Shootings

[hepcat]

So in Georgia, the GOP is now the Democratic party and the Dems are now the Republican Party when it comes to keeping government involvement in business small?

Fantastic.

You can have religious freedom but you can't have political freedom, I guess.

[GreenGoo]

Hilarious.

For a lobby group about 2% of the US as members, they sure can reach far into other peoples' industries.

What sort of person thinks it's ok to force a group to support another group? Sure, you can get pissed off if they are supporting a group (say, Planned Parenthood on one side, or the NRA on the other) but to be pissed off that they AREN'T supporting a group?

How is that even acceptable in government?

No tax breaks for Walmart unless they support Planned Parenthood. Sounds totally legit.

[Isgrimnur]

What sort of person thinks it's ok to force a group to support another group?
...
How is that even acceptable in government?

Careful. You're about to come down on rip's side on the free rider case on public sector unions that's up before SCOTUS.

[GreenGoo]

Not really. In the first case we're talking about 2 entities that are distinct and unrelated to each other and distinct from the government. In the second case, forcing government employees to join a union that exists specifically for them, and has the legal authority to bargain on their behalf. It's a stretch to call employees separate entities from their union in this context.

[Skinypupy]

Georgia

The Georgia Senate blocked a lucrative tax break bill on Monday that would benefit Delta Air Lines after the Atlanta-based company severed ties with the National Rifle Association.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle said he would not support tax legislation that helped the airline “unless the company changes its position and fully reinstates its relationship with the NRA.” He echoed a growing number of conservatives who opposed the measure over the weekend.
...
That move forced Gov. Nathan Deal and other supporters of the $50 million jet fuel sales tax exemption to shift to the defensive, and prompted a growing number of Republicans to try to strip the provision out of a broader tax-cut bill that has already passed the state House.

So he's going to punish one of the state's largest employers because they treat NRA members like every other customer and not give them a discount?

Somehow I don't imagine he thought his cunning plan all the way through.

[Isgrimnur]

Georgia Governor Deal took office in 2011. The office is limited to two four-year terms.

Guess who happens to be running in the primary?

[Isgrimnur]

All Parkland needed was President Trump:

"I really believe I'd run in there, even if I didn't have a weapon, and I think most of the people in this room would have done that too," Trump told a gathering of US governors at the White House.

To quote those kids, "We call BS!"

I'm sure he daydreams about doing stuff like that with a big parade to celebrate his daring deeds during boring policy meetings or intelligence briefs.

This is Trump as bystander to a crisis situation. (ctrl-F for germaphobe)

(h/t to hurtsdonut_ on reddit)

[LawBeefaroni]

Georgia

The Georgia Senate blocked a lucrative tax break bill on Monday that would benefit Delta Air Lines after the Atlanta-based company severed ties with the National Rifle Association.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle said he would not support tax legislation that helped the airline “unless the company changes its position and fully reinstates its relationship with the NRA.” He echoed a growing number of conservatives who opposed the measure over the weekend.
...
That move forced Gov. Nathan Deal and other supporters of the $50 million jet fuel sales tax exemption to shift to the defensive, and prompted a growing number of Republicans to try to strip the provision out of a broader tax-cut bill that has already passed the state House.

Is that because Delta nixed their NRA discount? That's crazy.

[Pyperkub]

All Parkland needed was President Trump:

"I really believe I'd run in there, even if I didn't have a weapon, and I think most of the people in this room would have done that too," Trump told a gathering of US governors at the White House.

To quote those kids, "We call BS!"

I'm sure he daydreams about doing stuff like that with a big parade to celebrate his daring deeds during boring policy meetings or intelligence briefs.

This is Trump as bystander to a crisis situation. (ctrl-F for germaphobe)

(h/t to hurtsdonut_ on reddit)

He was also just a couple of blocks away from the World Trade Center on 9/11. Cadet Bone Spurs sure didn't run in there...

[msteelers]

So my local sheriff doesn’t want to wait for the FL legislature. He is asking all of the local firearms dealers in the county to voluntarily stop selling weapons to people under 21 years old.

Let’s assume all of the stores agree, and stop selling to people under the age of 21. Is that legal?

I know dealers can deny service to people. But there would be an uproar if they wouldn’t sell firearms to black people, and would almost certainly lose that case in court. Bakers can’t deny their services to gay people. Well, age is a protected class too, isn’t it?

So can a weapons dealer deny a sale based on the age of the buyer?

At least one dealer here says they’ve been already doing it for over four years.

Side note: there are over 80 federally licensed arms dealers in St Lucie County. That seems like a lot, especially for a county this size.

[Zaxxon]

[LawBeefaroni]

So my local sheriff doesn’t want to wait for the FL legislature. He is asking all of the local firearms dealers in the county to voluntarily stop selling weapons to people under 21 years old.

Let’s assume all of the stores agree, and stop selling to people under the age of 21. Is that legal?

I know dealers can deny service to people. But there would be an uproar if they wouldn’t sell firearms to black people, and would almost certainly lose that case in court. Bakers can’t deny their services to gay people. Well, age is a protected class too, isn’t it?

So can a weapons dealer deny a sale based on the age of the buyer?

At least one dealer here says they’ve been already doing it for over four years.

Side note: there are over 80 federally licensed arms dealers in St Lucie County. That seems like a lot, especially for a county this size.

They can probably do it. They are allowed to refuse a sale to anyone. Age is more defensible than race or gender.

Here in Illinois you have to be 21 to get a FOID and you need a FOID to buy a firearm. So it's not unprecedented.

[tjg_marantz]

Georgia

The Georgia Senate blocked a lucrative tax break bill on Monday that would benefit Delta Air Lines after the Atlanta-based company severed ties with the National Rifle Association.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle said he would not support tax legislation that helped the airline “unless the company changes its position and fully reinstates its relationship with the NRA.” He echoed a growing number of conservatives who opposed the measure over the weekend.
...
That move forced Gov. Nathan Deal and other supporters of the $50 million jet fuel sales tax exemption to shift to the defensive, and prompted a growing number of Republicans to try to strip the provision out of a broader tax-cut bill that has already passed the state House.

Is that because Delta nixed their NRA discount? That's crazy.

Yes

[Jag]

Georgia

The Georgia Senate blocked a lucrative tax break bill on Monday that would benefit Delta Air Lines after the Atlanta-based company severed ties with the National Rifle Association.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle said he would not support tax legislation that helped the airline “unless the company changes its position and fully reinstates its relationship with the NRA.” He echoed a growing number of conservatives who opposed the measure over the weekend.
...
That move forced Gov. Nathan Deal and other supporters of the $50 million jet fuel sales tax exemption to shift to the defensive, and prompted a growing number of Republicans to try to strip the provision out of a broader tax-cut bill that has already passed the state House.

Is that because Delta nixed their NRA discount? That's crazy.

Just goes to show how much insane power the NRA wields to control all levels of the government. Federal and State. It is sickening.

[hepcat]

Delta is the largest employer in Atlanta. I think they just need to threaten to leave Georgia and the two faced hypocrites trying to punish them for something they shouldn't have any right to will quickly change their tune. It's not like they have a backbone.

[LawBeefaroni]

Delta is the largest employer in Atlanta. I think they just need to threaten to leave Georgia and the two faced hypocrites trying to punish them for something they shouldn't have any right to will quickly change their tune. It's not like they have a backbone.

They don't have a backbone but they have the airport. Delta can't just switch their largest hub on a dime. Don't see them finding space in Detroit or MSP. It's a game if chicken.

At least until the $8B O'Hare expansion is completed, maybe.

[hepcat]

Delta has their main headquarters there. I'm aware that the logistics of just moving all service out of Atlanta is unrealistic. But threatening to move your main headquarters...or even some parts of it...is a bit more realistic.

[Rip]

Delta is the largest employer in Atlanta. I think they just need to threaten to leave Georgia and the two faced hypocrites trying to punish them for something they shouldn't have any right to will quickly change their tune. It's not like they have a backbone.

They don't have a backbone but they have the airport. Delta can't just switch their largest hub on a dime. Don't see them finding space in Detroit or MSP. It's a game if chicken.

At least until the $8B O'Hare expansion is completed, maybe.

Can you imagine the work of just rerouting national air travel even if you had somewhere else ready? It is almost impossible to fly anywhere across the country without hitting Atlanta or Dallas.

[Remus West]

Delta is the largest employer in Atlanta. I think they just need to threaten to leave Georgia and the two faced hypocrites trying to punish them for something they shouldn't have any right to will quickly change their tune. It's not like they have a backbone.

They don't have a backbone but they have the airport. Delta can't just switch their largest hub on a dime. Don't see them finding space in Detroit or MSP. It's a game if chicken.

At least until the $8B O'Hare expansion is completed, maybe.

I'd LOVE to see Michigan step up and offer Delta a huge tax break to come here with their main hub. Reopen portions of Metro that have been closed down and expand if they need to to meet the demand for space. Although they would undoubtedly need to repair sections to reopen them.

[Remus West]

Delta is the largest employer in Atlanta. I think they just need to threaten to leave Georgia and the two faced hypocrites trying to punish them for something they shouldn't have any right to will quickly change their tune. It's not like they have a backbone.

They don't have a backbone but they have the airport. Delta can't just switch their largest hub on a dime. Don't see them finding space in Detroit or MSP. It's a game if chicken.

At least until the $8B O'Hare expansion is completed, maybe.

Can you imagine the work of just rerouting national air travel even if you had somewhere else ready? It is almost impossible to fly anywhere across the country without hitting Atlanta or Dallas.

Maybe from where you are. I can easily get anywhere in the nation without hitting either of those cities.

[Chaz]

Yeah, I don't think I've ever been through Atlanta or Dallas, and I've flown cross country a few times.

[Isgrimnur]

McCarran International isn't a hub for anyone anymore.

[tjg_marantz]

Delta should go back (well pre merger with what's their face) to Minnesota.

[El Guapo]

Delta can't back down on this now. For one, if it reinstated the NRA discount, then it would probably face pressure and boycotts from anti-NRA people, and leave no one totally satisfied with it. Plus as has been pointed out it's not like it lacks leverage vis-à-vis Georgia - it's not like it can switch hubs at the drop of a hat, but I assume that it's feasible over a few years. All Delta really would need to do is begin exploring other hubs and the process for moving things out of Georgia, leak that, and the Georgia GOP would get at least a little nervous. Plus honestly it should be exploring that anyway - part of the problem is that if the Georgia government is willing to do this, it's probably willing to cause Georgia trouble over other conservative bugaboos too.

However, I imagine that this would be effective at deterring other major corporations from cutting ties with the NRA.

[LawBeefaroni]

Why are they calling this a Delta boycott of the NRA? All they're doing is not providing a discount to NRA members. Basically Delta is opting not to provide them with promotional coupons.

[Pyperkub]

You gotta love the GOP identity politics.

[hepcat]

Now being served in the congressional cafeteria: Gun Fries.

[Blackhawk]

Well, at least Georgia knows who bought its government.

[LordMortis]

However, I imagine that this would be effective at deterring other major corporations from cutting ties with the NRA.

Or committing to major ties with Georgia...

[El Guapo]

However, I imagine that this would be effective at deterring other major corporations from cutting ties with the NRA.

Or committing to major ties with Georgia...

Also true.

[Isgrimnur]

The claim by one of the students is that CNN didn't want him to ask his question about using armed veterans at schools. Instead he was supposed to ask some scripted question. CNN responded as below to RCP which published the story.

UPDATE: CNN released the following statement Thursday morning:

CNN did not, and does not, script any questions for town hall meetings, ever.

That kid is not going to be too popular with his peers.

There were several questions and comments about armed guards in school during the town hall. I wouldn't be surprised if CNN didn't want the kid to ask the question because they felt like the topic was already adequately covered.

Reading the original story it felt like he was lying or heavily misinterpreting the situation. He was pushing a CNN is forcing some question down my throat angle.

"I expected to be able to ask my questions and give my opinion on my questions," Haab said.

"Colton Haab, a member of the Junior ROTC who shielded classmates in the midst of terror says he did not get to share his experience," WPLG's Janine Stanwood explained.

"Colton wrote questions about school safety, suggested using veterans as armed school security guards but claims CNN wanted him to ask a scripted question instead so he decided not to go," Stanwood reported.

"CNN had originally asked me to write a speech and questions and it ended up being all scripted," Haab said. "I don't think that it's going get anything accomplished. It's not gonna ask the true questions that all the parents and teachers and students have."

AP

The network says Glenn Haab, the father of Marjory Stoneman Douglas junior Colton Haab, doctored emails to push a claim that the network told his son what to say at the forum. Colton Haab backed out of the Feb. 21 event.

CNN denies scripting any remarks and released an email exchange between a CNN producer and Glenn Haab that it says Glenn Haab altered. The altered email was sent to other news outlets, including Fox News.

Haab acknowledges omitting some words from the email but says he didn't do it on purpose.
...

I mean, who doesn't accidentally delete words out of the middle of a forwarded correspondence?

[hepcat]

This just gets funnier and funnier with repeated views.. If you pause at some points, you can see the panic as he realizes he’s been called out and he has no facts to back his claims that Planned Parenthood gets discounts from Delta Airlines. I love that the cnn anchor just decimated him.

[Jag]

This just gets funnier and funnier with repeated views.. If you pause at some points, you can see the panic as he realizes he’s been called out and he has no facts to back his claims that Planned Parenthood gets discounts from Delta Airlines. I love that the cnn anchor just decimated him.

What a fucking burn. These "politicians" are pathetic. They get their facts from right wing blogs and can't back up any of the stupid shit they say.

[GreenGoo]

I mean, who doesn't accidentally delete words out of the middle of a forwarded correspondence?

Whoops, butter fingers.

[YellowKing]

That trainwreck of an interview is a perfect example of why I'm done with the GOP.

It's one thing to disagree philosophically on issues, or the way to go about solving problems. Generally we're all trying to achieve the same goal, we just differ on how to get there. That's the two-party system I was brought up on, and the one I adhered to.

Now it's turned into, "I'm living in a made-up fantasy world of my own creation, and I'm going to believe in this alternative reality that can easily be disproven by simple fact-checking."

It seriously boggles my mind.

[Skinypupy]

What. The. Fuck.

Speaking at a conference in Juneau last week, Alaska Congressman Don Young argued against gun control by suggesting Jews might not have died in the Holocaust if they had been armed.

“How many millions of people were shot and killed because they were unarmed? Fifty million in Russia,” Young said. “How many Jews were put in the ovens because they were unarmed?”

The recording was provided by Dimitri Shein, an Anchorage Democrat who is running for Young’s seat. Shein was in the audience for Young’s speech to the Alaska Municipal League and he asked Young about school safety, which prompted Young to bring up the Holocaust.

[LawBeefaroni]

What. The. Fuck.

Speaking at a conference in Juneau last week, Alaska Congressman Don Young argued against gun control by suggesting Jews might not have died in the Holocaust if they had been armed.

“How many millions of people were shot and killed because they were unarmed? Fifty million in Russia,” Young said. “How many Jews were put in the ovens because they were unarmed?”

The recording was provided by Dimitri Shein, an Anchorage Democrat who is running for Young’s seat. Shein was in the audience for Young’s speech to the Alaska Municipal League and he asked Young about school safety, which prompted Young to bring up the Holocaust.

It's a common 2A trope: Hitler disarmed the citizenry, ergo Jewish genocide. It's bad to begin with but his condensed version is even worse.

I also don't get the 50m Russian dead. The high estimates are 30M dead total and that includes 8M+ military, at least 6M of whom we're KIA. They were definitely not unarmed.

The vast ignorance and rote adherence to talking points continues...

[LordMortis]

That trainwreck of an interview is a perfect example of why I'm done with the GOP.

It's one thing to disagree philosophically on issues, or the way to go about solving problems. Generally we're all trying to achieve the same goal, we just differ on how to get there. That's the two-party system I was brought up on, and the one I adhered to.

Now it's turned into, "I'm living in a made-up fantasy world of my own creation, and I'm going to believe in this alternative reality that can easily be disproven by simple fact-checking."

It seriously boggles my mind.

Please show me where this is true.

Agree to disagree.

That's not how it works. That's not how any of this works. But yeah, that is an example of why I can't say I lean conservative any more, of why it almost feels shameful to say when reasonable, I believe in individual rights trump group rights, and I still believe much of government should be local. The modern GOP has ruined what it means to lean conservative.

[Jag]

That trainwreck of an interview is a perfect example of why I'm done with the GOP.

It's one thing to disagree philosophically on issues, or the way to go about solving problems. Generally we're all trying to achieve the same goal, we just differ on how to get there. That's the two-party system I was brought up on, and the one I adhered to.

Now it's turned into, "I'm living in a made-up fantasy world of my own creation, and I'm going to believe in this alternative reality that can easily be disproven by simple fact-checking."

It seriously boggles my mind.

I agree. I am fairly conservative and generally my issues align with Republicans (except for abortion), but no more. I can't in good conscience support any Republican until there is a massive shakeup in the party. They are the biggest threat to our democracy that they falsely claim to support.

[AWS260]