David Pakman reminds us that the wingnuts will ALWAYS find a way to blame Dems regardless of the evidence, in this case in the matter of the energy disaster in Texas (if you’re not rich, why in God’s name would you EVER vote for a Republican? And why is it that this doesn't surprise me?)...
...and Kyle Kulinski brings us a Vice News report about people on our southwest border resorting to transporting drugs because of our crashed COVID economy (no, I most certainly DON’T think meth should be legalized – I disagree with Kyle on that – but he’s right in that there is A HELL OF A LOT MORE that we need to do to support the people in this country victimized by all of this...and yeah, at times like this, I think this country looks like a failed state too)...
...and part of the reason, I would argue, why people have to resort to the behavior such as that shown in the prior clip is because the federal minimum wage hasn’t been raised since 2009, and Ana and Nando Vila tells us that Joe Manchin, one of the roadblocks, is getting heat to do the right thing, which is a welcome development (and it looks like Manchin is giving @CancunCruz a run for his proverbial money as the most unpopular U.S. Senator based on this)...
...and the answer is no – I’m NEVER going to stop reminding 43 Republican senators that they utterly caved to Generalissimo Trump in the matter of the second impeachment over the 1/6 insurrection...
...and related to the prior clip, Ari Melber tells us about neo-Nazi infiltration of our police...I know there are people who don’t think much of Nancy Pelosi’s call for a 9/11-style commission to look into what happened on 1/6, but I personally think that’s a great idea, and the stuff Melber talks about is part of what should be investigated...
...and Chris Hayes tells us about the somewhat – how can you put it? – “checkered” history of the L. Brent Bozell clan, with the most recent one of the bunch involved in...yep, you guessed it...the catastrophic events of 1/6 (the sarcasm at the end is completely deserved)...
...and concerning what probably is the biggest story of the week (aside from this, which is truly great), John I. and Jayar give the late but not lamented Flush Limbore the sendoff he deserves...
...and I don’t know how many have noticed, but we’re over half a million COVID casualties...and call me crazy, but I would have thought that that would be trending on Twitter or something – that’s a frightening number, but the lack of a reaction that I can see is pretty damn unsettling too...here’s a tune by a guy who lost his own battle with the disease – words to live by always.
As somebody might say (not sure who), this might be the most Ted Cruz thing that Ted Cruz has ever done, namely, flying to Cancun while his home state of Texas endures catastrophic conditions due to a massive failure of that state’s energy grid from the recent snow storm (and as noted at the end here, he basically blamed his daughters and spring break for it...and he even requested a police escort for his return as noted here...just nuking any notions of shame here I realize)...
..and boy, this sure didn't take long, did it (heh)...
Update: Yeah, karma sure is a bitch, isn't it (here and here)?
...and remaining in the “land of the yellow rose,” Jeff Waldorf tells us about former Colorado City mayor Tim Boyd, who lost his job because of this whole “rugged individualism” rap of his in response to the dire predicament of the residents he was elected to serve – bit runs a little long, but Waldorf makes a lot of good points...
...and Chris Hayes refutes a lot of the typical wingnut BS over this pretty directly, to his credit (if your means allows you to assist people in the Lone Star State during this time, please click here)...
...though it's not like they weren't warned 10 years ago, as Rachel Maddow reminds us...
...and I guess FL Repug guv Ron DeathSantis was getting jealous with Texas receiving all of the wingnut attention, so he decided to distribute the COVID vaccine to his campaign contributors over everyone else in that state, as Farron Cousins tells us (more here)...
...and keeping with energy matters, John and Jayar tell us about an Indian girl punished for following the example of Greta Thunberg on the issue of climate; I know we don’t pay a lot of attention to that country, but maybe we should, because there’s some pretty damn un-democratic stuff going on under Modi...
...and I guess it’s in keeping with a bit of an international theme to note that today is the 88th birthday of Yoko Ono (I always had a bit of a soft spot for this tune, and it’s actually combined with a regional weather forecast...please be careful out there).
Like many of you I’m sure, I was taught not to speak ill of someone who has recently passed from this life, considering that to be part of a typical upbringing in my evolution to become a person of decency, kindness and compassion. And for what it’s worth, I believe I’ve stayed true to that (and I emphasize that I’m not looking for medals, since I don’t think anybody should be rewarded for doing the right thing – you’re just supposed to do it and get on with your life).
But I’m going to make an exception for this occasion. And I’m probably committing a sin, and I apologize in advance.
I wasn’t sure I would know how to react to the news that Rush Limbaugh is finally dead after all of these years. And I’m still not sure that I know how exactly.
Even now, it’s hard to gauge and calculate the utter ruin on our media and political landscape inflicted by this man. Prior to his rise, right-wing media was pretty much the home of kooks and addled academics with a grievance against some kind of slight that can more often than not be traced back to the Democratic Party (or also what used to be called Eisenhower Republicanism, where our 34th president campaigned partly on a platform of making sure everyone eligible for Social Security enrolled as well as encouraging union membership). I’m thinking of William F. Buckley, Clarence Manion, and conservative book publisher Henry Regnery (all of whom are discussed in this great book).
But Rush Limbaugh turned all of it into entertainment. He made it profitable. And he kicked open the door for legions of wannabes to follow him, many of whom still ply their dark art to this day (and who will be noted elsewhere in this post).
There is so much that is utterly vile and despicable about Rush Limbaugh that I’m not sure anybody can properly catalog it in a single post or a series of posts (Media Matters has done a better job of that than I ever could). I just want to communicate one anecdote, if you will.
And that has to do with Sandra Fluke, who (as noted here) was a Georgetown University Law student who gave a speech about nine years ago to House Democrats in support of mandating insurance coverage for contraceptives. And of course, Limbaugh attacked her, labeling her a “slut” and a “prostitute” (noted in the second clip).
Well, later that year, I was phone-banking in the Bristol, PA Democratic Party headquarters, and Fluke stopped by with Cecile Richards, then of Planned Parenthood. And I complimented Fluke on her courage for speaking out on women’s health care. She acted a little embarrassed, though she appreciated the praise. And I was struck by the fact that, physically, she was about 5’ 4” or 5’ 5” with kind of a slight build, though that didn’t reflect her courage in standing up to the pre-eminent media bully of our age (as is often the case, when you see somebody through an electronic viewing screen of some type, they loom larger than they are in real like, with notable exceptions of course).
As I spoke with Fluke, I thought to myself, what kind of a pathetic, hateful alleged “man” would go after someone like this lady, who was only practicing the free speech under the First Amendment to the Constitution that is guaranteed to everyone, including him?
I’m sure there will be people praising Limbaugh in the coming days. He will be remembered as a media giant and influencer who played a big part in the conservative revolution in this country. And that will be true.
However, I will look upon him now and forever as one of the vilest life forms who has ever walked upright on two legs. And as far as I’m concerned, that is all the mention he deserves. Part of the reason is noted in this TYT clip from October 2009, in which Detroit residents gathered for economic assistance in the wake of the recession in the prior year, and Limbaugh used it as an excuse for his typical race-baiting (with the “Democrat” Party reference thrown in at the end for good measure - more here, here and here)...
...and as if we wanted more reasons to utterly detest this character...well, here they are (yep, Limbaugh getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom was truly an obscenity that I probably didn't say much about at the time because of more pressing news affecting our country and the world)...
Update: Yeah, I think this is pretty spot-on also from Will Bunch.
Update 2/18/21: And this is pretty well said from Eric Boehlert.
Update 2/20/21: What a sorry-ass legacy (here)...and Frank Bruni doesn't get any points either; when Bruni apologizes for being George W. Bush's PR flunky in the '00 election (here), then I'll take him seriously.
...and turning to the garbage network that Limbaugh helped spawn with Roger Ailes (and I hope both of them are incinerating in Gehenna at this moment), Ana and Aida Rodriguez tell us more about right-wing media saying the Green New Deal is responsible for the energy misery in Texas (and Rodriguez is dead-on about the coast-to-coast influence of greed on all of this)...
...and Chris Hayes gives us more on this (some of this is a little repetitive, but it’s important)...
...and you can consider this clip to be a reminder that we should NEVER, EVER FORGET the individuals in the U.S. Senate who just voted to acquit the Gropenfuhrer for the 1/6 insurrection against this country...
Funny how executive orders were so damn wonderful under the Gropenfuhrer, but now they’re toxic under Number 46 as far as the usual suspects at Fix Noise are concerned (and this is pretty damn absurd for that network too, more germane to the "Damage Report" clip maybe; I guess people think Stuart Varney is more intelligent because he has an English accent, but he may be one of the stupidest of the bunch, and that’s saying something I know, though I do think Greg Gutfeld will remain the reigning champ in that category)...
...and the “Morning Joe” people talk about U.S. Senate Repugs facing reprisals back home for voting to impeach Mango Mussolini, including Richard Burr, Pat Toomey (again, shocked by that, though I’m sure it helps that he has nothing whatsoever to lose politically), Ben Sasse, and Susan Collins, who I’m sure is disheartened and disappointed, and Bill Cassidy also of course (more here)...
...and turning to those who continued to carry water for the twice-impeached Number 45, John I. and Ben Dixon of "The Damage Report" tell us about the response from Ted Cruz to the snowstorm and power outages plaguing his state...not so much crowing and bashing of California now, is there, Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton (still don’t understand why Paxton isn’t in jail...I hope everybody gets the help they need, but that should apply regardless of wherever you are in this country or the territories)...
...and I thought this was kind of a dreamy, escapist little number to help us deal with the winter doldrums (overdue again for a newer tune).
I guess, aside from death and taxes (and Democratic congressional capitulation – don’t worry; I won’t go all nutty all over again, since I just climbed down from that metaphorical ledge), something else that is constant is Fix Noise demonizing immigrants, even though, on balance, they commit less crime than naturalized Americans do, as far as that information is available, as noted here and here (David Pakman talks about that and more...I apologize for including waaaay too much of that damn lunatic Laura Ingraham)...
...meanwhile, for the reality point of view, John Iadarola and Ali Noorani talk about immigration and Social Security and trying to grow our economy in general (the fact that this country is, for all intents and purposes, a service economy means that we constantly need a fresh supply of labor to keep productive)...
...and David Doel highlights a CNN report on kids losing their parents to QAnon – a pretty deep dive into explaining why this group is a cult (and I’m not including this to be patronizing, but only to emphasize how important it is for people to get help...I hope things work out for these young women and their families) – Farron Cousins said earlier that we should take on that responsibility as a country, as in helping to deprogram people, but I’m sorry; we have a lot more pressing needs, so that’s a “no” from me...
...and speaking of Cousins, he tells us here that Louisiana Repug Sen. Bill Cassidy was censured for deciding to go forward with the 2nd impeachment...and he still voted to convict Trump in spite of that...kudos (of course, I’m sure Cassidy will now flip and do some truly nutso stuff to try and win back his beloved base)...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 2/15/13; the following MoveOn ad shows a gun owner claiming that the NRA “doesn’t speak for me,” which I think is timely given that yesterday was the 3rd anniversary, believe it or not, of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, FL (and here is another related item)...
...and I know we usually commemorate Washington and Lincoln on President’s Day, but I’d like to include this tune for Number 37; anyone who thinks we’re still not living in Richard Nixon’s political shadow is dreaming or delusional as far as I’m concerned.
Charles Schumer is absolutely, without a doubt, the most useless “Democratic” politician I have ever seen in my life!
Who on the Dem side made the decision not to call witnesses in Trump’s second impeachment trial? Who handed Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao a gift-wrapped, ribbon-tied Valentine to prematurely end the proceedings and hasten Generalissimo Trump’s acquittal?
How could it have been anyone BUT Schumer??!!
I’m just one person and my personal situation doesn’t matter in the scheme of things I know, but do you want to know WHY I steadfastly refuse to donate to the DCCC, DNC, DSCC or similar organizations (despite the plague of phone calls, Emails and texts)? It’s because of Repug-accommodating bullshit just like this, that’s why!
Yes, we knew Trump would be acquitted because not enough Republican U.S. Senate cowards would do the right honorable thing and ensure that 45 NEVER blighted our presence again and would be forever denied any post-presidential perks (and again, I grudgingly have to do something I thought I would never do and that is to give Pat Toomey credit for showing some political courage for a change, since he was one of seven Republicans with an actual conscience on this).
BUT THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO COULD HAVE TESTIFIED! DOES ANYBODY SERIOUSLY THINK REPUBLICANS WOULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING LIKE THIS IN SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES? WHAT PLANET DOES SCHUMER LIVE ON????!!!!
I don’t normally put a lot of faith in Politico, but this is all I’ve been able to track down so far on this. And what I take from this account (again, unless some other information comes up that is verified by at least one source I would consider reliable) is that conserva-Dems Chris Coons and Joe Manchin (big surprises I know) put pressure on the House impeachment managers not to call witnesses (the alternative version is that House managers weren’t prepared to call witnesses, which, given their expert presentations to date, is a “take” that I find very difficult to believe).
And who is to blame for allowing Manchin and Coons to pull this garbage? As far as I’m concerned, it’s Schumer, for not keeping his caucus together on this (and don't think I'm giving this cretin a pass either).
Which makes this clip (in the matter of Trump’s first impeachment) laughably absurd and ridiculous...
(OK, to be fair, I think this is noteworthy. But given the prior clip, I think that makes the argument against witnesses even more of a joke. And I realize that could have opened the door to the Trump team calling everybody and their brother to drag this out and make it look like the Senate Dems can't get anything done, but as far as I'm concerned, you use every weapon at your disposal.)
Update 1: I have a bit of respect for Norman Ornstein, but sorry - no sale (here).
Update 2: Uh, yep...
...and probably what makes me angriest the most about the decision not to call witnesses is the fact that the call from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to the Gropenfuhrer should have been entered into the record, but now it never will be (McCarthy should have been forced to testify, even if he had been a hostile witness – Cenk’s outrage is commendable and COMPLETELY called for IMHOUpdate 1 2/14/21: OK, I was wrong - the statement from Jamie Herrera Beutler described the McCarthy call to Trump (here), and that was read into the record - Cenk discussed the McCarthy call in this clip...
Update 2 2/14/21: I may have been wrong about McCarthy/Herrera, but it looks like I wasn't wrong about Coons (here).
Update 3 2/14/21: Here is another take on the Dems’s failure to call witnesses, and I’d like to respond as follows:
Think of how compelling it would have been for Officer Eugene Goodman or anyone else in the Capitol police to testify as to the strain the 1/6 attacks had inflicted on them personally and professionally. Or for anyone in the House or Senate (who likely would have been Dems of course) who were forced to literally run for their lives. Or fear for greater exposure to COVID from mask-less protestors. Or from anyone who had to clean up the mess and destruction from the thugs bent on murder and mayhem. THAT would have attached human faces to all of this carnage. And yes, I realize President Tiny-Handed Orange Pestilence would have likely been acquitted anyway, but it would have formed an indelible impression.
To compare this to another episode from the history books, what does everyone remember about the Watergate congressional investigation for example? It was the testimony from the real or accused co-conspirators, John Dean in particular.
As far as I’m concerned, the same standard applies here (and here is more ammunition in support of that argument).
Update 2 2/15/21: If this is true, then it should have been announced by Schumer or a House impeachment manager on Saturday, not an MSNBC TV host two days later.
...and returning to the just-concluded trial (ugh), this Now This clip tells us that Trump’s lawyers basically took their talking points from Fix Noise – big surprise, I know (and as far as the claim about John Sullivan is concerned, I give you this)...
...and speaking of The Roger Ailes BS Factory, don’t you love the way the “Fox-bots” like this John Roberts guy and that blonde hairdo get uncomfortable with Chris Wallace telling the truth and start mumbling over him near the end of the clip, as if to say, “yeah – you’re going off script, Chris, so we’re cutting you off”? Assholes (Brian Tyler Cohen tells us more)...
...and I realize this isn’t the end of investigations related to last November’s election; as David Doel tells us, it looks like Huckleberry Graham is still “in the barrel,” you might say, over potential election interference in Georgia...
...and oh yeah, it turns out that Our Treasonous Former Russian Operative of a *president was a lot sicker with COVID than we knew previously - lies upon lies upon lies of course...
As far as impeaching Our Treasonous Russian Operative of a former *president, the Dems need to go through this exercise of course; however, it truly would be a miracle if they were able to pull in enough Senate Republican cowards to convict...
...especially when so many of them are blowing off the proceedings, as John I. and Brett Erlich tell us; good points by Erlich about “jury tampering,” which the stuff with Graham, Lee and Cruz truly is – oh, and by the way, in case you think I intend to gang up only on the “party of Lincoln,” I give you this on wholly other matters...Kyrsten Sinema, weird hair and paisley dresses or whatever, has turned out to be as awful as I feared...
...and just so nobody can accuse me of stacking the metaphorical deck against former Generalissimo Trump, I’ll give you this ripe nugget from Michael van der Veen, one of 45's lawyers, allegedly in defense of the Gropenfuhrer (1:20 of this idiocy is about as much as I can tolerate, to be honest)...
...and why am I not surprised that Trump’s lawyers had access to the same security videos the impeachment managers showed, even though they claimed that they didn’t (a total lie of course, which would have probably been disqualifying all by itself and leading to an automatic acquittal if they hadn’t shared it)...
...and Chris Hayes gives us more on the threat to former VP Mike Pence, with Olivia Troye – and why am I also not in the least surprised that “dumb as a rock” Tommy Tuberville told Combover Caligula that Pence was in the Senate? And yeah, watch Cornyn try to “disappear” former VP Pence of his party – “oh him? Yeah, I heard he went back to Indiana”...truly, no honor among thieves; we know what Pence is, but just because he’s an intolerant, “pro life” bigot, that doesn’t mean that he deserves to be hung from a scaffold either...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that Former President Fergus Laing is so confident that he'll win his 2nd impeachment trial that he decided to go golfing; what's really depressing is that he's probably right (and speaking of the "karma" Cousins refers to, I give you this)...
...and David Pakman gives us a little more on the splintering of the “GOP,” though, to be sure, it’s waaay too early to forecast how much of that may actually help Democrats...
Gee, it looks like the red, white and blue longhorn lunatic, this Jacob Chansley life form (who apparently only wants to eat organic food in the “slam,” or something) felt “duped,” as 2nd impeachment manager and U.S. House Rep Diane DeGette tells us...aww, poor baby – have fun rotting in prison, you treasonous POS...
...and yeah, once more, I know what The Lincoln Project is, but this is yet another good ad...
...and David Doel presents new footage introduced at the trial showing how close politicians were to the rioters (Romney, Pence, Schumer – yeah, I agree with Doel’s Pence sentiment, but I’m willing to overlook that for now)...
...and in case you were wondering how The Roger Ailes BS Factory was treating the impeachment...well, John I. and Jason Carter tell us that they were covering the “kitten lawyer” instead (lather, rinse, repeat – sigh...to do more about this, click here)...
...and Sam and Emma tells us about Brian Kilmeade on Fix and Fiends advocating for ICE, who apparently are complaining about having to go after, y’know, actual criminals instead of comparatively innocent migrant moms and kids (important comment by Emma V. at the very end, which is completely bipartisan)...
...and speaking of driving under the influence in the prior clip, I hope The Boss gets the help he needs (here); easy trap to fall into...and no, I didn’t see the damn Jeep commercial in the Super Bowl, and I don’t care.
Update: What an utter bullshit bust by a cop apparently trying to make a name for himself by rousting somebody famous - if I were Springsteen, I'd sue.
This was part of yesterday’s opening presentation in former Generalissimo Trump’s second impeachment trial in the Senate from Dem U.S. House Rep Jamie Raskin – can’t imagine the courage of that man to carry on with this after the death of his son; we all owe him such a debt for this (here – very NSFW/H for a good reason...and I know I’m setting the bar pretty low here and he really has nothing to lose politically, but kudos to – ahem – Pat Toomey for actually doing the right thing for once as noted here)...
...and as for the trial, Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Alan Dershowitz (who I hope was wearing underwear) and his remarks in support of Raskin, who apparently was a former student; Dershy said this on a Trump-friendly TV channel (and I’m not sure where the hell Bruce Castor was going, and I don’t think anyone else was either)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us about how Combover Caligula responded to his legal representation (heh), harking back to the prior clip a bit...
...and apparently, our corporate media is continuing to stack the deck in favor of the “party of Lincoln” by noting that a “slim majority” of 56 percent of those polled want the Gropenfuhrer to be impeached and convicted this time (as somebody said, yeah, lemme know the next time 56 percent is referred to as a “slim majority” about anything, as John and Francesca tell us)...
...and yeah, as noted here, Repugs suddenly care about the debt/deficit when Democrats are in charge again – how damn predictable...
...and I know my music choices have been stuck in the past a bit, but I didn’t want to ignore the passing of Jim Weatherly, who wrote this great ‘70s tune (forgot about how awesome the bass line is in this song).
I normally wouldn’t pay much attention to Brian (Iraqi Helicopter Ride – and yes, I know he apologized for concocting that story) Williams, but I thought this was a good discussion with author Jon Meacham about the Republican Party’s history of extremism and how Bill Buckley and Bush 41 dealt with the Birchers – I know there are fringe elements on both sides, but let me know if and when the Dems every try a violent overthrow of our government and I’ll condemn that too (and speaking of seditionists, please do not shed too many tears for this guy, who made the infamous list here – sorry he’s dead, but let’s not forget about context, OK?)...
...and oh yeah, a certain former 45th *president is getting impeached for the second time at this moment, as noted here...
...and speaking of insanity from the “party of Lincoln,” John I. talks with Thom Hartmann about the evolution of American oligarchy (we just observed Reagan’s birthday, and as far as I’m concerned, he’s more to blame than anyone else...Thom H. mentions something called the Tillman Act that passed under TR as well as the Buckley and Belotti SCOTUS decisions that pretty much legalized corporate bribery, as he notes)...
We hear now from “The Damage Report” about how 20 million (!) COVID vaccines went missing under Generalissimo Trump – ugh...and boy, do I sympathize with John’s outrage (and happy birthday, by the way) on how we handled this, and Francesca is spot-on about countries that may be smaller but have a better health care infrastructure and probably would do a MUCH BETTER JOB than our prior ruling cabal didn’t bother to do – of course, assuming those smaller countries ACTUALLY HAD THE FREAKING VACCINE!...
...and I could probably fill up a whole other post with my issues with Repug U.S. Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska (and maybe I will one day, including with some of what he says here), but yeah, Brian Tyler Cohen points out how absurd it is that Sasse even has to say that stuff here to defend himself against not “taking the knee” for former President Fergus Laing...
Update 3/1/21: Yep, as usual, Sasse talks a good game, but never backs it up (here).
...and David Pakman tells us that, apparently, Mickey D’s is fine with $15 an hour as a minimum wage, contrary to what that lunatic Lauren Boebert says of course, though it looks like the Dems are having a hard time getting it into a COVID relief package as noted here – gnashing my teeth as I read that...
...and today marks what would have been the 110th birthday of The Sainted Ronnie R (who, as far as I’m concerned, was the blueprint for the typical clueless Repug preznit unable to govern in good times as well as those of a crisis – see also Dubya and Combover Caligula), which means it’s also the 10th anniversary of this post (and wise words for the occasion from The Rude One are here); whenever I think of our 40th president, this song comes to mind.
As we probably all know by now, Marjorie Taylor Greene was removed from her U.S. House committee assignments by a vote of 230-199 (Bri-Fi, it should be noted here, was one of the 11 Repugs who voted to give Greene the boot – commendable I realize, but as far as I’m concerned, Greene should be expelled from that body, to say nothing of prosecuted...K.O. tells us more)...
...and when it comes to the insurrection Greene supported, Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about the interview that Dem U.S. House Rep Katie Porter gave to Lawrence O’Donnell about how AOC was pretty much running for her life (the double standard here is unbelievable – if Dems did something like this, they’d already be gone and probably sentenced also, which would be deserved regardless of whatever party we’re talking about...and oh yeah, there's this)...
...and I heard that Rachel Maddow had another great “A” block on Greene last night, but instead, I’m going to focus on something which I think is more important, and that is President Biden trying to undo the damage caused by the family separation policy from our prior ruling regime of actual and would-be criminals...
...and David Doel tells about about another Biden move, and that is to get this country to stop supporting the Saudi slaughter in Yemen (here – a prior post is here...yes, I’m tempted to say “let the damn Saudis defend themselves,” but on the other hand, this undeniably is progress that we can’t ignore and Biden deserves credit)...
...and RIP legendary Oscar-winning actor Christopher Plummer; good luck trying to choose a highlight from his long and distinguished career, but aside from standing out as Captain Von Trapp in “The Sound of Music” (have to admit it), I thought he may have also been the best Star Trek: Original Series villain of all time, as noted in this clip (I always thought “The Undiscovered Country” was a great film, period, and actually topical for its time with one of the all-time-great movie scripts)...
...and I failed to note that yesterday was World Cancer Day – we should all do whatever we can with preventative screenings and checkups as our means allows, and if we’re able to donate to a worthy cause, we can click here.
(And as pointed out here, they are STILL blocking this guy! However, with the Senate Judiciary Committee changing hands now to Dick Durbin and the Dems from the utterly repellent Lindsey Graham, I expect that will change shortly.)
Rachel Maddow gives us a history of Republican obstruction under our 44th president, something to keep in mind as Biden does his utmost to get a sane amount of $$ for COVID relief passed through “the world’s greatest deliberative body” (and with that in mind, this doesn’t surprise me at all...have to find out why she's at home and not at the studio)...
...and sticking with the "upper chamber," it looks like Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao has “gotten the memo” on Marjorie Taylor Greene (McConnell is a lot of contemptible things, but he isn’t stupid...and in a related vein, speaking of “contemptible”)...
...and Greene and Lauren Boebert have been getting the most headlines as the craziest Repugs nationally (along with Madison Cawthorn), but as far as I’m concerned, SD Guv Kristi Noem is right up there with them (Sam, Emma V., Matt and Jamie discuss)...
...and John and Francesca tell us about the anti-vaxxers shutting down the recent COVID immunization at Dodger Stadium (I’d honestly like to know more about who is bankrolling this garbage)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us about the Trumpsters who fought to deny COVID vaccine rollout $$ to states (and yeah, I would tend to agree that there are people in the Senate who should have made a lot of noise a hell of a lot sooner than now)...
...and Thom Hartmann tells us that we’re basically in the middle of the 2nd Repug Great Depression (truly scary economic statistics) – and these variants are pretty damn scary too (COVID shouldn’t have been an epidemic, or a pandemic, but we know why it turned into that)...
...and Ana and Ben Dixon tells us that the SCOTUS recently saved Generalissimo Trump’s butt on emoluments (setting what I’m sure is an absolutely wonderful precedent, I say through clenched teeth...another argument for term limits that Farron Cousins argued previously)...
...and the title of this song describes what I hope is the ultimate fate of Not Your Father’s Republican Party.
Good catch by Laurence Tribe here on the two lawyers who eventually agreed to represent Generalissimo Trump at his 2nd impeachment in the Senate (here); John and Francesca tell us about how those preceding Messrs. Schoen and Castor Esq. bailed on the whole damn thing (hard to blame them)...
...and normally I wouldn’t give a damn about Repugs and their pitiful attempts at self-examination, but to be fair (as noted in the Now This clip) Rep. Adam Kinzinger was one of the 10 U.S. House reps of his party who voted to impeach the Gropenfuhrer, so I give his words a little more credence than I would to most others (more on their civil war is here - and gee, isn't this interesting?)...
...and Rachel Maddow takes Kinzinger’s argument a little further and basically wonders how democracy can even survive when one of the two major political parties is pretty goddamn freaking nuts!...
...and David Pakman takes the allegedly august editorial board members of “the old gray lady” to task for telling President Biden to, more or less, ease up on the executive orders (we face a big threat from Repugs of course, but we also face a threat from wishy washy “status quo” sympathizers allegedly on our side too)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us how the “party of Lincoln” is responding in Georgia to the recent Democratic successes in the peach state, and that is to make it harder for people to vote (typical)...
...and Chris Hayes, echoing a similar theme, interviews Dem U.S. House Rep Ruben Gallego about efforts to try and disenfranchise voters in Arizona (and elsewhere)...
...and RIP actor Hal Holbrook, shown here in one of his iconic roles...
...and sticking with show business, kudos to Nancy Sinatra for this.
Sam Seder and Emma Vigeland tell us that the Swanson TV Dinner Heir complained about “privilege” recently – I think Carlson just destroyed the irony meter (interesting "skill," I guess you could loosely call it, to utter such banal and ridiculous pronouncements with such certainty and conviction)...
...and as long as we’re discussing The Roger Ailes BS Factory, I thought I’d offer this clip from Brian Tyler Cohen where Chris Wallace gives his fellow network anchor John Roberts a lesson on COVID and the economy, albeit politely...
...and The Lincoln Project gives House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy the treatment he deserves here...
...and Rachel Maddow tells us more about the role of Generalissimo Trump in the 1/6 insurrection...and do you realize that, if 45 can’t find anyone to argue his case given this, he’ll have to do so in the Senate himself? I can’t think of a word for the absurdity of such a spectacle...
...and John I. and Dave Levinthal of Business Insider tell us more on the Gropenfuhrer and his – now how can you put this – singular legal troubles...
...and with Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert quite rightly generating headlines for their insanity, I don’t think we should forget Madison Cawthorn, another freshman Republican in the U.S. House, as David Pakman tells us (yep, Cawthorn visited Hitler’s vacation house...and yes, he mentioned Hitler was evil, which, yeah, is kind of like saying the sky is blue, but to be honest, I’m more concerned about the other lies Pakman notes here, which go to a general pattern of untrustworthiness as far as I’m concerned...and oh yeah, there’s this too)...
...and this Now This clip tells us that Honduras kept its abortion ban in place, as well as curtailing access to contraception – you want to know what fundamentalists like Amy Coney Island Baby Barrett have in mind for this country? Something like what is described here in that country...
...and I now give you today's regional weather forecast.
This Now This video brings us President Joe Biden signing executive orders to make the ACA and Medicaid more accessible and more affordable – basically undoing the garbage wrought by the Gropenfuhrer, particularly concerning women’s health care...
...and Farron Cousins tells us about federal judges retiring now that Biden is in office (and boy, is Cousins ever right about term limits for judges)...
...and Kyle gives us the distressing news about global job losses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, paling in comparison to The Great Recession (ugh)...
...and when it comes to the economy and the stock market, John and Dan Evans give us more on all the recent stuff with Gamestop and Reddit (I heard some of these people were trying to do the same thing with Regal Cinemas lately – and personally, I don’t think an organization that tries to make a buck over trying to forecast economic failure deserves a dime of help if it goes under, though this isn’t surprising I guess)...
...and consider this clip as a tribute to Cloris Leachman; if she wasn’t the funniest character actress of all time, then she was easily in the top three (and RIP Cicely Tyson also)...
...and yesterday marked the 35th anniversary of the Challenger disaster...as much as we should honor the memory of our brave astronauts who perished, we should never forget the role of Morton Thiokol as well as the sheer idiocy of forcing the Challenger to launch in freezing Florida weather, all so The Sainted Ronnie R could mention the voyage in his State of the Union address (here)...here is something I’d like to offer as remembrance (HD images captured by NASA).
John and Francesca of The Damage Report tell us that it turns out that, gee, Tom Cotton wasn’t really an Army Ranger after all (though he did serve to be fair...I was prepared to kind of go “yeah, well, more Republican lies – must be a day of the week with a Y,” until Cotton’s spokesperson came up with that MASSIVE TOOL answer in response to the Salon reporter’s question at about 6:24)...
...and speaking of military matters, I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 1/27/08, with Laurie Dyer of North Carolina protesting the Iraq war – just a reminder that, with the myriad other messes the Biden administration needs to clean up from the prior ruling regime, we need to look at our military engagements across the globe also...
...and mentioning Tom Cotton opens the door for Repug wingnuttery as far as I’m concerned, and that leads into Anderson Cooper and Andrew Kaczynski discussing U.S. House Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia (uh, yeah...so blame somebody else for what’s on your own Facebook page even though that basically ties into your own public statements – uh huh...and this is pretty vile too)...
Update 1/29/21: God, what a reprehensible woman (here and here).
...and I think the Greene clip leads into this from Farron Cousins, telling us that crazed Trump supporters – are there any other kind? – are threatening House and Senate lawmakers over impeachment...and I definitely get Cousins’ argument about getting help to people who need it, and I’m not opposed to that in principle, but I’m sorry – with all due respect, I’m not in favor of paying ONE DIME on behalf of “deprogramming” anybody who supports our recently departed POTUS...they made A CHOICE to be part of the great unwashed in support of the Gropenfuhrer, and they should be forced to live with that...
...and Thom H. tells us that the WaPo is somehow trying to find what amounts to a “silver lining” based on what happened on 1/6 (good move to invoke Giuliani’s “broken windows” policy...and yeah, I can't wait for our corporate media to try and "both sides" this, though I'm sure they'll try anyway)...
...and in this very NSFW/H clip, Vaush tells us that the Biden Administration is telling the DOJ they can’t use private prisons any more, which definitely constitutes progress as far as yours truly is concerned (doesn’t affect ICE as stated, but it’s a good start)...
...and David Doel tells us that Dana Bash (returning to CNN) tried to bash Bernie Sanders over budget reconciliation, which Bernie wants to use for a variety of reasons to help actual people as opposed to deep-pocketed campaign donors (and I’ve stayed away from the whole “Bernie and his mittens” memes since they’re covered so well everywhere else, though this is praiseworthy and definitely in character)...
...and if there was ever such a thing as an all-purpose title to a song, I think this would be it.
Mika B. of “Morning Joe” speaks with historian Jon Meacham about Not Your Father’s Republican Party trying to create all kinds of new voting restrictions across the country (because, as a certain now-deposed 45th *president once put it...)...
...and Ali Velshi reminds us of the lies from Our Treasonous Former Chief Executive that led us to the 1/6 insurrection (and no, I don't much like pizza with pineapple either)...
...and when it comes to Trump-loving Repugs, it looks like PA’s own Scott Perry had his hands in the whole sedition mess (here) – what follows is a campaign ad he ran against his recent opponent Eugene DePasquale that, not surprisingly, was full of wall-to-wall lies...
...and this “Rational National” clip tells us how the even-more-right-wing Trump-loving media fluffers at Newsmax, in their effort to manfacuture scandals against the incoming administration, are critiquing the Oval Office décor of our 46th president (uuuhh, suuurre – and when it comes to media idiocy in this regard from an outlet that definitely should know better, I give you this)...
...and John I. and Brett Erlich tell us how Marjorie Taylor Greene said the Parkland shooting was a “false flag”; what a vile person this woman truly is (“This is a really depressing time to be a Republican” indeed, though all of their damage is self-inflicted)...
...and happy birthday to drummer Malcolm Green of the ‘80s band Split Enz (with the Finn Brothers).
Brian Tyler Cohen shows Ted Cruz trying to corner Transportation Secretary Nominee Pete Buttigieg over the Biden’s Administration’s decision to abandon the Keystone XL Pipeline (and when it comes to Cruz’s claim about Biden allegedly killing Keystone XL jobs, I give you this...to be fair, I know Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was pissed about it, but I also know he and Biden talked about it, for what it’s worth...and by the way, I know the pic is a little edgy, but Cruz and the even-more-odious Josh Hawley deserve that level of ridicule and more for their role in the insurrection of 1/6/21 to try and keep the Gropenfuhrer in power)...
...and speaking of the recently-departed regime, this Lincoln Project video gives us “The Trump Administration By the Numbers” (to be honest, though, the COVID fatalities should have been first on the list – and thankfully, the last number is really about -5 or so at this point)...
...and I shouldn’t be giving Bill Maher the time of day, but I have to admit that this was a funny segment, though those he quite rightly ridicules here will no doubt wear such shaming as a badge of honor, as will their equally crazed supporters (NSFW/H)...
...and John and Cenk of The Damage Repoirt tells us about the “Fourth estate” and their hangup over Biden’s Peloton exercise bike (seriously?) – GREAT commentary by John on the “lather, rinse, repeat” news cycle of what he rightfully calls the “media/political/industrial” complex (more or less) that eventually leads us back, more often than not, to another Repug presidency which blows up our economy all over again...
...and like a lot of other people I realize, I was sorry to hear about the passing of talk TV/radio legend Larry King, but I really didn’t have any particular “take” on it until I read comments from other media people who actually knew him. The common thread, if you will, of what they said about King was that he was a pro when it came to letting his guests tell their stories (of course, with his questions to direct them) with King taking sort of a secondary role in the encounter, as opposed to saying or doing something to try and make headlines himself. And when I thought some more about it, I realized just how many stories or events he covered, and it was a ton... I KNOW I watched him on CNN during the infamous “low speed chase” with O.J. Simpson and Al Cowlings, for example, and I definitely respect people in media who get put into positions like that where they have to fill up air time with a story in progress, if you will, and think on their feet (or seats) and coordinate all over the place while live coverage is going on (another legendary example from this area is the TV coverage of Larry Kane and Harvey Clark during the MOVE bombing in May 1985).
This clip includes excerpts from King’s remembrance on the death of Frank Sinatra in ’98 with Don Rickles, Steve Lawrence, Vic Damone and Quincy Jones – another example of the rich entertainment legacy King left for us (Maher was one of many who communicated rather touching tributes to King...and again, I wouldn’t wish a COVID death on anybody)...
...and happy 80th birthday to the one and only Neil Diamond.
Yeah, I know what The Lincoln Project is, but damn, they make good ads (may be going through Trump meme withdrawal, but I’m happy to do it)....
...but just as a reminder that we still have a bunch of lowlifes to deal with, Chris Hayes speaks with HuffPo’s Matt Fuller about “Dr.” Andy Harris trying to bring a gun into the U.S. House chamber (yep, I agree with Hayes; there are QUITE A LOT OF PLACES where you shouldn’t be allowed to enter with a gun, and that’s one of them)...
...and RIP baseball legend Hank Aaron, a total class act who was one of many great players to feast on Phillies pitching from back in the day (this is his most iconic accomplishment of course...yes, Barry Bonds would break the record later, but this was truly a magic moment...and this is another reason to admire Aaron)...
...and somehow I missed Penguin Awareness Day last Wednesday – how about if I try to make amends with a little Friday funk?
(Silly me for thinking I was actually done with the Trump memes, but I guess I’ll have to leave them behind at some point.)
Farron Cousins tells us that the incoming Biden folks just found out that the Trumpsters never came up with a plan for COVID vaccine distribution – heckuva job, as another Repug preznit once said in a wholly other context...
...but returning to the new regime, if you will, this tells us about the “Day 1” actions of Number 46...
...and because we need to hold the 1/6 betrayers accountable, I present the following...
...and today would have been the 80th birthday of folk rock (back when that was a thing) legend Richie Havens.
