;)
The Commentariat -- June 14, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Kevin Liptak of CNN: "President Barack Obama on Tuesday unleashed a blistering verbal assault on Donald Trump...Obama, sounding infuriated at critiques of his foreign policy, pushed back against criticism for not using the term 'radical Islamic terrorism'...'What exactly would using this language accomplish? What exactly would it change?' Obama asked during remarks at the Treasury Department. 'Would it make ISIL less committed to try and kill Americans?'...'Would it bring in more allies? Is there a military strategy that is served by this? The answer is none of the above,' he said. 'Calling a threat by a different name does not make it go away.'" ...
... Akhilleus: Shouting "Radical Islamists! Aieee!" is probably not a reasonable strategy, but it's all Trump has. Prepubescent caterwauling doesn't stand up very well in the face of rational, adult thought.
Anora Mahmudova and Carla Mozee of Marketwatch.com: "U.S. stocks slumped Tuesday as jittery investors grappled with lower oil prices, stronger-than-expected retail sales and geopolitical concerns in Europe. Investors were given a dose of optimism in the form of better-than-expected retail sales but the start of a the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting and worries over the threat of the U.K. exiting the European Union dragged stocks lower."-- Akhilleus
Ylan Q. Mui of the Washington Post reminds us whose undisciplined rhetoric is helping to sink US stocks. Why, it's Mr. Donald J. Trump, himself. "The potential for a British exit from the European Union -- known as 'Brexit' -- and the acrimonious U.S. presidential election are political flashpoints that could feed back into the real economy. Many analysts are predicting the United Kingdom would fall into recession if it leaves the E.U., throwing financial markets around the globe into turmoil along the way. In the United States, some economists say Trump's policies could spark a trade war with China and cost the country jobs." ...
... Akhilleus: And who is a big supporter of Brexit, an event that could have seriously damaging effects on US and world markets? Oh, you know who it is...This idiot just gets worse and worse.
Brian Fung of the Washington Post reports on a big win for supporters of Net Neutrality: "A federal appeals court has voted to uphold a series of strict new rules for Internet providers, handing a major victory to regulators in the fight over net neutrality and ensuring that one of the most sweeping changes to hit the industry in recent years will likely remain on the books. The 2-1 court ruling Tuesday forces Internet providers such as Verizon and Comcast to obey federal regulations that ban the blocking or slowing of Internet traffic to consumers." -- Akhilleus
My E-mails? Oh, That's Different. Andrea Bernstein &Max Katz of WNYC: "Gov. Chris Christie's cell phone, text messages and emails from three separate accounts are missing or have been destroyed, Bridgegate defendants allege in a pair of explosive briefs filed late Monday in federal court in New Jersey. They say Christie's taxpayer-funded lawyers are hiding information about his knowledge of the politically-motivated 2013 lane closures at the George Washington Bridge."
... Akhilleus: Lost e-mails are only a scandal when they're connected to a Democrat, right Chris?
*****
Adam Goldman, et al., of the Washington Post: "The FBI investigated the Orlando shooter for 10 months beginning in 2013, putting him under surveillance, recording his calls and using confidential informants to gauge whether he had been radicalized after the suspect talked at work about his connections with al-Qaeda and dying as a martyr. As part of the investigation, Omar Mateen ... was placed on a terrorism watch list and interviewed twice before the probe was closed in March 2014 because agents concluded he was not a threat, FBI Director James B. Comey said Monday in an interview.... Several months later, in July 2014, Mateen surfaced in another investigation into the first American to die as a suicide bomber in Syria, a fellow Floridian. And, again, investigators moved on." -- CW ...
... Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Obama said Monday that while the gunman in the Orlando massacre had declared allegiance to the Islamic State and appeared to have been inspired by extremist information on the internet, there was no clear evidence that he had been part of a wider plot directed by the terrorist group.... Still, Mr. Obama said the attack underscored the Islamic State's power to inspire hateful acts":
... NEW. Palm Beach Post: "A former classmate of Omar Mateen’s 2006 police academy class said he believed Mateen was gay, saying Mateen once asked him out." -- CW
... Mark Hensch of the Hill: "The gunman who attacked a gay nightclub in Orlando on Sunday was a frequent visitor to the establishment, according to one regular visitor." -- CW ...
... Tucker Reals of CBS News: "The Orlando gay club gunman's father has well-known anti-American views and is an ideological supporter of the Afghan Taliban. A new message posted by the father on Facebook early Monday morning also makes it clear he could have passed anti-homosexual views onto his son.... The elder Mateen says he was saddened by his son's actions during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He then adds: 'God will punish those involved in homosexuality," saying it's, "not an issue that humans should deal with.'" -- CW ...
... Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "... toxic masculinity [is a] ...persistent pressure to constantly be proving manhood and warding off anything considered feminine or emasculating is the main reason why we have so many damn shootings in the United States. Whether it's Islamic terrorism or Columbine-style shootings or, as is the case with some of the most common but least covered mass shootings, an act of domestic violence by a man who would rather kill his family than lose control, the common theme is this toxic masculinity, a desire on the part of the shooter to show off how much power and control he has, to take male dominance to the level of exerting control over life and death itself." -- CW
... Steve Benen at MSNBC demonstrates how Republicans are making hay while the blood's still wet: "GOP officials, including staunch opponents of gay rights, were eager to condemn the mass shooting, but most were silent on the fact that the gunman targeted not just Americans in general, but LGBT Americans specifically.... Republicans in general were loath to mention the role of anti-LGBT attitudes in the Orlando attack, but [Ted] Cruz saw an opportunity -- not because of his sympathies, but because the slayings might be a wedge issue." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
... Akhilleus: Any chance to turn bloodshed to his advantage, Lyin' Ted will hop to it. Despicable is too nice a word. ...
... Words Fail Me. Laura Bassett of the Huffington Post: "One day after the worst mass shooting in American history, Tennessee State Rep. Andy Holt (R) said he plans to give away two AR-15 assault rifles -- the same kind of weapon used in the massacre -- as a 'door prize' at an upcoming political fundraiser. Holt, a self-described conservative Christian, had announced last week that he would give away one AR-15 at ... a barbeque fundraiser on his farm.... But when reporters asked him after the Orlando, Florida, shooting on Sunday whether he still planned to give away the assault weapon, he told reporters that he now wants to give away two instead of one." Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the link. I guess -- CW ...
... Katherine Krueger of TPM: "After 49 people were gunned down in an Orlando gay nightclub in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, [supposedly Christian] pastors in California and Arizona praised the gunman for massacring 'perverted predators' and 'pedophiles.'" -- CW
... Pete Williams of NBC News: "That suspected terrorists can legally purchase weapons in the U.S. has been a fierce point of contention in Congress and among gun-control advocates.... The Senate voted down an amendment in December that would block suspected terrorists from buying guns and explosives. The amendment, which needed 60 votes to pass due to procedural rules, failed 45-54. Five days later Senate Democrats tried and failed to force consideration of the bill.... U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin [D-Ill.] said Congress 'makes itself complicit' in mass killings by failing to enact change the laws.... Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, said 'we cannot fall into the trap set by the gun lobby that says if you can't stop every shooting ... you should not try to stop any.'" -- CW ...
... Jeff Toobin of the New Yorker: "... the Supreme Court hasn't tied the hands of members of Congress; rather, the legislators have chosen to preserve the status quo -- with the results, in Orlando and elsewhere, evident to all." -- CW ...
... Gene Robinson: "The only reasonable response to the massacre in Orlando is to ban the sale of military-style assault weapons. All else, I'm afraid, is just noise." CW: I would add that it should be a felony to manufacture (in a factory or in one's basement), sell. buy or own devices or kits to convert firearms to semi-automatics or automatics. ...
...Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: "[T]he current interpretation of the Second Amendment -- the one held onto by -- [Ben] Carson, and Donald Trump, and practically the entire Republican Party -- is a hoax. Outside of the GOP, this is widely understood. But what we fail to comprehend, as we bury more of our dead in the name of freedom, is that it is a triple-decker hoax: A lie wrapped in a fabrication, lacquered over with a falsehood. That we chose to wrap it around our necks as a symbol of our own liberty is our own fault and shame.... It is a sick joke of our democracy that after every mass shooting we must tell our children that the Framers gave us this precious gift of liberty, more valuable than their lives, and that we are stuck with it. This is the opposite of freedom. It is slavery by choice." --safari...
... Exceptional America. Kevin Quealy & Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times: "Gun homicides are a common cause of death in the United States, killing about as many people as car crashes.... This level of violence makes the United States an extreme outlier when measured against the experience of other advanced countries. Around the world, those countries have substantially lower rates of deaths from gun homicide." -- CW
Samantha Bee takes on American gun culture --safari
Dan Mangan of CNBC: "If the next president and Congress repeals Obamacare -- as many Republican elected officials want to do -- there could end up being more people without health insurance than before the law went into effect, new study says. A total of 24 million more people would lose health coverage by 2021 if the Affordable Care Act was repealed, according to the study issued Monday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute. As a result, the uninsured rate would nearly double, to 19.4 percent of the U.S. population by 2021, according to the study." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Akhilleus: What a victory that would be for Republicans. I'm sure they'd all be so proud. Those nasty moochers would be back waiting to gasp their last breath on an emergency room gurney. The Republican Way.
NEW. Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: "High-speed internet service can be defined as a utility, a federal court has ruled, a decision clearing the way for more rigorous policing of broadband providers and greater protections for web users. The decision from a three-judge panel at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday comes in a case about rules applying to a doctrine known as net neutrality, which prohibit broadband companies from blocking or slowing the delivery of internet content to consumers.... The court's ruling was a slam-dunk for the F.C.C." -- CW
Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Monday left intact a key Obama administration environmental regulation, refusing to take up an appeal from 20 states to block rules that limit the emissions of mercury and other harmful pollutants that are byproducts of burning coal. The high court's decision leaves in place a lower-court ruling that found that the regulations, put in place several years ago by the Environmental Protection Agency, could remain in effect while the agency revised the way it had calculated the potential industry compliance costs. The EPA finalized its updated cost analysis in April." CW: Pity the poor polluters & their pimps.
Adam Liptak & Mary Walsh of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an effort in Puerto Rico to allow public utilities there to restructure $20 billion in debt, striking down a 2014 Puerto Rico law. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority in the 5-to-2 decision, said the law was at odds with the federal bankruptcy code, which bars states and lower units of government from enacting their own versions of bankruptcy law.... In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, said the majority's approach was too mechanical and failed to take into account the purpose of the bankruptcy law and the impact of its decision." -- CW
Adam Liptak: "How unusual is the Republican blockade of the nomination of Judge Merrick B. Garland, President Obama's pick for the Supreme Court? After a comprehensive look at every past Supreme Court vacancy, two law professors [-- Robin Bradley Kar and Jason Mazzone --] have concluded that it is an unprecedented development.... The Senate has never before transferred a president's appointment power in comparable circumstances to an unknown successor, they said -- an argument that many Democratic lawmakers have also made. In every one of the 103 earlier Supreme Court vacancies, the professors wrote, the president was able to both nominate and appoint a replacement with the Senate's advice and consent. This did not always happen on the first try, they wrote, but it always happened." -- CW
Presidential Race
Democrats hold the last primary election of the season today in Washington, D.C., which should mean our long national nightmare is close to over. ...
... Yamiche Alcindor & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "What will Mr. Sanders ... do next? Thus far, the only certainty is that he and Mrs. Clinton plan to hold a private meeting on Tuesday.... Several people close to the senator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity..., say he will try to get assurances from Mrs. Clinton that she will fight for many of his campaign policy proposals, including a $15-an-hour federal minimum wage, a jobs program tied to repairing the country's infrastructure, and tuition-free public colleges and universities. At this point, Mr. Sanders is refusing to concede defeat and release his delegates to vote for Mrs. Clinton, which some think could avoid a sense of disunity at the Democratic convention. His refusal could be a negotiating tactic for winning concessions on the party's platform." -- CW
Amy Chozick & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump said on Monday that the massacre in Orlando justified his call for a ban on Muslim immigration and warned that if Hillary Clinton were elected president, thousands of potential Islamic terrorists would flood into the country with the intention of slaughtering innocent Americans. Mrs. Clinton, meanwhile, warned that Mr. Trump's anti-Muslim stances were damaging efforts to defeat terrorism and vowed to step up airstrikes against the Islamic State while working with the private sector to root out so-called lone wolf terrorists who are often recruited or inspired online." -- CW...
... NEW. Kyle Cheney & John Bresnahan of Politico: "Donald Trump’s combative anti-terrorism speech Monday flouted the typical post-tragedy script and left Republican insiders fretting that the business mogul is unprepared to play a crucial presidential role: national healer. Some wondered whether he failed to harness a moment to elevate himself and pass what one Republican called the 'desk test' -- the ability to picture Trump in the Oval Office in a time of crisis. And on Capitol Hill, his renewed call for a ban on Muslim immigration drew quick condemnations from GOP lawmakers, even as they struggled to stand by their presumptive nominee." -- CW ...
... ** NEW. Greg Sargent: Even Republicans agree: Trump failed his first leadership test miserably.... That is striking: The Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee wondered aloud whether the GOP standard bearer's high profile response to a major terrorist attack might actually exacerbate terror recruitment. And the Number Two Republican in the House flatly declared the GOP standard bearer's main policy proposal on terrorism to be an unacceptable religious test that would never make it to the House floor." -- CW ...
... Brian Beutler of the New Republic: Even when he "sticks to the script," as he did in his speech yesterday, Donald Trump's "performance Monday was remarkably demagogic.... Mitch McConnell has expressed his frustration with Trump explicitly as a matter of his undisciplined conduct. Trump, he says, needs to use 'prepared texts' and 'get on message.'... His ... speech Monday ... showed he can be just as odious as when he ad-libs. His scripts, it turns out, are sometimes just transcribed versions of the improvised comments McConnell finds so politically damaging." -- CW ...
Her plan is to disarm law-abiding Americans, abolishing the Second Amendment, and leaving only the bad guys and terrorists with guns. No good. Not going to happen, folks. Not going to happen. -- Donald Trump, in his speech Monday
Jesus H. Christ on a firing range, how many times is he going to say this before someone hits him with a polo mallet for being such an absurd man? Presidents cannot abolish constitutional amendments. -- Charles Pierce
The bad news -- Trumpolini might actually abolish any number of Constitutional provisions. -- Constant Weader
David Graham of The Atlantic: Obama Involved in Orlando Nightclub Shooting. "In an almost entirely unprecedented moment, Donald Trump ... suggested in interviews Monday morning that President Obama may have somehow been involved in Sunday's massacre in Orlando. Trump's suggestion came by implication, but the message is unmistakable: The president may have somehow known about or been involved in the shooting." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Akhilleus: Off the rails, into the woods, and over a cliff. You might as well vote for the guy on the subway who talks to himself. ...
... Constant Weader: The difference between Trump& the guy on the subway is that Trump doesn't take the subway. ...
... digby: "This is demented, taking things way beyond anything we've seen before in a presidential candidate.... This is a straight-up madman." -- CW ...
... Benjy Sarlin & Katy Tur of NBC News: "Donald Trump waded into the fever swamps on Monday, suggesting in two interviews that President Obama may have a secret agenda that prevents him from combating Islamic terrorists. The comments added to a long list of conspiracy theories from the presumptive GOP nominee about the president's religion, birthplace and worldview. They also sent a clear message to Republicans who have begged Trump to soften his rhetoric that he's not changing his ways anytime soon." -- CW ...
... Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Donald Trump said people can figure out for themselves what he meant when he said Monday morning that 'there's something going on' when President Obama talks about Islamic terrorism.... 'There was certainly not a lot of passion,' continued Trump. 'There was certainly not a lot of anger. You know, I'll let that, we'll let people figure it out. But it's very, very, it's a very sad situation when we have the kind of a tragedy that we had and we have a president that gave a press conference and talks about gun control. This was a licensed person, who could have had a gun anyway.' [CW: That's the point, Lunkhead.] Earlier in the interview, Trump said President Obama was angrier with him than he was at ISIS." -- CW ...
... Hey, Max Ehrenfreund of the Washington Post Figured it Out! "... during that [Fox 'News"] interview, Trump repeated a four-word phrase that has come to define his conspiratorial campaign.... 'There's something going on,' Trump said. "It's inconceivable. There's something going on.' That phrase, according to political scientists who study conspiracy theories, is characteristic of politicians who seek to exploit the psychology of suspicion and cynicism to win votes.... [Trump] said the same thing with reference to the deadly attack in San Bernardino last year at a debate in January. 'There's something going on there,' Trump told MSNBC's Morning Joe in November when asked whether Islam is a violent religion. 'There's something definitely going on.'... Polling during the primary showed that Trump was especially popular with Republicans who endorsed conspiracy theories." -- CW ...
... As have a number of other reporters and pundits, Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post wrote yesterday, "Donald Trump seemed to repeatedly accuse President Obama on Monday of identifying with radicalized Muslims who have carried out terrorist attacks in the United States and being complicit in the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando over the weekend.... On the campaign trail, Trump has repeatedly stated as fact conspiracy theories about the president, his rivals and Muslims, often refusing to back down from his assertions even when they are proven to be false." ...
... SO THEN ... Ed Kilgore: "Team Trump did reach a new and hilarious low today by banning ... the Washington Post ... from coverage of his events or direct receipt of his propaganda ... because the paper tried to make sense of rambling Trump remarks about President's Obama's reaction to the Orlando massacre...." -- CW ...
... Gabrielle Bluestone of Gawker recalls other news outlets & reporters whom Trump has banned. -- CW ...
... Los Angeles Times Editors: "Donald J. Trump, the loose cannon who would be president, hinted Monday that President Obama might be complicit in terror attacks by Islamic extremists, including Sunday's bloodbath in Orlando, Fla. That accusation by innuendo marks a new and repugnant low for Trump, who along with his surrogates is engaged in a smear campaign reminiscent of the dark days of McCarthyism." -- CW
... ISIS-Recruiter-in-Chief. Dana Milbank: "... exploiting the weekend's massacre in Orlando, Trump is claiming 'thousands' of American Muslims, protected and hidden by their coreligionists, are prepared to commit even greater carnage.... If that were too subtle, Roger Stone, Trump's confidant and informal adviser, said on Sirius XM that Huma Abedin, a Muslim who is a top Hillary Clinton adviser, could be a Saudi spy or a 'terrorist agent.' Trump also floated, again, the notion that President Obama is in cahoots with the terrorist enemy -- thus accusing the commander in chief of the capital crime of treason.... Trump has long floated versions of Obama-as-Muslim-traitor conspiracy theories.... Trump warned Monday that the terrorism seen in Orlando 'is going to get worse and worse' -- and, thanks to him, that's probably true." -- CW ...
... David Ignatius of the Washington Post: "Even by Donald Trump's standards, his comments about the Orlando shooting have been reckless and self-serving. They are also dangerous for the country.... Trump's polarizing rhetoric ... may be the best thing the Islamic State has going for it, according to some leading U.S. and foreign counter-terrorism experts.... The strongest remaining force that propels the Islamic State is the Islamophobia of Trump and his European counterparts, argue senior intelligence strategists for the U.S.-led coalition.... It's breathtaking that a serious presidential candidate would call on a sitting president to resign following a terrorist attack, because 'he doesn't get it or he gets it better than anybody understands.' What's that supposed to mean, if not a slur against Obama's loyalty?" -- CW ...
... Not to put too fine a point on it, William Saletan of Slate: Donald Trump is "an ISIS stooge." -- CW
New Clinton Trump E-Mail Scandal! Paul Singer of USA Today: "In 2006, when a judge ordered Donald Trump's casino operation to hand over several years' worth of emails, the ... The Trump Organization [said it] routinely erased emails and had no records from 1996 to 2001. The defendants in a case that Trump brought said this amounted to destruction of evidence, a charge never resolved.... Judge Jeffrey Streitfeld was stunned.... 'If somebody starts to put forth as a fact something that doesn't make any sense to me and causes me to have a concern about their credibility in the discovery process, that's not a good direction to go, and I am really having a hard time with this.'" Trump has called Clinton a "criminal" and "guilty" of deleting e-mails when she was secretary of state. -- CW
** Trump could become a dictator. -- CW
CW: Assuming there will never be a President Trump, I am looking forward to "Trump, the Opera Buffa."
Capitalism is Awesome
Adam Edelman of the Daily News reminds us that gun manufacturers win no matter what: "Shares of gunmakers shot up Monday as investors anticipated a new wave of weapons purchases in the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.... The spikes came one day after a lone gunman who pledged allegiance to ISIS opened fire inside an Orlando nightclub killing at least 49 people and injuring 53, sparking renewed fears among gun owners of future gun control measures." ...
... Akhilleus: After each new atrocity (they coming with increasing frequency), the gun knobbers get the Red Alert: Horrible Nee-Groe sending black helicopters and beret-wearing UN Frenchies to grab your guns! Danger! Those in dire need of brains panic and race out to purchase more firepower than on display at Bastogne during the height of the Battle of the Bulge. After the rush on guns and ammo, Republicans kill any attempt at gun control and everyone settles in to fondling their new weaponry until the next atrocity when it's DANGER! all over again. Mass murder or not quite mass murder, or just a simple case of road rage or wife killing, the gun lobby wins and the gun manufacturers take it to the bank.
Beyond the Beltway
American "Justice" Ctd. Les Zaitz of The Orgegonian: "A deputy protected his relatives from blame in a random shooting by arresting the 911 caller who reported it, resulting in a foul-up that raises fresh questions about embattled Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer. The district attorney didn't pursue a case, instead rebuking Palmer and his deputy. The county quietly paid the caller $12,000 from its insurer to fend off a lawsuit. 'This incident is the most egregious abuse of power I have ever seen,' said attorney Edie Rogoway, who represented the arrested man." Via RawStory--safari
Way Beyond
Angelique Chrisafis of the Guardian: "President François Hollande has convened crisis talks after a man convicted for terrorist offences and claiming allegiance to the Islamic State stabbed a French police commander to death in front of his house outside Paris, then killed his partner who also worked for the police." -- CW
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Reader Comments (19)
This blog from Gawker supports my theory that the Orlando killer was a self-hating, closeted gay man--who nevertheless had more than a few gay experiences. He, as do many homophobes, projected his self-loathing onto openly gay men, because he could not deal with their proud celebration of gay sexuality. Even his first wife thought he was gay. At this point, it seems pretty obvious. He is not the typical "radical Islamist."
http://gawker.com/multiple-people-say-the-orlando-shooter-was-gay-1781932976
@Kate Madison: I think so, too. His self-loathing was obviously magnified by the fact that his father proclaimed that homosexuality was an abomination to God. (If that's what the old man says in public, just imagine what rants he went on in private.) There are multiple reports that he hung out in gay clubs, & one would surmise his attraction to men there must have repulsed him. As you say, these were men who were celebrating who they were rather than hiding in a closet & "compensating" for their sexuality by making homophobic slurs.
Some Islamic teachings -- especially his father's -- certainly contributed to his homophobia, but not any more so than the teachings of fundamentalist Christianity do to others.
In the end, there are hundreds of thousands (or millions) of Americans who have extremist views against one group or the other, for whatever psychological reasons &/or cultural influences that got them there. The "government" certainly can't keep track of them all. The real culprits here are Republicans (and some Democrats) in Congress, gun-lobbying groups & anyone -- Donald Trump -- who backs an extremist view of the Second Amendment & refuses to urge a ban on assault weapons & other sensible gun control measures.
(Trump's ignorance on the topic is stunning. Read the quote Andrew Kaczynski posted, and what Trump says is, in effect, "We can't have gun control because murderers can get guns legally anyway." That makes zero sense. Perhaps it's intentional double-speak, but I think his mind just doesn't work right. Add that quote to your growing list of his remarks that move you to think, "Just this one statement disqualifies Donald Trump from holding high public office.")
Marie
So now we are adding 'demented' and 'madman' to 'crazy', 'lunatic' etc.
Again, we are not dealing with your classic political narcissist. When will the truth finally be said.
And note that there was one person standing on the roof cheering the massacre.
At this moment, the headline at the NYTimes reads: "Orlando Mass Killer, an ‘Americanized Guy,’ Shows Threat of Lone Terrorists in ISIS Era NYT Now"
For me, it continues to be that first chilling 'read' I felt when I spotted his flirty, flirty eyes and coy mirror-reflecting moues of the selfies... thereafter, the 'terrorist' aspect didn't fly except as the macho cover-up for a likely lover spurned.
Who drives 125 from Ft. Pierce to Orlando and KNOWS what club to go to? Who SEEMS to have a sense of the club layout where others might hide during his rampage? Not a first timer there! Wonder if the club has CCTV footage retained from other times that would show Omar Mateen on earlier visits?
He terrorized those in the club. But, linking him to political terrorists such as ISIS is seeming a stretch for a purpose that others have. P.S. Daddy Dearest is a piece of work!
For a switch in gears here––for just a moment––taking a break from feeling such fury over the lack of this feckless Congress to address any change in gun laws and governors like Rick Scott who refuse to face the facts. And then of course we have this man who would be King spouting absolute corrosive nonsense while Orlando continues to bleed.
So––here;s a piece from TNR: 19 reasons the Democrats will remain divided and what it means for the party's future along with other insights by a cast of dozens. Voices carry loud and clear––some more loud than clear.
https://newrepublic.com/article/133776/split
I still believe the "Islamic" aspect of Orlando horror is just a smoke screen for homophobia. We cannot forget the likes of this "christian":
https://www.yahoo.com/news/republican-candidates-attend-rally-where-014821801.html?ref=gs
Well, shucks all you "Hogfest" feasters, I'm gonna give away two AR-15 assault rifles weapons as door prizes, says Tenn. State Rep. good ole Andy Holt (R). Surely an appropriate response to the mass shooting two days ago for him and his ilk. Let's put more fuel to that fire, folks, cuz we be wedded to them guns like moths to flame and feasting on all that pork gives our dicks the kick that's needed in perilous times.
http://new.www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/andy-holt-gun-door-prize-orlando-shooting_us_575f0d84e4b071ec19eec3a7?cps=gravity_2425_-1810638436402107794&kvcommref=mostpopular
We're nowhere near the end of our electoral ordeal, with a week short of five months left to go. It's slightly over a month until the GOP circus kicks off in Cleveland. While there will be fireworks it's a foregone conclusion that Shitting Bull will be anointed leader of the tribe.
On 9 November the president elect and senators may take an advil and go back to sleep while newly elected congressmen will be getting ready to start ringing phones for 2018 donations.
I once thought we lived in a litocacy, rule by lawsuit, but now I believe we are damned to an eternal election cycle.
Marie,
Thanks for the Figaro clip. Not sure who Trump would be in this opera, but I'm guessing it wouldn't be Figaro. He's way too clever and resourceful to be played by Drumpfus. In which case he'd have to be Cherubino, the "farfallone amoroso", a little pain in the ass satyr always running after the women.
Prior to this scene, however, Cherubino has been caught in flagrante, as they say, and is being sent off to the army to flail away, as Figaro happily informs him, amidst "Di bombarde, di cannoni". Toy soldier Trumpino, who believes marching around a parade ground in high school in a smart uniform makes him the equal of those who have seen combat, should suffer such a fate. He'd be running for the hills at the sound of the first "cannoni".
By the way, if we could make it work, I would pay to see that misogynistic blowhard dressed up in women's clothes (Act 2). Oh yeah. I'd pay a lot for that ticket.
Not sure what opera would suit Trumpino best, but it would probably have to have a mad scene. He'd be a natural.
OK, Marie started this opera thing again.
So, Akhilleus, perhaps "Threepenny?" The whole thing is mad, and it has pimps, slashers, thieves, corrupt officials, faux pirates.
Trump could play Jenny in drag.
Patrick,
Ya know, he really does look a little like Lotte Lenya, now that you mention it.
Here's what I don't get: Trump has proven time and time and time again that he is not fit to be President. And yet the RNC or GOP or whatever they collectively call themselves won't do anything about it. Somebody tell me, what is stopping them from saying, "Mr. Trump, we are done with you. Go home. We will reimburse any reasonable expenses after the date we declared you our nominee. We've changed our minds." It's not like he's got the keys to anything. Or he can hold them hostage. What's he going to do? Sue them? What is the big deal? Am I missing something?
Oh boy! Russian hackers got into the DNC computers and gained access to the database of opposition research on Trump:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-hack-idUSKCN0Z0205
The article says that hackers also made attempts at the Trump and Clinton campaign computers.
Looks like Donny got is buddy Vlad to find out what the DNC knows about him.
President Obama, speaking after a meeting of the National Security Council:
Plain, harsh words. May he continue to speak this way for the next six months!
Drat, video link didn't transfer. Here is the link to the maddowblog page:
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/obama-shreds-republicans-terror-talking-points
Nancy,
I've noticed you don't miss much.
My answer to your question lies in the current disheveled state of the Koch-Confederate Party. Trump has split--it was bound to happen, an inevitability awaiting only the moment and in this case, the man, to happen--the Confederate base of the party, where the votes are, from the free-(as in free for me) market lunatics who funded them for years but didn't by themselves have the votes to elevate their lackeys to office.
And the Trumpster has proved he has the base they need firmly in his pocket. so for now he's in charge.
What is referred to as the party's establishment might like a quiet divorce, but what remains of that establishment will remain married to the Trumpster, for this election cycle at least, even tho' their partner's public face embarrasses them. The small government, don't-regulate-me wing of the party plighted their troth to the devil years ago, sealed it in blood and now, although that the deal is open to public view, they can't afford to break the bond.
Without that bond to their base, they have nothing.
@Ken & Nancy: Standing up and doing the right thing? What if the major media outlets—print, tv, online—refused to attend another Trump venue until he rescinds his ban on the Washington Post or other journalists because he doesn't like what they say about him: e.g., "telling the truth about the orange one."
Yeah, I know...dream on. My small effort is to do fewer clicks on any articles dealing with Drumpf.
Opera for Ak: Mephistopheles in Faust
MAG: Yeah, "standing up and doing the right thing." Now there's an idea.
Ken: I see your point. As a philospher said, "What is left when honor is lost?"
And, and Trump says, "Sad!"