Meghan McCain attacks Trump on Twitter

"I would ask what kind of barbarian would attack the parents of a fallen soldier, but oh yeah it's the same person who attacks POW's."

https://twitter.com/MeghanMcCain/status/759590690548350977

Electoral-vote.com has map data up!

Jerry Emmett was a 6 year old girl when women won the right to vote

She's a lifelong Democrat who voted for FDR, and today she cast the Arizona delegation's votes for the first woman to become the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

That's when I lost it.


Meet Jerry Emmett, Arizona's 102-Year-Old Honorary Delegate to the Democratic National Convention

Suggested slogan for convention: "No More Hate!"

Lets chant that loud and clear, and show the world that we reject the veiled fascism the Republicans demonstrated.

This should be the biggest story of the election season

Suppose the NSA needed a way to track people's movements without a warrant

and so they called up Nintendo and said, "We've got a great idea for a game!"



Sorry; that's what I get for watching Red last night.

Obama Says Anti-Cop Rhetoric Can Hurt Black Lives Matter

Source: Huffington Post

President Barack Obama condemned violence against police Sunday and even said excessively nasty rhetoric against police can hurt the cause of criminal justice reform.

“Whenever those of us who are concerned about fairness in the criminal justice system attack police officers, you are doing a disservice to the cause,” Obama said during a press conference in Spain on his way home from a NATO summit in Poland.

“But even rhetorically,” Obama continued, “if we paint police in broad brush without recognizing that the vast majority of police officers are doing a really good job and are trying to protect people and do so fairly and without racial bias, if the rhetoric does not recognize that, then we’re going to lose allies in the reform cause.”

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-black-lives-matter-police_us_57824c9ce4b0344d514fa8c5?section=

It would appear that Clinton has won the California primary

As of the latest updates:

Clinton - 2,685,515
Sanders - 2,281,273

Unprocessed ballots - 367,556

While we don't know the final spread yet, it is now mathematically impossible for Sanders to win.

Gun Violence Restraining Order

The other day I posted an idea about a "red-flag" system, similar to a restraining order, that could have prevented mass shootings where the perpetrator was known to authorities in advance:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027935828

It turns out my idea is not original, and I really think that this is something we should be promoting:

"The GVRO process is similar to the domestic violence restraining order process and provides the opportunity to defuse a potentially dangerous situation before permanent harm is done. Under a GVRO policy, family members and/or law enforcement officials can petition a judge to have firearms temporarily removed from an individual in crisis for a period of one year. This would allow those who are a threat to themselves and/or others the time they need to get help and heal. Equally important, the GVRO allows for due process, as individuals are able to petition to get their firearms back following a brief period of time."


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-horwitz/a-gun-law-that-could-have_b_10610360.html

The Aurora police had the Tarasoff letter from Holmes' psychiatrist; Pima college police knew Loughner to be a danger. Similar conditions existed for most of the major shootings.

A proposal to prevent dangerous individuals from obtaining firearms

(This is my first new discussion; if I have posted it in the wrong place, please accept my apologies)

In nearly all of the major mass shootings of the past few years, the fact that the shooter posed a danger was known in advance to various authorities. Loughner, Holmes, Cho, even Lanza (though that was more complex) were on the radar, but there currently exists no system for communicating that information to gun dealers.

I believe that we need a system to provide for a "red flag", much like a restraining order, to be entered into the background check system; with proper due process, this could be implemented while safeguarding individual rights.

For example, in the case of James Holmes, his psychiatrist had alerted the police via a Tarasoff letter. If the police had been able to red-flag the background check database, Holmes would have been unable to acquire his rifles. Similar conditions existed for the Tucson, Virginia Tech, Isla Vista, Orlando, and other shooters.

To protect the rights of the individual, such a system would require real due process; legitimate evidence of credible danger, and severe penalties for abuse of the system. A person in fear of an abusive ex must be able to taken seriously; one that just wants to make trouble should be held accountable. Conversely, there has to be a reasonable process for those so flagged to clear their names.

While a system such as this would not stop gun violence as a whole, it could have prevented the horrific mass shootings like we witnessed in Florida.