Wednesday Stuff

RIP Linda Brown of Brown v. Board of Education, remembered by Joe Scar and company (in a way, I wish he and Mike Barnicle wouldn’t profane Brown’s memory by mentioning our current sorry political state, but on the other hand, I know they’re absolutely right – more here)…



...and Rachel Maddow tells us about the latest nonsense from Generalissimo Trump and his minions, and that is to play games with the 2020 census, despite the outcry from every official of either party who has had anything whatsoever to do with the census previously; Maddow speaks with former Obama Admin official Vanita Gupta (more here)…



…and of all of the unbelievable non-Trump stories out there, I have to admit that this has to be near the top of the list; kind of puts this in context as far as I’m concerned…

This Alabama sheriff bought a $750K beach house with money meant to feed people in prison — and he claims it’s legal pic.twitter.com/hwPX2OjQ0f

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 28, 2018

…and I’m sure that, as screwed-up U.S. states are concerned, Hosni Mubarak Walker would inflict the same thing on Wisconsin if he could; typical Repug – when you’re losing the game, pull every dirty trick you can to try and change the rules…



Update: Karoli at C&L is all over this here.

…and maybe this will go down as nothing more than grandstanding by former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, though I still think he needs to be commended for doing good (more here - hard to overstate how wrong-headed the Heller ruling by The Supremes really was)…



…and legendary bluesman W.C. Handy passed away 60 years ago today; here is a great cover of perhaps Handy’s most famous tune.

Tuesday Stuff

Yeah, I think these are pretty damn decisive numbers in favor of common sense gun laws, as Kyle K. tells us, and from Fix News no less (NSFW)…



…and I think it’s a pretty logical progression for the “ammo-sexuals” to look to a porn channel for their videos, as long as they’re apparently having trouble with YouTube – heh…

Gun videos are moving to Pornhub after being banned from YouTube pic.twitter.com/crWwgryaow

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 26, 2018

…and Cenk reminds us of what “Zig Zag Zell” Miller once said about President Obama, given Miller’s recent passing – yeah, Gorilla Glue is pretty mainstream stuff, but really, is Cenk so wrong to point out the problem with Miller’s insinuation here? Pretty sad that stuff like this (as well as his utterly despicable conduct towards John Kerry in 2004) is what Miller will be remembered for...



…and it’s also not that much of a stretch given that Bushco’s former defense secretary once compared Number 44 to a trained ape here on 3/25/14, and at the time, I put up K.O.’s first “Special Comment” as a response (yep, it’s time once more for This Day in Doomsy History, more or less)…



…and 23 U.S. House Repugs aren’t seeking re-election, as Farron Cousins reminds us (no doubt seeing the electoral handwriting on the wall, though we all still need to go out and make that happen)…



...and happy belated 70th birthday to Richard Tandy of ELO.

Monday Stuff

Sir Paul and Mrs. McCartney had the right idea, as noted here.

...and Joy Reid tells us about the March for our Lives on Saturday, with a GREAT ad from vets against AR-15 assault weapons; Joy Reid also speak with Dem U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar…



…and here is a NowThis report on the marches (a report on the Philly march is here; a report on the Doylestown march is here)…

Over 800,000 came out for #MarchForOurLives in DC, with hundreds of thousands more rallying throughout the nation pic.twitter.com/YXsZyGOeFd

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 24, 2018

…oh, and by the way, NRA, gun owners marched also, contrary to your propaganda…

Don't let the NRA fool you: Many proud gun owners believe in gun reform — and they attended the #MarchForOurLives to let the nation know why pic.twitter.com/hjBRUleYMZ

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 25, 2018

...and I'm not familiar with the singer Andrea Day, but I thought she spoke very eloquently here...

Singer Andra Day explains why she used her music to support student activists at #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/9ezo2tABXb

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 25, 2018

...and here is a report from iTV...



...and I thought this was an appropriate song for the occasion.

Friday Stuff

God bless these kids, putting the trolls, bots and other lower life forms in this country (and probably hacking in with aliases from beyond our borders) utterly to shame (more here)…

We see these lawmakers representing the NRA, and not their constituents. We see our “leaders” making excuses and refusing to act. On Saturday, they’ll see US. pic.twitter.com/7OGttnRSsz

— March For Our Lives (@AMarch4OurLives) March 21, 2018

…and this “Worst Persons” segment with K.O. from about June of ’08 tells us that new Trumpian National Security Advisor John Bolton (cringe) predicted all kinds of awfulness with an Obama presidency which - whoops! - did not materialize in any way, shape or form (seriously, this guy shouldn’t be ANYWHERE NEAR U.S. foreign policy decision-making of any kind, but of course, he has the “magic R” after his name, so the “party of Lincoln” remains utterly cowed, apparently – more here, here and here)...



…and John and Cenk of TYT tells us the latest on the PA House Repugs’ hissy fit over the PA Supreme Court’s upholding of the newly redrawn congressional districts (Cenk is ON FIRE up to about 4:20, and he's absolutely right - and here is an update)…



…and I know I haven’t featured Sam Bee for a little while, so here she is on the firing of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and giving Hope Hicks an apropos sendoff (NSFW)…



…and this reminds us that it’s time once more to pay attention to Louie Gohmert, the stupidest life form in the entire universe (more here)…




…and I know Kyle K. took Bill Maher apart for this commentary earlier this week, but I thoroughly disagreed with what Kyle had to say (oooh, Nancy Pelosi corporate Democrat Nancy Pelosi corporate Democrat Nancy Pelosi corporate Democrat Nancy Pelosi corporate Democrat BAD BAD BAD BAD MUST PUNISH – you know, we can either insist on our damn purity tests all the time and keep losing elections, or we can rally behind these characters, hard as it is to do that at times I’ll admit, and hold them to account AFTER they win and we hang onto power); also, as great as it is that Conor Lamb won, I can tell you that he’s learning the ropes pretty quick – he’s already asked me for money (kind of a weak finish by Maher, but I still think he made solid points)…



…and yeah, we can watch all this stuff and have all kinds of reactions, but none of it matters unless we “get woke and STAY woke,” people…

We can't sit on the sidelines while politicians suppress voting rights. Join me in supporting @LetAmericaVote by texting VOTE to 44939. pic.twitter.com/limSa12JXv

— Allison Janney (@AllisonBJanney) March 22, 2018

…and damn if this doesn’t sound like Led Zeppelin 2018 – rocks big time (and it’s been a little while since I featured a tune with a killer drum solo).

Thursday Stuff

Kyle K. tells us about the David Hogg video against the NRA (NSFW of course) and the predictable backlash; the ad also tells us of the march set to take place this Saturday…



…and Cenk, Ana and company on TYT tell us about Eryn Gilchrist, who stepped up to run in a Maine state house election against Leslie Gibson after this fool decided to criticize Hogg and Emma Gonzales (Gibson dropped out, by the way, as well he should)…



…and I’m old enough to know that payoffs are part of the political picture for most politicos of high or low stature, but in true Trumpian fashion, it looks like that may be the case here despite security concerns for our military, particularly in Qatar, as Rachel Maddow explains with Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times…

…and Farron Cousins tells us of the media’s attempt to somehow “normalize” the alleged Austin bomber who blew himself up (if this Mark Conditt character had screamed “Allah Is Magnificent!” as he exploded himself, we’d be getting ready to invade somewhere; I agree with Cousins’s stupidity argument, but it also has to do with economics and not trying to alienate wingnuts and shut off a potential revenue stream from these characters – Exhibit A of that, as far as I’m concerned, is the Bucks County Courier Times)…



…and here’s a lesson in American Economics 101 from Sen. Elizabeth Warren…

How is it that while the very, very wealthiest Americans have never had it so good, the middle class has been in decline for the last 30 years? pic.twitter.com/rOSLl9YB5z

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 21, 2018

…and in addition to Ringo Starr, Barry Gibb, the last surviving Gibb brother, was recently knighted also (here); here is a tune for the occasion.

Wednesday Stuff

After awhile, I have to admit that it gets hard to not be repetitive about just how bad a situation we face in this country with our Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Orange Dictator taking up space in An Oval Office – I know there are tons of memes out there about how Number 45 is nothing but a tool of his Russian puppet master (including the one above), but it’s becoming more and more clear that that is the actual reality we’re dealing with (and as far as Cambridge Analytica is concerned, I give you this)…



…and I give you, for the second day in a row, another installment of “This Day in Doomsy History” from 3/21/12, in which a certain Willard Mitt Romney is taken to task for his “Etch-a-Sketch” comment (something to consider in light of this)…



…and I thought Charlie Pierce had the right take, as he so often does, on Pete Peterson (here); I don’t wish ill on the man given the fact that he’s dead, but I’m also grateful that his plutocratic vision of this country (as John Nichols of The Nation explains) has never come to hideous fruition, though we need to keep fighting to make sure that remains the case (and there was a time when I gave Ed Rendell more credit than to associate himself with the “Fix the Debt” bunch including Peterson, but sadly no more)…



…and, as noted in this story, Congressman Mark Amodei of Nevada pushed to get a student suspended for using profanity when making a call to someone in Amodei’s office; no, I don’t condone that – it’s self-defeating – but I don’t condone petty vindictiveness on Amodei’s part either…"Welcome to the world where words have consequences” huh? Votes have consequences too…



…and it looks like Lt. Col. Ralph Peters finally got “woke” to what Fix Noise is really all about – kudos…



…and congratulations to Sir Richard Starkey (here...and yeah, it appears that we’re going to get plenty more of the white stuff here also).

Tuesday Stuff

Rachel Maddow takes us back to the story of the Watergate tapes and the so-called “Stennis Compromise” over them & when that was nixed, the “Saturday Night Massacre” followed – leading into a discussion of trying every possible way to shield Generalissimo Trump from Special Counsel Robert Mueller…heh…and then to the Cambridge Analytica stuff (more here)…”Crunchtime” indeed…if you take away absolutely nothing else from this, take the following: NEVER buy gas from Lukoil because you are literally helping Putin…



…and this is a few days old I know, but here’s the story of the looney tune Trumpettes in AZ who vandalized the mosque and encouraged their kids to help; they've since been arrested apparently - good…

This is absolutely despicable. pic.twitter.com/HHHxWnPTHM

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 17, 2018

…and I can think of no better response to the prior insanity than this one – and yes, this is another chapter of “This Day In Doomsy History” (well, basically) from 3/19/12, featuring a recording of then-Senator John F. Kennedy speaking on religion from September 1960 (“an act against one church is treated as an act against all” indeed)…



…oh, and by the way, the water of Flint still isn’t OK, as Dem U.S. House Rep Dan Kildee reminds us (to say nothing of the fact that Puerto Rico has far to go)…

Thousands of people in Flint still don't have clean drinking water. Rep. Dan Kildee is making sure we don’t forget them. pic.twitter.com/rmQqjrAjOD

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 9, 2018

…and here’s a bit of humor; apparently, Fix Noise is mad at Jim Carrey for his recent drawing of Sarah Hillbilly Sanders (tee hee – after years of having to endure utterly wretched cartoons by Glenn McCoy in The Philadelphia Inquirer, I consider this some justice)…



…and I have to chastise myself for falling down on the job a bit and failing to point out that yesterday was the 15th anniversary of the beginning of Former Commander Codpiece’s Not-So-Excellent Adventure in Iraq (here and here); here is a tune for the occasion (I also failed to commemorate what would have been the 90th birthday of the “patron saint” of this blog – here).

Monday Stuff

Cenk tells us that the House Intelligence Committee run by Trump flunkie Devin Nunes recently closed up shop, saying there was no collusion between the Gropenfuhrer and the Russians, of course (the Dems are hardly innocent I'll admit, but on this issue, I think Cenk is wrong to just say, basically, that both sides are corrupt, and that's that...we're not talking about campaign finance reform or trying to regulate the "banksters" - we're talking about something pretty damn basic to our government and national security)...



…and normally I’m not a fan of circular firing squads, but when it comes to “Democratic” U.S. House Rep Dan Lipinski, I’m willing to make an exception (especially since the primary election is tomorrow)…

This Dreamer is sick and tired of a Democratic congressman who votes like a right-wing Republican, and on March 20, Illinois voters will finally have a chance to replace him with a strong progressive, Marie Newman. @Marie4Congress pic.twitter.com/P3hbCQ8Lr9

— MoveOn.org (@MoveOn) March 9, 2018

...and when it comes to common-sense gun laws, I would say that the UK is miles ahead of us...

16 children and their teacher were killed in a school shooting in Dunblane, Scotland, in 1996.

Within 18 months, the U.K. passed bipartisan law banning handguns.

Now, only 20-25 people are murdered with a gun each year in Great Britain. pic.twitter.com/vSuumtabNx

— Tomthunkit™ (@TomthunkitsMind) March 18, 2018

…and Tennessee Repugs won't even debate an anti neo-Nazi measure – nice...

These Republicans are refusing to pass a bill that denounces neo-Nazis and white nationalists pic.twitter.com/EuhXcoAvru

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 18, 2018

…and this tells us that Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Michael Moore and others will be involved in an important town hall tonight at 7 PM EST (not the greatest Warren "face freeze" though ;-)…

Tomorrow night: a discussion on one of the biggest issues facing our country—the likes of which you'd never see in the mainstream media. I hope you will tune in. https://t.co/TRj9oeUby4 pic.twitter.com/XCCQxrBV3Q

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 18, 2018

…and yeah, I guess you could argue that there’s an anti-Trumpster point of view in this video, but even if there wasn’t, I’d like it anyway.

Friday Stuff

Fix Noise should just rename itself as the American Pravda channel and make it official (as Bill Maher has said, all is forgiven if you have the "magic R" after your name)…

Fox News HATED the idea of Obama talking to foreign dictators. Guess how they feel about Trump doing it??? pic.twitter.com/gUBxfMa2dl

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 15, 2018

…and gee, it looks like “Lady Skeletor” broke the law, namely the Hatch Act; imagine that, a Trumpster not playing by the rules (OK, snark mode off…and oh, I guess I’m just a snotty lib to make fun of her appearance – all I can say in response is that I knew what this woman was all about after listening to all of the drivel she used to spout on “Real Time” long before she became a Trumpette…besides, she’s routinely ridiculed our side in worse ways...and I'm sure the Huckabilly Sanders remark at the end is tongue-in-cheek)…



…and Rachel Maddow tells us the latest on Russia hacking our infrastructure (God, is this story scary – makes it more critical that we stop screwing around and do something in response, but good luck on that with our Tiny Handed, Treasonous Orange preznit…)…



…and RIP Dem U.S. House Rep Louise Slaughter, a tireless advocate for her constituents…the clip below is from February 2010 as part of an effort (which turned out to be successful) to get the ACA passed into law (I think the part about the woman being forced to wear her dead sister’s dentures, of all of the other important stuff in this clip, was my biggest takeaway, and a jarring one at that as you might expect…God, Obama was so young, with so much obstruction yet to come)…



…and Seth Meyers gives us a wrapup of the week; like the remark about the sneeze guard around Mexico, mainly to point out the absurdity of the whole damn wall thing – love Seth’s reaction to the audience reaction to the Chris Matthews remark also (seriously, though, when the hell is someone going to cart Generalissimo Trump away a la Anthony Hopkins/Hannibal Lecter in “Silence of the Lambs”?)…



…and on this St. Patrick’s Day eve, I have to admit that I’m having a hard time getting my head around the fact that Dolores O’Riordan is no longer with us.

Thursday Stuff

I suppose that if the cretins among our elected officials supporting the NRA were capable of feeling shame, this would make them do so – but then again, maybe not…



..and al Jazeera English gives us their report on Gina Haspel, the nominee from Generalissimo Trump to head the CIA; as we know, being a Repug means never having to say you’re sorry, even when it’s demonstrably clear that that’s what you are (and again, how much bleeping actionable intelligence do you seriously think you’ll get when you water board somebody 83 times?)…



…and proud of making up facts, apparently? The Gropenfuhrer is not sane (NSFW)…



…and here is yet another example of Life in Donald J. Trump’s America (remind me never to visit North Versailles, PA)…

A police officer violently arrested a woman just for filming him while he kicked several young Black girls out of a movie theater pic.twitter.com/9bePPLDwNw

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 15, 2018

…and RIP Stephen Hawking (political stuff starts at about 1:30, such as Brexit and Trump’s climate agreement withdrawal – not an optimistic forecast I know, but one well-reasoned from one of mankind’s greatest minds...and in case you somehow still haven't seen it, "The Theory of Everything" is a great movie)…



...and here's another once-a-year song.

Wednesday Stuff

Yes, I agree of course that Conor Lamb’s showing was absolutely awesome last night (here), and I’m definitely in a celebratory mood, but I’m a little guarded because I have a feeling this may go to a recount…



Update 3/15/18: Good to know...

…and by the way, GREAT works by students protesting across the country for sane gun laws also…

…and yeah, it figures that CNBC’s Larry Kudlow would end up as the latest “Trumpster” (here); in this clip from ‘09, he’s apparently trying to allege that that nasty Kenyan Muslim Socialist #44 was behind a report in which the hallowed U.S. Chamber of Commerce claimed that they supported climate change legislation, which of course they simply cannot do apparently – typical…



Update: More Kudlow idiocy is here.

…and gosh, what a shame – men supporting Generalissimo Trump are having a hard time with the ladies; color me shocked – heh…



…and Cenk and Ana tell us about Uday Trump Jr. seemingly being interviewed by a chocolate bunny when campaigning for Rick Saccone in PA-18 (the Twitter comments about this were hilarious...but sorry, Ana; PA is a commonwealth, not a state, and yes, there is a difference)…



…and happy 85th birthday to Quincy Jones; if I’m looking for a good song he produced, I might as well try to single out a grain of sand on a beach, as it were, but I settled on this one.

Tuesday Stuff

Rachel Maddow speaks with Adam Schiff, senior Dem on the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, on how Trump flunky Devin Nunes just ended the “investigation” into Russia’s collusion in our election in 2016 in probably as partisan a manner as you can imagine…



...and yeah, nothing much to see here, just another mass shooting in this country; don’t know yet if an AR-15 was involved - U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! (here)...

Dr. Jennifer Golick, Dr. Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, and Christine Loeber were the 3 women killed in Yountville.

They dedicated their lives to serving our nation’s veterans.

These are their stories. pic.twitter.com/IZYlA2d8s9

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 12, 2018

...and speaking of AR-15s, if I could vote in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District election, I sure as hell would support Karen Mallard for this (and she turned the gun over to the cops, so what she did was OK; wrong again, trolls)...

This congressional candidate filmed herself destroying an AR-15. Now she's being trolled and accused of a felony. pic.twitter.com/KtbB5mK4Tr

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 13, 2018

…and good for Elizabeth Warren for going after Democrats who actually supported the most recent fraud banking legislation to emerge from the U.S. Senate (apparently, though, Bob Casey didn’t – nice work)…



…and for anyone in PA-18, it should be pointed out that Rick Saccone is an utter Koch-head (“this is an auction, not a democracy” – uh, yep – the legacy of Citizens United lives on)…



Update: One of these days, this diversion BS from these assclowns won't work any more - wouldn't it be awesome if that day was today?

…and speaking of today’s special election, here’s a tune to get motivated for Conor Lamb, as if we need that at this point (and by the way, happy belated 70th birthday to JT).

Monday Stuff

I mean, OF COURSE the NRA is suing to lift the age restriction on buying the weapon of mass slaughter that they want everyone to have (even though the bill doesn’t actually ban AR-15s, which it should, but the bill is progress of a sort, however minimal, but of course the ammo-sexuals won’t even allow that)…

The NRA is suing Florida to block the state's first gun law since the Parkland shooting pic.twitter.com/Phvb27eiSa

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 10, 2018

...and Don Lemon, David Jolly and Norm Eisen talk about more Trumpster “let them eat cake” BS, including Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s $139,000 office doors…and "outdated procurement processes"? Yeah, that's the ticket - not more greed head BS typical for this regime. GMAFB!...



...and normally I wouldn't take pleasure in another's personal misfortune, but I'll make an exception for this scumbag...



…and it looks like Dem U.S. House Rep Sean Maloney of New York ended up going toe to toe with The Dragon Lady (of all the incompetent Trumpsters, I would say that Mrs. McConnell…and she LOVES to be called that, by the way…is the most angrily combative, something to consider in light of this and this - I hoped I would never have to post on this woman again, but we are where we are I know)...

The transportation secretary admitted that Trump is trying to kill one of America's top infrastructure projects pic.twitter.com/XJGi6TDNNc

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 10, 2018

…and tomorrow is the day to get out and vote for Conor Lamb in PA-18, people!...



…and my guess is that, if Stanley Kubrick had lived to make a sequel to “Eyes Wide Shut,” it might have looked like this.

Friday Stuff

Sam Seder and Michael Brooks of The Majority Report give wingnut FL State Rep. Elizabeth Porter the response she merits for recently mocking the Parkland gun slaughter survivors (more here, and as noted here, Porter received a “100 percent” rating from the NRA…figures, I know...NSFW I think)…



Update: Uh, yep (more here and here).

…and gosh, what another surprise – another critic of our former ol’ buddy Vlad Putin was poisoned recently (honestly though, I don't trust "Business Insider," though I admit that they actually could be right)...



…and Ari Melber talks with presidential historian Michael Beschloss about the precedent of trying to tamper with witnesses by a president, notably Tricky Dick (don't know what the next story was…I don’t have an issue with Beschloss and I guess they have to mention the “Clenis” stuff, but that definitely isn’t in the same category as the non-stop scandals-for-real from our Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Orange Dictator)...



…and speaking of the Gropenfuhrer, here are his lizard-brained, “MAGA” followers doing what they do best to a bookstore owner in Berkeley, CA (very NSFW)…



…and I can think of no better counter response to the Trumpsters than this one – tie them all to chairs and let them watch a Muslim for real be elected president, and watch them all have nervous breakdowns (you go, Yusuf!)…



…and yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the opening of Bill Graham’s Fillmore East (it closed in June of 1971) – The Doors performed there on March 22nd of that year, and this was the second tune in their set that evening.

Thursday Stuff

This story by Rachel Maddow about the genesis of Generalissimo Trump’s aluminum and steel tariffs was a bit of a head-scratcher even for him (“governance” by vendetta as usual, though), but then I saw that wall of the departures from this regime and I felt absolutely gobsmacked…



…and oh yeah, it looks like Number 45 is planning to screw over, among others, our neighbors to the north over those aforementioned, stupid steel tariffs…



…and kudos to the West Virginia teachers for winning a pay increase, as noted in the video, but no, I’m afraid this fight isn’t over either…



…and let us not forget one of the people who, as far as I’m concerned, ended up polluting our political discourse with her crackpot world view which, tragically, has become accepted conventional wisdom among wingnuts everywhere (“if there is no common good, there is no society” indeed)…

In Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged," John Galt was the reclusive billionaire who orchestrated the collapse of the US economy, society, government, in order to purge America of "collectivism," of any mushy-headed ideas about "the common good." pic.twitter.com/iHDHo8nydS

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) March 6, 2018

…and I think there’s a little too much “sensible centrist” in this video as opposed to “vinegar” a la Bernie Sanders, but I can only hope Conor Lamb knows PA-18 better than I do (special election is this Tuesday)…

…and happy International Women’s Day.

Wednesday Stuff

Based on this clip (in response to this), I would say that Parkland, FL shooting survivor Sarah Chadwick has no more you-know-whats to give – kudos to her and the rest of her brave classmates…

"To every spokeswoman with an hourglass who uses free speech to alter and undermine what our flag represents...Your Time is running out. The clock starts now."
-@sarahchad_ #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/k29FB2vHPI

— Sarah Chadwick// #NEVERAGAIN (@sarahchad_) March 6, 2018

…and with the prior clip in mind, Thom Hartmann and Dean Obeidallah talk about the utter non-coverage by our media basically concerning the motivations behind this Nikolas Cruz life form, the (alleged) shooter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School…



…and of course the Trumpsters would scream “HOW DARE YOU!” if anyone including your humble narrator were to draw a line between Cruz and Number 45’s sheep-like followers, though I would argue that that’s a lot more substantial than the baseless garbage the “MAGA” crowd routines flings at anyone who doesn’t blindly support Dear Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Orange Leader – with that in mind, here’s a “This Day In Doomsy History” segment with an SNL clip from about 3/7/16 making justifiable fun of that as far as I’m concerned…



…and for anyone who still wonders just how clueless the campaign of HRC and the DNC were in 2016, I give you this discussion about the Christopher Steele/Fusion GPS stuff with Rachel Maddow and Jane Mayer of The New Yorker (yeah, “kind of amazing” that John Podesta and Robby Mook didn’t know also, though former FBI Director James Comey, for my money, is as big of a traitor as the rest of the Trumpsters for screaming “BUT HER EMAILS!!” while the REAL treachery didn’t get anywhere near the treatment it should have that year…and God Almighty, I DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT SAM NUNBERG! HE’S A DIVERSION FROM ROGER STONE! WHEN ARE YOU MEDIA IDIOTS GOING TO FIGURE OUT THIS STUFF??!!)…



…and by the way, let’s not forget next week’s PA-18 special election on 3/13 featuring “family values” a-hole Rick Saccone (here) and Conor Lamb – to help Lamb, click here…



…and the weather gurus in these parts have been calling for heavy snow, and I think it’s about to get here (50th anniversary of this tune, by the way).

Tuesday Stuff

It looks like “Bond villain” Steve Mnuchin was interrupted by protesters when he recently spoke at UCLA - I side with Cenk and Ana here…let Mnuchin metaphorically hang himself with his own words, and THEN respond…but I think it tells you just how big a snowflake Mnuchin is that he doesn’t even want to allow video to be circulated in which he might actually appear to be unsympathetic…



…and Stephanie Ruhle tells us about reporting from the NYT about the Trumpsters spending $0 to investigate likely Russian interference (previously and ongoing) in our elections even though about $120 K was allocated for that (if it walks like a ducksi, talks like a duckski and quacks like a duckski…)…



…and speaking of $$, it looks like the Gropenfuhrer’s golf outings have cost U.S. taxpayers about $56 million, as Farron Cousins notes (and great job to add the needed context...Heaven forbid that our corporate media do that, huh?)…



…and if anything, in response to all of its thoroughly justified negative publicity, it looks like the NRA is actually getting crazier, as Stephanie Miller and Eric Boehlert tell us (and here is more proof, as if we needed it)…



…and in a related story, I watched this and recalled that famous quote from The Eternal Robin Williams, who once said “joke ‘em if they can’t take a f*ck” (I thought this was great)…



…and I’m glad STP managed to keep up their great sound with a new lead singer.

Monday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us all about Scott Pruitt’s latest anti-environment insanity…



…and have a drink, Trumpsters – because of your hero and his latest idiocy, that will cost more too (no sympathy whatsoever for Coors, though, I hasten to add)…

Trump might have just caused the price of beer to go up pic.twitter.com/HM0NxKCLNw

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 5, 2018

…and I guess if we’re talking about beer, we might as well discuss pizza also; really happy to see Papa John’s get hammered in the court of public opinion once more (never an excuse for buying ANY franchise pizza, as David Pakman also points out)…



…and though this is typically alarming from the Gropenfuhrer, Kyle K., in response, is in very NSFW mode about US ships in the Black Sea, apparently (Kyle's almost apologetic about the Russia sanctions, and we definitely part company on that, but I agree with him on just about everything else)…



…and RIP David Ogden Stiers; of all of his MASH moments as Major Charles Winchester, this was probably my favorite…



Update 2/24/26: I never knew this - truly moving.

…also, RIP Harvey Schmidt of The Fantasticks.

Friday Stuff

Aw, let’s shed some crocodile tears for poor widdle Marco – those big, bad high school students who lived through another mass gun slaughter in this country have the nerve to be mean to him, apparently…



…and Repug U.S. House Rep Don Young of Alaska tells us that the Holocaust might have been prevented if only the Jews had had guns – why is this human mistake still taking up space in Congress (more Young idiocy is here, and to do something about him, click here…yeah, nice to have your goon standing in the back of the meeting yelling “Amen” on cue and telling the Dem to shut up…typical)…

This congressman just argued for guns by saying that Jews could have survived the Holocaust if they were armed pic.twitter.com/jxVUBYfvD7

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 2, 2018

...and despite its many members who actually do the right thing when it comes to guns, I always thought the NRA, as an organization, is something out of a comic book, and I would say that this proves it (and Rosie O'Donnell - heh)...

The NRA made its own insane graphic novel where gun owners fight off 'enemies of freedom' pic.twitter.com/X6DlIgmsd1

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 2, 2018

...and there are so many damn Trumpster scandals raging that it's hard to keep up with all of them, but I don't think we should lose sight of this one either...

Ryan Zinke took control of the @Interior Department one year ago this week. It’s amazing how much damage he has tried to inflict on our public lands—repealing climate protections, inviting polluters into pristine wilderness, and reopening loopholes to benefit the coal industry. pic.twitter.com/s2h4IHNBl3

— NRDC 🌎 (@NRDC) February 27, 2018

…and oh look, it’s “Saint Orrin” Hatch saying here that “stupid(est), dumbass” people support the ACA…just grab a fistful of Valium, suck it down with some Scotch and go collapse into a corner somewhere, OK?…



…and I thought this was a pretty good wrapup of a particularly bad week (though I honestly can’t think of a GOOD week for this regime) for the Gropenfuhrer (and yours truly once had a secret clearance also - funny)…



…and I liked this video from Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich (speaking of #Resist)…

In this critical election year, we can't succumb to cynicism or put our heads in the sand. We must fight with everything we've got to reclaim our democracy. pic.twitter.com/H1DtRPVVXj

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) March 1, 2018

…and as I noted yesterday, the tinsel town awards are this Sunday, so here is a tune for the occasion.

Thursday Stuff

Yeah, it tells you something when yesterday’s punch lines become today’s “trending topics” or click bait of a sort because of rampant “both siderism” in our corporate media primarily, with a significant assist from the wingnutosphere, as Chris Hayes points out…



…and in a typical bullshit Trumpster move, it looks like the head of the National Park Service, Dan Smith, isn’t going to allow the March 24th student protest in DC (here); as noted here, Smith once cleared about 130 30-to-40-foot trees around Redskins’ owner Dan Snyder’s house so Snyder could get a better view of the Potomac River (hard to tell who is the bigger assclown here – the captions fly by a bit too fast here; the video is basically over at about 4:00...another reason to hope for the Redskins to utterly suck this year)…



…even though what the students are protesting for is some sanity in what passes for our gun laws in this country, something the all-time hero of the wingnuts once called for here…

Even Ronald Reagan didn't support letting civilians buy military-grade weapons pic.twitter.com/fRGmmxQGvu

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 28, 2018

…and this is, without a doubt, one of the best gun commentaries I’ve ever heard from someone who “walked the walk” for this country; every time you hear someone say “oh, it isn’t about guns, it’s about mental health,” show them this video – IT’S ABOUT BOTH, AND A WHOLE HELL OF A LOT MORE BESIDES!!...

Our producer Mike is a Marine Corps veteran who says there's no reason for a civilian to own an assault-style weapon that's meant only to kill pic.twitter.com/vI5kToh2GZ

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 1, 2018

…and switching things up again a bit, I think our corporate media has come down with yet another case of “shiny object” syndrome on this whole business with Hope Hicks; I think that’s enough of a setup for this parody video (which reminds me that the Oscars are this Sunday – heh)…

Trump Administration "In Memoriam": Hope Hicks edition pic.twitter.com/PmPFVzwkCm

— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) February 28, 2018

...and given the wording noted here based on a quote from her, I had this tune in mind.

Wednesday Stuff

Yeah, it sounds to me like the Russkies are going to try and build on the chaos they created in 2016 for the fall elections and beyond (more here – rerunning this segment from a couple of weeks ago as a refresher)…



…and I was impressed with Andrew Gillum for standing up to wingnut Richard Corcoran over the latter’s “sanctuary cities” nonsense, with Corcoran favoring “detention cities” apparently, and here, Gillum stands up to the NRA; he’d definitely earn my vote if I could cast one in the “gun shine” state (hey, DNC Beltway idiots and perennial election LOSERS, pay attention to what a REAL Dem sounds like!)…

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum took on the NRA in court — and won. Now he’s running for governor. pic.twitter.com/oKv9Gl7xu7

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 28, 2018

…and Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich reminds us what is wrong with so-called “Right to Work” laws given this story, in which the utterly vile miscreants of ALEC, most infamously Chucky and Davey Koch, are BAAACK to try and erode workers’ rights even more (more here)…

#JanusvAFSCME is another thinly veiled attempt to destroy unions under the guise of "Right to Work." The truth is workers in so-called "right to work" states receive lower pay, are less likely to have health care, and pay more out of pocket for insurance. pic.twitter.com/KyL2AKMCEd

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) February 26, 2018

…and it looks like Uday Trump, Jr. haz a sad over the unhappiness of Americans in Dickensian circumstances, wishing they would “smile” like they do in India I suppose (not a self-reflective molecule in Jr.’s entirely wretched person, apparently)…



…and yeah, you know it, you love it (well, maybe), so here’s another installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 2/28/14, in which the fifth anniversary of the founding of the Teahadists was commemorated, if you could call it that, with accompaniment from the funniest math professor of all time (something to note in light of this in particular)…



…and as long as I’m on the subject of race a bit, I guess, since February is about to end, I’d better hurry up and say something about Black History Month, which, to be honest, I always thought was a dumb idea, and not because the contributions of African Americans shouldn’t be recognized and celebrated all through the year and not just in this month alone – they should – but also because, pointy headed liberal that I am, I think we should be at a point in this country where we respect and appreciate everyone from ALL races, ethnicities and gender preferences, to the point where we don’t need to designate a month for anyone in particular.

Well, with that admittedly long-winded intro out of the way, I give you this tune for the occasion; yes, the legendary vocals of Levi Stubbs is the most prominent takeaway here (along with a little Dylan phrasing thrown in, which was a big deal back then – and the lip sync is off of course), but as you listen, I would also ask that you pay attention to the bass lines of esteemed Motown “Funk Brother” James Jamerson, a man who received the well-deserved acclaim posthumously that he should have received while he was still with us.

Tuesday Stuff

Ari Melber (who is a lawyer, by the way) tells us that the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR has ruled on handguns covered under that twisted interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, but not AR-15s…



…and speaking of guns, Farron Cousins gives us an NSFW commentary on the church that blesses guns in our beloved commonwealth (more here…and gosh, didn't a certain 44th president once say that people cling to their guns and religion in this country, and he was met with a raft of shit in response?)…



…and Seth Meyers brings us up to date on the Gropenfuhrer’s latest idiocy on this subject (once again, a pox on anyone who had anything whatsoever to do with inflicting this utter train wreck of a presidency on this country)…



…and Rachel Maddow, speaking with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, tells us that they have closed the loophole in that state that allowed someone convicted of stalking and domestic violence or under restraining orders to buy or own firearms and ammunition (well done)…



…and speaking of teachers (as Seth Meyers was), kudos to those in West Virginia, as TYT’s Emma Vigeland explains (and a one percent pay raise? GMAFB!)…



Update 3/1/18: Excellent work here...

…and I don’t know much about this guy, but kudos to him; awesome sound – hope he keeps himself together and has a long, successful career.

Monday Stuff

Kyle K. tells us how the survivors of the Parkland, FL gun massacre went to Tallahassee to urge their utterly spineless lawmakers to so much as debate a bill banning assault rifles (they refused of course, but had no trouble debating the supposedly ill effects of porn, believe it or not...I know this is a little behind on the news cycle, but I think it bears repeating....NSFW)…



…and speaking of guns, yeah, I think this is a pretty damn absurd ad too (Mr. Syrupy Smooth Talker and his pals are playing those poor, deluded gun nut saps like a rusty fiddle)…



…and Mike Papantonio and Peter Mougey discuss the recent move by The Supremes to turn away a constitutional challenge by the guns nuts to a 10-day waiting period (doing the right thing for once, though you can rely on “Almost Silent Clarence” Thomas to get it wrong)…



...and I give the Dems an "A" for effort on this (though, while Clinton made a big mistake, I'll never say that he "deserved what he got"...and with all due respect to Cousins, the "alt-righters" will never believe the women anyway)...



...though I also wish a pox on the Dems’ Beltway media/political/industrial complex for this (from the same geniuses who said Katie McGinty should run in 2016 against "No Corporate Tax" Pat Toomey instead of Joe Sestak, who very nearly beat Toomey in a Repug wave election in 2010 - yeah, I know, "horseshoes and hand grenades"...)...



Update: Oh, and by the way, as long as I’m including a Young Turks video, I also want to point out something. Yes, they’re allowed to support Alison Hartson if they want in a primary against Dianne Feinstein, but I think it’s wrong for the state’s Dem party not to give Feinstein their endorsement (here). Yes, Di-Fi has cast some bad votes, but to me, 25 years of constituent service, including overcoming health issues that would have led to long-term hospitalization for most of us, should count for something.

Update 2/27/18: And the next time the "base" decides to sit on its metaphorical hands instead of voting (never an excuse to not vote, though), just don't be surprised.

…and happy belated 60th birthday (by a few days, I’ll admit) to Princeton’s own Mary Chapin Carpenter.