Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

This really is a full service blog.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

People are complicated. Love is not.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

He really is that stupid.

In after Baud. Damn.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

You are here: Home / Gun Issues / Gun nuts / Happening Now: Democrats Appear to be Governing

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64Comments

  2. 2.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    Oh no no no the Democrats are politicizing a tragedy dontcha know. The Republicans however are making good points according to the pundits.

  4. 4.

    James E Powell

    @Mai.naem.mobile:

    Among the many things revealed by the Trump Movement is that not too many people give a tinker’s damn what the pundits are saying. Psssst – Don’t tell the pundits; it would break their hearts.

  7. 7.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    But this is so divisive.
    David Brooks will scold us for our lack of comity.

  9. 9.

    JPL

    @J.: The one speaking now is your Senator also. After Sandy Hook, I wrote to Senator Isakson a letter asking if it was possible to tax ammo. Since I’m not availing myself of my second amendment right, I researched how much ammo was, and discovered that it’s inexpensive to mow down a classroom of children. The response back was NO.

  13. 13.

    sigaba

    At this particular moment the congressional Republicans are leaderless and can’t properly say anything for fear of pissing off either Trump or his voters. They’re all running and hiding from any position they’ve ever stood for…

  14. 14.

    glory b

    Since this is also a gun nuts thread:

    I just heard that there was a mini mass shooting in West Virginia today, someone shot three guys for cutting firewood too close to his property line? Was this anywhere near the Cole estate?

  16. 16.

    D58826

    OT. Hewitt is on MSNBC rewriting history again. It’s all Obama/Hillary fault because of the failure to negotiate a status of forces agreement in Iraq in 2011. Again history starts in 2009. Bush negotiated the agreement. Remember the flying shoe when he signed it? The sticking point in 2007 and again in 2011 was whither US troops would be subject to US military law or Iraqi law. Now from the Iraqi point of view, everything I’ve read stays that was just a dodge. They wanted US troops out. But Jan. 20, 2001-Jan 20 2009 at 11:59 have been sent down the GOP memory hole.

  20. 20.

    Cat48

    Hugh Hewitt is very upset that Democrats & their Muslim President are politicizing a tragedy. It’s too soon for Hugh on msnbc.

  21. 21.

    Felonius Monk

    Colorful Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore (R), who is known for her fervent advocacy for gun rights and distrust of federal government agencies, lost her bid to join the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday.

    Fiore came in a distant third place with 18 percent of the vote in the state’s 3rd Congressional district.

    I’m sure that the Gun-Humpers for Jebus are not amused.

  23. 23.

    Susan K of the tech support

    I’ve called both of my Senators’s offices to voice my support of this filibuster.

    (I also mentioned that since no-fly list is a point of agreement as starting place, important to fix the due process problems with the list.)

  24. 24.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    Fiore came in a distant third place with 18 percent of the vote in the state’s 3rd Congressional district.

    @Felonius Monk: That’s really going to hurt sales of her calendar.

  25. 25.

    eric

    I can tell you that over the last 48 hours i have seen next to nothing on FB from the people who always share Trump stuff. Usually see 10 -15 a day, now one or two. Worm has turned

  26. 26.

    D58826

    @Susan K of the tech support: Funny how the due process issue is only important when it affects guns. For sure use the leverage to fix the problem but it does show that the GOP is using this as an excuse to block action on guns not because they care a wit about due process.

  27. 27.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @D58826:

    And Hewitt accusing Obama of setting up and knocking down “straw men.”

    So apparently he is not merely a frequent guest but is now on the MSNBC staff — “political analyst.” Oh MSNBC, we hardly knew ye.

  30. 30.

    D58826

    @SiubhanDuinne: political shill more like it. If MSNBC wants to have a GOP partisan on then fine but balance that out with a democratic partisan. And identify them as such. ‘Political analyst’ sounds like some one who is going to analyze the topic under discussion not spout partisan talking points. Even Tweety got peeved at him the other night. Tweety complained that no matter what question he asked Hewitt turned into an attack on Hillary or Obama.

  31. 31.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    This was Never Supposed to Happen to You: Thoughts from a middle-aged dyke re: the Orlando Massacre.

    @Leto: Nicely put. Wasn’t supposed to be one of “their own” doing the shooting either, (that’s an awful way to phrase it and I don’t know any better one, because although the shooter was gay he wasn’t in any way, shape or form part of the community) but here we are. I guess they’re full citizens now, they have the right to get shot by their peers just like everyone else. How fucking horrible.

    I bet a lot of the old civil rights guys, the few still alive, probably feel the same way. Sixty years later and their grandkids are still getting shot down in the street. And not infrequently by cops, but more often the kids they went to school with. Yeah, it’s worth the struggle but the payoff is never as good as you hope it will be.

  32. 32.

    Trollhattan

    For anybody else confused as me as to what was being filibustered, a brief explaination:

    Murphy’s press secretary, Laura Maloney, described the floor action today as a filibuster. The Senate, she said, is considering an appropriations bill, and it is now being delayed by floor speeches.

    NPR’s Ron Elving says the action meets all but one of the requirements for being called a filibuster. Typically, senators use the maneuver to stop a bill from passing the Senate. This time around, however, the intent is not to delay the appropriations bill, but to force action on gun control measures.

    Specifically, Democrats are pushing bills that institute universal background checks and bar suspected terrorists from buying guns.

    tl;dr version: Not blocking a specific bill, blocking senate bidnez as usual until action on guns is taken.

  33. 33.

    Trollhattan

    @Felonius Monk:
    I could not believe my eyes what she did on behalf of the Bundy terrorists from her lofty position in the Nevada legislature. And then there are the family Christmas cards….

  34. 34.

    donnah

    “Senators say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets. The fear that those children who survived the massacre must feel every time they remember their teachers stacking them into closets and bathrooms, whispering that they loved them, so that love would be the last thing the students heard if the gunman found them.”

    Gabrielle Giffords April, 2014

  35. 35.

    bluehill

    @Leto: This gets to my point from a prior post about politicians apologizing for past anti-lgbt positions. Apologies aren’t enough without actions because they are supposed to be leaders.

    supergrover @fuzzlaw

    And it’s not just the nuts with the guns. It’s the politicians who sacrifice us on the altar of hateful rhetoric to score political points.

  36. 36.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @CONGRATULATIONS!: I was thinking today about how Ds seemed to gradually coalesce around Clinton over the primaries. Lots of people i saw were at least Sanders curious at the start. Over the campaign, events happened that would make one or another shift to Clinton. Maybe it was Sanders saying he’d achieve his goals by getting millions of people to demonstrate in DC. Maybe it was the NYDN interview. Maybe it was him dismissing southern voters or calling PP part of the establishment. Maybe it was his delegates behaving badly in NV and him seeming inclined to excuse it. Whatever. Different people reacted at different points.

    I think we’ll see the same with Trump. Not that Trump and Sanders are comparable as human beings much less as candidates for president, but that voters who were previous inattentive are watching and some of them will react badly. Not all, sadly. But enough, I think.

  37. 37.

    Trollhattan

    @donnah:
    C’mon, what does she know?

    Think I need my cynicism lobe checked, it’s been swollen for awhile now.

  38. 38.

    Elie

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    What I don’t understand about MSNBC is are they actually getting more viewers with this new shtick? I haven’t watched them in a long long time because of their program and personnel changes. Is this new approach a win for them, being Fox lite? I have to got to BBC to get anything like a dispassionate reporting of what’s going on in the US politically anymore. I used to augment them with Al Jazeera when it was still around, particularly for the social documentaries about the “real” America.

  40. 40.

    Leto

    @bluehill:

    Apologies aren’t enough without actions because they are supposed to be leaders.

    Exactly! In Betty’s post downstairs, she has that Sam Bee clip. In it she has a great rebuttal for the “Thoughts and prayers” folk: Faith without works is dead. I can’t hold God accountable (atheist), but I/we sure as fu#k can hold them accountable.

  41. 41.

    Elie

    @Leto:

    I’m sympathetic but as a black person, I have had to learn things over and over. As progressives and liberals, we know the work is never done but must be reinforced over and over — both the lessons and continuing to build out the vision — not just for ourselves, but all people who need freedom and justice. We are all connected in that way… we are indeed, as has been stated, our brother’s keeper….

  42. 42.

    Glidwrith

    I called both my Senators as well and thanked them. I also expressed my desire that yes, we will take away your guns because you have demonstrated the paranoia, irrationality and detachment from reality that shows you are precisely the sort of person that shouldn’t have them. Everyone else can keep theirs.

  43. 43.

    Leto

    @Elie: It’s taken me a while to learn some of these lessons too. But it’s the reason I keep coming back to this community because they’re continually teaching me new lessons and showing me how everything is connected.

  45. 45.

    Susan K of the tech support

    Senator Warren was fire. Total fire. The excerpt will become a viral video, eventually. Or soon.

    Sen Jeff Merkley (OR) remembers his cousin, who was killed in the Roseburg Oregon shooting.

  46. 46.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    I have to got to BBC to get anything like a dispassionate reporting of what’s going on in the US politically anymore.

    @Elie: Beeb’s going down the same black hole of media-driven conservatism. They’re as bad as Fox when it comes to actual reporting on European affairs. About the only decent division left is their Africa reporting crew, and that’s mostly because they’re the only people doing it.

    I recommend the Guardian. They’re pretty much just into facts, with an occasional splash of mild liberalism. Very mild. Almost imperceptible. But that’s as good as we get these days.

  48. 48.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    Lots of people i saw were at least Sanders curious at the start.

    @Iowa Old Lady: I was not. I’ve been to his state before, quite a few times. It’s really nice if you’re white and don’t like anything other than old-school white people food. Culturally bland, spiritually and culinary hell. Guess I’ve just lived around Hispanics too long to feel comfortable with their absence. And there’s some good reasons they aren’t moving there, not the least of which they aren’t welcomed by the locals.

    I think we’ll see the same with Trump. Not that Trump and Sanders are comparable as human beings much less as candidates for president, but that voters who were previous inattentive are watching and some of them will react badly. Not all, sadly. But enough, I think.

    I doubt anyone who thought Trump was a good idea in the first place will be changing their minds, because you’d have had to have been an awful person in the first place to think the guy was a good idea. I mean, seriously – anyone – do you know anyone who voted for Trump who wasn’t an absolute jerk in the first place? I don’t.

    I hope that a percentage do come around, but I’m not counting on it. If they do, it will be because he fucks up and does “something liberal”.

  49. 49.

    Leto

    @CONGRATULATIONS!: Is that for the America BBC version? I live in the UK and I feel BBC news reporting is pretty good. Compared to the Fox/MSNBC shit, it’s night and day.

  51. 51.

    Mary G

    Dianne Feinstein isn’t planning to participate “at this time.” I encouraged her office to tell her to get her ass out there, it’s embarrassing me. Barbara Boxer’s office says she’s not in DC today, but supports her colleagues who are speaking.

  52. 52.

    misterpuff

    @SiubhanDuinne: Tweety was highly dismissive of him last night. He went right to “Clinton sucks” talking points when asked about Trump.
    MSNBC new management is FUABS.

  53. 53.

    WaterGirl

    @donnah: I copied it, too, before I posted! Will bring it out with any family members who still sputter about the 2nd amendment.

  55. 55.

    Trollhattan

    @Leto:
    I listen to World Service, a habit developed in the shortwave era, and love it dearly for the breadth of coverage and how they’ll auger into a topic no American news outlet will ever be aware exists. “Hard Talk” can be a bit much.

  56. 56.

    p.a.

    Democrats Appear to be Governing

    It’s a dirty job but some one has to do it. c.f. Louisiana.

  57. 57.

    The Golux

    @gogol’s wife:

    Mine too. I love him.

    Mine three. Proud to be a Nutmegger.

    And as for the subject of gun fetishization, when gun fondlers refer to their penis substitutes as “just a tool”, the response should be “Agreed. And Adam Lanza, Omar Mateen and all the others used the tool exactly as it was designed to be used, which is to kill as many people as possible.”

  58. 58.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    Can you get the Guardian on Teevee? Of course, I can get it on-line.

    @Elie: Whoops. Erm, no, you cannot. That would be nice. I live in my own little world of ONLY getting my news off the internet, and I never even think that other folks are still doing it via video. Sorry.

    Is that for the America BBC version? I live in the UK and I feel BBC news reporting is pretty good. Compared to the Fox/MSNBC shit, it’s night and day.

    @Leto: See above. Sorry! Good God I feel like a moron.

    I listen to World Service, a habit developed in the shortwave era, and love it dearly for the breadth of coverage and how they’ll auger into a topic no American news outlet will ever be aware exists.

    @Trollhattan: I just got my license, FINALLY, after many decades of wanting to do so. Is BBC shortwave still a thing? That would be the best if so!

  59. 59.

    Leto

    @CONGRATULATIONS!: It’s ok! BBC4 is still pretty good, they’ll do the same “augering” on topics. For online, The Guardian and BJ. I try to get a variety of news sources from all platforms :)

  60. 60.

    Trollhattan

    @CONGRATULATIONS!:
    BBS SW still exists, but they stopped broadcasting in English to North American several years back. Here are their current broadcast times, frequencies and targets and here is someone’s labor of love–a summary of BBC English broadcasts. Think I’m maxed out on links.

  61. 61.

    ? Martin

    @Mary G: Feinstein isn’t out there because she’s working with Cornyn on legislation. It sounds like there is enough GOP support for some kind of legislation to pass (provided that McConnell will allow it to be voted on) given that Toomey opened the door for the filibustery thing. So, she’s staying above this because she needs to at this time.

  62. 62.

    pat

    Our local PBS station carries BBC news at the same time as the NBC, CBS, etc. and we have started watching it mostly because they don’t have those crummy commercials for pharmaceuticals (ask your doctor about…. )

  64. 64.

    JillS

    Still governing… 13.5 hours… still live on CSPAN, but I’ve got to go to bed so I can adult in the morning. Is it wrong I’m hoping they are still at it in the morning? (Although I do hope they’ve found a way for Chris Murphy to pee!)

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