Rachel Maddow DESTROYS PolitiFact

You'll get the headline if you watch the video.
 

What Happens in Vegas: More Is Now Known About Walmart/Pizza Parlor Shooting

I've noticed something about gun violence, and the response it gets when it happens, in social media and the blogosphere. You get the news that a school, or a store or a military base or some other area has been attacked by a shooter or shooters. There's usually a bit of shock, followed by a smattering of sorrow and well-wishes to the survivors, and the families of the dead. It's all eventually old news, and overshadowed by the next shooting. But in between, we get:


- From liberals and/or gun control advocates (I'm the former, mixed with a tad of the latter), there is tsk-tsking. finger wagging, condemnation of the NRA and speculation. The speculation usually goes to the obvious places first, "gun nuts," tea partiers, right-wing extremists, those "sovereign citizen" people. There is a whole lot of resignation and weariness that nothing is going to change, and a simmering anger about how it's all just allowed to continue. And of course, you'll have the fringy leftists who go too far, though they're (I believe) in the minority.

- From conservatives and/or gun rights activists (I used to be the former with a tad of the latter), there is a reflexive defensiveness with amazing and instantaneous hostility. Right away, there are proclamations about what liberals are going to say or do. There are defiant announcements that this better not lead to a "gun grab." There are seeds of  conspiracy theories sown almost immediately. And there is a heavy emphasis on making sure that the perp is perceived as either a) a radical lefty, b) a radical lefty posing as a conservative in order to smear them, or c) maybe a radical righty, but if so, a lone wolf with no connection to any other conservative group or individuals. And, of course, you'll have the fringy rightists who go too far, and they are in abundance.

If you don't believe me, hit any major newspaper's comments section on this story. Or go straight to the source at FreeRepublic.com, and click their section labeled "BangList." Yes, it's really called that.

Meanwhile, let's get a few facts on this whole Las Vegas shooting, shall we? As horrific as the attack was (and I'm tempted to call it a terrorist attack), there are also fascinating elements to the story, and how it is unfolding. For instance, the connection the Millers (the killers) had to a law passed in Indiana that allows citizens--under certain conditions, naturally--to shoot cops. 

[Excerpt]

Shooters carried arsenal, supplies into Sunday rampage



Jerad and Amanda Miller left their downtown apartment Sunday morning loaded for a long fight. Police said the Millers had a small arsenal and survivalist gear in two bags when they entered a northeast Las Vegas Wal-Mart on Sunday, killed a shopper who confronted them with his own gun, and then shot it out with officers before taking their own lives. . .

Read more at: Las Vegas Review-Journal

Virginia Dem Takes "Bribe" from Republicans, Shifts Balance of Power

This story is so bananas, I have to go to my favorite WTF release valve, Wonkette, to fill you in. It's just. . .I mean, I can't even. . .

[Excerpt]

Virginia Democrat Takes The Perfectly Legal Bribe Money From Republicans, Runs
[The rest is beneath the fold here, because the annoying video is AUTOPLAY (grumble)]

Over Time with Bill Maher: June 6, 2014

One of the better editions of this online-only portion of Real Time with Bill Maher. And while I'm dismayed whenever a shyster like Ralph Reed gets a forum like this, others are doubtless annoyed that Anthony Weiner continues to get the same.

Overtime: June 6, 2014

Blast from the Past: Gay Anthems, Part II

Since we're still early in June, which is Gay Pride month, and it's The Other Half's birthday, I thought I'd continue with the theme of "gay anthems," those you don't have to be gay. . .but it couldn't hurt! -type songs. Of course, there are so many to choose from, I didn't have room for all of them last week anyway. Let's get started.

1. Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat (1984) - I'll confess to missing this one, having been firmly stuck on top-40 music at the time, and only 18. Still, my younger (straight) brother insisted that it get a spot this week! Apparently, it was really, really gay.
2. Express Yourself by Madonna (1989) - One of Madge's best, and certainly her most stylish video.



3. You Spin Me 'Round (Like a Record) by Dead or Alive (1985) - Pete Burns was like the sinister Boy George, and this song was everywhere in 1985.
4. Brand New Lover by Dead or Alive (1986) - Just as fun as the previous tune.



5. No More Tears (Enough is Enough) by Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer (1979) - I mean, like you could get these divas together, and it not be a gay anthem? Unfortunately, there is no video. But that note Babs holds? Fabulous.
6. Believe by Cher (1998) - About time Cher made an appearance, right? And at the time, people were marveling at her longevity. . .16 years ago.



7. Lady Marmalade by LaBelle (1974) - Sure, the Christina Aguilera/P!nk/Li'l Kim/Mya cover version might qualify, but this is the classic original, and even burst on the scene before disco really went mainstream.
8. True Colors by Cyndi Lauper (1985) - When I think of a gay anthem, I think "upbeat," but there can be no denying this one has it's place in our big gay hearts.



9. Beautiful by Christina Aguilera (2002) - Much like the previous entry, this ballad is on the list, even if it's a bit sad. It's the defiance that sells it.
10. We are Family by Sister Sledge (1979) - But we've got to get it back to a dance party, right? And why this one didn't occur to me last time, I have no idea. So, let's dance this weekend out!


And I still left out any Donna Summer solo songs, and countless others. Maybe we'll revisit this party to close out the month. Happy Monday, everybody.

What Happens in Vegas: Gun Violence at Walmart, Five Dead

In a sick form of roulette, every metropolitan area seems destined to have an incidence of a mass shooting, and this time, the ball

landed in Las Vegas' slot. This is at least the second shooting spree in the nation in the past week. Can you even remember where the last one was? It wasn't UC Santa Barbara, there's been one (now two) since then.

Gun fetishists, your hobby might be worth at least the consideration of some kind of regulation to bring this down a notch. But you know what? You probably don't need to worry. As I said, everybody's already forgotten about the last one. This one will get forgotten quickly too. But I've got to think the rest of the world thinks we're crazy.

It should be noted (as it was by  @AnnieSage on Twitter) that this was a case of two good guys with guns, and it didn't help. Sadly.

[Excerpt]

Suspects in Vegas Walmart shooting wanted ‘revolution’, commit suicide after killing police
 
Five people are dead, including two Metro police officers, in a shootout that concluded at Las Vegas Walmart. According to reports, the two suspects killed the two police officers as they were eating lunch at a Cici’s Pizza. Witnesses told police that one of the shooters yelled, “This is the start of a revolution” before shooting the officers. The suspects then took the police officer’s weapons and extra ammunition and went to a Walmart across the street where they shot and killed a customer before barricading themselves in a corner of the store. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

The Gay Thing: And Wisconsin Makes 20 (Plus D.C.)

We can't get too excited just yet, though it is exciting to break 20 marriage equality states. As these things go, there are sometimes "stays" put in place or requested, in order to just be dickish, by conservative politicians. It doesn't always work, and it sometimes is bypassed altogether, we'll just have to see. But today, for now, there are currently 20 states plus Washington D.C. where same-sex couples can legally wed!

We are very nearly at 50% of the country if this doesn't nudge us past it, and if Wisconsin sticks, I think 20--and then of course 25, and 26--are the psychologically big numbers for the movement. At this rate, it could happen before a case hits the Supreme Court, where--unless those nutty jurists throw a wrench in the works--all of these machinations will become unnecessary, spreading to all 50 states.

[Excerpt]

BREAKING: Federal Judge STRIKES DOWN Wisconsin Ban On Same-Sex Marriage

U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb today struck down the discriminatory amendment to the Wisconsin state constitution preventing same-sex couples from marrying. The American Civil Liberties Union had challenged the law on behalf of eight couples seeking the freedom to marry in Wisconsin or to have their out-of-state marriages recognized. Two of the plaintiffs, Kami Young and Karina Willes of West Milwaukee, were legally married last year in Minnesota and have a newborn daughter. But because Young is the birth mother, she is the only one who is recognized as the legal parent on the birth certificate. . . 

Read more at: Joe.My.God.

Bergdahl's Hometown Deluged with Hateful Calls

Image from source, DailyKos

Stay classy, conservatives.

[Excerpt]

Bergdahl's hometown flooded with hateful calls, cancels celebration in 'interest of public safety'

I suppose it should not be a surprise that people in Bowe Bergdahl's tiny Idaho hometown are getting inundated with furious phone calls from Americans who are ... angry that Bergdahl is from there, apparently? Angry that the town was going to welcome the POW back without punching him? Whatever the reason, America's creepiest not-patriots are taking it out on any town official whose phone number they can find. . .

Read more at: DailyKos

Jon Stewart: Open Carry vs. Stand Your Ground

Frivolity Break: TV's Greatest Catchphrases

GOP Hypocrisy on POW Bergdahl Release

McCain and Ayotte, for it, before they
were against it. Image from source, HuffPo

It really should come as no surprise by now. Countless times, Republicans have been for something, only until President Obama does that thing. Then, magically, they're against it. In the case of the release of prisoner of war, Bowe Bergdahl, their reasons have been kind of all over the place. But Sen. John McCain, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, and countless others in the conservative media and blogosphere were adamantly for getting Bergdahl out of detention, up to and including the use of prisoner swaps. Hell, McCain himself was released in a prisoner swap!

I've gotten in arguments with conservatives regarding Obama, Eric Holder, Jay Carney, always on the same theme: they lie! Well, what is this, friends and neighbors? What do you call this, besides hypocrisy of course? Amnesia?

[Excerpt]
 
GOP Urged White House To 'Do All It Can' To Get Bowe Bergdahl

As soon as President Barack Obama told the nation Saturday evening that America's only prisoner of war in Afghanistan had been rescued, Republican lawmakers and pundits began criticizing the administration on how it handled the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

The Gay Thing: Gay Republican Group GOProud Going Out of Business

There is a long-running gay Republican group known as Log Cabin Republicans. They're kind of a go-along-to-get-along group of mostly fiscally conservative, socially liberal gay men and lesbians. At some point a few years ago, the really conservative folks in LCR decided to start their own group, GOProud. Get it? GOP and "proud," as in gay pride. Except that this group was far from easy going. They were confrontational, abrasive, arch-right wing, Sarah Palin loving, tea bagging, liberal hating conservatives who were--incidentally--gay. Arguing with a GOProuder was like arguing with any other arch-right-winger, except with an evangelical edge.

I should know, I got into several online arguments with the leader of RightPride, the Nevada chapter of GOProud. Between bouts of insulting me or screaming (virtually) at me, he'd keep trying to win me over, inviting me out for coffee or drinks. Hell, maybe he was flirting? But it was kind of short-lived. I haven't heard much about RightPride for years, but even at their peak, they had about 485 Facebook followers. They just seemed to peter out.

And now, the parent organization is going too. They'd already lost their founders, one after the other, and have mostly straight people on their board. They're claiming a "reboot" is coming, but I doubt it would do any good. The problem with GOProud is, they were so venomous to progressive gays, that they burned that bridge. And the tea party-controlled GOP wants nothing to do with them. Where in the world is there to go then?

[Excerpt]

LGBT Republican Group GOProud Going Out of Business

After five years in the often precarious space of being a gay conservative group, LGBT Republican organization GOProud is ceasing operations, according to a series of reports at Bilerico. Bilerico reporter Andrew Markle initially reported that GOProud was shuttering on Sunday, and following initial denials on social media from members of the group, key organizers confirmed to Bilerico founder Bil Browning Monday that the group is indeed planning to close up shop. . .

Read more at: The Advocate

NRA Backtracks: It's Now Not Weird to Strap on Your Gun and Go to Chipotle!

Nope, not weird.
Image from source, Slate.

A little advice, gun people: whatever point you think you're making by strapping an AK-47 (and I give zero shits if I've got the terminology right) to your back, and walk into fast food restaurants, hardware stores or other benign public spaces, you look crazy. You look dangerous. And you're winning zero converts. It doesn't matter one whit if you have the right to do something. I have the right to call you a tiny-dicked, overcompensating douchenozzle, but other than to make this point, I wouldn't do that. Decorum. Maturity. Manners. Get some.

Now, when it comes to the NRA, they put their finger to the wind, and got it shot off by their own members. After previously calling these fast food warriors "weird," they've now back peddled, and are blaming their previous position on some low-level lackey, who was expressing his own personal opinion. On the NRA webpage. Yeah, that makes sense guys, let's go with that!

[Excerpt]
 
NRA Apologizes for Calling Some NRA Members “Downright Weird”

The NRA, last week, took the out-of-character step of telling some of its most enthusiastic supporters of guns and the freedom to take them into your local Chipotle to, you know, maybe take it down a notch. “[A] small number have recently crossed the line from enthusiasm to downright foolishness,” Friday's NRA statement reads. Here’s more. . .

Read more at: Slate

Disgust with Right Wing World Over Treatment of American POW

It goes without saying by now, that if President Obama does something (or doesn't do something) Right Wing World will bellow that it's wrong. It even applies to the First Lady who has been lambasted merely for suggesting that kids eat healthy food, and that we all drink more water. Honestly. So, it was a given that there would be an outcry when American POW Bowe Berdahl was sprung from Afghanistan. We didn't know exactly what their tactic would be, but you could predict outrage!

And boy, it was a scattershot outrage. Bergdahl, it is alleged, had "deserted" his post. The details of this are not confirmed, but no one I've seen denies that whatever happened there should be investigated. It was hardly the point when bargaining to get a 5-year POW out of imprisonment. But so far, that's only one of the reasons why President Obama was wrong to get this guy out. In addition to the desertion charge--which apparently means he should be left to rot--there is a complaint about how and when Obama told Congress about it, a complaint about the bargain to exchange Gitmo detainees (men who have never even been charged, let alone convicted, and have been there more than a decade). And they're even picking on the guy's parents. It's all over the place, and it would have brought charges of unpatriotism from the right, were the tables turned, and this was a POW sprung by Dubya. Whatever issues need to be hammered out by military justice and by Congress, the behavior of Right Wing World (FOX "News", talk radio, and the blogosphere) has been skeevy.

Rachel Maddow shares my disgust in this video which is really worth watching.
 

 

Daily Show Laments Gun Massacre Apathy

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart returned after a break to report on the latest gun massacre. It's a brilliant piece that somehow manages to be funny, and points out the fact that we're just accepting the reality of these things now. That nothing will be done to curb violence, and that the NRA and gun activists will always win, so why bother fighting? Regular shooting sprees are the price we pay for what amounts to a Constitutionally protected fetish/hobby.*

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook,Daily Show Video Archive

*I'd like to point out that I've always been neutral to guns in general, but have been pushed--shoved really--to the anti-side. When I see these idiots strapped to the nines, and showing up "in force" at Chipotle and Home Depot? Well, they're pretty much putting a bow on it.

President Obama: New Carbon Regulations

Image from source, LA Times

In the past, we've had ecological problems, generated by industry. We've had acid rain, intense smog, polluted rivers and lakes. And for the most part, we've cleaned them up, with the help of EPA regulations. Every time, industry screamed bloody murder, but in the end, we successfully beat back the bad things we were doing to the planet.

Why is climate change different?

[Excerpt]

Obama says his new carbon regulation is about 'health of our kids'

President Obama began a campaign for his newly proposed climate change proposal with an appeal Monday to parents and grandparents worried about “the health of our kids and the health of our planet.” In an afternoon conference call with the American Lung Assn. and other public health groups, Obama argued that restrictions on power plant emissions would help children with asthma and other health problems exacerbated by carbon pollution. . .

Read more at: Los Angeles Times

Chris Hayes Dismantles Right Wing Complaints About Bergdahl Recovery

So, the only American POW in Afghanistan was released. Right Wing World goes nuts because it was President Obama who was responsible for getting him released. They've assailed the President for not informing Congress, they've maligned the soldier himself (and his family, oddly), and more. If this were during the Bush era, complaints like these by liberals would have brought immediate outrage from the right, and accusations of a lack of patriotism. Regardless of the circumstances of an American POW release. And you know that's true.
 

John Oliver Explains Net Neutrality

John Oliver is quite right. The problem with getting people energized about Net Neutrality, is that it is always so boring to listen to the details. It isn't remotely sexy. But here, Oliver gets the point across in a way that isn't boring, and gives you the details on how to do something about it.

 

Blast from the Past: Gay Anthems, Part I

It's June everybody, and though many Pride celebrations have scattered across the calendar, June is still Gay Pride Month. And so, I thought I'd do a bit of a combo here, of my different regular features. For the first time ever, this is Blast From the Past/The Gay Thing! And I present to you gay anthems, from the far and the not so distant past. Enjoy, and join the parade, won't you?

1. I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor (1978) - I can't say why this was a gay anthem. The lyrics could fit anyone in a bad relationship. But boy howdy, was it.
2. I Am What I Am by Gloria Gaynor (1983) - Gay is right in her name, so she gets two in a row (despite a bit of an anti-gay kerfuffle in recent years). And this one is super gay.



3. Y.M.C.A. by The Village People (1978) - I could go nuts with Village People songs in this category, but we'll leave it at this one. So popular, straight people dance to it at sporting events.
4. Go West by Pet Shop Boys (1992) - Actually a Village People song, remade. Really, really gay.


5. Outside by George Michael (1998) - Made as a snarky retort to his arrest for public lewdness, this song (and video) scream "gay," where Michael had previously been coy.
6. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) by Sylvester (1978) - You'd think it would be impossible to get any gayer than this one.


7. Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood (1984) - You'd be wrong, because this is the gayest song ever!
8. It's Raining Men by The Weather Girls (1982) - Wait. Hold on. This is gayer, even though it's ostensibly about straight women fantasizing about men. And written by Paul Shaffer?


9. Vogue by Madonna (1990) - With a dance taken straight from gay subculture, Madonna made an indelible mark, in fact, it's probably her most famous song.
10. Born This Way by Lady Gaga (2011) - From the much more recent past, we have the ultimate gay anthem, even if it was (sorta kinda) borrowed from Madonna's Express Yourself (itself worthy of a place in a sequel to this column). The song starts at about 2:30 after a long, weird preamble.

And now that you're all danced out, it's time for a brand new week. Happy Monday!

Brady Bunch's Alice, Ann B. Davis, Dead at 88

Image from Wikipedia

You know, we've got to get used to this you guys. The remaining living stars of our childhood favorite TV shows are all getting up there. Ann B. Davis, Alice of The Brady Bunch was always seemingly a "woman of a certain age," but sort of an indeterminate one. The reality is, she was in her early 40s when the original show was on the air, just eight years older than star Florence Henderson (who is 80 herself). 

Davis apparently lived on a religious commune of some sort, though I don't recall ever hearing anything judgmental or self-righteous being attributed to her. She never married, not even Sam the butcher. But she always seemed--in any appearance Brady-related or otherwise--to be cheerful and warm. RIP, Ann.

[Excerpt]

Emmy-Winning BRADY BUNCH Actress Ann B. Davis Dies @ 88

Ann B. Davis, famous internationally for the role of lovable maid Alice on The Brady Bunch, died today following a fall in her bathroom. She never regained consciousness after the accident. She was 88. . .
 

Read more at: Boy Culture