlessly identify states like Louisiana as "takers" and those like California as "makers."
I agree, Diane - words matter! The "taker" states can take a hike.
I guess Scalise just didn't make himself small enough, his bad.
We've discussed the hypocrisy of these dreadful forced birthers before, because their abortions are different.
More bribes, er, um, campaign donations in the news: Getting Ivanka and Don Jr. off the hook for fraud. There is so much dirt in our system being dusted up these days its maddening. Throw money at any problem and it'll go away. Corruption is alive and well in the US.
https://www.propublica.org/article/ivanka-donald-trump-jr-close-to-being-charged-felony-fraud
On another note, I'm beginning to think that Pruitt's massive security detail is because he knows at the EPA he has made it his sole mission to RATFUCK our environment and public health for his corrupt cronies, and once people catch on there will be lots of pissed off people who aren't just sleepwalking through the Trump Horror Show. He doesn't even pretend to care about protecting the environment. He's there literally tearing down the entire institution, all to enrich a few private interests, surely looking for more "donations" once he finally walks out of the hollowed building. The man has no soul and only believes in the almighty GreenBack. He might even be the most corrupt of all Trump's team, but how can one even measure that against the full-on assault on "norms" and even basic human decency. Fuck.
THE QUICKER PICKER UPPER
Man who has title of leader of the free world is tossing rolls of paper towels into a crowd of eager recipients but they wonder why paper when what they desperately need is water, food, and electricity. Man doesn't go into the worst parts of this island because that might just rile him up a bit and we can't have that. At one point during his walkabout he talked with a group of people, was about to bid them bye, bye, when an elderly woman told him about her broken windows. He smiled and told her help was on the way and then–––said––"Have a good time." Well now, folks, you people just hunker down and enjoy yourselves, hear?
Man also has the temerity to insult Mayor Cruz, a woman who is knee deep in fetid waters with a bullhorn trying to rescue her people who still don't have the essentials to survive. A shame really, that during the fun paper towel toss someone didn't toss it back and hit him smack in the solar plexus or a little further down.
The display played beautifully by those on the right–-Fox Newbies were practically drooling––I had to wipe the spit off my screen.Oh, and just for the record one of these foxes, a blond in a red dress said she thought the reason for the shooting in Vegas was because the shooter wasn't religious and was angry that all those country music fans were God fearing.
I need to take a walk.
The Trump Paper Towel Toss (could be a carnival event at Trumpy World) was even worse than it looked.
I didn't know this, but the TPTT took place in a gated community called Guaynabo. It's described on expat.com as the "most American-ish neighborhood in PR" a protected enclave for the rich with plenty of American style restaurants.
Here's a first hand account of the TPTT:
"And if all of this wasn’t enough, after his pompous speech, Trump was taken to see the devastation in one of the wealthiest municipalities of the whole island: Guaynabo. Even in forgotten, neglected Puerto Rico, Trump reminds us that there is a pecking order – and its the rich and powerful living in gated communities who come before all others.
And what did Trump do in Guaynabo? He threw out rolls of paper towel and bags of rice to the well-heeled Puerto Ricans. It was a pathetic performance, and deeply offensive, especially as people in the interior of the island have next to nothing."
I don't think he would have been riled by seeing the poorer far less well off people in the completely devastated mountain areas farther inland, sociopaths don't get riled by other people's misery. He'd just have been pissed at having to bother with poor people. At least in Guaynabo, he was around people who own multi-million dollar homes.
As predictable as he is pathetic.
NYT: Mattis Contradicts Trump on Iran Deal Ahead of Deadline
Trump Says Tillerson Is ‘Wasting His Time’ on North Korea
Two fools trying to prevent nuclear war.
(The 'fool' part comes from thinking they were working for a real POTUS).
Mrs McC; Would it be O.K. if I e-mail your ideas on gun control
to my senators and representative, signing my name, of course.
For whatever good it would do.
The Pathway to Violence
Mark Follman of Mother Jones points out that comments referring to the Las Vegas shooter (sorry, I don't use the names of these people unless I have to. It's been 37 years since John Lennon was murdered but to this day I refuse to say the name of the guy who shot him--just a personal peccadillo), as Trump did, as a "very, very sick individual" are not at all helpful in establishing a useful baseline for understanding how these people operate.
According to Follman, and it seems eminently reasonable, people like the Las Vegas shooter don't just go along, living their lives, going about their daily routines, and all of a sudden "snap". You read about a murderous rampage in some domestic situation, attributed sometimes to a sudden change in brain chemistry, but it's not like the guy had a Zagnut bar, came home and killed his whole family.
"What the surprise among family members or neighbors about a perpetrator 'snapping' really tends to mean is that 'they didn’t know what was going on in his life that led up to it,' says Dr. Russell Palarea, a Washington DC-based threat assessment professional."
The Vegas massacre was extremely well thought out, well planned, and the shooter was well provisioned. Investigators, even guys who have seen this stuff before, are impressed (if that's the right word) at the effort this guy put in to making sure everything was perfect before breaking those windows.
Calling these people insane isn't very helpful and does a disservice to people who actually are mentally ill, most of whom are not violent. What investigators are interested in is what has come to be called the "pathway to violence". There is a progression of events that build up, sometimes over years. There is also, typically, an obsession with military style weapons (one enormous reason to make sure this type of weaponry is unavailable). It's also likely, or at least very possible, that this guy "leaked" his intentions to someone.
Deconstructing motives, intentions, and linkages leading someone down that pathway to violence can be tricky. You may all recall at least some of the details surrounding events leading up to the Newtowne massacre. Signs were there but were either missed or ignored.
But here's a takeaway. What can legitimately be done to prevent someone from taking the path to violence is somewhat known, but not always possible. What is possible is doing whatever is necessary to keep assault weapons or semi-automatic military style attack weapons that can be easily transformed into a form of automatic weapon, out of the hands of....everyone. There is simply no need for these things. They are made for one purpose only. Killing as many human beings in as short a time as possible. They aren't needed for hunting or self-defense. You don't need an AK to kill a squirrel.
Which brings us to the next item on the pathway to violence checklist. Rather than making it harder to own such weapons, after each and every recent mass murder, Republican congressional "leaders" and red states have made it easier. A LOT easier. Christ, the NRA was trying to get a bill passed that would let people on the fucking FBI watchlist purchase assault weapons!
David Frum, in the Atlantic points out that it's not as if nothing changes after a gun massacre. There ARE changes. For the worse:
"A mass shooting increases the number of enacted laws that loosen gun restrictions by 75 percent in states with Republican-controlled legislatures. We find no significant effect of mass shootings on laws enacted when there is a Democrat-controlled legislature."
Yup. Confederates serve the merchants of death.
"This may explain why gun advocates insist that the immediate aftermath of a spectacular massacre is “too soon” for the gun discussion. They want the pain and grief and fear to ebb. They want ordinary citizens to look away. Then, when things are quiet, the gun advocates will go to work, to bring more guns to places where alcohol is served, where children are cared for, where students are taught, where God is worshipped. More killings bring more guns. More guns do more killing. It’s a cycle the nation has endured for a long time, and there is little reason to hope that the atrocity in Las Vegas will check or reverse it."
Confederates don't just help point the way to the Pathway to Violence, they keep it clean, well lighted, easy to navigate, and make sure there are gun stores aplenty all up and down that path. Take your pick. "Oh, welcome sir. Your room is on the 32nd floor. Great view. Enjoy your stay. Gee, those bags look heavy. Oh look, here's our bellboy, little Paulie Ryan. Paulie, can you help the gentleman with these bags? That's a good boy."
Re: Tillerson's "unscheduled remarks" "...(he) denied that he had ever considered resigning and dismissed an NBC News article reporting that he had called the president a “moron.” "
Implicit, tho' unstated...he's a moron, but he's my moron."
Sweet! how they all play so nicely together.
@forrest morris: Sure.
AK, The Pathway to Violence. Great summary. And the decision to not say the name of the killer is core to the issue. Like terrorists, his primary goal was to become famous and the media supports him.
Now I get it...
The little king goes to Puerto Rico for a few hours. In that short period of time, he's insulting, mendacious, self-aggrandizing, belittling, condescending, indulgent of fake news.
In other words, a typical day with Trumpy.
But of the many questionable, offensive, and curious things he said, one stood out for it's specificity and seemingly out the air quality. After patting himself on the back (Jesus, enough with the back pats, already, he's gonna get scoliosis!) for doing the greatest job in the history of the world at getting supplies to help those poor ungrateful brown people, he said this:
"We need their truck drivers to start driving trucks."
Huh? What the hell is that all about? At first I thought it was just Trump being Trump, a racist douchebag castigating native Puerto Ricans for being lazy moochers. I guessed he pictured them all lazing about in hammocks drinking Piña Coladas giving helpful Americans the finger.
But nope, I was wrong. He was channeling Confederate fake news outlets (pro tip: there are no other kinds) which have been trading made up stories about a Teamsters strike and Puerto Rican truck drivers refusing to come to work just to show up the governor (possibly for saying nice things about King Trumpy).
Cue "False" buzzer sound effect.
The truth is more mundane and far less sensational, although in a way, a truth that shows up Trump for the liar he is.
Is it true that there are few drivers available? Yes. But not because of a strike. According to Politifact (which rates this bullshit "pants on fire" wrong), drivers can't get to work. Trump, who patted himself on the back for restoring almost all services, never bothered to confirm whether that was true or not. Likely, he didn't give a shit. First, drivers who don't live within walking distance can't get to work. There are few gas stations opened and lines are 10 hours or more. And in many instances, even with gas, they'd be unable to navigate blocked roads. And if they were able to get to work, those trucks are woefully supplied with fuel as well.
But the truth never gets in the way of a chance for Confederate "news" sites to blacken the names of unions and minorities.
So now I know.
Even worse than the attempt by winger "news" outlets to make ideological hay out of willfully misleading stories is the fact that one of their regular readers is the president of the United States, who doesn't bother to confirm a sketchy sounding rumor before repeating it publicly in order to scold "lazy" Puerto Ricans. The fact that the president* is getting his news from Gateway Pundit, Conservative Treehouse, InfoWars, and Fox is something that should concern even wingers. Because then you have this moron (thanks, Rex!) making public policy decisions based on fantasies and lies. Even they could pay the price at some point.
I'm sure that doesn't worry them, but it should.
Morongate
Did he or didn't he?
C'mon. Of COURSE he did. Look at it this way. Trumpy has always touted himself as a can-do, immensely successful businessman. Tillerson, from a remove, like many others, may have bought that ruse. But once on the inside, he was privy to the actual Trump working methodology, ie, cracked fun house mirrors and loop de loops that make you puke after getting off, people running after each other with long knives at the ready. Complete and total Fuck-a-Rama.
There's not the slightest resemblance between the Trump White House and an actual, professionally run business operation, certainly not like the company Tillerson left behind. Can you imagine if Exxon Mobil was run by Trump? He'd be telling people that it's better if they just push their cars because there's no gas this week. He made the Greatest Deal ever with a two camel Bedouin and lost his shirt for three barrels of sludge.
Tillerson's conclusion? "Moron".
But here's Tillerson's problem now (get packing Rex). Trump knows he called him a moron and threatened to resign. If Trump asks Vice President halfpence what really happened, little mikey will cave and spill the beans. Then Tillerson's ass is in the Trump sling. No amount of "I never said that" will erase, in Trumpy's squirrely little mind that fact. The Trump Loyalty Oath specifically rules out calling the boss a moron. I'm pretty sure that's on the first page.
Trumpy was already dissing Tillerson in public. It'll just get worse from here on out. Get ready for Trump Secretary of State v.2.0: Corey Lewandowski. He'll show those pesky North Koreans what's what!
Oh, and bye, Rex. You were right. But that and $4.75 will get you a
Caramel Macchiato, venti, at the Starbucks on Capitol Hill.
Tim Murphy is the quintessential forced birth hypocrite, the faithful follower of the Con and Catholic doctrines. He wants abortion for his convenience. Not because there is a problem with the foetus, or that they are financially stressed, or in a violent relationship, or any of the myriad reasons people reluctantly choose terminations. Birth control (I assume this means abstinence, he's a Con) failed so a quick D & C. It's all about projection with these people. I know that not all Catholics are anti privacy forced birthers, but their Church is. We have the right to privacy in our medical decisions, and this is a fundamental point to the right to choose. Churches and congress should butt out.
As you know, I don't think Tillerson is that smart, but he's smart enough to recognise a moron when he sees one. And stupid enough to work for one.
Tim Murphy is the quintessential forced birth hypocrite, the faithful follower of the Con and Catholic doctrines. He wants abortion for his convenience. Not because there is a problem with the foetus, or that they are financially stressed, or in a violent relationship, or any of the myriad reasons people reluctantly choose terminations. Birth control (I assume this means abstinence, he's a Con) failed so a quick D & C. It's all about projection with these people. I know that not all Catholics are anti privacy forced birthers, but their Church is. We have the right to privacy in our medical decisions, and this is a fundamental point to the right to choose. Churches and congress should butt out.
As you know, I don't think Tillerson is that smart, but he's smart enough to recognise a moron when he sees one. And stupid enough to work for one.