I won’t second-guess the acquittal of the Bundys and their fellow travelers. Yes, they did take over a public facility and held it by threatening to kill anybody who tried to interfere. Yes, they did trash the place to the tune of about $1.7 million. Yes, they did dig a 50-foot trench through a protected area so they’d have a place to shit. Yes, they did grievously […]
It’s all about
They’ll be back
The gang in Oregon really wanted a martyr and they finally got one. Now, of course, they’re variously claiming that LaVoy Finicum was ambushed and shot in the back and lying on the ground and also somehow had his hands up. Next tweet you see, they’ll say he was singing “Amazing Grace” and passing out treats to needy children. I’m sure he was a nice enough guy. […]
Kid’s got a future
Finally, someone more hate-worthy than ISIS and Donald Trump: Ethan Couch, 18, who killed four people and was spared jail time because his parents are rich. He’s where we got the dreadful term “affluenza”: that tragic condition of being so awash in wealth and privilege that one cannot be held accountable for one’s personal shortcomings, including manslaughter and assault. Ethan got probation, not prison — on condition […]
Ain’t a thing we can do
He looks like they all do: geeky and vacant and profoundly weird. After all these mass shootings, you look at the pictures of the suspect and think, “how in the hell did that asshole get a gun?” But then this is America and acquiring a semiautomatic weapon is the least of a young psycho’s problems. In this case, apparently, it was a birthday gift from his father, […]
It’s a depressing tradition
Back in March, a guy was shot to death a couple of blocks from here. A week or so later, this makeshift shrine went up at the scene. It’s still there; I walk or ride a bike past it nearly every day. It’s beginning to get on my nerves. The cops said the shooting — several rounds from an AK-47 in broad daylight — was drug-related. Around […]
Guns, gates and paranoia
Once Jesse Jackson gets involved in an issue, you can be pretty sure that the time for rational discussion of the issue is long past. To Jackson, the shooting of Trayvon Martin means just one thing: “Blacks are under attack.” I really doubt that. I keep waiting for another shoe to drop in this case, something to make the events of that night less outrageous than they […]
Evil and ignorance, and the AK-47.
Today in Jacksonville, a Spanish teacher who had just been fired returned to the school and shot dead the woman who ran it. Then he shot himself. I learned of this from my wife, who knew the woman pretty well. She’s late coming home from work tonight because she’s attending a vigil for the victim. This kind of thing happens with depressing regularity. Particularly in this country. […]