Expect some fireworks this week when Kash Patel presently impersonating the FBI director testifies before both House and Senate committees. There's enough presumed malfeasance and incompetence to fill several hearings, starting with his "handling" of the Kirk killing aftermath, moving on to what almost certainly were political and illegal firings of veteran FBI agents (as apparently admitted by Patel according to the plaintiffs' filing in their wrongful termination suit), obstruction of the release of the Epstein files, the Ghislaine Maxwell interview (in which the FBI participated) and her subsequent transfer to a minimum-security prison camp, etc. etc. We may also very well have a ruling from the D.C. Circuit on Fed governor Lisa Cook's filing this past Saturday seeking to keep Demento from blocking (via a stay) a lower court decision that allows her to continue serving. Apart from arguing that the administration has not shown sufficient cause to fire her under the Federal Reserve Act, and the risks it would present to the economy and country if a president were allowed to fire a Fed governor without cause, the filing raises questions about the shaky charge of mortgage fraud to begin with. A new document shows she did not in fact commit what's known as occupancy fraud, listing a residence in Atlanta as a vacation home and not another primary residence. Of course, that has to be properly introduced as evidence in court, but a showing of intent is key to any successful prosecution for fraud and this revelation, if confirmed at trial, would belie the charge. Demento had until this afternoon (09-14) to file his response.
There's a brilliant piece on Patel in Saturday's New Yorker by Vinson Cunningham, describing Patel's chaotic response to the Kirk shooting (Kash Patel Plays a G-Man on TV). I will quote Cunnigham's description of Patel's 'disorienting' appearance at the press conference announcing the arrest of Kirk's killer.
"He had his usual hairdo going, a fratty collage of textures: slick on the sides and spiky up top. He wore a strange houndstooth tie. He was a vision of anti-gravitas. “This is what happens when you let good cops be cops,” he said, by way of introduction—a hollow locution that was nonetheless consonant with the message of the Administration for which he is such an uncannily perfect representative. Cops, now free of the restraints of wokeness and decency, can get back on the prowl where they belong....“In thirty-three hours, we have made historic progress for Charlie."
Cunningham notes that Patel left out the most important part of the story: that the killer was turned in by his own father, not something he could legitmately take credit for.
Russell, yeah, Patel just happened to leave out the most important parts like that he was dining at the time of the killing and immediate aftermath and that the FBI actually did nothing related to the killing that was in any way important. Yep, he is a reality TV guy, just like his boss Trump and neither of them has a clue what is going on, Patel because he chooses to be ignorant, Trump because he has dementia. Ugh!
Dang..l chocolate chip cookies she had to go there. As a pre diabetic or diabetic as the case might be, I don’t do sugar anymore. I’m religious. I study the recipe before buying anything. Black coffee only. There is a big difference in taste of good quality coffee when drunk with no additives. So here we are talkin’ chocolate chips. I only break down and eat a cannoli once or twice a year. Man… chocolate chip cookies.
I want one. Can it be sent special delivery? Overnight. Just one chocolate chip cookie. Pretty please?
Mary, it also requires a recipe that can use almond flour, because the point is to get rid of as many carbs as possible. I, too, am pre-diabetic, so I've had to learn how to do recipes that are low in carbs.
I'd hope BOTH low carb and gluten free alternatives--I have both diabetes and celiac disease--but I can't use almond flour because almonds promote kidney stones in some of us unlucky types. So sadly is chocolate. Rice/tapioca flour? Carob
Basically I have given up on chocolate cookies. But I can dream. When I hit ninety I'm gonna start eating all sorts of unhealthy things.
I've made a lot of recipes which I really enjoy from this site, so I feel safe in recommending the recipe. Please note that you can use any erithrytol/monk fruit (or erithrytol/stevia) product. I gave up on Swerve because I don't like that they suddenly added allulose to their products, and that's a sweetener I don't care to use. Good luck!
Cunningham reports that when Patel was dining at Rao's (which he explains is " an Italian restaurant in East Harlem famous for its red sauce and louche history") when he posted his original tweet which incorrectly claimed that the first suspect in custody was the killer. Politico reports that MAGA was not impressed.
Have not yet read it, but of course everything to do with Demento and his merry band of miscreants is performative. And as is the case in the UK, criminal prosecutions are conducted on behalf of the people, and in the public interest, not the individual victim.
Patel and Bongino caught a break on this one. The real issue how long can they stay lucky when threats abound in US society driven by those divisions caused by Trump. He says he doesn't care that he's dividing the country.
It is unfortunate that the foreign press has covered the accusations but not necessarily the exoneration. I read about it in the German Politico Berlin as if it actually was a legitimate accusation. I have not since read that it was unfounded. I did not believe it without proof.
Here are Asha Rangappa and Alison Gill talking about the intelligence community. I find Asha's link to her venn diagram most interesting if you scroll down to the text and click on the here link.
As I have said all along: Trump and his cronies are scared of Chicago - They realize that we are 3 million well prepared inhabitants ready and able to handle his dressed up bank robbers - they would be quaking in their boots: we dealt with Capone - Trump will be dealt with even quicker.
As an aside, I suggest a news person (or anyone) ask Trump: "Who do you miss most? Epstein or Kirk"
Gordon, the challenge, Trump probably doesn't really remember either of them too much. Maybe he does Epstein more because they were together before dementia set in, but he hardly remembered Kirk the next day when asked how he was doing since Kirk was killed. Trump's answer was something like "I'm fine and look out there see those trucks. They're here to build the big beautiful ballroom for the white house that should have been built 100 years ago." I know I don't have the quote exactly, but close. He had already moved on from Kirk until his "whisperers" got hold of him and fed him the hate words he ended up spewing later that day. The dementia is serious and is as I read somewhere, possibly here, that Trump's handlers/whisperers want Trump to be distracted so they can do the work of destroying our government for the benefit of the oligarchs without Trump's interference except when they need his hate, blaming, insulting, and threatening. Then, they bring him out having coached him on just what to say to get started. They know he can pump out the hate and insults with the best of them, and has no idea of what he is actually talking about. That is why Trump has all those insult lines for anyone in the press corps that asks him a question of importance. Those lines keep him from having to really answer a question he can't remember the expected answer to, and he can insult the reporter and his base will be cheering for the insult, probably trying to guess which insult he will toss out. When Fox Not Nearly News interviews Trump, they work it out that the questions are softball and may well edit the response so Trump sounds just hateful enough and mostly on track. It's interesting that CBS is not supposed to edit anything for their news programs, but Fox can do whatever it wants. Yep, free speech only for Trump and his Republican minions.
Kirk was useful, but as is the case with all authoritarians or wannabe tin-pot dictators, as Kirk's acolytes and his control over them grew (case in point, the release of the Epstein files) this undoubtedly raised concerns about a possible rival faction --- whether real or just imagined is irrelevant. They're always looking over their shoulders.
Senator Cassidy can be casual about supporting RFK, Jr., because - like all those in Congress - he has great health insurance … but voted to reduce Medicare AND nominate an anti vaccine conspirator.
Cassidy: As a member of the human species, he needs to man up and fully own his colossal mistake, with which he violated both his oath of office _and_ the Hippocratic Oath, and then get very busy forcing the insane lying crank Kennedy out. And that would be in preparation to Cassidy's getting sent packing in 2026 so fast it would knock the rust off his stethoscope.
David, yes, Republicans have become not only the Trumplican Party but also the Hypocrican Party. It is hard to know which to call them because they are clearly not for our "republic" anymore.
David, although, I am not sure they could be called "good Germans" because they are pretty ignorant of what is going on and don't speak the language. the only language they know is hatred-hypocrisy. It seems only Republicans these days speak it enough for it to be recognized.
From a decades-old Hallmark greeting card, no author given:
He was only a Chocolate Chip Cookie, but I loved him.
I met him at a party. There he was at the end of the buffet -- a loner, the last one on the plate. He had a certain something - a sweetness, a sensuality. He was one hot cookie.
I felt as if I'd always known him, always hungered for him. When he looked at me with those warm brown eyes, I melted. Before I knew it, I had my hands on him, my mouth on him - in public. After that night we were inseparable.
With him, I could be myself. He didn't seem to care what mood I was in, how I looked, even if I gained weight. Together, we had the recipe for happiness. No one satisfied me like Chip.
Then things changed. My friends said he was no good for me. He started to give me heartburn. I felt crummy, but it had to end.
Now we've gone our separate ways. I hardly think of him anymore. Oh, if I see a certain TV commercial, a particular magazine ad, a coupon for 10¢ off - that old longing returns. And when we run into each other in the supermarket, we nod.
Laurie, how sad!! One Chip will not harm you, and the rest of the cookie too. But, there is always oatmeal raisin over there on the table looking for someone to make his day. Those lovely black eyes speak of sweetness and oatmeal that can help lower your cholesterol. He's glancing your way and there is a smile on his face and a "come hither look." You know you want him and the pleasure you and he can have together. Go for it! He's waiting ....!
Ruth, you're so right. If only Chip wouldn't bring over a whole carload of relatives when he visits me. They won't let me alone, nagging at me all day long. They're as persuasive as Chip . . . . Even after all these years I haven't found a way to convince him and them to stay away. Sigh.
Laurie, OMG! That's my challenge, only it's not Chip, it's everyone else. If Chip comes over, I take him for my nephews to enjoy. I just got a new friend visiting his name is "Thinster." The one that invaded my space and my calm is "coconut." He sits there in the cookie jar, and keeps yelling at me and then, whining if I don't visit. He is crunchy bliss! Two visits a day is all I will allow myself or I can take care of a pound bag in a few hours.
Give me Archway Windmill cookies, two with coffee in the morning. My father once worked at an Archway cookie factory, and used to bring some home in his lunch bucket.
I like them, too, when I can find them. The one nearby grocery where I could always find Archway just closed, so I've got to go searching again. I'm from Michigan. There used to be an Archway factory in Battle Creek; that's where my dad worked for a time in the early 50's.
James, I had forgotten about those cookies, a major treat when on a rare occasion, Mom brought them home! One of those cookies with a glass of milk! Heaven!
Lynell, oh, almost any cookie can warm my heart, particularly if they are crunchy, fig newtons, chocolate chips, oatmeal raisin, pecan sandies, sugar, butterscotch, and on and on except for peanut butter which I can't eat anymore (how terrible)! Cookies are my weakness, as if you couldn't tell!
Lynell, doctors don't always do that. My father's doctor did not want him to have ice cream for dessert because he became diabetic at age 73. But I worked with a doctor whose take was that my father should be allowed to enjoy life at his age, especially since my mother regulated what he ate. I became pre-diabetic several years ago, and have voluntarily changed my diet because the idea of being diabetic scares me. It scares me because I know what it can do to me. I have learned that one can still eat good things if one finds the right resources. There are two good food blogs I like that are very helpful: AllDayIDreamAboutFood.com (which has cookie recipes among a wide variety of other things; the other is Simple Meal Plans (smp.to) which is by a blogger who became full diabetic after having gestational diabetes. She does some desserts, but her biggest focus is on simplicity, which I love because I no longer want to spend a lot of time cooking fancy stuff.
James, yeah, it breaks my heart too. Even though I know it will make my stomach upset, every now and then, I will eat one just because I love them so much.
Ruth, I don't know if this will help, but I went through a stage where I couldn't eat peanut butter, but somehow I got over it. I make my own now (very, very simple), and am happy to be able to eat it again. I've never liked peanut butter cookies, though. I remember making them in 7th grade cooking class, and disliking them from the first bite.
I subscribe to Melissa's Substack and pre-ordered her book. I also subscribe to your Substack and pre-ordered your book. I'm looking forward to reading both and making chocolate chip cookies. I'm a firm believer in finding comfort in food.
And at most NFL games today, they observed a moment of silence for Charlie Kirk. An act that should be reserved to honor very, very few individuals of great importance. Mr. Kirk for all his apparent notoriety (most of my friends had never heard of him until he was killed) was not one of those, and the NFL should have refused to do it. Pandering to their legion of MAGA fans is what I see here.
It's really quite extraordinary. It took me until today to realize that one huge silence has been the Christian church. Not even a peep about all the people who've been fired for saying the truth about what Kirk was promoting. I was raised Christian, in a Methodist and later a Presbyterian church but the basics were always the Golden Rule (ie empathy) and concern for the least of our brethren and looking after your neighbor and your community. Serving as a little light for Jesus, etc.
Kirk is covered in Christian sprinkles, with JD Vance, a Catholic pro tem in his latest spirtual conversion, ferrying the body of the recently departed home on Air Force Two, as you might a hugely admired government official, a saint, someone of enormous importance to the country itself. Yet what kind of Christian calls Martin Luther King "awful", wants to take away Black people's civil rights, wants to arm children, and will not tolerate all kinds of people he finds inferior to himself? (Never mind the idea of killing the homeless, as advocated on Fox within hours of the shooting.) And what has the genuine Christian church to say about all this? I have no doubt the Pope will tell us, but in the meantime there's an enormous body of Christians in this country who wouldn't dream of countenancing such behavior in the name of Jesus. Is everyone just scared to death now of being shot for saying anything at all?
Fran, I am a member of the United Church of Christ which has for decades publicly condemned political and other violence. We are a relatively small denomination and hardly considered Christian in some places because we do not, in general, support any of the right-wing threats and anti-Christian words and actions. When people like Charlie Kirk and Fuentes have almost unlimited media access, it is hard for mainstream Christians to even be heard at all. So, the churches act within communities to do what we can to help. for so many, christianity has become their club where they connect with like-minded people to stoke hatred, anger, (often under cover), for the "woke, Libs, Socialists, and whatever name they can come up with so they don't have to really think of the people they fear as their fellow Americans who do not share their hates and fears. I don't think Chahrlie Kirk thought much about Jesus' message of loving one's neighbor as oneself and welcoming the stranger. He got his kicks from pretending to debate people who didn't get a word in edgewise due to Kirk's Gish galloping and insults. That is not debate and would not be acceptable had it been a Democrat or someone on the "left" who did it. Today, the media seem to see those Kirk-style christians as Christianity in America. It is only one part, the loudest, rudest, often meanest branch.
My understanding is that Charlie Kirk started out as a secularist. I'm not sure if his decision to join the Evangelical movement was a conversion or a convenience. It certainly increased his power base.
It's not new. The evangelical wing has been around for decades, not held together by any obvious body of governance. It played a huge role in electing George W. Bush via Karl Rove. Someone in my family attends an evangelical church where the minister OWNS the church itself. Big moneymaker.
True! The business of America is business! Having been a Christian since a teen, and having lived down South even, I saw the scandals but never really the political side as a political tool! Of course, in Canada we tend to look on the bright side!!:)
Self-proclaimed haters of empathy who claim to be Christian, despite the fact that this goes against the key commandment "Love your neighbor as yourself".
I am very curious about what theological justifications have been adduced for assertions that "empathy is a sin" or doctrines like "the Prosperity Gospel".
On the face of it, these go beyond direct contradiction of Christ's teaching, they strike at its heart.
@ Fraser: speaking of same, just ordered Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds by John Fugelsang after watching him on Black Man Spy with Malcolm Nance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0fBLEYMe88
IMHO they should have a daily show on CBN, Trinity Broadcasting. Fugelsang could be an antidote to right wing evangelism.
I've never wished for a government shutdown before, but I'm all for it this go around! "Slowing Trump's roll" is exactly what needs to happen at this point in time. Thank you Joyce for your level-headed take on everything that's going on in our country. You are much appreciated!
Unfortunately, TRump's regime has already gutted many of the programs that would shut down if the government shuts down. TRump needs to be stopped. He's destroying our country.
I'm not at all certain of the wisdom of this government shutdown idea, although, on principle, I support it. My understanding is that agency heads (we all know who they are) decide which government workers are "indispensable". Those are the ones who must keep working - though temporarily without pay - during such a shutdown. If that's the case, where would be the motivation for Republicans to END a shutdown? (All the parts of the government they apparently hate shutting down while the sectors they support keep right on going.) To someone who knows more, please respond!
Also, here's another question: didn't the Republicans just execute the "nuclear option" in order to facilitate confirmation of Trump's nominees? If so, could they do the same thing to pass their budget? All the information I can find on this says that this "hasn't been done YET". I'm not comforted.
Others have suggested it, but it seems increasingly plausible that Trump is deploying National Guard troops in US cities as a prelude to the political protests and violence he is stoking, creating a climate where a martial law declaration would result in delayed elections.
Yeah, then later he said to Zelensky in the Oval Office- oh, if you can't have elections during a war, then if we had a war we wouldn't have elections either, right? Zelensky laughed- like, OMG he might be serious. If you think an inconsistency would stop Trump, you're sadly mistaken. He spews them nonstop.
I think all the frantic gerrymandering and voter suppression that's going on suggests that cancelling the midterms is not being seriously considered by anyone in Republican circles outside the White House.
Andrew, OK, I don't think Trump is planning anything except that he likes the power, possibly orgasmic, he is feeling when he speaks of ordering the military into a Democratic city where there is a Black mayor. His racism is showing quite a lot lately. Dementia for some people, does make it harder to hold onto one's pretenses related to how they really feel about things. Trump has contempt for women and Black people, and he does not seem to be hiding it as well these days. In the governor of Tennessee, Trump has found a fellow racist who is OK with sending troops into one of his state's cities, one he resents because of its Democratic leaning, and with a Black mayor, it is a bonus for both Trump and Lee.
I tend to agree with you in how Trump’s mind works, but I think about the people in his orbit, members of his cabinet, his family and other influencers. His behaviors are consistent with authoritarians’ rise to power as described by scholars like Ruth Ben-Ghiat.
I envy you being able to enjoy the chocolate chip cookies. Unfortunately I have a medical issue that keeps me from them. I hope you enjoy them. With regard to Senator Cassidy, it would appear that despite his suggestion to the Louisiana surgeon general, that he has forgotten his Hippocratic oath, same as he's forgotten his oath to uphold the constitution and serve the people who elected him.
Susan, it seems that is a hallmark of the whole of Trump's world: breaking oaths, lying, incompetence, and loyalty to Trump over our Constitution. I believe there are 3 doctors in the Senate and they all voted for RFK,Jr., knowing exactly what he is and that he knows nothing about medicine or pretty much anything else, yet decided he should run our Department of health and Human Services. It's amazing that supposedly grown professional men can be so easily forced to bow before ignorance.
I agree completely, Ruth, especially with your last sentence. I find it difficult to understand how morality can be so superficial, or so easily dropped. Do these people not have a conscience of any sort?
Violence is Never the Answer...but, What is the Answer?
By Elliott Oppenheim, MD, JD, LLM Health Law 14 September 2025
What does murder “feel like?”
Twice in my life experience, as a student at Occidental College, I met two American icons who were assassinated: Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy. I stepped out of the shower on the morning that Kennedy was killed and felt as if America was falling apart. I felt hat way now.
As an ER doc, I met people who died from gunshot wounds. In my criminal defense consultative work, I confront the consequences of errant bullets. In my personal experiences learned from interviewing shooters, no real thought underlies the action. These experiences of shooting someone is unlike stalking a deer, sighting the game, and pulling the trigger.
In my experiences with shooters of humans, they are motivated by impulsive delusions. A deer hunter is different. For deer hunters, they are motivated by “sport” and another reason: food. The deer hunters I know around here in Yellowstone County and elsewhere where I have lived, eleven US states, fulfill a tribal need to “fill their freezer,” to “see if they can do it;” that sporting challenge. Getting “that shot ain’t easy,” every hunter I have ever interviewed had told me. There is that sporting feeling, I’m told, of triumph; maybe like a pole-vaulter who gets over the bar? … or the sprinter at 100 meters. … or, and I know this personally, jumping into deep powder and skiing to the bottom, breathless at having done that.
Murderers I have interviewed feel something different. Typically, murderers do not testify at their trials but as part of the defense preparation, we interview them because we need to know what was going on. “Why did you do this?” is an important pre-trial subject. Remove self-defenders…but people who pick up a weapon and hunt someone down and kill them, well that is different. Remove “crimes of passion;” the husband who finds his wife in bed with another man … but there are cases where, someone “stalks” his prey and kills. What does that “feel like.”
When interviewed in preparation for trial, but not for trial testimony, I hear, “I don’t know … I just did it.” I hear “I was overwhelmed and I just did it.” I hear convoluted explanations about “well, he had it comin’” or “I couldn’t stop myself.”
In my limited study, in these planned murders, at the moment of trigger-pull (or bomb blast, or pushing in front of a bus, or poisoning, or setting up a wire to decapitate, or screwing the windows and doors shut and setting fire), or strangulation, the perpetrator “feels” a relief; an orgasmic relief, and their impulse passes and often the perpetrator wishes he hadn’t done it … remorse.
In Method of homicide and severe mental illness: A systematic review, Aggress Violent Behav. 2017 November ; 37: 52–62. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2017.09.007, Mineroa, et al. discuss the psychiatric components to homicide. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6660311/pdf/EMS83787.pdf
There is limited research that has examined offense characteristics in homicides committed by individuals with mental illness and with differing psychiatric diagnoses. The aim of this systematic review is to synthesize previous findings of studies analyzing homicide behavior by mentally ill individuals, and reporting any associations between mental illness and method of homicide. We searched four databases (MedLine, PsychINFO, Web of Science and Embase), and identified 52 relevant articles for analysis. Of these 52 articles, nine reported specific information on mental illness and method of homicide. Five out of nine articles revealed an association between schizophrenia/delusional disorder and the use of sharp instruments as a method of homicide. Four out of nine studies revealed an association between mood disorders (bipolar disorder/ major depression) and strangulation/asphyxiation/suffocation/drowning. Our review confirms consistency across studies reporting a significant association between close contact methods and schizophrenia/mood disorders. Also identified as possible influential factors concerning weapon choice are illness duration, victim characteristics and planning/lack of planning of the homicide. Additionally, studies revealed up to 96% of severely mentally ill offenders experienced psychiatric symptoms at the time of the homicide. Future research may examine the presence of specific psychiatric symptoms when a mentally ill offender commits a homicide and whether these may be more influential in the method of homicide used than the psychiatric diagnosis of the offender.
If violence is not the answer to these killings, what is? How does society pre-empt assassinations? Potential killers do not call “help lines” seeking care. Their impulse is well underway and unstoppable once all of the ammunition is in place… unless… Health-care professionals can’t be “in charge” of reporting their patients and it would be problematic for “society” to call in suspect thoughts and even conduct.
“Thoughts and prayers” come after the fact; there already is a killing. It’s not realistic to attribute these killings to bad rhetoric. How could Lee Harvey Oswald or Jack Ruby or Sirhan Sirhan have been intercepted?
The Government must commit resources to answer these questions. Shootings happen nearly daily and all over the US. Mental illness is a national illness and it’s time to address these murders as a pandemic. We have a homicide outbreak. What is the cure?
Gun control has been tried. Did it work? "Guns don't kill people ......." you have heard that before". Fact is, it is true! Guns don't kill people any more than knives, forks, or spoons do! People kill people. Ideas like killing the homeless? Fox "Free Speech?" Would it still be free speech if FOX said kill Trump? I'll bet it would not be so if I said anything even close to or hinting at killing Trump! If yelling FIRE in a movie theater is not free speech, why is killing the homeless, Trump or anyone else free speech? Enough of this free hate speech! Gun control? How about Word control? Yes, we must have free speech, but free hate speech? And no, I don't have the answer to my question. Is it not time or past time to search again for better control of hate speech.
Ted, actually in states that have stricter gun control, there are fewer shootings and mass killings. It seems to me it is worth a try. Working to curb the hate speech would probably help too. It seems the hate speech primarily shows up on the right. It is a primary weapon for them, which then leads to violence against those they consider their foes. Nearly all the mass shootings and political violence lately have been done by white men on the right following some kind of hate plan, as I think of it. That political violence, despite the words of so many is not equally or even close to equally on both sides of the political divide, yet is wrong no matter who spews it. One of the problems with 3-word-slogans in politics is that they can incite people to anger, fear, hatred, and resentment of others very quickly and can run around easily in one's head for a long time, particularly those that imply how terrible those on the other side are. The right is best at this hate speech and I hope the "left" never gets as good at it. I also hope people will wake up to see that such hate speech is designed by and for groups that want power over others, people who should never have power over anyone.
I disagree with not showing the kirk bleedout, a ruptured artery will spurt to the ceiling...people should see what guns do. Also, the damage done to childrens bodies should be shown...a lot of them had to be id'd by their sneakers. Maybe then gun laws will be easier to pass...
The public has a right to know something happened, that I'm not questioning; I'm not sure it has a right to see its gruesome aftermath (without permission from those directly affected). If regular news of children being killed or wounded in a place where they should be safe is not enough for long overdue action, if heartbreaking testimonies from survivors and parents who now have empty homes are not enough, then why would images be different? Thanks to the gore (real and otherwise) readily available on just about any screen these days, we have become desensitized to violence. And of course, the rabid right (as did Kirk) views these deaths as simply collateral damage to ensure just about everyone can have access to firearms.
A person can kill many more people with a gun than s/he could with a knife and that's essentially what happens in the US. Last year, there were around 43,000 gun-related deaths in the US. By contrast, knife-related deaths were just over 1,500. Quoting an NRA slogan doesn't alter these appalling statistics, comfortably the worst amongst high-income countries. Nearly all U.S. states have a higher firearm mortality rate than most other countries. Death rates due to physical violence by firearm in U.S. states are closer to rates seen in countries experiencing active conflict.
I totally agree with your other reflections. They are particularly pertinent now when Trump is trashing the First Amendment rights of so many minorities with the connivance of the conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Political economist William Davies recently wrote in the London Review of Books a fascinating article about the use of algorithms on TikTok (Vol. 47 No. 11 · 26 June 2025
TV Meets Fruit Machine -William Davies on Faragist TikTok) and how they draw you in to a murky world of conspiracy theories and nonsense laden with the sort of hate speech that you refer to.
"getting the america you've voted for..." should be a bumper sticker and billboard everywhere in these districts. Suddenly seeming angry at the outcomes of their confirmation votes rings hollow, esp. to the parents of the kids with measles and pertussis.
Yes, but.... Parents who listen to people like RFK,Jr., Charlie Kirk, et al, have a responsibility for not vaccinating their children. I am appalled at how many people willingly give up their free will and their ability to think rationally to the RWNJs!
Fantastic news(the Chocolate Chip Cookie book)certainly not anything concerning trump or the chaos he and Kennedy are sowing. That any person, much less one who calls himself a physician, could be comfortable talking about whooping cough in an infant, is one kind of contemptible person. These children die from coughing so wracked they can’t breathe, can’t eat and if there is anything in their stomachs, it comes back up. Can you imagine standing by your child’s bed and watching the terror in their eyes? And yet these men are ok with it happening to their constituents’ children if they don’t get vaccinated. I’m sitting here healthy as are my grown sons because I took full advantage of our once robust vaccination protocol. My grandchildren are safe as well but I really grieve for those children who have parents who have bought into RFK’s BS.
Sorry for the rant. All this unhealthy thinking really has me fuming; maybe even more so than much of anything else. So Joyce, I’m going to bake tomorrow. It’s either going to be a lemon pound cake or chocolate chip cookies. Your friend has inspired me. Thanks for all you are into to keep us up to date.
If you thought having a puppy killer in his cabinet was bad, how about rfk jr., whose hands drip with the blood of babies? The stupidity, the incompetence, the cruelty of this regime are infuriating. His supporters hysterically mourn the death of CK and ignore the unnecessary deaths of children, whether by guns or viruses. trump and crew are, quite literally, sickening.
Both Demento and Cox --- along with others both baying for blood, and emphasizing a supposed ideology and relationship as somehow a motivation for the Kirk killing, which have yet to be introduced in court as evidence of the required showing of "malice aforethought" in a capital murder charge --- are doing themselves no favors when it comes to a trial. The more Demento and his merry band of miscreants spout off about the guilt of the alleged shooter, and make insinuations about motivation, the more likely it is that any trial may be postponed via a continuance or change of venue because of virulent pretrial publicity. While even in other high-profile cases this has been handled via a more intensive voir dire without these remedies, none of them have involved a president of the United States and his appointed minions making inflammatory statements. There may be a whole new category of potential prejudice never encountered before if this keeps up.
I understand that there was already evidence of pre-planning by the killer (he was seen by several people on the roof days before the shooting, for example). I don't see why prosecutors should have any difficulty in proving that this was a case of murder. I agree that Trump saying that he hoped for a death verdict was highly prejudicial but that only reflects the hysterical state the country is in already.
Murder is one thing, capital murder is another. Pre-planning alone is insufficient to prove the necessary malice aforethought required to successfully prosecute capital murder. For the Utah death penalty to be in play the prosecution must prove at least one "aggravating factor" beyond a reasonable doubt. These factors can typically be that the actor knowingly created a great risk of death to another person besides the victim. The murder was committed in an "especially heinous, atrocious, cruel, or exceptionally depraved manner," or the murder was an act of terrorism.
I guess I am getting confused about the categories you use in the States for murder and capital murder. I had heard CNN's legal correspondent, Eli Honig, advising that the fact that Robinson had fired into a crowd was a sufficient aggravating factor for a capitol charge. Now that Trump has expressed his preference for the death penalty, I'm sure that Bondi & co will be looking hard at how they can lay such a charge against Robinson.
Yes, that would be a possible necessary aggravating factor to seek the death penalty, assuming it could be proven, as required, beyond a reasonable doubt. My only point was about pre-planning not being sufficient by itself.
At the moment the state authorities seem more concerned about developing the case that Robinson was a radical lefty, doubtless at the urging of Trump. Almost forgotten in the current far right maelstrom is the fact that the young school shooter in Denver was a white supremacist who had a morbid fascination with mass shootings. It's become almost necessary for Kirk's obscene martyrdom that his killer should belong to a group he regularly vilified.
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington posted on X, “It’s the guns,” apparently referencing a common assertion by gun-control advocates in the wake of shootings. Loomer, who, after Kirk’s killing, called for the prosecution of every leftist organization, responded to Jayapal on X, “No. It’s you and your psychotic colleagues in the Democrat party you insane, rabid bitch.” Yikes!
Indeed. Anything to try to divert attention from the Epstein files and especially by the Demento cultists who fortunately have short term memory issues. They'll have a Kirk replacement soon enough, but the Epstein fiasco will continue. Considering the state of play, Kirk could have just as easily been killed for not being extreme enough, as for being too extreme. Loomer calling someone "insane" is like someone calling Loomer sane. What is the one commonality with all these murders --- why, surprise, its guns. Yes, guns don't kill people, disturbed or angry people with easy access to guns kill people. I mean the frigging "Wild West" had more stringent gun safety laws.
There is a shop in Encinitas that not only makes wonderful ice cream but gives you a little chocolate chip cookie .yummy! I love c.c. Cookies only problem is I can hear them calling my name in the middle of the night.disturbing my sleep. Hope your son had a wonderful birthday.
Expect some fireworks this week when Kash Patel presently impersonating the FBI director testifies before both House and Senate committees. There's enough presumed malfeasance and incompetence to fill several hearings, starting with his "handling" of the Kirk killing aftermath, moving on to what almost certainly were political and illegal firings of veteran FBI agents (as apparently admitted by Patel according to the plaintiffs' filing in their wrongful termination suit), obstruction of the release of the Epstein files, the Ghislaine Maxwell interview (in which the FBI participated) and her subsequent transfer to a minimum-security prison camp, etc. etc. We may also very well have a ruling from the D.C. Circuit on Fed governor Lisa Cook's filing this past Saturday seeking to keep Demento from blocking (via a stay) a lower court decision that allows her to continue serving. Apart from arguing that the administration has not shown sufficient cause to fire her under the Federal Reserve Act, and the risks it would present to the economy and country if a president were allowed to fire a Fed governor without cause, the filing raises questions about the shaky charge of mortgage fraud to begin with. A new document shows she did not in fact commit what's known as occupancy fraud, listing a residence in Atlanta as a vacation home and not another primary residence. Of course, that has to be properly introduced as evidence in court, but a showing of intent is key to any successful prosecution for fraud and this revelation, if confirmed at trial, would belie the charge. Demento had until this afternoon (09-14) to file his response.
There's a brilliant piece on Patel in Saturday's New Yorker by Vinson Cunningham, describing Patel's chaotic response to the Kirk shooting (Kash Patel Plays a G-Man on TV). I will quote Cunnigham's description of Patel's 'disorienting' appearance at the press conference announcing the arrest of Kirk's killer.
"He had his usual hairdo going, a fratty collage of textures: slick on the sides and spiky up top. He wore a strange houndstooth tie. He was a vision of anti-gravitas. “This is what happens when you let good cops be cops,” he said, by way of introduction—a hollow locution that was nonetheless consonant with the message of the Administration for which he is such an uncannily perfect representative. Cops, now free of the restraints of wokeness and decency, can get back on the prowl where they belong....“In thirty-three hours, we have made historic progress for Charlie."
Cunningham notes that Patel left out the most important part of the story: that the killer was turned in by his own father, not something he could legitmately take credit for.
Russell, yeah, Patel just happened to leave out the most important parts like that he was dining at the time of the killing and immediate aftermath and that the FBI actually did nothing related to the killing that was in any way important. Yep, he is a reality TV guy, just like his boss Trump and neither of them has a clue what is going on, Patel because he chooses to be ignorant, Trump because he has dementia. Ugh!
Dang..l chocolate chip cookies she had to go there. As a pre diabetic or diabetic as the case might be, I don’t do sugar anymore. I’m religious. I study the recipe before buying anything. Black coffee only. There is a big difference in taste of good quality coffee when drunk with no additives. So here we are talkin’ chocolate chips. I only break down and eat a cannoli once or twice a year. Man… chocolate chip cookies.
I want one. Can it be sent special delivery? Overnight. Just one chocolate chip cookie. Pretty please?
Make your own with sugar free chocolate chips & monkfruit! Not quite as good as the real thing but a decent substitute!
Mary, it also requires a recipe that can use almond flour, because the point is to get rid of as many carbs as possible. I, too, am pre-diabetic, so I've had to learn how to do recipes that are low in carbs.
I'd hope BOTH low carb and gluten free alternatives--I have both diabetes and celiac disease--but I can't use almond flour because almonds promote kidney stones in some of us unlucky types. So sadly is chocolate. Rice/tapioca flour? Carob
Basically I have given up on chocolate cookies. But I can dream. When I hit ninety I'm gonna start eating all sorts of unhealthy things.
Bill, if you bake, here's a link to some chocolate chip cookies that should be good: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/How-to-make-Keto-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies.jpg
I've made a lot of recipes which I really enjoy from this site, so I feel safe in recommending the recipe. Please note that you can use any erithrytol/monk fruit (or erithrytol/stevia) product. I gave up on Swerve because I don't like that they suddenly added allulose to their products, and that's a sweetener I don't care to use. Good luck!
Cunningham reports that when Patel was dining at Rao's (which he explains is " an Italian restaurant in East Harlem famous for its red sauce and louche history") when he posted his original tweet which incorrectly claimed that the first suspect in custody was the killer. Politico reports that MAGA was not impressed.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/11/kash-patel-charlie-kirk-shooting-fbi-00559165
Live tweeting a homicide investigation. The Director of the FBI was live tweeting a homicide investigation.
'How cool is that?' he must have hoped his 1.8m followers would think. Pity it didn't turn out so well.
But it worked great for Hegseth. Must be some kind of discrimination at work. :)
Have not yet read it, but of course everything to do with Demento and his merry band of miscreants is performative. And as is the case in the UK, criminal prosecutions are conducted on behalf of the people, and in the public interest, not the individual victim.
Patel and Bongino caught a break on this one. The real issue how long can they stay lucky when threats abound in US society driven by those divisions caused by Trump. He says he doesn't care that he's dividing the country.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NmM6T5PTNqc
Whew! You track our jeopardy well.
It is unfortunate that the foreign press has covered the accusations but not necessarily the exoneration. I read about it in the German Politico Berlin as if it actually was a legitimate accusation. I have not since read that it was unfounded. I did not believe it without proof.
Here are Asha Rangappa and Alison Gill talking about the intelligence community. I find Asha's link to her venn diagram most interesting if you scroll down to the text and click on the here link.
https://open.substack.com/pub/asharangappa/p/live-with-allison-gill?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
As I have said all along: Trump and his cronies are scared of Chicago - They realize that we are 3 million well prepared inhabitants ready and able to handle his dressed up bank robbers - they would be quaking in their boots: we dealt with Capone - Trump will be dealt with even quicker.
As an aside, I suggest a news person (or anyone) ask Trump: "Who do you miss most? Epstein or Kirk"
Gordon, the challenge, Trump probably doesn't really remember either of them too much. Maybe he does Epstein more because they were together before dementia set in, but he hardly remembered Kirk the next day when asked how he was doing since Kirk was killed. Trump's answer was something like "I'm fine and look out there see those trucks. They're here to build the big beautiful ballroom for the white house that should have been built 100 years ago." I know I don't have the quote exactly, but close. He had already moved on from Kirk until his "whisperers" got hold of him and fed him the hate words he ended up spewing later that day. The dementia is serious and is as I read somewhere, possibly here, that Trump's handlers/whisperers want Trump to be distracted so they can do the work of destroying our government for the benefit of the oligarchs without Trump's interference except when they need his hate, blaming, insulting, and threatening. Then, they bring him out having coached him on just what to say to get started. They know he can pump out the hate and insults with the best of them, and has no idea of what he is actually talking about. That is why Trump has all those insult lines for anyone in the press corps that asks him a question of importance. Those lines keep him from having to really answer a question he can't remember the expected answer to, and he can insult the reporter and his base will be cheering for the insult, probably trying to guess which insult he will toss out. When Fox Not Nearly News interviews Trump, they work it out that the questions are softball and may well edit the response so Trump sounds just hateful enough and mostly on track. It's interesting that CBS is not supposed to edit anything for their news programs, but Fox can do whatever it wants. Yep, free speech only for Trump and his Republican minions.
He clearly doesn't miss Charlie Kirk, for all the affected remorse he showed a day earlier after the announcement of his death.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh0akKyvePc
Kirk was useful, but as is the case with all authoritarians or wannabe tin-pot dictators, as Kirk's acolytes and his control over them grew (case in point, the release of the Epstein files) this undoubtedly raised concerns about a possible rival faction --- whether real or just imagined is irrelevant. They're always looking over their shoulders.
Trump didn't seem too distraught about Kirk's death so perhaps you're right about that. Loomer and the far right considered him to be too moderate.
I heard that Trump already forgot Kirk (at least temporarily in an interview). I bet he can’t forget Epstein
Senator Cassidy can be casual about supporting RFK, Jr., because - like all those in Congress - he has great health insurance … but voted to reduce Medicare AND nominate an anti vaccine conspirator.
Cassidy: As a member of the human species, he needs to man up and fully own his colossal mistake, with which he violated both his oath of office _and_ the Hippocratic Oath, and then get very busy forcing the insane lying crank Kennedy out. And that would be in preparation to Cassidy's getting sent packing in 2026 so fast it would knock the rust off his stethoscope.
Hypocrisy and cowardice, thy name is Republican.
The doctors in the Republican Congress are not known for their bravery … or, in the case of Dr. Ronnie, sobriety.
or good "doctoring"
Doctors Feelgood and Feelherup?
more like in and competent !
David, yes, Republicans have become not only the Trumplican Party but also the Hypocrican Party. It is hard to know which to call them because they are clearly not for our "republic" anymore.
Hmm, what to call them? Good Germans?
David, although, I am not sure they could be called "good Germans" because they are pretty ignorant of what is going on and don't speak the language. the only language they know is hatred-hypocrisy. It seems only Republicans these days speak it enough for it to be recognized.
“Good Germans” as in the citizens of the Third Reich casually overlooking the extermination of the Jews.
Good point David!
Thank you!
From a decades-old Hallmark greeting card, no author given:
He was only a Chocolate Chip Cookie, but I loved him.
I met him at a party. There he was at the end of the buffet -- a loner, the last one on the plate. He had a certain something - a sweetness, a sensuality. He was one hot cookie.
I felt as if I'd always known him, always hungered for him. When he looked at me with those warm brown eyes, I melted. Before I knew it, I had my hands on him, my mouth on him - in public. After that night we were inseparable.
With him, I could be myself. He didn't seem to care what mood I was in, how I looked, even if I gained weight. Together, we had the recipe for happiness. No one satisfied me like Chip.
Then things changed. My friends said he was no good for me. He started to give me heartburn. I felt crummy, but it had to end.
Now we've gone our separate ways. I hardly think of him anymore. Oh, if I see a certain TV commercial, a particular magazine ad, a coupon for 10¢ off - that old longing returns. And when we run into each other in the supermarket, we nod.
We're friendly. But it's over.
Laurie, how sad!! One Chip will not harm you, and the rest of the cookie too. But, there is always oatmeal raisin over there on the table looking for someone to make his day. Those lovely black eyes speak of sweetness and oatmeal that can help lower your cholesterol. He's glancing your way and there is a smile on his face and a "come hither look." You know you want him and the pleasure you and he can have together. Go for it! He's waiting ....!
Ruth, you're so right. If only Chip wouldn't bring over a whole carload of relatives when he visits me. They won't let me alone, nagging at me all day long. They're as persuasive as Chip . . . . Even after all these years I haven't found a way to convince him and them to stay away. Sigh.
Laurie, OMG! That's my challenge, only it's not Chip, it's everyone else. If Chip comes over, I take him for my nephews to enjoy. I just got a new friend visiting his name is "Thinster." The one that invaded my space and my calm is "coconut." He sits there in the cookie jar, and keeps yelling at me and then, whining if I don't visit. He is crunchy bliss! Two visits a day is all I will allow myself or I can take care of a pound bag in a few hours.
Give me Archway Windmill cookies, two with coffee in the morning. My father once worked at an Archway cookie factory, and used to bring some home in his lunch bucket.
Archway cookies! Give me date-filled oatmeal! Are you from northeastern Ohio?
I like them, too, when I can find them. The one nearby grocery where I could always find Archway just closed, so I've got to go searching again. I'm from Michigan. There used to be an Archway factory in Battle Creek; that's where my dad worked for a time in the early 50's.
James, I had forgotten about those cookies, a major treat when on a rare occasion, Mom brought them home! One of those cookies with a glass of milk! Heaven!
Oh, no, Laurie! Fig Newtons forever!
Fig Newtons for breakfast (fruit and grains). Occasionally oatmeal raisin. Chocolate chip cookies for everything else.
Yes, Laurie. My taste buds agree with you. Chocolate Chip Cookies for the win!
Laurie, ME TOO!
Perfect!!
Lynell, oh, almost any cookie can warm my heart, particularly if they are crunchy, fig newtons, chocolate chips, oatmeal raisin, pecan sandies, sugar, butterscotch, and on and on except for peanut butter which I can't eat anymore (how terrible)! Cookies are my weakness, as if you couldn't tell!
See, Ruth, this is why I loathe going to the doctor. They try to make you healthy while taking all the fun out of life...and cookies!
Lynell, doctors don't always do that. My father's doctor did not want him to have ice cream for dessert because he became diabetic at age 73. But I worked with a doctor whose take was that my father should be allowed to enjoy life at his age, especially since my mother regulated what he ate. I became pre-diabetic several years ago, and have voluntarily changed my diet because the idea of being diabetic scares me. It scares me because I know what it can do to me. I have learned that one can still eat good things if one finds the right resources. There are two good food blogs I like that are very helpful: AllDayIDreamAboutFood.com (which has cookie recipes among a wide variety of other things; the other is Simple Meal Plans (smp.to) which is by a blogger who became full diabetic after having gestational diabetes. She does some desserts, but her biggest focus is on simplicity, which I love because I no longer want to spend a lot of time cooking fancy stuff.
What? No more peanut butter cookies? That breaks my heart.
James, yeah, it breaks my heart too. Even though I know it will make my stomach upset, every now and then, I will eat one just because I love them so much.
Ruth, I don't know if this will help, but I went through a stage where I couldn't eat peanut butter, but somehow I got over it. I make my own now (very, very simple), and am happy to be able to eat it again. I've never liked peanut butter cookies, though. I remember making them in 7th grade cooking class, and disliking them from the first bite.
HA!😄
I subscribe to Melissa's Substack and pre-ordered her book. I also subscribe to your Substack and pre-ordered your book. I'm looking forward to reading both and making chocolate chip cookies. I'm a firm believer in finding comfort in food.
And at most NFL games today, they observed a moment of silence for Charlie Kirk. An act that should be reserved to honor very, very few individuals of great importance. Mr. Kirk for all his apparent notoriety (most of my friends had never heard of him until he was killed) was not one of those, and the NFL should have refused to do it. Pandering to their legion of MAGA fans is what I see here.
It's really quite extraordinary. It took me until today to realize that one huge silence has been the Christian church. Not even a peep about all the people who've been fired for saying the truth about what Kirk was promoting. I was raised Christian, in a Methodist and later a Presbyterian church but the basics were always the Golden Rule (ie empathy) and concern for the least of our brethren and looking after your neighbor and your community. Serving as a little light for Jesus, etc.
Kirk is covered in Christian sprinkles, with JD Vance, a Catholic pro tem in his latest spirtual conversion, ferrying the body of the recently departed home on Air Force Two, as you might a hugely admired government official, a saint, someone of enormous importance to the country itself. Yet what kind of Christian calls Martin Luther King "awful", wants to take away Black people's civil rights, wants to arm children, and will not tolerate all kinds of people he finds inferior to himself? (Never mind the idea of killing the homeless, as advocated on Fox within hours of the shooting.) And what has the genuine Christian church to say about all this? I have no doubt the Pope will tell us, but in the meantime there's an enormous body of Christians in this country who wouldn't dream of countenancing such behavior in the name of Jesus. Is everyone just scared to death now of being shot for saying anything at all?
Fran, I am a member of the United Church of Christ which has for decades publicly condemned political and other violence. We are a relatively small denomination and hardly considered Christian in some places because we do not, in general, support any of the right-wing threats and anti-Christian words and actions. When people like Charlie Kirk and Fuentes have almost unlimited media access, it is hard for mainstream Christians to even be heard at all. So, the churches act within communities to do what we can to help. for so many, christianity has become their club where they connect with like-minded people to stoke hatred, anger, (often under cover), for the "woke, Libs, Socialists, and whatever name they can come up with so they don't have to really think of the people they fear as their fellow Americans who do not share their hates and fears. I don't think Chahrlie Kirk thought much about Jesus' message of loving one's neighbor as oneself and welcoming the stranger. He got his kicks from pretending to debate people who didn't get a word in edgewise due to Kirk's Gish galloping and insults. That is not debate and would not be acceptable had it been a Democrat or someone on the "left" who did it. Today, the media seem to see those Kirk-style christians as Christianity in America. It is only one part, the loudest, rudest, often meanest branch.
My understanding is that Charlie Kirk started out as a secularist. I'm not sure if his decision to join the Evangelical movement was a conversion or a convenience. It certainly increased his power base.
Their is a new, MAGA brand of Christian, only slightly related to the Bible and Jesus and yew, probably a scared bunch!!
It's not new. The evangelical wing has been around for decades, not held together by any obvious body of governance. It played a huge role in electing George W. Bush via Karl Rove. Someone in my family attends an evangelical church where the minister OWNS the church itself. Big moneymaker.
True! The business of America is business! Having been a Christian since a teen, and having lived down South even, I saw the scandals but never really the political side as a political tool! Of course, in Canada we tend to look on the bright side!!:)
Self-proclaimed haters of empathy who claim to be Christian, despite the fact that this goes against the key commandment "Love your neighbor as yourself".
I am very curious about what theological justifications have been adduced for assertions that "empathy is a sin" or doctrines like "the Prosperity Gospel".
On the face of it, these go beyond direct contradiction of Christ's teaching, they strike at its heart.
Exactly!
@ Fraser: speaking of same, just ordered Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds by John Fugelsang after watching him on Black Man Spy with Malcolm Nance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0fBLEYMe88
IMHO they should have a daily show on CBN, Trinity Broadcasting. Fugelsang could be an antidote to right wing evangelism.
David, wonder what the almost all black players thought of that...
I've never wished for a government shutdown before, but I'm all for it this go around! "Slowing Trump's roll" is exactly what needs to happen at this point in time. Thank you Joyce for your level-headed take on everything that's going on in our country. You are much appreciated!
I am too, Megan.
Yup!!
Be careful. Government benefits are jeopardized.
Unfortunately, TRump's regime has already gutted many of the programs that would shut down if the government shuts down. TRump needs to be stopped. He's destroying our country.
I'm not at all certain of the wisdom of this government shutdown idea, although, on principle, I support it. My understanding is that agency heads (we all know who they are) decide which government workers are "indispensable". Those are the ones who must keep working - though temporarily without pay - during such a shutdown. If that's the case, where would be the motivation for Republicans to END a shutdown? (All the parts of the government they apparently hate shutting down while the sectors they support keep right on going.) To someone who knows more, please respond!
Also, here's another question: didn't the Republicans just execute the "nuclear option" in order to facilitate confirmation of Trump's nominees? If so, could they do the same thing to pass their budget? All the information I can find on this says that this "hasn't been done YET". I'm not comforted.
Others have suggested it, but it seems increasingly plausible that Trump is deploying National Guard troops in US cities as a prelude to the political protests and violence he is stoking, creating a climate where a martial law declaration would result in delayed elections.
That would backfire spectacularly. He's criticised Zelensky for not holding elections during an invasion.
Yeah, then later he said to Zelensky in the Oval Office- oh, if you can't have elections during a war, then if we had a war we wouldn't have elections either, right? Zelensky laughed- like, OMG he might be serious. If you think an inconsistency would stop Trump, you're sadly mistaken. He spews them nonstop.
I think all the frantic gerrymandering and voter suppression that's going on suggests that cancelling the midterms is not being seriously considered by anyone in Republican circles outside the White House.
Andrew, OK, I don't think Trump is planning anything except that he likes the power, possibly orgasmic, he is feeling when he speaks of ordering the military into a Democratic city where there is a Black mayor. His racism is showing quite a lot lately. Dementia for some people, does make it harder to hold onto one's pretenses related to how they really feel about things. Trump has contempt for women and Black people, and he does not seem to be hiding it as well these days. In the governor of Tennessee, Trump has found a fellow racist who is OK with sending troops into one of his state's cities, one he resents because of its Democratic leaning, and with a Black mayor, it is a bonus for both Trump and Lee.
I tend to agree with you in how Trump’s mind works, but I think about the people in his orbit, members of his cabinet, his family and other influencers. His behaviors are consistent with authoritarians’ rise to power as described by scholars like Ruth Ben-Ghiat.
Oh, no doubt in my mind!!
I envy you being able to enjoy the chocolate chip cookies. Unfortunately I have a medical issue that keeps me from them. I hope you enjoy them. With regard to Senator Cassidy, it would appear that despite his suggestion to the Louisiana surgeon general, that he has forgotten his Hippocratic oath, same as he's forgotten his oath to uphold the constitution and serve the people who elected him.
Susan, it seems that is a hallmark of the whole of Trump's world: breaking oaths, lying, incompetence, and loyalty to Trump over our Constitution. I believe there are 3 doctors in the Senate and they all voted for RFK,Jr., knowing exactly what he is and that he knows nothing about medicine or pretty much anything else, yet decided he should run our Department of health and Human Services. It's amazing that supposedly grown professional men can be so easily forced to bow before ignorance.
I agree completely, Ruth, especially with your last sentence. I find it difficult to understand how morality can be so superficial, or so easily dropped. Do these people not have a conscience of any sort?
As always, thank you, Joyce, for your thoughtful, insightful and indispensable narrative.
Violence is Never the Answer...but, What is the Answer?
By Elliott Oppenheim, MD, JD, LLM Health Law 14 September 2025
What does murder “feel like?”
Twice in my life experience, as a student at Occidental College, I met two American icons who were assassinated: Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy. I stepped out of the shower on the morning that Kennedy was killed and felt as if America was falling apart. I felt hat way now.
As an ER doc, I met people who died from gunshot wounds. In my criminal defense consultative work, I confront the consequences of errant bullets. In my personal experiences learned from interviewing shooters, no real thought underlies the action. These experiences of shooting someone is unlike stalking a deer, sighting the game, and pulling the trigger.
In my experiences with shooters of humans, they are motivated by impulsive delusions. A deer hunter is different. For deer hunters, they are motivated by “sport” and another reason: food. The deer hunters I know around here in Yellowstone County and elsewhere where I have lived, eleven US states, fulfill a tribal need to “fill their freezer,” to “see if they can do it;” that sporting challenge. Getting “that shot ain’t easy,” every hunter I have ever interviewed had told me. There is that sporting feeling, I’m told, of triumph; maybe like a pole-vaulter who gets over the bar? … or the sprinter at 100 meters. … or, and I know this personally, jumping into deep powder and skiing to the bottom, breathless at having done that.
Murderers I have interviewed feel something different. Typically, murderers do not testify at their trials but as part of the defense preparation, we interview them because we need to know what was going on. “Why did you do this?” is an important pre-trial subject. Remove self-defenders…but people who pick up a weapon and hunt someone down and kill them, well that is different. Remove “crimes of passion;” the husband who finds his wife in bed with another man … but there are cases where, someone “stalks” his prey and kills. What does that “feel like.”
When interviewed in preparation for trial, but not for trial testimony, I hear, “I don’t know … I just did it.” I hear “I was overwhelmed and I just did it.” I hear convoluted explanations about “well, he had it comin’” or “I couldn’t stop myself.”
In my limited study, in these planned murders, at the moment of trigger-pull (or bomb blast, or pushing in front of a bus, or poisoning, or setting up a wire to decapitate, or screwing the windows and doors shut and setting fire), or strangulation, the perpetrator “feels” a relief; an orgasmic relief, and their impulse passes and often the perpetrator wishes he hadn’t done it … remorse.
In Method of homicide and severe mental illness: A systematic review, Aggress Violent Behav. 2017 November ; 37: 52–62. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2017.09.007, Mineroa, et al. discuss the psychiatric components to homicide. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6660311/pdf/EMS83787.pdf
There is limited research that has examined offense characteristics in homicides committed by individuals with mental illness and with differing psychiatric diagnoses. The aim of this systematic review is to synthesize previous findings of studies analyzing homicide behavior by mentally ill individuals, and reporting any associations between mental illness and method of homicide. We searched four databases (MedLine, PsychINFO, Web of Science and Embase), and identified 52 relevant articles for analysis. Of these 52 articles, nine reported specific information on mental illness and method of homicide. Five out of nine articles revealed an association between schizophrenia/delusional disorder and the use of sharp instruments as a method of homicide. Four out of nine studies revealed an association between mood disorders (bipolar disorder/ major depression) and strangulation/asphyxiation/suffocation/drowning. Our review confirms consistency across studies reporting a significant association between close contact methods and schizophrenia/mood disorders. Also identified as possible influential factors concerning weapon choice are illness duration, victim characteristics and planning/lack of planning of the homicide. Additionally, studies revealed up to 96% of severely mentally ill offenders experienced psychiatric symptoms at the time of the homicide. Future research may examine the presence of specific psychiatric symptoms when a mentally ill offender commits a homicide and whether these may be more influential in the method of homicide used than the psychiatric diagnosis of the offender.
If violence is not the answer to these killings, what is? How does society pre-empt assassinations? Potential killers do not call “help lines” seeking care. Their impulse is well underway and unstoppable once all of the ammunition is in place… unless… Health-care professionals can’t be “in charge” of reporting their patients and it would be problematic for “society” to call in suspect thoughts and even conduct.
“Thoughts and prayers” come after the fact; there already is a killing. It’s not realistic to attribute these killings to bad rhetoric. How could Lee Harvey Oswald or Jack Ruby or Sirhan Sirhan have been intercepted?
The Government must commit resources to answer these questions. Shootings happen nearly daily and all over the US. Mental illness is a national illness and it’s time to address these murders as a pandemic. We have a homicide outbreak. What is the cure?
Um, you could try gun control? 🙄
Gun control has been tried. Did it work? "Guns don't kill people ......." you have heard that before". Fact is, it is true! Guns don't kill people any more than knives, forks, or spoons do! People kill people. Ideas like killing the homeless? Fox "Free Speech?" Would it still be free speech if FOX said kill Trump? I'll bet it would not be so if I said anything even close to or hinting at killing Trump! If yelling FIRE in a movie theater is not free speech, why is killing the homeless, Trump or anyone else free speech? Enough of this free hate speech! Gun control? How about Word control? Yes, we must have free speech, but free hate speech? And no, I don't have the answer to my question. Is it not time or past time to search again for better control of hate speech.
Ted, actually in states that have stricter gun control, there are fewer shootings and mass killings. It seems to me it is worth a try. Working to curb the hate speech would probably help too. It seems the hate speech primarily shows up on the right. It is a primary weapon for them, which then leads to violence against those they consider their foes. Nearly all the mass shootings and political violence lately have been done by white men on the right following some kind of hate plan, as I think of it. That political violence, despite the words of so many is not equally or even close to equally on both sides of the political divide, yet is wrong no matter who spews it. One of the problems with 3-word-slogans in politics is that they can incite people to anger, fear, hatred, and resentment of others very quickly and can run around easily in one's head for a long time, particularly those that imply how terrible those on the other side are. The right is best at this hate speech and I hope the "left" never gets as good at it. I also hope people will wake up to see that such hate speech is designed by and for groups that want power over others, people who should never have power over anyone.
yes, and the assault gun ban got great results.
I disagree with not showing the kirk bleedout, a ruptured artery will spurt to the ceiling...people should see what guns do. Also, the damage done to childrens bodies should be shown...a lot of them had to be id'd by their sneakers. Maybe then gun laws will be easier to pass...
The public has a right to know something happened, that I'm not questioning; I'm not sure it has a right to see its gruesome aftermath (without permission from those directly affected). If regular news of children being killed or wounded in a place where they should be safe is not enough for long overdue action, if heartbreaking testimonies from survivors and parents who now have empty homes are not enough, then why would images be different? Thanks to the gore (real and otherwise) readily available on just about any screen these days, we have become desensitized to violence. And of course, the rabid right (as did Kirk) views these deaths as simply collateral damage to ensure just about everyone can have access to firearms.
I do see your point, but I do think the real horror of gun wounds...a picture is worth a thousand words.
A person can kill many more people with a gun than s/he could with a knife and that's essentially what happens in the US. Last year, there were around 43,000 gun-related deaths in the US. By contrast, knife-related deaths were just over 1,500. Quoting an NRA slogan doesn't alter these appalling statistics, comfortably the worst amongst high-income countries. Nearly all U.S. states have a higher firearm mortality rate than most other countries. Death rates due to physical violence by firearm in U.S. states are closer to rates seen in countries experiencing active conflict.
I totally agree with your other reflections. They are particularly pertinent now when Trump is trashing the First Amendment rights of so many minorities with the connivance of the conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Political economist William Davies recently wrote in the London Review of Books a fascinating article about the use of algorithms on TikTok (Vol. 47 No. 11 · 26 June 2025
TV Meets Fruit Machine -William Davies on Faragist TikTok) and how they draw you in to a murky world of conspiracy theories and nonsense laden with the sort of hate speech that you refer to.
"getting the america you've voted for..." should be a bumper sticker and billboard everywhere in these districts. Suddenly seeming angry at the outcomes of their confirmation votes rings hollow, esp. to the parents of the kids with measles and pertussis.
Yes, but.... Parents who listen to people like RFK,Jr., Charlie Kirk, et al, have a responsibility for not vaccinating their children. I am appalled at how many people willingly give up their free will and their ability to think rationally to the RWNJs!
Fantastic news(the Chocolate Chip Cookie book)certainly not anything concerning trump or the chaos he and Kennedy are sowing. That any person, much less one who calls himself a physician, could be comfortable talking about whooping cough in an infant, is one kind of contemptible person. These children die from coughing so wracked they can’t breathe, can’t eat and if there is anything in their stomachs, it comes back up. Can you imagine standing by your child’s bed and watching the terror in their eyes? And yet these men are ok with it happening to their constituents’ children if they don’t get vaccinated. I’m sitting here healthy as are my grown sons because I took full advantage of our once robust vaccination protocol. My grandchildren are safe as well but I really grieve for those children who have parents who have bought into RFK’s BS.
Sorry for the rant. All this unhealthy thinking really has me fuming; maybe even more so than much of anything else. So Joyce, I’m going to bake tomorrow. It’s either going to be a lemon pound cake or chocolate chip cookies. Your friend has inspired me. Thanks for all you are into to keep us up to date.
If you thought having a puppy killer in his cabinet was bad, how about rfk jr., whose hands drip with the blood of babies? The stupidity, the incompetence, the cruelty of this regime are infuriating. His supporters hysterically mourn the death of CK and ignore the unnecessary deaths of children, whether by guns or viruses. trump and crew are, quite literally, sickening.
Both Demento and Cox --- along with others both baying for blood, and emphasizing a supposed ideology and relationship as somehow a motivation for the Kirk killing, which have yet to be introduced in court as evidence of the required showing of "malice aforethought" in a capital murder charge --- are doing themselves no favors when it comes to a trial. The more Demento and his merry band of miscreants spout off about the guilt of the alleged shooter, and make insinuations about motivation, the more likely it is that any trial may be postponed via a continuance or change of venue because of virulent pretrial publicity. While even in other high-profile cases this has been handled via a more intensive voir dire without these remedies, none of them have involved a president of the United States and his appointed minions making inflammatory statements. There may be a whole new category of potential prejudice never encountered before if this keeps up.
I understand that there was already evidence of pre-planning by the killer (he was seen by several people on the roof days before the shooting, for example). I don't see why prosecutors should have any difficulty in proving that this was a case of murder. I agree that Trump saying that he hoped for a death verdict was highly prejudicial but that only reflects the hysterical state the country is in already.
Murder is one thing, capital murder is another. Pre-planning alone is insufficient to prove the necessary malice aforethought required to successfully prosecute capital murder. For the Utah death penalty to be in play the prosecution must prove at least one "aggravating factor" beyond a reasonable doubt. These factors can typically be that the actor knowingly created a great risk of death to another person besides the victim. The murder was committed in an "especially heinous, atrocious, cruel, or exceptionally depraved manner," or the murder was an act of terrorism.
I guess I am getting confused about the categories you use in the States for murder and capital murder. I had heard CNN's legal correspondent, Eli Honig, advising that the fact that Robinson had fired into a crowd was a sufficient aggravating factor for a capitol charge. Now that Trump has expressed his preference for the death penalty, I'm sure that Bondi & co will be looking hard at how they can lay such a charge against Robinson.
Yes, that would be a possible necessary aggravating factor to seek the death penalty, assuming it could be proven, as required, beyond a reasonable doubt. My only point was about pre-planning not being sufficient by itself.
At the moment the state authorities seem more concerned about developing the case that Robinson was a radical lefty, doubtless at the urging of Trump. Almost forgotten in the current far right maelstrom is the fact that the young school shooter in Denver was a white supremacist who had a morbid fascination with mass shootings. It's become almost necessary for Kirk's obscene martyrdom that his killer should belong to a group he regularly vilified.
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington posted on X, “It’s the guns,” apparently referencing a common assertion by gun-control advocates in the wake of shootings. Loomer, who, after Kirk’s killing, called for the prosecution of every leftist organization, responded to Jayapal on X, “No. It’s you and your psychotic colleagues in the Democrat party you insane, rabid bitch.” Yikes!
Indeed. Anything to try to divert attention from the Epstein files and especially by the Demento cultists who fortunately have short term memory issues. They'll have a Kirk replacement soon enough, but the Epstein fiasco will continue. Considering the state of play, Kirk could have just as easily been killed for not being extreme enough, as for being too extreme. Loomer calling someone "insane" is like someone calling Loomer sane. What is the one commonality with all these murders --- why, surprise, its guns. Yes, guns don't kill people, disturbed or angry people with easy access to guns kill people. I mean the frigging "Wild West" had more stringent gun safety laws.
There is a shop in Encinitas that not only makes wonderful ice cream but gives you a little chocolate chip cookie .yummy! I love c.c. Cookies only problem is I can hear them calling my name in the middle of the night.disturbing my sleep. Hope your son had a wonderful birthday.