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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Oh My God, What a Force to be Reckoned With

Oh My God, What a Force to be Reckoned With

by $8 blue check mistermix|  February 25, 20185:10 pm| 140 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Father of child killed in Sandy Hook shooting:

"We need to do something. And you know who is doing something? These amazing high school students. Oh my god, what a force to be reckoned with." pic.twitter.com/vnHho9Z6aN

— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 23, 2018


March 24.

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Previous Post: « Last CPAC 2018 Open Thread: Farewell to Tarwathie Oxon Hill
Next Post: My Position On Guns Has Evolved »

Reader Interactions

140Comments

  1. 1.

    Elizabelle

    February 25, 2018 at 5:14 pm

    Thank you. I don’t want to hear another word about CPAC or Dana Loesch.

  2. 2.

    Mary G

    February 25, 2018 at 5:15 pm

    I have been donating to Chris Murphy’s re-election campaign for almost two years now, because he’s going to have a shit ton of money pumped against by the NRA and their enablers the Russians. Though, Sen. Murphy, dude, that hairline looks more and more fake. Give it up, you don’t want to be a Trump lite.

  3. 3.

    HinTN

    February 25, 2018 at 5:16 pm

    Amen!

    The kids ARE alright.

  4. 4.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 5:17 pm

    @Elizabelle: Yeah, and let’s not talk about Andrew Sullivan, either.

  5. 5.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 5:21 pm

    The Parkland kids certainly have a few good spokesactors. I hope they don’t hit the wall most of us older cycnics have, at times.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    February 25, 2018 at 5:26 pm

    @Elizabelle:
    @WaterGirl:

    Thirded.

  7. 7.

    Elizabelle

    February 25, 2018 at 5:26 pm

    @WaterGirl: True. Although, WRT Sullivan, it was breathtaking to hear he is reading Orwell to escape dealing with the conditions Orwell warned us all about. Again, you cannot make this shit up.

    @Corner Stone:

    I hope they don’t hit the wall most of us older cycnics have, at times.

    They’ve got the wind at their backs, and us having their backs, and the NRA is on the ropes. A lot happening to make this moment even more effective.

    We just have to stop the wankers reminding us all that “nothing will happen. Nothing will change.” Because it does.

  8. 8.

    debbie

    February 25, 2018 at 5:27 pm

    @HinTN:

    Bill O’Reilly of course is scornful of the students. “Do we really want to be listening to high school students?” Gah!

  9. 9.

    Baud

    February 25, 2018 at 5:27 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    The forces that have worked against us in the past are plotting right now how to get to these kids. I guarantee it.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    February 25, 2018 at 5:28 pm

    @debbie: Another person we don’t need to hear about.

  11. 11.

    Yarrow

    February 25, 2018 at 5:28 pm

    @Corner Stone: They’ll hit walls, but given that they’re attacking the NRA and it’s working, I think their efforts will go a lot further. They already have. And the next time there’s a school shooting, and unfortunately there will be a next time, those kids will join the movement the Parkland kids have started. As will those who survive shootings in all sorts of places. For whatever reason now is the moment that the tide is turning on guns. We are not going back.

  12. 12.

    debbie

    February 25, 2018 at 5:29 pm

    @Baud:

    And what, pretend they don’t exist?

  13. 13.

    jo6pac

    February 25, 2018 at 5:29 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    True they can’t let any one steal the message and don’t take breath. They need to continue the attack on anyone that speaks out against them and other children trying for change that matters and not words.

  14. 14.

    Baud

    February 25, 2018 at 5:30 pm

    @debbie: It’s a start. What army does Bill O’Reilly command? Let’s ignore him.

  15. 15.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 5:30 pm

    @debbie: Do we really want to be listening to a racist serial sexual assault perp?

  16. 16.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 5:31 pm

    I just noticed that was a video, not a photo. Tears streaming down my face. This father saying that his kids are in high school and that this could happen to his family AGAIN. The most horrifying thing about that is that it’s true.

    I am a nonviolent person but I have always wondered what I would do if a neighbor poisoned my dog or did something awful like that. It’s possible that I might learn some things about myself that I would rather not know. Then I think about Sandy Hook families who had their young children shredded with bullets, and then have to put up with ignorant evil people suggesting that it’s a hoax.

  17. 17.

    Humdog

    February 25, 2018 at 5:31 pm

    The kids in 4th to 6th grade at Sandy Hook are now juniors and seniors in high school. They’re done with this guns everywhere baloney and they’re righteous enough adult cynicism cannot touch them.

  18. 18.

    Yarrow

    February 25, 2018 at 5:32 pm

    @Corner Stone: That could be so many people!

  19. 19.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 5:32 pm

    @Yarrow: I think the desperate efforts to push the Armed Teachjailor ™ and re-focus on Broward Co Sheriff failures tells us how they will proceed.

  20. 20.

    donnah

    February 25, 2018 at 5:32 pm

    Momentum is important, and Republicans always, always say, “Too soon! Don’t make it political!” Of course they want to put off any discussions and actions because they know they can bury the protests every time.

    But not this time. Everyone’s said it: these kids are not buying the NRA bullshit. And they are not afraid. Defying authority is their raison d’etre…they’re teenagers!

    By focusing on the money, like demanding corporations break away from the NRA and taking harder looks at gun manufacturers who fund them, we can make connections and see exactly where their weak spots are. Instead of running into brick walls put up by Republicans and the NRA, we can get under and around them.

    I have hope. I will support this new power and I hope the rest of the country will, too.

  21. 21.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 5:32 pm

    @debbie: Fuck it, we’ll do it live!

  22. 22.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 5:34 pm

    @Yarrow: Indeed! Let your mind imagine!

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 5:35 pm

    @Yarrow: It’s so inspiring to me to see all the colleges and universities who are going public saying that disciplinary action related to speaking out and peaceful gun protests will not affect their getting into those schools. That gives me hope.

    I am thinking of pulling out my Obama HOPE pin from 2008.

  24. 24.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 5:35 pm

    Why in the absolute fuck is Ivana Jr opening her god damn piehole to speak about foreign policy and international relations.

  25. 25.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 25, 2018 at 5:35 pm

    @Baud: Agreed. These outright haters and tone-policers like David Brooks and Sully are never going to approve of anything that we do. Its our existence that they hate. They want to us to give up and go home. So yes, we need to tune them out. Fuck them.

  26. 26.

    Yarrow

    February 25, 2018 at 5:35 pm

    @Corner Stone: It’ll be steps forward and some setbacks. The kids are so fearless, though. It’s inspiring to watch. They just don’t care about the bullshit reasons as to why things won’t change. They’re going right ahead and changing things.

  27. 27.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 5:37 pm

    @Corner Stone: It truly boggles the mind. These people have no idea how wrong they are in their approach to everything.

  28. 28.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 25, 2018 at 5:38 pm

    @Corner Stone: Arming teachers with guns must be one of the stupidest ideas among all the stupid ideas championed by the Rs.

  29. 29.

    Another Scott

    February 25, 2018 at 5:42 pm

    $2.56M of $2.8M goal raised for ‘March for our Lives’ on GoFundMe

    Good, good.

    Here’s hoping they have good experts helping with the logistics of the 24th, and with the efforts going forward.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  30. 30.

    Doug R

    February 25, 2018 at 5:45 pm

    These high school kids would have been in elementary school during Sandy Hook and they were born right after Columbine, so it’s been hanging over them their entire lives.
    They’ve cracked open the door, it’s up to ALL of us to keep up the fight and see this through.

  31. 31.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    February 25, 2018 at 5:47 pm

    @Corner Stone: She designs shoes! And bags! And her name is Trump. That’s all the qualification she needs.

  32. 32.

    debbie

    February 25, 2018 at 5:50 pm

    @Baud: @Corner Stone:

    Not listen, but know they’re out there and have an audience.

  33. 33.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 5:52 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Here’s hoping they have good experts helping with the logistics of the 24th

    I hear that guy that promoted Fyre Festival is available.

  34. 34.

    japa21

    February 25, 2018 at 5:52 pm

    @Corner Stone: First Ladies occasionally do that kind of thing.

  35. 35.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 5:54 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): I thought she stole those designs? Classic Trump ™ !

  36. 36.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 5:54 pm

    @japa21: She is no first lady.

  37. 37.

    TheMightyTrowel

    February 25, 2018 at 5:54 pm

    OT we had flash flooding yesterday and my department’s building flooded. The lower ground floor is apparently knee deep in water. I’m fine – my office is higher up- but LG is where we kept our stores (priceless anth and arch collections, teaching collections, etc). We’ve been telling the uni for 5 years that these were at risk because our storage was inadequate and our building was falling apart. And now…. who knows. We can’t get in to see the extent of damage until the water recedes. Bonus bullcrap: there’s a major (And much needed) building campaign on campus at the moment and three sides of our building are construction sites. We suspect that the construction altered or blocked up drainage exacerbating or perhaps even causing the flood we’ve suffered.

  38. 38.

    efgoldman

    February 25, 2018 at 5:56 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Arming teachers with guns must be one of the stupidest ideas among all the stupid ideas championed by the Rs.

    It is fucking idiocy. But then, what RWNJ “idea” isn’t?

  39. 39.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 5:57 pm

    @TheMightyTrowel: Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no. You must be sick about this. And it didn’t fucking have to happen if someone had listened.

    Who could have predicted? Only all the fucking people who have been telling you about this for years. Same tune, different verse.

  40. 40.

    debbie

    February 25, 2018 at 5:57 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    That video is heartbreaking. Some of the Sandy Hook parents are working with the students from Parkland, advising and assisting them in their organizing efforts.

  41. 41.

    Lapassionara

    February 25, 2018 at 5:59 pm

    @Baud: Yes. So we need to make sure we have their backs. If I had the right connections, I would be gaming this out. Anyone know how to start this process?

  42. 42.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 6:00 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Arming teachers with guns

    My son’s school restricts how many times you can go to the bathroom during class in each semester. I get they want to tamp down the abuse of the privilege and resulting disruption. Mainly because they need every minute of every day to teach the kids how to pass the standardized test so the school gets paid and they don’t get fired. Imagine an Armed Teachjailor ™ highly stressed and on edge.
    Now enter scene:
    MS. JAILER: Lil Johnny, you are out of passes.
    Lil Johnny: But I really need to go. No fooling!
    MS. JAILER: In that case, use the bucket.
    Lil Johnny: I don’t wanna!
    *BLAM!* *BLAM!*
    MS. JAILER: Does anyone else need a hall pass?
    39 heads shaking “No” violently in unison.

  43. 43.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 6:01 pm

    @debbie: That’s good for everyone, I’m sure. I know I’m the millionth person to say it, but I am so proud of these kids.

  44. 44.

    Another Scott

    February 25, 2018 at 6:04 pm

    @Corner Stone: It’s kinda weird how he dropped out of the news. The last story I have found about Billy McFarland was from December 14.

    But he’s got nothing on Frank Tribble!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  45. 45.

    Another Scott

    February 25, 2018 at 6:08 pm

    @Corner Stone: You need to trademark and copyright that concept right quick!!!1 It could be a new hit show on Netflix or something.

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  46. 46.

    Brachiator

    February 25, 2018 at 6:12 pm

    @donnah:

    But not this time. Everyone’s said it: these kids are not buying the NRA bullshit. And they are not afraid. Defying authority is their raison d’etre…they’re teenagers!

    Some of them may live by my favorite movie quote of all time.

    Mildred: Hey Johnny, what are you rebelling against?

    Johnny: Whadda you got?

    — The Wild One

    The yoots got no patience with NRA bullshit and are not afraid. They are also masters of social media. Some of the Fox holes have been reduced to talking amongst themselves.

    It’s a start. Obviously, they deserve support from the rest of us.

    It’s been encouraging to see companies cut ties with the NRA.

  47. 47.

    Gretchen

    February 25, 2018 at 6:12 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): Well, she doesn’t actually design shoes and bags. She steals the designs from lesser-known designers and sells them as her own: http://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/2017/09/22/ivanka-trump-getting-sued-over-sandal-design.html

  48. 48.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    February 25, 2018 at 6:13 pm

    @TheMightyTrowel: Oh no. Oh lord. I hope it comes out better than you fear. When can you get in?

  49. 49.

    Chet Murthy

    February 25, 2018 at 6:13 pm

    @Corner Stone: CS, speaking with cynicism turned to 11: unless these young people succeed in changing our laws (and even if they do, b/c 310m guns will take time to round up), there *will* be more massacres. And those massacres will eventually yield more young leaders. This state of affairs cannot persist indefinitely, b/c no society can nurture its young in such conditions. Or at least, no modern, technically-sophisticated society.

    A process that cannot continue forever, eventually stops. This will end. I just cringe, that it will be on the bodies of even more victims to come. But this *will* end. All Dana Loesh and Wayne The Peter can do, delay the inevitable.

    I mean, Americans love their children, too

  50. 50.

    Gretchen

    February 25, 2018 at 6:15 pm

    I’d like these people who want to arm teachers to spell out exactly how that would work. Would the guns be locked up, and the ammunition stored separately, like people are advised to do at home? If so, how would they get them out and loaded in time to use them? Or is there going to be a loaded gun on the teacher’s desk, and the 1st graders will be sternly told not to touch it? Or will the loaded gun be on the teacher’s hip, and she tries to avoid the 6 year olds hugging her too vigorously in case it goes off? Does she take it with her to the bathroom? Does she ever forget to bring it back to class? How does this work? Jeff Colyer is running for governor of Kansas, and his thinks this is a great idea.

  51. 51.

    Suzanne

    February 25, 2018 at 6:17 pm

    @Elizabelle: I have been really busy this weekend and I want no part of CPAC. It has been a remarkably Trump-free weekend and that was great. I had Thursday and Friday off, and I really could use one more day before starting the new gig tomorrow, but oh well. My nails will not be done, but hopefully no one will judge me too harshly.

  52. 52.

    aimai

    February 25, 2018 at 6:17 pm

    @TheMightyTrowel: How horrifying! Let us know what happens with the collection! You must be in agony.

  53. 53.

    TheMightyTrowel

    February 25, 2018 at 6:17 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): maybe tomorrow. We’ll see. Fingers crossed but frankly I’m not hopeful. Since we’re outside the us we don’t have the philanthropic tradition or ncaa income for fancy infrastructure.

  54. 54.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?

    February 25, 2018 at 6:19 pm

    @Baud:
    Good luck. These kids had friends they knew die because of guns. And they could have easily shared that fate.

    Someone in an earlier thread alluded to the NRA (or someone else) murdering these kids in order to silence them. I say, if that were to happen, it would only turn them into martyrs.

  55. 55.

    Mnemosyne

    February 25, 2018 at 6:20 pm

    @TheMightyTrowel:

    That’s our worst nightmare at my office, because 90 percent of our collection is works on paper. I hope all gets dried out with minimal damage!

  56. 56.

    Brachiator

    February 25, 2018 at 6:20 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Thank you. I don’t want to hear another word about CPAC or Dana Loesch.

    I don’t mind hearing about CPAC or Loesch. I like getting accurate information about what my enemies are up to.

  57. 57.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?

    February 25, 2018 at 6:22 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    Because she’s Daddy’s Girl and is a Very Serious Person with Serious Ideas.

  58. 58.

    Baud

    February 25, 2018 at 6:25 pm

    Does anyone know the easiest way to set up a live stream that’s restricted to selected viewers?

  59. 59.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 6:27 pm

    @Gretchen: In the Trump family, their Holy Trinity is apparently Lie, Cheat & Steal.

  60. 60.

    Another Scott

    February 25, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    @Baud: Maybe Zoom?

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  61. 61.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    February 25, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    @Gretchen: Story time. A friend who is an FBI agent told me that a guy in my friend’s squad went to the bathroom and hung his gun on the hook on the back of the door. When the guy went to pick it up again, it went off, sending a bullet through a wall and into the next room. No one was hurt. There was a formal investigation that resulted in some sort of advice that people not do this.

    That’s someone whose job involves carrying a gun, qualifying at a range every year (or maybe every 6 months, I’m not sure), and following rules. My first grade teacher DIL has none of those qualifications and spends time sitting on the floor with the 6 year olds.

  62. 62.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): I fear the answer to that question will be: “Not soon enough.”

  63. 63.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 25, 2018 at 6:31 pm

    @WaterGirl: Stealing this, reposting to Twitter.

  64. 64.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 6:32 pm

    @Brachiator: Yeah, but whole threads ABOUT them seldom provides new information and only amplifies their disheartening message. I think that’s what we’re saying isn’t much fun.

  65. 65.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 25, 2018 at 6:32 pm

    @Another Scott: Zoom? Kind of retro, no?

  66. 66.

    Elizabelle

    February 25, 2018 at 6:33 pm

    @Suzanne: Good luck with the new job. Your first day of school tomorrow, eh?

  67. 67.

    Another Scott

    February 25, 2018 at 6:34 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Hehe.

    “Oh two one three four!!11”

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  68. 68.

    Baud

    February 25, 2018 at 6:34 pm

    @Another Scott: Thanks.

  69. 69.

    NotMax

    February 25, 2018 at 6:35 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    The teacher arming crapola being proposed so far applies to grades 5 – 12.

    Apparently grades K – 4 are expendable and fall into the “Don’t worry, they’ll make more” category.

  70. 70.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 6:36 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: By all means!

  71. 71.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 6:37 pm

    @Baud: I am thinking the might be up Raven’s alley, so I dropped him an email message.

  72. 72.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    February 25, 2018 at 6:38 pm

    @NotMax: This whole discussion assumes we can only act to protect schools AFTER we sell a weapon of war to all comers. Before that, nothing can be done. It infuriates and saddens me.

  73. 73.

    Baud

    February 25, 2018 at 6:38 pm

    @WaterGirl: Thanks.

  74. 74.

    Tenar Arha

    February 25, 2018 at 6:41 pm

    @Gretchen: I don’t. It would be intellectually satisfying to know their ideas are as nonsensical as the policy. However there’s no logic to their stance, it’s just a red herring to make us go ??, and get sidetracked from campaigning for sensible gun control. We just need to keep saying, well that won’t help, and saying Democrats are for measures like stopping sales of certain weapons, fixing background checks, studying gun violence etc.

  75. 75.

    Brachiator

    February 25, 2018 at 6:44 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Yeah, but whole threads ABOUT them seldom provides new information and only amplifies their disheartening message.

    There was a recent reply by Cheryl R that clued me in to some important news stories about Trump and the Australian prime minister that I might have otherwise missed.

    I’m not disheartened by reading about Trump and his dopes. I am energized and more eager to fight. And this makes it even sweeter when I read about candidates winning in areas where Trump did well in 2016.

    But I understand how you feel and would not try to convince you to think otherwise. I can only note how I feel about the issue.

  76. 76.

    dmsilev

    February 25, 2018 at 6:46 pm

    @TheMightyTrowel: At my previous university, we had an episode some years ago where the city pumping station that emptied the storm drains was offline because of flooding (ironic!) and rain was forecast. And our building had two levels of below-grade basements filled with all sorts of delicate equipment. One faculty member was observed asking whether we could run some garden hoses up the stairs to pump any water out that way. I dragged him down to the sump pump room and showed him the 8″ pipes going out (big building, extending down below the level of the water table, so big pumps…). So, no. Thankfully, no rain before the city pumps were fixed.

    Of course, a year or so later we had an actual flood because of some idiot contractors who set up a pipe brazing station directly underneath a sprinkler head. Nothing quite like coming into work at 8 AM to find pools of water all across the floor and a steadily-increasing number of people running around like headless chickens.

  77. 77.

    NotMax

    February 25, 2018 at 6:46 pm

    @Tenar Arha

    For the sound bite era: Effective gun controls, not defective gun controls.

    May as well repeat this here, as it’s right on topic.

    The judgment of Samuel L. Jackson is pretty much equivalent to eternal damnation.

    And the star certainly didn’t hold back when it came to Donald Trump’s proposals to arm teachers, declaring on Twitter: “Can someone that’s been in a Gunfight tell that Muthaf*kka that’s Never been in a Gunfight, the flaws of his Arm The Teachers plan??!!” Source

  78. 78.

    Kay

    February 25, 2018 at 6:51 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Why in the absolute fuck is Ivana Jr opening her god damn piehole to speak about foreign policy and international relations.

    Because she deserves the spot. To deny her jobs she hasn’t earned is unthinkable.

    This is what “a sense of entitlement” means. That’s what it looks like.

  79. 79.

    NotMax

    February 25, 2018 at 6:54 pm

    @Kay

    And here I thought it was to copiously suck in fresh air in order to try to get the taste of Jared out of her mouth.

  80. 80.

    Brachiator

    February 25, 2018 at 6:56 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady):

    My first grade teacher DIL has none of those qualifications and spends time sitting on the floor with the 6 year olds.

    Trump’s proposal is idiotic. The sad thing is he probably believes it. Just shows how desperately these dopes want to cling to their guns.

  81. 81.

    Kay

    February 25, 2018 at 6:56 pm

    I plan on going to the march and being a good subordinate to whatever 17 year old is running things :)

    IMO the best thing you can do for them is show up. They’re organizers now and what organizers want most in this world is a good turn out. It’s the coin of that particular realm, and the way to show them gratitude.

  82. 82.

    Patricia Kayden

    February 25, 2018 at 6:57 pm

    @donnah: Yep. The NRA should be treated like any other terrorist organization. No funding. No sponsors. No privileges. They only represent 5 million Americans (or so they claim since they haven’t provided any proof of that number). There is no reason that our politicians should be so beholden to their every whim and fancy. Kudos to Parkland students for showing us how to push back on the pro-gun hysteria which has grasped this country for way too long. Looking forward to their march in March.

  83. 83.

    Ruckus

    February 25, 2018 at 6:57 pm

    @debbie:

    “Do we really want to be listening to high school students?”

    Listening to those HS students is far, far, far more informative, useful and smarter than listening to anything of little Billy’s.

  84. 84.

    germy

    February 25, 2018 at 6:57 pm

    The Wall Street Journal is at it again:

    The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel appeared on Fox News Sunday with a novel suggestion for helping solve America’s mass-shooting crisis: Give teachers stun grenades.

    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/wsj-editorial-board-member-arm-teachers-with-stun-grenades.html

  85. 85.

    debbie

    February 25, 2018 at 7:01 pm

    @Ruckus:

    Absolutely!

  86. 86.

    JPL

    February 25, 2018 at 7:01 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): That’s the problem. My biggest concern is the NRA appears to have found a scapegoat to blame the murders on, and that’s the sheriff.

  87. 87.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 7:02 pm

    @germy: Kim Strassel is fucking nuts.

  88. 88.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 7:02 pm

    @JPL: They are going to try it on.

  89. 89.

    Jeffro

    February 25, 2018 at 7:03 pm

    @germy: that’s awesome! What could go wrong?

  90. 90.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 7:04 pm

    Danielle Pletka and David Brody were half of the panel on MtP today. Anyone know where Chuck Todd’s tumbrel number is about now?

  91. 91.

    germy

    February 25, 2018 at 7:05 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    In June 2016, she published a book called The Intimidation Game: How the Left Is Silencing Free Speech, detailing her assertions about the IRS’s alleged harassment of conservatives and other similar events.

  92. 92.

    Ruckus

    February 25, 2018 at 7:07 pm

    @Brachiator:

    The yoots got no patience with NRA bullshit and are not afraid.

    They have already been shot at, some asswipe is going to dismiss them with a ta ta and a wave of the hand? I don’t fucking think so. Combat vets usually fall into one of 2 categories, zombie or don’t give a fuck when it comes to this sort of stuff. And let’s face it, these kids are combat vets.

  93. 93.

    JPL

    February 25, 2018 at 7:08 pm

    @Corner Stone: Will Congress have hearings?

  94. 94.

    NotMax

    February 25, 2018 at 7:08 pm

    @germy

    Let’s see…

    Hearing damage
    Burns
    Ignition of flammable materials.

    Calling her a dyed-in-the-wool idiot would be a compliment.

  95. 95.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 7:08 pm

    @Brachiator: Fair enough!

  96. 96.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    February 25, 2018 at 7:10 pm

    @NotMax:

    Oh, gross, dude!

  97. 97.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 7:12 pm

    @dmsilev: That happened to us at the University. My IT group managed the servers for a good part of the College and they were housed in the basement. My group was there on a Saturday morning for some thing we wanted to do off hours, and we arrived to find the entire basement flooded and many inches of water running down the basement hallway.

    Hours of bailing and people running home for wet vacs and pouring water out the basement windows, stuffing towels underneath doors and taping doors to keep the water out of the server room, but we saved the servers. Not a fun day.

    edit: forgot to say that a 12″ pipe had burst and was sending water into the building at an alarming rate!

  98. 98.

    Ruckus

    February 25, 2018 at 7:15 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:
    Well those 5 million members don’t seem to pay enough to cover the kind of bribe money that the NRA spends. Sponsorship money has to be accounted for in a non-profit, so it is possible to find out where it’s coming from. But I’d bet there is some creative accounting being done there.

  99. 99.

    Jay S

    February 25, 2018 at 7:17 pm

    @Baud: Skype for a small number of interactive viewers. I think Periscope can have a restricted audience.

  100. 100.

    patrick II

    February 25, 2018 at 7:22 pm

    @Another Scott:

    The should just arm the two guys on the HBO show “Vice Principals”, that might give some food for thought.

  101. 101.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 7:30 pm

    I think my Five Most Punchable Faces in DC right now are:
    1. Trump
    2. Ivana Jr
    3. JarJar
    4. Mulvaney
    5. Ted Cruz

  102. 102.

    stinger

    February 25, 2018 at 7:32 pm

    @Gretchen: Furthermore, a lot of the shooters are current or former students or recent graduates. So high school teachers are expected to shoot THEIR OWN KIDS? Somebody they may have had in class last semester, counseled last week? Do we want teachers who are warm, nurturing people who love children, or cold-blooded sharpshooters?

    I know, I know, porque no los dos.

  103. 103.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    February 25, 2018 at 7:41 pm

    @Corner Stone: You forgot Sarah Huckabee-Sanders. She sneers.

  104. 104.

    Chet Murthy

    February 25, 2018 at 7:41 pm

    @Corner Stone: What? No love for Yertle? C’mon, man. Don’t be a hater.

  105. 105.

    CarolDuhart2

    February 25, 2018 at 7:43 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: I’ve had a hunch that real members are much less, and much less active as they appear. There really is no incentive to cull the list for dead or dropped out members here. Another sign is that Wayne LaPierre is older than dirt-an active organization would have wanted someone younger and more diplomatic, or at least younger. Then, there’s the appeal to the membership regarding a whole lot of social conservative matters that infer that the membership is one that actively remembers the 1960’s.

  106. 106.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 25, 2018 at 7:51 pm

    @Corner Stone: No Paul Ryan?

  107. 107.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 7:53 pm

    Come on, people! I said Top Five!
    Tell me who you’d swap out.

  108. 108.

    Tim C.

    February 25, 2018 at 7:54 pm

    Actual high school teacher here. I’ve told my principal that if we get money for weapons I’m putting in for a Scottish claymore, blue woad paint and a kilt. Seriously though, I’m exactly the kind of community where this could happen. We are in an exurban area of Oregon, where there’s a ton of gun loonies and aggressive racist idiot Trump voters. There’s also a surplus of neglected teenagers in that community nursing a grudge. It’s a disaster waiting to happen

  109. 109.

    BluegirlFromWyo

    February 25, 2018 at 7:54 pm

    @Kay: And donate to them. When I did today, they were about $250k shy of their $2.8M goal. Link’s in the post.

  110. 110.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 25, 2018 at 7:55 pm

    @Corner Stone: Mulvaney for Ryan. Or make it a top ten list.

  111. 111.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 7:56 pm

    @Baud: I heard back from Raven. He said FaceTime, Facebook Live, or YouTube Live.

  112. 112.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 25, 2018 at 7:58 pm

    @WaterGirl: Also too, Google Voice.

  113. 113.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 7:59 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: No. I’m not giving up Mulvaney.

  114. 114.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    February 25, 2018 at 8:00 pm

    @Corner Stone: It’s true that there’s a wealth of possibilities

  115. 115.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 25, 2018 at 8:00 pm

    @Baud: Are you going to address your fan club, here?

  116. 116.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 25, 2018 at 8:01 pm

    @Corner Stone: Okay, nice set of starters. Who’s your “sixth man?”

  117. 117.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 25, 2018 at 8:01 pm

    @Corner Stone: OK then add Ryan to the list. Top 6 instead of top 5.

  118. 118.

    lgerard

    February 25, 2018 at 8:06 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    No Stephen Miller?

  119. 119.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    February 25, 2018 at 8:06 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I’d prefer Donnie Jr in exchange for Mulvaney. Can we make it a top ten list and add Pruitt and both Mininchen/Munchkin/whatever it is?

    Oh! What am I thinking? Sessions! Box those flappy-ass ears!

  120. 120.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 8:07 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Xavier McDaniel.

  121. 121.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 8:09 pm

    @lgerard: I figure Stephen Miller will be found dead by his own hand in an auto-erotic asphyxiation incident in the not too near future.

  122. 122.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 8:11 pm

    6. Ryan
    7. Pruitt
    8. Zinke
    9. Tillerson
    10. J Kelly

  123. 123.

    Corner Stone

    February 25, 2018 at 8:12 pm

    I may consider arguments to swap Tillerson or Zinke for Turtle.

  124. 124.

    tamiasmin

    February 25, 2018 at 8:14 pm

    @Yarrow: It’s especially inspiring to listen to what these young people are saying and how they say it. They are not calling people shitheads and fucktards or idiots and assholes. They are laying out a persuasive case for change based on a stark choice: children or guns. And they know their stuff. They can answer the stale arguments for gun proliferation and show why the case for half measures or no measures has failed and was probably designed to fail. It seems as if our schools really have been teaching kids about reasoned argument, decency in discourse, and grace under fire, both literal and rhetorical. Many of us can learn from them, if we will.

  125. 125.

    Baud

    February 25, 2018 at 8:18 pm

    @WaterGirl: Thank you!

  126. 126.

    Noncarborundum

    February 25, 2018 at 8:23 pm

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): I was thinking Mnuchin. Can we get a special deal on him and his wife both?

  127. 127.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 8:29 pm

    @Baud: You are welcome. I’ll keep an eye out for my invitation. Can’t wait to see what you’re going to talk about.

  128. 128.

    Smiling Mortician

    February 25, 2018 at 8:30 pm

    11. Devin Nunes

  129. 129.

    Baud

    February 25, 2018 at 8:32 pm

    @WaterGirl: It’s best if you don’t know.

  130. 130.

    Kay

    February 25, 2018 at 8:46 pm

    @BluegirlFromWyo:

    I usually show up if I can, although I know that’s not for everyone. Unless I miss my guess what will make the young’uns happy is numbers.

    I also love “let’s march” as a slogan. Yes. Let’s!

    I’m a good marcher although I would prefer columns and rows, possibly uniforms or at least caps or hats of some kind :)

  131. 131.

    Kay

    February 25, 2018 at 8:51 pm

    @BluegirlFromWyo:

    This I can go to because it happens to fall on the first day of My Spring Vacation and I was headed in that general direction anyway. Sort of. If you hold the map upside down and say “as the crow flies”

    My husband and son are coming, too.

  132. 132.

    Ruckus

    February 25, 2018 at 8:52 pm

    @CarolDuhart2:
    Wayne may be old but so are a lot of the members. The ones still alive that is. Secondly he isn’t there as a membership defender, he’s there as a political money machine.

  133. 133.

    SgrAstar

    February 25, 2018 at 8:53 pm

    @Corner Stone: now we’re talking. Pruitt has to be on any tumbrel manifest.

  134. 134.

    marv

    February 25, 2018 at 10:09 pm

    It seems to me a lot of adults are like, well this won’t work either. I’m 65 years old, and neither a complete failure or a complete success, but I tell you what, I’m so moved by these kids, who probably won’t be complete failures or complete successes themselves, that I will be in DC on the 24th

  135. 135.

    JR

    February 25, 2018 at 10:33 pm

    @JPL: it actually is a good indicator of how stupid the armed teachers idea is.

  136. 136.

    Gvg

    February 25, 2018 at 10:48 pm

    You know one of the reasons we have arrived at this loony point is that a lot of people are justifiably afraid of the NRA and the even more extreme gun nuts who give the impression they will kill a polititian who crosses them. So these kids aren’t afraid and that’s great but adults are because JFK and Martin Luthor King and Gabby Giffords are what happens when you go against that segment.
    The fear is the problem. How can our polititian be so out of touch with what polls say we want? Well how about intimidation? Thes bully’s know it and like it IMO that’s why they want open carry in public like College Campuses and even malls.

  137. 137.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 25, 2018 at 10:50 pm

    @Gvg: The kids have taken the lead. Let’s just back them however we can.

  138. 138.

    WaterGirl

    February 25, 2018 at 11:12 pm

    @Baud: Hope you’re not planning an intervention for me.

  139. 139.

    Arclite

    February 25, 2018 at 11:14 pm

    Don’t forget about March 14. THere’s supposed to be a 17 min walkout at 10AM by participating students in memorial for the 17 who died.

  140. 140.

    Darkrose

    February 25, 2018 at 11:36 pm

    @TheMightyTrowel: Oh gods, that’s awful–I’m so sorry! I took beginning archiving last semester, and that’s an archivist’s nightmare. Hopefully the collections can be salvaged.

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