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You are here: Home / Gun Issues / Gun nuts / Rapid Evolution of Columbus Man

Rapid Evolution of Columbus Man

by Betty Cracker|  February 19, 201812:04 pm| 288 Comments

This post is in: Gun nuts, Open Threads, Politics

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Yesterday, Ohio Governor John Kasich went on CNN to sell himself as a reasonable Republican on gun issues. In the convo with Dana Bash below, Kasich says he suggested to a “gun collector friend” that a ban on AR-15s wouldn’t erode his (the friend’s) the 2nd amendment rights, which is straight-up heresy in the Church of the Gun, though Kasich did stop short of endorsing an assault weapons ban. Kasich got plenty of plaudits from non-Republicans for his leadership on the issue!

Gov. John Kasich calls Congress "totally dysfunctional": "Do I think they can do anything on guns? I hope they prove me wrong and they can, because I have no confidence in them" #CNNSOTU https://t.co/CnU1ehOkoy

— CNN (@CNN) February 18, 2018

Mistermix covered it here, noting that Kasich had conveniently transformed himself into a 2nd amendment absolutist when it suited his purposes a few years back.

After the tweet above went viral, I took a look at Kasich’s 2nd amendment “issues” page. Here’s what it looked like earlier in the day on Sunday, as the CNN tweet was blowing up:

Sounds like a typical NRA shill, right? “[S]igned every pro-2nd amendment bill that crossed his desk,” and “endorsed by the National Rifle Association” and “opposing Barack Obama’s gun control efforts” blah blah blah.

I took a screen shot of that page to disabuse people on Twitter of the notion that Governor Kasich, who wants to be President Kasich, is in any way a moderate on gun control — at least, he wasn’t before the brave kids in Florida started calling out NRA-branded politicians.

But later yesterday afternoon, on another device, I went to take another screen shot of the page above for the same purpose, and poof! It was gone!

Huh. It’s almost like the Kasich social media team realized the staunchly pro-NRA page didn’t match up with the candidate’s governor’s new persona. Someone put in weekend overtime to produce today’s page:

So, in 24 hours, Kasich evolved from “Defending the Second Amendment” to “Common Sense on the Second Amendment.” Good for him, I guess.

Was it a sincere conversion, or has he sensed a shift in the political wind? I quit giving Republicans the benefit of the doubt before the turn of the century, kids. But whether Kasich is a cynical bastard is beside the point: Something’s happening here.

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Previous Post: « Churn, prophylaxis and incentives
Next Post: Good News for the White House »

Reader Interactions

288Comments

  1. 1.

    Magda in Black

    February 19, 2018 at 12:07 pm

    That hound has a good nose.

  2. 2.

    Pharniel

    February 19, 2018 at 12:07 pm

    Shifting with the political wind. He’s done it a few times now.

  3. 3.

    germy

    February 19, 2018 at 12:08 pm

    Governor Kasich, who wants to be President Kasich

    God, please no.

  4. 4.

    germy

    February 19, 2018 at 12:09 pm

    Thanks to the bravery of the Parkland shooting survivors, @NRA-sponsored politicians are finally being seen as toxic. As Stoneman Douglas High School student David Hogg put it on CNN, “If you can’t get elected without taking money from child murderers, why are you running?”

    — Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) February 19, 2018

  5. 5.

    WereBear

    February 19, 2018 at 12:10 pm

    He might be a lousy Governor, but he makes a fine windsock.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    February 19, 2018 at 12:10 pm

    Unlike the old gun rights page, the new common sense page doesn’t appear to list any actions or concrete proposals.

  7. 7.

    Capri

    February 19, 2018 at 12:10 pm

    If he votes for gun control because he has sincerely changed his stance or because he’s a typical politician who excels are running to the front of the crowd so that he can claim he is leading it – who cares? He’s voting for gun control.
    As a friend of mine once told me after spending time with lawmakers trying to help get legislation passed,
    “The thing about politicians is that they are so political.”

  8. 8.

    Van Buren

    February 19, 2018 at 12:11 pm

    I’m finding it hard to visualize President Kasich leading the way towards common sense regulations. I’m finding it east to visualize him stalling and stonewalling and consulting with Wayne LaPierre.

  9. 9.

    trollhattan

    February 19, 2018 at 12:11 pm

    “Perfectly lubricated weathervane” works as well for Kasich as it does for Mittens.

    A Monday amuse bouche: how about a Trump-Thomas twofer?

  10. 10.

    Tom Levenson

    February 19, 2018 at 12:12 pm

    My guess is that the 2020 GOP primary voting population won’t have a bit of time for Kasich. The Trump true believers, close to if not more than half of the primary electorate, have exactly zero reason to like or trust him. 2A folks will certainly know he’s a weathervane. Anyone with even a half-competent media and oppo team will have no trouble painting the walls with his flip flops. By 2024, he’ll still have all those liabilities, be old news, and will face death-cage-matches with the young and the hungry like Tom Cotton.

    TL:DR? Kasich is a suck-bag weasel and the GOP can and will do much worse.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    February 19, 2018 at 12:12 pm

    @germy: I still don’t see him getting the GOP nomination. If he does, you best believe that the Village will be an arm of his campaign.

  12. 12.

    trollhattan

    February 19, 2018 at 12:12 pm

    @Van Buren:
    Kasich is a better-behaved Sam Brownback.

  13. 13.

    Baud

    February 19, 2018 at 12:13 pm

    @Capri: ASAIK, he ain’t done shit yet.

  14. 14.

    ChrisS

    February 19, 2018 at 12:13 pm

    What are common sense regulations? COmmon sense is one of those weaselly phrases that means absolutely nothing and everything.

    Smart one Gov.

  15. 15.

    mad citizen

    February 19, 2018 at 12:13 pm

    On the surface, and compared to the other Republican idiots that ran last time, Kasich seems like a reasonable Midwestern man. But the thing I’ll always remember about him, from a profile piece, was his reaction to the movie Fargo–one of my all time favorites. Kasich and his wife rented the movie, and watched it up to the wood chipper machine scene before turning it off and declaring how horrible it was. WTF? That scene is near the end of the movie. I lost all respect for him after I learned this.

  16. 16.

    Amir Khalid

    February 19, 2018 at 12:14 pm

    @Baud:
    Well, when inaction is really what you want to justify …

  17. 17.

    NotMax

    February 19, 2018 at 12:15 pm

    “Kasich: Weathervane or anemometer? Our panel of experts will discuss right after this important message.”

  18. 18.

    Some Guy, Helvering

    February 19, 2018 at 12:16 pm

    LGM has made the point pretty frequently lately–changing positions to capture what your voters want before the conventional wisdom catches up is called good politics. Doesn’t make the pol a moral paragon.

    Still don’t trust Kasich an inch. Interesting that he thinks this is viable space for ousting or replacing tRump, or at least for getting No Labels handies.

    Really this is most interesting if the weather has really changed, though. Might be a rallying midterm issue if Ryan and McConnel keep bipartisan legislation from a vote.

  19. 19.

    Betty Cracker

    February 19, 2018 at 12:16 pm

    @Capri: Agreed. I don’t particularly care if his conversion is sincere or not, and politicians flip-flop all the time. It’s only remarkable because Republicans with national ambitions used to evolve on guns in only one direction — toward the NRA.

  20. 20.

    mad citizen

    February 19, 2018 at 12:16 pm

    Who is Mittens? Is there an explainer on BJ for the hundreds of aliases you guys use?

  21. 21.

    Baud

    February 19, 2018 at 12:17 pm

    @mad citizen: Mitt Romney.

  22. 22.

    Barbara

    February 19, 2018 at 12:18 pm

    @trollhattan: As in, it didn’t work out at all. Kasich isn’t going to be president on the basis of standing up to the gun lobby. I don’t know why he is doing this, but it could be that he knows that he is never going to be president, just based on the results of his campaign in 2016.

  23. 23.

    foucault swing voter mistermix

    February 19, 2018 at 12:18 pm

    @mad citizen: Mittens = Mitt Romney.

    I agree with Betty that something is happening here. I doubt that any R who is not a gun humper can get through a primary, so it probably won’t help Kasich.

  24. 24.

    Ryan

    February 19, 2018 at 12:21 pm

    Imagine that. Running against Congress as a political strategy.

  25. 25.

    WaterGirl

    February 19, 2018 at 12:22 pm

    @mad citizen: Anne Laurie put together a Lexicon of BJ stuff, but I don’t think it includes the most recent aliases. That’s a good idea for an update, though.

    edit: the Lexicon is at the top of the blog under Quick Links.

  26. 26.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 12:23 pm

    At this point, Republicans have a better chance of enacting reasonable gun control measures than Democrats.

    For too long, the loudest voices in the Democratic party have called for absurdly punitive gun laws. So much so that they have pretty much made themselves irrelevant to the gun control debate. But, gosh, they sure got to feel good about staking out a really bad-ass position!!!

    Its sort of like Johnson and the civil rights act. He was able to get that through because the Southern racists thought he was one of them. Because he was.

  27. 27.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 12:25 pm

    @Betty Cracker: The bigger issue is going to be actually enacting legislative change. Once a law regarding firearms goes on the books, unless it comes with a built in sunset like the Assault Weapons Ban, it is almost impossible to get it off the books. The National Firearms Act and the Gun Control Act are in dire need of revision. Largely to update things for the reality of the 21st Century. It is almost impossible to do so. The same issue effects anything going before the Supreme Court right now. None of the justices trust each other, and specifically none of them trust Justice Kennedy, not to side with the other block on this issue. This has resulted in the Court basically not clarifying anything from Heller unless it absolutely has to. As a result the Federal appeals courts are all over the map on what Heller is supposed to mean, which just confuses the daylights out of everyone.

  28. 28.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 12:26 pm

    This is interesting:

    Uncle in FBI, distant uncle. Known not to talk about work and we don’t ask.

    Said this to my father: “the Russia stuff is bizzare and infuriating but blaming us for the killing of children. You thought we were pissed odd before. Gloves are gonna come off now.”

    — YS (@NYinLA2121) February 19, 2018

  29. 29.

    Betty Cracker

    February 19, 2018 at 12:28 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: That’s a steaming load of horse shit. The measures proposed by Democrats in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre were extremely reasonable, and the GOP shot it down all the same. You squeal like a ruptured hog when you think anyone is tarring you with the same brush as your fellow “assault” “rifle” owners (now with extra scare quotes), but you turn around and do the same damn thing every time the issue comes up.

  30. 30.

    Jeff

    February 19, 2018 at 12:29 pm

    Angry kids are happening. This is the first time after a mass shooting that angry people are being shown. That’s new.

  31. 31.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    February 19, 2018 at 12:30 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Good, or wear the gloves with the plaster of paris in them.

  32. 32.

    Tom Levenson

    February 19, 2018 at 12:30 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: It has never been a sound strategy to piss of the guys with badges and broad search powers.

  33. 33.

    Starfish

    February 19, 2018 at 12:30 pm

    @Capri: The thing with Republicans is that they say things, but their votes do not align with what they are saying. Kasich and Sasse try to play up their centrist bona fides but vote with the Trump agenda over 90% of the time.

  34. 34.

    Tom Levenson

    February 19, 2018 at 12:31 pm

    @Tilda Swintons Bald Cap: Nice. Maybe we should hold a “Give an FBI Agent A Roll Of Quarters” fund raiser.

  35. 35.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 12:31 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: Not to pile on, but which Democrats are you thinking of and what were they proposing?

  36. 36.

    buckeye666

    February 19, 2018 at 12:32 pm

    @trollhattan:
    People who think that Kasich is a moderate are people who don’t live in Ohio. Though, he’s not quite as bad as Brownback, he’s still a a pretty awful person.

  37. 37.

    No One of Consequence

    February 19, 2018 at 12:32 pm

    Indeed. Something *is* happening here…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp5JCrSXkJY

    – NOoC

  38. 38.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 12:32 pm

    @Tom Levenson: I may have heard something to that effect at some point.

  39. 39.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 12:33 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    You’re missing the point here. The exact same “reasonable” regulation proposed and pushed by Democrats that fails miserably might have a chance of success under Republican sponsorship.

    You, like many on the ostensible left, are just lousy at stepping back and looking at the political dynamic in play.

  40. 40.

    condorcet runner-up

    February 19, 2018 at 12:34 pm

    @Capri: That’s my general view of these things, as well. I don’t care if he privately is the most staunch 2nd amendment absolutist in the world if he starts shifting his policy positions in favor of gun control. As President Obama constantly reminded people, the politicians will move when the people move them. So whether they “truly believe” in their position or not, what’s important is the ultimate vote they take on policy, not whether they believe it or not.

  41. 41.

    The Dangerman

    February 19, 2018 at 12:34 pm

    What a waste of time and money; Kasich has less of a chance of being nominated for the Presidency than Stormy Daniels.

  42. 42.

    rikyrah

    February 19, 2018 at 12:35 pm

    Lying piece of garbage??

  43. 43.

    WereBear

    February 19, 2018 at 12:36 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Oh, you have me all excited now :)

  44. 44.

    WereBear

    February 19, 2018 at 12:36 pm

    @The Dangerman: Stormy Daniels has more demonstrated expertise.

  45. 45.

    Betty Cracker

    February 19, 2018 at 12:37 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: The post-Sandy Hook bill was a bipartisan effort, actually. I don’t know what you think I’m missing — I’d be thrilled to pieces to see commonsense gun safety like universal background checks on ALL sales, a ban on high-capacity magazines, ban on bump stocks, etc., even if Satan himself proposed it.

  46. 46.

    Frank Wilhoit

    February 19, 2018 at 12:37 pm

    Y’all’n need to know a couple stuff about John Kasich. If you don’t live in Ohio, and therefore you get your picture of the man from the national media, you see a very partial and slanted picture, made up of bits and pieces that do not cohere. In other words…maverick! (Hang on while I answer the big white telephone, brb.)

    Right now, what you need to know about Kasich is that Trump Republicans, who classify him as a RINO, have veto-proof majorities in both houses of the Ohio state legislature. Therefore Kasich is a spectator. He cannot initiate anything; he cannot prevent anything; he cannot persuade. He is a cipher in Ohio. He can still get some national media, because…see above.

    Back when he was running Ohio, what you needed to know about John Kasich is that he used State government to create/divert/amplify streams of funding for his friends to skim. He is not personally corrupt; he is like Warren Harding, without the nookie closets. But he will go to any length, including outright violation of black-letter law, to put his friends in position to skim public money (and, of course, to shut out his non-friends).

    Now back to that national media persona. National John doesn’t have an audience. He thinks he does, but he doesn’t. He’ll find that out in his own time. In the meanwhile, no attention need be paid. The rest of us have paint to watch dry.

  47. 47.

    trnc

    February 19, 2018 at 12:38 pm

    @Capri: A person with actual convictions will continue to fight when the pendulum swings back.

  48. 48.

    condorcet runner-up

    February 19, 2018 at 12:38 pm

    @Starfish: This is the bigger issue. If GOPers are going to move on policy, they need to back it up with their voting record. Kasich changing up his official position on his website seems to be a more substantial shift than the typical GOPer going on a cable news show and taking shots at Trump, after which they still go ahead and vote party line. But you are absolutely right that they should not be lauded until they back up words with action.

  49. 49.

    trollhattan

    February 19, 2018 at 12:38 pm

    @Jeff:
    I sense these kids in Florida are more sophisticated about media and message while also being angered in addition to being overwhelmingly sad. They see–very correctly–that the grownups have completely failed and even abandoned them.

    I’m too pessimistic to believe “this time is different” but heartened by them anyway. Republican inertia is a hard thing to alter.

  50. 50.

    zhena gogolia

    February 19, 2018 at 12:38 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Yes, I agree with you completely. I can’t believe it didn’t happen after Sandy Hook, but babies can’t make speeches.

  51. 51.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 12:39 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    There is a perception among gun owners that Democrats and liberals want to take all of their guns. (I think that is generally inaccurate, but it is a widely shared belief.)

    Few, if any, Democratic politicians on the national stage are so absolutist but you need look no further than the comment threads of Ballon Juice to see that there are plenty of Democrats who are absolutely irrational and rabid in their fear and hatred of firearms. And this is a pretty moderate and centrist blog, see the support for Hillary Clinton as Exhibit A.

    Again, my point is that the political dynamics of this issue are irrational and tribal. If tomorrow Trump and Ryan and McConnell were to hold a press conference and announce support for introduction of a bill that would, say, strengthen background checks and restrict private 3rd party direct sales (the so-called gun show loophole), it would have a decent chance of passing. If three Democratic leaders were to announce the same thing, it would be DOA.

  52. 52.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    February 19, 2018 at 12:39 pm

    @WereBear: Speaking of which, there are apparently more porn stars with stories to tell, at least according to something of at Raw Story.

  53. 53.

    trnc

    February 19, 2018 at 12:40 pm

    @Starfish: They’re just so mavericky (pause for msm swoon).

  54. 54.

    Frank Wilhoit

    February 19, 2018 at 12:41 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: The Australian option or STFU. (@Amaranthine RBG: is that absurdly punitive enough for you? If not, we can go two ways: we can be more absurd, or we can be more punitive. Plenty of room in both directions. You the customer, you tell us.)

  55. 55.

    Starfish

    February 19, 2018 at 12:41 pm

    @Betty Cracker: A lot of the arguments were that none of the proposed legislation would have stopped Adam Lanza. That particular case was weird and haunting.

    Lanza’s mom was in a co-dependent psychological relationship with her son and may have been in a shared delusion with him. The wealthy lady knew how to play the bureaucracy, and no one pushed back on her the way they would have pushed back on someone with less money. It was tragic.

    In the current situation, there are a lot of things that would have actually made a difference like why can an 18-year-old buy an AR-15?

  56. 56.

    Ohio Mom

    February 19, 2018 at 12:41 pm

    @mad citizen: Just keep asking for clarification. Though we pretend otherwise, we are a good-hearted bunch.

    On another note, I spent much of the last presidential race pertrified that my governor would win the Republican nomination. I was sure Kasich was the only Republican that could beat Hillary because his “I’m reasonable” act can be very convincing. Everyone above who has called him on on being an excellent weather vane is totally on target.

    And he’s dumb too. The only part of his last campaign I enjoyed was the video clip of his visit to Brooklyn. He’s in a Orthodox Jewish bookstore where he meets up with a group of bearded, black-hatted, yeshiva students — young men just back from studying in Israel.

    He asks them what they were studying, and they are incredulous: “Talmud,” they reply. Maybe you have to be Jewish, but that was hysterical.

    Anyone with ANY familiarity with this branch of Judaism knows this is the ONLY thing they study. From kindergarten on up — secular law might force them to teach other subjects in the grades but they give those subjects very short shrift.

    I’d say, how could someone so unsophisticated function as President, but Trump.

    Anyway, it is discouraging to see that I’m going to have to battle the fear that Kasich will land in the White House all over again.

  57. 57.

    zhena gogolia

    February 19, 2018 at 12:41 pm

    If guns are truly going to be an issue in 2020, we should go with Chris Murphy.

  58. 58.

    trollhattan

    February 19, 2018 at 12:43 pm

    @mad citizen:
    Yeah, John Huntsman in a rare bout of Mormon fratricide described Romney with the weathervane crack. Thing of beauty, that. Senator Romney will be Hatch II regardless of what he says in the campaign.

    Ugh.

  59. 59.

    cintibud

    February 19, 2018 at 12:43 pm

    I am actually surprised that Kasich isn’t challenging Sherrod Brown for Senate. Kaisch is term limited and will be out of office after the November election. Brown has been a target of the national GOP, but right now doesn’t have an opponent with anything like the name recognition of Kaisch.

    It is important to note that while this latest flip is simply the weather vane turning with the wind, but he did make some heads turn with his support of the Medicaid expansion here in Ohio, against the wishes of many gop lawmakers here. Didn’t make a lot of repubs happy but makes him more dangerous in a general election

  60. 60.

    Kay

    February 19, 2018 at 12:43 pm

    But whether Kasich is a cynical bastard is beside the point: Something’s happening here.

    I was skeptical but I think you’re right.

    Kasich’s “base” is white suburban people. He’s not popular in urban areas and he’s not really popular in white working class areas, either. They don’t love him the way they loved Bush, for example, which is kind of ironic, since Kasich is actually the son of a postal worker, so more “like them” than Bush ever was.

    It’s anecdotal but my sense is white working class don’t like him because they think he’s lecturing them. He IS sort of annoyingly scolding. I understand what they’re saying. He wasn’t like this when he was first elected. I don’t know when he decided he is Abraham Lincoln. It’s maybe more of his religious conversion?

  61. 61.

    Baud

    February 19, 2018 at 12:43 pm

    @Tilda Swintons Bald Cap:

    Speaking of which, there are apparently more porn stars with stories to tell, at least according to something of at Raw Story.

    I’m worried that the association with Trump will damage the porn industry.

  62. 62.

    trnc

    February 19, 2018 at 12:47 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: What is an irrational fear of firearms? One where we worry about the responsible gun owner right up to the point they do something stupid or malicious with it?

  63. 63.

    Hunter Gathers

    February 19, 2018 at 12:48 pm

    I’m sure that Harrison Ford’s Allergic Reaction to Shellfish will appeal to the Trumpsters. All he has to do is bang a couple of pornstars and lust after one of his kids and he’s good to go.

  64. 64.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 12:48 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: I’m well aware of the beliefs and attitudes. I was just curious if you had any specific Democratic elected officials or those seeking elected office that you were referencing.

  65. 65.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?

    February 19, 2018 at 12:48 pm

    Kasich wants to run for POTUS. Simple as that.

  66. 66.

    feebog

    February 19, 2018 at 12:49 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    That’s not what you said.

    For too long, the loudest voices in the Democratic party have called for absurdly punitive gun laws.

    And that, as Betty pointed out is a crock of shit. None of the proposals made by Democrats after Sandy Hook were in any way unreasonable. Tell you what Sparky, if you are going to make claims like that, perhaps you should do some research and give us some citations. Because without that you are just pulling an argument out of your ass.

  67. 67.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?

    February 19, 2018 at 12:50 pm

    @Kay:
    His “Oh Golly Gee Whiz” affectation is what gets me. It’s so phony.

  68. 68.

    BruceFromOhio

    February 19, 2018 at 12:51 pm

    Was it a sincere conversion, or has he sensed a shift in the political wind?

    It is whatever suits the two-bit rat fuck soulless criminal. Do not count him as a friend, an ally, or remotely believable in any cause. The Guv looks out for a singular cause, himself. If it suited him to dress in Goth fashion and bite the heads off bats, he’d be doing that, too.

  69. 69.

    Betty Cracker

    February 19, 2018 at 12:53 pm

    @Hunter Gathers:

    Harrison Ford’s Allergic Reaction to Shellfish

    Snorted aloud! Never heard that before!

  70. 70.

    NotMax

    February 19, 2018 at 12:55 pm

    Buy a battalion.

    The Pentagon is considering soliciting donations to fund the President’s requested military parade, which could cost between $3 million and $50 million, according to preliminary estimates from a defense official who spoke with CNN.
    [snip]
    Defense officials are also concerned about the lack of available troops to attend a parade, CNN reported. A large-scale parade would require weeks of planning and the transportation of equipment, like tanks, to Washington, D.C. days ahead of time in order to prepare, according to the official who spoke with CNN.

    The Army has prepared five different parade options for President Trump to consider: “small, medium, heavy, hybrid and a multimedia display,” according to CNN. Source

  71. 71.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 12:55 pm

    @feebog:

    You, too, are missing the point. Many gun owners believe that Democrats and liberals want to seize all of their guns. Every single one of them. They also distrust “moderate” sounding reasonable restrictions because they believe it is just a smokescreen and an intermediate step towards seizure. So when someone on the left stands up and proposes a reasonable sounding restriction, gun owners immediately think it is a subterfuge and just part of an incremental plan of for seizure.

    You are completely missing the point. I am not saying that the post-Sandy hook restrictions were unreasonable. (Some of them would have been pointless and ineffective, but that’s another argument.) I am saying that they were perceived among gun owners to be a result of a Democratic plan to further restrict gun ownership. And, like I have said THREE FUCKING TIMES NOW WOULD YOU PLEASE READ BEFORE RESPONDING, the exact same “reasonable” restrictions might pass if they were championed by trusted Republicans.

  72. 72.

    Kay

    February 19, 2018 at 12:58 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?:

    He’s a weirdly absent governor. His whole tenure there have been all these insanely ambitious state Republicans sort of orbiting around him. They’re always screaming about something and then there’s a…blank space.

    I don’t really think of him as the governor. He’s like the CEO of a big company with a subsidiary in Ohio. Are we sure he’s a resident? We should check.

  73. 73.

    Baud

    February 19, 2018 at 12:59 pm

    @NotMax:

    There used to be a bumper sticker that said something like “Wouldn’t it be great if schools got funding and the Pentagon had to have a bake sale?”

    One out of two ain’t bad.

  74. 74.

    Chyron HR

    February 19, 2018 at 1:00 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    Translation: “WAAAAAAAH BOONEE SAID THAT ONLY NEGROES NEED GUN CONTROL!!!!!”

  75. 75.

    Kay

    February 19, 2018 at 1:00 pm

    Mary Taylor is filling the far Right slot next cycle. I think they draw straws.

    She’ll be shooting pumpkins with assault rifles before we’re through. Someone has to do it.

    Her main claim to fame prior to this was lying about Obamacare and then doing a bad job putting it in.

  76. 76.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 1:01 pm

    @NotMax:

    Will they accept advertising? Can Jimmy Love Chevrolet plaster it’s log on the side of some tanks?

  77. 77.

    trollhattan

    February 19, 2018 at 1:02 pm

    @Kay:
    After eight years of Jerry 2.0 whomever takes the seat is going to be quite a change for us. Don’t think we’ll see anybody like him again.

  78. 78.

    Calouste

    February 19, 2018 at 1:02 pm

    @trollhattan: One thing that seems to have happened as well is that the mocking of “thoughtsandprayers” has gone mainstream. Luntz has to come up with a new phrase that means “fuck you I won’t do anything” but doesn’t sound like it.

  79. 79.

    Amir Khalid

    February 19, 2018 at 1:03 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    At this point, Republicans have a better chance of enacting reasonable gun control measures than Democrats.

    Maybe. But do they want to? They know which side their bread is buttered on, when it comes to gun-control laws.

  80. 80.

    Baud

    February 19, 2018 at 1:05 pm

    @Calouste:

    a new phrase that means “fuck you I won’t do anything” but doesn’t sound like it.

    In the Trump era, this has a decent shot of being adopted as is.

  81. 81.

    trollhattan

    February 19, 2018 at 1:05 pm

    @Calouste:
    Any chance the new phrase is “How about those brave first-responders!!!”

  82. 82.

    Achrachno

    February 19, 2018 at 1:06 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: It would have been clearer if you’d just said Republicans are partisan to the point of complete irrationality.

  83. 83.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 1:07 pm

    OT: Yesterday was the anniversary of the mutiny by the Royal Indian Navy in 1946. One of the turning points when the British learned that their days in India were truly numbered. The sun did set on the British Empire.Yes seemingly impossible things do happen.

  84. 84.

    Matt

    February 19, 2018 at 1:07 pm

    But whether Kasich is a cynical bastard is beside the point: Something’s happening here.

    He’s a true believer, just also a chickenshit. He’s perfectly fine fucking over poors, women, really anybody handy from the GOP target list – just as long as it’s not too unpopular.

    The fact that he’s still taken seriously as a “moderate” is evidence he’s also a pretty good liar.

  85. 85.

    Baud

    February 19, 2018 at 1:07 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Yeah. “Only Nixon could go to China” made sense because Nixon actually went to China.

  86. 86.

    laura

    February 19, 2018 at 1:08 pm

    Burn the fucking life boats!
    No do-over this time.
    No “I’m an independent.”
    No Tea Party conservative.
    Time to lay a marble slab over the memory hole.
    No moderate today, firebrand yesterday and tomorrow.
    They must be made to own it.
    There is no trumpism. There is only the Republican party and it’s members. And that includes John Kasich.

  87. 87.

    Tata

    February 19, 2018 at 1:09 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: And, like I have said THREE FUCKING TIMES NOW WOULD YOU PLEASE READ BEFORE RESPONDING, the exact same “reasonable” restrictions might pass if they were championed by trusted Republicans.

    Nope. Because Republicans will not be championing restrictions, reasonable or otherwise. It’s not a valid point.

  88. 88.

    trollhattan

    February 19, 2018 at 1:09 pm

    From the say wha? file: Republicans really like themselves some Trump.

    Anyone who doubts Donald Trump has totally conquered the Republican Party he acquired by a hostile takeover in 2016 should look at the evidence (assembled by Perry Bacon Jr.) that his recent improvements in popularity are almost entirely attributable to rising GOP support.

    Gallup’s most recent weekly survey, conducted from Feb. 5 to 11, showed President Trump’s job approval rating among self-identified Republicans at 86 percent …

    SurveyMonkey polling from the first week of February shows a similar pattern: 89 percent of Republicans said they approve of Trump’s handling of his job as president. And the share of Republicans who “strongly approve” — in the mid-50s for much of last year — is up to 61 percent.

  89. 89.

    Yutsano

    February 19, 2018 at 1:10 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: And we should worry about their delicate fee-fees because…
    Gun owners have run roughshod over our national discourse long enough. They can eat some reasonable restrictions on their penile replacements. I’m tired of their absolutism.

  90. 90.

    RemindsMeOfThatMovie

    February 19, 2018 at 1:11 pm

    He’s like silly putty. Transforms into whatever you want.

  91. 91.

    alhutch

    February 19, 2018 at 1:11 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    …to see that there are plenty of Democrats gun owners who are absolutely irrational and rabid in their fear and hatred of firearms firearm regulations.

    Thought I would clean that up a little for you.

  92. 92.

    Kay

    February 19, 2018 at 1:12 pm

    Mary TaylorVerified account
    @MaryTaylorOH

    One of the reasons DC DeWine refuses to debate is because he knows that under those lights there is no where to hide the fact that he is soft on getting conservative judges appointed, soft on defending the 2nd Amendment, and soft on immigration.

    I love her. If she didn’t exist I would pay the Republicans to invent her.

    DC DeWine! VERY Trumpian.

  93. 93.

    Millard Filmore

    February 19, 2018 at 1:12 pm

    @The Dangerman:

    What a waste of time and money; Kasich has less of a chance of being nominated for the Presidency than Stormy Daniels.

    I don’t know about that. When the avalanche of Mueller’s indictments comes down, he might be the last man standing.

  94. 94.

    debbie

    February 19, 2018 at 1:12 pm

    @Kay:

    Sickening that Taylor is the last remaining woman candidate, out of the initial field of four.

    I’ll support Kasich only after he lets me run him over with that bus of his that was going to whisk Ohio down the path of success.

  95. 95.

    NotMax

    February 19, 2018 at 1:13 pm

    Intriguing read, albeit in need of further corroborating replication of data.

    Trump may owe his 2016 victory to ‘fake news,’ new study suggests

    We are scholars associated with the Comparative National Elections Project, which is coordinated at The Ohio State University. In December 2016, we commissioned YouGov to conduct a nationwide post-election survey. Our study concludes that fake news most likely did have a substantial impact on the voting decisions of a strategically important set of voters.
    [snip]
    Age is weakly related to defection from Clinton. While 20 percent of voters over 35 abandoned the Democratic ticket in 2016, 30 percent of younger voters did so.

  96. 96.

    Chyron HR

    February 19, 2018 at 1:14 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    That’s right, Timmy. The constitution guarantees you the right to kill as many children as possible before the cops arrive, and don’t let anyone try to tell you otherwise.

  97. 97.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 1:14 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    I think the Republicans want to do whatever will get them reelected and that calculus involves weighting the contributions of the NRA and affiliated groups along with the votes that will bring against the votes that will flow their way if they pass some form of gun regulation.

    I think a “grand bargain” that would combine a number or more stringent gun regulations along with some sort of mechanism impeding further efforts at restriction would be a political winner for Republicans, if they can get out in front of it.

    I mean, look at current hot take that “something is happening” and “things are changing” that is circulation. What has changed? It isn’t that the most Americans and most democrats are now in favor of increased gun control. That has been the case for decades. What has changed is that there are chinks in the Republican armor appearing.

  98. 98.

    No Drought No More

    February 19, 2018 at 1:15 pm

    I tend to agree something good is in the offing. To think that in 1968 it took the assassination of two prominent men- RFK and MLK (and in that order)- to shock congress into passing LBJ’s gun legislation. In comparison, look where we are today. It’s insane that congress has yet to acknowledge there even is such a thing as “a mass slaughter too far”, and almost depraved to believe such a thing need be considered. Still, it does appear to be what’s finally happening. Americans are called on to shoulder a lot of responsibility, and have been since Alamagordo. We don’t always get it right, and when we fuck up, we fuck up big. But we do get a lot of things right, if only eventually, and we should always remember that as this generation continues the never ending struggle to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and all that is best about this country.. ..

  99. 99.

    Calouste

    February 19, 2018 at 1:17 pm

    @trollhattan: As someone pointed out here the other day, in a school shooting the real first responders and the real heroes are the teachers.

  100. 100.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 1:18 pm

    @trnc: Any fear of an inanimate object is irrational. A … N … Y.

  101. 101.

    Libraryguy

    February 19, 2018 at 1:18 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: OK I read all your comments and get your point but now I want you to answer the obvious response- WHAT “REASONABLE REPUBLICANS” WOULD PROPOSE THESE POLICIES??? Here on Earth Prime there are NO such creatures to be found. Your point sounds like ” if you let unicorns propose these policies we’d get them passed.

  102. 102.

    Kay

    February 19, 2018 at 1:20 pm

    @debbie:

    Pillich is to the Right of Cordray, though, so be grateful she didn’t get it. Also- she’s not really qualified. I like her personally but these are facts that got a little lost.

  103. 103.

    germy

    February 19, 2018 at 1:22 pm

    Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky, who won bronze in the mixed doubles curling event with his wife, Anastasia Bryzgalova, tested positive for the banned drug meldonium.

    Russian athletes should be very aware that meldonium can show up in drug tests, since 40 Russians have tested positive since it was banned. Tennis champion Maria Sharapova was banned from competition for 15 months after testing positive.

    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/curler-fails-drug-test-reviving-russian-doping-scandal.html

  104. 104.

    Betty Cracker

    February 19, 2018 at 1:22 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: You’re the one who’s missing the point! Jesus, the whole post is about a possible shift in acceptable Republican orthodoxy on guns, Einstein. Do you really not get that? Maybe read it three times before opening your yap? You’re the one who’s trying to make it about Democrats coming for The Preciouses.

  105. 105.

    Kay

    February 19, 2018 at 1:22 pm

    @debbie:

    I loathe Taylor but she’s right about DeWine. He has no principles. None. It might be effective at splitting their base because it is 100% true.

  106. 106.

    foucault swing voter mistermix

    February 19, 2018 at 1:23 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: The notion that the current set of Republicans in Congress is persuadable on this particular issue is laughable, so I really don’t think we need to trouble ourselves with their feelings. The stupidest thing that Democrats could do at this moment is to advance some kind of half measure or quarter measure in hopes of getting Republicans on board. Instead, we need to vote a good number of Republicans out of office, in part by making those who took NRA money radioactive.

  107. 107.

    Amir Khalid

    February 19, 2018 at 1:23 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:
    Look at the recent tax cuts. The Republican reaction to the prospect of losing their House and Senate majorities this November has been to loot the storehouse while they still have the keys. You give that party too much credit for wanting to do the right thing.

  108. 108.

    Calouste

    February 19, 2018 at 1:24 pm

    @No Drought No More:

    It’s insane that the Republicans in congress has yet to acknowledge there even is such a thing as “a mass slaughter too far”

    FTFY.

    The Democrats in Congress staged a sit-in in 2016 to protest the lack of action on gun control.

  109. 109.

    germy

    February 19, 2018 at 1:25 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    Any fear of an inanimate object is irrational.

    A bullet is not inanimate.

    It moves so fast you can’t even see it. Will pass through most bodies, if it doesn’t lodge in a vital organ.

  110. 110.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 1:25 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    You’re missing the point here. The exact same “reasonable” regulation proposed and pushed by Democrats that fails miserably might have a chance of success under Republican sponsorship.

    Which the Rethugs will propose immediately after they pass various laws restoring in toto the Voting Rights Act, right after they pass a law killing the results of Citizens United, and just after they pass a law killing any type of Kobach-like voter ID laws.

    You’re missing a clue here, moron.

    No, much more than a clue.

  111. 111.

    feebog

    February 19, 2018 at 1:26 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    You are completely missing the point. I am not saying that the post-Sandy hook restrictions were unreasonable. (Some of them would have been pointless and ineffective, but that’s another argument.) I am saying that they were perceived among gun owners to be a result of a Democratic plan to further restrict gun ownership. And, like I have said THREE FUCKING TIMES NOW WOULD YOU PLEASE READ BEFORE RESPONDING, the exact same “reasonable” restrictions might pass if they were championed by trusted Republicans.

    I am quite aware there are any number of gunhumpers who think any gun control measure, however modest, is the first step towards confiscating their guns. Their position is both irrational and nonsensical. Irrational people do not respond in rational ways. Your theory that a gun control law might pass if sponsored by a Republican rather than a Democrat ludicrous. The only thing that would happen is that those Republicans who supported the bill would lose support from the NRA.

  112. 112.

    Kay

    February 19, 2018 at 1:26 pm

    @debbie:

    DeWine once backed voting rights and then rescinded his endorsement of Mitt Romney because Romney said DeWine once backed voting rights. Which was true.

    He’s in a class by himself as far as “unprincipled”. He has no equal.

  113. 113.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    February 19, 2018 at 1:26 pm

    F’n WEASEL didn’t legalize OPEN CARRY FOR THE 2016 GOP NOMINATING CONVENTION.

    It would have saved us a lot of trouble, it’s true.

  114. 114.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 1:27 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    Any fear of an inanimate object is irrational. A … N … Y.

    Oh, thanks! So glad I can stop worrying about nuke-carrying ICBMs.

    Moron.

  115. 115.

    NotMax

    February 19, 2018 at 1:27 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG

    Looking forward to your book, Radium Juggling For Dummies.

  116. 116.

    debbie

    February 19, 2018 at 1:30 pm

    @Kay:

    He sure is. Remember his comment that Planned Parenthood “steam cooked” babies? I’ll never get over that one.

  117. 117.

    trnc

    February 19, 2018 at 1:32 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: Straw man. Give me an example where someone has explicitly stated they fear the gun that no one is touching (other than the possibility of one falling over and discharging or some such thing). In thousands of comments, you may be able to find one, but you know as well as I do that these discussions are really about guns in the hands of people. To whit, it would be ridiculous to talk about a law that makes gun ownership legal but also makes it illegal to touch the gun.

    Not many people seek to ban alcohol as a product, but many people support restricting the use of alcohol.

  118. 118.

    Kayla Rudbek

    February 19, 2018 at 1:33 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: shut your trap, you nyehkulturny dung-stained peasant

  119. 119.

    Baud

    February 19, 2018 at 1:33 pm

    Any fear of an inanimate object is irrational. A … N … Y.

    People kill people!

  120. 120.

    debbie

    February 19, 2018 at 1:34 pm

    @Kay:

    He’s in a class by himself as far as “unprincipled”. He has no equal.

    Not even his henchman Husted? What a sorry pair they make!

  121. 121.

    Libraryguy

    February 19, 2018 at 1:35 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: Saying that Repubs could get ahead of this issue by passing good legislation is useless. They don’t exist.

  122. 122.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 1:35 pm

    @trnc:

    other than the possibility of one falling over and discharging or some such thing

    SIG Sauer swears they’ve fixed this.

  123. 123.

    Kay

    February 19, 2018 at 1:35 pm

    @debbie:

    He’s SUCH a bad AG. He will be a worse governor. It won’t even be ideological. Just bad. Low quality.

  124. 124.

    BruceFromOhio

    February 19, 2018 at 1:36 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Thanks, I was hot and bothered to call bullshit, and since you did it first I went and did some quick research instead. This will go in moderation, so hopefully it passes the smell test to get released from bondage.

    To satisfy my own curiosity, I went and looked at the DNC, and sitting Senators from OH, WI, CO, IL. Some of the sources are a little dated, but in my opinion remain relevant to the conversation. Each of these was found by going to the respective site search box and typing in guns.

    The DNC Platform of 2016 seems very common to what I’ve encountered from Democratic representation.

    While responsible gun ownership is part of the fabric of many communities, too many families in America have suffered from gun violence. We can respect the rights of responsible gun owners while keeping our communities safe. To build on the success of the lifesaving Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, we will expand and strengthen background checks and close dangerous loopholes in our current laws; repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to revoke the dangerous legal immunity protections gun makers and sellers now enjoy; and keep weapons of war—such as assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines (LCAM’s)—off our streets.

    My splendid OH Sen Sherrod Brown, in 2016:

    “Senators Collins and Heitkamp put forward a thoughtful compromise to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists today – Democrats didn’t get everything we wanted and Republicans didn’t get everything they wanted – but I supported it because at least it would have done something. Instead, we have to go home once again and look the people we work for in the eye and tell them Senators didn’t have enough political courage to stand up to the gun lobby and do something to make them safer from gun violence,”

    WI Sen Tammy Baldwin, also 2016

    U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin joins Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and 21 Democratic Senators in urging Senate leadership to remove from appropriations legislation any anti-gun violence prevention research riders, including a rider that is commonly known as the “Dickey amendment”. A 1996 Republican appropriations rider authored by former Congressman Jay Dickey (R-AR) prohibits federal funds from being used to “advocate or promote” gun control. Many have misconstrued the rider as banning federal research into the causes of gun violence. Rep. Dickey (R-AR) has publicly stated that he now supports funding gun violence prevention research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

    CO Sen Bennet, in October of /2017 after the Vegas shooting,

    “I know there are strong beliefs about guns in America-principled beliefs,” Bennet said. “But there are also steps that the overwhelming majority of Americans want us to take…This is not about taking guns away from people who have them. It is about keeping guns out of the hands of people who nearly everyone agrees shouldn’t have them.”

    “Yet Congress has done nothing to respond to the American people,” Bennet continued. “We did nothing after Aurora. After Newtown. After Orlando. Nothing.”

    Bennet alluded to Colorado’s leadership in closing the gun show loophole and strengthening background checks. He called on Congress to do the same.

    IL Sen Tammy Duckworth in November 2017:

    U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and 21 colleagues today to introduce the Assault Weapons Ban of 2017, a bill to ban the sale, transfer, manufacture and importation of military-style assault weapons like the one used over the weekend in Sutherland Springs, Texas, and high-capacity ammunition magazines. Last month, Duckworth also co-sponsored legislation to close the “bump stock” loophole exploited by the Las Vegas shooter that allows firearms to be fired at the rate of fully-automatic weapons, which have been illegal for more than 30 years.

    If you dig into that one, it has a load of exemptions and grandfather clauses for currently owned weapons.

    Now maybe it’s just me, but I see common themes from this small random sample that indicates compromise with the ammosexuals, appeals for ‘common sense,’ and (please, pardon the pun) targets restricting automatic weapons and funding research by the CDC. While the local pols will want to remain cognizant of local nuances, this could very easily be one of several appealing themes for anyone running against a Republican in 2018. For extra credit, fine tune it for those receiving sweet bales of NRA cash, and drag them all out into the light.

  125. 125.

    Smiling Mortician

    February 19, 2018 at 1:36 pm

    Why is everybody engaging the troll this morning as if he had a good-faith argument?

  126. 126.

    WereBear

    February 19, 2018 at 1:37 pm

    @Tilda Swintons Bald Cap: Color me unsurprised. No one is sleeping with Trump because of his stellar qualities.

  127. 127.

    Kay

    February 19, 2018 at 1:37 pm

    @debbie:

    Husted is smarter than DeWine, so the ticket baffled me. I think they wanted the name recognition of DeWine which is (sadly) determinative in a lot of Ohio state races. Name recognition is important.

  128. 128.

    WaterGirl

    February 19, 2018 at 1:37 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: “Gloves are gonna come off now.” I certainly hope so! That gives me hope.

  129. 129.

    No Drought No More

    February 19, 2018 at 1:38 pm

    For those of us old enough to recall former rep Elizabeth Holzman (D-NY) as Watergate unfolded, it’s so great to see and hear from her again as a guest commentator on MSNBC.

  130. 130.

    WaterGirl

    February 19, 2018 at 1:39 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: That’s the nicest “I told you so!” I have ever heard. :-)

  131. 131.

    trollhattan

    February 19, 2018 at 1:39 pm

    @Smiling Mortician:
    Some of us are overwhelmed with delicious president’s day pie. Reaching for the ice cream, now.

  132. 132.

    WaterGirl

    February 19, 2018 at 1:39 pm

    @The Dangerman: see Trump, Donald.

  133. 133.

    Bookeater (formerly JosieJ)

    February 19, 2018 at 1:40 pm

    @Capri:

    The problem with that is that we won’t know how he’s actually going to vote until he’s elected. Given his previous behavior, I’m not exactly willing to take his ostensible change of heart on faith.

  134. 134.

    Amir Khalid

    February 19, 2018 at 1:45 pm

    @Smiling Mortician:
    Because we’ve already beaten the post topic to death, and there is not yet a new thread.

  135. 135.

    WaterGirl

    February 19, 2018 at 1:45 pm

    @trollhattan: I want to know the NUMBER of self-identified republicans now vs. when Trump too office. That will give meaning to the statistics you just shared.

  136. 136.

    Hoodie

    February 19, 2018 at 1:46 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: If they were championed by any significant number of republicans, they would pass because almost all dems would vote for them. He’ll, they’d pass now if Paulie and Mitch would bring them to the floor. Carried to its logical extreme, your reasoning amounts to “Hitler was in the best position to save the Jews of Europe.” Only 30% of Americans own a gun, and an even smaller percentage own assault weapons. There’s nothing unreasonable about anyone wanting to take away those weapons, because a majority of Americans would be ok with that and there’s no countervailing basis for preserving the privilege for a few people to have such weapons, as there fantasy of armed rebellion would be crushed by the 10th Mountain Division. If your problem is that somehow dems are being deceitful by calling for reasonable restrictions like banning semiautomatic high velocity weapons with large ammunition capacity, you have wax in your ears.

  137. 137.

    efgoldman

    February 19, 2018 at 1:47 pm

    @Some Guy, Helvering:

    Interesting that he thinks this is viable space for ousting or replacing tRump, or at least for getting No Labels handies.

    No “no labels” asshole will get traction with the mouth breather primary electorate – or anywhere else.

  138. 138.

    Ohio Mom

    February 19, 2018 at 1:47 pm

    @Kay: What you said. I was very happy to get Pillich’s letter saying she was stepping down.

    I’d already fielded three calls from her young volunteers and I felt bad every time I had to tell them we were Cordray supporters. We’d given her money before, when she was representing us in Columbus, and I imagine we were on the “good bet/soft touch” list.

    I wish she could still be in the statehouse. That would be a good place for her.

  139. 139.

    BruceFromOhio

    February 19, 2018 at 1:48 pm

    @Amir Khalid: *Laughs* right on, brother, right on.

  140. 140.

    efgoldman

    February 19, 2018 at 1:48 pm

    @Baud:

    Mitt Romney.

    AKA Mittster and rMoney

  141. 141.

    Aimai

    February 19, 2018 at 1:49 pm

    @NotMax: multimedia display? Whiteboards, lights, recycled candywrappers, and a tape of a marching band?

  142. 142.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 1:51 pm

    @Libraryguy:

    OK I read all your comments and get your point but now I want you to answer the obvious response- WHAT “REASONABLE REPUBLICANS” WOULD PROPOSE THESE POLICIES??? Here on Earth Prime there are NO such creatures to be found. Your point sounds like ” if you let unicorns propose these policies we’d get them passed.

    Trump announced today that he is “supportive” of improved background checks. This thread is about Kasich changing his position.

    @Betty Cracker:

    You’re the one who’s missing the point! Jesus, the whole post is about a possible shift in acceptable Republican orthodoxy on guns, Einstein. Do you really not get that? Maybe read it three times before opening your yap? You’re the one who’s trying to make it about Democrats coming for The Preciouses.

    Yes, this whole thread is about a possible shift in Republican orthodoxy on guns, Einstein’s slightly inebriated lab assistant. And my point is that this shift may actually result in new gun control legislation whereas if the exact same things were proposed by Democrats (WHICH THEY HAVE BEEN FOR DECADES) they would go nowhere.

    @feebog:

    I am quite aware there are any number of gunhumpers who think any gun control measure, however modest, is the first step towards confiscating their guns. Their position is both irrational and nonsensical. Irrational people do not respond in rational ways. Your theory that a gun control law might pass if sponsored by a Republican rather than a Democrat ludicrous. The only thing that would happen is that those Republicans who supported the bill would lose support from the NRA.

    Yes, it is irrational because it overstates the likelihood of success of confiscation efforts. It is not irrational in assessing the desires of many gun “control” opponents.

    You may be right that a Republican supported bill might fail, as well. But a bill supported solely by Democrats is doomed to fail as the congress is currently configured. Democrats will support any gun control measures proposed by Republicans, not vice versa.

  143. 143.

    danielx

    February 19, 2018 at 1:51 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I sure as hell hope so.

    OT but too good to pass up:

    MAGA – Mueller Ain’t Going Away.

    Saw in a Twitter thread somewhere.

  144. 144.

    BruceFromOhio

    February 19, 2018 at 1:52 pm

    @Aimai: Gotta have at least one guy on stilts, bonus if he’s juggling something.

  145. 145.

    WaterGirl

    February 19, 2018 at 1:52 pm

    @danielx:

    MAGA – Mueller Ain’t Going Away.

    Love that!

  146. 146.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 1:54 pm

    @Hoodie:

    If they were championed by any significant number of republicans, they would pass because almost all dems would vote for them. [Yes, agreed.] He’ll, they’d pass now if Paulie and Mitch would bring them to the floor. [Yes, you’re right there, too.] Carried to its logical extreme, [uh oh] your reasoning amounts to “Hitler was in the best position to save the Jews of Europe.” [Oingo, boingo, jimmy jack crazy done come out to play.] Only 30% of Americans own a gun, and an even smaller percentage own assault weapons. There’s nothing unreasonable about anyone wanting to take away those weapons, because a majority of Americans would be ok with that and there’s no countervailing basis for preserving the privilege for a few people to have such weapons, as there fantasy of armed rebellion would be crushed by the 10th Mountain Division. If your problem is that somehow dems are being deceitful by calling for reasonable restrictions like banning semiautomatic high velocity weapons with large ammunition capacity, you have wax in your ears.

  147. 147.

    burnspbesq

    February 19, 2018 at 1:55 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    Go away, and don’t come back until you have a clue.

  148. 148.

    germy

    February 19, 2018 at 1:56 pm

    Dumb Dumb .net… uh, I mean boingboing.net says “All things are possible”

    https://boingboing.net/2018/02/19/all-things-are-possible.html

    Kucinich is the man Ohio needs!

  149. 149.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 1:56 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Nobody likes your paella. They’re just being polite.

  150. 150.

    NotMax

    February 19, 2018 at 1:57 pm

    @efgoldman

    Way OT.

    Saw your query about discouraging grated potato discoloration the other day.

    Aside from the suggestions for submersion in ice water (which then requires much squeezing and wringing before cooking), a couple of other methods:

    Grate some onion into the bowl where you’ll be placing the grated potato and mix it in. This will add some moisture as well but that will dissipate during cooking by extending the cooking time..

    Grind up a Vitamin C tablet or two (ascorbic acid), mix with just enough water to make a slurry and sprinkle on grated potatoes. Lemon juice will kind of do the same thing but, of course, may alter flavor.

  151. 151.

    Amir Khalid

    February 19, 2018 at 1:58 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    Trump announced today that he is “supportive” of improved background checks.

    And you believe him?

    This thread is about Kasich changing his position.

    No, Kasich is not shifting his position. Mark my words: this thread is about him only shifting his feet.

  152. 152.

    Tom

    February 19, 2018 at 1:58 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: V9 Plinian eruption in your backyard.

  153. 153.

    Kay

    February 19, 2018 at 2:00 pm

    @Ohio Mom:

    She’s good though. She’s that rarest of Democratic animals- a team player. A gracious concession! We don’t see those anymore.

    She’ll work to elect Cordray. She has a lot of character, I think. Is a good, solid person apart from politics. Also – she’s talented and smart if not qualified (yet) and Cordray will hire her and she’ll run again.

  154. 154.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 2:00 pm

    @NotMax: Or grating potatoes only when you are ready to cook, avoids all the necessity of the extra steps.

  155. 155.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 2:00 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Go away, and don’t come back until you have a clue.

    “Until the Twelfth of Never, and that’s a long, long time”

  156. 156.

    Chip Daniels

    February 19, 2018 at 2:01 pm

    So its up to us on the left to define the leftymost boundary of acceptable debate.
    I’m staunchly in favor of challenging the existence of a “right” to own a deadly weapon in a civilized society, and think such weapons be a regulated privilege.

    Now once this boundary is established, we can negotiate.

  157. 157.

    Mandalay

    February 19, 2018 at 2:01 pm

    In the past few days on Twitter Rubio has been lashing out, blaming the media, Democrats and claiming the slaughter was a “systemic failure” and insists that no gun control legislation could have prevented the incident.

    But this morning he sunk to a new low, tweeting “Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your own people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. Lv 18:19”.

    The nation is screaming to Congress “DO SOMETHING!” so Rubio responds by mindlessly quoting something from the Bible.

  158. 158.

    pamelabrown53

    February 19, 2018 at 2:01 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: #83.

    I’ve been meaning to ask you. TCM recently showed “A Passage to India”, which I rewatched. What did you think of the movie? As a woman with a bland white Midwestern background, I found it riveting and an earlier harbinger of the British days “were truly numbered”.

  159. 159.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 2:02 pm

    @BruceFromOhio: Ma Dueces.

  160. 160.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 2:04 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Heh. That was the 320s, right.

    All of which only proves that the chances of a Sig (which is the finest production sidearm on God’s green earth) malfunctioning are directly proportional to the degree to which they have been redesigned to resemble those plastic Austrian monstrosities.

  161. 161.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 2:04 pm

    @pamelabrown53: I haven’t watched it. Most British depictions of the Raj and the Empire in general are rose tinted. Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia, for example, was too glowing of Lawrence and the mayhem the British caused in the Middle East during the course of WWI.

  162. 162.

    Kay

    February 19, 2018 at 2:04 pm

    @Ohio Mom:

    A Republican here had a fundraiser for her that I helped with but I spoke with him recently and he’s backing Husted. Well, “DeWine” but Husted is the brains behind that team. I’m so cranky with them lately! I didn’t even let him tell me how moderate Husted is- blah, blah, blah.

  163. 163.

    Amir Khalid

    February 19, 2018 at 2:05 pm

    @pamelabrown53:
    Nowadays I don’t think they would get away with casting Alec Guinness as an Indian.

  164. 164.

    raven

    February 19, 2018 at 2:05 pm

    @pamelabrown53: Oh boy are you in for it!

  165. 165.

    Chyron HR

    February 19, 2018 at 2:06 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    When I suggested that you commemorate Presidents’ Day with another shrieking psychotic freak-out, that was mockery. It wasn’t a suggestion.

  166. 166.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 2:07 pm

    @Tom:

    I would welcome that. There are far too many people in this world. Mankind represents a unique threat to many species continued existence.

  167. 167.

    No Drought No More

    February 19, 2018 at 2:08 pm

    Without the sinister connotation and portending violence that the original event immediately brings to mind, it just occurred to me that over the weekend Trump began to sound a lot like Lee Harvey Oswald did when he declared himself a patsy. He’s not, of course. He has no one to blame but himself, and he’s simply incapable of doing it. Boy, is he ever going to to be pissed-off when he hears that Jared flipped 6 weeks ago ha-ha-ha…

  168. 168.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 2:11 pm

    @Chyron HR:

    I see you haven’t spent much time among psychotics. When my third wife had her full-on psychic break that required a medically induced coma until they could get her drug cocktail calibrated, I spent most of my waking hours inside the Psch Ward at SF General.

    I’ve seen psychotic freak out, my friend. They appear a bit different to concise dismantling of poorly thought out blog posts.

  169. 169.

    Gretchen

    February 19, 2018 at 2:12 pm

    Here’s my fear – borrowing trouble as usual. Trump is removed from office, Pence if president, Kasich is chosen as VP, and then Pence is shown to be implicated and has to step down. Kasich runs as incumbent in 2020. I’m hoping Pence is too stupid and arrogant to pick someone smarter than himself, but who knows?

  170. 170.

    raven

    February 19, 2018 at 2:15 pm

    @SFAW: I go to a lot of trouble to pie that fucking asshole and not see any posts related to it!

  171. 171.

    NotMax

    February 19, 2018 at 2:15 pm

    @Amir Khalid

    Also jarring was the casting of Maria Ouspenskaya as Indian royalty in The Rains Came, complete with her signature Russian accent.

    ;)

  172. 172.

    germy

    February 19, 2018 at 2:15 pm

    The Case For Impeaching Clarence Thomas

    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/the-case-for-impeaching-clarence-thomas.html

    (And Hillary asked to be briefed on it.)

  173. 173.

    Brachiator

    February 19, 2018 at 2:15 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    There are far too many people in this world.

    Horse shit. What should the population of the US be? Detail it by state.

  174. 174.

    scav

    February 19, 2018 at 2:16 pm

    We’re witnessing near Trumpaloompaian levels of self-delusions of competency and self-worth here.

  175. 175.

    raven

    February 19, 2018 at 2:16 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Aw you can do better than that!

  176. 176.

    trollhattan

    February 19, 2018 at 2:18 pm

    @Gretchen:
    Is Kasich Jesus-y enough for Pence? Will Mother approve?

  177. 177.

    germy

    February 19, 2018 at 2:20 pm

    @NotMax: She had one of the most interesting faces in the business.

  178. 178.

    Hoodie

    February 19, 2018 at 2:20 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: hate to think of what you did to your first two wives

  179. 179.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 19, 2018 at 2:20 pm

    Among other things, the guy his co-workers called “Fredo” is giving a foreign policy speech, in front of people. People who are the government of one of the largest countries on the planet.

    Kyle Griffin @ kylegriffin1 Don Jr. is visiting India to promote family real estate projects.
    He’s also planning to deliver a foreign policy speech at an event with Indian PM Modi—despite the Trumps pledging that “the company and policy and government are completely separated.”

  180. 180.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 2:21 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Nowadays I don’t think they would get away with casting Alec Guinness as an Indian.

    Are there Indian zombie movies? ‘Cause otherwise, I can’t see that as a casting choice anyway.

    ETA: Zombollywood?

  181. 181.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 2:21 pm

    @raven:Sorry to disappoint, but I find Lean’s movies a tad dull. I have seen three so far.
    @Amir Khalid: Wait, what? Have you seen the movie. It got rather tepid reviews IIRC.

  182. 182.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 2:23 pm

    WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!: Technical response. Please ignore if you have no interest in this issue! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

    @Amaranthine RBG: I’ve followed this because of the military contract side of things. So yes it was. But it goes beyond that. This was sort of a freak thing. The pistol had passed the industry standards for drop testing a firearm, including the California state standards. There are approximately 500,000 that were sold between initial introduction in 2014 to first trigger revision (adverse trigger) to correct complaints of trigger slap, through to the end of 2017. The first report of a problem came in winter 2017 from a NJ police officer who was carrying his duty sidearm in his rig on top of his folded uniform to his car in the parking lot. He slipped, dropped what he was carrying, and the pistol discharged hitting him in the leg. That is the only example in the wild I’ve heard of. It was, apparently, recreated on the range by Dallas PD, as well as a firearms store/distributor. At that point people started either trying to drop their P320s just right or walking the back of the frame just below the slide to simulate it leading SIG to try to replicate it, which they were able to do. What SIG determined is that the adjustments they’d made for the Army handgun contract resolved the problem. So they’ve done a voluntary upgrade paying for shipping and smithing to bring the civilian and law enforcement versions up to the Army contract required specs for the M17.

    As for SIG aping GLOCK: my understanding is that SIG created the P320 for two reasons. The first was for the Army handgun contract, which specifically called for a striker fired modular platform. So reworking the P250 double action only modular platform to a striker fired modular platform made sense. The other market, like the P250, was Europe. In a lot of places in Europe there is a limit on the number of firearms one can own. In the case of the P250 and P320, and now the new P365, the firearm is the removable fire control unit, which is the serialized/part with the serial #. The modularity allows someone in a country that has such a restriction to buy one complete pistol, which includes the fire control unit, as well as the slide, barrel, spring, and grip module. And then, if they want to change the size buy a conversion kit that comes with a new slide, barrel, spring, and grip module, but does not come with a new fire control unit. Hence it is not a gun. So if you have a full size and want a subcompact, you can get a subcompact P250 or P320 without buying a new gun. Same thing if you want to change calibers. Since SIG won the Army contract, the civilian market sales are gravy.

    We now return you to your regularly scheduled comments. Have a nice day!

  183. 183.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 2:23 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Since there’s no way to insure that people won’t breed back up to current levels, the best answer is zero.

    Absent that, the world would be a far better place if there were fewer than a billion people. That would diminish resource consumption and carbon emissions down to a level that might not have catastrophic effects on the climate.

    I don’t really care what the population of each state is. That’s far less important than the total number of people.

  184. 184.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 2:23 pm

    @NotMax:

    complete with her signature Russian accent.

    talking about the “volfbane.”

  185. 185.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 2:24 pm

    @SFAW: Why not? Not all Indians look or speak like Appu.

  186. 186.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 2:25 pm

    @NotMax: Eet vas nowt nooteezubul et ul. Darlink!

  187. 187.

    Joe Falco

    February 19, 2018 at 2:25 pm

    Something will definitely happen when bills are passed and signed into law. I had hoped after Obama won his second term that Republicans were going to move to the left, but that never actually went anywhere.

  188. 188.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 2:26 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Interesting, thank you.

  189. 189.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 2:26 pm

    @trollhattan: I believe the phrasing you’re looking for is:

    Jesus tested, Mother approved!

  190. 190.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 2:27 pm

    @SFAW: The dance scenes are slow and unpleasant to watch.

  191. 191.

    trollhattan

    February 19, 2018 at 2:31 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Trademark that, stat!

  192. 192.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 2:32 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    You know, I was all set to mitigate my typical response to you, due to the Psych Ward comment.

    But then, while thinking about it, I thought “What kind of fucking asshole talks about his (former) wife’s (purported) psychotic episode?” I guess I’m of the age where trash talking (under the guise of “contributing” to the discussion) one’s former beloved is considered a shitty-ass thing to do.

    Then again, it’s you, so I guess it should not have come as a complete surprise.

    So not only have you proved in this thread (once again) that you’re a moron, but you’ve reconfirmed that you’re a fucking asshole.

  193. 193.

    germy

    February 19, 2018 at 2:33 pm

    Message from the First Lady:

    Congrats to the entire #blackpanther team! Because of you, young people will finally see superheroes that look like them on the big screen. I loved this movie and I know it will inspire people of all backgrounds to dig deep and find the courage to be heroes of their own stories.

    — Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) February 19, 2018

  194. 194.

    Gravenstone

    February 19, 2018 at 2:33 pm

    @NotMax: Between 3 and 50 mil?!?! That’s quite an impressive range. Maybe they should rattle their tin cup at the major defense contractors. Just think of the branding opportunities they could put together.

  195. 195.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 2:33 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Why not? Not all Indians look or speak like Appu.

    Not completely following: is that a response to the zombie part, or the Guinness part?

  196. 196.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 2:35 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    Since there’s no way to insure that people won’t breed back up to current levels, the best answer is zero.

    Why don’t you set a good example for us?

  197. 197.

    Calouste

    February 19, 2018 at 2:36 pm

    @Gretchen: Democrats can block any replacement VP if they have a majority in either the House or the Senate.

  198. 198.

    Suzanne

    February 19, 2018 at 2:37 pm

    Who GAF what Kasich believes? I care how he votes, how he pushes the legislature, and how he does his job.

    “I don’t believe you change hearts. I believe you change laws, you change allocation of resources, you change the way systems operate. You’re not going to change every heart. You’re not. But at the end of the day, we can do a whole lot to change some hearts, and change some systems, and create more opportunities for people who deserve to have them.”
    —HRC

  199. 199.

    Gravenstone

    February 19, 2018 at 2:38 pm

    @Kay: SW Ohio, Daytonish area. That explains soooo much.

  200. 200.

    geg6

    February 19, 2018 at 2:38 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    MOAR GUNZ! PEW! PEW! PEW!

  201. 201.

    germy

    February 19, 2018 at 2:39 pm

    WATCH: Teens hold "lie-in" protest for gun reform outside of the White House in the wake of Florida school shooting pic.twitter.com/npUwDwn5VD— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 19, 2018

    Trump returns to golf course while shooting victim is buried nearby https://t.co/tpH9e3yOyA— Oliver Willis (@owillis) February 19, 2018

  202. 202.

    Betty Cracker

    February 19, 2018 at 2:39 pm

    @Kayla Rudbek: Could have saved myself several wasted minutes by borrowing that retort for the gun-humping moron’s first comment. I shall keep it in mind for future use!

  203. 203.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 2:40 pm

    @SFAW: The Guinness part. From the Wikipedia page I found that he plays a Narayan Godbole, a Chitpavan koknastha brahmin in the movie. Green or hazel eyes and light skin are not uncommon among coastal Gujarati and Marathi brahmins.

    ETA: There is no typical Indian. We come in many shades, sometimes within the same family.

  204. 204.

    Amir Khalid

    February 19, 2018 at 2:41 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:
    The cinematography was up to the standard of Lean’s classic movies. The story and characters were, well, not.

  205. 205.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 2:41 pm

    @SFAW:
    Well, she finally killed herself so she probably doesn’t care too much what I say.

  206. 206.

    NotMax

    February 19, 2018 at 2:44 pm

    @germy

    On the other side of the gender coin for that I’d place Louis Wolheim, who looked like the prototypical none too bright mug but in real life (pre-acting) had been about as far removed from that as one can get and could handle light comedy as well as drama with aplomb.

    Born in 1880 in New York City, his acting origins understandably began on stage. His looks made one think of the slums like you see in Warner Bros. gangster films. Wolheim, however, was very intelligent, and his pushed in nose was a result of a football injury and not something more low-brow. He was an instructor at Cornell University in mathematics, but he was also fluent in several languages and had a degree in medical engineering. Source

  207. 207.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 2:44 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    OK, got it.
    My (attempted) point was that he doesn’t get cast for too many speaking roles these days.

  208. 208.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 19, 2018 at 2:45 pm

    trollz are fucking weird

  209. 209.

    Gravenstone

    February 19, 2018 at 2:45 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: Prezackly. Universally pie ARGlBargle, and these threads will flow much more smoothly.

  210. 210.

    geg6

    February 19, 2018 at 2:46 pm

    @feebog:

    This particular Sparky is blog famous for his masterful moving of the goalposts, regardless of the argument.

  211. 211.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 2:47 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    Well, she finally killed herself so she probably doesn’t care too much what I say.

    Her presence or approval (or lack thereof) was not what makes you a fucking asshole for the previous comments (re: psychos).

    Once, just once, I would love to be surprised by you not living down to expectations.

  212. 212.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 2:48 pm

    @geg6:

    Why don’t you go talk some to these folks. They are as crazy and out of touch as you are: http://www.refugeforums.com/threads/extreme-risk-protection-order.1031548/

    You, like some others in this thread, don’t understand that reality has shifted while you were parroting your same old tired talking points.

  213. 213.

    Hoodie

    February 19, 2018 at 2:48 pm

    Hate to say it, but this is the kind of post that makes me cringe because it invariably leads to at least some looking to assholes like Kasich for validation. I know that wasn’t the intention, but it gives life to the fantasy that republicans will see the error of there ways and repent. That almost never happens, so it’s stupid to hope it will. The gop is not going to turn its back on the NRA or gun humpers in any significant way until they lose funding and/or get slaughtered in elections across the country, which will take generations. Kasich is not connected to the base of the gop, so what he says is meaningless. Yo borrow from some idiot’s analogy above, he is not LBJ.

  214. 214.

    Kay

    February 19, 2018 at 2:48 pm

    @Mandalay:

    In the past few days on Twitter Rubio has been lashing out, blaming the media, Democrats and claiming the slaughter was a “systemic failure” and insists that no gun control legislation could have prevented the incident.

    This shooter actually had a ton of intervention. Much more than a lot of mentally ill people get. He had 6 different schools including one “alternative” school for troubled kids and one school for kids who age out without graduating high school.

    He had a social services investigation at 18 – they probably only COULD take the case because he was younger than 19 but had not graduated high school. He had a referral to counselor and the counselor did the “danger to himself or others” analysis which is the first step to involuntary committment.

    Rubio is just wrong in this case that mental health services didn’t intervene. Really one could argue with this kid the only thing LEFT to do was gun regulation. He had all the other menu items.

    It wasn’t a “systemic failure”. Not this one.

  215. 215.

    geg6

    February 19, 2018 at 2:48 pm

    @NotMax:

    Here’s what I don’t get. Who the hell do they think is going to show up to watch this waste of money tribute to Grand Cheeto? Not a soul in the DC area, that’s for sure.

  216. 216.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 2:48 pm

    @SFAW: Got it because he is dead!

  217. 217.

    Baud

    February 19, 2018 at 2:49 pm

    @Hoodie:

    Yo borrow from some idiot’s analogy above, he is not LBJ.

    You forgot, Fuck LBJ.

  218. 218.

    CarolDuhart2

    February 19, 2018 at 2:49 pm

    I think Kasich is setting himself up for an independent run. No way he gets through a Republican primary. Primaries are the hardest of the hard-core sometimes, and gun control of any kind will still be off the table for them. Dems will not cross over for him because we will want nothing to do with him, and we have a lively primary of our own to attend to as well.

    Why an independent run? Either he’s a foil for Trump, hoping to draw off the moderately conservative vote from the Democrats, or he hopes to somehow sabotage a Trump second run by drawing off habitual Republican voters who are moderate. He knows he cant win either way. Like someone said about the race between Taft and Teddy Roosevelt, the race was to see which coffin got the most flowers. The result was that Wilson became the first Democrat to win the Presidency in decades.

  219. 219.

    germy

    February 19, 2018 at 2:50 pm

    @NotMax: They had faces then!

    And then there was Rondo Hatton. He was voted most handsome in his senior year of college, worked as a journalist after graduation.

    After he developed acromegaly, he reinvented himself as a character actor in horror films.

  220. 220.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 2:50 pm

    @SFAW: @SFAW:

    Oh, no, you are a complete class act, pal. You go from tone-policing my comments about some time I spent in a psych ward when my (then) wife was locked up to wishing that I would kill myself to lower the number of people on earth.

    I hope you are in one of the healing professions: therapy, prostitution, or medicine. Your gifts are far too precious not to be shared!!!

  221. 221.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 2:50 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Yes ma’am

  222. 222.

    dww44

    February 19, 2018 at 2:51 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Betty, I do love your way with words. This is exactly what I wanted to say to Amaranthine RBG, but could never have been as forceful and succinct as you are.

  223. 223.

    Baud

    February 19, 2018 at 2:51 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: No, that’s not it at all. Jeez.

  224. 224.

    geg6

    February 19, 2018 at 2:51 pm

    @Yutsano:

    This.

    Fuck ’em.

  225. 225.

    Suzanne

    February 19, 2018 at 2:52 pm

    @danielx:

    MAGA – Mueller Ain’t Going Away

    WINNING!

  226. 226.

    efgoldman

    February 19, 2018 at 2:52 pm

    @The Dangerman:

    Kasich has less of a chance of being nominated for the Presidency than Stormy Daniels.

    Is she over 35?

  227. 227.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 2:53 pm

    @Amir Khalid: None of the Lean movies I have watched have been on the big screen, may be that’s the reason, I didn’t love them, like people said I would.

  228. 228.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 19, 2018 at 2:53 pm

    @CarolDuhart2: I could see Kasich getting messianic about taking trump out. I’m not predicting he’ll do it, but I won’t be surprised if it happens.

    He’s not as obvious a boor as Christie, but he’s arrogant and thin-skinned and that would come out quickly on the national stage. I think.

  229. 229.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 2:54 pm

    @geg6:

    You don’t understand what the discussion is about and you are aping the comments of someone who is similarly clueless. I explained there that commenter went awry above. Edumucate yerself!

  230. 230.

    chris

    February 19, 2018 at 2:54 pm

    Oh dear gods. President’s Day bumpstock sale! Get yours today!

    Coupon code MAGA.

  231. 231.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 2:55 pm

    @Baud: Then, what is it? Is it the accent?
    Many Indian brown sahibs of my grandfather’s generation and older had affectations of being British in their speech and manner.

    ETA: Now I have to watch this movie to see if AG makes a convincing Narayan Godbole. BTW I did have two math teachers called Godbole. One had brown eyes and the other had green eyes.

  232. 232.

    geg6

    February 19, 2018 at 2:55 pm

    @Calouste:

    I have taken to saying to people who are going into ecstasies about the first responders, “Oh, yes! Those teachers are really heroes, taking the bullets so as to give time for the cops to show up.”

  233. 233.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 2:55 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    Poor baby, did I hurt your widdle feewings because I correctly pointed out that you’re a fucking asshole to use your wife (so to speak) as you did here? Too fucking bad.

    Still waiting for you to start your self-directed population reduction program, as you seem to want. Oh, you just meant other people? Quelle fucking surprise.

  234. 234.

    Amir Khalid

    February 19, 2018 at 2:55 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:
    Even so, Alec Guinness was a white Briton, whose skin was darkened with makeup for the part. So it fits the definition of “brownface” casting. And if there’s one thing India is not short of, it’s actual Gujarati actors.

  235. 235.

    Brendan in NC

    February 19, 2018 at 2:56 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: @Amaranthine RBG: the only way they’d pass would be if the Republicans linked stuff the Democrats hate, like Social Security “reform” to it. As we’be seen countless times, what they propose is nothing like the actual bill they try to pass.

  236. 236.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 2:59 pm

    @trollhattan: WWMD?: What Would Mother Do?

  237. 237.

    Baud

    February 19, 2018 at 3:00 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Never mind. It’s because he’s dead.

  238. 238.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 3:00 pm

    @Gravenstone: The low end is for just having the Old Guard and some Marines from Quantico march with a fly over. That can be done fairly cheaply. That is also not what the President wants.

  239. 239.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 3:00 pm

    @Brendan in NC:
    Maybe. That might be an interesting political gambit, offering gun control with something distasteful to democrats to see how much they really want gun control.

    I suspect the Republicans might package tightening the gun control loophole and improving background checks with something like reciprocal nationwide concealed carry. That would combine some gun control measures which are sound but which will have very little impact on gun deaths along with something that Republicans desperately want and Democrats strongly oppose, even though it, too, wouldn’t move the needle much on raising/lowering gun deaths.

    Could be interesting.

  240. 240.

    Kayla Rudbek

    February 19, 2018 at 3:02 pm

    @Betty Cracker: now my day has been made! As I understand it, nyehkulturny is one of the worst insults possible in Russian…

  241. 241.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 3:03 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Godbole is Marathi, but yes I get your point. There have been white actors in Indian movies like Tom Alter, and Kalki Koechlin, who have sometimes played Indians. I thought Alter was particularly convincing as Maulana Azad, because of his excellent Urdu delivery. He is speaking on the issue of the national language, whether it should be Urdu or Hindi, in Samvidhan, the making of the Constitution of India.

  242. 242.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 3:03 pm

    @geg6: It’s moot anyway. The DC city council preemptively voted a couple of days after the story first broke to deny any and all permit requests for a military parade.

  243. 243.

    trnc

    February 19, 2018 at 3:03 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Thank you to being Colbert to ARBG’s Franco.

  244. 244.

    NotMax

    February 19, 2018 at 3:04 pm

    @Baud

    Dead or “more powerful than you can possibly imagine?”

    ;)

  245. 245.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 3:05 pm

    @SFAW:

    You misunderstand. If the Yellowstone caldera were to go, I’d be perfectly happy to be sitting on my porch outside of Ennis, MT as the cloud goes up. I’d open a bottle of PVW and toast the fireworks.

  246. 246.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 3:05 pm

    @Baud: I did say that in #216.

  247. 247.

    Kay

    February 19, 2018 at 3:05 pm

    Just so everyone knows John Kasich could have put in all kinds of gun control at the state level after the last Ohio school shooting. I know this because the governor of Connecticut did.

    It’s one level of “convenient and self serving” to say you would handle things at the federal level if you are out of office. It’s another to be a sitting governor, do nothing in response to school shootings, and still have the gall to go out and lecture people about all the things you would do were you president.

    Ask Kasich about Ohio school shootings and why he hid under his desk when we had some. Malloy in Connecticut acted. He’s not President. But he is a governor, and so is John Kasich.

    Nothing Can Be Done.

  248. 248.

    Aimai

    February 19, 2018 at 3:05 pm

    @Betty Cracker: what does this mean?

  249. 249.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 3:06 pm

    @chris: Like shooting fish in a barrel.

  250. 250.

    Baud

    February 19, 2018 at 3:06 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: You don’t have to rub it in.

  251. 251.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 3:06 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The DC city council preemptively voted a couple of days after the story first broke to deny any and all permit requests for a military parade.

    Expect to see a bill withdrawing DC funding — unless the parade is approved — in 3 … 2 … 1 ….

  252. 252.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 3:08 pm

    @trnc: I have no idea what that means.

  253. 253.

    Adam L Silverman

    February 19, 2018 at 3:09 pm

    @SFAW: Will never get past the 60 vote cloture threshold in the Senate.

  254. 254.

    geg6

    February 19, 2018 at 3:10 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    Nope. You often sound like my brother in the midst of rapid cycling bipolar disorder. So I’m quite familiar with dealing with psychotics.

  255. 255.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 3:10 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    You misunderstood. I don’t give a shit if you’re OK with your own worthless life being an indirect (more or less) “loss” from the eruption. But since you seem to think the deaths of millions of others is A-OK, then you should start by serving as an object lesson, so to speak.

  256. 256.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 3:12 pm

    @geg6:

    People familiar with psychotics know that it is nothing like bi-polar disorder.

    It’s kind of a neat trick how you manage to disprove what you are saying with your very posts. Efficient.

  257. 257.

    Kay

    February 19, 2018 at 3:13 pm

    On February 27, 2012, a shooting took place at Chardon High School in Chardon, Ohio, in which three male students died within two days of the incident. Two other students were hospitalized, one of whom sustained several serious injuries requiring extensive rehabilitation, and the other suffered a minor injury. The seriously injured victim has since been declared permanently paralyzed. A sixth student sustained a superficial wound.
    Reaction to the event prompted a statement from Ohio Governor, John Kasich. Several prayer vigils were held and a fund for the victims was established. Thousands of people attended one of the vigils, at which the Governor spoke, the night after the attack.

    Why does Kasich feel so strongly about Florida students when he did absolutely nothing in response to this shooting, in the state where he is the governor and has a solid GOP majority legislature? Worse than nothing. He signed something like 7 laws deregulating guns.

  258. 258.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 3:13 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Will never get past the 60 vote cloture threshold in the Senate.

    As Geoffrey Rush said (sort of) in Pirates of the Caribbean: “It’s not a law, it’s more of a guideline.”

  259. 259.

    Amaranthine RBG

    February 19, 2018 at 3:14 pm

    @SFAW:

    At some point in your life, you are going to have to ask yourself whether you think that this planet’s ecosystems can survive 8 or 9 billion people.

    Or you could continue to think that your decision to bring your own shopping bags to the grocery store is going to MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

  260. 260.

    geg6

    February 19, 2018 at 3:16 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    Sounds more like your kind of people, at least in the comments. You know, gun humpers and ammosexuals.

  261. 261.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 3:17 pm

    @Amir Khalid: OK you are right. I did do a Google search, couldn’t find a video but saw some stills. Brown face is brown and silly. No self respecting Godbole would wear that head gear also too. Either he would keep his head uncovered if he was not traditional or if he was he would be wearing a Puneri pagdi, like my great grand grandfather did.
    Like the one Ranveer Singh is seen wearing at 1.09, minus all the pearls and embellishments, of course.

  262. 262.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 3:17 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    People familiar with psychotics know that it is nothing like bi-polar disorder.

    As usual, you don’t know what you’re talking about.

  263. 263.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 3:19 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    Wow, someone — geg6? — said you were a champ at moving the goalposts. And, like Pavlov’s frog, you respond! Outstanding.

  264. 264.

    geg6

    February 19, 2018 at 3:19 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    Perhaps you should do the same. Because, really, I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking about you. Not the same thing.

    And now we’re done because you are really just too stupid to argue with today. Well, every day, really.

  265. 265.

    Feathers

    February 19, 2018 at 3:20 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I remember hearing that Satyajit Ray planned an adaptation of Passage to India at one point. Would have loved to see that. David Lean can tend towards the tedious, he is wonderful when that suits the story, especially in his smaller early films. The epics leave me cold, other than Lawrence on a huge screen. The 70mm restoration played Boston on the old cinerama screen and later at the Wang. It needs that experience of being a tiny speck in front of that huge sky.

  266. 266.

    efgoldman

    February 19, 2018 at 3:21 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Senator Romney will be Hatch II

    Apparently without the dementia… so far.

  267. 267.

    geg6

    February 19, 2018 at 3:24 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    Shows what you know, which is apparently nothing at all about bipolar disorder. Psychosis is often a feature of manic episodes. I can guarantee that over my brother’s fifty years with bipolar, I’ve dealt with more psychosis than you ever have.

    Hmmm, have you ever been screened?

  268. 268.

    patroclus

    February 19, 2018 at 3:24 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: What’s your opinion of “Viceroy’s House” and “Victoria and Abdul”?

    I’m leaning towards voting for Sameena Mustafa for Congress – it’ll be my first vote ever for an Indian-American Muslim woman!

    And, uh, Bridge On the River Kwai was not tedious.

  269. 269.

    Tehanu

    February 19, 2018 at 3:25 pm

    @germy:

    As Stoneman Douglas High School student David Hogg put it on CNN, “If you can’t get elected without taking money from child murderers, why are you running?”

    Those kids are really sharp!

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    absurdly punitive gun laws

    What’s absurd about wanting guns regulated at least as much as cars? The absurdity is gun-fondlers screeching about their dick substitutes being taken away by tyranny when all any Democratic politician has EVER asked for is the same kind of licensing and safety training required for driving a pickup truck.

    And as for this:

    So when someone on the left stands up and proposes a reasonable sounding restriction, gun owners immediately think it is a subterfuge and just part of an incremental plan of for seizure.

    That’s because they’re idiots who should move to Somalia.

    And this:

    some sort of mechanism impeding further efforts at restriction would be a political winner for Republicans

    Any more jokes? From the people who passed laws forbidding the federal government to study the effects of gun violence? Give us a fkg break.

  270. 270.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 3:25 pm

    Sorry wrong link in #261, right linkhere

  271. 271.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 3:27 pm

    @Tehanu:

    That’s because they’re idiots who should move to Somalia.

    Oh, please Please PLEASE let it be so.

  272. 272.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 3:29 pm

    @patroclus: I think most of it went over my head. I saw it when I was quite young, not even a teen. I just didn’t get why AC’s character wanted to build the bridge for the Japanese. What was so noble about that?

  273. 273.

    Yutsano

    February 19, 2018 at 3:31 pm

    @SFAW: Won’t happen. Too many blahs.

  274. 274.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?

    February 19, 2018 at 3:32 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:
    You’re a monstrous scumbag.

  275. 275.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 3:34 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    What was so noble about that?

    I don’t think it was supposed to be noble. It was about unit cohesion (if that’s the correct term), among other things.

  276. 276.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 3:34 pm

    @patroclus: Have not seen either. Deepa Mehta’s Earth, Govind Nihalani’s Tamas (Darkness) and M.S. Sathyu’s Garam Hawa (Hot Air) cover the partition in great detail and get at the human tragedy behind the split. They are all in Hindi, though.

  277. 277.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?

    February 19, 2018 at 3:35 pm

    @SFAW:
    Better yet, they should be deported to Somalia along with all of their assets seized by the government.

    “But I’m an American citizen!1!!”

    Not anymore you’re not, gunnut. Have fun dying of malaria. Or by gunshot wounds. Whichever comes first.

    But then, I believe in due process.

  278. 278.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 3:36 pm

    @SFAW: I was bored. It was my parents’ attempt to get me to watch “good” films. Saw it at home not the theater.

  279. 279.

    Ruckus

    February 19, 2018 at 3:39 pm

    @Capri:

    He’s voting for gun control.

    Don’t believe it. Until he does he’s still a republican who always tries to lead by following the latest thing, right up until it runs into his actual “beliefs.” He’s a republican through and through, and I don’t mean that in a nice way.
    As @WereBear: said, he’s a great windsock. A human being, not so much.

  280. 280.

    Tehanu

    February 19, 2018 at 3:42 pm

    @SFAW: Wish we had a “Like” button on these threads. Thanks.

  281. 281.

    patroclus

    February 19, 2018 at 3:43 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Viceroy’s House has the Lord from Downton’s Abby but is otherwise terrible, Victoria and Abdul is really good – it tells the (somewhat obscure) story of Queen Victoria’s Urdu tutor and how he wormed his way into court, ultimately replacing John Brown as her special friend very late in her life.

    Guiness’ character in BOTRK wanted to unite his fellow prisoners behind a specific task, he wanted to one-up the commandant and show that the Brits were better than the Japanese and that he could win their personal battle, he wanted to demonstrate British engineering and construction expertise, he wanted to build something that would last beyond the war for the benefit of the Thais, he wanted to humiliate the Holden character and all that he represented and he had a weird sense of British “honor.”

  282. 282.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 19, 2018 at 4:02 pm

    @patroclus: Queen Victoria presided over the greatest transfer of wealth in the 19th century, wealth that the Brits have still kept most of, not given back to the rightful owners, like the Nazis had to. I take a dim view of all this Victoria fluffing. That said I love Judi Dench. If I watch it, it will be for her.
    Hugh Boneville looks nothing like the real Lord M. It sounded like a soap opera with a background of India’s partition in the reviews, so I am not particularly inclined to see it.

  283. 283.

    Ruckus

    February 19, 2018 at 4:03 pm

    @Gretchen:

    I’m hoping Pence is too stupid and arrogant to pick someone smarter than himself, but who knows?

    There is no way in hell that dense could not pick someone smarter than him. It’s not physically, emotionally, and especially mentally possible.

  284. 284.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 4:07 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    You should try it again. It’s a good film. You might like it, you might not.

    I sometimes talk about someone having a “Col. Nicholson moment”; that’s a reference to a key scene. (That’s neither here nor there, of course, vis-a-vis whether you end up liking it.)

  285. 285.

    SFAW

    February 19, 2018 at 4:08 pm

    @patroclus:

    Excellent synopsis

  286. 286.

    J R in WV

    February 19, 2018 at 4:36 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    …..And, like I have said THREE FUCKING TIMES NOW WOULD YOU PLEASE READ BEFORE RESPONDING, the exact same “reasonable” restrictions might pass if they were championed by trusted Republicans.

    And if Pigs could Fly, we would all need really sturdy umbrellas to walk outside. The pigs flying are far more likely that Republicans, bought and paid for by the NRA, will ever introduce and pass reasonable and effective gun control measures.

    In an earlier comment you said that in Trump, Ryan and McConnell together introduced gun control measures they would be likely to pass. Yes, because right now those three men represent total control of congress and the presidency. Still, flying pigs are more likely.

    Please stop flogging that poor horse – it’s been dead for days.

    Now, back into the pie chest for you!

  287. 287.

    MisterForkbeard

    February 19, 2018 at 4:47 pm

    @J R in WV: I mean, ARBG is technically correct (the BEST kind of correct!) when he says that if Republicans championed some gun control measures, they’d get through.

    This is correct, because they’re also the only people trying to STOP those measure currently. It’s ultimately meaningless. That said, if we want to have a longer conversation about pressuring Republicans into having sane stances on gun control, that would be nice.

  288. 288.

    Neldob

    February 19, 2018 at 6:11 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: it’s IOKIAR and it’s what got us Trump as well as Nixon and probably a few other bad actors.

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