(I'm going to be cutting back on posting for a bit, just to let you know.)
I know I mentioned this previously, but here is the clip of John of The Damage Report telling us about “MAGA Mike” Johnson getting the treatment he deserved at Columbia (with Elise Stefanik and the equally odious Virginia Foxx...GREAT points by John about the “party of Lincoln” being totally disingenuous, to say nothing of patronizing, in criticizing the student protests, having typically no interest in dissenting points of view from their prepared talking points...I mean, Johnson and his pals could be in D.C. doing some, y’know, actual legislating that HAPPENS TO BE THEIR DAMN JOBS, but they’re doing this nonsense instead)...
...and for the reality perspective on Israel’s incursion into Gaza, I thought Bernie Sanders was spot-on here (and I was glad to see this...God only knows the condition of the remaining hostages after all this time)...
...and I have to admit that I’m not paying a lot of attention to the trial of Combover Caligula in Manhattan, but I thought it was interesting (as Farron Cousins explains) to hear from the hilariously-inaptly-named David Pecker of the National Enquirer about all the negative stories involving #45 and how they were handled (letting the Trump gang know about some controversy blowing up and how to try and resolve it, a tactic which might actually be illegal, in addition to being immoral as hell of course...as far as I’m concerned, Mango Mussolini should be in the slam already, but this is where we are...sigh)...
...and I should note that I was a bit anxious about the fate of Dem U.S. House Rep Summer Lee of our beloved commonwealth of Pa, but it looks like she whupped challenger Bhavini Patel in the primary, fortunately (Lee brough back a gang of dough to her district and won endorsements up and down the Dem ballot, which had a lot to do with her victory...and truly awesome to stick it to Trumpist sycophant Jeff Yass by the way, who funded Patel)...
...and we were able to get a bit of a refund already from the feds, and I hope you were able to get yours also; with that in mind, Josh Johnson of The Daily Show speaks with tax expert Robert Wood about how we can maximize our gains, you might say...basically, if you own a home, never sell it and hang onto it until you die...got it...
...and I need something kind of mellow to close out the week, and I think this works.
Jesse Dollemore brings us the news of Repug Mississippi guv Tate Reeves proclaiming Confederate Heritage Month again (additionally, kudos to Dem former MS governor Ray Mabus for speaking out against this garbage...this clip pretty much lays bare the ridiculous claim that the “war between the states” had nothing to do with slavery)...
...and Kyle Kulinski lets us know that Newsmax and OANN were recently smacked with having to pay out to Smartmatic and (probably) Dominion over 2020 election lies (terms not disclosed...couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch of scumwaffles – NSFW/H)...
...oh, and did everybody catch what Repug U.S. House Rep Tony Gonzales said recently about his colleagues, Big Stupid Head Matt Gaetz and the incredibly-inaptly-named Bob Good in particular (here)? And yeah, innocent until proven guilty and all that when it comes to the rep from Flori-DUUH!...but we’ll see, won’t we?...
...and when it comes to bottom-feeders from the “party of Lincoln” in the U.S. House, we can’t leave out Marjorie Traitor Greene, can we, who was recently trashed by Thom Tillis, among others, including “The Mittster” – she looks even worse than usual after threatening to dump “MAGA Mike” Johnson, with the foreign aid package getting through anyway despite her ridiculous threats (Jeff Waldorf explains)...to do something about “Capitol Hill Karen,” click here...
...and Emma V. of The Majority Report tells us about faculty joining protests on college campuses against Israel, starting with Columbia of course – “This is absolutely not one of these times when it’s time to be silent” indeed (mildly NSFW/H)...and it looks like Harvard has joined in also as noted here...additionally, I don’t have a clue as to what the U.S. House Speaker thought he was going to accomplish, but I’m glad he got the treatment he deserved (here)...
...and this tune sure works for me any time of the year, including now (and on any issue also, including the one noted in the prior clip).
Brian Tyler Cohen presents a clip of Dem U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff going after U.S. Senate Repugs for not moving on a border security bill co-authored by James Lankford, and of course U.S. House Repugs, doing the bidding of you-know-who, continue to act in bad faith (and yes, I know the foreign aid bills, concerning what Rosa DeLauro was saying, FINALLY passed for Ukraine, Taiwan and, unfortunately, Israel)...
Update 4/24/24: I meant that the aid package FINALLY passed the House; as noted here, it has now passed the Senate and Biden will likely sign onto it before too much longer.
...and while Ossoff quite rightly held the “party of Lincoln” to account, Dem Jasmine Crockett in the U.S. House brought the receipts, you might say, in response to typical BS talking points about immigrants driving up crime and increasing the size of municipalities and, by extension, big gumint benefits for blue states, when in reality, Texas grew by 2 congressional seats and New York lost a seat, as Crockett points out, as well as the fact that violent crime has gone down in all categories in Tarrant County and the rest of “the land of the yellow rose,” which shoots down another line of right-wing BS about immigrants and crime...
...and for more nonsense from the “loyal opposition,” John and Francesca of The Damage Report bring us this clip of CNN’s Dana Bash and South Dakota Repug guv Kristi (“Unsafe At Any Speed”) Noem trying to evade answering a question about abortion, of course, saying that there should only be an exception for the life of the mother (even though those “exceptions” are basically toothless)...Noem also says that “one tragedy shouldn’t beget another tragedy,” or something, meaning that the mother should be forced to carry her rapist’s baby to term, making Noem one of the most enlightened minds of the 13th century...
Update 4/26/24: Given the corporate media hagiography surrounding her, it's easy to forget what a monster Noem truly is (here).
...and for some truly absurd behavior from the Trump Party, Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report gives us a look at the West Virginia Republican gubernatorial primary, complete with some truly ridiculous transphobic ads, which I guess shouldn’t come as a surprise, mainly from Chris Miller and Patrick Morrissey...oh, but their PACS aren’t coordinating with the candidates...yeah, tell me another one...and for the zillionth time, KIDS AREN’T GETTING GODDAMN BOTTOM SURGERY as Figueredo tells us...and of course, this Moore Capito guy has to do his own fear mongering on this too...and by the way, what does it say about this guy’s parents, including her mom the senator, that they thought her maiden and married names would be good enough for this guy and he didn’t even need a first name of his own, but I digress (NSFW/H)...
...and Farron Cousins lets us know that the Dems won another special election recently, this time in Michigan...yes, as Cousins points out, these were pretty blue seats anyway, but the level of turnout is the key as far as I’m concerned, and we need to sustain that... I know Cousins isn’t telling us to rest on our laurels or anything, and neither am I, but I’m just saying that we should keep things in context, that’s all...
...and happy belated 65th birthday to Robert Smith of The Cure.
This New York Times retro video deals with the Columbine mass school shooting...we recently observed the 25th anniversary, believe it or not...I guess, like a lot of other people, I’ll be wrestling with exactly why the ‘90s was a time when (mostly rural) rage on the part of white kids whose brains were broken for some reason seemed to flourish, in this attack, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Branch Davidian siege, and assorted other incidents of violence...more than anything IMO, it’s the damn, stinking guns, but I would argue also that, in the “heartland,” our government’s failed neoliberal policies (and The Sainted Ronnie R is definitely to blame I believe, but he has company on both sides of the aisle), particularly towards our farmers and businesses that built up towns across the country, was a factor also, though there was plenty of violence in our cities too, and that remains the case across the country to this day, tragically...it takes more courage, imagination and will to tackle our gun violence epidemic across this country than I believe we possess at the moment, and I’d love to be wrong about that (more here)...
...and this Now This clip deals with Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs), which are pretty much vehicles for wingnut indoctrination and provide no medical purpose for pregnant people seeking an abortion or related services (and CPCs don’t deserve one stinking dime of federal funding – trying to cut that off is yet another good move by the Biden Administration flying under the corporate media radar, if you will)...
...and John Russell and More Perfect Union inform us of the biggest labor win in decades, and that is Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, TN just voting to join the UAW...awesome!Now, onto Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, and South Carolina! (and here is more on the BS anti-union efforts on the part of Repug Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, among others, presented because we can expect this at a minimum in response to other pro-union organizing)...
...and Jeff Waldorf lets us know here that “Capitol Hill Karen” received a warning, apparently, to lay off “MAGA Mike” Johnson from some conservative personality named Sarah Posner, who came to Johnson’s defense, along with this Liz Peek person...jeez, a wingnut “food fight” (pass the popcorn...and to do something about Marjorie Train Wreck Greene, click here)...
...and this clip from TYT shows Dem U.S. House Rep Jim McGovern pushing back against Repug U.S. House idiot Guy Reschenthaler, who accuses Democrats of being guilty somehow of anti-Semitic incidents and sympathizing with terrorists, or some such nonsense...and by the way, when it comes to a ridiculous over-reaction against pro-Palestinian protests, you’d be hard pressed to find a more excessive response than that of Columbia University President Minouche Shafik as noted here...
Update 4/23/24: It looks like U of P isn't doing any better on this issue (here).
Farron Cousins presents an ad from the Republican Accountability Project against the Gropenfuhrer and his boasting about ending Roe; the ad points out that 33 million women live in states where abortion is effectively illegal (and it looks like U.S. Senate Repug idiot Joni Ernst went out of her way to remind everybody which party is responsible for this atrocity)...
Update 1: And apparently Lex Luthor Scott wants to join the party, as it were (here).
Update 2: Gee, isn’t it great that we made women’s health care the responsibility of the states instead of enshrining Roe into law the way those dirty hippies wanted (#sarcasm – here)?
...and it appears that Marjorie Traitor Greene recently gained the support of equally useless U.S. House idiot Thomas Massie in Greene’s bid to try and oust Johnson as House Speaker...and the Mayorkas impeachment in the Senate got the treatment it deserved (here – NSFW/H)...
...and this clip from Sam Van Pykeren, Ari Berman and Mother Jones explains How Minority Rule Is Threatening U.S. Democracy Like Never Before...the point is that this country has been governed by a privileged class since its founding, and that is taking on new dimensions in our current era that we have to be on the lookout against and fight as our time and means allows (I know he’s hawking a book, but Berman is a pretty bright guy when it comes to this stuff IMO...one of the great points is the obscene amount of wealth from our politicians in this current time – how the hell can you expect them to represent us as opposed to their rich pals unless we scream out heads off, as it were? - clip is slightly NSFW/H also)...
...and the next time you hear anybody say, “oh, the two major political parties are the same...there’s no point in voting,” show them this clip of Dem U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff in Georgia going after the guy who is STILL somehow U.S. Postmaster General, and that’s Trumpist holdover Louis DeJoy...Ossoff calls out DeJoy over the beyond-ridiculous mail delays in Georgia, particularly around Atlanta apparently (here)...
...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report discuss what the media gets wrong about Trumpers with author David Masciotra...interesting background on the “exurbs” and how they took off in the ‘90s, right about when Fix Noise started and all of the rage against the Clintons was at full froth, and how the wealth level of those folks definitely belies their “populist” myth (see Jim Worthington of the Newtown Athletic Club in these parts)...yes, I believe Masciotra that a lot of the Trumpers are better off than we think, but there are PLENTY of individuals without a “pot,” if you will, who have signed on also...
...including individuals such as the asshat driving this vehicle (no idea of how wealthy this person is, but I'm guessing he/she is somewhere in the shrinking "middle class")...
...and this definitely isn’t the way I was planning to end the week – RIP Dickey Betts of The Allman Brothers Band...I’m sure a few folks will recall “Ramblin’ Man” and “Blue Sky” among other tunes, and they’re great, but I’m settling on this one.
Chris Hayes informs us that Repug U.S. Senator Tom (“Militarize Our Cities”) Cotton recently opined on Xitter/whatever King Elon is calling it about basically disrupting protestors any way possible, up to and including using violence (here also...and 139 separate incidents of running over those exercising their rights, huh, including the action of this loser? And yeah, I get it that it’s frustrating to sit in traffic when people are making a disruption, but the right of peaceful protest is articulated in the First Amendment to the Constitution, a document with which Cotton should familiarize himself)...
...and when it comes to putting wingnuts in their place, Jesse Dollemore brings us this item about George Stephanopoulos rather politely caling out New Hampshire Repug guv Chris Sununu for saying that he’ll support Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence after first saying he’d support Nikki Haley – I know there were folks tripping over themselves to praise Stephanopoulos, and he does deserve credit, but I think what was displayed is all the push-back that was allowed given the circumstances (I think both George S. and Hayes have been told how far they can go when calling out members of the “party of Lincoln”...Jesse is right of course to recall the wingnut caterwauling over Bill Clinton, though I most definitely do NOT agree that the impeachment was “necessary” – censure and move on, I always said, FWIW, and here is more Sununu family idiocy towards the Clintons...NSFW/H)...
...and John and Francesca of The Damage Report let us know that the stock of Truth Septic is continuing to take a nosedive (more here...yep, another scam from Our Ochre Abomination – and how would you like to be Jerry Dean McLain of Oklahoma from this story?)...
...and I know I’m a little delinquent on this item, but Sam and Emma of The Majority Report let us know that it looks like the nomination of Adeel Mangi to the federal appeals court is just about dead, for racist Muslim reasons of course from the usual “R” Party suspects as pointed out here (and leave it to some corpa-Dems in the Senate to pile on also, sadly, including Jacky Rosen in Nevada...and yeah, she’s in a tough re-election, but I don’t think that makes her position the right one by any means...as noted, this is a tough issue for Biden since he’s trying to build support from the Muslim community any way he can, from the self-inflicted wound of supporting our “ally” in Israel)...
...and Alec Opperman and More Perfect Union tell us about all the ways the food companies in this country are slowly poisoning us...interesting parallels between the purveyors of so much of our processed garbage and corporate villains like Philip Morris and how the former decided to market their products in much the same way as the latter, and with comparably ruinous health effects (more info here and here)...also, to protest the price gouging of Kellogg’s, click here...
...and I know I said yesterday that there are 2 belated 80th birthdays I want to get to, and here is the second one for Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna.
Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us that Repug U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (long “A,” in case you were wondering) of Idaho opposes the monthly child tax credit passed during COVID relief which pulled about 35-40% of kids out of poverty, and then it ran out and we said whoopsie! and Repugs blocked renewing it (along with President Manchin I believe)...sounds like there’s some half-assed scheme to try and bring the tax credit back tied to corporate tax cuts – OF COOOUUURRRSE!, as Cenk Uygur would say (more here)...
...and Farron Cousins informs us that U.S. Senate Repugs recently told MAGA Mike Johnson to not be a coward...yeah, I can’t think of the Kubrickian absurdity behind those Repug lowlifes in “the world’s greatest deliberative body” now supposedly being the responsible adults vs. the other chamber, or some such nonsense...I mean, Team “D” could be the ones yelling about this stuff instead, but I guess that’s too controversial for Dem Senate “Leader” Chuck Schumer (who will NEVER get called out in our corporate media for being utterly spineless)...
...and speaking of those unruly children in the U.S. House, David Pakman tells us about an incident from last December with Bo-Bo Boebert that we’re just finding out about now where she was apparently “three sheets to the wind” and trying to force a “selfie” with Combover Caligula...pathetic for so many reasons (and to do something about Boebert, click here)...
...and the prior clip is probably an appropriate segue into this one, where Leeja Miller points out all of the distractions that we’re faced with from our media consumption...yes, like Miller, I’m definitely not trying to be “holier than thou” either – one person’s mental break online can be another person’s source of ridicule I suppose, though I definitely don’t advocate attacking folks for going to Tik Tok or scrolling over Facebook or Instagram if that’s your “jam”...if Lauren Boebert actually acted like a reasonable adult in her job, then yeah, it probably would be excessive to include a clip having to do with her getting hammered at some fundraiser or whatever, but in her case, the hypocrisy is the point... interesting historical context on the rise of our preoccupation with celebrity, and I knew media consolidation was bad, but I didn’t know we’d gone from 50 companies down to six...ugh! – and yes, lay the blame at the feet of The Sainted Ronnie R, though he’s hardly alone on that one...one of the reasons why this clip is important IMO is because it explains how our preoccupation with what I would call “celebrity piffle” sucks all (or most) of the effort out of actual political engagement, as Miller points out (more here and here – NSFW/H)...
...and Brian Tyler Cohen and Marc Elias discuss state Repugs in AZ trying to get rid of judicial retention elections so the wingnuts in robes can stay on the bench for-evah...some minutiae and fine print stuff discussed here by Elias, but this is what the “R” party does to stay in power since their numbers to do that through the electoral process are dwindling (and when it comes to judges, the goal of the “R” party of course is to stay in power to render more goofball decisions to take away voting agency from the majority of this country and hand more of it to the ”one percent”)...
...and there are a couple of belated 80th birthdays I’d like to acknowledge if I can, and here is one for John Kay of Steppenwolf...one reason why this tune is awesome is because it tells Kay’s early life story on the run with his mother from then-Soviet occupied East Germany to West Germany; I think it’s pretty safe to say that that experience informed some of the band’s more political work, which we can all draw from for inspiration as far as I’m concerned.
Like many of you I’m sure, I wanted to read up a bit on Iran’s attack on Israel with drones and missiles, which was widely anticipated after Israel blew up part of Iran’s embassy in Syria. And yes, Israel has the right to defend itself (and as I’ve said before, the murdering Hamas cowards should release all 10/7 captives immediately and turn themselves over for prosecution on criminal charges by an international court), and no, I don’t approve of ANYONE getting killed in a hostile action (and Israel should have declared a cease fire months ago IMO, but of course that would have interfered with their goal of exterminating the Palestinians). But only a total idiot – or “Bibi” Netanyahu, which are just about the same category as far as I’m concerned – would NOT have expected Iran to strike back in the manner in which they just did (an update is here).
So, with that admittedly long-winded explanation out of the way, I went to CNN’s website to read about the latest updates to the story. And I poked around on the site a bit reading some linked content, and I found myself wondering why I didn’t go to their site more often.
And then I saw this...
Oh, riiiight...I remember now. This network continues to give a paycheck to Michael Smerconish.
With all of the stories out there about internet revenue collapsing and online influencers having to scramble for a buck, to say nothing of legacy media consolidation and layoffs (haven’t heard of any recently, and I hope that means we’re done with that, but I’m afraid that will change as we progress through the year...love to be wrong)...with all of that going on, there’s never a “rainy day” for corporate media punditry, or so it seems.
I don’t know if Smerky is the biggest offender out there when it comes to “balance” at any cost, “access” opining to keep his audience jaded and (I would argue) uninformed to the desired level possible to gin up views and clicks, but he’s definitely in the upper (lower?) echelon in that category to my taste. He’s perfected his act of naysaying in the face of common sense and verifiable reality as perceived by anyone with greater than a double-digit IQ, in both print media in the Philadelphia Inquirer and also on AM talk radio (as stated, being “contrary” in the service of right-wing talking points is indeed a growth industry). So I suppose I feel a bit of guilt since the locale in which I reside is pretty much responsible for allowing Smerky to perfect his wretched act before he hit the big time. And I am quite sure that Smerky, ensconced on his corporate media perch, won’t have to worry about his next paycheck as long as he continues with his contrarian schtick in response to the biggest stories of the day, especially if it involves Dear Leader Trump as noted or anything having to do with the “R” party.
(And oh yeah, when it comes to Smerky, let’s not forget this, this and this.)
(And by the way, to the point of the headline - "F" Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence! If Smerky doesn't think #45 will get a fair trial in NYC, fine. Ship Bronzer Beelzebub off to GITMO, then.)
Now to the videos...Beau of the Fifth Column informs us that Biden is still trying to get a vote in the House for an aid package to Ukraine, and it sounds like, if that happens and Marjorie Trailer Park Greene gets her vacate motion on the calendar, then the Dems will support Johnson...a bit of a Faustian bargain I would say...and the “laundry” stuff has to do with this, and not, it isn’t a headline form The Onion...as Beau says, the pending legislation would mean our appliances would be LESS energy efficient and we would end up paying more in our utility bills...I think this is as close as Beau gets to being genuinely disgusted - once again, the T-shirt tells the story...
Update 4/16/24: Looks like attacking energy efficiency and raising our utility rates is off the table for now (here).
...and John and Sharon Reed of The Damage Report tells us about John Fredrickson, a Nebraska state senator who gave an impassioned speech against an anti-trans bill and managed to move some wingnut hearts and minds, apparently...and I knew there were a lot of garbage statewide bills to suppress the trans community, but 540??!! Jumpin’ Judas H. Priest on a pogo stick!! (I don’t think Reed brings a hell of a lot to the table in these discussions, but maybe that’s just me)...
...and Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins tell us that the company operating the vessel that hit the Key bridge in Maryland apparently has a long history of safety violations (one of the reasons I’m selective about these videos with Papantonio is because his default position is to hate on anything having to do with our government, when I believe going to the Coast Guard first about a problem like the one discussed makes sense since an employer is much more likely to sweep a potential problem under the proverbial rug such as the series of issues really that led to the boat accident that took out the bridge; also, Maersk is an absolutely huge international shipping company, and I think that a voice on behalf of our government is more likely to make an impact on them than a single whistle blower) ...
...and The Lincoln Project comes after RFK Jr. pretty hard in this clip, which I think is definitely deserved, though I’m not sure that it was necessary to mention that Jr. is a recovering heroin addict...
...and I now give you the latest installment of This Day In Doomsy History from 4/15/11...given that today is tax day, I think it’s apropos to focus on money matters, and with that in mind, Rachel Maddow gives us a clip of President Obama presenting some instructive math on how the “party of Lincoln” will NEVER stop trying to balance the budget on the backs of those who can least afford it and manage to feather the collective nest of the “pay no price, bear no burden” bunch, as they last did in December 2017 as mentioned here (and the actual number from the video is about $198K, but $200K is close enough)...
...and we managed to do OK for the feds and for PA, and I hope everything worked out for you when you filed also.
Jesse Dollemore informs us of “15 Votes for Speaker” Kevin McCarthy coming just short of naming Big Stupid Head Matt Gaetz as the reason for McCarthy’s ouster from the speaker role...see, Gaetz supposedly wanted McCarthy to get rid of an ethics investigation into the (alleged) matter of Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old...the “family values” party strikes again...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that some wingnut group called Border911 recently allowed Combover Caligula to speak, but they may have broken campaign finance law in the process...see, this group, because of their tax status, can’t do the whole political advocacy thing, but if you invite Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence to speak, how can that NOT be political?
...oh, and apparently, #45 will be in the vicinity of Le Manse Doomsy this weekend, but @RepBrianFitz is getting cold feet about paying homage to the leader of his party (here)...you can run but you can't hide, Bri-Fi - makes me recall this golden oldie...
...and continuing on the subject of our twice-impeached former *preznit, Rachel Maddow tells us about this pretty shady bank that rode to the rescue of Our Ochre Abomination when he ran into financial woes after his abortive reign in An Oval Office mercifully came to an end (Axos Bank, huh?)...and of course, the car loan financial predator who bailed out Dementia J. Trump is this Don Hankey guy, he of the utterly usurious rates for loans charged to individuals and businesses alike (these people doing favors for the Gropenfuhrer obviously haven’t learned the lesson that Everything That Trump Touches Dies, according to Rick Wilson)...
...and Thom Hartmann tells us about some wingnut Astroturf outfit called the Foundation for Government Accountability that is trying to kill the efforts to pass UBI in the states (video lags a bit apparently...yep, the typical one percent bastards are behind the efforts to screw us over yet again...source article is here)...
...and when it comes to the election, David Pakman tells us that Nicole Shanahan, the veep on the ticket with RFK Jr. as the prez candidate, has apparently gone incognito since she was named as junior’s running mate, which is yet another weird development in a totally off-the-wall campaign (good info on Jr. being less of a drag on Biden than he was a few months ago...need to keep that trend going in the right direction)...
...and John and Sharon Reed of The Damage Report inform us that dirty tricksters Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman got what they deserve for racist ’20 robocalls, having to pay up to the tune of $1.25 million...
...and we need to do all we can to make sure a certain Treasonous Insurrectionist doesn’t get anywhere near his old job again...God willing we’ll do that, but in that event, I guess he’ll need another scammy grifting outfit again to fall back on – with that in mind, The Daily Show gives us a glimpse of what “Trump Elementary” would look like...
...and in case you want to feel old for some reason, allow me point out that today is the 70th anniversary of the recording of this song.
Robert Reich gives us examples of “greedflation,” namely concerning Coke and Pepsi, though corporate consolidation and price fixing affects just about every area of our lives as noted here (and with that in mind, kudos to Dem U.S. Senator Bob Casey of our beloved commonwealth of PA for this – to reward good behavior, click here...and yes, I know about this - I'm more concerned about trends than "sky is falling" hysteria given one news report)...
...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report bring us a clip of Jon Stewart of The Daily Show interviewing Lina Khan, chair of Biden’s FTC, about Apple and AI consolidation (background on the lawsuit against Apple is here – maybe “No Malarkey Joe” isn’t giving us lefties everything on our wish list, but give him credit for the good work he’s doing, going against rapacious corporate bad actors of the “one percent”)...
...and turning once more to Arizona and the recent abortion-related atrocity, Chris Hayes gives us a pretty thorough rehashing of Tangerine Palpatine’s flip-flopping on this issue as well as a comprehensive look at all the ways Republicans, at every level of government, can strip women of their bodily autonomy...just up to us to redouble our efforts to punish these troglodytes where we can in the November elections...
...and this TYT clip covers a lot of the same ground, but it does manage to bring some more detail, in particular about the 1864 decision basically outlawing abortion that was concocted before Arizona was even a state...I think Ana’s presentation is spot-on, and Cenk is right that the policy is the issue, though I’m a little baffled as to why he’s treating that state’s Philistines in black robes with kid gloves the way he is...Cenk may be right that Biden is a winner out of this, but hopefully Ruben Gallego is too...I’m not sure where Ana is coming from with the “Joe Biden performing poorly in swing states” stuff – yeah, he has work to do, but I’d still rather be where he is than Bronzer Beelzebub...and of course, it wouldn’t be TYT without a pointless slam at “corporate Democrats”...there’s a time and a place for that, but NOT on this issue...
...and I should probably pay a little more attention to Jeff Waldorf than I have previously, particularly given this clip where he discusses the Biden EPA trying to limit “forever” PFAS chemicals in our drinking water...and I know you’ll be absolutely shocked (well, not really I guess) to find out that the EPA under Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence tried to rig it so companies wouldn’t have to report levels of PFAS chemicals, even under the Biden Administration (since some of these nematodes from #45 had burrowed their way into government jobs and could still do their dirty work, apparently...and it looks like the Trumpist culprits here are Mark Hartman and Nancy Beck)...
...and David Pakman interviews Adrienne Shropshire, Executive Director of BlackPAC, a left-leaning political action committee focused on mobilizing and engaging with African American voters (refuting this “Oh boy, African Americans are gravitating towards Trump” BS...yes, some will vote for him of course, but the data points don’t back that up the claim of some kind of Trumpist wave as of now, and hopefully it will stay that way...we’ll see if the “independent” thing turns into a trend...I’m glad the video gets to the “nuts and bolts” of what Biden has done as president for African Americans vs. his ruinous predecessor, but GOD FREAKING ALMIGHTY, ARE THE DEMS EVER GOING TO GET THEIR DAMN ACT TOGETHER ON MESSAGING THE GOOD STUFF THEY’VE DONE, INCLUDING #46??!!)
...and maybe I shouldn’t include this clip right after the Pakman interview, but I guess this is as good a place as any...what a shame that O.J. Simpson never found the “real killer” (#sarcasm again) of former wife Nicole Brown and her boyfriend Ron Goldman...I could probably do a whole post on the legal circus surrounding Simpson’s criminal trial, as well as the pop culture references surrounding the running back, TV pitchman and actor of sorts, but let me just say this...I won’t mention my employer at the time the criminal trial verdict was handed down, but I’ll simply say that two of my white female co-workers told me they needed to see me in a conference room right away, and of course, being particularly clueless, I had no idea of what was going on...when I got there and closed the door, they told me they were boiling with rage over the verdict but believed they couldn’t say anything in our shared cubicle space because, if an African American co-worker overheard, the two women believed their co-worker(s) would have ratted them out to HR and they couldn’t take the chance...not trying to attack women or African Americans, but I’m just talking about a slice of reality in corporate America...
...and as a bit of a “tribute” to the guy who was found to be liable in the civil trial brought by the Goldman family, I’m including this song which alludes to a truly infamous courtroom moment in the Simpson criminal trial.
Lawrence O’Donnell put together a nice segment IMO on Our Ochre Abomination and his former support for abortion, though of course now he’s singing the typical wingnut tune on this issue, as it were, and the Biden campaign responded with what I believe is a terrific ad in response...”it was always about politics” indeed – more here and here...
...and keeping with that theme, Farron Cousins gives us this clip of Dementia J. Trump claiming that Democrats want to kill babies after they’re born, which is yet another disgusting Trumpian lie (and Cousins’ outrage here is commendable)...
...and The Lincoln Project reminds us just how ruthless an authoritarian Mango Mussolini truly is, in the matter of threats to judges and their families presiding over his civil and criminal trials...#45 is running to STAY OUT OF PRISON ’24, and he has no other damn core beliefs or convictions about ANYTHING except that...
...and Kyle Kulinski discusses Chef Jose Andres’ interview with Martha Raddatz of ABC News in which Andres claimed that the WCK chefs who were killed by the IDF were targeted...”this is no longer a war about defending Israel – this is war against humanity itself” indeed (NSFW/H)...
...and I now give you the latest installment of This Day In Doomsy History from 4/10/14...I know I haven’t said anything about climate change for a little while, which is the most important story out there IMO, and this gives me an excuse to work that in...Dem California U.S. House Rep Jared Huffman put together this mashup with words from reps associated with the “party of Lincoln,” most of whom have since departed that body, including Moon Unit Bachmann, Goober Gohmert and Steve (“Calves The Size of Cantaloupes”) King, alleging that they want to do something about the climate crisis (kind of an alternate reality take, I realize, but hey, the other side is good at making it look like the “D” team said stuff they didn’t really say as noted here, so I think it’s high time we returned the favor...more here)...
...and RIP drummer Gerry Conway, who played with Fairport Convention, Jethro Tull and Cat Stevens – a pretty impressive trio there, I would say.
I’m trying to be careful with TYT videos, but I think this is a good one from Ana and Cenk about a gay and trans advocacy group running ads on conservative TV telling people pretty much to just LEAVE THEM THE HELL ALONE AND LET THEM LIVE THEIR FREAKING LIVES!!! And I’ll acknowledge Cenk’s point about not being too confrontational and trying to patiently and persuasively win over the wingnuts on this and other issues of course (if possible), but bringing up the “birthing person” stuff again was ridiculous (and Ana is the one who got all of that started, so she doesn’t get a pass here as far as I’m concerned).
(And for anybody out there still freaked out about “oh, a gay or a trannie might use MY bathroom”...maybe 1 or 2 people I guess...I have news for you: they probably already have and you just didn’t know it! And by the way, it pains me to say this, truly, but when it comes to stories like this, i genuinely have issues with the people in charge of my faith)...
...and Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins tell us that Flori-DUUH! just passed a law against mandatory water breaks for outdoor workers...and yeah, as they note in the clip, I think this is all about trying to outdo Texas in wingnuttery...yeah, who cares if we lose a few people from heat exhaustion and dehydration – they would just vote “Democrat” anyway (#sarcasm)...
...and Jesse Dollemore informs us of the insanely racist town of Newbern, Alabama, which hasn’t had an election in about 60 years...but gosh, I thought that, according to “balls and strikes” SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts, we were done with racism, or something (removing my tongue from my cheek, and by the way, I’m not completely sold on reparations, though maybe I need to “evolve” on that...mildly NSFW/H)...
...and here’s another entry to refute the utterly BS claim that “oh, both major political parties are the same”...yes, I have issues with Team “D” at times, but at least our side respects the will of constituents...as far as the “party of Lincoln” is concerned, though – well, in VA, Repug guv Glenn Trumpkin vetoed a bunch of bills, including pot legalization and raising the state’s minimum wage, which were supported by the residents of that commonwealth...John and Francesca tell us about it...
...and this clip from More Perfect Union brings us the story of construction transforming Haywood Country, Tennessee, the city of Stanton in particular...it has to do with something called the Blue Oval City project, which is a Ford auto megaplant to build EV cars and trucks...”this is what it looks like when policy turns into concrete,” indeed, thanks to Biden and the Inflation Reduction Act (and for a wholly other extreme, I give you this)...
...and RIP counterculture activist John Sinclair, who was busted over a pot charge and was immortalized in song by John Lennon with the following tune.
It looks like “Bidenomics” gave us more good job numbers and a lower unemployment rate for March, along with success beating back inflation, as The Lincoln Project reminds us (slightly NSFW/H at end)...
...and Beau informs us that “No Labels” will have No Candidates this year, at least for preznit, which is a good thing...as usual, Beau is spot-on about third parties; awhile back, Davey and Chucky Koch tried the third-party path for Davey’s vice presidential campaign, but that didn’t go anywhere, so they basically decided to take over the Repug Party instead...
...and when it comes to #45, Farron Cousins lets us know that Newsmax viewers recently freaked out over a story critical of Our Treasonous Orange Pustule (and oh yeah, blame a “low level staffer”...what a bunch of freakin’ babies!)...
...and Mike Figueredo lets us know that progressive Dem members of Congress are in danger of losing to AIPAC-backed opponents...looks pretty bad for Cori Bush and possibly Jamaal Bowman, unfortunately, and things could go south for Ilhan Omar and Summer Lee too, but we’ll see...as usual, we all need to do what we can to prevent that...definitely need to shine more light on the thoroughly execrable Jeff Yass also; the fact that Yass is a “Bibi” ally is bad enough, but leveraging that to influence our elections is repugnant on a pretty cosmic scale...and yeah, typical lying BS for Bhavini Patel to blame Summer Lee for not voting for Biden’s infrastructure bill when Lee couldn’t have done that because SHE WASN’T EVEN IN CONGRESS YET, as Figueredo tells us, though I don't agree with his “take” that members of “the squad” should run third party if they lose their primaries, because we can’t take the slightest chance of dividing the party enough to let an “R” party candidate actually win, and I'm saying this with Beau's video in mind...yes, our political system is screwed up, but we have to work with it for now, exasperating as that is (NSFW/H)...
...and I thought this was a good CBS News story about all the “Rosie The Riveter” women who played a big role in the World War II effort; looks like they’ll be getting their long-overdue recognition this Wednesday as noted here...
...and I’m not sure what tune is appropriate for a solar eclipse, but I suppose this one will suffice (and in a related story, I’m also not sure if there’s a bigger political absurdity at this moment than Sarah Huckabilly Sanders for this...just don't look up at the damn sky, OK??!!).
I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less, and the pic is based on this) from 4/6/20...I have to admit that there are times when I have a hard time dealing with the fact that one of our two major political parties has all but officially nominated an individual for president in this year’s election who is a delusional, lying, narcissistic sociopath, and I have an even harder time with the fact that he has garnered the support that he has despite the fact that we had a pandemic raging out of control under his watch the last time he occupied An Oval Office, along with #45 buying up all of that goddamn corporate debt while we dealt with a plummeting stock market, and to say nothing of the fact that he also likely gave away sensitive intel that quite probably found its way to our enemies...for now, though, I’m going to bring back this clip which, as far as I’m concerned, should be played on a steady rotation every hour until November 5th is over...
...and David Pakman tells us that Bronzer Beelzebub is apparently firing staff and closing field offices, partly to ensure “fealty” to Our Ochre Abomination from the lackeys he does manage to bring on board (and partly, perhaps, because he’s hemorrhaging cash partly because of the ongoing lawsuits...probably waaay too many to count at this point)...
...and with the prior clip in mind, Chris Hayes emphasizes that Tangerine Palpatine, as always, is completely and totally for sale to the highest bidder (and it looks like a predatory used car salesman came to #45’s rescue)...
...and when it comes to the previously noted election, Farron Cousins tells us that RFK Jr. sez Biden is a bigger threat to democracy than Trump...The Kennedy scion should’ve just stuck to his anti-vax quackery – that was bad enough (Cousins pretty patiently and thoroughly IMO debunks this utter nonsense...”BIDEN DELETED MY INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT,” which absolutely DID NOT FREAKING HAPPEN, YOU LOON!!!).
...and I apologize for being a little late with this, but Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott pushed back pretty well I think against the wingnut accusations thrown his way in response to the Key Bridge collapse, with the usual suspects calling Scott the “DEI” mayor, as if that has one damn thing to do with that utterly awful tragedy, assuming it’s even true of course (and by the way, about that, it looks like this got the “memory hole” treatment from our corporate media...NSFW/H)...
...oh, but don’t think that this means that the “party of Lincoln” isn’t going to keep doing every damn thing in the world to marginalize and disenfranchise women also...Thom Hartmann discusses the Repug Plan to Not Let Women Vote After the ’24 Election (Thom mentions that wackadoodle Mark Robinson, and Coulter of course...most of the clip discusses the bureaucratic obstacles states could put up to women voting, including inconsistencies of a married name on, say, a passport, versus a single name on a driver’s license, and how that could be disqualifying...Thom also talks about those High Court Philistines under Hangin’ Judge JR trying to make it illegal to mail abortion pills or obtain contraception, and of course those troglodytes at The Heritage Foundation are cheering it all on...truly a “mask off” moment here, though, as far as I’m concerned, the “D” team was asleep all these years when it came to not relegating the utterly odious Comstock Act to the dustbin of history)...
...and Robert Reich reminds us why the “pay no price, bear no burden” bunch absolutely hates anything to do with funding the Internal Revenue Service...yep, the one percent bastards want to skate at our expense, as usual (and with the willing assistance of their political puppets from the “R” Party of course)...
...and I know I already mentioned that last Wednesday would have been the 100th birthday of Marlon Brando, and I probably could have included this clip for the occasion, but I decided not to...however, this tune was inspired a bit by the phrase made famous from the movie, so I thought I’d add it here (I read accounts of Brando disparaging his performance as Terry Malloy in “On The Waterfront,” but there’s no doubt that it resonated with the audience, making it iconic IMO and enduring probably beyond all of our lifetimes).
