The Anti-Jews Roll On

Sadly, Marc Lamont Hill is yet, well, Marc Lamont Hill. He was fired in November of 2018 as a contributor at CNN when he advocated the destruction of Israel- "from the river to the sea." 

He is still living in the land of religious bigotry. On September 13, 2024 Hill appeared on apanel of the racially segregated Congressional Black Caucus with fellow anti-Semites Rashida Tlaib (D-Minn) and Cori Bush (D-Mo), the latter of whom has been involuntarily retired from the United States House of Representatives.

With Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib clapping, listen to Marc Lamont Hill say that critiquing Hamas is a “white supremacist” viewpoint.

He then says that Hamas was democratically elected and to not talk about them as though they are some “crazy people.” pic.twitter.com/s5b3cCtL52

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) December 31, 2024

The questioning turned to Gaza and asked "why won't Hamas surrender," Hill responded "it is unnecessary and it is excessive." After maintaining that a surrender would be excessive, hence making it clear that he is not partial to surrender, he added 

but let's be very clear. Hamas hasn't surrendered because it's still under brutal occupation. Hamas hasn't surrendered because Israel has never given the Palestinian people,one minute, one second of self- determination and freedom of liberation.

This "brutal occupation" included the Netanyahu Administration welcoming Qatar to deliver unto the government in Gaza supplies ostensibly "humanitarian." Alas, as should have been predictable but which the Prime Minister presumably was unaware, those resources were regularly corralled into  rockets and an intensive tunnel network, critical to the 10/7/23 attack and detention of hostages since then. But, "brutal."

Predictably, Hill conveniently conflates Gaza with the West Bank. Israel, which has kept no soldiers in the territor, does not "occupy" Gaza. Had it done so, the slaughter 15 months ago arguably would not have taken place; inarguably, Israeli soldiers would not have (justifiably) invaded Gaza in response because they already would have been there.

Moreover, the "Palestinian people" are not the monolityh Hill pretends they are.  The schism between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority dates back 18+ years, when

Hamas briefly joined the PA, rising to the head of the authority in 2006 after winning general elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But it split from the authority months later, when the rival faction Fatah, which has long dominated the PA, refused to recognize Hamas's election victory. The two went to war and though Fatah was able to oust Hamas fromthe West Bank and maintain its sway over Palestinian affairs there, Hamas's forces prevailed in the Gaza Strip, securing the group's control over the territory.

Nonetheless, my "favorit"e Hill remark was 

My moral code is that you don't kidnap innocent people and that you don't kill civilians. Alright, that's fine- we can have that conversation...

And the question presumes- and is undergired by a kind of Orientalist white supremacy idea- that Palestinians are these unyielding, barbaric, uncivilized pre-modern people that are incapable of negotiation.

Whatever in the name of the Almighy is "Orientalist white supremacy?"  What does race have to do with a conflict of peoples who both have a historical connection to the region? And who uses the term "Oriental" anymore?

Of course, the simple question "why won't Hamas surrender" does not presume anything about "Palestinians" and refers only to the terrorist group known as "Hamas." The question had nthing to do with the Palestinian people, who should not be stereotyped by Marc Lamont Hill or his fellow travelers as being indistinguishable from Hamas. Many of the ultra-Orthodox supporets of secularist Benjamin Netanyahu often conflate Hamas with the Gazan people themselves and it appears their ultra-leftist antagonists tend to do the same. And Hamas won't surrender because across the world (even in Israel), there are individuals who refuse to acknowlege the evil personified by the terrorist organization.

For most people, having a "conversation" about kidnapping innocent people and killing civilians is unnecessary.  As is the extremely consequential feature of the hate expressed by the far right (most recently on November 5), the kind of hatred exhibited by Hill is a characteristic of modern American politics. In her congressional district in Missouri, Cori Bush was defeated in her primary by oa more reasonable Democra. Yet, there is a lot more of individuals like Marc Lamont Hill and Rashida Tlaib out there, joined by a larger, more consequential group of rightists, to remind us that a new year probably won't bring a new level of clear, reasoned thought.

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Retribution

Here is Roger Stone in July claiming with a straight face

Donald Trump and his associates wre subjected to the greatest single dirty trick in American political history. That is nothing less than an abuse of power in which the full auhority of the United States government and the extraordinary capability of our intelligence agencies were used to utilize what they knew was fraudulent evidence.....

But now when we expose these things because that is an act of treason, we're accused of being for revenge or retribution. No, my friends, what we seek is a rebalance of the scales of justice so this country can return to one standard of justice, not thet wo-tiered justice system.

We are accused of being for “revenge” or “retribution.”

No, my friends.

What we seek is a REBALANCE of the scales of justice so this country can return to ONE standard of justice—not the two-tiered justice system. pic.twitter.com/t7FyBqpuIR

— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) December 30, 2024

Scoff all you wish- and you should- but there may be no one who ever has known as much about dirty tricks in American politics than Roger Stone, once described as "the state of the art Washington sleazeball." as Chris Hayes suggested five years ago. (This is selling Stone short. He had time also to be a Trenton, NJ sleezeball.)

 

If "we" are not for revenge or retribution, Donald Trump seems not to have gotten the memo. In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in early March of 2023, he declared 

In 2016, I declared I am your voice. Today, I add, I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.

A few weeks later, at a rally in Waco, Texas, Trump reiterated his message by remarking "I am your warrior, I am your justice. For those who have been wronged and betrayed... I am your retribution."  In an interview in March of 2024, he told the conservative pop psychologist Phil McGraw "sometimes revenge can be justified, Phil, I have to be honest. You know, sometimes it can." 

Revenge or retribution, Donald Trump can make it happen, especially with the likely assistance of President Musk. 

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Row Over Imported Labor

                         

Vivek Ramaswamy went and did it. Boy, did he ever:

The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if…

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 26, 2024

Reading from the same hymnal

Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O), vowed to go to "war" to defend the H-1B visa program for foreign tech workers late on Friday amid a dispute between President-elect Donald Trump's longtime supporters and his most recently acquired backers from the tech industry.

In a post on social media platform X, Musk said "The reason I'm in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B."

"I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend," he added.

Of course Musk will. He didn't get to become the President-in-waiting by being accomodating and

Musk, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in South Africa, has held an H-1B visa, and his electric-car company Tesla obtained 724 of the visas this year. H-1B visas are typically for three-year periods, though holders can extend them or apply for green cards.

For Musk, this is personal- personal power and finances. He has no particular affection for foreign-born individuals nor a heartfelt belief in a melting pot or the American mosaic. Thirteen months ago, Musk "tweeted his fervent agreement with an antisemitic tweet" when a tweet posted on X 

read: “Jewish communties [sic] have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.”

The billionaire owner and CTO of X, formerly Twitter, responded the same evening: “You have said the actual truth.” In another reply, he wrote: “I am deeply offended by ADL’s messaging and any other groups who push de facto anti-white racism or anti-Asian racism or racism of any kind.” Musk has feuded with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) before, threatening to sue over its accounting of hate speech on his social media network....

Musk’s racial politics have been trending in this direction for months. In October, he wrote in response to a tweet mourning the melting down of a statue of the Confederate general Robert E Lee: “They absolutely want your extinction.” Replying to a tweet from @libsoftiktok, who he restored to X, which read: “Racism against white people is the only kind of discrimination that’s allowed,” Musk wrote last week: “It’s messed up and needs to stop.”

Defending himself from being criticized for his antagonism toward American workers, Musk tweeted in part (emphasis his)

OF COURSE my companies and I would prefer to hire Americans and we DO, as that is MUCH easier than going through the incredibly painful and slow work visa process.

HOWEVER, there is a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America.

Shorter Musk: "Immigrants are superior to American workers and we should make it easier to hire them, especially when I do."

But Ramaswamy, reading from the same hmymnal but singing a different hymn, took this in a somewhat different direction, decrying a culture he believes promotes mediocrity over excellence, the "prom queen over the math olympiad champ or the jock over the valedictorian."

He's wrong for attacking "normalcy," especially in a culture beset by increasing rates of suicide.However, he's right about the prom queen/math olympiad champ and the jock/valedictorian 

Ramaswamy is a little skeezy himself, obviously, and his tweet was all over the place, not unlike this post. Musk, though, is focused: focused on his own financial interests and has earned the condemnation of individuals who have learned, less than a month before he- uh, er, Donald Trump- is inaugurated.

And in news from West Palm Beach, Florida, Donald Trump now has sided with Elon Musk over the ex-President's base, which had thought that Trump was with them on immigration. Siding with Musk is not surprising, however; Donald Trump has no incentive to offend the incoming President.

   

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"Merry Christmas and Go to Hell"

In the true Christmas (one day late) spirit, let's give the devil his due. Most of this was well-put:

President Trump:
“The birth of Jesus Christ is the true miracle we celebrate each Christmas…Merry Christmas! 🎄” pic.twitter.com/8RIWY9BBEI

— Catholics for Catholics 🇺🇲 (@CforCatholics) December 25, 2024

Certainly, the setting (double flags to convey the impression he's President) isn't appropriate for an individual who is not President, and even Elon Musk himself will not actually be President until 12:00 noon on January 20, 2025. However, Vice President-elect Trump began by articulately stating

Melania and I would like to wish everyone a happy, joyous, and wonderful Christmas season. In this holy time of year, Christians everywhere give thanks that over 2,000 years ago, God sent his only son into the world to be the savior of all mankind. The birth of Jesus Christ ist he true miracle we celebrate each Christmas. He is the ultimate source of our joy,our hope, and our sense of peace and good will as we gather with family and loved ones. It is such a great time of year.

On camera and on script, he can be very good. But then the real Donald Trump comes to the fore:

Merry Christmas and may you rot in Hell! Added for comedic effect: "Again, Merry Christmas!" This is par for the course for the Vice-President elect, one of whose Christmas messages last year concluded "MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

Which is the real Donald Trump? Of course, it's Donald Trump the tweeter. The other is a performance delivered from a veteran actor, the riveting, even captivating, leading man of the Apprentice.

Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men? We've begun to find out, and will find out more as the Administration of President Musk and Donald Trump takes shape.

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The Anti-Christian Christian and His Advocate

It's hard to say whether the conservative Cardinal Timothy Dolan has been duped or is merely carrying water for the President-elect. In the video (beginning at 5:21) below, he tells the right-wing Fox News partisan Maria Bartiromo

And what I'm happy to see, Maria is that- what shuld I say? Experts and scholars who are ot religiously driven are fiding this out. They say "uh oh, sales of the Bible, sales of  books on spirituality are going up and there seems to be, there seems to be, a newfound appreciation for the role of faith, especially in our country, okay? I think President Trump tapped ito that, don't you?

He's referring to President-elect Trump, but that's an on-purpose mistake many dishonest people have been making since Donald Trump became the GOP nominee for President in the summer.

Sales of the Bible have been increasing, probably for a myriad of reasons, even as identification with Christianity and organized religion generally has declined.  Ironically, Dolan cites an increase in book sales on "spirituality," which- given that it s a poorly defined term- may suggest that the overall increase in such sales is due to something other than increase in religous faith.

Nevertheless, after Bartiromo agrees with Dolan that Trump "tapped into that," the Archbishop continues

I've had talks with him before in the past. He can't say that he was raised as a zealous Christian but we takes his Christian faith seriously. He has a lot of memories about Norman Vincent Peale, the famous preacher here in New York and down aways on Fifth Avenue. And I think he means it.

Norman Vincent Peale was a charlatan. A wise blogger on the Catholic "Women of Grace" website (I can be ecumenical) once wrote of Peale's very famous book

"The Power of Positive Thinking" is riddled with New Age-inspired gimmicks such as the use of imagery and repetitious phrases that are a form of auto-hypnosis. If you train yourself to think a certain way, certain things will happen. In other words, if the mind can conceive it, a person can achieve it – which is precisely what the New Thought movement of the 19th century was all about. There’s nothing wrong with training yourself to think positively, but when you believe your thoughts can actually change reality, then you’ve crossed the line and are now making the mind into a god.

If Donald Trump "takes his Christian faith seriously," this is a case in which, as his supporters enjoy putting it, he should be taken seriously, not literally.  Trump has taken contempt for Christianity to a whole new level, or depth: his reference to "Two Corinthians"; using an Episcopal Church and a Bible as props while racial justice protestors in the D.C. were tear-gassed; equating himself with the Jewish messiah/Jesus Christ: maintaining that he never has had to ask God for forgiveness; attempting to put money into a communion plate; suggesting that Communion is "asking for forgiveness," though the pastor literally says "do this in remembrance of me." 

And now we learn

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is reportedly planning an interfaith prayer service the day before his inauguration, where participants can worship alongside the businessman and his wife, Melania.

But those who want to join need to weigh the price of prayer: Tickets to the service will be awarded only to those who donate at least $100,000 to Trump’s inaugural ceremonies, or who raise $200,000.

 Earlier this month, Axios cited a seven-page prospectus that listed the service alongside several other donor-only events, such as a “cabinet reception” with Trump’s nominees and “candlelight dinner” with Trump and Melania.

According to the report, if a donor gives $1 million or raises $2 million, they’ll earn six tickets to the suite of inauguration events.

So if Donald Trump "takes his Christian faith seriously," Trump, earnestly demonstrating contempt for Christianity, is seriously trying to erode fiah in Christianity.

Cardinal Dolan continues

And I think- I think the assassination attempts kindof renewed in him oh my, there's something beyond me that I think is watching over me, and it's got a task for me. And what he expresses personally semes to be expressed more and more throughout the world. 

After Bartiromo argues that God saved Trump from assassination, Dolan adds

Yeah. You know, I think of, Maria, I think of Ronald Reagan and John Paul II. Both men survived assassination atempts very close to one another. And when the two of them met for the first time, Ronald Reagan said to Pope St. John Paul II, Mother Teresa told me that she things the Lord spared me because the Lord had something special in mind for me and Pope St. John Paul II smiled and said she told me the same thing. They both believe that, and look what they were able to accomplish. The world was changed for the better because of them.

As for Mother Teresa, the late Christopher HItchens was only slightly exaggerating when he called her "a fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud." And the middle and lower classes still haven't recovered from President Reagan's attacks on organized labor and on consumer and business regulation, deep cuts in income taxes for the wealthy, and assault on the faith of citizens in their government.

Donald Trump was saved from being killed by two would-be assassins. In one,he was wounded by either the bullet or, more likely, fragments from the bullet. Escaping death. But the "something special in mind" for Donald J. Trump may not be something positive for the nation and the world. One Christian website explains 

In Revelation 13 the apostle John records visions that he saw, including a sign of a dragon and a terrible beast that had “ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name” (Revelation 13:1). As John watches, “one of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast” (Revelation 13:3). The significance of the healing of the beast’s deadly wound is that, because of the healing, the world unites in following the beast...

The apostle Paul calls him the man of lawlessness and the son of destruction (2 Thessalonians 2:3). This one will come in great power and deceive many—even with a counterfeit resurrection. The purpose of the Antichrist’s deception is to swindle many into believing that he is the savior and the one who should be worshiped. But, unlike the true Messiah, this beast’s deadly wound was only temporarily healed. He will later be killed and judged, while the true Christ will be victorious and establish His kingdom in righteousness.

The world has not- at least yet- followed the beast. However, the wound- a bullet to the head- which could have been fatal was followed by rapid hearing and the country uniting (sort of) in electing the guy. And clearly, many people believe Donald Trump should be not only supported, but worshiped.

This may be far-fetched. However, it's a whole lot realistic than the view of Cardinal Dolan that Donald Trump is a man of deep Christian faith.  A whole lot more realistic by a country mile, or even a city mile. 

            MERRY CHRISTMAS                                          HAPPY CHANUKAH

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Clear and Present Danger

This I cannot disagree with:

FETTERMAN: “I’m not rooting against [Trump] because if you're rooting against the President, you are rooting against the nation.”pic.twitter.com/pnmGvWOR0y

— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) December 22, 2024

However, on This Week With George Stephanopoulos with Jonathan Karl, Jonathan Karl spoke to Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman about Donald Trummp's nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel.  Karl noted "he's talked about going after Trump's enemies" and Fetterman responded

Yeah, and I've -- and we -- we've had conversations, but we -- we had, you know, all of, all of these -- all of these interviews were all off the record and -- and those things. So I'm not going to go into detail, but -- but he absolutely, I -- is that, that's -- you know, that's never going to happen, you know, like he was -- he was very looking forward to that.

So Karl asked "he's not going to use the FBI to go after Trump's enemies?" and Fetterman replied "yeah- no, that's not it."  Seconds later, he added 

and I found out, you know,his family's origin story and immigration... and we talked about that, and my wife, my family immigration and things.  And so I- I learned things about him. I never knew that he was a public defender.

It shouldn't be so easy for a nominee to play a United States senator. However, this guy Patel is no dummy. MSNBC (video below). Timothy Noah writes that in his (in) famous book Government Gangsters

Patel includes on his enemies list the last three Democratic nominees for president: Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton. Former President Barack Obama, for some reason, is left off the list, even though Obama’s chief of staff John Podesta is on it.

Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris are losers. Joe Biden is blamed by some Democrats, especially the elites, for holding out so long that Kamala Harris had insufficient opportunity to sell herself to the public. (This is specious argument but unfortunately gaining traction, especially as a means to avoid blaming the candidate herself.) Moreover, there is no prosecution that would rile up Democratic voters, especially the Democratic base,  more than prosecuting the first- and thus far only- black person to be elected President.

More telling

Patel may be “fiery,” as newspaper euphemism puts it, but he’s also opportunistic, which probably explains why no member of Congress made his enemies list (excepting Senator-elect Adam Schiff and Representative Eric Swalwell, whom he mentions as numbering among those “other corrupt actors of the first order” he regrets leaving out). When he compiled this list, Patel knew that in a future Trump administration he might score a Cabinet or sub-Cabinet nomination requiring Senate confirmation; that obstacle course now lies before him.

Of course, at the time the book was written and published, "Senator-elect" Schiff was United States Representative Adam Schiff, not Senator Adam Schiff, who will be eligible to vote on the nomination of Patel. It is unclear whether the nominee would have named the Californian had he been psychic and was aware that the latter would be a U.S. Senator with an opportunity to turn thumbs down on Patel.

Fetterman may be getting fooled. Not so naive, but very dangerous, is the ex-con and prime Trump ally: 

“Kash didn’t try to hide the football. Steve Bannon didn’t try,” Bannon asserted, speaking in the third person during a one-on-one interview with The Bulwark following his speech to Americafest, a yearly gathering of MAGA diehards hosted by Turning Point USA.

“He made a fucking movie that’s called Government Gangsters and the first guy is Merrick Garland, okay. And Lisa Monaco’s in there, who the nation doesn’t know—we’re trying to make these people famous. So no. First of all, it has to happen. Number two, it’s going to happen.”

It's not clear whether John Fetterman will vote to to approve the nomination of Kash Patel to be director of the FBI. Nor is it clear that a Director Patel will go after Donald Trump's enemies. But it's an awfully good bet.

              .

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It Is the Guns, Ben

Devout Orthodox Jew (but I repeat myself) and married, conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro used the Washington Post's article "What We Know About the Wisconsin School Shooter, Natalie Rupnow"as a launching pad to promote his view of marriage and family.

New information on the 15-year-old female Wisconsin school shooter suggests her parents repeatedly divorced and remarried. Family turmoil is one of the leading causes of societal dysfunction. We need to return to the fundamentals: family and marriage come first, and they’re not… pic.twitter.com/9RoGU6IPHA

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) December 18, 2024

 

Nonetheless, Shapiro's comments emphasized his conviction that "family is first" and that the most important function of marriage is to raise children. He comments (at 2:35 of the video)

Marriage should be the predicate to sleeping together and having children. I know these are old-fashioned ideas but they existed for a reason. And I think that what we are now experiencing in the West is a new understanding that maybe the old, those things we didn't understand so we just uprooted them, many of those things wer there for a reason. Many of those social institutions existed the way they did for a reason. Maybe, for exampe, the focus on not sleeping together until you were married , that focus- which was a focus for all of the West and indeed most of civilization for all of human history- maybe that was a smart idea because it channeled sexual passion into family building.

Shapiro is entitled to disapprove of pre-marital sex, but there is little support on the left, the right, or the center for the notion, nor should there be. Further, the historical reasons people favored marriage include the lowly social status of women, the economic benefit of two people sharing incomes, and (ironically, given Shapiro's anti-intercourse argument), the ready availability of sex. Fortunately, women are now permitted to have (sometimes lucrative) careers, and social media has become a convenient vehicle for the platonic and the not-so-platonic to hook-up.

Ironically, Shapiro's values were echoed by Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy in his majority opinion in Hodges v. Obergefell. Striking down state prohibitions on same-sex marriage, Kennedy claimed in part that "the right marry is fundamental because it supports a two-person union unlike any other in its importance to the committed individuals;" marriage "safeguards children and families and thus draws meaning from related rights of childrearing, procreation, and education;" and marriage is "a keystone of the Nation's social order."

Whatever its constitutional clarity (weak), the premise that individuals cannnot thrive without being married is clear. (The four liberal Justices could be muttering under their breath "he's an indiot but we'll take it.")

Nonetheless, the very unacceptability of Shapiro's outlook within the broader American public renders it less dangerous than his opening remark. Noting that Rupnow's father was active on Facebook,  Shapiro stated (at 1:15)

But there is one post from August that has attracted more scrutiny than others in that a photo which appears to show the suspect wielding a gun and taking aim at a firing range. So obviously, this means that the left is going to focus in on gun control as the chief issue here.

His first clue that it should be might have been the photo of a nine-year old girl firing a pistol on a firing range. The second clue could have been that (aside from the perpetrator herself, who committed suicide), the eight individuals who were killed or wounded, generally a nifty trick in the absence of a firearm. The third is a reality of which Shapiro already must have been aware. While the USA  "ranks at the 93rd percentile for overall firearm mortality," the rate of death by firearm is closer to countries experiencing "active conflict" than it is to the rate in nations not so plagued.

And ponder that among adults in the USA

One in five (21%) say they have personally been threatened with a gun, a similar share (19%) say a family member was killed by a gun (including death by suicide), and nearly as many (17%) have personally witnessed someone being shot. Smaller shares have personally shot a gun in self-defense (4%) or been injured in a shooting (4%). In total, about half (54%) of all U.S. adults say they or a family member have ever had one of these experiences.

Predictably, Ben Shapiro's concern  would "focus in on gun control as the chief issue here" is not aging well. The left continues to be fairly unconcerned with gun safety. Legislation would not disproportionately assist the LGBTQIA+ community, and though the generational African-American community is disproportionately harmed by gun violence, a large amount of it is perpetrated by individuals therein because of the debilitating impact of distressed neighborhoods. It thus may be, unfortunately, perceived as a double-edged sword.  And the right's love affair with the proliferation of firearms is unabated.

On Tuesday, Charlie Pierce wrote "Saturday was the 12th anniversary of the unfortunate exercise of Second Amendment freedoms at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, which was going to be enough for the country to do something serious about its insance attraction to its firearms." In 359 days, it will be 359th anniversary of the exercise of Second Amendment freedoms, which still will not be enough for the country to do something serious about its noxious attraction to its firearms.

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