It's a Corker!

Thanks to a taste for retirement, Sen. Bob Corker is able to speak his true feelings for the Moron-In_Chief without fear of campaign reprisals by the minions of Cheeto Jesus.  He says most of his caucus feels the same way, and the lack of condemnation by fellow senators speaks volumes.  Unfortunately, as one congressman pointed out, anyone running for re-election cannot be so candid without risking a war on Twitter which will enrage the mouth breathing base of the party.   However, at a certain point, the risk of this monstrously unqualified president starting a war demands rejection by his own party.  There is no way democrats can do anything about this omnipresent danger to world peace before the next election.  Republicans are only constrained by their political calculations.  However, with the tRump's approval ratings in the low 30s, there may never be a better time for these "summer soldiers and sunshine patriots" to come to the defense of their country.

Another lost weekend

More NFL stupidity, gun control stupidity and hurricane aftermath stupidity.  Just another weekend with the Moron-in-Chief at the helm. 

Gun uncontrol

One of the conservative columnists at the NYT, Bret Stephens,  trolled the various liberal factions searching for a strategy to get control of guns in these United States.  Stephens suggestion is to push for the repeal of the 2nd amendment to the Constitution.  Of  course anyone foolish enough to push that crusade deserves the hail of lead they would probably attract.  He did however underline how difficult any conversation about guns will be.  According to stats, less than 25% of Americans own 80% of all the firearms in the country.  Most of us who do own a gun are ambivalent at best when it comes to the utility of doing so.  In my case, I bought a shotgun from a friend years ago, more to help him get some much needed cash than making a statement.  I used it for hunting varmints a few times, but careless storage has reduced it to a rusty mess which would require more than the gun is worth to restore it.  Still, I would probably not favor a blanket ban on gun ownership.  Registration, insurance, manufacturers' liability I could support, but until the an overwhelming majority of citizens is repulsed by the never ending carnage caused by firearms these common sense regulations have as much chance of being enacted as tRump has of being impeached by this Congress.

What's wrong with this picture

I hadn't actually seen footage of POTUS tossing rolls of paper towels to a crowd in Puerto Rico, but this morning there was a still shot of tRump doing just that on the blog First Draft under the title, "the boy ain't right".  I wholeheartedly agree.  As I have said before, although the Shrub and his administration did far more harm to America than Cheeto Jesus has so far, at least GWB acted the way most of us expect a president to act.  The Moron-in-Chief seems to be acting out the fantasies of an unbalanced teenager suddenly thrust into the role of most powerful man in the world.   The only more bizarre touch would have been a T-shirt cannon.  Maybe they'll have one for him at the next natural disaster!   Seriously, his own secretary of state was caught calling him a moron and did not deny it.  If there was a checklist to evaluate the fitness of someone to be president, The Donald has now completed a nearly perfect example of NOT.

Same old story

Despite the fact a mass shooting happens in the US on average once each day (I believe it is defined as more than 3 casualties), and the frequency has been going up along with the severity of the events, a parade of right wing pundits and "authorities" are letting us know that the continuing carnage is the price of "freedom".  No other wealthy industrialized country in the first world tolerates this type of gun violence and the increasingly weak 2nd amendment arguments being made in favor of semi-automatic weapons are pushing many toward support of solutions like Australia's ban on these human killers.  The arsenal of weapons amassed by Stephen Paddock and the horrific use he put them to shows the absolute necessity for common sense control of what are agents of mass destruction.  Although it seems callous in the aftermath of the Las Vegas tragedy to say this, it is fortunate it was an elderly white man with apparently no connection to international terrorism who committed this atrocity.  Maybe the next shooting will be done by a white haired grandma with an RPG.  I'm sure Jonah Goldberg or Eric Ericsson will have some pat answer to the question of why we should allow our fellow citizens to be blown away in the name of  FREEDOM.

RIP Tom Petty

Although I was only a casual fan, the music of Tom Petty was part of the soundtrack of my family's life in the late 1980s and early 90s.  Free-Falling, Won't Back Down, and American Girl were favorites of my daughters.  As a mid-range baby boomer Petty and I were contemporaries, so the fact he died of a massive heart attack hits uncomfortably close to home.  Coupled with the death of one of my brother Neil's friends of heart failure at 62 despite a life of absurd healthiness it really brings home the limits of our span on this earth.   The deaths in Las Vegas at the hands of a deranged gunman are in the lightning strike category of life ending events.  Heart attacks on otherwise healthy middle aged men are another story entirely. RIP Tom and Jamie.

Automatic tragedy in Las Vegas

Another mass shooting to start the week.  From early reports it sounds like an angry old white guy acted out the "Get off my lawn" mantra on steroids.  More than 50 people are reported dead and over 200 injured after the shooter unloaded on a crowd at a concert at one of the Vegas resorts.   Literally hundreds if not thousands of people around the country who know and/or are related to the casualties are now dealing with life altering grief on a scale I know nothing about and can only try to empathize with.  It would be easy to score cheap political points regarding gun control, political affiliations of the shooter, etc., but today is not the time.