Because they're a bunch of [omitted], that's why

Once again, we're all about the kabuki in Washington. We had a series of votes on gun control and all the proposals went down to defeat, because (a) no one seriously believes anything on offer would have made any difference and (b) the purpose of such exercises isn't crafting laws as much as soundbites and/or internet memes that in the end sway no one but give our betters the chance to feel all warm and fuzzy in their self-righteousness. I mean, who doesn't love this type of reasoned analysis, which greeted me on my social media feed this morning:

It would show "spine" to give the braying mob what it wants

Meanwhile, the Leader of the Free World sent his chief law enforcement officer out with orders to pretend as well. With much fanfare, Attorney General Loretta Lynch informed the citizenry that transcripts of the 911 call from the Orlando nightclub would be made public, but that all references to the shooter's motivation would be redacted. So we got this sort of thing:

Mateen: “I pledge of allegiance to [omitted]. “I pledge allegiance to [omitted] may God protect him [in Arabic], on behalf of [omitted].”

It's possible he meant the flag and just got the words wrong, but I don't think so. Not much longer, the actual words were supplied:

I pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may God protect him [Arabic], on behalf of the Islamic State.

So why go through the motions? Why fight so hard against calling a thing what it is? And why send your top law official out to peddle fiction? What does that accomplish?

I don't have much good to say about the Leader of the Free World, especially these days, but I will say this -- he's exceptional at getting his people to cooperate with his demands, no matter how asinine they are. No one is going to confuse Loretta Lynch with Elliot Richardson -- that much is certain.