The dark ride around the ceaseless Möbius strip of gun massacres, debate, ignorance, inaction and more gun massacres rolls on. Ten people -- nine students and a teacher are dead -- after a student armed with several weapons including an AR-15, the weapon of choice for mass ...read more
Chris Rock had a joke a back in the 90's about not bothering with gun control and making bullets cost $5000 each instead. Today, the Supreme Court gave the gun control movement the next best thing by affirming that while there is a second amendment right to own a gun, there's no ...read more
On Friday, Trump gave another one of his rambling campaign speeches to a crowd of delusional NRA members that came to celebrate their hatred of gun control and gun free zones in a gun free zone with total and absolute gun control. During the almost hour long ode to his ego, Trump ...read more
Axios put together this horrifying chart from data gathered in a Pew Research Center poll about children in America's fear about getting shot in school: Axios summarized the findings as follows: Overall, 57% of teenagers are worried about a shooting at their school.But ...read more
In the least surprising news ever, Fox News is deciding to stick with Laura Ingraham after she publicly mocked 17 year old survivor of the Florida high school mass shooting in Parkland, David Hogg. Why? Because Ingraham and "free speech" are apparently the victim in all of this. ...read more
While the huge gun control marches that occurred across the nation in the wake of the Parkland shooting in Florida were inspiring for those who want change in America, a recently released statistic on NRA donations is particularly horrifying. Reported the NYPost (bold emphasis ...read more
Regardless of Parkland massacre survivor David Hogg's political views, he is an 17 year old victim of a horrific event that no human being should ever have to go through. Yet a mainstream conservative media host saw fit to troll him on Twitter, mocking him for not getting into ...read more
Shortly before his death, former President Gerald R. Ford declared, "I am prepared to allow history's judgment of my term in office to rest (if necessary, exclusively) on my nomination thirty years ago of Justice John Paul Stevens to the U.S. Supreme Court." Stevens, an Illinois ...read more
CNN commentator and failed presidential candidate Rick Santorum (R) just uttered perhaps the most ill conceived words ever in the wake of a mass school shooting. Speaking about the mass protests that took place around the country, Santorum suggested that rather than students ...read more
The movement started by the Parkland students in the wake of the shooting at Majory Stoneman Douglas High School one month ago has sent the right into a downward spiral of rage. Unable to stall the conversation with "thoughts and prayers" and accusations of politicizing a ...read more
As of presstime, there are 7,000 pairs of shoes placed on the lawn of the Capitol building. Each pair is symbolic of the estimated amount of kids killed by guns since the school shooting in Sandy Hook back in 2012. It’s a dizzying sight to see the mix of colors and styles, each ...read more
Dating app Bumble, which boasts around 30 million users, has already set itself apart from other dating sites due to their policy that women have to make the first move. This feature gives women a bit more control and a sense of safety on social media, which is a very welcome ...read more
John Oliver was on rare form on his show "Last Week Tonight" eviscerating the NRA and it's hilarious bad TV channel NRATV. “The NRA is a group that feels about guns the way the rest of us feel about Nutella," said Oliver. "A little is good, more is better, and you can tell me ...read more
If you want to know how far the conversation over gun control has moved away from the NRA's grasp since the Valentine's Day shooting in Parkland, Florida, look no further than Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina senator with an A- rating from the gun lobbying ...read more
A House Committee passed a resolution that allows them to get bulletproof vests with taxpayer money. Thanks, GOP! Thanks for taking more of our money to protect yourselves from the very thing you are perpetuating -- gun violence. Last year, they also received an added $25,000 for ...read more
The NRA boycott has moved into a new phase that has to be deeply concerning to the NRA and the Republican Party. Instead of companies cutting ties with just the political lobbying group, they're now starting to cut ties with other companies that still work closely with the ...read more
Generally speaking, I'm not a huge fan of identity politics and try my best not to categorize anyone according to their skin color or ethnicity. And this includes white people (I know, I'm a bad liberal). However, given I am white, I do feel I have some leeway in making ...read more
According to right wing firebrand Tomi Lahren, the fact that people who want gun control don't know what the 'AR' in 'AR-15' stands for means they cannot demand gun control. She tweeted this breathlessly idiotic statement on twitter yesterday: Lahren was then correctly raked over ...read more
In the wake of the horrendous shooting at Stoneman Douglas High, the students who began the 'Never Again' movement have become America's conscience, quite literally speaking truth to power. Unfortunately, they've also become the target of right-wing scorn, with Facebook posts ...read more
In the wake of the Parkland school shooting in Florida, Trump and the Republicans have scrambled to find the right tone. Sensing a changing public sentiment in regards to gun control, they have done their best to appear "open to ideas" on how best to deal with the murderous ...read more
Early Wednesday morning, DICK'S Sporting Goods announced that it would no longer sell assault-style rifles, high capacity magazines, and that it would be raising the age limit to purchase firearms to 21 regardless of what state laws allow:We at DICK’S Sporting Goods are deeply ...read more
In the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Donald Trump offered one solution to the gun problem in America -- and it’s to give out more guns … to teachers. Trump believes that arming teachers will prevent yet another mass shooting in our schools because they will be ...read more
The pro-gun violence lobby has a very successful playbook it uses after every mass shooting. They've used it so many times in the last decade it's become something of a running morbid joke: Thoughts and Prayers, it's too soon, stop politicizing a tragedy, why do you hate our ...read more
While the kids in Parkland have been speaking out about the terror they experienced when one of their former classmates shot up their high school, conspiracies are being born and perpetuated by the most despicable among us. This, after the death of 17 people in yet another school ...read more
Since he joined the Senate in 2011, Marco Rubio has been one of most feckless members of Congress. Once considered the potential savior of the GOP for his Latino heritage, he has embarrassed himself every time he takes the national spotlight, whether reaching for his water bottle ...read more
The Banter Long Read: Last week, Jimmy Kimmel once again found himself the unlikely spokesperson for the anger Americans feel towards the Republicans who offer thoughts and prayers in the wake of mass shootings, but nothing else. Before 2017, he had been one of the least ...read more
We’ve fallen into this sad state of accepting the worst when it comes to what our President is going to do in times of emergency. Trump’s responses to horrific events always compound the situation -- and that’s exactly what’s been happening in the aftermath of the latest school ...read more
Dear Mr. and Mrs. (parents of victim):It is with great sorrow that I acknowledge the loss of your (son/daughter), (name of victim), in the recent shooting at (name of school) in which _____ children tragically lost their lives. Though your (son/daughter) might not have known it ...read more
In the three days since the massacre in Parkland, Florida, Republicans have either gone into hiding like the sniveling cowards they are or they've read their NRA-approved script and then cashed their blood soaked check from the gun lobby. Fox News, AM Hate Radio, and right wing ...read more
Gun violence involving the slaughter of children in broad daylight has occurred once again. Nikolas Cruz, a white male with a history of troubling behavior, woke up Wednesday February 14th, 2018 with the intent of killing fellow human beings. Cruz calmly went back to the school ...read more
The school shooting in Parkland, Florida, killed 17 kids and terrorized an entire school. As a result, schools across America were reevaluating their lockdown drills and parent-run social media groups are having heated debates over teachers being armed. Meanwhile, videos from ...read more
Having researched the cesspool of the far left for almost two years now, there's few among its ranks more repugnant than HA Goodman. Formerly a contributor at Salon and The Huffington Post, Goodman wrote hundreds of misleading pieces claiming that Hillary Clinton would be ...read more
The bodies weren't even cold in Parkland, Florida and the soulless gun nuts of the right were already hard at work blaming the eighth school shooting of 2018 on the left and/or Muslims.Infowars, no longer able to insist that all mass shootings are "false flags" carried out by the ...read more
It's no secret that along with an obsessive need to feign persecution, the American right wing also has a fairly deep streak of antisemitism running through it. It's also no secret that white Republican voters are some of the most horrible people to ever be produced by this ...read more
We navigate thruways, parkways, and freeways as if they are the Daytona International Speedway and rage at drivers causing us to arrive at Hooters eight seconds later than we planned. We work stress filled 12-hour days fueled with 5-hour Energy drink and get behind the wheel ...read more
Late Sunday night, east coast time, Donald Trump appeared droopy, disengaged, sweaty and occasionally irritated during a joint press conference with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, eventually contradicting his own actions on gun control during a response to a question about ...read more
Let's clear up one thing right away: No one in the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas had a gun and fired back at the white Christian male terrorist that killed 26 of their fellow churchgoers. The man that traded fire with him in the parking lot came from outside ...read more
(SATIRE WARNING!)On Sunday, November 5th, as of this writing 26 people were killed in a mass shooting in a church in Sutherland Springs, TX. Parishioners were in the middle of service when Devin Kelly, American Terrorist, opened fire.While some criticism usually gets levied at ...read more
In 1974 I was a proud member of the NRA. I was 12 years old and a bit of a hyperactive kid. Strangely, lying prone and perfectly still on a canvass mat and feeling my own breath move in and out as I prepared to squeeze the trigger and fire a .22 rifle at a small circular target ...read more
In today's epic show Ben and Michael talk about Ayahuasca, the plant medicine known as "The Vine of Death", whether it can cure humanity of our destructive tendencies and why you should (or shouldn't) do it. We also discuss real issue with firearms in the wake of the Las Vegas ...read more
I've written many times about HA Goodman, the gadfly on the progressive movement. Before he became Bagdad Bob for Bernie (as Bob Cesca so aptly put it), Goodman supported Rand Paul, Jim Webb and Martin O'Malley, all the while insisting that Clinton couldn't win the primary ...read more
The Banter Long Read: Going after Sean Hannity is almost certainly a pointless task if your objective is to influence him or his viewers...To continue reading this article, please go here. You'll get unrestricted access to all our member's content, and your support directly goes ...read more
Last night, the major late-night hosts - Seth Meyers, Conan O'Brien, James Corden, Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, and Jimmy Kimmel - all opened their shows with statements memorializing the victims of the shooting, and urging Republican lawmakers to pass sensible gun control ...read more
I’m probably barking up the wrong tree here. In fact, I’m almost positive that I am, and this plea will be one of way too many that sizzles into nothing as it pings against the flaming hot behemoth of The Great American Gun Debate.But with over 500 innocent people wounded, and a ...read more
As the death toll in Las Vegas rises in the wake of a massacre that's killed 58 people and wounded hundreds more, it's impossible not to consider the reasons why these bloody events keep happening in America. There are countless factors at play here, obviously. Some of them are ...read more
At some point in the near past, the Republican Party decided that Second Amendment rights were the only rights that are absolute and untouchable -- rights that can not be regulated or restricted in any way. Ever. It used to be that Republican saints like Ronald Reagan could ...read more
Andrew Follette, the Energy and Science reporter for Tucker Carlson's website The Daily Caller wins the prize for the dumbest response to the mass shooting in Virginia earlier today. This was his headline: Wrote Follett: It didn’t take long for liberal pundits to reignite the gun ...read more
by Jen FrodermanDonald Trump has a plan to fix crime in America, especially in minority communities. And all he has to do is toss out the Constitution to do it. Trump wants to implement New York's failed "Stop-and-Frisk" nationally, despite it being unconstitutional, racially ...read more
Well that didn't take long. Donald Trump has now officially blamed the media for his encouragement of Second Amendment nut jobs to assassinate Hillary Clinton. Speaking with his best media friend Sean Hannity on Fox News, Trump told viewers that "dishonest" journalists were ...read more
Photo: Officer Montrell Jackson, one of those killed in Baton Rouge today. Courtesy PBSO.It would be a relief of inexpressible proportions if we could go just a few days without the kind of event that feels like it really does herald the collapse of society. But today, ...read more