Today's Eternal Sadness

WaPo:

Police say they saw an object in Stephan Clark’s hand before they fired 20 bullets that killed him in his back yard Sunday night in Sacramento, a disturbing moment that was made public through body camera footage released Wednesday night.

The two officers were responding to a 911 call about a man breaking vehicle windows when they encountered, then killed, Clark, an unarmed black man.
Two things get stuck in my mind. I guess the main thing is this: 

Why are the cops so afraid that everybody has a gun? 

But the second big thing in my mind is: Why do the Press Poodles never ask that question at the news conference as the authorities try to explain that killing an unarmed citizen was somehow the only viable option at the time?

And a third one comes to mind as well - why don't the cops do some more to support initiatives that might make it less likely that they'll have to kill somebody with their guns, by making it less likely that someone will kill them with a gun?

Genius is not required to figure out that gun violence has something to do with guns.

Without cars, nobody dies in a car crash

Without airplanes, nobody dies in a plane crash

Nobody gets killed by hand-thrown bullets

Theocrats Will Out

The Taliban never sleeps.

The Hill:

Tennessee lawmakers have passed a bill requiring that public schools in the state put up the motto "In God We Trust."

The legislation, which will go to Gov. Bill Haslam (R), passed the state House earlier this week, USA Today reported.

"Our national motto is on our money. It's on our license plates. It's part of our national anthem," said state Rep. Susan Lynn (R), who sponsored the legislation.
Fine by me, fellas. When do we start the drive to add "All Hail Baphomet"?

And "Praise Quetzalcoatl"?

And "Zalmoxis Makes You Free"?

And "May You Be Forever Touched By His Noodley Appendage"?

Seriously - you knuckleheads got nothing better to do?

Let us now rise, and sing The Common Pastology.

Taste Sauce, from which all spices flow;
Drink up, ye Pirates here below;
Until the Kansas School Board calls;
Praise Noodles, Sauce, and Meaty Balls.

R'Amen.

Today's Tweet

Nobody better'n Tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors.

DO NOT CONGRATULATE-gate https://t.co/0M9jouSJLa pic.twitter.com/LifrnMOw2P

— You're The Puppet Tengrain (@Tengrain) March 21, 2018

 

Not Even Two Years Ago

10 March 2018

To the students of Parkland —

We wanted to let you know how inspired we have been by the resilience, resolve and solidarity that you have all shown in the wake of unspeakable tragedy.

Not only have you supported and comforted each other, but you’ve helped awaken the conscience of the nation, and challenged decision-makers to make the safety of our children the country’s top priority.

Throughout our history, young people like you have led the way in making America better. There may be setbacks; you may sometimes feel like progress is too slow in coming. But we have no doubt you are going to make an enormous difference in the days and years to come, and we will be there for you.

Barack Obama     Michelle Obama
I miss the fuck outa those two.

The Great Divide

Basically, there're two kinds of people, so we generally find them on opposite sides of the "political divide", and it ends up like this:

Side 1:
I've suffered
I don't think anyone else should have to suffer
I'll try to do the things that can help people avoid all that suffering

Side 2:
I've suffered
Others should suffer as well
I'll do what needs to be done to make sure they all suffer

Both sides my ass.

Today's Pix

(click it - you know you wanna)

Today's Redux

With all the weird 45* shit that's going on, this bit from The Rape of the A.P.E. by Allan Sherman seems altogether fitting.

Government is a Geejy Bird

The geejy bird is a strange creature; it flies only once in its lifetime, but that flight is a spectacle to behold. The geejy bird appears suddenly, standing on a limb, young, elegant, proud and respectable.  Surveying the horizon, it spreads its majestic wings and swoops upward in a wide graceful curve, with magnificent wing flappings and loud glory whoops.  When it reaches maximum altitude, it begins its elegant descent, an ever narrowing spiral.  It makes smaller and smaller circles in the sky until, suddenly and mysteriously, it vanishes through its own asshole.

No one knows where geejy birds go - probably back where they came from.  Unfortunately, when they go, they take us along.  We are all subjects of one geejy bird or another; we are born and live and die during one of these mad flights.  To be born early is, at least, exciting; the air sparkles with hopes and dreams, and there are worthwhile things to be done.  To board the flight in the soaring stage is next best; there is a fresh wind and a feel of strong wings and a dizzying view of the world.

But what about those of us who are born near the end of the flight?  We can't jump off; the fall would be fatal.  In vain we scream, "Turn around, great geejy bird! Turn back in thy flight!"  Too late.  There is nothing to do but make the best of it.  We snap to attention, salute, and begin to sing our stirring anthem.  "God Bless Our Geejy Bird!"  Together we enter the turd tunnel to oblivion.

The Rape of the A*P*E* (page 174) --Allan Sherman

Today's GIF

Owing to the combination of a spring blizzard and my brown thumb

Today's Tweet

And no one is coming to save us

We are all god’s children and he left us in a hot car in the Walmart parking lot

— another anxious queer vegan nerd (@irakyhsart) February 24, 2018

 

Today's Today

Happy Vernal Equinox, everybody

Amy Siskind

This week (#70) in Fuckedupistan - aka: 45*'s White House.

March 17, 2018

In another frenzied week in America, Trump fired his secretary of state through a tweet, and continued to stoke fears of imminent additional departures, in what was described as a White House verging on mania. Trump is reportedly joyful, feeling liberated to act on his impulses and authoritarian instincts. Even as the Mueller probe and allegations of paying to silence Stephanie Clifford close in, Trump is cocky and irreverent — as if signaling he has matters in hand.

Russia seems increasingly aggressive and emboldened, in sharp contrast to, and perhaps with the silent complicity of Trump. Alarming reports surfaced not only of Russia’s use of chemical weapons and possibly murdering another Russian exiles in the UK, but also attacking US and European nuclear and energy infrastructure. In response, our Treasury Department took the first baby steps in imposing sanctions, while Nikki Haley and the White House issued a stark warning on Russia’s use of nerve gas. Amid an almost completely decimated leadership structure at our State Department, Trump, Kushner and Ivanka — although under clouds for self-dealing and security clearance issues — consolidated worldwide diplomacy in their hands.

12. The Boston Globe reported a rider added to the Homeland Security reauthorization bill would allow Trump to dispatch Secret Service agents to polling places nationwide during federal elections, a vast expansion of executive authority.

30. On Thursday, Politico reported on emails which reveal conservatives, including Newt Gingrich, targeted Obama holdovers “burrowed into the government,” including State Department Iran expert Sahar Nowrouzzadeh.

31. Nowrouzzadeh, born in Connecticut, was attacked by conservative media. Brian Hook, chief of State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, sent an email to himself in April which included a list of names, questioning their loyalties.

34. Peter Navarro, Trump’s trade adviser, told Bloomberg, “My function, really, as an economist is to try to provide the underlying analytics that confirm his intuition. And his intuition is always right in these matters.”

43. AP reported that despite promises by Trump to drain the swamp, he hasfilled federal agencies with ex-lobbyists and corporate lawyers who now regulate the industries they previously worked in.

147. Also of note is Cambridge Analytica’s use of non-US employees in US elections, which would be illegal. Mueller has demanded emails of Cambridge Analytica employees who worked for the Trump team.

Today's Relationship Tip

It's all about the communication skills.

2020 Campaign

You had to see this one coming.

John Wagner, WaPo:

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) received a standing ovation from a crowd of business leaders and political junkies here on Friday after decrying the “degradation of the United States and her values” by the current occupant of the White House.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), who ran for the GOP nomination in 2016, will return to the nation’s first primary state early next month for a “fireside chat” at a college in Henniker.

And on Monday, President Trump — whose New Hampshire primary win two years ago set him on a course for the presidency — is slated to make an appearance in the state for the first time since 2016.

The next presidential primaries here are nearly two years away, but the unusual flurry of activity is stoking speculation about whether a sitting president could face a serious challenge from within his own party for the first time in a quarter-century.

In 1992 — the last time that happened — Pat Buchanan’s strong GOP primary showing here helped weaken incumbent George H.W. Bush, who went on to lose reelection against Democrat Bill Clinton.

“I’m certain that Trump will draw a serious primary challenger,” said Fergus Cullen, a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee. “A lot of voters are getting tired of this act.”

And the kicker - even though he has some cover, making it look like he's there as a surrogate:

Vice President Pence also plans to plant the flag in New Hampshire later in the week, speaking at a fundraiser for Gov. Chris Sununu (R) and at a gathering of the pro-Trump group America First Policies.

The knives are out in plain sight now.

And ironically or otherwise, 45* keeps insisting that's how he wants it.

I wonder if 2020 is finally the year George W gets invited to the GOP convention.

Today's Pix

(If you like it put a click on it)

Lazy Sunday

My favorite tune for one of those chill Sunday afternoons balanced on the edge of spring.