[SpecialOlympian]

I heard the London fire, the heroic shooting of the future mass murderer, and Trump's impending obstruction charges all on the same news hour on the ride to work today.

It's almost as if there can be multiple stories in the news at once.

[Zagadka]

It's definitely in the news, but the top story really seems to be the obstruction of justice investigation into President Trump.

Yeeeeea. Even on the news pages that don't put the shooting high on the list, the top story is NOT the investigation into Trump. The shooting had no deaths, happened a while ago, and isn't really news to anyone, since shootings happen every freaking day in America.

I heard the London fire, the heroic shooting of the future mass murderer, and Trump's impending obstruction charges all on the same news hour on the ride to work today.

It's almost as if there can be multiple stories in the news at once.

Surprised that the Cosby thing wasn't headlines. It seems to be the lead story on most American news sites. But yea, there is a lot of news. You don't have to pick only one article to read. Nothing is being covered up by some liberal conspiracy.

[maz]

Yeeeeea. Even on the news pages that don't put the shooting high on the list, the top story is NOT the investigation into Trump. The shooting had no deaths, happened a while ago, and isn't really news to anyone, since shootings happen every freaking day in America.

Well, on Yahoo News the top story is the Robert Mueller obstruction of justice investigation. It's the lead on Drudge too, and I tuned into to a bit of Rush Limbaugh during my lunch break and he's talking about it. Mueller's investigation may not be the lead story everywhere but it definitely took the some of the shooting coverage out of the news for sure.

[Zagadka]

Well, that happens with news. After a while, it... is no longer news. There are other, more significant, more recent stories to follow. I looked at several news sources and the obstruction news isn't even in the top 3. The ones NOT covering it and burying the shooting are the "liberal fake news".

What would you want news to say about the shooting that they haven't said yet? If Drudge and Limbaugh aren't harping on it, I doubt it has any value. What is unknown about the incident? Crazy liberal guy shoots at some senators. Yes, that sucks, and he is horrible, and we're glad no one died. ... how many days can you say that before it isn't news?


EDIT

If you want something buried, try Raqqa deaths or the Social Security cuts Trump promised not to do.

[maz]

I bet if a Democrat member of Congress had been shot at it would be the top story for a week at least, no matter if they lived or died. Especially if it was someone that was hated by conservative media outlets like the left hated Scalise there for awhile.

[mikema63]

Wow, you can see into alternate realities!

Seriously, let's not pretend psychic powers and guess at how the story would be different with different variables.

[Stormsmith]

If the Sandy Hook murders didn't convince politicians to introduce reasonable gun laws, I'm not optimistic that any change will happen soon.

If 85 to 90% of voters, both gun owners and non gun owners alike, think expanded background checks are a necessary goal, one would think politicians would agree to change the laws, but they haven't. Really. Is the money the NRA puts in their pockets worth this many lives?

The House has voted to scrap an Obama administration regulation extending prohibitions on gun ownership to disabled social security recipients judged mentally incapable of managing their own affairs.

The vote to repeal the regulation was 235-180.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news

It seems to me that it would be better to ask Dr's to report people on certain psychoactive drugs for special background checks. We ask them to report on others for public safety issues.

And Dr Lee's right on the issues surrounding guns in public. This is begging for trouble, especially when you have so many mental health issues


Special O

Maybe your politicians will remember that bad stuff happens, and the taxpayers picking up their health care tab.

[SpecialOlympian]

[Zagadka]

'We Will Not Give In To Fear': Congress Is Still Ready To Play Ball
http://www.npr.org/2017/06/15/533081585 ... -play-ball

Although the weather in Washington looks headed toward a near-flawless summer night, an obvious and immovable shadow is being cast over Thursday night's Congressional Baseball Game — a tradition that began more than a century ago.

Rep. Steve Scalise, the third highest-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, is still in critical condition after undergoing his third surgery Thursday morning as a result of a gunshot wound to his hip. He was one of five people wounded Wednesday in an attack on a Republican team practice in Virginia.

The FBI says the shooter, 66-year-old James Hodgkinson, was killed by police.

Since the shooting, members of Congress have spoken about a need for unity, at a time when polarization seems to be at an all-time high. The 59th annual baseball game, played at Nationals Park in southeast Washington, looks to be a place where members can show it.

"The Congressional Baseball Game has never been about Republicans against Democrats," said Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-C.A., in an opinion piece he wrote for CNN. "It's about Republicans and Democrats."

Aguilar plays outfield for the Democratic team; before the shooting, Scalise was slated to play second base for the Republicans.

"We will not give in to fear, violence or hate," Aguilar said. "We will play for those affected by these despicable and cowardly actions, to support local charities... and to remind the American people that this violence will not define or divide us."

Thursday's match-up represents a tie-breaker in the series. Democrats have won seven of the last eight games, bringing the overall series to an even 39-39-1 (the teams played multiple times in some years).

The deciding factor will probably be Louisiana Democrat Cedric Richmond, who may be the best to have ever played in the game.

"I think anybody that ever played baseball, the dream was to play in a major league stadium," Richmond said last year.

The baseball tradition is said to have forged a friendship between Richmond and his fellow Louisiana representative Steve Scalise.

Tickets to the game are available online, and were selling at a rate of 500 per hour on Thursday afternoon, according to Roll Call. Proceeds for the game benefit a number of local charities.

President Trump is not planning to attend the game due to security concerns, the White House said on Wednesday.

Good on them. And Trump is classy as always. This whole thing will probably bring in a lot of people buying tickets, which is good for the charity. Doubt like 99% of the population knew about the game.

[maz]

Wow, you can see into alternate realities!

Seriously, let's not pretend psychic powers and guess at how the story would be different with different variables.

One doesn't even need to be a psychic or pretend about anything; it is simply a matter of fact.

I went and dug up the Gabby Giffords shooting thread and it was 26 pages. This thread has barely made it past three pages and while the Giffords discussion lasted only about a week, the media talked about it for weeks on end.

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=127052&p=13595740&hilit=US+Congresswoman+shot+Tucson#p13595740

I disagree, if it was a tea party member, we'll talk about it for a few weeks, and then everyone will forget and move on. I doubt this will somehow inspire more political assassinations. Even if it does, I think it's a good thing for politicians to be scared of the people.

Let's just hope that the hatred will be towards all politicians and not just democrats.

There was international media hysteria over the shooting of Giffords and the media milked the hysteria for as long as they cold.

We are already seeing a fairly dramatic drop off of coverage of Scalise, while coverage of Giffords remained fairly steady for an entire year according to Google News archives.

It is obvious that if a Democrat was shot the media reaction, and by extension, the amount of discussion on the forum would be much more.

Gabby Giffords is still making headlines to this day and whenever there is some high profile shooting, the media trots out Giffords to shame gun owners. There was an anti-2nd amendment extremist foundation named after Giffords to help disarm law abiding American gun owners, and the US military even honored Giffords by naming a US naval vessel after her.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Gabrielle_Giffords

[SpecialOlympian]

This is a dumb as fuck argument to have but yeah no shit a mass shooting where multiple people died and the highest profile victim was visibly crippled from being shot in the head is probably going to get more coverage than a couple of doughy old men getting pegged in the hip while playing softball. Especially in a media environment where Trump constantly dominates every news cycle with an unending series of unforced errors that's looking like it might culminate in a new Watergate.

But yeah let's start drawing comparisons between a year of news coverage and something that happened three days ago. Also lolling at the Gabby Giffords thread being used as a comparison. I guess the consensus on PoFo is that Scalise sucks and is unpopular. Like, there's no way I'm the only one here hoping he dies. I heard more about Scalise this morning and the previous night on NPR, btw.

Let's keep digging guys. I'm sure if we go all Beautiful Mind on this shit we'll eventually unearth another Pizzagate.

[Drlee]

Gabby Giffords is still making headlines to this day and whenever there is some high profile shooting, the media trots out Giffords to shame gun owners. There was an anti-2nd amendment extremist foundation named after Giffords to help disarm law abiding American gun owners, and the US military even honored Giffords by naming a US naval vessel after her.

Fist let me say that I know Gabby Giffords and was at her wedding. She was a wonderful person and has not personally gone after gun owners. So your idiotic comments are simply based on falsehoods.

Then.

The fuck head who shot these Senators was a "law abiding gun owner" right up until the moment he shot someone. Almost all gun crimes are committed by "lawful gun owners" right until the moment they shoot someone. So that argument is just stupid.

There is nothing extremest about wanting sensible gun laws. The extremists are the spectacularly stupid people who support congress' recent repeal of rules keeping guns out of the hands of mentally unstable people. The unbelievable stupidity of the NRA which supports arming students at schools. The mental midgets who don't want illegal aliens to have driver's licenses yet support laws that do not require any training whatsoever for a person to carry a deadly weapon in a crowd. And, oh by the way, which supports the gun show exemption that allows those same illegal aliens to buy guns without ID.

Fucking beyond stupid, isn't it MAZ

[Hong Wu]

Some major media bodies are reporting that the shooter had a "hit list" of Republican names on his body and that the list is in the possession of the FBI.

I don't think anyone can credibly argue that most of the MSM doesn't possess a leftist bias, this story as compared to others is not the first or the last clear example.

There is of course no chance of Republicans embracing further gun control over this. Unlike some other people, this guy clearly premeditated and not in an insane (such as schizophrenic, in the case of Gifford's shooter) fashion and this means he might have either illegally obtained a gun or used other kinds of weapons, so it's not even a good example case to argue for gun control.

[SpecialOlympian]

Yes, the fact that the main stream media reported that he had a list is proof that the main stream media is censoring it.

Good job. Gold star for you.

[Hong Wu]

I never claimed that they were censoring it, I am just pointing out that there is a clear difference in coverage, despite one shooter having clear mental issues and the other having cogently premeditated, in an environment where threats of violence are becoming commonplace, etc.

[Zagadka]

Bias to the left, bias to reality, same difference. ;-)

This isn't being covered as much because no one died. I already went through the gymnastics of pointing out that it was headlined on several major media outlets, including CNN, for several days, and I don't feel like a repeat performance. Even Fox had dropped it until the list thing was revealed.

Though I will concede that as of this post, CNN and MSNBC have nothing about the shooting list. I expect that to change shortly*. MSNBC's headlines on its own are insanely devoted to various Trump issues, but largely the investigations. This is why I don't rely on those networks for news. But Fox *is* the largest network, and it has its own blind spots. They are all rubbish, and you need to cross-check them.

* CNN just put it up as a headline

EDIT

See now, I can agree with you that THIS is some grade-a bullshit (mainly the list of headlines on the right)

[SpecialOlympian]

I never claimed that they were censoring it, I am just pointing out that there is a clear difference in coverage, despite one shooter having clear mental issues and the other having cogently premeditated, in an environment where threats of violence are becoming commonplace, etc.

What point are you even trying to communicate? You got your information from the MSM. Your point is that the MSM coverage is somehow lesser, yet you claim to be fully informed.

Like, this only happened a few days ago. The investigation is still ongoing. Why are you even criticizing it when the investigation is not yet completed?

I have no idea what you are trying to say, but I am confident when I say it was poorly executed.

[The Immortal Goon]

I don't think anyone can credibly argue that most of the MSM doesn't possess a leftist bias, this story as compared to others is not the first or the last clear example.

I have yet to see any MSM endorse any kind of leftist policies. Just fiat liberal capitalism.

[maz]

Fist let me say that I know Gabby Giffords and was at her wedding. She was a wonderful person and has not personally gone after gun owners. So your idiotic comments are simply based on falsehoods.

Check my post; I never said an ill word about her and I never said that she, personally, was going after the gun rights of law abiding citizens.

She appears to be a pawn they trot out for political purposes. I don't even believe she has the mental capacity to run a foundation, if we are to believe the story that she suffered from brain damage, but that is another topic altogether.

The fuck head who shot these Senators was a "law abiding gun owner" right up until the moment he shot someone. Almost all gun crimes are committed by "lawful gun owners" right until the moment they shoot someone. So that argument is just stupid.

Actually, he wasn't a law abiding citizen right up until he shot someone.

Again, if we are to believe the Wikipedia version of the shooting incident, Loughner abused drugs and had two previous offenses, one of which was for drug possession.[57]

This isn't being covered as much because no one died.

I bet if you were to ask the average person about the incident they would probably only vaguely be able to say that a female politician was shot. They may or may not know the name, but I doubt that they'd be able to name the people who died along side of her, just like they can't name the people who were shot along Scalise.

My point was that two members of Congress were shot, and lived/are expected to live through the shootings and that one received an disproportional amount of coverage than the other.

[Drlee]

She appears to be a pawn they trot out for political purposes. I don't even believe she has the mental capacity to run a foundation, if we are to believe the story that she suffered from brain damage, but that is another topic altogether.

She is able to speak quite well. She is completely engaged. She has a speech therapist and has difficulty using her right hand and leg. She has vision issues but is improving. She is not incapable of running a foundation from an intellectual standpoint. Physically is another matter.

I wish you would stop and think for a moment Maz. Just stop and think. Gun control should not be thought of as a "political issue". It is a public health issue. In the past 12 years more people have died from privately owned guns than have died from aids. More Americans have died from privately owned gun violence just since 1968 than have died in all of our wars combined.

It is not smart to consider this a political issue. It is a political issue only because of the money in politics. But if someone were out there paying congressmen to deny treatment to AIDS patients and prevent government from taking steps to treat it, we would see a public outcry like no other.