The Commentariat -- June 12, 2016
Orlando Sentinel: "A shooting at Pulse Orlando nightclub has resulted in mass casualties. Dozens of emergency vehicles surrounded the chaotic scene at the club at 1912 S. Orange Ave. after the 2 a.m. shooting and rescue squads were transporting multiple victims to area hospitals.... Police reported just before 6 a.m. that the shooter inside the club was dead." CW: This is a breaking story (at 6 am ET).
... New Lede: (9:10 am ET) "Twenty people are dead after a shooting at Orlando's Pulse nightclub in what investigators are calling an act of terrorism, Orlando Police Chief John Mina said at a morning news conference.... Officers killed the gunman, who has not been identified, in a shoot out and referred to him as a "lone wolf." He was carrying an assault rifle, a handgun and was possibly wearing an explosive 'device.'... The Federal Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation. Agent Ron Hopper said they cannot rule this out as an act of domestic terrorism and that the suspect, who is not from Orlando, may have leanings toward extreme Islamic ideologies." -- CW ...
... New Lede: (11:30 am ET) "A lone gunman armed with a pistol and an assault rifle killed 50 people and injured 53 more at a gay Orlando nightclub early Sunday morning in one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history. Federal and local authorities are investigating the massacre as a possible terrorist attack and say the gunman may have ties to extremist Islamic ideologies. The man, whom officials have identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen of Port St. Lucie, was killed after a shootout with Orlando police." -- CW ...
... The New York Times has live updates here. -- CW
Presidential Race
Kristen East of Politico: "Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard encouraged her followers on Saturday to sign a petition ending the Democratic Part's use of superdelegates." ...
... CW: For the record, I favor some system of superdelegates, although I'm not sure how their votes should best be weighted. In a representative democracy, it isn't horrible for elected representatives to have an outsized roll in choosing the party's candidate for president. If the GOP had more than a few superdelegates, it's likely we wouldn't have "presumptive presidential nominee Donald J. Trump."
The Insult Campaign, Ctd. Jose DelReal of the Washington Post: In Tampa, Florida, "Donald Trump called for the Republican Party to fall in line behind his presidential bid Saturday during campaign swings through Florida and Pennsylvania, attacking skeptical members of his own party along with Democratic rival Hillary Clinton." -- CW
Tom Boggioni of RawStory: "The most powerful media companies in the U.S. have joined forces in a lawsuit asking a California court to release videotaped depositions given by Donald Trump taken as part of a fraud lawsuit related to his failed Trump University. According to LawNewz, CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, The Washington Post and The New York Times filed suit late Friday, requesting access to the videos of Trump speaking under oath which were recorded between December 10 and January 21." --safari
** He Took the Money & Ran. Robert Buettner & Charles Bagli of the New York Times: "On the presidential campaign trail, Mr. Trump ... often boasts of his success in Atlantic City.... A central argument of his candidacy is that he would bring the same business prowess to the Oval Office, doing for America what he did for his companies.... But a close examination of regulatory reviews, court records and security filings by The New York Times leaves little doubt that Mr. Trump's casino business was a protracted failure.... Even as his companies did poorly, Mr. Trump did well. He put up little of his own money, shifted personal debts to the casinos and collected millions of dollars in salary, bonuses and other payments. The burden of his failures fell on investors and others who had bet on his business acumen." -- CW
Liar-in-Chief, Ctd. Ben Schreckinger of Politico: "When Donald Trump boasted in an interview aired on Sunday that he 'made a lot of money' in a 2009 deal to rent a New York-area estate to Libya's then-dictator, Muammar Qadhafi, he did not specify what he did with that money. But back in 2011, when pressed on the matter, Trump assured a reporter that the money had all gone to charity, a claim that Politico has been unable to verify and that his campaign is unwilling to confirm. The episode adds to a series of unverified or exaggerated claims of charitable giving that have been dogging the presumptive Republican nominee.... Trump's past pledges that the proceeds of his ill-fated vodka line, Trump Vodka, and of his 2015 campaign book, 'Crippled America,' would go to charity are now also coming under scrutiny because of a lack of evidence that he followed through on them." -- CW
Cautionary Tales. Carlos Lozado of the Washington Post: "... two novels depicting homegrown strongmen have become ways to interpret Trump's campaign and to imagine his presidency. Sinclair Lewis's 'It Can't Happen Here' (1935) features a populist Democratic senator named Berzelius 'Buzz' Windrip who wins the White House 'in the late 1930s on a redistributionist platform -- with a generous side order of racism -- and quickly fashions a totalitarian regime purporting to speak for the nation's Forgotten Men.... Philip Roth's 'The Plot Against America' (2004) offers a similarly harsh vision of that era, imagining the slow implosion of a working-class Jewish family when the Republican Party nominates aviator Charles Lindbergh for the presidency in 1940. The victorious Lindy strikes a pact with Hitler, launches federal programs that break apart and resettle Jewish communities, and promotes anti-Semitic thuggery.... Reading these works in this moment, it is impossible to miss the similarities between Trump and totalitarian figures in American literature -- in rhetoric, personal style and even substance." -- CW
... Robert Becker of Salon compares Donald Trump to "Charles Foster Kane, the impulsive, narcissistic target of satire in Orson Welles' classic 'Citizen Kane.'" Thanks to Nancy for the link.
Dream Big. Michael Cohen in the Guardian: "Quite simply, the Republican electorate looks nothing like the rest of the American electorate.... Trump has shifted his attacks from foreign targets to actual American citizens, making it harder for even Republicans to defend them...Ironically, Trump's rise, rather than signalling a turn toward nativist, authoritarian politics in the US, could, in the electorate's rejection of him, usher in a more progressive political era." --safari
Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "During a question-and-answer session with CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer before around 250 Republican donors gathered [in Park City, Utah,] for the Romney-hosted Experts and Enthusiasts summit..., [Mitt Romney] said this year's group of [Republican] primary candidates misplayed their hand. By spending months attacking each other and ignoring Trump, he argued, they made a severe tactical error that allowed Trump -- who Romney has criticized as a 'con man' and a 'fraud' -- to escape unharmed.... Romney reserved particular scorn for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who Romney endorsed late in the primary process. The Texas senator, he pointed out, spent extensive time during the campaign praising Trump. He also said Ohio Gov. John Kasich had divided the anti-Trump vote by remaining in the race long after it had become clear he didn't have a realistic pathway to the nomination -- a message he said had relayed personally to the Ohio governor. And Romney chided Right to Rise, the $100 million-plus Jeb Bush super PAC that spent heavily to tear down Bush rivals other than Trump." -- CW
... Ines de la Cuetara of ABC News: "Republican donor Meg Whitman, the high-profile Hewlett PackardEnterprise president and CEO, indicated at Mitt Romney's closed-door summit on Friday that she would likely be supporting Hillary Clinton in November, according to multiple sources who were in the room.... Whitman served as Romney's finance co-chair in 2012." -- CW ...
... Theodore Schleifer of CNN: "Republican fund-raisers are beginning to fret that Donald Trump does not comprehend the magnitude of the challenge before him, warning that if he fails to execute the basic tasks of fund-raising during a critical six-week stretch, he will find himself badly outgunned this fall." -- CW ...
... Chas Danner of New York provides a good summary of the fractious meetings at the Romney event. ...
... AND more of the same from Philip Rucker of the Washington Post. CW: It appears the lords of the castle were sleeping when the pitchforks forged in their own factories surrounded their fortress, & the crude battering rams of the raging hordes smashed down the doors of their smug complacency as the effete Prince Rebus & Sir Paul de Ryan attempted in vain to broker the peace.
Beyond the Beltway
Caitlin Dineen of the Orlando Sentinel: "Singer Christina Grimmie, who was shot and killed after her show in Orlando[, Florida,] Friday night, did not know the man who shot her, Orlando police said. The 27-year-old man, who police identified as Kevin James Loibl of St. Petersburg, travelled to The Plaza Live theater with two small-caliber handguns Friday night.... Grimmie's brother, Marcus Grimmie, immediately tackled the suspect. The suspect then shot and killed himself, [Orlando Police Chief John] Mina said." -- CW
... The Cowboy & the Bicycle Thief. Julia Moore of KDRF-TV: "Police say that a woman was yelling about her bike being stolen [in front of an Eagle Point, Oregon, WalMart] and a nearby man [-- Robert Borba --] unloaded a horse from a trailer, lassoed the man and pulled him back toward the store.... Eagle Point Police arrived on scene and arrested the man, identified as 22-year-old Victorino Arellano-Sanchez. He was lodged in the Jackson County Jail." Includes video. CW: Outstanding. Fewer guns, more lassoes, please.
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Reader Comments (22)
@John 954 wrote yesterday, "Seriously, Donald said, 'Who was this taxicab?' There is really something clinically wrong with that man's brain."
Couldn't agree more. Trump's odd language pattern could be a sign of fatigue &/or stress: he reportedly doesn't sleep much, & certainly running for president is stressful. But as I've said for some time -- to a good measure of professional pushback -- it represents some form of mental dysfunction -- as in "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" -- that isn't explained away by narcissistic personality disorder. Here, I suppose one could argue that Trump calls a man a taxicab because functionaries like cab drivers are not actual people to him, but I think he regularly exhibits this kind of verbal lapse.
Marie
Looks like we here on R.C. are way ahead of the Washington Post re: Trump comparisons. Many moons ago Buzz Windrip and Roth's novel was mentioned. Achilleus even went back to ancient times and dug up Caligula who didn't like it one little bit!
The NYT story above re: Trump's casino failures and other dodgy dealings plus the other story about his supposed charity giving is so welcome but wish it would have been forthcoming much earlier.
I love the new variation on the NRA slogan: "Lassos don't kill people." And that's all you have to say!
Interesting read on the Danner - New Yorker article on the Romney event. The closing paragraph says it all.
Summit visitors had at least one thing to be excited about, however. According to Politico, the prospective 2020 contenders in attendance, like Ryan, Scott Walker, and senators Tom Cotton and Ben Sasse, were apparently mobbed by enthusiastic donors.
Typical myopic insider thinking. "It didn't work last time, so lets do it again, only this time harder".
Damn. People with guns kill people.
I accompanied my wife to the airport gate this morning and had to sit under a CNN teevee blathering inanities about Orlando. "He may have had ties to Islamic extremists!" and a lot of "We don't know yet, but..." statements.
The first speculation that came to my mind was that it might be a right-wing anti-gay gun nut who said "Allahu akbar!" to paint the wrong group as guilty. Total speculation, but at lest as valid as any drivel coming out of the "news" people.
Re the not-so-successful look (finally!) at Trump's alleged riches, one has to wonder. He won't release his tax reports, which while NOT indicating net worth could expose quite a different story. Somewhat buried in the reports on his problems in Atlantic City, is when the banks/creditors imposed a $450,000 per month 'allowance' on him. Interesting. How long did that limitation last? How did he managed to go from being on a 'budget' to bragging he is worth $10-billion. Are branding rights that profitable?
'Name' on buildings, but, not the developer. What's the payback?
How many ties did Macy's have to sell to contribute toward that percentage? What about a winery not really making a profit? A kaput exclusive steak biz? How many strip steaks does a billion-dollars make? He may have received millions per year for his Apprentice series, but those millions don't seem to add up to billionaire numbers.
Wouldn't you think a forensic accountant could come up with some realistic valuations of his actual worth.
...and then this morning's horror story.
Orlando. Guns. NRA. Misogyny. What's left to say.......
Given that this latest exercise in the effectiveness of the NRA in making sure as many Americans are shot each year took place in a gay nightclub, I'm wondering how the FBI decided so quickly that it could be related to some Islamic terror plot. Authorities say they have no idea who the guy is but assume that he is or could be connected to Islamic terrorists. Unless the guy was running around shouting about Allah, I think it's far more likely he was a right- wing "Jesus hates gays" type of terrorist. But never mind, the media, especially Fox--and Ozytrumpias--will run with the apparently baseless Islamic assumption.
Oops. My post about the Orlando shooting was still in progress as Nisky Guy landed on the same square. I hadn't read that the shooter was yelling about Allah, but there is still a possible wingnut connection. In all the terror attacks I've heard about, at least those connected to radical Islam, this is the first, to my knowledge that specifically targeted gays. I realize hatred and fear of gays is something certain Muslims share with Confederates, along with a desire to live in a theocracy, but the choice of a gay club is still out of the ordinary for terror targets. In any event, I'm curious as to where and how this guy got his weapons. Probably from an NRA sanctioned vendor with no background check.
No "Oops" necessary. And I don't know that he was yelling anything. But yeah, seems as plausible as anything they are saying on TV.
role
Death toll up to 50 at that nightclub with 53 wounded.
Look for NRA apologists, gun knobbers, and Republicans to all pin this on the work of a "disturbed loner" if the Islamic connection doesn't pan out. A one time only, extremely rare event. The 258 th in the last year.
Googled images of Omar Mateen, who apparently was a self-absorbed individual and spent a great deal of time taking selfies.
Terrible crime, hard to comprehend...
To me it looks like ISIS's favorite American, Adolf Trump just helped kill 50 people.
What? No vulgar, inane tweets from Trump about the shooting? How presidential of him. Or else someone hid his Twitter machine.
You mean to tell me there's no automatic disqualification for becoming President of the United States if you have multiple judgments or lawsuits filed against you?
Congress should introduce a bill that says candidates are required to release (legitimate) tax returns; that is, verified by the IRS.
Why hasn't such a bill been introduced?
Re: Orlando, some signs are pointing towards a massive hate crime. It'll be very interesting to see how the GOP stands behind the LGBT community to denounce these horrific attacks. I see ol' Gov. Rick Scott claims this as an attack on "our people". I assume the hate crime aspect will be completely avoided as per usual.
And Trump's tweet is, again, completely narcissistic. Nothing is ever NOT about Trump. He starts his tweet with "Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical terrorism, but I don't want congrats..."
A friend, with whom I've shared a long & thick history, just wrote - -
"The aspirations of a bygone era seem like some impossible, distant dream."
- - accompanied by the following 2015 Daily Kos piece, "When Hippies Roamed The Earth", introduced by an excerpt from Randall Allen Shields' "Floating".
I thought it might also resonate with the Reality Chex Community.
Cheers -
https://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/5/24/1387310/-When-Hippies-Roamed-the-Earth?detail=emailclassic&link_id=3&can_id=091262697a6e017262b183bd80a48c09&source=email-cartoon-trump-gets-a-new-mexican-judge&email_referrer=cartoon-trump-gets-a-new-mexican-judge&email_subject=cartoon-trump-gets-a-new-mexican-judge
"When Hippies Roamed The Earth" =>
Better/More Concise Link . . .
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/5/24/1387310/-When-Hippies-Roamed-the-Earth
"Gimme that old time religion
Gimme that old time religion
Gimme that old time religion
It's good enough for me."
"The office of Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, a Republican and evangelical Christian, on Sunday deleted a tweet . . . that was sent out shortly after the deadly attack on a gay nightclub in Florida."
" 'Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows,' read the Bible verse Patrick sent out on his official Twitter account a few hours after the worst mass shooting in U.S. history that left at least 50 dead."
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0YY0TA
...."Orlando. Guns. NRA. Misogyny. What's left to say......." This was part of MAG's comment about The Donald; however it could certainly apply to the Orlando murderer if one adds "homophobia."
This psychological theory may be half-baked, or may be true. But I have thought about it today as I keep seeing selfies of the shooter. He might have been using his affinity with ISIS as a cover, since he may have been a closeted gay (and misogynist--he regularly beat and demeaned his ex-wife) who was consumed with self-loathing. My "gay dar" went up as I looked at those pictures. But the biggest clue is that the killer's father said his son was so upset about seeing two gay men kissing several days ago that he could not stop talking about it.
I am inclined to think this guy was a miserable, unadmitted, shame filled homosexual who projected his self hatred onto gay men--who were courageous enough to live their lives openly and without shame.
The Texas Christian politician who celebrated the murder and maiming of over 100 gay men with his vicious, bloodthirsty tweet is not the only winger singing hossanahs that terrible, awful homosexuals were brutally assassinated. And Hater in Chief Ozytrumpias is using the tragedy to try to prove, over a like of dead bodies , that he was right all along.
The Confederate culture in this country, and elsewhere, g
Has become so toxic, so hateful, so evil, that one would seem utterly beyond belief that anyone could declare themselves a supporter of such malicious mayhem, but all we have on the right in this country are frauds and slimy pigs like McConnell and Ryan who do just that. Oh, there'll be the usual "How terribles " and "We'll pray for the victims" bullshit, but this guy didn't just decide gay men who kiss need to die because it upsets certain family members. He has grown up in a country in which an entire political party feels the same way. And any attempt to say different can be easily thwarted by reading out the triumphalist statement celebrating the murder of Americans these assholes believe need to die.
Words, as they often do when attempting to understand Confederate perfidy, fail.
"Congress should introduce a bill that says candidates are required to release (legitimate) tax returns; that is, verified by the IRS.
Why hasn't such a bill been introduced?"
Probablywouldn't pass Constitutional muster. Tax return release now is voluntary and only works when candidates feel shame at not complying (See Sanders, B. and Trump, D.)
<< Words, as they often do when attempting to understand Confederate perfidy, fail. >>
They do indeed, Akhilleus. Yet you manage to consistently pierce the bull's eye, for which RC's readers are most grateful.
Tonight, here in NYC, the Tonys will go on, with some last minute changes in response to the Orlando atrocity. And I anticipate additional expressions of grief & outrage will manifest around town, no less so here in The West Village.
From The New York Times:
“Our hearts are heavy for the unimaginable tragedy that happened last night in Orlando,” the statement said. “Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those affected. The Tony Awards dedicate tonight’s ceremony to them."
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/06/13/theater/tony-awards.html
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