A.M. Links: Orlando Attack, Trump Calls for Banning Muslims, Clinton Calls for Banning Guns

• 

  Todd Kranin

  What we know so far about Omar Mateen and the terrorist attack he carried out in Orlando.

• Donald Trump says the Orlando attack justifies his calls for banning Muslims from entering the U.S.
• Hillary Clinton says the Orlando attack justifies her calls for increasing gun control.
• "The French government has denounced an 'abject act of terrorism' after a man with a previous terrorist conviction carried out a gruesome knife murder of a police commander and his partner at their home outside Paris in the presence of their three-year-old son."
• The Russian soccer team faces disqualification from the Euro 2016 tournament if Russian fans commit further acts of violence during Russian matches. This penalty comes in the wake of Saturday's violence in Marseille, France, which occurred both before and after a match between Russia and England.
• Baltimore police Officer William Porter testified yesterday that Officer Caesar Goodson, the police wagon operator, had custody of Freddie Gray while Gray was inside a police wagon en route to the police station. A week after Gray was arrested and placed in that wagon he died from the spinal injuries he suffered during his arrest.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

What we know so far about Omar Mateen and the terrorist attack he carried out in Orlando.

He was gay? There go ALL my narratives.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

[WTF]

That's it, we need to ban gays. Only then will we be safe from mass-murdering lunatics. He was obviously encouraged to commit mass murder by the fact that some Christian bakers don't want to bake gay wedding cakes.

[Free Society]

Christians not baking slavery cake is of course the quintessential issue of our time. Christians should take a page from the Koran and make Christianity a religion of peace and tolerance, just like Islam.

[Tonio]

While I am not a big fan of the phrase, it is possible to be a self-loathing gay (or Jew or black person).

[Idle Hands]

It seemed as if this guy had trouble getting laid and took it out on the people he perceived to be responsible for his sexual repression.

[Rhywun]

There's also the probability that his father and his culture weren't being terribly supportive.

[Idle Hands]

That also seems like a probable factor.

[mad.casual]

There's also the probability that his father and his culture weren't being terribly supportive.

NTTAWT.

If lofty or unreal expectations reliably produced outcomes the world would be filled with pro-athlete, astronauts, brain/heart surgeons, serial killers, and nothing else. At least there's no greater indication that the 'abuse' 'inflicted' on him by his parents was any greater or worse than your average rap or heavy metal musician. Millions of people with all manner of vices and kinks consistently disappoint their parents without killing 50 people.

[mad.casual]

The 'unsupportive parenting and culture' trope is Gen X's "He probably abused animals as a child."

[Rhywun]

Perhaps my humor was too subtle but by "not terribly supportive" I actually meant "hatefully repressive".

[mad.casual]

Perhaps my humor was too subtle but by "not terribly supportive" I actually meant "hatefully repressive".

Oh, I see. He was being supported too much, or too little, I forget how it works with Gay Muslims. Anyway, he wasn't exactly the right amount. Got it.

[Lee G]

As opposed to unsupporting, Afghans and Pakistanis (particularly Pashtun) have a well-earned reputation for child abuse. That seems to me to be a distinct possibility in a case where the perpetrator obviously had serious issues.

[Tonio]

While it is sick-making to say this - he was (physically) at least average in appearance. Any problems he had getting laid must have been related to his personality. Even among apolitical gays self-loathing is a real turn-off. Also, the Muslim thing might have been an issue for some people if he brought that up.

[Rhywun]

I had the exact same thought. Good-looking guy. And the reports coming in are that he freaked out everyone that might have been interested.

[mad.casual]

Even among apolitical gays self-loathing is a real turn-off. Also, the Muslim thing might have been an issue for some people if he brought that up.

To clearly demonstrate how idiotic the blame-quest above is (as a libertarian, I blame the gunman); this could be construed as blaming the victims for not being supportive enough.

[Bubba Jones]

Candidate for conversion therapy?

[Princess Trigger]

I'm also hearing that he didn't us a AR-15-like gun but a SIG rifle - still an Assalty-like gun that we should ban from all but government employees and their contractors.

[Rich]

Come on, Princess -- the public is just getting used to "AR-15". *Please* don't confuse them.

[Tonio]

^This.

[Je Suis Reason (Fmr. AuH20)]

I actually am seeing a number of confused leftoids call it an AK-15, then being confused when people get insistent on correcting them

"AK15, AR15... doesn't matter, we're banning 'em all anyway."

[Chip Woodier]

A simple ban isn't enough. We should wage war on the country that makes these death tools and bomb their factories while droning all those that flee from our justice. That'll teach them neutral bastards.

[R C Dean]

It was a Sig. Gotta give him credit for knowing his shooting iron.

[SimonD]

Of course they neglect to mention that Mateen was a government-licensed security type, so he would have STILL had the scary-looking black gun (coded lefty racism?).

Lefties are great at using an atrocity to promote something they'd already wanted to do (even though it wouldn't have even stopped the individual situation that leads to the leftoid freak-out).

[Brett L]

Interesting, at least according to the gun shop owner, there is no government-licensing exception to the Florida handgun waiting period except a concealed-carry license. Being a sworn law enforcement officer does not shorten your wait for a personal handgun. There is no waiting period on long-guns, so he could have just walked with that. Nor is there any difference in the background check run between sworn law enforcement officers and other citizens.

[Mustang]

My addition to the gay theory: he was convinced that killing gays was the only way for him to atone for his homosexual crimes against Allah and to make it to heaven.

[Tonio]

Quite possibly.

[BearOdinson]

I hope to someday see the looks on these Muslims faces when they arrive at their final destination. Instead of seeing 72 virgins, they will realize they are targeting dummies for the Einherjar (Odin's slain warriors) in Valhalla!

[Bee Tagger]

The Russian soccer team faces disqualification from the Euro 2016 tournament if Russian fans commit further acts of violence during Russian matches.

White collar crimes are the only acceptable crimes in world soccer.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Meanwhile, Copa America on American soil is going on without an incident.

WHY CAN'T WE BE MORE LIKE EUROPE?

[Timon 19]

Did you watch any of Mexico v. Venezuela last night? I'm thinking that record of no/little crowd trouble would have been in jeopardy if Mexico didn't find the equalizer. That was one of the most tense "meaningless" last group games I've ever seen.

[Rhywun]

I guess we can ignore the Mexicans throwing shit at the opposing players at every single match. I also find it amusing that Mexico is granted all "home" games throughout the group stage. The Uruguay dude complaining about this stuff was not off base IMHO.

[Timon 19]

People point out the behavior of the Mexican fans every. single. time.

As these things go, and compared to what the Russians get up to pretty regularly these days (and the travel-banned English who somehow always manage to start shit in Marseilles), it's not much.

Also, for the most part, it's the Mexican fans in the US who are the bigger problem, whether it's traveling Mexicans or Mexican-Americans who haven't been here long enough to have split loyalties. Even in Azteca, it only gets ugly when Mexico is playing reasonably well and the US still manages to frustrate them. When Mexico shit the bed in Mexico City several years ago and lost (albeit in a non-WC qualifier), the fans booed the shit out of the home team and mostly left the US fans alone.

Most of the issues with Mexico (this does NOT apply to Guatemala, Honduras, etc.) are with the games that are held here in border states or Chicago.

[Rufus The Monocled]

The Mexican-Americans who go apeshit at soccer games are problematic indeed.

Wtf?

If America is soooo bad then why come at all?

[Rhywun]

People point out the behavior of the Mexican fans every. single. time.

Apparently CONCACAF hasn't heard it yet - or, gosh, maybe they just don't give a shit.

[Timon 19]

CONCACAF profits fantastically off of the current situation, so why give a shit?

[Timon 19]

That said, with Jack Warner banned for life, maybe CONCACAF cleans up their ways a bit.

[SimonD]

I wouldn't hold my breath on that. My money says its corruptocrats all the way down.

[Timon 19]

TBF, the rate at which the second and third generations are splitting their loyalties between the US and Mexico or even going full US altogether (I never thought I'd see the day, honestly) seems to be increasing. LigaMX is still far and away the most popular sort of football in the country, but as for national teams, it's much more fluid than I ever expected.

However, the major troublemakers for Mexico games on US soil (which is most of their schedule) are first-generation types and some of the crazy traveling fans (which is in keeping with most of the world). Things are more complex on Mexican soil, and they LOVE to hate their own team, almost as much as they want them to win.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I'm not surprised by this. It's also fun to hate a powerful neighbor.

[Rhywun]

Dos a cero!

[Timon 19]

I feel like I played a very real part in dos a cero becoming a thing - I was at OSU when the first of several qualifying dos a ceros happened. I recall almost nothing of school for about two weeks prior as everyone tried to figure out how to make it as miserable as possible for Mexico. It being 25 degrees was a good start. The entire North End's worth of people (which was probably actually around three times its capacity in that part of the ground) was completely insanely geared up and fueled with alcohol (starting "preparations" at noon on a 25 degree day for a 7pm kickoff made that necessary).

There was no way the US was losing that, though we didn't know it at the time. I don't think I saw anyone in that entire stadium sit for any portion of that game. For a stadium with no roof, and no overhang, and a capacity of only about 24,000, it was the loudest sporting event I've ever experienced, and it kept of for 90 minutes. Louder than Ohio Stadium for M*ch*gan.

[Agent Cooper]

There's a shirt!

[Free Society]

Because immigration from certain parts of the world circa the 2000's is less about assimilation and more about colonization.

[Agent Cooper]

I don't recall ever having a problem in Columbus every time Mexico lost 2-0.

[Rufus The Monocled]

I watched the second half. And yes, I was going to add the only poison pill in my comment were Mexican fans.

[Tonio]

That's because nobody here cares. You could get a higher body count shooting up a flat-earther meeting.

[Timon 19]

Attendance says otherwise, but you keep shining on, you crazy diamond!

[Rufus The Monocled]

USA got a good draw with Ecuador.

[Timon 19]

This ain't gonna be the Ecuador of the week before the tournament, though. Enner Valencia barely looked interested in the friendly and it showed, but against Peru and Brazil? Damn, he was scary.

[Rhywun]

I'd rather we drew Peru.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Really? I find Peru would have been trickier.

Mind you, I've been watching effen second halves because I can't find time! So my take is probably off a little.

[Rhywun]

I might have thought the same before watching Ecuador for the last week.

[Tonio]

Jokes, Timon, how do they fucking work?

[Timon 19]

Not very well when they're the same retarded sentiment over and over again and not funny.

New material - it's important!

[bacon-magic]

Soccer fairies can get violent Tonio, be careful. Their wings starting to flutter is the first sign.

[Florida Hipster]

I was at the Parguay v Costa Rica game. They called it short after a red card because the fans were throwing bottles at the Ref. I usually watch the Pride, while different crowd.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Guys, call me when there's actually a riot.

That throwing crap happens everywhere. And we've seen it in football, basketball, hockey and baseball.

When I see two countries fight in the streets to the point of destruction of property and even injuries or deaths, is the day I rethink the comment.

But for the most part, I think it being played in the USA keeps things more civil.

[Rhywun]

I think it being played in the USA keeps things more civil.

True.

I kind of miss the Argentina league that Fox used to show. Those games get wild.

[Timon 19]

Boca-River. Oh my, those were epic.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Shit, I read a South American soccer book in the 1980s - my Lord those rivalries were serious business.

[Timon 19]

Rufus, it is absolutely true, with the aforementioned exception for Mexican-Americans.

Yet, even then, it's just throwing things. No organized charges, no beating people to death like at Giants games, nothing like that.

[Agent Cooper]

That just happened at the MLS cup with super white people in Columbus throwing stuff on the field.

Don't relegate it to Mexican-Americans.

[Timon 19]

Didn't say it didn't happen at MLS games. If you want to engage in some tit-for-tat, those asshole Canadians in Toronto were way worse until the league came down hard - after they let Toronto get away with it and only once it spread to other teams.

[Bobarian (Would Chip Her)]

+1 Bottle Night in the Dawg Pound!

[Bubba Jones]

That sht stopped when they switched to plastic bottles with no caps.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

191) Okay, I get it, I'm not young anymore and popular music isn't aimed at me now. I'm probably embarrassing myself by writing this thing at all. But still, is it just me, or has rap gotten really unbearable lately? I don't listen to it a lot, just put it on the radio on occasion, but what with all the emo-ing, and the way rappers seem to think Biz Markie was a singing influence and not a novelty, and the goddamn auto-tune (a fad (?) that's really, really outstayed its welcome) it's gotten tough to listen to the rap station recently.

When I first heard Kendrick Lamar's Swimming Pools I thought it was great, a new direction for rap, less tough guy posing and more internal. But now, I take it all back. Drake, Rae Sremmurd, Future, Fetty Wap, all these guys?I can't even make it through a single song. The rhyming is shapeless, and the singing is terrible. (And why are rappers singing, anyway?) I never thought I'd look back fondly on the days when Jay-Z and Lil Wayne and Kanye were at the top of the charts, but for all their flaws at least they were listenable.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Old guy here.

Unbearable. Without soul.

Bruno Mars is pretty good though.

[Tonio]

I'm probably embarrassing myself by writing this thing at all. Meh. Hard to sing lower than numbering your comments, but whatevs.

[Atanarjuat]

Top-notch joe'z law/John-o there.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

No, Tonio's right. My singing's not very good either.

[Atanarjuat]

100%. I have a bunch of younger, blacker coworkers who constantly listening to autotune garbage. I don't get it. Yeah, it's probably the age thing.

[Anarcho-Woodchipper]

Millennial here. Kanye started it with the 808s album.

Sometimes I enjoy it, and sometimes I want to hear about fat booty hoes, Glocks, and "coca-eenuh." I would chalk it up as an age gap thing and call it a day.

[Certified Public Asshat]

Don't take 'em to the crib, unless they bonin'

[Just a thought not a sermon]

When my grandparent's raised my parents, they were truly offended by rock music. When my parents raised me, rap music was completely over their heads. But nowadays, I just find young people's music sort of annoying. I guess the generation gap's not what it used to be.

[Zeb]

One more reason to hate Kanye West.

I think there is some pretty interesting stuff in rap these days. But the autotune singing shit and a lot of the more pop stuff is pretty irritating. I guess I'm getting to be (more of) an old fart too.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Rap died with Adam Yauch.

[Rhywun]

LOL

I would say it's been unbearable for the better part of 20 years but it's not really my bag.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

Also, John Berry died last month. But he left them before they became a rap band.

::pours 40 on hotel room floor::

[The Fusionist]

Not only is the aging process to blame, but also the fact that the bad music of the past goes down the memory hole so that we compare the good music of the past to all music of today.

[The Fusionist]

Which is itself part of the aging process, I suppose.

[Feminist Killjoy]

I remember the bad rap (and other) music of my youth. But in a lot of ways it's easier to ignore it now, since I no longer work retail and have a disposable income to buy stuff I like and the technology to get it and mix it and listen whenever. I feel like music is so much better now because I don't have to listen to several songs I hate cycling back around every hour.

(and also because I can listen to the old, good stuff I've held onto and even some of the songs I used to hate have grown on me. Goddamn nostalgia.)

[Rhywun]

The only rap/hip hip I hear is when it's blasting out of some idiot's car in front of my house waiting for the light to change on his way back to Staten Island.

[lap83]

I never thought I'd look back fondly on the days when Jay-Z and Lil Wayne and Kanye were at the top of the charts, but for all their flaws at least they were listenable.

Kanye's narcissism comes out in his lyrics too much for me to enjoy him. Jay-Z is overrated. Lil Wayne has talent, but I tried to watch that documentary of his and, I don't know, he came across almost mentally retarded. It was painful and I couldn't finish it.

[Agent Cooper]

I found a local station that plays a lot of 80s hip hop and rap and holy cow is it refreshing to hear.

Just put on some Grandmaster Flash or MC Lyte and all will be well.

[Michael]

The last good rap came out during the Eric B. administration.

[Michael]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPfIIn5V_LQ

[Free Society]

Drake, Rae Sremmurd, Future, Fetty Wap, all these guys

I'm proud to say that I don't kow who any of them are. Pop culture ignorance is bliss.

[Bubba Jones]

All these guys grew up watching Biz Markie on Yo Gabba Gabba.

[Juice]

I never thought I'd look back fondly on the days when Jay-Z and Lil Wayne and Kanye were at the top of the charts, but for all their flaws at least they were listenable.

Maybe I'm showing MY age with this, but NO, no they weren't.

[BearOdinson]

I don't think its your age, so much as your musical taste in general!!

I am 46 and took my 14 year old to see Amon Amarth a month ago. Full VIP pass and everything. I wasn't the oldest guy there. But I am pretty sure i was pushing 90 percentile.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Hillary Clinton says the Orlando attack justifies her calls for increasing gun control.

If you're under FBI investigation you're too dangerous to

[Just a thought not a sermon]

fly a plane? rent a car? mow my lawn?

[Rich]

run for President?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Cook supper?

[An Innocent Man]

Hitler?

[Fist of Etiquette]

...investigate the FBI right back!

[Injun, as in from India]

Appoint the next Attorney General and Director of the FBI?

[Princess Trigger]

Totally lose your 13th amendment protections.

'Hey old lady, you missed a spot over here.'

[Lord Humungus]

The Second Amendment Hoax
How the NRA and conservatives have perverted the meaning of the right to bear arms.

This is where I tell you that the current interpretation of the Second Amendment?the one held onto by Carson, and Donald Trump, and practically the entire Republican Party?is a hoax. Outside of the GOP, this is widely understood. But what we fail to comprehend, as we bury more of our dead in the name of freedom, is that it is a triple-decker hoax: A lie wrapped in a fabrication, lacquered over with a falsehood. That we chose to wrap it around our necks as a symbol of our own liberty is our own fault and shame.

The Second Amendment to the Constitution says this: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." For most of U.S. history, that was understood to mean that the freedom guaranteed by the Second Amendment was precisely what it said: the right of the people of each state to maintain a well-regulated militia.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Dahlia Lithwick holds the belief that the constitution is only valid when it harmonizes with her feelings. She's one of the silliest columnist at Slate.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Look, she can either explain to her son that guns and violence are facts of the human existence independent of the right of the people to keep and bear arms or she can spin a fairy tale about how those evil things are the result of evil people lying about the right to own a gun.

[Anarcho-Woodchipper]

They're not even trying anymore.

[robc]

If you understand militia to mean "adult male" then there isn't much difference between that interpretation and what us crazy gun nuts take it to mean.

[robc]

And since we aren't even supposed to have a standing army....

[Tonio]

You can say that again!

[robc]

And since we aren't even supposed to have a standing army....

[UnCivilServant]

What good is a sitting army?

[Swiss Servator]

Have you not heard the Infantry Creed?! (at least when I was PFC Swiss back in the mid-1980s)

Why run when I can walk
Why walk when I can stand
Why stand when I can sit
Why sit when I can lie down
Why remain awake when I can sleep.

"HEY! Wake up back there! Get yer asses out of the Deuce and a Half right now!"

/Platoon SGT

[Pope Jimbo]

An army sitting in a bunch of wheel chairs can go anywhere and do anything and the president can get on TV and truthfully tell the nation that he hasn't put any boots on the ground.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Regulated doesn't mean what they think it means, either.

[WTF]

At the time "well regulated" meant "in good working order". A watch that kept good time was said to be well regulated.

[Injun, as in from India]

From this site:

1714: "The practice of all well-regulated courts of justice in the world."

1812: "The equation of time ... is the adjustment of the difference of time as shown by a well-regulated clock and a true sun dial."

1848: "A remissness for which I am sure every well-regulated person will blame the Mayor."

1862: "It appeared to her well-regulated mind, like a clandestine proceeding."

1894: "The newspaper, a never wanting adjunct to every well-regulated American embryo city."

Say what you will about progs, they sure would love the "well-regulated mind" part - telling you what to and what not to think.

[Juice]

It doesn't matter. The militia is what's well regulated.

[Rich]

Dahlia Lithwick is a triple-decker hoax.

[Injun, as in from India]

Dahlia wants to deflower the Second Amendment.

[Rufus The Monocled]

So this is where we're at in American history? Where the 2A is now a hoax to progressives?

Oh how I loathe these middling twats.

[Tonio]

We've been there for a long time, Rufus. Militia-clause fetishists are like truthers and birthers; they just will not go away. And notice how no court ruling has ever said anything about the militia. Also, notice how they never specify what this militia is, or how it would work.

[Zeb]

Some will tell you that it's the National Guard.

[SimonD]

...to add to your points. Another amendment in the Bill of Rights explicitly separates 'the states' and 'the people'.

[WTF]

For most of U.S. history, that was understood to mean that the freedom guaranteed by the Second Amendment was precisely what it said: the right of the people of each state to maintain a well-regulated militia.

If you have to lie to advance your position, maybe you should reevaluate your position.

[Tonio]

Yeah, where were all these militias? Progs like militias until someone actually tries to form one.

[Brett L]

You know who else has a citizen militia? Switzerland. You know what every adult is required to do? Serve two years in the militia, keep in their home and learn to shoot an nice gun that is probably just like the one that shot up Pulse in Orlando. So yes, let's please have a militia so that everyone who doesn't have an assault rifle in their home, will.

[Idle Hands]

Why can't they just recognize they are wrong and try persuading to pass an amendment repealing the original? Why must they argue from a position of purposeful ignorance? Is an honest opponent to much to ask for.

[Tonio]

LOL. Because that would involve admitting that they were wrong, and they cannot countenance that. Because if they were wrong about even one thing, they might be wrong about others and the whole narrative would come crashing down on them.

[DaveSs]

Because they know they would have no more than 7 states for it, and at least 35 dead set against it.

[Tornado16nb]

For most of US history weren't individuals bearing arms?

[Tonio]

Sun's out; guns out. No, wait...

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I've heard the claim a few times that gun ownership was actually not that widespread in the 19th century, but I don't think it's true. Based on the Laura Ingalls Wilder stories I read to my daughter, Pa was rarely without his gun when he left the house, except for the time in Indian Territory when he went a trip and left it in the house in case Ma needed it to defend the homestead.

Frankly, I find Laura more believable than random progs I run into, and I think the Ingalls family was probably typical of the time.

[Zeb]

Yeah, I think that's bullshit. Some guy wrote a book with that thesis a while ago, but it was pretty well debunked. Maybe more urban people didn't all have guns, but the population was heavily rural back then and anyone who could afford it would have some kind of gun.

[WTF]

The only support that claim ever had was a book by disgraced historian Michael Bellesiles, which was quickly debunked.

[Episteme]

There's been a running joke for years in the history graduate program I'm enrolled in (students and professors alike): if anyone can't find their notes, papers, or a book they're using for research, it's presumed to be soaking in Michael Bellesiles' basement.

[Lord Humungus]

Yeah - living out in the sticks, especially in an Indian territory, would have been nuts without a gun.

And the food through hunting alone, would mean the difference between living and dying, especially if there was a bad harvest.

There is still - shocking I know - a strong gun following up near my parent's house, which is located further north in a low population county. Hunting is extremely popular, the cops are many, many minutes away, and many houses are extremely isolated. During the winter there is one sheriff and only two deputies. Outside of the two small cities, I've only seen a patrol car on the county roads maybe twice in the past twenty+ years.

I know if i lived there year around, I would have a gun.

[mad.casual]

And the food through hunting alone, would mean the difference between living and dying, especially if there was a bad harvest.

Not to mention that the gun itself could be the deciding factor between a good and bad harvest. Guns were essential to the agriculture. Not only did you need to keep vermin out of the crops directly, but gophers and other burrowing creatures could easily render a horse lame and, barring guns, even modest predators would otherwise harass, molest, and threaten livestock. Even the spread of infection could be and was regularly prevented with the muzzle of a firearm.

[Tornado16nb]

Also that isn't precisely what it said

[creech]

Does it say "it's permissable to ban guns that aren't used for militia purposes? No, so the right to bear arms for any reason is implied...just like privacy and the right to seek an abortion are implied.

[rudehost]

"the right to seek an abortion are implied."

You are entitled to the abortions that were available in 1789 so you have a constitutional right to be smashed in the stomach by a flint lock musket.

[WTF]

Yes, rights only apply to technology that was available at the time the constitution was written.

[Tornado16nb]

Then they will complain about Trump violating the constitution.

[rudehost]

Come for the illogical feelz in the article. Stay for a double helping of derp in the comments section. The whole page is like a buffet of stupid.

[SimonD]

The only value of the comments section at Slate is as a purgative.

[Something]

I always have to ask people that say that why they didn't disarm the populace then. If that means only people in a militia can have arms, why did they forget to enforce it?

[Tornado16nb]

Lol exactly

[Bubba Jones]

To be logically consistent, they aren't saying the constitution bans guns.

I think it is fair to say the constitution was about prohibiting the Feds from disarming the people of the states. That said, it doesn't say the States shall be permitted to maintain a militia. It says the people shall keep and bear arms so that the states will have access to a militia.

Prior to the 14th, it was reasonable to argue that the states could meddle as they wished. They have their own constitutions.

Post civil war, we decided the states were dicks and we extended the bill of rights to protect the people from the states as well as from the Feds.

This isn't complicated.

[Episteme]

It says the people shall keep and bear arms so that the states will have access to a militia.

Progressives need to keep in mind that colonial and early republican militias didn't supply weapons; those were provided by the men serving in them. What the government provided for the militia was generally limited to uniforms and extra access to gunpowder. Even the argument of a sharp divide between arms vs. artillery doesn't stand up to historical scrutiny: for colonial and state governments, usually wealthy patrons or groups of investors provided the capital for such on their own (often as a way to buy out of serving in battle themselves).

Re: purchasing of such large armaments for private use, the example of privateering is a sort of "militia of the sea" example both of personal (or corporate) ownership of cannon and the like, as well as differences in regulation; Scalia's points in Heller concur with the actual history whereby small arms were not truly regulated (rather it was assumed any adult male would have them and be trained in them) but that the purchase of 'military' weaponry like cannons were negotiated and recorded.

That letters of marque and reprisal is originally covered in the Constitution while the general right to bear arms is in the Bill of Rights is historically a sign of the assumptions about that second right (the first ten amendments being finally included mainly as a bulwark against judicial interpretations of natural rights and common law).

[Zeb]

the freedom guaranteed by the Second Amendment was precisely what it said: the right of the people of each state to maintain a well-regulated militia.

Yes, "the people" not "the states". The people have the right to maintain a militia, separate from the state. Which means having and using guns, including the sort of small arms the military uses.

[Bubba Jones]

Actually, the original bill of rights wasn't about the states. It was about restrictions of the federal government. So, arguing about the "original" meaning is a sucker's game. The 14th amendment is the operative one in modern times.

[R C Dean]

It was about restrictions of the federal government.

Its a little more of a mixed bag than that. Some are directed at the feds ("Congress shall pass no law") and some are directed at every government ("the right of the people").

[Zeb]

The second would be pretty useless if states were allowed to disarm people.

But in any case the 14th does exist and that's how you look at it now.

[Zeb]

The second amendment does need to lose a few commas.

[Free Society]

I believe the Confederate Constitution's equivalent clause to the 2A modernized the grammar a little bit and did away with all but one of those commas.

[Free Society]

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,

This is the descriptive portion, toothless but provides context. i.e. "A well supplied militia secures sovereignty"

the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed

And here is the operational part of the amendment, the part with teeth: "so in order to have a well supplied militia the people need to be allowed to keep and bear arms and this right shall not be infringed, so we can form a fucking militia if we need to."

I was able to understand the meaning of this amendment as an apolitical elementary school child that was completely unfamiliar with guns at the time, and yet proggy jurists, journalists and historians are tripping over themselves to find any other meaning at all to justify their gun grabbing.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Donald Trump says the Orlando attack justifies his calls for banning Muslims from entering the U.S.

Hillary Clinton says the Orlando attack justifies her calls for increasing gun control.

Well, all my biases were luckily confirmed, too.

[Swiss Servator]

I am willing to compromise... no Muslim Guns entering the US!

/Centrist

[Mr Lizard]

What about Pakistani MP5 clones!!!!!???

[Zeb]

It confirms my bias that everyone is an asshole.

[Agent Cooper]

Gays don't fight back?

/sarcasm

[SimonD]

It confirms my bias that politicians are duplicitous shits.

[Bee Tagger]

Donald Trump says the Orlando attack justifies his calls for banning Muslims from entering the U.S.

Oh man, I bet Twitter hated that.

[Episteme]

The irony here is that, looking at the text of Trump's speech (a rare pre-written address), he actually lays out a different plan than the general Muslim ban: given that a prepared speech usually reflects pre-considered words, it seems to have morphed into a ban or general restriction on immigration from areas of terrorist activity and/or production (including enclaves in Europe). While still problematic, this policy actually matches closely to those of wonks trying to determine how to refine the Ban to match realistic conditions and more popular conceptions.

While Trump continues to sound similarly authoritarian, it's a failure of the press to actually read and process what he's stating (see the Washington Post's headlines on his Obama comments) versus making assumptions of what a text might say (without reading it) based of past comments; relying on such is one thing for voters, but journalists need to be mindful of different sources (even by the same 'author') in writing reports.

[Idle Hands]

I know many were speculating but it appears to have merit the Orlando shooter was probably gay.

The ex-wife of Orlando mass killer Omar Mateen claimed Monday that she believed he was homosexual.
Sitora Yusufiy, who was married to Mateen in 2009 for three months, made the shocking claim on Brazilian television station SBT Brazil.
Her fianc?, Marco Dias, speaking in Portuguese on her behalf, said that Yusufiy believed that Mateen had "gay tendencies" and that his father had called him gay in front of her. Dias also claimed "the FBI asked her not to tell this to the American media."
The bombshell came as a male former classmate of Omar Mateen said he had been asked out romantically by the mass killer, who reportedly was a virtual regular at the Pulse nightclub, having visited it more than a dozen times over the years.The ex-wife of Orlando mass killer Omar Mateen claimed Monday that she believed he was homosexual ? as it was revealed that he frequented the gay nightclub where he staged the nation's worst massacre in modern times.
The bombshell came as a male former classmate of Omar Mateen said he had been asked out romantically by the mass killer, who reportedly was a virtual regular at the Pulse nightclub, having visited it more than a dozen times over the years.

[straffinrun]

But did he have a buddy there who told him little known facts? Did everybody know his name?

[Mr Lizard]

"Mateen had "gay tendencies" and that his father had called him gay in front of her. Dias also claimed "the FBI asked her not to tell this to the American media."

Hmmmmmm, I would think that statement would focus the narrative in a more neutral direction.

[Atanarjuat]

Some guy also said he has chatted with the shooter on a gay app for a year, but never met up with him.

The FBI telling her to keep quiet is interesting if true.

[Atanarjuat]

PM called that early on, too.

[Tonio]

That would make sense wrt the violence. It was not unheard of back in the old days for gays trying to live the straight life to become frustrated when they couldn't get it up for the wife to turn on her and blame her.

[Mr Lizard]

Speaking of, have you seen pics of his wife. Not sufficient for cattle, but not bad for a female mammal

[Injun, as in from India]

Don't know if anyone here knows this.

Omar was a Pashtun. They're stereotyped as bisexual in Pakistan and India.

They'll have sex with women if they can get close to them without a burqa. If they can't, they'll have sex with each other.

[Tonio]

Always a font of useful knowledge, our Hiawatha. Thanks, bro.

[Free Society]

That sounds fairly credible. The Taliban and Afghan Al Qaeda both were reputedly trying to stamp out the rape of little boys and younger fighters in their own ranks by the older members, usually at training camps or outposts far removed from central authority.

[Tonio]

the FBI asked her not to tell this to the American media

Yeah, rumors about that have been swirling around, but no screenshots from social media chats (yet).

Very interesting claim about the FBI gag request. Hard to verify unless they also make the request to other people and those people come forward.

[Illocust]

Now that there are three separate semi-reliable sources swirling around the media there is no point in trying to stop new witnesses from saying the same. The cat is out the bag.

[Hamster of Doom]

Donald Trump says the Orlando attack justifies his calls for banning Muslims from entering the U.S.

"Upon thorough investigation, I discovered that I was right all along."

[Bee Tagger]

Hillary Clinton says the Orlando attack justifies her calls for increasing gun control.

Oh man, I bet Twitter hated that.

[But Enough About Me]

Morning, Rufus.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Well, someone is civil.

[UnCivilServant]

not it.

[straffinrun]

Ha! No one else said "Not it" so you lose. Awww.....shit.

[Hamster of Doom]

Hello.

[Rich]

Club shooter was gay

*And* a drunk! So, not a real Muslim!

[Idle Hands]

The second place trophy is located in a ladies rooms in a certain North Carolina high school.

[Rich]

*** flushes with pride ***

[Swiss Servator]

*fiercely narrows gaze*

[Tonio]

Apparently the best way to get a muslim to drink is to offer him one, but not in the presence of other muslims.

[Injun, as in from India]

^THIS.

I have a Pakistani Muslim friend who would drink with me but never in front of other Muslims. He was a cool cat, but was worried about social pressures and reputation.

[Lee G]

It seems they are in the closet about a few things.

[commodious spittoon]

Or, like this guy, the water closet.

[Lord Humungus]

I was at a software conference with an evening mixer which included free drinks.

I saw a Middle Eastern man go up and order an "alcohol-free" beer. The bartender gave him a St. Pauli's Girl.

The ME gentleman took a few sips, read the label, and then I heard him complain to the bartender that the beer really wasn't 100% alcohol free.

I thought: dude, if you don't like it, just set the beer down and don't drink it. The bartender doesn't care about your hangup, he's just serving drinks as fast as he can to a crowd of a ~1000 people.

[Bubba Jones]

How do you keep a Baptist from drinking your beer on the fishing trip?

Invite two baptists.

[Lord Humungus]

Thomas Sowell: Will Orlando Change Anything?

If there is any place in the Guinness Book of World Records for words repeated the most often, over the most years, without one speck of evidence, "diversity" should be a prime candidate.

Is diversity our strength? Or anybody's strength, anywhere in the world? Does Japan's homogeneous population cause the Japanese to suffer? Have the Balkans been blessed by their heterogeneity ? or does the very word "Balkanization" remind us of centuries of strife, bloodshed, and unspeakable atrocities, extending into our own times?

Has Europe become a safer place after importing vast numbers of people from the Middle East, with cultures hostile to the fundamental values of Western civilization?

"When in Rome do as the Romans do" was once a common saying. Today, after generations in the West have been indoctrinated with the rhetoric of multiculturalism, the borders of Western nations on both sides of the Atlantic have been thrown open to people who think it is their prerogative to come as refugees and tell the Romans what to do ? and to assault those who don't knuckle under to foreign religious standards.

[Bubba Jones]

Hasn't Japan been stagnant for decades?

[Bee Tagger]

C'mon, Root. Must every link be tragic?

[Citizen X]

Don't worry, Robby will be providing substance-free fluff in the PM links at around 4:42 or so.

[Swiss Servator]

And looking magnificent whilst doing so!

[Lord Humungus]

Hillary: People Under FBI Investigation Should Lose Constitutional Rights
Clinton shouldn't be allowed to run for president. Obviously.

"If the FBI is watching you for suspected terrorist links," Hillary Clinton said today in her supposedly apolitical speech, "you shouldn't be able to just go buy a gun."

If we're going to do this, let's be consistent.

If the FBI is conducting a criminal investigation of your suspected illegal use of a home email server to transmit classified intelligence, you shouldn't be allowed to just go and run for president. Obviously. The idea that we would allow a person who can't be trusted with our most vital secrets to hold the most powerful office in the nation is absurd. It's just not safe.

[Bee Tagger]

"you shouldn't be able to just go buy a gun."

Yeah, you should be able to do other things, too!

[Fist of Etiquette]

That's why you should buy your guns at Wal-Mart. You can buy other things while you're there, too.

[WTF]

Like multiple high-capacity ammo clips!!11!!!!

[Agent Cooper]

Tone deaf, this one.

[lap83]

I'm sure that wouldn't be abused at all to go after political rivals.

[Mickey Rat]

She is amazingly unself-aware is she not? I guess she is thinking that only applies to bad people, and she is not bad, at least in her own eyes. It helps when most of the press will not think to call her on the logical implications of her thought.

[Rhywun]

supposedly apolitical

Speaking of such things, there was a 'vigil' of sorts at Stonewall last night that of course turned into a gun-grabbing derp-a-thon.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Samantha Bee Wants to Take Your Guns Away

Bee proceeded to tear into a status quo that allows a man who has been investigated multiple times for ties to terrorism to buy a weapon that can shoot off 45 rounds in under a minute. "Who could have predicted that letting suspected extremists buy guns was a bad idea?" she asked, "other than Obama, less than two weeks ago."

In response to Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who said this shooting could have happened "anywhere in the world" and this was "Orlando's turn," Bee said in disbelief, "Orlando's turn? Mass shootings are so normalized that we're taking turns?" In fact, she said this could not happen "anywhere in the world" given that other countries without a Second Amendment, such as Australia, do not have anywhere near the problems America does.

"We can't constitutionally get rid of all guns," Bee admitted. "But can't we get semiautomatic assault rifles out of the hands of civilians?" She imagined the headlines: "Sam Bee wants to take your guns away!" To which she replied, "Yes! The ones that mow down a roomful of people in seconds, yes, I do want to take those guns away! These high-capacity penis substitutes are a shitty choice for hunting and home protection, but are perfect for portable mayhem."

Tear that mask off!

[Drake]

Did Samantha have any better recommendations for home protection? A muzzle-loader perhaps?

[straffinrun]

A muzzle with a red plastic musket ball.

[WTF]

Thanks for explaining that the problem isn't really terrorists, it's guns! Now I understand why places with strict gun control like Europe don't have any mass shootings!

[Rufus The Monocled]

Who is that idiot and she can't possibly be popular?

Oh wait.

[Injun, as in from India]

She Canadian.

Can you please take her back?

I'll learn the lyrics of "Oh, Canada!" and sing it every morning if you do.

[Rufus The Monocled]

You can keep her.

The less we have here the better.

[commodious spittoon]

If you don't take her willingly, we're sending Piers Morgan with her.

[Injun, as in from India]

If you don't take her willingly, we will also make a Canadian currency bill replacing the Queen with Samantha Bee on it.

[But Enough About Me]

...we will also make a Canadian currency bill replacing the Queen with Samantha Bee on it.

I'm sure The Hair That Walks Like A Man? is already working on it.

[Agent Cooper]

These high-capacity penis substitutes

Kinky gal.

[Agent Cooper]

These high-capacity penis substitutes

Kinky gal.

[Juice]

shitty choice for hunting and home protection

That depends on how many assholes are trying to get into your house.

[Drake]

Guns for me, but not for thee...
The California state Senate voted 28-8 Wednesday to exempt itself from the pointless gun-control laws that apply to the rest of the populace.

http://www.washingtontimes.com.....r-for-you/

[Lee G]

Douchebags

[Rich]

We must close the California state Senate loophole!

[Injun, as in from India]

Just wait until a California State Senator goes on a shooting rampage.

Also, speaking of California State Senators, do you guys remember this bit about a 30-caliber magazine clip in 1/2 a second?

Anti-gun California State Senator make a fool of himself

[Hamster of Doom]

Hillary Clinton says the Orlando attack justifies her calls for increasing gun control.

It's just amazing how rarely people look for reasons to justify what they already want and don't find it.

[Lord Humungus]

Why are Trump voters so angry about immigration?

But that discrimination disappeared when respondents were told the Mexican immigrant spoke English and had worked as waiter for two years. That appeared to remove a concern of white voters that the Hispanic immigrant would be a burden on US taxpayers.

"Discrimination against Latinos may grow not from hostility against an ethnic 'outgroup,' but rather stereotypes about whether they will contribute to the United States or become a burden," write Levy and Wright at the Washington Post Monkey Cage political science blog.

These two studies don't exactly match up and are far from definitive, of course. But taken together they suggest that US white voters, including Trump voters, aren't so much anti-Hispanic as they are worried about the perceived effect of immigration on their culture and pocketbooks.

[WTF]

But taken together they suggest that US white voters, including Trump voters, aren't so much anti-Hispanic as they are worried about the perceived effect of immigration on their culture and pocketbooks.

The xenophobic, racist, pants-shitting, monsters!

[Rhywun]

LOL it's only white voters and Trump fans that aren't all on-board the immigration train.

[Tonio]

I have recently been informed (not on here, lol) that the problem with both the Orlando shooter and they guy in California with the guns near a gay pride event was "toxic masculinity."

[Drake]

Fuck - poisonous testosterone!

[Rich]

"toxic masculinity"

Nice band name.

[UnCivilServant]

but their music would be terrible.

[Rich]

Something like this?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

What we need is something like the Superfund program for toxic males. Go in there and clean 'em out, make them safe for redevelopment.

[straffinrun]

The only material that can clean up toxic masculinity is a National Geographic and your sister's copy of Seventeen.

[Rhywun]

Nuke NJ from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

[John]

People attracted to violent and revolutionary ideology are going to tend to be petty criminals or otherwise violent or maladjusted people. But that fact doesn't make the ideology any less connected to the violence or any less of a problem. What something like radical Islam or fascism does is give otherwise maladjusted but relatively harmless people a reason to become very dangerous. This is how violent political ideologies work. They don't work by converting Quakers or nice old grandmothers to the cause.

People have no idea how ideology and violence work. Our knowledge and understanding of evil is just sorry.

[(((Renegade)))]

People have no idea how ideology and violence work.

Like DHS desk jockeys?

[John]

More than crazy bitches who stalk and troll the internet. How long before your kids hold another involuntary commitment hearing?

[Injun, as in from India]

Blame anything under the sun, except the shooter.

[Feminist Killjoy]

You're not linking anything, but based on what I know, it's not a crazy idea. If they're referring to toxic masculinity as when men get this idealized picture of what A Man should be and then they act out because they don't fit it, yet they feel pressure to be A Man from internal/external/wherever. Obviously there are many ways to be a man, but even having ideals to live up can turn "toxic" in certain people, i.e. bulimia, certain plastic surgery fans.

[Je Suis Reason (Fmr. AuH20)]

Yeah, seeing that too.

I am also seeing people claim that straight, white, cis males (their term) never have to live in fear, unlike women, blacks, gays, etc. No one fitting that description ever fears for their life or safety. And while SWCMs can never understand the plight of these poor oppressed minorities, these oppressed minorities know 100 percent what it is like to be a white man.

Honestly, the hoplophobes are really digusting me on this one. If this had been 50 people killed by a bomb, nothing changes- except the hoplophobes don't make asses of themselves trying to settle scores with their enemies (Trump would still have Trumped post attack).

So, ISIS, that's the blue print: just use guns, and a portion of our population will be way more concerned with shitting on those damn yokels who want guns ("lol I bet they have small dicks, feel the bern!") and lecturing about how American gun culture is just as toxic as anything in the Middle East to actually grow a pair and fight back.

[Rhywun]

the hoplophobes are really digusting me on this one

Me too, and I'm not even a gun person.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

Man, I've seen some really disgusting reactions. I saw a gay liberal try to argue that maybe some Republicans were sincere in their grief and it was bad form to complain about their "thoughts and prayers." He was quickly called a traitor.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Russian soccer team faces disqualification from the Euro 2016 tournament if Russian fans commit further acts of violence during Russian matches.

Just like the Filthadelphia Cryers fans who tossed their shit on the ice causing a delay of game penalty in the playoffs. "Way to go."

[Raven Nation]

The official line from Russia today is that they "deplore" the actions of a minority of fans. But yesterday, it seems that one Russian official was very supportive of the hooligans.

[Rhywun]

a senior Russian police official claiming his French counterparts were unable to handle Russia's 'normal' football fans in Marseille this weekend because they are more used to policing 'gay pride parades'.

You gotta love how PC totally passed Russia by.

[Lord Humungus]

Kanye West shows off official trailer for Only One at E3

Kanye West's first video game just made its debut at E3 today. The official trailer for Only One, the artist's game dedicated to his late mother Donda, aired in Los Angeles. Showing Donda's journey into heaven, the game first appeared at West's Life of Pablo event at Madison Square Garden in February.

[Hamster of Doom]

the artist's game dedicated to his late mother Donda

Sounds fun!

/HAHA

[Hamster of Doom]

the artist's game dedicated to his late mother Donda

Sounds fun!

/HAHA

[hpearce]

Profiling people is always a valid means of defense/self-defense as long as no one's rights are violated and the discrimination involved is not the reason for the profiling.

[John]

We used to have a different word for profiling; police work.

[John]

So last night I decided to troll my prog friends on Facebook with the following post

"So because a Muslim in Florida murdered 50 gay people at a bar, some gay guy in Oklahoma should have to give up his AR 15, right?"

Much butt hurt and sputtering ensued. I then followed up in the comments with

"What happened in Florida just shows how much danger gays in the country are in and why they must be disarmed"

That wasn't popular either for some reason. A lot of spit went on a lot of keyboards and phones last night.

God it was fun.

[Rich]

Keep at it, John. Those fuckers deserve to have their faces rubbed in it.

[John]

One of their favorite responses seems to be that anyone who objects to gay marriage or gays being able to sue bakers, has no standing to be outraged over gays being murdered, because apparently objecting to gay marriage is exactly the same as thinking gays should be killed.

There is some real high level thinking that goes on among Progs.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

"prog friends on Facebook"

Probably not so anymore.

[Mr Lizard]

Ya I was gonna question the current friend designation as well

[Injun, as in from India]

I got defriended quite rapidly, almost always by progs, after much argument and butthurt.

Now I don't post political sh1t on Derpbook anymore.

[Mr Lizard]

True players never open a Facebook account...been my motto since 2007

[Citizen X]

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your two remaining Facebook friends.

[John]

Nah, they are mostly older. They are not quite as bad as the millennial progs. They are used to me trolling them.

[commodious spittoon]

They are not quite as bad as the millennial progs.

Citation needed. Millennial progs are dumb and seething with misdirected passion, but old prog are insufferable.

[Hamster of Doom]

The Russian soccer team faces disqualification from the Euro 2016 tournament if Russian fans commit further acts of violence during Russian matches. This penalty comes in the wake of Saturday's violence in Marseille, France, which occurred both before and after a match between Russia and England.

[Hamster of Doom]

*throws beer at squirrels*

*air horns disapproval*

[John]

English yobs are a paper tiger. I taking the Russians in that fight every time.

[Lord Humungus]

Orlando Attack Is a Failure of Obama's 'Politically Correct' Policy, Analysts Say

FBI Director James Comey defended the bureau despite the fact that agents first identified Mateen as a terror risk in May 2013 after a coworker alerted authorities that he had voiced sympathy for Islamic terrorists.

The tipoff showed that the Department of Homeland Security's high-profile tip program, called "see something, say something" is not enough to prevent terrorist attacks.

The FBI gave up investigating Mateen after two interrogations. Mateen told agents he had made pro-terrorist comments because he felt he was a victim of religious discrimination from coworkers because he was Muslim.

"He admitted making the statements that his coworkers reported, but explained that he did it in anger because he thought his coworkers were discriminating against him and teasing him because he was Muslim. After ten months of investigation, we closed the preliminary investigation," Comey said in Washington.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

If he hadn't committed any crime at that point, the FBI was absolutely correct in releasing him. What else can they do? Imprison any Muslim who makes critical statements about the U.S.'s policy in the Middle East?

[Raven Nation]

Agree: this kind of thinking on the part of those saying Mateen should have been arrested is myopic. I hear the same thing about the 9/11 hijackers. Imagine if the Bush administration had arrested those guys on Sept. 5. Press conference:

"We've arrested terrorists."

"What did they do?

"They went to flight training school but didn't want to learn how to land or take off."

"ummm."

The argument about arresting Mateen is the same: it seems like a smart thing to do after the fact but would be almost universally condemned if done beforehand.

[Injun, as in from India]

Not just condemned, but would have resulted in a civil rights lawsuit against the FBI, with millions in compensation.

[Raven Nation]

Good point.

[Zeb]

Yeah, you can't stop everyone without really eroding civil rights. If a person is careful and plans an attack alone, it's going to be very hard to do anything about it before hand.

[Episteme]

However, the problem of being overly sensitive to claims of Islamophobia does play into this in at least one real regard. We're seeing ??similar to the non-reporters of suspicious activity before San Bernadino ??a number of reports of former neighbors who overheard his violence against both of his wives and didn't report it because of cultural considerations. Had Mateen been properly investigated for repeated spousal abuse, THAT'S the thing (not any violations of the 5th Amendment regarding FBI investigations) that would have prevented him from getting his security and firearms licensing and possibly prevented this attack.

[Tonio]

They didn't have to arrest him, but they could have kept tabs on him.

Also, the failure of his wife, friends and coworkers to report his domestic violence and talk about killing people is part of the problem. I'm not a big fan of snitching, and realize that those who do report such things to the police risk being investigated themselves, but still...

[Raven Nation]

They didn't have to arrest him, but they could have kept tabs on him

True, but once they'd had him in for questioning a couple of times, would they have had to cut him loose? Not sure but, at some point, wouldn't there be harassment claims?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

The domestic violence bit, maybe. I'm just not comfortable with the idea of FBI surveillance for political dissidents, which is essentially what a lot of people seem to be demanding. We libertarians should know who would be on everyone's list under such a policy.

[Zeb]

A domestic violence charge would have stopped him legally buying guns, I suppose.

[John]

Yeah zeb. We all know how effective gun laws are at keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.

[Zeb]

Hence "legally". Of course a sufficiently motivated person would still be able to acquire guns.

I am not intending to comment on the utility or appropriateness of the rule.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

Maybe the FBI was incompetent, but they investigated him and determined the allegations against him were not credible or alarming. Are they to keep "tabs" on every person that is brought to their attention?

[Tonio]

his coworkers were discriminating against him and teasing him because he was Muslim

Yet he had a job, a responsible one; unlike say those similarly situated French youth whose parents immigrated from majority-muslim countries.

Seems like the FBI was also bought-in to his "I'm a victim" whine.

[Rhywun]

his coworkers were discriminating against him and teasing him because he was Muslim

Bullshit.

[R C Dean]

He admitted making the statements that his coworkers reported, but explained that he did it in anger

Oh, well, never mind.

[You Sound Like a Prog (MJG)]

The Michael Richards defense.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Clinton: People under FBI Investigation Shouldn't Be Able to Buy a Gun

In her first rally since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton blasted regulations that allowed a lone gunman to purchase weapons that he used to kill 49 people in Orlando over the weekend -- a slaughter that represented the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

"We may have our disagreements about gun safety regulations, but we should all be able to agree on a few essential things," Clinton said, speaking to a crowd gathered at the Cleveland Industrial Innovation Center. "If the FBI is watching you for a suspected terrorist links, you shouldn't be able to just go buy a gun with no questions asked."

Clinton also reiterated comments she made on ABC News' "Good Morning America" on this morning that she would put together a team to track "lone wolf" threats and arguing that "weapons of war have no place on our streets."

Leaving aside the tremendous chutzpah of Hillary Clinton declaring a person under FBI investigation disqualified for something, I sure do hope there is at least one Team Red operative with enough brains to point out that under Hillary and the Democratic Party's system Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders would have been barred from buying weapons to defend themselves.

[John]

And John Lennon and Lenny Bruce and about a hundred other people guilty of the crime of being a pain in the ass to the government.

The point is very valid but it goes right over Hillary supporter's heads. That was the bad old days when Republicans ran things. Its different now.

And Hillary is not under "investigation", its just an inquiry. It is no different than Congress or the IG looking into something. That is what they actually believe.

[WTF]

And Hillary is not under "investigation", its just an inquiry. It is no different than Congress or the IG looking into something. That is what they actually believe.

Even though Comey came right out and said it was a criminal investigation. Because those are the only investigations the FBI actually does. And the White House slipped and admitted it as well. But the Hillary supporters of course continue to deny reality.

[John]

If the FBI showed up at their offices and wanted to ask them questions, I am sure they would think that was just no big deal. I understand people who think differently but I cannot understand people who just live in an alternate reality.

[Drake]

My Mom used to warn me about people in glass houses or something.

[Idle Hands]

I sure do hope there is at least one Team Red operative with enough brains to point out that under Hillary and the Democratic Party's system Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders would have been barred from buying weapons to defend themselves.

don't hold your breath.

[Rich]

"If the FBI is watching you for a suspected terrorist links, you shouldn't be able to just go buy a gun with no questions asked"

", much less be guarded by a cadre of armed agents."

[sloopyinTEXAS]

If the FBI is watching you for a suspected terrorist links, you shouldn't be able to just go buy a gun with no questions asked.

So she thinks these people aren't subject to a federal background check?

Also, if you want to really make a difference, vigorously prosecute wife-beaters and take away their rights to buy guns as part of their sentence until their probation ends. That would have been better than arbitrarily taking someone's natural rights away because they might have said something that pissed off a government apparatchik.

[Tonio]

take away their rights to buy guns as part of their sentence until their probation ends

Agreed, but the gun grabbers and feminists want to permanently yank the guns of anyone who has been merely reported as a domestic abuser. IOW, they want to yank someone's gun rights on the mere say-so of any random individual.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

They want to yank all of our guns away. The minute they (think they) have the guns of all the people under FBI surveillance and that have committed crimes, then they'll tell us that we no longer need ours and will go for full disarmament.

Incrementalism.

[Pope Jimbo]

True. In Minnesoda you lose your gun rights if you are convicted for even a misdemeanor domestic violence beef.

As people here know all too well, most people plead down and accept the misdemeanor rap because they are facing a felony rap for the same thing if they don't. The DA tells them that if they accept the misdemeanor they will have to go to some anger management classes and be on probation.

Only after they go visit their PO do they realize that they can no longer hunt or own a gun.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Someone should ask Hillary whether a person being investigated by the FBI should be permitted to hire a small army of heavily armed goons to surround them 24/7. I'd really like to know her position on that.

[UnCivilServant]

She didn't hire them - they're Secret Service agents, meaning she doesn't pay a dime for that defense, we foot the bill.

[Pope Jimbo]

Maybe MLK was just undergoing a "routine security review" like Hillary?

[Lord Humungus]

The Assault Weapons Ban Is A Stupid Idea Pushed By Stupid People

When silly people like Seth MacFarlane and Susan Sarandon say they want to ban "automatic weapons," what they mean is that they want to ban guns that look scary. They don't understand that you can't walk into a gun store and walk out with a military-style assault weapon (one that can fire multiple rounds with a single trigger pull). That's because 1) most gun dealers don't carry the military version of the scary looking gun, 2) you have to jump through an obscene number of hoops with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to even obtain a tax stamp that says you may purchase such a weapon (a process that takes months, if not years), and 3) the actual versions of rifles used by the military are really expensive and unaffordable for the vast majority of prospective gun owners.

What you can buy from your local gun dealer, after that licensed gun dealer has confirmed that you passed a federal background check (yep, that's required by existing law), is a semi-automatic rifle. And now, a bunch of gun controllers who don't understand the slightest thing about guns have decided that rifle needs to be banned. Not because it's more deadly than a typical hunting rifle (it's absolutely not), but because it looks scarier.

[John]

Like I said on Facebook, because a Muslim murdered 50 gay people in Florida, a gay guy in Oklahoma should be required to turn over his AR 15. How can you argue with rock solid logic like that LH? What are you some kind of gay hating racist tea bagger?

[Cyto]

If semi-auto AR-15 clones are banned, then mass shooters will only have .30-06 hunting rifles with high capacity magazines to chose from....

[John]

These people are so ignorant. A .306 round is so nasty. At close range a .306 or 8 mm round would blow right through someone, kill them before their head hit the floor and kill the person standing behind them. But hunting rifles are just fine. We need to do something about those evil assault rifle.

[bacon-magic]

.308?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

After all, gun control worked so well stopping jihadists in Paris.

[Injun, as in from India]

Or Mumbai in 2008, where the terrorists brought their guns, grenades, night-vision goggles, high-calorie snacks, and even cocaine with them by boat.

[commodious spittoon]

Nobody needs more than seven grams of coke.

[Injun, as in from India]

Btw, the cocaine was supposedly to give them stamina and make them feel euphoric while killing people.

Allah sure told Mohammed that alcohol was haram, but cocaine was a-okay, along with killing dirty infidels.

[Juice]

But right in the first sentence he fails.

It happens like clock work: as soon as there's a mere whisper of a terrorist attack or a mass shooting, the usual suspects kick in to high gear.

This is too easy. "Mass shootings happen like clockwork because we allow the general public access to these weapons of mass death."

Might be a good article for singing to the choir, but it fails to be persuasive in the first 5 words.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Baltimore police Officer William Porter testified yesterday that Officer Caesar Goodson, the police wagon operator, had custody of Freddie Gray while Gray was inside a police wagon en route to the police station.

So does that mean whoever is driving the bus Porter tossed Goodson under had custody of the latter?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

The Russian soccer team faces disqualification from the Euro 2016 tournament if Russian fans commit further acts of violence during Russian matches. This penalty comes in the wake of Saturday's violence in Marseille, France, which occurred both before and after a match between Russia and England.

Didn't the U.N. recently make a similar threat to the Russian government?

[Mazakon]

Jeh Johnson: Gun Control is "Part and Parcel" of Homeland Security

When it comes to protecting the United States from the threat of terrorism, gun control is now a critical component, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Tuesday.
"I am not anxious to plunge into yet another difficult, contentious issue like the ones I already have. I do believe, however, that meaningful, responsible gun control is now part and parcel of homeland security," Johnson said on "CBS This Morning." "It's critical to public safety, but we have to face the fact that meaningful, responsible gun control has to be part of homeland security as well, given the prospect of homegrown, home-born violent extremism in this country. We've seen this now with Orlando, tragically, with San Bernardino. It's something that I think the American public and the Congress has to face and has to address."

[Rich]

"I am not anxious to plunge into yet another difficult, contentious issue like the ones I already have."

Bullshit.

[Atanarjuat]

"But allow me to utterly politicize this tragic event before the kids have even been buried."

[Injun, as in from India]

That's like your non-apology apology, or non-bragging brag.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Is there any way that "homeland security" has actually made the homeland more secure, and not just eroded our rights? Seriously, one single success?

[John]

There has been some good counter terrorism work done there. By that I mean actual counter terrorism as in identifying terrorists and kicking them out of the country or arresting them not entrapment of stupid people like the FBI does. But you never hear about any of that and the people in charge don't care about that. They want security theater and to feel important. Figuring out Joe Blow isn't who he says he is and stopping him at the border and turning him over to the UK on the five warrants they have for him doesn't do any of that.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

They like to point to the counter-factual. Yeah, there's been terrorist attacks and mass shootings, but just think of many there would have been if we let you keep all of your rights and not wasted billions of dollars.

[Raven Nation]

Kudos to Johnson for getting two key adjectives in a row.

[Injun, as in from India]

I do believe, however, that meaningful, responsible gun control is now part and parcel of homeland security

Is that why the ATF gave away guns to Mexican Cartels, Jeh?

[Tonio]

^This.

[The Fusionist]

Who's Jeh Johnson?

[WTF]

So, because American citizens can be attacked by terrorists, we must disarm American citizens? lolwut?

[Lord Humungus]

The Wages of Non-Judgmentalism

"See something? Say something." Easier said than done.

There is a fundamental contradiction at the heart of daily American life. It's one that undermines the role that citizen sentinels are obliged to serve in the collective effort to combat low-tech aspiring terrorists who may be operating independent of a foreign or domestic extremist network. At once, Americans are supposed to be vigilant and unafraid to express to authorities their fears when they believe someone is behaving abnormally and may represent a threat. At the same time, however, society frowns on those who are perceived as judgmental.

Since social pressures to avoid being seen as hypercritical, paranoid, or?worst of all?bigoted are acute, and the rewards for keeping an eye out for the next terrorist plot are virtually non-existent, the vigilant are often inclined to keep their concerns to themselves. While the public is appropriately skeptical of the likelihood that their eccentric coworker may be a member of the local sleep cell, there are downsides to this phenomenon. Notable among them is that a series of mass casualty attacks that might have been prevented weren't.

[Lee G]

So Chick-Fil-A donates food to the first responders in Orlando on Sunday and DU commenters have this to say:

I hope people stayed away. Haters.

Granted some of them aren't complete assholes, but still.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

God, the DU commenters are dumbfucks. You can be against both gay marriage and murdering innocent gay people. Those positions aren't mutually exclusive.

[Lee G]

And they break corporate policy...

To profit off of this tragedy. Yuck.

[Raven Nation]

I refuse to go to DU, but didn't the original story report that the food was donated. How does C-f-a- profit from that?

[Injun, as in from India]

How does C-f-a- profit from that?

By getting positive publicity on the back of dead gays, and increasing sales using that.

You haters won't get it! Follow the money!

[Mickey Rat]

Could you give Shackford that memo?

[Mazakon]

Maajid Nawaz: Admit It, These Terrorists are Muslims

Just as we Muslims expect solidarity from wider society against anti-Muslim bigotry and racism, likewise we must reciprocate solidarity toward victims of Islamist extremism. Just as we encourage others to actively denounce racism wherever they see it, so too must we actively denounce Islamist theocratic views wherever we find them.

[John]

Good for him. Muslims need to take his advice. They are in the best position to stop this shit and to kill this ideology. And if they don't, the radicals are going to start a war of civilizations that the rest of the Muslims will get dragged into whether they like it or not.

[The Fusionist]

Yes, the Islamists are a minority, but are influential beyond their numbers because (a) they are more prone to go off and kill people, which has something of an intimidating effect on potential critics, and (b) they often pose as moderates, creating a paranoid atmosphere in which "OMG even the moderates are extremists!"

So the antiterrorist Muslims can fell the void and go mano e mano with the terrorists - risking their lives to do it. They deserve American support, not snark about how "they're not committed Muslims like the terrorists, they just don't understand how they're supposed to be violent!"

(I don't even like the term "moderate," as if Muslims who oppose terrorism are somehow more lukewarm than Muslims who support it)

[The Fusionist]

can *fill* the void

[Tonio]

Nawaz gets it.

[Lee G]

From the feminist buzzfeed: 8 Ways Allies Can Show Up For the Queer Community After Orlando

2. Don't Vote Republican

If you still feel your presumed tax break is more important that saving lives, then you need to admit that to yourself and do some serious reflection on the impact of your actions.

5. Don't Talk Over Us

This is not your time. This is our time.

Yes, you're sad. Yes, you're scared. Yes, you're feeling things. But I'm sorry, this isn't about you. The queers are talking right now.

6. Stay Focused On The Real Issues.

Don't let the media or bigots or ignorant people fool you into this being something other than what it is: a horrible act of murder fueled by a mix of LGBTQIA+ hate and unregulated gun use, both of which run rampant in American culture.

Do not get distracted by any other claims. To get distracted is to keep progress from happening, to allow history to repeat itself in the future just like it has every other time in the past.

[John]

Go out and vote for Hillary; the woman who promises to let more Muslims in the country and do everything she can to ensure gays are disarmed.

That is the essence of what gay leftists are telling gays today. Maybe I am overly optimistic, but I can't believe this won't cause a significant number of gays to finally realize the left doesn't give a shit about them.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

The left was happy to ignore gays and just assume they'd vote Democrat for decades. It was not until it became politically safe to openly support homosexuals that the Democrats started to pretend to give a shit. That will change the instant the political calculus shifts.

[John]

How many Democratic states repealed their sodomy laws before Lawrence? Outside of San Francisco and New York City, where did gay activists have any political clout until Prog realized they could use gay rights to go after their political enemies?

[Hamster of Doom]

Control. Shut up. Rewrite history.

What a lovely person.

[Lee G]

It's their time Hamster. THEIR TIME.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

When did the + get added? Or the A, for that matter?

And what happened to the other T? Come on, Buzzfeed, microaggress much?

[UnCivilServant]

Do you mean the one that was part of WTFBBQ?

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

The extra B is for BYOBB

[Aloysious]

Milo Todd is a freelance writer and journalist. He holds a double BA in Philosophy and Gender Theory with focuses in feminist phenomenology, queer phenomenology, and post-positivist realism. Milo otherwise writes LGBTQ-esque fiction and likes to pretend it'll make him rich and famous.

Yeah, I'm going to take this person seriously.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

I refuse to believe that any of those alleged focuses are real things.

[John]

queer phenomenology

I am sure Husserl would be proud. Seriously, what the hell is that other than a degree for people who were too stupid to learn German or understand actual phenomenology and needed it dumbed down and translated into political buzzwords?

[Lee G]

I'm pretty sure that when they say xxxx phenomenology, they mean that only xxxx's perception matters.

[John]

I think that is likely true. The fact that actual phenomenology is a bit more subtle than that doesn't seem to matter. Everything gets reduced and translated into retard I guess.

[Tonio]

It's the professional gay phenomenon - not gay people who are professionals of some sort, but gay people whose entire profession is being gay.

[Rhywun]

And sadly there is a large overlap with the set of professional leftists.

[Agent Cooper]

post-positivist realism

So he's an accredited pessimist?

[Domestic Dissident]

That's Shackford level mental illness right there.

[John]

A radical Muslim murdered 50 people at a gay club Saturday and here it is Tuesday and reason hasn't published a single article examining Islam and its role in the tragedy and what can be done about it. The closest thing to that was Shackford claiming that Christians are actually more intolerant of gays than Muslims. A Muslim murders 50 gays and the resident gay writer's response is to attack Christians for being intolerant.

And reason still expects anyone to take them seriously on these issues.

[This Machine]

A Muslim murders 50 gays and the resident gay writer's response is to attack Christians for being intolerant.

Yeah, that was pretty embarrassing. At least the commentariat doesn't fall for that stupid shit.

[WTF]

Well, most of the commentariat, anyway.

[Free Society]

What's really funny is that Shackford and the leftoidtarians in the commentariat want to play the numbers game about Muslim opinion polling, so Shackford picks the one single cherry picked statistic to make his case that Muslims are super tolerant, but of course all those other statistics which show the absolutely abhorrent views of huge proportions of the Muslim population are ignored completely whenever they're brought up. Public opinion polling is "collectivizing" when it has icky implications for the poor downtrodden Muslims, but is a fundamental state of reality when it implies the righteousness of Islamic beliefs.

[sloopyinTEXAS]

LGBTQIA+

Oh, God dammit. Now I've got to learn what more letters mean?

I swear, that community is worse on mission creep than the ATF...I mean BATFE.

[UnCivilServant]

Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sounds like a kick-ass big-box store.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Hell yeah, I'd shop there

[This Machine]

Seconded. ATF should be the name of a department store, not a federal agency.

[The Fusionist]

Lesbian
Gay
Bisexual
Transgender
Questioning
Intersex [?]
Allies

Remember that, it will be on the test, until next month when you have to memorize a new acronym.

[lap83]

Yes, you're sad. Yes, you're scared. Yes, you're feeling things. But I'm sorry, this isn't about you. The queers are talking right now.

She talks to me like I'm her cat and she's soothing me as we drive to the vet. It's a unique rhetorical tactic, I'll give her that.

[Je Suis Reason (Fmr. AuH20)]

This whole idea I have seen promoted in some corners that you can't understand or feel this tragedy unless you are gay shows what a sick and disgusting thing identify politics has become.

Scores are people are dead. Two guys who were going to get married are getting a joint funeral instead. I don't have to be gay for my heart to break for my fellow man.

Also, for so much of human history, gay people were dehumanized. But thanks to activism and hard work and so on from the gay community, we as a culture are a point where an attack of a gay club is seen as an attack on our common humanity. And in the face of that, some activists seem to be insistent on dehumanizing themselves, by insisting no one can get them, which is insane to me.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Scores are people are dead. Two guys who were going to get married are getting a joint funeral instead. I don't have to be gay for my heart to break for my fellow man.

Agreed. Fuck anyone who says otherwise. This is a horrific tragedy anyone with an iota of empathy or compassion should be sadden by it.

[Rhywun]

I'm still not convinced that that website isn't an elaborate trolling operation.

[Cynical Asshole]

Trump Calls for Banning Muslims, Clinton Calls for Banning Guns

Well as long as SOMETHING gets banned... /average retard

[Rich]

"We've got to do *something*! And by 'do I mean 'ban'!"

[Lord Humungus]

2015 Hot Spots Vehicle Theft Report

When the FBI released preliminary, January-June 2015 crime data earlier this year, vehicle theft was up 1 percent across the nation. That increase is reflected in today's Hot Spots report and the trend may hold when the final FBI 2015 crime data is published in the fall.

Notwithstanding these occasional increases, vehicle thefts are down dramatically around the nation over the last several years. Nonetheless, the reasons vehicles are stolen remain the same. Older vehicles are stolen primarily for their parts value while newer, high-end vehicles are often shipped overseas or, after some disguising, sold to an innocent buyer locally.

2015 Ranking
1. Modesto, Calif. (4,072)
2. Albuquerque, N.M. (6,657)
3. Bakersfield, Calif. (6,000)
4. Salinas, Calif. (2,934)
5. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.
6. Stockton-Lodi, Calif. (4,656)
7. Pueblo, Colo. (983)
8. Merced, Calif. (1,605)
9. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.
10. Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif. (2,352)

[Lee G]

What's up with Pueblo, Colorado?

[John]

Car theft, not soccer, is the national sport of Mexico as well as most of Eastern Europe.

[Raven Nation]

According to Wikipedia, its overall crime rate is higher than the national average. It's also home to the Federal Citizen Information Center. So, maybe a lot of civil servants are practicing to become DEA agents?

[robc]

I thought the Dead Milkmen covered that.

[Aloysious]

Hmmm 8/10 cities are in California. Obviously, California needs to be banned. Nobody needs a California.

[Glide]

+1 common sense California control

[R C Dean]

Easy access to Mexico drives a lot of car theft here in Tucson. It Is Known that if your car is stolen, its over the border within a couple hours, and disassembled shortly after that, probably before you even know its stolen. I suspect that supports a fair amount of CA car theft as well.

[(((Renegade)))]

Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif. (2,352)

Apparently Benicia is chopped liver.

[Ken Shultz]

"This penalty comes in the wake of Saturday's violence in Marseille, France, which occurred both before and after a match between Russia and England."

To my mind, soccer hooliganism is the sport's redeeming quality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnMWvy0oCMg

[straffinrun]

The only thing worse than the right calling for sacrificing rights in the name of security is the left saying the same thing but tossing 2A in with it.

[Swiss Servator]

OK all you Glibertarians, Cosmos, Yokels, Trumpenvolk, Cankle-lickers, rustlers, cut throats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers and Methodists... I am off to Ireland for a week of vacation, and thence...TO THE CENTER OF THE WORLD!!! ZURICH! I most prostrate myself before the Fondue Throne and receive new orders...er, start work on a project with the Gnomes.

[straffinrun]

From one Bull dykletarian, have a nice trip.

[Lee G]

Is it time for your annual pilgrimage to Needle Park already?

[Hamster of Doom]

Stop othering vermin.

And post pics of the pub crawl! Have fun, cheese-eater.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

This mugger-buggerer says farewell and enjoy the whisky.

[Injun, as in from India]

While you're in Zurich, be patriotic by opening a secret Swiss bank account and depositing your money there.

[Lord Humungus]

This pants-shitting Yokeltarian bids you a good trip with many hotel hookers keeping your bed warm.

[Tonio]

Have fun, Switzy! Drink one for me. Good luck with the Gnomes. "Fondue throne," lol.

BTW, every time you mention the gnomes I think of Wicked Wanda. Fond youthful memories.

[WTF]

Have fun, Switzy! I loved Ireland when I went there for a week with a group of friends a couple of years ago.

[Groovus Maximus]

TO THE CENTER OF THE WORLD!!! ZURICH!

You're not the first to swallow that myth,...clearly, the Cultural Centre of The Universe is Ukraine (or so Dr. ZG tells me).

Drop me an email; UKR isn't super far from CHE...

[robc]

UKR may be the cultural center, but Zurich is the geographic center.

I saw one of the gnomes once when I worked in Switzerland. He was on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Probably checking on his gold hoard or something.

On a related note: I hate playing the Gnomes in Illuminati! I am not capable of not spending money. I prefer Bermuda.

[Groovus Maximus]

UKR may be the cultural center, but Zurich is the geographic center.

Indeed, the second is demonstrably true, Dr. Killjoke; however, if we want to get robc levels of, "Exact Words,", then the centre of the statement is neither cultural, nor geographic, but geological (think really, really hot). *grins*

[bacon-magic]

Say hello to my ancestors sir. /somekindatarian

[Tornado16nb]

What is the mindset of a progressive anyway?

- Low self esteem
- self hate
- crab bucket syndrome
- emoting
- need to feel superior

What makes someone a "progressive"?

[Injun, as in from India]

A desire to demand obedience from others at gunpoint?

[Rufus The Monocled]

An envious and ignorant, smug know-it-all smart ass.

[Tornado16nb]

Yea that is their appearance.. But is it due to low self esteem? Being miserable?

[John]

Every leftist monster in history, from Robespierre to Lenin to Hitler, to Mao to Pot, was a failed intellectual with an inflated sense of importance angry that the world hadn't recognized his genius. Leftism is the politics of the angry failure seeking revenge. That is all it is or ever has been.

[This Machine]

Leftism is the politics of the angry failure seeking revenge. That is all it is or ever has been.

I'm reminded of the Who Goes Nazi? article from Harper's magazine:

He is a snob, loathing his own snobbery. He despises the men about him?he despises, for instance, Mr. B?because he knows that what he has had to achieve by relentless work men like B have won by knowing the right people. But his contempt is inextricably mingled with envy. Even more than he hates the class into which he has insecurely risen, does he hate the people from whom he came. He hates his mother and his father for being his parents. He loathes everything that reminds him of his origins and his humiliations. He is bitterly anti-Semitic because the social insecurity of the Jews reminds him of his own psychological insecurity.

Pity he has utterly erased from his nature, and joy he has never known. He has an ambition, bitter and burning. It is to rise to such an eminence that no one can ever again humiliate him. Not to rule but to be the secret ruler, pulling the strings of puppets created by his brains. Already some of them are talking his language?though they have never met him.

[Lee G]

Hoffer covered this well and I think better.

"There is apparently some connection between dissatisfaction with oneself and a proneness to credulity. The urge to escape our real self is also an urge to escape the rational and the obvious. The refusal to see ourselves as we are develops a distaste for facts and cold logic. There is no hope for the frustrated in the actual and the possible. Salvation can come to them only from the miraculous, which seeps through a crack in the iron wall of inexorable reality. They ask to be deceived. What Stresemann said of the Germans is true of the frustrated in general: "They pray not only for their daily bread, but also for their daily illusion." The rule seems to be that those who find no difficulty deceiving themselves are easily deceived by others. They are easily persuaded and led."

"Passionate hatreds can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. These people haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance."

[John]

That is one of the best essays ever written. Hoffer describes the left and the human condition perfectly. Her explanation is just as valid for radical Islam.

[John]

Fascism and communism are both as much as anything victim cults. To be a victim you there has to be a perpetrator. The something or someone who victimized you. For fascists it is the Jews or the inferior races who are the perpetrators. For communists it is the capitalist class. Both ideologies are based around telling people they are victims of forces beyond their control but that can be avenged by destroying some designated enemy.

So, when you see the "cult of a victim" on college campuses and among the left, you are just seeing the latest expression of the same phenomenon.

[Injun, as in from India]

Well said.

[John]

See our resident stalker Mary as a textbook example.

[Tonio]

"Crab Bucket" - hadn't heard that before. Thanks.

[lap83]

No morals but lots of moral indignation

[commodious spittoon]

crab bucket syndrome

That is a terrific term. Very apt.

[Groovus Maximus]

- crab bucket syndrome

Saccharin Man is more correct than he knows...

SugarFree|6.13.16 @ 2:17PM|#

"When they scissored it sounded like a bucket of crab shells in a clothes dryer."

[Lee G]

Some retardation from redstate:

The legacy of George W. Bush has fallen into disfavor of late, with large portions of the country having decided in retrospect that the war in Iraq was a bad idea (and the war in Afghanistan not worth fighting anymore). The received wisdom, even within the Republican party, is that substantial portions of the measures Bush put into place after 9/11 were bad ideas or sufficiently inimical to liberty that they ought to be tossed out.

Maybe these ideas have some merit; I don't know. However, it seems clear that as between the Clinton/Obama approach of treating terrorism like a law enforcement problem, the Bush approach was much, much more successful than the Clinton/Obama approach. And before anyone goes all Trump on me and points out that 9/11 happened on Bush's watch, I have to point out that Bush's approach clearly didn't change until that event.

But it's equally clear that Bush's central premise - that we will either spend our future days aggressively fighting terrorists overseas or waging a pointless rearguard law enforcement action at home - was correct.

So let me get this straight, we stop self-hating gay Muslim US citizens from going on murderous rampages by waging more war in the Middle East.

Yup, makes perfect sense to me.

[Tonio]

Libertarians were about the only ones not engaging in complete pants-shitting hysteria after 9/11, but even that wasn't a perfect response. It was hard, if not impossible, to not cater to the worst instincts of the soccer moms.

[Raven Nation]

Just popped over to Jesse's Trump conspiracy post: both PBP and JackandAce are posting there. You have been warned.

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

You just lit the Derp-signal!

[Derp-o-Matic 5000]

Oh, shit, dajjal is there, too!

[Raven Nation]

I saw that but s/he's new to me. Seems a little off?

[Lee G]

A libertarian Muslim with a well chipped shoulder.

[Raven Nation]

Thanks

[Tonio]

Thanks for the heads-up.

[Aloysious]

Venezuelans barter diapers for food on smartphones

A kilo of pasta gets you a packet of diapers. A bag of flour buys a bottle of shampoo.

Short on basic supplies, Venezuelans have reverted to ancient shopping habits: bartering whatever they have.

But the tools of the trade are right out of the 21st century: WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram.

With food and toiletries in ever shorter supply, their smartphones are helping them survive.

[commodious spittoon]

I don't suppose they'll need the diapers when they're reduced to eating babies.

[Aloysious]

Venezuela's minimum wage is 35,000 bolivars -- around $60 at the official exchange rate or $35 at black market rates. A bag of flour from a black market retailer costs 2,000 bolivars.

Maduro blames the crisis on an "economic war."

He accuses business of hoarding goods to provoke unrest in the hope of toppling his government.

[This Machine]

Maduro blames the crisis on an "economic war."

He accuses business of hoarding goods to provoke unrest in the hope of toppling his government.

WRECKERS! KULAKS! SABOTEURS!

[Injun, as in from India]

Maybe I'm an inhuman cold-hearted prick, but I want to see Maduro get the Ceausescu or Mussolini treatment. What the b******* is subjecting the Venezuelan people to is horrendous.

[Injun, as in from India]

A kilo of pasta gets you a packet of diapers. A bag of flour buys a bottle of shampoo.

But... what do 23 brands of underarm deodorant buy you? Well-fed children?

Bernie told us that children starve unless you have fewer consumer choices.

[commodious spittoon]

Bernie's strangely quiet on the subject of Venezuelan instability, almost as if he realizes that the key to his popularity is never actually putting his gospel into practice.

[Tornado16nb]

I think this is it. He is die hard socialist with delusions of grandeur. A top down command economy if you will. However he is really lazy and incompetent.