Republicans Find The Real Culprits In School Shootings

 

Pay attention, folks!

It's side doors!

“That seems to be a common pattern in many of these shootings, a side door. If we can lock the side doors and make sure that the schools are secure, hopefully we can avoid these tragedies going forward,” former FBI agent Nicole Parker said as she discussed a shooting Monday at The Covenant School in Nashville that left three children and three adults dead.

Throughout her commentary, Parker made no mention of the firearms the shooter wielded. According to police, 28-year-old Audrey Hale was carrying a rifle, an assault rifle-style pistol and a handgun when she was killed by officers at the scene.

What’s more, Hale apparently entered the school through a locked side door by shooting through it, according to Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake...

No, wait -- it's gun grabbers!

Thank God for good guys with guns and thank God a good guy with a gun killed the evil mentally deranged shooter today. 

Joe Biden’s gun free school zones have endangered children at schools leaving them as innocent targets of sick horrible disturbed people ever since he worked as a Senator to pass this foolish law. 

What a fool. What a failure. 

Gun grabbers like Joe Biden and Democrats should give up their Secret Service protection and put themselves on the same level as our unprotected innocent precious children at school. 

School shootings should NEVER happen and will end immediately when our nations children are defended the same way Joe Biden is by good guys with guns!!!

No, we got it -- it's transgender people!

Right-wingers seized on the mass shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville on Monday to push anti-trans rhetoric after authorities said the shooter, who was shot dead by police after killing three students and three adults, was transgender.

Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) attacked transgender health care, asking on her congressional Twitter account: “How much hormones like testosterone and medications for mental illness was the transgender Nashville school shooter taking?”

“Everyone can stop blaming guns now,” the extremist lawmaker added.  [snip]

Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of former President Donald Trump, suggested that “rather than talking about guns we should be talking about lunatics pushing their gender affirming bullshit on our kids?”

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) said that “if early reports are accurate that a trans shooter targeted a Christian school, there needs to be a lot of soul searching on the extreme left.”

“Giving in to these ideas isn’t compassion, it’s dangerous,” the first-year lawmaker added...

So, aren't you glad these NRA- coin- operated, submoron, "pro- life," mass- killing- enabling sick bastards have found the true culprits?!

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

 

The good:

A bipartisan group of senators announced Sunday that it had reached a tentative agreement on legislation that would pair modest new gun restrictions with significant new mental health and school security investments — a deal that could put Congress on a path to enacting the most significant national response in decades to acts of mass gun violence.

Twenty senators — 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans — signed a statement announcing the framework deal. The move indicated that the agreement could have enough GOP support to defeat a filibuster, the Senate supermajority rule that has impeded previous gun legislation.

Under the tentative deal, a federal grant program would encourage states to implement red-flag laws that allow authorities to keep guns away from people found by a judge to represent a potential threat to themselves or others, while federal criminal background checks for gun buyers younger than 21 would include a mandatory search of juvenile justice and mental health records for the first time.

Other provisions would prevent gun sales to a broader group of domestic violence offenders, closing what is often called the “boyfriend loophole”; clarify which gun sellers are required to register as federal firearms dealers and, thus, run background checks on customers; and establish new federal offenses related to gun trafficking.

The agreement does not include a provision supported by President Biden, congressional Democrats and a handful of Republicans that would raise the minimum age for the purchase of at least some rifles from 18 to 21. Handguns are already subject to a federal 21-and-older rule.

The bad:

Chinese military officials in recent months have repeatedly asserted that the Taiwan Strait isn’t international waters during meetings with US counterparts, according to a person familiar with the situation, generating concern within the Biden administration. 

The statement disputing the US view of international law has been delivered to the American government by Chinese officials on multiple occasions and at multiple levels, the person said. The US and key allies say much of the strait constitutes international waters, and they routinely send naval vessels through the waterway as part of freedom of navigation exercises. 

China has long asserted that the Taiwan Strait is part of its exclusive economic zone, and takes the view there are limits to the activities of foreign military vessels in those waters. While China regularly protests US military moves in the Taiwan Strait, the legal status of the waters previously wasn’t a regular talking point in meetings with American officials.

It’s not clear whether the recent assertions indicate that China will take more steps to confront naval vessels that enter transit the Taiwan Strait. The US also conducts freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea to challenge Chinese territorial claims around disputed land features. 

“The United States will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, and that includes transiting through the Taiwan Strait,” Lieutenant Colonel Martin Meiners, a Pentagon spokesperson, said by email.

The ugly:

Police arrested 31 men found inside a U-Haul truck near a pride event in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, on Saturday. Police said they believe the men were affiliated with a white supremacist group and were intending to riot.  [snip]

The men were seen in videos posted to social media all wearing khakis, navy blue shirts, beige hats, and cloth facial coverings. The outfit is similar to what is worn by Patriot Front, which the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as a white supremacist group. White said at least one of the men had an arm patch that said "Patriot Front," and others had hats with logos "consistent" with those used by the group.

Police also found shields inside the U-Haul and at least one smoke grenade, [Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Lee] White said.

All 31 men are being charged with conspiracy to riot, a misdemeanor, and further charges "might be pending," White said.  [snip]

White also said the group wasn't just planning to cause a disruption at a nearby park, where a pride event was being held, but that police had information that indicated they would attempt to riot in other areas as well. 

He did not go into detail about the paperwork that police recovered from the group, but said it "appeared to be very similar to an operations plan that a police or military group would put together for an event."

Fascist fanboys foiled.

Bold Prediction: "Sensible Gun Safety Laws" Will Go Nowhere For Now

Maestro of Bad Faith and wrecker of American democracy Sen. "Moscow Mitch" McConnell (R-Hell), feeling the enormous heat and anger stemming from the Uvalde massacre, has another bad faith offer to take the heat off Senate Republicans:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told CNN on Thursday he met earlier in the day with Texas Sen. John Cornyn and encouraged the senior Republican senator to begin discussions with Democrats, including Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, to see if they can find a middle ground on legislation to respond to the tragic Texas elementary school shooting.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are facing enormous pressure to take action in the wake of the horrific shooting, but members on both sides acknowledge the uphill battle to find common ground given the highly polarized political climate around gun legislation and widespread GOP opposition to stricter gun control.

 

A "middle ground" on, for example, background checks and red flag laws, the very de minimus the vast majority of Americans are demanding??  What kind of poison pill might Republicans have in mind?  Well, in 2012, after the Sandy Hook massacre, Democrats tried to pass the Safe Communities Act, with a provision for expanding background checks.  It died in the Senate thanks to a Republican filibuster, but not after Republicans Ted Cruz (that loathsome weasel again) and Chuck Grassley proposed an amendment killing the background check expansion.

 

So, what is Sen. Cornyn's first thought out of the box?

Cornyn has also said that he does not want to see the shooting used as a way to infringe on gun rights.

 

"There's a whole list of things that we can consider, but I think particularly mental health, access to mental health treatment is high on that list," he said, adding, "I think we need to be open to whatever, wherever the evidence leads us. I would say that this is not an excuse to infringe the Second Amendment rights of law abiding citizens doing that will do nothing to fix tragedies like this."

 

Ah, the mental health, "guns don't kill people, deranged 18-year-olds kill people" script ripped from the National Rifle Rampage Association handbook!  The NRA, like white Christofascists, has long been an integral part of the Republican party/cult, and Republican "leaders" heading into an election cycle would sooner adopt "The Internationale" as their official anthem than decouple from those crackpots.  

 

(Of course, the better way to get "sensible gun safety laws" is to throw Republicans out of office -- at the local, State and Federal level.  Well, it's an aspiration to fight for.)

 

It seems at least some Democrats are finally wise to the bad faith rope- a- dope tactics of McConnell and his merry band of sociopaths, though. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) says the clock is ticking:

"I've been through this before," he said. "I know sometimes Republicans are more interested in talking than doing, so if we can't get some progress by the end of next week, then I'll say to Sen. Schumer it's time to take votes. And Sen. Schumer has committed that we're gonna have votes one way or the other on the floor of the Senate on issues like background checks."

 

In the meantime, we won't be cashing any checks written by Moscow Mitch.

 

BONUS:  These checks have already been cashed, though --

 

 

Senators bankrolled by the NRA:

Mitt Romney: $13,648,000

Richard Burr: $6,987,000

Roy Blunt: $4,556,000

Thom Tillis: $4,421,000

Marco Rubio: $3,303,000

Joni Ernst: $3,125,000

Josh Hawley: $1,392,000

Mitch McConnell: $1,267,000

Ted Cruz: $176,000

An absolute disgrace.

— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) May 25, 2022

 

(Image:  Moscow Mitch at the 2014 CPAC nutfest)

Cowardly Republicans And Their Guns

 

Yesterday, we showed the video of Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr's reaction to the massacre of children in Uvalde, TX.  Last night, Jimmy Kimmel offered his emotional reaction (and referenced Kerr's comments) in his opening.  After calling out Texas' lying cowards -- Gov. Gregg Abbott, Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. John Cornyn -- he plays a supercut of Republicans praising easy access to guns and many others running for office who want you to know they know how to pewpew-pewpew shoot a gun.  

Nothing will change in this country as long as these cowardly Republican monsters (we'll call them monsters even though Kimmel won't) are elected to block the will of the American people.  If nothing else (the threat to democracy, protecting reproductive rights, etc.) makes you a one- issue voter, make it this.  Wringing your hands, rolling over, and giving up is never an option.

Public Supports Free Trade & Gun Safety Laws

In an NBC News / Wall Street Journal poll released yesterday, the public supports free trade and opposes the trade war that incompetent con man Donald "Very Stable Genius" Trump has launched against China and other nations. By a margin of 64% to 27%, the public supports free trade with other countries as good for America, a jump of 13% from 2015.

The poll also measured public attitudes on gun safety measures, with 89% favoring expanded background checks, 75% favoring a Government buy-back program for guns that people no longer want, and 62% favoring a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons.

The poll also indicated that Trump's approval rating fell 2 points since July, to 43% job approval.

BONUS:

As with immigration (https://t.co/KgANwGLj92), Trump has driven support for free trade to new highs https://t.co/KgANwGLj92. The idea that he has some magical power over public opinion on these issues is just wrong. pic.twitter.com/B69bHt030f

— Brendan Nyhan (@BrendanNyhan) August 18, 2019