Miranda Scholl of Rebel HQ brings us this video of AOC, in a congressional hearing, cutting through the BS that was flying around all over the place in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton and the aftermath (more here)...and I’m sure it’s no surprise to find out that Gym Jordan is completely and utterly wrong again when it comes to FEMA policy (that bit about the text supposedly telling FEMA workers to ignore the homes of Trumpers smells like a setup), and fortunately Summer Lee responds (and speaking of AOC, yes, I definitely think she's earned the right to chair the House Oversight Committee as noted here...no disrespect to Gerry Connolly...even though her bid apparently fell short, and if you want to blame the Dems for maintaining the geriatric status quo here, I'll reluctantly go along with that)...
...and David Pakman tells us that #47 and French President Emmanuel Macron did a “presser” when 47 went over for the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral...I can’t find the words to properly communicate my disgust that this life form will be on the world stage again for a minimum of four more years utterly embarrassing this nation because he has NO FREAKING CLUE about what he’s saying and continually makes up his bullsh*t, and I don’t mean Macron (slightly NSFW/H)...
...and speaking of disgust with Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence, I don’t agree with every word this man says in this incredibly NSFW/H clip, but boy do I understand the sentiment (and this goes along with it IMO)...
There is a brutal honesty to what this gentleman is saying — and I am frequently hearing the same sentiment. 😳👇 pic.twitter.com/XBTUdvsaJu
...and speaking of disgust, I’ve gone back and forth on this, but I have to say something...as noted here, President Biden granted clemency to about 1500 people (which a president has a right to do), but one of them was for Judge Michael Conahan, who was a central figure in the so-called “Kids for Cash” scandal in PA, with Conahan's sentence commuted by two years...Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! speaks with Sandy Fonzo, whose son Ed took his life after getting sentenced to juvenile detention by Judge Mark Ciavarella (more here)...Goodman also speaks with journalist Robert May, who made a 2013 documentary on the scandal (which was excellent, albeit gut-wrenching); May tells us that the two judges didn’t technically take bribes to incarcerate kids per se (mainly to help the for-profit-prison-builder pal of Ciavarella – yet another reason why for-profit prisons should NEVER, EVER EXIST!), but their actions amounted to the same thing as incarcerating kids for cash, so the label is pretty much accurate...I’ve defended “No Malarkey Joe” plenty of times, but in commuting Conahan’s sentence, he screwed the metaphorical pooch...
...well, in spite of that story, I’m going to present these holiday selections anyway because I think we all need them to lighten the mood a bit...I definitely do anyway.
This video from The Lincoln Project gives us a look into what awaits from the bone-headed tariff policy and disgusting attack on veterans’ health care from our incoming bunch of grifters and bottom feeders, and all for the purpose of rewarding the “pay no price, bear no burden” bunch who will be calling the shots in the upcoming cabinet for #47...
...and Ben Meiselas of the Meidas Touch Network lets us know that most of those polled somehow don’t think Trump will do what he says he’s going to do, and don’t like what he’s proposing anyway...tariffs on Mexico and Canada, trying to impose martial law (which may be a trickier legal fight, though given the awful behavior of our SCOTUS, that may be easier for Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence sadly), eliminating the CFPB, trying to get rid of the ACA, de-regulating cryptocurrency, mass deportation of course...and yes, I get it that people in this country generally disapprove of politicians, but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that number at 75 percent before...also, eliminating the Dept. of Education, letting “Elmo” be a Trump advisor, amnesty for the 1/6 insurrectionists, etc., etc., etc. (and yes, as far as I’m concerned, this disconnect here is very much the fault of corporate media also for utterly failing in its task to inform and educate voters)...
...and I think Dem U.S. House Rep Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico pretty much nails the purpose of the Gropenfuhrer putting manifestly unqualified people in charge of federal agencies...
Rep. Melanie Stansbury is spot-fucking-on about what the fascist Trump regime is up to. 🎯🎯🎯👇 pic.twitter.com/FPS55BTFER
...and in this Occupy Democrats clip (don’t know who the presenter is), MSNBC’s Alicia Menendez apparently couldn’t sanitize the latest gibberish from Cantaloupe Capone...clip leads in with Marc Elias explaining how the wingnuts can’t get their story straight on 1/6/21...and unfortunately, I think Elias and Michael Steele (who could have done something about this when he held office, but didn’t) are right about the militia that #45/47 has organized and has probably infiltrated our military and law enforcement all over the place, ready to do the bidding of Bronzer Beelzebub at a moment’s notice (NSFW/H)...
...and I would guess that I'm about 2/3rds of the way through my seasonal selections (or maybe more)...don't want to leave these out, however.
Update: And by the way, I know there was another goddamn mass shooting yesterday, this time in Wisconsin (here...and I guess it’s a kind of sick evolution on this that this time, the apparent shooter was female). And I honestly don’t know what the hell else there is to say about it anymore, and apparently, Repug politicians don’t even go through the self-serving exercise of blathering about “thoughts and prayers” anymore either (I mean, ideas we’ve discussed probably a hundred times or more are still out there waiting to be tried). And this latest carnage took place in a state where one of their U.S. senators spouted this insulting nonsense.
Gee, maybe if one of those killed had been a CEO with a seven or eight-figure salary instead of a school student, our media and politicians would pay attention (and no, I don’t advocate violence against anybody).
Also, if you want to know why our ridiculous status quo on this awful issue never changes, the mentality on display here is a big reason why (as the C&L linked post tells us, in 2019, Dem Governor Tony Evers ordered the legislature to take up two very specific, common sense gun laws - a red flag law and stricter, more thorough universal background checks. The Republicans gaveled in and gaveled out of the special sessions in less than a minute, with no action of course).
Before I get to my regular commentary, I just want to say something about our departing Dem U.S. Senator Bob Casey of PA.
I didn’t follow too closely what exactly was going on with his campaign, to be honest. I know he quite rightly called out his Repug opponent Dave McCormick for profiting off of Chinese fentanyl, which (though it stinks to high heaven as far as yours truly is concerned) doesn’t constitute a crime by itself (at least, not as far as I’ve been able to determine). And silly me...I would have thought Casey’s record of accomplishment in the U.S. Senate would have earned him the benefit of the doubt in what was shaping up to be a close election. However, we now know that Casey, in all likelihood, ended up drowning, so to speak, in negative TV ads towards the end of the campaign (“OMIGOD, THE ECONOMY...which was quite good, as it turned out...AND ZOMG THE SCARY BROWN PEOPLE COMING OVER THE BORDER!!!...and I've lived here for most of my life, and I'm not aware of PA sharing a border with Mexico - #facepalm). And I’m sure we can “thank,” in part, King Elon and the tech bros for the cash infusion that enabled that garbage to take place (and once again, love and kisses to the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR for Citizens United and reaping another awful election outcome).
I’m thinking of this in particular right now because Senator Casey sent out a typically classy Email this evening thanking his supporters and letting everyone know what an honor it has been for him to serve this commonwealth in the U.S. Senate. And I want to reciprocate by thanking Senator Casey for setting a hard-working, decent example of how someone should conduct themselves in public service for these many years (and I have a feeling there are quite a few people in Ohio who feel the same way about Sherrod Brown, as well as some in Montana about Jon Tester). I can recall one occasion in particular when we planned a visit to Washington, D.C. and Senator Casey’s office helped us obtain tickets for a White House visit, which was memorable (we missed “Bo,” the Obama’s dog, by only a few minutes as it turned out). We remain indebted to Senator Casey’s office for handling this in typically expert fashion.
I have no doubt that Senator Casey will now pursue an enterprise worthy of his time, talent, and basic decency, and I wish him all the best in that endeavor (and I will expect absolutely nothing from Dave McCormick).
And by the way...on the subject of constituent service, I have a message for this guy.
I don’t know what the hell is going on with John Fetterman either (here). I sincerely hope he isn’t positioning himself to be Manchinema 2.0, because he’s going to have a very short Senate career if he does. In the meantime, though, I have a bone to pick with him on something else.
I reached out to Sen. Fetterman from his web page a little while ago on an issue in the news. I haven’t received a reply from Fetterman yet, though I can appreciate that that will likely take some time. However, I didn’t even get an auto-generated Email acknowledging my message. Are you kidding??!! Senator Casey did that at a minimum, and I cannot recall a time when he didn’t follow up with a personal message addressing the issue. Hell, even Bri-Fi will send you an auto-generated acknowledgement!
This is Fulfilling The Role Of A Congressional Politician 101, Senator. Do better next time!
Now to the videos...Brian Tyler Cohen and election lawyer Marc Elias tell us about the Repug power grab in North Carolina...see, the Repug legislature in that state, put in place by one of the worst partisan gerrymanders in the country as Elias points out, is trying to strip the incoming Dev guv of his power as well as other newly elected Dems including the attorney general, as well as passing a whole array of measures against voting...and yeah, that bit about picking state supreme court justices from some partisan list as opposed to a judicial election or gubernatorial appointment is particularly nuts...
...and sticking with the “Tar Heel” state, this Rebel HQ clip brings us some utter idiocy from Repug U.S. House Rep Virginia Foxx; first, we find that the Repug-run U.S. House passed so-called “anti ESG” bills (more here – not sure when the remarks in this clip took place)...yeah, Repugs aren’t dancing to the tune of dirty energy companies; not much they aren’t...clip is kind of a composite of idiocy from Foxx...”Mr. Speaker, I object to what my colleague is saying, even though he didn’t say it was about me and I know it really is,” more or less (Jackson White explains at the end)...
...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report informs us that elites are terrified at support for Luigi Mangione...and no, I don’t support the *alleged* actions of this individual either...I didn’t know about the “Wanted” posters, and though I don’t condone that as well, I certainly understand the rage (unfortunately, this is all likely to play right into the hands of you-know-who after 1/20/25)...and I think it’s a bit of a stretch to bring back the “Bernie 2016” stuff, though Figueredo is right about Medicare for All being the answer, but good luck trying to make that case all over again; I also don’t think Figueredo has a crystal ball that tells him that Brian Thompson wouldn’t have been murdered if we’d listened to Bernie (may be right, but we’ll never know), but he’s right about the crooks who caused the ’08 recession not going to the slam, which was an obscenity...I think Bill Burr is on the right track also, and as far as I’m concerned, the less said about “The View,” the better (NSFW/H)...
...and I thought Cliff Schecter offered a more populist “take” on the “one percent” here (actually, a fraction of that)...he’s also spot-on about the Louis Brandeis quote that we can have vast wealth or a democracy, but not both...yeah, Peter Thiel, King Elon I, Vivek R and others are indeed part of the oligarchy; we can start by naming who the enemy is and then figure out the next steps...
...and yep, you guessed it - time for more seasonal tunes.
