- reverse pyromania
- Posts
- Re-entry
I’m back from vacation. Jet-lagged and sporting a head cold, but happy to be back home in clean mountain air nonetheless.
As I sorted through the latest news and happenings before writing this, I realized that the sheer volume of total insanity on the news and in the public discourse is well, totally insane in and of itself.
So, some quick hitters to ease my re-entry into information overload.
All Charlie Kirk all the time. Look, I get this was a high profile and truly horrific event that played out very visibly in the news and on social media. The killer should be tried, and if found guilty, receive the punishment that our jury system decides is appropriate for such a heinous act. At the same time, it’s fair to simply point out (through direct quotes from Charlie himself) that his views on many subjects - however calmly presented - were not mainstream and, were, in fact, antithetical to the historical aspiration (to which our country has ALWAYS fallen short) of what being American truly means. Ta-Nehisi Coates and Kevin Kruse delve into this much more eloquently than me.
Incompetence is a feature, not a bug. The sheer incompetence, and disinterest in actually doing their jobs - of members of this Administration is truly unprecedented and mind-boggling.
Exhibit 1: RFK, Jr. the Secretary of HHS, never even tried to contact the acting Director of the CDC during or after a crazed anti-vaxx person shot up the CDC campus, killing one person. From The Guardian: “…On 8 August, a shooter fired more than 500 rounds at the CDC headquarters, with 180 bullets hitting the building. Houry said her staff was “traumatized”. Kennedy did not call Monarez following the shooting, Monarez testified.”
Exhibit 2: Kash Patel, the Director of the FBI, did not rcognize the name of one of the most notorious recent mass shooting perpetrators. Also from the Guardian:
'Dylan Ruth?' FBI director Kash Patel fails to recognize name of Charleston mass murderer Dylann Roof
In a remarkable moment during his appearance before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, the FBI director, Kash Patel, appeared not to recognize the name of the white supremacist murderer, Dylann Roof, who killed nine Black congregants at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015.
At the start of a series of questions on violent extremism coming from both sides of the partisan divide, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, a Democratic congresswoman from Los Angeles, asked Patel to tell her if he disagreed with the characterization that several violent extremists were motivated by rightwing views.
“So Dylann Roof, who followed white supremacist propaganda, murdered nine Black parishioners in Charleston in 2015. Do you deny this?” Kamlager-Dove asked Patel.
“I’m sorry, Dylan Ruth?” Patel asked, puzzled.
“Roof,” Kamlager-Dove corrected him.
“Roof. Can you give me some more information?” Patel asked.
“You’re head of the FBI, you probably know this,” Kamlager-Dove said. “If you don’t know, that’s fine.”
“If you can give me a reminder, I’ve got a lot in front of me,” Patel said.
“It was national news,” Kamlager-Dove said. She then moved on to ask if Patel disagreed with the statement that “Robert Bowers murdered 11 Jewish worshippers in Pittsburgh in 2018–”
“I do remember that”,” Patel interjected.
“And it was the deadliest antisemitic attack. So do you admit that that happened?” Kamlager-Dove asked.
“I’m not saying the other thing didn’t happen, I’m just asking for a little information,” Patel replied.
Corporatism and money is, literally, killing people and our system. Here’s a bit of an obscure article from the WSJ that encapsulates everything that is wrong with de-regulation, corporate power and money in the good ole’ USofA:
Toxic Fumes Are Leaking Into Airplanes, Sickening Crews and Passengers
Doctors compare brain effects to concussions in NFL players. A Wall Street Journal investigation shows the problem is getting worse and not much is being done about it
Regulators knew about this harmful design flaw. Airlines knew. Airplane manufacturers knew. Industry advocacy groups knew. Congress knows. Yet, corporate lobbyists and big donors have convinced them all to sacrifice the health and welfare of fliers, especially professionals fliers including pilots and flight attendants, in pursuit of the almighty dollar.
We are so screwed…
I’ll be back with more uplifting content in the near future.
Reply