Happy bump stock day, America

 There have been a lot of mass-murders under the bridge since then, but the clever device known as a bump stock jumped into the headlines on October 1, 2017, when Stephen Paddock and his curiously heavy bags checked into the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas.  His window overlooked the Route 91 Harvest festival on the Sunset Strip, and as thousands enjoyed country music he methodically shot over 400 people, killing sixty.  His motive, as they say, is still unknown, but the bump stocks allowed him to convert his assault weapons into machine guns and claim the title of worst single mass shooter in American history.  Even the scale of the horror did not move Congress or the Trump White House to infringe on the sacred right of gun ownership; it was left to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to ban the devices.  That ban has now been lifted by the most corrupt Supreme Court in US history for lacking a legislative basis, so...enjoy!  

It sounds like Timothy Muller of Fort Worth is ready to join the party.  He's been arrested for threatening to kidnap and murder the FBI agent involved in the Hunter Biden laptop case, who Muller accuses of covering up child pornography found on the world's most famous MacBook.  Conviction on three counts of gun possession this week was not nearly enough for Trumpworld.  The FBI, the laptop, child porn, the only things missing from their fever dreams are the pizza parlor basement and Hillary Clinton.

Vladimir Putin stepped up efforts to boost the Trump campaign by ordering four warships to Cuba for no obvious strategic reason.  The Cuban government says it's just a "friendly" visit and none of the vessels carries nuclear weapons, not even nuclear-powered sub Kazan.  Curious Cubans eager for any diversion are lining up to tour the ships.  Trump will no doubt boast in his birthday rant that if he were president, Putin would never dare, etc., etc.  I suppose the flotilla is safer in Havana harbor than anyplace the Ukrainians can get at it.

Ukraine still does not belong to NATO, but it signed a ten-year security agreement with the US while Putin's demands for its surrender become more strident and more desperate.  New sanctions will make money-laundering harder, too.  I claim no inside information, but even the Poison Dwarf is beholden to fellow oligarchs; I can imagine them demanding he get his "three week" war over with so they can enjoy their enormous yachts and other toys currently locked up in the west.  It's summer -- who wants to hang around the Black Sea like a schmuck?  Paris Olympics, tovarisch!

Yesterday Trump gave one of those free-association "interviews" where he insisted he wants to run against Joe Biden because he's so easy to beat, although he might throw the first debate just to get the old man coming back for the second.  Apparently Tennessee idiot Andy Ogles didn't get the message because he's still promoting the Michelle Obama substitution plot:  Hunter's conviction gives Joe the perfect cover for withdrawing from the race so Mrs. Obama can step up.  Now all he has to do is convince Michelle Obama, whose lack of interest is so total it could block out the sun. 

Ron Johnson checked in, not to defend the largest city in his state from Trump's abuse but to share another January 6 conspiracy theory:  "'We've had this massive dragnet, this massive manhunt for grandmas and grandpas that show up on January 6, never entered the Capitol, just happened to be in Washington, DC, they're taking agents, SWAT raids to arrest people that are no threat to them whatsoever."  Yes, old people are vanishing in the middle of the night.  Why is no one reporting this?  Where are they?   Poor Ron.  Try to stay in the shade, Ron.  Drink water.

Raise the flag, salute it, display it, think about what it means and what it has meant to the world.  Just don't move on it like a bitch.