Thursday Stuff

CNN’s Harry Enten and John Berman take a look at the TN-07 race won by Repug Matt Van Epps over Dem Aftyn Behn, but not by much, as we learn from Enten...more importantly, Enten discusses the Dem overperformance across the country, and the TN-07 result is part of that trend; this makes me gnash my teeth a bit because I think to myself “where the hell were these people last year??!!,” but we are where we are...Enten's segment ends at about 3:47 (it should also be noted that the “R” team had to spend an ungodly amount of dough to keep Van Epps afloat, though Behn benefitted a bit from a lot of funding also)...I’m not the biggest fan in the world of David Axelrod, but he does make a good point that the Dems had better watch out for Repugs suddenly saying, “Oh, vote for me because I care about affordability too”; the “D” team needs to come up with a response, or better yet, hammer the “R” candidate over that so much that voters never forget it (more here)...



...and staying with the “volunteer state,” Farron Cousins tells us that libraries across Tennessee (with the exceptions of Knoxville and Memphis) are shut down on the orders of Secretary of State Tre Hargett (do I really need to identify the party?) so books with LBGTQ or DEI-related characters or themes can be purged, which is part of the whole effort to indeed erase these folks...great point by Cousins that none of the dough that comes from the state pays for the books, so the libraries could conceivably tell this Hargett guy to pound sand (more here...the dogs at the end are adorable)...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report brings us the story of University of Oklahoma student Samantha Fulnecky, who got a trans professor fired by claiming “religious persecution” led by these Turning Point USA scumwads (who are still at it despite the demise of their founder Charlie Kirk)...sooo, Fulnecky cites the Bible and doesn’t provide empirical evidence in her essay (which was about gender, and Fulnecky was supposed to use the class material in her essay, which she really didn’t do), and she received zero points for it, and she got hurt fee fees over it and decided that she would try to get the professor canned (if this were a theology class, then maybe this would be acceptable...maybe)...I would say that Figueredo is indeed being conspiratorial in saying that this student was out to “get” this prof, if it weren’t for the fact that doing that is indeed right out of the wingnut playbook...oh, and this student’s mom is a wingnut podcaster and attorney for some January 6th treasonous insurrectionists; yep, that “checks all the boxes” all right...more here (NSFW/H)...



...and RIP legendary guitarist Steve Cropper (who also co-wrote this unforgettable tune)...



...and here are more seasonal numbers.

Wednesday Stuff

Brian Tyler Cohen tells us of Kristi (“Unsafe At Any Speed”) Noem implicating herself in a crime on national TV in an interview with Kristen Welker, with Noem basically agreeing with Welker that she chose to ignore a judge’s order to stop sending migrants to a prison in El Salvador (and I don’t want to hear this “activist judge” bullsh*t – this regime of criminals doesn’t get to decide which court orders they want to follow and which ones they want to ignore, as Cohen says)...Marc Elias provides legal insight on this also; didn’t know Judge Boasberg can appoint someone to look into all of Noem’s disgusting nonsense and, as Elias says, we may not even need to wait until a future Democratic congress for investigation into this barbarity...good job by Cohen to go over everybody the Tangerine Toddler has thrown under the proverbial bus (and why am I not surprised by this from Noem in any way?)...



...and as a bit of a follow up, Jerrod Zisser of Ring of Fire brings us the story of ICE wanting more ways to track you, going waaay beyond typical demographic stuff (contracting with Palantir for more surveillance garbage)...yep, mixing up targeted enforcement and broad domestic monitoring seems to be the goal here, or one of them anyway (Robert Reich also has a clip on this that I’ll plan to get to soon – more here)...



...and this CBC report gives a pretty good rundown on how Texas and California want to gerrymander for the ’26 election (and once more, if the Lone Star State had decided not to engage in this nonsense first, then CA would have kept out of it also)...with reporter Andrew Chang...pretty good description of how gerrymandering works, including “packing and cracking”...good job to report the derivation of the actual term “gerrymander” dating back to the 1800s...and it would have been nice if the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR had actually pushed back against gerrymandering in 2019, but of course they didn’t (probably because it usually helps Repugs as noted in the report) and we are where we are...



...and Stephen Colbert of The Late Show brings us the latest bedlam from Our Orange Atrocity...$37 for a MAGA red hat Christmas ornament? Yep, sound about white...and props to Dem MN guv Tim Walz for the most called-for 4-word response to the Gropenfuhrer that could be mustered short of profanity (I know I’m behind the news cycle on that a bit, but I think it bears repeating since the cut was aimed at Walz’s special needs son...typically putrid for Pumpkin Pol Pot)...oh, and we’re reminded of the latest murderous madness from “Kill Them All” Hegseth...”I don’t know anything about it – you talking about the two men?”; he doesn’t even bother to keep his lies straight any more (not sure what Colbert has against Caillou...#joke...a related item is here)...oh, and when we’re talking about incompetents in this administration, we have to include Crazy Eyes Kash (“I Need Help Finding My FBI Jacket”) Patel...



...and here are more seasonal selections...

Tuesday Stuff

Lawrence O’Donnell reminds us of Mango Mussolini and Ghislaine Maxwell (who has said she’ll take the fifth if called to testify under oath) and how Repugs are tethered to this orange psychopath...oh, and Cheetoh Benito has suffered a 39 percent decline over his first wretched term? I guess I’ll continue to await the breathless corporate media coverage on that like we were exposed to relentlessly after Biden’s admittedly bad debate performance last year (and we’ll likely keep waiting)...



...and Chris Hayes speaks with Dem U.S. House Rep Eric Swalwell on the latter’s lawsuit against Trumper Bill Pulte over at HUD...Swalwell is fighting back against Pulte for attacking Adam Schiff, Letitia James, and Swalwell himself, with Pulte wasting God knows how many taxpayer dollars in these silly inquisitions (the reason Pulte is culpable in particular is because he’s been looking into people’s mortgage records)...Hayes and Swalwell also talk about the TN-07 general election today between Trumper Matt Van Epps and Dem Aftyn Behn...



...and Belle of the Ranch informs us of 20 states suing Our Treasonous Orange Pustule to reinstate funding for HUD’s Continuum of Care program, with Trumpers turning permanent housing into temporary shelter, with strings attached of course (with the aforementioned NY AG Letitia James fighting for permanent funding, which is bound to drive the Tangerine Toddler particularly nuts...more here)...



...and I guess I’m a few days late with this NSFW/H item from America’s Finest News Source, but I suppose it’s still timely for this time of year...



...and here are more seasonal selections.

Monday Stuff

Kyle Kulinski tells us the awful news that ICE/DHS has “disappeared” at least 4,200 people...I didn’t know we were deporting people to Libya – one of these days (and assuming Dems ever return to power), we ABSOLUTELY MUST hold these psychopaths to account for this cruel madness, or else it will keep coming back in an ever more insidious form with more and more groups of people at risk...I’m going to be careful here and agree somewhat with what Kyle says about it taking as long as it has for violence against the forces sent to terrorize our cities, though of course I don’t condone it (either the occupation or the violent response) and I know Kyle doesn’t either (NSFW/H)...



...and there is at least the possibility of a mass exodus from the U.S. House with the ’26 elections looming, and one of those calling it quits is Repug Rep Troy Nehls of Texas, who once said here that, if he were alive during Biblical times, Charlie Kirk would have been the 13th disciple – a pretty good response to the attempt to sanitize what Kirk actually said and did is here...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report brings us more on the TN-07 U.S. special election (vote is tomorrow) between Repug Matt Van Epps and Dem Aftyn Behn...I think you can indeed measure how close this race truly is by the degree of absolute absurdity in the “oppo” stuff that is being dug up against Behn...and yes, I know how this pattern usually goes, especially down south (race is close, RNC and like groups drop millions in attack ads all over the place, Repug wins in a walk), but we’ll see if that holds up again this time around (I often wonder where this country would be if independent voters truly did their homework from election to election and didn’t just vote based on “vibes,” which I think happens way too often)...great point by Figueredo about how all of the gerrymandering BS could backfire on the Repugs (and I’m not going to give Carville any credit because he has been WAAAY LATE on the issues that matter and spent years talking/writing smack about progressives, to say nothing of those idiotic remarks earlier this year about Dems doing nothing in response to the utter economic collapse of this country...NSFW/H also)...



...and Mr. Newberger provides a response to our (perhaps) war criminal in charge of the DoD (more here)...



Update 12/2/25: Uh oh, it looks like "Whiskey Pete" screwed the metaphorical pooch (here).

...and I’ll be honest – given the utter awfulness of our ruling regime, I went back and forth on whether or not I should include the seasonal selections I put up here right about now, but in the end, I decided that I’m not going to let these SOBs ruin my holiday (that’s my position at this moment), so I’m just going to include them as per usual.

Friday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us about MAGA freaks (some bunch called SoCal Patriots) wanting to take over Disneyland, because, as we know, nothing says how much you oppose a certain business than giving that business a bunch of money to patronize them, and doing so on the day of a pride event is turning the stoo-pid up to 11 (SMDH)...slightly NSFW/H...



...and Glenn Kirschner of Justice Matters gives us his take on the 5 Dem members of Congress who have encouraged our military not to follow unlawful orders, including Sen. Mark Kelly, who has a record of accomplishment in service to our country that the Trumpers can only dream about (with Kelly subsequently earning the wrath of “I’ll Drink To That” Hegseth, and oh yeah, Crazy Eyes Kash Patel and the FBI climbed onboard this crazy train also)...Kirschner methodically communicates what the Dem Congress members said and how their words are on legally sound footing (not only are these members required to point out that unlawful orders shouldn’t be followed, but the offending service members could be liable for following those orders, with the potential to be court martialed)...



...and Jen Psaki gives us a rundown on Cantaloupe Capone’s “clown car cabinet” living up to its name, including Kristi (“Unsafe At Any Speed”) Noem and the aforementioned Kash Patel, who has taken a lot of jet trips that apparently have nothing whatsoever to do with his job as FBI Director, including to a hunting resort in Texas called the “Boondoggle Ranch”...and I know the details about Noem funneling taxpayer dollars to a favored firm isn’t new stuff, but it still bears repeating IMO, along with Sean “Let’s All Dress Up To Go To The Airport” Duffy; didn’t know he scrapped a Biden-era policy to comp travelers for flight disruptions, but that doesn’t surprise me either...and let’s not forget Scott Bessent telling folks to move from a blue state to a red state, completely ignoring the fact that blue states subsidize the hell out of red states (here)...and let’s not forget Bobby Brainworms trying once again to spread the fiction that vaccines cause autism (didn’t know a lot about the Olivia Nuzzi business, but that does indeed stink to high Heaven)...I know the Mark Kelly dustup was covered in the prior Kirschner clip, so I’ll pretty much “leave it there” on that one (and the Lindsey Halligan/James Comey/Letitia James story is also behind the news cycle I know, but still important to note)...



...and John and Sharon Reed of The Damage Report tells us that the Dems have the largest generic ballot lead for next year’s midterms that we’ve seen in 8 years, but that doesn’t mean that we can slack off and NOT put in the necessary work to at least take over the U.S. House, and at a minimum make a dent in the “R” party’s Senate majority (and the drag from the Tangerine Toddler, currently polling at a whopping 24 percent among independents, has a lot to do with that)...I’m not exactly sure how the Dems messed up New York, if that’s what Reed is talking about, but to be honest I have issues with her from time to time, though she’s right to imply that Dems need to tell people that they’ll get stuff done if people vote for them...and speaking of supporting Dems, let’s not forget about Aftyn Behn in Tennessee; to help her, click here...



...and Mr. Newberger gives us another number ripped from the headlines...



...and dear God, it really is that time of year again, isn't it?

Happy Thanksgiving 2025

I got a kick out of this pic, I have to admit (courtesy of Pixdaus and Daily Kos)...

...and here's another holiday fave, with an intro by Seth MacFarlane as Stewie Griffin (and again, the captions make this hilarious as far as I'm concerned)...



...and here is more holiday fun...



...and I liked this also, I have to admit...



...and here's a Thanksgiving message for those wonderful folks at the TSA.




Update 1: And here is another late addition.



Update 2: Might as well add this too (and yeah, "Man Tan" Boehner is long gone I know, but those who've followed him have done their best to make things worse).



Update 3: Imagine all the people that can be fed for $35 grand (here, getting serious for a minute).

Update 4: And since I add to this list every year, I might as well include this too (hasta la vista, baby!).



Update 5: And I suppose this is an apropos item too.

…and thank goodness the “culture warriors” of Fix Noise are trying to protect the holiday…



…and I guess this is an appropriate tune for the day...




...along with this.



Update 11/25/21: Well said.

Update 11/27/21: And here is a video about another holiday tradition.



...and I'll let Trae Crowder have the last word for now (NSFW/H).

Wednesday Stuff

David Shuster of Rebel HQ lets us know that architects have warned that Trump’s ballroom is a national embarrassment, doubling the size of the main White House building (and still more lies from Combover Caligula about the existing architecture not being touched or whatever...and as far as this “first lady” is concerned, losing that office is likely NBD to her since she probably isn’t there much anyway)...and I think that 33 percent approval is too high, but I realize those are the Trumpist cult life forms on that one...and yes, Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence has violated yet another law, this time not clearing his wretched plans through the National Capital Planning Commission (I mean, they’d flag what #47 is doing anyway, which is likely the reason they’re being left out of this mess)...and if #47 says this cluster will cost $300 million, you can be sure the amount will actually be at least double (here are some of the other guilty parties)...oh, and some of that dough will supposedly come from the $230 million he expects from the DOJ (in essence, suing the U.S. taxpayer?) Typical gall from this flatulent meat sack...GREAT point by Shuster about Repug congressional silence, and that includes this guy...and Jessica Tarlov should get a medal at least for continuing to drop her truth bombs on those miscreants at The Roger Ailes BS Factory...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us that hundreds of pro-Trump X accts are actually foreign bots...leave it to Apartheid Clyde to stumble into doing the right thing (rolling out the new feature to increase transparency, albeit to drive engagement and ad revenue as Figueredo says by posting ever-crazier stuff), and also step on a huge metaphorical rake in the process, finding out that “America First” accounts are originating in Russia (of course), India, Pakistan, Nigeria (!), Thailand and the UAE, among other places...didn’t know that bots now make up the majority of online traffic, but I suppose that tracks (you can be sure that I’m a flesh and blood human though, my fellow prisoners)...and sadly, I also believe this will get worse because of generative AI...and it’s pretty plain that Elmo is messing around with Grok also, something that actually does work the way it should, a bit anyway...and the “throat goat”? I think I need to be de-loused after hearing that...NSFW/H...



...and given that we’re in the busiest time of the year for folks on the move, I thought I’d include this CBC report on Canada travel to the US dipping sharply in October, marking the 9th month of declines, because of the Gropenfuhrer (about 24% for air travel and 30% for land travel, included in a 6.3% drop in international visits and about a 3% drop in tourism spending, adding up to a loss of about 5.7 billion over last year)... with CBC reporter Jennifer LaGrassa, Prof. Usha Haley and US restaurant general manager Bob DiMattia...of course, we’re hoping for folks to come for the FIFA World Cup and the 250th, but I think we’re “whistling in the dark” on that one...we’ll see...



..and Robert Reich informs us of what Pumpkin Pol Pot is doing to Thanksgiving, with more on #47’s price increases, with turkey up 40%, partly because he’s fired scientists and bird flu experts while the avian flu wreaks havoc; also, his CDC and Department of Agriculture cut off reporting to states on this outbreak, so there’s no coordination on fighting back...he also rolled back anti-monopoly policies intended to at least slow down mergers of food companies that exacerbates price gouging...also, those stinking tariffs adding what’s essentially an import tax worsens this mess also, particularly since we import so much of our food (and with respect, I don’t expect our “conservative relatives” to see ANYTHING on this...I know I mentioned the plight of our farmers earlier in that More Perfect Union clip from a day or so ago)...



..and Seth Meyers presents another “A Closer Look,” including Cantaloupe Capone’s weird turkey pardon...and dressing like a Swarthmore English Lit prof, huh?...it’s actually painful to watch this babbling idiot go on about Illinois Dem guv J.B. Pritzker and Hunter Biden (and as if Combover Caligula has the right to criticize ANYBODY for being overweight)...and oh yeah, we had gang members, drug dealers and rapists walking through our open borders, but all that’s been fixed now (treated once more to Dementia Donnie’s Greatest Hits, though I guess “grass beef and smoothies” is a newer number)...oh, and he’s still going after his political enemies of course even though their cases were thrown out, including “Leticia” James...and let’s also not forget Marjorie “Traitor” Brown – yep, that last lonely synapse in #47’s noggin is flickering again...and his name is the sound you make when you sit in a golf cart – good one...



...and this might be the last newer tune for a little while, but as with all things concerning this site, it’s up in the air – just in case, here it is.

Tuesday Stuff

Yasmin Khan of Rebel HQ tells us about Fix Noise trying to spin the Jeffey Epstein files story into a “Democrat hoax” and failing (once more, Jessica Tarlov brings the reality perspective to that gaggle of idiots on that propaganda network)...and as far as Hakeem Jeffries is concerned, he wouldn’t be in the role he’s in unless the donor class gave its seal of approval, which speaks volumes to me about how he is NOT the voice we need in the U.S. House (despite random moments when he shows a flash of leadership)...and of course, leave it to Kilmeade to come up with “Yeah, well, so-and-so mentioned Jeffries and that’s enough,” and Gutfeld joins in with the borderline “ad hom” because he has no other way to respond...also, Harry Enten brings the polling numbers which are pretty much indisputably bad on Epstein in particular for the Gropenfuhrer...and Lawrence Jones’s idiotic “let’s blame the people wanting the damn files released” take on this is pretty much DOA...



...and David Pakman discusses ABC’s Jonathan Karl holding Kevin (“Human Capital Stock”) Hassett to account on the economy, particularly over that ridiculous “Walmart’s Thanksgiving Prices Are Cheaper” nonsense line (you couldn’t pay me enough to actually eat food from Walmart, by the way)...and “The prices didn’t go up because of the tariffs, but they are going to go down because we’re removing the tariffs”...I’ll tell you what; if anybody out there can make sense of that, please let me know and I’ll turn this blog over to you and let you write these posts, OK? And I think this is a pretty good response to Hassett’s BS from CNN’s Daniel Dale...



...meanwhile, Ali Velshi of MS NOW gives us some reality on the economy, with numbers from September...the unemployment rate is 4.4% which is the highest in four years, though, as with everything else, the trends are what matter (and I don’t expect that they’ll be good)...not sure exactly why black women have been hit so hard in this economy (more than any other demographic), though I could guess I suppose, maybe because of the carnage this administration has wrought on the federal workforce and DEI initiatives...Velshi speaks with Justin Wolfers and Caleb Silver...”Uncertainty is kryptonite” indeed, for everybody...along with everybody else, I’m hearing that AI is driving our economy; I hope we’re prepared for that not being the case at a certain point, and I don’t see that we are...we’ve just experienced the weakest January through September in the US labor market in 15 years, with the exception of the ’20 COVID shutdown (and we know who was prez for that)...and Silver says “stagflation,” which confirms my worst fears that we would be looking at this in Q4...Wolfers in particular does a good job IMO in explaining how #47 drones on about “affordability” without having the remotest idea of what to do about it...I’m a little uncomfortable with Velshi’s phrase “the black economy,” but overall he’s a pretty straight shooter...”Manufacturing is what rich people think poor people should do” is likely correct; that said, it’s think it’s a good thing to see an increase in enrollment in trade schools...



...and Jesse Dollemore discusses the “big fat ‘L’” with the James Comey and Letitia James cases being dismissed because Lindsey Halligan was improperly named as prosecutor without Senate confirmation, according to the ruling (and yeah, Merrick Garland moving at a glacial pace on some of the prosecutions under Biden helped to bring us to this point)...I’m not a legal professional in any way whatsoever, but what does it tell you about our regime that they thought they could prosecute based on indictments that weren’t even presented to a full grand jury?...(mildly NSFW/H)...



...and harking back to the first clip a bit, Mr. Newberger gives us the “Epstein-O-Matic” (laughing through clenched teeth a bit on this one I realize)...



...and RIP Jimmy Cliff.

Monday Stuff

Leave it to our awful ruling regime under the guise of fake Education Secretary Linda McMahon to decertify nursing as a professional degree, limiting access to funding for those who want to pursue nursing as a college course of study...this report informs us of a student in rural Kentucky who commendably is trying to continue her education as a nurse practitioner in light of this boneheaded policy (more here and here...and this gaggle of idiots is likely coming for liberal arts also in 3,2,1)...



...also, Cheetoh Benito removed references to dead Native Americans getting kidnapped and murdered in a report that was mandated by Congress as part of a bill signed into law under the first awful Trump administration (and here’s a shocker – it truly was bipartisan legislation, supported by Senate Dem Catherine Cortez Masto and Repug Markwayne Mullin)...of course, Our Treasonous Orange Meat Sack claimed the report is “DEI,” so the report got sh*tcanned (Farron Cousins tells us about it)...



...and this report from Sam Black at More Perfect Union informs us that farm bankruptcies in Arkansas (especially soybeans, but also affecting cotton, corn and rice) have doubled, and to be fair, this is a problem that has been brewing since before Cantaloupe Capone 2.0 took over given that we’ve been importing so much of our food for a good while, and those damn mergers and acquisitions are part of the problem also, including Bayer and Monsanto which actually was completed in 2018 under Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence 1.0 (and $560 billion in farm debt this year? God almighty...our farmers need help with paying for materials to run their businesses as well as trying to level the market for them somehow)...there HAS TO BE A WAY for the dough promised by our politicians to get into the hands of our farmers instead of into the pockets of the people they owe...watching the gentleman driving through that gutted and deserted Arkansas town makes me realize how folks could give up hope and turn to a politician peddling easy answers to complex issues (losing 300k farms since 1997...just no words at a certain point, except to also blame those stinking “free” trade deals, and both of our political parties are culpable on that...I knew that Scott Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, owned a lot of farm land, though I would except that he has never picked a single crop in his life)...at a minimum, we need to repair our obviously broken supply management system, though of course “Big Ag” will fight that with all they have...

...and I guess I’m supposed to feel some sympathy for Marjorie Train Wreck Greene, now that she’s leaving the U.S. House after falling out of favor with the Tangerine Toddler...well, I don’t; this clip with Nina Turner from about two years ago brings us Greene pushing back against a battery plant in her district (more here...”we’re the Bible belt, not the battery belt”...OWWW, THE STOO-PID!!! IT BURNS US!)...and for all of those out there thinking, “oh, she’s so courageous to stand up to Mango Mussolini,” I would ask that you keep in mind the following: 1) Just wait until she resurfaces at some point on a podcast with The Swanson TV Dinner Heir and/or Nick Fuentes, and 2) This is more proof that the political violence in this country is coming from the right and not the left; does anyone seriously think Greene would do this if, say, Jasmine Crockett or Ilhan Omar had said something borderline threatening, which I don’t think they’d do anyway?...



...and I think Mr. Newberger has come up with another appropriate response here...



...and RIP drummer Gilson Lavis of Squeeze.

Friday Stuff

Mr. and Mrs. Scar bring us the story of Catholics forming a united front against detention and deportation of immigrants, and that includes Pope Leo commendably speaking out on their behalf, along with other faith leaders getting slammed to the ground by the ICE Gestapo in Chicago at this Broadview facility (with reporter Britt Miller, immigration advocate Dylan Corbett, Willie Geist, and Gabriel Sherman)...and I’m not one bit surprised to find out that almost three quarters of those detained are NOT criminals, since the fear and intimidation is the point (and OF COURSE clergy was refused the chance to administer Holy Communion)...and remind me again about which president the fundie nut jobs supported, the practicing Catholic or Our Treasonous Orange Pustule (from what I’ve seen, the Episcopalian Church has been pretty steadfast on social justice issues, which the Catholic Church has been kind of hit-and-miss on, especially under Pope Benny)...and if Couch Boy and Mush Mouth Tom Homan are alleged Catholics, then I’m a Chinese aviator...



...and to emphasize the importance of Pope Leo’s words, MS NOW’s Alicia Menendez brings us the story of Vicente Ventura Aguilar, who has been detained in ICE custody for at least 44 days; while in detention, he suffered what was called a “medical emergency” and now apparently has gone missing somehow, with Aguilar’s family believing him to be dead (in addition to being supremely evil, it’s plain that the Trumpers are also incompetent)...and to “work like Amazon Prime but for human beings”; I’m sure Pee Wee German heard that and felt what passes for a stir in his manhood...Menendez speaks with reporter David Noriega and Lindsey Toczylowski, President and CEO of Immigrant Defenders Law Center...



...and John and Sharon Reed of The Damage Report bring us the story of a Texas woman who died after being told she couldn’t get an abortion...another casualty from the SCOTUS destroying Roe, though I’m sure our six Philistines on the High Court won’t regard it as such...preeclampsia can be a deadly consequence of pregnancy, and tragically, that’s what happened here at 20 weeks...also, it’s definitely the case here that the woman was looked upon as pretty much an incubator of her fetus and not as a person with agency to make her own health care decisions...and 90 doctors were involved in her care, but nobody helped her to abort the pregnancy??!! Yeah, just keep telling me that we have the greatest health care system in the world...while I laugh in your face (as much as I give the Catholic Church credit for the prior story, I wish nothing but a pox on them for playing a role in leading us to this utterly barbaric moment)...



...and Jerrod Zisser of Ring of Fire lets us know about a massive THC ban tucked away in the government spending bill, affecting people needing medical cannabis and CBD products for all kinds of reasons, including sleep (saying products can contain no more than 0.4 percent of THC per container, which is basically nothing...this bill apparently also gets rid of a provision allowing VA doctors to prescribe medical cannabis)...fortunately, it looks like there’s a one-year ban before this takes effect, so we definitely have a chance to fix this...



...and Tennessee Brando tells us that Pumpkin Pol Pot has now gone on record on calling for the execution of Democratic lawmakers, and I realize that’s the logical result of the deterioration of what passes for our politics under this treasonous orange meat sack...you would think he and his lizard-brained followers would realize they need to tamp that stuff down after the Charlie Kirk killing, but no such luck...good point by Brando that amplifying that garbage, coming form the POTUS, is likely worse than if #47 had said that himself, though that would be awful too (and good for Brando for not giving “faith leaders” a pass on this stuff, like this Joel Webbon nut case I mentioned on Wednesday...mildly NSFW/H)...



...and Ali Velshi speaks with Dem U.S. House candidate Aftyn Behn, running for the TN-07 seat...affordability is a big-time issue up not just in Tennessee but everywhere, and addressing that starts with restoring the credits for the ACA which Trump and his minions destroyed as a result of the shutdown (and while the Senate may vote on the credits – maybe–MAGA Mike Johnson has no interest in doing that in the House)...oh, and gutting Medicaid also ended up shuttering rural hospitals and closing wards such as those for OB/GYN services and maternity care, as well as end-of-life care...so much to be done to rescue our economy from Cheetoh Benito, and it starts with booting every single goddamn Republican...



...and Stephen Colbert gives us a “Late Show” news update...fighting back “tooth and cankle” on the Epstein files – good one (is ANYONE going to just take away this orange nightmare’s cell phone at some point so he stops with these “War and Peace” rants on Truth Septic?)...and I wonder if we can just call her Pam “New Information” Bondi now? And good one about Kash “Terrified, Or The Edibles Just Kicked In” Patel – I mean, yeah, this is all pathetic, but as far as I’m concerned, we need to find a way to laugh at these cretins...oh, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy thinks that all it takes to solve our flying woes is for everyone to dress up like it’s the 1950s and we’re visiting the doctor; God almighty, what a gaggle of idiots we have in charge of the federal government (and I hope Nancy Sinatra files a cease and desist order about that tune selection)...love the Fix Noise “poll”; watch that trash network actually use it now...



..and happy upcoming 75th birthday to Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads and the Tom-Tom Club.

Thursday Stuff

Robert Reich tells us about “Mickey D’s” seeing a double-digit dip in lower and middle-income customers over the first quarter of the year, which is definitely part of a disturbing trend of income consolidation between the wealthy and everyone else...I’m old enough to remember John Edwards talking about “two Americas” and how he was ridiculed for it, and here’s proof that he was right (and yes, I know he set his political career on fire over a highly transparent infidelity)...I’m also old enough to remember Bill Clinton talking about how this country is the biggest service economy in the world (not sure of that now) and how job growth is dependent across a variety of industries (retail, hospitality, entertainment, all the way up to white collar service jobs, unionized and non-unionized, etc.)...you would think both of our major political parties would get that, but as far as I can see, only one does...



...and speaking of income inequality, Tennessee Brando lets us know that the Tangerine Toddler wants McDonald’s workers to get paid less...you would think he’d be trying to cut those employees a break after this – and yes, I know that’s a bad joke (tied a bit to the Reich clip)...good point by Brando about prices only going in one direction, which NO PRESIDENT can affect one way or the other to be honest...important to emphasize (as Brando points out) that SNAP recipients ALREADY ARE WORKING, AND OFTEN MULTIPLE JOBS, and how it continues to be good sport I guess for selfish people to punch down at others perceived to be lazy or delinquent in some way and that’s why they’re in dire straits...”if we tax them, they’ll take our jobs”; yep, that’s how those one percent bastards hang onto power all right (NSFW/H)...



...and David Pakman tells us about Mango Mussolini’s “quiet, piggy” remark to reporter Catherine Lucey...with all of the “flood the zone” madness from this trash fire of a presidential administration, I realize there are other matters to address, but some, like this, are too odious to ignore...again, the entitlement is the point as far as I’m concerned...what Pumpkin Pol Pot manages to get away with is continually part of an absolutely sickening double standard (and I’m sure the Epstein files have been expurgated every way over Sunday by now...love to be wrong)...”Trump has broken the machinery of shame” indeed...



...and Rachel Maddow brings us the story of the town of Newport, Oregon pushing back against an ICE prison (and yes, I think Dungeness crabs are delicious)...oh, and leave it to Our Demented Orange Toddler to take away the town’s Coast Guard rescue helicopter that’s needed in case of an accident involving anyone fishing for crab (which is something anyone who has watched “The Deadliest Catch” would know about, to say nothing of doing that incredibly dangerous work for real)...sooo, apparently the Coast Guard facility is intended to be converted into an ICE prison (secretly, of course)...to the town’s credit, they protested and now the contractor has backed out (though, apparently, some secretive person or entity is STILL trying to build an ICE detention center in the area)...Maddow speaks with Oregon state rep David Gomberg...



...and Ronny Chieng of The Daily Show informs us of Marjorie Trailer Park Greene acting like a normal human being against Cantaloupe Capone (and as a reminder, that’s because family members need the ACA credits that just got sh*tcanned...if it weren’t affecting her personally, she definitely wouldn’t care)...and yeah, there’s more on those files (important as it is to keep that front and center in our media I know)...also, don’t expect an iota of sympathy from me when it comes to Larry Summers, who I always thought was out of his depth economically, and now morally too, or so it appears...and I’m not one bit surprised that Clay Higgins was the ONLY MEMBER OF CONGRESS to vote against releasing the damn files (including the Senate)...and OH MY FREAKING GOD, I CAN’T WITH THE DAMN ACCORDION HANDS!!!...and oh yeah, about Mohammed Bone Saw and Jamal Khashoggi, there is this – Josh Johnson also gives his take on this also (kind of hit and miss, but that’s OK...NSFW/H)...



...and this tune hit #1 on the Billboard chart on this day in 1955.

Wednesday Stuff

Farron Cousins of Ring of Fire tells us about MAGA “pastor” Joel Webbon (more here) who thinks Trump should arrest anybody who defies him and charge them with treason, because (as Cousins notes) one of the penalties for treason is execution...and I definitely see Cousins’s point that Trump Derangement Syndrome is real, but not in the way that has come to be accepted over the last 10 years or so (at a certain point, though, I don’t know how you can avoid the fact any longer that the Trumpers are just freaking nuts)...



...and Jesse Dollemore tells us that our “Secretary of War” “I’ll Drink To That” Hegseth gave some speech to some Northeast Military Group or something which, as you might expect, was chock full of red meat for his true audience, which is Fix Noise and the wingnutosphere (“toxic ideological garbage,” huh?)...I know our ruling Trumpist cabal wants to recreate 1939 Germany, which is vile enough, through their use of language and iconography, but for Hegseth to come right out in say that, is, among other things, a slap in the face aimed at our World War II vets, living and dead...but “hopefully a 1981 moment?” You mean, two years before this?...and concerning Hegseth’s particularly stoo-pid remarks about climate change, I offer this (and “clearing out debris” is about the language you can expect for this utterly entitled neophyte, who should have remained within the comfy confines of his Fix Noise studio...mildly NSFW/H)...



...and this report from CBC’s The National tells us about Canada’s Algoma Steel, and its CEO Mike Garcia, trying to make a go of it on their own without the US because of those stinking tariffs (which, last I heard, was 50% on Canadian steel, although with our ruling regime in D.C., you never really know)...this forces Algoma to try and capture more of the Canadian market, though their situation as a company is “dire,” unfortunately...others have said this already, and I’ll join the chorus; I don’t know if Cantaloupe Capone is truly “The Manchurian Candidate,” but even if he isn’t, I can’t see how he could be inflicting more damage than he is already (maybe I shouldn’t assume that, since he finds new ways every day to wreck things)...



...and this in-depth story from reporter Mae Ryan of More Perfect Union tells us about Wall Street betting that east Texas will run out of water in the person of this Kyle Bass cretin (and Bass’s lawyer Ed McCarthy), with Bass making about $500 million shorting the subprime mortgage market and now trying to buy up water rights (the James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace” with Daniel Craig was prescient about this issue)...and it does indeed sound like the so-called “rule of capture” needs to be modified, but good luck doing that in the state that The Eternal Molly Ivins called “the laboratory for bad government”...I honestly didn’t know that Texas was gaining about 1,500 people per day because of lower taxes (wonder how many are trying to get out?)...and yeah, this sounds like “disaster capitalism” to yours truly also (in typical lowdown fashion for these life forms, it looks like Bass has sized up this issue every way he can to get the outcome he wants...and I’m sure that the people affected don’t share my political point of view, but I still think they should be allowed to live on their property, especially since it looks like they’re all on a fixed income)...and San Antonio losing 20 billion gallons of water a year because of aging pipes? Sounds like something we should be looking at (i.e., fixing our damn infrastructure at LOOONG LAST) across this country...and private equity selling water rights in Arizona, to say nothing of the Resnicks in California owning a “water bank”? Truly the stuff of nightmares...



...and this “A Closer Look” segment from Seth Meyers tells us about MAGA supposedly moving on from the Jeffrey Epstein files (fat chance, even after Combover Caligula attacked Marjorie Train Wreck Greene and Thomas Massie)...oh, and the Tangerine Toddler had a hissy fit at Meyers, because of course (and over a trebuchet? As if #47 even knows what that is)...and oh yeah, getting an MRI is part of a routine physical...uh, no...and when the Gropenfuhrer says he doesn’t know what they were looking for in the MRI, I ALMOST believe him (and speaking of Greene, I give you this from Markos, who has been on fire lately with his posts)...



...and I hope you’re in the mood for a jaunty little number about the miracle of our capitalist economy (snark), because here it is.

Tuesday Stuff

Belle of the Ranch lets us know that 40 percent of women polled by Gallup (aged 15-44) want to leave the U.S. forever...Belle’s point that “correlation is not causation” is indeed spot-on, and as she says, I think that bump in single women wanting to leave when Biden was president is indeed tied to our wretched SCOTUS overturning Roe (of course, the numbers of married and single women wanting to leave has also spiked during the Gropenfuhrer’s sorry reign...more here and here)...



...and I’m not sure if I’ve ever included a video from this guy before, but now is probably as good a time as any to include this; Jerrod Zisser tells us about Fix Noise and other wingnut media culprits dialing up the misogyny to 11, you might say, calling women “scary,” “insane,” and my personal favorite (snark) “A problem that needs to be fixed”...and yep, “politics wearing a cross” is an apt way to put this (file this under the heading of “wingnuts losing what’s left of their minds because they have absolutely nothing to offer to about half the population of this country”)...



...and Farron Cousins reminds us that we could have ANOTHER shutdown in January, believe it or not, considering that Repugs on Capitol Hill STILL won’t pass an honest-to-goodness budget (with these knuckleheads in charge for three years as Cousins points out), aside from ANOTHER damn continuing resolution to fund the government for a fixed period of time (as I said last night, if you want this nonsense to end, then VOTE FOR FREAKING DEMOCRATS! And once more, I thought this was a really important post from Markos at Daily Kos)...



...and John and Yasmin Khan of The Damage Report inform us that recent polling shows how underwater Trump and his same-party pals are on the economy (at least a negative 26 according to CNN’s Harry Enten)...good point by Khan about corporations benefitting from the tariffs as opposed to the small businesses Repugs pretend to care about (with the latter dealing with startup costs in particular made worse by the hardship inflicted on these folks by Cheetoh Benito)...



...and I don’t know if anybody has noticed or not, but I’ll point this out anyway just in case...I’ve made a conscious effort to try and include clips in this space to hopefully give us a laugh or two because, especially in these times, I think we need our sense of humor, and hopefully you can file this under that category...there are all kinds of lies that our ruling regime tells on a daily basis, but this latest one from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is pretty “over the moon”...according to Bessent, the increase in beef prices is because illegal immigrants have somehow been herding cattle over our border to infect our wholesome, all-American herds with screwworm (which is a real thing affecting cattle)...yeah, I’m just picturing “Duke” and Monty Clift a la “Red River” driving a herd to the Dakotas or wherever and picturing Esteban, Manuel and their families trying to do something similar over the Rio Grande River...leave it to that shrieking harpie Maria Bartiromo to just sit quietly and let Bessent spew this bullpucky without any pushback (more here - NSFW/H)...



...and happy 75th birthday to Graham Parker.

Monday Stuff

Jen Psaki comments on a ProPublica report on the DHS corruption from Kristi (“Unsafe At Any Speed”) Noem, including all of the “Barbie dress up” nonsense she pulls at every opportunity, which she flaunts in TV ads (costing about $200 million, including $30K to run an ad to be viewed by the Gropenfuhrer at Mar-a-Lago, thanking him for supposedly securing our border)...also, there are Noem’s cosplay moments on Fix Noise that figure into this...oh, and it turns out that $143 million of the aforementioned $200 million went to a mysterious LLC formed in Delaware...also, there’s the 10/2 ad Noem made (during the shutdown, no less) with a company called Strategy Group, run by the husband of DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, who runs the DHS Office of Public Affairs overseeing contract awards – how con-vee-nient...and this Strategy Group outfit is also tied to Noem’s administration as South Dakota governor, with a claim from an official in that state that the bidding process was rigged during Noem’s term as governor (more here)...



Update: Speaking of the shutdown, I thought this was a terrific post by Markos at Daily Kos. And on top of that, I'd like to point out something.

We’re about to enter the busiest travel season of the year, with people in planes all over the place. God willing, everything will go fine for all concerned. But if the shutdown were still going on, and you had air traffic controllers calling out sick, working shorthanded and/or working extra shifts, and somebody makes a mistake leading to a tragedy, do you REALLY think Republicans will be blamed?

No. Our corporate media ecosystem will, en mase, attack Democrats, with an occasional remark from maybe someone on MSNBC or CNN reminding everyone that the Republicans are in charge of the federal government. The “R” party will escape blame, regardless of the consequences.

To me, the answer is simple. STOP ELECTING GODDAMN REPUBLICANS!!!

...and this local TV news report tells us about this Zac Segal cretin who called ICE on some car wash employees who were doing not one thing wrong, unlike this entitled little puke Segal...didn’t know Segal basically emigrated here for an education, soooo, shouldn’t he get the same treatment? Oh, but I guess Segal has a lighter skin complexion, as it were, so it’s all good...and aww, what a shame for Segal as noted here (not really – more here)...and OF COURSE the College Republicans think Segal is a “hero”...



...and turning to Congress, Jesse Dollemore informs us of U.S. Senate Repugs sneaking a bribe scheme into the bill to reopen the government, allowing the “gang of 8” (here) to sue for $500K...apparently, the scheme is to pay off these “insurrectionist sympathizers,” as Hakeem Jeffries correctly puts it, for the allegedly cumbersome chore of dealing with their phone records being investigated, or at least that’s the pretense (including Huckleberry Graham of course)...f*cking criminals, the lot of them (the “R” party cretins in question I mean)...also, it appears that this would make it much harder to investigate anyone in “the world’s greatest deliberative body” should a FREAKING INSURRECTION ever take place again...oh, and the seven Dems and one independent (Angus King) in the Senate who enabled this should realize once more how they got utterly played by Not Your Father’s Republican Party (and I’m not prepared to give this Austin Scott character credit for a damn thing)...based on this, though, it looks like the House may overturn that odious provision (slightly NSFW/H)...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ brings us the story of Repug U.S. House Rep Virginia Foxx displaying a bit of bad temper when she was rightly called out by Dem House rep Yassamin Ansari over the shut down, which was tantamount to an 8-week paid vacation imposed by MAGA Mike Johnson to try and save the Gropenfuhrer’s bulbous butt over the Jeffrey Epstein discharge petition (with Ansari’s constituents facing the explosion of the cost of health care coverage as well as a loss of SNAP benefits, which Foxx would care about for her constituents also if she wasn’t a thoroughly compromised partisan hack...and I know I said something already about the “negative gas prices” thing from Fix Noise)...



...and it wouldn’t be a day with a “y” in it unless we paid some attention at least to the malfeasance of Generalissimo Trump, so I’ll let Mr. Newberger take care of that (and with a bit of swing too)...



...and apologies for just missing the chance to note his recent appearance at the Marian Anderson Theater in Philly last Saturday...I’m sure it was a good show.