Alas, the one group of public employees whose right to unionize has enjoyed bipartisan support is the police. The Uvalde-area constabulary will face no accountability. Impunity is a great job benefit.
As a former officer, I got a sad ironic laugh from the photo of the SWAT Team and the cosplay reference. Couldn't be truer in this case. And to be honest, I get no sense of security from a photo op of our local 'peace officers' jacked to the nines with Terminator gear and macho nonsense spilling out of their ears. And then comparing it to the reality of what actual horrific violence looks like and feels like through the Uvalde school murders. So so much of this SWAT nonsense is posing, and has little to do with actual community management. An excuse to play GI Joe/Jane. I remember all too well the officers I was in the department with who were a little too in love with their Glocks.
Please don't do the "good guy with a gun thing" about the shooting in Indiana. In Indiana, where I live, permitless carry was just recently passed. You know the government (and others) are all patting themselves on the back now with this story, but this almost never actually works out this way--look it up. Sure, you can say more people would have died if this man hadn't been there, but spare me because the murderous shooter bought all his weapons and ammunition legally and this should be the focus. The truth is this is what the gun lobby wants-- everyone armed, fearful, on the streets with their guns . Don't elevate this vision like this is a good thing. Sorry, I don't want to live in a place where everyone is armed in the name of "protection" and people are looking around every corner for potential mass shooters , thinking they are protected because they have a gun ( newsflash; they're not) or can be the next vigilante hero.
Born and bred, I can only say it's a shame what has happened in Wisconsin since the 2010 election. I used to be so proud of this state with its history of progressivism going back to Fighting Bob LaFollete at a time when Republicans could be progressive and populism was something other than a cover for despotism.
Sometimes Fortune turns against you, though. The 70’s and 80’s pretty much wiped out our industrial base like it did for much of the Rust Belt, destroying a lot of good paying blue collar jobs and a fair amount of white collar ones, too. It bred a lot of resentment that festered over the next two decades.
Fast forward to 2010, a midterm election and a census year. A large part of the left doesn’t show up for midterms and the Republicans had instituted a voter ID law in an attempt to further depress that segment. Reince Priebus claims that it was necessary because voter fraud was “rampant” in the state, without any evidence. No one can explain why this hadn’t been an issue for the previous 150 years.
Walker sweeps into office on a self-declared “divide and conquer” strategy and Ron Johnson is elected. Walker immediately sets out to kneecap the opposition, particularly going after public sector unions. He undermines the UW system and goes after the city of Milwaukee. He appoints right wing judges to the state Supreme Court, such as Michael Gabelman who refuses to recuse himself when cases later come before the court involving donors who had contributed large amounts of money to his campaign. Gabelman later retires and is currently “investigating irregularities” in the last election at the appointment of the Republican legislature. The cost of that to the state is now approaching a million dollars.
The Republican legislature, after the 2010 election also gerrymanders the electoral districts behind closed doors, shutting out any Democratic involvement.
You can blame ALEC, the Federalist Society, and the Koch brothers for much of this. Right wing AM talk radio, too.
I side with Jim on this one. I think it's more partisanship than a will to build a better legacy or future. That being said, I'm glad Ducey's doing what he is and not leaving it up to a nutbar that turns her back on friends. Lake is bad news for not just one reason, but for every reason.
That the Uvalde response was deemed a "systemic failure" is a cop out.
The Uvalde response showed what should be reasonably expected when anybody is confronted with a guy who has barricaded himself with high grade weapons using children & teachers as sand bags to protect himself. Sure the cops could have reacted sooner, somebody could have take command and rushed the shooter etc. but the loss would still be the same because these shooters aren't going into these situations to survive (& instead want to inflict maximum damage). I do realize a quicker response might have even saved some lives (presumably quicker medical access would have saved a few). & that would mean the world for the families who underwent a personal loss. I just think these expectations (that the police will have a better plan and will react sooner so help can be provided sooner) is rather hopeful, much like the other solutions that we have heard (arm the teachers, remove all doors expect the one main entrance/exit, guy with a good gun will stop guys with bad intentions etc.). Expecting the cops to bail out inability of the politicians to make society safer is what this is all about. The cops surely made their share of mistakes, but the bigger culprits are those politicians who let this happen in the first place.
Lots of focus on the symptom (the shooting and the police response) and no focus at all on the disease/root cause (the gun proliferation, high-capacity weaponry, weak/no background checks etc.). To me it is yet another acknowledgment that America has no will power to look for permanent solutions to this problem and will instead spend time applying makeup to the proverbial "pig".
"Other prominent Republicans, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, have also lined up behind Robson in recent days."
There is a mistake here. Never use Chris Christie and prominent in the same sentence. However, piddling would be an acceptable adjective used in conjunction with the Scourge of Fort Lee. [See 2016 New Hampshire primary results.]
I do recall Agnew's prose but It indeed was very different then than it is now. Then? We had three networks, CNN and PBS and in reality, they all did a good job of adhering to factual reporting.
Now? We have those same networks but we also have FOX, OAN and NEWSMAX not only not reporting the news based on facts but rather based almost entirely in opinion. Limbaugh was early on reporting opinions dressed as facts and he was careful to never call it "the news. Trump used all of this to start digging under the foundation of fact as a man who had avoided facts and tortured the truth his entire life.
It will be damn hard for the media to "get it right" when much of it doesn't want to at all.
If Trump fatigue is real, the GOP isn't dumping him for Romney of Jeb! They still want a crazy son-of-a-bitch. Just one that can win. Sorry, this news is not that great.
Re: Uvalde. I'm sticking with systemic failure. Either no one was in charge or it was unclear who was in charge.. The last thing you want when 375 armed and heavily-armed people show up is too much personal initiative.
1. Oh if only "Trump fatigue" also meant MAGA fatigue. Remember, "it's not just Trump!"
2. Re "A crisis of credibility":
- I wonder how much of the low "confidence" in newspapers and TV news is due to people just not having an interest in reading newspapers and watching TV news?
- I wonder how this compares with their "confidence" in "news" they get from social media and podcasts?
- I wonder how long it'll take for this story (below) to hit the "news" on Tucker Carlson & Infowars (if it hasn't already) ... and of course ties it to the Biden Crime Family:
Daily Beast: "Russia Says It’s Losing Because Ukraine Has Experimental Mutant Troops Created in Secret Biolabs"
I voted for George Bush both times. Looking back, the only thing he was ever right about was the fact that Conspiracy Theories are a threat to democracy. The difference between a Conspiracy Theorist and a Citizen behind the wall (stuck in the preverbal cave). Is that the CT has plenty of sourced information to guide their common sense and chooses not to use it. While the Citizen Behind the wall has a lack of valid sourced information and they typically know this from leaked data from the outside world. I admit that I went down the rabbit hole with 9/11 trutherism. I diverged from CTs when it came to Tower 7. The tower 7 theory, to me, was the original nut jobbery defending the indefensible. You could have a structural engineer flanked by a explosives expert backed up by building demolition expert. All telling you that the tower fell in such a manner to not constitute explosives. And a CT will tell you that those people are bullshit and come up with an addendum to their CT to validate the exclusion of experts. This leaves the only expert standing in the room, the original person that posited the theory. I saw this occur in a friend during Obama (also a person I voted for). While I eventually came to realize that Bush had too many business interests aligned with the Carlyle Group and the Saudis. I did not think Bush helped orchestrate 911 and I did not think Obama was a descendent of the Skull and Bones society. I follow you CTs. I follow each and every one of your crack pot ideas. I need to tell you. You are not leading a good life because you lead a life full of gossip but you pretend to be a Stoic philosopher. You are not a Stoic. One cannot come close to the Stoic life while living on social media digesting lies. You know they are lies. You just want to feed off the gossip because it fills some hole in your heart. I need to tell you. These principles you are following are not good, are not healthy, and by extension it makes them unwise. You lack the wisdom and the seriousness to even carry a conversation about bread. Let alone be allowed on a GOP debate stage. It is unconscionable that any of you CTs have a platform. This is the US vs THEM in America and rural America needs to see what and who is the real enemy. Our addictions. Addicted to Oil, Addicted to Opiods, Addicted to Anger, Addicted to Violence, Addicted to Greed, Addicted to Arguing. But while these things may bring pleasure. They do not create happiness in your being. And therefore are unwise before you even started talking about elections rigging by conflicting interests because Pence is a false flag and Bill Bahr was paid by Dominion. ABSURD
Michael Cohen is positive that TFG will not run. Doesn't want to run. BUT the grift will continue (ie IF he declares its just to raise $millions). MC is literally the sole voice saying that... but boy he was correct when he said "If tRump loses, there will be no peaceful transfer of power".
None of us saw Jan 6 coming. As Cohen says, "I don't have a crystal ball, but I know the man."
Anything is possible, the more horrible and destructive the better (inside the orange brain)
Walker and Herschel are both Yahoos - but as ignorant Herschel is, Walker proved himself far more dangerous.
As to secession. I’ve wanted Texas to secede for years. I had the misfortune of working remotely with so many from that state 15 years ago for 4 years along with 13 other states. All sates thought Texas the most ignorant they’ve ever worked with. The Texans running things had nothing between their ears and the other more capable too afraid to speak up for the good of the company. So Uvalde and Texas state police are no surprise to me. Exactly what I saw daily back then in my company. Pathetic.
That the whole state of Wyoming wants to follow (all 550,000 of them 😂), say go right ahead.
We will need to require visas for entry into USA, border security and heavy taxes on Texas companies wanting to sell their wares in our country. TEXIT - good ring to it IMO.
Alas, the one group of public employees whose right to unionize has enjoyed bipartisan support is the police. The Uvalde-area constabulary will face no accountability. Impunity is a great job benefit.
As a former officer, I got a sad ironic laugh from the photo of the SWAT Team and the cosplay reference. Couldn't be truer in this case. And to be honest, I get no sense of security from a photo op of our local 'peace officers' jacked to the nines with Terminator gear and macho nonsense spilling out of their ears. And then comparing it to the reality of what actual horrific violence looks like and feels like through the Uvalde school murders. So so much of this SWAT nonsense is posing, and has little to do with actual community management. An excuse to play GI Joe/Jane. I remember all too well the officers I was in the department with who were a little too in love with their Glocks.
Please don't do the "good guy with a gun thing" about the shooting in Indiana. In Indiana, where I live, permitless carry was just recently passed. You know the government (and others) are all patting themselves on the back now with this story, but this almost never actually works out this way--look it up. Sure, you can say more people would have died if this man hadn't been there, but spare me because the murderous shooter bought all his weapons and ammunition legally and this should be the focus. The truth is this is what the gun lobby wants-- everyone armed, fearful, on the streets with their guns . Don't elevate this vision like this is a good thing. Sorry, I don't want to live in a place where everyone is armed in the name of "protection" and people are looking around every corner for potential mass shooters , thinking they are protected because they have a gun ( newsflash; they're not) or can be the next vigilante hero.
Born and bred, I can only say it's a shame what has happened in Wisconsin since the 2010 election. I used to be so proud of this state with its history of progressivism going back to Fighting Bob LaFollete at a time when Republicans could be progressive and populism was something other than a cover for despotism.
Sometimes Fortune turns against you, though. The 70’s and 80’s pretty much wiped out our industrial base like it did for much of the Rust Belt, destroying a lot of good paying blue collar jobs and a fair amount of white collar ones, too. It bred a lot of resentment that festered over the next two decades.
Fast forward to 2010, a midterm election and a census year. A large part of the left doesn’t show up for midterms and the Republicans had instituted a voter ID law in an attempt to further depress that segment. Reince Priebus claims that it was necessary because voter fraud was “rampant” in the state, without any evidence. No one can explain why this hadn’t been an issue for the previous 150 years.
Walker sweeps into office on a self-declared “divide and conquer” strategy and Ron Johnson is elected. Walker immediately sets out to kneecap the opposition, particularly going after public sector unions. He undermines the UW system and goes after the city of Milwaukee. He appoints right wing judges to the state Supreme Court, such as Michael Gabelman who refuses to recuse himself when cases later come before the court involving donors who had contributed large amounts of money to his campaign. Gabelman later retires and is currently “investigating irregularities” in the last election at the appointment of the Republican legislature. The cost of that to the state is now approaching a million dollars.
The Republican legislature, after the 2010 election also gerrymanders the electoral districts behind closed doors, shutting out any Democratic involvement.
You can blame ALEC, the Federalist Society, and the Koch brothers for much of this. Right wing AM talk radio, too.
There’s more, but I’m too depressed to go on.
How long before Trump starts stripping the bark off of DeSantis?
"There can be only one."
--- The Highlander
Republican voters want a winner and Donnie’s not a winner. That’s gotta hurt. I’m sure Fred always told him he was a loser.
I side with Jim on this one. I think it's more partisanship than a will to build a better legacy or future. That being said, I'm glad Ducey's doing what he is and not leaving it up to a nutbar that turns her back on friends. Lake is bad news for not just one reason, but for every reason.
That the Uvalde response was deemed a "systemic failure" is a cop out.
The Uvalde response showed what should be reasonably expected when anybody is confronted with a guy who has barricaded himself with high grade weapons using children & teachers as sand bags to protect himself. Sure the cops could have reacted sooner, somebody could have take command and rushed the shooter etc. but the loss would still be the same because these shooters aren't going into these situations to survive (& instead want to inflict maximum damage). I do realize a quicker response might have even saved some lives (presumably quicker medical access would have saved a few). & that would mean the world for the families who underwent a personal loss. I just think these expectations (that the police will have a better plan and will react sooner so help can be provided sooner) is rather hopeful, much like the other solutions that we have heard (arm the teachers, remove all doors expect the one main entrance/exit, guy with a good gun will stop guys with bad intentions etc.). Expecting the cops to bail out inability of the politicians to make society safer is what this is all about. The cops surely made their share of mistakes, but the bigger culprits are those politicians who let this happen in the first place.
Lots of focus on the symptom (the shooting and the police response) and no focus at all on the disease/root cause (the gun proliferation, high-capacity weaponry, weak/no background checks etc.). To me it is yet another acknowledgment that America has no will power to look for permanent solutions to this problem and will instead spend time applying makeup to the proverbial "pig".
"Other prominent Republicans, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, have also lined up behind Robson in recent days."
There is a mistake here. Never use Chris Christie and prominent in the same sentence. However, piddling would be an acceptable adjective used in conjunction with the Scourge of Fort Lee. [See 2016 New Hampshire primary results.]
I do recall Agnew's prose but It indeed was very different then than it is now. Then? We had three networks, CNN and PBS and in reality, they all did a good job of adhering to factual reporting.
Now? We have those same networks but we also have FOX, OAN and NEWSMAX not only not reporting the news based on facts but rather based almost entirely in opinion. Limbaugh was early on reporting opinions dressed as facts and he was careful to never call it "the news. Trump used all of this to start digging under the foundation of fact as a man who had avoided facts and tortured the truth his entire life.
It will be damn hard for the media to "get it right" when much of it doesn't want to at all.
If Trump fatigue is real, the GOP isn't dumping him for Romney of Jeb! They still want a crazy son-of-a-bitch. Just one that can win. Sorry, this news is not that great.
Re: Uvalde. I'm sticking with systemic failure. Either no one was in charge or it was unclear who was in charge.. The last thing you want when 375 armed and heavily-armed people show up is too much personal initiative.
1. Oh if only "Trump fatigue" also meant MAGA fatigue. Remember, "it's not just Trump!"
2. Re "A crisis of credibility":
- I wonder how much of the low "confidence" in newspapers and TV news is due to people just not having an interest in reading newspapers and watching TV news?
- I wonder how this compares with their "confidence" in "news" they get from social media and podcasts?
- I wonder how long it'll take for this story (below) to hit the "news" on Tucker Carlson & Infowars (if it hasn't already) ... and of course ties it to the Biden Crime Family:
Daily Beast: "Russia Says It’s Losing Because Ukraine Has Experimental Mutant Troops Created in Secret Biolabs"
https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-says-losing-because-ukraine-104546288.html
Wow.
I voted for George Bush both times. Looking back, the only thing he was ever right about was the fact that Conspiracy Theories are a threat to democracy. The difference between a Conspiracy Theorist and a Citizen behind the wall (stuck in the preverbal cave). Is that the CT has plenty of sourced information to guide their common sense and chooses not to use it. While the Citizen Behind the wall has a lack of valid sourced information and they typically know this from leaked data from the outside world. I admit that I went down the rabbit hole with 9/11 trutherism. I diverged from CTs when it came to Tower 7. The tower 7 theory, to me, was the original nut jobbery defending the indefensible. You could have a structural engineer flanked by a explosives expert backed up by building demolition expert. All telling you that the tower fell in such a manner to not constitute explosives. And a CT will tell you that those people are bullshit and come up with an addendum to their CT to validate the exclusion of experts. This leaves the only expert standing in the room, the original person that posited the theory. I saw this occur in a friend during Obama (also a person I voted for). While I eventually came to realize that Bush had too many business interests aligned with the Carlyle Group and the Saudis. I did not think Bush helped orchestrate 911 and I did not think Obama was a descendent of the Skull and Bones society. I follow you CTs. I follow each and every one of your crack pot ideas. I need to tell you. You are not leading a good life because you lead a life full of gossip but you pretend to be a Stoic philosopher. You are not a Stoic. One cannot come close to the Stoic life while living on social media digesting lies. You know they are lies. You just want to feed off the gossip because it fills some hole in your heart. I need to tell you. These principles you are following are not good, are not healthy, and by extension it makes them unwise. You lack the wisdom and the seriousness to even carry a conversation about bread. Let alone be allowed on a GOP debate stage. It is unconscionable that any of you CTs have a platform. This is the US vs THEM in America and rural America needs to see what and who is the real enemy. Our addictions. Addicted to Oil, Addicted to Opiods, Addicted to Anger, Addicted to Violence, Addicted to Greed, Addicted to Arguing. But while these things may bring pleasure. They do not create happiness in your being. And therefore are unwise before you even started talking about elections rigging by conflicting interests because Pence is a false flag and Bill Bahr was paid by Dominion. ABSURD
Here's the thing about tRump declaring:
Michael Cohen is positive that TFG will not run. Doesn't want to run. BUT the grift will continue (ie IF he declares its just to raise $millions). MC is literally the sole voice saying that... but boy he was correct when he said "If tRump loses, there will be no peaceful transfer of power".
None of us saw Jan 6 coming. As Cohen says, "I don't have a crystal ball, but I know the man."
Anything is possible, the more horrible and destructive the better (inside the orange brain)
Walker and Herschel are both Yahoos - but as ignorant Herschel is, Walker proved himself far more dangerous.
As to secession. I’ve wanted Texas to secede for years. I had the misfortune of working remotely with so many from that state 15 years ago for 4 years along with 13 other states. All sates thought Texas the most ignorant they’ve ever worked with. The Texans running things had nothing between their ears and the other more capable too afraid to speak up for the good of the company. So Uvalde and Texas state police are no surprise to me. Exactly what I saw daily back then in my company. Pathetic.
That the whole state of Wyoming wants to follow (all 550,000 of them 😂), say go right ahead.
We will need to require visas for entry into USA, border security and heavy taxes on Texas companies wanting to sell their wares in our country. TEXIT - good ring to it IMO.