The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    jollyroger's picture

    "You didn't build that..." (But you can buy in-monetizing the American Dream.)

    By jollyroger on Mon, 12/31/2012 - 4:27pm |

    Who can forget the howls of rage that rose from the barnyard circus that nominated Mitt Romney to carry the Repugnant standard into battle?

     

    Most self-congratulatory were the distorted versions of Obama's rather clumsy reworking of Liz Warren's "God Bless!", a caution directed to the smug successful who saw no contribution from the commons.

     

    Orion's picture

    You're Not Adam Lanza

    By Orion on Fri, 12/28/2012 - 10:35pm |

    Almost as disturbing as the massacre in Connecticut has been some of the response to it. One article called "I Am Adam Lanza's Mother" is by a woman who has an intelligent son prone to violent and scary moods. As far as it seems, those bad moods haven't gone to the point of murdering grade schoolers but she nevertheless acts as if it has.

    David Frum recently posted another one of these by a reader - it was called "I Was Adam Lanza:"

    Richard Day's picture

    A CHRISTMAS STORY!

    By Richard Day on Fri, 12/28/2012 - 7:10pm |

     

     

    What a Christmas!

    I see my son four days in a week. And he stays over two nights.

    I see my granddaughter and her mother the future Mrs. Day and I am in heaven.

    My son is Dad and I am granddad. Hahahahah

    Mental Health at the Washington Post

    By nothere on Thu, 12/27/2012 - 3:44pm |

    FYI: I recently discovered the Blogs at the WP under She the People.

    Several of the recent entries there concern the issue in the subject line, mental health. I think it's recommended reading.

    For instance:

    The NRA’s school safety plan: Round up the sick and arm the children

    and:

    After Newtown: What mental health system?

    Orion's picture

    Confusion Breeds Violence

    By Orion on Mon, 12/24/2012 - 2:14pm |

    Hello all. I have alot to say about all these shootings, which is unfortunate but this is the place to do it, right?

    Some of you added me on Facebook and I really appreciate it. The SSRI group I help with has really taken off and we get brilliance regularly out of it. Stuff like this:

    Orion's picture

    Mental Health And Social Isolation

    By Orion on Mon, 12/24/2012 - 12:05pm |

    Hello all - I got a comment here that told me most of what I write is "about me." Tell me if I'm doing that too much please. Since I'm writing about social isolation, it would probably be appropriate to not sound too socially isolated, right? Heh.

    After I had my breakdown, which was so significant I don't know how to write without talking about it, I became a frequent at a local psychiatric clinic in Seattle.

    I was there every day. They all know pretty well. Everyone there knows one another pretty well.

    The Republican Interlocking Directorate

    By Oxy Mora on Sun, 12/23/2012 - 11:08am |

    Two light bulbs lit up this week which key into my current hub of the universe mental state and I am writing them down here because I would be embarrassed to exhibit such conspiratorial tendencies after I get off these pain killers.  

    The first bulb was the revelation about the Petraeus/Kagan off-balance-sheet war investment committee. The second was the flash fact that Grover Norquist is a board member of the NRA. These two little known situations are part and parcel of what appears to be a fifth estate in our country---a continuing and contiguous network of right wingers operating a non-conforming government.

    Defending Teachers

    By PeraclesPlease on Sun, 12/23/2012 - 2:23am |

    Bob Somerby at The Daily Howler, as he does frequently, voices the teachers' angle on things - in this case of the massacre - that we've been attacking them for decades, trashing teachers' unions, pretending that public teachers are just lazy and that school vouchers will cure all our ills. Even liberals blasting away at the poor state of education even as minorities make leaps and bounds progress over 2 decades that everyone ignores. Democrats like Rahm Emmanuel and Republicans like Scott Walker blast away at the teachers' unions, one point of sharing in our our rare bipartisan consensus.

    Orion's picture

    Tragedy In Pictures

    By Orion on Sat, 12/22/2012 - 8:11pm |

    You can provide your own context here, I think. These two pictures kind of incapsulate more than can be said:

    Republicans pistol whip each other.

    By Oxy Mora on Sat, 12/22/2012 - 10:14am |

    I have just had knee surgery and the drugs have induced a hub of the universe mental state which last time around produced my piece, "Jamie Dimon as William Holden"---which received my own unanimous favorable ratings.

    Orion's picture

    Coming Out About Mental Illness

    By Orion on Sat, 12/22/2012 - 5:22am |

    It takes alot to come out with acceptance that one has mental difficulties. My brain is not oriented quite the way a normal man's should. My behavior is erratic and my interest in things tends to be a mix of the obsessive and depressive.

    MrSmith1's picture

    A message about GUNS!!

    By MrSmith1 on Fri, 12/21/2012 - 8:51pm |

     

     

                            *

                           ***

                        GUNS!

     

                  GUNS! GUNS! 

     

             GUNS! GUNS! GUNS!

     

        GUNS! GUNS! GUNS! GUNS!

     

    The mentally ill and the security-industrial complex in schools

    By nothere on Fri, 12/21/2012 - 7:27pm |

    Earlier this week, I noted that no one had yet gone over the line and scapegoated the mentally ill.

    I have just finished reading Wayne LaPierre's remarks, and I'm here to let you know that Wayne has done just that: put out the cat's paw  or trial balloon to scapegoat the mentally ill:

    Page 3, first paragraph:

    "A dozen more killers? A hundred? More? How can we possibly even guess how many, given our nation's refusal to create an active national database of the mentally ill?"

    Child soldiers

    By nothere on Fri, 12/21/2012 - 7:06pm |

    What's the difference between a child soldier in, say, Africa and Adam Lanza?

    While the child soldier in Africa is at least as heavily armed as Lanza, he's killed fewer people.

    That's not intended to be a joke.

    Since I'm usually interested in sarcasm as a means to, metaphorically, slap people who are in a panic I can ask this:

    Since at least one group in Africa cites the bible as a source for fielding child soldiers, will those people scapegoating video games commission an equivalent investigation into the bible?

    De-coupling Guns and Alcohol: The path to Gun Sanity

    By erica20 on Fri, 12/21/2012 - 2:19pm |

    Last night I decided that the absolute best way to lower the number of guns in the country and force safer behavior from current owners/users would be to create a nationwide rule that bars a person from touching a gun if their blood alcohol content is over .06.  I believe this would make it substantially less fun to own/use guns, lower the number of accidents and discourage irresponsible persons from the hobby.

    Because as I wrote last night, "What's the point of being prepared for Armageddon if you can't get drunk and shoot varmints with your buddies in the meantime?"

     

    List of Newtown Rules

    By erica20 on Fri, 12/21/2012 - 2:11pm |

     

    A couple of people asked for clarification on sensible practices so I checked out some of the existing gun laws and made a list. This doesn't get into the whole permit/waiting period issue, which is confusing and different from state to state. Please comment.

    The Newtown Rules: From Gunsanity to Gun Sanity

    Richard Day's picture

    WAYNE'S WORLD!

    By Richard Day on Fri, 12/21/2012 - 2:11pm |

    WAYNE'S WORLD

    I watched Wayne LaPierre's speech today.

    I was not surprised at the contents of that speech.

    It began hilariously with a protester holding up a sign that said:

    THE NRA IS KILLING OUR CHILDREN

    The 'authorities' removed the mousy man holding that sign. No doubt those 'authorities' were armed.

    This was supposed to be a 'Press Conference' and of course the event had nothing to do with questions and answers.

    One pundit on MSNBC called it a long advertisement for the NRA.

    Yes Virginia, There is NO Santa Claus! Or is there?

    By Aunt Sam on Fri, 12/21/2012 - 10:36am |

    ‘Tis the season when no matter our age or political ideology, many of us will enjoy brief moments of childlike dreams and ideals; indulging in the fanciful possibilities of miracles, abundant goodwill and peace on earth. 

    But we’re big boys and girls now, so as quickly as these flights of fancy arrive, they disappear along with the visions of sugarplums and whimsical beings bringing us free gifts. 

    The "Newtown Rules:" I wrote to Joe Biden!

    By erica20 on Thu, 12/20/2012 - 4:30pm |

     

    Vice President Joe Biden
    The White House
    1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
    Washington, DC 20501

    Dear Mr. Vice President,

    Stomping on more of the usual things that are said...over half-way to a top ten list, kids!

    By nothere on Wed, 12/19/2012 - 7:08pm |

    This time, it's about the scapegoats people are trying to find and, IMO, pathologically require as a part of some fake grieving process and, allegedly, change[1].

    It's pretty clear that part of the "process" of the upcoming conversation is well underway so I'm engaging in more wishful thinking and trying to stomp, using sarcasm, on the relevant flailings that I've seen here at DB and elsewhere. Here's my so-far list:

    1) Video games

    2) Quentin Tarantino

    3) SSRI

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