Idle Thoughts: What the Hell is Going On?

Tweets from September, 2019:

• 2019-09-01: Mr. President, how about calling for a total and complete shutdown of gun sales in the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on? (Link)
• 2019-09-02: Drop ice in the ocean to stop hurricanes? Fly military jets clockwise in hurricanes to stop them? Silly man. Everyone knows the real answer is to bomb hurricanes with nukes. (Link)
• 2019-09-02: @RepLanceGooden, the protest movement in Hong Kong does have the attention of our leaders like you. Almost to the exclusion of attention that should be paid to the growing threat of authoritarianism here at home. Not good.
• 2019-09-03: "Religion makes good people better and bad people worse." -- H. Richard Niebuhr.
  God grant me the humility not to automatically assume I'm in the former category.

After the jump, more idle thoughts.

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• 2019-09-04: @DonHuffines, that's why it says, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State..." Reconstitute the militia as it existed in the 18th century, make every man train and serve in it, and you can have your damned guns.
• 2019-09-04: "AAA released a study showing that 8 of 10 men think they're above-average drivers."
  And that's maybe why men shouldn't be carrying guns on the streets.
• 2019-09-04: @RepLanceGooden, the IG report found no evidence Comey lied or broke the law. He violated department rules to get Trump's own law-breaking before the public because Trump wanted it suppressed. Have you read the Mueller report yet? Come back to us when you have.
• 2019-09-05: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz apparently believes that climate change only affects coastal areas. That's not quite as dumb as Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe who believes the existence of snowballs in winter is proof that climate change isn't real. But it's close. (Link)
• 2019-09-05: @RepLanceGooden, what about the 127 military projects that are affected by redirecting money to Trump's political vanity project? How will America's military be weakened? I thought you were for a strong military. Guess that's the Dems now.
• 2019-09-06: @RepLanceGooden, our trade war is hurting our farmers, our retailers, heck even our manufacturers as corporations are reluctant to invest while an unstable "genius" is jerking international trade this way and that. Today's jobs numbers are weaker than average, not "stronger than ever."
• 2019-09-07: "In addition to Florida — South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated."
  In case anyone's forgotten what this is all about. NWS: "Alabama will NOT see any impacts.
• 2019-09-08: The Boys (TV 2019): A world full of superheroes, all co-opted by an evil corporation for profit. Interesting concept. Cardboard characters. No nuance. No humor. Middle episodes are better as focus shifts to "the boys" who resist. Ending resolves little, leaves many questions. C+
• 2019-09-08: @ColinAllredTX, how can you fix this when the "bad actors" have exactly as much power as you? The only way is to vote the bad actors out of power. And that's hard to do when the bad actors are the cops on the beat. Catch-22.
• 2019-09-09: @RepLanceGooden, differences between NAFTA and USMCA are minor, and will have little if any effect on Texas "Farmers & Ranchers" (are you randomly capitalizing words like Trump now?). Hardly worth all the pain Trump caused leading up to it.
• 2019-09-09: @RepLanceGooden, the good economy inherited from the previous administration (thanks Obama) hasn't tipped into recession (yet) but Trump's trade wars are risking doing just that.
• 2019-09-09: "Commerce Chief Threatened Firings at NOAA After Trump’s Hurricane Tweets." Sharpie-gate started as a humorous example of Trump's thin skin, but now it's blowing up into an abuse of power. (Link)
• 2019-09-10: @RepLanceGooden, this would be sooooo much easier if you also cared about ending the separation of refugee children from their parents on our southern border for political exploitation purposes.
• 2019-09-10: There are already more guns in America than people. I'm not sure putting ever more guns on the streets is the solution to gun violence. (Link)
• 2019-09-10: I have to agree with Trump here. Getting rid of Bolton is the right thing to do. However, I can't help thinking of what candidate Donald Trump said: I will "surround myself only with the best and most serious people. We want top-of-the-line professionals." Promise broken. (Link)
• 2019-09-10: @RepLanceGooden, maybe if you quit trying to make contraception illegal too, claiming it is scientifically and ethically equivalent to killing a newborn baby, you might find some common ground.
• 2019-09-10: Does Robert Jeffress think the kids at the border are going to heaven? Serious question.
• 2019-09-10: It's gotten so bad that I can't even trust the government weather reports going forward.
• 2019-09-11: Derry Girls (TV 2018): Set in a Catholic girls' school in Northern Ireland during the religious Troubles. Fast, sassy, irreverent, and sometimes touching. Always hilarious. It's rare for a TV comedy to get me to laugh out loud, but this one does every episode. A-
• 2019-09-12: @RepLanceGooden, have you read the Mueller report yet? It contradicts your talking points.
• 2019-09-13: @RepLanceGooden, Republicans always have an idea of what we need to spend on next. An unnecessary wall, for example. Or millions for Trump to golf. You did hear that the budget deficit this year will be over a trillion dollars, right? GOP: the party of fiscal irresponsibilty.
• 2019-09-13: @RepLanceGooden, US exports of crude oil have grown thanks to the lifting of a four-decade ban on crude exports in late 2015 by then-President Barack Obama. Thanks, Obama.
• 2019-09-13: The debates were better when they were run by the League of Women Voters.
• 2019-09-13: SNL can do better than Shane Gillis. With Gillis, SNL won't be pushing the boundaries of comedy. It'll just be airing the same old racist, homophobic insults we've heard before. (Link)
• 2019-09-15: "Julián Castro hit Joe Biden over Barack Obama’s immigration legacy. But in 2013, Castro supported Obama’s policies."
  Castro is more opportunistic than principled. He'll campaign himself out of the nomination, a VP selection, even a statewide Texas run. (Link)
• 2019-09-15: @marklamster, I read your review and found it thought-provoking. Then I read your hate mail and realized how quickly people can jump over all of that to get to modern politics. For many, nothing will be about museums, or architecture, or even the Holocaust. It's about modern politics.
• 2019-09-16: Shane Gillis out at SNL. Good move SNL.
• 2019-09-17: The Goldfinch (2019): Museum explosion. Missing painting. Traumatized boy. A coming of age tale that is worthy of the Pulitzer Prize novel. The famous painting is the hook, which eventually is at the heart of a thriller plot. But mostly this is a character study of young Theo. B+
• 2019-09-17: This is what makes gerrymandering so pernicious. It's not just a GOP vs Dem thing. It's more of an incumbent vs challenger thing. In either case, the voters are the losers. Take redistricting power away from elected politicians. (Link)
• 2019-09-17: @RepLanceGooden, the FBI failed to interview everyone, even those who offered evidence. Trump and Kavanaugh performed a hit on American constitutional government. But they couldn't succeed without support from reliably loyal foot soldiers like you.
• 2019-09-17: @leachfortexas, if you don't read the Constitutional prohibition on the State depriving any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law as extending to the right of women to control their own bodies, then you're reading it wrong.
• 2019-09-17: @leachfortexas, tell me where the Constitution says the State can dictate what happens to a woman's body. If you can't, then the 9th Amendment guarantees that this right is retained by the people.
• 2019-09-18: Fleishman is in Trouble: Toby and Rachel's marriage is falling apart. Then Rachel disappears. Follow these two in the most complex, real, believable depiction of a dissolving marriage. Toby thinks Rachel is a bitch. Maybe he's right. But will we ever hear Rachel's side? B+
• 2019-09-18: Warren being seen as the frontrunner will be a bigger test of how the press responds and reacts. Remember "but her emails." The press failed that test badly.
• 2019-09-19: Hustlers (2019): Ex-strippers move on to seducing, drugging, then separating men from their money. First half is trashy (you might be tempted to walk), second half is melodrama, the whole barely gets a thumbs-up, I guess because it shows women taking charge of their lives?? C+
• 2019-09-20: @leachfortexas, are you saying climate change is a hoax? You can eat more beef if you want, you just have to be responsible for the consequences of your actions. I thought you'd be all for personal responsibility.
• 2019-09-20: Dark (TV 2018): Missing children, dead birds, a cave in the woods, a nuclear power plant, and secrets from 33 years ago, all make this a compelling time travel mystery. Plan to keep detailed notes of the timelines and a list of characters. Or just go along for the wild ride. B+
• 2019-09-22: Raise Hell (2019): Documentary of Molly Ivins, the journalist who reveled in holding in contempt and ridicule powerful politicians. Lots of clips from interviews and speeches. If you remember her fondly, you'll like this movie. If you're MAGA, you won't. It's that simple. B-
• 2019-09-22: There's no single "Democratic primary." Wait until Iowa. Then wait again for New Hampshire. Support can be very fluid. Lots of things can happen.
• 2019-09-24: @AngieChenButton, I hope you will support measures to make voting easier and oppose recent actions that result in voter suppression instead. Also make voting count by fair redistricting.
• 2019-09-24: Senator Cornyn here is inadvertently admitting that his tweets (and everything else he's doing) are all about politics. But we knew that. (Link)
• 2019-09-24: A green economy could thrive just as much or even more than one based on fossil fuels. @GregAbbott knows that. What he's really protecting is not the Texas economy but his own cronies' pocketbooks. (Link)
• 2019-09-24: Imagine planning an intervention for President Trump.
• 2019-09-24: Time for another infrastructure week?
• 2019-09-25: "I would like you to do us a favor, though." -- Vito Corleone.
  "Make him an offer he can't refuse." -- Donald Trump.
  Or maybe I've got those two reversed. It's hard to tell.
• 2019-09-26: I read the phone call notes. Nowhere does the President use the words "quid pro quo." Totally exonerated. Likewise, no one has produced a document about covering up the whistleblower's complaint that uses the words "Let's form a conspiracy on this." Totally exonerated.
• 2019-09-26: The best publicity Elizabeth Warren could ask for. Wall Street donors hate her. And prefer Trump. (Link)
• 2019-09-27: "Pete Sessions says Trump impeachment inquiry could create 2020 rematch against Colin Allred."
  Sessions lost his seat in 2018 because he tied himself to Trump's apron strings. He thinks being tied to Trump in 2020 will somehow be different. Run, Pete, run. (Link)
• 2019-09-27: Angie Chen Button will have her hands full in a rematch with Brandy Chambers, who came within couple of points of knocking her off in 2018. I don't think it was a coincidence that Button suddenly turned pro-education in the 2019 legislative session.
• 2019-09-27: Ad Astra (2019): Moon pirates, rampaging space gorillas, and too many other absurdities and plot holes to fit in 280 characters. Even the human interest, a man's search for his missing astronaut father out by Neptune, consumes the whole movie, then reaches a nothing climax. C-
• 2019-09-27: @JohnCornyn, one question for you: did you read the official White House document where the President pressures a foreign leader to criminalize a political opponent and his family?
• 2019-09-28: @JohnCornyn, to paraphrase Colbert, the truth has a well-known liberal bias.
• 2019-09-28: Ted Cruz inches away from Trump when Trump is distracted by impeachment. #ProfileInCourage Trump accused your dad of killing JFK. (Link)
• 2019-09-30: RT @realDonaldTrump: "Like every American, I deserve to meet my accuser."
  Someone get that man a mirror. (Link)