Not a Pretti Sight

      In 1984, George Orwell once famously wrote, "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."

      Every minute of every day since January 20th last year, we the people have been afflicted by a shamelessly criminal, murderous regime that regards Orwell's novel not as a warning but a guidebook. With the exception of Stephen Miller, a guy who went into public disservice because his puny forearms weren't strong enough to strangle prostitutes, the most Orwellian figure in this criminal junta has been Greg Bovino (R-Munchkinland).

     In an interview with CNN's Dana Bash, Bovino essentially called Americans idiots for not swallowing wholesale his vividly palpable lies about the execution of Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis yesterday. Bash had shown video proof of Bovino's goons disarming Pretti seconds before shooting him. Bovino yelled that CNN didn't have the right to "litigate" a still frame, apparently unable to distinguish a still frame from a video.

     In a video showing the run-up to the murder, Pretti can be seen coming to the aid of a woman who'd been shoved to the ground by ICE thugs. ICE then swarms Pretti and knocks him to the ground. They then disarm him and, once he was on the ground and no longer posed a threat, a coward, or several, shot him 10 times in five seconds. 

     Now, several things ought to be made clear- Pretti was a legal gun owner who had a concealed carry permit, which is legal in the state of Minnesota. The asshole who'd shot him did so in a crowd of his own people, which was why they scattered like roaches when you turn the lights on. At no time did Pretti reach for his gun.

     To hear Bovino and others talk, Pretti was there to "massacre" ICE agents in a crime scene (without specifying or proving what the crime was). But if that was Pretti's agenda, he would've started blasting away at any prick wearing a mask.

     What Bovino is essentially saying is, if you legally have a gun strapped to your hip within sight of an ICE agent, they have the right to shoot you dead. This is part and parcel to the paranoid, murderous regime of Nazi Germany.

     The really amazing part was Bovino's assertion that the ICE agents were the real victims in all this and not the guy lying in the Hennipin County morgue with 10 gunshot wounds in his corpse. In other words, he's playing the Blame the Victim game and reversing the victimhood so it goes to the actual criminals.

     Even though little Greg doesn't like to litigate still pictures, I'd like to show him the lead image and ask him what he makes of it. I'll tell you what I see: Pretti being forced to he ground, his left hand outstretched to break his fall, what's plainly a cell phone in his right. And, right above him, an ICE goon pointing a gun right at his head in a one-handed grip.

     You ask any cop or former cop and they'll tell you there isn't a single thing about that still frame that's correct in law enforcement, including the grip on the gun.

     And yet, these Nazi stooges of Trump are going on TV and essentially telling us we can't believe our lying eyes, that we should believe their cognitive dissonance and not pictures or videos that put the lie to their claims. And Bovino is telling us if we have a gun, whether we legally have them or not, and get anywhere within spitting distance of an ICE raid, expect to get shot and killed.

     This is a fascist junta masquerading as an actual presidential administration that's grown alarmingly comfortable with lying about each and every thing under the sun. And Goddamn the Republican scum in Congress and all these 2A gun nuts on social media for remaining silent during this killing spree.

     And if the Democrats were worth a shit, they'd put that lead picture in every one of their campaign ads this year until Americans get the message.