It Ain't a Lie

Whatever the purists say, chili without beans is just spicy water

It's Obvious

Octopuses are sentient. I'm not budging on this point. 

On The Madison School Shooting

On Monday December 16th a mass shooting happened here in Wisconsin. A teacher and a student were shot and killed at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, with six others wounded. The freshman killer committed suicide on scene. 

Aside from the obvious - the senseless loss of life and security, for all involved - here is what bothers me most about this, and other similar shootings: 

Each and every time, the media gives the shooter exactly what they want: their little blip of fame. 

Within a day of the shooting I saw pictures of the shooter, a purported six page manifesto,  short biographical articles, and a host of rumor and speculation about their motivation. 

F that. 

You'll notice I haven't named the killer. Haven't mentioned their background, their so-called "goals" - not even their gender. 

They don't deserve the attention. 

Because attention is WHY they do it. 

Oh, I know I know. Their fan clubs like to assign a dozen different excuses for what they do, from being the victim of bullying to family problems to this mental illness or that. Not all the reason even have to be rooted in reality; think about all the mistaken "truths" the media created about Columbine, the "trench coat mafia" first and foremost.

All those myriad excuses may indeed play a part in why school shootings happen,  but there has always been bullying, there have always been abusive families, there have always been mental illness, there have always been guns to be had - and how much more prevalent are school shootings now, when its fair to say bullying is less tolerated, abusive homes are more reported, etc?

They feel lost, they feel unwanted, they fell less than, and in exchange for one despicable act the media grants them the attention they so desire. 

There's their casus belli, and its time for it to end. 

We don't need to know their names. Their faces. Their lies. You want to argue the sociological need for that information, fine, study it in a closed academic environment. I didn't need to see a picture of the shooter, a mere 24 hours after their crime, modeling the same TV shirt design as one of the two guys they all copy, Eric Harris. 

How sad is it that we all know the names Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, but good luck remembering the name of one of their victims. I do believe, fervently, that almost all of the school shootings in this century lie at the feet of Columbine, and the continuing morbid fascination with the perpetrators that guarantees the media will put a killers name in lights. 

I don't think Harris and Klebold are burning in Hell; I think the Devil is so pleased with their continuing success that he's given them a front and center seat to watch their copycats. 

It needs to end. 

Stop glorifying child killers. Stop putting their name in headlines, stop putting their picture on TV. Let them die as they allege, often wrongly, that they lived: in anonymity. 

My Thoughts on replacing Biden

If you ask me, and no one has, the Democratic Party would be foolish to replace Joe Biden at this point in the game. 

Yes, he's suffering from memory loss and is clearly, visibly, unfit to continue in office. But that didn't start when the media lifted its self-imposed blinders after the debate; the general public knew the emperor had no clothes for at least a year now. The time to get a healthier, more viable option was back when the primary season began. 

Now? With a convention coming up and the election what, 100 days away? Changing horses now just tells the voters you either didn't pay attention or didn't care when you should have, and leaves the public trying to evaluate and trust a new candidate at the 11th hour. 

Not to mention a contested  DNC convention in Chicago should spark some superstition. 

I do NOT buy into the argument that a Biden-Trump matchup is an automatic loss for Biden. That is media hysteria as rooted in fact as the "The President is fine" nonsense they parroted for the last year.  I think he's probably, regrettably, the best option to defeat a second Trump term. 

Remove Biden, and I think you seal a victory for Trump. If that's your goal, fine. If it isn't . . . live with your choice. 

This Is Just Sad

I find it hard to believe believe that we exist in a world where people political differences are seen as something worthy of personal division and segregation. 

One of my best friends is a socialist, while another is to the right of me. I doubt a third friend has ever voted. And my late great friend Fred was so far to the right that if he drifted any further that way he'd circumnavigate the globe and wind up on your left.

So what? They're all good Joes.

I know in this era where the self is venerated and identity politics are king,  every opinion in opposition to your own is viewed as evil, dangerous, bigoted, or some combination of the three.  To that I say: grow up.

There are 8 billion people on this Earth with 8 billion different opinions. No matter what Reddit is telling you, your opinion is intrinsically no more valuable than any other. And if you think, at 18 or 20 or 30 or even 50, that your ideas and opinions are infallible, then life's going to do a whole lot of damage to you.

End of sermon.