Colorado Man Arrested For Threatening State Legislator

Franklin Sain, who allegedly threatened

 to kill state Rep. Rhonda Fields (D-CO)

Image: Think Progress

Think Progress – JUSTICE is reporting last week’s arrest of a person we will resign to calling a gun-toting wing-nut.  Apparently, Franklin Sain has spent far to much time listening to lies of Wayne LaPierre and reading web pages focused on false statements about “Obama taking their guns”.  Sain probably spends hour after hour in deep thought about an imagined army showing-up at his door with a “We want your guns” banner.

 As you read the following threats, know the perpetrator has been arrested and charged.  Also keep in mind people like this guy are the lowest of the low as they do not possess the mental acuity to discern they are leaving a traceable line right back to themselves. 

Sain’s offenses…..

 “I guarantee there is not enough law enforcement or military to stop an all-out overthrow of this government if you or that n—– president tries to take our guns,” one e-mail dated Feb. 13 reads. “Guarantee we will make World War I and II look like child’s play, many will die. Be prepared.” 

Another e-mail expresses hope that someone would “Giffords” both Fields and Rep. Beth McCann, a reference to the 2011 mass shooting that nearly killed Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords. 

The paper letter attributed to Sain states, “There will be blood! I’m coming for you, n—– b—–.” . . . “Limiting magazine sizes is stupid and will not work,” he wrote on Feb. 13. “I for one have 100+ 30 round mags and 150 round drums. I will never give those up and I am far from being some whack job.”

In an email to Fields the following day, Sain wrote: “I ordered a ton of new 30 round magazines today C***bag…go f*** yourself and your new law…we won’t abide by it…C*** N*****.”

 As I think of how Sain has allowed himself to become a victim, I think along this line. Some management development programs have modules that assess how the potential manager will react within the parameters of a given set of variables. The potential or the developing manager are run-through an assessment center.  Some assessment activities are focused observable behaviors by a team of trained assessors.   Two observation criteria are Judgment (definition Item 4 and 5) and Decisiveness.  Assessors observe small groups of people in crafted scenarios and assign points based on pre-set observation criteria.  In Sain case let’s consider Judgment and Decisiveness.  A one (1) score is a bad score.  A five (5) score is the top score and obviously most desirable.  While the perpetrator, Sain,  would never be candidate for a high level management position, let’s use the two observable criteria and assess his actions.  

A. He decided to harass the African-American elected official. Note: He also decided not to focus his threats at the federal level. So he posses the mental acuity of a snail. Decision made: 5 Score. His decision-making albeit it very flawed took place and was moved to action.

B. His Judgment!  Need I go farther?  Judgment: 1 Score.   His Judgment was extremely bad.   One would think a person so into weaponry (and obviously afflicted with social issues that place him at least at the level of bigot) would know that authorities will arrest pn  cases of direct threats.  I have been told by the FBI, these threats are in their purview and with proof of  threats they will arrest the “perp.” 

As the assessment story ends, it is like the guy who decides to go to the highest level in a building and jump to his death. He exercised Decisiveness (albeit it flawed): Five (5). But, he also exercised extremely poor Judgment: One (1).  In the case of Sain and the stated hypothetical assessment center scores would not pass either to the higher level  management position.

People like Sain are not only disturbing, they are obviously dangerous.  Most people who actually perpetrate such crimes do not exhibit behavior such as telephone calls, email or letters.  It is obvious Sain has other issues.  He undoubtedly suffers from the very same ailment that leads to the following information from the Secret service (with regard to President Obama).

The Daily Kos Novemebr 25, 2012

From Secret Service Says The Number Of Threats Against The President Is Overwhelming:

President Barack Obama is the target of more than 30 potential death threats a day and is being protected by an increasingly over-stretched Secret Service. He is the most threatened President in history. 

Since the President took office in 2008, the rate of threats against the president has increased 400% cent. Some threats to the President have been publicized, including the well known alleged plot by white supremacists in Tennessee to rob a gun store, shoot 88 black people, decapitate another 14 and then assassinate the first black president in American history.

Most however, are kept under wraps because the Secret Service fears that revealing details of them would only increase the number of copycat attempts.

As we move away from Sain, my glee and comfort that my social and political inclinations are at the opposite side of all spectrum are overwhelming.   I can only hope you are not one of the 47% who along with Sain voted for Romney/Ryan. If you are one of the unfortunate, you might have lots more in common with Sain than you realize.

Quvenzhané Wallis: The Latest Victim of American Exceptionalism

Quvenzhané Wallis:  A young actress with acting roles since age 5, now 9 years of age and this month starts a new role in the remake of “Annie”. Yet another effort to vindicate via apology!

As some sat and anxiously awaited the end of the many hours of  Academy Awards on network television some people may not have experienced such happy moments.  People who watch the various awards shows are generally ‘happy’ people who admire the talent, success and star-ism associated with celebrity   Or, they watch the various shows because it is their job to do so and report to the public. Yet some watch with different hearts and with evil intent.   They are so evil they find satisfaction in attention they garner for being vulgar and obscene. Rush Limbaugh is such a person and he was handsomely rewarded in the past with a $400 plus million dollar contract.   

Then there are those who hire themselves out of supposed talents in satire.  Satire bothers me!  It bothers for a few reasons.  It is an irritant because I do not have the ability to quickly discern satire from truth.  Of course, I have that problem. That is what satire is all about correct?  In that context,  I find the Oscar night spoofing of and attack on  Quvenzhané Wallis callous, grounded in privilege, and possibly dangers when misapplied. 

The Onion is probably the nation’s leading “satire house” (for lack of better phraseology).  I keenly remember a time I received an email from a sports fan informing me that the Dallas Cowboys had fired Jerry Jones. Jerry Jones owns the Dallas Cowboys professional football team and could hardly be a candidate for removal from the team roster.  I took a peep at the text of the linked website and quickly discerned the piece had original  in The Onion.   When informed of the satire the email sender responded , “Oops, I have never heard of The Onion.”   No big deal, eh?

                              

I recall another more serious run-in with satire.  As a contributor to a moderately popular progressive web page, an intriguing ‘gotcha’ took place after a self-declared satirist revealed his true colors.  The perpetrators name will go unpublished to avoid facilitating additional attention to his subterfuge.   The  ‘satirist” would visit the progressive web page and write satirical screeds and associated comment about the political and social Left.  He would overtly declare his work as satire, secure his desired attention and laughs, then disappear for long periods.  One day he tipped his hand in a post.  Investigation by a few regular web page denizens ensued and subject satirist was revealed as a fraud.  Long story shortened, we found his web page littered and infested with anti-progressive links, anti-progressive articles, images of President Obama (very racist images), and a few of the same posts he offered on the progressive web page under the guise of satire.   The “perp” used his “satire” to traipse around the Internet in all of his conservative glory pretending to be a progressive all while leaving his is “satire” to generate humor.  When confronted about his surreptitious rousing, he fended with innocence and fell back on “It is satire.”  We begged to differ based on the copious number of racially demeaning images on his web page  He never again visited the web page.  I suppose we deprived the “perp” of an outlet for his self–satisfying subterfuge.

Satire comes in many forms. Who doesn’t like an occasional visit to comedy segments on Comedy Central?  Yet, the humor and effectiveness of shows like the Colbert Report and Jon Stewart are in a different plain when compared to the callousness and guttural exhibition reaped on young       Quvenzhané Wallis. Under the umbrella of a corporate culture of satire, an employee of The Onion stepped across the line of humane and decent. The employee exercised self-anointed privilege to induce a snarky form of humor via tweeting disparagingly about the young talented actress. As you know the tweeter used the “C” word.

 Before posting the tweet, I will opt for a brief digression.

We all recall the amount of flak, sponsorship drops, and back and forth doubling-down regarding Rush Limbaugh calling Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute”. While social media has taken up the offensiveness of the abuse of young Wallis, I am hearing nothing from the very people Limbaugh abused in a like manner.  I am not seeing nor hearing even remote levels of contempt regarding calling Ms Wallis the “C” word.  

End digression.

An exercise of ill-advised privilege!

The Hollywood Reporter: Oscars: The Onion Under Fire….. Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a cunt, right? #Oscars2013— The Onion (@TheOnion) February 25, 2013 The tweet, sent out around 8:42 p.m. PST, quickly made the rounds on the social media website. An hour later, the offending message was deleted from The Onion’s feed.  issued an apology Monday morning.

 The Onion’s CEO, Steve Hannah,via a Facebook post….

Dear Readers, On behalf of The Onion, I offer my personal apology to Quvenzhané Wallis and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the tweet that was circulated last night during the Oscars. It was crude and offensive—not to mention inconsistent with The Onion’s commitment to parody and satire, however biting.  No person should be subjected to such a senseless, humorless comment masquerading as satire.  The tweet was taken down within an hour of publication. We have instituted new and tighter Twitter procedures to ensure that this kind of mistake does not occur again.   In addition, we are taking immediate steps to discipline those individuals responsible.   Miss Wallis, you are young and talented and deserve better. All of us at The Onion are deeply sorry. Sincerely, Steve Hannah

Comment about the apology will follow soon. First, a quick look and read about Ms Wallis from another progressive web page: TheObamacrat.com 

Exuding talent and maligned by a hourly paid of salaried employee working week to week for a paycheck!  Via Jueseppi B, I introduce Ms Wallis.

Black History Moment: Actress Quvenzhané Wallis At The Oscars……AND The Onion Tweet!! Quvenzhané Wallis (pronounced /kwəˈvɛnʒəneɪ/; kwuh-ven-jah-nay; born August 28, 2003) is an American child actress. She is known for her leading role as Hushpuppy in the critically acclaimed drama film Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), for which she became the youngest actress ever to receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Life and career Wallis was born in Houma, Louisiana, the daughter of Qulyndreia, a teacher, and Venjie Wallis, Sr., a truck driver. ”Quven”, the first part of her name, combines her parents’ first names, while her mother has stated that zhané means “fairy” in Swahili. Wallis, at age five, had to lie about her age to audition for her very first acting job—the starring role in Beasts of the Southern Wild—because the minimum age to be considered was six. She eventually beat out some 4,000 contenders for the role of Hushpuppy—the indomitable child prodigy and survivalist who lives with her dying father in the backwoods bayou squalor of Louisiana. Director Benh Zeitlin told ‘The Daily Beast’ that when he auditioned Wallis, he immediately realized he’d discovered what he was looking for, and changed the Beasts script to accommodate her strong-willed personality. Her reading ability, loud scream and the skill of burping on command impressed the director and won her the part. The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January 2012 to rave reviews, winning the Grand Jury Prize. In May 2012, Wallis flew to France for the premiere of the film at the Cannes Film Festival. The film received much acclaim and praised Wallis for her outstanding performance and it went on to win the prestigious Caméra d’Or award for Best first Feature Film. On January 10, 2013, at age nine, Wallis became the Academy Awards‘ all-time youngest nominee for Best Actress and third youngest ever in all categories. However, she was just six during the filming. She has signed on to star in Steve McQueen‘s upcoming film 12 Years a Slave alongside Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Brad Pitt. The film is based on a novel of the same name. In 2013, she will collaborate with Sundance for the second time on a short film called Boneshaker. In February 2013, Wallis was cast as the title character in the film remake of Annie.

What is it about MS Wallis that would draw such a crass and vulgar remark? Moreover, what is about the person who tweeted the vulgar remark gives them the privilege (via mindset), to simply and effectively lash out and figuratively strike the extremely talented child?  Is it the culture of the ‘snarky/satirists company?  Is it yet another example of how the nation is dissolving to the level of guttural remarks and behavior to give rise to accolades, applause and possible self-flagellation (e.g., Oh look at what I did, sure is cool”). Better yet, why has this stuff become so prevalent after the elections of 2008?   I have never I heard the words “I am sorry” or “I apologize” as much at any time in my life than I hear it almost weakly post January 20, 2009.

The business of the apology. When did the apology become a form of vindication and a mere politically correct thing to do.  The words have no have meaning for me as I hear them so very much and not once do I truly feel the speaker is actually sincere. It is the thing to do (or say).  Whatever happen to managing one’s self (the only person one can truly manage) such that “I am sorry or I apologize” are not a necessary part of one’s common vernacular?  I often use the following analogy for people who say those words far too much for me to find sincerity.

Let’s say you hit me with your car at 50 miles an hour.  I am mortally injured. You jump of out of your car and immediately starting expressing “I am sorry” as fast as you can speak them.  What does that do for me, I am dying”. You “sorry” means absolutely nothing other  than forcing the words into my last breath ears and brain.  I do not find the words a form of vindication.   The speaker speaks the words and simply moves on, leaving a mere hope it does not happen again…and it will.

The Onion CEO’s apology should mean very little.  Why does it take over-the-top vulgarity from a staffer for initiation of policy that forbids such acts? We can only hope the act generates a culture shift in the organization that snarky in some arenas is OK, but when unabated could lead to the failings of human beings.  

The nation has dumbed itself down enough already. We have money-grabbing uber wealthy oligarchs buying and pawning our politicians  We spend hours seeking information about the lives celebrities we ‘worship.” Fortunately, Kim Kardasian is now pregnant and our Internet home pages are free if her images. we dumb ourselves down thinking about what next with Snookie!    Or, we ooze about the very talented Daniel Day-Lewis without even a thought of the wonderful and thought provoking movie (Lincoln) that garner him a third Academy Award.

We dumb down by not hearing and reading much more about the callousness reaped upon yet another of our young by supposed adults.  The Onion CEO’s apology for me is met with the stark reality that I cannot sufficiently protest the vile tweet as I have never read the ‘friggin” Onion.