Today was the day that the House Oversight Committee welcomed testimony on guns and mass shootings and murdered children, and kinda sorta welcomed alternative voices, too.
It was also the day that a California man was apprehended near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's house. Allegedly the man wanted to kill Kavanaugh, was upset about the leak of the Alito draft overturning Roe, and concerned that the Court would loosen gun laws.
In response, the Senate's Grim Reaper, Mitch McConnell (R-Someplace Dark and Cold in Kentucky) declared that the House must pass the Supreme Court Security Bill, because the justices need protection now!
House Democrats have spent weeks blocking the measure that passed here unanimously related to security for Supreme Court justices. That needs to change, and it needs to change right now… No more fiddling around with this… They need to stop their multi-week blockade against the Supreme court security bill and pass it before the sun sets today.
The guy was arrested, his weapons confiscated, and no one was hurt. And so, I find myself wondering why we need more laws, when we can just enforce the laws we have?
If that's the answer whenever we talk about trying to make changes to gun laws to protect innocent children, concert-goers, grocery shoppers, prayer groups, church attendees, movie watchers, doctors and nurses and other health care professionals, and more, why isn't that the answer for SCOTUS justices?
And then, there are all those bills that have gone to die in the Senate under McConnell's "leadership." I wonder, how many Americans could have been helped by those, and why they collectively matter so much less than Kavanaugh?
Switching from the #1 R in the Senate to the #2 R in the House, let's follow along as Rep. Steve Scalise (R-An Attack on One of US - Me - Is An Attack on All of Us, But I Don't Want to Do Anything to Fix It) wanted us to consider his comment on 9/11 and equate it to mass shootings.
Airplanes were used that day as the weapon to kill thousands of people and to inflict terror on our country. There wasn’t a conversation about banning airplanes. There was a conversation about connecting the dots. How we can try to figure out if there are signs we can see to stop the next attack from happening.
I wonder if he realizes how silly that sounds? I mean, two of the key things that Americans, including many law-abiding gun owners, favor are red flag laws and expanded, universal background checks. You know: things that will help us "try to figure out if there are signs we can see to stop the next attack from happening..."
And, moving from the #2 R in the House to the January 6th Committee (with only two Rs willing to participate), it's critical that the public hearings that start tomorrow are done right. Meaning, they need to
stick as closely as possible to journalism’s five Ws and one H: Tell the public the who, what, when, where, why and how of the attack on the U.S. Capitol...
What isn’t needed during the hearings is a sensation-seeking, look-at-us production aimed at capturing and focusing the nation’s attention exclusively on former president Donald Trump and his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election...
Hyping the upcoming hearings as blockbuster, designating materials as explosive, predicting a captivated viewing audience — all before the gavel falls — is a recipe for losing American eyeballs.
Honestly, I wonder if they can do this... The Dems' track record is not good, if the first impeachment is any guide. And, as I noted in this week's Extra Credit, the media is already planting the seeds that people won't stay tuned if there's no bombshell on Thursday - and further, if there's not one, that will be the lede on Friday.
And finally, let's shift from the risk of there not being a bombshell to there being one - a $1,000,000,000 bombshell.
A group of 90 women that includes former U.S. Olympic team gymnasts Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman has filed a lawsuit against the FBI, alleging it mishandled its investigation of former Team USA doctor Larry Nassar, allowing him to continue to sexually abuse them even after they had reported him to the bureau in 2015.
The women are collectively seeking more than $1 billion from the FBI in a lawsuit filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, a 1946 law that makes the United States liable for injuries “caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of any employee of the Government while acting within the scope of his office or employment.” They join 13 others who in April filed a similar lawsuit against the FBI, citing a July report released by the Justice Department’s inspector general that found the bureau failed to properly investigate serious sex-abuse allegations against Nassar.
The issue? The FBI knew about Larry Nassar, and that he "was a danger to children" in 2015 when a report was made, and they
allowed Nassar to continue molesting young women and girls. It is time for the FBI to be held accountable,” former Team USA gymnast Maggie Nichols said in a statement released by lawyers representing the group of women.
I don't wonder for a moment why the women filed their lawsuit, or that they're seeking an extraordinary amount of money in it. I do wonder, though, whether the government will even try and fight it, or if they'll just settle the lawsuit for what's being asked for, or more.
Here's why: FBI Director Christopher Wray's testimony from last fall, when he reported on the investigation into how badly the FBI handled the Nassar investigation, particular his closing remarks.
And, finally, I’d like to make a promise to the women who appeared here today and to all victims of abuse: I’m not interested in simply addressing this wrong and moving on. It’s my commitment to you that I and my entire senior leadership team are going to make damn sure everybody at the FBI remembers what happened here—in heartbreaking detail. We need to remember the pain that occurred when our folks failed to do their jobs. We need to study it. We need to learn from it. That’s the best way I know to make sure this devastating tragedy is never repeated.
The best way to "remember the pain that occurred" might just be having to pay for it.
What's got you wondering tonight?
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