“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
. . . and a polite society is a clean society.
Police responded to the 1300 block of Bush Street around 11 p.m. after a man called and said he was cleaning his 9mm Glock handgun and accidentally shot through the floor of his apartment, Oceanside police spokesman Tom Bussey said.
Guns and stupid, guns and stupid,
They go together like love and Cupid.
This I tell you, brother,
You can’t have one without the other.
The Inherent Violence of Supremacist Ideology 0
In the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Chris Johnson argues forcefully that the recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, traces back directly to the influence of white Southern culture and the racism in which is was conceived and which still undergirds far too much of it. Indeed, he goes so far as to posit that white supremacy (and, by extension, any ideology of supremacy), is inherently violent. Here’s a bit (emphasis added):
Such an ideology is inherently violent, because someone who thinks that way is not going to tolerate “just getting along” with those he views as inferior if they are granted equal treatment under the law. Supremacists view that as a source of grave injustice. And a sense of injustice has always been a motivator for violent acts.
Victimhood 0
Aaaah, did ooo’s ittle for profit law school go bust?
Afterthought:
My brother and I agreed yesterday that, if all you have to support your self-esteem is the color of your skin, you don’t have much.
Freedom of Screech 0
In The Seattle Times, Angela Uherbelau discusses how fascists, white supremacists, and their dupes, symps, and fellow travelers would use the freedoms guaranteed in the United States Constitution to undermine this very fragile experiment in democracy.
White supremacists — whether they’re marching in the streets or drafting memos in the White House — cloak themselves in the mantle of free speech because they know that term strikes a deep chord, a patriotic chord, in countless Americans. They aim to twist one of our country’s most sacred rights into a weapon to destroy our fragile web of civility and common decency.
Afterthought:
The Constitution protects freedom of speech. It does not promise freedom from consequences.
How Stuff Works, Sense of Supremacy Dept. 0
In The Roanoke Times, mental health professional Maurice Fisher offers a clinical profile of a white supremacist, stressing in the beginning that it is a theoretical exercise and not a case study of any particular individual.
Here’s one item; follow the link for the rest (emphasis in the original):
Aside:
Sound like anyone who is constantly in the news?
Tongue-Tied 0
In The Roanoke Times, Dan Casey imagines Donald Trump’s inner struggle to denounce racists. A snippet:
THERAPIST: Sir, do you mean you’re morally incapable of fingering the forces promoting racism, bigotry and hate?
TRUMP: Not exactly. A lot of those marchers in Charlottesville admire Hitler, and it’s easy for me to denounce him. But I can’t seem to condemn them. It’s no coincidence that 100 percent of ’em voted for me. My mouth won’t work when I try to denounce my own supporters. My tongue gets tied.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
He can’t handle his politeness.
Through their investigation, officers determined that the man had been handling a weapon at his Oxnard home when it accidentally discharged causing a wound to his leg. The wound was not life threatening, officials said.
None Dare Call It Treason . . . 0
. . . but it was.
QOTD 0
Rex Stout:
He is a public-relations counselor–one of the various modern activities that are an insult to the dignity of man.
Stout, Rex, The Father Hunt (New York: Bantam Books, June 1969), p. 132
Push Comes to Shove 0
Here is the slightly edited text of an email I sent to my brother tonight. The subject line was “Trump” and it referred to his press conference and the coverage thereof today.
Jesus Christ. You couldn’t make this stuff up.
He’s even lost that [less than desirable person} Krauthammer. Either he’s going down in flames or we are, but there is no pretense left.
It will be amusing in a depressing way watching all the [south end of a northbound horse] pundits who’ve supported him run for cover, because their cover is blown and they know it.
Nixon’s Southern Strategy has come home to roost, and the roostees don’t like it. Their camouflage is gone.
At this point, news junkie that I am (I think I got that from Daddy), I can’t even deal. I’m going to read a Nero Wolfe mystery and pretend that America is sane.
Words fail me.
Translating Trumpery 0
Dick Polman tries to make sense of the language of Trumpery.
No excerpt or summary can do his article justice. Just read it.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
There’s a strange alchemy that seems to work only in the presence of copper.
Newton Fire/EMS confirmed treatment of a gunshot wound that night. The gun went off, inflicting a gunshot wound on one of the children.
Add lead, and “children” become “juveniles.”
Denial Is Not Just a River in Egypt 0
At Philly dot com, Professor David Livingstone Smith reminds us that Faulkner was correct when he said, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
