Friday Stuff

Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Lawrence O’Donnell’s clip on the pic of Nancy Pelosi telling Generalissimo Trump to take his highchair and go sit in the corner – even with all of this that we’ve seen and likely will see, there are times when I still can’t believe that all of this is actually going on…



…and Michael Brooks tells us about the infantile letter that Mango Mussolini wrote to Erdogan of Turkey (mildly NSFW)...



…and I’m not totally sold of the legitimacy of the whole “Republicans for the Rule of Law” thing, but I have to admit that this is a pretty good ad about our Orange Pestilence…



…and Pap and Farron Cousins talk about the Repugs packing the courts with corporate judges (Cousins is absolutely right to lay this at the feet of Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao and The Federalist Society and Leonard Leo, as opposed to President Fergus Laing…and no, I don’t think the Democrats totally understand this issue either, unfortunately)…

…and, in a way, I feel like I have to apologize a bit for starting this off with you-know-who instead of paying tribute to the giant who has recently left our midst, and that would be Dem U.S. House Rep Elijah Cummings of Maryland, but I definitely would like to do so now (nice remembrance here by Cenk, Ana, and David Dayen of TYT...more here)…



…and I thought this was a pretty good clip by Robert Reich and Inequality Media about why the 2020 election represents another “break the glass” moment, and why we need to do that the RIGHT way this time…



…and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 10/19/12, in which Chris Matthews, plugging his book of course, talks about JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis, which we were in the middle of 57 years ago, offering a lesson in presidential leadership that is not to be found anywhere at the moment (and let's not ever forget about this guy also)...all the best to Matthews in his recovery from prostate surgery (here) - clip is from Bill Maher back when he still mattered, and kudos to Matthews for telling Andrew Sullivan to shut up, a guy who is utterly beyond useless and does nothing but try to troll Dems and progressives and usually fails miserably…



...and happy upcoming birthday to Karl Wallinger of World Party.



And with that, I'll take my leave for a little while - I'll plan to fire this all up again in about a week.

Wednesday Stuff

(By the way, I’m the wrong person to go to for any kind of a “take” on the Democratic debate last night partly because I didn’t expect that they would have anything to say – or at least not much – about any of the issues that truly mattered to me, so I didn’t watch, though apparently Biden said he had something to do with the CFPB that Elizabeth Warren founded, which to me is hilarious…it’s all about the media “gotcha” BS – should have Bernie, Warren, Harris, and I guess, yeah, you have to include Biden, and everyone else should go get lost.)

It looks like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook has been making nice with the wingnuts despite (or maybe because of) their typical work-the-ref caterwauling about media bias, as Farron Cousins explains…kind of figures given that Facebook started as a site to hate on girls at Harvard who shot down Zuck and his friends when they wanted to date them…



…and Sam Seder and The Majority Report tell us about Chris Hayes discussing Ronan Farrow’s reporting on Harvey Weinstein, as well as the imbroglio with the NBA and the Chinese government – yes, the “path of least resistance” is far more treacherous than you might believe…I give Hayes credit for making a careful and thinly veiled criticism of his employer…



…and John I. tells us more about Ronan Farrow’s “catch and kill” allegations, practiced by The National Enquirer on behalf of the Gropenfuhrer to destroy stories that could, let’s say, pose a problem or two (hmmm – “journalistic integrity”…have to Google it to find out I guess for TNE…at least 10 different stories, huh?)…



…and I know I’m a little behind the curve on this, but Rachel Maddow tells us how Our Orange Nightmare recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to longtime Reagan counselor Ed Meese, as noted here (great synopsis on how wretched Meese truly was, and regarding Iran Contra, she’s referring to the Boland Amendment which the Reagan gang thumbed their collective nose at, as it were – so much wrong with Meese that I’m not sure it can be cataloged here, but in addition to what Maddow cites, Meese was also instrumental in the Pacific Legal Foundation, and he also made some typically pig-headed comments about hunger in America in 1983 as noted here…I guess I should present a Maddow clip if for no other reason than to reply to the snark at the end of the Seder clip)…



…and I’ve had some issues with Jim Wallis in the past, and I realize he can’t come right out and make a political endorsement, but he’s right on the money otherwise as far as I’m concerned (kind of repugnant to me that someone with a turned-around collar was in An Oval Office during the Meese ceremony – my church has much to make amends for as far as I’m concerned)…



…and it looks like Todd was nominated for the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame for a second time (here) – should be a slam-dunk, as it were.

Monday Stuff

I honestly went back and forth on whether or not I should include this video. On the one hand, I thought it would be wrong to indulge in the nihilist wishes of whoever the sick coward(s) is (are) who concocted this monstrosity. On the other hand, though, since, as far as I’m concerned, it was made with (at a minimum) the de factor endorsement of the President of the United States, that makes it something we should take seriously.

So here it is – this is what we are forced to discuss today (and yeah, it’s every bit as disgusting as it was described…and I really hope that anyone having anything to do with Lynyrd Skynyrd decries this also…I don’t think taking legal action is uncalled for either – more here)…



…and don’t anyone dare tell that it’s just a coincidence...



…and speaking of the press, Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Chuck Todd’s commendable recent decision not to give air time to our Cowardly Treasonous Liar In Chief…



…and I thought this was some terrific commentary from Cenk Uygur in particular about Fix Noise and Roger Ailes given the recent departure of Shep Smith from that network…



…oh, and let’s also not lose sight of the fact that the Gropenfuhrer has now been accused of (at a minimum, again) inappropriate sexual conduct by 43 different women (and yeah, nothing but roaring silence from this guy in response)…



…and I know I really need to change the subject or else I’m going to vomit in response to all of this, so allow me to point out that today is the 25th anniversary of the debut of Pulp Fiction, which of course cemented Quentin Tarantino as an acclaimed filmmaker and included this tune on its soundtrack.

Friday Stuff

Cenk and Ana tell us about how the “prosperity gospel” charlatans are giving cover for Mango Mussolini, notably Paula White, and of course since we’re talking about religious frauds, we have to include Ralph Reed as well (yep, it’s all about HATING TEH GAY and ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION and, in case you somehow didn’t already get the message, ABORTION)…



…and Seth Meyers gives us the latest on the latest drip, drip, drip stuff over the Gropenfuhrer and his henchmen (including Rudy of course) and Ukraine…



…and I know a lot of this is familiar territory in this clip from Brian Tyler Cohen, but to me, the takeaway is that the regime of Generalissimo Trump feels so confident about its utterly wretched corruption that some lackey representing it can spout off on Lou Dobbs and feel that he’s somehow still above reproach…



…and I have to admit that I didn’t know anything about Rojava in Syria, but Debbie Bookchin and Amy Goodman fill us in here, along with Ertugrul Kurkcu and Elif Sarican (and of course, Turkey is trying to crush this movement also - important I think to note these progressive women and their causes, as well as, tragically, the rise of right-wing responses around the globe to beat down these and other movements to empower people…some of this rambles a bit I know, but as important as this story is, I think these viewpoints are important and need to be heard)…



…and Thom Hartmann tells us about a WaPo report on what may very well have gone on with Our Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Orange Nightmare and Erdogan of Turkey that led to the current crisis (part of me wishes that Ben Bradlee were still alive to see how much his former paper is doing laps on “the old gray lady” when it comes to the antics of President* Fergus Laing…the “newspaper of record” has fallen on its metaphorical face in comparison, including here…and yes, there very definitely is “a process that got us here,” as Thom says at the end)…



…and I’m probably overdue for a “relationship” song, so I hope this qualifies.

Wednesday Stuff

Seth Meyers brings us the latest on Our Treasonous Tiny-Handed Orange Dictator (and now with China?) and the second whistleblower too…and the thought of Rick Perry as an alleged criminal mastermind is bust-a-gut hilarious…



…and Rachel Maddow interviews Brett McGurk, former Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL under Dubya, speaking out against Generalissimo Trump on Turkey and Syria (the last minute of this is pretty damn terrifying, but again, it’s not like we weren’t warned)…



…and Farron Cousins gives us the latest polling numbers on Mango Mussolini concerning impeachment and removal from office…



…and Kyle K. tells us about Dr. Oz making sense on Medicare for All, so of course Fix Noise has to cut him off…



…and with the prior clip in mind, Cenk and Ana tell us about a great video made by a Bernie Sanders supporter (I agree with the commentary a thousand percent – have to admit that I was shocked by Trevor Noah)…



…and Sam and the crew from “The Majority Report” discuss Ellen DeGeneres with Dubya at the football game recently – yeah, here is my admittedly boring “hot take”…Ellen is allowed to hang out with whoever she wants, but when it’s Dubya don’t be shocked by the backlash…and anybody in the public eye has to have the equivalent of a Ph.D. in self-promotion as far as I’m concerned, and I think that’s on display here from EDG, milking this for every bit of publicity...and GREAT points by Sam at the end about The Dixie Chicks and Janeane Garofalo (and I know this is a little off-topic, but am I the only one who finds it a little weird that Laura Bush was wearing pearls for the occasion?)…



…and happy birthday to Jackson Browne (David Lindley on lap steel guitar)…



…and John Lennon (“faith in the future out of the now”).

Monday Stuff

I thought this was a pretty clear-eyed commentary from Kyle Kulinski on the US deciding to pull our troops from Syria in the support of the Kurds, who helped us fight ISIS, and of course now the Kurds will likely get demolished by Turkey…I think Kyle makes good points about how our military presence(s) abroad should be defined properly by Congress, but of course now world leaders will have less of a reason to actually trust us…so much winning…



…and Farron Cousins reminds us that the stuff with Mango Mussolini and Deutsche Bank is by no means settled either…



…and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about that disgusting amoral fraud RoJo getting commendably called out by Chuck Todd the other day on the Ukraine stuff and the Gropenfuhrer…



…and Sam and the crew from “The Majority Report” tells us about that Lyndon LaRouche nut of a supporter (any other kind I wonder?) who wore that “eat the babies” shirt in front of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (yep, I’m sure we’ll have a lot more of that to look forward to in the runup to 2020, unfortunately)…



…and I was remiss in noting that last Friday was the 30th anniversary of the passing of Graham Chapman of Monty Python, of course…



…and damn, it wasn’t that long ago that we also celebrated the 80th birthday of Ginger Baker – RIP.

Friday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us that “Pastor” Robert Jeffress has said that there would be “a Civil War-like fracture” if our Tiny Handed Treasonous Orange Meat Sack were to be removed from An Oval Office – so many reasons to detest Jeffress, pretending to be a “man of God,” which he clearly isn’t based on this, as well as a coward, egging on others dumb enough to buy his “culture war” rhetoric…



…and Thom Hartmann tells us about U.S. newspapers calling on the Gropenfuhrer to resign…



…and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Shep Smith unpacking the latest lies from Generalissimo Trump on Ukraine (a little past the news cycle I'll admit, but it bears repeating, especially coming from Fix Noise)…



…and Robert Reich gives us some reality on the supposedly great economy from President Fergus Laing…



…and if somehow God willing a Dem can manage to win the White House in 2020, I hope this person at least asks WA Dem Gov. Jay Inslee to be Secretary of Energy (but again, even if that happens, it won’t mean a damn thing without winning Congress too – every single damn election matters, and we should punish every single Republican for this horror show we’ve had to live in since 2016)…



...and happy belated 70th birthday to Lindsey Buckingham, formerly of Fleetwood Mac - best wishes for continued good health.