Life

2020 Vision

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Do you have perfect vision?  If the doctor says so, good for you.  You know that hindsight is always 2020.  What about your foresight?  What does the year, no decade, look like to you?

We aren’t too much into measuring or evaluating priorities or goals when the calender provides the moment.  We prefer an ongoing soul search actually.  However, a new year starts only once every 365 days, and a decade only starts once every 3653 days.  It’s a good time to look forward and dream a little.

So, if you’re reading this we know that you’re capable of taking a look.  BBR readers are off of the charts smart and our staff is glad to have you on board.

What’s your 20’s decade vision for your work, your family, your friends, your interests, and yourself?  May we suggest that if your goal is to do better than the past, define better.  What is better?  What does it mean?  With your 2020 vision look for it.  With your 2020 vision you’ll see it.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Decade!

I’ll be Home(less) for Christmas

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

I’ll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?  The lyrics don’t work so well if you don’t have a home though.

And, apparently in California the lyrics don’t work so well.  New statistics released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that California’s 16.4% increase in homeless was “entirely” responsible for the nation’s overall increase of 2.7% by early 2019.

So if the nation’s homeless population increased by 2.7% and Cali increased by 16.4%, and that was “entirely” responsible for the increase, that means either less people were homeless in all of the other states, or they all moved to California.

Which one was it?  If 49 states found a way to reduce the national embarrassment, how did they do it?  Perhaps it was more drug addition, alcohol addiction, or mental health treatment?  With the national unemployment near zero, did some find permanent work, and by extension housing?  Or, did the nation’s homeless catch a ride to the left side of the continent?  If so, why?  Is it because California is more tolerant and accommodative?

These aren’t easy questions to ask, and the answers might be much more complex than meets the eye.  But, isn’t it time, actually past time, that we asked the tough questions? As a nation are we willing to accept the tough answers and get after fixing the problem rather than passing it by under a tent under an overpass?

California Governor Gavin Newsom thinks so.    He said earlier this week, “It is an embarrassment, it is unacceptable. And we’ve got to own it, we’ve got to own up and solve it.”  How?  Newsom and other Democrats in California insist the solution is more federal money for housing.  Donald J. Trump disagrees. He tweeted, “Governor Gavin N has done a really bad job on taking care of the homeless population in California. If he can’t fix the problem, the Federal Govt. will get involved!”

We wonder if giving(throwing money at) housing to those without a house helps anything long term.  You’ve heard of “give a man a fish and he eats for a day, but teach him how to fish and he can feed himself for a lifetime,” haven’t you?  Is the problem not having a home? Or, is the problem not doing enough good in society to be paid in kind for it and then renting or buying a place to live?

For a person homelessness should be a short term problem.  Society should look for a long term solution.  Gavin Newsom needs to lead the charge for change in how this is addressed, not lead the cry for national cash to address it.

You don’t get to tell the federal government to stay out of your sanctuary cities, but come build your homeless a city.  Trump won’t carry California in 2020.  There is not a chance.  But he might have to step in to solve it’s problem for it’s downtrodden to have a chance.

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Kitchen Sink

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s cold outside this morning regardless almost of where you are.  Time to make a pot of soup, or a Ten Piece Nuggets.  What do you want in it?  Everything but the kitchen sink sounds good.  So, we’re going deep in the panty to give you ten random thoughts, in no particular order, and covering no particular subject matter, though sports and the political madness are the roux.  If we cook them slow enough maybe they’ll all come together.  If they don’t we’ll go get an Impossible Burger later.

  1.  How long is the list before you get to Drew Brees as the greatest all time QB in NFL history?  It’s hard to measure this objectively.  Different periods of football, rules changes, differences in the order of importance of the metrics?  How important are Super Bowl wins?  For the sake of argument let’s afford him one more before he goes.  Where would you put him then?  We’d go with third best ever.  Tom Brady has to get the nod given the Super Bowl performances and wins.  Joe Montana would be second for much of the same plus his accuracy.  Peyton Manning and John Elway aren’t far behind.
  2. What fundamentally changes after Donald Trump is impeached, tried, and acquitted? The Republicans did a nice job of digging in and combating the Trump named “witch hunt.”  Democrats insisted on a ready, fire, aim approach.  They sure have a lot of bullets, but we aren’t sure that any hit a bullseye unless you don’t like him to begin with.  Dislike doesn’t rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors, hence America’s collective yawn.  If you were for it or against it before this started, you still are from whence you came.
  3. The college bowl season gets underway this weekend.  Forty one bowls are on tap in all.  Eighty teams in all as two will play two games including the last one for the biggest prize.  If you win as many regular season games as you lost or win one more, you’re in.  If you are already feeling college football withdrawals, you might tune into something named the Bahamas Bowl brought to you by Meineke Mufflers featuring Idaho St. v.  William and Mary.  Or, you might not.
  4. Coincidence or not?  Elizabeth Warren’s polling numbers peaked in late October.  They’ve slid since.  The collective pharmaceutical stock prices slid until her numbers peaked.  The stocks have been sharply higher since late October.
  5.  For the first time since 2010 Alabama did not have a first team All American named.  Injuries, graduation and youth played a role.  But at Alabama injuries, graduation, and youth hasn’t ever got in the way before.  Is this the beginning of the end of the greatest 10 year run in college football history?  Or is it a one year aberration?  If you don’t think Nick Saban is working well into the evening to insure it’s the latter, they you don’t know much about his work ethic and burning desire to achieve.
  6. Joe Biden is apparently the clear front runner again in the race to face the man with the orange face.  It’s been nearly a week since Sleepy Joe has mixed up the decade that we are in or the state that he is in.  He’s been in Iowa for two weeks straight.  So, that part might be a bit easier for him.  Trump needs no one to tell him how to run a race for President.  But, he’d be wise to challenge Biden to more than the usual number of debates if Biden gets the nomination.  Anyone remember how tired Hillary Clinton was at the end of it all?  How tired was she?  Glad you asked.  She was so tired that she forgot to make a concession speech the evening of the election.
  7. The NBA season is nearing a third complete.  League viewership ratings are down significantly.  Questions abound and answers need to be found.  Have the early season matchups coincided with marquee players injuries making the matchups less interesting? Sure.  Have the number of people who have cut the cord (no more cable or satellite tv) made it harder to find the games?  Sure.  Will the end of the football season have the ratings go up for the NBA?  Sure, but it always does.  Is the NBA concerned?  Damn sure.  Did the NBA turn off the fan who supports the freedom protests in Hong Kong?  Sure, but to what degree and for how long?  Did the NBA fan appreciate the LeBron lecture on China and all that is right with it?  Not sure.
  8. It seems like the persona that James Comey wanted you to know and feel with his testimony, tweets, Trump attacks, book, and book tour might have taken a hit in the last week.  Even Comey himself was forced to admit on Chris Wallace’s Fox News Sunday Show that the FISA process (the keys to the engine that drove the “Russian interference” investigation in the 2016 election) was rife with problems as the proper process was not followed.  That’s being kind to the process actually.   Criminal proceedings, maybe not against Comey, will result after AG Barr has his final say.  The investigation, like the deep state that caused it, goes deeper now.
  9.  MLB calls this time of the year “The Hot Stove League.”  It’s been hotter than Hades for one team.  The Houston Astros lost game seven of the World Series in late October.  Since then they have lost Gerrit Cole, three major league scouts, the team President Reid Ryan (son of Nolan), advisor Nolan Ryan (dad of the President),  and significant credibility.  The investigation into the allegation that they were stealing signs electronically after being warned repeatedly to not do so continues.  When it’s complete astute league followers expect suspensions of manager AJ Hinch, GM Jeff Luhnow, and perhaps others.  Fines in the millions and lost draft picks are almost a certainty as well.  It was a model franchise in the eyes of many not long ago.  No more.  The mess must be dealt with, and dealt with strongly.  It’ll be late February or early March of 2020 before the investigation is complete we are told.
  10.  Their is an age old saying in politics.  People vote their wallets.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 28,332.74 on Monday, meaning it has rallied 10,000 points, or more than 54 percent, since Trump’s election victory on November 8, 2016.   There are 11 long months to go till we find out.

I’ll have the Impossible Burger, no mayo please.

Blowing Smoke and Whistles Too

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Once upon a time smoking cigarettes was all the rage.  Later it was tolerated.  Now it’s downright frowned upon.  America does change it’s collective mind over time.  Smokers.  What to do?  What to do?

Well, it seems like we have come to another of those crossroads.  This one isn’t about blowing smoke however. This one is about blowing whistles.  Whistleblowers.  What to do?  What to do?

Yesterday your tax dollars were hard at work as the Intelligence (misnomer) Committee of the US House convened and began it’s Impeachment Inquiry hearings.  Chairman Adam Schiff began the hearings by recognizing himself and launched into his narrative as to why they were indeed convened and what the findings would be as witnesses were paraded in front of the esteemed members of the body.

But not one minute into his diatribe he was interrupted.  “Point of order, point of order!”  When recognized, one Republican malcontent, Jim Jordan asked the chairman when the committee might be able to interview the whistleblower who broke this latest scandal of many scandals against Donald J. Trump.  After all Rep Jordan said, ” the chairman and his staff are the only ones who have had a chance to talk to him.”

Schiff said that he had not talked to him and did not know who he was.  And, he said he would do everything possible to protect his identity.  Late yesterday the Washington Post awarded Chairman Schiff “Four Pinocchio’s,” the highest (lowest) score for an outright lie the paper gives.  Oops.

Meanwhile, Project Veritas put a video out last week that showed an ABC News Anchor caught on a hot mic and a hot camera.  You can see that here.  In two minutes she told the story of how she had all of the dirt on dirtbag Jeffery Epstein years ago.  Yet, she continues, ABC squashed the story fearing that the Royal Palace would rain (reign) down on their head as allegations of illegal dalliances on the fantasy island included Prince Andrew.

ABC was so outraged at this development that they alerted CBS of this inexcusable leak of this video pirate and whistleblower.  Why?  ABC thought they knew who the leaker (a producer who moved to CBS) was and they wanted action.  CBS took action.  They fired this whistleblower faster than any termination on the hit show The Apprentice.  Apparently the industry wanted this person “outed.”  The only problem was that it turns out that they fired the wrong person.  Oops.

The search continues.  The very media that is carefully protecting the identity of the Washington whistleblower of the withholding of the Ukrainian aid, quid pro quo, Hunter Biden, we got Donald this time, blah, blah, blah has put their industry’s whistleblower on the Ten Most Wanted List.  Get your pitchforks and lanterns.  Impeachment is one thing, but protecting Jeffery Epstein’s reputation is quite another for some reason.

Meanwhile, in the world of sports, the World Series losing Houston Astros were accused of cheating once again.  The claim that they were stealing opposition pitching signs with electronic help flared up in the World Series against the Washington (home of the unidentified whistleblower and Schiff confidant) Nationals. After denying the accusation once more the WS came and went.

But.  The story broke Tuesday that they may have indeed been stealing signs in 2017, the year they actually won the WS.  Citing four sources Major League Baseball has begun it’s investigation.  It’s similar to an Intelligence Committee we assume, but likely more intelligent.  The Astros announced that they were joining/cooperating with MLB in the investigation.

Except this one is different.  Sometimes where there’s smoke, there’s fire.  There is no Trump, no Epstein, but there is a fire.  Mike Fiers pitched for the Astros in 2017 and he came straight out and said that they were cheating. Fiers now pitches for the Oakland Athletics, close competitors of the Astros, much like CBS is a close competitor of ABC.  Fiers, as one of the four whistleblowers, put himself right out there.  Oops said GM Jeffery Luhnow.

Three whistleblowers are at the center of three major stories all at the same time.  One remains anonymous (sort of) and has big brother on it’s side.  One is on the run even though he/she isn’t running and has the media on the hunt.  And one put his name right on the dotted line.

As they say, “Only in America!”  Smoke em if you got em!

 

From Fair to Middling to Face the Music.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Saturday was not a good day for Florida St. football.  Again.  The Seminoles were worked over by in state rival Miami 27-10.  And, Miami is no juggernaut.  So, on Sunday the AD and the boosters decided to move in another direction coaching wise.  They told Willie Taggart it was time to “face the music” which never sounds like your Spotify favorite song is about to hit your ear buds.  Hmm.  Where did the phrase “face the music” come from?

A commonly repeated assertion is that ‘face the music’ originated from the tradition of disgraced officers being ‘drummed out’ of their regiment. A second popular theory is that it was UK actors who ‘faced the music’, that is, faced the orchestra pit, when they went on stage.

Willie Taggart had a 9-12 record, and the Seminoles were 0-5 against in-state rivals Miami and Florida and ACC rival Clemson.  At Florida St. his teams performance went from not good to unacceptable.  Maybe he would have been given one more season if they looked like they were making progress this season.  But they digressed from “fair to middling” to “time to make a change.”  Hmm.  Where did the phrase “fair to middling” come from?

As to the derivation of ‘fair to middling’ we need to know what ‘middling’ referred to. The word was and is a term used by farmers to describe the quality of farm produce, especially sheep, of ordinary quality. There were several loosely defined grades of produce: ‘good’, ‘fair, ‘middling’, ‘ordinary’ and ‘poor’.

‘Middling’ is an old Scottish word and has been in use since at least the 15th century with the same meaning as now, that is, ‘of medium or moderate size, strength, and quality.’

Poor Mr. Taggart.  He’s worse than fair to middling and he had to face the music.  Well, at least he’s got about $20 million in buyout money to ease the punch to the psyche.

Where to from here for the coach?  Maybe ole Nick Saban, aka the coach rehab specialist, will ring Willie’s cell.  How about a job as an analyst?  The pay isn’t all that, but it isn’t the checkbook that’s hurting.

Thanks Einstein!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

In a country that could use a pause, who better to give us inspiration while desperately seeking answers than the one and only Albert Einstein himself.

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics (alongside quantum mechanics).  His body of work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. Clearly he is best known for his mass/energy equivalence formula , which has been dubbed “the world’s most famous equation”.  He received the Nobel Prize in Physics “for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect”, a pivotal step in the development of quantum theory.

Perhaps the smartest person, at least in a few disciplines, to ever walk on the face of this earth, we offer seven super Einstein quotes from over a hundred years ago that might help us along our way today.

  1.  Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.
  2.  Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.

3.  Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.
4.  Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
5.  If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.
6.  The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.
7.  Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either.

In 1933, while Einstein was visiting the United States, Adolf Hitler assumed power in Germany.   Because of his Jewish background, Einstein did not return to Germany.   He settled in the United States and became an American citizen in 1940.  He passed in 1955.

Too bad he isn’t alive today.  Maybe he’d inspire us further with a successful run for public office, any office.  Nah, clearly he was too smart for that.

 

 

 

Justice Is, Was, Should Be Blind.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Surely you are familiar with the Jussie Smollet accusation, police report, investigation, charges, charges dismissed, and special investigator appointed saga aren’t you?  Smollet, is an openly gay African American actor who fabricated a story of two white men physically assaulting him after they spewed racial and homophobic slurs in the wee hours of a very cold Chicago morning last year.

Well, it took another turn after another twist yesterday.  It turns out that the special investigator appointed has contributed funds in the past to the reelection campaign of the DA he was appointed to investigate.  Back to square one this mess goes.

Also, while high profile, but not quite the same page turner, yesterday the unnamed sixth-grade girl at a private Virginia school who accused three classmates last week of forcibly cutting her dreadlocks now says the allegations were false, according to statements from the girl’s family and the principal at Immanuel Christian School in Springfield.

The 12-year-old, who is African American, said three white male students held her down in a school playground a week ago during recess, covered her mouth, called her insulting names and used scissors to cut her hair.   The grandparents of the girl, who are her legal guardians, released an apology Monday.

The Fairfax County NAACP acknowledged the sixth-grader’s charge was false but cautioned against a rush to judgment about the validity of allegations of racial violence.

“Too often in these rare instances of fabricated hate crimes, critics use a broad brush to claim racially motivated crimes are virtually non-existent,” the organization stated. “This is demonstrably wrong. Data from numerous sources, including the Anti-Defamation League, the FBI, and the Justice Department, shows bias motivated crimes are on the rise, year over year.”  “Bias motivated” is a very broad umbrella.

So all of this makes us wonder.

Why are there even rare instances of fabricated hate crimes?  Is the lying accuser wanting personal attention?  Are they acting out because they feel it will draw attention to a problem that is under reported and far too common?  Given the intense scrutiny and sensitivity of the examples above, can they be?  Or, are they racially motivated hate crimes unto themselves?  Hmm.  It is, after all, a crime to file a false police report.  If those convicted of hate crimes get stiffer sentences, should those convicted of filing false reports of hate crimes get stiffer sentences?

And, if racially motivated crimes, real or imagined, are identified as such and the ethnicity of the accuser and the accused are identified, published, and scrutinized, then why aren’t police departments the US over allowed to describe an assailant’s race when an accuser first describes the assailant?  It’s because America wants to end racial profiling.  What is that exactly you ask?  Racial profiling refers to the practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual’s race, ethnicity, religion or national origin. Criminal profiling, generally, as practiced by police, is the reliance on a group of characteristics they believe to be associated with crime.  So identifying race in the quest to solve hate crimes is good, but in other crimes (that FAR FAR out number hate crimes) it is bad.

Besides disproportionate searching of African Americans, and members of other minority groups, other examples of racial profiling by law enforcement in the U.S. include the targeting of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the investigation of illegal immigration; and the focus on Middle Eastern and South Asians present in the country in screenings for ties to Islamic terrorism.  These suspicions are typically on the basis of racist, and/or derogatory beliefs about the group of target, and assumes the criminal ideologies of one individual from a specific racial group is a trait held by all members of that racial group.  
So, to take it one step further, everyone who ever wore “brownface” or “blackface” must apologize profusely and immediately when their transgressions were discovered.  But, should we automatically assume that everyone who ever did paint their faces have the same ideologies held by all members of that group? In other words are they all bad people with a hateful intent?  That would be racial profiling as well we think.
Don’t miss the point.  We, in no way, are trying to elevate face painting to a level of physical violence.  It’s just another example of over reaction in today’s over reaction world.
In the quest for ultimate equality does the course correction need a course correction?
Editors note:  The BBR staff recognizes the intense sensitivity surrounding the topic(s) above.  It is our hope that the above will serve a purpose to stimulate real dialogue about real problems from all sides of the issues rather than sticking our heads in the proverbial sand.

Six Questions.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

As we exit this week, thankfully, we leave you with a few(6) questions to ponder.  We’ll call this blend of politics, sports, and current events our Six Shooter for now. Perhaps this name is offensive.  Does Six Pack sound better?  Suggestions for a better name for this new feature are welcome.  But, make them good, or they will likely hit the round file.

We’ll keep it short as we, much like you, would prefer to put this week behinds us ASAP.  And, to the points to ponder we wander.

  1. In the age of media overkill, can we kill any future stories before they are printed or spoken about Antonio Brown?  The entire NFL is taking a pass on Antonio catching a pass for them.  Can the media pass?  Colin Kaepernick is holding on line two.
  2. Is Adam Schiff related to Pinocchio?   He has to be.  His ability to stare cameras in the face daily and lie right through his pearly whites has reached yet another level.  Jacob Chaffetz, the respected and recently retired Senator from Utah wrote a piece expressing his desire to see Shifty Schiff removed as House Intel Committee Chairman.  It’s from the right, and right here if you want a quick read.
  3.  The Packers are 3-1.  Their defense is better, much better, than in years gone by.  But, something doesn’t look right.  Aaron Rodgers, with last night’s game as another example, doesn’t look like Rodgers of old.  What’s wrong?  New OC?   He couldn’t get along with former HC Mike McCarthy either.  Or, as Rodgers told the world a few years back after a tough loss, “everyone needs to just chill.”
  4.  What’s more impressive, the way Joe Biden’s hair plugs have taken root, or how strong Nancy Pelosi’s Poly Grip held up this week after several press conferences?  Throw in Trump’s orange face tint and you have three very vain people at the center of the US political universe.
  5. Lamar Jackson, DeShaun Watson, and Patrick Mahomes are tomorrow’s (and some of today’s) NFL.  Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees are both injured and both may return to HOF form.  Rodgers and Rivers continue on.   But, is there any doubt, ANY doubt, that Tom Brady was yesterday’s, today’s, and likely tomorrow’s NFL?  Story lines about the NFL abound yearly.  You have to fill lots of Al Gore’s virtual world daily.  But, when the season gets long in the tooth, long in the tooth Tom seems to always be the story that matters.
  6. Thursday on CNN’s “OutFront,” 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) called on President Donald Trump to resign from the White House over the “whistleblower” complaint regarding Trump’s communications with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.  Can someone tell CNN, and then CNN could be kind enough to tell Beto, that someone’s opinion who is polling at less than 1% doesn’t really matter?  BBR is calling on Beto to resign.  Wait, he doesn’t have a job to resign from.

Tom Cruise (Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee) wanted answers from Jack Nicholson (Colonel Nathan Jessup) in A Few Good Men.  Nicholson told Cruise that “you can’t handle the truth.”  Truth be told this, once again, wasn’t America’s finest week.  Enjoy the weekend escape, and let the games begin.

Take Out This Week’s Trash

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

To put a lid on the national discourse trash that this week was, we offer you an important Baltimore Sun op ed read below.  Was it just a week or so ago that President Trump lashed out at Baltimore based Congressman Elijah Cummings’ district after old Elijah lashed out at Trump for all of the “caged” children at the border?  Was it just a week ago that we learned that “infested” is a racially charged word?

A pro Trump supporter and over 170 volunteers descended on West Baltimore to take out the trash.   Whether it was a publicity stunt or not, time will tell.  But what is so telling is the plight of the people in the blight of the rat infested neighborhoods.  What is also so telling is a newspaper writing that the poor people cannot keep their own neighborhood clean.  Does income have anything to do with cleanliness and pride?  Do drug dealers really have anything to do with keeping the trash in place?

Maybe next week will be better.  The weekend is here, everyone should take a deep breath at 5:00 pm today, pop open a beer at 5:01 pm, and chill the hell out until 8:00 am Monday.

The link to the quick read and amazingly telling, in so many ways, opinion piece is here.

Gun Control Is a Mind Game.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Saturday 20 people lost their lives in an El Paso, Texas mass shooting inside of a crowded Walmart store.  Dozens more were injured.   Early yesterday morning nine people lost their lives (including the sister of the shooter) in a crowded downtown entertainment area mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio.  Dozens more were injured as well.   And in California just last Sunday yet another mass shooting took place during a harmless outdoor festival.

Everyone agrees that all three incidents were terrible.   And everyone feels that all three incidents were avoidable.  But, were they?

Alexjandro Bedoya thinks so.   He told the crowd at the MLS game in Washington DC, right after he scored a goal, as much.  He wants Congress to do something to end gun violence. You can see the short clip here.

Elizabeth Warren and Don Lemon think that they have the answers too.  They blame Trump for fanning the flames of white nationalism.  We didn’t attach the clips because we feel like you have heard their cries before.  However, there is no concrete nor credible evidence that the Cali nor Ohio shootings follow that narrative.  The El Paso one does seem like a hate/racist crime at this point but attaching it to Trump is only a matter of opinion.

A few years ago a few mass shootings were blamed by many on radical Muslims that President Obama wouldn’t label as such.  And, there was the awful Sandy Hook elementary school killing when a deranged 20 year old who killed his school teaching mom, six adults, and 20 school aged children.

In June of 2017 during a practice session for the annual Congressional Baseball Game for Charity in Alexandria, Virginia, James Hodgkinson shot U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, U.S. Capitol Police officer Crystal Griner, congressional aide Zack Barth, and lobbyist Matt Mika.  The Virginia Attorney General concluded Hodgkinson’s attack was “an act of terrorism fueled by rage against Republican legislators”.

In a tweet just minutes ago, Trump said: “We cannot let those killed in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, die in vain.”

“Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform,” Trump continued. “We must have something good, if not GREAT, come out of these two tragic events!”

How long do you think it will be before the Democrats chastise Trump for trying to tie immigration reform to strong background checks?  Will it be by the time you read this?  Sooner?

So, it seems, this past week like in past years everyone has an opinion on why someone opened fire on innocent people.  But, it seems like the reasons actually vary wildly.  And, the pleas for gun control, gun legislation, background checks, banning assault rifles, bump stocks, semi automatics, and automatics pour out loud into the national conversation/debate.

Gun control.  How do you “gun control?”  Or, how do you control guns?  The Second Amendment gives Americans the right to bear arms.  There are 330 million of them in the possession of Americans the fifty states over.  All of the above debate doesn’t control and can’t control those already available.  And you can strengthen or lengthen background checks.  The Brady Bill mandates five days.  Does waiting, say, ten days vs five make any difference?  Bump stocks?  We banned them.  That mattered not this past week.

Weekly, one or two at a time, hundreds die across the US due to gun violence.  Some shootings are justified, while many, many are not.  But mass shootings get our attention because of their randomness and so many innocent lives lost in one fell swoop.

What all of the above doesn’t address is mental illness, pure and simple.  If someone is diagnosed as mentally ill and has easy access to a gun, they shouldn’t have.  But, we submit, that ANYONE who opens fire on innocent people anywhere is mentally ill whether they are clinically diagnosed as such or not.  Why?  Shooters choose to shoot.  Consciously they make a decision to load a gun, drive to a location, and open fire over any alternative available to them to do otherwise.  And they do so for any many different reasons.   Any of those “easy out” reasons makes them choose to shoot.  And, that makes them in our eyes mentally ill.

You can’t “control” the human mind.  You can’t “legislate” it either.  You can only attempt to make it feel loved.  You can only attempt to educate it.

It makes us very uneasy when we can’t diagnose a root cause of a problem and put guard rails in to minimize or prevent it from occurring again.  Even in this very divided nation, strong minds would find an answer if there was an answer.  And, we would implement it.

But, so far, strong minds have no solution for broken minds.