This blogaround brought to you by fizz.
Recommended Reading:
Fannie: [Content Note: Misogyny] If Fascism Comes
Monica: Lou Weaver Makes Texas Trans History
Ragen: [CN: Fat hatred; misogynoir] Her Big Fat-Shamed Wedding
Kath: Marketing to Fat Women: This Is How You Do It
Jenn: [CN: Racism] Misguided Protesters Target NYC's Chinatown over Dog Meat Festival in China
Shay: [CN: Racism; death] Racial Empathy…We Need It!!
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
The Wednesday Blogaround
The Choice Is Clear, the Choice Is Clear, the Choice Is Clear, the Choice Is Clear, the Choice...
I've got a few more thoughts on the mishmash of garbage words that Donald Trump calls a serious policy speech:
His entire speech was an amateurishly stitched-together conglomeration of rehashed (and discredited) anti-Hillary talking points which haven't been effective in bringing her down before and will not be this time; ripped-off Bernie Sanders speeches; projections of his own demonstrable history of being a crooked liar; and the usual word salad of gossamer promises and thinly-veiled nationalism.Head on over to BNR to read the whole thing!
To fact-check this speech necessarily means checking to see if it contained any facts at all.
If congratulations are in order, they are literally only for managing to stand at a podium and read the entire speech to completion while barely managing to contain his usual grotesque spectacle of bigoted buffoonery. Which is a pretty alarmingly low bar. To quote Donald himself: Sad!
Again I am left to ponder what would it look like if Donald were held to the same standards as Hillary. All she has to do is be extraordinary. All he has to do is not fall over at a podium.
Meanwhile: Hillary Clinton gave a terrific economic address in North Carolina today. (You can watch it here.)
Not only did Clinton, as always, look "presidential as fuck," as Iain says every time he sees her, but she looked positively excited to be on the stump talking about her economic platform. She looked loose and fierce.
And not even a little bit concerned about Trump's argle-bargle big boy speech.
More Welp
"It doesn't appear that I'm going to be the nominee, so I'm not going to be determining the scope of the convention," Sanders told C-SPAN.Welllllllllllllllllllllllllllp.
Sanders, who has not dropped his White House bid or endorsed the party's presumptive nominee, Hillary Clinton, said that he expects to speak at the convention next month.
He also repeated his vow to stop Donald Trump from winning the presidency. Earlier Wednesday, Trump opened a speech attacking Clinton by calling for Sanders' voters to join his campaign.
"This guy must not become president of the United States and I'm going to do everything I can to prevent that, but I don't think the people who would be voting for me would vote for him," Sanders told C-SPAN.
Daily Dose of Cute
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Guns] Rep. John Lewis, who is genuinely a national treasure, is leading a sit-in on the House floor "to push Republicans to address gun violence in the legislative chamber. Lewis wrote a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan demanding that he keep the House in session through its planned recess to debate and vote on gun control legislation. 'As the worst mass shooting in our nation's history has underscored, our country cannot afford to stand by while this Congress continues to be paralyzed by politics,' the Georgia Democrat and civil rights icon wrote. 'We urge you to lead the House into action and work with both sides of the aisle to pass commonsense solutions to keep American children and families safe.'" Wow. Thank you, Rep. Lewis.
[CN: Guns] "One day after the Senate failed to advance a series of new measures to rein in America's gun violence epidemic, a coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans banded together to carve out a way forward so that individuals on the FBI terror watch list do not have access to guns. Led by Susan Collins, a Republican senator from Maine known to work with others across the aisle, the lawmakers dubbed their approach a middle ground method of implementing a 'No-Fly, No Buy' rule while protecting the due process of Americans who are wrongfully kept under surveillance by the federal government. Collins was joined in the push by three Republicans, four Democrats, and her Maine colleague Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. The bill would authorize the US attorney general to stop firearm sales to individuals on the no-fly list or a 'selectee' list composed of people who are subject to extra screening at airports. Americans and green-card holders would be able to appeal if they believed they were wrongfully denied, and their legal fees would be reimbursed by the government were it proved they were put on the list by error." Welp, let's see if this gets anywhere.
[CN: Pulse shooting; homophobia; HIV stigma; self-hatred] "In an exclusive interview with Univision News, a man has stepped forward claiming he had a sexual relationship with Omar Mateen, the man who killed 49 people in an Orlando night club. ...The man, who Univision (Fusion's parent company) is calling 'Miguel,' said that he met Mateen on the gay dating app Grindr. He claimed the two met 15 to 20 times over two months before the relationship ended last December, when Miguel moved away from Orlando. ...He also told Univision that Mateen's rage about Puerto Rican gay men might have stemmed from a sexual incident in which Mateen had sex with two Puerto Rican men, one of whom later revealed that he was HIV positive. ...Mateen was 'terrified' of being HIV positive, Miguel said. 'When I asked him what he was going to do now, his answer was 'I'm going to make them pay for what they did to me,'' he added. The FBI confirmed to Univision that they have interviewed the man." Please note that this story, though already being widely reported, has not been independently verified, which is especially important given that "HIV panic" is an old, though rarely seen recently, narrative used to justify homophobic hatred.
[CN: Misogynoir] "Representative Steve King, Republican of Iowa, moved on Tuesday to block the Treasury Department's sweeping plan to represent women and civil rights leaders on American currency, including the placement of Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. Mr. King filed an amendment to an annual appropriations bill that would prevent any money from being spent to redesign American currency. It is unclear whether it will ultimately get a vote when the full spending bill, which covers financial services and general government appropriations, comes before the House this week. The congressman's motivation for filing the amendment was also unclear." Oh, I think it's pretty fucking clear.
"Marco Rubio will seek Senate reelection, reversing pledge not to run." Shocking. He's also losing. Shocking.
[CN: Queerphobia] "Donald Trump today announced his Evangelical Executive Advisory Board which is a 'Who's Who' of anti-LGBT figures. Said Trump: 'I have such tremendous respect and admiration for this group and I look forward to continuing to talk about the issues important to Evangelicals, and all Americans, and the common sense solutions I will implement when I am President.'" Let's be clear: Trump is no friend to the LGBTx community.
[CN: Racism; child welfare] "A new federal rule issued this month under the Indian Children Welfare Act could keep more Native children in tribal communities, advocates say. The new regulation requires state child custody proceedings to more consistently apply the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) by imposing several new standards. The first comprehensive update issued since ICWA's implementation in 1978, it requires state courts to ask all participants in child custody proceedings whether a child is an 'Indian child,' legally defined as being a member of, or eligible for membership in, a federally recognized tribe. The regulation, issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and set to go into effect in December, also clarifies when child custody cases can be transferred to tribal courts, and requires parents and the tribe to be notified when a family is involuntarily relinquishing a child, among other key provisions. Prior to ICWA's enactment, an estimated 25 to 35 percent of Native children had been separated from their families in what congressional testimony at the time described as an 'Indian child welfare crisis of massive proportions.'"
[CN: Police brutality; racism] A Chicago police officer was caught on video punching a man in custody. An Independent Review Board investigation will commence. The Chicago Police Department has issued a statement on the investigation, saying in part: "We are committed to the highest levels of integrity and professional standards and look forward to IPRA's review of this incident." Maybe investigate that commitment to integrity and professional standards while you're at it.
[CN: Climate change] Fuuuuuuuuck: "On Monday at the International Coral Reef Symposium in Hawaii, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) unveiled projections that show that water temperatures will be high enough in the coming months to carry the global bleaching event into a third year. Already, the bleaching event, which started in 2014, is the longest in global history—stretching into a third year would be 'unprecedented,' NOAA says. Bleaching is a grave threat to coral reefs. Corals, which are made up of tiny polyps that live symbiotically with photosynthetic algae, expel that algae when they get stressed by things like pollution or too-warm or too-cold water. This algae gives the coral its color, so when it's expelled, the coral turns white. Its photosynthetic abilities also provide food for the coral, so without the algae, the coral is greatly weakened; if ocean temperatures don't fall quickly enough for the algae to recolonize the coral, it can die. Right now, wide swaths of the world's coral are being bleached, thanks to warm water temperatures brought on by climate change and El Niño. According to NOAA, as of April, 93 percent of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia was bleached. This bleaching has stressed corals in the Great Barrier Reef so heavily that over a third have died."
And finally! "Girl Uses Stuffed Toys and Her Rescue Dog to Recreate Scene from E.T.: We're not 100% sure if she had set up this scene to look just like a similar, famous scene in the film, E.T. The Extraterrestrial on purpose or not. However, she ended up doing an amazing job. Once you notice where little Snickle Fritz is in the photo, we're positive it will melt your heart." Heart officially melted!
Shaker Thumbs
Shaker Thumbs is your opportunity to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to a product or service you have used and that you'd recommend to other Shakers or warn them away from.
Today I am giving a thumbs-up to the Ion Audio Max LP 3-Speed Belt Drive Wooden Turntable with Built-In Speakers.
Iain recently purchased this turntable, because, in the entire 15 years he's known me, I've had a record collection but no record player. It's been really nice to be able to listen to my vinyl again, and there's a neat record store in town with cheap used records, so it's been fun to do some browsing for weird and wonderful records, too.
He did a bunch of research and decided on this model, which wasn't super fancy but also wasn't bottom-basement, and it's turned out great. I love the look of it, and the sound is fantastic. Highly recommended if you're in the market for a turntable.
Anyway! Give us your thumbs-up or thumbs-down in comments!
Just to be abundantly clear, I am not affiliated in any way with ION Audio, nor am I receiving any form of payment for recommending them. It's just a thing I've personally found super useful and am happy to recommend.
Good Grief, This Guy
[Content Note: Misogyny.]
So, Donald Trump just gave a speech, and it was terrible! My review of it: "Official Reaction to Donald's 'Major' Speech: Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Also:
Fact Check on Trump's speech: 0% accurate. One million Pinocchios.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) June 22, 2016
In other news, here's a cool headline: "GOP leaders alarmed by Trump's 'devastating' fundraising start." Haha no shit!
New campaign finance reports showing that Trump had less than $1.3 million in the bank heading into June ignited fears that the party will not be able to afford the kind of national field effort that the entire Republican ticket depends on.Um, yeah. They have failed to rally around a campaign that they know is a stinking loser. Being resoundingly defeated in a spectacular humiliation isn't going to give them a great return on their investment.
The real estate mogul responded by going on the offensive, saying GOP fundraisers have failed to rally around his campaign.
Meanwhile, he's getting his toxic taint all over the whole party:
GOP strategist and fundraiser Austin Barbour said if Trump fundraising does not pick up, it "could have a devastating impact" on the Republican Party.Awwww lol. Couldn't happen to a nicer party!
"If they don't fix this in a massive way, it's going to have widespread implications down the ballot. It just is," Barbour said. "If he's not raising hundreds of millions of dollars, there are gubernatorial races, Senate races, congressional races, attorney general races, you name it, that will be impacted. Those races are dependent upon get-out-the-vote efforts from the RNC and the presidential campaign."
But seriously: This is why I continue to be gravely concerned that the Republicans are going to try to find a way to push Trump out of the race. It's not just the White House that the GOP stands to lose, but their Senate majority, House seats, governorships, all kinds of offices up and down the ticket. Naturally, that prospect couldn't make me happier, which is exactly why I'm pretty sure it's never going to happen!
Anyway. Trump responded by releasing a statement that said his campaign fundraising is "incredible." Sure. Sounds legit.
Welp
Here are two things I read back-to-back this morning:
1. CNN: "Bernie-backing activists to 'crash' Democratic convention."
The progressive political movement emboldened by Bernie Sanders' insurgent campaign is preparing to "crash" next month's Democratic National Convention, demanding the party establishment take steps to reject corporate influence and reform its nominating process.You know, it's quite an amazing needle they're threading. The problem isn't money in politics, but only where the money is coming from. A position obliged by the fact that Bernie Sanders outspent Hillary Clinton by "at least $24 million in the Democratic primary, according to financial disclosures released Monday."
"If the Democratic Party wants to put on a $50 million infomercial saying, 'Hey vote for us,' without committing to make this the last corrupt, billionaire-nominated voter suppression-marred election, then we're going to crash the party," said Kai Newkirk, the director of Democracy Spring, an activist coalition dedicated to "mass nonviolent action" against big money in politics.
2. Bloomberg: "Nearly Half of Sanders Supporters Won't Support Clinton."
In the two weeks since Hillary Clinton wrapped up the Democratic presidential primary, runner-up Bernie Sanders has promised to work hard to defeat Donald Trump — but he's given no sign he'll soon embrace Clinton, his party's presumptive nominee. Neither have many of Sanders's supporters. A June 14th Bloomberg Politics national poll of likely voters in November's election found that barely half of those who favored Sanders — 55 percent — plan to vote for Clinton.[Video may autoplay at link] And yet, Bloomberg's latest poll also shows Clinton with a 12-point lead over Donald Trump. Still, the fact that Sanders has engendered so much hatred among his supporters for Clinton is appalling.
Conversations with two dozen Sanders supporters revealed a lingering distrust of Clinton as too establishment-friendly, hawkish or untrustworthy. As some Sanders fans see it, the primary was not a simple preference for purity over pragmatism, but a moral choice between an honest figure and someone whom they consider fundamentally corrupted by the ways of Washington. Sanders has fed these perceptions throughout his campaign, which is one reason he's having a hard time coming around to an endorsement.Emphasis mine. The hyperbole is absolutely astounding, as Bernie-or-Busters refer to Clinton as "the lesser of two evils" and saying that the choice between Hillary Clinton, who has centered her campaign around breaking down barriers for marginalized people, and Donald Trump, who has centered his campaign around scapegoating and bigotry, is the choice between "Die by quicksand, or die by bullet?"
...After beating Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primary, exit polls showed that Barack Obama won 89 percent of Democrats in November.
Still, for many Sanders supporters, opposition to Clinton is the basis of their political identity.
If Clinton is nominated, says 31-year-old Bako Nguasong, "I don't know if I'm voting. She's definitely the lesser of two evils, but I don't trust her." She adds: "I know Donald Trump is evil, he's a racist, he's a misogynist." But Clinton, she said, is "not for the people. She's about money."I don't even know what to say anymore. That anyone could really imagine that Clinton isn't "for the people" is beyond me. Sanders sold his supporters a bill of goods, casting as a monster a woman whose primary disagreement with him is how to get done the things they both want done. And all for what? To lose and look like a bitter fool. And to risk electing Donald Trump. Great job, Bernie.
Helpful Hints for Donald Trump!
[Content Note: Misogyny.]
I've got a new piece up at BNR in which I offer some helpful hints to Donald Trump on how to talk to and about women, because I am nothing if not CHARITABLE:
At a recent rally, Donald introduced Arizona governor Jan Brewer by saying: "She's an amazing person. And, you know, it's not nice to say about a woman, but you are tough. Aren't you? Huh? She is tough. She's smart."Click through to read the whole thing—and hang on for that last line, because it's a doozy! *wink*
I don't know why Donald imagines it's "not nice" to describe a woman as tough — and he doesn't seem to know, either.
When asked why it is "not nice" to say that a woman is tough, Trump's spokeswoman forwarded this comment from him: "She's tough and she's smart and she was a great Governor of Arizona."Poor Donald. So confused about how to talk to and about women.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker FloraFlora: "What is the last thing (or a recent thing, or a big thing) you chose to do despite that it scared you?"
Happy National Selfie Day!
Twitter informs me that today is National Selfie Day, so here is a thread for anyone who would like to post a selfie!
Here's one of me from a couple of days ago, in which I'm wearing a newly-acquired t-shirt (which, yes, of course I made myself, lol):
FACTS.
News from Shakes Manor
Just sitting around this weekend chatting about the Baldwin brothers, like ya do. We came to Alec.
"Oh!" I exclaimed, as a thought emerged from the recesses of the lint trap I call a brain. "Google a picture of Millard Fillmore."
Deeky displayed the president's portrait on his phone, and we all laughed. "Isn't that wild?!" I said.
Iain replied: "The wildest part of this whole thing is that you know what Millard Fillmore looks like!"
Legit.
Daily Dose of Cute
THIS FACE. ♥
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
RIP Anton Yelchin, whose New York Times obituary is here. The young actor was killed in what was described in early reports as a freak auto accident, but it may not have been so "freak" after all, as the NYT reports that his 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee "was a model that Fiat Chrysler has recalled for a gearshift issue that has confused drivers, leading them to accidentally leave the car in neutral when they think it is safely in park." So deeply sad. My condolences to his family, friends, colleagues, and fans (among whom I count myself).
[Content Note: Racism] Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor brought the fire in a scathing dissent in Utah v. Strieff, a Fourth Amendment illegal-stop-and-search case: "By legitimizing the conduct that produces this double consciousness, this case tells everyone, white and black, guilty and innocent, that an officer can verify your legal status at any time. It says that your body is subject to invasion while courts excuse the violation of your rights. It implies that you are not a citizen of a democracy but the subject of a carceral state, just waiting to be cataloged. ...We must not pretend that the countless people who are routinely targeted by police are 'isolated.' They are the canaries in the coal mine whose deaths, civil and literal, warn us that no one can breathe in this atmosphere." Fuck yeah. Imagine listening to your colleague make this argument but deciding to rule the other way, as the majority of the court did. Unfathomable.
[CN: Guns] President Obama did not mince words on the Senate gun vote: "'Gun violence requires more than moments of silence,' President Barack Obama said on Twitter. 'It requires action. In failing that test, the Senate failed the American people.' Earlier, White House spokesman Josh Earnest appeared on morning television news shows excoriating the U.S. Senate for rejecting on Monday four gun bills aimed at keeping firearms away from people with suspected ties to militants. 'What we saw last night on the floor of the United States Senate was a shameful display of cowardice,' Earnest said on MSNBC." Yup.
Of course: "When Trump flies, he uses his airplane. When he campaigns, he often chooses his properties or his own Trump Tower in New York City, which serves as headquarters. His campaign even buys Trump bottled water and Trump wine. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has been on the campaign trail for a year now, and federal finance reports detail a campaign unafraid to co-mingle political and business endeavors in an unprecedented way—even as he is making appeals for donations. Through the end of May, Trump's campaign had plunged at least $6.2 million back into Trump corporate products and services, a review of Federal Election Commission filings shows. That's about 10 percent of his total campaign expenditures." So he's using campaign contributions as his own personal slush fund, basically. By which I presume exactly zero people are surprised.
[CN: Racism; disablist language; death penalty; sexual assault] Once upon a time, Donald Trump said "that if he were starting off in business at this point in time, he would 'love' to be 'a well-educated black.' He explained, 'I really believe they do have an actual advantage today.'" Oh.
[CN: Misogyny] This is one of the worst Politico articles I've seen this cycle, which is REALLY saying something. It's about how a bunch of dudes who won't go on record don't want Hillary Clinton to choose Elizabeth Warren as her running mate. An actual excerpt: All of the donors and senior Democrats interviewed for this story demanded that their names not be used both because they were not authorized to speak about the Clinton campaign's internal deliberations and because they feared Warren's wrath. 'There is no upside to my talking to you on the record,' one big donor said. 'Either I piss off the Clinton campaign or I piss off Warren, or both.'" WOMEN'S WRATH!!!
[CN: Death; video may autoplay at link] Ughhhhhhhh: "It was 100-plus degrees by 7 a.m. in parts of the Southwest today." Nope. And, naturally, there are dire consequences to a heatwave like this: "The record-setting heat that came in like an inferno on the first day of summer has killed at least five people, strained power demands, and helped fuel massive wildfires in several states." Damn.
This news just makes me ridiculously happy: Rick Astley has another hit album at age 50. And the first single is AMAZING!
[CN: Video may autoplay at link] Cool: "A distant, Neptune-size planet 500 light-years from Earth appears to be the youngest fully formed exoplanet ever found crossing its star, raising questions about how it formed so close, so quickly. Researchers first found the planet, which whisks around its star every five days, using the Kepler space telescope currently orbiting the sun alongside Earth. Its star is only 5 million to 10 million years old, suggesting that the planet is a similar age—incredibly young, on a cosmic scale."
[CN: Moving gifs at link] And finally! "Raccoon Family Forms a Chain to Help a Baby Raccoon Get over the Wall." Awwww! Raccoons are so clever!
Quote of the Day
"He's written a lot of books about business; they all seem to end at Chapter 11."—Hillary Clinton, during an economic policy speech, on Donald Trump. There's more on her speech [video may autoplay at link] at the New York Times.
Hillary Clinton just slammed Donald Trump's finances:
— Raw Story (@RawStory) June 21, 2016
"All his books seem to end at Chapter 11" pic.twitter.com/Gwter5BRhy
Two days ago, he said, and I quote: "I'm going to do for the country what I did for my business. So let's take a look at what he did for his business. He's written a lot of books about business; they all seem to end at Chapter 11. [laughter and applause]
Trump Is in Full Meltdown
[Content Note: Video may autoplay at second and third links.]
Donald Trump's campaign is disintegrating into total chaos. His campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was fired yesterday, and one of his advisers "resigned" after publicly mocking Lewandowski's termination.
He also reportedly held a come-to-Jesus meeting with "his top lieutenants, including members of his family" to "discuss a political strategy shift as he looks to move beyond recent missteps."
Meanwhile, his campaign infrastructure is in the shitter, as "Democrats have 150 staff on the ground in Ohio. Republicans have 50." And his fundraising is circling the drain, too: The pro-Clinton Priorities USA PAC raised $12 million in May, bringing their total to "$133m in donations and commitments this cycle." Which means: "Priorities has now reserved close to $100m in ads through Nov. Trump & his groups: $0."
Yesterday, Hillary Clinton had three fundraisers in New York, at which "about 135 people each gave $33.4k+. So, at least $4.5m raised today." That is more than Trump raised in the entire month of May.
Trump has no idea how to run a national campaign. Just another on a very long list of things he doesn't know.
The one thing he does know, remarkably daft tweets notwithstanding, is that he's losing. Badly.
And to a woman, no less. His greatest fear and most unbearable humiliation.
Were it anyone else, I'd expect a withdrawal citing vague "health problems" any day now. But Trump having bragged ludicrously about his health, I don't know if he could tolerate the shame of suggesting he has less than perfect vitality and virility.
So I guess he's just going to keep fumblefucking along, unless and until the Republican leadership finds some way to get rid of him. Or doesn't.
The Media vs. Hillary Clinton
I've got a new piece up at BNR on what we can expect from the media if the worst comes to pass and the unelectable Donald Trump is pushed out of the race somehow by the Republican leadership and is replaced with a "moderate."
Nothing in her political career has ever been handed to Hillary; she's always had to fight for it – and she's had to fight harder than the average politician, by virtue of the uniquely personal animosity for her expressed by large swaths of the traditional media.Click on through to read the whole thing!
...Now, Hillary is winning. She won the Democratic nomination and she is dominating Donald in general election polls. And that, too, is wrong. Because the media regard everything she does to be wrong. Hillary isn't supposed to win, and she especially isn't supposed to win easily.
(Even when she won, it felt like a loss. Had she lost, that definitely would have been wrong, too. )
But Hillary hasn't given them much to criticize. And her opponent is an unmitigated disaster. So now the same media who "utterly caved" to Donald during the primary are starting to give him some bad press. (But not as much as Hillary!) Because their best hope is facilitating the ouster of Donald by his own party – and a replacement candidate who has a chance of defeating her.
This is a really important piece, because it is increasingly likely that Trump will not be his party's nominee on Election Day (more on that later), and we need to be prepared for what will happen in that potentiality.
Senate Considers Four Pieces of Gun Reform; All Four Fail
[Content Note: Guns; death.]
After Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy led a nearly 15-hour Democratic filibuster in protest of Republican obstructionism on guns, votes on four pieces of gun reform legislation were scheduled for the Senate last night.
All four of them failed.
And they failed largely on party line votes, eight days after the largest assault weapons massacre in the nation's history, because there is evidently no amount of death that is too much for Republicans to stop doing the bidding of the NRA.
Which they do to keep getting donations from the NRA, as well as the other material support the NRA provides to gun-friendly candidates, like running campaign adverts for them and/or against their opponents.
Because their jobs are more important to them than any one of the lives that have been lost or will be lost as a result of their vile inaction to curb gun violence.
I don't even know what the fuck else to say. I am disgusted, and I am sad, and I am angry. And I am stricken with grief for the people who have been taken, and with horror at a political party that just doesn't care.
