Columbine Part II

Oh Shit.

Another heavily-armed misfit took out his rage on a bunch of innocent civilians in Colorado early today.

Yes, it's such a good thing our leaders (specifically that complete shitbag George W. Bush) allowed the assault-weapons ban to expire. The Aurora Colorado shooter had apparently purchased all his weapons legally during the preceding six months.

For fuck's sake people, I understand that the 2nd Amendment allows for an armed civilian populace. But I'm sure they never intended the average citizen to be free to accumulate enough firepower to fight off a cadre of police or soldiers.

Keep in mind the Bill of Rights, that hallowed document which clarified many of the rights we enjoy to this day, was written at a time when it was perfectly legal for white land-owning Americans to totally fucking OWN human beings possessing a different skin color than them!

But sure, other than that unfortunate "slavery" thing, our Founding Fathers did get a lot of things right, but even they never envisioned that some alienated kid or young adult would find it so easy to legally purchase a fuckload of lethal weapons and turn them on children watching a movie.

I mean, at least if the guy was a frustrated movie critic or something, it might be justified (I don't know if the movie sucks or not, but it's at least a scenario); but this was just some nutjob who wanted to inflict as much pain on as many people as possible.

There was no such thing as repeat-firing arms back in the late 18th century when the 2nd Amendment was hand-written on parchment. If those brilliant men had any inkling of what technology would have wrought during the next couple centuries, they might have included a codicil that limits the possession of weapons to single-shot black powder guns, or shotguns, or even revolvers, which at most can only fire five or six shots before needing a reasonably complicated reloading process, as opposed to simply dropping an empty clip out of an automatic and jamming a full one in, which takes only a few seconds. Some automatics have 14 or even 30 shot clips!

Because I do legally own a revolver for home protection, and I firmly believe that if you have a gun and you can't hit what you're aiming at in five shots or less, you have no justifiable right to be operating a potentially lethal weapon!

But, I'm a realist, and I know that we'll continue to suffer tragedies like the one that occurred today for many years to come.

It's just all so goddamned unnecessary.

Mitt's tax returns

2010.

Just one frickin' year.

Big whoop.

You know who isn't shy about releasing his tax returns?

THE PRESIDENT!

What're you hiding there, Mittens?

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And another thing...

Lately some redneck sheriff has been trying to rehash the "Birther" issue again.

Don't these idiots know that the guy they voted for back in 2008 wasn't even BORN IN THIS COUNTRY? Maybe he could have legally been the president of Panama, like Noriega, but he couldn't legally be OUR president.

Fucking morons.

(then again, if McCain had won, all us Libs would probably be the Birthers now! LOL!)

Sunday Night Music Club XXV

Back in the 1980s Robert Palmer was an MTV mainstay. His catchy tunes and risque music videos ensured heavy rotation; at least, back in those days when MTV actually SHOWED MUSIC VIDEOS RATHER THAN BANAL, INSIPID, SHITTY REALITY PROGRAMS!!!

Ahem...sorry about that.

Anyway, Palmer had a perfect sensibility for the time. He was the epitome of the "sharp dressed man" that ZZ Top sang about.

Here's one of my favorites, "Addicted To Love"; which, at the time caused some minor scandal because I'm pretty sure you can almost see some nipples through those instrument-playing models blouses!

I know, it's terribly shocking! (actually, MTV was, and still is a cable channel not restricted by the FCC's rules, and they can show any damn body parts they want; but still, it was fairly titillating for the time. I mean, frickin' Ronald Reagan was president and his Interior Secretary James Watt banned the Beach Boys from playing on July 4th in DC because they were too "dangerous" or something like that!)



...and when I think of Reagan today, I know in my heart that he'd never stand a chance in hell of winning the Republican nomination, because he's just not "conservative" enough! And that's the reason Romney won't win the White House in November, because he just won't draw enough conservative votes. They just don't give a hoot about him!

The view from above

The weather has been awesome lately, and we've been on our sailboat every chance we get.

Here's a photo that CT Joyce took after I hauled her up the mast in the bosun's chair to fix the windvane.

Isn't Milford Harbor just the greatest place?

Mean Jean loses her shit over false report

Via MSNBC:

MSNBC posts this video of Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) — an opponent of the measure — screaming with joy at the false news that the Court invalidated the requirement. Watch it:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

What a cunt.

Great moments in CNN history

OK. This is precisely why we need cameras in the Supreme Court. CNN was trying so hard to get the scoop that they completely fucked it up. Oh, and they probably need to fire whatever producer thought this was a good idea.

It took over six minutes for them to begin to get the story right. Some moron was obviously in the courtroom listening to the dense legalese of the decision and naively decided that what he or she was hearing was them striking down the law.

I can only imagine the volume of screaming going on in the control room while they were trying to figure out what really happened! Oy vey!



And, in related news:

Suck it, conservatives!

AH, HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA (etc.)

(photo via FireDogLake.com - click the image to read the butt-hurt of poor ol' Ben))

Busy doing stuff

Like work and stuff.

And sailing once, or maybe TWICE a week if I'm really lucky!

Hope everyone is enjoying these first few days of summer.

Does it have to be 90-plus degrees yet? I only just put away my fleece pullover, and now we're in August all of a sudden!

Meanwhile...last week's drunken sailboat race!

Donovan standing tall

I gotta admit...Chris Donovan is impressing me with how well he's handling what would be a public relations disaster for a lesser man. He's standing tall, and people are behind him as he navigates through some perilous waters.

Here's an email I received today from the campaign. Tomorrow (Wednesday) there is a rally to support Chris Donovan. I will be at work (working second shift kinda sucks, but I'm happy to have a decent job, so I'm not complaining) but I'll be there in spirit:

Stand with Chris Rally
Wednesday, June 6th at 5PM
21 Oak St, Hartford

On Sunday, I stood in front of news cameras and reporters, made a statement, and took their questions. I have a video of it up online, but I wanted to share some of my remarks with you:

Let me be very clear about this: At no time did I know that anyone might have been trying to funnel illegal contributions to my campaign. No one ever made a deal with me as a quid pro quo.

I did not know about it at any point during the legislative session.
...
Let me say this unequivocally: No one bought my involvement, my position or my influence on the 'roll your own' legislation or any other. Period.
...
I have cooperated with federal authorities and I will continue to do that as this investigation proceeds.
...
All I can do is emphatically reassure the voters that I have done nothing wrong.
...
I am so very grateful - I've been overwhelmed by some of the calls and notes I have received from others. People who have known me for 30 years – or a lot less – have told me to fight on, and I will.
...
I'm looking forward to this race, and this fight, like no other in my life.

As Tom Swan told you yesterday, the campaign is moving forward and it's moving forward the right way.

We are going to win this race because I am the only candidate who is willing to fight for the working families of the 5th CD - to bring good jobs with strong benefits back home, to protect Medicare and Social Security, and to end the Republicans' destructive attacks on women's health care and contraception.

And we will win because I have you by my side. Together we organize, together we knock doors, together we make calls, and together we win by getting out the vote. Will you join me today by clicking here and pledging to stand with me?

The headline in yesterday's Hartford Courant was "NO QUIT IN DONOVAN" - well, I can confirm it for you. There is no quit in me. Not now, not when we have the most important fight of our lives - for the future of the working families of Connecticut.

Thank you once more for all you do,
Chris

PS Let's spread the word far and wide - will you forward this email to your friends and ask them to stand with us too?

Bad timing for Donovan's campaign

For the last few days local media were abuzz with the news that House Speaker Chris Donovan's finance director was charged with accepting and trying to hide illegal contributions.

For a Congressional candidate facing a tough primary just over 2 months away, this is definitely an unfortunate twist of fate.

There is an awful lot about this story that I don't yet understand, so I'll try to stick to the facts of the criminal complaint against finance director Robert Braddock. Braddock is charged with hiding contributions to Donovan's campaign that were part of an FBI undercover sting operation, where an agent posed as a cigarette retailer trying to buy influence in the House against legislation that could tax "roll-your-own" cigarettes. In the wake of Braddock's arrest, Donovan's campaign manager Josh Nassi was fired along with Braddock.

Which casts some reasonable doubt on whether Nassi may have known something about the contribution. But whether he knew anything or not, he was the guy directly responsible for the workings of the campaign and the hiring of the staff, including probably the finance director, and he likely deserved to be let go.

BTW, this is just my opinion, and I base it solely upon the stuff I've read in the papers and blogs and on Twitter, including this gem from my ol' friendly nemesis @A_C_R, which probably will get a huge belly laugh from the Rush Limbaugh aficionados out there in the Twittersphere:

Some Donovan defenders are quite annoyed. I suspect one is wearing that naughty barbed wire bra again it always makes her so cranky.

All misogyny aside, I haven't spoken to anyone inside Donovan's campaign yet, nor will I be likely to do so until the investigation is complete. So please don't put any weight on my idle speculations.

In regards to the allegations about the tax issue, it never even made it out of the Senate, so the House had absolutely no conversation about whether a tax should be levied. This will probably work in Donovan's favor as the investigation proceeds. Donovan has also hired a former US Attorney for Connecticut Stan Twardy to look into how the alleged wrongdoing occurred.

Also, according to published reports there are connections with House Minority Leader Larry Cafero in the investigation. From CT News Junkie:

Cafero was one of a dozen lawmakers interviewed Thursday by federal investigators. During the course of their conversation, Cafero said he learned that straw donors also delivered five $1,000 checks to three House Republican PACs.

Cafero said he promptly returned the donations after being informed that they came from straw donors, but he added that he was not given an explanation as to why the donations were made and was told he was not a target of the investigation.

So, after being informed, presumably by the same agents investigating Donovan's campaign, Cafero was allowed to return the donations, no questions asked.

Sounds weird. I dunno, but it kinda makes you wonder, eh?

Look back here for more solid information, idle speculation, and wildly unfounded conjecture as the story develops. After all, nobody ever threatened to give me a Pulitzer for my journalism!

Meanwhile (remember whose blog you're reading) I just contributed to DonovanForCongress.com. And I love using Paypal. It makes life so much easier.

Because, when he's finally vindicated of any connection with this awful situation, I absolutely want Chris Donovan to be our next congressman from Connecticut's 5th District!