SocraticGadfly: 7/14/24 - 7/21/24

July 19, 2024

"Biden withdrawing or not" becoming like "Chomsky dead or not", Round 2

Just like a little over two weeks ago, as I discussed then, we're getting dueling headlines and dueling stories, all fueled by dueling leaks, of course, because that's how the MSM in DC (sounds like Madcow Maddow's network, almost, doesn't it?) rolls.

Axios

And the AP:

Versus the NYT

And Politico:

Per various of the stories, public House Dem opposition is 30 or more. I think there's three Dem Senators who have said, per Pride's Purge, "For the love of God, leave."

On the other hand, the Congressional Black Caucus and Black Democrats in general are bigly in his corner. And the Congressional Hispanic Caucus's PAC has now endorsed him.

The virtual roll call plan remains in place. Originally, it was to stop pro-Palestinian protestors from making Chicago 2024 into Chicago 1968. Now? It also lets Biden, with his hands on the machinery of the Democratic National Committee, block in-person attempts to stampede the convention. So, unless he drops out before Aug. 7, that remains in place and will not change. Bet on it.

Congresscritters, especially on the House side, have gotten more numerous and frenetic in their "leave" calls. Senators are starting to.

But, governors, who often supply presidential candidates? Silencio. That's because many of them — Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer, California's Gavin Newsom and even Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro, are getting mentioned as top possibilities to sidestep Vice President Kamala Harris.

My bet? Still 75 percent odds Biden stays in. After this weekend, and beyond.

Finally, if he stays, could Biden get a bounce-back or sympathy vote from oldsters who feel this is all unfair?

PRO Gainesville going to jail!

As someone who saw the whole original 20-minute video? Per the details of their emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, via Courthouse News

It's not just the ACLU and ACLU of Texas that appear to be lying, and lying to the three defendants, as I said a few weeks ago.

The trio themselves — Amara Ridge, Torrey Henderson and Justin Thompson — also appear to be lying.

I saw the whole 20-minute video when it was posted immediately after that march, and wrote about it.

Therefore this statement:

“No evidence showed that applicants themselves intentionally or knowingly blocked any traffic or rendered any street impassable or unreasonably inconvenient or hazardous,” the protesters wrote in their emergency application. “The court below nonetheless upheld applicants’ convictions based on the actions of unidentified others in the march — an unnamed bicyclist and ‘the crowd’ generally.”

Just don't ring true.

Up until seeing that, as I had not read every bit of trial transcript or appeals filing, I thought it was ACLU and ACLUTx leading the trio by the nose. But, at some point, since, contra nutter original attorney Alison Grinter, they're not "kids," contra her claims at that last link, the issue of responsibility for signing off on such an appeal arises. That includes them having plenty of opportunities to have read the ACLU pamphlet about rights for protests — including protest restrictions when you don't have a permit.

As for the claim, in essence that ...

We could serve our entire sentence before the Supreme Court hears our appeal!

There's no guarantee and VERY little likelihood the Supreme Court is granting cert, you Dum Fuqs. (And, yes, we're at that point. Both the trio, and state and national ACLUs.) Get a clue and get a grip. Or don't, and get called out more. As noted in my previous update, SCOTUS didn't give Steve Bannon a stay.

I still support the idea of either moving the Cooke County Confederate statue, maybe to the Great Hanging site, or else putting a motion-activated audio player at the statue's current location.

But, the methodology of PRO Gainesville's leaders has left me colder yet.

Third party and indy candidate update; sheepdogging bonus

Independent Political Report updates the Colorado state LP vs LP National clusterfuck. Indeed, what DOES happen if both orgs complete all paperwork by the state's Sept. 6 deadline? The state doesn't know. That said, per the state LP wanting to nominate RFK Jr? Brainworm Bobby claims to have ballot access in Colorado already, but this is not confirmed. Bobby has made other state ballot access statements that haven't panned out. 

==

The Democratic Socialists of America, the pretend/fake third party wannabe DSA Roseys, have gotten a small amount of spine and unendorsed AOC.

==

Brainworm Bobby could be facing more sexual harassment or even abuse allegations, aka a Bill Clinton "bimbo eruption." But, when asked about it, in light of the Vanity Fair piece a week ago, indicated he wasn't sure what still lurked out there — and didn't seem to really care.

I emailed both Richard Winger at Ballot Access News and Jordan Willow Evans at Independent Political Report, but neither had run anything at the time of this posting.

==

Bernie Sanders hits a new low in sheepdogging by continuing to back Biden but refusing to say he can serve out a second term, all in the same interview. And, he's full of shit:

This past weekend, in an opinion essay in the Times, Sanders wrote, “Despite my disagreements with [Biden] on particular issues, he has been the most effective president in the modern history of our country and is the strongest candidate to defeat Mr. Trump.”

But, to someone who never was a Berner, him being full of such shit is no surprise.


July 18, 2024

Texas cities being cheap with swimming pools

More and more cities are closing city pools to save money, the Tribune notes. Example No. 1? Lubbock now has ZERO public swimming pools open. Splash pads are being promoted as a cheaper option. But, they're not as effective for full-body cooling. The story also notes that not everybody likes them, and "differently abled" people may find them less accessible.

That said, splash pads don't require lifeguards and can use recirculated water.

But, the story goes on to note that small towns near Lubbock, like Littlefield, have pools they keep open. 

I know a town of less than 2,000 that has a public pool.

To me, with Lubbock, and probably to a lesser extent with Longview, down to just one pool, I think the bottom line is poor city government out of the city manager's office. Older pools should have been mentioned for replacement some time ago. Newer pools should have had a regular annual maintenance schedule.

July 17, 2024

Texas Progressives talk Christian nationalism, more

Christian nationalist big biz engaged in vote suppression? Say it ain't so, but ProPublica says it is, with a dissection of the previously unknown to me Ziklag Foundation. Two of the big players I knew: The Greens of Hobby Lobby and the Uihleins of Uline, the office supply company with the tree-killing order magazines.

One I did NOT. That's the Waller family, owner of the Jockey underwear company. So, as tagged on Twitter? They'll be boycotted from here on out. (I buy "off brands" first, then on sale name brands second, on underwear and under-T shirts.)

==

Via the Trib, Texas Monthly has a longform on new allegations of sexual harassment allegations against state Sens. Charles Schwertner and Borris Miles. Nice for it to be bipartisan. And, no, Danny Goeb as Light Guv and leader of the Tex-ass Senate, you've been "accurately characterized," not "falsely maligned." Per the Monthly, though, it looks at a staffer for one other state senator, not just the currently serving pair, and beyond that, looks at the state Senate's failure to enforce its sexual harassment policy, which is why Danny Boy got himself into such high dudgeon.

It's also got House Speaker Dade Phelan rowing his oar a bit, which also pissed off Danny Boy. 

That said, take note that the Monthly is now paywalling, and dropping this paywall without any advance announcement too (shitheads) you'll not be seeing it in the roundup. No way am I paying, even if it has a loss-leader price of $2 for a basic sub.

==

SocraticGadfly talked about various problems of overuse of AC, and looks straight here at Texans, whether natives, Californicators or other non-natives.

Texas does NOT require nursing homes to have backup generators in the case of power outages. Maybe, per Dan Patrick, the residents have a duty to die.

Colin Allred pulls a Kuffner and refuses to comment one way or the other about whether or not Dementia Joe should step down.

The Observer has a story on that 15th Court of Appeals, that under-lawsuit statewide appeals court basically created to bypass any metropolitan area appeals court, with the Observer story focusing on environmental issues and suits against TCEQ.

The Fort Worth Report covered the Christian nationalist event at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. Nutters in attendance included Kyle Rittenhouse. The story notes that the city of Fort Worth owns the property and reinstated the event after original cancellation.

Frank Bowman at Slate calls out AOC's SCOTUS impeachment nuttery as, well, TL/DR, as performance art.

#WarmongerJoe, #GenocideJoe, #DementiaJoe and Irish Alzheimer's Joe? Shake your hands with Pander Bear Joe; that's what the rent hike caps is. And, I still say that's why he cut the deal he did with Julian Assange. Beyond that, per the not-so-fine print, this requires Congressional approval anyway.

The Arizona Lege's hard-on for vouchers is melting its budget, even forcing cuts in water infrastructure funding. In Aridzona.

Mondoweiss looks at Cori Bush facing a fake pergressuve in her House Dem primary.

Texas Progressives talk Beryl

Off the Kuff wrote lots of things about Beryl

Neil at the Houston Democracy Project said hurricanes are political.

Space City Weather argues that Houston deserves a much better electricity distribution system.  

CultureMap showed how to help wildlife post-Beryl.

The Press gave its props to the Whataburger outage map.

Strangeabbott got back from his Korean junket and did some faux outrage about CenterPoint. Whatever investigation he wants will be a sham. Ditto in spades for Lite Guv Danny Goeb. We remember Uri.

In his latest Chron column, friend Chris Tomlinson did some real outrage, with a callout of Goeb, and of Kenny Boy Paxton for play-acting at AG, but even more, looks at CenterPoint as a big lying capitalist deregulated utility.

And legal shark Tony Buzbee has filed a class-action lawsuit against CenterPoint.

Tex-ass could have been on the national power grid in the 1970s. If only ...

Vox talks more on how this happened, and how this likely isn't the last time. (I personally continue to troll former Helltown mayor Annise Parker on Twitter about her mayoral-years statement about wanting Houston to get bigger than Chicago.)

July 16, 2024

Does Green Party two-time retread Jill Stein still have a hypocrisy problem? Survey says yes! So do the feds, Stein and GP cultists

Two weeks ago (as of the original November 2023 writing of this), I blogged about Stein, the Green Party's 2012 and 2016 candidate, jumping back in the race this year after Cornel West did his Lucy van Pelt and pulled away his football. I did note the angle that not only would this help the Green Party but it would also help her pay off 2016 campaign debt the Federal Elections Committee said she owed and that courts have agreed.

I forgot the biggie, although I did tweet about it after my initial post.

That is, that in 2016, Jill Stein had a hypocrisy problem like Ralph Nader in 2000, and that is, via mutual funds, having investments in oil, tobacco and defense contractor stocks. The last is the biggest this time, given her rightful but presumably hypocritical attacks on Genocide Joe over Israel and Gaza, and her stance on Russia-Ukraine before that. 

And, that appears to have changed not one whit. No, to make it active voice? Jill Stein appears to have done nothing, not one whit, to address this investments hypocrisy.

Eight years ago, Stein did, partially, address Yashar Ali. But, she kind of petard-hoists. (And, it's linked in his piece.)

  • The biggie is, why didn't she divest earlier, before Ali's story, already divest?
  • Second and related? You're a medical doctor, not a public-school teacher whose investments are made by a state pension fund, not themselves. These are YOUR investments.
  • Third? If there are "green" mutual funds that invest in fracking, they're not so "green," right, but why is that an excuse to stop looking further?
  • Fourth, and relevant to today? You don't mention the defense stocks.
  • Fifth, and even more relevant since Oct. 7, 2023, how many stocks in your mutual funds still trade with Israel?

(The image, from the Daily Beast, doesn't have a missile. Will it update for 2024? Will Yashar update his info-bomb?)

For updates about Stein’s non-responsiveness and related issues, go here. (NOTE: If you want to skip directly to the ethical investments issues of 2024, which don’t appear to have changed tremendously from 2016, go here.) 

Update, July 16, 2024: For the name, rank and serial number of a lying millennial Redditor, StillSlaying who claims this is poorly written, doesn't want to look beyond the Green Party, but does want to proselytize for it, go here.  In addition, he's now apparently blocked me, assuming Reddit has a new way of showing when someone's blocked you, or else he's one of these comment-and-delete shitters, or some combination thereof. Well, bye back, after doing the post-and-delete and getting busted. This all after I pointed out that this post has an anchor linking directly to this year's federal disclosure filing by Stein. No, Slaying just didn't want to read.

TL/DR at that link? "Survey says 'yes,' at least indirectly" to the admittedly semi-rhetorical question in the header.

Oh, for Naderites? All of this applies to St. Ralph, too. He's had a hypocrisy issue since 2000, per the 2016 story.

Per the original 2016 story, it next notes that, contra the "gotcha," even if Clinton's campaign gave this a push, that duopoly candidates have also been questioned for their financial holdings, and links to one about GOP candidates.

And, yes, contra a GP cultist type (or Peter Daou, or other leftists who essentially say that just voting for Stein rather than the left hand of the duopoly is enough), no, for me, the back story needs to be explained.

There are a few Stein-specific things, though, in that 2016 original. She mentions she inherited half a million. Good. The story already mentions that itself.

Re the no "gotcha," it turns out that the bankster-investments include ones with Goddam Sachs, for which she criticized Clinton, and also for which, in the link immediately above, GOP candidates were criticized.

Yes, I know Hillary's oppo research dumped that in Ali's lap, or at least nudged him that way. Ditto with the Gore campaign and Nader in 2000. Doesn't make it any less true, especially with this:

Admittedly I have not spent a lot of time researching elusive ethical investments. I prefer using my time fighting for social, economic and ecological transformation, and recycling capitalist money into the fight to do so.

Gee, you'd run for president in 2012, and I guess were lucky enough not to fall under Dear Leader's re-election spotlight. You therefore were able to waste four more years not researching "elusive" ethical investments, which were advertised in The Nation at the time of Nader's run already.

Ergo, Stein, such investments are NOT "elusive."

Anyway, Ali addresses that, too.

While it’s true that Stein would not have control over the investments of the funds she invested in, she did have a choice of whether to invest in these funds to begin with. In the past, political candidates, in an effort to avoid a conflict of interest or have their judgment called into question, have invested their entire portfolios in U.S. Treasuries, cash/cash equivalents, in socially responsible index funds, or clean-energy funds.

Again, hard to argue.

Disclosure: All my money is in either one "National" bank which is, I'll admit, one of lesser ethics, especially post-Great Recession, or a "state" bank which doesn't have problems that I'm aware of.

Until I see an official statement from Stein, pre-empting FEC information, with an independently audited review of her personal investments, I'll assume she has not divested. And, I use the word "divested" deliberately, as I know Stein also supports Boycott, Divest, Sanctions.

And, until I see that, it's a guarantor she's not getting my vote. And, it's an indication that the question in my header is rhetorical and the answer is obvious.

And contra this:

Yes, I think it's an issue. And for details on why? See above. The bits of 401k I have from previous jobs, I have no idea either. BUT? Again, I don't have any control over that, either, other than cashing it out. An individual with an individual mutual fund has the choice of how to invest in the first place.

ALSO? This isn't all 401k. See below. That's a fail there.

Also, again? If you don't see the issue, are you a leftist (Ken said a while back he was a Nader Raider of long ago) who doesn't support BDS? Because, those defense contractors are also arming Israel, let us not forget.

Finally, if these all are protest votes, I can also protest against the protest votes being offered me. No problem doing that.

And, as you see, I've listed as least three different hypocrisy problems, not just one. Well, two of them are tied together. But, if you want a fourth? Per that second link? Why does a medical doctor own tobacco stocks?

And, this all applies in spades to our lying Redditor.

Oh, again, and as I told Brains back then, so-called "ethical" mutual funds exist. They did back when St. Ralph of Nader ran in 2000. Yes, they may have a slightly to modestly lower rate of return, but when you're running a third-party presidential campaign, this is not at all an unreasonable purity test. Actually, they may NOT have a lower rate of return; per Nerd Wallet, they may do just fine. And, calling more bullshit on Stein's claim, that piece also notes that things like "robo-advisors" offer at least some degree of simplification on the task, if you're not seeing a financial advisor who touts and advertises responsible investing advice. As for the history? The modern history, per this piece, goes back somewhat to Vietnam, and even more to the first push for divestment, vis-a-vis South Africa. And, per this piece at Mondoweiss, a site called Resource Generation offers assistance in divestment in general.

Besides, both Stein and Nader are multimillionaires. It's not like they can't or couldn't afford to meet this purity test, if it even is an affordability issue.

And, specific to Stein is her owning Big Pharma stocks even while not only criticizing the pharmaceutical industry in general, but being an antivaxxer.

And, having done John Anthony Castrol's filing with the Office of Government Ethics, at some suitable date in the future, I'll do Stein's, then Google for more info on whatever mutual funds she has.

Update: I'm sure I'll wind up doing this myself. If Yashar Ali is interested, he won't do it until the general election, for Democrat-aiding oppo research reasons. 

Update 1A, July 16: Ali's got his hands full enough trying to figure out what the party line is, or Party line is, and follow it, on whether to run Biden up the flagpole and salute him or instead to join Congresscritters and celebs still trying to shiv Dementia Joe.

Update 2, Feb 23: She / her handlers refuse to respond to my webmail, or my responses to campaign mass blast emails. 

Well, I did get a non-response "response" from a Bill Carini:

Hi Steve, I have relayed your concern to the campaign team. Feel free to check back with me in the future for updates.

There we go. That was Feb. 21. I'll check back in another week. Perhaps. Meanwhile, per the old proverb? "Silence gives assent."

Update 2A, July 15: I did, in my most recent response to one of her fundraising emails, ask the scrubbeenies (and I called them that) who actually post and receive said emails to actually take a look.

Here you go, and the same applies to said millennial Redditor:

If genocide is political violence, why do you have bombed-up stocks in your mutual fund portfolio (along with the oily eXXXon)?
And, to the scrubbeenies who actually answer these emails, have you thought about voting PSL or something?

Boom.

So, I have emailed the public records email at the FEC with the appropriate 201 form. And, I noted that I couldn't find Stein. If that gets her in FEC trouble? GOOD.

Meanwhile, per the original posting, the likes of Pat the Berner on Twitter (you can delete your old account, but many of us still remember) was attacking Party of Socialism and Liberation presidential candidate Claudia de la Cruz on Twitter for her COVID comments. I thought Pat's interpretation of de la Cruz was overblown, first (but he's a COVID Doomer) and, speaking of hypocrisy, hypocritical second, given Stein was playing footsie with antivaxxers in 2016 — even while having pharma stocks in her mutual funds.

UPDATE, March 1, 2024: GOT her FEC filing. Since Google Photos doesn't support PDFs, I'll convert it to a JPG, or a set of JPGs.

1. The overview.

2 and 3: Some breakouts:


OK, the Part 2 filing? CREF Stock 2 401(k) QCSTPX is currently, per Financial Times, 6.25 percent "consumer defensive" and 4.72 percent "energy." Percentages are slightly different at MutualFunds.com but the basic picture is the same. Consumer defense / defensive, per this and many other sites, can include tobacco, government contractors (which would include defense contractors, of course, with Lockheed Martin mentioned by name in the examples) and more.

Now, that's a 401(k), so we could cut her some slack.

But, the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund (VBTLX) is an IRA. Now, it's all bonds, but half are non-governmental, per MutualFunds.com. That includes things like mortgage-backed securities. And, we all remember the housing bubble and the Great Recession, don't we, kiddos?

Then, there's individual stocks, non IRA mutual funds,  etc. (I won't get into her husband's holdings, but ...)

Merck. 3M. Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund, VXUS, which includes Shell. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Fund, which includes 3 percent Exxon and 15 percent "consumer defense." Vanguard 500 Index Fund, which includes 6.9 percent consumer defense and 4.8 percent energy. eXXXon again mentioned by name. (This is the same Exxon that sues its own shareholders to stop shareholder activism, then continues the suit even after they pull in their horns.)

So, she clearly hasn't divested oil stocks, and presumably hasn't divested tobacco and defense stocks either. In addition, FXI is a Chinese large-cap index type fund. Given that she, Margaret Flowers, Howie Hawkins, et al, continue to spout hasbara about Beijing and the Uyghurs, stuff like this is at least also flirting with no bueno.

UPDATE, June 25, 2024: I did a new Office of Government Ethics ask, and nothing major has changed on her investments.

Per Ken above, and Brains years ago? I'll give her a pass on the 401(k). Little pass if any on the IRA; that's a personal investment, even if done by a financial advisor. She still could have asked. The non-IRA investments? Zero slack there.

And in fact, to punk all three of Ken, Brains and Jill Stein? Vanguard itself touts its "ethical" products. Well, at least in Australia, per that link. That said, here's an investor website piece about ESG funds and investments in general, then review of several Vanguard funds. THAT said, the Aussie equivalent of the SEC accused Vanguard of greenwashing 9 months ago. And, in 2021, Vox had a deep-dive piece on the whole issue in general.

Bottom line? Per the old cliche, Stein doesn't have to be purer than Caesar's wife. But, "as pure as" would be nice. That's because, post Oct. 7, 2023, she keeps calling for more pressure on Israel, but she's not walking the walk!

Second bottom line: Unlike Yashar Ali's possible angle in 2016, this is not oppo research for the left hand of the duopoly, which I think was at least part of his bottom line. So, it's out there early. People can make their judgments now. (Mine is to vote Claudia de la Cruz if she is available by write-in.)

Third bottom line? I hope Brains has gotten more skeptical about Stein — more cynical, like me, would be OK, too — compared to where he was in 2016, specifically, more skeptical or cynical than he was then about her investments. (Brains works for a financial advisor/planner, and knows that "ethical mutual funds" exist, and that they did way back in the time of 2000 hypocrite Ralph Nader.) Ditto for other Greens besides Brains.

I'm calling people who sound like Russian bots, Russian bots

Earlier this month, I've had multiple run-ins with people like this on Twitter.

I don't give a fuck if you're not a Russian bot, because you come off like one.

Regular readers of this outpost know that I am a Twitter follower, and reader of, Ivan Katchanovski, and blogger about him on things like the Maidan. They know that I've written about Ukraine as well as Russia committing human rights and war crimes violations since the start of the war, per a piece like this.

But, lying about the Russian missile that hit a Kyiv hospital? Lying about the 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum?

You deserve to be called Russian bots because you are, functionally.

And, you spoil the field of discussion for people like me.

July 15, 2024

Ryan Grim does some #BlueAnon mendacious fluffery on AOC and The Squad

The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution

The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution by Ryan Grim
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book is mendacious by silence in some big ways, one above all.

In other words, beyond the scattershot writing and relative lack of actual political biography mentioned by other low raters?

If you want a #BlueAnon PR piece, read away.

Speaking as a non-duopoly leftist, if you want an honest political bio of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, let alone the rest of the "squad," this ain't it.

The biggie?

The so-called Green New Deal.

The Green New Deal was actually crafted by the Green Party, then latched on to and watered down by the Sunrise Movement, which in reality is the youth wing of Gang Green environmental org Sierra Club, along with the Democratic Socialists of America (which are NOT a third party, their pretenses aside) then further latched on to by AOC, with more watering down.

Despite, per his index, the GND getting approximately 30 pages of discussion, Grim tells you none of this. In fact, "Green Party" ain't in the index.

But I am. I wrote several times about it; this is the biggest. Of course, Grim also lied by omission at The Intercept, Sadly, alleged leftist Adam Tooze lies about that too; that's even though neoliberal mags have told the truth. Wikipedia also has the truth, about its GP start in 2012, under its Green New Deal page.

So, the rhetorical question is: Is DC insider Grim, reporter for Politico, contributor to MSNBC, then DC bureau chief for Puff Hoes before the Intercept, that idiotic, or mendacious? I think you know the answer.

Next? Israel-Palestine.

Oh Grim has lots of coverage, but most of it is national-level Democrat and Democrat funder inside baseball focused on New Jersey Congresscritter Josh Gottheimer.

Grim gets lucky to write his book before Oct. 7, 2023, when AOC and the rest of The Squad gets put to the test. And, found wanting, when put to the test more by Dementia Joe's "I'm still running" line, with even Ilhan Omar kissing the ring. Or that AOC has now been unendorsed by the national DSA.

There's plenty of other dross below the electroplated gold of AOC. I've got that too, since Grim doesn't.

And, since I was at light grokking, no, looking at the index and moving toward DNF at this point?

I've called Grim out before for turd-polishing the whole Squad, and beyond that, the whole Congressional Progressive Caucus, or Pergressuve Cucks, as I call them.

Related to that link? Almost all coverage about Russia is about 2016 election meddling, and Ukraine isn't even in the index, so Grim can hide where the Squad and the Cucks stand on the lead-up to a proxy war and the war itself.

I reserve the right to move this down to 1 star. The only reasons it isn't, right now, is that I hit the 2-star starring, and also because of the book's illumination of Grim. We have clear evidence he's a Blue Anon and willing to go to all ends for that, and related, that, political inside baseball/chess game floats his boat as much as or more than big ideas.

Beyond the review, knowing Grim well enough here, this doesn't surprise me.

I recently signed up for the Substack he and Jeremy Scahill created upon leaving The Intercept, but if it gets to be too much Blue MAGA, I'll unsub.

View all my reviews

July 14, 2024

Trump shooting brief thoughts, ending with the NYT

First, we now know the suspect is Thomas Michael Crooks. He was 20 years old. His dad reportedly bought the weapon, about six months ago. The son appears to have been a gun and explosives semi-nut, if the T-shirt he was wearing is any indication. Also, per the AP, bomb-making materials were found inside his car. Also per that first link, he was a registered Republican, but also reportedly donated to the Progressive Turnout Project PAC. Even that donation isn't what it seems, per Ryan Grim. He notes it's a more spammy org than something like Politicus, and also that, by the date of the donation, Crooks would have been 17 at the time and it was thus illegal.

As of the time of this posting, no motive has been identified. He apparently left no social media hints or anything like that.

That story has a good aerial photo of the layout of the site. And, yes, it's pretty unbelievable that the Secret Service did not have the building where Butler was at secured. No, it doesn't look good that the shooter got with 150 meters. And, unlike Lee Harvey Oswald, this wasn't a weekday and I'll presume he didn't work there. (Oswald was at roughly the same distance from JFK.) Per another Beeb piece, a witness said he could see Crooks "bear crawl" onto the roof, and even see that he had a gun.

The Beeb now has a video reconstruction.

The Independent has more, as British newspapers appear to be having fun generally running circles around American ones:

A local police officer encountered Crooks before he fired towards Mr Trump, AP sources say. Not long before shots rang out, rally goers noticed a man climbing to the top of a roof of a nearby building and warned local law enforcement, according to two law enforcement officials.
One officer climbed to the roof and encountered Crooks, who pointed his rifle at the officer. The officer retreated down the ladder and Crooks quickly took a shot toward former President Trump, and that’s when the US Secret Service counter snipers shot him, said the officials who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Oy.

Longer-term issue: How well or or how poorly do presidential detail Secret Service coordinate with local law enforcement and what can be done to improve that?

The Independent also got his uncle to speak.

Reached by phone, Crooks’s uncle, Mark Crooks, told The Independent that he had “no idea” what might have spurred his nephew to take aim at the former president.
“I don’t know what to say,” he conceded.
The uncle said he hadn’t had any contact with Crooks “in years”, despite living just 20 miles away.
“I haven’t seen the kid since he was little,” Mark Crooks said. “He never wanted to bother [maintaining a relationship with me and my wife], so we don’t see him.”

More oy, and the kid now officially seems a bit thrown off.

==

More sidebar to the story:

First, yes, NRA wingnuts, this does raise again the issue of gun control and peripherals, just weeks after SCOTUS said bump stocks were constitutional.

Second, per the general tenor of tweets that I was calling out, duopoly-style tribalism got played up on Musk's cesspool.

Third? No, Speaker Mike Johnson, there's no need for the House to conduct a full investigation. That's what law enforcement agencies do. And, now that we know he was a registered Republican and his dad bought the gun, that's going to be a big fail, but you'll make it an ugly one, I'm sure.

==

Now, to the backstory:

I had LESS THAN ZERO desire to post something here last night, though I did do some callouts of the nuttery on Twitter.

This is the first:

Of a four-part chain, followed by:

And part 3:

Then part 4:

With a special sidebar for Jim Stewartson, 

who's already a conspiracy theorist and I think mentally ill, and I have no idea why people whom I follow or vice versa follow him.

That said, my ideas on "following" on Twitter may be different from others. If I want to see the latest stupidity from an egregious idiot, I can just search for them without following.

Per this Beeb piece, not all the Twitter nuttery was (apparently) from the US, but a great majority of the social media nuttery was from Twitter, as Elmo's clown car was exactly that yesterday. 

And, "oh, goody," a political advisor to LinkedIn owner and BlueAnon mega-donor Reid Hoffman tried to push the "staged" idea onto journos. Dmitri Mehlhorn appears to have been smoking Russiagate-style crack. Meanwhile, Hoffman's own comment from recently about wishing he had made Trump "an actual martyr," looks incredibly stupid.

==

Meanwhile, I must ask WHAT ROCK the NYT editorial board has been sleeping under with a rushed-out Saturday house editorial with the title: "The Attack on Donald Trump is Antithetical to America."

Another tweet of mine has the reality, instead, or at least a nickel version of it:

OK, let us break that out more.

Jackson's attempted assassin was just nuts. (Interestingly, he went to St. Elizabeths, eventual home 150 or so years later, for John Hinckley.)

But, most other actual or would-be assassins, as I noted in a newspaper column on the 60th anniversary of the JFK assassination?

None of them were criminally insane by the definition of either their times or ours, but all of them had some degree of mental unsteadiness.

And, they were all politically motivated.

John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln after recognizing the Civil War was almost over and kidnapping him wouldn't work.

Charles Guiteau? A semi-insane office seeker upset that James Garfield wouldn't give him a major position.

Leon Czolgosz? An "anarchist of the deed," as they were known back them.

Oswald? Off his rocker, but believing that Cuba was indeed the worker's paradise, and that it did deserve "fair play."

Squeaky Fromme? To the degree that "Charlie's Girls" and the whole Manson cult was politicized, this was political. And, to the degree that being a Charlie's Girl was nuts ...

Sara Jane Moore? Many years later, she cited her radical political views related to the Symbionese Liberation Army. But, she had other issues that indicated she wasn't fully together.

So, only Hinckley and Richard Lawrence, Jackson's would be assassin, were apolitical.

But, the NYT editorial is worse beyond that.

America's "culture of the gun" also means this is not antithetical to America. Rather, it's right up the American exceptionalism alley.

And, the NYT is in a city in a state which DRASTICALLY changed its ballot access laws for third-party and independent candidates at the presidential level in 2021, and as far as I know, the NYT said boo about that on its editorial page. For its editorial board to try to lecture intelligent non-duopoly voters in America about democracy is both laughable and disgusting.

Oh, my callout of this American exceptionalist pontificating extends to any Congresscritters and other politicos, as well as other members of the media, who talk similar stupidity.

And, above all, to

 

John Nichols actually gets it right, and draws parallels to the attempted assassination of Teddy Roosevelt in Milwaukee.

==

Finally, while I have no political use for Brainworm Bobby, I don't give a rat's ass that the Secret Service says you need to poll at 20 percent to warrant protection. Biden can override that anyway, or Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas can if Biden's not blocking that. Update: That FINALLY is going to happen.