I would say the kid from Scranton made the most of his opportunity today.
There has to be a word that embodies the resilience, dedication and intelligence of Joe Biden. Have I always agreed with him? Definitely not (here is a rather ignominious example in the past from yours truly – mea maxima culpa).
But you’d have to go a looong way to find someone of his accomplishments. Yes, there are plenty of doddering old heads in our government (on both sides of the aisle), but Biden has found a way to outlast the vast majority of them and ascend to the very pinnacle of political power in this country, if not the world. I still remember that he once appeared as a panelist on “Real Time With Bill Maher” I think from the ’08 campaign and he basically held court and took over the show, not in a grating or obnoxious manner, but by the depth and breadth of experience exemplified in everything he said.
I thought his speech hit all of the right notes (yeah, it would have been hard not to like it, I realize). It was skillful (and completely necessary) to weave in the catastrophic events of two weeks ago into a message of hope and purpose. And the truth. And unity.
The harder work will come later, but this was a great start (like many of you I realize, I’d forgotten what actual presidential leadership sounded like and looked like...no, I also haven’t forgotten about his support for the awful bankruptcy bill, and the Iraq war which was worse, but we have to find a way to move forward)...
...and it sounds like at least a portion of the world, if not the majority, was pleased by what happened today also...
...and while I was digging around, I found this clip of Biden speaking about the importance of what would become the ACA from about 12 years ago, and I thought it was typical of the straightforward manner he demonstrated again today...
...and John and Francesca tell us about some stuff Biden can do pretty quickly, like reversing some of the ruinous policies of the Gropenfuhrer...
...and speaking of 45, as much as I wish we were rid of him and his cohort of grifters and criminals including much of his family, yeah, he’ll be back in the public eye, unfortunately, at some point; Rachel Maddow gave him the shove out the metaphorical door he deserved (but believe it or not, he apparently leaves office with a 79 percent approval rating from Republicans, as noted here – and THAT is the problem, dear reader!)...
...and by rights, I shouldn’t have anything to do with this guy since he’s been an anti-social distancing jackass, but I can think of no more appropriate tune for today than this one.
John Iadarola and Aida Rodriguez tell us that, apparently, Generalissimo Trump had to be stopped from going to the Capitol while impeachment was going on in the House (would have been still more of a ridiculous spectacle if they’d allowed it of course, which probably would have generated good ratings for cable news if nothing else)...
...and MSNBC’s Alicia Menendez speaks with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Attorney General Dana Nessel about the threat of still more domestic violence for the upcoming inauguration (“This has been going on for 10 months and we’re asking people to take this seriously”...uh. yep...and I’m a little disgusted that they gave so much time to this knuckle dragger Michael Lackomar, who apparently has what passes for a political opinion that’s a mile wide but a quarter of an inch deep, but I guess it was necessary)...
...and sticking with Michigan, Rachel Maddow reports on the Flint water disaster and related recent indictments (good that she recalls that horrible Michigan “emergency manager” law that those disgusting Repugs in the state house passed...apparently, though, Snyder will be charged with a misdemeanor that is only punishable by a max of a year in prison...so naaah, he won’t see any jail time...love to be wrong)...
...and Thom Hartmann tells us about the right-wing nutzoids blaming Nancy Pelosi for 1/6/21 – gets to news at about 3:40 after some housekeeping stuff (”This is the result of coddling right-wing terrorists for 30 years.” indeed)...
...and Chris Hayes speaks with Christina Greer of Fordham University about the so-called “1776 Report,” which, given that this is pretty much the last gasp of Trumpsterism from the White House, is about as odious as you can expect (more here)...
...and speaking of conservatives having a hissy fit, it looks like they’re clutching their pearls, as it were, over the fact that Bernie Sanders is going to be the incoming chair of the Senate Budget Committee; David Doel tells us more (and I know people are pissed at Schumer for that power-sharing arrangement he’s concocted with Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao, but though Schumer definitely isn’t my favorite person by any means, I’m going to “keep my powder dry” on this one since I don’t think it’s worth the fight for now)...
...and yes, I know he was found guilty of second-degree murder in the killing of Lana Clarkson, and he was genuinely a whacked-out individual in a lot of ways, but there’s no denying the influence of Phil Spector on American music, particularly what I guess you could call pop music, rock and rhythm and blues, and I wouldn’t wish a COVID death on anybody – this tune is emblematic of his legacy...
...and in fewer words, here's a message for our 45th *president.
This footage from The New Yorker takes us inside the 1/6 insurrection - more here (NSFW/H...I realize this isn’t remotely funny in any way whatsoever, but I’m sorry – I couldn’t help but chuckle when that one meat sack in particular, after invading the Senate chamber, yelled, “Where the f*ck is Nancy?” – shattering the stoo-pid meter for sure...”I think Cruz would want us to do this. I think we’re good,” huh? Probably right...and "we can't lose the 'I/O' war? We're better than that?" Dream on, you treasonous nut job.)...
...and speaking of vandalism, David Doel tells us about the Trump gang making off with whatever they can from the White House...God, look at the looting from the white “overclass”...maybe we could reach out to faith leaders of the white “overclass” to make them change their ways and learn how to work for a living (a variation of what I and millions of others heard after Katrina when the metaphorical shoe was on the other racial foot)...
...and Rachel Maddow tells us that, apparently, the “secondary reserve” of COVID-19 vaccines doesn’t exist, but fortunately the incoming Biden Administration, which is actually made up of mature, intelligent adults, has come up with a plan to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible...
...and Chris Hayes gives an incredibly heart felt commentary aimed at the “professional class” of Republican operatives – I sure would like to be optimistic about this, but I can’t, because it’s all about the numbers in that survey, which represents a truly scary level of denial...
...and every once in awhile on MLK day, I put up this speech from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Barratt Middle School in Philadelphia on October 26. 1967, with the them of “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?,” and I thought the time was right to do it again...
...and I thought it appropriate to bring this back for the holiday also.
Yeah, the drum beat against those who supported the January 6th insurrection is only going to get louder, and that includes this guy along with the U.S. Senate traitors in this video...
...and Farron Cousins tells us about how the Republican Attorney Generals Association launched the robocall that helped stir the great unwashed followers of Our Treasonous Orange Pustule into action (more here)...
...and Chris Hayes is absolutely right of course, but to me, all of this “the election was stolen” grievance BS (though down-ballot Repugs won like crazy, unfortunately) is what is sadly a profitable offshoot of the entire money-making conservative media and political model of “oh, we’re just poor, misunderstood conservatives oppressed by liberals who want free health care for immigrant caravans full of gangs, bathrooms with trans people using my toilet, and...all together now – ABORTION ON DEMAND” that the right has been milking dry for at least the last 30 or so years...
...and I thought Ari Melber did a good job here of linking the incendiary words of the lowlifes who encouraged the violence along with the knuckle draggers who carried it out (one of the last dying gasps of white privilege as far as I’m concerned, which can’t expire soon enough)...
...and this Now This clip features some of the Capitol officers caught up in the murderous mayhem (“The cognitive dissonance and the zealotry of these people is unreal.” indeed)...
...and I'm in the mood for a little late night musical escapism - I think this will suffice (and somewhat inspired by these clips, I have to admit).
The Majority Report tells us about a brief Fix Noise dustup featuring Brian Kilmeade over the recent treasonous insurrection (and I love the way Steve Douchebag first says a “Democratic” president and then corrects himself and says “Democrat” president as Sam and Emma tell us...get the script right or else they send you back to the factory, you numbskull – removing my tongue from my cheek)...
...and David Doel tells us about Cori Bush’s speech in the U.S. House while impeachment was being debated that pretty much cut right to the proverbial chase – and apparently she was booed, which she should wear as a badge of honor...and her remarks to Chris Hayes were even better...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that panic buttons were ripped out of Dem U.S. House Rep Ayanna Pressley’s office; my money is on sabotage, and I’m sticking with it until somebody proves me wrong...
...and this “Morning Joe” clip with Stephanie Ruhle tells us that the GOP’s beloved “bundlers” are getting a little nervous over last week’s attempt to overthrow our government...
...but let’s shed a tear for the “true victims” of last week’s seditious revolt, as we’re reminded by Trevor Noah and The Daily Show (insufferable white privilege on display of course)...
...and with all of the hot-and-cold-running insanity over the last week or so, I neglected to mention the passing last December 30th of Eugene Wright, bassist for The Dave Brubeck Quartet...here is another one of the band’s signature tunes.
This is truly a first for Our Orange Pustule-In-Chief – nobody else is in the “two impeachment” club, as NBC News tells us here (unusually prescient remarks from Chuck Todd I believe – I think Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao will be in a mood to swing to impeach Combover Caligula because of what 45 did to, in McConnell’s view, cost him the Senate, as well as stain the already-fouled reputation of McConnell’s wife for being associated with this criminal enterprise of an administration...hate to keep going back to Rick Wilson, but he’s right...everything Trump touches dies...more here)...
...and yeah, here are all the Repugs crying about “unity” and “healing” after STILL contesting the PA and AZ election results after the catastrophe of 1/6 (vile, despicable life forms all, particularly McCarthy and Scalise...and that idiot Bob Good needs to wear his mask properly)...
...and better late than never I know – kudos to Mehdi Hasan for “going there” at long last on the question of our media normalizing Generalissimo Trump, as noted here...
...and I was trying to come up with a tune about incarceration, which is what 45 sorely deserves, and I found this; I thought a tune by Tom Waits was apropos (our current *president should have some company from his family and/or members of his political party by the time all is said and done).
Ari Melber gives us more disturbing, graphic video on the treasonous insurrection that took place last week (and I know there’s some real wingnuttery going on today in arguing for a second impeachment with Gohmert of course, along with Lee Zeldin, Jordan as well and the other usual Repug suspects in the U.S. House, with some brave remarks by Ilhan Omar and Cori Bush of course...and I can’t imagine the guts and strength of character of Jamie Raskin to be an impeachment manager so soon after his son’s death)...
...and by the way, “sedition” and “insurrection” were also cited by our military in a recent correspondence condemning the uprising, as Rachel Maddow tells us, which of course carries legal implications, as well it should (and those carrying out these criminal acts were apparently aided by U.S. House Repugs Andy Biggs, Mo Brooks and Paul Gosar, as noted here, who should all be expelled from Congress and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law...and Bri-Fi dished up some truly weak saucehere with his motion to "censure" the Gropenfuhrer; to let him know what you think, click here...and yeah, "spineless" indeed from Fitzpatrick here)...
...and David Pakman told us more yesterday about the second article of impeachment coming (and great points about how going after 45 NOW takes no courage whatsoever – Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao won’t reconvene “the world’s greatest deliberative body” of course, so this definitely will be handled at some point by the new Dem Senate)...
...and David Doel tells us that, while they were in lockdown, Dem U.S. House Reps Pramila Jayapal and Bonnie Watson Coleman were stuck with selfish, idiot Repug House members who wouldn’t “mask up,” and now Jayapal and Watson Coleman have tested positive for ‘rona...they should sue everyone in sight...
...and this Now This clip tells us more about the U.S. House GOP bastards who wouldn’t take the incredibly simple step of mask protection for themselves and other people they work with (and yes, one Dem needed to be reminded to pull the mask up over his or her mouth and nose - fair is fair)...
...and yeah, I think something has changed too, but it may take a little more time to find out exactly what.
Chris Hayes brings us still more important video on last Wednesday’s treasonous insurrection – and believe me when I tell you that I am in NO MOOD WHATSOVER when it comes to trying to reach out to these cowards, but if you’re not prepared to tell me that Joe Biden is the legally-elected president-elect and Kamala Harris is the legally-elected vice-president-elect, then don’t waste my time about any alleged “reconciliation,” which I’m tired of hearing anyway – people need to be sentenced to prison, and politicians need to be disbarred and/or removed from office altogether...
...and here are more on the perpetrators (and nary a Muslim in sight)...
...and I thought this was a good clip from CNN’s Brianna Keilar calling out Republican politicians who ended up caving to Mango Mussolini, with the disastrous results apparent for the whole world to see...
...and Kyle’s takes have been kind of a mixed bag lately as far as I’m concerned, but I think he’s absolutely right here when it comes to corporations deciding not to donate to politicians because of last Wednesday (as Kyle says, they shouldn’t be donating to ANYBODY)...
...and when it comes to corporations and the “one percent” exercising outsized influence on our politicians, one member of that club most definitely was Sheldon Adelson, and this TYT clip from a couple of years ago, gives some indication why I’m not going to feel a speck of remorse over the fact that he’s dead (and let's not forget this)...
Here is more Now This video on last Wednesday’s attempted coup to keep Generalissimo Trump in power (and apparently, Our Treasonous Orange Pustule is going to try and stage something at the Alamo on Tuesday, as noted here, though there are conflicting reports; wonder how much MORE dangerous he’ll try to be until he’s done – probably don’t want to know...and what does it tell you that, in response to last week’s carnage, MORE Republican members of the U.S. House support him, not fewer, as noted here?)...
Update 1/11/21: And why am I not surprised by this? Maybe this loon should have thought about his post-arrest "accommodations" a little earlier.
Update 1/12/21: Bette Midler is right - this guy IS a natural!
...and Chris Hayes brought us more disturbing video that we can add to the tragic catalogue of all of this stuff...
...and a hat tip goes out to Mrs. Doomsy for the video from this gentleman named Brian, who spelled out everything leading up to last week’s treasonous insurrection (oh, and of course, “Adolf Twitler” lost his account, which was long overdue)...
...and David Pakman tells us that Biden is apparently getting a whole new Secret Service team...good! God only knows how many Trumpsters are burrowed into our government at this point (and anything to do with that lunatic Dan Bongino is trouble...”it’s going to be a very interesting couple of years” indeed.)...
...and while I had a lot of disagreements with Schwarzenegger particularly when he was governor of Kaa-Lee-four-nee-ah, he was occasionally spot-on, particularly when it came to the environment, and I think he definitely hit the bullseye again here, you might say...
...and here's another musical selection that I offer without comment.
(Yeah, it doesn’t leave much to the imagination when it comes to figuring out what these life forms were up to last Wednesday, does it? Make sure you get your “MAGA Merch” in time for the seditious uprising!)
(And oh yeah, as I said earlier, too out there even for Kubrick, as noted here...a cross between “Seven Days In May” and “Jackass: The Movie.”)
This “Now This” clip features Dem U.S. House Reps Jason Crow and Susan Wild talking about what it was like for them to fear for their lives last Wednesday; this related AP report is a bit graphic, but this information needs to be out there, and this tells us about some of the dark money cretins behind that revolt (and good on @ProjectLincoln for this)...not directing this at Wild, Crow, or any other Dem as far as I can see, but I read an elementary school teacher on Twitter say that one of her students told her that, maybe now that Congress has experienced the terror of at least one live shooter, maybe they’ll pass common sense gun laws at long last – the student told the teacher that, since kindergarten to about 6th grade, she’s gone through at least 6 active shooter drills...and by the way, the casualty count is now at 5 with the death of a Capitol police officer, likely from one of these lunatics...and funny, but I don’t hear about any of these MAGA creeps yelling “back the blue” right now – do you?)...
Update: And it's time to hold Ginni Thomas up for the scorn she deserves, along with Bri-Fi pal and NAC owner (closer to home) Jim Worthington (here)...more here.
...and Farron Cousins tells us that a facial recognition company has linked the nutzoids on Wednesday with right-wing extremist groups, despite what the Formerly Moonie Times said about Antifa (Cousins hits the bullseye on what that a-hole Matt Gaetz needs to do in response to what XR Vision found...and oh yeah, I'm sure Antifa was guilty of this too - riiiiight...the Amy Lynn tweet, I mean)...
...and Emma Vigeland on TMR talks about Joe Scar using the “F” bomb recently, making this whole clip slightly NSFW/H (I’m glad they finally let Jamie Peck speak because she made some great points)...
...and Ari Melber speaks with New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg, who basically had been warning us about Generalissimo Trump since he eked out an electoral victory in 2016 (and I probably heard the idea about the commission to look into this from her, to be honest...I’d like to take credit for that, but I really can’t)...
...and yeah, we know what The Roger Ailes BS Factory is, but I think they still need to be roasted up a bit for what led up to Wednesday's insurrection (and make no mistake - when you've got a group of heavily-armed maniacs parading around with zip ties and building a scaffold, yeah, it sounds to me like they wanted to take hostages and maybe hold an execution or two, like they threatened to do with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer...we all need to connect the dots on this shit, people, including me! And thank God they didn't come across, say, Ilhan Omar or anyone on the "squad," becuase they probably would have been shot on sight.).
(And as far as what that news mannequin Ainsley Earhardt said – “There are 75 million people who voted for President Trump, and they’re scared”...IT’S CALLED THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS! SUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP!)...
...and I had this David Bowie tune in mind recently given all of this utter madness – we lost “The Thin White Duke” five years ago tomorrow.
A hat tip to Atrios at Eschaton for this great recent commentary from Seth Meyers on Wednesday's disaster...
...and Elizabeth Warren hit the nail on the proverbial head again and again with this...
...and Thom Hartmann, as usual, gives us another interesting history lesson on how we got to this point (which Hartmann recorded on 1/5, I should note)...
...and Dem U.S. House Rep Conor Lamb of our beloved commonwealth of PA hasn’t exactly been #1 on my hit parade recently, but kudos to him for this...
...and Nicolle Wallace speaks with Neal Katyal on the 25th Amendment (which I can practically guarantee that “Onward Christian Soldiers” Mike Pence won’t pursue, though Wallace and Katyal are right that people need to go on the record as to whether or not they support removing the Gropenfuhrer once and for all)...
...and Jimmy Kimmel made a serious point about all of this with a bit of humor, though through clenched teeth I’ll admit...
...and Vaush brought plenty of NSFW/H outrage over last Wednesday’s madness in this clip (and yeah, if you’re a Republican and you’re not condemning this, you are indeed part of the problem...and while he was more than a day late and a dollar short, at least this guy did that much)...
Update 1: I need to dive into this a little more, but it looks like Mark Sumner of Daily Kos did a great job of connecting the dots here.
To me (and I’m just a guy with an opinion and this dumb blog of course), it looks to me like we’re going to need some kind of a permanent select House/Senate committee (preferably the House) to look into EVERYTHING that led up to last Wednesday’s attempted coup (and that’s what this was – make no mistake...should probably be two Dems, two Repugs, an historian and/or a Constitutional scholar – paging former President Hopey Changey). And like many others, I wondered about getting rid of the people in the Defense Department including Mark Esper (and staffing them with loyalists to Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence), but I think that played a role too in trying to get the military on board with this (though, to their credit, they certainly didn’t do that, and as noted, all 10 living former Defense Secretaries, including Cheney and Rumsfeld, wrote that Op-Ed opposing it).
Update 2: Such a committee investigating last Wednesday’s attempted coup should morph into a permanent (as already stated) presidential oversight commission run by the U.S. House going back over the last 50 years (would take us to the end of Nixon, at this point). The only caveat is that they wouldn’t be authorized to investigate the presidential administration currently in power, because you have to draw the line somewhere. And yes, I know the temptation would be to politicize the hell out of this (e.g., if Dems run the House, they would look at Republican administrations – which I think is totally called for, by the way – and if Republicans run the House, they would look at Democratic administrations). But after Our Orange Pustule-in-Chief, I think it’s safe to say that we need “guard rails” around the presidency, since our current structure failed us (though it was more the fault of the people in charge than the “structure” itself of course).
...and as long as the MAGA gang has tried to infringe on the copyright of yet another artist as noted here (Laura Branigan this time, who passed in 2004 I should note), I think the following selection is apropos (and why not have an '80s tune on a Friday?).
I know we like to believe that those responsible for yesterday’s horror show in Washington, D.C. will feel a speck of contrition for what they did and what they incited (and by the way, not just at our nation’s capitol, but all over the country). But of course, they won’t, and that goes for our politicians who encouraged it and cheered it on along with the usual suspects in our corporate media who tried to rationalize it and explain it away.
And that’s why those responsible need to be punished with the full weight of the law, and any and all remedies offered by our political institutions (insufficient though they may be for such treason as this), along with universal censure and scorn in the court of public opinion.
Because those responsible will have to be watched, because they SURELY will attempt insurrection again. And as somebody pointed out, do you SERIOUSLY think they would have met with the same result had the Republicans completely controlled our government, and assuming they would have been able to entice our military to help them to any degree at all?
We’re closer to the precipice than we realize (as Chris Hayes alludes to below). And anyone who ignores that also helps accelerate the pace at which we approach it before we collectively all fall into the abyss (and we should have invoked the 25th Amendment long ago)...
...and I don’t think calling this “Trump’s 9/11,” as K.O. does here, is hyperbole at all...
...and as noted, Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow brought what I thought was plenty of disgust and indignation that was completely called for...
...(or as somebody on Twitter said...I think that's where I read it...Lincoln was able to keep the Confederate Flag out of the nation's capitol, but not Mango Mussolini of course.)...
...and Ana and John of TYT make some GREAT points about the contrast in the D.C. cops between last summer’s BLM protests and yesterday’s chaos, with those duly deputized to “serve, protect and defend” in some cases taking selfies with the insurrectionists (and as more than a few others have pointed out, do we REALLY need to ask what would have happened if yesterday’s protestors had been black or Muslim?)...
...I also want to change the subject from what is quite rightly topic number one and point out that tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of the Tucson, Arizona shooting of Gabby Giffords by Jared Loughner, in which Federal Judge John Roll and Christina Taylor Greene (niece of the late Phillies manager and executive Dallas Green) were also killed and others were injured (and leave it to that utter worm Chuck Todd and that hairdo sitting next to him to try and “both sides” the incendiary actions from Caribou Barbie and her map with the gun sights...we keep waiting for the other side to act like grownups, and as we saw yesterday of course, they basically still don’t, and possibly never will)...
...and I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to post over the next day or so, but I didn’t want to neglect to mention that Saturday marks the 80th birthday of the one and only Joan Baez.
I only have this to say given what's on display at the Capitol...
I’m not trying to trivialize this catastrophe in Washington, D.C., with the brainless minions of Our Treasonous, Insane Clown *President fomenting insurrection, but after this (which surely must give aid and comfort to our enemies; we trip all over ourselves with the COVID-19 pandemic and our wrecked economy...and now this – and I SWEAR TO GOD, EVERY GODDAMN THING TRUMP DOES HELPS RUSSIA SOMEHOW!!!)..after this, I never want to read another “Trump Voter In Trump Country” story in our corporate media FOR AS LONG AS I GODDAMN LIVE!
Hey, New York Times, Philly Inquirer, Bucks County Courier Times, Murdoch Street Journal, WaPo and everybody else – HERE THEY ALL ARE! THIS IS WHAT THEY’RE ALL ABOUT! NO NEED TO WRITE ANOTHER GODDAMN WORD EVER AGAIN!!!
Update 1/9/21: It sure as hell took you long enough, didn't it? (here).
On a day when we should be celebrating Dem wins in both U.S. Senate contests in Georgia (and I thought Ossoff and Warnock ran good campaigns, but let’s face it – we would’ve broken even at best if Mango Mussolini hadn’t depressed the vote with his ridiculous antics with Brad Raffensperger and the courageous Gabriel Sterling)...on a day when we should be doing nothing but a happy dance over rendering Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao to Minority Leader status...we instead have to focus on this lunacy (and the “JESUS 2020” banner is something that I think is too insane even for Stanley Kubrick, were he still with us of course).
I thought the opening words from Van Jones in this clip were spot-on (and I have big time disagreements with Gloria Borger – and I don’t take Rick Santorum seriously on anything, even this – but I’m going to put all of that aside for now...and I hope this idiot in Nancy Pelosi’s office goes to jail for the rest of his execrable life)...
Update 1: The whole world is indeed watching (here), and this tells us why we actually need to get serious about domestic terrorism once and for all.
...and more than a few of these life forms, or at least those just as crazy or maybe worse, recently carried on in Oregon as noted in this clip (the Oregon clip Van Jones mentioned was from last summer, I hasten to add)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us what happened for real at the home of Repug U.S. Senator Josh Hawley recently (and let us not EVER forget that Hawley was one of the 13 U.S. Senators and 126 U.S. House Representatives guilty of aiding and abetting today’s riot...more here)...
Update 2: Gee, it looks like the U.S. Senate Treason Caucus lost a few members (including #MoscowMarsha) and picked up one more, as noted here, namely Cindy Hyde-Smith - fine; let them all live in disgrace for the rest of their days whether they bailed at the last minute or not.
Update 3: And the push back begins...damn right (here).
Update 1/7/21: These seven traitors should never be allowed to set foot in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania again!
...and speaking of Nancy Pelosi, I'd like to extend this message: THIS is how you play hardball with treasonous, seditious Republicans...in the PA state senate, they refused to seat Dem Jim Brewster while legal challenges to his victory proceed, even though Brewster's win has already been validated by more than a few courts (more here)...
...well, despite it all, we still have this great news to celebrate, though I have a feeling that the insufferable Joe Manchin and the highly questionable Kyrsten Sinema will now probably be the two most important people in the U.S. Senate....
...and I offer the following without further comment.
Farron Cousins tells us more about that call from the leader of “Cult 45” and the responses from Kelli Ward and some meat sack named David Shafer, bitching about the fact the call was recorded, as opposed to the incredible illegality that was discussed of course...
...and for one, final time, click here to help GOTV for Jon Ossoff and click here to do the same for Raphael Warnock...
...and Willie Geist from "Morning Joe" interviews two leading health care professionals on the lack of a vaccination rollout plan from the Gropenfuhrer (and this news about this “variant” virus out there that apparently is more easily transmissible is scary too)...
...and Thom H. speaks with a caller about authoritarianism and what can lead up to that (interesting stuff - and yeah, this sure fits too)...
...and Ana and Aida Rodriguez of TYT tell us that U.S. House progressives were able to make a change to PAYGO rules (which, of course, only Dems abide by, for some dumb reason), which could apply to any policy proposal as Ana says...GREAT point by Ana about how the Dems should focus on strategy and tactics as Repugs did after FDR...
...and I was trying to find a nice "Georgia" song for today's occasion (thought of Ray Charles and Boz Scaggs), but I ended up settling on this one.
David Pakman tells us what President-elect Biden can and can’t do when it comes to trying to enforce a national mask mandate – yep, despite all the Georgia election craziness currently raging, COVID-19 remains, truly, the “top story”...
...and John and Francesca of “The Damage Report” have more on that nutso call between Mango Mussolini and Georgia Republican election officials (“um...maybe George Soros inserted a microchip into each of the Dominion machines to undercount Trump votes? I saw it on The Epoch Times...many people are saying this.”)...
...and this Midas Touch ad features Trumpian stooge (nyuk nyuk) Lin Wood, saying Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue “have not earned your vote,” proving the adage that a stopped clock is correct at least twice a day (to help Raphael Warnock with GOTV tomorrow, click here, and to do the same for Jon Ossoff, click here)...
...and when I heard about that 1994 clip of Nancy Pelosi endorsing single payer (from a bill by fellow U.S. House Dem Jim McDermott), I had a feeling Kyle Kulinski would eventually have something to say about it, and he does here – shocking to actually hear his criticism of Bernie, but I think Kyle stumbled into a good point about Bernie not playing hardball, but more precisely, not having the leverage to do that...clip goes on for a couple of minute too long in my opinion, but I do think Kyle is right...
...and I now give you the first 2021 installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 1/5/17, with Cenk of TYT talking about coal miner Nick Smith of Virginia and his commentary on why he supported Our Treasonous Orange Pustule; not bringing this back to malign Smith at all (he was lied to, as were we all, but we’re also talking about people who were desperate then and are probably more so now), but I’m only trying to point out that these are the people that the alleged political geniuses at the DNC need to reach out to in preparation for the 2022 midterms...and no, I can’t believe I mentioned that already either...especially with what looks like a very unfavorable electoral map in the House given that the districts are being redrawn by primarily Republican state legislatures...
...and this is a holdover new tune from ’20 that I’m just getting to now, with an apt title (and an appropriate band name too - first "relationship" song of the year as well).
K.O. brings all the fire that is required over today’s story that the WaPo broke on Generalissimo Trump’s call to GA Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to somehow mysteriously find about 11 thousand missing votes in that state and allow 45 to win that contest – we’re long past the point where Trump needs to be bound in a straight jacket and carted out of the White House a la Hannibal Lecter...
...and Alex Witt talks to Dem U.S. Senator (and 2016 VP nominee) Tim Kaine about it (I should never again make noises like I want to walk away from this thing, even if and when I do, because stuff like this almost always happens afterwards)...
...and Cenk and Ana of TYT tell us about the internal U.S. Senate Repug “dustup” between Josh Hawley and Ben Sasse, both of whom have their own baggage as far as I’m concerned..and actually, there are 12 total Republican U.S. Senate cowards and traitors ready to challenge the election results, not 5, along with the 126 of course)...
...and Chip Franklin tells us about Combover Caligula trying to rev up more garbage in the Middle East to ultimately try and hang onto power, with the willing help of Fix Noise and his great unwashed minions of course (and yeah, when even "Deadeye Dick" Cheney has said you've gone too far, uh, yeah, you have - here)...
...and I thought Dem U.S. Senator Chris Murphy of CT did a great job of communicating exactly who was to blame for killing the extra $2K of financial help to everyone suffering economically from the pandemic (yeah, it’s many of those same cretins trying to inflict 4 more years of Our Treasonous Orange Pustule)...
...and we knew Kelly Loeffler, like her equally sleazy U.S. Senate colleague David Perdue, is nothing but a white collar criminal, but I think it’s emerging now just how much of a white nationalist she is too (to help GOTV for Jon Ossoff, click here, and to do the same for Raphael Warnock, click here)...
Update 1/4/21: But OF COURSE Loeffler joined the "Gang of 12" (here).
...and John I. and Brett Erlich tell us more about some of the protests out there concerning the GA elections this Tuesday; I’m tempted to side a bit with Erlich, though I’m hopeful for wins in both contests...inasmuch as I can figure out ANYTHING about how Repugs vote, somehow I think this protest against the election is some kind of a “deep fake” and they’ll show up this Tuesday anyway...
...and RIP Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers (here – I hope everything worked out fine for the couple at the end).
To begin the new year, I remind us all of how Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao killed paid sick leave in the updated COVID relief bill that just passed (the $600 one, not the $2K one which he also shot down of course)...
...and I wonder if Kelly Loeffler ever participated in a drinking game where any time somebody said “radical liberal,” they had to do a shot – in her case, it wouldn’t surprise me (to help Raphael Warnock running against her, as well as Jon Ossoff running against David Perdue, click here...and about Perdue, why do I have a feeling that this excuse is just a little too con-vee-nient, though I certainly don't wish ill on him of course?)...
Update: And just when you thought you didn't have ENOUGH reasons to despise Perdue (here - this too)...
...and speaking of COVID, Chip Franklin of Really American tells us more about the botched rollout (and the cretin responsible for this should go to prison for about 20 years)...
...and based on this item, apparently this song is actually true (along with a regional weather forecast :-).
To close this year, Sam Seder and Emma Vigeland tell us about the Trumpian rush to kill as many people as possible on his way out the door...and yes, he really will be done in about 20 days, wingnut screeching notwithstanding...I didn’t know about that Amy Coney Island Baby Barrett anecdote about capital punishment, but though it’s completely sickening of course, it also doesn’t surprise me in the least...
...and Farron Cousins tells us about a video that included Mango Mussolini along with a superimposed pic of what allegedly was the medallion of the Nobel Peace Prize (and for the cherry on the icing on this sh*t sundae, he even used the wrong medal picture, as noted here)...
...and Ali Velshi, sitting in for Rachel Maddow, tells us about the immunization campaign in 1947 to make sure New York City was vaccinated against a smallpox outbreak, which could have easily killed millions (to say it’s a cautionary lesson for now is a huge understatement, particularly in light of this...and Harry Truman didn't rail against the virus for coming from Mexico. or at least I can't find a record of that, as opposed to what Combover Caligula surely would have said)...
...and nice work here by Jon Ossoff to take advantage of the opportunity from the Fix Noise reporter to call out Kelly Loeffler (to help Ossoff running against David Perdue, as well as Raphael Warnock running against Loeffler, click here)...
..and I should probably include these “TCM Remembers” segments every New Years’ Eve, but to tell you the truth, I kind of get caught up in other stuff and I forget sometimes – my bad (didn't know about Gene Reynolds)...
...and as is usually my custom at this time, I go “meta,” if you will, and thank anyone who has spent any time at this site over the prior year, especially THIS year. I said this time a year ago that 2020 could be the most consequential year of our lives; I said that thinking of the Democratic presidential primary between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, and I was considering absolutely nothing else. I had no idea how unintentionally correct I would be.
The way 2020 started out, it looked like this site would end up being pretty much shut down. I didn’t anticipate any way at all to keep it running given my for-profit employment commitments. Well, through what I guess you could call dumb luck, I was able to keep it going up to now. However, I seriously do not expect that that will be the case next year. I’m quite sure at a certain point that I’ll be cutting back on these posts substantially. I don’t see walking away from doing this entirely, but that’s a possibility also.
When I started doing this in 2005 (egad!), my intention was to bridge the ideological gap between left and right as best as I could. That wasn’t easy with all of the Dubya-Bushco triumphalism that was reigning, though that façade was starting to crack big time. Over the course of these 15 or so years, however, that gap has turned into a chasm. The right-wing construct of media unreality (which is also self-sustaining economically, sadly) has poisoned the decision-making ability of the vast majority of (but not all) Republicans, to the point where they CONTINUALLY advocate for policies that are exactly contrary to their best interests, all in the name of “owning the libs.” This goes for far too many independent voters also (and the majority of those people I encounter are merely Republicans in disguise for whom Donald Trump is the proverbial “bridge too far,” though they’re onboard with every other wretched idea and policy from the right of the political spectrum).
And don’t think for a minute that I’m giving our side a pass here either. I recently included that very NSFW/H clip from Destiny about Kyle Kulinski almost comically misrepresenting Amy Klobuchar on the whole dance about badly needed COVID-19-related economic relief for people, state governments and small businesses. Also in that vein, Cenk and Ana of TYT yelled about how Nancy Pelosi conducted the negotiations, blaming her for not taking the $1.8 trillion package that was supposedly on the table (it really wasn’t), and also not seeing (as Destiny did) that the $2K payment proposal was actually a “Trojan horse” with hidden spending cuts that likely would have been disastrous. So yeah, there have been times when I’ve been pretty fed up with our camp on certain issues too. Also, I realize people are more likely to watch videos having to do with a certain president about to depart 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (even if he’s carted out in a straight jacket) than policy that I actually care about (and stuff like this), and that, for better or worse, has informed my video selections also (don’t think for a minute, though, that I’m implying an equivalency on this stuff between our side and theirs – each side has issues, but they’re markedly different). And by the way, don’t get me started on Jimmy freaking Dore!
So yeah, feeling like I’m a referee all the time with this stuff is beyond exhausting, and I’m really not sure how much I’m “moving the needle” when it comes to enlightening or informing anybody. I’ll be pondering all of this as we go forward into the New Year. With all of that said, I just want to wish all good things for everybody in 2021.
Finally, my year-end tune (as is my custom) has almost always been “People Have The Power” by Patti Smith. I’d like to deviate from that at this time and include this John Prine tune, as a tribute to everyone who (like Prine) lost his battle with COVID-19 this year – once more, my hope is that we’re all in a better place with this scourge and living life as we know it once more before too much longer.
So it looks like Kelly Loeffler found a way to profit by gouging Georgians on their heating bills by millions of dollars; this woman is pure as the driven slush, as someone notable once said (to help Raphael Warnock running against her, as well as Jon Ossoff versus the possibly-even-more-crooked David Perdue, click here)...
...and this Now This clip tells us about “tax the rich” millionaire Stephen Prince, who quite astutely reminds us that we already have “socialism,” but for the rich (and Loeffler and Perdue are very much part of the “pay no price, bear no burden” investor class)...
...and Cenk and Ana give us more of the inside story, as it were, on the “poison pills” that Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao is trying to insert into the $2K COVID relief legislation to try and get his fellow Repugs, including Perdue and Loeffler, off the hook...
...and in keeping with this, I give you this clip (this meat sack from Kentucky is truly a death eater, people)...
...and John and Jayar tell us about Generalissimo Trump’s whining over “signature verification” in Georgia over last month’s election results; waaay past the point where this has all been settled of course – I still say all of this whining, including the hissy fit over Dominion, is to give cover for ES&S, who are the real culprits as far as I’m concerned when it comes to fraudulent elections (in particular, in Kentucky, Maine and South Carolina...and the company’s HQ is on “John Galt Blvd.” in Omaha, Nebraska...truly, you can’t make up this stuff)...
...and I know we’re going to be dealing with COVID-related misery for a good while yet, and here is still more – RIP Dawn Wells of Gilligan’s Island...
...and I thought this was a catchy little number - probably the last new tune of the year.
This MSNBC video tells us about the U.S. House passing an extra $2,000 in COVID-19-related economic relief, which of course was blocked in the Senate by Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao (here)... I’d love to believe that this is the “death knell for austerity,” but I’m definitely not getting my hopes up too high on that...even though he can be a good reporter, I’ve read plenty of other pieces in the New York Times where Peter Baker is an utter tool, but I think this is a pretty accurate analysis here...
...and what indeed will history say about "Grim Reaper" McConnell...
...and the only way this will change, people, is to vote out Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in the upcoming Georgia special U.S. Senate elections (to help Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, click here)...
...and this “Now This” clip tells us about notable people who left us over 2020 (and I thought this was an appropriate, though tragic, epitaph, particularly the last paragraph)...
...and in the “In Memoriam” department for the year, I’m also pretty sure I didn’t have anything to say about Robert Conrad, star of TV’s “The Wild, Wild West” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep”; I recently heard an interesting story on Little Steven’s Underground Garage on Sirius XM about how Michael Garrison, who created the show, once purchased the rights to Casino Royale, the first James Bond novel by Sir Ian Fleming, but sold the rights to attorney and film producer Charles Feldman in 1960 – Garrison, however, was so inspired by Bond that he sought to recreate that oeuvre, if you will, in the TV series set in the U.S. after the Civil War...
...also in the milestone department, I was so preoccupied with the 80th birthdays of Ringo Starr and John Lennon that I neglected to point out that this year marked the 50th anniversary of “All Things Must Pass” by George Harrison, which to me is far and away the best of all of the solo Beatle efforts – here is a tune for the occasion (and in somewhat of a related story, I’m not sure what else can be mined from the story of The Fab Four, but I should probably approach this new Peter Jackson flick with an open mind...here).
Kyle Kulinski tells us about wingnut pastor Robert Henderson praying for Trump to be "resent"...45 is "old Republican white man Kryptonite" - good one (and I can't begin to tell you how offensive this pic is to me as a Roman Catholic, by the way...I think Bob Cesca on Twitter found this at one of the right wing nether swamps)...
...and the prior clip shows a good moment with Kyle, but this from Destiny (somewhat of a kindred spirit with Vaush, who I’ve had here a couple of times) highlights a pretty bad one, in which Kyle ridiculously clips a quote from Dem U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar...not her biggest fan, but fair is fair (Destiny makes excellent points – I should warn you at the outset, though, that this may be the most incredibly NSFW/H clip I’ve ever included)...
...and I don’t know anything about this Chip Franklin guy, but this clip isn’t bad and makes a good point about the COVID vaccine that, thank God, is getting rolled out (very slightly NSFW/H I think)...
...and John and Francesca tell us about Texas (where else?) paying students in food and supplies when they earn bonus points for “good deeds” (yeah, after about a second or two, you realize what an utter crock this is)...
...and Jon Ossoff continues to “fight the good fight” for Georgia; to help Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock, click here...
