Month: June 2015

WTF? Obama Visits Marc Maron’s Garage

Trish
He wore a tie?
He wore a tie?

I stay about two years behind in listening to my WTF podcasts. Until today, I never skipped ahead to listen to this or that guest being interviewed by Marc Maron, no matter how big a fan of the person I was, because there is a continuity to the episodes and I prefer to work my way through them the hard way.

That changed today. When I started to sync my iPod before walking the dog this morning, I saw that Marc’s guest for the episode dated 6/22/15 was Pres. Obama. Yes. That Pres. Obama. How could I not listen in real (so to speak, since it’s a podcast) time?

I couldn’t.

[…]

Why S.C.’s Confederate Flag Is Not at Half-Mast Following Charleston Killings

Buck Banks

In South Carolina, the governor does not have legal authority to alter the flag. Only the General Assembly can do that.

— A spokesman for South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R), quoted by ABC News, on why only the Confederate flag flying over the state capitol wasn’t at half-mast after the Charleston shootings.

Santorum Misses the Cause of the Charleston Killings

Buck Banks

This is one of those situations where you just have to take a step back and say we — you know, you talk about the importance of prayer in this time and we’re now seeing assaults on our religious liberty we’ve never seen before. It’s a time for deeper reflection beyond this horrible situation.

— GOP primary hopeful Rick Santorum, calling the church shooting in Charleston — which left nine people dead — a “crime of hate” and connected the event to a broader “assault on our religious liberty,” the Washington Post reports.

A European Perspective on Our Mass-Killing Problem

Buck Banks

The regularity of mass killings breeds familiarity. The rhythms of grief and outrage that accompany them become—for those not directly affected by tragedy—ritualized and then blend into the background noise. That normalization makes it ever less likely that America’s political system will groan into action to take steps to reduce their frequency or deadliness. Those who live in America, or visit it, might do best to regard them the way one regards air pollution in China: an endemic local health hazard which, for deep-rooted cultural, social, economic and political reasons, the country is incapable of addressing. This may, however, be a bit unfair. China seems to be making progress on pollution.

— The Economist

SCOTUS Nixes Confederate Flag License Plates

Buck Banks

5 to 4

Margin by which the Supreme Court ruled that Texas “did not violate the First Amendment when it refused to allow specialty license plates bearing the Confederate battle flag. Such plates, Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote for the majority, are the government’s speech and are thus immune from First Amendment attacks,” the New York Times reports. “The court’s other three liberal members joined Justice Breyer’s majority opinion, as did Justice Clarence Thomas.”