TGIF 12/2/22

It's time for some good week/bad week accounting again. 

Let's start in Arizona, where the Board of Supervisors of Cochise County has finally certified November's election results. It wasn't out of the goodness of their hearts - it was because a court ordered them to.

Two of the three members - one Democrat, one Republican, voted to do the right thing. The third member - another R - didn't bother showing up.  The judge, Casey McGinley, noted

it is "clear" that the board was "duty bound" to certify the results and submit them to the secretary of state by Monday given that no results were missing from the county's totals.

McGinley said the board "exceeded its lawful authority in delaying the canvass for a reason that was not permitted by the statute."

The Dem supervisor who asked the court to issue a quick decision, had a good week; so did the judge, for requiring the board to do their job. And the supervisor who couldn't be bothered? Yeah, you know what list he's on. 

Let's shift to Texas, and the heartbroken city of Uvalde, where another lawsuit related to the school shooting there in May was filed this week. 

Survivors of the fatal mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, have filed a $27 billion class action lawsuit against multiple law enforcement agencies in Texas, according to court documents.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Austin, names the city, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, the school district’s police department, the Uvalde Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety and a number of persons who are members or former members of the agencies listed as defendants. 

The lawsuit says

Instead of swiftly implementing an organized and concerted response to an active school shooter who had breached the otherwise ‘secured’ school buildings at Robb Elementary school, the conduct of the three hundred and seventy-six (376) law enforcement officials who were on hand for the exhaustively torturous seventy-seven minutes of law enforcement indecision, dysfunction, and harm, fell exceedingly short of their duty-bound standards.

This suit just the most recent one to be filed. 

One federal lawsuit filed earlier this week alleges nearly two dozen people and entities, including the gun manufacturer and store that provided the rifle used in the attack, were negligent and failed to protect a student who was killed. Other families filed a similar lawsuit in September.

No amount of money can ever make up for what happened in May, but there needs to be accountability somewhere in all of this. I'd say the folks had a good week for at least bringing the suits and trying to keep the accountability ball rolling.

And, to Florida, where a former president Donald Trump lost another court case. 

A unanimous federal appeals court on Thursday ended an independent review of documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate, removing a hurdle the Justice Department said had delayed its criminal investigation into the retention of top-secret government information.

The three-judge panel, which included two Trump-selected Republicans, said

It is indeed extraordinary for a warrant to be executed at the home of a former president — but not in a way that affects our legal analysis or otherwise gives the judiciary license to interfere in an ongoing investigation...

The law is clear. We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant. Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so. 

The judges from the 11th Circuit who looked beyond who picked them, and did the right thing had a good week. And, of course, put another bad week in the books for the Florida Man.

Continuing our swing through the states, let's look at the Democrats and their plans to realign the early primaries. 

The Democratic National Committee voted on Friday to radically alter its presidential nominating calendar, following President Joe Biden’s recommendations to elevate South Carolina as the first primary state and to eliminate Iowa, breaking with a half-century of historical precedent. But there are still several logistical hurdles for the party to clear to make the new vision a reality.

Under the plan, South Carolina will go first on February 3rd, with New Hampshire and Nevada following three days later. Georgia would vote on February 13th, and Michigan on February 27th. Iowa's completely out of the early states. 

The full DNC still has to approve the plan, and the states that are moving up have until early January to certify they'll be able to meet the schedule. And, New Hampshire's required to go a week before any other state primary, so there's that.

Some people will suggest this was solely a move by the Biden camp to help ensure the octogenarian's chances in '24, but there are legitimate reasons to make some changes to crazy rules that give precedence to Iowa (31st in population, 90% white) and New Hampshire (41st/92% white).

Biden and the Ds had a good week on this; we'll see if it turns into a good week for voters if everything works out.

TGIF, everyone.

TGIF 9/30/22

Another week is winding down, and it's time for the good week/bad week accounting. Here are just a few of the folks who earned a mention.

The state of Florida had a mixes week. On the latter, the cat-4 Hurricane Ian made a mess of things, tossing boats and houses and piers around, causing massive flooding, and cutting power to millions of customers as it crossed the state. On the other hand, many people evacuated on time, and many of those who didn't rode out the storm and lived to talk about it. We'll learn more in the coming days on how deadly it was, but the initial reports were not as bad we expected. On a personal note, I'm grateful that all my friends and family in Florida are safe.

Staying in the Sunshine State, Gov. Ron DeSantis is doing his darnedest to act statesmanly, given his presidential aspirations, but his past - and votes against disaster funding for another hurricane in a far-off place (the blue states of New Jersey and New York) - are cropping up on social media. His staff said the Gov has no time for pettiness, which is a first, I think; he's a master of the petty, in fact. But when push comes to shove, or when storm surge comes to the Gulf Coast, he's willing to set that aside and work with President Biden, at least until there's talk about making fiscally responsible disaster aid demands. 

Speaking of the gaffe master, he might have exceeded our wildest imaginations at a White House hunger conference this week, when he called out for the late Rep. Jackie Walorski, who was killed in a car accident in August. Walorski was a co-chair of the Hunger Caucus, and was one of the folks who introduced the bill that led to the conference. And, of course, the pack of reporters, hungry as always for a sound-bite and air time, undertook "a series of tense exchanges" trying to get an answer as to why Biden, well, pulled a Biden. Is an answer necessary?

Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was formally sworn in this week, and will take her seat on the bench on Monday, at a time when 60% of us believe the Court is "out of touch" and 66% believe there should be term limits for Justices.  Those sentiments aren't indicative of KBJ, of course, but she's coming on the Court at a difficult time, with some tough cases on affirmative action and college admissions, LGBTQ rights, and election issues, among others.

Beto O'Rourke, who's running for governor of Texas, received support from family members of Uvalde school shooting victims. They traveled nearly five hours by bus to hold a press conference an hour before the only debate between O'Rourke and Gov. Greg Abbott who, in these folks minds, "had not taken enough action on gun control measures" since the shooting four months ago.

I hope you had a good week.

TGIF, everyone.

In Case You Missed it (v92)

Last week was a busy one here at veritable pastiche. Here's a recap of our seven posts, ICYMI. 

Things kicked off with the Part 1 of my series Yes, We Can Do Something, which I introduced at the end of the week before last. The series is about the things we can do, if we wanted to, about gun safety and gun control.  

Part 1 deals with the first half of the 2nd Amendment, and ways to create the well-regulated militia our founders mentioned. I don't propose banning guns, but I do recommend enhanced background checks, waiting periods, licensing requirements, new excise taxes, and training. 

• Mandatory education and training must be provided before every gun purchase or transfer is completed. The training must be specific to the gun, and include all aspects of gun ownership (carrying, transporting, using, and storing the gun and ammunition, etc.). The training must also include reports of gun owners hurting themselves or others, such as when kids and parents accidentally kill children, and accidental shootings in the leg, in the head, in the head, in the testicles, in the testicles, in the testicles, in the penis, in the foot, taking a selfie, defending a Muslim-free gun store, trying out his new holster, in the girlfriend, in the girlfriend, in the girlfriend, etc. It must also include video impact statements from survivors and from families of victims of mass shootings. Proof of successful completion of the training must be documented as part of the sale or transfer transaction. 

I know it sounds silly, but if we don't teach them the dangers of their toys, they could end up like the people they're going to learn about. 

Next up? Your regular visit to the Sunday School classrooms, where my attention was on the politicians who represent Uvalde, including Valde County Commissioner Ronald Garza; he was with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation. 

He talked about the stuff making the news - the timeline(s), and the confusion on why folks didn't go in. He talked about the families and about the school building itself, where his dad was a teacher. And, there was this part, too.

Garza knows the family of the shooter, and said he has "no indication" as to any motive. He described the family as one that "value(s) church, they value hard work, known them for many years- great grandparents, grandparents, uncles, aunts." He also said what happened shouldn't be a reflection on the family.

You know, we raise our children, and we try to raise them in the right way. But - but sometimes our children have different thoughts, have different attitudes, personalities, but we do the best we can.

His pain was palpable, as should be ours. 

Part 2 of the Yes, We Can Do Something series came next; this part deals with gun crimes and punishment. I included some changes not directly related to school shootings, because Republicans, like Texans Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz, like to talk about strict gun laws in Chicago whenever there's a mass shooting in their state. 

In addition to requiring mandatory minimum penalties for using a gun in a crime, which must be served - in full - before the sentence for the overarching crime is service, I proposed the following: 

• Require mandatory prosecution for holding or hiding a gun in order to protect another person from being charged with a gun crime. 

• Require mandatory prosecution when guns are found improperly secured or transported, such as during TSA checks, law enforcement stops, etc.

• Categorize all crimes in which a gun was used as 'non-bailable' federal offenses, and carve gun legislation out of the filibuster.

That last part would be fun, right? Treating gun crimes with the same level of importance as they do SCOTUS justices? 

Moving on to your Sunday School Extra Credit, we caught up with Rep. Dan Crenshaw. He doesn't represent Uvalde in Congress, but he's a Texan, so he got front-and-center treatment in the State of the Union classroom.

They talked about things we can do, such as universal background checks, which he opposes, and closing the gun show loophole, which he denies exists, and opposes, and red flag laws, which he opposes. On a national law 

You know, it's funny... You would think, from the trolls on the Internet, that I'm the number one advocate for red flag laws. That's a bit of a myth perpetuated by my own side. Now, truthfully, I think there's a lot of problems with red flag laws, especially at a national level.

He mentioned that "criminal law" should be decided at the local and state level, but "you have to look at these and wonder what the actual purpose is." 

And what about a red flag law in Texas? Um, that's also a 'no.'

and here's why, because what we are essentially trying to do with a red flag law is enforce the law before the law has been broken. And that's a really difficult thing to do. It's difficult to assess whether somebody is a threat. Now, if they're such a threat they're threatening somebody with a weapon already, well, then they have already broken the law, so why do you need this other law? That's the question that I think critics rightfully ask about these things.

More on Crenshaw in a minute.

In my Wondering on Wednesday musings, I focused on a post that popped up in my social media memories, one in which I compared my gardening to the gardening that Republicans have been doing, for years. 

Look at all the time they've spent - years, when you think about it - sowing seeds. Seeds of doubt. Seeds of hate. Seeds of fear. Seeds of anger. Seeds of rage. Seeds of control. Seeds of division. Seeds of conspiracy...

They're gardeners, carefully tending their crops, nurturing their harvest, and reaping the rewards.

 They're gardeners. Just like me.

Well, not just like me; I tend different crops, as I describe in the post. 

My wondering? Why has so little changed, with me or with them. I'm frustrated, still, and they're entrenched, still, 

And I wonder, is there a master gardener with the skills to guide us out of this mess, and help us achieve a more suitable design? Or, worse - are we stuck here?

Who is that gardener? It's easy to tell who it's not, that's for sure.

Remember Crenshaw and his lead-in to the red flag law conversation? I invited you to belly on up to the Sidebar for a deeper dive into that. Here's what he told Dana Bash.

You would think, from the trolls on the Internet, that I'm the number one advocate for red flag laws. That's a bit of a myth perpetuated by my own side. Now, truthfully, I think there's a lot of problems with red flag laws, especially at a national level.

What's up with his comment about Internet trolls? What would make them think he favors red flag laws? If I had to hazard a guess, it'd be because they found the found the tweets he sent in 2019, after the mass shooting in Dayton, OH, which was just a day after the mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart. Take a look.

"I supported them before I was against them," or something like that.  I also explored the TAPS Act in the post.

And finally, it was TGIF time - and after a lot of heavy lifting during the week, I chose to do an all 'good week' post. Here's one item that made the cut.

Keeping both oars in the water, there's a non-profit that's turning mining pollution into pigments that are used in paint. Rural Action, based in Ohio, works "to create environmental change in rural Appalachian communities." Contaminated water is collected, then a base and oxygen are added, creating pigments that are being used to make paint. You can see some of the artwork created with the paints here. This isn't 'new' news, but it's new to me and it's pretty cool.

I'll be back tomorrow with your Sunday School - we've got some pretty cool stuff of our own to do today. I'll have more for you in the Yes, We Can Do Something series this week, too. 

Wondering on Wednesday 6/1/22

 

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Tonight's wondering begins one year ago today, when I published some Random Thoughts  on gardening, and politics. The post popped up in my social media 'memories', and honestly, I had forgotten all about this post, which came after a three-week-long spate of writer's block. When I finally got to putting thoughts into words, what flowed was a look at the difference between my garden and the garden that many Republicans are tending. 

Look at all the time they've spent - years, when you think about it - sowing seeds. Seeds of doubt. Seeds of hate. Seeds of fear. Seeds of anger. Seeds of rage. Seeds of control. Seeds of division. Seeds of conspiracy.

They're gardeners, carefully tending their crops, nurturing their harvest, and reaping the rewards.

They are passionate about ripping out plants that are the wrong color, the wrong zone, the wrong fill-in-the-blank. They are passionate about making sure they only nurture the right plants, the ones that will thrive under their particular care. Poor performers? Tossed. They cover their crops with manure, layers deep, and feed them a regular, stringent diet designed to achieve uniformity, nature be damned. And invasive species that dare set foot in the garden? The only method they know is a path of scorched-earth eradication. They've no patience with trying to understand, nurture or rehabilitate; no understanding that one man's weed is another man's flower.

They're gardeners. Just like me.

Well, not just like me; I tend different crops, as I describe in the post. 

What I wonder about, with this, is why things have changed so little in the last year. I feel like I'm in the same place I was then, in my garden, frustrated with the state of things, frustrated with being frustrated, and yet, not willing to turn away from the things that frustrate me. And they certainly seem even more entrenched in their garden than they were, and more gleefully entrenched, if that's possible. And I wonder, is there a master gardener with the skills to guide us out of this mess, and help us achieve a more suitable design? Or, worse - are we stuck here?

What else is on the wondering list?

• When will the last shoe drop in Uvalde? Every day, it seems, another bit of tragedy gets added on - or erased, as was the case with the latest about the teacher who "propped the door open," which it now seems didn't happen. My heart breaks each time the story changes, for the families, and for the entire Uvalde community, struggling with so much. There's a point at which everyone should just stop talking until they know - really know - the details. I'd say we've passed that point already, but I don't think anyone will stop.

• What are the chances we'll have a bipartisan agreement on any kind of legislation to help reduce the chances of another mass shooting like the one in Uvalde, or Buffalo? There's a framework, we're told, which is good, and they're still talking, which is good - but I wonder, in the end, if folks on the right have the stomach for change, and if folks on the left have the stomach for restraint and compromise. 

• Where do the Rs go next, now that the trial of Michael Sussman for allegedly lying to the FBI about working for Hillary Clinton's campaign in the 2016 presidential campaign has ended in an acquittal, where does the Durham investigation go next? There's one more trial set for this fall, but is that it? And will the Former Guy attack him, the way he has attacked everyone else who fails him?

What are you wondering about tonight?

Sunday School 5/29/22: Extra Credit

In your Sunday School lesson, I focused on a couple of local Texas officials, who spoke of their pain and anguish, their frustration and anger, and their hopes in the wake of the horrific shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde. 

For your Extra Credit, we'll spend time with another Texan - Rep. Dan Crenshaw - who talked with Dana Bash in the State of the Union classroom.

He was asked what "accountability looks like," considering the reports about law enforcement delays. He said he wasn't going to judge "the person who's walking through the breach and is in that moment in the arena," but he said it seems clear protocols weren't followed.

We have very clear training doctrine on this... I mean, the training clearly states, you might get shot, but the guy behind you might be able to get in and save innocent people.

He said someone's likely to get fired for these "very, very bad calls," adding that the Border Patrol coming in and doing the job is "pretty embarrassing for a lot of the local police officers.

Bash asked whether Crenshaw would vote yes on a national red flag law, noting that's one option in the bipartisan discussions in the Senate; fellow Texan Sen. John Cornyn is leading the Rs on that group.

Um, that's a 'no' on a national red flag law. 

No, I wouldn't. You know, it's funny... You would think, from the trolls on the Internet, that I'm the number one advocate for red flag laws. That's a bit of a myth perpetuated by my own side. Now, truthfully, I think there's a lot of problems with red flag laws, especially at a national level.

He mentioned that "criminal law" should be decided at the local and state level, but "you have to look at these and wonder what the actual purpose is." 

And what about a red flag law in Texas? Um, that's also a 'no.'

and here's why, because what we are essentially trying to do with a red flag law is enforce the law before the law has been broken. And that's a really difficult thing to do. It's difficult to assess whether somebody is a threat. Now, if they're such a threat they're threatening somebody with a weapon already, well, then they have already broken the law, so why do you need this other law? That's the question that I think critics rightfully ask about these things

He's concerned about due process (even though these aren't criminal proceedings), and "ultimately how they even solve the problem, because these things have to be reported for them to actually matter." Of course, if you had a red flag law, things could be reported to the appropriate people, and reported to the background check system, too. That's kind of the purpose - to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them.

And, in this case, look, you have a troubled teenager who did some very strange things, shooting at people with BB guns, cutting himself, saying crazy things. Does this reach the level where you involuntarily -- involuntarily commit him or take his property? Because the thing is, is -- those things that this teenager was doing could be applied to quite a few teenagers.

Crenshaw said "maybe the solution they could agree on is improving our background check system," since "it doesn't seem clear that" a red flag law would have worked here. 

The problem is that the background check didn't capture the full story of this person. So, look, Republicans are the ones that proposed and passed the Fix NICS Act. Republicans have proposed the 21st century Fix NICS Act, which further improves the system...

OK - how about a universal background check? Um, that's also a 'no.'

So, people have to understand what universal background checks mean. That means that I can no longer sell a gun to my friend. If my neighbor, let's say her husband is gone for the week and she wants to borrow my gun, that would make us both felons. That's the problem with universal background checks. And the people who are least likely to adhere to universal background check are the criminals who intend harm. 

And the gun show loophole? Um, that's also a 'no.' 

When people say the gun show loophole, they're talking about private transfers, which gets back to the universal background check debate...There's nothing specific in law about a gun show that allows people to do more things than they would otherwise be able to do. 

This article gives an example of the loophole, describing how a guy wanders around a gun show wearing a "handwritten menu" advertising specific guns for sale, and that there's no background check.

Another often-suggested change? Raising the age. Bash noted that the Uvalde, Buffalo, Parkland, and Sandy Hook shooters were all 20 or younger, and she asked, should the age be 21? 

Well, I think the question we have to ask ourselves is, should 21 be the age that you're an adult? As a society, we do have to decide when you're technically an adult... And, right now, we technically say 18.

But, he said, he's "not very impressed by our current swathe of 18-year-olds and their maturity level," so maybe we can talk about this... Until, we start to talk about it. Then, That's also a 'no.'

When we see a 22-year-old commit an atrocity, are we going to raise it again and are we going to raise it again? And, at a certain point, we have to ask ourselves what our limiting principle is as far as that age limit, because, truthfully, the vast majority of these horrible shootings have been caused by an older person.

(The median age for people committing school shootings is 16; 2/3 of them are committed by people under 18. The age for other "horrible shootings" is in the 30s.)

Bash noted people are going to think he doesn't really want to do anything, since he said no to everything they've discussed; she asked, in a nutshell, what he'd say yes to. Here's that list: "actual security at a school." 

And why can't you do both - 'harden' schools, and some of the other stuff, she asked? Because of the 2nd Amendment? That's exactly the problem, he said. Gun control policies,

they do two things. One, they infringe on the rights of million and millions of gun owners. And, two, they probably wouldn't have the outcome that you're hoping for. So, if you're not going to get the benefit you want, but you're going to -- it's going to come at great cost, that generally means it's not a very good policy. Again, that's why I go back to hardening schools.

He doesn't see a problem that there are tens of millions more guns than people here; he thinks that fine. He also mentioned a CDC study showing "there's hundreds of thousands of cases a year where somebody used a gun to protect themselves or protect others." Actually, the study is inconclusive, except on the fact that more study is needed on the public health implications of on guns.

Bash asked him "Do you really think the founding fathers, when they wrote well-regulated militia, intended for enough guns, weapons of war that you are so...  highly trained in using, should be used to massacre children?"

Crenshaw talked about the "two different ideas in the 2nd Amendment" but he didn't say a thing about the founders. He also doesn't like the term 'weapons of war" because in the military, they use "much, much bigger" weapons than an AR-15.

At the end, Crenshaw wanted to add one more thing about rifles: "they actually make good self-defense weapons."

And, I'd add, they make very good offensive weapons, too. 

See you around campus. 

Sunday School 5/29/22

Spending time with folks from Texas who were in the classrooms yesterday, starting with Valde County Commissioner Ronald Garza; he talked with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation.

Brennan asked him why the school district police 'commander' wasn't on site when the shooting began; later, she clarified and said the 'officer' wasn't on site. Either way, Garza didn't have the answer, although he said it's possible he could have been at another campus at the time. She also asked if it was true "the chief of police for the school district is now under police protection himself" and if that was "reflective of the feeling in the community..."

Well, you know, rightly so. You know, people are - are asking questions. Parents lost children. They're devastated. And it's - it's - it's just a sad situation. And I think the community deserves answers.

She also noted there's talk in "communities around the country" about whether more school security is needed, and legislators are talking about getting funding for that. Given Uvalde has a separate police force solely for the school district, she asked Garza if a lack of security was the problem there.

...Perhaps it was a lack of security, training. You know, I think there's multiple factors that might be involved here. But you know, right now, it's easy- It's easy to point fingers right now. It's easy to play the blame game. But, you know, our community I think needs to focus on- on the- on the- on healing right now...

He said he welcomes the FBI investigation, which he said Rep. Joaquin Castro asked for; according to reports, the mayor of Uvalde also made the same request. 

I think we need to learn more. As tragic as this may seem, we need to learn from this, you know, and parents deserve answers.

Garza knows the family of the shooter, and said he has "no indication" as to any motive. He described the family as one that "value(s) church, they value hard work, known them for many years- great grandparents, grandparents, uncles, aunts: He also said what happened shouldn't be a reflection on the family.

You know, we raise our children, and we try to raise them in the right way. But- but sometimes our children have different thoughts, have different attitudes, personalities, but we do the best we can.

Finally, on whether the school will be destroyed, Garza was not sure, and admitted to having "mixed emotions" on that. He went there, and his father taught there, "his second teaching assignment."

My grandkids went through there and my kids went through there- those pecan trees that are out there at Robb school, my dad planted them in 1965. Every day after school, he and a few students would water those pecan trees so we- we- we have very strong ties to the school and you know, my hope is - I hope it's not- the school is not razed. Yes, do we need a memorial out there maybe? Do we need to section off the area where the shooting took place? Perhaps. But you know that- and again, that's just my opinion. 

The decision on what to do with, or at, the school, will be an agonizing one, I suspect.  

Down the hall, Dana Bash was in the host's chair in the State of the Union classroom; one of her guests was State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat, who represents Uvalde. 

Her first question? "...how is it that 9- and 10-year-olds had the presence of mind in that kind of terrifying situation to dial 9/11 multiple times, pleading for help, asking for police to come, and the grownups in the hallway didn't come in?" And Gutierrez didn't pull any punches, saying "the whole thing is a shame. I'm disgusted by all of it."

I understand the human condition, the notion that this other guy might have superior firepower. But, at the end of the day, the protocols were breached. The active shooter protocols dictate that you go in. First, there were seven officers. By 12:03, there was 19 officers. So many things went wrong here. I'm asking a lot of questions. I am told that I'm going to be getting a ballistics report next week, along with many other issues that need to be addressed.

And, to Bash's question on whether the delay saved lived, he gave an example of a child who had been shot in the back, and died. She's one of the ones who might have been saved, had first responders gone in, so "absolutely, these mistakes may have led to the passing away of these children as well."

He also has lots of questions - significant concerns, he said - on the operational aspect of things. As Bash noted, there were local, state, and federal law enforcement personnel on site.

I have asked DPS at what point each one of their officers arrived. At what point does the local police take operational control, or should they? At what point does the next superior power, DPS, take operational control, or should they? And, lastly, the federal government, they waited some as well. At what point should they not have taken operational control?

He said that no one has told him they expressed frustration or 'challenged' the school district police commander about his decisions, but that it was the Border Patrol team that, out of frustration, decided to go in. And, he said, 

 I had a long talk with Colonel McCraw yesterday. He was devastated. As you have seen on television, he's acknowledged that there were errors here. What I have suggested to him is that it's not fair to put it on the local ISD cop. At the end of the day, everybody failed here. We failed these children. We even failed them in the Texas legislature.

On that last point, Bash wondered if "there are enough Republicans to pass" legislation, such as chancing the age to purchase this type of weapon from 18 to 21, or even on having a special session, something Gutierrez "confronted" Gov. Greg Abbott about, Bash noted.

He said it's the "first time ever" he's seen Rs calling for a special session, and he said some of his GOP colleagues "who at this point don't want to be identified," have said the age needs to be raised. 

Those are the kind of things that make sense, red flag laws, waiting periods, making sure that we have a more significant, robust background check. 

Bash mentioned he sounded 'hopeful' and he said that's he does what he does.

I ran for office because I am hopeful. I am -- I have in my life created change at different levels of government. If I do nothing for the rest of my career but yell at Greg Abbott and others that are not willing to listen, then that's what I'm going to do.

We must have change. I have spent time with many of these families. And this is just heartbreaking. I just cannot do this anymore. It is heartbreaking. No family should go through what these people are going through. 

We need so many more legislators, from both sides of the aisle, who are willing to yell at their 'do-nothing' counterparts on things like this. 

Later today, I'll post another set of recommendations on what we can do, if only people would listen. You can read the first chunk of them here. 

See you around campus. 

TGIF 5/27/22

Another week in the books, a week of sadness and darkness and pain and grief and anger and distrust and disbelief and a whole lot more.

Some expectations were not met - the most important ones - while others, the banal and least consequential, were met with flying colors.

Does this flip the concept of the good week / bad week lists? I'm not sure.

Here's an assemblage of expectations met:

• Kevin McCarthy suggesting he won't comply with the House January 6th Committee's subpoena, and demanding information from the Committee before he ultimately refuses to participate.

• Ted Cruz giving all the reasons why mass shootings happen; none of them have anything to do with the easy accessibility of what I called "guns that an evil bastard can use to kill a bunch of innocent people" or anything else having to do with guns, other than the guns people see used in video games and movies. Which, often are the same ones that are used in real life mass shootings, but hey, what do I know?

• Literally everyone who, immediately after the news broke of the school shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, who congratulated law enforcement 'heroes' who did their job and saved countless lives. Little did they know...

• Everyone who said that we need to re-implement the assault weapons ban, as if this shooting, in a state where the governor was embarrassed that residents weren't purchasing enough guns, in a state has no license/no training open carry, is the one that matters enough to get entrenched opponents of anything resembling a ban on any gun to swing over to the other side. 
• President Biden finally signing an Executive Order on police reform, knowing as he did so that it didn't go far enough, and correctly placing the blame on elected officials who refused to work together on legislation. The EO was announced on the second anniversary of the murder of George Floyd.

And, of expectations not met:

• Everyone at Robb Elementary School, who were mere days away from the end of the school year, and holding their awards ceremony, who thought that May 24th was going to be just another happy day.
• The teacher, who reportedly propped open the door not just once but twice - the door through which the shooter entered; surely, she did not expect that.
• The parents of the children who were killed, who had expected their children to come home on Tuesday, just like any other school day.
• Anyone in law enforcement, knowing what should have happened, and hearing what didn't happen, until it was oh so late, much too late. 
• Gov. Abbott, and everyone else in 'official' Texas, who were not given accurate or complete information about the shooting, and therefore provided false information to the families and the media.
• And pretty much everyone, everywhere, watching this nightmare unfold.

Hold these families close to your heart, and continue holding the families of the victims in the Buffalo Tops shooting close to your heart, too.

TGIF, everyone.