… because he sounds pretty desperate to push his Oooga booga! The illegals are coming to kill us all! bullshite here.
Daily Beast:
Following reports of a shooting at YouTube’s headquarters Tuesday afternoon, a Republican congressman almost immediately speculated that the perpetrator “could be” an undocumented immigrant.
Appearing on the Fox Business Network to discuss immigration policy, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) was asked by host David Asman to pivot to discussing the shooting in San Bruno, California…
The lawmaker blasted the state of California for failing to deal with the scourge of “criminal illegal aliens.”
Rohrabacher then continued: “Would anyone listening to you right now think, ‘Well, this certainly wouldn’t be an illegal immigrant there’? Well it could be!”
He ranted that “any illegal in this state should be sent back whether he’s a criminal or not.”…
It was a woman, as it turns out; and from the reports I’ve seen so far, Nasim Aghdam seems to have been the classic “troubled soul” who used a gun to gain a “platform” for her grievances before killing herself. But hey, she was a Muslima with a not-American name, so I’m sure the staunchest of Rohrabacher’s constituents will be pleased that he’s “defending” them!
So… is Rohrabacher as dumb as that? Or just desperate to avoid being primaried from the right / looking to boost turnout among his (very) base?
mainmata
I don’t know. For years and years, he has been an open admirer of the worst of the Russians but he still gets re-elected so his constituents must love is lunatic ways. However, if any year will get him kicked to the curb, it would probably be this year
Mnemosyne
Well, there was finally a left-wing mass shooter. Yay? Fortunately, she seems to have been bad at it.
Mnemosyne
Also, I couldn’t get the paragraph to copy, but apparently her family had reported her missing, but the cops who found her sleeping in her car 300+ miles from home did not detain her since, to them, she didn’t seem to be a threat to herself or others.
Maybe we should require cops to take people who have been reported missing to the ER for an evaluation before declaring that everything is fine? ?
Susan K of the tech support
@mainmata: My chosen nearby flippable district to canvass in is CA-48th. Canavssed 2x so far. More soon. CA-48th is my old stomping grounds. Don’t live there now, but can tell old stories from growing up if need be.
Edited to add: and OMG is it a happy thing to talk to people. They are SO GLAD that someone is out talking to Dems because they feel isolated!
Amir Khalid
Your second link leads to a 404 error page. Please to fix?
Susan K of the tech support
@Amir Khalid: looks like there was a colon missing between the https and the //
here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/youtube-shooter-nasim-aghdam-was-vegan-who-had-complained-about-n862586
(oh wow. I named myself “of the tech support” a while back because others did the “of the” nym formulation and I liked it. Tonight, though, it’s truth. I shudder. But the link oughtta work, even so.)
Anne Laurie
@Amir Khalid: Sorry — extra http has been removed; should work now.
(Thanks, Susan K)
Amir Khalid
Nasim Aghdam being Muslim doesn’t seem to have anything at all to do with this. Quite a few Youtubers have some kind of beef with YouTube, I’ve noticed: videos demonetised or removed (or even a channel shut down) for no good reason, with no avenue of appeal. Sometimes they post a video on YouTube to grumble. I suppose that eventually some disgruntled YouTuber with a gun and the means to get to California was going to do this.
Mary G
Dana has always been the crazy uncle, but he surfed and had a remarkable memory for names and faces, so he got pats on the head and sent back every year. There’s a lot of older rich people in his district, but they are getting hosed in the tax bill next year so I think he may have worn out his welcome. I have seen web ads for Democrats and the primary isn’t until June.
hellslittlestangel
I think a smart move for his opponent would be to link him to “America’s enemy” Russia. Cut footage of him in with old 1950s propaganda films. He consorts with the worst kinds of illegal aliens, Russian criminals and spies.
Anne Laurie
@Amir Khalid:
Of course it doesn’t — except that her religion will be used as a tool to demonize her. Cuz AMURKKKA!
Kay
@Mnemosyne:
They can take them (if they’ll get in the car) but they can’t make them stay and get an evaluation. Families of mentally ill people have cops do “well checks” all the time- which they’ll do- but if the person says they’re okay they’re free to go.
They can “pink slip” them here- hold them for a medical eval- but it’s kind of a conundrum because you need an expert to make the eval- a physician or some other health care person to sign and the problem is getting them to that person- they don’t have to go. It’s really hard because you could see how involuntary holds could be abused, hence, the requirement they be evaluated by an expert. She’s allowed to disappear from home and rant about youtube. They need more than that. There’s eccentric people and weird behavior and then there’s dangerous behavior and it’s hard to tell the difference.
JR
@Mnemosyne: they’re all shutheads and started with the wrong person
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
I get a sense that she was upset because she wasn’t making money off her YouTube channels.
Uncle Cosmo
@JR: Is “shuthead” a thing? Or just a typo?
If the latter, I vote we make it a thing – it’s a perfect 1-word description of the typical don’t-wanna-hear-nothin’ lockstep GOP voter. (ETA: And suitable for G-rated discourse as well.)
Jack the Second
@Kay: I mean, an unbalanced person shows up at YouTube without being able to get a gun and you have a different story, too.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@hellslittlestangel: That’s what I thought the posting was going to be about when I read the headline. Like maybe he was next for indictment by Mueller.
@Mnemosyne: And by the well known logical principle of “one cold day proves the warming trend is fake” (I need to work that out in pithy Latin) this proves there have never been shooters with RWNJ motivations.
Butch
@Anne Laurie: Actually she is Bahai (which is itself a persecuted minority in Iran) but I’m sure that distinction is too subtle for right-wing America.
Frankensteinbeck
@Mnemosyne:
No way. The biggest cause of missing people are runaways from abusive situations. Their abusers will do anything within their power to torture the runaway from a distance. They LOVE trying to get their victim declared mentally unfit, and to call the cops on them for any excuse. They don’t need more power.
schrodingers_cat
@Butch: Bahais are a persecuted minority in many countries. I don’t think they consider themselves Muslim.
Butch
@schrodingers_cat: They don’t consider themselves Muslim. That’s what I said.
schrodingers_cat
@Butch: And I agreed.
Sister Golden Bear
Yes, and yes.
burnspbesq
Dana has reached his sell-by date.
The Moar You Know
On the one hand, he’s a racist lunatic, on the other hand, he and Farr have been THE driving force in forcing the Feds to lay off medical marijuana users. Without them, people’d still be jailed for smoking while dying of cancer. So, put mildly, I’m conflicted.
? Martin
Rohrabacher is toast. He’s 15 points below a generic dem. Issa retired when he hit that level. Dana should have done the same. Even my district which is MUCH more favorable to Republicans the incumbent Republican (Mimi Walters) is polling behind either of the top two Dems.
? Martin
Oh, and Dana can’t be primaried from the right. His district is too blue to pull that off.
moops
there is a desk at Fox for him. Count on it. He’ll have an OK run, but eventually get put into storage and brought out for special issue shows on “immigration reform”
moops
He’s not going to drop out, and he’s not going to get a realistic primary challenge. He is going to try and get as much exposure as possible on the campaign, lose, and parlay his status to land a TV slot. The senior Republican from California victim of the Mad Liberal Left reactionary election that is all about Donald Trump and nothing else.