HATERS HATE

(A cautionary note:  This might be especially long since I am just overflowing with important ideas/thoughts.)

I have few words in my vocabulary to describe the horror of the murders in Charleston.  I refer you to Jon Stewart who devoted his monologue that evening to the murders and to Charles Pierce in an Esquire online column. Their words are better than mine.  I will,however, say this.  I shall not ascribe this to some berserk individual with mental health problems.  I will not suggest that with better gun laws, this could have been avoided.  I will say that this is rooted the culture of the South and that, yup, that fucking confederate flag is a powerful message.

Speaking of which, I take no solace in the actions of politicians who want the flag taken down in tribute to the 9 parishioners.  Where have they been in, oh say, the last 150 years?  They are not leaders--they are sheep. Even now, some of them just do not get it and see no problem with the flag display.  Damn, even those NASCAR red necks are getting rid of it. So Lindsey Graham and Governor Haley are not to be admired. They are to be despised for failing to address the cultural issues only after 9 people lay dead.  They play to the worse instincts in their community and then are surprised that members of that community react with such venom.

An anecdote from reader DK:  The gun club in Powder Springs, Georgia was just granted a license to serve alcohol.  Really, they can now not just carry weapons but carry them while inebriated.  A terrific message to members of that place.  If I lived there, I would be locking my doors right now.

Then we have the recent decisions of the Supreme Court.  Jeffrey Toobin has said that it is a mistake to call this the Roberts court.  It is in fact Kennedy's court.  On almost every 5-4 decision, it is Kennedy who is the key fifth vote and joins the 4 Liberals. He was the fifth vote in the decision regarding gay marriage.  And he was one of 6 (joined by Roberts) in the decision regarding the Affordable Care Act.  Anybody still wondering why it is important to vote in Presidential elections should remember who gets to appoint judges--for life.  I was especially happy for Mary Bonauto, the lawyer who got to argue the case before the Supremes.  She is the woman who litigated the initial case here in Massachusetts and she has now seen it to the finish.  But, oh my and guess what?

Some of our nations finest politicians (most of whom are, yup, from the south and most of whom are running for the Republican presidential nomination) do not like either decision and are twisting themselves into pretzels to let us know how they believe in the law of the land but this might be going too far.  All of us need to respect the decision about PAC money having no limit and all of us need to respect other court decisions but we do not have to let the court interfere in our state in this case.  Just read what Jindal, Huckabee, Trump, and those other losers have to say about these decisions.  They really do hate poor people and that's why poor people do not deserve insurance.  And they hate gay people and that's why they should not have the right to marry.  Kick all of those yokels to the curb.  And they are the leaders of their party and get away with this shit.  More sheep.

Items:
--Neil Young told the Donald that he could not use Neil's song "Rocking in the Free World" in his campaign because Neil is supporting Bernie Sanders.  Neil is Canadian and does not vote here anyhow.  Trump is so angry about immigration from the south, he probably forgot Canada is a separate country. His language about Mexican immigrants is more hatred.
--I am worried about all these training bases we are setting up in Iraq.  If any of us think our soldiers will not suffer injuries or even die, we are mistaken.  Being there is a big time risk and I am very nervous.
--Hungary, one of Hitler's best friends, wants to put up a fence to keep immigrants out--I wonder who will pick their fruit.  If Hungary bordered the Mediterranean, they might want to put fences on the beaches of Southern Europe.
--Do all of you know there is such a thing as Pilates Gyrotonic.  What is that and why?
--There is also a national association of herbalists who do not believe in mainstream medicine.  What is that about and why?
--There is an association for the owners of school buses.  Guess what?  Their main objective is to avoid having to put seat belts in their buses.  You have any kids or grand kids who ride those big yellow buses?
--A great but deeply disturbing book by Jon Krakauer.  He "embedded" himself in Missoula, Montana to write about sexual assaults perpetrated by members of the University of Montana's football team.  This is an ugly disquieting story but perhaps is not surprising given the increase in sexual assaults on campuses.  Just check out the Vanderbilt situation and their football team.
--The FDA is banning trans fat--good for them.
--When this week and last week are taken together, the Prez has had a pretty good time.
--Shout out to H.  who followed advice and loved Key West.  I cannot wait to return.

SPORTS TALK
--One item. Grant Wahl writes for SI and is a soccer specialist.  He is just excellent.  But right after the Supremes issued their gay marriage decision, he did something very special.  He talked about the decision in light of the "out" gay women on the U.S. Women's National team.  And the coach of that team who is married to a woman and has a 12 year old daughter.  Just excellent journalism.

Sayonara