Those who read my morning post, R.I.P. Spooky, will understand why I am finding it difficult to sit and focus on any in-depth topic today.  Instead, I offer a few tidbits that I found either amusing or interesting in today’s news:

• President Obama, critiquing politicians and the journalists who cover them: “I was going to call it a carnival atmosphere, but that implies fun.”

• I wrote a post a week ago (Mitch McConnell Revises The Constitution) about the Senate’s dereliction of duty in refusing to even consider President Obama’s nominee, Judge Merrick B. Garland, for the Supreme Court vacancy left by the untimely death of Justice Antonin Scalia.  I noted that the confirmation process, a process defined by the U.S. Constitution, was being blocked only by republican senators (and there are a few notable exceptions).  This morning, I must admit that I had a good chuckle when I read the following New York Times headline:  Unions Win Fee Victory as Supreme Court Ties 4-4.  This was a case that was expected to deal a blow to public unions, but instead ended up delivering a big victory to the unions.  Conservatives argued that forcing public workers to support unions was a violation of the First Amendment, but Justice Scalia’s death left the court deadlocked in a 4-4 partisan split, so the existing rule stands.  This is the second deadlocked case since Justice Scalia’s death last month, but not likely to be the last.  It is unfortunate that the Supreme Court is divided along partisan lines … the framers of the Constitution did everything in their power to avoid just this scenario.  A number of cases dealing with crucial topics such as abortion, affirmative action, contraception, immigration, jury selection, and voting rights are on the docket between now and June.  It may well be that Mitch McConnell and his republican cronies, who are playing a game of demagoguery, emerge with yet more proverbial egg on their faces.  Republicans in the senate, particularly those coming up for re-election in November, have already begun to realize that there can be no winning solution if they stay the course, so a few have begun meeting with Judge Garland in an effort to at least show good faith.  It is likely a case of too little too late.

• The National Rifle Association, better known as the NRA, is out of control and I have to agree with Hillary Clinton on this one:  They Must Be Stopped!  The latest?  They have re-written the children’s fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel.  The revision has the two young innocents packing rifles as they come upon the witch’s gingerbread house. Arming Hansel and Gretel is part of the NRA’s campaign to familiarize children with guns as a supposed safety measure. The fairy tale campaign began in January when the NRA offered “Little Red Riding Hood (Has A Gun)”, in which rather than being devoured along with Grandma by the Big Bad Wolf, Red keeps the wolf at bay with her rifle.  Young children of an age to be reading fairy tales lack the mental and emotional maturity to fully comprehend the difference between right and wrong, and do not understand the finality of death!  These re-written “fairy tales” are the work of Amelia Hamilton, a children’s author and conservative blogger. I find it incredible, jaw-dropping incredible, that anybody in their right mind, anybody with a moral compass, can justify this. The NRA’s focus has shifted over time from its start as an organization focused on training and marksmanship to one that is a major player in the battle over gun control.  It would seem that they have pushed the envelope way too far with this latest escapade, and I think it is time to either end the NRA or at the very least outlaw such insanity as these re-written children’s tales.

So that’s it for this evening, folks!  Back tomorrow with more!