There are, unfortunately, waaaay too many people who get all their information from Fox News. And to the extent that the other media outlets and, let's face it, reality, conflict with Fox News, these rabid fans of disinformation just cover their ears and go "neener, neener, neener". Usually. One guy in Florida decided that the best way to deal with … Read More
This Week’s Mass Shooting: NYC Edition
Gunman this morning opened fire at the Empire State Building this morning at 9 am. One woman killed, four nine others shot (not life threatening). Gunman killed in police fire. Early reports say he was upset over losing his job. UPDATE: AP is reporting that some of the shooting victims may have been hit by the police's bullets.
Texas Shooter’s Facebook Page
It's here. He liked guns (no surprise), Glenn Beck and Ronald Reagan. ABBA and Kiss, too.
Another Mass Shooting
Here we go again — only seven days after the last mass shooting, which itself was a mere two weeks after the mass shooting before that.: COLLEGE STATION – Multiple people, including at least one officer, were reported injured in a shooting near the Texas A&M University campus Monday afternoon. Police said the suspect, who was taken into custody, was firing shots from a house … Read More
Racist Non-Reaction
Ok. I'll say it. Last weekend, there was a terrorist attack. The shooter was white; the victims were Sikh. There was, of course, a negative reaction — but now, a few days later, all seems to have normalized. Thought experiment: Suppose the same thing had happened, except that the shooter was of Arab descent, and the victims were white? Would … Read More
“”Revolution’s in the Air, 9mm in my hand.”
Lyrics from a song recorded by Definite Hate, one of many hardcare white supremist bands in which the Sikh temple killer played. You can hear some of the music here.
Nope, No Right-Wing Extremists Here
A couple of years ago, The Department of Homeland Security released a report entitled Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment, the thrust of which was that the nation faces an internal threat from domestic terrorists with right-wing political ideology. The right blogosphere howled, but, as I discussed here as well as here and here, they simply were … Read More
Concealed Carry
I was going to write a post about all the imbeciles out there saying, "if only the moviegoers had guns, this wouldn't have happened", but Tbogg wrote the ultimate post on the subject: This weekend I spent an indecent amount of time on teh internets debating arguing with people men regarding their belief that, if only one person had been packing heat at Batman, … Read More
Blame Game
The rightwing went ballistic this morning because Brian Ross on ABC News cited unconfirmed reports (he pointed out that they were "unconfirmed") that James Holmes, the Aurora Colorado "Dark Knight" gunman, was a member of the Tea Party. It turns out those reports were wrong, and ABC retracted the unconfirmed report. But it was too late. "They're blaming us!" screamed the right … Read More
How Not To Respond To A Tragedy
From Steve Benen: In the wake of tragic gun violence, most politicians realize the decent, responsible thing to do is send sympathies to those affected while leaving politics out of it. Others aren't as sensible. After the Columbine massacre, for example, then-Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) blamed science textbooks for the murders: "Our school systems teach the children that they are nothing but … Read More
Sobering Tweet
Last night, 11:37 p.m.: Jessica Redfield sends her last tweet from the movie theater. She was later confirmed dead by a friend on Twitter. UPDATE: More about this particular victim here. And ironically, she was at a shooting that happened at Eaton Mall in Toronto in June 2012, which she blogged about here (her last post) UPDATE #2: Here's Jessica, … Read More
Aurora Shooting
At least 12 people were shot and killed, and 50 injured in a shooting at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater showing The Dark Knight Rises this morning around 1 AM. Witnesses have varying accounts of a man in black and/or body armor releasing tear gas and opening fire in what sounds like more than one theater in a multiplex. A 24 year-old … Read More
Over-reactions From The Excitable Right
UPDATE from Wonkette: Now that poors can get health insurance because the demon Supreme Court sided with that commie muslin NOBAMA fella, the only way to defend our freedom is armed insurrection! Mount up and ride to the sound of the gun says former Michigan Republican Party spokesman Matthew Davis. Matthew Davis, an attorney in Lansing, sent the email moments after the … Read More