Pen-pricks
• Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti warned that L.A. citizens might riot if Trump tries to build a wall or deports illegal immigrants from the city. That’s just silly. Los Angeles already has a wall around it to keep people out, it’s called $2,000-a-month rent for a studio apartment.
• NBA legend Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea for a round of basketball diplomacy with his good buddy, the country’s dictator Kim Jong Un. Rodman’s arrival is a message from the U.S. military. As a first warning to North Korea, we are sending in a drone strike with a dummy warhead.
• The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the number of body donations to medical schools is rising rapidly this year. Three cheers for ingenuity. This can only mean that Medicare patients have finally figured out a way to get a doctor to look at them to see what’s wrong.
Argus Hamilton is the host comedian at The Comedy Store in Hollywood and a speaker. His email address is argus@argushamilton.com.
The June 14th shooting in Alexandria, Va., of House majority whip Representative Steve Scalise and three others is yet a further reminder of the reckless vitriol and division that exists in the current political climate. Prayers go out to the victims and families affected by this heinous and senseless act of violence.
Reflection goes back in time to the horrific shooting in Tucson in 2011 of Representative Gabrielle Giffords that not only seriously wounded her, but took the lives of six others including federal District Court Chief Judge John Roll and nineyear-old Christina-Taylor Green. The perpetrator, Jared Lee Loughner, eventually pleaded guilty to 19 counts in 2012 and was sentenced to life in prison. Although the motive for the shootings remains unclear, handwritten notes penned by Loughner revealed intent to assassinate Representative Giffords.
Motivations and mental competency are primary factors in such pointless violence. That being said, shameless, disgusting stunts such as the Kathy Griffin “decapitation” of President Trump and the New York-based arts organization that recently staged a production of “Julius Caesar” with a Trump lookalike character being stabbed to death only serve to fan the flames of hatred and divisiveness that permeate today’s society.
James Hodgkinson, the Alexandria shooter, has claimed to be a Bernie Sanders supporter and volunteer but was also a member of several Facebook hate groups. Senator Sanders made a public statement that should be heard by everyone. “I am sickened by this despicable act. Let me be as clear as I can be. Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms. Real change can only come about through nonviolent action.”
Folks from both sides of the political spectrum would be well served to heed the salient advice of Senator Sanders. The preservation of our nation depends on it.
James Sefcak’s assertion in his letter (“Comey’s testimony isn’t good for President,” Yuma Sun, June 14) is just one more example of how deluded the people on the left have become. He says that Comey’s testimony revealed more damning evidence of Trump’s collusion with the Russians. The basis? Comey said there MAY have been a third undisclosed meeting with the Russian ambassador. Boy, that EVIDENCE is soooo solid it knocked me on my can.
James says that the Trump administration may be the most scandal-ridden administration in history. More scandalous than Fast and Furious? What about using the IRS for political advantage? More scandalous that the trillion dollar stimulus heist, the VA’s secret death list? Everything about ObamaCare is a scam. What about Benghazi, Solyndra, Hillary’s secret server and destroyed emails, the Pigford scandal, the NSA spying scandal, Bowe Begdahl, polluting the Colorado River, the infamous pallet of cash sent to Iran and the $1.3 billion in ransom sent soon thereafter, the million dollar Las Vegas parties for General Service Administration employees?
ALL of these real scandals are supported by rock solid evidence, but perhaps few Americans even know about them because they are kept shrouded in a cloud of fake news.
What we learned from the Comey investigation is that Trump did NOT ask Comey to drop the investigation, that Trump was NOT under investigation, and that Trump actually encouraged Comey’s investigation: “If somebody did something, we’ve got to find it.” What we learned from the Comey investigation is that they should be investigating Loretta Lynch and Hillary Clinton. What we learned from the Comey investigation is that he is either lying or he is corrupt. If Trump had acted inappropriately, Comey should have reported it and resigned immediately.