Shootings where there are multiple deaths are a daily thing now, it seems. And to think there are those who say the problems are that we don’t have enough guns, and that we aren’t everywhere allowed to carry them in public.

And many of those same folks say that the problem is that we have too many radical leftists. Like the radical leftists who committed yesterday’s crime in Michigan. You know which radical leftist I mean, right? Yep, that one. The one photographed in a Trump shirt and with a Trump sign nailed to his home fence. Boy, the extremes to which some people go to deceive.

And, speaking of shootings, will someone let me know when it will be generally accepted that one can badmouth Charlie Kirk without becoming a target yourself? Ta-Nehisi Coates obviously thinks the time has come. His piece last week in Vanity Fair lays it out and should be spread far and wide. People have to realize you can be young and (somewhat) handsome, love your wife and children, be polite, positive, respectful, and charismatic, and still be a villain, a danger to society.

Two days before the government shuts down. Trump, after canceling a meeting with Shumer and Jeffries last week, says he will meet with the four Congressional leaders today. Unless the Democrats cave (and maybe they will and maybe they should), the government will “shut down” tomorrow night.

It seems clear to me that the Republicans want the shutdown. If not, why did Congress go home last week and why did the House, scheduled to come back today, announce they will not convene until Wednesday?

The Republicans will use the shutdown to determine that only MAGA priorities are “essential” and that many other functions they shut down will be terminated permanently, taking advantage of their belief that they never have to spend Congressionally appropriated funds that that they simply don’t want to spend. They think the Supreme Court will back them, and they may be correct, and anyway, once the barn door is opened, you just won’t get the horse back. And it does not appear that a shutdown would be brief. A long shutdown will play right into Trump’s hands.

Trump will control everything, and the Supreme Court will most likely back him until the 2026 midterms. Hopefully, things will change on January 1, 2027, but the electoral system may be so compromised by then through gerrymandering and voter restrictions that the Dems may not have a chance. This is the biggest worry. And the Democrats need new leadership (and new leadership with a potential broad base) to counter it.

Of course also this week, our Secretary of War (ugh!) is calling a meeting of all top brass from around the world for one hour (only) in Virginia. They say it’s a pep talk. I think it will be more than that, but am not sure what the agenda is. Maybe it is more limited than I fear. Maybe there will just be a bunch of buses and a simple instruction: “If your name begins with A through J, get on the bus for Chicago. K through R, the Bus to Memphis. S through Z, you are going to Portland.”

And yes, the Ten Commandments will be posted in each bus.