Brooke Thomas and John Iadarola of The Damage Report tell us here about Dem U.S. House Rep Katherine Clark of MA squaring off with Cruella DeVos over the Ed Secretary’s citing of a propaganda screed disguised as serious research claiming that minority kids basically aren’t going to do anything in school but cause trouble – yeah, that’s about par for the miserable course for this regime of criminals, charlatans and fools (more here)…
…and I give you the latest Trumpster fire nominee for the Federal Reserve Board (more here)…
…and Farron Cousins tells us about the departure of DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen – don’t let the door hit you on the way out, lady (more here)…
…and I know I already said something about the Dems in the U.S. House (and some Repugs including Bri-Fi) voting to reauthorize the VAWA, but I wanted to note in particular the utter Neanderthal treatment given to Dem U.S. Rep Debbie Dingell, with a commentary from Brian Tyler Cohen…
…and Kyle of Secular Talk tells us about Stuart Varney and some other talking head-ette who are mad at Pope Frank for opposing the Gropenfuhrer and his stoo-pid wall (very mildly NSFW by Kyle’s standards)…
…and last Friday marked the 25th anniversary of the death of Kurt Cobain of Nirvana…not trying to sound like a Pollyanna, but try to stay away from the bad stuff and always reach out to try and get help if you think you need it or you know someone who does.
John I on The Damage Report tells us how our Treasonous, Tiny Handed Orange Dictator is deciding to face off somewhat with AOC – I largely try to ignore that misogynist methane dispenser taking up space in An Oval Office, but I guess sometimes I have to actually acknowledge his existence…
…and Dem U.S. Senator Michael Bennet stands tall again in the face of more garbage from Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao on blowing up the U.S. Senate, cutting the time for debating judicial nominees from 30 hours to 2 hours, as Brian Tyler Cohen tells us (and in a related story, I think Sen. Elizabeth Warren is on the right track here – let’s end this fairy tale that the U.S. Senate, the “world’s greatest deliberative body,” is some kind of collegial place where everybody gets along in a respectful manner…BS; Repugs have been doing everything they can to knee-cap the Dems for decades, and if getting rid of the filibuster helps to return that “favor,” then that works for me)…
…and Cenk and Ana of TYT tell us about the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act in the House, and the wall it is likely to run into when it reaches the Senate (related to the prior clip as far as I’m concerned…and to be honest, the actions of Dianne Feinstein here trying to play nice with Repug Joni Ernst are more worrisome to me IMHO than when she talked about the Green New Deal in her office in front of those school kids…and though I have a lot of issues with him aside from this, I have to be fair and note that our Repug house rep Brian Fitzpatrick voted in favor of VAWA renewal)…
…and I’m afraid that we may be looking at the beginning of the “Trump slump” on the economy (terrific), as Farron Cousins tells us…
…and Sam Seder and The Majority Report tell us about some idiot named Roger Williams in Texas (of course…not “born free,” I guess…sorry – a bit of an obscure joke) who asks “if you’re a capitalist or a socialist” and says “Yes or No answer” – uhhh, brainiac?You’re not asking a “yes” or “no” question…just say “oops” and get out…the subject is reauthorizing the national flood insurance program, apparently – oh so clever, this one is…
…and as a parent, I have to tell you that I’m not crazy about the drug references in this song, but otherwise I think this is a great tune for a Friday night.
Yep, I think this pretty much tells you what Fix Noise thinks of its audience, as Farron Cousins points out; anyone south of the border is just a member of the scary brown horde I guess as far as that network is concerned…
…and this clip from Velshi and Ruhle of MSNBC offers a bit of analysis on Trump-nominated ambassadors and how much some of them apparently contributed to his inaugural - yeah, I get it that it's up to the discretion of the president, but has this *president* shown much discretion about anything else? (oh, and Doug Manchester apparently has other issues besides not knowing the Bahamas is an independent country, as noted here)...
…and Cenk and Ana of TYT tell us that the Gropenfuhrer is apparently getting rid of the DHS group that overlooks domestic terrorism (and it’s pretty unbelievable that a report on this topic was commissioned by Dubya but shelved by Obama, but I guess that’s where we are…and do you really have to think about where our “very fine people on both sides” Tiny-Handed Orange Dictator comes down on this issue?)…
…and happy 70th birthday to none other than RT (definitely NOT the Putin propaganda channel).
(Note: I’ll admit that I’m behind when it comes on the Dem presidential campaigning stuff…I don’t know whether or not Joe Biden was a little inappropriate with touching some women, which to me sounds like a tempest in a proverbial tea pot especially in comparison to the Gropenfuhrer – if you don’t like Biden for other reasons, I get it, but this stuff so far sounds weak…and I’m wondering where it could be coming from, even though all signs point to the Bernie Sanders campaign – love him on policy, but I think he needs to clean up a lot of this stuff among his ranks – and believe me when I tell you that I hope I’m wrong; I also have tried to stay out of this because I think it’s pointless to obsess over every little bit of what our corporate media decides is important…from what I can gather, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris sound like the most serious candidates on policy so far, but the white guys including this Indiana mayor are the ones getting all of the attention, which is sadly typical I know…I’m afraid we’re looking at about another 18 months of ridiculous distraction, including some “Never Trumpers” who say our Russian Operative at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has already won his second term based on these way-too-early signs, which tells me what these people are really all about after all, and I DEFINITELY don’t meant that in a good way.)
OK, with that admittedly boring bit of “meta” stuff out of the way, It looks again like the “party of Lincoln,” with its Treasonous, Tiny Handed Orange Demented Lunatic-in-Chief, is once again teeing up health care as the main issue in 2020 with their cruel stupidity, as Kyle explains (without denigrating the media over covering the Mueller investigation, which is a welcome change…NSFW)…
…and speaking of cruel stupidity when it comes to health care, this is easily one of the most heartbreaking stories I’ve ever seen – my very deepest sympathies go out to the brave Curtis family of Indiana for the loss of their daughter, and all because medical pot isn’t legal in that state…we’re wasting our time in this country with the political horserace BS and dwelling on every single lie from our ruling cabal of criminals (don’t ignore them, but maybe just keep a running list online somewhere being refuted with reality – not sure what else to do), when THIS, climate change and common-sense gun laws are some of the stories we should be focusing on instead…
Update: OK, I admit that I opened a bit of a door previously, so to be fair (and also since it pertains to Indiana), I should include this.
…oh, and don’t look now, but The Supremes under Hangin’ Judge JR just went a long way towards destroying the 8th Amendment of the Constitution recently in the case noted here, led by Neil Gorsuch (once more, great coverage on the legal stuff by Ian Millhiser)…the subject here is difficult I’ll admit; it has to do with someone convicted of murder and sentenced to die, but he’s trying to dictate the terms of his sentence because he suffers from vascular tumors that could exacerbate his execution.
Here’s a big part of the problem; a lot of the drug makers offshore know that, in this country, we use their products to kill people, and they don’t want any part of it. So we’ve had to come up with all kinds of ways to put people to death using painkillers of questionable reliability which, in Justice Elena Kagan’s words (and as Millhiser tells us), left death row inmates with “the feeling of being burned alive.”
And I’m not trying to garner any sympathy whatsoever for Russell Bucklew, who was convicted of a brutal murder 23 years ago. But since we’re talking about the Supremes here (basically, the highest appeals court that there is), we’re talking about creating a legal precedent (if someone dies by being “burned alive” today…well, what kind of punishment will they decide to inflict tomorrow? And, if we don’t know how to kill someone in a medically efficient way that ACTUALLY ISN’T TORTURE, can’t we just default to life in prison instead?).
I don’t know the answer to these questions. At a minimum, though, I think we should be talking about them, particularly since our now-solid conservative majority on the Court thinks that inflicting something akin to resurrecting the Inquisition is no big deal.
Oh, and with that in mind, I should note that “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh wondered why we couldn’t just kill the guy by firing squad instead.
You know, kind of like this (from “Paths of Glory,” the finest anti-war film ever made IMO)…
…and making things a little less heavy for the moment, I bring you this commentary from David Pakman about Chris Wallace of Fix Noise briefly standing up against his own network’s BS on what led to the Mueller probe…I’m not sure that we’ll ever see a clean, un-redacted version of Mueller’s report, though we should keep fighting for it of course – I would think it would be a hell of a campaign issue if we don’t, but there is literally so much other crap to dig through from our ruling cabal of traitors that I’m afraid it might get lost in the noise; I take absolutely nothing for granted for 2020, and neither should anyone else…
…and gosh, it looks problematic as to whether or not longtime wingnut shill Stephen Moore may actually make it to the Federal Reserve Board (Maddow once showed up Moore on “Real Time,” which was totally deserved because, as usual, Moore was lying his ass off)…
…and with the weather starting to get a little nicer around here, I thought I’d offer this selection – a little more upbeat and fun-filled I hope.
I want to give you a bit of insight as to what it’s like to be a Roman Catholic in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia these days.
I attended services a few weeks ago at my parish in Bucks County, and there was an announcement at the end of the service that they would be hosting a screening of the film “Gosnell” (here) about the insane monster masquerading as a physician who was convicted on numerous criminal counts including first-degree murder and 21 felony counts of illegal late-term abortions. The screening would be held the morning of March 9th in the school cafeteria. And yes, we’re talking about showing a movie about this butcher in an elementary school on a Saturday morning to an audience of grade school kids.
As if that isn’t repugnant enough, this evening at services, I heard a promotion for the alleged movie called “Unplanned” about someone’s experiences supposedly running a Planned Parenthood center in Texas (more here...apparently this is showing in area theaters).
I am purposely not mentioning the name of the church that I attended because I don’t want to say anything that could possibly denigrate it in any way. Also, I believe the pastor is a good man trying hard to do the right thing, and I don’t want to say anything to negatively impact him either.
Besides, I believe the orders for all of this stuff are coming from “downtown,” as it were. And I’m laying all of this hateful crap at the feet of this guy.
Do you want to know why there’s a push for this NOW? Because it’s Lent, when people who aren’t regular churchgoers (and I guess I’m in that category a bit…mea culpa) are likely to come back to attend Mass leading up to Easter. Also, I would argue that this is happening because the Catholic Church sees an opportunity to drive a stake through the metaphorical heart of Roe v. Wade once and for all now that “Schlitz” Kavanaugh has been installed as a member of the Supremes.
Either way, this stinks. And as always, the only issue the Church cares about any more is ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION and, in case you somehow didn’t get the message already, ABORTION. Also, you can forget about me linking to anything related to the theaters showing “Unplanned”; I’m not going to make any effort to give this propaganda any traffic whatsoever.
However, if you’d like something approximating a more even-handed treatment of what Planned Parenthood REALLY does as far as I’m concerned, I’d like to offer this instead…
…and I give you Brian Tyler Cohen on Adam Schiff’s response to attacks aimed at him and the attempted whitewash by AG Bill Barr on the Mueller Report (and we already knew Devin Nunes was a disgusting, repugnant character typical for the Trumpster ilk, but I guess he was making jokes and some other stupid remarks while Schiff was talking…what a POS)...
…and gee, maybe we ought to do something about this climate change thing (by the way, I don’t know what the hell Pap means when he talks about what AOC is “projecting” at about 4:15, though he and Farron Cousins are right about Republicans jumping on their BS framing of an issue ahead of the Democrats, along with the typical lying nonsense of the Gropenfuhrer saying you won’t be able to watch TV if the wind isn’t blowing, or crap like that…and by the way, Catholic Church, if you want to speak out on something besides ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION, maybe this would be a good issue for you also…you know, the whole “stewards of the earth” thing…)…
(I've had a little more time than usual to post this week, but I think that will come to an end for a bit after today.)
Of course Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao would block releasing the Mueller Report to the U.S. Senate – why on earth would he do the right and honorable thing, as Farron Cousins explains…
…and I don’t know anything about Brian Tyler Cohen, but boy is he right about what we have to do about climate change (and Mike Lee thinks AOC’s proposal is “unserious”?? – See, that’s Reason Number 4,327 WHY I F*CKING HATE REPUBLICANS!!! Disagreeing on this is dumb enough, but Lee gets BONUS DUUUHHH points for trying to ridicule something THAT HE CLEARLY DIDN’T GO TO THE TROUBLE TO TRY AND ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND!!)…
…and for the common sense opposing point of view, AOC herself brings the proverbial fire here; I think she’s mixing up the issues a bit (the Flint water disaster has to do with criminally failed Repug non-governance and not climate change), but great work on her part to draw attention to these issues…
...…and happy belated birthday to Tony Banks of Genesis, with what I would consider to be a totally apt tune.
Even though I’m Roman Catholic, there’s a reason why I don’t think it’s appropriate to try and cram my beliefs down anybody’s metaphorical throat; this “prayer” by Repug PA House Rep Stephanie Borowicz would be merely awful if it weren’t for the fact that it came on the day that Movita Johnson-Harrell, PA’s first Muslim-American woman legislator, was sworn into office, which, as far as I’m concerned, make Borowicz’s remarks a slap in the face at Ms. Johnson-Harrell (here)…”Pennsyltucky” strikes again (the "prayer" came before the swearing-in, by the way)…
…and I thought this was a good take on the potential for obstruction of justice in the Mueller Report by Farron Cousins, and as far as I’m concerned, the jury on that is still out on that because WE HAVEN’T SEEN THE WHOLE DAMN REPORT AND I DON’T TRUST WILLIAM BARR (and I think it should be noted that Cousins is a lawyer…oh, and by the way, Dems, can we now give Nancy Pelosi a little credit for downplaying impeachment talk about the Gropenfuhrer? Wouldn’t she look pretty damn silly right about now if she’d plowed full steam ahead on that before the report was out?)…
…and any death for any reason is awful, but this is particularly bad (as is this) – what I wouldn’t give to see one of these gun-humpers have to deal with an active shooter drill; of course, they’d probably try to be “a good guy with a gun” and shoot a teacher or police officer instead…
…and I’m sorry that I’m in a particularly sour mood today – with the first clip in mind in particular, I felt like hearing this song.
OK, so now we have a bit of a look at what is contained in the Mueller Report about alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election (I think it was actual and not, in fact, merely alleged, but I realize that the Mueller Report didn’t find the proverbial “smoking gun”).
Now before we get into too many histrionics over this, I believe we should consider the following:
Attorney General William Barr is a Repug “fixer” from the days of Iran-Contra, and he was nominated for this job exactly because the Trumpsters saw this coming down the road and wanted Barr to sanitize this mess for them.
Generalissimo Trump wasn’t even deposed by Mueller as part of the investigation (not trying to impugn Mueller, but just stating a fact).
We haven’t seen the whole damn report yet, just Barr’s summary of it.
This is in no way whatsoever the end of Trump’s legal woes.
Also, I would add that Mueller (it seemed to me) was looking more for the in-all-likelihood financial illegality between Trump, Russia and other actors/entities in Trump’s business dealings, and I have a feeling that that is what is largely in this report. And I’ve included the clip below from Ari Melber on this for two reasons: 1) Melber is a lawyer, and 2) He makes the important point that Mueller apparently believed that the resolution for any potential “high crimes and misdemeanors,” should they be found, was in the U.S. House through impeachment as opposed to indicting Trump, which is about right as far as I’m concerned.
With that being said, I should note that we should expect nothing but the typical corporate media caterwauling about Trump supposedly taking a victory lap over this, as utterly preposterous as that is. And Glenn Greenwald unleashed a truly petulant tweetstorm after Barr produced his interpretation of the Mueller report, attacking MSNBC for their fixation on Trump and Russia.
Were they fixated on this in their reporting? Yes. For ratings? Uh huh (Chris Hayes was honest enough to admit that he wanted to do more reporting in climate change, but as nearly as he could tell, viewers would tune him out). However, I personally believed this story was important enough to merit that kind of treatment. And I believe it still is.
However, I have to admit that I was shocked by some of the lefty push-back on this also (the reason for the Bozo pic). Kyle Kulinski also attacked the typical corporate media suspects with initials for names, saying he was right and they were wrong (even though the most ridiculous pontificating I’ve yet seen on this is contained in this tweet). Um, the whole damn report hasn’t even come out yet! If you want to be mad for the over-reporting on this versus actual policy issues that impact our lives more directly, then fine, I get that. But please don’t do Fix Noise’s work for them, OK? Their platform is plenty big enough for them to do that on their own.
Anyway, here is the Melber clip…
Update 3/26/19: Yep, I think Greenwald has pretty much devolved into self-parody here.
…oh, and in case anybody out there thinks I’m nothing but a shill for the Democrats, I give you this, which is truly deflating and cause to worry for 2020…between shooting ourselves in the foot with a Howitzer like this and Trump having the power of incumbency on his side, I remain genuinely concerned that the Democrats, as a national party, are going to try and win this by bringing a knife to a gun fight, as it were, and if so, we know what will happen (The DCCC remains an utterly useless organization as far as I’m concerned)…
…and I think these are some important words from the guy who went after Tucker Carlson (everyone running the DCCC should be tied to a chair and forced to listen)…
…and happy 72nd birthday to Elton John, with a bit of a Russian-flavored tune for the occasion.
It’s nice to see that Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History is giving the recent anniversary of his ruinous war in Iraq the reverence and respect it deserves (here…and yes, that most definitely is snark) – made me recall this clip…
Update: Yeah, I think a lot more could be said on this subject, but Chris Hayes is definitely on the right track here.
…and speaking of clueless Republican presidents, Seth Meyers gives us the latest on our Traitorous, Tiny-Handed Orange Mental Defective, including his “feud” with the ghost of John McCain; the Devin Nunes stuff is hilarious the way Meyers tells it, though I realize this is funny in no way, shape or form…
…and as long as I’m talking about chief executives, this tells us that Jimmy Carter is about to become our oldest-ever living president; I just felt like bringing back this vintage SNL clip for the occasion…
…and supposedly the world’s greatest superpower can somehow only scrounge up $57K for what I would consider to be a legitimate emergency, and that’s the opioid crisis in this country, as AOC points out…
...and Brooke Thomas and Jayar Jackson of “The Damage Report” comment on more typical Fix Noise idiocy from this Katie Pavlich person saying the U.S. should get credit for ending slavery...so many directions you can go with this I realize, but let me just ask this question; do you want to know what Great Britain did about slavery? They passed the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833 (here). And that was it (or just about). No horrible, five four-year war with an utterly abominable list of people killed or wounded and family and property destroyed and enmity to this day between geographic regions of this county – if anybody deserves an “award” for ending it, I think THEY do (oh, and don’t worry about Harris Faulkner – she knows EXACTLY what she’s doing...and by the way, I'm not in favor of reparations - subject for a whole other post I realize, and this is part of the reason why...I'm not saying we can't talk about it, though)…
...and happy 334th birthday to J.S. Bach - time for a bit of culture.
Cenk, John and Tommy Vietor tell us about Louie Gohmert’s reaction to the New Zealand gun massacre (and, by extension, the Republican Party also…yep, as far as I’m concerned, Gohmert remains the stupidest life form in the universe)…
…and Stephanie Ruhle interviews David Enrich of the New York Times, who wrote the story about the Gropenfuhrer and Deutsche Bank, which has a lot to answer for as far as I'm concerned…
…and speaking of money, Mike Malloy brings us another NSFW commentary on the latest Repug bait-and-switch on taxes; we’re about to find out if we got socked also (not optimistic here I have to admit)…
…and with the Ruhle clip in mind…well, don’t look now, but I think I stumbled across the “Trump For President 2020” campaign theme song.
Thom Hartmann gives us a bit of a lesson in semantics, though I think what’s he’s talking about is the meaning of the words “freedom” and “liberty” for most people, as opposed to the Kochs and the one percent (interesting parallel between Warren Harding and a certain Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Lying Orange Traitor I would say)…
…and Sam Seder and the “Majority Report” crew tell us about the wingnut response to the recent gun carnage in New Zealand (here)…I can’t imagine what the hell “Redland Strategies” is, and believe me when I tell you that I don’t care…what a bunch of bullpuckey this guy is pitching, and I don’t mean Sam of course – and I’d sooner expect intelligent political commentary from a slug than I would from Candace Owens, though I’ll admit that there is an intellectual equivalency between the two (and yeah, “disgusting” is one word that surely comes to mind…and the New Zealand PM is putting us to shame with this as far as I’m concerned…good for her - and I think EGG BOY RULES!)…
…and Pap and Farron Cousins tell us how California is being depleted of water because of corporate greed and climate change – makes me want to vomit every time I see a golf course (or a movie or TV show with Tom Selleck, or a Nestle’s candy bar…here and here)…
…and I think a story about water is the perfect segue to this tribute to Dick Dale, King of the Surf Guitar, who, sadly, just left us (performing here with SRV – RIP).
Yeah, it looks like Tucker Carlson’s career is starting to do that big swirl into the hopper, as it were – totally deserved, as Cenk and Ana tell us (this segment proves yet again that conservatives are masters of projection, if little else)…
…and with the prior clip in mind, I give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 3/14/08 (Fox Attacks Obama, Part 2…“Obama is a ‘half-rican’ anyway”…big wingnut applause line at the time I realize)…
…and Farron Cousins of Ring of Fire tells us that Rupert and company may have actually broken the law by killing the story about Trump having an affair, with the argument that not airing it was an “in kind” compensation of sorts - hmmm…
…and RIP Dem former U.S. Senator and Governor Birch Bayh of Indiana, responsible for Title IX (here) and two Constitutional amendments (never a big fan of his son, but I’ll leave any criticism on that front for another occasion...and I thought this was well said by The Big Dog)…
…and Seth Meyers gives us a “Closer Look” on the college cheating scandal in the headlines and the latest prison sentence for former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort…
…and I think the weather in these parts is going to turn and get colder and more overcast, but for now everything is sunny and spring-like, so I kind of felt like hearing this neat tune with a bit of a quirky video I’ll admit (and the title definitely fits).
Samantha Bee tells us here about Pfizer and the Sackler family and their role in this country’s opioid epidemic (NSFW – I’m not going to ask how these people sleep at night since these life forms seem to be devoid of any impulse towards human decency or compassion at all, and I certainly am not directing that at the “Full Frontal” host)…
…and Lawrence O’Donnell tells us how Dem New Hampshire U.S. House Rep Katie Porter has stood up again for her constituents, this time on the CFPB (against yet another smirking, Trumpian, unqualified, do-nothing sycophant who was in WAY OVER her head in the hearing O’Donnell described)…
…and Sam Seder and TMR give us a Bernie Sanders flashback from ’89 on climate change as well as the media being swallowed up by conglomerates (and Sam is absolutely right about fixing the ozone layer…I think Michael Brooks and co. kind of push the snark meter here a bit; tongue-in-cheek I know)…
…and Francis Maxwell gives us another “Breakdown” segment about college kids and racism (ugh)…
…and Farron Cousins of “Ring of Fire” tells us how Florida madam “Cindy” Yang (the one involved in the latest shenanigans with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft) has somehow become a “player” in Republican Party politics all of a sudden (yeah, looks like our corporate media sees this as another snooze-fest…BUT OMIGOD, ILHAN OMAR JUST SAID SOMETHING ELSE!! OUTTA MY WAY – I’M ON DEADLINE!!!)…
…and RIP drummer extraordinaire Hal Blaine of The Wrecking Crew (here) – here is one of his many signature tunes from back in the day.
Wow, is Arkansas State Sen. Stephanie Flowers my new hero for this…
…and it looks like former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort got pretty much a slap on the wrist of a sentence (here), as former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade tells Rachel Maddow (make sure you stick around for the last minute of this clip in particular from McQuade)…
…and yeah, “Democrat” Ted Deutch, go whine to Fix Noise and Maria Bartiromo about Dem U.S. House Rep Ilhan Omar, as Cenk and Ana tell us (and I’m sure this will NEVER end because of clowns like Deutch, as Kyle K. pointed out – stuff like this has me genuinely concerned about the prospects of the Dems every actually returning to power and enacting meaningful change that matters if they don’t even have the courage of what are supposed to be their convictions, which Omar has definitely demonstrated IMHO)…
…and to be honest, I didn’t think I’d have time to post anything today, but I did; however, I now have to find another tune for International Women’s Day since I used the one I’d planned already (sorry – boring meta I know)…I guess you could chalk this up to assertive female behavior, among other things (based on that Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie movie I believe...slightly NSFW).
John Iadarola and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report tell us basically that AOC has no more sh*ts to give, as it were, on the question of the impeachment of Generalissimo Trump - good!…
…and yeah, I want to know all about the supposed anti-gun control group that gave the pearls to these idiot gun-humping lawmakers in New Hampshire…it’s pretty damn obvious what kind of message these clowns are communicating as far as I’m concerned; as the Now This video from this link tells us, the best way to respond is to run for office against these asshats…
…and Hasan Piker brings us another “Breakdown” segment with more on Stephon Clark (and yes, apparently he vandalized the truck windows, which was uncalled for, even though we’ll never know for certain because THE COPS SHOT HIM EIGHT TIMES. SIX TIMES IN THE BACK, WHILE HE HELD UP HIS CELL PHONE!...I think Piker's count may be off...and yes, Clark was apparently overcoming a sordid past to be sure, and he shouldn’t have run when the cops told him to freeze – never a good idea – but again…oh, fuck it...just chalk it up to Life In These United States, Part The Infinity as Charlie Pierce might say)…
…and Lawrence O’Donnell tells us the truth about Our Lying, Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Orange Dictator’s exploding deficit, to say nothing of other Congressional Repugs that allowed this to happen from 2016-2018…
…and Sam Seder of “The Majority Report” blasts Bari Weiss and her version of anti-Semitism – the framing of the question by Meghan McCain on “The View” was bullshit of course…and I know I already commented on the Ilhan Omar 9/11 poster previously (oh, but McCain haz a sad here…boo freaking hoo!...and Kyle Kulinski is exactly right, by the way - expect the Repugs to beat on Ilhan Omar forever now because the Dems shows an iota of squeamishness on the matter, in their eternal, dunderheaded stupidity...and I'm looking at you, Nita Lowey - here)…
…and I know I’ve been late with some milestone-related stuff lately, so I’ll try being early for a change and extend best wishes for International Women’s Day tomorrow.
I know I included some of this AOC stuff before, but I definitely wanted to include this clip because of her linkage to the Gropenfuhrer and his golf courses (and related to that, I give you this…and on another related note, I think this is just way too funny...if I didn't know better, I'd think Lawrence is "hitting the sauce")…
…and I absolutely loved this exchange between Dem U.S. House Rep Katie Porter and Equifax CEO Mark Begor, as Sam Seder tells us; like the prior clip, you can file this under elections having consequences, people…
…and Kyle K. tells us about the 9/11 poster featuring Dem U.S. House Rep Ilhan Omar on display in the West VA House of Delegates; yep, pretty damn disgusting – and if I were to guess, I think this is yet another example of people who apparently didn’t suffer the loss of a family member of friend on that awful day feeling like they can use it once again for propaganda purposes; I largely agree with Kyle, but that being said, I think we can have an intelligent discussion of differing points of view as noted here, but the poster Kyle talks about does not count towards informed dialogue in any way, shape or form, and that’s putting it mildly…and oh yeah, “double standard” much, Gym Jordan? (here – and as far as I’m concerned, this proves Kyle’s point even more)…
…and Reverend Al tells us here that no charges will be filed against Sacramento or Tulsa police in the shootings of Stephon Clark and Terence Crutcher, respectively (here – yeah, I’m sure cops in my ‘hood will appear with guns drawn while I’m out at night talking on my cell phone…uh huh)…
…and Thom Hartmann gives us more comparisons between Generalissimo Trump and Nixon (and on the subject of Trump and cover-ups, I give you this)…
…and from the era predating “Tricky Dick” slightly, I give you this tune; hat tip to Crooks and Liars for reminding me recently (though I’m behind a bit again I know) that Buffalo Springfield released its debut album on March 3, 1966, with this song as its first single (which, amazingly to me, didn’t even break the Billboard Top 100).
Cenk and Ana tell us about the line of questioning from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in particular on Michael Cohen during his recent testimony before the House Oversight Committee (yep, as usual, AOC zeroes in on what truly matters...and by the way, when it comes to Cohen’s testimony, I don’t think we should lose sight of this)…
…and here is more evidence that elections have consequence, people – in a way that is actually good this time (and as far as the Senate goes, I’m glad Bob Casey was returned from PA last year of course, but when it comes to guns and this, he doesn’t exactly stand tall)…
…and I know TYT alluded to Bernie Sanders earlier, and Kyle K. tells us here about Sanders' answer on early childhood, pre-K nutrition and education in this country, which, as usual, was spot-on…I love Bernie on the issues, and maybe there’s not a lot he can do about this with Repugs in charge of the Senate, but I’d like to see some actual policy proposals to back that up that could lead to actual legislation (Kyle almost got through it without an “F” bomb, but there’s one at the very end…oh well)…
I thought this was a pretty well-thought-out analysis by Cenk and Michael Shure of TYT about Michael Cohen’s testimony yesterday before the House Oversight Committee, proving what, as far as I’m concerned, anyone with a pulse knew all along, namely, that Donald J. Trump is a treasonous, lying criminal…
…and I’m playing catch-up again I know, but Sam Seder comments on a John Wayne Playboy interview from 1971 that recently resurfaced where he claimed that white supremacy is A OK, pilgrim (on this subject, I highly recommend the movie Trumbo, by the way – still shocking to hear from a guy who worked with Woody Strode on at least one movie, by the way…and yeah, Laura Ingraham is just f*cking crazy; I’m not going to try and find any sanity or rationality with her or this Ken doll on her show)…
…and economist J.W. Mason explains how we can pay for the Green New Deal (a very Krugman-esque – and correct, as far as I’m concerned – commentary…there’s a reason why we have a damn prosperous underground economy in this country, people…it’s pretty much out of necessity)…
…and I can’t recall a video where I saw a woman driving a fast car – about damn time…was waiting for her to drive it right at the director, but I thought the video’s ending was better than my idea.
Rachel Maddow tells us more about the Gropenfuhrer and his “bromance” with Kim Jong Un (three guesses who gave advice to Trump on this when our *president* asked, and the first two don’t count)…
…and here is more on the vote against Trump’s emergency declaration in the House (and as for the Senate, I give you this)…
…and Pap and Farron Cousins tells us that, in case we feel an attack of Trump Bottom-Feeder Fatigue coming on (and we’re only human – all of this political sludge is bound to catch up with us at some point), we can’t let down our guard, particularly in the case of new AG William Barr, who is terrible for all of the reasons noted in this clip and probably more…
…and Sam Seder speaks with former CIGNA employee Wendell Potter about the Dems getting squeamish on Medicare for All (talking about Michael Bennet of Colorado for example – he stood tall against Ted Cruz recently, but let’s not forget about the bigger picture also)…
…and Kyle K. tells us that Repug U.S. Senator John Cornyn decided to quote Il Duce – just say, “oops” and get out, Tex…have to admit being a little freaked out by the Mussolini pic (NSFW), and as for Bernie, we’ll see about this…
…and with my modified posting schedule, I have to admit that I’m not always commenting on stuff in as timely a manner as I would like, and here is an example; last Saturday marked the 79th anniversary of Woody Guthrie’s anthem to what this country is supposed to be all about, Generalissimo Trump notwithstanding – this is one of my favorite versions of Guthrie's tune.
You may have heard by now about a certain video that is going absolutely nuts online about Dem CA Sen. Dianne Feinstein meeting with a bunch of school kids about supporting the “Green New Deal” as put forward in the Senate by Feinstein’s fellow Dem Ed Markey of Massachusetts (one link is here.)
Also, it should be noted that there is, apparently, an edited, abbreviated version out there which puts Feinstein in a bad light. Well, if you can get to it, I definitely recommend that you watch all 6 videos in the sequence from here (starting with her greeting to the kids and ending with some words from the teacher…and I’ll have something to say about the teacher shortly).
There are a few different spins I’ve seen and read about concerning Feinstein’s encounter with these kids in a variety of stories. The New York Times said Feinstein “lectured” the kids (here). Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos tweeted that Feinstein didn’t apologize (also posting, “There’s a reason we supported Kevin DeLeon, sigh,” with DeLeon being a 2018 primary challenger to Feinstein), though diarist dfh1 at his site posted an excellent entry here.
And I know I mentioned the school teacher who also met with Feinstein along with the kids. The only time I actually started to feel angry while watching all 6 videos was at the very end of the last one, when the teacher said that Feinstein was “condescending.”
How was Feinstein “condescending,” exactly? By offering an internship to one of the students? By telling them that she agreed with them, partly for the sake of her 7 grandchildren? By presenting her own legislation on climate change, which, as diarist dfh1 pointed out, is in line with the IPCC recommendations? Oh, and by telling the kids that, since the Democrats aren’t in charge of the Senate, she needs Republican votes to pass legislation to fight climate change, which neither Feinstein nor any other Democrat WILL EVER GET FOR AS LONG AS THEY LIVE?
Oh, I suddenly remember now – she actually told the kids that it might take 10 years to get climate change legislation passed. She also asked one of the students who said she voted for Feinstein her age, and when she told Feinstein, the senator correctly pointed out that she was too young to vote for her. And I guess Feinstein was supposed to shower each individual child with gratitude when the kids presented their petition.
You mean Feinstein didn't provide immediate gratification? Gosh, how "condescending" indeed!
I know the kids are right. Believe me. And somehow I’m sure Feinstein knows that too. And Think Progress pointed out that Feinstein swore off campaign contributions from oil companies and she went back on that, so yes, hold her to account.
And 10 years, which Feinstein said in the clip is how long it could take to pass a bill to fight this, is waaay too long – it needs to happen yesterday I know.
BUT SHE ISN’T THE DAMN ENEMY!!!
Do you want to know who IS the enemy? I’ll give you a hint. The head of their party in the White House just appointed this utterly empty vessel (and married to a coal company executive - of course) as our U.N. ambassador, who said she believes “both sides” when it comes to climate science.
And just to show how ridiculous this is, Ben Shapiro and Erick Erickson, of all people, have jumped to Feinstein’s defense (I’m not going to link to their nonsense and give them any traffic – you can find it). Great job to play into the hands of the wingnuts, “Sunrise Foundation”! I can guarantee you that these two nitwits WILL NEVER CARE ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE EITHER! However, they care VERY MUCH about sewing division in the Democratic ranks, which they plainly see a chance to do here.
Maybe this “Sunrise Foundation” ought to focus its efforts on the people who really want to hasten our extinction by superheating this planet, and that would be everyone standing in the way of the Green New Deal – basically, every Republican politician and members of that political constituency.
Maybe this “Sunrise Foundation” (ostensibly run by adults I believe) ought to realize that, while the Dems happily won the House last year, the Repugs actually gained in the Senate (which is still unbelievable to me, but it tells me just how much of an uphill battle we have to fight on this stuff). And that admittedly makes the fight for common sense climate change legislation only harder.
This is part of the admittedly tiresome game of realpolitik, people. And I realize the kids aren’t going to know that (and God bless them for trying regardless).
But I honestly expected that Markos Moulitsas and the goddamn New York Times would know better!
…and on a wholly other matter (re, our relationship with the Saudis, which is definitely too cozy for my liking), I give you this – NSFW (and Kyle may be correct about the Mueller report, by the way...and he sure as hell is right about the urgency on the Saudi stuff)…
…and this tune goes out to Shapiro and Erickson on the Feinstein thing (could probably apply to a few others too).
Kyle Kulinski tells us about the 11-year-old in Lakeland, FL arrested because he didn’t stand for the Pledge of Allegiance (I'm OK with Kyle on this, though I think it’s possible for 11-year-olds to have political opinions…and yeah, the substitute teacher screwed the proverbial pooch here IMHO – NSFW…by the way, the pic shows how the Pledge used to be recited in this country prior to WWII featuring what was once referred to as the "Bellamy Salute,” though it was abandoned for obvious reasons)…
…and that to me is the perfect segue to this clip on the short documentary subject “A Night At The Garden,” which took place 80 years ago yesterday (filmmaker Marshall Curry is interviewed…and I think this, sadly, is what I would call a similar cautionary lesson)…
Update 2/22/19: And as long as we're harking back to those goose-stepping bygone days, I should probably present this also about yet another Trumpian goofball.
Update 3/2/19: And you just KNOW she had to join the party too, right? (here)
…and on the subject of kids objecting to repressive authority, Francis Maxwell of “The Breakdown” tells us about 15-year-old Claudette Colvin, the first person to challenge Montgomery, AL’s bus boycott, before Rosa Parks (apropos to recall anytime, but especially during Black History Month)…
…and Sam Seder of “The Majority Report” talks with Eric Blanc of Jacobin…not sure what that is (re, the Denver teacher strike, and potentially other teacher strikes also, fighting against privatization and “corporate education reform”…yes, on paper, merit pay sounds good, but not when it’s tied to some BS metric like standardized test performance…interesting to look at this as a push-back against the Janus decision, but yeah, that seems to fit, with Oakland, CA apparently next on the list)…
...and happy 70th birthday to Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads...
Lawrence O’Donnell tells us that it is apparently DNI Dan Coats’s time in the barrel, as it were, for acting like an adult in the matter of North Korea’s nukes…
…and Seth Meyers gives us another humorous take, this time on Generalissimo Trump’s “national emergency”…
…and there are so many reasons why I utterly despise movement conservative Republicans (and the Gropenfuhrer is one without a doubt, though, as a Russian stooge, he’s too dumb and compromised to realize it), but maybe the biggest reason of all is their utterly ruinous policies concerning our environment – the following clip is just the latest example (and no, I’m not saying Democrats are completely innocent either on this score…more here)…
…and as Hasan Piker points out (in particular, in the case of rapper 21 Savage), ICE is not only cruel and malicious, but incompetent also…
…and I wouldn’t be shopping at Bloomingdale’s anyway, but I DEFINITELY won’t be after this – all the same, interesting take by Kyle I must say; still thinking about it (NSFW)…
…and here’s a great new Tedeschi Trucks Band tune.
I think it genuinely requires talent to weave comedy gold from the utter idiocy inflicted on us by the Gropenfuhrer, as Seth Meyers manages to do once more in this clip…
…and it’s been a year since the gun carnage at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School (more here, here, and here...and I'm sorry, but despite what Kyle says in the clip, there's no place for an AR-15 in civilian use as far as I'm concerned)…
…and Brooke Thomas, Mark Thompson and Ben Mankiewicz talk about the latest Repug idiot attacking the LGBTQ community, Eric Porterfield of West Virginia by name (now watch him get re-elected, the next time he runs…love to be wrong)…
…and I thought this was a good commentary from WaPo reporter Eugene Scott about the dustup over the entirely true remarks from Dem U.S. House Rep Ilhan Omar about Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, with, predictably, politicians from both parties tripping over themselves to placate our aggrieved “ally” (here, and this, when it comes to The Big Orange Cheetoh, is merely to laugh…and when it comes to McCarthy, let’s not forget this – and kudos to Omar for this also…the next few clips are tied a bit to the issue of censorship)…
…and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 2/11/14, with Rod Serling talking with Mike Wallace many moons ago about censorship concerning, among other things, the portrayal of Lassie giving birth on TV…never a shortage when it comes to “values voter” outrage in this country (I originally noted that this clip came from Anthony Cumia on Youtube, and at the time I neglected to realize that he was one half of the radio-comedy team “Opie and Anthony,” who were once fired because they broadcast a comedian describing a couple having simulated sex in a vestibule of St. Patrick’s Cathedral while Mass was going on…yes, maybe a case of “’values’ for me but not for thee,” but as a Roman Catholic, I definitely think that went way too far)…
…and speaking of faith, on this day in history (well, yesterday actually), the astronomer and mathematician Galileo Galilei faced charges of heresy from the Catholic Church for advocating Copernican theory, namely, that the earth revolves around the sun as opposed to the other way around; he was put under arrest by Pope Urban VIII in 1633 and was sentenced to live out the rest of his life in his villa near Florence where he died in 1642 (the Church made an official “oops, our bad” announcement about it in 1992…and I’ll bet you didn’t think there was a song for all of this…well…)…
…and given the significance of this day on the calendar, I thought I’d present this (I’m pretty sure the Utopia tune was “Love In Action”)…
…and for the opposing point of view, I give you this :-).
