I Didn't Say It ...

Nikos Giannopoulos, the openly gay Teacher of the Year, on his flamboyant fan usage and what _____ said about it:

“The fan was actually my partner’s. He bought it as a souvenir on a trip to Venice, but I found it about five years ago. Since then I’ve integrated in into my day-to-day life. I’m extremely campy and it’s a popular prop of mine. I’ve taken it with me all over the country whenever I go on vacation, so that’s why I had it. ... I have been visibly gay my entire life; I was more feminine than a lot of boys and I carried myself in a non-traditional gender expression. And I got a lot of flak for it. As a boy, I think I internalized that and didn’t embrace that part of me. Now, as an adult, I adjusted to my queer identity. So the fan represents self-acceptance and being unabashedly myself in a society that’s not always ready to accept that. ... Oh, [the president] loved it! I popped it open when I walked into the office because I’m a very sassy person. And [he] complimented it right away. He said, “I love the fan!” And he told me I had great style. Then, when I was ushered in for my private photo with the president and Melania I was told I should put it away. So I just folded it up and held it at my side. But when it came time for the photo, I just asked the president, ‘Do you mind if I use the fan for the photo?’ He said, ‘Absolutely go for it.’ So I popped my fan and did my pose.”

There seemed to be a thought that _____ didn’t know Nikos had the fan and that it was a Resistance moment, so, and yeah, I’m goin’ there, I think it’s kinda cool that _____ was so fun about the fan, and open to it.

He’s still a dick, but that was a Less Dick Move™.

[photo 1, photo 2]

Jim Acosta, CNN’s White House correspondent, on the no-video, no-audio press briefing Sean Spicer held this week:

“The White House press secretary is getting to a point, where he’s just kind of useless. You know, if he can’t come out and answer the questions and they’re not going to do this on camera or audio…why are we having these briefings or gaggles in the first place?”

Getting to the point? He’s a bully, a whiner, and let us not forget about the time he ducked into the bushes to hide from the press.

But, and there’s always a but, if Acosta thinks Spicer is useless what must he think of Sarah Hucklebrry Sanders?

Sidenote: I’ll take any opportunity to post a quote from Jim Acosta because he is hot.

Just sayin’.

[photo]

Sean Spicer, on the press:

“There’s a lot of them that want to become YouTube stars and ask some snarky question that’s been asked eight times. There is a bit of snarkiness now with the press, because, again, a lot of them are more focused about getting their clip on air than they are of actually taking the time to understand an issue.”

Yeah, they wanna become stars so they got themselves jobs as correspondents to the White House? This White House?

Sit down, Sean; Jim was right, you’re useless.

PS Before you say anything about the picture, I know.

[photo]

Milan Christopher, openly gay rapper, on his nude spread—emphasis on spread—Paper magazine:

“Well, I just feel like in our culture it’s so taboo for a guy to show their bodies but it’s ok for a woman to do it. I just kinda want to break that. I think I have a nice body and I think it’s art and I just think that it should be celebrated like they celebrate women’s bodies. So you know, I could be a guy and be gay and be black and be artistic and be artistic in a nude fashion shoot in the same way that anybody else could.”

And, since I’ve seen it, I can say, ‘Thank you, Milan.’

And thanks for breaking the stereotypes, too.

[photo]

Billie Lourd, actress, saying her mother, Carrie Fisher, died from mental illness and drug use:

“My mom battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life. She ultimately died of it.  She was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases. She talked about the shame that torments people and their families confronted by these diseases. I know my Mom, she’d want her death to encourage people to be open about their struggles. Seek help, fight for government funding for mental health programs. Shame and those social stigmas are the enemies of progress to solutions and ultimately a cure. Love you Momby.”

I still miss Carrie, and feel sad she couldn’t keep her demons in check and was still using the drugs that ultimately killed her. But she gets huge props for being so open about her demons—mental illness and drug abuse—because, even if she helped just one person, she’s done more than most of us.

RIP.

[photo]

Ryan O’Callaghan, former Patriots and Chiefs offensive tackle, coming out as gay and saying he had considered committing suicide before he received support from the Kansas City football organization:

“People need to understand that we are everywhere. We’re your sons, your daughters, your teammates, your neighbors. And honestly, even some of your husbands and wives. You just don’t know it yet. If you’re a gay kid and you hear someone you love say ‘fag,’ it makes you think that in their eyes you’re just a fag too. That got to me a lot.”

Prime example of Silence = Death. Had Ryan stayed silent, he might have ended up taking his own life.

Thankfully, he did not, and he’s here as an example for those who come after that it does get better.

Welcome out, Ryan, and please accept, as our gift from Homo HQ, a Coming Out Toaster Oven and your own copy of The Gay Agenda.

[photo]

Joe Biden, challenging the LGBT community to push back against _____’s administration.

“Hold President Trump accountable for his pledge to be your friend. Just because you don’t have Barack and me in the White House doesn’t mean it’s time to give up, keep quiet, stay on the sidelines.”

Normally, well, always, I’m Team Joe, but in this case, I do disagree because _____ doesn’t know from accountability. He only said he’d be our greatest ally because he thought we were stupid enough to buy it, and support him ... and some of us were.

So, we will not hold him accountable, we will not demand he speak for us, we will work to have him removed from office, quickly through impeachment, or slowly, through the elective process free from his buddy Vlad’s interference.

Either way, we’ll send him home.

[photo]

Random Musings

A thought on the murder—because it was murder—of Philando Castile by Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez.

Castile was doing everything right; offering his insurance proof, and then, when asked for license and registration, he calmly told the officer he had a firearm he was allowed to carry. Then when Castile reached for his wallet, Officer Yanez says he thought Castile was reaching for the gun and fired seven times at close range, with two bullets hitting Castile in the heart.

Here’s my thought: it was all going so calm and smooth; Castile was pulled over for a broken taillight. He was relaxed and calm and doing what the officer said but ...

What if, when Castile told the Yanez he had a gun, if Yanez hadn’t simply said—because there was no altercation, no raised voices, no hint of violence—“put your hands on the door and exit the vehicle.”

Then Yanez could have patted Castile down and removed the weapon—which Castile was allowed to carry—and the process could have gone on, a ticket issued and, thankfully, no one murdered because they were stopped for a broken taillight.

That’s all.

Either Newt Gingrich is a total moron, or he has such chutzpah, but ...

Since ______ has been blasting reports that he is under investigation for possible obstruction of justice, former House Speaker and serial adulterer, Newt Gingrich said the charges won’t stick because:

“Technically, the president of the United States cannot obstruct justice. The president of the United States is the chief executive officer of the United States. If he wants to fire the FBI director, all he has to do is fire him.”

Funny, cuz back in 1998 obstruction of justice was part of the impeachment proceedings that Hypocrite Gingrich led against former President Bill Clinton.

Asshat.

Last week, watching The Graham Norton Show, one of his guests was Anthony Joshua, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. He is built like a brick sh ... he’s built. But he was also sweet and funny and hot.

Put it all together and he’s this week’s Hot Man Built Like A Brick Sh ...

He’s Hot.

A friend posted this to Facebook about the shooting at the ball field last week, and about Congressman Steve Scalise; he didn't write it and I wish I know who did because it just drips with irony:

"So let's get this straight. A rabidly anti-gay and white-supremacist congressman who recently voted to let mentally ill people have access to guns and who wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act had his life saved by a black lesbian married to a same-sex partner when he was shot by a mentally ill person and is currently under hospital care that is being paid for by government-funded health insurance. Sorry, there is way too much irony here to interrupt it with punctuation. Oh, and Capitol Police officer David Bailey is an immigrant who put his life on the line without hesitation to save all of those Republican Congressmen." 

Snap.

You know, I was all Team Caitlyn during her transition. I spoke up when people said moronic things about “him” both in life and online but ...

While I am still Team Trans, Caitlyn Jenner, since coming out as a transgender female, needs to stop talking. In the wake of the shooting of Steve Scalise last week, Caitlyn said:

“Nobody deserves what happened out there. There’s no justification. There are crazy people. We have to minimize that type of stuff.  ... Fortunately the guy was a really bad shot. Liberals can’t even shoot straight.”

Funny, right? Making a joke about a shooting. So, I Tweeted to Caitlyn:

You know, one other thing that Liberals can’t, and won’t do? Make jokes about gun violence.”

It’s past time for Caitlyn Jenner to sit down. Especially when you learn that Caitlyn also praised Officer Crystal Griner, the lesbian Capital Police Officer who was injured while taking down the shooter, and for not thinking about LGBT issues at the time”

“She did her job. She wasn’t thinking about LGBT issues, she wasn’t thinking about any of those types of things. She did her job and she did it well.”

WTF Caitlyn. Gay folks have been doing their jobs, without stopping to think about LGBT issues for our entire lives, but go ahead and diminish that; make us out to be self-involved and shallow and stupid ...

But that’s just you.

Republicans are complicit ...

For the tenth time in the last several months, this Republicans once again blocked a Democratic to request _____’s tax returns. The measure failed along party lines because, for right now, the GOP loves _____ and will goose-step along with his lies until ...

2018. When We The People vote them out.

Resist.

Speaking of asshat Republicans, this week, out there in Montana, Greg Gianforte—the candidate who choked a reporter for asking a question—was sworn into Congress.

And because, you know, no hard feelings, the Montana Democratic Party sent Gianforte a gift:

“Everyone knows you need plenty of suits to work on Capitol Hill. While millionaire Gianforte can certainly afford his own, we know he has a lot of legal fees to pay. So, we thought we’d help him out and get him started by mailing a new suit to his office in the Longworth House Office Building in Washington. An orange jumpsuit, that is.”

Because Gianforte should be in prison for assault, but in Montana they send you to Congress.

So, _____’s planned visit to the United Kingdom has been cancelled for the foreseeable future and it was the Queen who broke the news.

Leave it to a Queen to ban _____., but, what really happened is that ______ didn’t want to face the huge protests against him and so he is gonna stay home where ... what ... people like him?

Seriously, if he wanted to avoid places where people protest against him ... um, the Moon?

So, I’m’a just lay this out there and let y’all decide if it seems fishy ...

Remember back, last summer, when Liar, er, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan finally endorsed _____ for the Republican nomination? Ryan had been a holdout for many months, questioning whether _____ really was the right man to lead the GOP in the 2016 election, but in June something changed and suddenly Ryan was all _____.

Wha’ happened? Perhaps this ...

Earlier this week Scott Dworkin, the Co-Founder of the The Democratic Coalition Against Trump, revealed some rather interesting documents.

On August 29th, shortly after Ryan publicly endorsed _____, two of _____’s biggest campaign donors, Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, gave ... wait for it ... $20 million to Paul Ryan’s super PAC, Congressional Leadership Fund.

Those two donations represent about 40% of all the donations received by the Congressional Leadership Fund for all of 2016.

Fishy?

Architecture Wednesday: Cliff House in Syros

This summer house sits on Aegean island of Syros, Greece. It’s small, it’s just a summer house, but it packs a Wow.

The main intention was to unify the various spaces of the house under one roof facing the Aegean, without creating a massive volume, thus resulting in a deconstructed rectangle with massive openings from all sides.

Following a gentle descent through continuous miniature courtyards, planted with local aromatic herbs, you come to the entrance in the back. The main volume houses the common areas, living, dining, kitchen, while the slightly higher volume, covered in local masonry, houses the private areas, bedrooms and baths.

There are also four guestrooms also, because, you know, privacy, though each has easy access to the pool and the views. The ones closer to the house are intended for close friends while the ones under the master bedroom enjoy a private entrance and can easily be rented to tourists.

The outdoor area follows the topography of the landscape through a series of steps that define the outdoor areas and offer vast relaxation spaces, either sheltered from the sun or open.

But it’s not the house, though it’s sleek and clean, that attracts people; it’s the pool, and the views and the sheer Aaaaaah of it all.

HomeDSGN

No One—Other Than The McTurtle Staff—Has Seen The Senate Version of GOPDon’tCare

Senator Mike Lee of Utah is one of the Republicans creating the new Senate version of GOPDon’tCare that will replace Obamacare, but guess what? He hasn’t seen it; yup, he’s on the team but has yet to see the bill that is supposed to be released, maybe, tomorrow, and then voted on quickly before the Senate gets yet another vacation.

It appears that Mitch McTurtle McConnell is having his staff ... not Senators ... write the bill in secret because his granny panties are in a wad that the Democrats wrote Obamacare in secret.

Okay ... except; it wasn’t one Democrat writing that healthcare proposal, and the Democrats gave the Republicans more than a lunch hour to read it. Majority Leader McTurtle will release a "discussion draft" this week that will go to the Senate floor for a vote "likely next week."

But even Republican Mike Lee—again, a member of the team charged with writing the proposal—says a week or so to examine the bill isn’t enough time, and has criticized the way McTurtle’s secrecy.

"Even though we thought we were going to be in charge of writing a bill within this working group, it’s not being written by us. It’s apparently being written by a small handful of staffers for members of the Republican leadership in the Senate. So if you’re frustrated by the lack of transparency in this process, I share your frustration. I share it wholeheartedly.”

And Mike Lee isn’t the only one in the party annoyed by the “process” ...

“I’m very eager to see the language, I don’t think it gives enough time to thoroughly analyze the bill, but we’ll see when it comes out.”—Maine Senator Susan Collins

Utah Senator Orrin Hatch—the Senate Finance Chairman—says even he doesn’t know what’s in the bill.

And  Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, a key moderate holdout, said McTurtle best not hope buy off her vote with an Alaska-specific solution:

"This is like a really big deal to get this right for the country. Let’s just say that they do something that’s so Alaska-specific just to quote, ‘get me.’ Then you have a nationwide system that doesn’t work. That then comes crashing down and Alaska’s not able to kind of keep it together on its own."

Even Kentucky Senator Rand Paul—who hates Obamacare because it’s called Obamacare—says the bill should have been debated "in the open" and that, by using a one-party approach, the bill is already set up to fail.

But, it was Arizona Senator John ‘Get Off’a My Lawn’ McCain, who, when asked if he’d seen the bill, gave the very best response:

"No, nor have I met any American that has. I’m sure the Russians have been able to hack in and gotten most of it."

For his part, McTurtle, is playing coy; when he was asked how the Senate measure would differ from the House version, he replied:

"I wouldn’t want to compare it to the House bill. It’ll be different, take a different approach."

See, even he doesn’t know; but he does know, or at least that that "everyone will have adequate time to take a look at it" even though, again, the measure is being negotiated in private and won’t go through any committee hearings.

How’s that for transparency?

Need more? Since Republicans control the Senate, 52-48, they would need 60 votes to keep Democrats from blocking the measure, but they plan to use an expedited procedure to pass this unseen bill with as few as 50 votes, plus a tie-breaker from Vice President Mike Pence.

This week the Democrats started putting up “procedural roadblocks” to slow down routine Senate business to keep this unseen bill from getting a vote.

But if GOPDon’tCare is put on the floor the Democrats will propose quite a few amendments to try to prevent it from passing in the hopes that Republicans, heading home for their latest recess, will have to face their constituents.

And it isn’t that the Democrats don’t want healthcare; nor do they wish to keep all of Obamacare. They would simply like to see the bill, and want We The People to know if the Senate version will screw as many people as the House version, and make as many millionaires richer.

The House measure would cut Medicaid by $834 billion over a decade, repeal $664 billion of Obamacare’s tax increases on the wealthy and the health-care industry, and end requirements that individuals get health insurance and that most employers provide it. It would replace Obamacare subsidies with tax credits based primarily on age, and let states get waivers from some of the Affordable Care Act’s consumer protections.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says the House bill would take away healthcare from 23 million Americans.

And Mitch McTurtle wants to put forth a bill that no one has seen?

Bloomberg

President-For-Now Nominates Tied-To-Russia Chris Wray FBI Director

You know, if I was president and I had ties to Russia, and folks thought Russia hacked the election to help me win, and it wasn’t true, I’d go so far anti-Russia you’d think I couldn’t find it on a map.

I wouldn’t appoint a National Security Advisor with Russian ties; I wouldn’t appoint an Attorney General who had several meetings—two of which he lied about—with Russians; I wouldn’t appoint a member of my family who had business ties with Russia, to a high position on my team.

But then I’m not Donald _____ who either thinks he can get away with anything, or just doesn’t give a f**k what We The People think about him and Russia.

Last week, the President-For-Now announced his nomination of Chris Wray to be the next head of the FBI. No one knew ______ would be nominating Wray until he Tweeted about it at 4:44 in the morning, a mere two hours before intelligence chiefs were set to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Naturally, this was a plan to overshadow the nomination but why?

Let’s see ... Chris Wray was the criminal defense attorney who represented Chris Christie during the Bridegate scandal. Not a big deal, except when you remember that there were some questions about one of Christie’s missing cell phones that oddly appeared in Wray’s possession, so he seems a little shady, no?.

Maybe that might impede his nomination, maybe not; but ...

Chris Wray has ties to two Russian state-owned oil companies—Rosneft and Gazprom—through his law firm, King & Spalding. And while Gazprom is not connected to _____, Rosneft is connected to former _____ aide Carter Page.

Seriously?

And there are also the accusations raised in the Steele Dossier—that 35-page report from a former British MI-6 operative—that Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin offered candidate _____, via Carter Page a 19 % stake in oil the company for lifting sanctions imposed by the Obama administration.

Huh. Want more? According to Kenneth McCallion, writing for USA Today:

“[King & Spalding]’s representation of Gazprom raises even more serious conflict issues for Wray. Gazprom was a partner in RosUkrEnergo AG (“RUE”), which is controlled by Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash. He is under federal indictment in Chicago for racketeering charges, has had numerous financial dealings with former _____ campaign manager Paul Manafort, and is generally considered to be a member of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.”

Now, to be fair, Chris Wray did not personally work on any dealings with the two oil companies, but it still represents a significant conflict of interest.

If he’s confirmed, he’d almost instantly have to recuse himself from any investigation related to Russia or possible collusion with the ______ campaign.

Seriously, how many ties to Russia must this administration have before people, and Congress, say enough?

American News X 

Chris Dodds Calls For Killing Gays At Pride

Look, I’ll make this perfectly queer: if you don’t like The Gays just because of our sexual orientation, that’s okay in my book. I mean, it’s kinda dumb when you think about it; it’s like hating people because they have blue eyes or red hair ... or because of their skin color, right? Who would do that?

But, what I have a problem with is when people suggest that The Gays be murdered simply for being an LGBT or Q. And that’s what Columbus City School District employee Chris Dodds did on Facebook because, well, idiot ... homophobe ... hater.

Dodds, a garage assistant supervisor who has worked for the district since 2004, may now likely be out of a job because he shared his personal vile thoughts, not on his own Facebook page, but the Facebook page of Columbus Pride:

And now the Columbus Police Department and Homeland Security are looking into Dodds’ Facebook post because, again, he’s an idiot ... homophobe ... hater.

The Columbus City School district released this statement after Dodds’ hate came to light:

“We have also been made aware of his inappropriate comments and are working to address the situation.”

They failed to mention how they might address the situation, but, hey, it’s just killing gays, right, so maybe a slap on the wrist?

Or maybe not; a Change.org petition ... go on over and sign it ... is calling for Chris Dodds to be fired. And now we know that Columbus City Schools has a policy on free speech that Chris Dodds may have violated and they have issued another statement:

"Columbus City Schools values and celebrates its diversity. Please know that we are working with authorities to address this matter and his actions. We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind. Our District will be participating in the Pride Parade Saturday with more than 400 teachers, staff, students, families, friends and allies. We hope to see you there as well."

In addition to that statement, posted to the district’s Facebook page, Columbus City Schools urged supporters to:

"Walk the PRIDE Parade with CCS! Join CCS teachers, staff, students, community partners, and more. Everyone is welcome to march with us!"

And they added that they are working toward the Chris Dodds’ termination.

As I said at the top, you can hate The Gays, for whatever reason you choose, though I’ve yet to hear any reason to hate anyone that makes any sense, but perhaps you should think twice before suggesting that people be murdered because they’re gay.

Just sayin’.

NCRM

NBC4i

My Two Cents: The Call For Unity After Last Week's Shooting

Six years ago, Jared Lee Loughner, a lunatic with a gun—because this is America and lunatics can have guns—tried to kill Representative Gabby Giffords; he failed, but did manage to kill six other people.

Last Wednesday, James Hodgkinson, another lunatic with a gun—because ... America and guns—shot at several members of Congress who were playing baseball; Representative Steve Scalise was seriously injured, as were several others.

After each event both sides of Congress called for unity, though not for stricter gun laws—because ... America ... guns—and, well, it didn’t last long either time.

See, rather than unity, rather than trying to get along, rather than trying to keep Americans safe on the streets, in the mall, in the movie theaters, in the schools, on a baseball field, many in the Republican party, many on the Right, began talking about the “dangerous” rhetoric that led Hodgkinson to start shooting last week.

Conservatives were quick to point out that James Hodgkinson was :::gasp::: a liberal and so that is clearly why he began shooting; they reveled in the news that Hodgkinson posted about his hatred Republicans on social media; they smiled and talked about how he was a Bernie supporter, as though Bernie Sanders were somehow responsible for the fact that a man who’d been accused of domestic violence still had a gun, about how a man stood in his yard firing round after round into the sky until police arrived and told him to stop, but never had his gun taken from him. It wasn’t the weapon and the fact that this man had access to more than one gun and assault rifle, it was the fact that he was a liberal.

And yet after Gabby Giffords, a Democrat, was shot those same conservatives begged for the right to Free Speech, the right to dissent, the right to speak up, and yet now they seem to be on the verge of using this latest shooting as a means for stifling legitimate political dissent, of attacking any speech critical of President _____.

Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, a man who wouldn’t know the truth if he married it, watched it get cancer, then cheated on it and asked for a divorce, immediately claimed that the attack was part of a “pattern” of hostility from the Left toward the president; he ranted about Kathy Griffin’s moronic severed head stunt, and the fact that there’s a production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar that depicts a Caesar who looks like a _____ and who is stabbed to death in the play.

Yes, it’s Kathy Griffin and Shakespeare who caused this.

Even Little Donny Jr. took to Twitter to spew the same lunacy about the Shakespeare production, though he never raised his voice one single time when people called the Obama’s apes ... or sent emails about watermelons growing on the White House lawn, or when his own father pushed his racist birther agenda.

See, that’s okay, because it comes from the conservative side, the tribal hypocrites like Newt and the spoiled little boy sucking up to his distant daddy who likes his daughter better.

Naturally, Rush Limbaugh, clearly high on prescription meds, bleated that Hodgkinson was the “personification” of the “deranged base” of the Democratic Party and suggested that the media, federal and Congressional investigations of _____ and his administration were somehow to blame for this violence.

Yes, _____ has ties to Russia; members of his inner circle have ties to Russia; members of his family have ties to Russia; Russia hacked the election; _____ tried to halt the FBI investigation of the hack. But somehow, this is the Democrat’s fault.

Unity? Hardly. And the blood was even dry on the ball field yet.

But it isn’t just wingnuts like Gingrich and Limbaugh, or Little Donny Jr., it was many in the GOP, after calling for unity, who swiftly switched the topic toward “tamping down” rhetoric; you know, that anti-_____ rhetoric. Stop calling for his impeachment; stop saying he’s a Fake President because someone with a gun will come out and start shooting.

Funny, but I don’t think being concerned about a foreign entity interfering in an American election is dangerous; realizing that foreign entities interfered with our elections, and are great friends, allies and business partners with the President, members of his cabinet, members of family, is a real danger.

Rep. Rodney Davis, Republican from Illinois, the day of the shooting:

“We’ve got to ratchet down the rhetoric that we’ve seen, not only on social media, but in the media in our 24-hour news cycle. These are the things that have to stop. This is a result of political rhetorical terrorism.”

It’s terrorism; the go-to word the GOP uses to strike fear in their base.

Rep. Dave Brat, Republican from Virginia, criticized Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand for saying, of _____:

"Has he kept his promises? No. F--- no."

But he hasn’t kept his promises. Has he? And since he hasn’t, shouldn’t we be allowed to be pissed off, say we’re pissed off, drop and f-bomb about it? Brat said:

“They’re free to attack his policy, but they should not be attacking him personally, or as a party and raising the verbage.”

But that is exactly what Gillibrand did when she questioned _____’s promises.

Rep. Jack Bergman, Michigan Republican, blamed the media for the shooting:

“I think the media is complicit if they keep inciting as opposed to informing. You need to make sure that you think twice about how your words and inflections and phrases might affect all the people who might see it.”

He told that to Fox News ... and I’ll just let that lie there.

But what should be done? Are these folks on the Right, um, right? Should the press step back and stop publishing stories about the congressional investigations into _____? Should the press debate the credibility gap between _____ and former FBI director James Comey? Should the investigations just stop because the idea of hacking, the idea of collusion, the idea that the president is guilty of obstruction of justice might anger some folks to the point of violence?

Before I go on ... a quick side-rant:

Yes, let’s stop all this and allow the crimes to happen, rather than realize that the main issue is guns, access to guns, and people like shooting victim Steve Scalise, who believe that even people who might have a mental illness have a right to own guns. And let’s tone down the rhetoric because it might give someone who’s a little bent the idea to take their legally purchased gun down to a ball field and open fire. Ban speech to save guns? Is that where this is headed?

And now I’ll return to the scheduled topic ... speech, free speech. Slate columnist Jack Shafer wrote this after the Giffords shooting six years ago:

"Any call to cool 'inflammatory' speech is a call to police all speech, and I can't think of anybody in government, politics, business, or the press that I would trust with that power."

And yet those on the Right want to give the man at the top—who has the loosest, most vicious tongue of all—the power to police speech. And if the idea that someone like Donald _____, who has said things like ...

“I don’t have a racist bone in my body.”

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. … They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

“Jeb Bush has to like the Mexican Illegals because of his wife.”

“You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”

“I cherish women. I want to help women. I’m going to be able to do things for women that no other candidate would be able to do.”

“Look at that face! Would anyone vote for [Carly Fiorina]? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!”

“I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down. And I watched in Jersey City, N.J., where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Thousands of people were cheering.”

“Donald J. _____ is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.”

“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”

“If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of ’em, would you? Seriously. OK? Just knock the hell—I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise. I promise.”

“The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment [for women who have abortions].”

“Many of the thugs that attacked the peaceful Trump supporters in San Jose were illegals. They burned the American flag and laughed at police.”

“[Judge Curiel] is a member of a club or society, very strongly pro-Mexican, which is all fine. But I say he’s got bias. … This judge has treated me very unfairly; he’s treated me in a hostile manner. And there’s something going on.”

“That could be a Mexican plane up there. They’re getting ready to attack.”

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”

“Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the Second Amendment. By the way, and if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people—maybe there is, I don’t know. But I’ll tell you what, that will be a horrible day.”

“[Hillary Clinton]’s being so protected. She could walk into this arena right now and shoot somebody with 20,000 people watching, right smack in the middle of the heart and she wouldn’t be prosecuted, OK?”

“I would do stop-and-frisk. I think you have to. We did it in New York, it worked incredibly well and you have to be proactive and, you know, you really help people sort of change their mind automatically.”

“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it, you can do anything. Grab them by the p***y, you can do anything.”

“This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course—not even close. I apologize if anyone was offended.”

“And when [Hillary Clinton] walked in front of me, believe me, I wasn’t impressed.”

... should police speech doesn’t frighten you, nothing ever will.

Look, I agree with the idea of toning down the rhetoric, but demanding the truth when we are faced with the fact that Russia interfered with our election, is not rhetoric; it’s what We The People have a right to know.

And to try and silence those that are sharing the news, the news, not fake news, is a way to silence this country. And the Right seems to want to do that. I mean, how else do we explain the Republican desire to punish those who leak stories about collusion and corruption in the First Family, rather than investigate whether the leaks are true or not?

It is time to stop to flow of ignorance, like what a Kathy Griffin does just to get attention for herself, or what those who staged a Shakespeare play and dressed a character like the President, only to have him brutally stabbed in the piece. That kind of “talk” gets us nowhere; it feeds the base of _____ and the Rightwingnuts; it builds them up, it gets them out to vote, and we end up with election results that are stunning, to say the least.

So, yeah, stop the Hate Speech. There are enough other things this president has done, his family has done, his team has done, to ruin this country, so let’s focus on that.

Let’s talk about that.

At least on the one side, because I truly believe that the GOP’s Tribal Hypocrisy Mentality will never waver and they will cheer _____ while this country burns.

So we shouldn’t let them.

Resist.