Saturday Shorts

Too soon? Nah!

Noted without further comment:

Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock was quite the fan of President Donald Trump before he killed 58 people and left another 500 injured—the worst mass shooting in recent U.S. history.  

Paddock, a millionaire who reportedly would gamble up to $1 million a night in casinos, was attracted to the president's politics because of the boost the stock market has enjoyed since Trump took office, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told KLAS, a local CBS affiliate in Las Vegas, during a two-hour interview. 

Paddock said "he was happy with Trump because the stock market was doing well," Lombardo said.

And, on the Russian meddling front:

This shit-talkin’, gun-lovin’, Trump votin’ all American (racist) gal was actually...a Russian propaganda account.https://t.co/OuQigkbzD1

— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) November 3, 2017

The Associated Press reports on how Russians hacked the emails at the Democratic National Committee, and on the timing of the release of those (edited) emails on a critical date - October 7:

The same afternoon, just as the American electorate was digesting a lewd audio tape of Trump boasting about sexually assaulting women, WikiLeaks began publishing the emails stolen from Podesta. 

The publications sparked a media stampede as they were doled out one batch at a time, with many news organizations tasking reporters with scrolling through the thousands of emails being released in tranches. At the AP alone, as many as 30 journalists were assigned, at various times, to go through the material. 

Guccifer 2.0 told one reporter he was thrilled that WikiLeaks had finally followed through. 

“Together with Assange we’ll make america great again,” he wrote.

Guccifer - Assange - and Trump.

The Other Terror That's Never Dealt With

The estimable Charles P. Pierce reminds us of a far worse terror attack than the one committed by a deranged ISIS proponent, but perpetrated by a middle-aged white guy with a "bump stock" so it's already receded into the mists of time in just a short month:

"Now, though, we are going through the rituals of the Forever War, which demand that this act of violence is somehow different from the other acts of violence—even acts of mass violence—that drift through the news cycle. We are only a month distant from the night that Stephen Paddock killed 59 people and wounded almost 600 more when he opened fire on a country music concert in Las Vegas. Paddock was able to commit his act of mass slaughter because he availed himself of something called a 'bump stock.' There was a brief spasm of brave talk about banning this lethal gimcrack, which has faded from the public consciousness as talk like that always does. Stephen Paddock’s name is out of the news."

The highly successful strategy of the gun manufacturers lobby and their coin-operated shills in the Rethuglican / New Confederate Party is to demand an immediate moratorium on talk of action after mass shootings. "It's too soon" is their common mantra after those events. "Too soon" becomes never, and they walk away with a win again until the next massacre when it's "too soon" to demand action.

So, keep in mind that when you hear demagoguery from President Bone Spur on the far right about "Guantanamo" and Muslim travel bans, we still have major home grown terrorists of a different hue and faith with powerful friends in Washington.

BONUS: Three die in Colorado shooting: "The shooter is a white man, who was wearing a black jacket, maroon shirt and blue jeans...There was no indication that the shooting was an act of terrorism..."  Of course.

BONUS II:  The suspected Colorado shooter has been apprehended. He's Scott Ostrem, 47.

Rise Lantern Festival Remembers Las Vegas

The annual Rise lantern festival October 5 and 6, in the Mojave Desert in Nevada had special meaning for many following the mass shooting in Las Vegas. According to the organizers, "Rise elevates hope, ignites dreams, and creates memories. Thousands of lanterns, released in unison to create something beautiful." Many of the lanterns bore special messages of remembrance and love for the victims of the tragedy. Stunning.



In case you're wondering, as we did, what happens with those lanterns after the fire goes out and they land, the organizers say:

We have a “Leave It Better Than We Found It” policy. All lanterns are 100% biodegradable and after the event we retrieve 100% of the lanterns from the surrounding desert as well as any pre-existing litter that we find in the area.

"They Should Be Praying For God To Forgive Them For Letting The Gun Lobby Run This Country"

For Jimmy Kimmel, it's precisely the time to talk about gun control (and to hell with the "thoughts and prayers" from corrupt Republicans):

More Right-Wing, White Supremacist Violence

In the past week, we've seen at least two outbursts of far-right extremist violence, with the most recent the deadly shootings in Las Vegas:

A man and a woman who shot two police officers and then a civilian in Las Vegas on Sunday may have been white supremacists, according to Las Vegas newspapers. 

The Las Vegas Sun quoted neighbors at the couple’s apartment complex saying that the two “had a reputation for spouting racist, anti-government views, bragging about their gun collection and boasting that they’d spent time at Cliven Bundy’s ranch during a recent standoff there between armed militia members and federal government agents.”  (our emphasis)

The pair, after killing the two police officers and civilian, committed suicide.  Naturally, the cowards ambushed the two police officers and the unarmed civilian;  those are the tactics "armed militia members" are most comfortable with, when they're not parading their manhood compensators weapons in a Chili's or Starbucks, or at Cliven Bundy's ranch.  As an added touch and to make clear where they stood, the pair put a cover over the dead cops that included the tea bagger "Gadsden flag" ("Don't Tread On Me").

Earlier in the week, a "sovereign citizen" named Dennis Marx attempted to take over a Georgia courthouse:

Dennis Marx, a former TSA employee and member of the 100,000-plus “sovereign citizen” movement, planned to lay siege to a Forsyth County, Ga., courthouse and take hostages before he was killed by a sheriff’s deputy on Friday.

Throwing smoke bombs and tire spikes, Marx attacked the Forsyth County Courthouse on Friday morning, striking a sheriff’s deputy in the leg with a bullet. The deputy, 25-year veteran James Rush, returned fire, and Mr. Marx was killed after a brief gun battle on the street, which was joined by a local SWAT team.

As is generally the case, Charles Pierce leads us to the heart of the matter:

Yeah, like Dennis Marx, these two jamokes allegedly marinated themselves in the stew of guns and paranoia that bubbles daily in the conservative media from fringe radio hosts and chain e-mails all the way up to the polite precincts of the National Review Online and the Fox News Channel. That shouldn't surprise us any more. The enabling of dangerous loons and the empowerment by firearms thereof is simply a staple of conservative politics in this country, yet another fetish object, yet another set of conjuring words for the conservative priesthood, which (always) deplores the activity of a few while realizing in its heart of hearts that it has no political future at the moment, no real substantial constituency, without people like this and millions of others who share Dennis Marx's motivations and his view of the world, but who thus far have declined the opportunity to ventilate their fellow citizens.

We would only add that it should also come as no surprise that the "mainstream media" will do its gosh darned best not to dwell on these stories when there's a good Bergdahl Benghazi!!!  non-scandal to over-inflate.

Meanwhile, it's not a moment too soon that the Justice Department is refocusing on the domestic terrorist front.

UPDATE:  Raw Story has more on the Las Vegas killer-creeps, with photos and the pair's Facebook likes (Rand Paul, Ron Paul, Freedom Works, the NRA, "patriot movement's" Alex Jones, etc.).

UPDATE II:  Steve M. at No More Mister Nice Blog trashes typical right-wing attempts to paint the two Las Vegas wingnuts at "leftists."  Leftists, my ass.

UPDATE III:  The Anti-Defamation League weighs in:

“The two police officers who lost their lives are only the latest in a series of casualties in a de facto war being waged against police by right-wing extremists, including both anti-government extremists and white supremacists,” said Mark Pitcavage, ADL Director of Investigative Research.