Interesting article over on News And Guts (that really is their name) on upcoming elections in Texas. Guess what? Democrats look pretty well situated. Wouldn’t it be a blast if we saw a blue Texas someday?

Oh, and who’s News and Guts? That’s Dan Rather’s new outfit. Seems the iconic newsguy got pissed at the spineless nature of most corporate news…so he started his own operation. Give ‘em hell, Dan!

Meanwhile, over at the Atlantic, we have Nine Notorious Dictators, Nine Shout-Outs From Donald Trump, by Krishnadev Calamur. In it, Calamur lists Trump’s most infamous complements to dictators. Our personal fav? When he said of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte,“I just wanted to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem.” Duterte is, you’ll recall, shooting people.

Powerful letter to the editor in the Chicago Tribune this week. Gerry Souter, who describes himself as a former NRA member and a long time shooter, says that there is no reason on earth for any sane civilian to have an AR 15. He writes, “Any shooter spending over a thousand dollars for a rifle to hunt savage groundhogs, prairie dogs, squirrels and other dangerous critters (‘varmints’) just to see them explode out at 200 yards should question his or her financial investment and moral compass.”

Sort of amusing. According to the AP, “The Interior Department is spending nearly $139,000 to upgrade three sets of double doors in the office of Secretary Ryan Zinke.” The Interior Dept. says that Zinke didn’t know about the work, and further, that the repairs were really, really needed. Well, maybe. We’ll give ‘em the benefit of a doubt. Which is a hell of a lot more than Zinke’s given anybody else.

On the remote chance you missed it, the Government set to borrow nearly $1 trillion this year, an 84 percent jump from last year, this according to the Chicago Trib. Lovely thought. Wasn’t it just a couple of years back that GOPers were roasting Obama for reckless deficit spending? What are we going to tell our grandchildren when it comes time to explain how we sold them into lifelong debt to support billionaires?

This one is a few days old, but it is worth repeating. The Rachel Maddow Show is reporting that the State Department’s Global Engagement Center has been given $120 Million to fight Russian interference in our elections, of which…under Trump…it has spent exactly nothing. That’s no-thing. As in Zip. Zero. Nada. You’d almost think Trump wanted the Russians to win, wouldn’t you?

And finally this, we have …least but not last…er, reverse that…the Humbert Humbert Legislature. According to the Nashville Patch, “Republican-Led Committee Kills Tennessee Child Marriage Ban.” According to J.R. Lind, the state legislature’s House Civil Justice Subcommittee voted to kill a law that would have prevented child marriages in the state. Why on earth would it do such thing? Because a weird conservative group, Family Action Council of Tennessee, is afraid that if the state can legislate against child marriages it could legislate for same-sex marriages.

No. We’re not making that up.

Until next time…

 

 

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Additional Reporting by LR Net staff.