Prolonging the Pandemic; the Conservative Covid Killing Fields (Where's Ron DeSantis?)

"Now you go in for the Kill Shot. The kill shot [woof] with an ambush... it's deadly. Cause he doesn't see it coming," Fox News propagandist Jesse Waters incites the traitors at Turning Point convention to kill Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The Right is starting to get better at comedy and is making Lefties nervous... a meme first as comedy then as tragedy...

Conservative Covid Killing Fields is literally is all about increasing their political power...

MSNBC rightly called the Turning Points USA convention a "Celebration of Violence".  Worse than that it's past time to realize the right has declared a civil war on American society; I say a civil war specifically, because it's not The Civil War and will not, most likely, ever resemble the 1860's.  Instead a quarter of the American population are wedded to using whatever means available to achieve their thwarted political goals.  This includes outright political violence, of course, but, over the past 2 years of the Pandemic has manifested itself as disseminating lies and encouraging their deluded followers to get sick and fight against any means adopted to curtail or stem the spread of Covid.  It is ghastly but undeniable to conclude the leaders of the American Right believe by prolonging the Pandemic and sacrificing some of their voters, they can secure power in 2022 and possibly 2024. 

The liberty secured by the Constitution of the United States does not import an absolute right in each person to be at all times, and in all circumstances, wholly freed from restraint, nor is it an element in such liberty that one person, or a minority of persons residing in any community and enjoying the benefits of its local government, should have power to dominate the majority when supported in their action by the authority of the State.  It is within the police power of a State to enact a compulsory vaccination law, and it is for the legislature, and not for the courts to determine... Jacobson v. Massachusetts, Volume 197 U.S. 11 (1905)

Antivaxxers are Reactionary Nihlists, Anarchists, or crass conniving curs, who are violently stupid or actively ignorant.  But possess the ability to spew bad faith far faster than your ability to rebut or debunk it.  I've found no avenue of approach that they can not ignore or disingenuously elide.  

Like an armor all arguments bounce of their nihilistic brains.  They've created a fantasy belief about "Liberty" which is I May Do as I Pleases and there is no such thing as Society, Government, Your Fellow Man, etc...

 

Conservatives long ago voided the Social Contract and jettisoned listening to authority and experts.  Conservatives are the experts now on every topic because they "do their own research".  Conservatives find facts to confirm their opinions.

• It doesn't matter if you argue from Legal Precedent as with the above quoted Jacobson SCOTUS case or similar laws adopted throughout American history.
• You can not argue Morality, that antivaxx villains should embody the Christian principle of helping their fellow man because their Jesus wants them to oppress and dominate their fellow man.
• You can't argue Political Theory about the role of Government; because they don't believe Government can constrain them.
• You can't argue The Simpsons Reductio ad Absurdum by informing them their rights end at other peoples' lungs (an adapted analogy of the fist and nose).
• You can't Argue from Expertise because they can find their own "Doctors"/ Joe Rogan/ Candeath Owens who falsely tout Hydroxychloroquine or Ivermectin or Colloidal Silver or whatever chemical cocktail is fashionable at the moment.
• You can't argue Personal Experience known friends or family members who are immune-compromised, or have contracted Covid, or are suffering from Long Covid effects, or worse yet died, because they blithely avoid basic humanity and compassion for work colleagues, spouses, or family.

Because they don't care.  They don't care. They lie with statistics. 1,000,000 dead out of 330,000,000? Pffft! Big Deal!  Greater than 99% Survival Rate, which isn't true, but even if it was it would mean another couple million deaths.  Thus, proving once again a single death is a tragedy but, a million is just a statistic.  

They trot out the old propaganda falsehoods that the evil government (every Democrat and some Republicans except for New Messiah Ron DeathSantis or the Nebraska Ricketts) counts everyone who dies as a covid death! Car Accidents!  Terminal Cancer!  Fat!  Diabetes!  COMORBIDITIES!!! 

So, as the Christmas Covid infection rate ramps up we'll see Hospitals and medical professionals stressed to breaking, read about more Herman Cain Award recipients, and Antivaxxers will claim that since they are alive and don't know anyone who has actually died of Covid it's all a Plandemic. 

Update:

Over at the Best Website on the Internet Lawyers, Guns, and Money they ask Where is the Back-to-Back 2020 and 2021 Pandemic Champion Ron DeathSantis as Florida spirals up out of control with cases once again.  I'll point out that DeSantis knows by simply ignoring the dead he wins favor with Conservatives across the Nation.  In fact, right-wingers routinely claim by ignoring any mitigation, mask or vaccine mandates Florida is doing great and DeSantis is a Hero.

If your Insurrection lasts 12 months or longer call your Senator or Representative

First, I recommend reading this excellent piece Insurrections, Ancient and Modern by Bret Devereaux at A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry on how the Ancient Greeks (the inventors of Democracy) would clearly have understood the January 6th Insurrection as a clear attempt to overthrow the United States Government.  It doesn't require an Epiphany to understand Trump's goals, tactics, and motivation.  It also doesn't take a prophet to recognize a large segment of the American people are fully wedded to the Big Lie and very much want to engage in political violence, including the rounding-up and systematic execution of the Non-MAGA.  

So, any case brought against Traitor Trump, and the organizers of the Jan6th Coup needs to be as perfect and air-tight as possible, otherwise Trump will just pantomime an orgasm on stage again to belittle the investigation.  And the 139 Congresspukes and 8 GOP Senators who voted to overthrow the 2020 Presidential Election and dismantle the Nation will do everything in their considerable power to undermine the prosecution of Trump & his Criminal Cabal.

But, the Very On-Line Community (VOLC) is exasperated with the Democratic Party approach and the Dept of Justice slow grinding of arrest and trial of January 6th criminals, I am, to the contrary, very pleased with the constant drip-drip-drip release of news, evidence, video and convictions of those thus far arrested.    

One of the things the Republicans grasped is how to control the News Cycle.  Besides flooding the media with constant streams of Rightwing bullshit, to obfuscate and provide grist for the #bothsides mill, Republicans know the crimes they committed on January 6th would only dominate the News for a short, short while.  Then the Media having dutifully spoken about the attempted overthrow of the United States Government in the most blasé, prosaic way possible would pretend some anodyne Biden literal dog bites man story is equivalent to the GOP destruction of the Nation.

If 6 months ago much of the gathered evidence had been released en masse the Corporate Media would have discussed it for a day or two three and then moved on to their hyperbolic Afghanistan nonsense.

So, here is a newly released video of 3 hours of Trump Traitors attacking the Capitol Police.  Here's how we know the Trump cabal stalled and planned to give conservatives and Rightwing embedded Kill Teams every opportunity to capture and execute Speaker Pelosi, AOC, and as many of the recalcitrant members of Congress as possible.  3 hours with no Quick Reaction Force response.  No K-9's or Horse mounted Officers.  Horses and Dogs control crowds effectively, exerting far more control per pound than any person can. 

So, it's up to Us, the People to constantly highlight, discuss, and agitate for Justice and to guard against the Next Attempted Trump Golpe de Estado because the Corporate Media is not going to do it and Faux News  and the rightwing media is going to justify, promote and support the next Coup.

Dinosaur Quarterbacks and the RPO Short Life of Glory

 It's a bizarre time in the NFL, as we are beset by two peaks far outside the standard deviation: Ancient Quarterbacks and the flood of the Young Rushing QBs.

Tom Brady is not the only old man playing QB and playing at a high level.  Aaron Rodgers is still playing and with the help of the NFL Referees, putting up MVP numbers.  Matt Ryan and Ben Roethlisberger are still effective.  

At the same time, the Run-Pass Option QB are taking over the the play calling and dreams of General Managers throughout the league.  While it would seem obvious to place your best athlete into the most important position in all of sports; Quarterback.  It's also a mistake.

College coaches will only have a QB in there system 4 or 3 or even 1 year.  General Managers, Owners, and fan bases hope and expect a Franchise QB to last 10 years (and as we've seen recently with the recently retired Philip Rivers and Drew Brees) even longer.  Every RPO QB, except Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, has been injured this year;

• Kyler Murray
• Justin Fields
• Jalen Hurts
• Tua Tagovailoa
• Taysom Hill
• Cam Newton
• And reigning league MVP Lamar Jackson

The RPO is turning QBs into Running Backs and giving them the same shortened careers.  QBs even the fastest and the toughest can't take open field hits and continue to be effective.  This is in no way to call them soft or pampered, it's just QB can' play the way a defensive lineman can with a club hand or with a stinger or an achy joint.  QB's in the pocket have special protections but, even the slide rule adopted a while back doesn't protect them out in the open.

Now, where does NFL quarterbacking go in the future?  College has been using the option system for decades.  But, a Steve Young or Michael Vick level fast, agile QB making the NFL and running with ball has always been more of an outlier.  Players like Donovan McNabb, or Steve McNair or John Elway were mobile and would run but, also moved away from the running style so embraced as of late.  Clearly, the current crop of Quarterbacks who can run and run well are going to keep playing even if the occasional ones, like a Mitch Trubisky or Marcus Mariota get relegated to back-up status.  But, I think it's going to be a short-lived experiment because NFL franchises can't invest draft picks and big money in players whose pro careers mirror their college ones, in terms of longevity.  

Running as a QB, is the fastest way to shorten your career.

As the Coronavirus bill comes due; will the Trump led Republican Party stiff conservatives?

Only the ghost of Tamerlane is responsible for more deaths than Ron DeathSantis, Major Traitor Greene, Donald Trump, and the Republican Party.  The Republican Party has, through fits and starts, slowly but, inexorably become Pro-Covid Death Cult.  The Masque of the Red Brain Dead... but my natural immunity! (There is no such thing)

Trump's entire life has been about him not paying his bills.  His rabid base doesn't have that luxury when it comes to Covid.  In fact, many dire warnings concerning Omicron (Oo) seem to indicate the unvaccinated are going to be killed off in continued climbing numbers.  

A large cohort of so-called Republicans are not vaccinated and do not plan to be.  And even the bloated Trump himself can not convince them to get vaccinated. 

The coming post-Christmas bill of Coronavirus will kill thousands of deluded rightwing drones.  It's already exacting a heavy toll on elected Republicans.  But, it's also clear that some Republicans are marks and some Republicans are making a killing. 

Here's Sarah Palin telling the Turning Point Traitors she'll be vaccinated "over her dead body".  Ironic hilarity aside, Palin allegedly had Covid in April of 2021 and since then she's had the epiphany there is money and power to be made in telling conservatives the very mild, incredibly sensible, hardly inconvenient, and life-saving vaccine & mask mandates are the height of tyranny.

There's no point in being coy; Republicans see a huge political upside to the continued Covid Pandemic and are willing to sacrifice large number of their voters, some small fish Republicans, and conservatives writ large to reap the reward.

And apparently, Rose Twitter (A Twitter Account with a Rose is a Magat by any other name), has lost their minds when the WhiteHouse.Gov website put out an entirely accurate post those who choose not to get vaccinated will face the likelihood of death from Omicron (Oo).  Rose Brocialists are going to be FORCED to preemptively declare they don't support Joe Biden AGAIN and are being forced to vote for the Fascists as they did in 2016 and 2020 YET AGAIN!

Update:

I can only hope this Reddit story from two weeks ago about a Doctor of 30 years, a 38 year old father dying of Covid and his pyscho wife is fantasy.

Secret recording show the NRA loves School Shootings and Dead Children

Because dead children make the NRA and the Firearm Industry millions of dollars.

In April 1999, faced with the immediate aftermath of the Columbine Mass School Shooting, the NRA leadership had an emergency meeting to decide how to proceed.  NPR investigative journalists acquired those tapes.  Not once did leading NRA figures pause, stop and consider maybe... just maybe... we are wrong. That the NRA position on gun laws, gun proliferation and gun culture was wrong.  That more guns does not make America safer.

No.  The NRA immediate reaction was how do we spin this, control the narrative, and what about the money.

Because the Money...

Because the Money...

Because the Money...

Glorified spokesmodel NRA President Charlton 'Moses' Heston (right-wingers do so love to put actors into politics) was paraded out in late April 1999, to read a script as the NRA continued to push the United States down the path of unrestricted but, exceedingly profitable gun violence. The NRA doubled down and fought viciously to ensure Columbine was just a precursor of mass shootings to come. 

After Columbine the NRA also decided to also empower "the nuts", "the fruitcakes", "hillbillies", "the wackos" (their words!) and decided more guns, lax enforcement, and less gun laws were the way to go; especially going after the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban and celebrating its' demise under the Villainous George W. Bush regime.  Since that inauspicious day, the AR-15 has factored in almost all the spectacular bloody murderous school and mass shootings.

But, AR-15 platform is a fucking goldmine for the NRA and their Weapon Making masters.  Fragile white men rush out to blow their social security checks getting the gun, getting the hardware, getting the accoutrements...  

Because the Money...

Because the Money...

Because the Money... 

Happy National School Shooting Day!

Of course, everyday is Nationwide School Shooting Day, in the United States of the Holey Gun.

Because of the conscious actions and unconscionable plans of the NRA, GOP, and Firearms Industry to subvert gun laws, undermine regulations, and flood the Nation with Hundreds of Millions of weapons.  They have ensured guns are readily accessible and easily obtainable by everyone.

In early 2002, I theorized Al Qaeda could defeat the United States by staging school shooting Nationwide by infiltrating shooters into communities and having them pull off a Columbine 9/11.

Little did I know that an entire immoral power hungry political party, coupled with a small cadre of zealous antisocial gun nuts, funded by amoral gun salesmen would fuel such a crisis. And worse respond to it by pushing more guns, less regulation, and no enforcement. 

Update:

Thousands of parents were panicked today and hundreds of Officers spent the day perched outside schools.  Because the United States can not have sane gun laws and restrictions.

Some Theft (Chicago smash and grabs) is worse than others in the Neo-Feudal United States

It was not by gold or by silver, but by labour, that all the wealth of the world was originally purchased; Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, Chapter V

The current freak out over the smash-and-grab thefts at high end retail stores ivo Chicago and out in California highlight the Corporate Media's obsession with a very small segment of thefts in the United States.

Retail theft isn't the biggest loss of money going around but, it's in the open and strikes right at White society's fears and prejudices.  Normie society sees those people getting away with it and get all indignant and righteously aggrieved!

Meanwhile, no one in the Corporate media is thinking ahead.  After the thieves who strike malls in Oak Brook or Northbrook and swipe dozens of Louie Vutton bags; what do they do with them?  No one is selling them at half off on Mag Mile.  No one is setting up hidden shops in their home to sell them to other poor people.  

No, it's part of a sophisticated Organized Crime ring; most likely involving smuggling, drugs, and according to the Illinois Attorney General's Office human trafficking.  The black thieves grabbing the merchandise and running are low-level criminals.  Who's funding their operations?  Who's the "fence" to use an antiquated term?  Where's the merchandise going?

But, the scope of such criminal enterprises are too massive for most people to take in and the difficult task of consuming pages of data and require too much detailed report analysis.  Humans evolved to think in much simpler terms one or more than one.  It's why most old languages have distinct terms for 1or 2 but, required work to come up with greater numbers and often resorted to vague terms beyond counting for really big numbers.

It's why one death is a tragedy and a million is just a statistic.

Of course, besides the sensationalist media coverage o these dramatic grab-n-go thefts is the lack of coverage of theft which impacts a vast number of Americans and dwarfs the money lost from retail theft; i.e. Wage Theft. 

For example, out in California a restauranteur Golden Gate group swindled low-pay Burger King employees out of $2 million in wages from 2016 to 2019.

Wage theft is often invisible to normie society though.  And, of course, bad actors on the right fully endorse a wage slave society with a permanent underclass paid subsistence wages.

Then Covid-19 hit and a large segment of the working class decided working 3 jobs at minimum wage to simply pay the rent and phone bill wasn't worth it anymore.  The Great Resignation struck directly at the US wage slavery system and perpetual corporate bondage.

Now, of course, Faux News and the Corporate Media's job is to advance the rightwing agenda of oppression, intolerance, and adulation of the rich so they've adopted a Blame Biden, freakout over Kamala's cookware, and Inflation fear monger to distract their rightwing drones from the reality of the American economic system; it's designed to afflict the afflicted and comfort the comfortable.

Will President Joe Biden and the Democrats get the credit they deserve for the help they've passed through the recalcitrant Republican opposition?  I don't know.  I know conservative bad actors consistently try to blame everything on the Democrats and the Corporate Media eagerly regurgitate rightwing agitprop, but all I can ask of the President, VP, Speaker, and Democrats in the Senate and House is they try and that they have and continue too. 

The United States 2021: A Break the glass moment.

Representative Sean Casten held a small event in which he spoke about the threat we are facing from the lawless authoritarian Republican Party.  While Congressman Casten highlighted the bureaucratic roadblocks he did not shy away from invoking the Civil War.  Specifically, uttering the chilling phrase "break the glass moment". 

The Trump administration and their Republican allies planned a Coup, with a snappy Powerpoint presentation, outlining multiple methods of bureaucratic chicanery in their planned attack on Democracy and to overthrow the US Government.  On Jan 6th, Trump roused his hand-picked mob, to give his crimes a sheen of a popular uprising, as he hoped Pence would overthrow President Biden's November victory and if Pence wouldn't do it on his own accord well then his wonderful Insurrectionists would make it legal.  But, this isn't just about the Trump Golpe de Estado attempt (which everyone around Traitor Trump knew was a massive MAGA crime) but, also about how the Republican Party long ago jettisoned their commitment to elections or representation to the Nation.

Faced with losing elections, Republicans made the time honored authoritarian decision to pick their own voters, since voters won't pick them.  Faced with the problem of legislation, Republicans decided to let special interests and lobbying groups for the Rich and powerful write their legislation.  Faced with the will of the people being completely against them, Republicans have stolen the Supreme Court to ensure, their 5 Injustices undermine any future limitations upon them and retroactively undo past achievements. 

I have no doubt the Democrats in Congress understand the danger they, the Nation, and We the People are facing.  I also think Democrats are afraid.  And rightly so.  Because many Republicans are waiting, yearning, begging for anything they can use as a Casus Belli and begin slaughtering the Non-MAGA. 

Everyone is mad Merrick Garland, Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic leadership et al haven't announced the expulsions, Impeachments, and arrests of Trump, his cronies and Republicans in Congress and the Supreme Court.  But, it should be obvious that those moves are the Casus Belli Republicans are waiting for and will usher in violence from the right.

So... we wait.  The current election is always the most important election.  Republicans think their legerdemain and voting suppression will garner them the House and Senate in 2022 and they can quash the investigations.  Democrats hope the steady flow of damning evidence will lead to more and more arrests and prosecutions.

But, the Republican Party is a fully Fascist organization now.  The current young Republicans are third generation to grow up, fully immersed in the non-stop barrage of rightwing lies and propaganda.  Republicans are growing more and more comfortable with the prospect of Violence to achieve political power.  There are thousands of conservatives who want to drop liberals from helicopters, who want to go to any rally or demonstration and shoot people.  There are millions more conservatives who would willingly go along.

Republicans already launched the first salvo on January 6th...

The Great Resignation vs. The Amazon Edwardsville Disaster (Update)

“I also want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you guys paid for all of this.” - the wages of American Capitalism are death...

It's been 110 years since the Triangle Shirt Waist Factory disaster.  After revising initial fears of hundreds of trapped employees it appears the Edwardsville Amazon disaster will thankfully not reach that level of tragedy.  Of course, this is scant comfort to the families of the 6 thus far confirmed killed.

I know everyone loves Amazon but, it certainly seems like Jeff Bezos' new fangled Fulfillment Wage Slavery is just a retread of the old 19th century sweatshop variety.  Hopefully Jeff Bezos can eventually get around to addressing the families of his dead employees, whom he so recently thanked, instead of wistfully staring off into space.

Unbelievable. Amazon unable to account for Employees trapped inside.  Employees denied cell phones to ensure they don't take 5 minutes out of their time fulfilling orders to waste scrolling twitter or Facebook. Did Amazon have a nice carve-out on building regulations which allow their "warehouse" to be regulated under different building codes and safety regulations (h/t Naked Capitalism) than an office buildings or retail space?

Walls on both sides of the building collapsed inward and the roof fell down. Officials say the concrete walls were 40 feet tall and about the length of a football field.

Now Republicans hate Bezos because he doesn't do what Rich people are supposed to do; i.e. aid the Republicans in enforcing oppression and intolerance.  However, Bezos does believe in enshackling the American People into perpetual, unending Corporate Bondage so that is a saving grace for Amazon.

I don't know what the future of work for Amazon or in general will look like nor the fate of cities.  But, the Great Resignation coupled with the abandonment of office work looks to entail a massive restructuring of American work life.  Would it be on par with the Industrialization and the creation of metropolis?  Or the near doubling of the workforce post-World War 2 with women entering the workplace en masse?  I don't know and I don't think anyone else does.

Updated:

"I can hire half the working class to kill the other half, " low level warehouse managers were instructed to threaten workers with being fired if they left their jobs during the deadly tornadoes.  Company owners defend themselves by saying company policy is to not let workers leave during a tornado.  Of course, it is not company policy to have a hardened tornado shelter at their facilities because "human capital" is easily replaced.

Republican Thomas Massie takes aim at Kentucky Tornadoes

 Fuck you I got mine - Republican maxim.

Kentucky and several other states got hammered with tornadoes in December and yes tornadoes can happen at any month in the United States but, December tornadoes are rare.  And tornadoes this extreme and destructive are even more rare.  As with all extreme weather events, fueled by climate change, this 30 plus funnels, 4-state wide, 200+ long mile rampage has eclipsed or set records.  And sadly, this event proved deadly, as 70 or more people are feared dead.  

In steps Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, famous as of late for his Rand Paul hair, thin prick gun waving Christmas card.  Massie throughout his 10 year tenure has made a name for himself by voting against every federal disaster relief package for any US community.  Except for Kentucky because then like a good Ayn Rand cultist he smugly proclaims its' not cheating when I take government money.

President Joe Biden is a good and decent man.  He's not going to play games, make snide comments, or delay any federal funding needed for disaster relief.  But, I don't know how a society can survive when people continue to vote into office despicable pukes like Massie who are more than willing to try and submarine disaster relief to others while knowing the Representatives of communities he stabs in the back will not play tit-for-tat because this isn't game theory but, peoples lives and well-being being affected. 

I don't know how Democrats can govern an electorate which is not only willing but, enthusiastic to vote in the likes of Massie. Or Boebert or Greene or Gohmert or Cawthorn.  Republicans are rapidly circling the accretion disc towards the naked singularity of full-on fascism.  "There enlies the problem"...

The Revenge of the Thin Blue Line 9: Damn! They're very slowly getting away!

They're... very... slowly... getting... away!

So, a Tucson Police Officer posted on an off-duty assignment at a Walmart is going to be terminated for shooting a 61-year old wheel-chair bound shoplifter. 

But, but, but! The dastardly shoplifter was committing a crime (he had reportedly stolen a toolbox) and allegedly brandished a knife at the Officer when asked to provide proof of payment.  Clearly, this was a "criminal" with a dangerous weapon, issuing threats, and entering another store with innocent people around.  So why is the Officer not being lauded for stopping a person who refused to follow lawful orders?

First, understand the "just comply" responders are talking about those people complying with Police, conservatives are special snowflakes who can flout law enforcement at will, up to and including, beating Officers who are trying to stop Insurrectionists storming the U.S. Capitol.

Second, this is a Police Department policy failure.  Off-duty Officers shouldn't be working as mall cops.  Carrying his duty weapon?  Call for an officer to respond and identify the man.  Take pictures of the man.  Follow him from more than 5 feet away.  Or... pump 9 rounds into a guy in a wheel-chair.

Third, this is nothing more than a misdemeanor retail theft.  Who the fuck fucking cares?  A fucking toolbox.  But, this is America... and the Gun is the Final Arbiter of the Law.

It's also part of the Dave Grossman Police Officer Training mantra;  Use more Violence. Murder! Kill! Kill!  Kill!  If you think I'm being hyperbolic, I'm not;  Grossman self-titled his training method as KilLOLogy

Grossman, of course, is highly deceitful about his training claiming his Warrior Training (Grossman changed it to "Sheepdogs" in the last few years) is about saving lives.  The inversion of reality through language is a classic Police technique.  Like when an Officer writes in his report 'he assisted a person to the ground' instead of writing he threw the guy down. 

What Grossman's grotesque training actually does is create fear-driven murder drones over-eager to drop the hammer and kill "civilians" because of their subjective fear which has been trained into them.  The damage the despicable Grossman has done to Law Enforcement is going to take a generation to repair. 

Of course, here in Illinois we have a spate of mob grab mass thefts of high end merchandise.  Now, the thefts themselves are being conducted by black people but, the question is who is funding this and who is the end buyer?  Clearly, the thieves are not selling the Louis Vuitton bags in the alleyways of the Mag Mile.  So where are they ending up?

In the meantime, continue to expect Police Officers to gun down Americans.

Today's School Shooting is brought to you by

For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Tuesday.

It's another Tuesday in America.  I'm already well behind on the latest school shooting.  Of course.

The details are more visceral now as one of students sheltering in place captured digital audio and video of the 15 year old(!) shooter telling the students he is a sheriff's deputy and "it's safe to come out."

3 teenage lives were cut short.  8 others wounded and now facing decades of physical and emotional healing.  The shooter taken into custody, of course, because some people are inherently good and just having a bad day and thus aren't shot on sight.  Or "justifiably" killed while resisting arrest.

Gun Humping Extremists have been conducting a massive social experiment: More Guns = Safer Nation.  This is demonstrably untrue.  The United States is awash in guns.  And thus we are beset with deaths and woundings from guns.

There have been other high profile shootings recently as well as little talked about mass killings:

• In a widely-viewed incident in Lubbock, Texas a child custody dispute turned deadly when a little man decided he'd use his big gun to murder a guy.  The responses to this Fox News post calling it self-defense is the whole crux of the rightwing fascination with guns.
• In Fort Wayne, a twenty year old killed his little sister, mother and father and then himself.  His grandmother escaped.  This happened the same day as the Michigan school shooting.
• In Georgia, a domestic dispute ended in 4 deaths including an officer in recruit training.  This happened the same day as the Michigan school shooting.

Gun Nuts want the power to kill at a moment's notice and then claim self-defense.  Conservatives have set up a nice Catch-22 (call it the Rittenhouse-22 if you like) Bring a gun into a fraught or dangerous situation, escalate the incident, then use the escalation as justification for "self-defense".  1) Start a Fight. 2) Kill the guy if he Fights back.  It's basic Might makes Right.  Bring a Gun and say you were in fear of your life and anyone you shoot becomes a "lawful" act.

As a corollary the US has been faced with a large scale Catch-22.  Gun Makers and the NRA have ensured criminals have easy access to firearms and produce more and more everyday.  Flood the United States with weapons and then declare since All the "Bad Guys" have guns only a "Good Guy" with a gun can stop them.  An unstoppable circle. 

Which leads us to public support for stricter gun laws and gun control; the Republican Party is 100% unified against any gun control and when all levels of government are taken into account, Republicans have majority of government.  

Republicans have steadily worked towards making the Gun the Final Arbiter of Law.  When Mad Nazi Cawthorn, Major Traitor Greene, or Lauren Dick Flasher Boebert parade around with guns they are explicitly stating they will use them to settle all disputes.  They don't have to or even try to make any cogent or coherent arguments.  For example:

Famously, Australia enacted strict gun regulations and controls in 1996 after the Port Arthur massacre.  Since then, Zero Mass Shootings...

Meanwhile in the United States, Total killed and wounded by gunfire every year is now approaching 100,000.  The Gun Violence Archive, uses only verified data, therefore it's not subject to the NRA lies and Gun Nut fantasies of guns being used a Million times a year to defend LIFE!

I have always assumed that when you get down to it NRA, gun manufacturers, Republican poseurs and phonies, or ostentatious gun display nuts, really don't believe that more guns, less regulations, and Stand your Ground laws make Americans safer but, do it for the political power, monetary gain and the #OwntheLibs lolz...

But, when you pretend to be something for long enough that's what you are.  In reality, gun nuts don't believe they will ever be on the wrong side of a barrel.  And those killed and wounded by guns?  Well, to get back to The Deserving & The Undeserving they had it coming (for voting for DemocRATs, for being in a gun free zone, for any number of rightwing fantasies about the power of the gun).

Dopesick; Of The Deserving and The Undeserving

'Deserves' got nothing to do with it... Clint Eastwood, Unforgiven (1992)

Earlier this month I saw another opioid overdose.  It's not first, it won't be the last.   

Certainly it is easy to be hard-hearted and cynical but, it's my duty to myself and to society to not allow such feelings towards the daily deaths make me jaded and uncaring.  To not simply shrug and declare they deserve it.

Opioid induced overdoses have supplanted guns and cars as the biggest killers* in America.  According to CDC data, the United States has suffered 841,000 overdose deaths since 1999, 70% of those are opiate related; 50,000 opioid caused deaths in 2019 alone.

The levels of opiate addiction currently plaguing the US is something we've seen as a Nation in very select few times; i.e. after US Wars.  Those wounded in battle also became addicted to pain medication.  At first due to ignorance of narcotics functioning but now, we've decided to make ourselves victims by empowering the Sackler family and their Cartel Purdue Pharma. 

Watching the Netflix series Dopesick, Michael Stuhlbarg portrays Richard Sackler in a blended pastiche of Hannah Ardent's banality of evil and a wispy voiced Don Corleone.  The series also unflinchingly portrays the Sackler family as the immoral drug dealing kingpins they are; oblivious to anything but money and contemptuous of laws and morality.  The series Dopesick is based on Beth Macy's best-selling 2018 book.

Not everyone agrees with the portrayal of the Sackler family being villains every NPR (Nice Polite Republicans) story on the Sackler's takes great pains to repeatedly mention the Sackler family denies wrongdoing and no member of the family has ever been charged with a crime.  But, it does feel the last few years have changed the narrative and all the ostentatious donations to museums and pitiful donations to fight addiction earn them no credit.  If only the American Justice treated the Sackler family as harshly as it does men selling loose cigarettes on the street.  

In 2015, I watched a film called Heroin Cape Cod.  It was an unflinching look at the drug use.  There were no heroics, no glorious reunifications with the family, no arc of redemption.  By 2015 public health officials had catalogued a tripling of overdose deaths since 1999.  In reality it was most likely an undercount of opiate overdose related deaths.  Since then we had the treasonous criminal Trump in the White House who, of course, ignored it and so the deaths are still being ignored by the Republican Party writ large.

For 50 years, Republicans have linked drug use with criminality.  Worse than that Republicans were quite adamant the drug use was a moral failing and in no uncertain terms those who suffer from addiction are undeserving of care or even the barest compassion.  The Sackler's apparently knew this implicitly or explicitly as they spent decades falsely proclaiming the safety of their narcotics and blaming victims of addiction as criminals.  Conservatives have since Nixon been primed to blame addiction on low character, genetic flaws (i.e. black people), or immoral behavior.

Dualistic thinking dominates the right and all facets of conservative ideology.  There are no shades of gray.  There are no subtleties.  There is no subjective reality.  And more to the point, only their interpretation of objective reality exists and it conforms exactly to rightwing beliefs.  Now there are 3+ generations of conservatives who have steadily and increasingly absorbed rightwing propaganda and can not find grace to treat addiction any other way than those people deserve to die.

Heucuva Job Brownie! The Eternal Democratic Task of cleaning up Republican Catastrophes and being blamed for Republican Perfidy

After Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, George W. Bush ignored it.  Because he didn't care about the people who were suffering from the storm surge and the post-Katrina aftermath.  Bush's fly-over and speaking tour included George W(ar Criminal) Bush infamously uttering the phrase, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."

"Nobody elected Joe Biden to be FDR," Brain-Dead Kevin McCarthy

"We did..." - Democratic Voters

One of my biggest hopes for President Biden would be a WPA II.  For the last 80 years, the US has been limping along on the bones of the WPA infrastructure.  Fixes have consisted of a piecemeal ramshackle patchwork duck taped and zip-tied scaffolding holding the Nation together.

President Biden with the help of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi have passed the Infrastructure and Build Back Better bills.  As usual the Republican Party, sought to torpedo anything which helps the American people. 

One of the persistent tenets of Republican governance is to take credit for things they did not do and to pass blame for things they did do.  Unfortunately, in reality Republicans have nothing to offer the American people and never help the American people.  As always the goal of the Republican Party is to destroy the American dream and crush We, the people; Creating a perpetual underclass tied to wage slavery and unending corporate bondage.

Of course, Republicans aren't simply content to destroy the Nation via economic sabotage.  Republicans also believe killing Americans and perpetuating the Covid crisis is a politically savvy maneuver for them. And the GQP is correct.  Republicans are more than willing to kill off some conservatives so they can have the Corporate Media broadcast their petulant one-liners; 

“I took President Biden at his word; I took him at his word when he said he was going to get Covid under control," Dead Soul Kevin McCarthy.  

Now another "Nu"- variant of Covid (Oo) has been located in South Africa and is sufficiently frightening enough for the US and UK to enact immediate travel bans but, expect the Republican Party to coordinate a campaign of undercutting an effective response.  Currently, 90% of Democrats are vaccinated, while only 58% of Republicans are and that 58% is probably not going to increase as 40% of Republicans have no plan to get vaccinated.  

And always remember the Corporate Media will BothSides and uncritically report perfidious Republican talking points.  But... this is not a "doompost", as always I'm trying in a small way to point out what We, the People are up against and implore everyone who would not see the US slide into Fascism to fight as best you can and not give up.  Fascism's ascent always relies on the people giving up and acquiescing to  them.

01/06/21 to 11/19/21: There's nothing you can do about it.

I certainly hope Senators Manchin and Sinema enjoyed their 10 months of spotlight.  Because... because the Rittenhouse verdict feels different.  It feels like the Inflectional Point.  The Jan6th Trump Coup Attempt conducted by conservative criminals and insurrectionists feels like it was the priming of the pump and the Injustice from Kenosha was the pull of the starter cord. 

The palpable malevolence oozing from the Right on-line has an almost quantifiable difference than the Trump years with it's rallies and "Lock Her Up" chants.

Without a doubt there are elected Republicans who absolutely believe "Second Amendment Remedies" are completely at their disposal.  While other Republicans will restrain themselves to just using the gerrymander, voter intimidation, voter suppression and the byzantine archaic rules and precious norms of the House and Senate to establish Fascism.  But, it's the rightwing domestic terrorist organizations who now are openly talking about murdering Us.

These Paramilitary organizations, who rose from the 1990's Anti-Clinton militia movement and 2010's Anti-Obama Teabagger terrorists, and of course trace their origins back to the Slave Catching Patrols and KKK, have the scent of blood and the belief that now it's legal. 

Maybe... maybe it's nothing. More big tough guy talk on Twitter.  Kurt Schlichter is nothing but a big mouth shit talker.  I don't see him having the sociopathic stones to pick up Rittenhouse's torch. But, post January 6th such on-line chatter can't be dismissed.  If a bunch of Proud Boys go on a death squad mission, stop "suspicious" cars, and execute suspected "Antifa Terrorists" or are "forced" to defend themselves from those murderous BLM Thugs, who's going to arrest them?  The Portland PD?  The Oregon State Police?  The DOJ or FBI?

Remember the FBI, the most reactionary anti-civil liberties agency in US history, is not Reactionary enough for the modern Trumpists.  What the Proud Boys, III Percenters, Boogaloo Boys, et al want to do is replace existing Law Enforcement.  Which is what Fascists have always done.

2021.  November.  19th.  Remember that date.  You may find it was when The Troubles began...

The Rittenhouse Diaries: An expected conclusion

 "What do suppose he's going to do?" 

"Retaliate First..."  - MadMax: Fury Road (2015)

There are two main takeaways from today's outrageous but, expected Rittenhouse Trial Verdict.  One the Very On-Line Fascists are gloating and celebrating.  While it is important to monitor them, there is nothing to be gained with interacting with them.  The Fash live for this.  Their goal is to post horrible taunts, murderous dank memes, and outrageous offensive shit to upset you.  If you respond they get further excitement and the mini-endorphin rush of Trolling and #OwningtheLibs which is exactly what they want.  The more upset you are the bigger rush they get.  For your mental well-being do anything else; read a book, rake leaves, go for a hike, have a drink (not too much), pet a dog.  Or if you still want to get involved in local politics or help GoTV.  But, stop engaging with the Fash On-Line; it's pointless they're gone and worse yet, it's bad for you.

This does not mean ignore them.  We can not do that.  Because we are getting closer to the Fascist Inflection Point.

And that's the second takeaway.

Republicans are passing laws and making incremental steps to firmly ensconce the right for them to murder you and get away with it.  Stand Your Ground, Run'Em Down, Self-Defense.  These all set up a subjective, impossible to disprove standard of shoot first, answer questions later if at all.  

The Rittenhouse trial has many warning signs of marching fascism.  Key components of Fascism are the unequal application of laws.  A system of justice where legal legerdemain is more effective than truth or facts.  And one which empowers a paramilitary band of armed thugs to mete out extrajudicial justice through violence. 

Trump empowered the Proud Boys with his "Stand back and Stand by".  Now, Little Mad Nazi Cawthorn is sending the same message with his gleeful, "Be armed, Be Dangerous".  I've been saying for a long time Conservatives want to murder us.  They are yearning to be given the go ahead.  To be granted the right to unleash all their inner demons and kill.  I don't know if this will empower more than a few fringe Ultra Reactionary or Paramilitary types to descend upon protests or begin shooting in street fights in Portland.  But, as Republican Terrorist Paul Gosar fantasy anime illustrates and Kyle Rittenhouse verdict hammers home or the Houston Teen who "Rolled coal" and rolled over 6 bicyclists and got off shows; it appears more and more likely rightwing domestic terrorism is now the gateway to political power.

It's part of the GQP two-pronged approach of violence in the streets and bureaucratic violence in legislatures to ensure they "win" elections even when they don't.  And the next time Democrats clearly win elections and Republicans simply refuse to acknowledge defeat and send out their political goon squads to quash protests through AR-15 rounds... well, Fascism never sleeps.

Incarceration harms January 6th Terrorists: The Deserving and The Undeserving Series

 

Major Traitor Greene and Louie Gohmert visited the criminals held for trial for their unlawful actions on 01/06/21. 

“I’ve never seen human suffering like I witnessed last night.  While some were shown to us in seemingly beneficial programs, others were in tortuous lockdown. I’ll never forget hearing their screams,” Shameless Greene

It seems that incarceration is detrimental to the mental health and well-being of those arrested for actions on the Day of the Insurrection.  Who knew incarceration was so bad?

This has, however, not caused conservatives or elected Republicans to call for an overhaul the U.S. Justice System or for the evaluation of sentencing guidelines or for Judicial review or exoneration for miscarriages of justice or Prison reform.  Except, of course, for the current rightwing hero; the murderer Kyle Rittenhouse.  (Mahablog points out a few of the other current Rightwing Victimhood Complex.)

Of course, everyday Americans are broadly ignorant of this or any of the workings of the US Justice system, so they convince themselves only the bad people, only the truly guilty get themselves caught in the gears and whatever happens is really of their own doing.  And Corporate Media make it easy for them to believe this because they don't report on the daily outrages visited on poor folk or minorities.  And any stories of government overreach or courtroom malfeasance are increasingly framed through the rightwing rubric.  Like the phony claim about the Wisconsin State's Attorney office withholding HD drone footage of Rittenhouse's murders.

You see some people deserve to be ground down under the boot of American Injustice.  A few recent examples of those people are Sandra Bland or Tanya McDowell.  Other people like Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Breona Taylor, and many others don't even get to make it to trial having faced extrajudicial execution at the hands of law enforcement.  This conservative white guy carrying a "Black Crimes Matter" sign outside the courthouse loves to yell the N-Word and fully endorses racist policing.

These are the extreme examples of basic violations of the 4th Amendment for black people; who, like Anjanette Young, also face transgressions of basic decency and gross violations to their liberty routinely.  It is an axiom in the United States that some people (mainly minorities) are a priori guilty of something and naturally bad people whereas white people (as long as the hew to conservative dialectics) are naturally good people who got caught up in something for which they are not to blame or they made a youthful indiscretion.

For instance, you might suffer from "Aflluenza" or have a bright future in front of you.  Then Judges and rightwing media have naught but compassion and stories of redemption for you, as they would not want some trifle like a felony DUI or sexual assault to keep you from getting onto the Supreme Court.

The American Justice System is the leading element of the Fascist remake of the United States.  Unequal laws, combined with unequal application of the laws, coupled with unequal enforcement of those laws, and finally topped with unequal sentences handed down for violations of laws equals White Supremacy and Fascism.

Conservatives' embrace of Fascism is pretty much complete.  They are playing a waiting game until 2022 in which they think they will gain control of the Congress (Both House and Senate) and begin the process of ensconcing oppression, intolerance and adulation of white terrorists into "law".  But, meanwhile the calls for outright violence from conservatives will only grow louder.

The Rittenhouse Diaries: The Descent of the Rightwing Grifters and "WITHHELD" HD DroneZ footage

The grotesque McCloskey duo from St. Louis made an appearance and speeches in support of Kenosha Killer Kyle.

Conservative liar Jack Probscious is running his classic con of claiming to have inside sources who reveal the reason Cryer Rittenhouse wasn't immediately found not guilty

A bedrock of Fascism everywhere and in every iteration is Unequal Standards of Law. There are many terms and ways to call this; 

• White Privilege
• "The law, in its majestic equality, forbids all men to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets and to steal bread-the rich as well as the poor."
• There's a club and you ain't in it.

But, whatever you call it the goal is always the same; two sets of rules.  Mark T. McCloskey and Patricia McCloskey broke multiple laws; but, received loud vocal support for their crimes from disingenuous and dishonest right-wingers and then received a Governor's pardon.

But, a huge bombshell today is the defense for Rittenhouse massively fucked up and did not know HD full color drone footage of their client was available and even worse has already been introduced into evidence.  Lying Rightwing websites and agitprop peddlers tried to claim the State's Attorney office WITHHELD the video footage.  The defense attorney's for Kenosha Killer Kyle know they are going to lose so now they are trying to play a trick claiming the State provided doctored DroneZ footage or withheld the HD version of the footage.  The defense knows that every day that passes indicates Cryer Rittenhouse is going to get guilty verdicts.

It also highlights how far behind Legislatures and Governments are in reference to technology and technical issues.  In this case, the Defense team of Killer Kyle made multiple mistakes because the HD full color Drone footage was widely available was shown on Faux News and apparently was purchased by Tucker Carlson last August.  And the defense attorney's are no doubt supremely worried once the jurors have time to review the full drone footage they will see Kyle was lying the whole time and Rittenhouse initiated violence and was clearly the aggressor before he committed those murders.

Additional:

Meanwhile, a white man armed with a "rifle" and body armor was parading around outside the courthouse.  You will note unlike Jacob Blake he was not shot and the Police response included polite questions about his concealed carry status and how carrying a rifle with a 1000 feet of a school was not allowed.  Then the nice Officers walked him away from cameras so his name and dob (date of birth) would not be read when the Officers identified him.  It's nice to be white and commit crimes.

The Rittenhouse Diaries: When do "We" get to use the guns?

Other outlets and on-line media persons (especially David Pakman) have covered the day-to-day Kyle Rittenhouse trial with better depth and analysis than I could sum up here in one post so I won't go into that instead let us focus on what Rittenhouse represents:

Kyle Rittenhouse is the fulfillment of the Dream; the answer to the eternal conservative question; When do we get to murder millions of Non-MAGA?

Over at No More Mister Nice Blog Steve M. points out so many of these rightwing domestic terrorist wannabes are waiting.

Most people who watched the clip, or read about it, focused on the threat -- but I'm wondering why this guy, and a lot of other people like him, haven't already grabbed their guns and just started shooting people.

He says, "When do we get to use the guns?" He's waiting for someone to give him permission.

The question is what are they waiting for? Most of this stems from the decades of indoctrination and propaganda which conservatives have absorbed; They are the patriots not the criminals.  It's those people who riot.  It's BLM and Antifa who break the law.  Not Us!  We on the right always follow the law.  Ergo if we engage in violence it is ipso facto Righteous and Lawful.  This is the not so subtle subtext of justification for George Zimmerman or Kyle Rittenhouse and violence from organized paramilitary conservative groups like the Proud Boys in Portland, or the Bundy Insurrections, or the Oathbreakers. 

It's part of the reason Republicans, like Paul Gossar, and Tucker Carlson repeatedly claim the January 6th terrorists were actually heroes.  Rightwing domestic terrorism is coddled and encouraged in the United States; look at the death threats, simmering violence at PTA and school board meetings.  Republicans and their compliant corporate media can not help but to frame the crimes and harassment as justified spontaneous expression of rights.

This, of course, runs deep through the veins of the American legal system;  It's why mainstream corporate media writ large can't decry the deeply fascist book burners because well if conservatives are calling for it, it must be okay, it must be legal.

But, before, conservatives can emulate Kyle Rittenhouse they need a Casus Belli, which they can point to as their justification.  Thus let me highlight the sentence right before the white rightwing criminal asks Terrorist Leader Charlie Kirk "when do we get to use the guns?"

"How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people? At this point, we're living under corporate and medical fascism. This is tyranny.  

Addendum: 

It wouldn't be complete without the Bernie Bros favorite "Real" Democrat and the Twitter Rose Left preferred female 2020 Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard firmly endorsed White Domestic Terrorism with a disingenuous and gross defense of Rittenhouse as taking up the job of defending property because the government wasn't.

Pete Buttigieg points out the Institutional Racism trucked in on the Highway system

 

One of the tools of rightwing liars is to out wait history and then substitute something currently en vogue or palatable to the modern conservative.  Time has been on their side ever since conservatives decided to undo their loss in the Civil War in 1865 via subversion of the United States Government and domestic terrorism.  And they've been right.  Rightwing revisionist history is the dominant idea in numerous historical studies and is the current cause of conservatives pushing to undermine education with the CRT boogeyman.

Thus we have right-wingers and Republicans everywhere attacking Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg for correctly pointing out the incredibly racist history of urban sprawl in the 1950's.  Right-wingers know all they have to do is post 'Dumbocrat thinks highways are racist hurr durr durr' and they brain-washed violent mob will immediately believe and swallow their daily rightwing pablum and agitprop.

Secretary Pete was correct in his remarks for New York and it wasn't limited to New York City either.  Anyone who has driven in on the Ike (I-290) into Chicago is struck by the wrong side exits in Oak Park.  This was not an accident or constraints of the land available requiring the left-hand exits.  But a conscious choice to ensure the white drivers would not have to exit on the black side of town.  The Ike and numerous highways across the country were specifically run through black and brown communities.

But, enough time has passed since the 1949 to 1961 construction of the Eisenhower Expressway to afford modern Republicans to lie, ridicule, and obfuscate.

The goal for Republicans is the same as it always has been; to stand astride History and Yell Stop. Conservatives have the Reactionary SCOTUS necessary to undo Lawerence v. Texas, Loving v. Virginia, Brown v. Board of Education.  Conservatives are coming for the 20th century.  Conservatives are coming for every advancement post-Civil War.  If you are scoffing at this, don't.  Conservatives are coming to undo the American Dream and create the Neo-Confederate Nation of oppression, intolerance, and worship of the rich.

Guns Everywhere; there are no safe spaces

So where'd you dump the truck?

What truck?!?

The truck with the GUNS, fucko. - The Usual Suspects (1995)

There was a time in the United States in which Law Enforcement worked to keep guns out of the hands of as many people as possible.  Once the NRA thought gun ownership was only to be conferred onto a small cohort of those who were both safe and responsible and limited by strict government regulation. Because they knew more guns = more gun violence.  

Then, the Sixties happened.  Then the Gun Industry saw massive profits to be made.  Then professional politicians like Wayne LaPierre invaded DC for 40 years and subverted the NRA and took over the GOP.  Now, enough reactionary Sheriffs and Police Chiefs and Governors have grown up in an echo chamber which views all laws and regulations and limitations on guns as Unconstitutional.  And Republicans saw another wedge issue they could use (i.e. Firearm Ownership to "Protect" Oneself) to further their unceasing quest to Destroy the American Dream, and usher in an Evangelical Ethno-State run by Wage Slaves in perpetual Corporate Bondage. 

And now, conservatives see political violence as not only necessary but desirable and yearn for an opportunity to "See Kyle" and murder the Non-MAGA. 

Years ago I posed this following list as a question about gun restrictions:

Should a gun owner be able to bring a firearm into a house of worship?

Should a gun owner be able to bring a firearm into a bar?

Should a person charged (but not convicted) of a crime be able to bring a gun into a courthouse?

Should a gun owner be able to walk in and around Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois with their firearm?

Should a gun owner be able to bring a firearm into a Hospital Emergency Room? Into an MRI?  

Should a gun owner be able to carry a firearm inside Six Flags Great America in Gurnee? How about Rivers Casino in Des Plaines?

Should a gun owner convicted of misdemeanor domestic battery have to relinquish his firearms?

Should there be any restrictions on handguns, long guns, squad automatic weapon ownership whatsoever?

Predictably, a couple of gun nuts spammed my comments with yes guns must be allowed in all these places and no a person convicted of domestic violence shouldn't have to give up his guns.  Because the point of the NRA and the gun nuts in the United States is to remove all restrictions on guns.  For two reasons, conservatives believe they will *win* the Civil War 2 they yearn for "in the aggregate" and conservatives want the ability to murder people Kyle Rittenhouse or George Zimmerman style and get away with it.

As is standard right-wingers shamelessly waited until they had the Reactionary Supreme Court in their possession to bring forth a concealed carry case in New York State.

Currently, only Covid & Opioids are responsible for more preventable death and injury than guns.  Yes guns have replaced cars as a leading cause of unnecessary preventable deaths, especially among children in the so-called Greatest Nation on Earth.

More guns and less restrictions has lead exactly to the case of more gun violence, injuries, and deaths in the United States.  John Lott and rightwing liars can claim differently or cite the bogus Non-CDC study from the 1990's which they always falsely claim supports 3,000,000 DGUs (defensive gun uses) a year.  But, the simple fact is more guns does not make anyone safer.

Revenge of the Thin Blue Line 8: The Rittenhouse Diaries

You never know what, the match, which ignites the conflagration will be...

I guess the 1970's are back because, one thing conservatives learned from the Sixties was they could no longer trust the Federal Government to help them in subjugating minorities.  That was the one lesson learned.  So conservatives created Dirty Harry and Death Wish to act out their Vigilante fantasies. 

Since the 1960's various reforms, legal precedents, oversight, constraints and landmark SCOTUS rulings have been placed upon agents of the government to stop them from wantonly and brazenly violating peoples' rights; especially and specifically minority groups.  Barriers to the Use of Force by Police Officers (i.e. the agents of the state whom minorities are most likely to interact with) have been established piecemeal to stop Police abuse.  As with all radical challenges to the established order a counter reaction spearheaded by rightwing Reactionaries has occurred to res-establish white power.

Conservatives (Reactionaries) unquestionably support each and every extrajudicial killing of black and brown people.  Conservatives believe the police exist to kill or incarcerate every black person in the United States primarily because conservatives believe every black person is a priori guilty of some crime and hence should be meet with violent force at every opportunity or interaction.  Conservative full-throatedly support Stop&Frisk, Broken Windows and every insulting violation and targeted micro-aggressions directed at black people.  Every time a black man doesn't stop resisting is a reason conservatives see for that black man to be killed by the Police.

Unfortunately, Police Officers continue to this day, even in the age of body cameras, digital recordings and clearly ellucidated restrictions on excessive force, to kill and brutalize.  T. Greg Doucette has a long running twitter feed documenting various unlawful acts.

But, the Federal Government (as flawed as it is) has curtailed this unjust behavior.  So right-wingers and Republicans across the great United States are crafting legislation to get around this problem.

You might know these laws as: Stand Your Ground or Run Down Protestors in your way or any number of use of force laws which have been crafted to grant white people the power to take the law into their own hands and kill this or that black man.

Right after the Rittenhouse killings, the rightwing Wurlitzer went into work crafting fake 20/20 hindsight justifications for the killings.  The two killed were child rapists!  They threw Molotov cocktails at Kyle!  One was trying to kill poor Kyle with a skateboard!  The smears and slanders on the dead victims weren't true but, the goal in these types of killings is always the same.  Claim the victim was a criminal thug and repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.

Rittenhouse is clearly guilty.  Rittenhouse went to Kenosha to kill people and he did.  As a matter of justice and laws, you can't put yourself into a violent confrontation, you can't start a fight, and then claim self-defense.  It's akin in law enforcement to, "Officer Induced Jeopardy".

But, whether or not Rittenhouse gets acquitted (unfortunately, in a massive miscarriage of justice I think he will) what conservatives are trying to get ensconced into law is Vigilantism and a process where they kill someone and are indemnified with the "legal justification" of Dead Men Tell No Tales.  Conservatives know they can not rely on Police for unfettered extrajudicial killing, so using state legislatures they've decided they have the right to take law into their own hands. 

Conservatives "See Kyle" and are aching to go were he has gone before.  Conservatives are asking openly and in large forums, "When do we get to use the guns?"  Ricky Schroeder wants to lead a militia on Veterans Day to overthrow the US Government.  Conservatives are yearning, begging, pleading for a general civil war to break out so they can round-up and liquidate every Democratic official, liberal, feminist, minority, LGBTQ person they can.

Update:

Murderers like Kyle Rittenhouse always lie about their crimes; Rittenhouse started the confrontation.  And Rittenhouse did everything with the expectation that not only would it be okay, he would be praised, and when he killed 2 people he'd be able to surrender easily. Rittenhouse was only wrong about the surrender part because the assembled Police simply let him walk away that day after killing people. 

Everything illustrates The January 6th Trump Coup was worse than we thought

"Just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me and the Republican Congressmen," Trump said on a call with Acting Attorney General Jeffery Rosen and acting deputy attorney general Richard Donoghue.

                                                   

It's no wonder the entire Republican Party are fighting viciously to keep information about their Golpe de Estado on Jan 6th hidden and forgotten.  Every new revelation indicates the Republican attempt to overthrow the United States came closer and had far greater coordination than we've thought.

As I watched in real time the mic-up'd battle rattle Ranger file march up the steps through the deluded rapacious mob on the Capitol Steps,  I knew that was a Kill/Capture team gunning for every Democratic Representative they could and probably the Vice President.

The Trump Coup Plotters really thought (or expected) a counter-protest by BLM in Washington DC would delay and draw off any police response to the Capitol building and leave the rabble the opportunity to round-up and execute anyone who would deny Trump his Presidency.  It's why Trump appointed Dept of Defense officials delayed response to the Capitol.  It's why Trump ignored calls from Non-MAGA Republicans to stop the riot.  It's why Trump is praising domestic terrorist Ashli Babbitt.  

Meanwhile as the insurrectionists breached the Capitol, key Republicans were tweeting out real time location data on Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  Those same Republican traitors provided other material aid and comfort to the criminal conservative coup members.

Now comes further proof that Trump and his cronies were in direct communication with the insurrectionists during the siege.  And were still pressuring Mike Pence to overturn the election results as Pence was hiding from the rioters.

The Republican Party stands for nothing and has nothing to offer the American people.  This is why the Republicans have increased their pace of voter suppression and are actively working on installing Trump in 2024.  Seizing power and instituting an oppressive white fundamentalist ethno-state, with government enforced eternal wage slavery and corporate bondage.

So, going forward it may be that the House Republicans who actively participated and provided intel to the rightwing domestic terrorists may get away with it.  Trump may be able to avoid justice as he has done throughout his long criminal career.  Everyone is worried what will happen in 2024 if Republicans control the House of Representatives in 2022 since Traitor Trump will be the GOP nominee for President.

If that's the case (hopefully not) then Republicans will overturn the election results or just flat out ignore their losses and collect their "winnings".  Trump will then be installed, granted a 3rd term in 2028 to "make up" for his stolen 2020 victory and turn the his daughter as the GOP makes the Presidency hereditary in the Trump Family...

The Revenge of the Thin Blue Line 7: Blue Bayou and Law & Order Copaganda Edition

    One of the things which has become apparent in the last few years is the number of "Bad Apples" in Police forces are far greater than anyone thought.  Additionally, this is underscored by the ludicrous portrayal of Officers in TV dramas and movies.

Now I'm not talking ancient TV shows like Dragnet or Hawaii Five-O. Or even films, focusing on criminal behavior, like Copland, L.A. Confidential, or Training Day.  The Police in those films are just glorified mobsters, running a criminal enterprise.  Even modern classics (Yes, I'm referring to the oft-lauded David Simon catalogue) do not contain true and accurate portrayals of a frighteningly large number everyday police officers. 

No, I'm referring to low-key racists and foot-soldier fascists which comprise a large segment of police in the United States.  Watching the film Blue Bayou about the unjust treatment of Dreamers and other people living in the United States caught in the ludicrous and immoral immigration system there were 3 LEOs portrayed; an "ICE" Officer, who clearly seems to have emerged from the same streets as the film's protagonist Antonio LeBlanc (portrayed by Justin Chon), "Ace" the ex-husband of the female lead (Alicia Vikander) current wife of the protagonist, and "Denny".

LeBlanc's backstory is an adoption by white American parents when he was 3 from Korea and years in abusive foster care before attempting to eek out a living in the fringes of regular/criminal society, i.e. the streets Ivo New Orleans.  Ace overhears LeBlanc and his ex-wife in a grocery store and Denny begins a confrontation with LeBlanc (ostensibly to help his white partner) and orders him to not walk away, before getting into a fight (with baton blows) and arresting LeBlanc.  This incident puts LeBlanc back into the legal system for which he is utterly unequipped resulting in his eventual deportation.

Now, let's focus on Denny.  Denny is a fat, goatee'd, low-brow bigot always talking about sausages. Denny has two more significant scenes.  The first scene Denny and two buddies pull alongside LeBlanc as he is trying to make his deportation hearing and beat him up. I did not bristle or chafe at Denny's portrayal and while 10-15 years ago society would have just scoffed at this as "Hollywood" slander and an over-the-top caricature and while today Faux News and the entire right-wing social media propaganda machine would immediately, vociferously, and perhaps violently come to Denny's immediate defense the truth is Denny is a more true representation of Modern Police Officers.

Perhaps, you disagree... but, then you come to the realization that Denny's are patrolling Louisana to this day.  From a ProPublica article comes the story of a big fat white deputy brutalizing a black woman who was already a victim of an assault that day.  These type of allegations are not new,

For decades, members of the Black community have accused the [Jefferson Parish] Sheriff’s Office of using excessive force against them, making false arrests and failing to rein in abusive deputies. 

For years respectable white society and disingenuous right-wing provaceuaters have dismissed allegations of racist police, mistreatment of minorities and an unjust legal system as the work of "Race Hustlers".  Before I even finish typing this sentence I'm sure you can tell me the entire story of Jussie Smollet without a second thought.  And why? Because the media is conditioned to repeatedly air rightwing agitprop and repeat rightwing narratives of policing and race in America.

But, for much of the Nation the truth is this;

The video begins with a sheriff’s deputy seen holding the wrist of Arnold, who is lying on her back on the sidewalk. The deputy appears to be dragging her along the pavement. The deputy then grabs Arnold’s arm with his other hand and jerks her upward, lifting her body off the ground. They briefly disappear behind a parked white vehicle. When they come back into view, the deputy is holding Arnold by her braids, slamming her repeatedly onto the cement. At one point, he whips her down so violently her body spins around and flips over.

It's only thanks to the ubiquitous nature of video recordings that these incidents are being investigated at all.  A few years back the criminal bigot deputy would have written some ham-handed report about ordering the black criminal to the ground and assisting her down.  And that would have been that.

Getting back to Blue Bayou, Denny's final scene involves his partner "arresting" him for beating up LeBlanc and allowing the female lead to smack him around in a scene which feels like the old Comics Code rule that justice must win out and the bad guy doesn't get away with it.