.

… but it bends towards justice.

Yesterday, a 17 year old boy was arrested in Illinois for the shooting of three people, two fatally, at the protests in Kenosha Wisconsin over police shooting Jacob Blake in the back.  He used an assault rifle. The boy has appeared in several videos in altercations with protestors and people chasing him after the shootings, shouting at police that he was the shooter, which they ignored. In a video shot earlier that evening, the shooter claimed to be there to protect a car dealership with other armed vigilantes.  His  social media pages are full of gun videos and pro-police posts, as well of one of him with a ringside seat at a Trump rally in January.  Of course.

Where a goddam kid put his hands on an assault rifle is as yet unknown.  It’s illegal for a 17 year old to possess or open carry an assault rifle in Wisconsin or Illinois.  Unregulated private gun sales are legal in Wisconsin and open carry is legal for those 18 and over.  The Gifford’s Law Center rates Wisconsin gun laws at a C-.  In Illinois, rated A- by the Giffords Law Center, it is illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to purchase or own a long gun, even with parental consent.  We’ll likely find out that the assault weapon the shooter used in these murders either belonged to the shooter’s parents OR was purchased in Wisconsin in an unregulated sale.  This is a textbook example of why state and local gun laws simply don’t work.  Common sense, strict gun laws at the federal level is the only way we can even hope to reduce widespread gun violence.

On the other side of the country, armed radical right wing gun nuts pushed past Idaho state police officers at the state capitol in Boise, broke down the state house gallery door and stormed into the chamber to protest common sense public health policy.  Fearing violence, the police and the house majority leader allowed said gun nuts to fill the entire gallery ignoring social distancing rules and essentially commandeering state property that had been cordoned off to allow the senators to social distance as they debated health policy legislation. They also filled committee rooms and an auditorium.  There were only a few arrests, but one included Ammon Bundy, son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who has successfully commandeered federal land for his own private use for grazing his cattle.  It appears the younger Bundy was the leader of the Idaho protest.  One other note – this incident happened in the very same building where, in 2014, state police arrested dozens of protestors standing silently in the hallways to protest for LGBTQ rights.

The lessons here aren’t complicated.  The simple truth is that white guys carrying assault rifles literally get away with murder, violence, and threats of violence when other people, including lawmakers, are doing anything they hate.  Put even more simply, armed white guys have more rights than disarmed peaceful black people.  Carrying of weapons emboldens people to violate our laws and destroy societal norms.  Police allow, and sometimes even condone, such behavior, and the presence of guns during protests always confuses the situation and increases violence.  Self appointed “militia”, which are illegal, commandeer public property, and insert themselves into protests to  “protect” private property, but their effect is universally destabilizing. We have seen that many times, including the violence at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, and at other protests from New Mexico to Dallas.

Allowing guns anywhere near political speech is nothing short of terrible public policy, period.  State and local gun laws don’t work, period.  Gun safety laws must be federal.  Guns in state capitols and municipal buildings threatens to destroy what’s left of our political system in America.  NO OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRY HAS THIS PROBLEM.  The rest of the world understands that guns increase violence and death all the time, every time.  Only strong federal laws have a prayer of reducing the violence and threat of violence that now permeates our society.

Now don’t tell me we’re not a bunch of super smart people in Texas.  I got proof we know all kinds of health hacks.

No, seriously. Some of our citizens have figured out that if bleach will clean our drainboards, it’ll also clean our airways and kill weeds in our flowerbeds.

Besides, the good people at QAnon, who are the same good folks who brought you the John Birch Society, say those damn doctors have a cure but they ain’t telling you because they make money off sick people.

Thanks to Kary for the heads up.

Okay, I live about 35 miles southwest of Houston proper.  It takes me about an hour to drive to downtown Houston.  The hurricane is going on the east side of Houston.  That means I live on the “clean” side of this hurricane.  Hurricanes have two sides – the clean side and the dirty side. You want to be on the clean side.

I feel really bad for the people on the Texas/Louisiana border.  They are going to get punched. However, a direct hit on Houston would be catastrophic. You’re looking at 5 million people, a ship channel, Galveston Island, and a city that simply cannot evacuate because there’s only one direction you can get away – northwest.

Houston will get some high wind and way too much rain but it more than likely won’t be catastrophic.

We had what Bubba calls a two-day-hurricane. One day to put all the lawn furniture and plants in the shed and another day to put it all back.  Those are days you gripe but secretly you’re relieved.

I’ve spent the day getting my potted plants back outside in case we get some good rain.

Jack Brewer, a Texan and former NFL player, is scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention tonight.  He’s just crazy about Trump.

On August 6th, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against Brewer for insider trading.  Brewer is up to his neck with insider deals with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Brewer has proudly become a major Trump supporter, calling him “the first black president.” Brewer supported Barack Obama both times Obama ran. And Brewer didn’t stop there.

“I’ve been a Democrat all my life,” Brewer told Trump. “And you changed me. You changed me. You touched me. And you made my work go to another level. You inspire me.”

Look, I’m not saying that Brewer is angling for a pardon or anything, but … oh hell yeah.

So when he speaks tonight, just remember that you can’t trust this guy either.

This will come as a shock but there appears to be some breaches in etiquette and protocol at the White House.

I know how you feel.  These classy people wouldn’t do anything like that, right?

Boy howdy, they’ve been awful.

… the former chief of protocol, Sean Lawler, committed what could be considered ‘workplace violence’… Officials described an environment of yelling, cursing, ‘overconsuming alcohol,’ and intimidating and abusive behavior.”

I’m shocked, shocked, I tell you.

You know, I have never been a fan of Claire McCaskill … until last night.

It was a thing of beauty.