Monday, June 17, 2024 BY CROOKED MEDIA

- Donald Trump, forgetting the name of the guy who gave him the mental acuity test he likes to boast about acing, former White House physician Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX).

Senate Democrats are taking aim at bump-stocks, after the Supreme Court struck down a federal ban. The legislation is a long shot, even though the idea recently enjoyed bipartisan support.

Gun dealerships around the country are gearing up to restart sales of bump stocks — a device that can modify a semi-automatic rifle to fire about as rapidly as a machine gun — after the Supreme Court invalidated a Trump-era prohibition. But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he will propose legislation to reinstate the ban as soon as this week. The court ruled that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms didn’t have the power to restrict the devices. But two of the justices pointed out that congressional legislation could do the trick. Now, Schumer is aiming to get a vote on the issue ASAP.

The question becomes: will Republicans support any kind of gun safety legislation in an election year? (Okay, that was a rhetorical question.) But the Republican position on bump stocks is less clear-cut than on most gun regulations. The GOP reaction to the Supreme Court’s ruling has been relatively muted. Not to mention, the original ban was instituted under the Trump administration, and, at the time, received bipartisan support.

Bump stocks came into existence after the expiration of the Assault Weapons Ban in the early 2000s. They were then outlawed in 2017 following the Las Vegas mass shooting — the deadliest in U.S. history. The perpetrator in that case used a gun altered with a bump stock to fire more than 1000 rounds in 11 minutes into a crowded concert, killing 60. After the shooting, Trump and the NRA supported an executive action on bump stocks rather than congressional legislation, because it was easier to challenge in court.

So will Republicans tank this? Probably. But if so, Democrats will make it awkward for them, by pointing out their past positions.

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CA) tells What a Day he hopes Republicans who “expressed support for regulating bump stocks” after the Vegas shooting will work with Democrats to regulate them once again. However, he added: “When push comes to shove, I won’t be surprised if they line up behind the NRA and the gun industry.”

And on that note, when Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) was asked on CNN Sunday if he would support enshrining the Trump ban into law, he side-stepped the question… saying it “treads close to the line” of violating the second Amendment. He instead proposed a “crackdown” on crime, but never actually answered the question.

Even if Schumer’s legislation were to pass the Senate, there’s no guarantee it would even get to the floor in the NRA-controlled… uh, we mean, GOP-controlled House.

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Chiquita Brands, the largest banana distributor of bananas in the U.S., has been ordered to pay $38.3 million to the families of victims in Colombia killed by a paramilitary group. A Florida court recently ruled that Chiquita Brands International knowingly provided “substantial” support to the group “to a degree sufficient to create a foreseeable risk of harm to others.”

The company claims it paid the guerrillas, known as the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC, under duress to protect its operations, and plans to appeal. Still, the verdict marks the first time a big U.S. corporation has been found liable for human rights abuses in a foreign country, according to lawyers who spoke with USA Today.

Large multinational fruit corporations have a century-long history of misdeeds in South and Central America… from joining with the CIA to overthrow the democratically-elected leader of Guatemala, to an anti-labor massacre in Colombia and political interventions in Honduras. But this new verdict suggests there could be more to follow.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved his influential war cabinet after key centrist member and former military chief Benny Gantz quit the emergency wartime government, citing frustration over the direction of the country’s war with Hamas. Netanyahu is now more likely to rely on far-right members of his coalition government, who vehemently oppose ongoing ceasefire negotiations.

Michael Cohen, Trump’s estranged former fixer, said he plans to run for Congress in New York City to challenge sitting Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY). Nadler dismissed Cohen’s odds, saying: “What a great country America is. Anyone can run for Congress — even con men.”

Russian “President” Vladimir Putin is heading to North Korea tomorrow, hoping to procure much-needed munitions for his war in Ukraine. White House officials have previously said they cannot vouch for the quality of artillery one might procure from Pyongyang. Just to be clear, though, we aren’t super eager to find out.

The rules for the first presidential debate on June 27 are coming into focus. There will be strict time limits, muted mics, no studio audience and two commercial breaks. It’s also still theoretically possible there could be a third podium for wingnut candidate RFK Jr., if he reaches the polling and electoral college viability thresholds. No word yet on whether there could be a teeny-tiny fourth mic for his brain worm. (RIP brain worm.)

A GOP congressional candidate in Michigan is catching heat after his TikTok account shared a video in which the the AI-generated voice of Martin Luther King Jr. “endorsed” him. The digital voice said: “Yes, it is me, Martin Luther King. I came back from the dead to say something…. I have another dream, that Anthony Hudson will be Michigan 8th District’s next congressman.” The post was deleted, and the candidate apologized. He then retracted his apology and said: “I do believe he would endorse me.” Overall, the incident shows a disturbing lack of intelligence, artificial or any other kind.

The ultra-famous French football captain (it’s SOCCER, let us call it soccer!) Kylian Mbappe made an unprecedented political plea to his country’s youth to reject extremism in the upcoming parliamentary elections after right-wing victories in the recent EU vote.

The National Weather Service says the U.S. could see the longest heat wave in decades over the next week. At least half the country is expected to be impacted by the early and unwelcome start to swamp-ass season.

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The governor of Maryland issued a sweeping mass pardon to over 175,000 people convicted on criminal charges related to marijuana on Monday morning, including more than 150,000 misdemeanor possession convictions.

A Washington D.C. suburb is firing up the country’s most ambitious plan to provide clean, sustainable local transit. Montgomery County, MD, is installing its own self-sustainable energy microgrid and a fleet of 200 zero-emissions buses – powered by hydrogen fuel cells and solar energy.

The world’s most famous child star is all grown up… and he won a Tony. Congrats, Daniel Radcliffe! Or, as Hagrid would say: “You’re a winner, Harry.”

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