Friday Stuff

Lawrence O’Donnell interviews Dem U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse about the latest flag madness with High Court Justice “Strip Search Sammy” (good for Lawrence to remind everyone that Dubya gave us Alito)...I didn’t know that recusal for SCOTUS justices was actually based on a law; good – kind of a longshot to see Alito and Thomas head off to the gray bar hotel for their antics I know, as opposed to what you would call the “garden variety” corruption of Gorsuch, “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Island Baby Barrett, but it’s still nice to think about IMO...GREAT historical context by Lawrence towards the end of how Repug presidents overall have put us on what you could call a glide path to this sorry day...



...and with the prior video in mind, I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 5/25/20, when COVID was raging and, in essence, Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao of Kentucky said that blue states should fend for themselves...glad I found this clip from comedian Vic Dibitetto, since I believe his response applies to this also...



...and as far as I’m concerned, this story should outrage everyone on earth...David Doel lets us know about Israeli activists (I guess that’s what they are) blocking and destroying food aid to be sent to Gazans, who are in the midst of a full-blown famine...Doel quite rightly lays the blame for this at the feet of “Bibi”; yes, for the zillionth time, we know what Hamas is, and they started this with their attack on 10/7 (arguably, though Israel has been mistreating Palestinian prisoners for years), but it’s pretty damn plain that all Israel cares about in response is genocide against the Palestinians as official policy (NSFW/H)...



...and turning from something cruel and deadly to something else that’s merely pathetic and actually a little humorous, Sam and Emma of The Majority Report let us know that “America’s Mayor” recently got served on the livestream of his 80th birthday party related to an Arizona election lawsuit – good times...



...and Kyle Clark of 9NEWS in Denver brings us a report on that state’s Repug party telling Colorado families to pull their kids from public schools so they won’t be “turned trans," or something...yep, this is about what you can expect from a bunch whose political influence is dwindling and chooses to offer ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to their constituents (here)...



...and if you want MORE evidence that Not Your Father’s Republican Party has ZERO INTEREST in actual governance, then allow me to include this clip of Farron Cousins informing us of Repug U.S. House Rep Andy Ogles proposing the “Let Trump Speak” Act that would prohibit judges from issuing gag orders to any defendants in civil or criminal proceedings...yeah, assuming idiocy like this could actually be enforced in legal proceedings (Cousins’ outrage is commendable IMO)...



...and I’m going to go “meta” again briefly and point out that, during the break, we traveled once more to the U.K., and as far as I’m concerned, they’re definitely ahead of us when it comes to the “tube” and regional rail (though we do a lot right in this country to be fair, given our crumbling infrastructure)...with that in mind, I was glad to see this item about how high-speed rail could actually be coming to the U.S. AT LONG FREAKING LAST...and we should absolutely credit “Dark Brandon” and the Infrastructure Bill for getting that started, as noted in the video (with Jessica Burbank and More Perfect Union)...



...and I’ve got a backlog of cool new tunes to get to, so I’d better start with that now...hope you enjoy.

Wednesday Stuff

I realize I’m a little late in bringing the clip of Marjorie Train Wreck Greene getting her ass handed to her by Jasmine Crockett when the GA-14 nightmare made yet another stoo-pid remark, this time about Crockett’s eyebrows, but I absolutely couldn’t let this pass by (with a commentary by Mondale Robinson... and I have to admit that John Fetterman totally blew it with the tweet that AOC responded to here)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us here about Willard Mitt Romney criticizing fellow Repugs for showing up at Generalissimo Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan, alluded to in the prior clip...I have no illusions about The Mittster, but for now, credit for good behavior...



...and when it comes to Repugs vying to join Romney in “the world’s greatest deliberative body,” Rachel Maddow tells us about the issues facing those running in Michigan, Montana, Arizona, and our own beloved commonwealth of PA, including Connecticut’s own Dave McCormick who sort of well maybe but not really grew up on a farm, or near one, or something)...



Update 5/24/24: Here is another name for the rogues gallery.

....and I’m not familiar with the gentleman from Occupy Democrats who brings us the following clip, but in the ongoing matter of Harrison Butker’s ridiculous commencement address, it looks like the nuns who founded Benedictine College where Butker spoke decided to set the record straight...nicely done...



...and going from something merely ridiculous to a story that’s cruel and barbaric, well, you can count on Texas guv Greg Abbott to lower the bar to subterranean depths as he does here, pardoning a life form who murdered a BLM protestor – Jesse Dollemore tells us about it...



...and happy belated 75th birthday to drummer Bill Bruford of Yes and King Crimson.

Tuesday Stuff

Farron Cousins discusses how #45 is trying to conjure up some imaginary debate with Biden on Fix Noise as a way to ultimately pull out of the scheduled debates with #46 that Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence supposedly agreed to...at this point, why anybody would trust Mango Mussolini as far as they can pee is something I will never, ever understand...



...and John of The Damage Report informs us that Our Treasonous Former *preznit is trying to take credit for the stock market, again, which just hit 40,000...and again (and I know this needs to be pointed out over and over), the Dow, NASDAQ, S&P, etc. are just ONE MEASURE of how the economy is doing overall, as Brett Erlich points out...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us about Alabama’s attempt to expand a “Don’t Say Gay” bill through 12th grade, which died the legislative death it deserved (copying and pasting from Flori-DUUH!, with questions getting asked by Republicans about how bogus the bill is; they obviously didn’t get the memo that they were supposed to play along with this nonsense and not hold it to scrutiny...NSFW/H)....



...and Alex Wagner discusses the kerfuffle with Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker’s commencement address at Benedictine College, where Butker of course reeled off the laundry list of wingnut grievances and tossed in a bit of old-fashioned misogyny to boot...one reaction, as far as I’m concerned, is that it’s absolutely ridiculous for an NFL football player to act like he has the remotest clue about what college graduates will be dealing with in that mean old world that awaits them, but on the other hand, I didn’t hear anyone in that audience booing him either...quite the opposite, which, to me, is a testament to how thoroughly those in attendance have been indoctrinated...Wagner discusses this with Leah Litman, law professor at the University of Michigan, and kudos to Wagner for presenting this in context with all of the hateful legislative BS in this country in support of Butker’s intolerant IMO views (and of course, leave it to the wingnuts to claim that Butker's being oppressed as noted here...spare me)...



...and turning to the destruction in Gaza, Beau informs us that the ICC is seeking applications for arrest warrants for what passes for Hamas leadership and “Bibi” over the 10/7 attack and Israel’s latest incursion into Gaza...important to note, as Beau says, that these are applications for warrants at this point; we’ll see what comes afterwards (and I don’t have anything on this item – hardly a fan of Iran, but I wouldn’t wish that fate on anyone)...



...and speaking of mortality, RIP David Sanborn (ugh)...I’m going to break into my summer selections a little early for this one as a tribute (and James gets a little NSFW/H part of the way through here, just to warn you).

Monday Stuff

Time to rev this thing back up again for real, and for starters I give you this clip about “Strip Search Sammy” Alito flying the U.S. flag upside down at his house in sympathy with the 1/6 insurrectionists...I have issues with Steve Schmidt, but there’s lots of good commentary here IMO, including Schmidt admitting that those who criticized Alito at his SCOTUS confirmation hearing were right after all, but I disagree with Schmidt saying that we can’t do anything about our 9 Philistines in robes...Biden needs to at least try to bring the total number of justices to 13, but I know that won’t happen anytime soon, if at all...Schmidt also deserves credit for calling out Dubya for saying nothing whatsoever about Alito, Thomas, or anyone else on our bought-and-paid-for High Court, but that fits the profile for #43, sadly...



...and I guess it’s apropos to transition from Schmidt to The Lincoln Project (again, if you choose to support them, you’re on your own, and I believe Schmidt has separated himself from the group); and yeah, I know, “Trump, Hitler, blah blah blah,” but it’s important to keep beating the metaphorical drum on this stuff...



Update 5/21/24: A "unified Reich," huh? Nice (here)...

...though Leeja Miller gives a bit of a different interpretation of what a beyond awful second presidency from Bronzer Beelzebub would look like, ultimately ending our democracy (NSFW/H)...didn’t know about the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, I have to admit...video discusses the Gropenfuhrer rolling back environmental initiatives, staffing government agencies with lackey loyalists from think tanks and corporations, curtailing the right to protest and using the military to forcibly deport immigrants (at a minimum), and otherwise wield any power he wants under his typically perverse interpretation of Article II of the Constitution, among other acts of madness...and yes, I know I just included the Trump/Hitler clip, but I believe that Miller is correct in that a catastrophic Trump second term would bring us the dissolution of rights more typical of Viktor Orban’s Hungary or Erdogan’s Turkey than something as dramatic as the Nazis, but I could be wrong of course and we need to do all we can to make sure this remains a merely theoretical discussion...



...and while I was away on my break, we lost a notable Dem in our beloved commonwealth, and I’m referring to Cyril Wecht, who served as Allegheny County coroner, though he’s most notable for casting doubts on the conclusion of the Warren Commission concerning the JFK assassination – I have no idea if scientific evidence will ever be released to confirm that Wecht is correct to say that there was more than one gunman, but I’ll hold fast to the hope that we’ll see that day...I’m not familiar with the case Wecht is referring to where he says he has his biggest regret – Wecht also went after the NFL for its treatment of concussed players who were later found to have developed CTE, and of the many who suffered that awful fate, I can recall what happened with Andre Waters of the Eagles and shudder...



...and last Friday marked the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education SCOTUS ruling (from a time when our High Court wasn’t totally purchased by Leonard Leo and The Federalist Society)...yes, this was a momentous and long-overdue decision to assign the scurrilous Plessy v. Ferguson atrocity to the legal dustbin where it belonged, but do not fail to note the extent of the white backlash to Brown which persists to this day and will likely continue, including the “massive resistance” movement and the unfortunate fact that segregation has returned to schools such as those in Virginia, with state and commonwealth budgetary decisions limiting educational opportunity for everyone except the most well-to-do (here)...



...and RIP Duane Eddy.