Tests Of Leadership (UPDATED)

In the aftermath of the horror in Orlando over the weekend, there were responses from officials ranging from President Obama's remarks...



... to those of Republican neo- fascist narcissist slimeball Donald "Rump" Trump, who followed up this humblebragging tweet on Sunday...

Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don't want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2016

... with these comments on "Fux and Friends":

"We're led by a man who is a very -- look, we're led by a man that either is, is not tough, not smart, or he's got something else in mind," Trump said. "And the something else in mind, you know, people can't believe it. People cannot -- they cannot believe that President Obama is acting the ways he acts and can't even mention the words radical islamic terrorism. There's something going on. It's inconceivable."

Implying the President of the United States -- the person responsible for eliminating Osama bin Laden and the Taliban leadership -- is in league with terrorists?  (Is he a secret Muslim? Why won't he say the magic words "radical Islamic terrorism!?")  This after his self- congratulatory tweet on being smart (!) for foreseeing what nobody else in the world could foresee:  another terrorist attack! This on a day when the country was mourning the loss of dozens of innocent lives.  All in a day's work for this thing we call Rump, and another in a long series of examples of why he is completely unfit for the office of President!

As others have noted, it's fair to ask the so-called "leaders" of the Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid/ Shooter's Party if they agree with Rump's assessment of the President's loyalty to his country. How about it Paul "Lyin'" Ryan?  What do you say, Mitch "Missy" McConnell?

UPDATE:  Who was the prescient one? (h/t Balloon Juice)

Obama 10 days before the Orlando massacre, responding to a question on gun control https://t.co/d8mQ3SbQye pic.twitter.com/RkhaUP5KWE

— Alex Ogle (@Alex_Ogle) June 13, 2016

When Republicans (And The N.R.A.) Believed In Gun Control

Check out this short, but enlightening, video by Rolling Stone magazine on the not- too- distant past when Republican leaders (and Chief Gun Nut Wayne LaPierre) weren't so hostile to gun control:

Today's Cartoons - Why We Can't Have Nice Things

(click to enlarge)

(Top:  Drew Sheneman;  bottom:  Pat Oliphant;  both via gocomics.com)

On Your Mark Cartoon of the Day

(click to enlarge)

Legislation for gun control/safety will  likely be introduced in separate bills, the requirement for universal background checks being the most popular.  The National Rifle Rampage Association will fight any and all measures that would have any negative effect on gun sales, especially measures that would take guns out of the hands of the "bad" guys they blame for the violence.

Quote of the Day

"The N.R.A. and gun-rights advocates are quick to use the Constitution to defend unfettered access to even the most lethal firearms. But before the Constitution there was the Declaration of Independence, which asserts that we are endowed with certain unalienable rights, including those of 'Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.' It continues, 'That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted...' It is time now for government to protect our right to life from the threat of gun violence. It is time for politicians to put this right on the same pedestal they afford the right to bear arms." --  Jonathan Perloe, Greenwich Democratic Town Committee, in an editorial piece on Greenwichtime.com (h/t to Daily Kos).

Emblazoned on the exterior of the National Rifle Rampage Association's headquarters are the words, "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."  Of course, that's not the whole text of the Second Amendment.  The NRA consistently ignores the opening phrase, "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state..."  Why?  Because the gun lobby isn't about the "security of a free state";  they're about gun sales, and the free flow of firearms to whatever felon, or mentally disturbed person with money to buy them, regardless of their lip service about "bad guys."   

The NRA Enemies List

To fully appreciate what a bunch of absolute loons comprise the National Rifle Rampage Association leadership, you simply have to check out their enemies list. Not to spoil the shock surprise, but there's just about every mainstream organization on there (including the PTA, AMA, and ... Sara Lee! -- we thought "nobody doesn't like Sara Lee!"). See it before someone who's not insane over there takes off their web page.

These are the same NRA loons leading half of Congress (and most of the New Confederate/ Rethuglican Party) around by the nose. Unbelievable.

Crazy About Guns

Charles Blow in today's New York Times talks about the paranoia and extremism on the far right revolving around guns:

That sound you hear is the sound of a cultural paranoia by people who have lost their grip on the reins of power, and on reality, and who fear the worst is coming.

And they are preparing for it, whatever it may be — a war, a revolution, an apocalypse.

These extremists make sensible, reasonable gun control hard to discuss, let alone achieve in this country, because they skew the conversations away from common-sense solutions on which both rational gun owners and non-gun owners can agree.

These people, a vocal minority, have extreme fears — gun confiscation, widespread civil instability, a tyrannical government — from which they are preparing to defend themselves with arsenals of weapons and stockpiles of ammunition.

The explosive growth of the various "patriot" groups and the mercenary interests of the gun manufacturers' lobby -- the National Rifle Rampage Association -- have made it difficult to have a rational discussion, much less policies, on gun control in this country. But that only means the pushback needs to be that much stronger and sustained. To get an historical perspective on how the N.R.A. evolved from a sportsman's advocacy group to the cancerous growth that it is today, read this extensive article in today's Kaplan Daily.