Holy Shithead

Recently, Pennsylvania passed a bill extending the age to which sexual abuse survivors could sue to the age of 50.  The argument is that it can take half a lifetime for survivors of abuse to come to terms with what happened to them and come forward.

The Catholic Diocese of Pennsylvania has attacked the Catholic lawmakers who supported the bill.  Against the law, they lobbied against the bill, too.

I doubt, sadly, that anything will come of this, but it would be nice if Francis sacked Bishop Chaput.  Then again, if he sacked all the bishops who have hidden the crimes committed by priests, he might have a clean church not have an bishops left.

Murphy Is The Man

Chris Murphy is a damned fine public servant and I'm proud to have him as my Senator.  As I've mentioned before, I got to meet him back when he was my Representative, and he was remarkably intelligent, unscripted in the best way and really willing to meet our students at the point of their concerns not his.

Now, he's won a vote on the smallest of gun control measures (that will probably go down to defeat in the House), but it feels like a huge victory.

If you want to give money: https://chrismurphy.com/

The Worst Of All Worlds

Apparently there has been a wedding of Trump with the avid zealots of extreme supply side economics.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/06/trumps-winning-over-the-republican-donor-class.html

Trumps only redeeming quality as a candidate was his willingness to throw populist shade on Republican economic orthodoxy. This was reflected in his support by voters with only a high school degree who really aren't interested in reducing marginal tax rates on top earners. 

So they have wedded an authoritarian narcissist with a starve the poor ideology. 

Lovely. 

No, Donald, You Didn't Predict It. It Was Inevitable

It was just a matter of time before an Orlando type shooting occurred with links to Daesh. So many guns. So little restraint.

I'm amazed it took this long. 

Upon Further Review

You know what hurts most about Orlando?

It doesn't hurt enough.  I've seen some moving eulogies at the Tony's and on Jon Oliver's show.  I've seen the inevitable changing of Facebook photos.  That'll work, thanks.

Before long, we will move on.  Something will catch our attention.  And then another mass shooting will kill dozens.  And we will change our Facebook photos.

But nothing else will change.

That's what hurt most about Orlando.

On Some Level We Are A Sick Nation

We live in a time of wonder and relative peace.  Crime is down.  We are currently not fighting any real "wars."  Medicine proceeds to provide cures to fatal diseases.  We do not face famine or want.

But we have become paralyzed in the face of guns and the gun lobby and the gun fetishists.  That asshole in Orlando should not have been able to buy a gun.  The other day, Obama was doing a town hall and someone asked him about "taking away guns."  Obama responded that he was in the situation room and realized he could put someone on the No-Fly list, but he couldn't stop that person from buying guns.  Lots of guns.

The asshole in Florida was known to have flirted with radical Islam and was known to be an angry abusive person.  He beat his first wife.  This is not someone who should be able to buy guns.  Any guns, much less the semi-automatic weapon he used to mow down people last night.

Does anyone really think that a universal database would really have impinged on law-abiding gun owners?  I need a license to drive a car, but literally anyone can buy an arsenal of weaponry that would make George Washington blanch with fear and disgust.

So, to all the politicians who are offering their "thoughts and prayers" but won't do a fucking thing to stop the flood of military-grade weaponry onto our streets: Fuck you.

The Coming Contradiction

Like most people who aren't aggressively trying to be assholes, I've been outraged by the conclusion of the Stanford rape case.  Not a He Said/She Said case.  Not a judgment call.  A conviction.  And then the judge decided to engage in the worst sort of excuse making.

The Stanford Rapist deserved a harsher penalty from the law.  He's getting some penalties from USA swimming and the judge may lose his seat on the bench.  But he should have been in jail longer.

When he gets out, he's a registered sex offender, and given the notoriety of his case, he's going to find it difficult to integrate into society.  And that's all well and proper.

However...the outrage over this is largely tied to the idea of white privilege (because it's such a glaring example), and yet the inverse is true when we talk about the criminal justice system.

The Stanford Rapist was white and privileged, and so he will not see much jail time.  Routinely, minority - or simply poor - defendants get longer sentences for crimes they might not have actually committed.  As OJ and Michael Jackson taught us, perhaps it is wealth more than race that warps the application of justice in this country.  Two sets of laws for two sets of people.

If so, that's incredibly disturbing.  For democracy to work, the rule of law must apply to everyone the same, but the Stanford Rape case shows that this isn't true.  The rape aspect brings in other disturbing elements of how rape is under-reported, under-prosecuted and under-sentenced - at least when the defendant is white - but the larger question is how well our criminal justice and legal system is working.

Finally, as we deal with the mass incarceration of minorities, we want to extend justice to the falsely accused and falsely convicted.  The Stanford Rapist was neither falsely accused nor falsely convicted.  The glare of the spotlight and circumstance of the case make that clear.

But if he WAS some poor person caught up in the web of the criminal justice system, we would want leniency for him.  Unless he was a rapist or murderer, I suppose.

This contradiction among liberal activists that will have to be carefully negotiated in the coming months.

I Got Nothing

First day that really felt like summer.

The Veep Pick

Trump will pick an establishment pol, but probably one that has no current connection to Washington, DC.  My guess is Newt Gingrich.  He will be Premier to Trump's General Secretary, running the day to day government.

Clinton is in an interesting position.

She will need someone dynamic, but not too dynamic.  The buzz is Elizabeth Warren, but she is really to valuable in the Senate.  Bernie is too old and also belongs in the Senate.

I love Chris Murphy, but he isn't ready yet, and Kristin Gillibrand can't run, because the President and Vice-President can't be from the same state.

If there was a popular, young, liberal governor, that would be perfect, but there really isn't anyone like that.  The various drubbings that the Democrats have taken in midterm elections have shortened the bench.

Given her age, the Veep pick matters.  Can she reach out to Sanders supporters, even though it looks like some of the pro-Bernie vote was really just anti-Hillary?  Can she peel off more Republicans?

I have no idea who her pick will be, so it's an interesting moment for signaling how she will govern.

Buyer's Remorse

Trump hit about 75% in all the primaries last night. For all the talk about the Bernie or Bust crowd, there are a sizable number of Republicans who can't stomach their nominee. 

"I'm With The Racist"

Paul Ryan and his profile in courage. 

http://www.vox.com/2016/6/7/11875850/donald-trump-racist-paul-ryan

Leaving A Mark

The Curiel thing is leaving a mark and giving GOP machers indigestion. 

The punchline is that there will be a dozen more incidents like this before the election. 

My Yearly Despair

AP US history exams.....meh.

On the bright side, I only have time to peruse Trump-related news once a day.

The Curiel For Trump

Will Trump's attack on a federal judge finally cause a rupture with mainstream Republicans? 

Magic 8 Ball says,"no."

Pitchfork Please

I spent ten minutes listening to CNBC at the hotel gym, and I was ready to switch my vote to Bernie Sanders. 

Those people are sociopaths.