Gates has plead guilty and agreed to cooperate. He hilariously lied to prosecutors in his plea negotiation and got slapped with an extra charge, as if his negotiating position wasn't weak enough to begin with.
Trump certainly has handled himself around this latest school shooting with all the class and precision of a prison riot. Did he honestly call for a ratings system to protect people from violent movies? You take a quick nap and it’s 1968 already.
Schiff memo dropped when Nunes was on stage at CPAC, leading Fox news to cut into their coverage of Nunes to address it. God I love the pettiness. Memo here: http://docs.house.gov/meetings/ig/ig00/20180205/106838/hmtg-115-ig00-20180205-sd002.pdf Lot to unpack, but one thing I found interesting: Now because we're a technologically illiterate society, the redaction is just a bunch of black ink on top of the text that used to be there and you can still tell how long the redacted text was. Based on the length of the redacted text, it looks to be about 5-8 names. Edit: Looks like a mistakenly unredacted foonote reveals four of the names: Flynn, Papadopolous, Manafort, and Gates
Apparently paid police officers with weapons and training on scene didn’t have the same bluster. The parents will be getting a LARGE tax payer funded settlement for that and the FBI’s whiffs.
He refused to take a proper smack at Wrestlemania, but he would totally do this. So many hindsight heroes in the face of this tragedy.
I yell ya what though...the Broward County Sheriff isn't exactly helping his case right now either. I don't think he could have stopped the shooting but its pretty clear something got fucked up in the response to this. And his interview with Jake Tapper yesterday was a nightmare. Makes him look super incompetent. I'm not one for scapegoating, but I think there is a decent change the body count could have been substantially lower had the cops actually confronted the shooter.
I don’t think he “looks” super incompetent, I think he just plain is. Sheriffs generally suck no matter who they are and America should honestly get rid of them, but is this fucking retard honestly saying the actions of the department that he personally supervises aren’t a reflection of him? Is he serious?
Leadership qualities always trickle down. Shitty leadership that’s ego-driven and where no personal responsibility is taken for massive fuck-ups tends to breed shitty subordinates. It’s always everyone else’s fault. It would be proper for this sheriff to step down. I also don’t think sheriffs should be elected.
I think this is the biggest part of the problem. Just because you're a nice guy who can talk to people doesn't mean that you're at all trained for the job.
Sherrifs should be selected through a rigorous process of assisting Wild Bill Hickok in a draw-down in the middle of town, and then earning the begrudging respect of the local organized crime boss.
I can’t be the only one who finds this problematic.. The Lt governor of Georgia stating that he will kill any tax legislation benefiting Delta because it ended a partnership agreement with the NRA. To add my personal views I think the NRA is a terrible organization and should be completely overhauled but I also don’t like the faux social media outrage that only serves to make it look like we are doing something to address an issue rather than actually doing something to solve it. But, unless I’m missing something this guy basically just said to support an organization that he agrees with in exchange for allowing tax breaks to go through. And if I’ve read the articles correctly there is a bill in the state senate to give tax breaks to delta on fuel purchases worth about $40 million that has already passed the state House.
Maybe one day we can get to the point where we aren't concerned with proposing bills that have the express purpose of supporting a specific company. In conjunction, maybe we can get to the point where entities aren't cowed into believing certain things or concerned with stigma because they read them on social media. I'm unsure what the NRA has done that is terrible? Did they kill someone? I don't know what it is they do that is different than the ACLU in the larger scheme of things; they are all about protecting one of your constitutional rights. Seriously, of all of the things that have been proposed as changes, that the NRA has torpedoed, what would have saved those kids lives? Whereas, we can look at Broward Sheriffs Office and the FBI and without a shadow of a doubt understand their failings. Yet somehow, in all of this, I should believe that more regulation and more Governmental control would have saved their lives?
They have lobbied for years to stop anything that even looked like it would result in gun control of any sort, and that includes any kind of scientific studies or investigations into how it happens or how to stop it. http://www.newsweek.com/government-wont-fund-gun-research-stop-violence-because-nra-lobbying-675794 http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-gun-research-funding-20160614-snap-story.html They've been very successful, and it's easier for legislators to throw them under the bus than it is for them to be accountable for being bought by the NRA.
I don’t know if any legislation would have prevented this but I understand there is no legislation to prevent it from ever happening again. My issue is the same as what Nett brought up, the fact that the Dickey Amendment keeps getting renewed and prevents a lot of research into gun related deaths is a major issue. Not to go too far down the rabbit hole but over half of gun deaths are from suicide, the rate of suicide is higher in homes of gun owners but the rate on non gun suicides is not (meaning people with guns are more likely than non gun owners to kill themselves with a gun but not more likely to use any other means). Wouldn’t thousands of people each year using a product you endorse seem like something a responsible organization would want to look into? Rather than actively opposing attempts to figure out ways to lower those numbers. And no, I don’t have an answer to how to reduce suicides by guns, but I think it’s something worth at least studying. They do not.
Funny how they are the ultimate boogeyman to the left. I’m still waiting for Harvey Weinstein to come out swinging against them. I actually prefer Wayne Lapierre (I’m a gun guy BANG BANG) over Dana Loeche in pure liberal triggering power. If I remember correctly they backed strengthening mental health reporting to the nics system during the Sandy Hook gun push. Defeated in committee.
"You're right, Mrs. Trump, that was a completely inappropriate question to ask the daughter of an accused harasser and confessed pussy grabber. My apologies. Now, as the *Senior White House Advisor*..." That's what I would've done, but I'm no fancy tv journalist.
Well its not about actually solving anything, its about greasing the same anti-gun boner they've had for 40 years. Imagine if a shooting was caused by an illegal? Now the NRA is a shitty organization, and I say that as a gun owner. But banning the AR-15 specifically is nothing but window-dressing.
I find it problematic, but probably not for the same reasons. I hate the whole corporate lobby system that is set up. If you think you are being represented at the State or National level, you should spend a day in the legislature at the committee level, and watch all the lobbyists "speak on your behalf." It's disgusting. The tax break is not for Delta, but for jet fuel, so it would apply to any airline in Georgia. Delta is Georgia's largest employer, though. I am a member of some professional engineering organizations. They allow me discounts at Hertz, and the Hertz logo is on their website. Being a member of the NRA allowed travel discounts on Delta, and Delta's logo was on their website. Delta revoked the discount and told the NRA to remove their logo. I understand why publicly Delta wants to remain neutral on gun control issues, but I think you could find a political tie-in to many of the groups to whom they offer discounts. It seems like separating from the NRA in such a way public way is more political than not doing it. But, if Georgia is going to offer discounts that benefit the largest employer to the tune of about $40 million dollars, I would think they could put whatever conditions they want on it. If the majority of the people of Georgia don't want an organization that separates from the NRA to not get a break, that's their right. Like auto manufacturers being in favor of placing breathalyzer ignition switches on every car?