Sunday Stuff

RIP Mike Wallace – I don’t know if it’s completely accurate to say that he invented investigative TV journalism, but if he didn’t, he came pretty close.

There are probably hundreds or maybe thousands of clips out there of interviews he conducted (perhaps the most famous – or infamous, depending on your point of view – broadcasts he was responsible for had to do with Gen. Westmoreland and the Vietnam War, Jeffrey Wigand and the Brown and Williamson stuff, and Khomeni and the quote from Sadat rightly calling the Iranian thug a “lunatic”). For no particular reason, though, here is a clip from a 1964 interview with Malcolm X (as I heard this, I was struck a bit by the parallels – as I see them, anyway – between the “Negro community” and the “Occupy” movement).

I may feature other Wallace clips over the coming days, depending on what I can track down. As a country, we’re better for his efforts at “afflicting the comfortable,” as the saying goes (and Malcolm X was referring to former NYC Police Commissioner Michael Murphy, by the way)…



Update: And oh yeah, this was memorable also...



...and more stuff is noted here...



…and Happy Easter to everyone observing the holiday.

Saturday Stuff

I more or less skimmed over this New York Times story today about corporate lobbyists whining about supposedly onerous rules that the Obama Administration was trying to implement concerning their activities, and it made me recall this Brave New Films clip from Bernie Sanders from a couple of years ago (and by the way, the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR upheld the Austin campaign finance decision in Michigan, though that did not one bit of good because it was overturned by the horrendous Citizens United ruling – and yes, Chris Van Hollen and Jim Moran truly make me want to gag for reasons noted in the Times story)...



...and this is pretty much what I think of the complaints from the lobbyists (like to see these cretins get “tuned up” in a similar fashion as depicted in this video)

Friday Stuff

Yep, as usual, I would say also that the choice couldn’t be clearer (here)...



...and gee, Repugs, don’t overdo it in your support for Willard Mitt, the all-but-named presidential nominee of your party (and yep, not surprised about this, unfortunately – nothing unites the knuckle-draggers like their hatred for that alleged Kenyan Marxist socialist community organizer)...

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...and speaking of Willard Mitt, I give you the following (pathetic)...



...and here is Rachel Maddow’s report on voter suppression in Michigan (actually, it’s more like Democracy suppression – and I thought the Repugs didn’t like “czars”)...

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...turning to jazz (were we?), legendary saxophonist Gerry Mulligan would have been 85 today...



...and returning to this century, I give you the following (overdue for a strange video, so here goes).

Tuesday Stuff

Well, since we don’t have K.O. again, I guess it’s time to turn to Cenk Uygur, among others; I grant Cenk his points, but let’s give Obama some credit here for saying this stuff – yes, it would be nice if he would back it up…maybe he will?...but it really is hard to do that when his opposition is certifiably insane…



…and speaking of his insane opposition…



…and to answer your question, yes, I’m still steaming about this one (and Kennedy is supposed to be a centrist?)...



...and deep down, this is a tune about yours truly, believe it or not (sorry, no video again).

Monday Stuff

Given this latest atrocity from the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR, I think it’s a good idea to revisit these wise and prescient words from Sen. Al Franken around the time of the Elena Kagan confirmation hearing – haven’t heard much lately from him, though (and Number 44 actually thinks the bunch in the black robes isn’t going trash the individual mandate before they get out of Washington, D.c. in a couple of months...let’s just say that I’m not optimistic)...



Update: My bad, I meant to include this John Cole link earlier.

...and even though there’s no video, I’m sure you can “fill in the blanks” as well as I can here.

Sunday Stuff

Yes, this has some bad words, but I thought it also had some funny stuff – it’s time for “The Onion Week In Review”…


Penn State T-Shirt Awkwardly Looked Away From

…and sorry I neglected to note the passing of Earl Scruggs earlier this week…I’ll do so now.

Saturday Stuff

I think we all pretty much know what George Zimmerman is at this point, but it does bear repeating (here – I promised I wouldn’t deal with Maher anymore because of his idiotic criticism of those who criticized Flush Limbore, but to tell you the truth, I’m including this mainly for Van Jones)...



...and he played this song over the Trayvon Martin killing when in town this week, and apparently he’s been playing it elsewhere on the tour – good job.

Friday Stuff

Based on this, I don’t think Joel Hyatt’s “word” counts for a whole hell of a lot (and I thought Al Gore was smarter than to go along with this nonsense also).

Like him or not, Keith Olbermann is (was?) an equity stakeholder in Current TV. Yes, we’re not talking about General Motors here, but you can’t just fire one of your biggest stockholders.

I’m sure K.O. will take these idiots to the proverbial cleaners, though I doubt that we’ll find out exactly what eventually happens since I’m sure there’ll be an out-of-court settlement…



…and inspired (if that’s the word) by this post, I give you the following (I still miss Natasha Richardson)…



...and yeah, Willard Mitt and Puppy Dog Eyes Ryan are both a couple of jabronis, all right (more here)...



...and don't worry, no "message" music tonight, just enjoy (and let's be careful out there, OK?).

Thursday Stuff

I came across this column in the Old Gray Lady today, which I thought was unintentionally hilarious (here)...

WASHINGTON — Big business groups like the Chamber of Commerce spent millions of dollars in 2010 to elect Republican candidates running for the House. The return on investment has not always met expectations.

Even though money for major road and bridge projects is set to run out this weekend, House Republican leaders have struggled all week to round up the votes from recalcitrant conservatives simply to extend it for 90 or even 60 days. A longer-term transportation bill that contractors and the chamber say is vital to the recovery of the construction industry appears hopelessly stalled over costs.

At the same time, House conservatives are pressing to allow the U.S. Export-Import Bank, which has financed exports since the Depression, to run out of lending authority within weeks. The bank faces the possibility of shutting its doors completely by the end of May, when its legal authorization expires.

And a host of routine business tax breaks — from wind energy subsidies to research and development tax credits — cannot be passed because of Republican insistence that they be paid for with spending cuts.

Business groups that worked hard to install a Republican majority in the House equated Republican control with a business-friendly environment. But the majority is first and foremost a conservative political force, and on key issues, its ideology is not always aligned with commercial interests that helped finance election victories.

“Free market is not always the same as pro-business,” said Barney Keller, spokesman for the conservative political action committee Club for Growth.

There could be real-world consequences to the conservative rebellion. The 90-day extension of the highway trust fund that House Republican leaders say they will pass this week in lieu of a broad highway bill would keep existing projects moving for now. But business groups say few new government-funded infrastructure projects can get under way without longer-range certainty about federal backing.

…

Some Republicans are growing worried about the ramifications of these fights. Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, has pressed to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, but at the insistence of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, he joined his party in opposing Democratic efforts to add reauthorization to a small-business finance bill. Now Mr. Graham says his party has to find a way to move a stand-alone bill, and fast.

“Come June, if this program dies, it will be the end of job creation for thousands of businesses for no good reason,” he said. “And it’ll happen on our watch, with our fingerprints on it.”

Aww, poor Huckleberry – what a shame he and his pals didn’t take K.O. seriously when he uttered these prescient words about a year and a half ago…

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…and this one goes out to the miscreants at the “US” Chamber of Commerce (really dipping into the “moldy oldie” archives – sorry the sound isn’t the best).

Wednesday Stuff

As I once remarked in these parts to somebody (forget who), having to choose between Comcast and Verizon is like having to choose between diphtheria and tetanus (here, and in a related vein, what Atrios sez here, and this is a bit worrisome also)…



…and here’s a tune for the occasion (still waiting for the new recording from “The Boss” to do it for me, but that hasn’t happened yet – wonder if it will?).

Tuesday Stuff

See what happens when you play nice with the Repugs (for the umpteenth time), President Hopey Changey (here)…



…and bye bye, “President” Snowe.

Monday Stuff

“God, Doomsy, you ‘libtard’ (actually miss that one a bit), are you ever going to stop whining about guns?”

No, I’m not…

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

…and here’s a great song about pointless gun violence.

Saturday Stuff

Happy second birthday to the Affordable Care Act, as noted here (and while this is a good idea, I really hate the fact that Number 44 adopted the wingnut shorthand of “Obamacare,” unless they were trying to tweak their foes, in which case they shouldn’t have bothered, as Kevin Drum points out...and by the way, isn’t it funny to hear “Goober” Gohmert in particular pretending to care about women’s health care, given their latest jihad against contraception?)...



...and I give you this somewhat related tune (and speaking of these guys, I was sorry to hear about this – my condolences).

Friday Stuff

Haven't had much to say about the Trayvon Martin tragedy I know, so please allow me to do so here (I'm sure this act of statesman-like compassion will earn Number 44 nothing but further wingnut scorn - not sure what's up with the spacing)...

...and I guess you can consider this to be my musical response.

My Response To Geraldo Rivera

Asshole (h/t Atrios)...

Wednesday Stuff

From the campaign that generated the “weather vane” crack from Little Ricky (a rare lucid moment), the “Romney 2012” bunch now gives us this...



...which, as far as yours truly is concerned, makes me recall this tune (sorry, no video).

Monday Stuff

Whenever it gets too thick with Little Ricky, as noted here, I think we would all do well to recall the following once more...



...and I guess I’m a day late with this sentiment, but I hope the guy here is still in time for redemption (tee hee).

Friday Stuff

Oh, by the way, remember that Patrick Murphy guy? Used to be a good congressman, right? Well, to help make him a good PA Attorney General also, click here (and here is more on Corbett’s most recent shameful embarrassment)…



...and as long as we're on the subject (here)...



...and I give you the latest in the Willard Mitt Romney chronicles here...



...and this has a bit of a sudden ending, but I still think it works for a Friday night.

Bill Donahue SNAPs Over Judge Mesle’s Mess

And as long as I’m addressing the mountain in my “In” box, allow me to comment on the following (from here)…

Turning the tables on an advocacy group that has long supported victims of pedophile priests, lawyers for the Roman Catholic Church and priests accused of sexual abuse in two Missouri cases have gone to court to compel the group to disclose more than two decades of e-mails that could include correspondence with victims, lawyers, whistle-blowers, witnesses, the police, prosecutors and journalists.

The group, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, is neither a plaintiff nor a defendant in the litigation. But the group has been subpoenaed five times in recent months in Kansas City and St. Louis, and its national director, David Clohessy, was questioned by a battery of lawyers for more than six hours this year. A judge in Kansas City ruled that the network must comply because it “almost certainly” had information relevant to the case.

The network and its allies say the legal action is part of a campaign by the church to cripple an organization that has been the most visible defender of victims, and a relentless adversary, for more than two decades. “If there is one group that the higher-ups, the bishops, would like to see silenced,” said Marci A. Hamilton, a law professor at Yeshiva University and an advocate for victims of clergy sex crimes, “it definitely would be SNAP. And that’s what they’re going after. They’re trying to find a way to silence SNAP.”

Lawyers for the church and priests say they cannot comment because of a judge’s order. But William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, a church advocacy group in New York, said targeting the network was justified because “SNAP is a menace to the Catholic Church.”

Wait for it…

Mr. Donohue said leading bishops he knew had resolved to fight back more aggressively against the group: “The bishops have come together collectively. I can’t give you the names, but there’s a growing consensus on the part of the bishops that they had better toughen up and go out and buy some good lawyers to get tough. We don’t need altar boys.”

No, that’s not an optical illusion. In the matter of sexual abuse of children allegedly committed by members of Roman Catholic clergy and laity, Bill Donahue (the guy supposedly speaking for the Church of which I am a member, though he doesn’t serve in any such official capacity) invoked “altar boys” in an attempt to criticize the Church hierarchy for not doing more to fight the legal charges it currently faces.

…

Truly, words fail.

And the story continues as follows…

The first indication that the network would be caught up in legal proceedings came from Kansas City, where Bishop Robert W. Finn last year became the first American bishop ever to be criminally indicted for failure to report suspected child abuse.

Mr. Clohessy received a subpoena in October at his St. Louis home, where he works, regarding the case John Doe B.P. v. the Rev. Michael Tierney and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

Four plaintiffs are accusing Father Tierney of sexually abusing them years ago. The cases would be outside the statute of limitations in Missouri, but the plaintiffs contend they recovered their memories of abuse only recently.

The subpoena asked that Mr. Clohessy turn over all documents in the last 23 years that mention repressed memory, any current or former priest in Kansas City, the diocese, Father Tierney, John Doe or Rebecca Randles, the attorney for the plaintiffs.

The church’s lawyers say they need to see SNAP’s records to investigate whether Ms. Randles violated a gag order by giving the group information about one of the Tierney cases before it was filed, which the group then included in a news release.

Ms. Randles said in an interview: “I certainly didn’t violate the gag order that is based on the ethics rules. And I did get an informal opinion from the Missouri bar ethics council indicating that it was acceptable to give an advance copy of the petition as long as my client had given me permission to do so.”

Ten victims’ advocacy groups filed a supporting brief arguing that the subpoena was unconstitutional. The Missouri Press Association also filed a supporting brief.

However, Judge Ann Mesle of Missouri Circuit Court in Jackson County ruled that Mr. Clohessy must release the files and be deposed because he “almost certainly has knowledge concerning issues relevant to this litigation.”

Here is more from the Kansas City Star on the utterly wrongheaded decision of Judge Mesle (pictured), which is no doubt intended to deflect attention in this scandal from recent developments such as this (and to contact SNAP, click here).

Update 4/6/12: And by the way, I apologize for not realizing earlier that, at our parish, we don't have altar boys anymore; we have altar servers (get with it, Donahue, you dinosaur...and that's one of the best things I can call you).

A “Tortured” Yoo Treatise And More “Blow ‘Em Up” Bolton Bombast

Yes, I’m in semi-retirement I know, but some things are too egregious to ignore – I give you the following from the New York Times last Saturday (don't count on this happening too often, me posting like this I mean)…

OUTER space has become the next frontier for American national security and business. From space, we follow terrorists and intercept their communications, detect foreign military deployments, and monitor a proliferation of unconventional weapons. Our Global Positioning System gives us targeting and tactical advantages, spacecraft create image-rich maps, and satellites beam data around the world.

But instead of advancing American primacy in this realm, the Obama administration has wrongly decided not only to follow a European Union draft “code of conduct” regulating outer space, but also to circumvent the Senate’s central constitutional role in making treaties.

It’s funny to hear John Yoo and John Bolton coming to the defense of the U.S. Senate over the whole “advise and consent” thing particularly over making treaties, when, as Slate’s Fred Kaplan tells us here, Yoo and Bolton did their best to keep the STSART Treaty from being ratified, saying the U.S. Senate "should heed the will of the voters" and reject or drastically amend the treaty (which is humorous in a particularly dark way when, as noted here, three-quarters of those polled said that the treaty should be ratified, which the Senate eventually did, as noted here).

And I also think it’s more than a little disingenuous for Bolton and Yoo to not mention that, as noted here, the Obama Administration said they would not sign off on the code as of 1/16 of this year, though, as noted here, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said we would work with other nations to comply, something actual grownups do, as we know, as opposed to the prior ruling Bush cabal of which Bolton and Yoo were an integral part.

Here’s more steaming crap from B-Y…

Europe aspires to prevent an “arms race” in the heavens, but in reality, its code would substantially impede advances in space technology because such innovations could also be labeled as military. While security activities receive an exception, it appears confined to self-defense, a term often defined narrowly to include only cross-border attacks. We should not take the unnecessary risk that our rivals will exploit such ambiguity to prevent legitimate American actions.

Since there is little our friends across the pond don’t want to regulate, it is no surprise that they are now reaching for space. Taken literally, the European Union code would interfere with our ability to develop antiballistic missile systems in space, test antisatellite weapons and gather intelligence.

I wonder if B-Y know that China and Russia are pursuing their own separate space deals also, making it necessary for us to do the same thing? And even if they did, I wonder if they would care?

And as noted here…

Bolton and Yoo see two main security threats in the new Obama initiative: the possibility that the U.S. will lose its edge in antimissile space technology and the risk that we’ll cede our lead in antisatellite warfare to, yes, China. So let’s take antimissile technology first.

Americans can be almost completely certain that we will never fall behind in this area because we’re not meaningfully ahead to begin with — and neither is anyone else. To the extent that such a technological advantage does exist, it’s roughly akin to being the global leader in practical nuclear-fusion technology — which basically means that your entirely unworkable fusion reactors are bigger and more expensive than everyone else’s. That’s not exactly the Lombardi trophy.

It was in March 1983 that President Reagan first announced the antimissile Strategic Defense Initiative — quickly dubbed Star Wars by anyone who wasn’t actually part of the Reagan Administration — and since then, the U.S. has spent a minimum of $120 billion on the project, according to a 2009 report by the Council on Foreign Relations, without ever showing that it could actually block a hostile missile. The most successful tests of the impractical system have involved firing our own defensive missile at one of our own incoming missiles, carefully calibrating them so they arrive at the same point in the sky at the same moment — and helping things along by equipping the target vehicle with a sort of homing beacon. This is not, you won’t be surprised to learn, the way an actual nuclear exchange would play out.

The danger of the Chinese skeet-shooting American satellites out of the sky is similarly overstated. It’s true that in 2007 China destroyed one of its own, defunct weather satellites with a kinetic kill vehicle. That landmark achievement, however, took place a cool 22 years after the U.S. first demonstrated the same ability. And just to show the world we still have our chops, we destroyed one of our own satellites much the same way just a year after China’s achievement. The difference between this kind of planned hunt and a hostile attack on America’s satellite fleet is a considerable one — but not to Yoo and Bolton.

Also, I simply had to address the following from Bolton and Yoo…

But the more far-reaching danger is that Mr. Obama is eroding American sovereignty on the sly. He knows that an arms-control treaty for space is unlikely. He barely managed to push the new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia — a bad deal — through the Senate. In addition, he is trying to enter the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea through the back door, by committing our Navy to follow its terms even though the Senate refuses to consider it.

Boy, did B-Y push one of my proverbial buttons on this one – as noted here…

The Law of the Sea has set international standards for fishing, deep sea mining, and navigation since the majority of the world's countries signed it in 1982. It provides coastal nations with exclusive rights to ocean resources within 200 nautical miles of their borders - areas known as "exclusive economic zones," or EEZs.

The agreement also oversees an international tribunal to settle fishing, pollution, and property rights disputes, as well as the International Seabed Authority, a body formed to assign mining rights beyond the EEZs.

If the United States approves the treaty, the agreement would include the country with the largest EEZ in the world, while also potentially clearing the way for U.S. oil companies to mine the Arctic Ocean.

U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush supported the treaty during their tenures, but conservative members of Congress repeatedly blocked its ratification due to concerns that it would limit commerce and allow international bodies to wield greater control over U.S. interests.

But wait, there’s more (from B-Y)…

Other presidents have tried to comply with international agreements without Senate approval. Bill Clinton bypassed the Senate when he signed the International Criminal Court Treaty and regarded the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty as binding even after Senate rejection. Even Ronald Reagan adhered to the 1979 strategic arms limitation treaty with the Soviet Union, but not under the delusion that international law required it. And after seeing evidence of Soviet cheating, Reagan ceased American compliance in 1986.

More hagiography on The Sainted Ronnie R, I realize, but as noted here…

In 1986, both (Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev) pushed their recalcitrant colleagues toward a nuclear disarmament agreement. That January, Gorbachev proposed a program to eliminate all nuclear weapons around the world. To the dismay of US national security officials, Reagan welcomed Gorbachev’s proposal. On January 17, Shultz told the state department’s arms control group to get working "on what a world without nuclear weapons would mean to us" and how to obtain it. "I know that many of you and others around here oppose the objective of eliminating nuclear weapons," he said, "but the president of the United States doesn’t agree with you, and he has said so on several very public occasions." Furthermore, "it’s a political hot button."16

During the balance of the year, Gorbachev and Reagan swapped disarmament ideas and made plans for another United States-Soviet summit, at Reykjavik. Donald Reagan, the White House Chief of Staff, recalled that some of the President’s advisors were opposed to the meeting. But "the President had been speaking out vigorously on disarmament," he noted, "and to temporize ... could have incalculable consequences in terms of world opinion."17 Although the Reykjavik summit failed to produce a disarmament agreement, each side recognized its appeal. Encouraging Gorbachev, the President told him: "Our people would cheer if we got rid of the missiles." Gorbachev, in turn, dangled before Reagan the prospect that, with some compromises on his beloved Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), he might become "the peacemaker President."18

The break in the disarmament impasse occurred in late February 1987, when Gorbachev--in response to the advice of antinuclear activists--offered to separate negotiations on an INF treaty from the highly contentious issue of SDI. Notes taken at a Politburo meeting of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party in late February 1987 reveal that Gorbachev told his colleagues that "we should make a statement about untying the package on the medium-range missiles. This will be our response to the state of public opinion around the world."19 Gorbachev’s action ended any possibility that the Reagan administration could retreat from its disarmament commitments. As Shultz recalled: "If the United States reversed its stand now on our willingness to eliminate INF missiles, after maintaining this position throughout the volatile predeployment period, such a reversal would be political dynamite!"20 Conversely, the Reagan administration realized that a nuclear disarmament agreement would give it a substantial political boost. So Gorbachev’s offer could not be refused, and the INF treaty was signed, with great fanfare, in December 1987.

And finally…

Constitutional principles seem to be mere inconveniences to Mr. Obama, however. In pursuing his long-term goal of blunting American power so it meets with approval in international organizations and foreign capitals, the Senate’s role is a nuisance at best. Instead, his administration is ordering our military and intelligence agencies to comply with international agreements without the “technicality” of Senate approval.

It's really funny to hear Bushies B-Y criticizing Obama for supposedly not honoring the Constitution when their former boss called it “just a goddamned piece of paper” here.

It is no doubt driving these guys nuts that they’re “on the outside looking in.” However, in the godawful event of an honest-to-goodness, actual Willard Mitt Romney presidency, they would no doubt be plying their dark arts once more and risking the most horrific of consequences as a result.

Tuesday Stuff

Remember all the wingnut caterwauling over how many pages that baaad “big gumint Obamacare” bill was? Well, I give you this over something of possibly greater importance concerning our beloved commonwealth (some more great “ROI” to ALEC from Governor Tom “Space Cadet” Corbett...Will Bunch said awhile back how awful the PA DEP head Michael Krancer was – Nail. Hammer. Head.)...



...and I figure I’d better put up this video now before all places like it in PA are hopelessly polluted beyond repair as a result (and with probably with the same automaton-like apathy in this video by some of the people living there to go along with it).

Friday Stuff

Yeah, Willard Mitt is a real “mutt” all right...



...and here’s a bit of a change of pace as we head into the weekend – hope it’s a good one.

Thursday Stuff

By the way, for what it’s worth, I know about this. And I know that in the world of realpolitik, no sitting president is going to give up powers bequeathed to him by his predecessor, no matter how wrong it was for that to occur in this case (with those powers used as a pitiful pretext). However, that all being said, I still think the whole deal stinks.

Now, onto the latest from the right-wing noise factory (here)...



...and Happy Woman’s Day, or whatever it’s called – hope it was fun.

Tuesday Stuff

Yes, I know, Flush Limbore blah blah blah, but if nothing else, this is a diversion from the fact that life forms in at least three states (maybe a fourth?) think that Former Senator Frothy Man-On-Dog Mixture is someone qualified to be president (and here is the latest on Rush’s sponsors - the good folks at J.C. Penney have brought the count to 33 who have dropped that blubbering OxyContin addict)...



...and the answer to the question is no – I don’t just put up music videos when somebody dies any more (in the real world, I mean).

Monday Stuff

I have a feeling that Willard Mitt Romney is on his way to buying the Repug nomination for president with millions in negative ads, but before Little Ricky bids us adieu, I think we need to know about this breaking story from The Onion (and by the way, concerning another “values” kerfuffle, I thought this was a good post from Cenk Uygur)...


Heartbroken Santorum Condemns Gay Marriage For Two-Timing Jerks Like Nick

...and RIP Ronnie Montrose, here doing his “guitar god” thing with Sammy Hagar from back in the day.

Thursday Stuff

Want to know how we all got conned? This tells the story...



...and I know I featured a tune by the Monkees as a tribute to Davy Jones yesterday, but I always like this one too, and the video is cool also.

Wednesday Stuff

“Worst Persons” (Brion McClanahan of The Daily Tucker screeches for denying the vote to anyone on food stamps or any other type of government aid, as well as “tobacco and drug tests” – yep, I would say that that hits those zany teabaggers right where they live, in between the Geritol and the Little Debbie snacks; Repug John Mathis in Utah tries to cover up abuse of animals in “factory farms,” and I would say that chances are he’s on the wrong track…get it, “Johnny” Mathis and “Chances Are”? Oh, never mind; but Falafel Bill gets the top dubious honors tonight for attacking Ben and Jerry, the ice cream guys, for supporting the “Occupy” movement, citing a supposed threat…repugnant even for Mr. “WE’LL DO IT LIVE!” himself for the reason K.O. so eloquently states)…



…and RIP Davy Jones of The Monkees (I haven’t a clue as to what’s going on with Rose Marie, the dummy, and the tied-up guy on the table…hey, it was the ‘60s, after all).

Tuesday Stuff

It looks like the frothy one ended up behind Romney tonight in Michigan and Arizona (here) – c’est dommage (made me want to revisit this choice item from a few days ago...again, Santorum’s lying is bad enough, but the certainty he shows in his lying is possibly more so)...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

...and geez, I kept waiting for the self-important, whiny twentysomething rock star to throw a fit and toss the food up in the air at the end (I guess this reflects life in the Santorum household) – don’t these upstarts have any respect for tradition?

Sunday Stuff

It’s time to “unpackage the crazy” from our august corporate media again.

Sooo…as far as Kelly O’Donnell is concerned, it’s up to the voters to decide whether or not it was OK for Repug U.S. House Rep John Sullivan of Oklahoma to advocate “killing a couple of them,” meaning U.S. Senators who oppose the Paul Ryan “Reward the 2 Percent And Everybody Else Gets It In The Neck” budget, but O’Donnell found it offensive, or something, for Martin Bashir to draw a perfectly appropriate comparison between Sullivan’s rhetoric and that which preceded the shooting of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (never missing a chance to rid the "false equivalency" hobby horse)?

Oh, and by the way, it was a total no-class move by Sullivan to have a “spokesman” apologize for him instead of Sullivan actually doing it himself (here)…

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

…and this definitely goes out to Sullivan, and O’Donnell too as far as I’m concerned.

Thursday Stuff

Remember when I said I’d pop up every so often with a video? Well, I give you the following (mostly ginned-up BS, I realize – Rachel uses more polite language than I would, which is one reason why I’ll never host a cable news show)...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

...and this was recommended to me by the young one (the “teenage one” just about now) – good for him.

Just A Song Before I Go

Yep, the hiatus starts now – I may pop up from time to time with a video, but I’m not sure at this point. I’ll make a note of developments about this blog as warranted by events.

In the meantime, I’ve been looking for a way to work this in, and I think this is as good a time as any, describing what I’ve tried to be about here, though I know I’ve fallen short at times (I’d prefer the original by John Wesley Harding, but since I can’t, I’ll settle for this, which is a pretty good cover).

Sunday Stuff

Minnesota Dem Governor Mark Dayton might as well be talking about our beloved commonwealth (here)…



…and I dedicate this to David Frei and the Westminster Kennel Club for dropping Pedigree as a sponsor to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, apparently because Westminster had a problem with Pedigree’s ads encouraging adoption of non-pedigreed dogs (here) – what, do you think your audience will object to non-pampered pooches? Are they all supposed to be Disney characters or something?

“Show me an ad with a dog with a smile; don’t try to shame me,” Mr. Frei told The A.P. The kennel club had expressed its concerns to Pedigree, he said, adding, “We told them that, and they ignored us.”

WAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

I hope an adopted dog finds Frei’s leg one day and mistakes it for a fire hydrant.

More Saturday Stuff

Kudos to Dem U.S. House Rep Luis Gutierrez for this; nothing like speaking truth to stupid, is there…



…and all this business with the Catholic Church up in arms over contraception coverage made me recall this item from The Eternal George Carlin (bad word alert)…



…and here is my response to the latest Breitbart meltdown (hey, we lefties can play the “let’s doctor the videotape to make it look as incriminating as possible” game too)…



…and this is awful news – my sympathies to the family and friends of Whitney Houston.

Saturday Stuff

Do we? Sometimes I wonder (here)…



…and the whole “Cal Thomas saying something typically stupid and full of red meat for the CPAC wingnuts against Rachel Maddow” thing ended up moving a little faster than I could comment on it in real time, but I’m going to say something now anyway (here).

To begin, I give Thomas credit for being enough of a man to stand up and admit that he made a pretty childish mistake, though I wonder if he would have done that if Greta Van Susteren of Fix Noise hadn’t come to Maddow’s defense. However, I think we need to remember that Thomas fancies himself as some sort of pundit moralist who, if he had been that indeed, would have known reflexively to stand up to intolerance instead of catering to it, as he did at CPAC.

In that vein, as noted here (digging into the Wordpress archives), Thomas once praised the “worship experience” of former president Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalyn at the First Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., even though he once described our 39th president as something that “stinks as badly as a perishable item that has passed its ‘sell-by’ date.”

Given the Maddow dustup and some of Thomas’s past calumnies (including the item noted above), I think he needs to reread the scripture passage stating that “he who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted”…

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

…and I had planned to include this video since the name of this band echoes what I think of Thomas, but I’m including it even though he apologized because I like the tune anyway...



…and happy 50th birthday to Sheryl Crow.

Thursday Stuff

This combines Black History Month with more bad conduct from the banksters, though we can do something about it…



…and kudos to Ron Johnson (the good one) of J.C. Penney for standing up here (along with Ellen DeGeneres)…



…and in a related story, I’d been so preoccupied with the utterly manufactured “issue” of contraception offered in health insurance for Catholic institutions (I’m sure more screeching drivel on this subject from Christine Flowers will attack our sensibilities on this tomorrow) that I’d forgotten about Prop 8 in California…

"Prop 8 - The Musical" starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more... from Jack Black

…and happy 70th birthday to Carole King.

Wednesday PM Stuff

I know I called Florida the Land of Duh a little while ago, and after this whole dustup over the Catholic Church and contraception, I realize that I was being waay too limited in my geographic scope.

In an attempt to dispatch with this idiocy as soon as possible, I give you the following:

This tells us that Charles Chaput, head of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is of course speaking out in protest, desperate for any opportunity to move the spotlight from the hideous recent school closings.

This, despite the fact that contraception coverage is provided at other Catholic institutions (here, including this one).

Also, this is despite the fact that contraception coverage is supported by a majority of Catholics (here).

Oh, and Willard Mitt Romney once supported the contraception coverage he now opposes (here), and good for Obama for bashing him on it (here).

And for good measure, I give you Rachel Maddow and that Repug presidential candidate with a Google problem here…

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

…and I know Little Ricky and his pals don’t “do” irony, but I’m presenting this anyway.

Mikey's "TRAIN In Vain" And Other Follies, Part 3

(Part One including the setup is here, and Part Two is here...this may be the last regular post before the hiatus, or at best the next-to-last one.)

So, how about if we move on with Mikey’s mailer from last month…

Serving Our Veterans

HR 2433, Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act of 2011
HR 1392, Introduced the Fairness to Veterans Act of 2011
HR 178, Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act
HR 333, Disabled Veterans Tax Termination Act
HR 2534, Ensuring America’s Promises Act of 2011
HR 2349, Veterans Benefits Training Improvement Act of 2011
HR 2074, Veterans Sexual Assault Prevention and Health Care Enhancement Act

I couldn’t find anything controversial about these bills, though, in the matter of our veterans, I would ask once more why Mikey voted against both a combat pay raise and a bill guaranteeing pay to our military in the event of a government shut down, noted here.

Also, though Mikey’s support of the above-noted bills appears to be commendable, it would be nice if he would sign on as a co-sponsor to this also.

The next section of Mikey’s mailer has to do with his efforts to try and repeal health care reform, which, by itself, automatically disqualifies him from serving in Congress as far as I’m concerned.

Protecting The Environment

HR 1964, Conservation Easement Incentive Act of 2011
Opposed HR 2018, Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act

I can’t find anything wrong with HR 1964 (Local Repug Jim Gerlach is a co-sponsor with Dem Mike Thompson of California, as noted here). And as noted here, Mikey was wise to oppose HR 2018, which basically is a gift to polluters and guts the Clean Water Act.

Fitzpatrick also voted to ensure that new drilling environmental safety studies are conducted and updated regulations are put in place to protect the Gulf of Mexico (Amendments to HR 1 and HR 2354). That’s nice, but it’s a shame that Mikey didn’t bother to point out that he voted to continue taxpayer subsidies for big oil here. Also, as noted here from last May, Mikey blamed Obama for the rise in oil prices, even though energy experts say such a claim is not credible, partly because oil production increased under Obama, as noted here.

Government Reform

Fitzpatrick co-sponsored Repug U.S. House Rep Mike Coffman’s HR 2913 bill (here), which terminated a member of Congress’s ability to pay into a defined benefit pension plan. That’s a good step, although, as noted here, members of Congress currently pay about 1.3 percent of their salaries into their retirement, described as “puny” by Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe (and I agree with that characterization).

Of course (again, noted by Jacoby), if Congress wanted to get serious about their compensation, they could have acted on the bill by former Dem Rep Gabrielle Giffords to flat-out cut congressional salaries by 5 percent. Their response?

Cue the sound of crickets…

Also, HR 187 from Joe “You Lie” Wilson eliminates automatic pay raises, but of course it doesn’t touch COLAs (which, as we know, many of us in that glorious private sector upon which the Repugs heap so much praise aren’t able to receive).

Maximizing Domestic Energy Production

HR 1230, Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act
HR 1229, Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act
HR 1231, Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act
HR 2021, the Jobs and Energy Permitting Act of 2011
HR 1938, the North American-Made Energy Security Act
HR 3410, the Energy Security and Transportation Jobs Act

(Now we’re going to get back to what the Repugs do best. And I don’t mean that in a good way.)

As noted here in response to HR 1230…

Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) opposed the bill: “One year ago today, we were 2 weeks into the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. We were 2 weeks into what would ultimately become the worst environmental disaster in our Nation's history, with more than 4 million barrels of oil spilling into the Gulf. And since that disaster, we have learned many things about the safety of offshore drilling….We learned that the oil companies had neither the resources nor the ability to stop a deepwater blowout. BP spill response included an attempt to shoot golf balls and bits of rubber into the well. When we were told that the industry was relying on the most sophisticated technologies, we assumed that they meant technologies developed by MIT and not the PGA….And yet here we are debating legislation that would do nothing to improve the safety of offshore drilling and could actually make drilling less safe. The legislation before us represents a return to the pre-spill mentality of speed over safety.”

Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) also opposed the bill: “I rise in strong opposition to this oil spill amnesia bill that threatens our coastal communities….The bill sidesteps safety and environmental reviews, acting as if the Nation's worst oil spill in history never happened. And, it pushes a failed energy plan that pours billions of dollars into already overstuffed oil industry coffers. The only thing it adds up to… is a false promise. The truth is the Republican majority is hoping to delude the public into believing that this rush to new offshore drilling will provide a quick fix to high gas prices, but the harsh reality is this: The U.S. is never going to have control over world oil supplies or gas prices through drilling. We simply don't have the oil reserves, no matter how much we drill. What we do have is the ability to control prices by lowering our consumption, and that's just what we're starting to do.”

And as noted here in response to HR 1229, this is still more overreach by this Congress, trying to tell an executive-branch agency what to do, in this case telling the EPA to review 40 drilling permit applications within 60 days (and what exactly does this have to do with job creation again – I probably could have said more about this last May, but didn’t…my bad).

Continuing, this tells us the following about 1231…

This drill-only bill mandates the most sweeping expansion of offshore drilling in our nation’s history – making broad swaths of the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts open for leasing automatically.

And by the way, as noted here, the BP spill victims (remember them?) continue to suffer (and as noted here, Mikey voted against a Democratic motion to H.R. 1231 to prohibit energy companies from selling abroad the outer continental shelf oil and natural gas they extract under federal leases).

So what of HR 2021? Well, Henry Waxman, ranking member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, tells us the following (here)…

“The legislation is not about creating jobs. It is not about lowering gasoline prices. It is a giveaway to the oil industry that will increase pollution along our coasts….There are many flaws in the legislation. It allows huge increases in air pollution from oil and gas drilling activities by moving the point of measurement from the drill ship to the shore….The legislation eliminates the Environmental Appeals Board from the permitting process, even though it is a cheaper, faster, and more expert substitute for judicial review. And it requires all challenges to air permits to be raised before the Federal Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., thousands of miles away from the affected communities. Claims that this legislation will reduce gas prices or the budget deficit are nonsense. They have no substantiation. There are sensible improvements we could make, but we aren't making them. Instead, this bill waives environmental requirements and short-circuits permitting reviews at the expense of public health.”

Further, this is a response to HR 1938, which is basically an attempt to rush through a decision on the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline before an environmental review has been completed.

Oh, and about the supposed job creation associated with this project, I give you the following once more…



Finally, as noted here by Dem U.S. House Rep Ed Markey of MA once more on HR 3410, “(the bill) contains a dangerous provision to share offshore drilling revenues with coastal states, which has the potential to actually increase the deficit over the long term.”

There’s some other ripe stuff in Mikey’s mailer from last month that I probably won’t be able to get to, though I will note his support of HR 140, which would end birthright citizenship in this country (and as noted here, this would involve repealing the 14th Amendment to the Constitution; in addition to the fact that the amendment has pretty much been enshrined in settled law by now, trying to repeal it is really stupid public policy).

I think that the three posts related to our congressman’s 2011 report card, or whatever, provides ample reason to support the Democratic alternative in this fall’s election, who happens to be Kathy Boockvar – to help her out, click here.

Wednesday AM Stuff

See what you’re voting for, all you nitwits in Missouri, Colorado and Minnesota (here)? God, are parts of this country stoo-pid…



…and I know I praised the Eastwood Super Bowl ad the other day, and I stand by that, but I think the following should be noted from here too…



…“Worst Persons” (Uber-lobbyist and wingnut Rick Berman tries to pass himself off as a “union member” in one of his anti-union ads – once again, you’d have to be a stone cold moron to trust these people; Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association – not representing my family, I hasten to add – takes on the dreaded scourge of Ellen DeGeneres…and yes, I’m being tongue-in-cheek – also, nice work by J.C. Penney; but Repug Florida State Rep Rachel Burgin takes top “honors” for being too dumb to remove the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, notation from the bill she proposed, allegedly on her own…more here)…



…and this goes out to Rep. Burgin (the gender thing doesn’t completely work, I realize, but you get the idea).

Monday Stuff

“Worst Persons” (K.O. is back to tell us of Charles Payne somehow trying to claim that, well, y’know, poor people really aren’t poor because they get gout…OK, genius, let me clue you in on something – this hits me where I live because, in addition to the causes for the affliction that Keith mentions, namely diet and hypertension, there is also a hereditary component to it, and as someone who has suffered with it from time to time, I can testify that it can attack ANYONE regardless of income; Repug Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White, from the political party that has made a living from yelling about the virtually nonexistent threat of voter fraud, gets convicted of – wait for it! – VOTER FRAUD, and faces 3 to 18 years in the gray bar hotel – nice work; but Repug U.S. House Rep John Fleming of Louisiana takes top “honors” for taking a story on The Onion seriously about Planned Parenthood and abortion, though the three percent figure is correct (here, Fleming claimed the teabaggers are getting a bad rap from those dastardly libs, and here, he blamed Obama for our troop withdrawal from Iraq when it was negotiated under the SOFA, and he also cried poor mouth since he could ONLY make 400 grand as a U.S. House Rep – you Louisiana voters who elected this meat sack must be so proud)...



…and speaking of abortion, I think this is a good opportunity to put up this tune – sorry, no video; I’m sure Hendrix had no political inclination whatsoever behind it.

More Sunday Stuff

God, is Pete Hoekstra a moron...



Update 2/6/12: I guess I was so pissed off by the stupidity of Hoekstra's ad that I didn't pick up on the contradiction of someone who claims to be a fiscally prudent Repug running the most expensive possible ad that he could - fortunately, mcjoan did here.

…and by the way, here is more Hoekstra stupidity (a response is here)…



…and after viewing the ridiculous, I now give you the sublime (from here – apparently, both these ads aired during that football game tonight - not the biggest fan of Eastwood's politics, but this is still great stuff; like to see the Pats lose for personal reasons, by the way)…



…and for no particular reason, I give you this tune.

Sunday Stuff

I’ve disagreed with Fareed Zakaria plenty of times, but as far as I’m concerned, he is one of the handful – fistful, actually – of conservatives that I take seriously, precisely because of commentary such as this…



…and yesterday marked the 35th anniversary of the debut of “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac, with some great songs depicting often dysfunctional relationships, including this one.