March 6 Open Thread: Let Denn Lead on Gun Control

Delaware Democrats, seeking leadership on gun issues given the makeup of their generally clueless caucus, should read Matt Denn’s op-ed supporting Gov. Carney’s call for a ban on assault weapons. This should stand as an answer to all those people who wonder why some of us considered Denn the best person for the governor’s job, and as testimony to why the Freel machine was too scared of him to let that happen. As lame-duck Attorney General, Denn has no political capital left, but he also has no office to lose. His intellectual and moral capital remain, and he has more of both than any Democrat currently in office. Let him lead this fight.

Yesterday’s news cycle was dominated by a one-time Trump aide and Roger Stone acolyte Sam Nunberg, who did some morning drinking and then made the rounds on cable TV to babble semi-coherently in an attempt to protect his svengali from the gallows. Nice try, Sam, but Stone stands a good chance of hanging as a traitor. Maybe he’ll strip to the waist for the event so we can watch that Nixon tattoo on his back sag into a frown.

Believe it or not, the NRA has bigger problems than a bunch of high-school kids who can run intellectual rings around them: It’s up to its trigger finger in the Trump-Russia collusion, and Sen. Ron Wyden isn’t taking their bullshit for an answer. Justice rarely gets done, but if it does, Wayne LaPierre is going to swing from a gibbet for funneling tens of millions of Russian cash into Trump’s “self-funded” election campaign.

Remember when Trump seemed to embrace gun control for, oh, a good 12 hours?Republicans in Congress hope to pull the same trick with Trump’s impetuous call for a trade war, calling in a cast of thousands to talk him out of it. This, of course, is not the way to manipulate Trump, and the fact that Paul Ryan hasn’t figured that out is the best proof that he’s all sizzle, no steak. Not even a Trump steak.

Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran announced his retirement at the end of this month, meaning the state will elect two senators this November. Nobody expects a Democrat to win either, but the contest to replace Cochran will be subject to the state’s odd special-election rules, so there’s a non-zero chance for Democrats. Not as high as 1%, but not zero.

Puzzled about why Paul Manafort is willing to go to jail for the rest of his life? Because when the Russians want you dead, they don’t fuck around. You are found dead.