THE NY TIMES GOT IT RIGHT

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/05/opinion/end-the-gun-epidemic-in-america.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-top-region&region=opinion-c-col-top-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-top-region&_r=0

"Opponents of gun control are saying, as they do after every killing, that no law can unfailingly forestall a specific criminal. That is true. They are talking, many with sincerity, about the constitutional challenges to effective gun regulation. Those challenges exist. They point out that determined killers obtained weapons illegally in places like France, England and Norway that have strict gun laws. Yes, they did.

But at least those countries are trying. The United States is not. Worse, politicians abet would-be killers by creating gun markets for them, and voters allow those politicians to keep their jobs. It is past time to stop talking about halting the spread of firearms, and instead to reduce their number drastically — eliminating some large categories of weapons and ammunition."

 

Click on the link and read the editorial in its entirety. It isn't long, but it is powerful. It represents editorial journalism at its best...the kind I wish I were capable of. Bravo, N.Y. Times for getting it right.

CAN YOU WAIT UNTIL THE BODIES GO COLD IN SAN BERNARDINO?

Another mass shooting, another opportunity. Another opportunity for the social media to assault our eyes with an endless stream of posts regaling us with their political views.
YOU NEED TO STOP...FOR A MINUTE.
Would it be so bad to agree on a 72 hour moratorium on the endless stream of political blather and allow us to reflect and grieve?
Would it be OK if you waited a few days before you see another mass shooting tragedy as an opportunity to publish your opinions on guns?
Would it be all right if you waited a few days before you danced on the victims graves waving your political banners?
Could I, as a human being, be allowed to reflect and grieve and be numb with emotion over another tragedy in what was once a proud nation?
Because, I don't know if you heartless bastards noticed...but people died yesterday. Fourteen of them, including two peace officers. Heroes all. And for every death there is twenty to thirty people at minimum who are grieving their losses...families trying to cope in stunned horror as their lives were inexcusably changed for the worse. Children longing for their parent. Spouses trying to cope with the loss of their life partners.
Because, I don't know if you heartless bastards noticed...but people died yesterday.
And so would it be OK if you resisted the opportunity to express your political blather until the bodies cooled?
There were 355 instances of mass shootings in this country this year alone. Didn't you get your point across immediately after the first 354?

Could you find it in your cold, unfeeling heart of hearts and first and foremost realized that the important thing about yesterday is that innocent lives were lost....before you published your continuous stream of crap about how you...own guns, want to keep your guns, want to control guns, want to hug your guns, want to outlaw guns, want to remind us that the guns didn't trigger themselves or how everyone should have one strapped to their waists along with their cell phones?

You think the perpetrators are cold? Look into the mirror and stop. Just stop.

LOOKING AFTER THE WELFARE...OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC

I read a variety of materials, even the ultra right wing, flame thrower, election time rhetoric on the internet. One such article is linked below. Read it in it's entirety if you wish, it's not long and will take you very little time to absorb.

The basic tenet of his thesis is that President Obama, that master Marist, has devoted his two terms to setting up two Americas in a classic showdown...a class struggle that will ruin this nation. His infuriating quotes are "He seeks a lowest common denominator society in which the government besieges the successful and productive and fosters equality through mediocrity." "It’s not about income inequality, it’s about civic irresponsibility. It’s about a political party that preaches hatred, greed and victimization in order to win elective office. It’s about a political party that loves power more than it loves its country."

Read more: http://www.wham1180.com/onair/bob-lonsberry-3440/two-americas-11890777/#ixzz3su7Q5zJp

 

In my opinion, it's not about handouts. It's about equal opportunities for all...the goal of giving all persons an equal chance to an education and employment, and to protect their civil rights, regardless of their race, religious beliefs, or gender. If you take welfare and food stamps it is a relatively small portion of the budget compared to defense spending. Want to reduce the SNAP program? raise the minimum wage from where it is now to $10 across the board, which will reduce food stamp spending by $4.6 billion. Want to reduce welfare? Invest in education...early education for low income families (Head Start), invest in inner city schools...invest in education period, make college affordable to all, make it truly available to all...it's not about being Robin Hood, it's about giving opportunity to all. The middle class is shrinking. Obama didn't do it, it's been happening for decades now. Should surplus corporate profits, much of which are the result of government involvement and favoritism further line the pockets of the uber rich, or will it go towards improving the quality of life of the working majority who actually produce the wealth? No one seeks a "lowest common denominator society in which the government besieges the successful and productive to foster equality through mediocrity." That would be economic suicide. But by refusing to equal the playing field of opportunity, you weaken the majority of America. We are becoming the nation of stupid. Uneducated lower class who will increasing qualify for public assistance because they are unqualified to do anything more than menial work. Crackpots like Bob Lonsberry never mention this...of course, he's rich...and it'selection time.
And that's my world...the "World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading.

BEYOND MY COMPREHENSION

I apologize for my pitiful lack of postings of late. Selfish really as I note the repeated and consistent viewings I witness, many coming directly to this blog and not by finding me through a search engine. The majority of readers of this one man blog do not come here by happenstance or accident, but as a deliberate desire, and for that I give you my heartfelt thanks.

The reason for my inaction of late? It is not because I have suddenly become lethargic or uncaring, and not because I have distanced myself from the current political landscape...it is because I just don't get it anymore. I watch, mostly in horror, the current political goings on and sit blithely by in a stunned silence. I can't believe my eyes...I can't believe my ears. It is like I am watching a massive automobile accident over and over in the slowest of motion. I don't get it.

I watch a major political party apparently led in the polls by the most unprepared candidate for major political office I have seen in my lifetime, and he leads in every political polling. Every one. And armed with this knowledge and fueled by this popularity, he ascends on one political event after another and spouts the most crude and un-nuanced blather ostensibly consisting entirely of his ego-driven boasts, world changing promises that he has no idea how to accomplish, and unending attacks of seemingly every public servant holding office. He even attacks the intelligence of entire American states and world countries, many of which have been our allies since before two world wars. He is unquestionably a bigot (his remarks against Hispanics are well documented), a misogynist who sees women as sexual objects, and a self touted business expert who has filed for bankruptcy no less than three times. He frequently brags about spreading his cash out to politicians from all parties because that's how he gets things done for him. Let's be clear...this is a man so painfully stupid he actually thinks he can deport over thirteen million illegal aliens...and keep them out with a thousand mile long wall which Mexico will pay for...and as ignorant as this all sounds...doesn't he even read a paper? The California Mexico border has more tunnels than an ant hill. There are tunnels with lighting, pumped in air and a friggin tram system. He is a complete bat-shit crazy moron...and it's working.

Surely there is a candidate following closely behind him of some weight, someone worthy of serious consideration for the most powerful position on the face of the earth...but sadly, the answer is no. Second in every political poll of late is a man with zero political experience. Zero. And not only is he a political neophyte, he is a raging lunatic who consistently lies and makes up stories incapable of intelligent consideration...a man who he himself has admitted in his writings to be certifiable. An extremely troubled youth, dyslexic, a pathological liar and someone who has demonstrated on multiple instances uncontrollable fits of rage culminating in going after his own mother with a hammer, hitting a childhood friend with a padlock to the face  and attempting to stab a relative with a knife. Admitted to at least two cases of attempted murder as a child and he is in serious consideration to be President of the United States by a major political party? And a solid second in the polls? Really? A man who seriously thinks the pyramids were built to hold grain??

If this were a movie, no one would believe it. But it is most certainly not...and I don't get it. Good Lord give me the wisdom to understand...

And that's my world...the "World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading.

FECKLESS NEAR SEATTLE

Feckless: lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible

Another month, another mass shooting. This one killing ten in an Oregonian community college, and hardly anyone bats an eye. Welcome to the new normal.

President Obama summed it up distinctly..."Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it ... We have become numb to this,"

Every time a new mass murder is inflicted upon our fellow Americans, the President takes the podium and does what he does best...speaks from the heart. he berates Congress, he berates the powerful gun lobby. He berates our nation in comparison to others...that's right, the leader of the free world...our leader, berates the country that elected him...unheard of. But Obama repeatedly does so after shootings -- saying Britain and Australia, for instance, had passed gun control laws to prevent new massacres.

"We are not the only country on Earth that has people with mental illnesses or want to do harm to other people,"  Obama said. "We are the only advanced country on Earth that sees these kinds of mass shootings every few months," (editors note: this marks 294 mass murders in the U.S. this year alone) Obama said, and hammered Congress for even blocking the collection of data on shooting incidents. "This is a political choice that we make, to allow this to happen every few months in America. We collectively are answerable to those families who lose their loved ones."

 

I agree wholeheartedly to his message. Maybe common sense gun controls would not have prevented this tragedy, or the one at Columbine, or Aurora, or Sandy Hood, or Virginia Tech....but if they could have...if they could have and our lawmakers did nothing...they have blood on their hands.

 

I could understand if Obama has given up. Given up pushing for gun control with a GOP controlled Congress in bed with the powerful gun lobbyists. I get it. You would be flailing away for a fools folly mission that certainly would come to an anticipated early death. But if he could have gained some ground, gained some traction, negotiated some small measure of reform by sending Congress a barrage of bills to change the laws...if he stood by his convictions and pushed legislation towards Congress until their expense accounts bled...if he could have made even a modicum of difference, and gave up...then there is blood on his hands as well.

It's not a matter of intelligence...everyone agrees we need gun reform...common sense gun reform. The problem is Washington progressives have given up. They have lost themselves...lost their ideals, lost their integrity. They have become a feckless, gutless collection of cowards.

And not one of them...not even one of them has the gumption, the convictions or the courage to stand up and scream to the hills that this must stop. The willingness to put it all on the line, stand on the Senate floor that once heard patriots like Douglas, Webster, Lincoln, Calhoun and Clay...and wake that body up. Wake them up with the hard cold fact that the current Congressional inactivity...or apathy towards these mass murders is inexcusable. They sit blithely by while our fellow Americans are gunned down without a tear. Page one today, page two tomorrow, forgotten next week.

I've had enough. I bet you have as well. I'm old enough to know what this country stood for once, and has now become. And Congress sits by scared shitless...that if they so much as suggest that maybe, just maybe we should find out if someone is a felon, on the run from the law or just plain old bat shit crazy before selling someone a weapon...they will lose votes, then I say the hell with you. You feckless, gutless coward.

I urge them to stand up. Stand up for something...hell, stand up for anything...anything other than the people stuffing your pockets full of re-election money for gawd sakes. Pretend you have something inside. Some caring, some empathy for your constituents. Maybe even a muffled voice deep, deep down inside that a human life is worth more than a vote, or a campaign contribution. Many of you claim to be pro life...here is your chance.

If you have had enough...vote your conscience. I urge you to stand up as well. Voice your dismay. Maybe someone will be listening. I have had enough...how about you?

And that's my world...the "World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading. Sorry for the shouting.

CONTEMPTUS MODIFI

I have kept silent over the past few months in regards to the few religious business owners who refuse to have anything to do with gay marriage....conduct the ceremony, make the cake, take the pictures. I get it, it is against your religious beliefs and the core principles that make up the "free to choose" you. I do get it. Shame on you, but I get it.
It's one thing to deny gay couples their rights, it's good fodder for discussions in eighth grade Ethics classes all over the country. It's been going on forever...in fact they are the last class of Americans whom the government openly discriminated against, until recently. Until now, it was merely the inconvenience of finding an open minded baker, or photographer, or clergyman.
But if your chosen profession is to carry out the law, if your sworn responsibility is to follow the directives of the courts and the established law of the land...then you don't get to pick and choose which laws you will follow as if you were at a cheap Vegas buffet. No one gives a shit about your religious beliefs...do your sworn duty. Upholding the law does not have a religious preference clause.
So a clerk in a southern state refuses to issue gay marriage permits. That is bad (and illegal) enough, but apparently this clerk is taking her illegal actions to the next level. Reports are coming out that this governmental clerk is now modifying official paperwork rendering gay marriage licenses worthless.

 

Her name is Kim Davis and just look at her. She couldn't possibly have had a good childhood. You can see it. She wasn't voted "most likely to succeed," or danced with the football star at the prom. She wasn't the most popular at school, or any where else for that matter. You can see it in her face. But she, like many others, had the church. And we can now see just how thoroughly devoted and compliant she is to her religion.
Personally I think the lawyers have gotten to her. And religious leaders as well (she is pictured below with Mike Huckabee, erstwhile Presidential candidate and self appointed political religious keeper of the guard) . She is going to have one chance for fame, one chance for respect, one chance for some recognition in her shitty little life, and here it is. And she is going to hold onto the brass ring for dear life.

She has the chance for fame, possibly write a book and make a ton of money, be a hero, go on Oprah...or even better in religious circles...be a martyr. Look at the look at her face above...she is being led to believe she is the next Rosa Parks or something. She thinks she has the opportunity to go from trailer park to the history books. But, truth be told, the only place she should be headed is to jail. You can't use your Bible to disobey judges and their orders.
But having said that, does anyone really think jail is a deterrent to her compared to her (perceived) potential rewards? She is an unattractive middle aged nothing clerk in Tennessee and she is married to a man who, when hearing that he is about to be on television...slips into his "good" overalls.
I think three things...jail doesn't mean a damn thing to Kim Davis,  this isn't going away anytime soon and if you are Mike Huckabee and are running for an office which requires an absolute sworn oath to the Constitution of the United States, maybe, just maybe you should stay the hell out of it.
That's my world...the "World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading.

IT'S POLITICALLY LOOKING LIKE IT'S DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

I've seen this cycle many times before. It ain't my first political rodeo. Voters typically want what they perceived to be lacking in the previous candidate.
After Richard Nixon...who resigned in disgrace...we got the ultra-clean peace loving Jimmy Carter. How did that work out for us? Not well according to most, although history may soften his legacy.
These days, most...if not all are exceptionally unhappy with any form of government, state or federal. So when an outsider comes in...especially a screaming anti-everything candidate who criticizes every present day movement and politician...he curries favor with the voters.
And Donald Trump certainly fits the bill. He screams at the top of lungs at what is wrong, and that he will certainly fix it...but he lacks a detailed plan, or remedy to fix anything. Just promises to fix everything.
But how, Donald? Give me one nuanced answer...just one detailed plan to fix anything. And stop insulting our...strike that...my intelligence by promising the moon without a space program to get us there.
"I'll build a fence and Mexico will pay for it." How?
"I'll wrangle up four million illegal aliens and deport them." What, are you kidding me? (He is decidedly not)
I understand the voting electorates desire for an outsider to come in on his white horse and save the town...but this ain't the movies, and this ain't my first rodeo.
Eventually the noise will quiet, the field will reduce, and the American people are going to demand more than a circus tent evangelical preacher.
We know what's wrong...what we don't know (and apparently you don't either)...is how you are going to "fix it."
We are waiting....but we won't wait for long.
In the words of Aaron Sorkin..."these are serious times, and we need a serious candidate---and your fifteen minutes are up."
We are waiting sir.

And that's the world...The "World According to Kimba."
Thanks for reading.

Extra credit? Here are some very un-presidential off the cuff remarks from Mr. Trump...
“You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.”
"The U.S. will invite El Chapo, the Mexican drug lord who just escaped prison, to become a U.S. citizen because our "leaders" can't say no!"
"I will build a great wall-and nobody builds a wall like me, believe me...and I'll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall along our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words on that."
"Laziness is a trait in blacks...black guys counting my money...I hate it!!" "The only guys I want counting my money are little short guys that wear yamakas every day."

DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE CLOWN CAR

As an unabashed liberal I, like many of you, may be looking at the now 16 GOP candidates...this cornucopia of ignorance, with drooling delight at what will be...which must be...one of the easiest progressive occupations of the White House in 2016 ever in the history of American politics.

But, not so fast my left leaning friend. Do not...and I mean DO NOT underestimate this roster of the most bigoted, war mongering morons ever collected.

As repugnant as their collective political platforms are...the Mexican immigrants are lazy, murderous rapists rant, the poor people should work more philosophy, the welfare recipients are drug addled addicts who will all be tested before getting some relief mandate, not to mention the collective disdain that Obama would actually work towards a nuclear deal with Iran which would take away our ability to engage in yet another Middle Eastern conflict...nonsense all...except...

They are resonating with some Americans. And not just a fringe element of America...a wide swath of people who actually agree with this ridiculous pabulum. And as much as I hate to think that some of this crap actually could capture enough of the hearts, minds and votes of the American voter rolls...it may just work, if one is to listen to the early polling.

And because of one very real statistic, I am considering joining the ever increasing minority who legitimately feel that this once great nation's best days are behind us...

Donald Trump is leading the pack of GOP candidates for the office of President of these United States...arguably the most powerful position in the world...and a large portion of one of our only two political parties deem him worthy of the position. Holy fuck can you imagine. As if we weren't already a laughing stock globally, we now have to live this down.

I hope and pray this polling data was collected solely from residents of trailer parks. Dear Lord, please don't let these ignorant, bigoted, hate filled positions actually represent the views of anything other than a handful of Americans who hopefully do not own guns or get off their couches to vote.

This nation was once too intelligent, too proud and far too great to stand for, let alone agree with any of the verbiage being spewed forth on the campaign trail over the last few months. Please tell me we above this and clowns like Trump and Walker and Fiorina et al...well, we are only keeping them around for comic relief, and a bit of nostalgia for the days when a VP candidate couldn't name one thing she has read, or as much as one Supreme Court case.

But the truth is, this is a horse of a different nature. This is not stupid. This is pure hate. For other peoples, for minorities, for the poor and indigent, for the gay and transgendered, really for any one other than who they are themselves. And that scares the hell out of me. Please be smarter than this, America. Please.

And that is the world...the "World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading.

PLAYING THEIR TRUMP CARD?

The political season has just begun and as they say, the field is wide open. Good Lord only knows why some of them run...whether it is fame, ego or a misguided sense that the country needs them, the vast majority of the clown cars on both sides have very little chance of actually being considered...for the office, or being considered as capable of the job.
Last season we almost had a complete moron as our vice president, and that was scary enough, but this year the man who is polling second for the conservatives is as scary as any I have witnessed in my lifetime.
An egotistical bully, an unapologetic bigot (On Mexicans: “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”), a buffoon of gigantic proportions...Donald Trump  is actually running second in the polling for the highest office in the land.  And he is getting traction wherever he goes, as terrifying as that is.
Why? Because he has no filter between his brain and his mouth. And as vile as it seems, his views on immigrants, his views on women and his views on the poor resonate with many Americans. So when he travels the country spewing his hate filled, unrehearsed rants on nearly everything, he gains followers.
At first I thought he was an oddity, a clown whose circus side show will certainly be over in short order...may actually be around for a while. And as embarrassing as it seems...the American public...want it that way.
And maybe, just maybe, the GOP wants it that way as well. Because he has the nerve to lay voice to what truly drives the conservative voters. He is a test balloon for the conservatives, who are laying back judging the tolerance of the American people for his vulgar, offensive and across the board insensitive views.
I would hate to think a major American political party would adopt any of views as a portion of their platform, but at least for now, I think Trumps views actually resonate....with the voters, and with his party.

MORE from the World....as if one run of the mill dirt bag in the race wasn't more than our stomachs could tolerate, here comes one genuine bottom feeder named Scott Walker...check out this quote from Walker...instead of disdaining the ridiculous rhetoric coming from the trump camp, here comes Governor Walker...

“Donald Trump has grabbed a lot of headlines over the past few weeks by spewing bigotry and venom,” Walker told an enthusiastic crowd of supporters. “I want to make it clear that when it comes to those things, I take a back seat to no one.”

Concluding his speech with a line that triggered a standing ovation, Walker said, “To those who thought Donald Trump was the only sociopath in the race, let me say this: not anymore.”

 

Hang on my friends...this GOP race is going to be worth the price of admission.

And that is the world...the "World According to Kimba" thanks for reading.

POLITICAL COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

ALL WITHIN MY LIFETIME

As Dennis Miller would say, "I'm not going to go off on a rant here, but..."

These pictures were both taken in the year of my birth, 1956.

I have lived 58 years and I have seen many incredible things in my lifetime...computers have gone from room size to the size of a watch, we have gone from volumes of encyclopedias to internet searches unlimited in their abilities to quickly disseminate information and we put a man on the moon. We have gone from having to get up off the couch to change the channel on the television to wireless everything and we have, or are so close to curing diseases today which would have carried death sentences in the beginning of my lifetime.

But when it comes to race relations and the elimination of bigotry, we have done so very little. Oh sure we no longer have separate but equal and we even elected a black president. But in the heart of hearts of many Americans...in the true hearts of many Americans...these pictures symbolize the good old days.

We have progressed as a society in so many other ways, but lately I have to wonder if we have progressed at all. Pick up a newspaper, any newspaper and you will see one abhorrent, needless death after another. Some say they are not race related at all, but the numbers speak for themselves. And they are scattered all over our once great nation...these are not regional at all...and they are increasing in frequency. What's more, Lady justice is more than blind to it, she is deaf as well.

Should I be surprised? After all, it took until my twelfth birthday for the nation to pass a voting rights bill. No, I am not surprised...I am appalled and ashamed. And seeing these pictures make me uncontrollably sad. Because as a human being I can't help but put myself in their places and feel at least a modicum of what they must have felt. It's inhuman and beneath a modern people that should be more evolved than this.
So many deaths...so many needless acts of violence. Ferguson, Florida and on and on. We are failing as a nation in many ways...and we are failing as rational, thinking, feeling human beings in so many others. Will it ever go away? Will bigotry ever be a thing of the past? I am afraid it won't..at least not in my lifetime. It's incomprehensible that we as a nation will fail to treat everyone equally in at least the first 250 years of what we used to call the greatest nation on the face of the planet. Some democracy.

I stumbled upon these pictures and they made me sad. And appalled. And ashamed.

 

God bless America...and God forgive us Americans...for we, the great democracy...are failing to offer the most basic of human rights...and our beliefs go against the very foundation of the Bible...that all men and women are descendants of a higher power and worthy of human dignity and respect, and equality. Not in my lifetime, and that is very sad.

That's the world...the "World According to Kimba." Thanks for reading. I bid you peace.

REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM

I understand the GOP's reticence towards entering into a nuclear agreement with Iran, I really do. They have shown a repeated pattern of behavior unworthy of trust or respect when it comes to their defense capabilities. Trust but verify will certainly be warranted, and that should go towards trusting  the sitting President (and the State Department's) ability to negotiate an agreement.  After all, the current effort to negotiate the easing of sanctions in return of the elimination of Iran's efforts to becoming a nuclear power is a multi-national effort. But I get it...caution must be taken.
However, the GOP never shows
 caution, or diplomacy, or statesmanship for that matter. They rush to judgment, they rush to action and they frequently look foolish when they do. But never and I mean never in my forty plus years of following current events have I seen two efforts so poorly conceived or carried out as the invitation of the Israeli Prime Minister to address Congress (who blatantly used the Republican leaders as a last ditch effort to save his job), and the incredibly insipid and inaccurate sending of a cautionary letter to the leaders of Iran involving the negotiation process.
They have made world wide laughing stocks of themselves again.
John McCain said it was rushed because another snowstorm was headed their way and the 47 signers wanted to hurry up and get home. Ridiculous. Ridiculous invitation, ridiculous letter and a ridiculous excuse. And they wonder why they get no respect from the electorate....they embarrassed me and the entire nation. Good job.
And that is the world...the World According to Kimba. Thanks for reading.