Teacher Who Cracked Up In GA Again Shows The Lunacy Of Arming Teachers. DOH!

Teacher Randal Davidson cracked up yesterday, firing a shot from his .38 and sending panicked students running through hallways

It really ought to be a no brainer not to add nearly a million guns to our schools to address the  problem of active shooters with high powered AR-15s or similar assault style weapons. But we've seen the gunnies, or guntards, are incapable of thinking things through. Up to now they haven't even spelled out just how their teacher hero fantasies will play out in RL. I.e. Teacher in her classroom, armed only with a concealed handgun, is suddenly confronted by an active shooter with an AR-15 firing 30 rounds a minute at 2800 feet per second.  Exactly how does she bring the killer down, especially after the rounds have already taken the legs, heads, arms, faces off a half dozen kids and each semi-automatic round is like a "knife stabbing you in the ear" - the sound is so unbelievably ear splitting.  This from former CIA security specialist Malcolm Nance.  I guess the guntards will suggest she just nicely ask: "Uh, sonny, could you please stand still and put that AR down so I can get a few rounds off? Huh? Pretty please?"

But let's leave that question which obviously is too difficult for them, because it requires logical and strategic thinking including actually analyzing the  real time scenario without stuffing in NRA bullshit. (Like from top spin queen, Dana Loesch).  The real issue here is they fail to appreciate: a) teachers are humans with limitations, addictions, mental problems just like everyone else, and b) teachers can and will go haywire from time to time - with the potential of becoming active shooters themselves.

The case in point occurred yesterday with teacher Randal Davidson suddenly having a breakdown at Dalton High, 91 miles north of Atlanta.  Though weapons are not allowed in the school, this former "top teacher" smuggled in a snub nose .38 and let fire at least one round sending students scampering for safety. The bullet went through a window of his classroom, where he had hunkered down, and then outside. Any student passing could have been shot but fortunately that didn't happen. 

Officers arriving on the scene evacuated and then secured the areas. Davidson was later arrested and charged with aggravated assault, carrying a weapon on school grounds, terroristic threats, reckless conduct, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and disrupting a public school.

He had apparently been teaching at the school since 2004, and in 2012 was recognized as the school's top teacher. 

I point this out to show even the best teachers, apparently mentally sound - can crack up and then, who knows what? Who's to say some future teacher, at the end of his or her tether, won't bring a Glock 9mm to their school and - after breaking down - erupt with multiple rounds fired, even killing students. This is not a wayward fantasy either, though the guntards might try to portray it so.

The fact is that teachers in today's American classrooms are under enormous pressure, and working - slaving in a profession that's barely given any respect at all.  Imagine then the added pressure of being given the power of life and death and then having to use a limited handgun against a likely AR-15 active shooter. Oh sure, the gunnies are quick to cite all the states that already allow teachers to have guns in their possession -  like here in Colorado- but the true fact is none of those teachers have really been put to the test yet. 

By that I mean they haven't had to face an active shooter barging into their classroom firing rapid rounds with thunderous, ear splitting noise and taking off limbs with  efficiency of a military kill machine And one wonders if any of those teachers have even observed the nature of wounds left by an AR-15 which one doc in Parkland FLA described as "organs looking like they been smashed with sledge hammers".

That't the next thing the guntards who hype this BS won't tell you:  an AR round passes through a human body in tumbling fashion - the better to damage and destroy as much tissue as possible. This being distinct from a regular handgun - or even a Glock - which round passes through in linear trajectory (no tumble) from point A to B so there's a chance it will enter and then exit cleanly. 

The other unstated aspect is now teachers are also falling to the opioid epidemic and this was presented in the recent TIME issue headed 'The Opioid Diaries'.    They are thereby prone to addiction too, and this can leave them less able to handle the already existing stresses of teaching kids who really would rather be anyplace else - well, in most cases. 

Arming teachers, as this Georgia incident shows - or should show  - is still a terrible idea. The only reason it's embraced by the NRA is because it would mean hundreds of thousands of more gun sales for them - and hell, they can never have enough profits - we call it blood money.

See also:
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/kali-holloway/77917/is-the-armed-teacher-debate-americas-lowest-stupidest-media-moment

Except:

"Numerous educators have mishandled guns and shot themselves, often while classes are in session, over the last few years. That includes the Idaho State University chemistry professor who shot himself in the foot, the Utah elementary school teacher who shot herself in the leg and the Long Island University professor (and ex-cop) who also shot himself in the leg. An Atlanta high school teacher intentionally shot himself in the face last year, and since studies show the presence of a gun increases the chances of suicide, that’s something to consider when you start suggesting schools stockpile weapons.

But these teachers will be trained—we’ll just take the money out of children’s health insurance or something, some partisan hack is yelling at this very moment. That will ensure they’ll avoid those kinds of sloppy mistakes! First of all, an NRA employee accidentally shot himself at the group’s headquarters last year, and once you get past the staggering irony of the story, you note that training is no guarantee against mistakes. (Or fear: Recall that four sheriff's deputies cowered in the parking lot as the Parkland shooting went on.) A 2008 Rand Corporation study of New York City police officers found their “average hit rate in situations in which fire was not returned was 30 percent.”

Do Americans REALLY Want Big Government? If So, Are They Willing To Pay With Higher Taxes?

In the last week three WSJ pieces commanded my attention, motivating me to combine them in a blog post. The first ('Government Spending Discourages Work')was an op-ed column (Feb. 27, p. A15)  by Edward Lazear - a professor at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business - and more importantly, a "Hoover Institution Fellow". To remind readers - one and all - it was under the illustrious  President Herbert Hoover that the infamous stock market crash of 1929 occurred - in large part because of Hoover's policies vis-a-vis Wall Street. That crash incepted the Great Depression.

No surprise that Lazear as a fellow of the Hoover Institution recycles much of their claptrap. Among which we see (ibid.):

"..Over time high spending necessitates high taxes and high taxes reduce work and restrains growth. Economic trends in developed nations show that low taxes and hard work are linked to robust growth.."

And:

"Tax and spending rates correlate highly across the 35 OECD countries. Higher spending goes hand in hand with higher taxes, higher deficits, fewer worked hours and less growth."

But then there is another piece that pretty well refutes that bollocks.  'Germany, Awash In Money, Shies Away From Tax Cut'' (WSJ,  Feb. 21, p. A11) . focused on Germany posting a projected, consolidated budget surplus of 50 million euro ($62 billion) between now and 2021, The writer adding in typical sardonic WSJ fashion:

"The German government never had so much money or so many ideas of how to spend it,  The one thing that isn't discussed is giving it back to the taxpayers".

Which, of course, is a flat out incorrect interpretation, but let's admit the earlier cited Edward Lazear would be content with that take,. But let me clarify that for Germans that money   IS given back, but as extended unemployment insurance, paid family leave and free child care, higher education (free) and medical care. Not to mention generous pensions.

This was again made clear to us when we saw our German friends Reinhardt and Elli in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in May 2013, e.g.

At the time we discussed with Reinhardt -in one of many conversations -  the relative merits of the German and American work forces. I mentioned promotion specifically and he'd been emphatic that the idea that promotions were "worth more" in the USA was nonsense. "Workers have just as great an incentive here in Germany", he said, because seniority is based on the quality of one's work and "that same seniority determines one's pension."  When I pressed him further he agreed that Germans aren't ruled 'by the buck' (or euro), "Jawohl, it is true that we do not consider the money to be the main determinant of our lives. We treasure time to be with family also to travel and see the world later on."

He did agree also that higher taxes are part of it and enable benefits like higher pensions, more widely distributed social insurance and child care provisions  as well as a less profit oriented healthcare system. He acknowledged that taxes in the U.S. are substantially lower than in Europe but made it clear that translated into more social benefits for Europeans. 

"You will not see a European go bankrupt or become homeless from a medical problem." he averred.

This is where the WSJ piece on Germany's  surplus is misleading because it interprets and frames that surplus in terms of individualistic American nonsense that it must be  "given back" as tax cuts. Yeah, right, and WHO gets most of those cuts? Three guesses but the first two don't count.  This is also something Lazear glosses over in his claims that "government spending discourages work." I defy you to blab that to any red-blooded German, who are amongst the hardest working and most productive citizens in the world. And who - because of that hard work - expect and demand their government use any extra money for taxes on social services. 

As Green Party member Sven Giegold, quoted in the piece put it:

"You need high taxes in order to be civilized. We are very far away from the government having too much money."

And Reinhardt would totally concur because without that gov't support he'd not have been able to retire at age 55 from his auto engineering job and spend the last twenty years  touring various places, including the U.S. and Canada (Whistler, B.C.)  As he put it when we spoke on these issues:

"It is interesting" he said, "but if Americans were willing to pay higher taxes they might have more time for family and travel as well as paying less in healthcare costs because they could have a system more like ours, less based on profits!"

Of course, he is correct, but to the typical  shortsighted, American tax cut money grubber this is somehow  twisted and unnatural. This despite the fact Germany has rarely been in deficit mode because it firmly believes in husbanding resources rather than trickle down BS that gives tax cuts to the rich. As the article notes:

"Germany has among the highest taxes in the world and a habit of heavy state spending."

This prompted former U.S. ambassador to Germany, John Kornblum, to opine in the piece:

"It's sort of a through the looking glass world. Traditionally Germans have been in favor of hoarding resources rather than lowering government expenditures."

Yet the proof is in the pudding! Despite those expenditures it's not running a deficit like the U.S. - a hard fact that Edward Lazear totally ignores in his specious brief for "aggressive cuts in federal spending."  Seems to me (and it would Reinhardt) Germany has some lessons to teach the U.S.- not that a hack like Lazear would take note.

Finally,  we come to:   'Americans Want Big Government',  by William Galston - one of a handful of center left columnists at the Journal.   Galston cited a Pew research poll from last April that showed - for the first time in eight years- "Americans favored a larger government offering more services over a smaller government providing fewer services."   This was bolstered by an NBC/ Wall Street Journal poll last month which showed 58 percent of Americans ("the highest share ever recorded") agreed that "the government should do more to solve problems and help meet the needs of people"-this compared to only 38 percent who felt "the government is doing too many things better left to businesses and individuals."

Moreover, "Americans favoring a more active government included majorities of all age groups, ethnicities, and education levels"  (Those favoring less gov't included 63 % of Republicans, 65 % of Trump voters and 51 % of white men. In other words, the usual suspects.)

How does this demand for government help break down?

- 50 percent of Americans want the gov't to increase spending for Social Security

- This is vs. 5 percent who want cuts

 - For Medicare the comparable figures were 45 percent and 7 percent.

- For Medicaid, 38 percent vs. 12 percent

In a separate Kaiser survey, 40 % want more defense spending, 19 percent want less.

Similarly, 70 percent want more spent on education and 7 percent want less.

Based on these polls, Galston concluded "Americans want Big Government"

Americans, for their part, may want a big government a la German style but ARE they willing to pay for it?  Let's make it clear you can't have both tax cuts and government extension of services and programs. The way so many grabbed at that fake GOP -Trump tax cut just passed, I doubt it. So I guess they'd rather continue with no paid family leave, no sick days to speak of from work, no government supported pensions like Reinhardt enjoys, and excessively expensive health care with too many dubious outcomes.

When I see Americans vote in their millions against tax cut pols then I might believe the zeitgeist and supply side brainwashing has given way to a new "German" normal. But not until.

See also:

• Oprah got perfect response from Danish woman on their social welfare state 

WSJ Piece Easily Explains The Confidence, Media Savvy Of Parkland FL Students

"We are coming after every single one of you and demanding that you take action, demanding that you make a change!"  The words of Delaney Tarr, a senior at Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland FL.


Let's admit that the Right's screechy knotheads  - twisting themselves into knots at the media savvy of the Parkland  FL students,  still convinced they're all "paid crisis actors"-  need to get a life, or learn more.  I am convinced their cockeyed "theories"  arise because: a) they don't know enough about what they're criticizing, and b) they too often sell fellow humans too short, or at least give them no more credit for brains or talent than they themselves possess.  They pretty well did the same thing a year or so ago when protesters appeared at numerous town halls in Red states to protest the GOP plan to overturn Obamacare  The Right's troglodytes blamed the  massive assemblies and outspokenness on "paid protesters."   As if anyone seriously had to be  paid to protest in Trump's Amerikka.

So it was really no surprise to see these clueless yahoos come out again to accuse the articulate students of Stoneman Douglas, including the brilliant Delaney Tarr (who really IS Mensa member material), David Hogg, Cameron Kasky and Emma Gonzalez (another Mensan in waiting) of being paid crisis actors.  Collectively the posts questioned the honesty and credibility of the grieving students as they spoke out against gun violence.  For example, online media sites including Gateway Pundit, Reddit, 4chan and YouTube swelled with false ­allegations that Hogg was ­secretly a “crisis actor” playing the part of a grieving student in local and national television news reports.

Another troll  (Kelley Campbell) responded sarcastically to one of Delaney's appearances, bellowing: "FAKE NEWS!  You can't just walk into a building with $130 and walk out with an AR -15".   But if this turd had thought a bit more, assuming he had the brains, he'd have perceived that Delaney couldn't possibly have been an actor.  This is because any professional actor (actress) would not have made the error of citing the too low cost of an AR purchase as $130, when it actually runs upward of $1200.  My point? It showed these kids really are....just kids...they have media savvy but when they're passionately speaking out their hearts tend to lead their heads and  they don't always have all the friggin' facts in tow. Give 'em a break, for god's sake.

Same thing with senior Sam Zeif when - in the midst of a passionate speech at the Trump "listen in"  last week  -  misspoke, i.e. saying that the Australians changed their gun laws after a "school shooting" in 1999. It was after a tourist massacre in 1996.  But again, these are errors of fact  a kid would make, but I'd argue not a professional "crisis actor" who'd have his or her script well prepared and double checked.  (Of course, there is a species of hyper cynical skeptic who'd assert a kid woud deliberately include erroneous claims ,...to present themselves as an unknowing....student.)

But anyway, we can thank two beat writers (Arian Campo-Flores and Nicole Hong)  on the staff of The Wall Street Journal for scuttling these stupid memes with a piece that gives a prosaic account ('From Shooting To Gun Control Movement')  of why these Stoneman  Douglas students are so good in their media exchanges.   As we learn from the piece- and this ought to be required reading for all the loopy naysayers at Reddit, 4chan, Gateway Pundit and other blogs:

"The students at Stoneman aren't like those who witnessed previous mass shootings at Columbine High School in 1999, or Virginia Tech in 2007. They are digital natives, at one with the language and power of smartphones and social media.  That is one reason why the movement they started, dubbed #NeverAgain, has become a nationwide phenomenon in barely a few days, and shows signs of becoming the kind of campaign success that a company or politician can only dream of."

 Adding:

"In particular they have used Twitter to build a grass-roots network of activity leading to school walkouts around the country by students protesting violence."

The kids know no fear, i.e. they are also "tweeting directly at Donald Trump".  You can also thank the Stoneman Douglas kids for mounting a successful boycott social media campaign - under the hashtag #BoycottNRA - for already getting 17 companies to no longer honor NRA member discounts. These include:  United Airlines, Delta, Best  Western Hotels,  and assorted car rentals (Hertz, Avis), MetLife as well as computer security company Symantec.(WSJ, Feb. 23-24, p. B4) 

 As the piece put it, companies "are reacting to the social media pressure ....energized by the emotional calls for gun control from the survivors of the shooting rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida."

And why not? If Diaper Donnie Dotard can tweet profusely with so much balderdash content and stir up division and upheaval in our nation, why can't intelligent kids create their own social media firestorms? Including slapping the imp down and getting companies to abandon the NRA.

Another key aspect showing these are not professional actors as the Right's trolls seem to think:

"The messages are expressed in genuine teenage voices   alternating between lighthearted selfies and posts about how they are coping with the trauma."

Even more impressive, in four days these kids have raised $2.2 million in an online fundraiser for a rally next month (March 24th).  Much of this action was mounted by the students themselves meeting at one of their homes with personal computers, smartphones etc. at the ready. `

What makes these Stoneman Douglas kids so damned smart? Delaney Tarr explained it in a nutshell in one answer to a VOX interview (see link at bottom):

"So many of us are in politics clubs. So many of us are in AP government. We dedicate ourselves to this. We dedicate ourselves to learning about this. So we are in a place where we are lucky enough to know what to say, to know what to talk about, and to know what changes need to be made."

So - to the consternation of the Right's trolls - it's not like any of these youngsters need coaching from us liberals. They already have the academic and other wherewithal to succeed on their own  - and the social media aptitude to organize huge marches (like on Mar 24th) as well as to get large companies to boycott the NRA.

Still, their optimism and actions have opened up even darker forces on the net to pump in more fake news than ever. As reported in The Sunday Denver Post ('Incidents Show Dark Online Battle', p. 10A):, trolls have now taken to using software tools to create Twitter posts and a phony Miami Herald story  - including copying the paper's font and masthead - to scare the bejeezus out of already fretful citizens.

In one incident the software was used to create two fake twitter posts - from a Miami Herald reporter (Alex Harris) asking "Where are the photos of the dead bodies?" Again hearkening back to the Sandy Hook episode, in which  Reich trolls deemed "no one really died", the victims were just actors playing a role in a gov't false flag operation..

In the second incident, a full Herald story was created under the byline of Herald columnist Monique O. Madan, claiming that a "Miami-Dade middle school faced threats of potentially catastrophic events on upcoming dates."- indicating a new mass shooting was imminent.  Screenshots of the fake story were then passed along Twitter and Snapchat.

Aminda Marques, executive Herald reporter quoted in the piece, said:

"This is hampering our ability to cover this terrible story in our own backyard because we're having to deal with the backlash"

But WHY is there a backlash to genuine  news accounts of human tragedy on the scale of this school massacre? What manner of human swine or reptile resorts to such perfidy? Author Susan Jacoby has provided many answers in her book, 'The Age Of American Unreason In A Culture of Lies',  forcefully arguing that too many are responsible for their own ignorance  and have also fostered - by their anti-intellectual attitudes and bias ignorance at the highest levels of government. In other words the ascension to power of a dangerous, degenerate ignoramus like Trump reflects on that segment of the electorate responsible.  Much of this due to "junk thought" that makes no effort to separate fact from opinion or deliberately faked news such as circulated by trolls that generated the  mock Miami Herald stories.

Yes, the trolls and fake news generators definitely merit a measure of blame for attempting to distract and mislead people. But, citizens also share part of the blame if they lack the critical thinking skills to separate trash from truth and reach a stage (as the Post article describes) where "they are unsure what to believe.". That development of critical thinking - and specifically a "nose"  for truth - necessitates reading widely and critically,  from diverse sources - especially to cross check stories purported to be true but which are fake to the core.

To see the transcript of a recent interview with Delaney Tarr go to:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/20/17031050/florida-shooting-parkland-advocacy-gun-control-delaney-tarr


See also:


http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/robert-reich/77915/the-moral-movement-against-violence

And:


http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/camillo-mac-bica/77918/i-am-a-teacher-not-an-instrument-of-violence

Dem Memo Proves Nunes Is A Lying Punk - And Trumpies Have Reason To Worry

It wouldn't take more than reading a few of my blog posts to detect - putting it mildly - I am no fan of either our "dear leader" or his ratbag toady Devin Nunes, who redefines scum.  Some might complain that because my background is in solar physics - space science I ought to writing way more posts on those topics than politics. But they miss the point.  They fail to see that our nation, our democracy, is under attack right now and if this attack is successful and our electoral system is reduced to a sham, a charade - nothing anyone does will mean duck squat. That's as bluntly as I can put it, because neither science, the arts, media, or our justice system exists in a vacuum - and if the underpinnings of the nation are corrupted then all component aspects are as well.  In such a perverted system the only "science" available would be a false one, designed to serve the agenda of those seeking control.

We know the source of nearly all the distracting attacks and where they emanate from: an illegitimate president - a traitor when all is said and done- who benefited in his electoral college "win"  from the intervention of a hostile foreign adversary. Not only that,, but the fact we are facing yet another attack - this time on our midterm elections -and  he chooses to do absolutely nothing, only to blame the law enforcement and intelligence agencies- oh, and the Dems..

In this campaign of blame, innuendo, PR manipulation (via his incessant deranged tweets), he also has enlisted the aid of toadies and in particular one traitor sidekick  - Devin Nunes - whose actions betray his malice of forethought in running cover for Trump to deflect attention from the Mueller investigation into his campaign's connections to the Russians  e.g.

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2017/03/devin-nunes-leaks-classified-info.html

As I noted therein:

"Nunes by his feckless and reckless actions confirmed once and for all what many of us already believed: he is merely a Trump toady doing his master's work. After all, this turkey  served on Trump’s national security transition team, so why would he not seek to do all possible to cover for his Fuhrer?"

With the recent indictment of 13 Russians including three entities involved with getting Trump into power e.g.   http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2018/02/bob-mueller-scuttles-russia-hoax-meme.html

And the newly announced guilty plea of campaign advisor Rick Gates, the Trumpy traitors must know the noose is tightening around their wretched necks.   Even before Robert Mueller's recent indictment, Nunes knew he had to get his own act together to protect traitor Trump, so he released a memo purporting to show the Mueller investigation was based on fictions and fabulism - the core of which was the Steele dossier. 

Now, with the  release of a redacted Democratic memorandum on Saturday  -  countering Nunes'  claims that top F.B.I. and Justice Department officials had abused their powers in spying on Carter Page - the former Trump campaign aide.- we know who the real liars are.  Of course, in the wake of this release both the traitors -  Nunes and Trump -  have attempted to blow distracting smoke onto it, with Traitor Trump even insisting it's a "bust" and there is "nothing there".   Well, check the preceding link and decide for yourself. I think there is more than enough to show what a lowlife, lying punk and Trump apparatchik Nunes really is.  Basically, he's tried to impugn the FBI and DOJ based on access to one document - the Steele Dossier- when a number of intelligence intercepts had come in long before then, as well as separate, independent info from an Australian diplomat concerning Trump campaign contacts with the Russkies.

Trump, who called Adam Schiff (the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee)  a "bad dude" actually had the total nerve on Saturday to tweet we "should all come together" and the division is "hurting our nation".   Then this  demented A-hole blasted the Dem memo calling it:

"A total political and legal bust. Just confirms all the terrible things that wee done ILLEGAL!"

You wish, you asswipe traitor!  So whose fault are all these divisions, Mr. Resident?  A bipedal turd who relentlessly throws raw meat to his beast base to keep them at 35 % (at least) of the nation behind him and his misbegotten government. But wait! That's not all, this swine then actually lied on tweeting about a Fox News account! FOX NEWS!

This resident traitor attributed the following quote to FOX News:

"Congressman Schiff omitted and distorted key facts".  

The FOX News reporter actually said: 

"Congressman Schiff, he argues the Republican memo omitted and distorted key facts."


So, Dotard's tweet actually omits key words and distorts the FOX News account.  It's as if he and his FOX friends are also fractured in their reality perceptions.

 Indeed, the fractures are also evident in the GOP as a whole, given the fiasco that transpired at the CPAC on Saturday. This was when Mona Charen - conservative columnist for The National Review- had to be escorted off the stage by security for her own protection. This was after hosting a panel during which she pointed her party out as hypocrites for failing to respond to the assault on females (including by Trump, and child molester Roy Moore)- as the Democrats had.   As one political commentator put it on 'AMJoy' Sunday morning:

"Conservatism as we know it is dead during the Trump administration. This is not about conservative values, this is not about principles, or liberty. No, it's about the cult of Donald Trump and dissent is simply not tolerated. You look at how Mona Charen had to be escorted by security. This is the level it's gotten to, that if you speak truth about Donald Trump and his horrible record when it comes to women."

So there isn't even any unity in the Republican sphere. It's a face off between actual conservatives with principles and the benighted followers of the Trump Cult - without any principles or mores other than bending over for the Dotard.

Those original conservatives now grasp the magnitude of the mistake they made in holding their noses and voting Dotard,  translating to a 46 percent slice of the American electorate, and just enough to give Trump the Electoral College. As  WSJ columnist William Galston framed it ('The Clear and Present Danger Of Trump', Feb. 21, p. A15):

 "The Americans who supported Mr. Trump in 2016  had genuine grievances that both parties had neglected for too long.  But he is a deeply, dangerously flawed instrument of their purposes. In choosing him they made a mistake that threatens America and the world."  

And we call that mistake "mischief of faction', first articulated by James Madison in Federalist # 68 and is incepted when:

"citizens - whether amounting to a minority or majority of the whole - are united and actuated by a common impulse of passion (to cast their votes) adverse to the rights of other citizens or the permanent and aggregate interests of the community".  

This is exactly what the Trump voters did, motivated by passion and recklessness via Trump's unhinged rhetoric at his often violent rallies, ultimately - on his specious election -  to give a middle finger  to the rest of the country. 

Adam Schiff in his statement released Saturday on the Dem's memo:

"Our extensive review of the initial FISA application and three subsequent renewals failed to uncover any evidence of illegal, unethical or unprofessional behavior by law enforcement and indeed revealed that both the F.B.I. and D.O.J. made extensive showings to justify all four requests."

Again, Nunes' and his collaborators attempted to impugn the FBI and DOJ  (and by extension Mueller's investigation into Trump and the Russians) by asserting they used the Steele document to go after Trump aide Carter Page - who by all his actions (since 2013, even meeting with Russian FSB) - demonstrated he was a Russian agent.   In effect, the Dem memo amounted to a powerful rebuttal of the Dotard claim that the Mueller investigation was just a "witch hunt".

Nunes in his initial propaganda "memo" and his blabber even after release of the Dem memo, continues to ignore the fact the secret Carter Page meetings were actually out there long before the Steele Dossier contents were released. His meetings indeed had been intercepted by different intel agencies across Europe including, the UK, the Dutch, the Germans and by the Swiss Spezialdienst  of which my Swiss friend Rolf had once been a member.  As Rolf put it soon after John Brennan had noted the foreign intel origins of Page's antics:

"They'd have known everything, even each time he had to leave the room to go to a restroom"

Nunes' traitor -assisting "memo" also ignored the fact that an Australian diplomat had learned of the Trump campaign - Russia connections months earlier than Christopher Steele's existence was even known. This was from a chance meeting with another Trump campaign aide - George Papadopoulos who's also plead guilty to charges.   Can a truly honest broker ignore these fact? Of course not! 

Barely two weeks ago, at the Senate Intelligence Committee Hearings, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said bluntly:

"Frankly, the United States is under attack. "


Coats went on to note that "the risk of inter state conflict is the highest at any time since the Cold War."  This is based on a 28-page intelligence community report, asserting that Russia views the 2018 elections aa a potential target for hacking units backed by the Russian government, Recall in 2016 the GRU was behind the hacks in the effort to get Trump into office.

Given we already know,(this time thanks to Russian media), Trump has held secret meetings with Russian intelligence (FSB, GRU) agents in our own capital, it is becoming increasingly clear this man is at the center of the attack on our country.   Crazy? Insane? Even at the Senate Intel hearings a number of Senators pressed the intelligence chiefs  (from CIA, NSA, FBI) on whether Trump was taking the threat seriously and to a man they asserted he'd given no proactive instructions or orders.

In other words, Traitor Trump is prepared to let it happen all over again.

Recall last month, in the midst of secretly meeting in D.C.  with Russian intelligence agents Trump refused  to impose additional sanctions on Russia for its meddling in the presidential election. This despite near unanimous support from congress and total agreement from intel agencies.

Those readers who may hail from Canada or nations in Europe and are aghast at reading all this have reason to be worried themselves.  Because their nations also do not exist in self-contained cocoons. And believe me, what goes seriously awry in this country - which as I said is involved in a critical battle for democracy- can also affect and disastrously impact them.

For  your own sake, you had better hope we get rid of Trump and his protectors, poltroons and enablers very soon.

See also:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/p-m-carpenter/77904/the-sickening-unending-lies-of-trump-co

Excerpt:

At the heart of the Democratic memo rebutting Nunes is something more dispositive than opinion, called counter-proof. From the surveillance application, as quoted in the memo: "The FBI speculates that the U.S. person was likely looking for information that could be used to discredit candidate #1’s campaign." In other words, a partisan purpose was indeed afoot; in politics, it usually is.

Now, let's think. What political operation in 2016 would have been looking to "discredit candidate #1"? That being Trump. Well hell that's a tough call. But I rather think those worldly judges, in approving the warrant, probably determined it was Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. And with that — straight from the surveillance application itself — a dagger was thrust into the heart of Devin Nunes and Donald Trump's fulminations.

And:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/p-m-carpenter/77888/the-bone-chilling-malignity-of-trumpism