Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

In my day, never was longer.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Also, are you sure you want people to rate your comments?

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

“Alexa, change the president.”

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Friday Late Afternoon Open Thread: NRA Protests

Friday Late Afternoon Open Thread: NRA Protests

by | 47 Comments

This post is in: ,

This journalist was denied access, despite having credentials.  So instead he covered the protests. I think his time was better spent there. Click on any of his tweets to read his full report.

Protesters chase away impotent white NRA supporter:

He estimated there were thousands gathered by the time Beto spoke:

The actual convention looks lame:

I’m sure I just broke all the rules for embeds, but it was hard to choose.  Click on any of his tweets to read the entire thread.  As my penance, I will refrain from posting all weekend.

This is an open thread.

 

Reader Interactions

47Comments

  4. 4.

    Kay

    Douglas Rivlin
    @douglasrivlin
    ·
    4h
    Since then, California repeatedly has tightened its gun laws, while Florida & Texas have moved in the opposite direction. California’s rate of gun deaths declined by 10% since 2005, even as the national rate has climbed. Texas & Florida rates of gun deaths have climbed 28% & 37%.

    Law n Order

  6. 6.

    Steeplejack

    Jeez-us. I’m watching the latest Uvalde press conference (on MSNBC). We do not need a nationally televised event for minor bureaucrats to explain the details of the health insurance that is available to the government (and private!) workers affected by the shooting spree.

  7. 7.

    JoyceH

    The governor’s press conference is going on right now. What a sea of Anglo faces! Since virtually all the victims were Hispanic, it just looks weird that everybody dealing with it and reporting on it officially are not. Just me?

  9. 9.

    mali muso

    I’ve been cycling through incandescent rage, utter grief, paralyzing fear for my 5 year old and then back to rage. These stories about the kids trapped inside calling 911 for help that didn’t come…I’m just. I don’t even know what to think.

  10. 10.

    TaMara

  11. 11.

    Steeplejack

    Abbott starting to take questions at the press conference. I hope he gets roasted.

    ETA: All right! MSNBC cut away from Abbott’s trivia, and Nicolle Wallace is roasting him.

    Oops, now back to Abbott.

  13. 13.

    Kay

    TaMara May 27, 2022 at 4:54 PM
    This tweet has statistics by state:

    The better part is how they start to diverge- they’re similiar until 2005 and then red states with (increasingly) lax gun laws just take off on gun
    deaths – stricter gun laws help but loosening gun laws hurt too. They’re both moving.

  15. 15.

    Baud

    ‘@Kay
    @TaMara

    There are probably a whole host of statistics that show where blue states do better than red states.

  16. 16.

    TaMara

    ‘@Baud – and Red States are coming up with ways of banning learning about those stats in school.

  17. 17.

    Kay

    Baud May 27, 2022 at 5:05 PM

    Perhaps, but this is different:

    Douglas Rivlin
    @douglasrivlin
    In 2005, California had almost the same rate of deaths from guns as Florida or Texas. California had 9.5 firearms deaths per 100,000 people that year, Florida had 10 and Texas 11, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics.

  18. 18.

    Kay

    Baud May 27, 2022 at 5:05 PM

    The “national” rate is climbing because the red state rate is climbing.
    Up 37% in Florida, down 10% in CA, since 2005.

  19. 19.

    Baud

    ‘@Kay

    No wonder they always demonize California as a hellhole.

    As with grooming and sedition, it’s all projection.

  20. 20.

    Kay

    Natasha Korecki
    @natashakorecki
    ·
    19m
    Now Abbott is unleashing
    “I’m absolutely livid!”
    He says he was lied to by law enforcement and he passed on those lies to the public.

    What a clown. I’m pleased this is a political disaster from him. Pure panic.

  21. 21.

    Kay

    Baud May 27, 2022 at 5:19 PM

    If I were the Illinois governor (who I think is a good governor) every time one of these clowns said “Chicago” I’d say “Memphis” or “Miami”

    Red states have huge crime problems. How they have gotten away with chanting “Chicago” instead of addressing their own crime problems is beyond me.

  22. 22.

    Mike in NC

    Good to see so many protesters in Houston. Looks like the number inside for the NRA gun-fest is considerably smaller (more like for one of Trump’s pathetic hate rallies).

  23. 23.

    Bill Arnold

    Of COURSE gun laws help. Salvador Ramos, the Texas mass murderer, WAS NOT ALLOWED, BY LAW, to buy a gun until his 18th birthday. Rather than illegally acquiring a gun for his mass-murder spree, he waited until he was able to purchase his murder weapons legally.

  24. 24.

    Steeplejack

    ‘@Kay:

    > Now Abbott is unleashing.

    He’s going to need a bigger bus to throw people under.

  26. 26.

    Bill Arnold

    Meanwhile, 350 COVID-19 deaths per day in the US due mainly to right-wing politics, plus another few thousand daily who roll a 1 on the Long-COVID die. (Those are roughly standard 6-sided dice.)
    The CDC is not helping matters; their Community Level crap is on the evilness level of some of the Trump administration policies. (The community level is basically a measure of how likely one would be to get a hospital bed if needed.)

  27. 27.

    New Deal democrat

    I know I am screaming into the void here, but I wish the Democrats would go maximalist on both guns and bodily autonomy. They should announce that they are the *only* two issues in this autumn’s midterms, and announce *specific* measures that they will enact if the voters entrust them with a majority. That should include voting to set aside the filibuster if needed to pass those laws, and voting to expand the Supreme Court if the current set of “Justices” will not uphold those measures.

    I happen to think that a solemn compact to do these things will reward the Democrats with a substantial majority this November.

    Yes, I am screaming into the interstellar void.

  28. 28.

    Quiltingfool

    In an earlier post, I shared an email I sent to Representative Hartzler (R-Mo). The topic was gun violence. I got an email back. Here is part of it:
    “ The Coronavirus Pandemic has presented an unprecedented global health and economic crisis for our nation and I am working hard to stay in touch with my constituents during this difficult period. Due to the large volume of constituent letters, telephone calls and e-mails please expect a slower than normal response time. I hope to have a written response addressing your concerns as quickly as possible. Thank you for your continued understanding as we fight COVID-19 and its effects on our country.”

    I’m trying to figure out what Covid has to do with banning assault weapons. She didn’t do squat re Covid, railed against masking and vaccinations, but she’s using Covid as a shield against topics she doesn’t want to address? Jesus, Mary and Joseph, what an asshole.

  29. 29.

    MaiNaem mobile

    ‘@JoyceH I am not sure that the sea of anglo faces is a feature and not a bug with Abbott and his fans.

  31. 31.

    MisterDancer

    ‘@Kay: I’m glad to hear Abbott’s out on the ledge he made for himself.

    I’d bet anything he and his team did zero legwork or prep after the shooting. Letting LEO agencies run roughshod, save for photo-ops, is a lot of these assholes SOP, and it’s grimly appropriate it’s biting him in the ass, now.

    We’ll see what sludge this “Special Session” he wants to call, delivers though. Likely more “oh not, WOKENESS!” bills over actual changes.

    Oh, speaking of! It turns out one of the Parents who last a kid? Is suing for removal of a LBGTQIA+ book as part of the “Moms for Liberty [BULLSHIT]” group: https://twitter.com/IamGMJohnson/status/1530207183945728002. So, expect some toxic tying of this tragedy to Gayness and CRT soon.

    (UGH.)

  32. 32.

    NutmegAgain

    Makes me cry. Personally, I daren’t hope for headway against the gun nuts. But I will be happy to go along with more positive outlook.

    I dunno if cursing anymore from my tiny safe (so far) corner of New England has any effect.

  34. 34.

    The Moar You Know

    ‘@DAW:

    “ I’m worrying that the outrage over the police failure to enter the school will take over from the outrage over the guns”

    That’s the plan. It’s working.

  35. 35.

    Steeplejack

    Let’s be clear about this:

    —————
    @GarrettHaake: “The use of police-jargon ‘barricade’ for a subject who won’t respond/​come outside does the public a disservice here, like ‘officer-involved shooting’ does.

    “All indications from Uvalde are that the ‘barricade’ here was one locked door.”
    —————

  36. 36.

    debbie

    ‘@ The Moar You Know:

    Bullshit. What the police are serving to show is how bullshit the notion of a good guy with a gun is as the answer to mass shootings. It’s still all about the guns.

  37. 37.

    debbie

    There’s no other way to put it: Mike DeWine is a whore:

    “After offering prayers and words of support for the families that lost loved ones in the Uvalde, Texas school shooting, Gov. Mike DeWine proposed what he believed would be measures that could increase school safety in Ohio.

    DeWine, a Republican, said he plans on asking the Republican-dominated state legislature for increased funding to help schools fortify their buildings.

    “Parents should be able to know that when they send their child to a school, whether it’s a public school or a private school in the state of Ohio, doesn’t matter where they live, they should be assured that that school building is up to the highest standards,” said DeWine.

    Ohio has thousands of school buildings and while he doesn’t know the exact dollar amount yet, DeWine said the increased funding would be a “significant amount of money.”

    DeWine also intends to increase the number of regional school safety liaisons in Ohio to help local school districts develop emergency response plans. The Ohio Department of Education and Ohio Department of Public Safety, at DeWine’s direction, will provide all school personnel with comprehensive behavioral threat assessment training. DeWine said that training will help educators identify students who might pose a risk to themselves or others.

    “When we’re dealing with our children’s lives we must be willing to spend the money we need to spend,” said DeWine.”

    ***

    Of course, with his passive assistance, this is what’s languishing in the legislature:

    “DeWine proposed expanded background checks, safety protection orders, and other gun regulations in August 2019 after the Dayton mass shooting where nine victims were killed. The day after that shooting, DeWine addressed mourners at a vigil where he was greeted by people chanting “do something.”

    DeWine’s proposed gun regulations did not move in the Ohio Legislature during the rest of 2019 and then the COVID-19 pandemic became the focal point of the administration in 2020.”

    https://news.wosu.org/news/2022-05-27/governor-dewine-proposes-significant-spending-to-protect-schools?fbclid=IwAR2x7jAQVJistDDXQzWhXdeIr2mORYtBYPa1J88uWMozpLuBRgyx-6gYQPg

  39. 39.

    Kay

    debbie May 27, 2022 at 6:50 PM

    Dayton police shot and killed the Dayton shooter less than one minute after the first shots were fired. He still killed nine.

    Gun regulations won’t cost people who aren’t gun nuts a dime and unlike the hundreds of millions we’ve spent on enhanced security, they actually work.

  40. 40.

    gene108

    ‘@Kay:

    “ If I were the Illinois governor (who I think is a good governor) every time one of these clowns said “Chicago” I’d say “Memphis” or “Miami”

    Red states have huge crime problems.”

    The urban areas with high crime rates in Republican states have large or majority African American populations. I don’t think emphasizing gun deaths among urban minorities will move them at all.

    It’d be interesting to look up what crime rates are like in poor rural counties. They have their own set of problems with drug use and property crime, if not as much violent crime (though violent crime rates maybe on par).

  41. 41.

    gene108

    ‘@Dorothy A. Windsor:

    “ I’m worrying that the outrage over the police failure to enter the school will take over from the outrage over the guns”

    I can stay outraged at two things at once.

    Unlike during TFG’s presidency, wherein I developed outrage fatigue, after Ulvade I am angry and staying angry. I will be incandescent with rage for the foreseeable future.

  42. 42.

    Soprano2

    ‘@Quilting Fool; This is totally OT. My mother had some quilts I don’t want to keep. Do you know the best way to sell them? I have no idea.

  43. 43.

    Kay

    AJ+
    @ajplus
    Teachers are sharing advice on how they make their classrooms safer after the elementary school shooting in #Uvalde, TX, that left 21 dead.
    One teacher shared a metal door lock that prevents anyone on the outside of a classroom from opening the door.

    https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/1530322968080879616

    “Libs of Tik Tok” will be all over this, right? Teachers on social media? Nah.

  44. 44.

    Ruckus

    Quiltingfool @5:48
    I believe we need a better putdown than asshole.
    I have no idea what to use but I’ve been on twitter a bit today and asshole has gotten a lot of use and is becoming too common. But at least I have enough experience to know an asshole when assembled as a full sized human. I just didn’t know that it would be nearly half the country.

  45. 45.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    ‘@Ruckus: when I’m really angry, and struggling to keep a hold on my language, I make comparisons to corium slag. When I really lose it, “shitstreak” seems to work.

  46. 46.

    Don

    I was at the protest in Houston. For years and years I’ve wished there was something I could do. This was something I could do. So I drove down. I’m very glad I did. The crowd was very large, so big I nor the MSM could show how big in a picture or video. There was so much energy and passion, you guys would have been proud. We are always saying maybe this time will be the one that changes things. Well, maybe this time it will.

    One of the most amazing things was seeing the Houston PD mounted police lined up in front of the convention center. The people with the guns are the ones that needed protection? Very weird.

  47. 47.

    Jinchi

    ‘@debbie “DeWine, a Republican, said he plans on asking the Republican-dominated state legislature for increased funding to help schools fortify their buildings.”

    I am so f*cking tired of dropping my kids off at a school that looks like a prison. Enough theater. Pass the assault weapons ban.

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