Milwaukee Mass Shooting Sponsored By The NRA and GOP

On Wednesday, Milwaukee became the site of the latest mass shooting. Anthony Ferrill, a 51 year old electrician and long time employee at the Molson Coors brewery chose to bring two handguns - one equipped with a silencer - to his job site. He shot and killed five coworkers before turning one of the handguns on himself, committing suicide.

Authorities have not given an official motive, but it is known that Ferrill was a gun nut and was often seen going around the neighborhood carrying a gun. We also know that Ferrill had an ongoing dispute with one of the victims and felt that he was being discriminated against due to being African American. It also appeared that he had a dysfunctional thought process:

About a year ago, the co-worker said, Ferrill started saying he believed brewery workers were coming into his home, bugging his computer and moving chairs around.

"I was: 'Are you serious, Anthony? What?' We all kind of joked about it, saying we should maybe get him an aluminum hat. Things just started getting weird. But he was dead serious about it," the co-worker said.

The usual suspects on the right have started their normal litany of excuses including that Ferrill was evil, that it wasn't the right time to discuss guns, etc.

However, those are mere excuses to distract from the fact that Republicans have been willfully refusing to take any action to pass even the most common sense gun laws. Mitch McConnell has been sitting on such a bill for over a year now.

Likewise, Wisconsin Republicans, under the thrall of the NRA, have been even worse. They have systematically dismantled almost all the gun laws in the state. Not coincidentally, Wednesday's shooting was the eleventh mass shooting in the state since 2004.

But there's more. There's always more.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers had called the legislation to a special session to pass two common sense gun laws - one to stop the loophole in background checks and a red flag law. In a poll, more than 80% of Wisconsinites supported these two bills.

Not only did the Republicans refuse to have an honest debate about these laws, but State Senate Majority Leader, Scott Fitzgerald, went beyond the pale to avoid any such debate, much less pass these two laws:

But it wasn’t until 8 p.m., after most of the activists had gone home, that Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, called the session to order with no other lawmakers in the room. He adjourned the session a few seconds later, avoiding debate or a vote on the gun control measures Democratic lawmakers had been advocating for throughout the day.

“I think if there are bills that would make sense to Republican legislators, that we would call ourselves into regular session or extraordinary session to take those up,” Fitzgerald said. “I think the governor knows the bills that he’s offered are not going to pass the Legislature … As they’ve been presented by the governor, there’s no momentum for them.”

You can almost see the NRA's hand sticking up his backside.

On Wednesday morning, Evers again implored the state legislature to review and reconsider the bills. About an hour before the shooting occurred, Fitzgerald again absolutely refused to even entertain the idea:

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, early Wednesday afternoon made clear that the state's gun laws would not change under a Republican-controlled Legislature despite a call for a review from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

"We’re going to have that discussion about the Second Amendment forever," Fitzgerald told reporters in Franklin, about an hour before the shooting at the Molson Coors brewery. "A lot of the provisions that are in place already, people are satisfied with."

His comments came just after Evers again called on lawmakers to take up legislation aimed at keeping guns away from people who are dangerous, underscoring the deep divide between Evers, Democrats and Republicans on the issue of gun restrictions.

It should be noted that while most politicians on both sides of the aisle only offered the perfunctory thoughts and prayers, one politician showed that he truly gets it and has the courage to say it as it is. Shortly after the shooting, State Representative Jonathan Brostoff issued a statement that read in part:

“But in times like this, thoughts and prayers are not - and never have been - enough. In the past 16 years, Wisconsin communities have suffered ten mass shootings, and countless other fatal and near-fatal incidents involving firearms. Time and again, public opinion polling shows that Wisconsinites are in favor of common sense gun reform legislation. We have committed community groups like Moms Demand Action and the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort who have organized their communities and continue to keep these issues at the forefront. We have a governor who specifically called a special session of the Legislature this session in order to address gun violence. And yet, time and again, bought-and-paid-for Republican politicians in this state do everything they possibly can to block simple and popular reform measures from making their way through the political process, all while more and more Wisconsinites die as a direct result of their antipathy and inaction. So today, I have one question for any politician who continues to block these life-saving reforms: how many NRA dollars are Wisconsin lives worth?”

It should also be noted that Fitzgerald is running for Congress, to replace the retiring James Sensenbrenner, which goes a long way to explain why he is so ready to bend over backwards for those NRA

Ron Johnson's Very Bad And Utterly Bizarre Day

In 2018, US Senator Ron Johnson (R - Russia, NRA) proved that he was a Russian asset when he spent the Fourth of July in Mother Russia, kissing Putin's butt while pretending to be patriotic. Immediately upon returning from his little junket, he offhandedly dismissed any and all concerns about Russia hacking our elections.

And we already knew that RoJo was a puppet for the NRA, receiving the fourth highest amount of money from the fascist organization during the 2016 elections.

Now, RoJo is the subject of a complaint filed with the FEC that his campaign was illegal coordinating with the NRA, possibly using Russian money:

The nonprofit and nonpartisan organization Campaign Legal Center has filed an FEC complaint alleging the NRA’s coordination with Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin in the 2016 campaign through a shell corporation called Starboard, which illegally funneled potentially millions from the NRA in in-kind contributions. "There is substantial evidence that the NRA funneled millions through a shell corporation to unlawfully coordinate with candidates it was backing," Brendan Fischer, director of federal reform at the CLC, said. "The NRA using inside information about a candidate's strategy to create 'independent' ads supporting him creates an unfair advantage and it violates the law."

The NRA's lobbying organization as well as its PAC had a contract with Starboard to create ads not just in Johnson's 2016 campaign, but also to help Republicans Tom Cotton, Cory Gardner, and Thom Tillis in 2014. Which means that those three, now running for reelection in 2020, also had illegal help from the NRA in their elections. That's not much of a problem for Cotton looking ahead because it's Arkansas. But Colorado and North Carolina are a different ball of wax.

How much of the millions the NRA was laundering through Starboard was actually Russian money laundered through the NRA? It spent a record $55 million on the 2016 elections; $30 million went to Trump, $25 million to other Republicans. That's the money that it actually had to report, though most of it came from the PAC arm, which doesn't have to disclose the identities of its donors.

Ah, but there's more. There's always more.

On Monday, RoJo showed some very erratic behavior, which might one wonder about his mental acuity.

First, he tried to distance himself, ever so slightly, from the Orange Shitgibbon:

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said on Monday that he thinks President Trump has changed the presidency, but signaled it isn't necessarily in the right direction.

"I think so, not necessarily toward the positive either," Johnson said during an interview in Wisconsin with WTMJ.

RoJo immediately regretted his statement and tried to going back to kissing Trump's ass by blaming Bill Clinton for also damaging the office.

Just to make sure Trump knew that RoJo was still the faithful and loyal lackey, he kept piling on by accusing the DNC of working with Ukraine to get dirt on Trump. He also tried to smear former Vice President Joe Biden, for good measure. One can't be too careful or too stingy when kissing Cheetolini's ass.

GOP Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Charles E. Grassley of Iowa sent a letter to Attorney General William P. Barr asking for more information about whether Ukrainian officials sought to undermine Mr. Trump’s campaign. They also want to know more about 2020 Democratic presidential front-runner, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s interactions with Ukrainian officials.

“Ukrainian efforts abetted by a U.S. political party to interfere in the 2016 election should not be ignored,” the senators wrote. “Such allegations of corruption deserve due scrutiny, and the American people have a right to know when foreign forces attempted to undermine our Democrat processes.”

Yes, the gentle reader read that correctly - Ukraine. You know, the same country that Trump tried to coerce into helping him, leading to a probable impeachment:

I could almost, key word is almost, feel bad for RoJo. One can't have that much exposure to Trump's enormous butt without eventually it having some detrimental effects on them.

Dick and Leah

By Jeff Simpson

 If there is an actual event that epitomizes Leah Vukmir, it is her relationship with Illinois Billionaire Dick Uihlein. 

This is Leah.
Leah wants to be a US Senator. 
Leah loves the Donald.  In public.

Leah thinks the Donald stinks in private.

Leah is right, The Donald does stink. 

This is Dick.

Dick lives in Illinois.
Dick owns Uline.  Don't ever shop at Uline. 
Dick Has lots of money. 
Dick has eight "super PACS".
Dick gave lots of money to the Pedophile Roy Moore.
Dick is a real modern day Republican.
Dick has spent over $11 Million for Kevin Nicholson to try and beat Leah Vukmir. 
Dick really wants to buy another Senator.

Leah Vukmir took the high ground, and complained that Dick was an out of towner trying to buy a Senator.
Dick failed massively as Kevin Nicholson lost.
Leah immediately started begging Dick for lots of money. 
Leah no longer cares that a guy from Illinois is trying to buy a Senate seat, since she is up for sale. 
The right leaning Politifact gave Leah a Full Flip. 
Leah is not even elected yet, and she has mastered the art of flip flop and doing anything for money. 

This is Ron Johnson(RoJo). 

RoJo is not very smart.
RoJo had his father-in-law buy him a Senate seat. 
RoJo knows it pays to marry money.
Rojo will be "twisting Dick's arms" to get him to buy Leah.
Rojo is very interested in Leah winning the other Senate seat.
Rojo is not very interested in Wisconsin or doing his job. 
Do not be like RoJo. 

This is the NRA.

They are a terrorist organization. 
They have given almost $3 million dollars to Leah. 
It is dirty bloody money.
Leah likes any kind of money.   Yuck. 
Let's treat the NRA as the dangerous org they are and stay away from their candidates. 

This is Tammy.

Tammy is our current Senator.
Tammy fights for healthcare, US jobs and human rights.
Leah and the bad men do not like those things. 
That is why they are spending so much money to stop her.

Do not let the bad men and Leah win.
The future of Wisconsin hinges on it. 

Vote Tuesday November 6th, 2018
Thank you! 

Representative Sargent Deals With NRA Death Threats!

By Jeff Simpson 

A couple months ago, someone posted a threat on Scott Walker's facebook page and the guilty person was immediately called out in the press and charged.   

A Menomonee Falls firefighter has been charged with making online threats against Gov. Scott Walker earlier this month. 
Nicholas Hager, 45, of Lannon was charged with disorderly conduct and using a computer message to threaten injury or harm, according to the criminal complaint filed March 19 in Waukesha County Circuit Court. Both charges are misdemeanors. 
 The post allegedly mentioned taking guns to the governor's home, according to the complaint.
"I suggest we take all our firearms to the governor's mansion and execute the parasite," Hager allegedly wrote. 

A random facebook comment, is call to get the media in Wisconsin scrambling and it also gives cover to Scott Walker to push his latest talking points:

Walker, who is up for a third term in November, made the charge against Democrats on Twitter the night a liberal-backed candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court trounced her conservative opponent. Walker has repeated it many times in the week since, as he also sounds an alarm about Wisconsin being hit by a "blue wave" in November.
"Their rhetoric is increasingly not just liberal, but filled with hatred and anger towards me, towards the president, towards Republicans in general," Walker said on the "Fox and Friends" show broadcast nationwide Monday.

As one would expect, what the right wing accuses the left of doing, they are doing but turn up the vitriol to 11.

However the difference is, do not expect these thugs to be charged, ticketed, questioned, written about in the media or even mentioned by Walker. 

As my friend, Assembly Rep Melissa Sargent found out tonight.  If you have a D tacked on to your last name you are open game and no one cares. 

Rep. Sargent posted that she proudly would accept no money from the terrorist group AKA the NRA.   Then the positive things that the Walker told us the WISGOP stand for, showed up:

Josh Muth Traitor.
You will hang with the rest of your ilk once found GUILTY.
He wants to hang Democrats and we will see today if anyone cares in the press or the police.   next thing you know White Supremacists like Josh Muth, who are empowered by the Donald, will be shooting up a waffle house or blowing themselves up making bombs.  Yet the poor Republicans will continue to play the victim and the reality, as always is something completely different.    

Screnock The Supreme Sham

By Jeff Simpson

Next week, we get a chance again to tweak our Wisconsin Supreme Court.  The choice is down to Hard Core right winger Mike Screnock and Rebecca Dallett.   While Dallett has run an all over the board, low road campaign, she has to be the choice. 

Screnock, who likes to pretend he is nonpartisan and will follow the rule of law to a T, yet his whole career has proven the exact opposite.

When Screnock was younger, he took time away from playing tennis and the tuba for the Baraboo Thunderbirds:

To get himself arrested twice for blocking women's access to healthcare and refusing to give his name to the police when arrested. 

It is always nice when the Supreme Court Justice can share his mugshots. 

But wait there is more, there is always more:

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC), Scott Walkers boss, have spent north of $600,000 to elect Screnock.  The Republican Party of Wisconsin, is in for about $150,000, The NRA has given him their strong endorsement and Right Wisconsin gives him unlimited free press because he is their largest advertiser.

Screnock has hired some of the worst of the worst right wing extremists to run his campaign:

 His campaign is staffed by longtime Republican operatives including Sean Lansing and Luke Hilgemann, both formerly with the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity, and Nathan Conrad, formerly a spokesman for the state GOP.

To make matters worse, Screnock knows that he is running as a GOP Justice and has unlimited funds trying to get him elected.   That means he has no interest in even attempting to do the work needed to win grass roots support!

Screnock has blown off candidate questions from the League of Women Voters. He avoided some joint appearances prior to the primary and backed out of a March 13 debate before the Dane County Bar Association, after originally agreeing to take part. The group’s treasurer, David Friedman, says that “to the best of the DCBA’s knowledge,” no other major candidate for state Supreme Court has ever failed to appear at its candidate forum. 

Screnock has even engaged in artful dodging to avoid discussing his own actions in court.

While Mike was in Mock Trial his senior year, it seems that all he has learned to mock are the citizens and voters of Wisconsin.

It is time to upgrade our Supreme Court even if it is only slightly.

Please do not vote Screnock! 

The War Within #MAGA

By Jeff Simpson

The Donald continues to tell us about building a wall, and the dangers of Muslims and the need for travel bans.  School shootings continue with the next one seemingly being worse than the last. 

Lost in the shuffle is the actual war that some people are fighting right here in our country.    The right wing echo chamber, work very hard to cover it up and the mainstream media does not want to deal with the far right hate groups wrath by tying together the incidences, so we will.

The war within our country right now is the far right wing hate groups, led by the NRA and guided by the far right hate talk radio and Fox News.   They are convincing their "soldiers" that the liberals are the enemy, they are going to loe their rights and freedoms, we are too worried about our PC culture and why in the world would women think they could do the same work as men.    While everyone may have heard of an occasional incident, there is becoming a pattern. 

Let's take a look:

*  Starting with the NRA, one of their main vendors is selling a bleeding female mannequin target(and another that resembled President Obama).

Of course mass killings and domestic violence are closely related and we do need to make a profit!

*  We are not done with our friend at the NRA yet, they also recently released a terrorist video aimed at Americans:

Al Quada would be proud.  

*  Speaking of Al Quada, the white supremacist movement(AKA Y'all Quada) has exploded in the US since 2008(coincidentally, the same year America elected an African American president).

LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS and the watchdog groups that track the self-styled “patriot” groups call them anti-government extremists, militias, armed militants or even domestic terrorists. Some opponents of the largely white and rural groups have made fun by calling them “Y’all Qaeda” or “Vanilla ISIS.”
Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors extremism, said there were about 150 such groups in 2008 and about 1,000 now. Potok and other analysts, including law enforcement officials who track the groups, said their supporters number in the hundreds of thousands, counting people who signal their support in more passive ways, such as following the groups on social media. The Facebook page of the Oath Keepers, a group of former members of police forces and the military, for example, has more than 525,000 “likes.”

*   There is an influx of white supremacists running for public office now that they have been empowered, with one of the highest profile being Arthur Jones, who recently won the Republican nomination for Congress.  Jones, calls the holocaust, the "biggest blackest lie in history".  While he ran unopposed,  it did not stop over 20,000 Republicans from voting for him.   Jones has also ran 5 times before, but this year, in 2018 the Donald era - he actually secured a spot on the ballot.

*   Recently, a 24 year old white male, ended up blowing himself up, after targeting local people of color in Austin Texas with home made package bombs.   The home schooled Conditt, referred to himself as a low information Republican:

My name is Mark Conditt. I enjoy cycling, parkour, tennis, reading, and listening to music. I am not that politically inclined. I view myself as a conservative, but I don’t think I have enough information to defend my stance as well as it should be defended. 

As is typical, not having enough information does not stop one from having strong opinions:

On the blog, the suspect gave a window into his mind and political views. In it, he said that he opposes gay marriage, comparing it to bestiality. He railed against abortion. The entries date to 2012 and appear to be for a class. He also wrote about the government releasing an Al-Qaeda terrorist, opining, “I think that it is just plain dumb to release a terrorist, much less a senior one – no matter what he can provide.” 

*  The Parkland High School shooter had some very strong hatred in his bones, he hated blacks, minorities, homosexuals, white women who dated interracially and liberals.  His loves were guns, and The Donald. 

* This past weekend, there was a children organized "March for Our Lives" throughout the country where millions of people marched for reasonable gun control and to make sure our younger generation are registered to vote so the politicians will listen to them.  In Madison the turnout was amazing! 

In almost every March all over the country, there was also a consistent uninvited guest.   The old white guy openly carrying a gun.

Nothing like a loaded gun, the Gadsden flag and ear muffs to really advance your cause. 

*  Locally during the "Day of Action" where students all over the country(including my children), silently left class for 17 minutes in memory of the 17 people who were slaughtered in Florida, local right wing extremist blogger Jimmy Wigderson was besides himself that kids would actually do that:

Unfortunately, in so many other schools, kids are being transported to little protest spots to be props for Democrats seeking to make gun control an issue. In Madison, the high school kids are being transported from West, Lafollette and Memorial High Schools to East High School by bus so they then can go march on the Capitol.
But we know it's a spontaneous uprising of the kids, right? Because so many of them have the wherewithal and credit cards necessary to charter buses.
Governor Scott Walker, wisely, will be out of the Capitol today at a bill signing. And state Senate Republicans are meeting behind closed doors today to actually work on a real school safety plan, not the result of a hyped-up tantrum that'll be thrown outside the Capitol today.
In other words, the grownups are working. Some are working at manipulating kids for their own ends, while others are actually working today to solve the state's problems.

What do you know, someone actually does read Wiggies hate filled extremist website.   

A Pewaukee High School student was arrested Wednesday morning in connection with a threat that prompted the school district to close its campus and cancel classes.
The suspect was taken into custody by investigators with the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department. The investigation has not revealed any evidence of any other actors or participants, according to a joint news release from the Sheriff's Department, the Pewaukee Police Department and the school district.
But a screenshot from the app Sarahah.com that was shared on the Pewaukee Parents Facebook page said, "All you liberals are going to be easy targets. I wouldn't recommend showing up to school, unless you want to die. Pewaukee is going to be bigger than Columbine and Florida combined. Just you wait. Pewaukee isn't so safe. ;) - You're all going to die tomorrow and nothing will stop us."

We are seeing a pattern of home grown terrorism in the United States and there is a pattern of middle to lower class, privileged white Republicans who hate liberals and love guns. 
The group that like to think of themselves as the "good guys with guns" are the profile of the exact people we need to be worried about.  While the kids this past weekend were not intimidated by all of the people openly carrying guns and looking for confrontations at their rallies, the reality is they should have been.

For instance, the NRA and their allies made this picture go viral(of course they photoshopped the original):

Apparently, the right wing is over their faux outrage, of attacking children.  

At a Pro Trump #MAGA rally this weekend in "liberal" Los Angeles, the Trumpets decided that they had no use for minorities or anyone from the media (#fakenews) and this is a picture of how they treated a local photographer(apparently none of them in their fervor to be Super Patriots have ever read the flag code).  

I do not believe that all Republicans are mass murderers, but most mass murderers all seem to fit the same profile.   It is not hard to understand either, with a heavy dose of hard core Republican hatred blaring at them from all angles from hate radio (Rush, Vicki, Dan O Donnell, Belling, etc...) to lunatics like Christian Schneider getting unlimited column inches with no oversight, to the blogs filled with BS and lies like Right Wisconsin, Maciver and Mediatrackers, that are treated as legit news sources by our media, and most political talk shows loaded with hard core Republicans, all people who listen to the airwaves get a heavy dose daily of the same message - Liberals are the enemy of America and are working hard to destroy our country. 

We have a choice this year, will we reward that behavior and keep going further and further down the rabbit hole, or will we stand up and say #Enough ?

The choice is up to us!

Dallet Will NOT Be On My Ballot

By Jeff Simpson

This Tuesday is Spring Primary election day. 

In most places, the only race on the ballot will be for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  There are three names on the Ballot and two will advance. 

The first name is Michael Screnock.  The twice arrested Screnock is running on a platform of being completely impartial, yet has been endorsed by the NRA(the day before the latest school massacre), Scott Walker and (far) Right Wisconsin.   So we know he has no intention of actually being impartial.   

The next name on the Ballot is Rebecca Dallet, who is running on the same platform of impartiality.   She also has as much impartiality credit as Screnock.   Dallet has endorsed and been endorsed(and funded) by Chief Justice Pat Roggensack who is about as hyper partisan as there is sitting on a Court in America. 

Dallet had her crew out attacking, but strangely, the only attacks she has levied have been against her opponent Tim Burns(more info on Mr. Burns shortly).   She has had very little to say about Screnock, apparently not wanting to upset the far right wing of Wisconsin, (IE Roggensack) in case she ends up on the court or against Mr. Burns.   

She has had her crew attack even some not so strong supporters of Tim Burns.    Here are a few examples:

Nation Consulting and high priced consultant Sachin Chheda(who she has paid thousands to):

Sachin K Chheda: Andy O----- yeah, asshole. She gave money in 2014 because she knew that in 2018 Dallet would run against Mike Screnock, who was then Scott Walker’s lawyer, and spend the entire campaign criticizing the Roggensack court. Jesus you people are something else.

Apparently, calling people assholes is a new Consulting strategy that helps bring people together. 

Jessica LoveJoy, employee of a California Consulting firm and Dallet's Campaign Manager responding to my question of why she attacks Tim Burns and not Mike Screnock:

Jessica Lovejoy Jeff Simpson we have absolutely called out Screnock. Are you on our email list? Do you follow the campaign on twitter? 

Re: Burns — it’s funny how a white straight man can spend nine months spewing lies to everyone about a his opponent — a woman candidate — by running negative ads on Facebook, calling her names, manipulating the press, and y’all so easily turn a blind eye... But the minute we put out a FACT proven by Politifact that he’s been misleading voters about his record and legal background you attack our campaign. Interesting how that works.

Apparently straight white males are now unable to have an opinion in politics(although they do vote).   I do agree that straight white males have caused some serious damage to our country (see Ryan, Paul) but so have straight white females and I do not discount all straight white females just because Pat Roggensack and Rebecca Bradley are horrible people. 

I can not bring myself to vote for someone with such poor judgement. 

The third candidate is Tim Burns.

Attorney Tim Burns is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia Law School and is licensed in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Missouri. He is currently a partner at Perkins Coie law firm in Madison, where he specializes in insurance law. Burns also serves on the national board of the American Constitution Society and is former chair of the American Bar Association's committee on Fair and Impartial Courts. To learn more about Tim Burns, visit burnsforwisconsin.com.

I strongly endorse Tim Burns!  

As a progressive, and not a lawyer, I do not want to know what the courts will rule before they even hear the case.  We have that in Wisconsin right now, thanks to the far right extremist that rule the Supreme Court now. 

The Wisgop knows that anything they pass, no matter how many lower courts would rule against them, has an ace in the hole waiting for them at the Wisconsin Supreme Court.   

Tim Burns has let it be known that he has progressive values and will carry them to the court.   To me, that does not mean he will rule for team blue everytime.   Anyone who reads CogDis regularly knows that being a progressive means that you are not on team blue 100% of the time since they are and continually stray from progressive values. 

Tim Burns saying he is a progressive with progressive values, means that he will bring no preconceived notions to the court but that he will look at the law through a lens of compassion, and empathy and neutrality. 

That is something that is sorely missing and we as Wisconsinites, progressives, liberals and independents can add to the Supreme Court in Wisconsin and it starts on Tuesday. 

Please Vote for Tim Burns for Wisconsin Supreme Court!  

 

The Cowardice of Paul Ryan

By Jeff Simpson

In June of 2016, there was a horrific shooting at a nightclub in Florida, 49 people were killed and 58 others injured.  At the same time, there was a Presidential election going on and Hillary Clinton, who had just secured the Democratic nomination had planned a tour through the Midwest with President Obama and one of her stops was supposed to be in Green Bay.   Ms, Clinton and President Obama, figured that even though they were going to be thousands of miles away, that to go about their business of campaigning and fundraising would be disrespectful to the victims and families and thus cancelled the tour.

Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign announced Sunday that she was postponing an upcoming campaign appearance with President Obama in the wake of the mass shooting in Orlando.

Fast forward two years and we are still sorting the pieces of another mass shooting in Florida.  This one at a high school where 17 people were killed and another 14 injured. 

The Republican Speaker of the House, Janesvilles own Paul Ryan (R- Wall St.) had no such qualms whatsoever.   Ryan held a major fundraiser in Key Biscayne, Florida. 

@PERSlSTERS
 16h16 hours ago
More
Sorry we crashed your donor party, @SpeakerRyan, but seriously.. A PARTY 48 hours after the #Parkland massacre?
As the teacher you're talking to in this photo said before your security guys had her and the scary pediatrician lady tossed, "No More Guns!!"
#GunReformNow #Resist

As the teacher tells it :

Thorne said she found Ryan in the middle of the room — “I shook his hand and everything,” she said — and introduced herself as a teacher and Key Biscayner.
“Nice,” the Republican congressman replied.
“Nice?” Thorne said. “You’re here celebrating the death of 17 children.”
At that, Thorne said, Ryan told her he “didn’t want to talk politics” or argue. When Thorne tried to continue, security escorted her out. She chanted “No more guns!” on her way out the door, she said.

Paul Ryan (R-NRA) did not want to "talk politics" at a major political fundraiser.   Meaning he did not have any interest in speaking to a teacher about how to keep schools safe.

Let the peasants grieve the dead kids, we have social security to cut!

Write the check and move on. 

That is why Charlie Pierce calls Paul Ryan - The. Biggest. Fake. Ever.

Please support either Cathy Meyers or Randy Bryce to end Paul Ryan's career as a gopher for the NRA.

The NRA's St. Valentines Day Massacre

By Jeff Simpson

We know(for now) that there was yet another school shooting, this time in Parkland Florida, where 17 people died and many more were injured.    This shooting happened on Valentine's Day!

I do not have the words for this, but so many others do, so I will let them do the talking!

Earlier this morning, @NRA re-tweeted a tweet from a gun maker encouraging people to buy their loved ones guns for #ValentinesDay
Since the #schoolshooting in Florida they've deleted that tweet and have gone silent.

Thankfully, I took a screenshot. pic.twitter.com/cC4A835n0a— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) February 14, 2018   

 carly‏ @car_noveMorecarly Retweeted Tomi Lahren
I was hiding in a closet for 2 hours. It was about guns. You weren't there, you don't know how it felt. Guns give these disgusting people the ability to kill other human beings. This IS about guns and this is about all the people who had their life abruptly ended because of guns.
carly added,Tomi LahrenVerified account 
@TomiLahren
Can the Left let the families grieve for even 24 hours before they push their anti-gun and anti-gunowner agenda? My goodness. This isn't about a gun it's about another lunatic. #FloridaShooting
7:00 AM - 15 Feb 2018

The NRA owns Congress!  

The NRA also owns Scott Walker! 

The Survivors of the shooting get it!

The WISGOP do NOT!

As Steve Kerr says, there is a way to address School Shootings:

Finger On The Trigger

By Jeff Simpson

“It’s incredibly disturbing, the amount of harassment people receive just for expressing a different opinion.” Dana Loesch

Its almost as if people make video's calling for violence and a "clenched fist" against people who they disagree with...
Nah!

Locally, in a recent forum, Milwaukee police chief Ed Flynn, recently blamed CCW for the increase in crime.

One topic that triggered a spirited debate between Chief Flynn and the Police Union’s Mike Crivello was the effect of Wisconsin’s 5-year-old concealed carry law on gun violence in the city.
Flynn says that while "there's a place for concealed carry" for law-abiding citizens, his belief is that the law has put more firearms in the hands of criminals, because of how the state defines a "career criminal."
According to Flynn, the "overwhelming majority" of arrested felons in Milwaukee eventually take plea deals that become misdemeanors - and only convicted felons, or those convicted of three misdemeanors within five years, are barred from carrying a concealed weapon.
"It's an irresponsible law passed by irresponsible legislatures who are more interested in ideological points than saving lives," Flynn said. "And I sure as hell would like some more community outreach about that..too many public officials are silent on it."
Responding to Flynn, Police Association President Michael Crivello said "I have never had a conversation with you, chief, relative to you displaying that we are arresting an overwhelming amount of people, or even one person, that has committed a crime while carrying a CCW."
"The same law says I am forbidden to tell the public when a CCW permit holder breaks the law," Flynn replied. "I'm forbidden by statute."

The Police chief of Milwaukee, saying that the CCW law is irresponsible and causes more crime, while it fits with the actual data, did not sit well with our friends on the right who rely on the ever running NRA stash of money.

Assembly Rep Janel Brandtjen, who grew up on the mean streets of Menomonee Falls, decided she knows best about how to police the city of Milwaukee(so much for backing the badge):

“For far too long Milwaukee’s Police Chief Ed Flynn has been struggling with an ever increasing crime problem in the city. For the past several years, violent crime has been a major problem, with no end in sight. I have long been a vocal critic of the Chief’s failing policies regarding crime. His shortsighted ‘no chase’ policies along with his soft approach on carjacking has signaled to Chicago gangs that Milwaukee is open for business. If Milwaukee is to move forward in a positive direction, we will need leadership at the top that understands the nature of the current gang related crime epidemic. Despite the exploding economic activity of high end condos and apartments all over Milwaukee’s downtown and east side areas, the city continues to decrease in population due to the unsafe environment.

Maybe Ms. Brandtjen could share her intimate knowledge on gangs from Chicago so Chief Flynn could be better prepared to deal with it.    It also is the height of white privilege when you can not understand why people are leaving the city despite(or because of ) the growth of high end condos and taxpayer funded stadiums.

Luckily for Fellow Americans like, Ms. Loesch and Ms. Brandtjen,  The Donald signed a bill making sure they will always have access to guns.

However, next time some unhinged paranoid lunatic decides to start shooting up "the enemy", while it will not be you doing the shooting, your finger will be on the trigger!

Now that precedence has been set that you do not have to be the one actually pulling the trigger to be held accountable!

Gun Industry Collapsing Under Trump Regime

The gun industry and NRA are quickly learning that they should have been careful what they wished for:

Unfortunately, Trump’s win has had the unintended consequence of throwing the firearms industry into a deep slump, forcing major companies to lay off workers, driving prices deep into the red, and forcing some gun dealers out of business. While the Obama years might have been a dark time for gun rights, the Democrat president was a boon for gun retailers and manufacturers (a fact Obama has admitted himself). Each time the needle ticked further in the direction of gun restriction, Americans flocked to their local gun store and plunked down cash for more irons.

The industry swelled because of the “panic buying,” with new manufacturers popping up, old names in the industry swelling their ranks, and more new gun owners pushing into demographics with previously tepid interest.

In the Trump era, however, that fear is gone, and with it the market’s urgency to beat the clock on the next “commonsense” gun ban. That’s helped nudge iconic gunmakers Colt and Remington to lay off hundreds of workers and shut down entire divisions of their companies, forced manufacturers to close their doors, and prompted retailers and distributors to offer deep discounts on firearms, with one offering an AR-15 rifle at prices below even the cheapest handguns.

“The combination of increased inventory in the channel and a likely decrease in consumer demand for the near term has made for a more challenging sell-through environment,” said a top executive with gunmaker Ruger during a February 23 investor call.

While I do not shed a tear for the CEOs of these companies or for the asocial misfits at the NRA, I do not take much joy in hundreds of people losing their jobs. Especially now since they won't be able to afford any health care insurance while they seek out a new job which will likely be low paying.

I'm sure that their "brain trusts" are scrambling around to find a new bogeyman in an effort to boost sales again - mostly likely resorting to their old standby, brown- and black-skinned people.

H/T Ed Heinzelman at Blogging Blue

From My Cold Dead Hands

By Jeff Simpson 

The old Charlton Heston Quote, that everyone who is a tool of the NRA loves to quote:

Now the new saying should read " From my cold dead hands, as I stand over the dead bodies of my two daughters I just murdered."

Police say a Houston-area woman fatally shot her two adult daughters before officers shot and killed her.
The incident happened about 5 p.m. Friday in front of a home on the fringe of the Houston suburb of Fulshear. Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls says a motive was still under investigation, but it appeared the shooting was the climax to a family argument.
Nehls says the daughters had already been shot when a Fulshear police officer arrived and saw the mother with a gun in her hand, apparently preparing to shoot one of her daughters again. The officer shot and killed the woman.
Officials identified the mother as Christy Sheats, 42, and her daughters as Taylor Sheats, 22, and Madison Sheats, 17, CBS affiliate KHOU reported.

What makes this different, than your average daily shooting?  The answer is not much but there is a disturbing trend of crazy shooters.

As Christy let it be known, the damm liberals are out to take her guns and keep her from "protecting" her family.

 

Her daughter Taylor, on April 28, wrote this post:

Casual reminder that I do support the Second Amendment but this is just some food for thought 💭



Perhaps some foreshadowing of knowing her mother did not need to have so many guns?

New details of the story come out that Ms. Sheats has had some history of mental illness, so maybe some liberal should have come and taken her guns!

The Texas woman who killed her two daughters on Friday, before being shot and killed by police herself, allegedly had a history of mental illness, officials say. And she had posted multiple times on social media about her support of firearms. 
The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office had been to Christy Sheats' home "for previous altercations" involving Sheats' "mental crisis," sheriff's spokeswoman Caitilin Espinosa tells PEOPLE. 

Since the NRA likes to take advantage of such tragedies to sell more guns, I am curious which kind they are going to be selling now?  the gun that Ms Sheats used to murder her daughters, or the one the police officer used to make her stop shooting her dead daughters?

At least when Ms. Sheats says "Out of my cold dead hands" she means it!

Next time you hear a pundit, politician,three letter terrorist organization, or random person telling you that "Obama is coming for your guns", I highly recommend walkings lowly away and taking cover - FAST!