Details emerge, still slowly, correlations, coincidences, concerns.
We
Another shooting, close to home
Ten people killed in a Boulder King Soopers, one a Police officer, the suspect in custody.
Major shootings since I
Atlanta again
Sad news from Atlanta again, a twenty-one-year-old man went on a shooting spree in three spas, killing eight with one more seriously injured. Police stopped him on the freeway on his way to Florida for more shootings, because, of course, Florida.
Currently with the information at hand, the shooter would seem to fit in with the incel group. Young men who are
No good answers for the Service Industry
Watching the posts from my friends in the service industry, I find myself torn between wishing I could help and cold facts of pragmatism.
All my friends in the service industry live on the razors edge of paying all their bills. One slow night, a cheapskates walking on tabs or not tipping, shift changes putting them on non-busy times, all hits to prospectives of a roof over their head, gas in their tank, money for school, or food for their families. A world usually without insurance, sick days, breaks or vacations. A world of eight to twelve hour shifts. A world I grew up in with my Mom waiting tables, often at two different restaurants.
We didn
The Trumpster fire continues
Christmas Eve, less than a month to Inauguration. Congress came together and passed a spending bill along with some Covid relief, in itself something of a holiday miracle in these divisive times. Not a great bill, mind you, but it does extend unemployment benefits for a couple more months for all those forced out by the pandemic, as well as offer more assistance for small business.
But.
The Petulant-Man-Boy-In-Chief has stated he’ll not sign it. The one-time check is too small in his tiny little mind. He has the Democrats and my own self agreeing with him (gasp!). But the one time check, whether it be $600 or $2000 to me isn’t the big deal.
First, a one time payment, while helpful and undoubtedly appreciated, is just that. One time. This bill also offers extended unemployment assistance. So, a one time payment of six or twenty hundred dollars, or an extra three hundred with EVERY unemployment check you receive while you wait for the vaccines to get you back to work? While I get instant gratification, it seems like a no brainer to me. Fact is, once people get a check, it’ll be spent. Then what?
Second is the bigger concern. The PMBIC has stated he’ll not sign the bill if it comes to his desk.
Now, he vetoed the military funding, which, speaking as a vet, is a right BASTARD thing to do. But, a veto can, and likely will, be overridden by a bipartisan vote. I mean, who doesn’t want to pay the troops that protect them, and that are playing a strong backing role in Covid assistance? Oh, right, the PMBIC, ’cause he doesn’t want to get kicked off social media when he leaves office.
But if he doesn’t sign the bill, is that the same as a veto? If it is, then Congress has enough votes to override it. But if he fucks off to Mar-a-Lago and puts it off, what’s to be done for it? Does it just set, already months overdue, like a hostage waiting to be released until its captor’s demands for another term are met? Does this make his supporters proud?
Well, the Trumpster fire continues, because some people just like to watch things burn. It’s been smoldering for four years, now it seems the door opening has let the oxygen in to fuel it.
Trump’s Post Court(s) Plan
Now that we’ve received another pair of Supreme Court defeats (Federal and Wisconsin) the Trumpicans have stated they’ll keep fighting. Despite over fifty rulings against them. Despite the fact there’s more evidence for Bigfoot than voter fraud.
Of course, they’ve gone from “widespread” fraud to “undetectable” fraud over the last couple days. Like every other bone he throws to his base, they both can’t be true. Just like Biden can’t be “slow and sleepy” and a “criminal mastermind.” Yet his supporters eat it up.
But Trump should take credit where credit is due. He did inspire the largest voter turnout in many an election. He made America vote again!
Doesn’t matter he lost the popular vote, that’s been the case in many recent elections, and he
A new star glows…
Tonight, go outside, lift your head up to look at the stars, and you’ll see a new one. See it? It’s right there, just to the left of the one you’ve seen all your life. No, not that one, you’ve a vague memory of that one, it’s the one that you’ve never seen.
That’s Eileen, the kindest woman you’ve likely never met. She took up residence in the firmament last night, shortly after I visited her amidst a Covid lockdown. She’s up there looking over me, looking for Dad, dearly missed, but at peace after a harrowing few years.
Thanks Mom, for everything, for teaching me the value of hard work, good friends and being a generous person. I’ll keep trying to make you proud.
Outrage, wherefore art tho?
Four days close to the 9/11 toll. Apparently Stalin was right, one death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.
We
Watching the Supreme Court
Watching and reading the current Supreme Court confirmation, one thing has been sticking out is the argument the GOP has been pushing the is that Democrats started the “judicial wars” (which has given them the prerogative to push this through nominee), and they continuously name Robert Bork.
Unsurprisingly, Bork had an interesting record. Early on he defended segregation, was critical of individual privacy, held views critical of the Fourth Amendment, believed in the right for government to censor writers and artists, and argued the Civil Rights Act was an imposition on Americans. Looking at his record as a whole, he seemed balanced, but there were some quarks in his record that stuck out.
The most damning fact was that he was key in the ‘Saturday Night Massacre‘ when President Nixon ordered the firing of Watergate Special Prosecutor Cox after Cox asked for the tapes he’d recorded in the Oval Office. The Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General each resigned in turn after being given the order, leaving Bork acting attorney general, who then fired Cox. Bork claimed he carried out the order under pressure, but in his memoirs, he claimed that after he fired Cox, Nixon promised him the next seat on the Supreme Court[wiki]
Even with that background (hell, Strom Thurmond, of all people, called him “controversial“), he was given full, bipartisan hearings, was heard from, and the Senate gave him a full up-or-down vote on the floor.
Let’s remember that Merrick Garland never got this opportunity due to one party citing the “Biden rule.”
Sen. Joe Biden had said in a 1992 Senate floor speech — when there were no high court vacancies to fill — that “once the political season is under way, and it is, action on a Supreme Court nomination must be put off until after the election campaign is over.”
Admittedly, these days, it is hard to tell when the political season is underway. when the sitting president starts his reelection campaign days after he takes office color it’s hard to tell, but five weeks before a presidential election, that would seem to be a “season.” I hope those voting remember the hypocrisy that’s been put in office.