Obviously what we want is a lot more guns

[Belinda]

Jeez louis, some of you guys. Can't we get through one tragedy without trying to set up some kind of politically-charged message?

You could get through one tragedy, but what of the other 100+? It seems that accountability is not needed, just grieve - until next time, and the next and ...

By all means. You hold me to my predictions in 20 years. I don't think I'll be too far off looking at the shapes of things. A great proud nation brought to its knees by its own hubris, an angry and humiliated populace, but with much military might ...

If someone clever like you cannot see how obviously your country is giving away its natural advantages through its polity's corrupt relationships with energy and arms companies, then that makes clear the scale of your country's issues.

True, all of the above.
If the murderer had been a Muslim then mourners like Sir-Sister-of-Suck would be political too.

Greta also wrote:

If Trump goes, do you think that a sane president is going to change the mania and divisions that's been whipped up in recent years? Or do you see ever widening circles of retribution?

The people who voted for Trump were present when Obama was the president. How can the Americans with insight add insight to the Americans who lack it?

[Hobbes' Choice]

Republicans and the NRA are doing to other Americans what America will increasingly do to the world. Unlike many, I remained a fan of the US long after others lost hope for them. 2017 has changed that.

I have little doubt that the US will fall into complete fascism in the next two decades. The US's best and brightest are already fleeing to Canada in record numbers, ever more leaving the ignorant and stupid types who still support Trump to lead the nation into an economic abyss. All the while the nation will be wracked by ever more hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts and floods.

This will create an even greater divide between Canada's democracy and the US's fledgeling fascism. When the situation is dire enough I expect the temptation to use the only power that remains for them - military power - will be too great. I expect them to eventually invade Canada and take their untapped oil reserves. I give it a decade or two.

I thought the US might be able to survive Trump but his relentless incompetence, blundering and lack of morality still leaves him with close to 50% support. If there was footage of Trump raping a a known Democrat I find it impossible to imagine his approval ratings being much affected. Many would probably approve and the rest would go into denial and talk about "fake news".

With such a large portion of the populace immune to both reason and morality in a nation with many times more arms than any other, there is only one way this can go - first civil war, then full scale war.

I think you might be too pessimistic.
Bernie Sanders is still the most popular politician in the USA, and Trump's antics are not doing anything for the reputation of the Republican party. And the longer he goes on the more damage is done to the right.
However there is a little problem of Fox News and other right wing news outlets who continually pump out subtle seeds of hate. Its less about what they say and more about what they assume, and what is implied by their stance to just about everything.
The loss of respectable journalism is the big tragedy. How much longer can Murdoch live?

[Belinda]

Hobbes Choice wrote:

The loss of respectable journalism is the big tragedy. How much longer can Murdoch live?

Murdoch has many heads each one capable of independent life and work. The whole organism is more than its head. Murdoch cannot die , can only be in suspended animation.You cannot root out narcissistic lying for ever. Its an everlasting battle against Murdoch and similar weeds and parasites.

Is there not any respectable, independent, journalism in the USA? If not that makes the USA a nation of people who are forced to get their opinions from one source which is not truth but Mammon.

[Walker]

President Trump called it an act of pure evil.

I doubt if anyone can explain it better.

Any pro-arguments on the non-existence of evil?

I wondered when some idiot would say something like that.

Looks like a no for a well-reasoned presentation from this node, which again places belief in the customary ascendant. Signaling the faith via ridicule is common in both totalitarian and progressive environs, especially from those who persist by cozying up to the power structure, like trustees or jesters.

Years ago there was a news story about a dentist who took his family to Florida for a vacation. They checked into their hotel and then he proceeded to throw his wife, and then his kids, off the balcony to their death. Some vacation. No one could figure out why. There were no indications such as raving for the death of Americans, or celebrating the death of Americans, or lunatic laughter. So, the scientific explanation was that he flipped out, lost it, or went nuts.

The more rational explanation is that he was possessed by evil, seeing as that leaves fewer of the loose ends left by scientific conjectures such as a temporary but undetected physiological imbalance that affected his brain, that is, undetected by anything other than his actions.

[Walker]

Nauseating cow even looks PC. Is there any such thing as a normal American?

She's kinda cute, although the lens distortion makes her feet and legs disproportionately large.

Tip: when you get close with a smart phone camera, place the lens higher than the subject's eyes to minimize the chin and nose, which is flattering for women. The forehead and eyes are accentuated by appearing larger.

[artisticsolution]

President Trump called it an act of pure evil.

I doubt if anyone can explain it better.

Any pro-arguments on the non-existence of evil?

I wondered when some idiot would say something like that.

Looks like a no for a well-reasoned presentation from this node, which again places belief in the customary ascendant. Signaling the faith via ridicule is common in both totalitarian and progressive environs, especially from those who persist by cozying up to the power structure, like trustees or jesters.

Years ago there was a news story about a dentist who took his family to Florida for a vacation. They checked into their hotel and then he proceeded to throw his wife, and then his kids, off the balcony to their death. Some vacation. No one could figure out why. There were no indications such as raving for the death of Americans, or celebrating the death of Americans, or lunatic laughter. So, the scientific explanation was that he flipped out, lost it, or went nuts.

The more rational explanation is that he was possessed by evil, seeing as that leaves fewer of the loose ends left by scientific conjectures such as a temporary but undetected physiological imbalance that affected his brain, that is, undetected by anything other than his actions.

LOL Holy cow. The only response that can come close to this is a quote from The Wizard Of Oz...

"I do believe in Spooks...I do I do I do believe in Spooks."

[Walker]

LOL Holy cow.

That's just because it fits the story line of the Wizard, and sounds better than clicking the heels of ruby slippers and chanting, "I do believe in dystopian fantasies, anti-Trumpism, anti-NRA."

The bellicose bellow, show me this evil.

Well, just open your eyes.

[Hobbes' Choice]

President Trump called it an act of pure evil.

I doubt if anyone can explain it better.

Any pro-arguments on the non-existence of evil?

Trumps words were empty hyperbole.
Evil is not an inherent quality, but a subjective observation.

[Hobbes' Choice]

That's not what PC is. The right can never be PC. They are detestable, but it's not PC detestable. The 'right' are openly vile and don't care who knows it. The PC are just as vile, but they try to hide it with a sickly sweet facade of moral superiority and zealous virtue.

How's this for PC. School librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro rejected Melania Trump's gift of Dr. Seuss books.
''Soeiro then explained her issues with Trump’s specific choice in books, calling Dr. Seuss “a bit of a cliché, a tired and worn ambassador for children’s literature,” and suggested that Trump could have reached out to Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden to discover other options. Additionally, she wrote that “another fact many people are unaware of is that Dr. Seuss’s illustrations are steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes,” linking out to the article “Is the Cat in the Hat Racist? Read Across America Shifts Away From Dr. Seuss and Towards Diverse Books.”

Nauseating cow even looks PC. Is there any such thing as a normal American?



Oh, and here she is being a gigantic hypocrite. A PC hypocrite? Isn't that tautology? Surely no one would stoop as low as to use children to push their own self-serving political agenda?

All Dr. Seuss books are creepy and inherently EVIL.
I'm surprised that you are behaving like such a ****, attacking a person who you do not know

[Walker]

Ever the hypocrite, Hillary Clinton urged Americans on Monday to “put politics aside.” Then she proceeded to immediately inject politics into the catastrophic shooting in Las Vegas.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/10/ ... agedy.html

She’s a Progessive. Nuff said.

[henry quirk]

"Fishing, Flying, Hunting, Driving. All require licences in the USA."

Okay. Let's license/register guns/gun ownership.

Now, by current accounts, Paddock was a law abider with no history of mental illness who acquired all his guns legally.

If gun owners were required to license/register firearms (let's say a national registry had been set up, oh, ten years back) this means Paddock woulda lugged his registered weapons up to the 32nd and killed nearly sixty people and injuried over 500 others.

Licensing/registering guns/gun ownership would stop some crime, but it wouldn't have stopped Paddock (or other mass killers who were law abiders with legally acquired guns).

#

"Along with licensing there needs to be some regulation on what guns private citizens can own."

A good idea...about thirty years ago.

Today: there are more than 300 million people living in America, and there are enough guns (and attendant ammo) in the private sphere to arm each man, woman, and child several times over. Heavily regulate or out-right ban certain firearms and you'll have done nuthin' about all the examples of those regulated or banned weapons that are already out-and-about.

#

"Along with licensing and regulation/bans there can be gun buy-backs and severe penalties for those who won't give up the restricted weapons."

That might work. Some folks are quick to abide. They'll register when told to, sell back or hand in when told to. Some won't. Some folks reject the notion they should be restricted because of the bad acts of others. They won't register or license themselves or their firearms, they won't sell back or hand in. Quietly, they'll secure (hide) their guns and hunker down.

And, of course, criminals (Good Morning, Chicago!) won't abide either.

#

"Well, then there should be confiscations. Just outlaw all guns and take them".

Ah, now we get to the real goal, the true end-point. No doubt a great many law abiding gun owners will abide but then these good-intentioned folks were never the problem for the gun abolitionists. No, the problem for the abolitionists are the atavists, the self-relying, -directing types who aren't exactly criminals but might as well be.

Aside from the enormous public cost of organizing law enforcement (and mebbe the military) into a coordinated tool to search every residence, every business, every building, every person, for guns, I'm wonderin'' how the U.S. will absorb the enormous cost of what will be, practically, a civil war. East and west coasts will watch in horror as the whole of America's middle, from Canadian border clear down to the Gulf and Mexican border tears itself apart.

A war between folks who believe they own themselves and folks who believe that ownership can be safely nullified.

If you're in the states, pick your side now...shit will hit the fan sooner than you think.

If you're not in the states, sit back and watch the (upcoming) show...gonna be damned entertaining for you.

[Walker]

Today: there are more than 300 million people living in America, and there are enough guns (and attendant ammo) in the private sphere to arm each man, woman, and child several times over. Heavily regulate or out-right ban certain firearms and you'll have done nuthin' about all the examples of those regulated or banned weapons that are already out-and-about.

It would violate the constitution and make everyone who owns a self-defense weapon a criminal who must appeal to the centralized power for amnesty.

There is no evil, there is no evil, there is no evil.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzCANuQZEkY

[henry quirk]

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Like the current crop of politicians give a flip.

Hell, many citizens don't give a flip, not really (cuz you have to know the Document to give a shit about it).

It is what it is, Walker...you'd serve yourself better if you put aside ideals for a better day and get 'practical', pragmatic.

Tomorrow, that Document won't save you...you'll have to do that for yourself.

[Belinda]

Ever the hypocrite, Hillary Clinton urged Americans on Monday to “put politics aside.” Then she proceeded to immediately inject politics into the catastrophic shooting in Las Vegas.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/10/ ... agedy.html

She’s a Progessive. Nuff said.

If the murderer had been a Muslim or a Mexican Walker would want a political discussion

[Hobbes' Choice]

Ever the hypocrite, Hillary Clinton urged Americans on Monday to “put politics aside.” Then she proceeded to immediately inject politics into the catastrophic shooting in Las Vegas.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/10/ ... agedy.html

She’s a Progessive. Nuff said.

Fox News SPIN. You should have more respect for yourself.