Farron Cousins tells us about some idiot Oklahoma state lawmaker (do I even need to mention the political party?) who wants to ban and/or fire teachers who teach anything contrary to religious belief, including biology of course...OK then, you know what? If kids from the affected schools apply to colleges, automatically invalidate their applications...a shame to have anyone besides the idiot politicians pay the price, but if the parents can go nuts about “CRT” at school board meetings, then they can go nuts over ridiculous laws like this too (more here)...
...and speaking of idiot Republicans, Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about news anchor Errol Lewis interviewing this U.S. House rep from Staten Island named Nicole Malliotakis and giving her the treatment she deserves on her vote against the 1/6 committee investigating the insurrection (oh, and did I mention that Malliotakis is another one of these Repug U.S. House wingnuts trying to take credit for the economic relief package she voted AGAINST, as noted here??)...
...and I’m kind of hot-and-cold on Chris Cillizza of CNN to tell you the truth, but he has a good video here IMO on the claim that athletes are supposedly dropping dead from the COVID vaccine, dutifully parroted by that idiot RoJo in the U.S. Senate...
...and Thom Hartmann, as he so often does, gives us some important historical context on presidential misbehavior and how that ends us as a precedent for other bad (and quite probably illegal) behavior from future bad actors...
...and John and Michael Shure of The Damage Report tell us about UCLA averting a potential mass shooting in the context of threats against HBCUs, just in time for Black History Month of course...sorry UCLA had to cancel classes, but it was the prudent thing to do under the circumstances (just chalk it up to Life In These United States, Part The Infinity as Charlie Pierce might say)...
...and here's a nod to a few folks saying no to Spotify as a protest against the COVID propaganda from Joe Rogan, as noted here (with a song written by Joni Mitchell, who has also joined the boycott of course).
Cenk and Ana of TYT tell us about the billionaire tears of Leon Cooperman, tied to a recent puff piece in the WaPo (cue the world’s tiniest violin – more is here about Cooperman having a hissy fit over the stuff about Gamestop artificially inflating their market valuation from about a year ago...oh, and I’m sure a bunch of hackers came up with that concept all on their own, right?)...
...and under the heading of Capitalist Exploitation 101, I give you this from More Perfect Union about Roark Capital’s treatment of workers of the Inspire Brands family of companies, in particular the Cheesecake Factory (the wretched status quo defended by Cooperman and his pals – this tells us about the most recent financial wrangling between Roark and The Cheesecake Factory FWIW)...
...and Robert Reich tells us about the 5 ways your employer may be exploiting you (and yeah, I can relate to the whole “exempt from overtime” thing)...
...and given the prior clips in this video, this is little more than ridiculous comic relief... Baby Ben Shapiro (or, excuse me...”Mr. Shapiro”) tries to look intelligent in front of school kids when talking about business, taxes, and government (Sam and Emma or The Majority Report tell us about it)...
...and turning to “the thin blue line,” David Shuster of Rebel HQ tells us about subway-riding cops in NYC almost entirely flouting the COVID mask mandate – and yes, I get it that they came from a funeral for a colleague killed in action (and all support to the slain officer’s family and friends), but that doesn’t let them off the hook (doesn’t exactly jibe with the whole “to protect and to serve” thing, now does it?)...
...and Mehdi Hasan had a clip from about 10 days ago about all of the garbage that local election officials all over the country have had to put up with from the Trumpist lunatics out there, with the focus on Georgia...in these parts, the Bucks County Courier Times recently had a pg. 1 article above the fold on PA election officials quitting in droves...can’t get to the article now of course... gee, maybe our thoroughly useless bought-and-paid-for corporate media should PAY FREAKING ATTENTION to all of the ways #45 and the “party of Lincoln” are trying to utterly wreck our elections, including this item...from what I read, the ruling will likely be overturned on appeal, but the fact that mail-in voting was blocked in PA at all is completely disgusting...IMO, we need a FEDERAL LAW with teeth to protect elections officials as well as people working on school boards as well as school officials from being harassed or doxed, and that goes for their family members too...like a lot of you I’m sure, I’ve bene watching this play out since Mango Mussolini ascended to power, and to say I’M FED UP WITH IT is as big of an understatement as you can possibly imagine (or if we have existing laws, they definitely need to be strengthened)...
...and Stephen Colbert tells us the latest about Black History Month in the context of the latest garbage inspired by Our Treasonous Orange Pustule; I was never big on the BHM concept, not because I don’t think the contributions of African Americans should be recognized and celebrated, but because we shouldn’t designate a single month to it as if to say “well, we fulfilled our obligation, so that lets us off the hook now” (and this tells us about corporations claiming to support Black History Month but also giving $$ to politicians trying to block voting reform, which would greatly benefit African Americans as well as others)...
...and I'm not sure if I've ever included a video for a tune here with somebody in a bathtub...what will those crazy kids think of next :-).
Beau of the Fifth Column leads off with an analysis of that flesh lump Thomas Massie, Repug U.S. House Rep of Kentucky, and his attempt to sound profound with what he apparently thought was a quote from Voltaire...just say “oops” and get out (here)...
...and every once in a while, I think we need to hold up a bit of a mirror to these life forms who support Our Traitorous Orange Pestilence, and David Shuster tries to reach these characters with the reality perspective (oh, and in response to that woman saying you couldn’t submit absentee ballots in PA after election day in 2020, I offer this response)...
...and David Doel tells us about the Washington state trooper who apparently told Dem Gov Jay Inslee to kiss his ass over a vax mandate but then dies of...wait for it...COVID (mildly NSFW/H...God, the line on that graph for U.S. cases is just going straight up...un-freaking-believable - more here)...
...and John and Francesca tell us about the latest ranting from Combover Caligula in Texas last weekend, including his promise to pardon those responsible for 1/6 if he were returned to the presidency (as if any syllable that oozes out of his pie hole should be treated as anything remotely resembling the truth)...45 should be in prison awaiting trial on charges of treason and inciting an insurrection...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that, because of his obstruction, #MaseratiManchin sure is popular among Republican donors these days – figures (and I’m sorry if I sound like a snotty lib, but I can’t imagine what the f*ck is wrong with the people in West Virginia who support this criminal – I know, if not for Manchin, it would be an “R” seat, but it’s practically that anyway...more on Ken Langone is here)...
...and I know I featured tunes recently from Neil Young and Nils Lofgren, part of the trio boycotting Spotify (as far as I know, Peter Frampton's tunes are still on the service), but I hadn't included anything from Joni Mitchell, so I'd like to make amends for that here.
Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about more propaganda from The Roger Ailes BS Factory, in which one of their “news personalities” gives away the game when it comes to Republican obstruction, this time on Biden’s infrastructure bill (mildly NSFW/H – and when it comes to the PA bridge collapse picture here, we should definitely keep this in mind)...
...and the latest video from Second Thought tells us How Capitalism Destroys Radical Movements (and I have to admit that I didn't know about the BLM and Muriel Bowser stuff...and yeah, she deserved to be called out for that)...the discussion about Guy Debord in France, in particular about the mass media and consumer culture, made me think about this book, which I read many moons ago (and I’ll probably do more research into the concept of “recuperation” for what it’s worth)...
...and sticking with the economy, Ana of TYT gives us a rare bit of good news related to the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR, in particular a ruling that people can still sue over predatory behavior tied to their retirement accounts...
...and I know I feature an awful lot of “culture war” idiocy from the wingnuts, but this is a bit of egg-headed behavior IMO from our side, and it has to do with the decision by the school board for the Mukilteo (Washington state) school district to remove Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird from the required reading list – fortunately the book isn’t being banned, thank God...actually, my gripe here is probably more with the parents than the board, which is probably caught in a “no win” situation (and no, I’m not African American and I don’t share that “lived experience” either, but I don’t think that demeans Lee’s work in any way – more here)...
...and RIP Howard Hesseman (alias Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati)...
...and I have to admit that I was a little irritated by the Chris Hayes clip that follows, and I’ll explain why – I’m not taking issue with the Gallup poll he presents here about how 67 percent of those polled have an unfavorable opinion of Biden and the economy (with many polled saying it doesn’t “feel” right because of inflation and people leaving their jobs), even though the economy has indeed grown at its fastest rate since 1984 as noted here.
I should point out that I saw this clip on Hayes’s program, and he led off by talking about the “Dean scream” (more here – of course, given how The Comcast Network hacks their video clips to pieces, I’m not surprised that it wasn’t included in the segment below). The “Dean scream” (related to the failed 2004 presidential campaign of then-Vermont Dem Governor Howard Dean) was a thoroughly manufactured BS “story” that barely anybody cared about back when it happened, and I can assure you that NOBODY cares about it now.
Hayes also includes in the clip that completely propagandistic “Morning in America” ad for The Sainted Ronnie R. Yeah, it’s pretty slick, manufactured by Reagan’s image makers. However, if you want some actual reality on what was going on at the time, please allow me to present the following from this book:
“Their lives (the lives of workers and their families) have been shattered by a new depression – the Carter depression. The Carter depression was created and molded by Carter himself.” (NYT – 8/28/80)
Whatever Carter did mold it was not a depression, or at least not according to Reagan’s own economic advisors. Alan Greenspan said, “I wouldn’t have used that term.” Martin Anderson pointed out that most economists believed the nation to be in “a very severe recession.” Anderson and his aides then went so far as to issue a clarification stating that “the Republican presidential nominee was not using the word “depression” the way most economists do.” Oh.
“Real earnings are at last increasing for the first time in quite a while.” (5/16/82)
Try decreasing. The Labor Department reported that in June 1982 real average weekly earnings for American workers declined 1.2%.
“For four quarters we have seen a growth in the GNP.” (9/28/82)
Inflation-adjusted GNP had been declining for two of the four quarters under discussion.
“History shows that when the taxes of a nation approach about 20% of the people’s income, there begins to be a lack of respect for government...When it reaches 25% there comes an increase in lawlessness.” (Time, 4/14/80)
History shows no such thing. Income tax rates in Europe have traditionally been far higher than U.S. rates, while European crime rates have been much lower.
“As a matter of fact, if anyone wants to look closely, our original tax plan did not contain the reduction of the 70% bracket. That was suggested by the Democrats.” (11/12/81)
No it wasn’t. The original Reagan tax plan called for a lowering of the top rates from 70% to 50%, to be phased in over a period of three years. As (former Reagan Office of Management and Budget director) David Stockman so memorably explained, “Kemp-Roth (the original GOP tax reduction proposal) was always a Trojan horse to bring down the top rate.”
“I would like to have them (the critics of his tax plan) give a specific on where this is a budget for the rich. The bulk of the personal income tax cut goes right across from the lower income to middle America.” (2/8/82)
Well, here are some specifics. According to the Congressional Budget Office, 35.1% of the tax cuts go to the wealthiest 5% of the taxpayers. The National Journal, using CBO and Census Bureau information, estimated that, had the 1983 tax cuts gone into effect in 1981, they would have taken $1.2 billion from the poorest fifth of the income spectrum and added $36 billion to the incomes of the richest fifth.
If you want to read more related information, please click here. And yes, you can blame Former President Carter for the economy Reagan inherited a bit, but here is more context on that discussion.
However, I think what made me PO’ed the most about Hayes’s clip is that he totally absolves his own profession when it comes to any negativity surrounding the economic recovery taking place on Biden’s watch. And with that in mind, I give you this, as well as this from Eric Boehlert (this also, and this).
And here is more of what I'm talking about:
(By the way, I don't have a clue as to what the "Big Mac" Test is, and I assure you that I don't care.)
Am I saying that you shouldn’t hold Biden to account on the economy or anything else? Of course not. I for one would have liked to see him move on student debt relief and federally decriminalizing pot long before now. All I’m saying is that, if you want to hold Biden’s feet to the metaphorical fire, do it on substantive issues and not just manufactured perception BS.
Anyway, here is the Hayes clip (and I don’t know who he interviewed next – I have to admit that I was so disgusted by the lead-in to the interview that I turned off his program...this is disappointing because Hayes definitely knows better and should tell the story straight)...
Update 1 2/1/22: Yeah, I would call this a bit of insight into this issue (this too, based on this).
Update 2 2/1/22: And I would say that this speaks volumes too.
Update 2/5/22: It would actually be funny if it weren't so damn pathetic (here).
...and David Doel tells us that Spotify has lost billions in its confrontation with Neil Young (now joined by Joni Mitchell) over Joe Rogan (and to be fair, Young has said that he doesn’t approve of censorship – related to Rogan - but he just doesn’t want to be associated with an online service spreading COVID misinformation)...
...and as noted previously, Nils Lofgren has joined Young and Mitchell, so I’ll add some of his tunes to my impromptu playlist also.
I wonder if the life form pictured in this post knows about this (or, more likely, would just write it off as "fake news")?
In the matter of our regularly scheduled plague, Rachel Maddow tells us that FLA guv Ron #DeathSantis (and that assclown Joseph Ladapo...more here) are having a hissy fit with the Biden Administration over the decision by #46 not to send any more monoclonal antibodies to The Sunshine State since they’re basically useless against the Omicron COVID variant – elections indeed have consequences...
...and David Pakman tells us that Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco has confirmed a probe into the Trump bogus elector scam in seven states, allegedly run by "the mayor of 9/11" (more here)...
...and Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ wonders some more about The Swanson TV Dinner Heir’s apparent infatuation with Our Former Ol’ Buddy Vlad Putin (to be fair, we were allies with the USSR in WWII, but yeah, it was an uneasy alliance at best I’ll admit, though we shouldn’t blow off the staggering losses suffered by that country in that global conflict)...
...and I thought Jim Acosta gave “Tuckums” and the Murdochs the treatment they deserve here (slightly NSFW/H at the beginning and the end, but for a good reason)...
Update: And speaking of The Roger Ailes BS Factory, Joeph Imperatrice is a f*cking coward for this (sure, violence against Dems - why the hell not, right?).
...and Beau gives us his take on what’s going on in Ukraine (this commentary definitely doesn’t put me completely at ease with what’s going on in that area of the world, but this is a pretty good, clear-eyed analysis...I have a feeling Putin will find a way to take control without firing a shot as Beau says, partly because of the typical idiotic political wrangling from the other side in this country, leading to a divided front when we should be united on this issue in particular...but I could be totally wrong about Putin of course)...
...and sticking with Rebel HQ, Brett Erlich provides some commentary on what makes conservatives afraid vs. what makes liberals afraid (borderline NSFW/H...and yeah, there may be a bit of an overload of a biological explantion here)...
...and this More Perfect Union video tells us about the importance of reversing jail convictions for cannabis, something the Biden Administration should have addressed yesterday IMO (very NSFW/H as soon as the video starts and at the end also, but also for a good reason)...
...and given Neil Young’s courageous decision to tell Spotify that they have to choose between Young and Joe Rogan (here), and given Spotify’s decision to go with Rogan instead, I plan to periodically feature tunes from Neil Young for the foreseeable future (I’m sure what I do or don’t do won’t mean diddly to Young, but I still want to make the gesture – and apparently there was a rumor out there that Barry Manilow did the same thing...nothing against Manilow one way or the other, but the rumor is apparently unfounded).
Update: And kudos to Peter Frampton also (here) - I'll highlight his songs over the coming days as well (and Joni Mitchell also - here).
John and Viviana Vigil of The Damage Report tell us about the reaction from The Swanson TV Dinner Heir to the news the President Biden plans to nominate an African American woman to the Supreme Court (I think the context from this article about The Sainted Ronnie R matters also)...yeah, if “Tuckums” isn’t making his audience of elderly conservative white people angry, scared or agitated in some way, then he’s not doing his job (and it’s so ridiculously typical for the Fix Noise talking head to say that, if you support Biden, then you support segregation, which is typical BS...and I have a feeling that African American women are more than 7 percent of the population too - this I'm sure is closer to the truth...I guess we really can’t expect much more from a network that gets agitated over "progressive" M&Ms and Minnie Mouse in a pants suit...here)...
...and sticking with The Roger Ailes BS Factory, Chris Hayes tells us how that network’s lies about the COVID vaccine are killing Trump voters in an interview with journalist Eric Levitz...
...and Beau talks about the school board in Tennessee deciding to ban the book Maus about the Holocaust (to commemorate #HolocaustRemembranceDay...nice touch, and yes, I'm being sarcastic...and I think Beau absolutely nails it when he says that the parents fell down and don't want to be embarrassed about missing the rise of authoritarianism under TFG – more here)...
...and every damn time I hear about somebody in this country trying to ban a book or shove LGBTQ individuals back into a metaphorical closet (to basically preserve the white patriarchy served by that abattoir of a TV network noted in the first two clips), I find myself recalling this clip from this great movie...
Update 2/1/22: And news items like this make me recall the prior clip also.
...and I need to catch up with my Second Thought videos, and the latest one has to do with Why Student Loan Debt is So Hard to Forgive (and the “military coinage slavery complex,” huh? Interesting...and yes, Biden should forgive student loan debt, but I think the notion that he somehow failed in his first term merely because of this single issue, along with Manchinema’s antics, is completely absurd...still, though, I think #46 should make that happen: Markos of Daily Kos makes a powerful argument for that here, and kudos to Dem U.S. House Rep Dwight Evans for this also)...
Beau gives us his take on the stuff with Fix Noise’s Peter Doocy and President Biden (and apparently 46 called Doocy later to try and smooth things over a bit, which is more of a courtesy than Doocy deserved IMO...oh, and when it comes to that network’s nepotism hire and getting his butt handed to him, let’s not forget this too)...
...and today’s bis story, as it were, is the news that SCOTUS Justice Stephen Breyer will retire at the end of this year’s term – thank God!...and by the way, if I were Biden, I’d put down a marker right freaking now on #Manchinema and let them know that they will truly suffer political hell if they try to screw up THIS also...
...and speaking of the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR, John and Francesca tell us that they’re now looking at affirmative action...I hope John was kidding at the end with that remark about a poll questioning whether or not the SCOTUS is on the presidential ballot...I know HRC was an awful campaigner, but she said that it was in 2016, and she was right on the money (actually, it is in EVERY federal election for the U.S. Senate and the White House...and I wonder if our corporate media is going to go back to the confirmation hearings of the justices in the conservative majority and point out the fact that THEY ARE ALL UNMITIGATED LIARS, since they have no inclination whatsoever to respect “settled law,” including this ruling written by their predecessors)...
...and speaking of Arizona’s U.S. senatorial mistake, Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us about Chuck Todd trying to get Dem U.S. House Rep Elissa Slotkin of Michigan to play along with the “divided Dems” corporate media game, in light of the censure of “Curtsy Kyrsten” (God, we’re stuck with this wretched character until 2024...and I certainly don’t mean Slotkin...and God knows how long we’ll be saddled with Todd as well)...
...and Adrienne Lawrence Esq. of Rebel HQ tells us about that idiot financial advisor who threw a smoothie at a Robeks employee in CT (yes, I get it that peanut allergies are severe, but that doesn’t excuse this idiot’s behavior in any way)...
...and I feel a bit like a need a somewhat newer tune as a pick-me-up, so how about if we give this a try?
John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report tell us about that nutty woman in Virginia who threatened to bring guns to school, punctuating it with that “see you Monday” quote; I get it that officials running these meetings are in a difficult spot and they have my respect, but just once I’d like to see them “clap back” at these nut jobs and threaten them with jail or a heavy fine for their disgusting idiocy (and the Cuellar reference has to do with this)...
...and CNN's Jim Acosta speaks with Dem U.S. House Rep Zoe Lofgren on developments around the 1/6 investigation by the U.S. House committee on which she serves (as well as the latest nonsense from Baby Newton Leroy – more here)...
Update 1/26/22: And speaking of the disgraced former U.S. House speaker, I think this is pretty interesting.
...and Mehdi Hasan speaks with Jane Mayer of The New Yorker over her latest great column on Ginni Thomas - I know I linked to a post on this yesterday (Thomas being the wife of the SCOTUS justice of course), and Thomas’s history of attacking George Soros, with her “Democrat” Party garbage included also for good measure (I’ll never understand what the wingnuts have against this elderly Hungarian man trying to live out his life in upstate New York...once more, the link to the Mayer piece is here)...
...and Brian Tyler Cohen brings us the speech from Dem U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia after the voting rights bill failed (and kudos to Ossoff and Mark Kelly for this)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us about U.S. House Repugs STILL taking credit for the infrastructure bill they voted against, including this Ashley Hinson person (here); for the record, here are the 13 Repugs who voted in favor of the bill, including Bri-Fi...
...and it looks like it’s time for famous musicians to push back against celebrity grifters; this tells us about Neil Young and Joe Rogan over Spotify, and Graham Nash apparently issued a statement for that worm RFK Jr. to cease and desist from using Nash’s tune “Chicago” at Jr.’s anti-vax rallies (here)...surprised Jr. didn’t reach out to Van Morrison or “slow hand,” since I’m sure either would be glad to help...here's a Nash tune for the occasion (and happy upcoming 80th to Nash on 2/2 by the way).
I thought this was a pretty comprehensive Meidas Touch video of the events leading up to the 1/6/21 insurrection as well as the aftermath, including all of the bogus anti-voting laws passed by Republican state legisaltures in support of the Big Lie...
...and this Lincoln Project clip tells us that the SCOTUS won’t let Mango Mussolini stonewall the 1/6 commission (the vote was 8-1 against, including all 3 Trump justices - more here...and of course, leave it to Almost Silent Clarence Thomas to side in favor of Combover Caligula...some interesting info IMO related to Thomas is here)...
...and John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report tell us about that lunatic (which one, I know) Lauren Boebert asking Jews in the Capitol if they were conducting “reconnaissance”...I think Boebert is just too damn stoo-pid for words and yeah, she’s likely hip deep in involvement with the 1/6 insurrection and was trying to make a joke out of it...
...and this clip for the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade a couple of days ago tells us that the aforementioned U.S. Supreme Court has heard arguments about a Mississippi law that would basically ban abortion before women knew they were even pregnant (in addition to organizing and speaking out - and that's true for all of us - make the people responsible for this garbage pay a price at the ballot box...and when it comes to clueless Republicans on this issue, I give you this)...
...and with the prior clip in mind, I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 1/23/14 about stuff on the ground in Mississippi at an abortion clinic, along with Wendy Davis’s filibuster of Texas’s awful anti-abortion law...yeah, women with means can get whatever they need – echoing the Now This clip – but it’s the poor women who will pay the price as usual when it comes to this issue, among others...not sure how many of these URLs are still active and I’m sure some of the people in charge have moved on, but there are bound to be a lot of ways to connect with at least some of the organizations listed at the end...
Update 2/2/22: This is a tragedy regardless of where it happens, but it's definitely a look at a post-Roe future in this country too.
...and Joy Reid discusses Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao leading the charge against the John Lewis Act, Freedom to Vote or whatever it’s called in the U.S. Senate (sorry I’m a little late with this – #MitchPlease...more here and here)...
...and David Doel tells us that Dem U.S. House Rep Jamaal Bowman was recently arrested protesting for voting rights (and I am SO GODDAMN SICK AND TIRED of hearing that Biden and the Dems “haven’t delivered for anybody” as Doel basically says – that’s bullshit! Yes, they’ve given us half a loaf I know given the failure of BBB, but WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD HAVE GOTTEN FROM THE OTHER SIDE??!!).
And by the way, I’ve heard similar comments from Cenk, Ana and John of TYT, which are also equally wrong. And equally infuriating!
I plan to do phone banking and/or canvassing for Democratic candidates later this year, and spreading around that garbage is DISTINCTLY UNHELPFUL to that effort. And it’s not as if Dems don’t have a lousy record overall in participating in mid-term elections...that negativity definitely drives down participation. It shouldn’t – you should just vote anyway as part of being a responsible citizen – but it definitely does.
I’ve said this a few times before, and I guess I’ll have to say it again. Movement conservatism was flat on its metaphorical back in 1964 with the rout of Barry Goldwater in the presidential election, but they regrouped and reorganized; it took them 16 years, but they were finally able to ascend with the election of The Sainted Ronnie R in 1980, to our eternal detriment (one of the tragedies is that the movement was barely hanging on that year, but Reagan totally revitalized it, though not by himself of course).
What I’m saying is that it’s going to continue to be a long, hard fight to get where we need to go. And if you’re not going to be part of that, then shut up and get the hell out of the way while we move forward without you (and by the way, A LOT MORE like this too...also this)...
...and this tune is about a year old, but it’s still relatively newer compared to other selections here...works for me and hopefully you also.
Thom Hartmann gives us more on the lengthy GOP history when it comes to election fraud – yep, when in doubt, just scream about “voter ID” to try and distract from the wrong you’re actually performing yourselves (including this from the “mayor of 9/11”)...Thom also discusses “Operation Eagle Eye,” which was the 1964 GOP campaign of voter intimidation and disenfranchisement (if anybody thinks the wingnut claims about “voter fraud” and “socialism” AREN’T time-worn chestnuts that the “party of Lincoln” has been trotting out whenever they feel like it for the last 70 years or so – well, I’ve got a bridge to one of the 5 New York boroughs to sell to you)...
...and Rachel Maddow tells us about some Trumpist idiot contesting the result of the special election to fill the U.S. House seat of Alcee Hastings in FLA (yeah, it’s “fraud” when you lose by over 60 points, you clueless meat sack)...
...and speaking of Trump-loving idiots, John and Jayar of The Damage Report tells us that Dan Crenshaw recently gave a 10-year-old girl a bad time over his “faith” when asked about hero/role models or something (yeah, giving an attitude to the kid was a completely awful look for Crenshaw, but dude, this was a softball question also)...
...and in a triumph for informed discourse, Adrienne Lawrence Esq. of Rebel HQ tells us it looks like OAN is on its way out, with Direct TV dropping the network after quite-justifiable protests...
...and this video from More Perfect Union tells us about the effort to pass a bill in Delaware that would end debt-based license suspensions...yes, I believe those convicted should pay what they owe, but are all the fines and fees necessary? And yeah, suspending someone’s license so they can’t get to a job (which is the only way they’re going to pay off the fines and fees) doesn’t make much sense to me either (and I’m shocked that Chris Coons and Roger Wicker are trying to do the right thing here, but apparently they are)...
...and RIP Fred Parris of The Five Satins (I know I have virtually no doo-wop tunes at this site, and I should make amends for that however I can).
Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us the latest from The Swanson TV Dinner Heir and this nonsense about this Kathleen Dooling person and Carlson's claim that she denied the vaccine to people based on race stemming from a December ’20 policy...and by the way, I hope people realize that this allegedly happened before Biden was even sworn in, though knowing Carlson, the veracity of this claim is highly questionable anyway...and by the way, I GUARANTEE you that "Tuckums" is completely vaxxed...
...and sticking with our regularly scheduled plague, Richard Ojeda tells us more on why Joe Rogan is a thoroughly disingenuous actor on this and other issues, including the 1/6 insurrection...
...and as long as we’re discussing COVID, Adrienne Lawrence Esq. of Rebel HQ tells us what a selfish asshole SCOTUS Justice Neil Gorsuch truly is...see, Hangin’ Judge JR apparently circulated a memo to everyone to mask up, but Gorsuch refuses to comply...as Lawrence tells us, that really messes things up for Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who is diabetic and thus more susceptible to the virus (and I think this is an interesting item related to Gorsuch also)...
...and I’m going to give Trae Crowder another shot, and this time, he takes on the alleged Carhartt boycott based on this – the “mayonnaise militia”...good one (and I don’t want to shock anybody, but I have Carhartt apparel also including a winter coat that I basically live in from now until the spring)...
...and I know I’m a little late in acknowledging that last Monday, in addition to the birthday of MLK Jr., would have been the 80th of Muhammad Ali; if, in this age of the wingnutosphere, that abattoir of a TV channel called Fix Noise and corporate ownership of the media, people absolutely lost what’s left of their minds when Colin Kaepernick took a knee in protest of police tactics against African Americans...well, just try to imagine if Ali had refused military service in this era – he would be cast completely aside and ridiculed for the rest of his life...
...and here’s another milestone – happy 70th birthday to Dewey Bunnell of the band America.
Farron Cousins tells us that Guv #DeathSantis in FLA wants to spy on public school teachers in their classrooms – Orwellian indeed...
...and let’s take a brief trip north of The Sunshine State to check in on Huckleberry Graham in SC, courtesy of The Lincoln Project (and yes, I know that those people are just yesterday’s Republicans, but they still make good ads like this one)...
...and this More Perfect Union clip tells us about the Google employees who led an effort to unionize and were fired...
...and in other labor news, this Now This video tells us about hotel workers (some in CA) fighting back against COVID-19 challenges...
...and Ana of TYT tells us about a Medicare price spike (about 15%) that you can tie back to the failure to pass Build Back Better IMO (and yes, it’s tied to the typical-I-know new year rate increases also...I have to say that I have the same reaction to this video as I do to a lot of ones with Cenk – namely, that I get REALLY TIRED of listening to those two beating up “corporate Democrats”...yes, they’re bad, but there is also NO DAYLIGHT AT ALL when it comes to Not Your Father’s Republican Party primarily in the Senate, and they should keep mentioning THAT also...and if Ana wants to take a shot at Chris Coons, I’m there for that, but before she attacks Mark Warner, she should consider this, as well as this for Dick Durbin...Ana is spot-on with her advocacy, but her attempt at punditry isn’t doing anybody any favors)...
...and this is kind of a spacier (word?) newer tune that I liked a bit, so here it is.
John and Brett of The Damage Report tell us about the 6-3 SCOTUS ruling overturning Biden’s businesses’ vaccine or test mandate – once more, it tells you who really runs this country (i.e., businesses...and The Swanson TV Dinner Heir can sit and f*cking spin)...
...and John is back with Cenk and Ben Carollo discussing this loon named Ben Bergquam who is mad at exactly the wrong people for his case of ‘Rona (yeah, as if BLM and Antifa had one damn thing to do with this, you idiot)...
...and Beau had a particularly good take here on the educational BS going on in Virginia (and I like the way Beau correctly IMO blames the adults who should know better about this stuff but do nothing in response instead)...
...and in the latest from Second Thought, we learn that the U.S. “left” isn’t really so left after all when compared to the rest of the world (still deserves our support though as far as I’m concerned...actually, this clip I think explains even more why we need to keep up the fight)...
...and for MLK day, I think it's appropriate to revisit 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?"...
I should probably include more clips from this Liberal Redneck guy, since this is probably the best take I've heard yet on the antics of “curtsy Kyrsten” (NSFW/H - to help with Sinema's all-but-assured primary challenge, click here)...
Update 1/21/22: Too funny, but not surprising (here).
...and Seth Meyers speaks with Bernie Sanders about #MaseratiManchin and his selling out of West Virginia, though Bernie does so in politely forceful but measured terms, which is the best way to do it (I typically wouldn’t give politicians generally the time of day to speak about Manchin and Sinema’s utter betrayals, but Bernie “walks the walk” as well as “talking the talk” on the issues that matter as we know)...
...and speaking of betrayals, that’s exactly what I call the U.S. freezing Afghanistan’s assets while that country is enduring a food crisis and a brutal winter; yes, it’s indeed true that nobody likes or trusts the Taliban, nor should they, but we can release a little more than half of what we’re withholding and that will go a long way towards providing the relief that besieged country needs...Chris Hayes fills us in (more here)...
...and turning now to our regularly scheduled plague, John and Caroline Johnson of The Damage Report tell us about President Biden sending military medical personnel to our hospitals in response to the COVID/Omicron surge (and no, I don’t have a clue as to what would satisfy the wingnuts from Biden on this stuff either, assuming that’s even possible)...
...and in a bit of positive political news, David Pakman tells us that the Ohio Supreme Court threw out Republican gerrymandered redistricting maps (and no, I don’t know either how the hell the son of Mike DeWine gets to rule on something that his father had a hand in without being forced to recuse himself...the son that is of course)...
...and a belated happy birthday to multi-talented musician Don Snow, now of Medford, NJ (under another name), who performed with Squeeze, Procal Harum and other bands...so yeah, that gives me an excuse for another damn Procal Harum tune...really cool cowbell number though.
This Rebel HQ clip from David Shuster tells us about some nut named Christopher Key, who apparently is now telling people to drink their own pee to fight off COVID-19 (and why the hell would “pee” be censored? Are YouTube such hard asses when it comes for looking for reasons to de-monetize somebody? I guess so.)...
...and now turning to what appears to be the failing effort to try and save our democracy, David Doel informs us of the latest antics of Arizona's U.S. senatorial mistake Kyrsten Sinema, who (sniff) is apparently so overwrought (sniff, sniff) in an effort to...oh, I don't know...try and save the UTTERLY RIDICULOUS FILIBUSTER THAT REPUBLICANS VIOLATE WHENEVER THEY FEEL LIKE IT (mildly NSFW/H...more here and here..and it's unintentionally hilarious, to say nothing of deceitful, for Sinema to complain about "Holy Joe" Lieberman given that she's 10X worse.)...
Update 1/14/22: And this isn't surprising either, is it?
...so basically, “Curtsy Kyrsten” is making common cause with the “party of Lincoln,” and with that in mind, Thom Hartmann tells us Why They Don’t Want You To Believe in Democracy (and I understand Thom’s anger about CNN, and yeah, the cynicism pisses me off too, but unfortunately, as great as Biden’s speech was, it indeed ended up not mattering...good for Thom to bring up the utterly toxic link between the Repugs and the Birchers)...
...and I’ll dig into the archives and come up with this item from TYT, with Cenk and (I believe) Michael Shure discussing the clip of conservative “godfather” Paul Weyrich giving a 1980 speech proclaiming why the wingnuts don’t want people to vote (or, at least, they want only the “right”...wink, wink...people to vote)...
...and I sincerely hope that Beau is right here to think that there will be an electoral price to pay for the individuals involved in this garbage (including this), but I’m not at all sure about that...
Rachel Maddow brings us an update of a story she did last December 23rd about fake ‘20 election documents in Wisconsin; well, it turns out this garbage also happened in at least four other states...Georgia, Nevada, Michigan and Arizona (credit to Maddow and Politico...hate to give the latter credit for anything, but fair is fair – Nicholas Wu is a good reporter...among other responses, I don’t want to hear another goddamn word from Repugs about “voter fraud”...also, Merrick Garland needs to appoint a special prosecutor for this...sounds like MORE people need to go to prison for a loooooong time)...
Update 1/13/22: Oh, so now it's SEVEN states, apparently including PA? (here)...
...and I would say that that utter assclown Rand (“Fake Ophthalmologist”) Paul getting his comeuppance from Dr. Fauci was incredibly overdue (mildly NSFW/H...more here)...
...and continuing with our ongoing plague, John and Francesca tells us that the wingnuts are just so overjoyed to hear that AOC has tested positive...sick bastards (as Francesca says, likely because AOC visited the land of Ron #DeathSantis while doing her job)...
...and Sam of The Majority Report tells us about the SCOTUS hearing a challenge to Biden’s vaccine mandate (and apparently Gorsuch showed his true colors...why vaccinate anybody for anything as far as he’s concerned, right?).
And I saw a few minutes of a clip of Ali Velshi and Dahlia Lithwick recently talking about remarks from “Strip Search Sammy” Alito raising doubts about the COVID vaccines (which makes me ask where the hell it was exactly that Alito received any medical education whatsoever).
And with all due respect to Velshi and Lithwick, I’m pretty fed up with anybody at this point being surprised that 6 wingnut SCOTUS justices want people to hurry up, get back to work, and get sick and die. That’s their end game, people (COVID has just given them the chance to hurry things up a bit). Make sure the rabble is smart enough to know how to operate the machines but way too dumb to do anything else, as The Eternal George Carlin once put it. And yeah, screwing over workers in the process is great, as far as the wingnuts are concerned. And if you do the same to women, minorities, working families, and kids while you’re at it, all the better.
We’ve been watching this play out for at least 40 years, people. None of this should be a surprise...
...and Monday 1/10 marked the 17th anniversary of that ridiculous “audit” of CBS by a Bushie pal, the late PA Guv Dick Thornburgh, in response to the story of Dubya allegedly disappearing while serving in the Texas Air National Guard (the news story is here, and producer Mary Mapes’s response is here – the clip of Dubya and Connie Chung from the '88 Republican Convention includes a typically stoo-pid remark at the end about Vietnam and the National Guard from Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History)...
...and RIP Michael Lang, who helped produce Woodstock (including this tune).
Farron Cousins reminds us that we shouldn’t be “giving a cookie” to “Big Time” or “Bush’s Brain” over their words/actions on the anniversary of the 1/6 attack on the U.S. Capitol (and I think The Rude Pundit captured the appropriate level of outrage here, as usual)..
...and because humor will always have a liberal bias as far as I’m concerned, I can offer this...
...and with the prior two clips in mind, the latest from Second Thought reminds us Why American Fascism Is On The Rise (pretty comprehensive in linking the rise of Trumpism to Reagan and the overall failure of neoliberal economics)...
And by the way, has it occurred to anybody besides me that creating economic uncertainty, trying to sow political discord over it and enabling a “strongman” to tell everyone “Vote for me and I will solve all of your problems” (leading to authoritarianism) is pretty much what this country has been doing for probably the last 50 years or so in other countries, and this is kind of a case of “chickens coming home to roost” now?...
...and Ana “rocks it” in another solo TYT clip (75 billionaires increasing their wealth during the pandemic by $1 billion...I wish I could be mad at the TYT host for her dig at Pramila Jayapal, but unfortunately, Ana is exactly right)...
...and with this spate of high-profile public individuals departing us recently (including this Temple grad – 65 is way too damn young), it might be easy to lose track of the passing of Lani Guinier, who was tagged by former President Clinton as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in 1993 (noted here), though 42 ended up withdrawing her nomination when too many butt-hurt white Republican senators complained about her...as far as I’m concerned, this was an early example of what a suckers bet it truly is to try and mollify these cretins, which is utterly impossible ...whenever you hear ANY Republican bitching about, for example, Robert Bork’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing, tell them that Bork at least got an up-and-down vote, which he lost, while Guinier was never given that opportunity (Roland Martin tells us more)...
...and RIP also Marilyn Bergman, one of the major influences behind this song among many others.
