Will these shootings wake up congress?
As many of you probably already know, several people, including including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, were shot Wednesday morning shortly after 7 a.m. at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Va.
This time though, they were the targets, not some poor sap on the street.
What was really odd was just last night I was speaking with a friend of mine in Australia about how screwed up our representation was and that how the politicians only listen to those that bring them money, not those that bring them real world problems they are facing and that it's not going to change until the people start stating in no uncertain terms that they will no longer accept such behavior.
Then this morning I wake up to this news:
"Five people were transported from the scene for treatment, Alexandria Police Chief Michael Brown said at a short briefing.
Police have said the shooter is in custody.
Scalise, who was shot in the hip, was transported to MedStar Washington Hospital Center. He is in stable condition.
A staffer for Rep. Roger Williams was also among those shot.
The House has canceled votes on Wednesday, and several committees have also canceled planned hearings. The White House, too, pulled back planned events."
Am I sanctioning or approving of this shooting?
Nope, not even a little.
But at the same time I feel little sympathy for those politicians that were shot.
They dismantled our mental health system and replaced it with prisons for warehousing, not treating the imbalanced.
They exploited their constituents for personal gain and advancement and now those chickens are coming home to roost.
I think this is just the first of many such incidents to follow. Copycats, and people that have been on the fence about such things will take this as a sign that they should jump on the bandwagon is my thought.
I don't know if it makes me a bad person, but if it does, fuck it. I hope that the nutty mass shooter types continue to target corrupt politicians. I will take a congressional baseball game practice over a school shooting any day of the week.
The children and teachers in those events are innocents. Our politicians?
Not so much.
Maybe a few more such events will be enough to stave off the impending civil war or USSR style collapse that I have been seeing on the horizon for years by forcing those in power to realize that they let their greed push the worst off past their breaking point.
People that feel like they have nothing left to lose have always had a certain percentage of them that will lash out violently and with great rage.
What are your guys thoughts?
Also, please post any updates that may break on this story as I will be AFK for about 3 or 4 hours.
I look forward to chatting with you guys in the thread below!
On a side note, I apologize for not taking part of C99P as much as I used to but life has been super hectic for me, however this event was so oddly timed with my conversation last night that I felt I had to come and post instead of doing my usual lurking and reading when I have the time. (Which I have been doing a lot of, I can't go too long without one of Big Al's or our favorite gator's rants without suffering withdraw symptoms, lol!)
I will update you guys a little later on what has been going on in my life (mostly good things but mixed with some bad, such is life.) a little later today as I will likely only have a couple hours to work on my current project before the rain starts.
Comments
My fear is this becomes a "Reichstag" moment
"As we reported earlier this morning, Hodgkinson allegedly asked Rep. Jeff Duncan whether it was Republicans or Democrats on the practice field before opening fire. We've covered all of the key developments throughout the morning here.
it's been said many times here
EDIT: link for quote http://www.zerohedge.com/
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
@ggersh Yeah. I've been afraid
Yeah. I've been afraid that will happen for a while.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
It's time to fasten the seat belts
we've got some turbulence coming right around the corner.
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
I wish.
Your thoughts mirror mine, pretty much. Unfortunately, I doubt this will be a wake-up moment in anyway except the rich and powerful are going to feel they need more walls (metaphorically or physically) to keep us riffraff out and an increased police state to keep us in line. I hope I'm wrong about that, but the gun lobby would prefer it that way and so it goes.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
We'll get more gun deregulation, and
we'll pay for more body guards for them. As I said, they never lose.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Arm all the Congresscritters!
n/t
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
@Dr. John Carpenter Perhaps they should
Perhaps they should go to Russia with their guns and fight some Russian spies. They certainly seem to want to.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Agreed
I think that is going to be their initial reaction, but once they can no longer leave said walls they will have essentially imprisoned themselves.
Sure, a luxurious prison, but a prison nevertheless.
Many people don't realize how captive one feels when one can't even go to someplace simple like a convenience store or beach.
It's one of the reasons many fugitives report that they were essentially glad that they were caught. The constant stress of wondering when someone was going to suddenly grab them and throw them in a cage was actually worse than the imprisonment itself in their eyes.
And all they had to worry about was getting caught.
As they create more and more "Have not's" they will face increasing hostility, particularly those that choose to display their often ill gotten wealth in an extravagant manner.
Hopefully at some point they will realize that having that 5th imported luxury car or supercar isn't worth shit because they can't take it out for a spin without fear of being pelted with bricks.
Those days will come. Americans have largely been passive to the exploitation they have suffered at the hands of the oligarchy but that was because a majority of them were still somewhat comfortable if not well off.
Now the comfortable are living paycheck to paycheck, those that were living paycheck to paycheck are scrambling to rob Peter to pay Paul every month. (More than once I had to try to decide if it was food or lights until the next paycheck or which bill I can be latest on without having something shut off or repossessed.)
So while Americans have by and large been passive, their reasons for remaining so diminish on what almost feels like a daily basis, and they are no longer ignorant to the fact. (although all too frequently they are ignorant as to whom to properly blame.)
The cracks in the dam have been there for decades, but now the whitewash and cheap patches that have given that dam an air of solidity are finally starting to fail.
What happens afterward is anybody's guess but it is certainly not going to be pretty for anyone (except for those vultures that always seem to find a way to make money off of instability.)
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
@Alphalop We're passive because
We're passive because we see, rightly, that politics and the law are too corrupt to be responsive, or responsible, and the military situation is incredibly asymmetrical.
So most people logically conclude that tuning out and keeping their heads down is the best thing.
There are other choices, however.
The other choices I like are not the choice this man made. Nor the option of suicide taken by many, many more people, which apparently doesn't matter. Or is the subject of jokes from politicians and highly-paid media personalities. There are things to do, I think, which neither involve shooting people nor fiddling about with the completely corrupt political machine.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Shooter is dead.
Don't know how he died. I read, Mike Rogers office I think, that he was planning to pick them off one at a time. How he knows that, I don't know.
I do know one thing. They never lose. Today is a work day. I wonder how many Joe Blows are off playing baseball instead of at work earning a wage that won't even pay their rent let alone pay for their health care, the wars, and the tax cuts for billionaires that are coming.
I am glad too it wasn't a school, gay night club, or another target full of innocent people.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
@dkmich You are spot on.
You are spot on.
That speaks volumes.
And I just read that the shooter
was a Bernie supporter.... Cue up the Bernie Bro meme....
Have to say Alhpa, I am right there with you on sympathizing with these people. They keep cutting everything, keep on telling people they should be happy about it, get people into completely desperate situations and then they shriek how awful it is when people retaliate. Just like terrorists - bomb a guy's kid and then wonder why he comes back at you.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
Telegraph is a right wing newspaper.....
Any chance to bash the left.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/14/shots-fired-republican-party-...
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
NYT too, of course.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
And apparently it's been enough
To force Bernie to issue a public condemnation.
These people have no shame.
@WaterLily Seriously?
Seriously?
Then again, I don't really expect Bernie to stand up for us. Though the fake chair-throwing smear was enough to get even Weaver to wake up and notice we exist, that was then; I don't think Bernie is going to do anything to help.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Yes.
I'll try to find the statement and link to it here.
Meanwhile, I stumbled upon this interesting nugget. It's on Breitbart so I won't link, but:
From Bernie's Facebook page
Apparently, on his Facebook page....
When you bomb other countries, you create terrorists. When you shit all over your constituents, you create domestic terrorists. We've been saying for quite awhile that people are going to get fed up, and it won't be pretty.
Someone posted that the House Whip was shot and crawling around trying to steal second base. lol I had to turn off the news. I once had to go to a funeral for an aunt that I absolutely hated.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Without condoning the act, I find this quote sardonic
Trying to steal second base is nothing, but he and his party with the collusion of neoliberal Democrats have been stealing from the people for decades.
I heard
he had his ass shot off.
Then again, being republican and therefore all ass, it wasn't noticeable.
You just know he's going to be the butt of a ton of butt jokes.
There is no such thing as TMI. It can always be held in reserve for extortion.
Bernie Bro, you say?
I guess time will tell if he was really a Sanders supporter or not. But I was anticipating that would be the first version of the story anyway. Just like how Reality Winner was supposed to be a big Bernie Bro., then she might have been a Clinton supporter, but now, who knows?
Edit: seems like this guy may have been a Sanders supporter for real. Still, it just plays into the narrative a little too perfectly for both sides, which makes me suspicious.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
Honestly I almost hope they try to play that card...
Because then I am going to tell them:
"fine, lets play that game.
I now blame all Catholics & right to lifers for those few nutters that blow up abortion clinics.
I now blame all Muslims for any act of terror done in the name if Islam.
I now blame all Clinton supporters for inflicting Donald Trump on us and the world.
I blame the DNC for the same with their election shenanigans.
Etc. Etc. Etc."
I doubt they will want to keep playing after that.
If they want to play the blame game, they all have a shit-ton (that's metric right?) more to answer for than progressives do.
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
They certainly do have metric
tons of shit to apologize for, but these people feel no shame and therefore, this will NEVER be their fault. The fact that Bernie even feels to need to get out there and condemn the actions of this man speaks volumes when we will never hear a RWNJ gun worshipping freak apologize or even condemn what so many of their "supporters" have already done, many times over.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
Amen!
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
@Alphalop The thing to do is to
The thing to do is to remain who we are, to be Bernie supporters or former Bernie supporters without shame. They can't club us into being Hillary supporters like this. If we continue to be who we are, our family and friends will not easily think of us as crazed shooters.
In fact, it's a little clumsy for them to shift the narrative that direction. It was better when they were making us out to be dangerous idiots and naive fools. That was believable; they could convince even people who knew us of that.
Murderous rampages? Eh, not so much. Not many people who know us are going to believe it.
We also need to not mind it, as much as possible, because it was always the case that eventually they'd find a way to call us violent terrorists.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
@lizzyh7 Oh FFS. Here we go. Again
Oh FFS. Here we go. Again.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
There certainly has been a lot of encouragement from the GOP
for gun worship. Not to say there aren't a lot of Independent and Democratic voting people with powerful guns, but the gun lobby pretty much belongs to the GOP (or vice versa). If they continue to deceive, exploit and make life worse for their base, then they will have to deal with a bunch of pissed off former supporters with powerful guns.
Beware the bullshit factories.
As lizzyh7 mentioned,
the shooter was a Bernie supporter and volunteered on the Sanders campaign. This is already being used to gin up anger toward crazy Bernie Bros. There goes the progressive cause. I'll bet even Hillary Clinton jumps on the bandwagon and condemns this guy and Bernie Sanders for extremism.
Of course she will.
This plays right into her narrative and gives her a chance to show those Repugs who voted for HER just how great she is. "We all must come together now and all be on the lookout for anyone among us who dissents - they could be a terrorist after all. And those lefty's, why they are so shifty you just know they'd kill every good American they could to serve their cause. They are sore losers, and this just proves it."
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
@lizzyh7 Another important point
Another important point: the character assassination has gotten so over-the-top that people often don't believe it anymore--especially from Hillary Clinton. She's attacked and blamed too many people too often.
People don't trust her, and they don't trust the press. And they obviously don't think that Bernie supporters are a problem, otherwise Bernie wouldn't still be the most popular politician in the country. He's the only person on Capitol Hill with a positive favorability. The only one. Which basically means he's the only DC politician with a favorable rating, b/c Trump doesn't have one either.
Now there are reasons why that isn't the greatest news. But on *this* issue--it's highly unlikely the American public, 57% of which has a favorable view of Sanders, is going to demonize Bernie supporters. This is for a simple reason: nearly 60% of the American public IS Bernie supporters.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
The 57% favorable ...
... is the reason the establishment will go after Bernie tooth and nail. He's dangerous to their vested interests, and he must be destroyed.
@edg Well, it seems to
Well, it seems to me they pretty much have him under control. So, as with so many things, I don't know why they've got a wedgie over this. The elites seem very Princess-and-the-Pea; they just can't stand to even know that anybody out there is openly disagreeing with them.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
their big problem
is that so many other people want to do the same thing.
better aim & exit plan needed will be the take at the bar.
edit. absolutely against this personally.
@irishking Yeah, it's not
Yeah, it's not gonna help. But I agree with you about the bar.
Actually, I think a lot of people will have my response, which is basically to shrug.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
he should have paintballed them.
video them scrambling for cover-
"Gold! It's gold, Jerry.!"
Ridicule is our weapon of choice.
@irishking
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
honestly
beats a room of schoolchildren was my reaction
Hillary doesn't jump, she slithers
After all, wouldn't you expect a snake-head to do just that?
@edg The progressive cause isn
The progressive cause isn't lost because of this. Just continue to be who you are. Those who know you will likely not easily think of you as a gun-wielding maniac mass murderer.
By their fruits you shall know them. Yes, Hillbots will latch onto this and milk it for all it's worth, and yes, some of that will leak out into the general population, and yes, we may all have some unpleasant conversations with friends and family. But if we simply remain ourselves and continue to remain true to our values, and live by them, they're not going to make this stick to us. And the more people we know, and the more work we do in our communities, and the more visible that work is, the less it will stick.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal
Sitting here, reading this, thinking that not all that long ago, Monty Python could have created great amusement with a comedy scenario where this sort of thing actually had to be said by people like us in response to this degree of ongoing degree of official lunacy... they're going for the masochistic mad-house vote, aren't they?
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
@edg Just to let you all know-
Just to let you all know--I just came across my first trolling "you Bernie bros caused a shooting today" comment under one of Debbie's YouTube videos.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal
Probably paid to Correct The Record...
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Well, can't say he fundamentally didn't understand the cause
and effect of government corruption.
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut
Jackson Browne still said it best
Jackson Browne still said it best:
[video:https://youtu.be/j3YcZ233MIs width:500 height:350]
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
You couldn't have picked a better song.
thank you!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Lexington and Concord?
Is this the first shot of the violent revolution that so many of us think is coming? It would probably take 2 or 3 more political shootings before the full-fledged fighting begins. Remember the French Revolution actually began with a small farmers' revolt before it spread like wildfire.
Alpha, great to have you back!
Thanks Brother!
It's good to be back, but likely I will still be lurking quite a bit for the next few months.
I was thinking more along the lines of Archduke Ferdinand myself but both work for sure!
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Before I read what you wrote--
I'm so glad to see you!
As Sallah said in Raiders of the Lost Ark, "My friend! I'm so pleased you're not dead!"
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
LoL! Nope, not dead yet...
Although some days I sure feel that way.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPatfgoNBRo]
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
@Alphalop I don't want to go on
I don't want to go on the cart!
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
bring out my Dead?
OK....
[video:https://youtu.be/mf1dNTexCL4 width:500 height:350]
(sorry... couldn't resist!)
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
@thanatokephaloides LOL!
LOL!
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
@thanatokephaloides A long strange trip.
A long strange trip.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
the trip and the Dead
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Looks like another reason to tighten the police state,
further divide our government officials from the public and further divide the public via the duopoly.
Unfortunate. I agree, it's hard to get sympathy from me for any politician from the duopoly, but this kind of stuff doesn't do any good, it plays into their hands.
I noticed Rand Paul saying how the police stopped it from becoming a "massacre". The obvious inference to me was that "we need police everywhere".
I already hate the fucking cops.
@Big Al How very libertarian of
How very libertarian of Senator Paul. How anti-government.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Well, if they don't pay attention to this:
Man with tax protest sign fatally shoots self in front of shocked crowd at Capitol
by The Associated Press, Kevin Lewis, ABC News, ABC 7 News, CNN, Richard ReeveSaturday, April 11th 2015
http://wjla.com/news/local/shots-fired-on-west-front-of-us-capitol-113092
A man carrying a tax protest sign shot and killed himself near the U.S. Capitol on Saturday as dozens of shocked onlookers watched - including some young children, police and witnesses said.
The man died after pulling out a gun and shooting himself on the west front of the Capitol building just after 1 p.m., according to police. No one else was hurt and no shots were fired by any law enforcement agency, but the suicide prompted the Capitol to be put on a precautionary lockdown for several hours.
The sign carried by the man contained a message about "social justice," Dine said. A witness, Robert Bishop of Annapolis, Md., said it also said something about taxing the "1%."
then it's not surprising that they end up with this:
GOP Whip in critical condition after ballpark shooting; gunman dead
By Jack Moore
June 14, 2017 8:25 am
The man who opened fire on Republican members of Congress at a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia, critically injured House GOP Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and a lobbyist for Tyson Foods during the “brutal assault” before he was fatally wounded in an exchange of gunfire with police.
The shooting early Wednesday morning as Republican members of Congress practiced for an upcoming charity baseball game injured a total of five people, including two Capitol Police officers and a congressional aide.
http://wtop.com/alexandria/2017/06/14231771/
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal He was a vet, too.
He was a vet, too.
Maybe this is why I feel nothing in relation to today's shootings.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Anyway, they've made it obvious that they don't care
if we live or die.
Why should we care if they do?
Sorry if that seems cold.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
The deserve cold, ice cold.
While they sit up there and vote away every last shred from peoples lives and tell themselves how they're doing that to "save America" they can all go straight to hell. And they've been telling people to get out and arm themselves up, so what can they expect? It just got one of them this time, but they're fine when we're killing each other.
And I'll just say, I feel sorry for the shooter today. And I know that makes me a hypocrite as I didn't feel sorry for the RWNJs who do this, but then again, they kill innocents and these fucks are NOT innocent. A Tyson lobbyist among them too, imagine that.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
@lizzyh7 Turns out he might
Turns out he might have been right-wing. It's hard to tell. Evidently he supported first Ted Cruz, then Bernie Sanders.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Well, at least he didn't shoot innocents
is all I can say. I asked myself today if I could feel sorry for say, Dylan Root, and I just cant go there. But maybe what I see is another middle aged guy who's just had enough, and while I'm not violent at all in a physical way, I certainly understand the urge to get one of them on my way out if I felt that was all I had left.
As for his Ted Cruz support, well, maybe he finally saw the light on the Repigs, eh? Maybe he converted to Bernie after finally seeing just what their policies are doing to people like him?
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
@lizzyh7 As long as we're
As long as we're speculating, here's my speculation: maybe he's one of the people who desperately wants the status quo to change, but is a Christian and a right-winger. There are some of those. Being a Christian right-winger doesn't necessarily mean you can't see the destruction and the corruption that causes it. It might mean you blame the wrong people sometimes, or have solutions I don't personally agree with, but it doesn't mean you can't see the problems.
Anyway, maybe once Ted Cruz bottomed out, this guy didn't buy Trump as an anti-establishment guy and went Bernie instead.
And now he tried to shoot some politicians, and he's dead.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Because we're better than that.
Because we're better than that. And, apparently, better than them in this respect as well.
Our souls are still unsold.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
@thanatokephaloides But I really don't
But I really don't care, Than. I know that sounds terrible, and maybe it is. It's not that I'm cheering on the shooter, or wanting somebody to shoot politicians. I don't. I don't desire their deaths. But seriously, the news that somebody was trying to kill them leaves me completely cold. I think I'd feel more about a random nameless kid starving in Africa.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
It's not terrible. They are sociopaths...
Our politicians and everyone else in the 1% who kill others daily via their "business" decisions are sociopaths. As such they do not care, nor can they care about other people. They do not care who they hurt, nor do they care how others feel about them. They are unable to feel empathy nor can they love. Truly those who are sociopaths are our true enemy. As such you and others. Even this shooter are in the right. Here's a quote from an amazing book (The Sociopath Next Door) that everyone should read to better understand our situation.
“In northwest Alaska, kunlangeta "might be applied to a man who, for example, repeatedly lies and cheats and steals things and does not go hunting, and, when the other men are out of the village, takes sexual advantage of many women." The Inuits tacitly assume that kunlangeta is irremediable. And so, according to Murphy, the traditional Inuit approach to such a man was to insist he go hunting, and then, in the absence of witnesses, push him off the edge of the ice.”
― Martha Stout, The Sociopath Next Door
@BrutallyHonest I don't think the
I don't think the shooter was in the right. Shooting politicians isn't actually going to do anybody any good. We're not living in the kind of culture/society the Inuits had.
It is true, however, that sociopaths are actually the enemy of humanity, and that their work of concentrating power in their own hands and pushing all policy decisions repeatedly in the same direction regardless of consequences will get us all killed, whether through a nuclear war (quick version) or global warming (slower version). Unless something changes--either they themselves or the power structure. Like the Inuits, I have little hope that any of them will change.
But like I said, I don't desire their deaths. Their deaths wouldn't get me anywhere. Their deaths wouldn't change anything. It doesn't give me any satisfaction when people shoot at politicians or other elites--it's just that I feel no sympathy for those being shot at. After all, a lot of other people are shot at, stateside and overseas, because of the politicians' actions and inactions--you can include Black people stateside, the people of Honduras, the people of Libya, aw hell, the people of pretty much the entire Middle East! They don't give a shit. EDITED HERE to include all the people in our own military who have also been shot because of politicians' actions and inactions. A lot of people are tortured or thrown in prison unjustly and left there to rot, or to provide a big pool of incarcerated unpaid labor, and they don't give a shit. A lot of people are being poisoned and they don't give a shit. A lot of people lost their houses and they didn't give a shit. A lot of people lost their jobs and they didn't give a shit. They don't give a shit about human rights, they don't give a shit about the rule of law, they don't give a shit about democracy or fair elections, they don't give a shit about the destruction of most of the life on this planet and its transformation into a dead rock. They don't give a shit.
I'm seeing a pattern here.
After all that's happened, you know what? I don't give a shit about them. I don't endorse the shooter; I just don't give a shit what happens to the elites who protect the other, more powerful, less public elites who are driving us to destruction to protect their business interests.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Amen to that CSTMS
Some congresscrutter was on the teevee saying "We are only here to serve the public. We don't deserve this." (paraphrased)
Actual fact, they are only in congress to enrich themselves and serve the rich and the corporations. And that is painfully obvious to anyone vaguely paying attention.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
au contraire, mon ami.
I agree with you
I agree with you that the shooters actions will cause more harm than good. And that in the end they will just use this as an excuse to remove more civil rights and abuse more police power.
The non violent way we need to enact change to better battle these sociopaths would be to unite and cooperate in a cooperative democratic economy thus rebuilding the public good by creating a more independent, more engaged populace. A populace that creates an economic system that removes the need for our middle men overlords.
@BrutallyHonest I totally
I totally agree with you. That's the way.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Yes, we ARE better than that.
But they AREN'T. And until we accept that we're going to keep losing. I'm pretty much a pacifist myself, but I can't feel too badly for the politicians who got shot.
Is this civil war now? I mean, the government has all but declared war on us citizens, and by removing any chance we have at a decent living they are actively trying to kill us.
This shit is bananas.
@Daenerys By poisoning the
By poisoning the water and changing the climate also. Also, one might argue, by their near-constant efforts to start a shooting war with Russia.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Video of the shooting
This appears to have been shot by a guy who was walking his dog by the field when the shooting began. He recorded the whole thing while diving for cover behind some garbage cans. What is shocking about this is the number of shot fired by the gunman. It is amazing that no one was killed as a result.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXiXxBI2L4A]
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Karma with a Semi-Automatic
Hard to feel any sympathy for these congress fuckwits. They couldn't be troubled to lift a finger to tighten insane gun laws after Sandyhook or a hundred other mass shootings. Gotta keep the gun sales flowing. Well, here's a wackjob with a rifle.
Paul Ryan was on the teevee acting out with self-righteous anger that "some of our own were attacked -- the horror, the horror". Dare I look up his voting record on gun control bills?
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
"some of our own were attacked"
so now it's a big deal.
gee whiz.
important people suffered. can't have that.
bomb the fuck out of middle east, no problem.
Congress won't change, except that they will
'join hands' in unity, and crackdown on civil liberties, if the legislation passed after Gifford's shooting is any example.
Just posted this Tweet at EB,
If anything, I think that the Dem Leadership will tone down their rhetoric, since many of the Bipartisan Elite PtB are already pointing fingers at 'the Left.' CNN can't stop talking about the Dude's ties to Bernie's campaign. (Of course, CNN runs everything into the ground.)
Honestly, it would not surprise me if the Dem Leadership makes more speeches, encouraging 'unity.' In the end, they're interested only in their own *sses, and are likely worried about how this shooting will play with 'Independents' in 2018.
I'm worried that as this Administration is dismantling everything, the Bipartisan PtB will play this incident for all they can. They've been searching for an 'unifier' since 9-11. And, I'm 'guessing' that they are hoping that this will be it.
Mollie
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."--Lao Tzu
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Jeeesuss!!
"We look forward to the baseball game tomorrow and continuing this great tradition"
Yeah, that's what you should be focusing on. Gawd damned baseball, not thinking about gun control and making sure that any with two legs can buy a gun.
Could these two be anymore out of touch?
The other guy said he was going to bring his food taster.
Just a guess, but does anyone else think he is thinking that this was just the first shot?
The shooting went on for over 6 minutes.
They are very lucky they weren't killed. I wish that this shooting would get them to ask why this guy wanted to shoot republicans.
And yes, I'm thinking that because of this event and the two other shootings today, we are going to see more police power going forward. And that isn't going to stop the next event. The barn door is going to stay wide open.
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
I completely agree with you
I feel little, meaning none whatsoever, sympathy for this organized cabal of republican criminals. This was inevitable and I frankly wondered why it took so long to happen. These NRA loving sociopaths have done everything in their power to make sure anyone can buy a gun easier than buying a 6-pack of beer. That one of those weapons was finally turned on them is no surprise and they won't receive an ounce of sympathy from me.
The republican party and their wealthy enablers have been waging a full scale war against the everyday citizens of this country for years. Now, with complete control of all three branches of government, their final major battle has been launched. They are literally and figuratively trying to kill 10's of thousand US citizens. Taking away healthcare and Medicaid will actually kill thousands. And they won't be satisfied with that. If Trump remains in office and the republicans remain in power after 2018, you can be assured they'll be coming for Medicare and Social Security next. People will literally be starved to death. And, who is going to stop them? They long ago quit answering to the America people and they simply don't care.
When someone is actively trying to kill you, be it with a gun or a policy, and you know you will die because of it, when does it become acceptable to fight back with whatever force you have available? Isn't that the sole reasoning behind republicans pushing "Stand Your Ground" laws? That you have the right to defend yourself and use deadly force when someone else is actively trying to kill you?
At this point, based on the overt actions and policies of the republican party, I can actually imagine a person killing a congressman in one of these Stand Your Ground states and being acquitted by a jury for defending themselves. If you have cancer and the ACA is the only reason you're able to obtain medical care and you know you will die if you lose that coverage, then it only stands to reason that you are trying to defend your life by doing whatever is necessary to save yourself.
Congress had better brace themselves because I have little doubt that this is just the beginning. There will certainly be more of this as people become more aware of what will happen to them if republicans continue to take away healthcare and the safety net that keeps them alive.
Janis Joplin put it very simply, "Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose."
“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
George W. Bush
@reflectionsv37 And then there's this:
And then there's this:
These NRA loving sociopaths have done everything in their power to make sure anyone can buy a gun easier than buying a 6-pack of beer. That one of those weapons was finally turned on them is no surprise and they won't receive an ounce of sympathy from me.
I don't talk about gun control much, because I occupy a place in the middle of that debate (like Sanders does, actually) and the middle of that debate is a bad place to be. But certainly, when you mouth NRA talking points daily, and when part of the justification for everyone being armed is that they have to maintain an ability to defend the rights of the citizenry against the Big Bad government (I'm looking at you, Rand Paul, because this is the libertarian argument against gun control), how can it be surprising if the citizenry actually picks up a gun and fires it at politicians?
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
@reflectionsv37 It's not just the
It's not just the justification for Stand Your Ground.
Others have said it before:
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Unlike Jefferson, I don't support violent revolution, for reasons I've laid out elsewhere. He was living in a different world. But Jefferson's assertion has been a key part of the justification for this nation's very existence since the beginning--and the people know it. Eventually Congress is going to have to deal with the fact that, in this time, they are King George.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
posted yesterday. the guy missed the non- violence part
but I do think pols must be pushed much harder than with letters.
how to confront them,and take them out of their comfort zone is the question.
short of physical violence, is there a way to make the life of a corporate sellout representative not fun?
look at how these people live. what they are promised.
they have shown themselves willing to sell us out for these comforts. if they continue to enjoy the spoils, why would they ever change?
In other words it must be that the Congressmen who fuck us over suffer in their personal lives. Or they won't ever get off it.
I'm surprised
Not that it happened, but that it took this long.
Live by the sword, die by the sword...
and don't forget that the sword cuts both ways. Speaking strictly for myself, I would not wish for the country to degenerate into a state of armed revolt. I don't foresee how that could possibly end at all well.
That being said, there's no doubt that the 1% have been pushing their luck to a breaking point. Sooner or later, if they don't change their tune, somebody or somebodies are going to call their bluff.
native