;)
The Commentariat -- February 22, 2018
Afternoon Update:
John Wagner & Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Thursday doubled down on his idea of arming some teachers as a deterrent for school shootings and praised the top leadership of the National Rifle Association as 'Great American Patriots.' In morning tweets, the president claimed the strategy of arming teachers would be far less costly than hiring guards and that 'ATTACKS WOULD END!' The tweets echoed a solution that Trump pushed during a 'listening session' Wednesday at the White House, which included relatives of some of the 17 people killed by a gunman last week at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida. 'Highly trained, gun adept, teachers/coaches would solve the problem instantly, before police arrive,' Trump said in one tweet." ...
... See Akhilleus' comment in today's thread on what a good idea this is. Mrs. McC: Another thing to look at is the way Trump came up with his brilliant "gun-control" ideas: he asked Junior & Eric & some dinner guests at Mar-a-Lago. A normal leader seeking to reduce gun violence would employ expert analyses to determine the most effective solutions. He would not try to talk kids into his dumb ideas at a session where he had to be reminded to listen. Should he hear from survivors? Of course. But those 16-year-olds are not experts, either, even if they are far more reasonable than Trump. Trump's reign of ignorance continues to amaze me, even though it's really all I expect. ...
... Louis Nelson of Politico: "... Donald Trump claimed Thursday morning that he did not suggest the blanket arming of teachers at a White House listening session a day earlier, accusing CNN and NBC News of misinterpreting his proposal. 'I never said "give teachers guns" like was stated on Fake News @CNN & @nbc. What I said was to look at the possibility of giving concealed guns to gun adept teachers with military or special training experience -- only the best. 20 percent of teachers, a lot, would now be able to immediately fire back if a savage sicko came to a school with bad intentions,' the president wrote on Twitter Thursday morning in a pair of posts.... Trump's online explanation of his proposal differs from the language he used Wednesday at a listening session with survivors and victims' family members from last week's high school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Addressing the group, Trump suggested that teachers undergo firearm training and be allowed to carry concealed weapons inside schools." ...
... Philip Bump of the Washington Post looks at some of the economics of arming & training more than 700,000 teachers -- Trump's proposal -- a number of trained marksmen nearly the size of the Army & Navy combined.
Florida House Finds Solution to School Shootings. Jeffrey Solochek of the Tampa Bay Times: "With the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High shooting still looming large, its students in the Capitol to lobby for gun controls, the Florida House overwhelmingly passed a measure Wednesday its sponsor said aimed at bringing 'light' to the schools. The bill (HB 839) would require all public schools to post the state motto, 'In God We Trust,' in a 'conspicuous place.'" And this was a Democrat's idea.
Barbara Starr, et al., of CNN: "With tensions flaring between ... Donald Trump and national security adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the Pentagon is considering options that would allow the President to potentially move the three-star general out of his current role and back into the military, according to half a dozen defense and administration officials.... There was discussion in the West Wing about replacing him last fall, but he ultimately survived because officials, including the President himself, were skeptical about the optics of appointing a third national security adviser in less than a year.... The decision was also driven by the White House's challenge attracting top talent for jobs in the administration due to Trump's 'blacklist' of individuals who have criticized the President...."
Ali Dukakis of ABC News: "A Trump-appointed federal judge who donated to the Trump campaign and worked on his presidential transition team has rejected requests to recuse himself from overseeing a legal battle involving Fusion GPS, the research firm that commissioned the so-called 'dossier' of unverified intelligence that contains claims about Donald Trump's alleged ties to Russia."
*****
Julie Davis of the New York Times: "A week after a gunman opened fire with an AR-15-style assault rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., killing 17 people and prompting a rash of student-driven lobbying for new gun restrictions, Mr. Trump met for more than an hour with grieving people in search of solutions. News cameras captured the unusual listening session, revealing an emotional give-and-take between a president and private citizens that is typically shielded from public view.... One by one at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, survivors of school shootings and family members of victims shared their stories and their calls to action. The extraordinary public exchange with the president gave voice to an intensely emotional debate over how to respond to the latest gun massacre in an American school." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Because Trump has to make a show of everything -- including the raw grief of survivors & loved ones. If it bleeds, it leads. Right, Donaldo? Schmuck. ...
This is not a joke: This is a real photo of notes that Trump was holding to remind him how to talk to people:
... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Washington Post photographer Ricky Carioti captured this image of Trump's notes[.]... At least two-fifths of this card is dedicated to making sure the president of the United States assured those assembled that he was interested in what they had to say. (And we don't know what Nos. 3 and 4 say.) That's at once pretty striking for a president and not at all striking for Trump. Through tragedy after tragedy, empathy has been the quality clearly missing from Trump's reactions." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie Update: unwashed was wondering what-all was on the other side of Trump's cheatsheet; that is, the side he could see & refer to during his "listening session." I think I know: image to the right. See today's Comments for explanation.
... Mrs. McCrabbie: The very idea of Trump's holding a "listening session" is funny. One thing we know about him is that Trump only hears what he wants to hear, and when he's supposed to be listening, he's talking. Also, too, the "listening session" was a trademark Hillary Clinton campaign schtick. Of course Clinton is capable of listening. Also too, remember when everybody mocked Sarah Palin because she wrote crib notes on her hand to help her through an interview? Well, kudos to Palin because odds are she wrote those notes herself. The handwriting on Trump's "how to have a conversation" notes slants backward, suggesting the writer was left-handed. Trump is right-handed. On the plus side, there's now a paper to put into the presidential library. ...
... David Smith of the Guardian reports Trump's brilliant plan to arm teachers. Speaking of an (unnamed) coach who the Parkland gunman killed, Trump said, "... if he had a firearm, he wouldn't have had to run, he would have shot him, and that would have been the end of it." Right. A teacher with a handgun would just take down a shooter strafing the area with an automatic weapon. If Clint Eastwood can do it, why can't a school librarian? Or the nearsighted math teacher? "It emerged after the shooting at Parkland that there was an armed security guard on site but he did not get the chance to engage the gunman...." ...
... Steve Bousquet, et al., of the Miami Herald: "Florida became the epicenter of a historic debate over gun violence Wednesday as a growing #NeverAgain movement seized the national spotlight to demand action a week after the massacre in Parkland. At a raucous two-hour rally outside the state Capitol, thousands of people, many of them students, demanded action by legislators in the last two weeks of the session or risk being thrown out of office, as they mourned the deaths at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. 'They were students and teachers and coaches, and they died because you failed,' student Sheryl Acquaroli said of Florida's leaders, 'and they are bigger heroes than you will ever be.'... The largest demonstration at Florida's Capitol in nearly two decades came together in just a few days." ...
... Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Senator Marco Rubio and a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association were repeatedly heckled at a nationally televised forum on Wednesday night in Florida after they refused to back new gun control measures. The spokeswoman for the N.R.A., Dana Loesch..., strongly defended the gun advocacy group's positions in front of students and teachers from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. 'People who are crazy should not be able to get firearms,' she said, insisting that enforcement of mental health laws, not new gun restrictions, would prevent future massacres. Mr. Rubio ... also drew the ire of the crowd for refusing to support a ban on assault weapons and for saying that he intended to continue accepting money from the N.R.A. and other groups that support his pro-gun agenda." ...
... Marc Caputo & Rebecca Morin of Politico: "Jeered and booed by the crowd, buffeted by tough questions, Rubio stood alone as the only Republican onstage, in purple Florida's liberal bastion of Broward County. He broke with President Trump on whether to arm teachers. Rubio said it was a bad idea. He said he would favor raising the minimum age to purchase an assault rifle from 18 to 21. And he said he would consider restricting the size of magazines for firearms. It was a striking turnabout for Rubio, who never met a gun-rights bill he didn't vote for in the Florida Legislature and, later, in Congress. But Rubio said he wanted to prevent another massacre and said it was time for everyone to start rethinking their positions." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Let's see what you actually do, Marco. "Rethinking" is not an agenda item.
... Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Seven days after the killing of 17 people at the Broward County school, Republicans, who dominate government in the state, are facing pressure unlike any they have experienced before to pass legislation addressing gun violence. The State Legislature is in session for roughly two more weeks, and Republicans have concluded that it would be catastrophic to wrap up without doing something to address the mounting outcry. The debate now is over what counts as doing enough.... The students have called for a range of new restrictions, including expanded background checks for gun purchases and a ban on the sale of military-style firearms. Yet Republican officials, including Gov. Rick Scott and the leaders of the Florida House and Senate, appear set on pursuing a far narrower resolution -- a package of incremental measures that would improve certain background checks and bolster mental health services and school security.... That emerging disagreement could help define Florida politics in a critical election year, testing Republicans' decades-old grip on state government and handing proponents of gun control a potent issue to wield with moderate voters." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Nicole Chavez of CNN: "David Hogg has become a strong voice among survivors of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The attention has ... made him the subject of smear campaigns and demonstrably false conspiracy theories.Either he has been 'coached' by his father, a former FBI agent; or he is a 'pawn' for anti-gun campaigners; or, the most far-fetched, he is not a victim but a 'crisis actor,' paid to travel to disaster sites to argue against stricter gun laws. 'I'm not a crisis actor,' Hogg told CNN's Anderson Cooper ... Tuesday. 'I'm someone who had to witness this and live through this and I continue to be having to do that. I'm not acting on anybody's behalf,' the 17-year-old added.... On Tuesday, Hogg criticized those who amplified the claims and said it was disturbing that Trump Jr. liked the Twitter post." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... AND Then There's Texas. Shelby Webb of the Houston Chronicle: "Needville ISD [Independent School District, near Houston,] Superintendent Curtis Rhodes on Tuesday threatened to suspend any student who disrupts schools or walks out to protest current gun laws. In a letter sent to families and published on schools' social media sites, Rhodes said students would face a three-day, out-of-school suspension if they joined in growing protests nationwide over the shooting at a Florida high school last week.... A National School Walkout is set for April 20, the anniversary of the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado. The walkout is being organized by a Connecticut student who lives near Sandy Hook Elementary where 20 students and six staff members were gunned down in 2012." ...
... AND Then There's This Fine Congresswoman. Aaron Rupar of ThinkProgress: "During an interview with an Albany radio station on Wednesday, Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) reacted to calls for gun control ... by claiming that 'so many of these people that commit mass murders end up being Democrats.'"
This Russia Thing
Investigate Mitch! Alex Shephard of the New Republic: "Donald Trump wants to know why Obama didn't do more about Russian meddling. He should ask Mitch McConnell.... [President] Obama tried to do something about Russian meddling but was blocked by Mitch McConnell. Last year, The Washington Post reported that McConnell 'voiced skepticism' when presented with intelligence by the FBI suggesting that Russia was trying to undermine Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign. Because of McConnell's intransigence, the Obama administration decided not to go public with the information, fearing that it would just lead to a partisan squabble and accusations that it was trying to influence the election on Clinton's behalf.... The Obama administration could have done more to publicize Russian interference in the 2016 election, sure. But it failed to act because of partisan pressure from Republicans." (See also Louis Nelson's report in yesterday's Commentariat.) (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Tom Winter, et al., of NBC News: "Federal investigators are probing whether former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort promised a Chicago banker a job in the Trump White House in return for $16 million in home loans, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told NBC News. Manafort received three separate loans in December 2016 and January 2017 from Federal Savings Bank for homes in New York City, Virginia and the Hamptons. The banker, Stephen Calk, president of the Federal Savings Bank, was announced as a member of candidate Trump's Council of Economic Advisers in August 2016. Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is now investigating whether there was a quid pro quo agreement between Manafort and Calk.... The sources say the three loans were questioned by other officials at the bank, and one source said that at least one of the bank employees who felt pressured into approving the deals is cooperating with investigators. In court filings Friday related to Manafort's bail, federal prosecutors said they have 'substantial evidence' that a loan made from the bank to Manafort ... was secured through false representations made by Manafort, including misstatements of income." ...
... Josh Gerstein of Politico: "New charges have been filed in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's criminal case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and aide Rick Gates, but the charges were put under seal by the court, obscuring the nature and import of the development. The new charging document filed in federal court in Washington could be a superseding indictment, adding new charges or even new defendants to the charges filed last October, accusing Manafort and Gates of money laundering and failing to register as foreign agents for their work related to Ukraine, among other crimes." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Ryan Goodman, in Slate, on the downsides of accepting a presidential pardon. "The dilemma for ... Trump campaign affiliates is not simply that a presidential pardon would fail to erase the risk of a state prosecution but rather that their acceptance of such a pardon may significantly increase the prospect that state prosecutors will both pursue a case and secure a conviction.... Individuals run a significant risk that acceptance of a pardon would be used by state prosecutors as an admission of guilt.... In a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1915, Burdick v. United States, the justices stated that individuals have a right to refuse a pardon because 'acceptance' of one carries with it a 'confession of guilt.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: One thing that strikes me is that a presidential pardon probably would not subject Michael Flynn to state prosecution. As far as I can tell, the laws he broke (or may have broken) all are federal laws. ...
... Jon Greenberg of PolitiFact: "Trump said that he 'never said that Russia did not meddle in the election.' In reality, he called the matter a 'made-up story,' and a 'hoax.' He has said that he believes Russian President Putin's denial of any Russian involvement. He told Time, 'I don't believe they (Russia) interfered.' Even when he has acknowledged the possibility that the Russians interfered, he has added that it could have been other countries or even individuals. Trump's denial doesn't match what he has actually said."
"Chain Migration" for Me But Not for Thee. Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "The parents of first lady Melania Trump have become legal permanent residents of the United States and are close to obtaining their citizenship, according to people familiar with their status, but their attorney declined to say how or when the couple gained their green cards. Immigration experts said Viktor and Amalija Knavs very likely relied on a family reunification process that President Trump has derided as 'chain migration' and proposed ending in such cases.... Questions over the Knavses' immigration status have escalated since Trump campaigned for the White House on a hard-line anti-immigration agenda.... Trump has repeatedly blasted the long-standing policy as 'chain migration.' In last month's State of the Union address, the president called that process a threat to Americans' security and quality of life. Under his plan, he said, only spouses and minor children could be sponsored for legal residency. But immigration experts said that such a path was the most likely method his in-laws would have used to obtain permits to live in the United States."
Gardner Selby of PolitiFact: mike "Pence said in Dallas that 'along the southern border of the U.S.,' the government apprehends 'seven individuals a day who are either known or suspected terrorists.' We found no facts that back up this border-specific tally. Nationally in 2017, the federal government says, Homeland Security stopped 2,554 individuals on its terrorist watch list from entering the country, which breaks out to seven people a day. Most of those individuals tried to enter by air, the government says."
Let's Send Ivanka! Mark Landler of the New York Times: "When the sister of Kim Jong-un made her historic visit to the Winter Olympics in South Korea two weeks ago, saying nothing but commanding noisy press coverage, the South Korean news media quickly called her 'North Korea's Ivanka.' Now, President Trump is sending the real Ivanka. The question is whether Ms. Trump, with her fashion industry glamour, can counter the news media narrative set by a mysterious North Korean woman, Kim Yo-jong, who is a director of her totalitarian government's propaganda and agitation department. White House officials recoil at any parallel between the dictator's sister and the president's daughter. But the comparison is obvious, if invidious, given their family pedigrees. And Ms. Trump may benefit by another comparison: to Vice President Mike Pence, who sat near Ms. Kim during the opening ceremony of the Olympics and seemed unable to strike the same chord as she did with South Koreans."
Annie Gowen of the Washington Post: "... the [U.S.] embassy in New Delhi said Thursday that its staff did not advise or assist Donald Trump Jr. on a foreign policy address he is set to give Friday while on a private business trip to India. The embassy was responding to questions about a letter released Wednesday by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to the U.S. ambassador in India raising concerns about the embassy's engagement with Trump Jr., who is in India for the week to promote various Trump real estate projects around the country -- a trip that has already netted his company $15 million in sales on Monday alone, according to one of his local partners.... The president's eldest son is set to give a foreign policy speech at a global business summit in New Delhi on Friday titled 'Reshaping Indo-Pacific Ties: The New Era of Cooperation' alongside India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, and other high-ranking Indian government officials." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Okay, but I'm sure brother-in-law Jared combed through the tippy-top-secret files on India & told Donnie what to say, including "Kushner Industries is great, too. Send money." ...
... In a video accompanying Gowen's story, Donnie is seen sporting a bindi -- the red dot between the brows commonly used to identify a Hindu woman as married. I consulted the Googles where I learned that the bindi also may be worn by men to facilitate bringing out their inner guru & to suppress the ego. Will. Not. Work.
Christina Wilkie of CNBC: "Within weeks of leaving his job as director of Oval Office operations, [Donald Trump's long-time bodyguard Keith] Schiller's private security firm, KS Global Group, began collecting $15,000 a month for 'security services' from the Republican National Committee. According to an RNC official, Schiller is being paid for security consulting on the site selection process for the 2020 Republican National Convention. Schiller's fee comes out of the RNC's convention fund, not its campaign fund, the official noted.... 'These sorts of party accounts are notorious for being operated as slush funds -- lightly regulated and ripe for abuse,' said Stephen Spaulding, former special counsel at the Federal Election Commission and now chief of strategy at ... Common Cause.... If the RNC continues paying Schiller at this rate until the 2020 Republican National Convention, his total fees will likely be north of $500,000."
Burgess Everett of Politico: "A must-pass, roughly $1.3 trillion spending bill may be the last chance before the midterm elections for the two parties to achieve their top immigration-related priorities: protecting Dreamers from deportation or build[ing] ... Donald Trump's border wall. Whether they can succeed after their repeated failures is anyone's guess, but they're expected to try." Mrs. McC BTW: I didn't think there could be a government shutdown over this bill, but contributor Forrest M. was right: it's a possibility. So possible federal government shutdown March 23. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
John Bresnahan & Rachel Bade of Politico: "Welcome to the Frat House of Representatives. The past year in Congress has been a lowlight reel of nonstop unethical -- and, in some cases, potentially illegal -- behavior. Three House members resigned over alleged misconduct. Four others announced they won't seek reelection, an option they took to head off party leaders forcing them out. Just last week, Politico reported that Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) is threatening to depose Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) in his divorce case. Turner wants to know about Issa's relationship with Turner's estranged wife, though Issa has denied any improper behavior." the reporters list some of the lowlights. Mrs. McC: I would like to point out that this apparent run of bad behavior is nothing new. The #MeToo movement, which has encouraged the airing of sexual harassers, has led to the outing of most of these creeps.
Boo-Fucking-Hoo. Nancy Scola of Politico: "Twitter has pruned more suspected trolls and fake accounts from its platform, prompting several of its most outspoken conservative users to complain Wednesday that they had lost thousands of followers overnight. Conservatives quickly decried what they called the '#twitterlockout,' adding it to their list of grievances against what they see as an ideologically liberal tech industry. The topic also got heavy promotion among Twitter accounts that some researchers have linked to Russia's online influence campaigns." Among the whiners are James O'Keefe & Michael Flynn, Jr., along with Dan Bongino, "who appears as a frequent commentator on Fox News." Mrs. McC: This is, of course, a tacit admission by confederates that a portion of their "following" is bogus: Russiabots & trolls.
Sarah Jones of the New Republic: "While swathes of rural America are indeed mostly white, rural communities have always been home to black and Native Americans, and they also draw growing immigrant populations." Mrs. McC: Quite interesting: the part about TrumpFood boxes was an eyeopener for me.
Beyond the Beltway
John Boden of the Hill: "Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey (R) called for a 'conversation' about impeaching state Supreme Court justices over their new congressional map, which both parties say will benefit Democrats. At a press conference, Toomey said it was 'inevitable' that state lawmakers would consider impeachment over the redrawing of the state's new congressional maps, which he called a 'power grab' by state Democrats." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Just to be clear, Toomey is a U.S. senator, not a state senator. And, since election of U.S. senators is statewide, he is not directly affected by the court's ruling, a ruling that attempts to comply with the state's constitution by giving all voters more-or-less equal representation. Any normal person could see that the court's decision -- besides meeting constitutional requirements -- restores fundamental fairness. But sociopathy seems to be a GOP qualification for office, & concepts like fair play are anathema to them. They're all like the stock bratty rich kid who always demands a "do-over" in games she loses & throws a tantrum if she doesn't get the "biggest half."
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Reader Comments (27)
Um, “What would you want me to know about your experience”? Gee, you mean how it felt to have a nut with an assault rifle mow down my friends? Or whether I was really hoping to survive the ordeal so I could vote for you if I lived to be 18?
Someone actually had to remind Trump to ask a question like that. Clearly he didn’t come up with that because he really doesn’t care what anyone thinks, aside from Fox fools.
I was, however able to extrapolate the numbers 3 and 4 questions. Number 4 is “Where the fuck do you think I’m going to get the resources for your stupid ideas? From the NRA?”
And number 3 is “How much is George Soros paying you?”
The best is that he had to remind himself to say “I hear you.” I’m surprised he didn’t jot down “Where’s the men’s room? I gotta pee.” And “remember to invite any cute babes to the White House for a, um, personal ‘listening session’”.
I noticed an advertising flyer in the Florida Times-Union this morning from Academy Sporting Goods with two pistols on the back cover. Just on a hunch I checked inside and sure enough.....AR-15s.
Get them while they're hot, folks!
I wonder what was written on the side of the card that Drumpf is looking at?
@unwashed: Excellent point. A guy who can't read his essential daily briefing is not going to be able to handle all those words on the cheatsheet. It looks as if he was relying on the side of the card that had visual cues: sad face, concerned face, zipped-lip face.
There is more than that one photo of Trumps notes out there. The Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald has a thumbnail shot that shows almost all of that front side. There's got to be a bigger one to read numbers 3 and 4.
@Bobby Lee: New York mag has a photo that shows all of #4. It reads, "resources? ideas?"
I watched part of the CNN Town meeting last night. We had Bill Nelson (D-Fl) and Marco Rubio (R-Fl) representing the parties; we had that loquacious police sergeant who rattles on but makes excellent points; and finally we had a representative from the NRA, a sleek, perfectly made-up spokeswoman who knew exactly how to promote the NRA's position and make it sound like mother's milk. The kids weren't buying it. Someone was missing.Rick Scott was a no show––I'm sure he had more pressing appointments–-the ones that take place late in the evening? As much as I don't trust Rubio I must give him credit for standing there and taking the vitriol and I thought he dealt with this quite well. He never said he wouldn't take money from the NRA–-what he did say was he accepts money from all venues –-"doesn't mean I do their bidding"–––ok, then, so let's see you stretch that non-bidding to the NRA.
The sad display that Trump provided in his "listening session" was hard to watch. The crib notes that were clutched in his tiny hands reminded me of Reagan's "Note cards" that his staff had to make for him on a daily basis. In this case someone made a list for him in how to respond––lacking empathy and a heart he has to be guided in the most rudimentary ways.
By the by––I am right handed and for years my writing slanted rightward but decades ago my writing took a left turn. My husband and one of the sons are lefties whose writing is straight up–-neither right or left slanted.
P.S. If this country has lost much of its standing in the world our children have shown that they are the ones that are can make a difference. I think we might have reached a turning point here––their voices are loud, passionate and persuasive and their numbers are in the thousands. They make me weep.
Looks like Hope the Ho's handwriting on the card. Another "cheat" I noticed in the New York mag photo Bea linked above. Dumbass has "45" embroidered on his cuff so he doesn't forget which president* he is impersonating.
I also noticed that "45" on the president's* shirt cuff. I took it to be
his IQ, or maybe his waist size, or the number of illicit affairs, or
the number of contractors stiffed, or on and on.
Advice From the Craven
Regarding the possibility of the various emoji faces on the back of Prez Cheat Sheet's card, I'm guessing, based on the picture of him sitting next to a sobbing girl during his "listening session" that there must also have been an Apathetic Face, 'cause he looks bored to shit.
And speaking of that "listening session", Trump, after not listening, opined that the football coach who was killed trying to shield students from the NRA Man of the Month would have been alive and no one else dead if only he had a gun. In his locker. Here's what Moron Don said (from the Guardian piece, linked above):
"But if he had a firearm, he wouldn’t have had to run, he would have shot him, and that would have been the end of it. This would only obviously be for people who are very adept at handling a gun. It’s called concealed carry, where a teacher would have a concealed gun on them. They’d go for special training and they would be there and you would no longer have a gun-free zone. Gun-free zone to a maniac, because they’re all cowards, a gun-free zone is: 'Let’s go in and let’s attack, because bullets aren’t coming back at us'."
Okay, let's break down this fatuous nonsense. "..he would have shot him, and that would have been the end of it." Really, Don? He does try to qualify this blankly stupid statement by saying teachers would go for "special training"--and then they'd be Wyatt Earp. Natch.
Let's see how people with real special training do--under stress--in a gun fight (that's what this would be--a gunfight).
A Rand consulting report looking at firearm discharges by the New York City Police Department, over a number of years, finds that "...nationally, police officers often miss their targets (Morrison, 2006, p. 332). The NYPD reports hit-rate statistics both for officers involved in a gunfight and for officers who shoot at subjects who do not return fire. Between 1998 and 2006, the average hit rate was 18 percent for gunfights."
Highly trained New York City cops only hit their target 18% of the time. Is this what President Doc Holliday means by "that would be the end of it"?
Then there's this: "On average, more rounds were discharged during gunfights than during other types of incidents. In 2006, the number of shots fired per gunfight incident was 11.1, compared with 4.7 for incidents against subjects who did not return fire."
So now you're in a gunfight. Someone is shooting at you. Chances are you're going to unleash a lot of bullets. You have, at the very best, less than 2 chances in 10 of hitting the shooter. Where do those other bullets go in a crowded school hallway with kids running around like crazy? And now what if there were five or six other armed "specially trained" teachers, all with their guns drawn, shooting into the crowd?
Ho-hum, a mere detail.
So, okay, maybe you're closer to the shooter. How do the statistics look then? "According the Rand report "Accuracy improves at close range, with officers hitting their targets 37 percent of the time at distances of seven yards or less..."
So at around 20 feet or less, the chance of hitting the shooter--if you're a highly trained New York City cop--goes up to almost 4 in 10.
Is THAT the end of it?
Now lets look at real gunfighters. At the famous Gunfight at the OK Corral, there were 10 participants. All experienced shooters, and at least a fair number, pretty crazy too. Only 3 were killed. Two others wounded. And we're talking about guys who were standing still shooting at each other from about 20 feet. Some of the most famous gunfighters in the history of the world had only a 1 in 2 chance of hitting their target during a gunfight. At 20 feet. And only three were killed outright. Wounded people can still shoot back.
Yet, according to Trump, Mr. Chips, or Miss Crabtree, with some "special training" will do better than Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the Clantons, and "that will be the end of it".
So now you're saying, well, that's just New York City. Other cities might be better.
Nope. Other major cities average a hit-rate of around 30%. And that's including hitting subjects who are unarmed and just standing there (this also includes dogs, who are typically not brandishing Glocks). Likely, statistics on accuracy under fire would be similar to that experienced in New York.
The debate around guns is so fraught with stupidity and outright lying, I can't even begin to categorize it. Trump's idea of leadership is to load up the schools with weapons? At two of the recent school shootings, in Kentucky and Florida, there were school resource guards, both armed. They did nothing to take down the shooter.
And before I go, let's talk about one of Trump's favorite words: coward. "Everyone knows" that these shooters, these "maniacs" are "all cowards". Seriously? Who knows that? People who walk into a crowded place and start shooting come in three varieties. Hardened criminals, say, robbing a bank. Terrorists. And mentally disturbed people. The "maniacs", as Trump terms them, are disturbed. In many, if not most, cases, they expect to die, probably hope to die. Many kill themselves. This is not cowardice, this is the action of seriously disturbed individuals. The kid in Florida may have been an asshole, but he was a crazy asshole.
The simplistic bromides and one dimensional memes that pass for critical thinking on the right, about one of the most serious issues of our time, make the situation far worse than it is already. That isn't leadership. THAT's cowardice.
And that's the end of it.
Social media sites are trying to clean up things with regards to the bot and troll problems, however one recent cleansing has evidently created yuge White House outrage. "Trump Furious After Twitter’s Bot Purge Leaves Him with Fourteen Followers?" " Trump's following plummeted " Reports indicate that "as of Wednesday, Trump’s fourteen remaining Twitter followers included his daughter Ivanka; his sons Eric and Donald, Jr.; several White House aides; and someone named Heinrich Himmler III.."
Unnamed WH sources say that staff is preparing notes with talking points for a press conference to be scheduled.
PD wrote: "...their voices are loud, passionate and persuasive and their numbers are in the thousands."
Exactly why Junior and Trump BFF Alex Jones, the NRA, and a phalanx of Confederate hit men are attacking them.
Apropos of Patrick's warning of the difference between automatic weapon fire and that from regular handguns, here is an eye opening piece by a radiologist who treated victims of the latest NRA slaughter at Parkland, Dr. Heather Sher.
"I was looking at a CT scan of one of the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who had been brought to the trauma center during my call shift. The organ looked like an overripe melon smashed by a sledgehammer, with extensive bleeding. How could a gunshot wound have caused this much damage?"
Sher continues "The bullets fired by an AR-15 are different...The damage they cause is a function of the energy they impart as they pass through the body. A typical AR-15 bullet leaves the barrel traveling almost three times faster than, and imparting more than three times the energy of, a typical 9mm bullet from a handgun...The high-velocity bullet causes a swath of tissue damage that extends several inches from its path. It does not have to actually hit an artery to damage it and cause catastrophic bleeding. Exit wounds can be the size of an orange."
And even better?
"With an AR-15, the shooter does not have to be particularly accurate...Handgun injuries to the liver are generally survivable unless the bullet hits the main blood supply to the liver. An AR-15 bullet wound to the middle of the liver would cause so much bleeding that the patient would likely never make it to a trauma center to receive our care."
This is the sort of weapon the NRA has demanded be sold far and wide across America, with minimal background checks, if any. Because freeedom. And MONEY. Would Wayne LaPierre be moved by CT pictures of AR-15 wounds? Would Trump? They'd dismiss them as fake.
Heather Sher doesn't have that luxury. Neither do the victims. You get hit with one of these, very likely, you're going to die.
Another banner day for the NRA Slaughter Tour, coming soon to a school or mall or day care center near you.
Read the whole piece.
Arm the teachers? Turn schools into barricaded military bases? That'd solve the problem for sure.
Reminds me of a question I asked myself the other day that I still haven't answered.
Does the Right have ANY ideas that aren't nutty?
What possible twist of mind would conclude that the schools are the problem?
I'm sorry, but I just can't get over the blank stupidity of Trump's talking about how great it would be if teachers all carried concealed weapons. Can you imagine a teacher, in a room with first graders, moving all day, having to make sure her concealed handgun doesn't fall out? Or would Trump insist she or he wear one of those upside down shoulder holsters Steve McQueen wears in the movie "Bullitt"? He'd probably love one of those. So manly.
But just think of having to do this all day, every day. And what if one day (because teachers, even with "special training", are not primarily gunslingers) a teacher forgets to put the safety on and the weapon falls out and goes off, killing a child? What does Trump say then? It was Obama's fault?
The whole idea is so incredibly fucking stupid, not to mention what it does in other ways. Even if, let's say that not all that many kids are shot accidentally. Maybe ten or twenty a year. What does it do to a kid who gets a glimpse of a weapon in Miss Crabtree's shoulder holster? (Oh, don't worry, Jimmy, it's just my Glock.) What does it do to Miss Crabtree herself to be walking around with a loaded weapon all day, every day, for years? And what about teachers who have just fucking had it after a bad day and decide to whack some jerk who cuts them off in traffic?
It's no surprise that countries that don't have the treasure trove of deadly weapons we do are so much safer to live in. Just the presence of a gun, in your glove compartment, in an ankle holster, in your night table, changes the psychological well being of the owner. How can it not?
(I'm just glad some of the nuns I had in grammar school weren't coming to class packing. We had a nun in the second grade--SECOND GRADE--who threatened to kill us all. For talking. Kill us! A number of kids were so scared they burst into tears. True story. And in the same way that Marie vividly recalls hearing about a classmate having killed his brother, years later, at a high school reunion, the half dozen or so people who were in that second grade class remembered that day perfectly. Violence, even the threat of it, makes a life-long impression.)
If Trump and his BFF, Wayne LaPierre, had their way, teachers would come out of school with a teaching degree and a concealed carry license.
The complete transformation of the Open Society to a domain of authoritarian fear and violence.
But hey, they'd sell a shitload of guns.
Ken asks: "Does the Right have ANY ideas that aren't nutty?"
Answer: No.
From the stunning Atlantic article referenced by Ak: 'A reporter asked House Speaker Paul Ryan about gun control, and he replied, “As you know, mental health is often a big problem underlying these tragedies.” And on Tuesday, Florida’s state legislature voted against considering a ban on AR-15-type rifles, 71 to 36.'
An apt paraphrase might be "...a mendacious mentality is often a big problem underlying the bought-and-paid-for mindsets of confederates-who-care-less in Congress."
If one takes the time to read that article and the description of what damage that particular weaponry does, How? How? in the world can someone continue to babble about Second Amendment rights in support such gun ownership? Until there is some horrible incident that personally affects one, two or more of those pseudo-Constitutional defenders, we won't see any action to ban the guns will we?
@ Akhilleus
Yeah, it was a gimme.
And the Florida motto, "In God We Trust" has always seemed to me an admission (mostly, but apparently not exclusively, by the Right) that they have no idea how to solve any problems by themselves. Just set a course toward certain disaster, close their eyes and rely on the Big Chestnut Puller in the Sky to save their (and our) sorry asses.
Also, if 20% of teachers were specially trained and armed, and you were last week's shooter:
-- you've got an AR15, they've got shortbarrel handguns. You have the range on them by 300 meters easily. In tactical situations, outranging=killing the short round
-- and you've got the higher rate of fire. Not by much (some handguns have a pretty high cycle), but by some non-trivial measure. In tactical situations, higher rate kills lower.
-- you know to shoot and kill every non-child you encounter, before shooting children in sight, because each of the non-children may be armed. In a tactical situation, "may be" = "is" for the shoot/no shoot rule. Also, realize that most of those 20%-ers are locked in their classrooms, not actively hunting you.
-- since you may counter armed opposition, never take your AR15 out of the duffel bag. Just get a light fabric bag and shoot through the end. Works fine, and doesn't betray that weapon profile immediately. Plus, you can keep your fast reload clips right in the bag!!
-- before going to school, GoPro a sign that says "Check this out, Orange-dude!!", then start recording just before you start shooting. Drop the GoPro on the way out, you'll get guaranteed coverage and WH commentary!! More if you get killed!!
Some may say shooters don't think that much. But I think they do after thousands of sessions of "Kill'em All First Person Shooter", and because some evidence shows that at least some of these dudes think about maximizing their "score."
Oh, and DiJiT is an idiot, but some would say that that doesn't even need to be said, I guess.
AR15, the pretender. Useless for home defense because it could kill your children, wife or a neighbor if fired in a house at an intruder. Real hunters would laugh you out of camp if you brought one deer hunting.
However, the AR15 is wonderful at the firing range: bang, bang, bang, three niggers down; bang, bang, bang, bang, four libruls down: bang, bang, two Obamas taken care of; bang, bang, bang, bang, four invaders from black helicopters destroyed
The AR15 owner feels much better diving home. Next week he will pretend he is shooting some spicks and slopes.
@Patrick, simple solution is to arm everyone with a 50-cal BMG. It's got the range and you don't even need to hit 'em. Just get close enough to let the concussion of the round passing by do the dirty work.
Looks like Frank Rich and I are on the same page. (See his latest interview over on New York magazine:
"Compromise is not going to end the rising wave of mass murder in America any more than it ended slavery. With all our focus on the mental illness of crazed killers like Nikolas Cruz and Stephen Paddock, we tend to lose sight that it’s another sign of mental illness that American political leaders and their apologists do nothing while the country literally destroys itself with gun violence.
My boldface added for emphasis!
Jeez! Do you guys have some big schools or what? 300 meter (1000 ft) hallways.:-)
The US military is really proud of the AR-15. The Geneva convention outlaws dumdum bullets. Bullets with expanding tips designed for maximum damage. In the .223 cal AR-15 you have a weapon which turns a pointed bullet into an unstable projectile to tumble through the body shredding flesh and bone as it goes. But police forces use dumdum bullets to shoot civilians. You want that maniac armed with a knife or cellphone to go down now.
Just listening to the NRA reps speaking. Now there are people who should be banned from owning guns for reasons of mental derangement.
A Different Kind of Traitor
We've pretty well established that the entire Republican Party is composed of traitors. Traitors to the essential idea of America. Traitors to Democracy. Traitors to politics, economics, and education.
Wayne LaPierre, who holds many of those traitors by their tiny, barely visible balls (metaphorical balls for Republican women), traitors who kowtow to the agency that promotes--for money--weapons that murder children so efficiently, is a different kind of traitor.
Screaming that anyone who stands in the way of the promulgation of the best, most efficient murderous weaponry, those who demand the most efficient hand-held killing tools be controlled, must be haters of freeeedom and exploiters of pain and suffering (pain and suffering caused by weapons he supports wholeheartedly), LaPierre presents himself as a traitor to humanity. He is the anti-Christ of humanity. A sworn enemy of civilization, decency, and life itself, posing as the savior of civilized life. He is the drug dealer who pretends to be outraged by the ravages of the drug trade. He is the drunken driver who complains that people shouldn't be crossing the street when he is careening, drunkenly and irresponsibly down the road, he is the pimp who preens about the importance of respecting women.
And Trump is his benefactor, friend, and testicle cleaner. And so is the entire Confederacy. And here's ol' Wayne-O complaining about "elites". A guy who makes over a million dollars a year isn't exactly Joe the fucking Plumber.
These people are different kinds of traitors. They are traitors to humanity itself. Traitors to progress, enlightenment, refinement, to mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, families, cousins, aunts, uncles, stepsons and daughters. They are enemies of life.
History will judge this prick and his garish band of greedy, haughty, insignificant assholes like Paul Ryan harshly. He is the fucking Torquemada of modern America.
But here's a suggestion for the media. Put the kibosh on this Torquemada. Don't publish anything he says or does. Ignore him. Deflate him. Flatten him. He lives to have his most inflammatory statements reprinted and replayed ad nauseum so that his bilious, gun knobber Beelzebubs can cheer him and obey his demands to attack any and all who denigrate his ideology of death. Deny him that.
Torquemada wielded power only so long as people were afraid of him.
The original Torquemada (Wayne the First) was so extreme that the pope himself had to rein him in. After he died, his stinking, fetid bones were dug up, burned into charcoal and likely pissed on.
Same for you, Wayne-O, you pig-fuck, murderous rat bastard.
As proof of the treasonous, hateful, death-affirming position of Confederate "leaders", Ted Cruz is describing outrage at the recent school murders as "tiresome".
No, Ted, what's tiresome, is your routine, atrocious response to the deaths of innocent Americans, described as being an annoying inconvenience.
These people are evil fucking monsters.
Ak: Message from India. Who gives a fuck about donald trump jr?
We got Justin Trudeau here and he's all over the news because we
like and respect him, unlike that jr person with the greasy hair and
the funny face. WTF. What's wrong with your country?