Once More With Feeling And Not Enough Votes

It’s become a national formula: Mass Shooting > Public Outrage > Anti-Gun Votes on Capitol Hill > NRA Says No = Nothing Happens (until the next killings re-boot the equation).

Will the deadliest of all machine-gun rampages in U.S. history yield a different outcome in Senate voting? University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato says that, still again, no version not approved by the NRA will make it.

Monday (6/20) Evening Update:
Senate votes down proposed measures

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) points to image of weapon used in Orlando
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) points to image of weapon used in Orlando

Here’s what was rejected (courtesy USA TODAY):

  • An amendment by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would allow the attorney general to deny a gun sale to anyone if she has a “reasonable belief” — a lesser standard than “probable cause” — that the buyer was likely to engage in terrorism. The proposal is popularly known as the “no-fly, no-buy” amendment, but wouldn’t just apply to people on the “no fly” terrorist watch list.
  • A Republican alternative by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, which would require that law enforcement be alerted when anyone on the terror watch list attempts to buy a weapon from a licensed dealer. If the buyer has been investigated for terrorism within the past five years, the attorney general could block a sale for up to three days while a court reviews the sale.
  • An amendment by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, would make it more difficult to add mentally ill people to the background check database, giving people suspected of serious mental illness a process to challenge that determination.
  • An amendment by Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., that would close the “gun show loophole” by requiring every gun purchaser to undergo a background check, and to expand the background check database.
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Author: craigcrawford

Trail Mix Host. Lapsed journalist, author & retired pundit happily promoting nothing but the truth for Social Security checks.

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patd
8 years ago

 

we must be in a time loop

oldseahag
8 years ago

once more with feeling and 49 more dead bodies…

Pogo
8 years ago

Why do the Dem proposals seek to make it harder for someone who has a “marker” buy a gun and the Repug proposals sound like window dressing?  Let’s see, according to Open Secrets, at $9900, Cornyn got the most NRA money of any Texas lawmaker in the 2014 cycle, up from $500 in the 2012 cycle. There’s an explanation for Cornyn.  Assley didn’t get any money.  For him I guess it’s just a matter of conscience to give those few who make it to the lists on teh basis of mental illness the opportunity to challenge that and go buy guns.  Great Idea.

So yesterday was a really nice father’s day – do some work for the kid painting the bathroom in his new apartment, have burgers and fries with him at Five Guys, come home to ribs, corn and beer and watch the CAVS beat GS to end the championship drought in Cleveland.  LeBron is the MAN.

BTW, happy West Virginia Day. ~~ Now there’s a holiday worth celebrating.~~

tony
8 years ago

How Clinton can redraw the map

By Howard Dean

Hillary Clinton’s campaign is rejecting that strategy in favor of a much broader one. The plan that Clinton began to execute this week is a 20-year strategy to create a new vision for America. To fulfill it, she is dispatching staff to all 50 states and is working to identify and organize supporters in each one.
There are a lot of reasons why adopting a 50-state strategy is both the right thing and the smart thing for Clinton to do. For one, voters deserve it. When candidates write off entire states or regions for being too blue or too red, they also write off the people who call those places home.

Pogo
8 years ago

KC, thanks for the congrats on the last page.  BTW, if you happen to know Klay Thompson or someone who does, suggest to them that he might try growing up.

Flatus
8 years ago

Why can’t the president make an executive decision to redefine semi-automatic rifles equipped with a magazine capable of holding more than five cartridges as machine guns making them subject to the 1934 firearms act?

Flatus
8 years ago

Surely this is Cleveland’s most significant sporting event since the 1948 Indians becoming World Champions. It was magnificent. Sadly, in 1949, it was followed by a ceremony in which the championship pennant was buried outside the fence in left field. That lakefront stadium is now gone and with it, the pennant.

RebelliousRenee
8 years ago

I’ll state it again…  nothing will happen in the way of gun control measures (or any number of other issues)until or unless Citizen’s United gets overturned.

Pogo (and any other Cavs fan out there)…  Congrats!  It was a hell of a game last night.

And, IMO, basketball players are the biggest babies in all of profession sports.  If we’re going to mention who needs to grow up, that list is gonna get mighty long…

Jace… much luck with your move. Harborwoman shows pictures of Gig Harbor on FB all the time…. beautiful area!

Pogo
8 years ago

Flatus, the short answer is that the definition of a machine gun is part of duly passed legislation, signed by the president in 1934.  Under the separation of powers we have the president can’t change a piece of legislation by executive order.

Pogo
8 years ago

RR, thx.  It was a hell of a game.  Oh, there are lots of pro athletes who need to grow up.  My comment about Thompson is based on his leaving the bench with 3 minutes to go in game 6 and going to the locker room without waiting until the end of the game then leaving the bench at the buzzer and going to the locker room without congratulating any of the Cavs or the Cavs’ coaching staff.  He got congratulations from the Cavs last year so he knows the drill.

RebelliousRenee
8 years ago

Craig…  sounds like both you and your father had an excellent father’s day…   good on both of you!

Our phone has been ringing off the hook again…  we’re sure it’s pollsters wanting to know if we plan on voting for Maggie Hassan or Kelly Ayotte.  I don’t care if Ayotte states she’s now supporting reproductive rights for women and believes in climate change…  I’m still voting for Hassan(D).

RebelliousRenee
8 years ago

Pogo…  yup…  that does constitute needing to grow up.  I will say good on LeBron for picking up Steph Curry near the end of the game when their feet got tangled and James fell on top of him.

tony
8 years ago

A Tale of Two Parties
Paul Krugman
But wait: Didn’t Hillary Clinton face her own insurgency in the person of Bernie Sanders, which she barely turned back? Actually, no.
For one thing, it wasn’t all that close. Mrs. Clinton won pledged delegates by almost four times Barack Obama’s margin in 2008; she won the popular vote by double digits.
Nor did she win by burying her rival in cash. In fact, Mr. Sanders outspent her all the way, spending twice on much as she did on ads in New York, which she won by 16 percentage points.
Also, Mrs. Clinton faced immense, bizarre hostility from the news media. Last week Harvard’s Shorenstein Center released a report on media treatment of the candidates during 2015, showing that Mrs. Clinton received by far the most unfavorable coverage. Even when reports focused on issues rather than alleged scandals, 84 percent of her coverage was negative — twice as high as for Mr. Trump. As the report notes, “Clinton’s negative coverage can be equated to millions of dollars in attack ads, with her on the receiving end.”
And yet she won, fairly easily, because she had the solid support of key elements of the Democratic coalition, especially nonwhite voters.

tony
8 years ago

The G.O.P.’s Cynical Gay Ploy
by Charles Blow

One of the most brazen — craven even — ploys by Republicans in the wake of the Orlando massacre has been to suggest, incredibly, that they would be better for the L.G.B.T. community than the Democrats.
At a rally on Thursday, Donald Trump said “L.G.B.T is starting to like Donald Trump very much lately, I will tell you, starting to like Donald Trump very, very much lately.” He mentioned that the Clinton Foundation had taken money from countries where “they kill gays,” and continued:
“So you tell me who’s better for the gay community and who’s better for women than Donald Trump?”
As Tierney Sneed of Talking Points Memo put it last week:
“The same Republicans who have argued that gay couples should not be allowed to marry, that L.G.B.T. Americans don’t need federal anti-discrimination protections and that trans people should not use the bathroom that matches their identity are now claiming that they — not Democrats — are the party on the L.G.B.T. community’s side.”

Katherine Graham Cracker
8 years ago

OMG  Donald Trump is insane  No gay person who is in their right mind would support Rump…even the most conservative  the Lincon Loggers

when will Rump learn…just because he says it doesn’t make it so

 

I’m going to give Klay Thompson a pass.  Bad behavior yes but in a loss that was so disappointing.  Lebron James willed his team to win by being the whole team and he fulfilled his promise to Cleveland and that was great. But his baiting and behavior around the Draymond Green suspension makes the result somewhat tarnished.   There is always next year.

Pogo
8 years ago

Trump parts ways with campaign manager Corey Lewandowski

By Jose A. DelReal

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has parted ways with his embattled campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, amid ongoing scrutiny over several missteps as the real estate mogul has sought to pivot to the general election.

“The Donald J. Trump Campaign for President, which has set a historic record in the Republican Primary having received almost 14 million votes, has today announced that Corey Lewandowski will no longer be working with the campaign,” Hope Hicks said in a statement to the press Monday. “The campaign is grateful to Corey for his hard work and dedication and we wish him the best in the future.”

Heheheh.

Katherine Graham Cracker
8 years ago

who are they hiring to replace him?  Satan?

Pogo
8 years ago

Apparently  the NRA isn’t greasing enough of the SCOTUS skids to get their way there.

The Supreme Court declined Monday to review bans on a lengthy list of firearms that Connecticut classified as “assault weapons,” the latest example of the court’s reluctance to be drawn into an emotional national debate on gun control.

The justices decided without comment not to review a lower court decision that upheld the laws; Connecticut’s was enacted shortly after a gunman used one of the military-style semiautomatic weapons on the list to kill 20 students and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown in 2012.

The decision was not a surprise, as the court has previously declined to review other court decisions that uphold bans passed by cities and states. Maryland, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, as well as many cities and towns, have similar laws. None of the legal challenges to them have been successful in lower courts.
* * *
Like other laws, Connecticut’s ban includes semiautomatic guns and high-capacity magazines, and covers popular weapons such as AR-­15s and AK-­47s.
Gun rights advocates have urged the court to review such bans, saying that they violate the court’s 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller that said individuals have a right to gun ownership for self-protection.

When the court declined last December to review a lower court decision upholding such a ban, Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia wrote that a similar law “flouts” the court’s Second Amendment jurisprudence. Scalia died in February.

Pogo
8 years ago

KC,

That might soften the drumpf campaign image too much.

patd
8 years ago

“who are they hiring to replace him?  Satan?”

kgc, according to nbc news:

Trump’s top strategist, Paul Manafort, will be moved into the campaign manager role, two sources tell NBC News.
[….]
The Trump campaign has been experiencing turmoil as Lewandowski has clashed with Manafort who has attempted to polish Trump and employ a more traditional campaign structure. Lewandowski is known for letting “Trump be Trump,” a mantra that some within the campaign say has caused serious, unnecessary errors. And the two have blocked each other from hiring top aides.

 

satan is the presumptious nominee

patd
8 years ago

wonkette: Whiny Wall Street Babies Preemptively So Mad At Vice President Elizabeth Warren
A bunch of anonymous dicks from Wall Street are anonymously warning Politico that if Hillary Clinton picks Elizabeth Warren as her vice presidential nominee, the relationship between Clinton and hedge funds will be “poisoned,” and they “will not give her any money,” and the American economy will be “bad.”
 

Pogo
8 years ago

Poobah, that Embassy Suites lobby might be appropriate depending upon the wait times.

patd
8 years ago

Free the Delegates: Growing Movement Hopes to Block Donald Trump at Convention

A new organization consisting of hundreds of Republican delegates is raising money to stop Donald Trump from winning his party’s nomination.

Referring to their movement as “Free the Delegates,” these Republicans are pushing for the adoption of a “conscience clause” at the 2016 Republican National Convention. This rule would allow delegates to vote for whomever they wish, regardless of which candidate won during the primaries.

Now that organization has launched a website, FreeTheDelegates.com, on which visitors are urged to enter their contact information so their state’s Rule Committee member will be sent information about the movement. The website is not currently taking donations, but they are expected to soon begin raising money for a staff and legal defense, according to The Hill.

Last week, a conference call was held for members of the Free the Delegates group during which about 30 delegates were present. According to The Washington Post, a second call held on June 19th consisted of several hundred participants.

patd
8 years ago

 

🙂

patd
8 years ago

happy solstice! from daily mail:
As the sun sinks below the horizon tonight, eyes will be fixed on the sky – with spectators admiring a rare astrological event.
For the first time since 1967, the longest day of the year – known as the summer solstice – will coincide with a ‘strawberry moon.’
Despite the name, the moon will not appear pink or red. It is the name given by Native American tribes to the June full moon which they believed signalled the beginning of the strawberry picking season.
This year – in a rare occurrence – it will coincide with the summer solstice, already a day steeped in significance for many.
Around 25,000 people are expected to gather at Stonehenge in Wiltshire to celebrate the solstice.
It is a tradition which has its roots in pagan times, when Midsummer Day was considered to have power. Of those who attend, many are druids, but some are tourists looking to soak up the atmosphere.
 

Blue Bronc
8 years ago

Craig, the D.C. VA Medical Center just finished a interior rehab, no palm trees.  A few benches were returned to the atrium.  The benches were removed a few years ago because some of the visitors were dealing drugs in open sight.  What is needed is a new medical center, but the Congress is still running with the VI’s Sec of the Veterans Administration’s idiotic thinking (just as stupid as the VI).  He said that the VA is scaling back facilities because fewer Baby Boomers would use them (like the fool could not read a bell curve) and because of how great the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were being fought there would be very few veteran needing care.  The idiot also wanted to eliminate the spinal cord center in Denver.  Something about the truth of the road bombings would have had him opening an entire building for spinal cord and TBI injuries.

 

Pogo
8 years ago

Ahhh, the June (summer, northern) solstice is here – the precursor to 3 months of heat and humidity.  It of course marks the end of the NBA season and playoffs.  The autumnal (September) equinox can’t get here soon enough.  The autumnal  equinox marks the unofficial end of the first 1/3 of the college football season.

Sturgeone
8 years ago

Hey….any of y’all got Prince Albert in a can? 

RebelliousRenee
8 years ago

Sturgeon… I just let him out…

Katherine Graham Cracker
8 years ago

Apparently Rump listens to his kids and that is why the campaign has a new manager

Oregon Democrat
Oregon Democrat
8 years ago

Whenever I see the Trump family, they look like they are being held prisoner…

Katherine Graham Cracker
8 years ago

Stockholm syndrom…but apparently they are the brain trust

xrepublican
8 years ago

The fastest way to change would be for survivors to do in gun maker CEOs, their families, their Ad Execs and families, and their attorneys. Using US-made semi-a weapons, of course.

Pogo
8 years ago

Why do I find it ironic that the guy who brags about how much money he has is seriously behind in fundraising?  Hell, Ben Carson has more cash on hand than drumpf.

Trump entered June with just $1.3 million in the bank, while Clinton sat on $42 million war chest
 

Chris Cillizza doesn’t get it.
 

Donald Trump’s campaign raised $3.1 million in May and ended last month with $1.3 million in the bank, a remarkably poor showing that will only heighten Republican concerns about his ability to run a serious general election campaign against presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Trump’s paltry fundraising last month is totally inexplicable given that he effectively secured the Republican presidential nomination on May 3 when he crushed Texas. Sen. Ted Cruz in the Indiana primary.  Cruz ended his campaign that night. Ohio Gov. John Kasich dropped out the next day.

I don’t get it either, but I’ll take it.

patd
8 years ago

pogo, what’s he got to raise money for? he gets all the free media he wants.  he doesn’t even have to show up at their studios. they let him phone in and probably that’s on their dime, not his.  he goes to venues on his own plane where he can stay for free at his own hotel… all of which are business write-offs.

patd
8 years ago

raw story: Stephen Colbert ridicules Corey Lewandowski: ‘Someone was managing Trump’s campaign?’

 

Pogo
8 years ago

RCP reported 11 general election polls yesterday and today.  With the exception of one tie in Ohio, HIllary came out on top in 10 of them.  Her average was +4.45 in those 11 polls. I did the math so you don’t have to.

Pogo
8 years ago

patd, you’re right of course.  Gene Robinson noted that today on MoJo – he said we’re all “Trump, Trump, Trump” although it’s not all positive coverage, and in fact it’s negative coverage for the most part now.  But still, if you take the position that the only bad publicity is no publicity, he’s doing well in the media.  coverage of both campaigns will increase following the conventions, so we’ll see what happens when both candidates are getting free exposure. Of course drumpf’s antics will sell more soap (I guess now it’s ED and plaque psoriasis meds) so we know where the coverage will concentrate.

xrepublican
8 years ago

What’s a $elf-made $ucce$$ful B!LL!ONA!RE bu$$ine$$man to do ?

Probably bellow that if the party owners don’t back his hand, he’ll fold ’em at the ȼonvention.

or, written in letters cut from the wall street urinal :

Leave $1B!LL!ON in a brown paper $ack under the bu$ bench in front of 1 Wall $treet at 11:56 pm, or you’ll never $ee your party again.

Pogo
8 years ago

This was more appropriate fo ryesterday’s thread, but still…

 

A week after Orlando, Republicans protect terrorists’ right to bear arms
No “no fly, no buy”, no proscription against transferring firearms to people with known or suspected terror ties.  Kelly Ayotte is right to be concerned.