Last Thursday, DOJ’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) issued its report on the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. It is an after-action report, designed to prevent future tragedies through better training. It is not the sort of work done by one of DOJ’s litigating divisions to evaluate whether there should be criminal prosecutions or some type of civil action.
Joyce, I hope that you will get together with a few other extraordinary people to collaborate on / come up with a short book that covers 25 of the most important issues facing Americans. Only one page for each issue. Brief and succinct. (This evening's article would be one of the issues.) The issues book to say what each issue is, how Trump and his band of MAGA Republicans view the issue and how President Biden and Democrats view the issue. This book to be very quickly printed and distributed - for free - in swing-states across the country. It is incredulous to me that millions of Americans have become members of a cult led by a person who is a liar, a con, a fraud, a grifter and and all-around scumbag. Their ignorance is off the charts. If you title the book "TRUMP", then there is the chance that some of those millions will actually open the book and read it. A forward should be in front of the 25 issues - that forward to include the opinion article that appeared in today's NY Times - 17 of TRUMP'S BEST people and what they now have to say about Trump. Joyce, thank you for all you do.
Joel, that is an EXCELLENT suggestion! Think back to the Columbine High School shooting that happened in Colorado 25 years ago this coming April. Then think about ALL of the mass shootings since then. From innocent customers at a large department store, women at a small beauty shop, people buying gas, kids at a school bus stop, members praying in churches, the mass shooting in Las Vegas (I could be wrong) at an outdoor concert, other schools, shopping malls, and ordinary people minding their own business who never dreamed that it would be their last day on earth. So many have died at the hands of "lone gunmen" during these senseless massacres, yet Republicans, including Trump, are more concerned about themselves, and/or being re-elected in November.
Part 2. We were living in the DC area when Lee Boyd Malvo and John Muhammad went on a "hunting" spree in 2002, killing 17 people at random --- just because --- in 20 days. (Thank God that truck driver was suspicious of Malvo and Muhammad at a truck stop in Maryland, because their call to the State Police probably saved a lot of lives that night.
Even though we lived about 25 miles from The District, that was the talk of our neighborhood, and no one wanted to leave their houses. Each time I got gas, I had my back to the pump, squatting down, hiding, hoping they weren't nearby. I was taking afternoon classes at a college just off the Capital Beltway, so I found It hard NOT to notice the many parked and unmarked police vehicles with officers facing both directions, in just about every nook & cranny, watching for "the white box truck." People living in DC, Virginia and Maryland were victims of fright.
I'm trying to point out that if my family, our neighbors, my co-workers, my classmates and our professor, cashiers, our dog's vet, and so many others were living in limbo, afraid to go outside their homes, weren't the Republican lawmakers?
Were they on one of their "breaks" at the time? Were they not concerned about their kids each day? Were they wearing body armor? How did they manage to survive almost three weeks of that terror? WEREN'T THEY AFRAID?
Because absolutely NOTHING has changed (for the better) since October 22, 2002, seems to me that not many lawmakers were concerned about mass shootings back then, AND STILL AREN'T.
Yes! Where were the gun company and NRA executives when everyone was hiding and paralyzed by fear? Did they and their families have special exemptions from the criminal lunatics Malcolm and Muhammad?
Graeme, that's an excellent question, but one that we know will never be answered in our lifetimes. Thinking back, I don't recall very much being said by our "lawlLESSmakers." Even if all of them lived in DC and had bunkers to hide in while at home, they still had to go outside in the real world. The last victim was a female walking to her car after shopping at a Home Depot in Fairfax County. She was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have easily been someone from the Senate or House instead of her.
That's why I continue asking WHY wasn't ANYONE from The Hill asking questions, or showing concern over this? Malcom and Muhammad were TERRORISTS, because they struck fear in millions of people. Back then, you hardly heard the word "terrorists" used, unless speaking about foreign countries.
I was living in Montgomery County, MD during that time and remember the uneasiness especially when pumping gas. My eyes were always scanning around me and was moving just a little bit to make myself a harder target.
Kathy, I was doing the same, especially after they thought it was a white box truck. If I came to a stoplight or traffic was heavy, I could feel my heart rate getting higher and higher, and tried to find a way to not be near it at all. It was not always easy, because I noticed other drivers trying to do the same, especially where traffic was heavy all the time like the interstates and just about every road in Montgomery or Fairfax County.
To this day, I still scan my surroundings, even when walking from my house to the mailbox. I've been fortunate to have an opportunity to learn a lot about what to do or not do to keep from being a victim, especially in the public. I've even complained to the management company of a strip mall in the area that has no lights in the parking lot!
Sorry to get off topic. Is it me, or do you wonder how all the lawmakers and politicians around there handled this "terrorism" that lasted so many days? It changed me a lot.
It starts by softening the nomenclature, AR-15, AR-15 style, etc. These are really M-16 style rifles. Why dump the military name? To make it seem like it is a non-military weapon. Something anyone might want or use for legal purposes.
These weapons were designed for the military and their rounds are designed for maximum tissue damage. That ain't no hunting rifle.
Gun manufacturers should have their military contract revoked the instant they begin to develop a "civilian version" of any weapon.
The government acts like they can't find anyone else to biuild their weapons of war..
Among the list of heinous atrocities the republicans perpetrated, in my opinion, sanctioning the slaughter of our children with military weapons is the worst.
These public "servants" need to be destoyed at the ballot box. They love guns and money more than children.
The fools at Uvalde were too scared to confront the shooter. They waited... What if the Marines at Guadalcanal had waited? Those cops etal were hired to "take that bullet". If they were unwilling to do so they should have had the balls to admit it and resign. Instead they wandered around in their tactical gear like a bunch of clowns afraid to do their job.
Bob, I agree with you!! I simply cannot believe that no one has been prosecuted or lost their job!! These poor families hVe see these men still in uniform enjoying the security of their job while these families are without their loved ones. Sickening! Texas rewards cowardess. Pathetic. I would never live in Texas. Between this issue, their total abortion ban treating women in that state as baby factories and their other silly life ways. God where is Molly Ivins when you really need her!!!
Of all the mass shootings, to my mind Uvalde is the worst of the worst. 117 minutes. Children terrorized and massacred by an 18 yr old with an assault rifle. One child cried out "I need help" and was promptly shot. How many law enforcement officers were there on site? Standing around doing nothing as one child after another was mowed down with an AR-15? 117 minutes. Contemptuous doesn't begin to describe it, but then again, there are no words to describe what was ALLOWED to happen at Uvalde.
At truck stops around the country there are free-standing displays of Christian and right wing books and pamphlets. I’ve often wondered why we don’t do the same. The flag would need to be prominently displayed of course.
Remember, as a dear friend has said, 700 people drank the cool or Waco, TX. We’ve got the grossest team, MAGA, that believe their power is the only way to work.
I don’t get curious why people “fellow the wolves to slaughter” I only know anything that makes sense will be used, read and understood by the choir-US unfortunately.
There are great people on this subtext who have and are out there talking. We all need to keep talking most importantly LISTEN to those who remain submissive to the wolves.
On a very personal note I have a sister who I had thought was smarter than me. She has “cuddled up” to FOX and friends etc. and we don’t speak. She is an adult child of sexual abuse admittedly and most of my friends who have met her, their take away has been she is not a happy person. Yes and she’s a TRUMPER!
I have a brother who is well educated and not dumb by any means. Last summer we visited him (and his family) for the first time in over ten years. I asked if he likes tfg... he said he did. I asked why... he said because he's honest. (???) I asked why he thinks that... he said because he said he was going to build the wall, and he did. I asked what he thought about the documents (Mara logo) case... he said everyone does it. (???) At that point we were interrupted and never got back to the conversation. I was trying to not be confrontive and trying to understand where he was coming from. I'm still upset and can't believe my brother could be so out of touch. The only conclusion I came to is his need to belong. He lives in an area that is very red and "Christian". How can he see the world so differently than I do and be so out of touch with reality?
Know the feeling. I am English, but half American and have quite a number of American cousins and contacts - all around my age (ancient!). I am astonished how many of them blindly follow Trump - people who I had previously thought were sensible and discerning. I don't know what has got into them all. Even one of our recent ex-Prime Ministers (Boris Johnson) wrote in the London Daily Mail over the weekend that he thought it would be good to have Trump for a second term. Has the world taken leave of its senses?
"Has the world taken leave of its senses?"... Sometimes it seems that way. I wish I could have finished that conversation with my brother. I still can't understand his thinking. As far as Boris Johnson goes... Personally I think he's a little off... a comment like that doesn't surprise me.
Sigh . . . I agree with your conclusion about the "need to belong," or at least not to rock any boats, especially among people who see things as black/white, good/evil, and aren't challenged by whatever media they consume regularly. ("Critical thinking" isn't valued everywhere, and some people who claim to value it don't like it when it's directed at them.)
How much attention does your brother pay to electoral politics in general? Most people don't pay much, and when they do pay attention, it's in the run-up to an election -- when the opportunity to get in-depth, non-advertising info about any of the candidates is much diminished.
I think my brother gets most of his information from his "friends". Something in the way he phrases his comments, sounds like he's saying what he has been told.
Not necessarily understanding what he's saying. I don't know how closely he follows politics. It seems to me anyone who listens to tfg speak should know what a dangerous person he is... but apparently that's not true.
Trump told Iowans to get over a mass shooting that had just occurred in their state. This captures the essence of Trump so perfectly. Uncaring, and unconcerned about the welfare of any other person but himself. Words like this would be shocking coming out the mouth of nearly anyone else who has run for President. Yet it’s a non-event when Trump says it, such is the Trump fatigue factor that pervades our country
I can't understand how the crowd could stand to be in the same room with someone who had the gall to tell Iowans just a few days early to "get over it" and to move on, or something similar that was disgustingly vicious. But on Tuesday, the crowd cheered for him anyway.
His remarks show he is in the process of desentizing the public, the next step in his authoritative "chess" game. Sad that people fall for this grifter.
Who'd want to play chess with him? Unless he won (very doubtful), he'd take the chess pieces and the chessboard and throw them against the wall, crying that the other person cheated.
The flip side of that is that his public is very, very willing to be desensitized. I'm pretty sure most of them have been itching for permission to be as racist, misogynist, anti-immigrant, anti-intellectual, etc. as their sad little hearts desire. And Trump has given it to them. This applies to pretty much the whole Republican Party, especially its members of Congress.
Sadly, I agree with you. This will become a lawless society, where anything goes, because of his "spell" on his followers. There was an explanation in my psychology class of how that desensitization happens, but all I remember now is that it was such a gradual process where the "victim" wasn't aware. I can see this happening, and it scares me to death.
For that crowd, it was never about protecting kids. It has been and always be about preserving the power of white men who are appalled to watch the shift in our ethnic mix in this country. In their minds, that is 'protecting' the kids.
My ancestors were Native Americans. I never knew any of them, and I sure don't resemble them. Guess Trump would have me kicked out of the country, too, because of my own ethnic mix. Since he was spawned, not born, I'd love to see his family tree.
The true residents of this country have been dealt a crappy hand by all the latecomers from Europe etc. - not just in this country but in all of the ones "colonized" by those various latecomers.
Seems at least once a week or more often - another little gem turns up - graves in formerly unknown areas! Well, not only indigenous people but anyone who is deemed to be an "other". It appears this is just more history that is NOT being taught to our kids.
It's true. First, there was Ancient History. Then, we had Regular History, followed by Modern History. Suddenly, learning any of that is outlawed, because Heaven forbid, today's kids can know the truth. Instead, assuming they're allowed to know anything at all about how our country changed over the years, whatever's taught will be called Fake History.
It does break my heart every time I hear about these findings. I call it desecration; builders and politicians who stand to make money from it, simply call it "progress,"
Even as far back (and it is FAR back) as when I was in school - there is so much that I never knew until I started reading LFAA & of course, Civil Discourse! Our "historians" apparently picked thru what happened & decided what to teach. Remember the saying - History is written by the winners!
Yes, Richard. Fear of mass shooters is not a big concern for Trump and his cohort, surrounded as they are by Secret Service guards and ensconced in their armored vehicles. That lunatic narcissist must love their motorcades of massive SUVs. Self importance made real.
Trump is the latest evolution of the Republican march toward authoritarianism and irrationality. The modern era of this evolution began with Gingrich in the 90’s and spun out of control with Trump’s election in 2016. It will continue, likely in a different flavor, once Trump exits the scene. The so called “normie” Republicans will need to make a clean break with this iteration and start a new Party if they want to re-establish what they would characterize as traditional Republican values. In American history, Party’s have collapsed with new ones taking their place. But that was long before big and dark money became so influential in our politics. Hard to see this iteration of the Republican Party ending when there is so much money working to keep it afloat
Good evening Joyce. What if we posted photographs of assault weapons massacres on billboards across America. Could that influence badly needed reformative measures getting passed? We need to take both Houses in this fight and weed out the noise. We can do this at the ballot box. But journalists need to counter disinformation on the spot as well. Uvalde is the nation’s wake-up call for informed and well trained response teams to save lives first and foremost. The deaths of those young children cannot ever be forgotten. Thanks again for your hard work in getting these facts together 🗽🇺🇸🙏🕯️❤️
Another thing is that we should insist on people having liability insurance who own guns. In Germany most people carry personal liability insurance. Gun owners have to carry specific gun liability insurance for 1.1 million €. While it is not that expensive to get such insurance here, insurance companies are likely to turn people down who cause damage with guns, let alone kill people. Having to be insured and getting the insurance industry into owning guns will make a lot of difference in terms of access. Since it is normal in Germany to have liability insurance for just about every thing you do, the population does not question this. If Americans had to carry personal liability insurance it would be a problem because they would not want to have the extra costs, but it would also solve a lot of problems because people would be aware of just which behaviors they are covered for. Even with the death of the gun owner in a shootout, the insurance would have to pay damages up to 1.1 mil. In the USA, I suggest that the insurance have to be more like 10-20 mil. It is typical in Germany to be covered for up to 25 mil.
Perfect! Get money and personal liability into the equation and let the insurance companies do the work of setting standards and disqualifying people who shouldn't own guns. Neat and clean.
I think these photos of the mutilated children (with the permission of the parents) is what would change everyone’s minds. The pro-lifers always have large posters of so-called fetuses. It would be the best ammunition for us to use against these crazies. Again, only with the utmost permission of the parents or guardians. And quite frankly, I wish the parents would broadcast before and after photos themselves. Not certain they would be up to putting themselves out front like that, but it definitely be a strong message c
I wanted part of Alex Jones sentencing to include having to look at all the crime scene photos from Sandy Hook. ALL of them, in color; and for good measure be made to answer, under oath, after each one, "Does that look like a pile of crisis actors?"
I agree with you Marlene that photos of dead children would get people’s attention, I think the reason we have never been shown them is because they are so horrific, I’m a combat vet and I know just how horrific those photos must be. You or I, with our children safely in their homes might think it’s a good idea to display some of those images, but if it was our child that got chopped to pieces while vainly trying to hide in a bathroom or closet, we would no doubt not want to be reminded of what happened to someone we loved with all of our hearts. I can’t imagine the pain someone would experience when a child they gave life to is taken from them by someone who committed an unspeakable act, some of those children were only recognizable by their shoes.
Being a daughter of Holocaust victims and the wife of a Vietnam Vet, I think it is only fair for the public to see what harm and catastrophes are caused by automatic weapons. Look, we all have been exposed to emaciated bodies thrown in piles during WWII and the many who suffered the effects from Agent Orange defoliation. These photos would definitely shut these gun loving bastards up!
Emmitt Till's Mom somehow managed to do it. Not sure if it should be called bravery, courage, intestinal fortitude, or a burning desire to find justice somewhere down the road.
Maybe we'll never have the Congressional/Presidential trifecta needed to ban M-16 assault style rifles. Wonder, though, whether the 7.65mm rounds and combat magazines might be banned for non-military weapons and be slipped into (hidden) among a defense appropriations bill a few thousand pages in length.
(Senate) Democrats need to think outside the box; create some legislative poison pills, force Repubs to take uncomfortable votes , and demonstrate conclusively that they really could care less about kids or life.
Maybe this and treating these criminals like criminals. They should not receive protection paid by taxes. If they respond inappropriately in court and should sit in jail, do it. Make these people pay their bills now- like the rest of the U.S. population. There are cities all over who were not paid for rallies, etc. Make these people pay. It's no wonder they have money- they lie, cheat, and never pay bills. If these people don't get prosecuted why should the common person?
All those good guys with guns weren’t worth a tinker’s damn to those poor children and teachers in that school. Those cops were afraid they’d get killed! What a bunch of babies they were.
You know whose picture should be at the top of each billboard? Trump, while he was in the gun shop not too long ago. The thought of him having access to any kind of weapon scares the heck out of me!
Lynn, seeing her proudly brandishing her assault rifle made my head want to explode. I was so appalled when all of the MAGA members of the House wore lapel pens depicting the very thing we're talking about here. Was MTG or Bobo the one whose Christmas card was not your ordinary custom-made card? The one where everyone in the family was holding a gun?
Even though I worked and volunteered for two law enforcement agencies, I never liked being around guns, but understood the "necessity" for the officers to have them at all times.
A relative of ours pointed a shotgun at my family when I was about six years old. Now, almost 70 years later, I can still picture him on his front porch, yelling to my father that he'd give him one minute to leave their property. What would normally have been at least a three-hour drive back home took about half of that time. My father was so scared, he parked the car in our backyard, because he was afraid he might follow us (he'd never been to our house).
Maybe I should discuss this with a therapist? Regardless, assault rifles, unlike regular rifles and shotguns, aren't made for hunting deer. Their only purpose is to hunt down PEOPLE. Period.
OOOO..This would be a hard one to say the least. However, I do agree that most of us don’t even know how horrible these guns are for a human... what a GD nightmare. This is reality and so sickening. Thanks though. I have no idea what I would do if it were my children or grandchildren. 🥲
The trouble is, too many would soon become desensitized, or just learn to look away. People need to learn to think about the issues so that they can feel.
It baffles me when I hear pundits discuss the rise in mental health issues among young people, mostly blaming it on social media but still scratching their head as to why kids are so messed up. I want to scream, "It's the guns, stupid".
The fear of being shot and killed at school, the mall, the grocery store, at church or synagogue. I'm a boomer and that's something my generation never had to worry about. But for today's kids, even if the likelihood of it happening to them, they hear about shootings over and over and over so no wonder they're anxious. They're afraid of dying.
Exactly right! When I was in school, back in the dark ages, the sound of the fire drill alarm made me jump every time. I can't even imagine what SHOOTER DRILLS must be like for today's students. I can't imagine what a parent must feel every time their kid walks out the door in the morning, not knowing if they will see them for dinner.
And to Mr. Lee up there, YES, it most certainly IS the guns.
We have advertised and unadvertised ‘shelter in place’ drills every month or so at my school. For the advertised drills, I think ahead and go to one of the few places where I can truly lock myself in and not be visible. When the unadvertised drills occur, my only chance of safety in preparation for the real thing is to lower the blinds, and cower under my desk if I’m in my office, or quickly find a safer place if I’m out and about. After working decades at my particular campus, I know the places where I’ll be safest in every building, and all too frequently find myself judging how long it will take to me to get to one of them when I’m out and about especially when I’m outdoors. I do not shirk my responsibility to protect the kids, though, and pull as many into the space with me as possible.
It’s both. It’s one thing to develop a twisted sense of yourself as an adolescent. It’s another thing to find an irrational release for the sickness of adolescence.
So we need to ban things because it causes some people irrational fear?
No, I have a better idea. Why don't we stick to the rational and real, and make policy that is pragmatic and solves problems?
Most gun death is from handguns. Most gun death is from urban criminal activity related to gangs and drug. Second is from suicide. Mass shootings at malls and schools by the insane gets sensationalized in the news and amplified by the prohibition Karens that run the Democrat party apparatus, but statistically more people die from falling or drowning than they do from those types of mass shootings.
Democrats want the border wide open. Handguns will flow. 3D printing and CNC technology is low-cost and handguns can be made in a garage. Cities and states where guns are the most restricted have some of the highest levels of gun violence. Criminals love liberal's irrational fixation on banning guns. They cannot wait.
It is completely irrational and infeasible to think that we can ban handguns in this country as a remedy to gun death statistics. Gun death is a people problem, not a gun problem. Guns don't walk around shooting people just like cars don't drive themselves around to kill people in auto accidents.
Liberals seems to be afflicted with a flaw of irrational fears and anxieties driving their political motivations. That means liberals are unfit to lead on topics where those irrational fears and anxieties exist. Because making policy from the basis of irrational fears and anxieties harms other people while also never solving the problem.
"Frank Lee" is one of the most vicious trolls on Substack. The reason comments at TAFM are limited to paid subscribers only is due to him - that was the only way I could get rid of him.
And you and Bill Katz - who seems to think all posts apply to him - are the only two to tell me to "chill." Which means democracy prevails and you're currently outvoted 14-2.
Note, my "report" to Substack Inc on your comment Bill. Substack has New "buckets" of 'content' violations. You can contest them at JAMS- SF if you wish which is Substack's chosen ADR venue, a mediation service nationally known.
I have posted for over a year that digital content law is changing rapidly in many states along with negative proposed legislation such as Florida's proposed Bill HB 757 which is essentially a new proposed Florida state tort of 'false light'. NOT the old common law 'false light'. Torts are civil wrongs. Review your "Reader" contract & Terms of Use but, don'i chill.
Most of us who are female, and/or people of color, and/or gay or lesbian, and/or poor (etc.) have never had a "safe place to be." We've known for a long time that we were "at risk" whenever we walked down the street, took a drive across town, had to deal with the bureaucracy, etc. And you know what? We did it anyway. Maybe we've all got "mental health issues." I prefer to call it "realistic resilience."
We have nothing to fear but fear itself. How do you get up in the morning and put your pants on knowing there are so many things out there that can kill you?
Irrational fear requires therapy not policy to ban things that cause you irrational fear.
You know when I was young almost 80 years ago, we didn't have school shooting, mass murders or guns everywhere and we didn't because the 2nd Amendment wasn't misinterpreted back then; THAT is the BIG LIE, the 2nd Amendment does not give Americans the right to firearms. We also did not have automatic weapons that have clips that can run as high as 15 rounds or more or AR-15 or other military or military like weapons all over our country.
I used to think the America was a great country and that. we Americans were special. But thanks to the easy access to information re past and present I am actually not there anymore. The best thing about the United States of America is the promise of America, the idea our Founders gave us and fought so hard to preserve; that America is still only a dream. Our politicians either talk out of both sides of their mouths or out and out lie, our Justice system from the cop on the beat to the SCOTUS is either corrupt or liars or extremely incompetent or playing politics and one of our most beloved President let Trump and the Russians install him as President.
We have great health care if one has a lot of money and extremely good insurance, our older citizens are pretty much ignored or told we lived a good long life so except what is enviable. Too many of us have become ruder than when I was young.
Yes, these are the thoughts of an older woman who has seen her country move and helped move to a more perfect Union to electing some of the stupidest, hateful, bible pumping and corrupt people I have ever seen in Congress and other elected offices.
That people who call themselves Americans who voted for and will still vote for a Trump or his like completely disgust me; they have no idea the meaning of our U. S. Constitution and have probably never taken a civic class in their life.
And make no mistake, we the people have allow this to happen, by allowing our schools to deteriorate both physical buildings but most important the curriculums. We have many things to fix but if we don't elect the right people we are going to deteriorate further unless we DEMAND those fixes We used to say in the good old bad old days it will never happen here, but here we are. Just call me a very sad and frustrated American.
Thanks for this. We have all been gaslit by political ideologies into believing Progress is a noun and destination rather than a transitional verb. The work to create and recreate an enlightened society never ends, at any age.
Yes, Ma’am! You are absolutely right about the 2nd Amendment. (New thought). My brother, who was a hunter, used to say that guns should be limited to 4-shot magazines (plus one in the chamber if you want to tempt fate). He pointed out that no hunter needs more than four shots, or even four shots. Larger magazines are intended only to kill human beings (or to make some guys feel like men.).
Gun laws will have no effect if we don't curtail the weapons industry, In 2020 the top 100 companies supplying weapons and ammunition to the United States made $531 BILLION. That is the problem. Like all the rest of Corporate America they don't give two hoots in hell who gets killed or harmed as long as they make money. Just as the fossil fuels industrialists don't care how many people are drowned or die or starvation or heat stroke AND big pharma has no regard for deaths due to opioids. It's the MONEY.
If we really want to bring down the gun deaths, mitigate the consequences of global warming, get the illicit narcotics industry under control Stop It At The Source. And that source is not immigrants, legal or otherwise, it is not black or brown neighborhoods. It is the top of the top in wealth.
Regulation and taxes are the legislatures weapons; tell your legislators if they want your vote they'd better bloody write and support wealth tax and business regulations including reinstating Glass-Steagall.
If you want to do something yourselves, write to these rotten industries.. If you're young enough and can afford it demonstrate in front of their corporate offices. Also demonstrate against store chains selling weapons of mass destruction (I'm not talking about shotguns and hunting rifles) American citizens are as capable of demonstrating as the French and British citizens are. We did it in the 60's and 70's, it took awhile but we made a difference to civil rights and we brought an end to the Vietnam war. Our problem was that by the 80's we were tired of protesting and lived our lives instead of staying vigilant. We allowed the evil forces of hate, greed, and wealth to take hold.
Hopefully your generation will teach your children better of the need for constant vigilance. If they notice something is wrong, investigate and find the cause, then act before the wrong gets entrenched. I am truly sorry that I, and others of my age, didn't stay vigilant.
Speaking for myself and family and friends, we were vigilant and it didn't help. We continued to protest, write, vote and speak out. We were steamrollered by Citizens United, tax policy, lack of anti-monopoly enforcement and the growing power of the morbidly rich including many politicians.
One thought is to repeal the 2nd amendment suggested by former Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens (March 27, 2018). But Lawrence Tribe said that would just reinforce the NRA's claim
that they are coming for our guns. This gun mania is one of the biggest bamboozlements ever perpetrated upon the American public. I think there are about 400 million firearms among the public at current. Certainly the American family doesn't need to be armed with battlefield level
firearms. When I was growing up in the 1950s my father had shotguns, .22 rifles, and a deer rifle.
And so did our friends. We would go up to our cabins in northern Michigan to hunt. At no time did anyone ever mention wanting military-level weapons, or needing them for personal protection. And there was never any talk about handguns. So the problem is trying to undo the bamboozlement--almost seemingly like trying to untie a Gordian knot. Tom from Ann Arbor
There is no need to repeal Amendment II, JUST READ it, all of it. The 2nd Amendment AS Written does not give carte blanche to weapons ownership or use. That is the weapons industrialist's distorted view of it.
"A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
The Proud Boys and Oath keepers can in no way be considered well regulated militia. Nor can the nutcase taking an automated MILITARY rifle to kill students, be considered well-regulated.
The main problem with Americans, they do not read the Constitution (which is available free online)
The real problem is that Justice Scalia managed to persuade a majority of his SCOTUS colleagues that the proper interpretation of the 2nd Amendment is that all citizens have the unqualified constitutional right to bear arms, period.
They were easy to persuade. I do not, and never will understand how anyone cannot just read the damned words as they are written. Scalia, Thomas, and Alito all insist they knew what the Framers, and James Madison really meant. He died in 1836. Unless you believe in ghosts - how could you possibly know what the man had on his mind. I don't know if the weapons manufacturers got to Scalia, or the NRA, it certainly wasn't Madison.
Yes, rather ironic coming from the OG "Originalists." We shouldn't be able to get our hands on anything more powerful than a flintlock musket, if they actually followed their own rules, but they're Republicans, so the rules change as needed.
The weapons manufacturers got to Scalia through their political arm--the NRA. Scalia was a hunter and was on a fancy hunting trip when he died. I don't know which billionaire paid for the fancy trip.
Yes - one would think a posse of ‘Constructionists’ would not so willfully ignore the grammatical construction of that simple sentence with its clearly dependent clause. But here we are...
We are absolutely on the same page on this. For those who want to use the “originalist” approach or the textural approach...it is clear the 2nd Amendment was written for the purposes of being able to gather a militia at a time when this country did not have one; especially in the wild frontier area of the country. All these militia groups in this country are basically antigovernment terrorist groups. And they are well armed. We now have the national guard in each state (our well maintained militia). Join the guard if you want a weapon of mass destruction...just be cautioned you might have to pass a couple of tests and be trained before being given your AR15 or the like.
Yes, the wording is obvious to me. And if it were repealed or gone it doesn't mean anyone's firearms would be taken away. It would take away an excuse to make these claims about gun grabbing etc. "We can't touch this sacred amendment..etc. etc." Are they going to take my shotgun, .22, or .30-.30 deer rifle away ? No. And I agree with the lack/ability to read. Again how do we reverse the bamboozlement? A person I know belongs to a gun club. He said he had 600 lbs of ammo in his basement. He said he heard that "antifa" was coming to town and he brought his AR-15 up to his living room. His son, a Special Forces/Green Beret army guy came home once and said "Dad, why do you have all of this stuff?"
I agree. In some cases if you use a very high power rifle, the bullet would just go through the deer and leave it wounded. A classic caliber like a .30-.30 would knock the deer down and kill it. And there are lots of bow hunters and folks using cross-bows. Then there is Camp Grayling with all their artillery and whatever sometimes causing fires. We could see flashes at night from the shelling and we were 10 miles from their ranges.
That's just delicious...Roberta Kaplan & co. are taking it right to tRump, his lawyers are helpless to stop the man from grievously imperiling his already horridly compromised position, and tRump clearly is willing to risk tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars awarded in damages just to trash the trial proceedings and bait the judge.
I'm waiting for him to confuse E Jean Carroll with Nikki Haley, it's bound to happen!
Lance, Trump mistook Wife #2 for Ms. Carroll! It must be hard for him to keep up with so many females, when you're such an attractive man like him. (I'm going to go throw up now!)
Just this week I randomly watched, "The Comey Rule," which I'd never seen. There is a point when Comey is having his private consultation with Trump about the Steele Dossier. And at one point, Brendan Gleeson, playing Trump (brilliantly, I might add!) says, "Do I look like a guy who needs prostitutes?" And I thought, "Dude, you look like a guy a prostitute would pass on by."
Looking at pictures and videos of Adolph when he was young, I cannot figure out how on earth anyone could have found him attractive.
I always preferred men that were kind, made me laugh, and treated women with respect, not objects to be manipulated. Maybe my standards were too high? I'm glad they were.
Dianne, Trump did not mistake E. Jean for Marla. Prior to seeing the picture he had repeatedly said that 'I've never seen that woman. I don't know her.' But when he was presented with the picture by Robbie Kaplan at deposition, he cunningly lied to keep from admitting he had met E. Jean (E. Jean was with her husband whom Trump knew well - he was an NBC announcer and Trump was there with Ivana). So first of all, he had met her with her husband and Trump knew that was the guy's wife. Secondly, the quick and cunning lie he told - or so he thought - would make people believe his lie that he had not met E. Jean and that he thought the woman was Marla. Secondly: he was standing with Ivana - and it was during a time he was having an affair with Marla If that had been 'Marla' she would have been smacked by Ivana. My opinion: Trump is/was well aware it was E. Jean, with her husband John Johnson whom Trump knew. 'Marla' was a handy excuse because he had lied under oath that he had not met E. Jean and he would rather the attorneys think he didn't remember what 'Marla' looked like lying under oath can be a felony. He had met her, and he knew exactly who was in the picture: he even commented that he knew John Johnson, a 'nice guy, I know him.' So Marla was in a receiving line with someone else's husband and coincidentally it was E. Jean's husband? All to save his lie under oath and broadcast far and wide to his minions to make E. Jean a liar?? His sperm is on her dress: he penetrated her digitally and with his penis. But, the time limit for presenting that as evidence and comparing with his DNA sample has passed. When he knew the time had passed, he offered his DNA. But if you wait a while, things change. The New York law on the time limitation may change and the DNA sample can be requested and compared.
As always, you have good insight! All of this information has blown my mind. I was obviously out of touch regarding this whole situation. I used to watch the soap opera "Guiding Light" years ago before it ended. There were so many twists and turns when it came to relationships, but we all knew it was fiction. Except for the Procter & Gamble commercials.
Regarding what you wrote here, all I can say is: "It's true! You can't make this stuff up!" Wow.
Thank you Diane, what I think is that attorneys will do anything and say anything to keep their client from Bing either convicted or found guilty. Even good attorneys, or I guess, moral with a moral code will do that because they’re allowed to do that within the law. I was struck by the fact that his prior attorney. Tapiccone sp said after the first trial that “this was always a rape trial.” And I thought “well, if it was a rape trial, why wasn’t it conducted with all the DNA evidence and what not?” Joyce did a fabulous synopsis of the true Court event and explained how they came about what their purpose was, but they had a lot of hearing and different court appearances. I believed he raped her. And I didn’t need a guilty conviction to tell me that. I’m glad he was a jury, so anyone who had any doubt at all, could know that the jurors believed her. I’m hoping the New York law changes to allow old evidence to come in. And I don’t know the details truly about why that evidence didn’t come in and maybe they’re claiming oh it’s too long ago and it’s degraded. But those crime analysis laboratories are becoming more and more sophisticated. So I’m having two hopes in this response: labs become more sophisticated and definitive and they will. And the other one is evidence law changes for New York, and I don’t know what the evidence law entails Trump is somebody who skates under the wire all the time. So just as in this case, he knows this evidence can’t be admitted, so he can say “I didn’t
do it .” He won’t accept the fact that I think the number is about 69 court cases that found no evidence of voter fraud in states. He won’t back down on his lies. There is a member of this site named.Gregg Barak who is a criminologist. He’s written a lot of books but he has a paperback out right now that was published in 2024 which means this month. It’s called “inditing the 45th president.“ I have ordered it and it’s on my stock and I’ll let you know, anything I pick up in there and whether it might be a must have for you to read. He did another book that was a study of society and crime that is called .”criminology on Trump..” the person I’m fascinated with is Judge Lewis Kaplan. of all the people in the system, he’s the one I’d like to sit down and have a cup of coffee with. As much as I could, I’d like him to tell me everything he knows about Trump. Because my sense is, he cannot make any decision on “everything he knows.“ It just has to be what’s brought in front of him as the evidence. He’s done such an amazing job, both the trials and the hearings and the appeals. But I think he knows something. Because he was so quick in other trial that Trump didn’t show up to meet his accuser when he was found guilty of sexual abuse. His excuse was he had to be in Scotland for the ribbon-cutting at his golf course but when you, Google Scotland newspapers, he flew to Scotland, I think it was May 1, then he did the ribbon-cutting on May 2, 2023, then he spent nine days in an IRL golfing with Eric. So why didn’t he just turn around and come back after the ribbon-cutting and he could testify? But then he started tweeting how unfair the judge was to not let him testify that was just about when the trial had ended, and before the cherry was sequestered. So the minute that started happening Judge Kaplan said “wait wait! Will extend the trial another week.” Trump was trying to set him up for a miss trial because everyone has a right to be at their own trial. But that doesn’t mean they have to for nine days in a foreign country. That’s called vacation. And Trump had five months to change the ribbon-cutting. So the ribbon-cutting on May 1 had Trump, Eric and woman who supervised the construction I guess . I don’t even know if community leaders were there. Because the usual crowd of 100 or 200 protesters who are always sort of local people had that Trump, baby helium balloon with him and his diaper and his cell phone with the orange Trump baby appearing and that’s a huge balloon they fly in Scotland, England and Ireland as they chant “go home we don’t want you.” So no fans were around there. in other words, the Trump brand is not doing well in Europe especially Scotland, England and France. In fact, I would say about those folks that Trump has no brand and Trump. The man is who they detest. How on earth could he even think of putting his name on a golf club in Scotland when they already had that helium balloon, Trump baby, with his orange mop on top, his head and a baby bottle and his cell phone flying in England and France. They flew that balloon in England when he met the queen and he was still president then. So people over there have disliked him for a long time. I’m still just wondering what Judge Kaplan knows. he sure is quick to make decisions. And he doesn’t waffle one single bit. But Best regards and I’ll send you back anything more I find out from the books.
Wow, Valere! Some of this information I had never heard before. I appreciate your insight and taking time to let me know about this. I'm heading to the library tomorrow to check out (literally) those books and see what else is there. There's a university where I live now. I might see if it's open to non-students. The only way to know is call them!
I like your suggestion on who you'd like to sit down and just talk. Your reasons are interesting. There are several I'd like to do the same with, so I need to narrow the list to just one. Maybe Ms. Carroll, but her calendar's probably filled up for the next couple of years.
I wondered what embarrassing thing Trump would say in Iowa after the Perry school shooting/murder. He certainly did not let his cult down. "Get over it"! As insignificant as being served onions on your hamburger in error. The loss of a child and Principal Marburger meant absolutely nothing to him. Mr. Marburger lost his life doing the job he felt a Principal should- protecting the students at his school. Even if Trump truly felt like folks should just "get over it"- what ignorant, heartless , individual would open his mouth and state something like that? We honor Mr. Marburger's life and legacy; we grieve for the family of the lost child. There are many things that folks need to "get over", but the Perry, IA school shooting, Mr. Marburger and the loss of the child are not it. May their memories be a blessing to their families and friends.
Thank you Penny, very nice words. More importantly “The Truth” in the years since tfg got in office, it was hard to tell if our elected officials were lying. Now it is the Norm. In any case what you have stated above should apply to all republicans “get over yourself” the lies they tell, the things they are getting “away with” SC BETTER FIND SOME JUSTICE SOON. What a GD mess this is.
With no possible action on ANY issues of import to most of us if the Democrats lose the Congress, let alone POTUS, there is no question that we have to look at and take actions to influence the 2024 election as if our lives depended on it. Our lives are on the line, AR-15 or not.
It is time to, if parents and families would permit it, post those pictures of the mangled babies, mothers, fathers and kids torn apart by AR-15”s. It’s gruesome but necessary.
Lack of gun control (especially military-grade weapons) represent a case where a majority of Americans are beholden to the wealthy gun industry enabling death on the streets of America no different than that caused by the cocaine or opioid providing drug cartels. Better laws and their enforcement are needed for the former as well as the later. Access to better mental health support for those who would use guns to kill others and themselves will only be effective if the access to weapons used in mass killings are banned.
Once upon a time in 1971-2 & 3, I flew 110 B52-D & -G combat sorties over Southeast Asia. On each sortie we were delivering up to 70,000 lbs. of conventional dumb bombs. 70's state of the art. For self defense during escape and evasion should we be shot down in enemy territory, each crewmember was issued an unloaded .38 caliber six-shot revolver with a 2-inch barrel. Along with it, a small plastic baggy containing, I seem to remember, 17 rounds of ammunition. Several of those functioned only as signal flares--no bullets. I approached this armament with my own 3 levels of readiness: 1) Leave the stuff locked and untouched in its metal box secured to the airplane; 2) Gun, unloaded in the survival vest holster worn under parachute harness with baggy of bullets in a separate vest pocket; 3) Loaded pistol in vest, ready to use, even while hanging from 'chute. Levels 1 & 2 were over 90% of the time. Level 3 happened only over (then) North Vietnam in December 1972. That's a 'war story'. 17 bullets? And now, let kids have semi-legal access to semi-automatic assault rifles with overly-large magazines to take with them to a school or a church meeting? Or, as bad or even worse, through carelessness, allow a child to find the handgun in dad's nightstand ending in the death of a family member? I do believe a closer reading--and application--of the 2nd amendment is required. Common sense would help.
Thank you Bill, for sharing your story, and for your service to our country. And thank you for bringing your logic to this Substack. It's nice to have someone speak logic to nonsense. We have a very serious road ahead - to make sure that Trump will not get near the White House.I believe he will be defeated and spend the rest of his life in prison.
They weren't 'play' pistols . ;-) They worked, were sturdy, would withstand hard environment between stratosphere and rice paddy. What they would not permit is being an aggressive sniper. Against an enemy force of 2 enemy youngsters not paying attention, you might have a chance to escape--if you were not injured from bailout. The flares could be useful to signal a rescue chopper should one show up to take you home. My point here: Civilians living at their home in the US might benefit from having a weapon for self defense. IF (emphasis on subjunctive) the threat were to actually materialize and actually call for the use of deadly force. IF the person with the weapon were trained and capable to make the life-and-death decisions involved with pulling a trigger. My own thought is, after reflecting on the current threat to individuals in the US is that 'less is more'. But then I don't live in a drug infested slum with a high rate of rape and robbery. I live in a quiet suburb of Stuttgart, Germany, where the latest protests were made by strings of farmers who caused traffic jams with their tractors. The prices for their high quality produce is not covering their costs. No guns required.
I understand. For one 18 month segment of my life a happy one at that, I lived in Florence, Italy — away from Americana. Respectfully, I was one of those who protested that stupid war from the age of 14 onwards.
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and be one traveler long I stood, and looked down one as far I could ..."
Each one of us faces choices in life, and then is forced by the results to ....
One can only hope that we the people can assist the former prez, by our votes, to live out the consequences of his actions, out of any governmental responsibility, and perhaps paying for any criminal activity as determined by the legal processes in which he finds himself.
As a follow up to my comment and btw, on my fateful overnight ride to Washington on the Amtrak that night at 14, to participate in the huge anti war demonstration in 1967, we met 3 or 4 sailors returning to base. They were passing around a bottle of vodka and invited us to drink. They knew why we were going to Washington as they headed back to base. It didn’t matter we were all comrades.
And then on my first visit to the Wall, as I walked along the path, I saw family members scratching on granite the name of a long lost family member on paper. And then I heard sniffles as I approached. And although I already knew this, I walked away from the wall that day knowing that no one leaves dry-eyed.
These statistics are part of a 20 year old argument ..Yet the people who continue to vote for the lawmakers who are standing in the way of meaningful change and action, seem incapable of connecting the dots between the people they keep voting for and dead kids..Some of which are likely theirs..They are blinded by the lis they are told regarding the 2nd amendment..Or perhaps they simply lack the critical thinking skills to do it.. I wonder how Ted Cruz explains to the mother of his children and the parents of their class mates when their school room gets shot to shit and their kids blown away..by an AR-15.. Oh, wait I know what it is..He wants to take teachers and arm them, make a completely inexperienced person and place them in an active shooter situation..expect them to defend the lives of their students with guns..”Well Miss Smith, your English teachers degree and resume is exemplary..You will just need to go through urban tactical combat training now before we can hire you.”
Joyce, I hope that you will get together with a few other extraordinary people to collaborate on / come up with a short book that covers 25 of the most important issues facing Americans. Only one page for each issue. Brief and succinct. (This evening's article would be one of the issues.) The issues book to say what each issue is, how Trump and his band of MAGA Republicans view the issue and how President Biden and Democrats view the issue. This book to be very quickly printed and distributed - for free - in swing-states across the country. It is incredulous to me that millions of Americans have become members of a cult led by a person who is a liar, a con, a fraud, a grifter and and all-around scumbag. Their ignorance is off the charts. If you title the book "TRUMP", then there is the chance that some of those millions will actually open the book and read it. A forward should be in front of the 25 issues - that forward to include the opinion article that appeared in today's NY Times - 17 of TRUMP'S BEST people and what they now have to say about Trump. Joyce, thank you for all you do.
Joel, that is an EXCELLENT suggestion! Think back to the Columbine High School shooting that happened in Colorado 25 years ago this coming April. Then think about ALL of the mass shootings since then. From innocent customers at a large department store, women at a small beauty shop, people buying gas, kids at a school bus stop, members praying in churches, the mass shooting in Las Vegas (I could be wrong) at an outdoor concert, other schools, shopping malls, and ordinary people minding their own business who never dreamed that it would be their last day on earth. So many have died at the hands of "lone gunmen" during these senseless massacres, yet Republicans, including Trump, are more concerned about themselves, and/or being re-elected in November.
Part 2. We were living in the DC area when Lee Boyd Malvo and John Muhammad went on a "hunting" spree in 2002, killing 17 people at random --- just because --- in 20 days. (Thank God that truck driver was suspicious of Malvo and Muhammad at a truck stop in Maryland, because their call to the State Police probably saved a lot of lives that night.
Even though we lived about 25 miles from The District, that was the talk of our neighborhood, and no one wanted to leave their houses. Each time I got gas, I had my back to the pump, squatting down, hiding, hoping they weren't nearby. I was taking afternoon classes at a college just off the Capital Beltway, so I found It hard NOT to notice the many parked and unmarked police vehicles with officers facing both directions, in just about every nook & cranny, watching for "the white box truck." People living in DC, Virginia and Maryland were victims of fright.
I'm trying to point out that if my family, our neighbors, my co-workers, my classmates and our professor, cashiers, our dog's vet, and so many others were living in limbo, afraid to go outside their homes, weren't the Republican lawmakers?
Were they on one of their "breaks" at the time? Were they not concerned about their kids each day? Were they wearing body armor? How did they manage to survive almost three weeks of that terror? WEREN'T THEY AFRAID?
Because absolutely NOTHING has changed (for the better) since October 22, 2002, seems to me that not many lawmakers were concerned about mass shootings back then, AND STILL AREN'T.
Yes! Where were the gun company and NRA executives when everyone was hiding and paralyzed by fear? Did they and their families have special exemptions from the criminal lunatics Malcolm and Muhammad?
Graeme, that's an excellent question, but one that we know will never be answered in our lifetimes. Thinking back, I don't recall very much being said by our "lawlLESSmakers." Even if all of them lived in DC and had bunkers to hide in while at home, they still had to go outside in the real world. The last victim was a female walking to her car after shopping at a Home Depot in Fairfax County. She was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have easily been someone from the Senate or House instead of her.
That's why I continue asking WHY wasn't ANYONE from The Hill asking questions, or showing concern over this? Malcom and Muhammad were TERRORISTS, because they struck fear in millions of people. Back then, you hardly heard the word "terrorists" used, unless speaking about foreign countries.
I was living in Montgomery County, MD during that time and remember the uneasiness especially when pumping gas. My eyes were always scanning around me and was moving just a little bit to make myself a harder target.
Kathy, I was doing the same, especially after they thought it was a white box truck. If I came to a stoplight or traffic was heavy, I could feel my heart rate getting higher and higher, and tried to find a way to not be near it at all. It was not always easy, because I noticed other drivers trying to do the same, especially where traffic was heavy all the time like the interstates and just about every road in Montgomery or Fairfax County.
To this day, I still scan my surroundings, even when walking from my house to the mailbox. I've been fortunate to have an opportunity to learn a lot about what to do or not do to keep from being a victim, especially in the public. I've even complained to the management company of a strip mall in the area that has no lights in the parking lot!
Sorry to get off topic. Is it me, or do you wonder how all the lawmakers and politicians around there handled this "terrorism" that lasted so many days? It changed me a lot.
Guns, guns, guns.
It starts by softening the nomenclature, AR-15, AR-15 style, etc. These are really M-16 style rifles. Why dump the military name? To make it seem like it is a non-military weapon. Something anyone might want or use for legal purposes.
These weapons were designed for the military and their rounds are designed for maximum tissue damage. That ain't no hunting rifle.
Gun manufacturers should have their military contract revoked the instant they begin to develop a "civilian version" of any weapon.
The government acts like they can't find anyone else to biuild their weapons of war..
Among the list of heinous atrocities the republicans perpetrated, in my opinion, sanctioning the slaughter of our children with military weapons is the worst.
These public "servants" need to be destoyed at the ballot box. They love guns and money more than children.
The fools at Uvalde were too scared to confront the shooter. They waited... What if the Marines at Guadalcanal had waited? Those cops etal were hired to "take that bullet". If they were unwilling to do so they should have had the balls to admit it and resign. Instead they wandered around in their tactical gear like a bunch of clowns afraid to do their job.
They are contemptuous!
Bob, I agree with you!! I simply cannot believe that no one has been prosecuted or lost their job!! These poor families hVe see these men still in uniform enjoying the security of their job while these families are without their loved ones. Sickening! Texas rewards cowardess. Pathetic. I would never live in Texas. Between this issue, their total abortion ban treating women in that state as baby factories and their other silly life ways. God where is Molly Ivins when you really need her!!!
Of all the mass shootings, to my mind Uvalde is the worst of the worst. 117 minutes. Children terrorized and massacred by an 18 yr old with an assault rifle. One child cried out "I need help" and was promptly shot. How many law enforcement officers were there on site? Standing around doing nothing as one child after another was mowed down with an AR-15? 117 minutes. Contemptuous doesn't begin to describe it, but then again, there are no words to describe what was ALLOWED to happen at Uvalde.
Contemptible is the word here, and it's not strong enough.
At truck stops around the country there are free-standing displays of Christian and right wing books and pamphlets. I’ve often wondered why we don’t do the same. The flag would need to be prominently displayed of course.
Great idea. Good thinking.
Remember, as a dear friend has said, 700 people drank the cool or Waco, TX. We’ve got the grossest team, MAGA, that believe their power is the only way to work.
I don’t get curious why people “fellow the wolves to slaughter” I only know anything that makes sense will be used, read and understood by the choir-US unfortunately.
There are great people on this subtext who have and are out there talking. We all need to keep talking most importantly LISTEN to those who remain submissive to the wolves.
On a very personal note I have a sister who I had thought was smarter than me. She has “cuddled up” to FOX and friends etc. and we don’t speak. She is an adult child of sexual abuse admittedly and most of my friends who have met her, their take away has been she is not a happy person. Yes and she’s a TRUMPER!
We need to be vigilant and listen to anyone.
I have a brother who is well educated and not dumb by any means. Last summer we visited him (and his family) for the first time in over ten years. I asked if he likes tfg... he said he did. I asked why... he said because he's honest. (???) I asked why he thinks that... he said because he said he was going to build the wall, and he did. I asked what he thought about the documents (Mara logo) case... he said everyone does it. (???) At that point we were interrupted and never got back to the conversation. I was trying to not be confrontive and trying to understand where he was coming from. I'm still upset and can't believe my brother could be so out of touch. The only conclusion I came to is his need to belong. He lives in an area that is very red and "Christian". How can he see the world so differently than I do and be so out of touch with reality?
Know the feeling. I am English, but half American and have quite a number of American cousins and contacts - all around my age (ancient!). I am astonished how many of them blindly follow Trump - people who I had previously thought were sensible and discerning. I don't know what has got into them all. Even one of our recent ex-Prime Ministers (Boris Johnson) wrote in the London Daily Mail over the weekend that he thought it would be good to have Trump for a second term. Has the world taken leave of its senses?
"Has the world taken leave of its senses?"... Sometimes it seems that way. I wish I could have finished that conversation with my brother. I still can't understand his thinking. As far as Boris Johnson goes... Personally I think he's a little off... a comment like that doesn't surprise me.
Sigh . . . I agree with your conclusion about the "need to belong," or at least not to rock any boats, especially among people who see things as black/white, good/evil, and aren't challenged by whatever media they consume regularly. ("Critical thinking" isn't valued everywhere, and some people who claim to value it don't like it when it's directed at them.)
How much attention does your brother pay to electoral politics in general? Most people don't pay much, and when they do pay attention, it's in the run-up to an election -- when the opportunity to get in-depth, non-advertising info about any of the candidates is much diminished.
I think my brother gets most of his information from his "friends". Something in the way he phrases his comments, sounds like he's saying what he has been told.
Not necessarily understanding what he's saying. I don't know how closely he follows politics. It seems to me anyone who listens to tfg speak should know what a dangerous person he is... but apparently that's not true.
Brilliant, Joel! And thank you a million times over for you great work, Joyce.
Trump told Iowans to get over a mass shooting that had just occurred in their state. This captures the essence of Trump so perfectly. Uncaring, and unconcerned about the welfare of any other person but himself. Words like this would be shocking coming out the mouth of nearly anyone else who has run for President. Yet it’s a non-event when Trump says it, such is the Trump fatigue factor that pervades our country
I can't understand how the crowd could stand to be in the same room with someone who had the gall to tell Iowans just a few days early to "get over it" and to move on, or something similar that was disgustingly vicious. But on Tuesday, the crowd cheered for him anyway.
His remarks show he is in the process of desentizing the public, the next step in his authoritative "chess" game. Sad that people fall for this grifter.
I agree regarding the process but chess would be far far beyond his "purview"!
Who'd want to play chess with him? Unless he won (very doubtful), he'd take the chess pieces and the chessboard and throw them against the wall, crying that the other person cheated.
The flip side of that is that his public is very, very willing to be desensitized. I'm pretty sure most of them have been itching for permission to be as racist, misogynist, anti-immigrant, anti-intellectual, etc. as their sad little hearts desire. And Trump has given it to them. This applies to pretty much the whole Republican Party, especially its members of Congress.
Sadly, I agree with you. This will become a lawless society, where anything goes, because of his "spell" on his followers. There was an explanation in my psychology class of how that desensitization happens, but all I remember now is that it was such a gradual process where the "victim" wasn't aware. I can see this happening, and it scares me to death.
For that crowd, it was never about protecting kids. It has been and always be about preserving the power of white men who are appalled to watch the shift in our ethnic mix in this country. In their minds, that is 'protecting' the kids.
True about not protecting kids - and way more not protecting women! Seems strange that once children are born their "concern" vanishes.
Amen!
My ancestors were Native Americans. I never knew any of them, and I sure don't resemble them. Guess Trump would have me kicked out of the country, too, because of my own ethnic mix. Since he was spawned, not born, I'd love to see his family tree.
The true residents of this country have been dealt a crappy hand by all the latecomers from Europe etc. - not just in this country but in all of the ones "colonized" by those various latecomers.
Seems at least once a week or more often - another little gem turns up - graves in formerly unknown areas! Well, not only indigenous people but anyone who is deemed to be an "other". It appears this is just more history that is NOT being taught to our kids.
It's true. First, there was Ancient History. Then, we had Regular History, followed by Modern History. Suddenly, learning any of that is outlawed, because Heaven forbid, today's kids can know the truth. Instead, assuming they're allowed to know anything at all about how our country changed over the years, whatever's taught will be called Fake History.
It does break my heart every time I hear about these findings. I call it desecration; builders and politicians who stand to make money from it, simply call it "progress,"
Even as far back (and it is FAR back) as when I was in school - there is so much that I never knew until I started reading LFAA & of course, Civil Discourse! Our "historians" apparently picked thru what happened & decided what to teach. Remember the saying - History is written by the winners!
These are brainwashed people, many of whom were probably not that nice before they joined the cult.
I agree. From the looks of those wearing their CHINESE-MADE red hats, it's obvious that a lot of them have no taste, nor much in the way of brains.
Ignorant people...all.
Hillary was unfortunately right: They are Deplorable.
Agree but I'll go one better -- Despicable
Allow me to add one more "D" word, plus a second one: Downright nasty,
They remind me of creatures in a zombie movie. Walking around like they're in some kind of daze, while their Puppet Master pulls all the strings.
They don’t think any more. So we must do the thinking.
Exactly. A sad state of affairs for our country, don't you think?
Yes, Richard. Fear of mass shooters is not a big concern for Trump and his cohort, surrounded as they are by Secret Service guards and ensconced in their armored vehicles. That lunatic narcissist must love their motorcades of massive SUVs. Self importance made real.
Yet, he still took over 50% of Republican votes. Is Trump the problem or is it those who choose to follow him?
Trump is the latest evolution of the Republican march toward authoritarianism and irrationality. The modern era of this evolution began with Gingrich in the 90’s and spun out of control with Trump’s election in 2016. It will continue, likely in a different flavor, once Trump exits the scene. The so called “normie” Republicans will need to make a clean break with this iteration and start a new Party if they want to re-establish what they would characterize as traditional Republican values. In American history, Party’s have collapsed with new ones taking their place. But that was long before big and dark money became so influential in our politics. Hard to see this iteration of the Republican Party ending when there is so much money working to keep it afloat
fyi - Trump won the Republican caucus in Dallas County, the home of Perry, IA.
Good evening Joyce. What if we posted photographs of assault weapons massacres on billboards across America. Could that influence badly needed reformative measures getting passed? We need to take both Houses in this fight and weed out the noise. We can do this at the ballot box. But journalists need to counter disinformation on the spot as well. Uvalde is the nation’s wake-up call for informed and well trained response teams to save lives first and foremost. The deaths of those young children cannot ever be forgotten. Thanks again for your hard work in getting these facts together 🗽🇺🇸🙏🕯️❤️
Another thing is that we should insist on people having liability insurance who own guns. In Germany most people carry personal liability insurance. Gun owners have to carry specific gun liability insurance for 1.1 million €. While it is not that expensive to get such insurance here, insurance companies are likely to turn people down who cause damage with guns, let alone kill people. Having to be insured and getting the insurance industry into owning guns will make a lot of difference in terms of access. Since it is normal in Germany to have liability insurance for just about every thing you do, the population does not question this. If Americans had to carry personal liability insurance it would be a problem because they would not want to have the extra costs, but it would also solve a lot of problems because people would be aware of just which behaviors they are covered for. Even with the death of the gun owner in a shootout, the insurance would have to pay damages up to 1.1 mil. In the USA, I suggest that the insurance have to be more like 10-20 mil. It is typical in Germany to be covered for up to 25 mil.
That would be the quickest way to gun control.
Perfect! Get money and personal liability into the equation and let the insurance companies do the work of setting standards and disqualifying people who shouldn't own guns. Neat and clean.
I think these photos of the mutilated children (with the permission of the parents) is what would change everyone’s minds. The pro-lifers always have large posters of so-called fetuses. It would be the best ammunition for us to use against these crazies. Again, only with the utmost permission of the parents or guardians. And quite frankly, I wish the parents would broadcast before and after photos themselves. Not certain they would be up to putting themselves out front like that, but it definitely be a strong message c
I wanted part of Alex Jones sentencing to include having to look at all the crime scene photos from Sandy Hook. ALL of them, in color; and for good measure be made to answer, under oath, after each one, "Does that look like a pile of crisis actors?"
I agree with you Marlene that photos of dead children would get people’s attention, I think the reason we have never been shown them is because they are so horrific, I’m a combat vet and I know just how horrific those photos must be. You or I, with our children safely in their homes might think it’s a good idea to display some of those images, but if it was our child that got chopped to pieces while vainly trying to hide in a bathroom or closet, we would no doubt not want to be reminded of what happened to someone we loved with all of our hearts. I can’t imagine the pain someone would experience when a child they gave life to is taken from them by someone who committed an unspeakable act, some of those children were only recognizable by their shoes.
Being a daughter of Holocaust victims and the wife of a Vietnam Vet, I think it is only fair for the public to see what harm and catastrophes are caused by automatic weapons. Look, we all have been exposed to emaciated bodies thrown in piles during WWII and the many who suffered the effects from Agent Orange defoliation. These photos would definitely shut these gun loving bastards up!
Emmitt Till's Mom somehow managed to do it. Not sure if it should be called bravery, courage, intestinal fortitude, or a burning desire to find justice somewhere down the road.
Maybe we'll never have the Congressional/Presidential trifecta needed to ban M-16 assault style rifles. Wonder, though, whether the 7.65mm rounds and combat magazines might be banned for non-military weapons and be slipped into (hidden) among a defense appropriations bill a few thousand pages in length.
(Senate) Democrats need to think outside the box; create some legislative poison pills, force Repubs to take uncomfortable votes , and demonstrate conclusively that they really could care less about kids or life.
Left out *would*.
Marlene, I read it mentally, so not to worry. The posters would send a very strong message.
Marlene Lerner-Bigley--thank you for saying what I was about to.
Maybe this and treating these criminals like criminals. They should not receive protection paid by taxes. If they respond inappropriately in court and should sit in jail, do it. Make these people pay their bills now- like the rest of the U.S. population. There are cities all over who were not paid for rallies, etc. Make these people pay. It's no wonder they have money- they lie, cheat, and never pay bills. If these people don't get prosecuted why should the common person?
All those good guys with guns weren’t worth a tinker’s damn to those poor children and teachers in that school. Those cops were afraid they’d get killed! What a bunch of babies they were.
I would also be afraid of getting killed, and that's why I NEVER BECAME A COP!!
Those 'officers' chose to be cops. The possibility of being killed comes with the job when you pick up a gun.
You know whose picture should be at the top of each billboard? Trump, while he was in the gun shop not too long ago. The thought of him having access to any kind of weapon scares the heck out of me!
And mjt proud brandishing of her assault rifle. Will drive home the message dems need the whitehouse, AND the congress.
Lynn, seeing her proudly brandishing her assault rifle made my head want to explode. I was so appalled when all of the MAGA members of the House wore lapel pens depicting the very thing we're talking about here. Was MTG or Bobo the one whose Christmas card was not your ordinary custom-made card? The one where everyone in the family was holding a gun?
Even though I worked and volunteered for two law enforcement agencies, I never liked being around guns, but understood the "necessity" for the officers to have them at all times.
A relative of ours pointed a shotgun at my family when I was about six years old. Now, almost 70 years later, I can still picture him on his front porch, yelling to my father that he'd give him one minute to leave their property. What would normally have been at least a three-hour drive back home took about half of that time. My father was so scared, he parked the car in our backyard, because he was afraid he might follow us (he'd never been to our house).
Maybe I should discuss this with a therapist? Regardless, assault rifles, unlike regular rifles and shotguns, aren't made for hunting deer. Their only purpose is to hunt down PEOPLE. Period.
OOOO..This would be a hard one to say the least. However, I do agree that most of us don’t even know how horrible these guns are for a human... what a GD nightmare. This is reality and so sickening. Thanks though. I have no idea what I would do if it were my children or grandchildren. 🥲
I fear we are becoming desensitized to the horror of mass shootings. Republicans clearly don't care. Are the rest of us screaming into the void?
The trouble is, too many would soon become desensitized, or just learn to look away. People need to learn to think about the issues so that they can feel.
It baffles me when I hear pundits discuss the rise in mental health issues among young people, mostly blaming it on social media but still scratching their head as to why kids are so messed up. I want to scream, "It's the guns, stupid".
Uh. No. It's Not. Guns cause mental health issues? THAT is mental.
The fear of being shot and killed at school, the mall, the grocery store, at church or synagogue. I'm a boomer and that's something my generation never had to worry about. But for today's kids, even if the likelihood of it happening to them, they hear about shootings over and over and over so no wonder they're anxious. They're afraid of dying.
Exactly right! When I was in school, back in the dark ages, the sound of the fire drill alarm made me jump every time. I can't even imagine what SHOOTER DRILLS must be like for today's students. I can't imagine what a parent must feel every time their kid walks out the door in the morning, not knowing if they will see them for dinner.
And to Mr. Lee up there, YES, it most certainly IS the guns.
We have advertised and unadvertised ‘shelter in place’ drills every month or so at my school. For the advertised drills, I think ahead and go to one of the few places where I can truly lock myself in and not be visible. When the unadvertised drills occur, my only chance of safety in preparation for the real thing is to lower the blinds, and cower under my desk if I’m in my office, or quickly find a safer place if I’m out and about. After working decades at my particular campus, I know the places where I’ll be safest in every building, and all too frequently find myself judging how long it will take to me to get to one of them when I’m out and about especially when I’m outdoors. I do not shirk my responsibility to protect the kids, though, and pull as many into the space with me as possible.
It’s both. It’s one thing to develop a twisted sense of yourself as an adolescent. It’s another thing to find an irrational release for the sickness of adolescence.
My biggest worry - my parents finding out I was disconnecting the speedometer and going to the beach instead of school
So we need to ban things because it causes some people irrational fear?
No, I have a better idea. Why don't we stick to the rational and real, and make policy that is pragmatic and solves problems?
Most gun death is from handguns. Most gun death is from urban criminal activity related to gangs and drug. Second is from suicide. Mass shootings at malls and schools by the insane gets sensationalized in the news and amplified by the prohibition Karens that run the Democrat party apparatus, but statistically more people die from falling or drowning than they do from those types of mass shootings.
Democrats want the border wide open. Handguns will flow. 3D printing and CNC technology is low-cost and handguns can be made in a garage. Cities and states where guns are the most restricted have some of the highest levels of gun violence. Criminals love liberal's irrational fixation on banning guns. They cannot wait.
It is completely irrational and infeasible to think that we can ban handguns in this country as a remedy to gun death statistics. Gun death is a people problem, not a gun problem. Guns don't walk around shooting people just like cars don't drive themselves around to kill people in auto accidents.
Liberals seems to be afflicted with a flaw of irrational fears and anxieties driving their political motivations. That means liberals are unfit to lead on topics where those irrational fears and anxieties exist. Because making policy from the basis of irrational fears and anxieties harms other people while also never solving the problem.
Here I thought you'd finally gone to hell or died of COVID, you fucking troll. Go Make America Truly Great Again with your permanent departure.
Calm down, TC. Calm down and take another look.
"Frank Lee" is one of the most vicious trolls on Substack. The reason comments at TAFM are limited to paid subscribers only is due to him - that was the only way I could get rid of him.
And you and Bill Katz - who seems to think all posts apply to him - are the only two to tell me to "chill." Which means democracy prevails and you're currently outvoted 14-2.
OK
The flowers are blooming.
Not everything is always about you, Katz.
I’m absolutely baffled it isn’t.
Bill. vanity, narcissism & tantrums & reported under Substack Inc.'s operable "Guidelines".
I think he’s talking to “Frank Lee”....
Right I know. But he does need to chill. And read my diatribe on the topic if he wants to fly off the handle. :)
Note, my "report" to Substack Inc on your comment Bill. Substack has New "buckets" of 'content' violations. You can contest them at JAMS- SF if you wish which is Substack's chosen ADR venue, a mediation service nationally known.
I have posted for over a year that digital content law is changing rapidly in many states along with negative proposed legislation such as Florida's proposed Bill HB 757 which is essentially a new proposed Florida state tort of 'false light'. NOT the old common law 'false light'. Torts are civil wrongs. Review your "Reader" contract & Terms of Use but, don'i chill.
I think it is fear of guns and mass shooters. There really is no safe place to be anymore. We are all at risk. That causes mental health issues. MHO.
Most of us who are female, and/or people of color, and/or gay or lesbian, and/or poor (etc.) have never had a "safe place to be." We've known for a long time that we were "at risk" whenever we walked down the street, took a drive across town, had to deal with the bureaucracy, etc. And you know what? We did it anyway. Maybe we've all got "mental health issues." I prefer to call it "realistic resilience."
Wow. Five people liked your comment.
We have nothing to fear but fear itself. How do you get up in the morning and put your pants on knowing there are so many things out there that can kill you?
Irrational fear requires therapy not policy to ban things that cause you irrational fear.
You know when I was young almost 80 years ago, we didn't have school shooting, mass murders or guns everywhere and we didn't because the 2nd Amendment wasn't misinterpreted back then; THAT is the BIG LIE, the 2nd Amendment does not give Americans the right to firearms. We also did not have automatic weapons that have clips that can run as high as 15 rounds or more or AR-15 or other military or military like weapons all over our country.
I used to think the America was a great country and that. we Americans were special. But thanks to the easy access to information re past and present I am actually not there anymore. The best thing about the United States of America is the promise of America, the idea our Founders gave us and fought so hard to preserve; that America is still only a dream. Our politicians either talk out of both sides of their mouths or out and out lie, our Justice system from the cop on the beat to the SCOTUS is either corrupt or liars or extremely incompetent or playing politics and one of our most beloved President let Trump and the Russians install him as President.
We have great health care if one has a lot of money and extremely good insurance, our older citizens are pretty much ignored or told we lived a good long life so except what is enviable. Too many of us have become ruder than when I was young.
Yes, these are the thoughts of an older woman who has seen her country move and helped move to a more perfect Union to electing some of the stupidest, hateful, bible pumping and corrupt people I have ever seen in Congress and other elected offices.
That people who call themselves Americans who voted for and will still vote for a Trump or his like completely disgust me; they have no idea the meaning of our U. S. Constitution and have probably never taken a civic class in their life.
And make no mistake, we the people have allow this to happen, by allowing our schools to deteriorate both physical buildings but most important the curriculums. We have many things to fix but if we don't elect the right people we are going to deteriorate further unless we DEMAND those fixes We used to say in the good old bad old days it will never happen here, but here we are. Just call me a very sad and frustrated American.
Thanks for this. We have all been gaslit by political ideologies into believing Progress is a noun and destination rather than a transitional verb. The work to create and recreate an enlightened society never ends, at any age.
Yes, Ma’am! You are absolutely right about the 2nd Amendment. (New thought). My brother, who was a hunter, used to say that guns should be limited to 4-shot magazines (plus one in the chamber if you want to tempt fate). He pointed out that no hunter needs more than four shots, or even four shots. Larger magazines are intended only to kill human beings (or to make some guys feel like men.).
Yes and I agree with your brother and that should be all you get as a civilian AFTER a background check, psych evaluation, licensed and registered.
To paraphrase George Harrison, there wouldn't be a problem if people with guns only shot each other.
Gun laws will have no effect if we don't curtail the weapons industry, In 2020 the top 100 companies supplying weapons and ammunition to the United States made $531 BILLION. That is the problem. Like all the rest of Corporate America they don't give two hoots in hell who gets killed or harmed as long as they make money. Just as the fossil fuels industrialists don't care how many people are drowned or die or starvation or heat stroke AND big pharma has no regard for deaths due to opioids. It's the MONEY.
If we really want to bring down the gun deaths, mitigate the consequences of global warming, get the illicit narcotics industry under control Stop It At The Source. And that source is not immigrants, legal or otherwise, it is not black or brown neighborhoods. It is the top of the top in wealth.
Regulation and taxes are the legislatures weapons; tell your legislators if they want your vote they'd better bloody write and support wealth tax and business regulations including reinstating Glass-Steagall.
If you want to do something yourselves, write to these rotten industries.. If you're young enough and can afford it demonstrate in front of their corporate offices. Also demonstrate against store chains selling weapons of mass destruction (I'm not talking about shotguns and hunting rifles) American citizens are as capable of demonstrating as the French and British citizens are. We did it in the 60's and 70's, it took awhile but we made a difference to civil rights and we brought an end to the Vietnam war. Our problem was that by the 80's we were tired of protesting and lived our lives instead of staying vigilant. We allowed the evil forces of hate, greed, and wealth to take hold.
Hopefully your generation will teach your children better of the need for constant vigilance. If they notice something is wrong, investigate and find the cause, then act before the wrong gets entrenched. I am truly sorry that I, and others of my age, didn't stay vigilant.
Speaking for myself and family and friends, we were vigilant and it didn't help. We continued to protest, write, vote and speak out. We were steamrollered by Citizens United, tax policy, lack of anti-monopoly enforcement and the growing power of the morbidly rich including many politicians.
One thought is to repeal the 2nd amendment suggested by former Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens (March 27, 2018). But Lawrence Tribe said that would just reinforce the NRA's claim
that they are coming for our guns. This gun mania is one of the biggest bamboozlements ever perpetrated upon the American public. I think there are about 400 million firearms among the public at current. Certainly the American family doesn't need to be armed with battlefield level
firearms. When I was growing up in the 1950s my father had shotguns, .22 rifles, and a deer rifle.
And so did our friends. We would go up to our cabins in northern Michigan to hunt. At no time did anyone ever mention wanting military-level weapons, or needing them for personal protection. And there was never any talk about handguns. So the problem is trying to undo the bamboozlement--almost seemingly like trying to untie a Gordian knot. Tom from Ann Arbor
There is no need to repeal Amendment II, JUST READ it, all of it. The 2nd Amendment AS Written does not give carte blanche to weapons ownership or use. That is the weapons industrialist's distorted view of it.
"A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
The Proud Boys and Oath keepers can in no way be considered well regulated militia. Nor can the nutcase taking an automated MILITARY rifle to kill students, be considered well-regulated.
The main problem with Americans, they do not read the Constitution (which is available free online)
The real problem is that Justice Scalia managed to persuade a majority of his SCOTUS colleagues that the proper interpretation of the 2nd Amendment is that all citizens have the unqualified constitutional right to bear arms, period.
They were easy to persuade. I do not, and never will understand how anyone cannot just read the damned words as they are written. Scalia, Thomas, and Alito all insist they knew what the Framers, and James Madison really meant. He died in 1836. Unless you believe in ghosts - how could you possibly know what the man had on his mind. I don't know if the weapons manufacturers got to Scalia, or the NRA, it certainly wasn't Madison.
Yes, rather ironic coming from the OG "Originalists." We shouldn't be able to get our hands on anything more powerful than a flintlock musket, if they actually followed their own rules, but they're Republicans, so the rules change as needed.
My thought exactly
The weapons manufacturers got to Scalia through their political arm--the NRA. Scalia was a hunter and was on a fancy hunting trip when he died. I don't know which billionaire paid for the fancy trip.
JennSH, John B. Poindexter (worth $3 Billion) and the owner of Cibolo ranch funded the trip.
Yes - one would think a posse of ‘Constructionists’ would not so willfully ignore the grammatical construction of that simple sentence with its clearly dependent clause. But here we are...
It is like Scalia read the amendment as:
"A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State. The right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
The comma became a period. Turned the amendment into two sentences. But the first sentence become nonsense which he ignored.
P.S. I have not read his opinion.
We are absolutely on the same page on this. For those who want to use the “originalist” approach or the textural approach...it is clear the 2nd Amendment was written for the purposes of being able to gather a militia at a time when this country did not have one; especially in the wild frontier area of the country. All these militia groups in this country are basically antigovernment terrorist groups. And they are well armed. We now have the national guard in each state (our well maintained militia). Join the guard if you want a weapon of mass destruction...just be cautioned you might have to pass a couple of tests and be trained before being given your AR15 or the like.
Yes, the wording is obvious to me. And if it were repealed or gone it doesn't mean anyone's firearms would be taken away. It would take away an excuse to make these claims about gun grabbing etc. "We can't touch this sacred amendment..etc. etc." Are they going to take my shotgun, .22, or .30-.30 deer rifle away ? No. And I agree with the lack/ability to read. Again how do we reverse the bamboozlement? A person I know belongs to a gun club. He said he had 600 lbs of ammo in his basement. He said he heard that "antifa" was coming to town and he brought his AR-15 up to his living room. His son, a Special Forces/Green Beret army guy came home once and said "Dad, why do you have all of this stuff?"
Our northern Michigan hunters still have no use for military level weapons, which would destroy all the venison we eat.
I agree. In some cases if you use a very high power rifle, the bullet would just go through the deer and leave it wounded. A classic caliber like a .30-.30 would knock the deer down and kill it. And there are lots of bow hunters and folks using cross-bows. Then there is Camp Grayling with all their artillery and whatever sometimes causing fires. We could see flashes at night from the shelling and we were 10 miles from their ranges.
Joyce, this just came in over my feed. It’s the E Jean Carroll case fyi. https://www.meidastouch.com/news/carrolls-lawyers-seek-more-money-for-trumps-statements-this-weekend
That's just delicious...Roberta Kaplan & co. are taking it right to tRump, his lawyers are helpless to stop the man from grievously imperiling his already horridly compromised position, and tRump clearly is willing to risk tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars awarded in damages just to trash the trial proceedings and bait the judge.
I'm waiting for him to confuse E Jean Carroll with Nikki Haley, it's bound to happen!
Lance, Trump mistook Wife #2 for Ms. Carroll! It must be hard for him to keep up with so many females, when you're such an attractive man like him. (I'm going to go throw up now!)
Just this week I randomly watched, "The Comey Rule," which I'd never seen. There is a point when Comey is having his private consultation with Trump about the Steele Dossier. And at one point, Brendan Gleeson, playing Trump (brilliantly, I might add!) says, "Do I look like a guy who needs prostitutes?" And I thought, "Dude, you look like a guy a prostitute would pass on by."
Steve,
Now THAT was funny! I love that line.
Looking at pictures and videos of Adolph when he was young, I cannot figure out how on earth anyone could have found him attractive.
I always preferred men that were kind, made me laugh, and treated women with respect, not objects to be manipulated. Maybe my standards were too high? I'm glad they were.
Dianne, Trump did not mistake E. Jean for Marla. Prior to seeing the picture he had repeatedly said that 'I've never seen that woman. I don't know her.' But when he was presented with the picture by Robbie Kaplan at deposition, he cunningly lied to keep from admitting he had met E. Jean (E. Jean was with her husband whom Trump knew well - he was an NBC announcer and Trump was there with Ivana). So first of all, he had met her with her husband and Trump knew that was the guy's wife. Secondly, the quick and cunning lie he told - or so he thought - would make people believe his lie that he had not met E. Jean and that he thought the woman was Marla. Secondly: he was standing with Ivana - and it was during a time he was having an affair with Marla If that had been 'Marla' she would have been smacked by Ivana. My opinion: Trump is/was well aware it was E. Jean, with her husband John Johnson whom Trump knew. 'Marla' was a handy excuse because he had lied under oath that he had not met E. Jean and he would rather the attorneys think he didn't remember what 'Marla' looked like lying under oath can be a felony. He had met her, and he knew exactly who was in the picture: he even commented that he knew John Johnson, a 'nice guy, I know him.' So Marla was in a receiving line with someone else's husband and coincidentally it was E. Jean's husband? All to save his lie under oath and broadcast far and wide to his minions to make E. Jean a liar?? His sperm is on her dress: he penetrated her digitally and with his penis. But, the time limit for presenting that as evidence and comparing with his DNA sample has passed. When he knew the time had passed, he offered his DNA. But if you wait a while, things change. The New York law on the time limitation may change and the DNA sample can be requested and compared.
Valere,
As always, you have good insight! All of this information has blown my mind. I was obviously out of touch regarding this whole situation. I used to watch the soap opera "Guiding Light" years ago before it ended. There were so many twists and turns when it came to relationships, but we all knew it was fiction. Except for the Procter & Gamble commercials.
Regarding what you wrote here, all I can say is: "It's true! You can't make this stuff up!" Wow.
Thank you Diane, what I think is that attorneys will do anything and say anything to keep their client from Bing either convicted or found guilty. Even good attorneys, or I guess, moral with a moral code will do that because they’re allowed to do that within the law. I was struck by the fact that his prior attorney. Tapiccone sp said after the first trial that “this was always a rape trial.” And I thought “well, if it was a rape trial, why wasn’t it conducted with all the DNA evidence and what not?” Joyce did a fabulous synopsis of the true Court event and explained how they came about what their purpose was, but they had a lot of hearing and different court appearances. I believed he raped her. And I didn’t need a guilty conviction to tell me that. I’m glad he was a jury, so anyone who had any doubt at all, could know that the jurors believed her. I’m hoping the New York law changes to allow old evidence to come in. And I don’t know the details truly about why that evidence didn’t come in and maybe they’re claiming oh it’s too long ago and it’s degraded. But those crime analysis laboratories are becoming more and more sophisticated. So I’m having two hopes in this response: labs become more sophisticated and definitive and they will. And the other one is evidence law changes for New York, and I don’t know what the evidence law entails Trump is somebody who skates under the wire all the time. So just as in this case, he knows this evidence can’t be admitted, so he can say “I didn’t
do it .” He won’t accept the fact that I think the number is about 69 court cases that found no evidence of voter fraud in states. He won’t back down on his lies. There is a member of this site named.Gregg Barak who is a criminologist. He’s written a lot of books but he has a paperback out right now that was published in 2024 which means this month. It’s called “inditing the 45th president.“ I have ordered it and it’s on my stock and I’ll let you know, anything I pick up in there and whether it might be a must have for you to read. He did another book that was a study of society and crime that is called .”criminology on Trump..” the person I’m fascinated with is Judge Lewis Kaplan. of all the people in the system, he’s the one I’d like to sit down and have a cup of coffee with. As much as I could, I’d like him to tell me everything he knows about Trump. Because my sense is, he cannot make any decision on “everything he knows.“ It just has to be what’s brought in front of him as the evidence. He’s done such an amazing job, both the trials and the hearings and the appeals. But I think he knows something. Because he was so quick in other trial that Trump didn’t show up to meet his accuser when he was found guilty of sexual abuse. His excuse was he had to be in Scotland for the ribbon-cutting at his golf course but when you, Google Scotland newspapers, he flew to Scotland, I think it was May 1, then he did the ribbon-cutting on May 2, 2023, then he spent nine days in an IRL golfing with Eric. So why didn’t he just turn around and come back after the ribbon-cutting and he could testify? But then he started tweeting how unfair the judge was to not let him testify that was just about when the trial had ended, and before the cherry was sequestered. So the minute that started happening Judge Kaplan said “wait wait! Will extend the trial another week.” Trump was trying to set him up for a miss trial because everyone has a right to be at their own trial. But that doesn’t mean they have to for nine days in a foreign country. That’s called vacation. And Trump had five months to change the ribbon-cutting. So the ribbon-cutting on May 1 had Trump, Eric and woman who supervised the construction I guess . I don’t even know if community leaders were there. Because the usual crowd of 100 or 200 protesters who are always sort of local people had that Trump, baby helium balloon with him and his diaper and his cell phone with the orange Trump baby appearing and that’s a huge balloon they fly in Scotland, England and Ireland as they chant “go home we don’t want you.” So no fans were around there. in other words, the Trump brand is not doing well in Europe especially Scotland, England and France. In fact, I would say about those folks that Trump has no brand and Trump. The man is who they detest. How on earth could he even think of putting his name on a golf club in Scotland when they already had that helium balloon, Trump baby, with his orange mop on top, his head and a baby bottle and his cell phone flying in England and France. They flew that balloon in England when he met the queen and he was still president then. So people over there have disliked him for a long time. I’m still just wondering what Judge Kaplan knows. he sure is quick to make decisions. And he doesn’t waffle one single bit. But Best regards and I’ll send you back anything more I find out from the books.
Wow, Valere! Some of this information I had never heard before. I appreciate your insight and taking time to let me know about this. I'm heading to the library tomorrow to check out (literally) those books and see what else is there. There's a university where I live now. I might see if it's open to non-students. The only way to know is call them!
I like your suggestion on who you'd like to sit down and just talk. Your reasons are interesting. There are several I'd like to do the same with, so I need to narrow the list to just one. Maybe Ms. Carroll, but her calendar's probably filled up for the next couple of years.
Thanks again.
He did it again. He confused Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/nikki-haley-trump-mentally-fit-nancy-pelosi-rcna134887
OMG! How? The only thing they have in common is they are both females. They could be "poster women" for the term polar opposites.
Wow. I'd like to say I'm surprised, but I'd be lying. (Like Trump does so well.)
I’ve got the popcorn when that happens.
I saw that earlier. I love that E. Jean has a very brilliant lawyer representing her!
That's Roberta Kaplan, who hit several home runs for LGBTQ people, starting with the Windsor case. She is my shero.
Mine too!
Thanks for sharing this! You made my day!
I wondered what embarrassing thing Trump would say in Iowa after the Perry school shooting/murder. He certainly did not let his cult down. "Get over it"! As insignificant as being served onions on your hamburger in error. The loss of a child and Principal Marburger meant absolutely nothing to him. Mr. Marburger lost his life doing the job he felt a Principal should- protecting the students at his school. Even if Trump truly felt like folks should just "get over it"- what ignorant, heartless , individual would open his mouth and state something like that? We honor Mr. Marburger's life and legacy; we grieve for the family of the lost child. There are many things that folks need to "get over", but the Perry, IA school shooting, Mr. Marburger and the loss of the child are not it. May their memories be a blessing to their families and friends.
Thank you Penny, very nice words. More importantly “The Truth” in the years since tfg got in office, it was hard to tell if our elected officials were lying. Now it is the Norm. In any case what you have stated above should apply to all republicans “get over yourself” the lies they tell, the things they are getting “away with” SC BETTER FIND SOME JUSTICE SOON. What a GD mess this is.
With no possible action on ANY issues of import to most of us if the Democrats lose the Congress, let alone POTUS, there is no question that we have to look at and take actions to influence the 2024 election as if our lives depended on it. Our lives are on the line, AR-15 or not.
It is time to, if parents and families would permit it, post those pictures of the mangled babies, mothers, fathers and kids torn apart by AR-15”s. It’s gruesome but necessary.
Lack of gun control (especially military-grade weapons) represent a case where a majority of Americans are beholden to the wealthy gun industry enabling death on the streets of America no different than that caused by the cocaine or opioid providing drug cartels. Better laws and their enforcement are needed for the former as well as the later. Access to better mental health support for those who would use guns to kill others and themselves will only be effective if the access to weapons used in mass killings are banned.
Yeah. Where’s the War on Guns when we really need it?
On being armed for self defense:
Once upon a time in 1971-2 & 3, I flew 110 B52-D & -G combat sorties over Southeast Asia. On each sortie we were delivering up to 70,000 lbs. of conventional dumb bombs. 70's state of the art. For self defense during escape and evasion should we be shot down in enemy territory, each crewmember was issued an unloaded .38 caliber six-shot revolver with a 2-inch barrel. Along with it, a small plastic baggy containing, I seem to remember, 17 rounds of ammunition. Several of those functioned only as signal flares--no bullets. I approached this armament with my own 3 levels of readiness: 1) Leave the stuff locked and untouched in its metal box secured to the airplane; 2) Gun, unloaded in the survival vest holster worn under parachute harness with baggy of bullets in a separate vest pocket; 3) Loaded pistol in vest, ready to use, even while hanging from 'chute. Levels 1 & 2 were over 90% of the time. Level 3 happened only over (then) North Vietnam in December 1972. That's a 'war story'. 17 bullets? And now, let kids have semi-legal access to semi-automatic assault rifles with overly-large magazines to take with them to a school or a church meeting? Or, as bad or even worse, through carelessness, allow a child to find the handgun in dad's nightstand ending in the death of a family member? I do believe a closer reading--and application--of the 2nd amendment is required. Common sense would help.
Thank you Bill, for sharing your story, and for your service to our country. And thank you for bringing your logic to this Substack. It's nice to have someone speak logic to nonsense. We have a very serious road ahead - to make sure that Trump will not get near the White House.I believe he will be defeated and spend the rest of his life in prison.
Wow. What was the point issuing those play pistols?
They weren't 'play' pistols . ;-) They worked, were sturdy, would withstand hard environment between stratosphere and rice paddy. What they would not permit is being an aggressive sniper. Against an enemy force of 2 enemy youngsters not paying attention, you might have a chance to escape--if you were not injured from bailout. The flares could be useful to signal a rescue chopper should one show up to take you home. My point here: Civilians living at their home in the US might benefit from having a weapon for self defense. IF (emphasis on subjunctive) the threat were to actually materialize and actually call for the use of deadly force. IF the person with the weapon were trained and capable to make the life-and-death decisions involved with pulling a trigger. My own thought is, after reflecting on the current threat to individuals in the US is that 'less is more'. But then I don't live in a drug infested slum with a high rate of rape and robbery. I live in a quiet suburb of Stuttgart, Germany, where the latest protests were made by strings of farmers who caused traffic jams with their tractors. The prices for their high quality produce is not covering their costs. No guns required.
I understand. For one 18 month segment of my life a happy one at that, I lived in Florence, Italy — away from Americana. Respectfully, I was one of those who protested that stupid war from the age of 14 onwards.
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and be one traveler long I stood, and looked down one as far I could ..."
Each one of us faces choices in life, and then is forced by the results to ....
One can only hope that we the people can assist the former prez, by our votes, to live out the consequences of his actions, out of any governmental responsibility, and perhaps paying for any criminal activity as determined by the legal processes in which he finds himself.
As a follow up to my comment and btw, on my fateful overnight ride to Washington on the Amtrak that night at 14, to participate in the huge anti war demonstration in 1967, we met 3 or 4 sailors returning to base. They were passing around a bottle of vodka and invited us to drink. They knew why we were going to Washington as they headed back to base. It didn’t matter we were all comrades.
And then on my first visit to the Wall, as I walked along the path, I saw family members scratching on granite the name of a long lost family member on paper. And then I heard sniffles as I approached. And although I already knew this, I walked away from the wall that day knowing that no one leaves dry-eyed.
These statistics are part of a 20 year old argument ..Yet the people who continue to vote for the lawmakers who are standing in the way of meaningful change and action, seem incapable of connecting the dots between the people they keep voting for and dead kids..Some of which are likely theirs..They are blinded by the lis they are told regarding the 2nd amendment..Or perhaps they simply lack the critical thinking skills to do it.. I wonder how Ted Cruz explains to the mother of his children and the parents of their class mates when their school room gets shot to shit and their kids blown away..by an AR-15.. Oh, wait I know what it is..He wants to take teachers and arm them, make a completely inexperienced person and place them in an active shooter situation..expect them to defend the lives of their students with guns..”Well Miss Smith, your English teachers degree and resume is exemplary..You will just need to go through urban tactical combat training now before we can hire you.”
We are all in this stewpot together for sure and it’s beginning to get awfully warm.