One of the most rare sheep in the world is the Mongolian Argali, which is listed as endangered, was the latest victim of Don Jr.’s apparent obsession with killing rare animals.  Most egregious, he killed it at night with a laser sight mounted to a rifle, and even worse, was granted a permit to kill the animal AFTER HE KILLED IT.  That’s right, folks, this sheep lives only on the high plains and mountains of Mongolia and is so endangered that less than 90 hunting permits are issued a year in the country.  Carrying the privilege gene of Donald Trump, Don Jr. isn’t bound laws like the rest of us.  He uses his dad’s position to do what he wants since so far, like Trump, he’s been above the law his entire life.

In this particular case, after the hunt, which occurred in August, Jr. met with Mongolian president Khaltmaagiin Battulga.  He received the permit, one of only 3 granted in this particular region, AFTER he had left the country, which is highly unusual.  Oh, and this all happened only weeks after Mongolian diplomats had a WH house meeting with US officials.

No privilege here, right?

The Tampa Bay Times got their hands on a House GOP caucus memo that gave members talking points to respond to constituent questions about mass shootings and the need for common sense gun safety legislation.  The answers are as disgusting and disheartening as you would imagine.  They contain the normal boilerplate bullshit, repeating the mental health and video game mantra, even though those myths have been debunked for decades.  No Republican can explain, since mental health problems and violent video games proliferate throughout the world, why the US is a singular outlier when it comes to gun violence generally and mass shootings specifically.  They will dance around the issue, blaming EVERYTHING except the actual problem – the omnipresence of guns and the ease by which they can be obtained.

Worse, this memo coached House members how to answer the problem which is the answer in the room…violence of extreme right-wingers and white supremacists.  Here’s the coached question: “Do you believe white nationalism is driving more mass shootings recently?”  Here’s the official House caucus answer: “White nationalism and racism are pure evil and cannot be tolerated in any form.  We also can’t excuse violence from the left such as the El Paso shooter, the recent Colorado shooters, the Congressional baseball shooter, Congresswoman Giffords’ shooter and Antifa.”

The letter actually called the El Paso shooter, who was a white supremacist and hated immigrants, a person “from the left”.  They later tried to say that was “a mistake” – no shit, Sherlock.  What the letter blatantly did, though, and what they always do, was to discourage members from telling the truth and to try and frame a false equivalency that “both sides do it”.  Well, both sides don’t do it.  Not even close.  The Anti-Defamation League actually keeps track of domestic violence, and through 2018, not even counting the violence from this year, 73%  of domestic violence in America was committed by rightwing extremists and white supremacists.

So, let’s sum up.  The messaging experts for the GOP are coaching their members to lie, equivocate, obfuscate, and distract from the actual problem of gun violence in America.  That problem is fourfold –

1. It is well known that there are now 400 million guns in circulation in America today.
2. Guns are easily obtainable in many states, and Republicans have been systematically dismantling gun safety laws for the last 3 decades. The assault weapons ban was allowed to expire by Republican leadership and the GWB administration in 2004, kicking off massive growth in assault weapons manufacturing.
3. White supremacism and rightwing extremism exploded during the Obama administration, driven by the corporate backed Tea Party movement which normalized the anti-government, pro-gun culture.
4. Trump has encouraged this culture and has used social media to vilify everyone non-white and non radical conservative.

The combination of these forces has been explosive.  Our homicide rate, which is multiples above the rest of the developed world.  Even so, that rate has been declining, however, in recent years, as red states have stupidly weakened gun laws and encouraged the proliferation of assault weapons, our homicide rate is increasing.  Worse, the incidence of mass shootings has also exploded.  To date this year there have been 262 mass shootings.  There have been almost 9,300 deaths and almost 19,000 wounded.  The gun violence in America eclipses the entire developed world.  Travel advisories have been issued in other countries advising against traveling to the US due to our gun violence.

And what are Republicans doing about this?  What is Moscow Mitch, Trump, and the other shitbags in Congress doing?  Lying. Deflecting. And hiding.  They’re all hiding.  Now is the time for the spotlight of normal Americans calling bullshit on the do nothing Republicans.  Call your Congressperson and Senator.  Write to your local paper.

Raise hell.  Until we get His Orangeness out of the WH, that’s all we can do.

Today, Barack Obama broke his characteristic silence, this time on gun violence, prompted by the two mass murders this weekend that has taken 31 lives, wounded 44.  I could summarize it, but it’s better read in long form.  So here it is.  Read it twice – it only gets better.

Michelle and I grieve with all the families in El Paso and Dayton who endured these latest mass shootings. Even if details are still emerging, there are a few things we already know to be true.

First, no other nation on Earth comes close to experiencing the frequency of mass shootings that we see in the United States. No other developed nation tolerates the levels of gun violence that we do. Every time this happens, we’re told that tougher gun laws won’t stop all murders; that they won’t stop every deranged individual from getting a weapon and shooting innocent people in public places. But the evidence shows that they can stop some killings. They can save some families from heartbreak. We are not helpless here. And until all of us stand up and insist on holding public officials accountable for changing our gun laws, these tragedies will keep happening.

Second, while the motivations behind these shootings may not yet be fully known, there are indications that the El Paso shooting follows a dangerous trend: troubled individuals who embrace racist ideologies and see themselves obligated to act violently to preserve white supremacy. Like the followers of ISIS and other foreign terrorist organizations, these individuals may act alone, but they’ve been radicalized by white nationalist websites that proliferate on the internet. That means that both law enforcement agencies and internet platforms need to come up with better strategies to reduce the influence of these hate groups.

But just as important, all of us have to send a clarion call and behave with the values of tolerance and diversity that should be the hallmark of our democracy. We should soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalizes racist sentiments; leaders who demonize those who don’t look like us, or suggest that other people, including immigrants, threaten our way of life, or refer to other people as sub-human, or imply that America belongs to just one certain type of people. Such language isn’t new – it’s been at the root of most human tragedy throughout history, here in America and around the world. It is at the root of slavery and Jim Crow, the Holocaust, the genocide in Rwanda and ethnic cleansing in the Balkans. It has no place in our politics and our public life. And it’s time for the overwhelming majority of Americans of goodwill, of every race and faith and political party, to say as much – clearly and unequivocally.

This idiot is a guy named Graham Allen, who’s a loudmouthed radical partisan with a “show” on Blaze TV (that’s right, Glen Beck’s online manure factory).  Apparently, ol’ Graham didn’t like Gillette’s new television commercial that encourages men to stop teaching their boys to be ignorant assholes.  He WANTS his boys to be ignorant assholes, so he thought he would get them off to a running start by posting a pic of his small children holding deadly weapons.

This member of Y’all Qaeda wanted to get an early start for his recruits so he can do his part perpetuating ignorance, misogyny, and intolerance.  Looks like he’s doing a good job of doing just that.

The mass shooting at the Capital Gazette office in Maryland yesterday was the result of the longstanding obsession of a lunatic with the staff of the paper.  His obsession with the paper started in 2011 after he had pleaded guilty to criminal harassment of a former Facebook friend.  The Gazette reported the story.  The shooter, who will remain unnamed, sued the paper for defamation.  The case was dismissed.  He appealed.  The case was dismissed again.  Then the threats started.  On social media and personally, the shooter threatened violence against the staff of the Gazette for SEVEN years.  Yesterday, he carried out those threats by murdering 5 people at their desks.  He’s being described on national media this morning as an “angry person” and an “injustice collector”, perpetually aggrieved about something, but obsessed with the Gazette.

There are two lessons to be learned here, in my view.  First, Trump relentlessly attacks the press,  even calling it the “enemy of the people” as recently as Tuesday in one of his self-worshipping rallies.  He regularly vilifies reporters, creating a hostile environment for members of the 4th estate just doing their jobs of bringing the news to the People.  This toxic rhetoric inspires violence, and is irresponsible coming from anyone, much less the President of the United States.

The second lesson?  How weak gun laws allow someone like this guy access to any firearms. He has threatened people for years.  He pleaded guilty to harassment.  His record of years of threats was well known to police, but didn’t cross the line, because the line is simply too high.  Criminals often plead felonies down to misdemeanors.  Misdemeanors generally don’t disqualify people from buying guns, even though those who are guilty are often dangerous.  Even if misdemeanors did disqualify, the loopholes to buy guns through private sales is gigantic.

These deaths, like tens of thousands a year, were completely preventable.  In a civilized society, there is no excuse for this kind of violence.  None.  Yet, the invertebrates in Congress and state houses all over the country take money from the NRA and bend to a small handful of gun nuts to not do their damn jobs.  I wish that just ONCE that Congressman would show the kind of anger against gun advocates that they showed against the good people of the FBI yesterday.  Just once would be refreshing.

There is a place for anger, and THIS is it.