Gun Violence: When Prayer Does Not Suffice

In the wake of the shooting in Alexandria, Virginia, yesterday that targeted Congressional Republicans, one once again saw the hypocrisy of politicians who have blocked any form of meaningful gun control - a hearing on lessening restrictions on gun silencers thankfully was postponed - bloviate about sending "thoughts and prayers" to the victims and their families.  Thoughts and prayers do nothing to address the root problem and why gun violence in America exceeds that of any other developed country in the world.  The real solution is strict gun control and a weapons surrender program as occurred in Australia in the mid-1990's after a horrific mass shooting. Decent people ought to view Republicans who have sold their souls and the lives of their constituents to the gun manufacturers with disgust and need to make their disgust loudly and frequently known, especially at the ballot box. Conservative columnist David Frum calls out these hypocrites of the right in a piece in The Atlantic.  Here are column highlights:

The attack on members of Congress at baseball practice in Alexandria this morning is, by one count, the 195th mass shooting of the year. Thankfully, this time it appears that nobody was killed. The same can’t be said, alas, for the gun battle in a Fresno home on June 6, or the workplace eruption in Orlando on June 5, or the shooting in St. Louis on June 2.

Mass-casualty gun violence, like all forms of violence, has declined from its terrible peaks of the early 1990s. Yet it remains prevalent in the United States on a scale that staggers the rest of the civilized world. Earlier this month, we grieved the terrible car and knife terrorist attack on London Bridge. In the United Kingdom, jihadis employ knives precisely because they cannot readily lay hands on guns. The consequence is that committed ideological murderers, operating in teams, inflict fewer fatalities on the rare occasions they strike than do American casual killers every few days.

In only one of all the completed and attempted Islamic terrorist atrocities in the U.K. since 9/11 did the killers even carry a single gun: a 90-year-old Dutch revolver so battered that they never tried to use it.

Yet despite the predictable recurrence of these crimes, Americans have developed a strong taboo against ever discussing or even thinking about them. When the killer strikes, it is “too soon.” The next day, it is “too late”; we have all moved onto the next topic. Then comes the next massacre, and it is “too soon” all over again.

Americans accept periodic plagues as a visitation from the gods, about which nothing can or should be done. The only permitted response is “thoughts and prayers”—certainly never rational action to reduce casualties in future. Even to open the discussion as to whether something might not be done violates the taboos of decency: How dare you politicize this completely unpredictable and uncontrollable event!

The fact that such things do not happen anywhere else with anything approaching the same frequency—that too is the work of some ineffable mystery. Who can say why such things happen so seldom in Canada and Australia and Britain and Germany and France, and so often in the United States? Who would be rude enough even to wonder?

About fires, apparently, it is permitted to use human reason. But not about firearms! Against the much greater toll from those, the only remedy—the only approved response—is to send “thoughts and prayers.”

[P]rayer alone does not lift from human beings the duty to do what they have the power to do. And that’s not my personal opinion. It’s also the opinion, emphatically declared, of the God to whom believers in the Bible address their prayers. In the stately words of the King James translation, Isaiah 1:15: And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

In some ways, yesterday's attack was a case of Republicans reaping what they have sown.  Sadly, I doubt that it will be enough to end the party's self-prostitution to the gun manufacturers who are the true power behind the NRA.  The result will be more avoidable deaths. 

Thoughts on the Shooting in Alexandria on Wednesday

Shooting victim Steve Scalise at a white supremacist gathering.

To avoid any misunderstanding, I am utterly opposed to the use of violence to solve political differences.  Thus, I abhor the shooting of Congressman Scalise this morning along with two members of the Capitol police and several Congressional staffers.   The gunman, whom authorities have identified him as James T. Hodgkinson, 66, from Belleville, Ill., a suburb of St. Louis, obviously should not have been allowed to possess an automatic rifle given his checkered history of violence, including misuse of firearms and violence against women.  Nonetheless, Hodgkinson reportedly had acquired and owned the weapons involved legally.   So who has championed unrestricted gun ownership?  Congressional Republicans, of course.  Today, they got a taste of the results of their self-prostitution to gun manufacturers.  Despite this Republican drive to abolish common sense gun control laws - a hearing had been set for today to loosen restrictions on buying gun silencers - many on the right are blaming the shooting on too much anger among Democrats and the media.  The hypocrisy is stunning for several reasons. First, Steve Scalise of all people has not standing to complain about fanning hatred.  As I reported more than two years ago, Scalise has an ugly history of supporting white supremacist groups.  And then there is the mushrooming of right wing hate that has been legitimized by Der Trumpenführer. For Republicans to whine about fanning hatred and gun violence is to ignore their role in fostering the atmosphere for violence and unlimited guns in the hands of those who should not have them.  A piece in Think Progress looks at the GOP hypocrisy.  Here are excerpts:

Republicans in Congress and the White House have been attacking the media all year, but one House member just tried to pin the blame for a mass shooting on the fourth estate.

Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI) told Fox News Wednesday afternoon that “the media is complicit” in acts of violence like the mass shooting targeting members of Congress “if they keep inciting, as opposed to informing.”

Fox News anchor Melissa Francis then played a clip from Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) who said some of his best friends are Democrats and that the House passes a lot of bipartisan legislation, “but it’s the major issues that lead to political discourse that has in my opinion, led to such an uptick in just hateful, hateful rhetoric of all sides, and I stand here today and say stop. We have to stop.”

Bergman was attempting to pin the blame for the shooting on the media without offering much proof. The media, as a group, has been abused and demonized by Bergman’s party.

Greg Gianforte, who will still join Bergman’s caucus despite the fact he pled guilty to physically assaulting a journalist the day before, is the latest and most direct example of politicians attacking the media for doing their jobs. 

Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) joked about shooting reporters at a gun range last month. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) traced the violence that happened on Wednesday in another Fox News interview to “political rhetorical terrorism.”

Before and after becoming president, Donald Trump has used rallies to deliver brutal attacks on the media. He has baselessly accused the media of purposely covering up extremism attacks it didn’t want people to know about. He’s attacked them as his “opposition party,” and at rallies, directed the overflowing rage of his supporters at the media pen, causing some journalists to get direct threats. Trump’s Twitter attacks targeting journalists like Megyn Kelly and Katie Tur resulted in death threats. He defended his then-campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, when he was arrested for simple battery of a Breitbart reporter. The NRA, of all groups, has recently mimicked Trump’s rhetoric, telling members its job is to give “the media the big fat black eye it so often richly deserves.”

It is most ironic that these remarks were made to Fox News, a purveyor of lies, alt-right misinformation and fake news.   As I said above, perhaps the Republican Party is reaping the fruits of what it has sown for many years now and since the beginning of the Trump campaign in particular.  My best wishes to the staffers and police who were injured.  Perhaps the staffers may want to reconsider who and what they are working for.

GOP Delusions: Conservatives are the Party’s Future

The Millenials are walking away from religion in droves, the GOP's anti-gay policies are alienating voters and much of corporate America, the GOP's anti-immigrant agenda is driving away Hispanic voters, and the GOP base of aging, racist, homophobic white voters is dwindling, yet House Majority Whip Steve Scalise is pontificating that doubling down on "conservationism" - read more racist, homophobic anti-Hispanic batshitery - is the solution for the GOP's woes.  Yes, the same Steve Scalise who has major white supremacist baggage of his own.  One has to wonder whether Scalise suffers from major head trauma or is merely drinking far too much Kool-Aid.   A piece in Politico looks at Scalise's apparent insanity.   Here are highlights:

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise has a solution for the GOP’s presidential election woes — double-down on conservatism.

The Louisiana Republican is hoping the party avoids nominating a moderate in 2016, noting that candidates from the GOP’s center have failed to win the White House during the last two elections. Scalise thinks this is a mistake, and he wants to avoid picking a standard bearer who isn’t a true conservative.

“You know, I’d argue we’ve had moderates nominated the last few times and they haven’t won,” he said. “Show me the last time a conservative has lost the presidency. I think if we have a strong conservative with a proven record, we’ll win the White House.”

Scalise’s sit-down with POLITICO is a kind a reemergence after several trying months for the Louisiana Republican. He’s kept a low profile for the early part of 2015, after it was revealed that he once attended a meeting organized by a white supremacist in Louisiana. 

Scalise said he has succeeded in making Boehner’s leadership more conservative.  “There was this mischaracterization that I ran for leadership to be the guy to get conservatives to vote for leadership,” Scalise insisted. “I said I would be a conservative voice at the leadership table. My goal is to get leadership to bring more conservative policies to the floor, it’s not the other way around to get conservatives to vote for something they don’t like. It’s to get a more conservative product, and we’ve actually delivered on a number of occasions there.”

Scalise had avoided most on-the-record interactions with the press since a liberal blogger revealed in December that he made a 2002 appearance before the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO), an extremist group founded by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

Scalise seemingly has learned nothing and what is frightening is that he is the number 2 figure in the House of Representatives. 

Steve Scalise and the Right’s Ridiculous Racial Blame Game

The lies and fast tap dancing of the Republicans continues as the Steve Scalise white supremacist scandal refuses to quietly die.  Having watched the transformation of the GOP from its days of social issues moderation and fiscal responsibility to today's party of religious extremists, voodoo economics and open racism, it is mind boggling how the Republicans and their talking heads try to paper over the fact that white supremacists, like the Christofascists, were actively recruited by the GOP establishment - starting with Richard Nixon's "Southern Strategy" - and allowed to infiltrate the party.  Now, when caught with the consequences of their own actions/policies, the only defense the GOP can muster is to try to say some Democrats were/are racists too.  A piece in The Daily Beast looks at the phenomenon.  Here are highlights:

In much the way one used to savor the sight of some lying schmuck be game-set-match cornered by Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes, I love watching conservatives try to explain away race scandals. Like the be-Wallaced lying schmuck, they know deep down they’ve had it. But quite unlike the schmuck, and this is the fun part, they never run up the white flag; indeed quite the opposite. They go on the attack, and it’s just a comical and pathetic thing to see.

Before we get to all that, permit me a brief reflection on this matter of Steve Scalise. Let’s allow him the error in judgment, or whatever tripe it is he’s peddling, of speaking to a David Duke-related white supremacist group in 2002. It’s hard to believe, but let’s go ahead and be generous about it.

I think we should find it a little harder, though, to be generous about his vote as a state legislator in 2004 against a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in the state of Louisiana. . . . No error in judgment explains that. He was part of an extreme, racialized white faction in the Louisiana state house that was clearly dead-set against honoring King.

So it’s hardly shocking that Scalise spoke to the group. Indeed it would have been more shocking if he hadn’t. This is a state, after all, where Duke, in his statewide race for governor in 1991, received a majority of the white vote. In fact, a large majority, of 55 percent, meaning that even though Edwin Edwards walloped Duke by 23 points, a near-landslide percentage of white Louisianans voted to make an avowed white supremacist their governor. Yeah, it was a long time ago. But how different would things have been 11 years later, when Scalise attended the Duke event? By attending, he wasn’t doing anything that would have been seen as controversial by most of his white constituents; indeed most of them would have endorsed it.

[T]he fun starts when conservatives stop playing defense and go on offense. Here are the three main tropes, which apply not only in this situation but every time we’re met with one of these revelations.

1. But Al Sharpton is the real racist!

2. But hey, we elected Tim Scott.
Right. You did (he’s the African-American conservative Senator from South Carolina). And J.C. Watts back in the 1990s. And there was Allen West. And now’s there’s Mia Love of Utah and Will Hurd of Texas. Bravo. That’s five. Congratulations! Meanwhile, white liberals have helped elect dozens of blacks to high office—mayors, members of Congress, a few senators and governors, and now a president.  This is supposed to “prove” that conservatives aren’t racist . . .

3. B-b-but Robert Byrd!
Ah, my favorite of them all. Amazing how people can still haul this one out with a straight face. Yes, Byrd—dead four-and-a-half years now—was a Kleagle in the Ku Klux Klan. And his last known affiliation with the Klan was almost 70 years ago, in 1946. And yes, he voted against the Civil Rights Act in 1964. But as everyone knows, he went on to say—not once but many times—that that was the greatest error of his career by far. 

I suspect that somewhere down there in the Freudian precincts of their minds, the Byrd-invokers from Limbaugh on down know this, and it’s what they hate about Byrd most of all: The very sincerity of his repentance makes him a capitulator to the liberal elite and a traitor to his race. But they can’t say that in polite company, so they keep whipping a horse that’s been dead for at least 40 years.

And they’ll probably whip it for another 40, unless demographics overwhelm them sometime between now and then, but they’ll resist that as long as they can too. There’ll be more Steve Scalises, and every time, the right-wing orchestra will strike up the same weary tune.

Scalise's Alibi For Speaking to White Supremacist Group Falls Apart

Since the news of his past speaking engagement at a David Duke affiliated white supremacist, anti-Semitic organization broke, GOP Rep. Steve Scalise's (pictured above) explanation has been that "he did not know" it was a white supremacist organization.  From the beginning many believed this excuse was far fetched at best if not outright disingenuous (i.e., a lie).  Now, as Think Progress reports, it looks like the excuse was a lie.  Here are story excerpts:

Congressman Steve Scalise apologized earlier this week for speaking to a group of white supremacists in 2002. You would think that would settle the question of whether Scalise spoke to a group of white supremacists.  But no.

Two days ago, Slate ran a piece quoting Kenny Knight, a close associate of David Duke, who booked the room for the white supremacist group, known as EURO. Knight claimed that he invited Scalise to speak to the “Jefferson Heights Civic Association, which was largely comprised of elderly people who lived in his and Scalise’s neighborhood.” The meeting of the civic association, Knight said, just happened to be held in the same room as the EURO conference held later that day.

[A]s it turns out, Knight was lying. Not only was Knight a member of the EURO group but “documents filed with the Louisiana secretary of state’s office list him as treasurer…” He is also listed as a member of the group in a 2002 news release for the conference in question, where he was scheduled as a speaker. Asked about the discrepancy and the state document listing him as treasurer of the group, Knight hung up twice on a reporter for The Times-Picayune.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Duke said he “recalled Knight reaching out to Scalise in the weeks before the conference to come and update attendees on state affairs, and that Scalise accepted without reservation.”

 The GOP claims to be the party of "Christian values," but truth and honesty aren't part of the GOP's values. Scalise needs to resign as House majority whip. 

Republican Are Already Doing Damage Control

Republicans will not take control of Congress until later next month but find themselves frantically doing damage control in the wake of the admission the House majority whip, Steve Scalise spoke at a Neo-nazi, white supremacy convention, and the resignation of Michael Grimm, a New York member of Congress convicted of felony tax evasion.  Scalise's excuse that he did not know the nature of the group he addressed defies belief and, if true, indicates that the man is too stupid to be in Congress much less majority whip.  As for Grimm, his conduct is all to familiar to Virginians who await the sentencing of former Governor Bob McDonnell.  A piece in the Washington Post looks at the GOP's damage control efforts - Note Boehner has not pushed Scalise to resign, apparently out of fear of alienating the white supremacist base in the GOP.  Here are highlights:

Republican leaders moved forcefully on Tuesday to control the damage from a pair of scandals that have suddenly disrupted the party as it prepares to take full control on Capitol Hill.

In back-to-back moves, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) pushed out Rep. Michael G. Grimm (R-N.Y.), who pleaded guilty last week to federal tax-evasion charges, and backed Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), who acknowledged that he once ­addressed a white-supremacist group before coming to Congress.

Some Republicans praised Boehner for his actions, expressing their eagerness to start the new Congress in a position of strength to fully exploit their gains in the midterm elections. But others worried about the potential political fallout from a fresh racial controversy for a party eager to show its broadening appeal to minorities ahead of the 2016 presidential election. 

John Weaver, a GOP consultant who advised the presidential campaigns of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), said in an e-mail that Scalise “cannot serve in leadership in our party as we’re in the process of trying to show the American people we can handle the burden of governing, especially in a country so divided across all demographic lines.”

The twin controversies could also derail the carefully laid plans of Boehner and the incoming Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), to shape the party’s message and Washington’s political agenda in the coming weeks. . . . . A controversy involving race could complicate Republican bargaining power.

In a flurry of phone calls late Monday into Tuesday, Scalise reassured his colleagues that he had been oblivious to the racist and anti-Semitic associations of the group when he addressed it in 2002 as a state legislator.

Grimm’s announcement that he will resign next Monday ended months of controversy for the lawmaker, a former FBI agent once considered a star GOP recruit. He left the powerful House Financial Services Committee in the spring after federal prosecutors unveiled a 20-count indictment, but he refused to resign and won reelection for a third term in November despite his troubles.

[C]onservative activists and more mainstream operatives were fretting about the Scalise controversy’s implications for the party’s image.

“It’s always a step forward and two or three steps backward with this kind of stuff. We’ve got to get beyond that,” said Michael Steele, former Maryland lieutenant governor and past chairman of the Republican National Committee.  One of his party’s most prominent black members, Steele suggested that Scalise might have to relinquish his leadership position . . . .

“How Do You Show Up at a David Duke Event and Not Know What It Is?” Erick Erickson, a widely followed radio talk-show host and conservative blogger, said in a Twitter message. 

Sadly, the GOP has become a party of racists and extremists - a trend that has intensified since the Christofascists were allowed to hijack much of the party base and grassroots.  I continue to wonder when the party's racism will be made official with KKK robes handed out at the beginning of every local city and county committee.   

GOP’s New House Majority Attended White Supremacist Convention

Try as it might to pretend that it is not the party of choice of white supremacists and flaming racists, the Republican Party just cannot escape the reality of the actions and affiliations of its members and elected officials.   A case in point? Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the newly elected House of Representatives majority whip, who has belatedly admitted that he attended and spoke at a white supremacist convention some years back.   Scalise's defense/excuse? Ignorance - he did not know what the group was all about even though press coverage makes that hard to believe.  Also, is Scalise so stupid that he hasn't heard of the term "Google search"?  One has to wonder whether Scalise thought he could keep this information hidden from view or if he merely thinks voters are too stupid to check out his past.  The Washington Post looks at Scalise's admission which ought to give minority voters of all races pause.  Here are highlights:

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the newly elected House majority whip, acknowledged Monday that he spoke at a gathering hosted by white nationalist leaders while serving as a state representative in 2002, thrusting a racial controversy into House Republican ranks days before the party assumes control of both congressional chambers.

The 48-year-old Scalise, who ascended to the House GOP’s third-ranking post earlier this year, confirmed through an adviser that he once appeared at a convention of the European-American Unity and Rights Organization.

That organization, founded by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, has been called a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In a statement, Scalise’s spokesperson Moira Bagley emphasized that the then-state lawmaker was unaware at the time of the group’s ideology and its association with racists and neo-Nazi activists.

Scalise’s political circle worked furiously late Monday to quell the storm, with his confidants e-mailing reporters and House members, assuring them that Scalise did not know the implications of his actions in 2002, and described him as a disorganized and ill-prepared young politician who didn’t pay close attention to invitations.

Scalise’s defense — that he was not fully cognizant of the group’s leanings and the nature of the meeting — contrasts with the local press coverage generated by the Duke-coordinated conclave that spring.

The Gambit Weekly, an alternative publication in New Orleans, wrote days before the conference that the hotel distanced itself from Duke’s group and expressed its discomfort.

Former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour (R), said in an interview Monday that Duke’s views are “awful and indefensible and wrong,” but declined to comment on Scalise’s situation.

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.), a rising star in the Democratic Party considered among the most prominent Hispanics in Congress, said that if the incident is true, it “raises serious questions about the judgment of an elected official who would eagerly agree to join a group like that for an event.”

“It’s hard to believe, given David Duke’s reputation in Louisiana, that somebody in politics in Louisiana wasn’t aware of Duke’s associations with the group and what they stand for,” Castro said in a phone interview. “If that’s the case and he agreed to join them for their event, then I think it’s a real test for Speaker Boehner as to whether Congressman Scalise should remain in Republican leadership.” 

Me thinks Scalise is both a racist and a liar -traits all too prevalent in today's GOP.