Headline that breaks its promise

Should we hope? Here was the headline:

GOP Close To Dumping Trump As Coup Plotters Near Votes Needed To Cause Nomination Chaos

Then I read the article, and found out that it's about how many members of the rules committee were considering submitting a rule change to unlock delegates. Twenty said they were considering it, and they need 28 to get the rules committee to discuss the change.

That doesn't sound close to 'dumping Trump' to me.

 Image: thedailybeast.com

Obviously untrue: Politician claims every word is true

It's hilarious just reading the headline:

Ted Cruz On McConnell Accusation: 'Every Word I Said Is True'

I didn't read the article yet, so please wait while I do so...

Well, there's not a lot in the article. Lyin' Ted (a great nickname for him) trying to pin his type of misdeeds on someone else. Even if another politician lies (and of course they do), that doesn't make Ted honest and truthful.

Yawn. I should have stopped at the headline, and enjoyed the irony.

Image: bbc.com

Short: Headline of the times

Trump pinatas becoming hot items in Albuquerque, Santa Fe
-- article here.

Image: eonline.com

Another 'Cops should be perfect' story

I'm so incredibly tired of people defending assailants who shoot at the police. Here's the latest:

Police: Cops Fired Into Car Not Knowing Infant Was Inside

Look at the entire story, and you find out that this headline would also be applicable:

Man knowingly fires at police with infant in back seat of car

(Note: the original link no longer works. Here's the same news story from a different source.)

In this case, a man with a long criminal history put himself, his girlfriend, and her 4-month-old son in grave danger by shooting at police. He actually knew who was in the car. He knew how many weapons he had. He initiated the exchange of gunfire. Is it really surprising that the police shot back? Should they have waited to see if he would shoot again, maybe blowing someone's head off?

According to the girlfriend's mother, yes, they should have waited. They should have put themselves in that dangerous position rather than fire into the car. According to her, the law enforcement officers should take on all the risk, so that her daughter, who was riding with a criminal who had more than one loaded gun, and who shot at police, could be safe.

To me, this is a patently ridiculous viewpoint. Perhaps it's mitigated because the mother is grief-stricken, but I've seen it too often to think that it's grief every time. Instead, it's become a pattern among many blacks to blame the police, no matter how justified they are.

I think this shooting should be investigated, as all police-involved shootings should be. However, if the current reporting is fairly accurate, then the family of the dead couple have nothing to blame the police for. Any blame they lay on the police is misguided scapegoating, and should clearly be labeled that way. And I have to question the motives of people who don't support the police in cases like this but instead support dangerous criminals. It looks like a case of playing the racial victim card and hoping that the audience doesn't notice that the 'victim' is not innocent at all.

The shooter's other gun

Image: 13newsnow.com

Last outpost of crazy headlines: Guns, confederate flags, Zimmerman

'Muslim-free' gun shop teams with George Zimmerman to sell Confederate flags

There's a double dose of stupid going on with this idea. Really, who was impressed with George Zimmerman and/or his intelligence and decision-making powers? George Zimmerman is an advertisement for stupid use of a gun, but I guess the shop owner isn't too smart either. 

Or maybe he is. He's getting plenty of free publicity. Maybe he should be jacking up his prices too. All the better to fleece the rubes.

Maybe it's just a trial partnership.

Image: vladtv.com

Update 9/28/15. That slimeball Zimmerman released a picture of Trayvon Martin dead on the ground. What a pig.

No, Candidate Huckabee didn't say that.

Candidate says he'd use soldiers to stop abortions

Well, he didn't exactly say that, despite the screaming headlines.

Usually it's the conservative media that goes overboard on a trumped up story, a gaff, or an outright lie. This time it's the left-wing media.

Usually I don't read the left-wing media. I get plenty of soft-left spin in the regular media, from CNN to NPR to Bloomberg. However, this one made it onto the Google US news ticker. So I read it. The story was decidedly not as advertised. Here's the real story (abridged from Media Matters):

In response to a question from the audience at the Pizza Ranch in Jefferson, Iowa, Huckabee said he would "invoke the Fifth and 14th Amendments for the protection of every human being."...

"I will not pretend there is nothing we can do to stop this," Huckabee said at the event, where a Topeka Capital-Journal correspondent was present.

At his next stop, in Rockwell City, Huckabee answered follow-up questions from the correspondent, saying: "All American citizens should be protected."

Asked by another reporter how he would stop abortion, and whether this would mean using the FBI or federal forces to accomplish this, Huckabee replied: "We'll see, if I get to be president."

That's it. A reporter asked if Huckabee would use troops, and Huckabee didn't answer. So what media outlets, other than Media Matters, are reporting that Huckabee said he'd use troops to stop abortions?

Here's the [dis]honor roll, though it's probably not a complete list: The Telegraph (UK), Pajamas Media (but they seem to specialize in sensational and questionable stories), Think Progress, Benchmark Reporter, Byron Shire News (whatever that is), and, most shameful of all, Mother Jones.

However, this isn't nearly as bad as Breitbart, which has pushed such lies as the Shirley Sherrod story and the purchased allegations against Senator Menendez. Still, this is Really. Awful. Journalism.

Image: abcnews.go.com

Republicans get the Trump they deserve

Donald Trump on John McCain's war record: 'I like people who weren't captured'

That's the headline for this story and video. John McCain has accused Trump of riling up the crazies in the GOP, and Trump is firing back. In this video, Trump doesn't actually sound that crazy. He complains that McCain doesn't do enough for veterans. But who doesn't think there's another motive for Trump to complain about McCain?

Another thought: As I said, Trump doesn't sound that crazy in the video. Is the MSM making Trump sound crazier than he is? Perhaps they are selectively quoting the outrageous bits. So I'll go to the conservative media and see what they say.

• HotAir has a slew of posts about Trump. Trumps courts Arizona treasurer to primary McCain. Trump featured on 'Quote of the Day.' 
• Daily Caller--not too much on Trump. 
• Breitbart is a bonanza of Trump: Almost half the main stories are about Trump. Trump bragging that he has five sources corroborating what he said about Mexican immigrants. Trump dissing McCain. Trump dissing LA protesters. HuffPo evicts Trump to the entertainment section. Trump dissing the Common Core.

Trump got 5000 people at a rally in Phoenix. He is leading in the GOP polls with 18%. His supporters like that he'll say things that other politicians won't.

Trump is like a big middle finger to the left, to the GOP establishment, to immigrants, and to the media. That is his appeal right now.

But the GOP deserve that because they pandered to him to 2012, vying for his endorsement. This time he's trying to be more than a king-maker--he's trying to be king. Well, they gave him the platform four years ago, and he never gave it up.

Worse than that is the general support he's getting among the party mob, though perhaps being the top at 18% isn't actually a general endorsement. In the raucous conservative media (which plays to the GOP crowd), he's a star. Limbaugh is touting him.

If he brings disrepute on the GOP by saying most Mexicans are rapists, Obama is a Kenyan marxist anti-white thug, McCain is an overrated, almost-dropout, and that Trump himself is the greatest person in the whole country, the GOP deserves all of this embarrassment. They've been a willing audience for all of Trump's antics, so they own him.

Image: reverbpress.com

Extras. More Trump headlines: "Donald Trump Will Not Apologize to John McCain." "Donald Trumps evades specifics on his draft deferment."

Update 7/23/15. Rick Perry is criticizing Trump. Trump responds by reminding Perry how he sought Trump's support and money. Trump demands to be treated well or he'll run as an independent. This just gets more bizarre.

Unforgettable headline: America the Dangerous

Bison tosses Australian tourist into air at Yellowstone National Park

If I remember correctly, dwarf tossing was a game at some Australian bars. Maybe this is karma. Only with smarter mammal is doing the throwing.  (Survival is predicted.)

Image: quickmeme.com

Sadly true headlines: The GOP

From HuffPo:

"The Absolutist Politics of Norquist and LaPierre Will Destroy the Republican Party"

I haven't even read the article because I have a load of Christmas shopping to do. For the record, I don't think the GOP will die. They have the will to stay whole, if not completely united. They also benefit from being the only alternative to the Dems, who seriously couldn't handle hegemony if it was handed to them. I mean, when it was handed to them. The GOP will continue as a viable party because the Dems aren't cut out for single-party rule.

That is all. Must go shopping. Must make reservations. Must STOP BLOGGING.

Image: moreismoremom.wordpress.com

Sheepish confession: I'm back editing this post and adding the picture. Someone stage an intervention. But later, I've got more shopping to do.

Unsurprising headlines: McCaskill vs. Akin

From a Kansas City newspaper:

McCaskill surges; Akin abortion comments draw fire

Somewhere I read that Akin is a big target in this election. With his crazy-ass comment about "legitimate rape" never resulting in pregnancy, he created a corps of sworn opponents who will be pouring through his statements as far back as they can.

So far today, they've unearthed his comments about abortion doctors giving fake abortions to non-pregnant women. Oh, and abortionists are also domestic terrorists.

These fervent anti-abortion folks need to talk to some real people who've had abortions. Right now they're living in a fantasy land on the topic of abortion. They need a dose of reality. Reality is the antidote to most kinds of delusional thinking, and it's equally effective no matter which way the skew occurs.

Silly campaign tricks: You did it first

I'm not sure why, but just the headlines have been enough to make me laugh or pull out my hair. From my most recent visit to Google News:

Column: What bargain did Romney and Ryan strike?

Ryan on $700 Billion Medicare Cut: Obama did it first

I'll post this as is because I don't want to lose the timeliness of it. Commentary, if any, later.

Image: loveknysna.com