I think that $1.6 million payment to Trump noted here should be kept at least until this cretin reveals his tax returns at long last…
…and K.O. is back to tell us ths story of Carter Page, another member of the “Donald Drumpf” campaign whose influence needs to be looked at, possibly with disinfectant…
…and you just KNEW that Samantha Bee would have something to say on the debate, didn't you (fortunately for us all - here)...
…and I think John Oliver did a service for us here; as far as I’m concerned, there are “scandals” related to HRC and there are SCANDALS related to “Fergus Laing”…
...and as I watch this hot mess (re, video below), all I can think of is this tweet from Bill Maher (sorry if it's hard to read - he's basically blaming the voters saying this election is closer than it should be, and he's right)...
…and Sam Seder tells us about this idiot Robert Pittenger in North Carolina and his response to the Charlotte protests (NSFW – oh, and by the way, don’t do us any favors, OK?)…
…and here is an ad for Katie McGinty, running in the U.S. Senate race against “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey (R-Elevator) of course (to help her, click here...more wretched Toomey stuff is here)…
Update 10/03/16: To quote that noted philosopher Howard Dean - YEEAAAARRRGGHHH!!! (here).
...and kudos to Thom Hartmann for unearthing this nugget from Monday ("Trumped-up trickle-down" indeed)...
…and I thought this was some interesting analysis from Jimmy and Cenk about Hillary’s performance in the debate (NSFW)…
…and I would call “Fergus Laing” a delusional narcissist for this, but I think that’s giving delusional narcissists a bad name…
…and Kyle tells us about a YUUUGE tax break “The Donald” got for a political donation, though I think Kyle is waaay too hard on The Clinton Foundation…
…and for the benefit of anyone who didn’t know about this (or if you did), I offer the following tune.
…and if this clip doesn’t scare the hell out of you, then something is wrong with you…
...and as always, I wish Number 44 would utterly blast our corporate Beltway courtier media...but maybe it's just as well that he didn't; they know what they are, and they're not going to blow their cushy gigs by actually afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted, when they've in fact been doing the opposite all along (here - this clip is a couple of weeks old at least, but I think it bears repeating)...
…and K.O. is back with some much-needed perspective again on just how racist the Trump campaign really is (NSFW - and by the way, speaking of you-know-who, isn't this precious?)...
…and in keeping with the prior topic, albeit in a much more positive way, I should note that the National Museum of African American History and Culture just opened (I hope to visit the next time we journey to D.C.)...
…and I had a clip from Butch Trucks’s former band yesterday, so I guess it’s only fair to give him and Susan Tedeschi a shot here with this great tune.
I guess this is the post mortem that matters (and yeah, these quotes are clipped a bit - acknowledged at the end of the video - but really, are they that much of a stretch?)...
…oh and, by the way, if Trump drones on that Hillary is wrong about something, chances are that an independent verification will find out that she’s telling the truth (see?)…
(And I guess Lester Holt did a good job by all accounts, mainly because no one is bitching too much about him letting “The Donald” get away with typical Trumpian BS.)
And speaking of the debate, I need to let you in on something that I think is pretty funny (well, maybe not THAT funny since we’re paying for it).
In these parts, the Bucks County Courier Times is the local newspaper that covers our area (for the benefit of anyone who hasn’t picked up on that by now even though I’ve made repeated references to the paper at this site). Despite the ridiculous right-wing tilt of the Op-Ed page, I should add that there are more than a few beat reporters working for the paper who do legitimately good work.
The paper also has a history of late deliveries (issues with printing and such, or so we’re told) that seemed to be timed towards anything related to good news for Democrats. We ended up with late next-day delivery of an issue on at least one occasion during the Democratic primary debates, and another time, I said that the paper ignored coverage of a debate entirely (the headline of that issue had to do with how valuable pets are as companions…), when in fact, someone from the paper got back to me and said that there was about a paragraph of coverage on page A-18 of the debate in question.
I’m sure you know where I’m going with this, so I’ll just cut to the proverbial chase and let you know that we didn’t receive an issue of the paper this morning. We’ll see if we got the issue later or will get it tomorrow, or if I’ll have to call the paper and have our bill adjusted again.
As I said, too funny…
Update 9/28/16: We got the paper this morning with a headline of “Clinton, Trump Battle Fiercely,” which I suppose was true. The explanation for the missing delivery was an outage at their local print production facility in Falls, Pa., which seems to occur pretty frequently.
...and K.O. tells us here of Trump's lies in this month alone (and I think the number was about 80 million, by the way, which still broke a record, apparently)...
...and former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich helps us keep our eye on the ball, as it were, concerning this election…
…and again, even though Lester Holt was OK (let’s see what happens next with our corporate media frauds), I definitely agree with Sam Seder on his remarks about the LWV moderating the debates (and how big a wackadoodle is Gary Johnson anyway?)…
…and despite how well everything went last night, I think we ought to pay close attention to the title of this song.
...and I thought he kind of whitewashed, if you will, the Crips and the Bloods (they aren’t “groups,” they’re gangs), but otherwise, I thought this was some pretty worthwhile insight from Harry Belafonte, who speaks with Rev. Al…
...and more good stuff from Stephen Colbert on the recent protests is here...
…and as a lead-in, I want to note that, while I definitely disagreed with him more than a few times, I always thought it was smart on the part of the late Arlen Specter that, when he ran a campaign, he always featured ads with testimonials from others who he’d helped, and I’m glad that HRC is doing the same thing – that’s political capital, and you might as well use it in a campaign…
…and what a shame that another Alex can't run for president – yet (here)...
…and happy 71st birthday to Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music (“throwaway lines often ring true”).
Tamron Hall speaks to Alex Seitz-Wald about HRC’s reaction to the shooting of Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, OK, as well as some other campaign stuff (always good to hear about the Dem nominee getting back to the stuff that matters to the base)…
…and speaking of the campaign, I thought this was a particularly good ad, using “Donald Drumpf” and his garbage against him…
…and all the best to Terry Jones (here) – sorry to hear the news (and let’s not forget this too – great job)…
…and kudos also to Bruce Springsteen for this (and belated happy birthday, by the way).
I thought this was a neat story about a Canadian couple (well, he is anyway) staging their own mock election on their front lawn; I’m sure, after reading this, there’ll be a busload or two of Trump supporters making their way to Burnaby to add a “yuge” number of X’s…
...and K.O. tells us that "The Donald" doesn't have a clue about how to fight terrorism (among the many topics he is clueless about)...
...though he does want a national "stop and frisk" policy, an idea that gets the treatment it deserves from Charles Blow (here - yeah, blow that dog whistle a little louder, why dontcha)...
...and Seth Meyers tells us about how "The Donald" used Trump Foundation money to settle at least one legal case (probably many more), and also how he cheated a golfer out of a payoff for a hole-in-one (typical...and with each of these segments, I detect that Meyers is getting more and more fed up with wading in Trumpian muck like this, but Meyers is definitely performing a service)...
...and Kyle K. brings us up to date on the latest Wells Fargo garbage (NSFW)...
…and Thom Hartmann tells us Americans get tainted food because corporations won't pay to prevent illness, of course (interesting talk on why eggs have to be refrigerated; I have to admit that I don’t know about France, but as I noted previously, we visited the UK over the summer, and the food was demonstrably better, and I’m just talking about everyday stuff)…
...and Cenk brings us up to date on that idiot Glenn Reynolds and his "Run them down" tweet about recent police protests in Charlotte, NC (an update is here).
I think this calls for a bit of a refresher on this guy; I give you the following on "Instapundit" Reynolds:
Somehow, Reynolds never heard about the standoff in the ‘90s between the ATF and the Branch Davidian loonies – Reynolds was asking if any other public figure had to face so much (justifiable IMHO) gun-related animus as Caribou Barbie did in the wake of the Tucson shootings of 2011, and the answer is yes; Bill Clinton did after Waco (here).
Reynolds also noted how Obama’s approval rating supposedly “shrunk rapidly” from 49 percent in December 2009 all the way to 48 percent in December 2010 (here).
And oh yeah, according to Reynolds, President Obama hates Jews (here) – if so, then try explaining this.
Reynolds said in 2010 that the alleged grassroots Teahadist movement has led to “millions of Americans (taking) to the streets over the past year,” when, in fact (as Eric Boehlert notes here), the actual number was considerably smaller.
Reynolds tried to equate the Obama White House having (once again, IMHO) an entirely correct opinion about what Fix Noise actually is and the case of Chicago prosecutors issuing subpoenas and demanding that students of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism turn over their notes and interview records concerning the wrongful conviction of Anthony McKinney, a Chicago man jailed for 31 years on a false confession (here).
And by the way, I’ve been reading people defending Reynolds on freedom of speech grounds as well as the idiot baseball player noted here. For what it’s worth, here is how I see that:
From a theoretical perspective, that’s a fair point. However, from a reality perspective, I should point out that, if I were to suddenly start ranting in an online forum in a similar manner in such a way that I could face a personal reprisal from my employer, I’d be stupid to not acknowledge at least the possibility that that could happen. Basically, if I were to make it crystal clear who I was and started saying “N-word this, N-word that, run them all down,” or “Obama is a Muslim who wants to cheer while we all get blown up”…well, that comes pretty close to the “yelling ‘fire’ in a crowded movie theater” test, to say nothing of being utterly racist, repugnant on a few levels, and demonstrably untrue. So yeah, if I were to do that, I’d expect to get suspended from my job or to be quite probably fired outright. And if Reynolds and this fool Steve Clevenger didn’t at least acknowledge that possibility somehow, then they’re dumb as a bag of rocks.
Anyway, here is Cenk...
…and today marks what would have been the 90th birthday of legendary jazz saxophonist John Coltrane.
I give you K.O. on the second call from “Fergus Laing” for shooting HRC, with all of the outrage that is completely appropriate (so grateful to GQ for giving K.O. this forum)...
Update 9/29/16: I think this guy’s gene pool needs a lifeguard (here).
…and once again, another “sensible” establishment Republican won’t support The Big Orange Cheetoh, as Cenk explains (oh, and this guy won’t either)…
...and when it comes to voting, let’s not forget this (a little inappropriate actually, but the list of issues that matter should be the biggest takeaway of all)...
…and speaking of supposedly centrist Repugs who are a lot crazier than that actually, the League of Conservation Voters reminds us about “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey (R-Elevator) here (to help Katie McGinty, click here...more wretched Toomey stuff is here)…
...also, Samantha Bee quite rightly ripped "dark lord" Roger Ailes here for building his Fix Noise BS factory based on white fear and resentment (these characters have more responsibility for “Donald Drumpf” than anyone else)...
…and kudos to Ray LaMontagne for this (a tune inspired somewhat from a recent headline, I would guess).
Five years ago today, the state of Georgia murdered Troy Anthony Davis...
...and Kyle K. tells us here that Broward County, FL police won’t escort Miami Dolphin players to and from the stadium for home games, and I agree with Kyle that the cops should just do their damn jobs (NSFW – as I’ve said, Colin Kaepernick and everyone else should stand for the anthem as far as I’m concerned, and if you want to raise your fist or lock arms, do so, but if you DON’T stand, that should be respected also because it’s free speech – free speech I personally don’t agree with, but free speech all the same)…
…and this might be the longest trip back I’ve ever taken for these “This Day In Doomsy History” segments – I give you the following highly-timely clip from 9/21/07…
…and singer Brook Benton would have been 85 last Monday, but given the first clip, I think this tune is appropriate.
I think that, amidst all of the utterly bubbleheaded commentary out there on the election, this is some very sound advice from Carl Bernstein…
...and when it comes to putting Trump and Clinton side-by-side, this is some timely stuff (been meaning to get to this video for awhile – I think it takes a bit of a pass on the people who have made a cottage industry out of maligning every single stinking thing that HRC does or ever has done, in particular this utterly cretinous weasel, but I think it also makes a lot of good points)...
...also, apparently, Trump Jr. compared Syrian refugees to poisoned Skittles, or something (more here) - at a certain point, there are just no words...
…and I would say that it’s time once more for Samantha Bee (here); I don’t know what was better – her wrap-up or her comment about The Roots…
…oh, and by the way, with all of the election insanity going on, does anyone out there remember climate change? Fortunately, His Holiness and Thom Hartmann do (nice to be on the same side concerning the most vital issue of them all – sorry I’m a bit late with this...and there's a well-deserved shot at that glibertarian fool Gary Johnson – yeah, “Aleppo” is a pasta sauce, you nitwit)……
...and given this story, which took place pretty close to 10 years ago to this day, I think the following tune is appropriate (well, the title anyway).
There he goes again, calling for HRC to be shot – calling Trump a vile, disgusting person is an insult to other vile, disgusting people (here)…
…and all I can do in response is replay this clip from Cenk Uygur, which, to me, is full of all the outrage that is called for…
…oh, and NOW “Fergus Laing” is claiming that he didn’t start all this “birther” garbage and HRC did? Even for a liar like The Big Orange Cheetoh, this is one for the books…
…and fortunately, Shep Smith provided the correct response (here)…
…and I‘m sorry I didn’t get this video up before or during the conference on the 15th and 16th, but the message from Secretary of State John Kerry remains as timely and urgent as ever (and kudos for the shot of Aquinnah at about :35)…
…and “Mama” Cass would have been 75 today (I’ll leave the snark in response to the video - but not the song - up to you, dear reader).
Sounds to me like Number 44 has no more sh*ts to give when it comes to this utterly wretched Congress – kudos…
...also, Rachel Maddow examines the whole "Pepe The Frog" thing (and yes, it is a “thing,” even though, as noted here, the artist behind it is supporting HRC…the last minute of this is full of as much muted outrage as she is permitted I'm sure by The Comcast Network)...
…and K.O. reminds us that the Trump campaign appears to be borrowed from a few well-known and at least one barely-known movie…
…though when I think of Trump and movies, this scene comes to mind (and I’m not kidding)…
…and speaking of movies, RIP playwright Edward Albee, the man behind “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” among other films…
…and happy birthday to Fee Waybill of The Tubes, paying homage to the device that almost put the flicks out of business in the ‘50s.
Lawrence O’Donnell comments on the media giving “Fergus Laing” a pass on everything really, but the alleged audit of his taxes in particular (and kudos to Alisyn Camerota of CNN)…
…and it was nice to see SOMEBODY hold The Big Orange Cheetoh to account, specifically the pastor of the church in Flint, Michigan where Trump recently spoke (here, and of course, leave it to “Donald Drumpf” to come up with this in response)…
…and K.O. reminds us of how ridiculous it is for Rudy 9iu11ani to say that HRC needs to come clean over her health, or some such nonsense (and bonus points for sticking it to “Greatest Generation” Brokaw too)…
…and I LOVE IT when a Dem kicks ass like this (here)…
…and to help Katie McGinty against “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey (R-Elevator), click here…
…and after this, our entire corporate media should be singing this song, though I’m sure they’re not.
...and K.O. is back with another commentary, this time on HRC and her “deplorables” remark…
…and Lewis Black provides analysis of this utterly interminable election as only he can here (Note: We still have to go out and get it done for HRC and a Dems in general, but in the case of the Dem presidential nominee, I wish she could find a way to generate some buzz about domestic issues and thus, some enthusiasm – I know the media isn’t helping a bit, but we can’t use that as an excuse)…
...and one of those Dems we have to help is Katie McGinty (noted in the second of two Seth Meyers vids); to do so, click here (let's do what we can to make sure Pat Toomey runs out of elevators)...
…and you’d better pack a lunch for this one, but I think it’s worth it (this is the stuff that matters as opposed to the political sideshow); Chris Hedges speaks with economist Mark Blyth, and the two of them discuss the utterly ruinous policy of austerity and its effects in this country, the U.K. and Europe – there’s a lot of digest here and some of it I don’t agree with, for example the analysis of Brexit in the U.K., which, as far as I’m concerned, has the fingerprints of David Cameron and his Tories all over it – I don’t think it was some kind of popular uprising that caught the elites off-guard…Hedges and Blyth, though, do a great job IMHO on linking austerity to the rise of extremist political movements, both here and abroad; yes, I know HRC is a centrist Democrat and I’m more than a little concerned about her capturing the “base” with a populist economic message, which she’d better find a way to do, but for God’s sake we need to support her instead of you-know-who…the thought that Trump could capture some kind of economic momentum somehow, even though his every utterance on that like everything else would be a lie, scares the hell out of me…
Keith Olbermann is back, and his timing couldn't possibly be better (to say nothing of more urgently than we ever thought it would have to be - here)...
…and yeah, as Rachel says, when you’re arguing about the percentage of your supporters who are white supremacists as opposed to the fact that you have white supremacists as supporters AT ALL, I would say that you have a problem entirely of your own making and no one else’s…
…and leave it to The Big Orange Cheetoh to reply and shoot himself all over again in the process (here)…
(Oh, and by the way, I don’t have much to add on the stuff about Trump cleanup manmouthpieceexcuse-maker VP nominee Mike Pence not calling David Duke “deplorable” because he doesn’t like name calling, made even more ridiculous by his boss’s antics as many others have already noted. I would only point out that, as noted here, Pence once referred to himself as a “cheerful right-wing conservative” when he tried to malign Valerie Plame during the “Scooter” Libby fiasco about outing Plame as a covert operative. As noted here, however, I don’t believe that anyone trying to utilize Planned Parenthood services in Indiana would consider Pence to be “cheerful.” - Update: Um, yep.)
…and I have to admit that, in addition to K.O., I missed Samantha Bee – glad to see that she’s back (here – clipped a bit at the end, though)…
…and by the way, I have a message for everyone screaming about Emails on personal servers and alleged “access” given to Clinton Foundation donors and how she’s really a corporatist Democrat who does the budding of her Wall Street benefactors (not saying that charge isn’t totally without merit, for her or any other politician) – do us all a favor and be quiet long enough to just watch this two-minute video, OK?...
…and happy 61st birthday to Steve Berlin of Los Lobos (and a Philly guy too).
I think this great commentary from Lawrence O’Donnell on the press’s reporting on presidential health records ran on for a minute or two too long, but his point about the press’s typically idiotic obsession with HRC’s attack of pneumonia while the Trump people casually talk about World War III is well taken…
…well, at least Kyle was paying attention (NSFW – “no duuuh” indeed)…
…and David Fahrenthold of the WaPo commits some actual journalism here looking into the alleged charitable donations from The Big Orange Cheetoh (well done)…
…and the title of this song describes what I think this presidential campaign has been at times.
I know, I know it’s tiresome by now, but it bears repeating (“Somewhere between stupid and scary” indeed – and I honestly don’t know how someone can pretend to be surprised by now)…
…and hmmm, secret plan, secret plan – why does that ring a bell (of course, to imagine any equivalency between Trump and Nixon is laughable; the latter was a demonic figure in our politics to be sure, but among other things, he was a self-made man for better or worse, which “The Donald” will never be)…
...and Tara Setmayer lost me in the last minute or so yakking about HRC and the damn Emails again (Who died as a result, and spare me on the "Benghazi Four"? What wars were started? What laws were broken? Bueller??), but otherwise, I thought this was a pretty good exchange about Matt Lauer's utterly wretched performance last week (maybe David Zurawik's finest commentary, and it's shocking that I'm saying that, but credit where it's due)...
...and Cenk and the gang tell us about the latest folk to get scammed by The Big Orange Cheetoh - luckily they didn't appear to lose any $$ (oh, and by the way, I hope HRC pays attention to the second half of this ad, especially the very end…Kyle of Secular Talk said, “go to the left,” which are the truest words I’ve yet heard in this election)…
…and kudos to former Seattle Seahawks player Nate Boyer, interviewed here by Tamron Hall about the national anthem protests over this weekend; as I said, I personally don’t agree with Colin Kaepernick on taking the knee during the anthem, but he does have the right to do what he’s doing, the last I checked (and what else could we expect but idiocy from “Fergus Laing,” and this lunatic also)…
…and yeah, I think this great new song pretty much covers it.
Yeah, I know – don’t politicize this day; well, after 15 years, I think it’s time to do so a little bit (and remind me once again why the NFL decided to have opening day today?)…
…and the renewal of the Zadroga Act was eventually passed, but it never should have come to this (re: what Jon Stewart portrayed in the video)…
…and I offer the following two videos without further comment.
(By the way, @chrislhayes conducted a great interview last night with a surrogate of the 2012 presidential campaign of Willard Mitt Romney about how Trump is supposedly not representative of the Repug Party – I don’t totally buy that of course, but it was still a good interview…no shot of finding it at MSNBC’s horrible web site of course.)
On to the videos...Matt Lauer should be forced to watch the following clip in a non-stop loop for an hour (here); I would argue that the very idea of having “Today” show host Lauer host a presidential candidates debate ensured a mediocre-at-best performance; meanwhile, kudos to Shep Smith once again, dragging Fix Noise correspondent Carl Cameron, among others, into the cold light of day…
…and speaking of Lauer, I thought his stupidity was on display also here in what I also thought was a great answer by HRC to a question about Iran’s nukes – good catch by Sam Seder…
…oh, and speaking of which, remember when “Deadeye Dick” Cheney said the Iran nuke deal was “madness” here? Well, K.O. responded better here than anyone else as far as I’m concerned…yes, time once more for “This Day In Doomsy History” from 9/8/15 (pretty much going “around the block” for this one - and by the way, when it comes to Bushco and GITMO, let's not forget this)…
…and kudos to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe for continuing to fight the Dakota Access pipeline (more here)…
…and let’s see now, I knew about Florida AG Pam Bondi dumping the Trump U investigation after the campaign donation from “Fergus Laing,” and I knew about the little fundraiser he threw for her, but I didn’t know about the lawsuit between Bondi and the Katrina victim whose dog Bondi wouldn’t give up (here) – a “rising conservative star” indeed…
I wish I could share the faith that Number 44 shows here in our voters and the Democratic process, but I'm still skeptical on that - I would be more of a believer on that if "The Donald" had been properly called out long ago the way he should have been called out; I'm glad President Obama said this of course, though I wish he had done a better job of holding our corporate media to account here, including this toady (Lauer I mean, whose performance last night was apparently a festival of suck, which I guess shouldn't be surprising)...
…and Seth Meyers takes a look at the latest nonsense with “The Donald” and his Pam Bondi payoff (including this – and I’m sorry, but the stuff with HRC pales by comparison; the Repugs have had all this time to make a legitimate case against her, and all they’ve got is a parade of supposition)…
…and yeah, as I said, I think Colin Kaepernick should stand for the anthem, but once again, he definitely has a point (NSFW)…
...and do you want to hear a slow, torchy Thursday ballad? I hope so, because here it comes.
...and by the way, this is how a president is supposed to act - kudos to Number 44 for this...
...also, Lawrence O’Donnell speaks here with David Cay Johnston on the Trump University scam going on in Florida (here - and gosh, could Florida AG Pam Bondi feign outrage any better?)…
…and here’s a heck of a post-Labor Day story; kudos to the Indian workforce responsible for this – all the best…
…and I give you a couple of major music milestones – happy 65th (!) birthday to Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders of course (with a tune that was allegedly a shot at this guy)…
Yeah, when “Fergus Laing” says that he wants to be Mr. “Unpredictable,” I have a two-word response: Mission Accomplished…
...and hey, idiots of our corporate Beltway courtier media (here) - want to find out about a REAL scandal (here and here)? Watch this clip about how investigations were ongoing into Trump “University” in Texas and Florida before Trump gave donations to Texas AG Ken Paxton and Florida AG Pam Bondi – problem solved!...
...and I would say that it's time to pass the popcorn (too funny - NSFW)...
Update 9/13/16: And for the benefit of anyone who actually cares, Levin eventually caved (here).
...and gee, maybe we ought to rethink this whole fracking thing, huh? (here)...
…and this is the most benign treatment from our media, that, as far as I’m concerned, Phyllis Schlafly deserves (she actually deserves far worse than this – typically solid reporting by Rachel Maddow...we hear about Schlafly at about 8:00)…
Ed Schultz speaks with Leo Gerard, head of the Steelworkers Union, about the threat of the so-called “Right to Work” movement, which is really a euphemism for “right not to get paid a livable wage”…
…and sticking with Ed, he speaks with John Nichols of The Nation about the labor movement overall in this country…
…and John Oliver brings us Labor Day observations as only he can (hey History Channel, thanks for being jerks and yanking the video that was here previously…yeah, I make SO MUCH MONEY doing this, don’t I?)…
…and this is one of my favorite songs about working – not very upbeat I know, but well done by JT.
When it comes to The Big Orange Cheetoh and the “alt-right” (still hate that phase because it’s way too tame), if it walks like a goose-stepping duck, talks like a goose-stepping duck, and quacks like a goose-stepping duck, what you’ve got is a goose-stepping duck (here, and his remark about pretending to respect women, gays and minorities is typically laughable)…
…and do you want to know why I think our corporate media is, collectively, a gaggle of compromised idiots? As far as I’m concerned, this entire CNN clip is about nothing…ZOMG HILLZ IS SOOOO UNTRUSTWORTHY! SHE ACTUALLY GAVE “ACCESS” TO SPECIAL INTERESTS!!! HOW COULD SHE GOVERN!!!! And Matt Bai is the biggest twit on that panel (by the way, some actual context on the supposedly oh-so-godawful Clinton Foundation is here)…
For the benefit of anyone who actually cares, here are a few “hot takes” from yours truly:
On the one hand, I definitely applaud the stand taken by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick on the issue of police violence against African Americans (including the socks, which I’m sure the oh-so-august-in-their-imaginations NFL will find a way to ban - here). To me, though, when the national anthem is played, you stand your ass up. If you don’t, you’re also partly disrespecting our military and their sacrifice (and hey, if you want to raise your fist like these guys, have at it). That's my story and I'm sticking to it (and I think it's hilarious that controversy surrounds a Chip Kelly-coached football team once more).
Update 9/3/16: OK, now the Santa Clara, CA cops just lost me with this – awww, did that mean football player hurt your widdle fee fees with his cartoon socks? Stop your whining and do your damn jobs!
I give you the latest antics from Governor Bully (here)…
Trenton, NJ – Governor Chris Christie demanded today that the Senate “do its job” and act on seven judicial vacancies that are jeopardizing the efficient delivery of justice to citizens in Mercer County, where the reassignment of a Superior Court judge this week underscored the emergent need for a full complement of judges in the vicinage.
In May, Governor Christie nominated seven qualified candidates, both Democrats and Republicans, to fill the Mercer County vacancies, but the Democrat-controlled Senate has failed to schedule them for a review and confirmation.
As noted here, Judge Merrick Garland now holds the record for the longest wait for a Senate confirmation hearing (oh, and both chambers of Congress are run by Repugs, in case we had somehow forgotten.)
Oh, and by the way, you big, fat oaf, I could care less about your budget problems, but because you can’t manage numbers correctly, now you’ve apparently ended a 39-year reciprocal tax agreement between your state and the commonwealth of PA, as noted here (and yes, I work in NJ, so this matters to me personally...Update: Steve Santarsiero posted on his Facebook page that he'll meet with PA Guv Tom Wolf to see what we can do to prevent this from taking effect, if anything).
For anybody out there reading who is as mad as I am over this, the best response is to click here and support Steve for the U.S. House, who fought tooth and nail to try and prevent this.
Now back to the videos – RIP Philly guy Jon Polito, who, in addition to appearing in movies by the Coen Brothers and the cultish TV series “Crime Story” (which definitely was a fave for your humble narrator back in the day), also turned in a great supporting performance in “The Freshman,” starring Matthew Broderick and Marlon Brando, which, to me, was a genuinely clever and funny movie (what follows is a clip with Polito in a typical darkly funny role)…
..and as Atrios would say, we do so love our children (more here and here)…
...and this tells us about the dangers of lead poisoning and a link to crime (uh, yep)...
...and I honestly hope Shep Smith doesn't get any grief from his odious employer for telling the truth like this, going off-script once again - kudos once more (here)...
…and speaking of voting, if there’s any truth to this, then heads should roll among the corporatist frauds at the Democratic National Committee (NSFW)…
…and oh, aren’t our dear good “friends” the Saudis helping us ever so much on the War on Terra! Terra! Terra!, which is still being fought of course by killing many innocent civilians and radicalizing their families and friends better than al Qaeda or ISIS ever could (and kudos to Dem U.S. House Rep Ted Lieu for this)…
…and wow, when Bushie Jim (The Dow Will Hit 36,000!!) Glassman comes out for HRC, then that’s kind of a “well, spank my butt and call me Charlie” moment – I remember this guy facing off with The Eternal George Carlin on “Real Time” once…tried some verbal sleight of hand, but as you might expect, Carlin was having none of it…
…and as we bid farewell to summer (sniff), what better way to do it with a little “Friday with Frank.”
I thought this was a fascinating history lesson from Rachel Maddow about what has led to anti-immigrant hysteria in this country dating back almost a couple of hundred years (and probably before then, to be honest – sorry for inflicting so much of The Big Orange Cheetoh on you in this clip, but I think it’s necessary)…
…and I think the prior clip definitely puts this in the proper perspective…
…and I’ve been meaning to get to this report for a little while now on education in Finland versus this country, so here it is…
…and I’m not totally sure what to make of this story; but here it is anyway – I think the goal of keeping Canada’s heath care public should be foremost, but even though it could turn into the thin edge of the proverbial wedge (I don’t understand how someone would not be able to obtain coverage, but I’m hardly an expert on this topic), maybe a “private option,” if you will, should be allowed in extreme circumstances…thinking…
…and apparently Repug U.S. House Rep Mr.-Puppy-Dog-Eyes-With-The-Shiv dropped into our area last night to try and prop up “Mikey Part 2” (here) – if that isn’t a reason to help Steve in his PA-08 contest, I don’t know what is (here...and yes, background checks weren't enacted for the zillionth time, we know already, blah blah blah)…
…and believe it or not, I still have some summer songs to get to; hopefully this one and a final one tomorrow.
Normally I wouldn’t give Joe Scar the time of day, but I thought Eugene Robinson made some good points here in response to the typically idiotic claim from the Trump campaign that the Democrats have left African American voters behind...not saying Dems are perfect on this under any stretch of the imagination, but who was responsible for the Civil Rights Act of 1964? The Voting Rights Act of 1965? Fair housing and anti-discrimination laws? The Earned Income Tax Credit (which had bipartisan support when first passed in 1975 and was expanded under both Reagan and Clinton, but has since become anathema to “movement” conservatives)? And by the way, I'm almost not phased by the Trump supporter's depiction of HRC in blackface - almost numb to the despicable behavior from his campaign by now - almost...
...and staying with The Big Orange Cheetoh, Kyle tells us that a Pew study reports that 75 percent of Trump supporters polled favor common sense gun restrictions including universal background checks (not quite 100 percent with Kyle on the terror watch list, but I think he's pretty close; the last 2 minutes of this should be memorized by every Dem pol and operative anywhere in this country - not as big a fan of Alan Grayson as I used to be, though...NSFW)…
...and Lee Camp brings us up to date on what Chucky and Davey Koch are up to (NSFW also)...
…and I’m a little late with this installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 8/28/11 I know, but this is a reminder that FDR (quite rightly, IMHO) considered it “our plain duty” to support Social Security, something to remember in light of this…
…and I had this tune in mind for the latest exploits of the “Trumpster Fire” (#fail)…here’s how I see it; Nieto of Mexico meets with Trump and somehow gets the upper hand, which, to be honest, I don’t think is likely, and then he looks like a strong leader…however, in the more-likely event that Trump manufactures something that manages to make it look like HE won the day (with Mrs. Greenspan, Joe Scar and the rest of our corporate Beltway courtier media gushing over it), then Nieto can yell that Trump is the “ugly American,” which he is anyway of course…basically a win-win for an unpopular head of a country.
I thought this was an interesting historical nugget from Rachel Maddow about the last time we went to “Defcon 3” and why that happened in 1973 (and I don’t know anything about HRC’s intelligence briefing, by the way)…
…and the Murdoch Street Journal is going to report this story in such a manner as to totally absolve Apple CEO Tim Cook of course of the scandalously low tax rate his company pays and blame the country of Ireland for allowing it, which I guess is partly justified; as far as I’m concerned, Cook is just another member of the “masters of mankind,” as Adam Smith once called them, who of course see grandiose visions only for themselves at the exclusion of everyone else (and yes, I recently saw this, which was well-done though depressing – not an excuse for inaction, though)…
...also, I give you the following from here (there are people who I respect claiming that "No Corporate Tax" Pat Toomey is somehow a moderate on the issue of guns - these people are utterlywrong...to help, click here - sad that the commercial is as long as the ad, by the way)...
…and The Fab Four played their last live concert in San Francisco, as noted here (not counting “Let It Be” on the roof, of course) 50 years ago yesterday (and the tune that follows is from Revolver, which was released at about the same time).
Trying to find a funny film moment with Gene Wilder? You might as well try to find a spec of sand on a beach (“How about a little applause?” indeed – RIP)…
…and gee, it looks like every still-living member of the Council of Economic Advisors (serving, as Rachel Maddow points out here, every president back to Nixon), has a simple message for “The Donald” – YOU’RE FIRED (sorry, too easy)…
…and I thought this was a particularly good “Rewrite” segment from Lawrence O’Donnell on the Protests at Standing Rock (about another goddamn oil pipeline in North Dakota)…
…and boy, do I hate it when a Democrat gives the party a bad name (here), allowing the bottom-feeders to pile on as well (here - the song title applies on a couple of levels of course).
Scary? Hell yeah. An excuse not to participate in this election or (certainly) not to vote for HRC? NO FREAKING WAY…
…and not that I expect a numbskull like Billo The Clown to get this, but if he knew anything whatsoever about Elvis Presley, he would know that Presley was extremely respectful of African Americans and their musical heritage, so you can’t assume that he automatically would’ve opposed BLM (wasting too much energy trying to bring logic to Bill Orally’s idiocy, I’ll admit)…
…and John Oliver gave Paul LePage the treatment he deserved here, in light of this (NSFW)…
…and Kyle tells us that Baby Trump blames stagnant wages on Syrian refugees…seriously? (NSFW once more)...
…and as long as Kyle K. mentioned “Fergus Laing” a bit in that prior segment, I should also include this from Chris Hayes about Julia Ioffe, a target of “alt-right,” which, to me, is waay too polite of a term to describe what these vermin truly are…
…and yet another key member of the legendary 2008 Phillies world championship roster recently departed (here), perhaps the most underrated player of the whole team…“Chooch” was a gem, though I would put him slightly behind Bob Boone and slightly ahead of Darren Daulton among all-time catching greats in Phils’ history…here is a tune in his honor (Foo Fighters twice in one week, for what it's worth).
