The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters
This category is a main category for post dealing with political issues and politicians at any level of government.
On the way to dinner tonight my phone rang and the car display didn’t show the number, so I answered. It was a survey company/organization of some sort conducting a brief survey related to the upcoming Hillsborough County Commission election. The question was, “Do you believe the Hillsborough County Public Schools are headed in the right direction?” I found that a surprisingly difficult question to answer.
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This one is just kind of outside our usual realm of notice, but we decided his action was just deplorable enough to warrant recognition with our Douche Bag of the Day award. Republican Tom Cox is a member of the Kansas house of Representatives representing the Shawnee-Lake Quivira district of good old KS, and he underhandedly changed his vote to make it possible for adoption agencies in KS to receive state funds AND discriminate against LGBT people.
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It has taken this long for Trump’s EPA Chief, Scott Pruitt, to receive a Douche Bag of the Day award only because I haven’t had the time nor motivation to post much lately. All of his enumerable ethical lapses aside, maybe the worst action came this week when he set out a plan to severely limit the use of actual science by EPA scientists.
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When American military analyst, Daniel Ellsberg, realizes to his disgust the depths of the US government’s deceptions about the futility of the Vietnam War, he takes action by copying top-secret documents that would become the Pentagon Papers. Kay Graham must decide whether to back down for the safety of her paper or publish and fight for the Freedom of the Press.
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The Swiss argument about gun control gets bandied about with some regularity. There’s this claim that “The Swiss require everyone to have a gun,” or “The Swiss government issues everyone a gun.” Except, no they don’t. And as a matter of fact, when you look into gun violence statistics, Switzerland supports the position: “the more guns, the more gun violence.”
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And here’s one of the latest anti-gun control arguments I was presented with today. Apparently, my opinion on the steps I thought might help reduce the gun carnage in America doesn’t count unless I’m willing to certify that I am against abortion. Are those people fucking serious? I mean did the guy who tried that not have a clue about how easy that would be to stand on its head?
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The big news yesterday was yet another possible school shooting. This time a 17-year-old brought a Glock handgun to Great Mills High school in Maryland. Fortunately, he only wounded two people. The ammosexuals have been fetishizing the incident because supposedly a “good guy with a gun” stopped a shooting. Except, that is not what happened.
Read moreThe NRA has trained well their minions. One of the most common arguments after every mass shooting is, well a waiting period wouldn’t have stopped; an age restriction wouldn’t have helped in this situation; or a determined person will get a gun. No one regulation will stop all shootings (with the clear inference that means there should be no regulations).
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One of the most common arguments I have seen thrown around to do nothing about gun violence is “Well cars kill people too, let’s ban cars.” I suppose one can dismiss this argument out-of-hand for its stupidity, but I want to play along with them. I’m not sure they understand what they’re doing when they compare guns with cars. I’d actually very much like to treat guns and gun-safety much as we do with cars.
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LBJ centers on the political upheaval that Vice President Johnson faced when he was thrust into the presidency at the hands of an assassin’s bullet in November 1963. With political battles on both sides of the aisle, Johnson struggles to heal a nation and secure his presidency by passing Kennedy’s historic Civil Rights Act.
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I want to address a specific argument I keep hearing in gun debates by those opposing any sensible gun regulation. There are many and frankly most are nonsensical, but maybe two of the ones that make the least sense and I hear most often are about how we just need to enforce the laws already on the books, and any additional regulations will just “harm” “law-abiding gun owners.”
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