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.

"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):

Worst Mass Shooting In U.S. History

From the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas last night, 64 year old Stephen Paddock unleashed the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, killing at least 50, wounding another 400 plus.  Paddock aimed automatic weapons fire at a country music festival below for approximately 15 minutes, causing chaos as people ran and ducked for cover. Paddock turned his gun on himself before police could enter the room he was shooting from.

The investigation will perhaps reveal a motive for the mass slaying. The shooter was armed with 10 rifles with extended magazines, according to preliminary police reports. Police also report that Paddock had no criminal history, and was living in a retirement community in Mesquite, NV.

There will be the inevitable calls from the gun manufacturers lobby and their friends in politics not to reopen the debate over gun safety and availability of automatic, military-style weapons to the general public, as was the case after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. For them, there's never a right time. For the rest of us, we can't become numb to the regularity of these mass killings. We need to once again ask what kind of a society we want to live in, surrounded by heavily armed killers with a grudge, a cause, or a mental issue. This has to stop.

BONUS:  After the initial "thoughts and prayers" fallback --

Republicans are desperate. The NRA hasn't yet told them what to say about the Las Vegas shooting. Need talking points fast!

— Bruce Bartlett (@BruceBartlett) October 2, 2017

(photo: Deutsche Welt. Concert goers scramble for safety at Las Vegas country music concert)