College Protests Are Not New: They're Just More Deadly Now

    One of the most unsettling experiences 

I had while serving in Vietnam and Cambodia in 1970 was when one of the guys in my squad relayed the news that four Kent State students were killed and nine injured by the Ohio National Guard.

It was May 4th, and we were part of an invasion force meant to root out the North Vietnamese command headquarters. To a man we were shocked and disheartened.

Flash forward to 2023.

While no student deaths have been reported yet in the recent protests at college campuses, they have spurred waves of antisemitism and Islamophobia across the country.

The Israel-Hamas war has stirred free-speech battles lately that have seriously divided students in most of the elite colleges like Harvard.

Unlike the protests during the Vietnam conflict there is another more deadly element in play that wasn't available back in the day. Social media. Our enemies in the world have used it to stir violence and unrest in college campuses for years now. And it is just getting worse.

The Education Department sent out a warning last week reminding schools that they have a legal obligation to curb discrimination or risk losing federal funding.

Angry alumni are calling for presidents to step down and threatening to withhold sizable donations. Students have been arrested. Faculties are divided. It's that bad.

For good reason Jewish and Muslim families are alarmed at what they're seeing because of the ripple effect of the war is on top of recent antisemitism and Islamophobia movement being spread by political extremists from within and overseas.

Reported bias incidents are on the rise according to new data (released last week) from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The total number of bias crimes investigated by the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force increased by 124% (from 45 to 101) in October, led by a 214% spike in anti-Jewish incidents (from 22 to 69), according to a NYPD spokesman last Thursday.

This is not just a recent response to the Israeli/Hamas war. Reports of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. had reached an all-time high in 2022, according to the Jewish Defense League.

What we're seeing now on college campuses is chaos worse than the few years of the Vietnam protests on campuses because there doesn't appear to be an end in sight to the violence.

As it stands, I'm also concerned for possible future students who may not elect to go to college adding to the dumbing down of America.

Louisiana: The State That Hates Women and is Holding the City of New Orleans Hostage

Not only is Louisiana the poorest state in the union it's also home to women-haters who dominate the states politics.

The Louisiana legislature has imposed the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country and recently doubled down on their attacks against women by electing Jeff Landry Attorney General and Louisiana governor-elect in October.

The mayor of New Orleans LaToya Cantrell, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams, and Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson have all vowed to not seek arrest nor prosecution for women seeking reproductive care.

Because of the city of New Orleans refusal to arrest and prosecute women for getting abortions Landry personally solicited the Louisiana State Bond Commission to withhold millions in funding to tackle the necessary repairs to the city's four water intakes.

Landry is firmly opposed to any access to substantive abortion care in the state. Recently efforts to make exceptions for incest and rape were crushed despite the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States, and where homicide is the leading cause of death for pregnant women- women being forced to carry fetuses without skulls to term.

Now Landry is busy defunding any and all state-funded projects in New Orleans until they agree to enforce the complete abortion ban.

It's going to be an uphill climb as Landry holds the city's infrastructure hostage until they comply with his demands in the majority female state.

The fact is the state's crumbling infrastructure has been a major problem for decades. The New Orleans Sewage and Water Board recently made headlines in March when oil spewing from its 24/7 turbines and drainage pumps (built in the 1960s) caused major damage to residents' property in March 2023.

A replacement is not expected until the end of next year, and maybe beyond if Landry has his way. Though the recent saltwater intrusion in New Orleans has passed, access to clean, freshwater remains a critical and focal issue of daily life in New Orleans.

Why is the city being held hostage?

When Landry was elected, he swore retribution for New Orleans stance of protecting women and he vowed to reverse the impact of his Democratic predecessor.

With a Republican supermajority in both of the state houses, citizens of New Orleans can expect to lose more freedoms as the crooked lawmakers force them to accept their will.

As it stands, Louisiana is just one of the states that continues to attack pregnant women's rights by imposing draconian laws.

MAGA: Why Trump Attorneys Get Attorneys or the Price of Being a Puppet

If you happened to follow the fates of Trump attorneys that were thrown under the bus by the orange mobster, you probably have a clear picture in your head on what happens to the stereotypical MAGA attorneys.

They end up defending themselves in court because they're political puppets and because they get intimately involved in Trump's corrupt attempts at damaging democracy.

Rather than sharing a list of Trump attorneys who have been charged with crimes related to their assistance to overthrow the 2020 election and Trump's financial fraud trial in New York, I'm going to ask three questions that might be on a lot of people's minds.

1. Why would any attorney risk getting thrown in jail and losing their law license by representing a world-renowned liar?

2. Why would any attorney (with a modicum of gray matter) trust Trump, who may or may not pay them? 

3. Why would any attorney concerned about their reputation want to take on such a toxic client?

Here's some reasons why I think these college-educated attorneys want to represent Trump.

1. Fame. They want to be celebrities. 

2. The money. They can profit by grifting off of Trump's fame/infamy. 

3. Total lack of morals. 

4. They're Trump cult devotees.

5. They have masochistic tendencies.

Trump attorneys are expected to:

1. Sound like Trump by adopting his intonations and bluster.

2. Be compliant puppets.

3. Be loyal at all times or else.

4. Be prepared to take the rap and go to prison where they can wait until he's re-elected and can pardon them.

5. Be prepared to go on right-wing media outlets and spread Trump's lies daily.

As it stands, "Lawyers spend a great deal of their time shoveling smoke." - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Step Aside Crocodile Dundee: This Bad Ass Aussie Bit a 10-Foot Crocodile's Eyelid and Lived to Talk About It

For those of you have not seen the movie Crocodile Dundee the movie is about a bad ass Aussie who carries a giant bowie knife around to pick his teeth with.

The movie character had no problem wrestling with crocodiles that ranged from 10 to 20 feet long. 

Step aside Crocodile Dundee and meet Australian cattle farmer Colin Deveraux who survived a crocodile attack after biting the huge predator on the eyelid.

Needless to say, this is better than a man bites dog story, so I just had to share it.

Setting the Scene

One day Colin was working his way along the Finniss River in the Northern Territory when he stopped to check a billabong, an Australian term for a pond left when a river recedes.

Seeing some fish in there he decided to catch some, before realizing that there was something else in the water and he turned to leave.

Well 65-year-old Colin got a rude surprise which he described to ABC News; 

"I took two steps and the dirty bastard latched onto my right foot. It was a big grab...he shook me like a rag doll, and he took off back into the water about 10-feet pulling me along," he explained. 

The tough old Aussie recounted how he kicked the crocodile and then fell over with his head near the crocodile's head before trying to bite it.

Somehow Colin managed to get a hold on the crocodile's eyelid, which he later described as "pretty thick, like holding onto leather."

Out of sheer desperation Colin jerked back on the eyelid and the beast let go of him allowing the plucky Aussie to roll over and run away.

Now that my friend is bad ass.

After stopping the bleeding with some rope, he walked (!) to the hospital where he was told he had damage to his tendons and "two big slashes just about the full length of the foot."

Footnote on Australian Crocodiles

Known locally as salties, they can grow up to 20-feet long and weigh up to 2,200 pounds.

After spending a month in the hospital Colin declared himself a changed man, and now believes he shouldn't have gone that far into the billabong.

"I'm a changed man," he told reporters, "I'm going to change what I do!"

As it stands, I love that tough as nails persona that Australians have and their wry sense of humor.

Since When Does the Play 'Oklahoma' Contain Mature Adult Themes, Profane language, and Sexual Content?

Let's get this party started by pointing out that the play Oklahoma has been produced in high schools across the land for over 50 years.

Suddenly the longtime family-friendly musical written by the duo Rodgers and Hammerstein is pornographic according to a school district in Texas (where else?).

What led to this misrepresentation?

A high school in Sherman, Texas abruptly stopped the production of the musical Oklahoma and forced a transgender theatre male student out of the lead role.

The Sherman Independent School District didn't stop there. 

They also went on to say the student produced play contained mature adult themes, profane language, and sexual content and needed to be entirely reviewed by the board and was postponed from Dec.8-10 to sometime after January 15, 2024.

Excuse me. The musical that has been delighting families since the early 1960s is now suddenly a porn show! I don't think so. 

What I do think happened is that when the high school cast a transgender student for the lead, it set off alarm bells in the MAGA minds of district employees. What other explanation is there?

Anyone that knows anything about the history of the theatre is aware that men have been portraying women, and vice versa since ancient Greece. That fact didn't faze the haters in the district who declared that the sex of the role as identified in the script will be used when casting.

By the way, who brought those pornographic allegations about the musical to the attention of the school board? It wouldn't surprise me if it was the extremist group Moms for Liberty who are known for banning school and library books and disenfranchising LGBTQ students by taking their rights away.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect to this story is how a school district is putting out lies to justify their bigoted decision to halt the production and take it out of student hands.

As it stands, this is just another case of conservative extremists attempting to alter reality by using whatever powers they have as officials.

The Senate Has Finally Had Enough of Tuberville's Antics

After viewing a video of Sen. Tommy Tuberville exiting a plane on his butt as he slid down the stairs, it struck me that this fool was endangering our national security by holding up promotions for all the branches of our military.

His five-month blockade of promotions has already caused his home state of Alabama an opportunity to be the new headquarters of America's Space Command. Colorado was awarded the contract instead.

Basically, Tuberville so alienated American military personnel that they were unwilling to go to bat for his state and stuck with the original plan of Colorado. 

That should be no surprise because Alabama's senior senator was being a jerk to the very people, he needed to side with him. According to the Associated Press it was General James Dickinson, the Head of Space Command, who persuaded the president that Colorado was the best choice.

Apparently, senators have finally had enough of the man who never went into the military but was blocking military promotions. Last week the Senate agreed to move forward on a measure to marginalize the Republican senator.

The Senate Rules Committee is crafting a solution that Republicans can support. It would establish "a standing order for the remainer of the 118th Congress to provide for the en bloc consideration of military nominations with the exceptions of nominees to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and commanders of a combatant command - favorably reported by the Armed Services Committee."

What gets me is the Senate rules have long been broken by allowing a single person to stage a filibuster protest. This attempt to bypass Tuberville should have happened five months ago when he first threw a tantrum and threatened our national security.

The good news is that, for once, senators are admitting that something was broken and are going to do something about it. The vote will happen on November 14th.

As it stands, let's hope that they succeed by getting enough votes to stop Tuberville's obstruction of our military force's readiness.

You Want Crazy? How About Florida Taxpayers Funding Trump's Legal Defense Against Criminal Indictments

Regular readers may be saying today, "Hey Dave, you just wrote about taxpayers being ripped off to pay congressional felon's pensions. What's up with the tax stories?"

For starters, I'm not having a senior moment if that's what some people think. The misuse of taxpayer's money has been in the news a lot recently. I'm a taxpayer and these stories piss me off.

If you thought my post about rewarding congressional convicted criminals was shocking, I've got another tax tale that will curl your toes.

It's common knowledge that Florida is controlled by corrupt Republican lawmakers. Gov. DeSantis and his cronies have been carrying on a crusade against abortions, wokism, and the LGBTQ community.

Now we have Florida's chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, advocating for taxpayers to pay Trump's legal fees!

Speaking at the Florida Republican Party's Freedom Summit on Saturday, Patronis suggested setting up a legal defense fund to help any Florida presidential candidate "targeted by politically motivated prosecutors."

In other words, Trump.

Patronis claimed it would fix what he called the "double standard of justice" that Trump is facing. Both Trump and DeSantis attended the summit.

The responses on X, formerly Twitter, made it clear that Floridians think the idea is crazy.

"The CFO of Florida just proposed using state money (taxpayer funds) to help pay Donald Trump's legal bills," one person wrote on the platform. "A man who collected millions of dollars from donors and claims to be a billionaire. Instead of paying teachers, fixing infrastructure, etc. our CFO says Trump deserves the tax dollars!"

Another annoyed commentor wrote, "Perhaps Florida CFO should concern himself with his job responsibilities, since our insurance premiums are the highest in the country, and it's driving folks out of their homes." 

What we have here is a new twist in Trump's grifting technique - now he's getting lawmakers and government officials to pay his legal fees by using taxpayer money. 

I don't believe for a moment that Patronis woke up one day and was personally inspired to bring up this crazy idea. One can only guess what Trump offered him.

As it stands, I hate seeing the average American taxpayer constantly getting ripped off by crooked lawmakers. Exhibit one; the rich don't pay taxes and if they do it's less than me and you.

Taxpayers Are Funding Criminal Lawmakers Pensions

Believe it or not, you are paying former federal lawmakers pensions even though they were convicted of crimes while in office.

Pensions for congressional felons have cost taxpayers about $3.7 million between 2007 and 2022, according to research from the nonpartisan taxpayer research organization, the National Taxpayers Union Foundation.

The reason why is a series of loopholes that have been protecting congressman despite being convicted of committing wire fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, sexual abuse, and child pornography.

Not a single former federal lawmaker who has applied for retirement benefits has ever lost their taxpayer-funded congressional pension, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

* Since 1980, more than two dozen members of Congress have been indicted for such crimes, some spending years in prison, but they all got their pensions.

*The first legislation to restrict some government officials from collecting their pensions was the Hiss Act in 1954.

It was designed to take away pensions from government officials convicted of national security crimes such as treason, espionage and sabotage, or who pleaded the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying in such cases.

The legislation was named after State Department official Alger Hiss after he was convicted of perjury for denying he conducted espionage for the Soviet Union.

The bottom line is his revoked pension was reinstated in 1972 as it was declared unconstitutional for the law to be applied retroactively.

Since then, lawyers have continued to take advantage of the loopholes still infused into the system to get their criminally indicted clients their pensions.

The latest example is Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) who has served 17 years in the Senate. He faces up to 50 years in federal prison across four charges related to acting as a foreign agent of Egypt and taking bribes while serving as a public official.

Because of the aforementioned legal loopholes, he could still get his pension of about $70,000 per year if convicted of any or all the charges.

Pardons equal Pensions

When Trump was president he pardoned several congressional felons, including former Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) who was found guilty of 17 counts of wire fraud, conspiracy, extortion, racketeering and money laundering.

Other Lawmakers pardoned by Trump:

* Former Rep. Mark D. Siljander (R-MI) who pled guilty to obstruction of justice and money laundering.

* Former Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) who pled guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and making false statements to law enforcement officials.

* Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA) who pled guilty to a count of conspiracy to steal campaign funds.

The good news is there has been steps taken to right this terrible wrong. The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act and Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act are the latest legislation to outline the circumstances that would strip congressional felons of their pensions.

It's worth noting that only certain crimes strictly related to their congressional duties would lead to pension disqualifications.

And that's a problem!

In essence they have a list of crimes they'll go after but are letting the rest of the possible crimes slide.

As it stands, this is just another example of why Americans have lost faith in Congress.

Why Trump's Washington DC Election Subversion Case Won't be Televised

There's never been a more important trial in American history than the one taking place in March 2024 when a former president will be tried for trying to overthrow a legal election.

But it won't be televised. 

News organizations and the Trump team, and the general public are calling on a federal judge to allow cameras in the court. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan doesn't want to make an exception to the long-standing rule barring cameras from federal courtrooms.

Courts have long upheld the rule's constitutionality, and the federal judiciary reaffirmed the policy in criminal cases as recently as September.

Why?

Prohibiting cameras in the courtroom dates back to the television age when they were wary of feeding what the Supreme Court in a 1966 decision called a "carnival atmosphere" of publicity that could intimidate witnesses, sway jurors, prompt grandstanding by attorneys or judges or deprive criminal defendants of their due process.

One of the things that exacerbated the court's fears happened thirty years ago when a nine-month televised criminal trial and acquittal of retired football star O.J. Simpson on state murder charges in California.

For those that remember that trial it was a theater of the absurd with O.J. trying to pull a glove over his hand and his lawyer calling out, "If it doesn't fit, acquit!" The majority of Americans felt O.J. got away with murder and lost their confidence in the judicial system.

So, I get it. That doesn't mean I like this recent decision not to have cameras in the courtroom.

As a journalist it goes against my grain not to have open transparency for what will probably be called the trial of a century. I can't agree with the rule in this case. 

This is the 21st century and we've had leaps in technology with the recent coronavirus pandemic emergency and increasing experimentation by federal courts with live or recorded streaming of oral arguments have led some lawmakers and advocates to ask whether Trump's case might mark a fresh tipping point in the debate. 

Or at least provide the impetus for incremental changes such as the archiving of video or the prompt release of audio recordings.

It's also worthwhile to note that Trump's impeachment trial after the Jan. 6, 2021, coup attempt on the Capitol, and hearings of the House Select Committee that investigated events surrounding the rioting were both nationally televised.

It drew open-day television audiences averaging more than 11 million and 20 million, respectively, not counting online viewers.

Look at it this way, Trump has already made his four indictments into a seamless shit show. It's just going to happen no matter what people want. The former grifter in charge doesn't believe any rules apply to him.

I argue that it's extremely important for the public to fully accept the outcome of the trial by viewing it. It would go a long way towards providing evidence and the credibility of witnesses for all to see and hear.

If Americans do not have confidence that Trump is being treated fairly by the justice system, there is a very real chance they will reject the verdict (whatever it is).

We have to keep in mind that Trump's base is never going to accept a guilty verdict. They are a cult and being reasonable is not part of their DNA.

As it stands, I find it interesting that all parties, including the Trump team, want cameras in the courtroom. Democrats and Republicans have both advocated for cameras along with the national media.

Are You Kidding Me? Trump to Create 'American Academy'

Trump Academy 2.0 may be coming our way, as the twice-impeached former president is talking about starting another college.

It wasn't that long ago Trump University was sued for defrauding students and using high-pressure tactics to sell seminars (often called retreats).

After winning the presidency in 2016 Trump had to pay $25 million for his massive educational scam. The clincher was the university was not an accredited university or college.

It's Deja vu all over again.

Now Trump is touting a federally funded, "anti-woke," free university. 

In the name of "massive higher-education overhaul," Trump says he will create the "American Academy" by "taxing," fining, and suing excessively large private university endowments" and then creating an endowment from which to fund this new institution, which will make a "world-class education available to every American free of charge."

Trump promises the academy will be strictly nonpolitical, and there will be no "wokeness" or jihadism allowed."

Wait a minute! Non-political? Then what's this talk about wokeism and jihadism all about? It's the height of folly to believe he can fix these problems by creating a government-run school.

It's just not possible to have a values-free politics-free education. You can't provide much of an education without advancing or at least discussing one or more world views. Plus, the worst thing you can do is put a politician in charge.

Especially a corrupt one like Trump. His track record with an educational institution is a story of complete failure and a grift that went on for years before being busted.

Let's face it. This is another typical Trumpian scam, like funding a wall by "making Mexico pay for it."

The good news is that there's no way either political party would go for Trump's "American Academy" for a multitude of reasons. First among them is that Trump's a con man with no conscience.

As it stands, the thing that amuses me about Trump's gall is that he doesn't think Americans remember, or care, about his last corrupt attempt in the education field.

Why Doesn't the New Speaker of the House Have a Bank Account?

Everyone has a bank account today. 

My 16-year-old granddaughter has a bank account. 

I have friends and family that have opened bank accounts for their children when they were in elementary school.

Everyone except the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, who apparently doesn't have a bank account. 

It gets stranger every day. Johnson hasn't filed any financial disclosures dating back to 2016, the year he joined Congress. He never reported having a savings or checking account in his name, his spouse's name, or in the name of any of his children. He doesn't have a retirement account and neither does his wife.

What's more he hasn't listed any assets. How is that possible? Didn't anyone notice this in the last seven years?

Consider this, he made more than $200,000 last year - in addition to his wife's salary. So, where the hell did that money go?

Some theories I've run across:

1. He hides his money in his mattress and other odd places throughout the house. Think Sen. Bob Menendez's house where agents found more than $480,000 in cash stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing.

2. He lives paycheck to paycheck. What money he has is in a bank account with under $1,000 in it so it doesn't have to be reported to any financial institution.

3. His money goes to offshore bank accounts under an alias.

4. He is terrible at managing the money he makes, and he may be in massive debt.

How common is it for members of Congress to not have a bank account - let alone no assets?

Brett Kappel who is a government ethics expert recently answered that question.

"It's very unusual for a member not to have to disclose at least one bank account."

Jordan Libowitz, communications director the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington had an even more blunt assessment, "If Johnson truly doesn't have any assets, it raises questions about his personal financial wellbeing."

To Libowitz's point that could mean he's ripe for influence buying. It doesn't take a genius to suspect there's something rotten in Denmark the House of Representatives.

The fact is Johnson does owe a lot of money. Every year, he has listed two mortgages on which he owes hundreds of thousands of dollars and a personal loan on which he owes tens of thousands. In 2019, he opened up a home equity line of credit, also worth tens of thousands of dollars.

No matter how you look at it something financially shady has been going on for years. 

Suddenly this unvetted politician and little-known Republican with seemingly no money has been vaulted into a speakership in Congress. Just one step away from the presidency.

To top it all off they call him MAGA Mike because he idolizes Trump and has a track record of going after the LGBTQ community and seeking to abolishing abortion rights for women across the country.

As it stands, so what could go wrong? We'll find out soon enough if he shuts the government down on November 17th.

Shame on Us! Americans are Letting One Man Destroy Democracy

Shame on Us!

Millions of Americans have joined a cult where one man wants to rule like an emperor. There's no excuse for what's happening other than populist mind control.

Donald Trump represents all that is wrong in politics today. His control of Republican lawmakers makes him a shadow Speaker of the House which makes it easier to subvert Congressional rules and norms.  

I keep hearing that no one is above the law, but Trump keeps proving that's not true. He gets the kid glove treatment in courts where judges are afraid to put him in jail for violating gag orders. Despite 91 felony charges in four jurisdictions political pundits still don't think he'll do jail time.

Trump literally gets away with lying every day as he seeks to rewrite the reality around him and his supporters. 

I've never seen one man with so much power able to create chaos and polarize an entire nation. As an avid fiction reader and writer, I wouldn't have attempted a plot this crazy because readers wouldn't have bought into it.

Unfortunately, it's all too real. America is struggling to shed the biggest threat to democracy since the Civil War.

There's not a news organization or social media platform that doesn't bring up Trump's name daily. His every lying angry rant gets picked up and recirculated regularly.

The rest of the world is baffled about how America - the greatest modern democracy - has embraced a psychopathic malicious narcissist with the mental IQ of a fourth grader.

The Trump plague has spread like the black plague in medieval times affecting other countries with fascist-minded individuals attacking other democracies.

To be clear, Americans really blew it when they allowed Trump to enter their lives and threaten their freedoms. Now we're paying the price.

But getting justice is harder these days with lots of Trump-appointed judges willing to protect him at all costs. That includes the Supreme Court justices he appointed while in office.

Some credit is due because he is currently being tried for his criminal activities in multiple courts. Sadly, many Americans don't believe he'll ever be held accountable for trying to overthrow an election and stealing top secret documents.

The fact that criminally indicted Trump is running to be re-elected president is something straight out of The Twilight Zone. If jailed for violating gag orders he still plans on running his campaign from behind bars.

As it stands, I hope Americans finally realize how important their vote is and how it'll affect their own future. Freedom depends upon it. 

To Some Americans Happiness is a Warm Gun

      Happiness is a warm gun (Bang, Bang, shoot, shoot)

     Happiness is a warm gun momma (Bang, bang, shoot, shoot)

When I hold you in my arms (ooh, oh, yeah)

and I feel my finger on your trigger (ooh, oh, yeah)

I know you can do me no harm (ooh, oh, yeah)

refrain

Mother Superior jumped the gun...

Happiness is a Warm Gun - by the Beatles' John Lennon

The photo above is real. I checked it out on Snopes. It's authentic.

In October of 2023, an image gained nearly one million views on X (formerly Twitter), allegedly showing an American family and their large collection of guns.

An Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti took the photo as a part pf his "The Ameriguns" project. for which he won the 2021 World Press Photo of the Year contest in the "Portrait Stories" category.

Here's another family portrait from Amerguns:

Meet the family flamethrower Torrell Jasper a.k.a. Black Rambo. He light's things up as his adoring family watches from a pool - lined with firearms. They live in Schiever, Louisiana.

Nothing says Christmas like new assault rifles as seen by this family who asked Santa Claus for fully automated weapons of war.

Just look at all the happy smiles (left) in U.S. Congressman Thomas Massie's house in this holiday greeting card that was taken days after a school shooting.

How about this all- American family (right) posing with their personal assault rifles? 

The Oklahoma GOP chairman and his family (shown here) called for Dr. Fauci to be shot for mask and vaccine mandates. Don't they look like they mean business?

Well, I guess you get the picture. Americans love their guns so much mass shootings will never go away. We'll always lead industrialized countries in gun possessions and killings.

As it stands, John Lennon knew that when he satirized guns in his song. It was no small irony that John was murdered by a gun wielding nutcase after it came out. 

Disgusting Statistics That Tell the Tale of Where We're at in America Today

Cold hard statistics cannot be shoved aside when evaluating the health of any society. America is no exception.

Revealing Hate Crime Statistics

You may be surprised to know that the state of Pennsylvania leads the country in Hate Crimes, according to the Criminal Justice Information Services Division of the FBI.

Not far behind Pennsylvania: Florida, California, Illinois, Texas, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.  

In 2019 (the latest stats available) there were 7,314 incidents reported. The population covered 305,284,239. 

Gun Statistics

Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults either own a firearm or could see themselves buying one in the future, according to a recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center.

The exact number of civilian-owned guns in the U.S. is difficult to calculate, but a 2018 report by the Small Arms Survey estimated there were 393.3 million guns in civilian possession around that time. You can bet that number has gone up considerably in the last five years.

* White adults had the highest ownership percentage (38%), while Asian adults had the lowest (10%).

* Just 32% of gun owners said they were for hunting and sport shooting.

* People who identified themselves as conservative Republicans (51%) were far more likely to own a gun that those who identified as moderate Republicans (38%) or moderate (24%) or liberal (16%) Democrats.

Statistics on Mass Shootings

We've already had more than 581 mass shootings so far this year, according to Gun Violence Archive.

There's been 35,749 deaths from guns this year. That includes Homicide/Murder and Suicide.

Over 248 children (age 0-11) killed by guns and 553 injured. There's been 1,178 teenagers (12-17) killed by guns and 3,339 injured.

Mass shootings are on the rise. For each of the last three years there have been more than 600 mass shootings - almost two a day. The study also shows that gun ownership grew significantly over the last three years.

The Center for Disease Control reported that 50 people are killed each day by a firearm.

America has more gun deaths than any other country on the planet. It's not even close according to the statistics from numerous sources. 

As it stands, statistics always make a better argument than opinions. Opinions are like assholes; everyone has got one!

Why Vote When There's No Competition? States With Political Gerrymandering Are Electing Life-Long Lawmakers

Bad news for democracy.

There's a national decline in competition for state legislative seats. 

That's a real problem when lawmakers don't even have any competition on their path to state Houses and Senates.

Check this out... More than four-fifths of Mississippi's legislative candidates will have no major party opposition in the November 7, 2024, general election. And more than half of this year's winners will have faced no other Republicans or Democrats in either the primary or the general election.

Mississippi is just one of the highlights that show a national decline in competition for state legislative seats. The fix is in. And voters don't even get a choice of candidates. Lifetime lawmakers are becoming common.

And that leads to another, more insidious result; these politicians aren't being held accountable. They can do anything short of murder and not be taken to task.

"It's so bad that one party can win the chamber before an election takes place," said Steven Rogers, a political scientist at Saint Louis University who focuses on state legislatures.

A democracy "relies on the notion that the people will have a choice," Rogers added. But "without someone running for office, there really isn't a choice."

Rogers found that the legislative competition around the country has been dwindling for decades.

"Candidates don't want to run races they think they're going to lose," said Abhi Rahman, a communications director for the national Democratic Campaign Committee in a recent interview.

Both parties are to blame when it comes to stacking state legislators when they have a majority in a state.

One of the major setbacks in this growing problem is voter apathy. Why vote when you think your vote won't count? 

On top of that there's so much corruption among lawmakers who feel secure in their seats that the public just gets weary of the chaos and forfeits their right to vote.

America is facing overwhelming challenges at home and abroad. Defending democracy is paramount to the existence of the republic.

I'm asking everyone to vote, regardless of the circumstances because without voting their voices will never be heard. Write in a candidate if there's no good choice. 

As it stands, don't lose your freedoms standing on the sidelines.

Trump Crime Family Members Have to Take the Witness Stand Against Daddy

There's a big week coming up for the children of the Trump Crime Family who have to testify under oath next week in the family's fraud trial in New York.

This will be prime time entertainment as we listen to Don Jr., Eric, and Ivanka try to weasel out of telling the truth.

Don Jr. and Eric are defendants in the fraud case. Ivanka was a defendant, but an appeals court dismissed the case against her this summer. But she is still expected to testify next week after an unsuccessful effort Friday to avoid doing so.

All three of the miscreates have to face a judge starting Wednesday. 

The former president is set to testify on Nov. 6.

The Trump Crime Family has been convicted of fraudulently inflating the value of its assets to obtain favorable treatment from banks and insurance companies. The case is currently in the penalty phase to determine the extent of their penalties.

Some Thoughts.

* I'll be watching to see if Don Junior's eyes are mere slits perched above his runny nose.

* It ought to be amusing watching Daddy Trump throw his son Eric under the bus by placing blame on him as he acted in his stead while he was the president.

* Watching Ivanka squirm in the hot seat will be fun as she tries to protect herself while testifying against Daddy.

* Guaranteed big ratings for the channels that show the trial.

* Viewers may get treated to watching Trump (in videos after the fact) lose his shit in court during the testimonies. The judge, Arthur Engoron, has already punished him for violating gag orders (2) and fined him a total of $15,000.

* I'm going to start a betting line on the odds that Trump gets his plump butt thrown in jail after pushing a judge too hard.

As it stands, is it just a coincidence that Republicans are said to be divided into different families with Trump as the head of the gang? Can you say MAGA Mafia?

Gag or Not to Gag? That is the Question for Dealing with Motormouth Trump

Gag me a MAGA maggot!

Why can't judges find a big enough gag that fits over Trump's yawning yap?

He's violated gag orders twice in his civil fraud trial in New York and had to pay $15,000 in fines. 

Judge Engoron has repeatedly warned Trump to quit attacking his staff, but the fines don't seem to bother him. He figures his donors will be paying them for him. As long as there's people stupid enough to give him money out of their social security checks, he'll continue the grift.

In another Trump trial the Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a gag order on October 16 that prevented him from making certain public statements about people in the case-like prosecutor Jack Smith, his team, court staff or witnesses-after prosecutors argued his social media posts were threatening.

In a surprise move Chutkan temporarily halted the gag orders allowing Trump's team time to appeal it. 

The reason it was a surprise is the judge knew what was happening in the New York trial - that Trump was impudently violating gag orders and still she issued a stay. 

The end result was predictable.

Trump immediately went after his former chief of staff Mark Meadows when the news broke that he was getting immunity in return for testifying truthfully under oath about Trump's actions during the Jan. 6 coup attempt.

Trump posted thinly veiled threats on his failing website Truth Social that Meadows wouldn't dare to flip on him.  

"Some people would make that immunity deal (to testify), but they are weaklings and cowards, and so bad for the future our failing nation. I don't think Meadows is one of them, but who really knows?"

Prosecutor Jack Smith accused Trump of issuing "multiple prejudicial and threatening Truth Social posts to influence and intimidate a future witness" and asked Judge Chutkan to lift the stay on the gag order and modify the conditions of Trump's release to include compliance with the order.

What good has the gag orders done thus far? Trump laughs at the financial fines and just redoubles his efforts at intimidating witnesses in his numerous trials.

A gag order with no teeth is a waste of court time and money. It's about time to put some bite back in the judicial system and to slap his fat ass in jail, which would have happened a long time ago against any other defendant. But Trump is making a case that he's above the law.

And so far, he's succeeding.

There's a great hesitancy among judges in the four trials against Trump to see who will actually put him in the pokey first. Locking up a former president is not a good look but letting him get away with jerking our judicial system around is a worse look.

As it stands, for the sake of our democracy we can't allow anyone - former president or not - to attempt to overthrow the republic and steal top security documents without reprisals. Lock him up!

War Abroad to War at Home: A Mass Murder in Maine

America's undeclared war rages on.

Homegrown terrorists murdering civilians has become so common place that there's even a ritual after mass shootings. 

1. The NRA blames everything and everybody but their AR-15s for contributing to this senseless slaughter of innocent people.

2. Republicans "pray" for the victims but refuse to take any legislative actions to curtail this war on Americans by Americans.

3. Democrats get outraged and try to pass bills banning weapons of war but without any support from Republicans they fail nearly every attempt to pass meaningful gun legislation in wake of another massacre.

BANNER HEADLINES

The sickness of mass shootings that continue to plague American society struck again when a lone shooter went on a killing spree in a small Maine town yesterday.

The suspect is still at large, and authorities have warned the community to shelter in place because he's ex-military and is very familiar with weapons.

Authorities are enlisting the news media in their efforts to find the killer who can be seen in a video pointing his assault style weapon as he walks into a bowling alley. A slaughter happens next and in a nearby restaurant when the killer ruthlessly murders at least 18 people.

The killer has been identified as Robert R. Card II, and Army reservist with 20 years of military experience. His colleagues remember him as a skilled shooter who was among the best shooters in his unit.

Turns out he's a mental case and was taken to Keller Army Community Hospital for "behaving erratically" and making troubling statements about killing people, for several weeks.

As in past mass shootings, mental health problems seem to be at the core of these devasting killings.

Just two days ago all the news media was focused on the Israeli/Hamas war where Americans have been killed and taken hostage.

America and the world watched in horror when Hamas fighters massacred Israeli teenagers at a Peace Festival.

Now Americans at home are trying to cope with another mass shooting. This is the 565th mass shooting just this year.

As it stands, sadly it appears that the war in the Middle East is going to get worse. It's the same fate Americans face with our undeclared war at home.

GOP House Members Finally Elect a New Speaker - What's Next?

Republican Rep. Mike Johnson turned out to have less enemies that the prior wannabee speakers and was handed the gavel today.

My first reaction is I'm glad the drama has ended opening up legislation again in Congress. Maybe the world will quit laughing at us, although I wouldn't bet on it - we still have MAGA morons embedded in Congress.

Now what will happen?

With Johnson - an election denier - at the helm will we avoid shutting down the government on November 17? Is it a priority? Or are we going to see more embarrassing dysfunction from the MAGA heavy Republican party?

Let's face it, Johnson is a vocal supporter of Trump and was a key congressional figure in the failed efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He sent emails asking House Republicans to sustain the objection to electoral votes on January 6, 2021.

So, I don't expect him to go against the Donald's demands as he's going to be the real speaker of the House. 

Rep. Johnson is just another marionette in Trump's closet of puppets. But what choice was there? Whoever they elected had to be a Trump minion ready to defend his lies in real time.

Perhaps the most troubling part of Johnson being the speaker is the question, will he certify the elections results if the Democrats win in 2024?

As it stands, like it or not, there's now a speaker in the House. Let's hope he doesn't burn it down on Trump's orders.

America is in a Coma and Needs to Wake Up Before Democracy Dies

There are zombies roaming in the streets of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Mississippi, Tennessee, and the rest of the red states. 

They've taken up residence in Congress and state legislative districts across the country. While they are causing chaos the rest of the nation is in a coma.

There are just too many bad things happening daily from coast to coast. Listening to the news is a shocking, depressive experience that takes us on a tour of fear, loathing, and revelations that shake the republic to its foundations.

The majority of Americans are acting like survivors in a Siberian gulag striving to stay awake, but their senses have been so battered with the crime and corruption throughout the land they just want to sleep it off and wake up to a better tomorrow.

Watching helplessly as a former president attempts to destroy our democracy is an ongoing nightmare. One man has defied all the rules in the land and so far, he's gotten away with his high crimes.

The fact that Trump is trying to get re-elected by every corrupt means possible is a daily drama invading our homes. People are tired of the constitutional meltdown led by the MAGA zombies embedded into the government.

Congress is in a coma and unable to function because of those zombies. They can't even agree among themselves who they want to lead their mindless agenda. 

The Republicans repeated attacks on people being "woke" is very telling. In fact, even the idea of being awake and aware is scary to those zombies that pledge allegiance to Trump.

As it stands, wake up sleepy America! Vote those zombies out of the state and federal government next November.