If you’re like me, you probably had no idea what the “public charge rule” is, though, if it has anything whatsoever to do with immigration, you can rely on Mango Mussolini to try and wreck it, as Farron Cousins tells us, aided and abetted by the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR (yeah, it’s all about keeping out the darker-skinned “other” again)…
…and Brett Erlich and John I. discuss Ayanna Pressley taking on Betsy DeVos over the latter’s particularly stupid and fatuous remark about a pro-choice woman supporting slavery…
…and this is something a bit welcoming and uplifting with all of the insanity currently engulfing us (yeah, maybe a bit of mythology going on here, but I think it’s substantively true)…
…and apparently this guy is not due to come to a venue in these parts this year, which is kind of a drag because I thought this was a neat little tune.
Wouldn’t it be a kick if “Blow ‘Em Up” Bolton ended up sinking the Gropenfuhrer and his minions in pursuit of a lucrative book deal? Apropos for all of these bottom feeders to eat each other like this, as John I. tells us…
Update: Hey, Ari Ari Bobari, The House DID call John Bolton to testify (here - h/t @Atrios), but Our Treasonous, Tiny Handed Orange Dictator wouldn’t let him (here).
STOP LYING!!!
…and Brian Tyler Cohen reminds us that, if you ever find yourself needing legal representation, Alan Dershowitz is probably the LAST person you should seek out…
…and sometimes stuff happens that kind of stops you in your tracks, and I would say that the tragic news about Kobe Bryant definitely qualifies – he grew up in Lower Merion, PA, and he was the son of La Salle's legendary player and former Sixer Joe Bryant, though with all due respect, Kobe far outpaced his father on the court…so many life lessons to recall and celebrate…definitely the kind of once-in-a-generation talent who you rooted against when he didn’t play for your team, though you respected him as an elite player, and based on this clip, an elite person also…
Leave it the Roger Ailes BS Factory to do what it does best, and that's to try and de-legitimize the impeachment of Generalissimo Trump every way possible, as John I. and Jayar Jackson tell us…
…and I realize some of this “Now This” clip on Adam Schiff’s remarks at the impeachment trial is repetitive from the recent Brian Tyler Cohen clip (going up against Mango Mussolini’s lawyers) but I think it needs to be pointed out again…
…and I’m sure Susan Collins will be very disappointed to hear about this attack ad on her kow-towing to #MidnightMitch and the Gropenfuhrer (with Mika, Joe Scar and Rick Wilson…oh, and by the way, let’s cut it out with some of the Repug hagiography especially concerning Olympia Snowe…I’m a little uncomfortable with a Never Trumper like Rick Wilson who once invoked bin Laden in an attack campaign ad against former Dem GA Senator and disabled Vietnam vet Max Cleland, but Wilson is trying to move the ball the right way, you might say, to be fair…for now)…
…and I’ve absolutely had it with Tulsi Gabbard – I don’t care if she’s a veteran or not…yeah, HRC is acting like she’s some kind of Dem elder stateswoman or something and as far as I’m concerned, she definitely doesn’t have that kind of clout, but Gabbard’s lawsuit against her is beyond a joke (here)…here is a repeat of a TYT clip about Gabbard voting “Present” in the House on the impeachment of Our Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Orange Dictator (and as far as Gabbard sucking up to Fix Noise is concerned, take a look at all of the YouTube videos of her being interviewed by the previously mentioned Roger Ailes’ propaganda network…if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck and quacks like a duck)…
…and Robert Reich and Inequality Media have made a lot of fine videos, but this may be the best of them all (about rebuilding our democracy by voting)…
…and to me, the title of this song is an apt explanation for all of the self-inflicted misery the Trump gang is wallowing in at the moment.
Brian Tyler Cohen tells us all about the idiotic, disprovable lies from Mango Mussolini’s legal defense team during the impeachment trial…
…and it seems like #MidnightMitch was in favor of impeachment trial witnesses before he was against them, you might say, as noted here…
…and Thom Hartmann tells us of one of two outcomes that may come from this (I think Thom means Trump losing control of Repugs in the Senate, not the House…and I think what Thom says at the very end is exactly why the Senate Repugs will continue to toe the line…given the Gropenfuhrer’s still rabid base and their fawning, idiotic idolatry of Our Orange Pestillence, I don’t see any Repug senators doing ANYTHING in response)…
…and oh yeah, it looks like the “ammo-sexuals” were at it again recently in VA, as Chris Hayes tells us…
…and I’m genuinely saddened to hear of the passing of Terry Jones, but he suffered for a long time and he doesn’t have to deal with that any more…in addition to being an hilariously funny member of the Pythons of course (along with the rest of the usual lot), he was also a thoroughly accomplished historian and spoke out eloquently against Dubya’s Not-So-Excellent Adventure in Iraq…RIP (here)…
…and I realize this tune was written in another context, but given the Chris Hayes clip, I think it fits (two Beatle-related tunes on consecutive days…can I stand it?? :-).
To mark the 10th anniversary of the truly terrible Citizens United ruling, I bring you once more this Special Comment from Keith Olbermann that aired after this calamitous decision was announced (more here and here)…
…and here is a clip from 2014 of former Dem Sen. Al Franken talking with Lawrence O’Donnell about the ruling, along with a report at the very end on the fight against ISIS (kind of painful to see how a real president acts versus the clown we’re stuck with now)…
…and with Mango Mussolini in mind, Robert Reich (in another encore video) tells us how Citizens United led us to Our Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Russian Operative (one way to fight back is to click here)…
…and if you’re looking for the lowest common denominator in all of this, I think this tune sums it all up.
More revelations continue to come out about the Gropenfuhrer from the new book by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig of the WaPo, and this time it has to do with our Russian operative in An Oval Office showing that he’s incapable of reading the Constitution, as Farron Cousins tell us…
…and as far as Florida Repugs are concerned, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, voting is a privilege, not a right (I must have been asleep for that lesson in civics class…and yeah, it’s all about making sure only the “R”s are able to cast their ballots of course)…
…and Ana and John I. of TYT tell us how the big banks are funding the climate crisis…
…and I thought this was an appropriate tune in recognition of the holiday.
Farron Cousins tells us about Kellyanne Conjob typically ducking a straight Yes or No question on whether or not Lev Parnas was lying when he said he knew Mango Mussolini…
…and the Morning Joe gang opine on Parnas’s recent interview on Rachel Maddow (implicating Nunes and Pence also of course…and don’t say “bedbug” to Bret Stephens…I know Rev. Al is just loving to dump on Rudy 9iu11ani like this, and it’s all deserved)…
…and it’s time once more for another installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less), with a really neat clip IMO on the rise of ultra-right-wing nationalism from 1/18/16 (still timely, unfortunately...may have to crank the volume)…
…ant this is a continuation of another typically great segment from Thom Hartmann about how millennials, and younger Americans actually, are being held back by debt and poverty, which leads to the stuff noted in the prior video (oh, but now it’s time for more wingnut hagiography about The Sainted Ronnie R – and I typically ignore BoBo in the New York Times on the subject of inequality and pretty much everything else, but apparently he vomited another ridiculous column on the subject today as noted here)…
…and speaking of The Old Gray Lady, I thought this was a great clip from filmmaker Ken Burns about the history of the 19th Amendment, which is 100 years old this year – yeah, the Equal Rights Amendment is WAY overdue, and I would argue that the 28th is too…more here…
…and I thought this was a nice mellow tune that may be a bit topical to help us slide into the weekend.
David Doel gives us Bernie Sanders giving a typically great answer to the question about “Socialism” from Anderson Cooper – personally, as far as I'm concerned, I think the next person who asks about that should have the 16-ton weight fall on them like in a Monty Python episode…
…and Thom Hartmann gives us some disheartening data on the effect of Reaganomics on this country over the last 40 years – THIS is the stuff that really matters as far as I’m concerned instead of who’s hand got shook at the 4852nd Democratic candidates debate last night…
…and it looks like our friends across the pond are abandoning the Gropenfuhrer, and us, over all the Iran stuff – can’t say I blame them, as David Pakman explains…
…and Sam S. and the crew from “The Majority Report” discuss an ad put out by The Lincoln Project, a group of “Never Trumper” Repugs…not sure how Sam could have screwed up Martha McSally so badly…always amazes me how the Repugs have no problem going for the jugular, even against each other, while too many "centrist" Democrats are busy “triangulating” and ultimately capitulating instead…
…and Robert Reich calls out Big, Dangerous Lies – I totally agree with breaking up FB and Twitter, but to me, too many people shouldn’t be so willing to allow themselves to be lied to either…besides, the next logical step is to try and do that to YouTube, which would really screw up their monetization…
…and it looks like, in addition to Todd Rundgren not getting admitted to the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame (again), Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo got the same treatment – ridiculous.
Joy Reid talks with Dem Congresswoman Barbara Lee about Mango Mussolini selling out our military to the highest bidder, in this case, our “good friends” the Saudis…
…and Cenk and Ana of TYT tells us about the inflammatory markings on Uday Jr.’s gun (including HRC on the grip…yeah, what a “pretend” hero Fergus Laing The Younger truly is)…
…and I’m sure Repug U.S. Senator Mike Lee will be genuflecting before the Gropenfuhrer again before long, but for now, I give you this from Brian Tyler Cohen…
…and when it comes to historical Repug idiocy on the question of presidential impeachment, Rachel Maddow brings us the saga of Earl Landgrebe (who?) and Tricky Dick’s resignation…
Thom Hartmann tells us about the Gropenfuhrer kicking off his re-election campaign – with war vs. Iran, or at least one hell of a try at it (and Bill Maher lost his ABC show because of what he said about the 9/11 terrorists, which was an unpleasant truth but he was contextually right…more here)…
…and aside from Jeh Johnson, Ana and Jayar Jackson of TYT call out the warmongers appearing on our “influencer” media, including Gen. Jack Keane on Fix Noise (citing a Lee Fang story…and great job by Ana to attack that wingnut lie about Obama giving Iran money for the hell of it; Iran’s assets were unfrozen to sign the nuke deal, and legally they were entitled to that…GREAT commentary related to sports with Jayar at the end)…
…and John I. and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report tell us about more lies from Sect’y of State Mike Pompeo; must be a day of the week with a “y” in it (and only in Trumpworld would the SOS be the point person on military stuff…and sure, Repugs in the Senate thought offing Soleimani would be a distraction from impeachment – typically disgusting – and yeah, the attacks were “imminent” but they supposedly don’t know when or where? And I think Erlich is pretty spot-on here, as well as John particularly at the very end)…
…and this CBC report has more on the shooting down of Flight PS752 – God, I hope and pray the Trump gang had nothing to do with this…the investigation is unfolding (more here)…
Update 1/11/20: Cold comfort in the wake of this terrible tragedy, but just setting the record straight (here), though only a Fix Noise lunatic would think that this totally absolves the U.S. from escalating hostilities...
…and Brian Tyler Cohen has more “then vs. now” stuff from Huckleberry Graham on impeachment, as well as potentially calling “Blow ‘Em Up” Bolton to testify…
…and while Mango Mussolini and his pals continue to blunder on the world stage, they keep trying to do stuff when they think no one else is looking, such as to try and gut NEPA (Chris Hayes interviews former Obama EPA head Gina McCarthy… and yeah, more silence from our “faith leaders” in response)…
…and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy Histroy” from 1/10/11, with K.O. giving an abbreviated version of a “Special Comment” on the conviction of “The Bug Man” (more here – yeah, the Repug sliming of the opposition is pretty much “evergreen” then as now, isn’t it?...more here)…
Yeah, leave it to that pompous idiot Mike Pompeo to blow off questions about the Gropenfuhrer trying to drag this country into war with Iran...
…and Sam and the TMR crew tell us that Pete Hegseth of Fix Noise is excited about Mango Mussolini’s war crimes (no exaggeration; that’s literally what we’re talking about – big problem when targeting cultural sites of course…I’m sure that Hegseth and his fellow cretins would be the first to scream if, say, St. Patrick’s Cathedral was hit by a ballistic missile, and yes, that would still be terrible and no sane person wants to see that)…
…and I never really imagined that any of the “Mad Max” movies would actually be documentaries, but I guess we’re getting to that point unfortunately (to help out, please click here)…
…and there are times when I just don’t have a response for anything but to put up this tune.
To say I had many, MANY disagreements with former Bucks U.S. Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick is an understatement (some examples are noted here). One of which was highlighted in a post I wrote years ago when he ran for re-election in the 2006 midterms and said that, were it not for President Bush, he would win re-election by 10 points. I was pretty infuriated by that quote at the time, though, upon further consideration and the unfolding of subsequent events, he may very well have been right. Democrat Patrick Murphy won that fall, but what was incredible about that to me was the fact that, despite the fact that Fitzpatrick the incumbent was tethered to a historically unpopular president (with higher disapproval numbers than the one we have now, believe it or not – recalling this from memory because these posts are buried somewhere in a Google search), he STILL barely won Bucks County (the margin of victory for Murphy was in the comparatively tiny pieces of Philadelphia and Montco that were in the district before the Repugs redrew them in 2010 to favor Fitzpatrick – as well as his brother as it turned out...of course, the PA Supreme Court redrew the district again in February 2018 to put back the Montco piece).
I’ve groused forever, and rightly so I believe, over the fawning editorials, to say nothing of accepting the advertising, on behalf of both Fitzpatricks, but I also realize that they’re well thought of in Bucks for good reasons. I once saw Mike Fitzpatrick coming out of the YMCA in Morrisville, and I was tempted to tee off on him, but I kept my mouth shut because I knew he was there to do good work (I was there also as part of a community cleanup effort – long story). And I’m sure that wasn’t the only time he showed up to help out at that location and others.
I’m sure you can guess where I’m going with this (especially if you’ve seen the local news today). It was announced that Mike Fitzpatrick died recently after a long struggle with colon cancer (here). I am genuinely sorry to hear the news, and I wish to extend my sympathies to his family and friends (56 is way too young to go).
Now onto other stuff – I thought this was an interesting roundtable discussion moderated by David Gura of NBC News about potential repercussions to the killing of Iranian general Suleimani (a little unnerved by Gura's smiling here, I have to admit) – among other good points, I think it’s important to note that this move all but wipes out any influence that Iranian moderates might have…between this is and the Trump gang walking away from the Iranian nuclear treaty and re-imposing sanctions, yeah, this eliminates a lot of reasonable alternatives to the situation we have now…
…and Ana and the TYT crew tell us how our media is utterly failing us yet again on potential (probably likely) conflict with Iran (yeah, I’ve seen the typical gaggle of Repug warmongering life forms appearing on the Sunday shows and elsewhere to “get their war on,” and I’m sure you have too)...
…and speaking of conservative “influencers,” John of The Damage Report tells us that, despite (or maybe because of) what he has done, apparently the disgraced Eddie Gallagher is now looking to “get paid,” you might say, with his own line of clothing and apparently other products (were he still alive, Stanley Kubrick would probably reject this as a movie plot because it’s too absurd)…
…and Thom Hartmann tells us about an analysis of what Democrats do when they run states/commonwealths vs. Repugs (I’m sure a “deeper dive” on the differences can be performed by someone, but this isn’t bad for starters)…
…and Farron Cousins tells us about the Gropenfuhrer ragging on CA and NY because of the legal stuff in NY and impeachment with Pelosi in CA...and yeah, homelessness is a problem in those states, but as Cousins states, we have problems EVERYWHERE IN THIS COUNTRY! And I’m sorry that the answers are too complicated to fit on a bumper sticker, which apparently is more information that a Trumpist brain can actually process (actually, I’m not sorry)…
...and by the way, I can't think of a way to directly work this into this post, but I think it's too important to ignore...
Admiral James Stavridis comments on the targeted U.S. killing of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani on “Morning Joe” – absolutely infuriating to see more Repug neocons carry out this shit, then let the carnage unfold at the expense of other people’s kids, and then watch those who perpetrate this insanity skate away and be rewarded with cushy book deals and non-stop appearances in “smart” conservative circles of media and academia – the “pay no price, bear no burden” crowd strikes again…
Update: Yep, when all else fails, we can always count on President Shithead to double down (here).
Update 1 1/4/20: This definitely nails it as far as I'm concerned; and why am I not surprised by this?
Update 3 1/4/20: I guess it's all about baby steps for the host of the White Power Hour on Fix Noise, but grudging credit where it's due here.
Meanwhile, from the world of reality, I offer this...
When car bombs start exploding at outdoor cafes and landmarks, what's Trump's move then? When an American military base is decimated by missiles, what then? If you're applauding Soleimani's death but you're not thinking about next steps in the escalation, you're as dumb as Trump.
…and I had the following clip very much in mind after the Iran story unfolded, presenting a case study in how presidents are supposed to act when faced with the most dire possible consequences (kind of cringed a bit in response to Tweety’s remark at the end about leadership in touch with the people – I think we had that when he spoke those words in 2012, but I definitely don’t think we have that now)…
…and yeah, the MoDo pic above is meant to incriminate one of our worst pundit offenders, but she has plenty of company, and Thom Hartmann asks a more basic media-related question here (of course, if our citizenry as a whole weren’t so jaded/uninformed/distracted/whatever, they’d be screaming over getting lied to as much as Chuck Todd should be)…
…and when it comes to those looking to replace Mango Mussolini, I have to admit that I was a little behind on some of the stuff involving Joe Biden, but yeah, I think we can expect a nonstop onslaught of clipped quotes and badly edited videos to try and incriminate the Dem nominee, whoever that person may be (I think Farron Cousins is a little more PO’ed than usual because he knows he got played too – can happen to anybody)…
…and this “Now This” clip tells us about the Kansas cop who claimed that a McDonald’s employee wrote “f*cking pig” on his coffee cup – I thought the official statement from the police department on this was BS…this pabulum of “oh, our community has to heal and this reflects badly on all of us, blah blah”…if this had happened FOR REAL, the cops would be picketing this McDonald’s night and day…not saying it would be right for a McD’s worker to pull a stunt like that, but just saying there’s a double standard, that’s all…
Update: Hey, for anyone who doesn't like this attempt at humor - well, all I can say is that the cops should stop giving us (ahem...) ammunition.
...and here's another great, relatively new tune to help kick-start our first post-holiday weekend of the new year.
I don’t believe Brian Williams actually took a ride in an Iraqi helicopter before he hosted this segment – might as well start the new year with a little snark…Jason Johnson is exactly right of course, and shockingly, Bill Kristol may have actually stumbled onto some truths, though of course, being the pissant he is, he tries to sneak in a bit of a dig at “the left”…I’m presenting this as a reminder that, yes, impeachment is still in play (even though #MoscowMitch will construct a show trial to absolve the Gropenfuhrer), as well as a reminder of the life forms we have to contend with as the 2020 elections ramp up still further…
…and David Pakman takes a look at the cross-tabs, if you will, on the performance of our economy (I thought this was kind of an interesting analysis)…
…and keeping with money matters, I thought this was another good segment by Robert Reich on how Citizens United led us to Mango Mussolini…
…and Lawrence O’Donnell interviewed New York Times reporter Jesse Drucker on the 2017 tax cut scam (hold every Repug accountable for this, people, including this guy)...
…and Pap and Farron Cousins talk about Google playing both sides of the fence when it comes to donating money to politicians and campaigns, including climate change deniers (and I'm the last one to praise "centrist Democrats," but to say you can't tell the difference between a "cent-Dem" and a Repug is nonsense...and yeah, Kamala Harris had issues, but THEY ALL have issues, and she got crowded off the stage because of our corporate media loving Mayor Pete, Klobuchar, and this week's millionaire running for the Dem nomination - just offering an explanation and not crying about it because, as a notable politician once said, politics ain't beanbag...and once more, I'm not crazy about linking to The Putin Network, but it looks like the reporting holds up...and "biostitutes"...good one)...
...and yeah, with the holidays over, I need to start paying attention to new music again, so let me begin with this selection.
Here is a prediction with the new year almost having arrived – if you disliked Betsy DeVos before, I predict that you’ll absolutely detest her after watching this clip (and I think Dem U.S. House Rep Josh Harder got a little personal, but if anybody deserves that kind of treatment, it’s a pathological lying ideologue like DeVos who, by rights, should be in prison for violating a court order to provide relief to those in student loan debt)…
(Oh, and what would the holiday season be like without another real or attempted mass gun slaughter in this country? There were two people killed recently in a church at some place called White Settlement, Texas, and I watched the NBC News report where they aired two gunshots and then showed pictures of parishioners with guns drawn aimed at the suspect, who, presumably, was shot dead by that point. With all due respect to the NBC News professionals who reported it straight, the report made me angry because of the blasé attitude of everyone interviewed…”Well, you know, houses of worship are easy targets, blah blah blah,” along with the obligatory “thoughts and prayers” statement from Repug Gov. Greg Abbott…pathetic sheep led to the f*cking slaughter because of their own macho idiocy...here.)
Update: Because of this, I can safely tell you that I will never attend a worship service in Texas.
…and it looks like Delaware Dem U.S. Senator and corpocrat Chris Coons is getting a primary challenger (link is here)...not the biggest fan of feeding frenzies like this, but I’m willing to make an exception in Coons’s case – Coons more than deserves it for the reasons Sam Seder notes (as well as this and this, and good point at the end by Sam about Justin Amash)…
…and it appears that Fairfax County, VA will permit students one day a year for student engagement (TYT, with Cenk, Brooke Thomas and Aida Rodriguez...and of course the wingnuts are outraged...some info on Fairfax County’s past resistance to integration is here)...
…and if we have young kids looking for toys to play with after Santa’s visit, please let’s all do what we can to keep them away from plastic magnets that could potentially wreak medical havoc on them should they be swallowed (more here)…
…and since we have reached the end of another year, allow me to thank one and all who have spent any time whatsoever at this site over the past year and extend best wishes for 2020. This is always a tenuous enterprise, shall we say – there are times when I think I’ll be able to post something and I can’t, and then there have been times when I thought for sure I’d be able to do that and have had no opportunity whatsoever, so thanks for sticking with me for whatever reason you may have.
This upcoming year could be the most consequential of our lives. It is imperative that we not only send Generalissimo Trump packing, but that we return all of Congress to the Democrats (and that also means that we need to do our best to keep milquetoast corporate Dems like Coons in line too). Now that the hideous face of movement, corporatist conservatism has been fully exposed for all to see (the culmination of years of intrigue, stealth and propaganda), we must be prepared to fight it with everything we have and whatever our means allows. This will not be easy, and we’ll have to be engaged in this battle for awhile yet. But for now, I offer the following as a bit of an anthem to the cause (and in honor of the recent birthday of Patti Smith).
I would like to offer thoughts and prayers for real in support of stricken Dem U.S. Congressman and civil rights pioneer John Lewis (here)…
…and going from the sublime to the ridiculous, Farron Cousins tells us here about Puffy Chao funneling more $$ (which, as Cousins notes, is quite probably illegal) into KY to help her husband #MoscowMitch, who is up for re-election next year in the U.S. Senate…
…and Kyle tells us here about our corporate media puffing up Amy Klobuchar after the recent Democratic presidential candidates’ debate (too funny)…
…and with the year coming to a close, I just wanted to take note of the passing of three other musical notables who I don’t think I mentioned earlier, so I’d like to take care of that now – one is Art Neville of The Neville Brothers…
Chris Hayes talks with The Rev. William Barber about the Christianity Today editorial criticizing the Gropenfuhrer (I know I already said a thing or two into this, but I think Barber’s take is noteworthy here - and the fundies are just so charming aren't they, as noted here)…
…and John I., Cenk and Ramesh Srinivasan of TYT tell us about more garbage in our pork (far fewer inspectors and turning it over to the plants to inspect themselves…what could go wrong? And kudos to John for bringing a little fire here…just a personal note: Cenk isn’t kidding when he talks about eating overseas versus eating in this country; I couldn’t get over how much better the food tasted when we visited the UK a few years ago – this was all documented in “Fast Food Nation” awhile back, and it’s only gotten worse since then of course)…
…and RIP William Greider (here), shown here talking about the attempt to loot Social Security under Obama…they’re going to keep coming back for that and Medicare over and over and over…
...and about Greider, I would say this was an interesting bit of foreshadowing, though the reality is more complex I realize...
Bill Greider, 2014: “if Hillary Clinton is the nominee in 2016—any hope that Democrats will embrace the imperative for fundamental change will be lost. Dems will become the party of the past, defending wrong ideas that failed and losing more elections.”https://t.co/HqRYMRKN6T
…and as long as we’re acknowledging some who has recently passed on, I think we should pay tribute to some other musical folks who left us in the year that is coming a to close – beginning with Ric Ocasek of The Cars…
(A note: I will likely return to my somewhat irregular posting schedule after today.)
Well I’ll be…it looks like some of the evangelical sheep aren’t all that thrilled with being “shorn,” if you will, by the Gropenfuhrer (kudos to Mark Galli for pushing back - and leave it to that journalistic fraud Christine Flowers, - who, for some reason, continues to actually draw a paycheck from Inquirer.com – to use this story as an excuse to perform an act of utter avoidance of Mango Mussolini’s many, many character flaws, which are very much in issue here, and attack Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and progressives overall instead – what a hateful, pathetic harridan that woman truly is…here)…
…and Farron Cousins tells us about the U.S. Senate Dems FINALLY pushing back against Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao on all of the legislation that has effectively died on McConnell’s desk (more here)…
…and New York Times reporter Jeremy White tells us about buying a gun kit and building one without a serial number (and I hope Andy Lander or his family or friends are never the victims of violent crime, particularly from one of the weapons of the type described in this video, but if they are…well, then maybe he’ll be able to console himself with the idiotic pabulum he dishes out here about having to protect himself from the big, bad “gumint” – and “Glocktober,” huh? Cute…)…
…and see what happens when you elect Democrats, people? Kentucky Dem Gov. Andy Beshear is expanding voting rights, as opposed to GA and WI (and as Cenk and Ana of TYT note, that isn’t necessarily a guarantee that that will help “Team D,” but in terms of basic fairness, it’s definitely the right thing to do)…
…and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 12/26/09 – the following is a “Rethink Afghanistan” clip from Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films featuring former Dem U.S. House Rep Alan Grayson (an update is here)…
…and this pretty much marks the end of my seasonal selections (sniff :-).
John I. of The Damage Report tells us about the Gropenfuhrer saying climate change is a hoax (of course) and criticizing wind power as only he can (anyone responsible for electing this corrupt, brain-addled meat sack should be cast into irons and pilloried in the town square)...
Update 12/27/19: The prior clip related to climate change was somewhat amusing, in a "gallows humor" kind of way I guess, but I definitely can't say the same thing for this.
…and Rachel Maddow tells us about more voter purging in Wisconsin and Georgia; as usual, the Repugs can’t win an election without voter suppression and intimidation (more here)…
…and this clip from David Doel of The Rational National tells us that Bernie Sanders’s support keeps growing - yeah, I know this is more "horse race" stuff which usually I can't stand, but it is a bit interesting I have to admit...
...and I think it takes a true adult to admit when he or she is wrong, as Bernie does here about his vote for the Afghan War (from The Majority Report, and Sam is exactly right about Biden not acknowledging his failures, and that's really true about just about everyone else also)...
...and we're winding down with the seasonal selevtions, but here are a few more.
Wow, it looks like the “party of Lincoln” has some kind of a pulse of respectability, as it were, coursing through its metaphorical veins, or at least the group Republicans for the Rule of Law has it, as opposed to the party overall, as Cenk and Ana of TYT tell us…
...and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Mango Mussolini maligning former Dem Congressman John Dingell, who, being dead, cannot defend himself (and kudos to Debbie Dingell for somehow finding the grace to not tell our Orange Traitor what he can do with himself)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us about the USDA listing the fictional country of Wakanda on its website (INCOMPETENCE FOREVER!)...
...and Michael Brooks and the TMR crew tell us about Steve King falling for a Starbucks troll (easy on the “boomer/Internet” stuff Jamie - :-) - mildly NSFW…
...and we're winding down with the seasonal selections - here are a few more.
Like most of you I’m sure, I’m in the midst of the typical Christmas/holiday stuff in anticipation of the big day, as it were. And I guess that is probably a really boring way I’ll admit to lead into the fact that I received a bit of jarring news related to this site a short time ago.
This is a link to an excellent tribute to Shaun Mullen written by Valerie Russ at inquirer.com. Shaun passed away recently, as noted in the story – natural causes were cited. He wrote at the blog Kiko’s House for many years, though his career in journalism was rich in reporting on all sorts of major stories from the Vietnam War (about which he authored a book of Philadelphia residents who were casualties) to the MOVE bombing (which, most definitely, is a landmark story in this area, and not for positive reasons overall). As noted in Russ’s tribute, Shaun worked at an editor at the Philadelphia Daily News for many years.
There was a time when I was trying to build up the profile of this site by writing longer-form pieces with more links and also leave comments at other noteworthy sites (Shaun’s site and Above Average Jane come immediately to mind, as well as The Existentialist Cowboy, and Avedon Carol’s site, the name of which escapes me at the moment). For all kinds of reasons, I was not able to devote the time and effort into accomplishing the goal I set out to achieve in the beginning, but I still believed then as now that I can accomplish some good in constituting this site as you read and view it today.
When I was able to write longer pieces with more links way back when, Shaun was gracious enough to leave comments. That is something he most definitely did not need to do, but I appreciated it and still do. In case you haven’t guessed, I do this as a hobby pretty much; as previously noted, this is not a source of income. Thankfully for me, I don’t have to worry about making a livelihood out of this. Again, I’m not complaining, since that’s more my responsibility than anyone else’s. Shaun was the seasoned, actual journalist, and if I manage to concoct something akin to actual journalism at this site, it’s probably more of an accident than for any other reason.
I guess you can consider this my way of saying thanks to Shaun for his support. We need all of the courageous voices of independent journalism we can get. Now that Shaun’s has been stilled, it’s up to us to continue to advocate for those who need whatever support we can muster in order to ultimately achieve something akin to social justice. Put another way, as Ted Kennedy said about Bobby at his brother’s eulogy, “Some men see things as they are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not.”
I don’t know if Shaun would have wanted that kind of an epitaph, but my guess is that, somehow, he wouldn’t have minded it too much either.
Update 12/23/19: This is what I was looking for earlier (and I corrected the name misspelling - my bad).
As we know by now, Tulsi Gabbard voted Present to both of the Democratic articles of impeachment against Generalissimo Trump, which is, to be sure, patently absurd for the reasons noted by Cenk and Ana of TYT in the clip…
…and Farron Cousins tells us about the idiot conservative Denver radio talk show host who apparently wished for a school shooting to distract from the impeachment story (and I think Cousins is right that this flatulent biped will find another home somewhere in the right-wing fever swamps of conservative media)…
…and I have to admit that I had no idea what a truly foul, fetid human being Matt Bevin was until this story (a sickening update is here - don't understand the point of mentioning Kasich and Beshear at the end, but whatever)…
…and on a less nauseating note, Kyle tells us about Bernie getting in the faces of Biden and Mayor Pete over their big-donor contributions, with Bernie claiming more small-donor contributions than anyone else (no “wine cave” issues here, and the Trump comparison at the end is a little disturbing, but apt all the same)…
…and here’s a tune for everyone recognizing the “festival of lights” that begins tonight…
Brian Tyler Cohen brings us a clip of Mango Mussolini professing admiration for Nancy Pelosi and wondering why she didn’t impeach Dubya for Iraq – no, you’re not suddenly in some parallel universe; clip is from 2008…
…and Cenk and Ana of TYT tell us about this great campaign ad from Andrew Romanoff focused on the climate crisis; Romanoff is running in the Dem Colorado U.S. Senate primary for the seat currently held by soulless Repug shill Cory Gardner – as Cenk and Ana tell us, Romanoff has to knock off “Fracken-Looper” first…
..and here’s a great “Now This” clip about the benefits of solar energy (as noted in the clip, Mr. Asmus upgraded his home for solar using LEAP, the Low Income Energy Assistance Program in Colorado, appropriately enough given the prior clip; don’t know if that’s offered nationwide or if that could be a model, but it should be – and in a related item, I give you this)…
…and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day in Doomsy History” (more or less) from 12/19/13…from the little bit I’ve read, apparently Sen. Elizabeth Warren held her own in the 2,462nd debate last night among the Democratic candidates for president, and with that in mind, I think it’s instructive to bring back this clip; with the exception of Bernie Sanders, nobody else on that stage has the record for consumer advocacy that Warren has built up throughout her career, and in this clip, she talks with Chris Hayes about the idiocy of employers wanting to review credit scores for job applicants as part of a background check even though that information has not one damn thing to do with how that person would perform on the job (more is here, and I'm not a bit surprised that California was progressive enough to ban this practice as noted here)…
Here’s a video from The Guardian in which Times Square protesters are interviewed before the recent Trump impeachment vote (more here and here – and "no evidence" from the Trumpette who was interviewed? How about this? And we know how Benedict Arnold Van Drew voted, but Collin Peterson of Minnesota voted against both articles and Jared Golden of Maine voted against the second article…and #JillStein2020 voted “present” on both articles of impeachment – I’m sure her pal Tucker Carlson will be proud of her)...
…and there’s a lot more that need to be said about the antics of Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao in the U.S. Senate, but for now, this is a pretty good 1:45 segment from Chris Hayes…
…and here’s a cheerful little holiday item about massive global inequality – since most of the world is interconnected, we know what kind of con is going on, as Kyle quite rightly notes…
…and I put off this video in light of more timely stuff for the last few days, but I’m getting around to it now – it looks like Clint “Arguing With The Empty Chair” concocted some bit of crackpot MAGA history, which is a shame for the reasons Cenk notes…
