Jayar, Cenk and Francesca give us the latest on the matter of student loan debt; time to “go big or go home” on this IMHO, and yeah, “wine Karen” Pirro will screech about it forever, but she’ll do that anyway (GREAT job by Cenk to remind everyone about her own debts when running her NY political campaign, and the video also gives us a well-done look at our economy, warts and all of course)...
...and the latest from Second Thought asks why socialists care about intersectional labor movements, including a lengthy and fairly-current-looking segment with Angela Davis... “Equal rights are no good if they’re not accompanied by the equal ability to exercise them,” and “exploitation is inherently multi-faceted”– Nail. Hammer. Head...
...and in the matter of people profiting from our utterly rigged economy, Robert Reich discusses how Elon Musk buying Twitter is “a win for oligarchy” (not saying Reich profits from our rigged economy...well, maybe he does, but I somehow doubt it)...
...and Brett Erlich reminds us once again what a “hustle” voter ID is, leading into a video with Jackson White pointing out what utter buffoons Trump supporters are...yeah, it needs to be pointed out again (NSFW/H)...
...and Sam, Emma and Matt of The Majority Report tell us about President Biden pardoning Abraham Bolden, the first black SS agent appointed under Kennedy, and yeah, I’m sure there’s a hell of a “back story” to Bolden getting sentenced...have to admit that I didn’t know there was an attempt to assassinate Kennedy in Chicago early in November 1963 (more here)...
...on this day in ’92, Bonnie Raitt received an honorary Doctor of Music Degree from Berklee College of Music during commencement ceremonies in Boston; that gives us an excuse for this really nice new tune from her latest release (more here).
I haven’t had a Chip Franklin commentary for a loooong time I know (re, Mean Jean Schmidt’s recent disgusting words about abortion), but I thought this was a particularly good segment...God, am I SO SICK OF POLITICIANS TALKING ABOUT FREAKING RAPE AND ABORTION!!!! And I blame the “fundies” for that, as well as the Catholic Church, and believe me when I tell you that I don’t say that lightly (also, let's not forget this, as Franklin reminds us here)...
...and Thom H. tells us how the Repugs are trying to end democracy through martial law, including the shenanigans with Title X and the evergreen big lie that the “R” party is in favor of “shrinking government” (and I’d forgotten the stuff about the Trumpsters not working with the incoming Biden transition team...and there will be more with that loon MTG later)...
...and as a companion piece of sorts to Thom Hartmann’s commentary, I give you this from Jessica Burbank about standing up to corporate power (NSFW/H)...
...and I didn’t want us to forget about Vlad The Butcher and his despicable war of choice in Ukraine, and with that in mind, Ana and John tell us about the Russian host (editor of RT) casually discussing nuclear freaking war! And good question by Ana about wondering, at what point, Vlad the Butcher will just decide to strike at us because of this country supplying weapons to the conflict (not saying we SHOULDN’T help Ukraine, but I’m only saying that we should keep our eyes open, that’s all...and by the way, please tell me how this Russian woman believing that Russian victims of a nuclear holocaust being “lifted up to Heaven” is actually different from fundamentalist nuts in this country believing in “the rapture”...)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us about this Oklahoma assclown named John Bennett running for the U.S. Congress who calls for Dr. Fauci to be executed after we have the formality of a trial (of course, this brainless biped spouts all other manner of lies and conspiracy theories too, all of which are disgusting enough, and made even worse by the crowd cheering over it).
And to be honest, that’s what really gets me at times – the fact that so many people in this country have been completely and utterly hoodwinked by the individuals who have COMPLETELY FALLEN DOWN when it comes to ensuring our well being (the Thom Hartmann video outlined everything that the “party of Lincoln” has done...or more precisely, failed to do...on that front). In my own admittedly small way, I’m trying to present the best information I can to move as many people as I can towards an enlightened opinion. Would I be happy if every single person who happened to come across this site ended up voting for a Democrat? Yeah, but I know the probability that circumstances will change for the better even if that were to happen. However, that doesn’t mean we can give up the fight...far from it. But we’re living with the consequences of over 40 years of “us vs. them” antagonism in our media when it comes to trying to make peace with the “R” party (egged on by AM talk radio, Fix Noise and similar TV networks, and the wingnutosphere including the Murdoch Street Journal and many other corporate media culprits). And yes, I know I’m restating the obvious, but I feel like I have to do that sometimes...
...and in the prior clip, Farron Cousins noted how contradictory it was for this guy John Bennett to be advocating violence in the presence of the cross, and this Meidas Touch clip takes that a step further, with Adrian Fontes, running for AZ Secretary of State (and a vet and a Roman Catholic), calling out that loon Marjorie Taylor Greene for her disgusting anti-immigrant rhetoric (and that goes for that bobblehead also who just noddled while Greene spoke this bilious hatred)...
...well, I’m going to try and lighten things up a bit with this; it seems that Mango Mussolini is afraid of fresh fruit as noted here, including pineapples (and produce also)...maybe he ought to enroll in this class...
...and that’s about all I’ve got for now – hopefully we’ll all be able to enjoy nicer weather for the weekend (I think this tune is perfectly apt).
I think that, every once in a while, Chris Hayes nails in a particularly good way with a commentary, and I think he does so again here, vis-a-vis the wingnuts crying about “free speech,” which of course is really all about controlling the narrative (or trying to), particularly when it comes to Guv #DeathSantis vs. The Giant Mouse (and how funny is it that, as it turns out, FLA Repugs can’t take away Disney’s self-governing status without settling about a billion dollar bond obligation first)...
...and Ana and John tell us about OK Repug (of course) Guv Kevin Stitt taking away a non-binary designation from birth certificates issued in that state (more misadventures with Stitt are included on this post...have to scroll a bit for it)...
...and Beau gives us his take on the latest from Willard Mitt Romney in the matter of forgiving student loan debt (a related item is here...gee, wasn’t it just a few days ago when we were giving Romney credit for applauding the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson? How times have changed I guess)...
...oh, and here’s a little stroll down memory lane, if you will, and that’s Romney’s comment about 47 percent of this country being “entitled” and, quite rightly, never willing to support the “party of Lincoln” in the 2012 contest between Romney and President Obama (yep, as usual, a Repug looks in a mirror and sees everyone’s reflection except his own...Romney’s attempt at a response to that is here)...
...and maybe this is a little “inside baseball,” but I still thought it was interesting...David Pakman tells us about prominent lefties on Twitter losing followers (and wingnuts gaining followers) after the announcement that Elon Musk had extended an offer to buy Twitter (which, I believe, is still up in the air, as it were)...
...and here’s another tune that I’d better include before the month comes to a close.
Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us about this Kennedy person on Fix Noise saying that there should be no more public schools, which is ridiculous for all of the reasons noted in the clip...yep, just keep the drones smart enough to work the machines but too dumb to know about anything else, as The Eternal George Carlin once pointed out (this leads into a discussion about the football coach who apparently enforced some kind of prayer service at the 50 yard line after the game – not surprising that “Strip Search Sammy” Alito came to the coach’s defense...and it’s very much “baked in” for that network to have the female news mannequins displayed with as much skin as possible so as to not pay as much attention to the garbage they’re spouting)...
...and Ryan Reilly of MSNBC tells us about cop-on-cop violence during the 1/6 insurrection...and no, I’m not trying to be flip by calling it that; it looks like someone from the NYPD (who DEFINITELY should have known better!) decided to go into a restricted area during the riot and take down a Capitol police officer in the process ("allegedly" of course)...
...and Jayar and Brett Erlich of Rebel HQ tell us about the trucks in the freedumb convoy getting egged near San Francisco, and a manly man of a driver gets out to yell at a little kid...seriously, what the “F” did the people driving these vehicles through a city street expect? Of course, that’s assuming they had any degree of self-reflection at all, which of course they don’t...and so now you’re protesting abortion? Wonder what the grievance du jour will be NEXT week? And “compensation-mobile” - good one...
...and the prior video was low comedy, but this is just tragic – a climate activist named Wynn Bruce of Boulder, CO set himself on fire and died as a result of his injuries while protesting climate change...nothing is worth that course of action IMO...indicative of a larger issue for which I hope he was getting treatment, though it obviously didn’t go far enough of course (more here)...
...well, at least Trae Crowder is around to lend some more much-needed perspective about Elon Musk, Twitter and our corpo-fascist overlords (very NSFW/H, but for a good reason as far as I’m concerned)...
...and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Rand (Fake Ophthalmologist) Paul arguing with Biden Secretary of State Anthony Blinken about why Vlad The Butcher shouldn’t be allowed to just grab back some of the former breakaway republics surrounding Russia, since – I mean after all – they all used to be part of the Soviet Union, so what’s the problem? And to support Charles Booker, click here...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 4/27/12 – as already noted, the beginning of this post showed a set from The Roger Ailes BS Factory with some ladies opining about funding public schools...well, watch this clip and never forget what exactly conservatives think of women, OK? (and of course, it was Sandra Fluke, not Susan, as the late but hardly lamented Flush Limbore would have us believe...oh, and the recently departed “Saint Orrin” Hatch also appears briefly in this video)...
...and Pete Ham of Badfinger would have been 75; Ham is truly one of the tragic figures in rock music (sorry if my selections have been a bit of a downer this week – I’ll do better).
So Elon Musk has bought Twitter...it’s amazing all of the issues that we could have gone a long way to fix on this planet with $44 billion instead, but no...another billionaire has to throw money around instead and try to prove to the world what an “influencer” he is (can’t think of a woman in this category, though I have a feeling they’re out there...and yeah, I would bet that the biggest change will be more ways to monetize the platform, which of course will eventually kill it, along with the return of Mango Mussolini...he’ll be back too I’m sure...mildly NSFW/H)...
...and Trevor Noah of The Daily Show tells us about the recent testimony of that utter loon Marjorie Taylor Greene, in which she claimed “I don’t remember” over 50 times as noted here (such pathetic weasels – that goes for the whole sorry Trumpist lot of them...oh, but when one of her tweets was introduced into evidence, then SUDDENLY she recalled what they were talking about...uh huh...good impression of Our Tiny-Handed Orange Would-Be Dictator by Noah, I have to admit...and good stuff here too from Jimmy Kimmel)...
...and speaking of Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence, Farron Cousins tells us how #45 is using his MAGA PAC to pay his legal fees...lather, rinse, repeat (and of course, the way PACS work is that there’s nothing legally wrong with Combover Caligula doing that – heckuva job, High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR over Citizens United)...
...and Mehdi Hasan interviews Dem U.S. House Rep Ruben Gallego of Arizona about the Dems needing to show some guts and (and boy, is this ever a damn recording!) having to FIX THEIR DAMN MESSAGING for the elections later this year...kudos to Gallego for bringing some fight to this discussion, but somehow I don’t think anybody gives a damn about Dennis Hastert any more (though they should of course)...I’ve said this I don’t know how many damn times already and I don’t know how many MORE times I’ll have to say it – do polling among your base voters to drive turnout, figure out what they care about (and maybe try NOT sneaking in a money pitch for a change...and by the way, that polling should have happened LONG BEFORE NOW), and then address those issues with policy proposals...try getting AHEAD OF THE DAMN CURVE on this stuff so the Dems actually AREN’T prone to BS Repug and wingnut media attacks later on that drive the narrative the wrong way (and I hope Gallego saves some fire for one of the two biggest culprits when it comes to congressional obstruction from his own state)...
...and turning to Vlad The Butcher and the Ukraine horror show, Ali Velshi tells us about the Russian oligarchs who have come to bad ends (and their families too in some cases, horrifically enough) under Russia’s utterly mad leader (as well as others, including journalists of course)...
...and I feel like I need something to chill out a little, and Nat is just about always “what the doctor ordered” when I'm trying to do that.
Thom Hartmann tells us that the fake concern from the “party of Lincoln” for kids doesn’t protect them from their #1 killer, which is guns (I knew there was a “poison pill” amendment preventing Congress from authorizing research into gun shootings, but I didn’t know it was called the Dickey Amendment...I also knew we had the worst “guns per person” ratio among all world nations, but I didn’t know it was MORE than 1:1...dear God)...
...and Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us more on Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s border theatrics for vehicle security checks, which didn’t find anything as it turned out, though they apparently ended up costing about $9 billion...heckuva job...and by the way, I have something to say about this “Biden moment” crap – can we lay off making fun of people’s alleged mental impairment? And yes, I think I’m being consistent here...my issue with the Gropenfuhrer isn’t the fact that he slurs or mispronounces words from time to time or forgets what he’s saying; my issue with him is that HE’S A DELUSIONAL NARCISSIST AND A SOCIOPATHIC LIAR, not that he occasionally forgets a word or two...maybe I’m being unduly sensitive here I’ll admit, but why the hell should we dovetail our talking points into related wingnut BS??!! And I'm referring to this, by the way...
...and the latest from Second Thought tells us how “Mickey D’s” wrote itself a $3.4 billion IOU, apparently (actually, with respect to the person making this video, who I definitely admire for his dedication, McDonald’s makes a ton of dough on the real estate upon which their franchises are located also, in addition to brand recognition of course, and advertising targeted insidiously to kids...and by the way, the reason why Delaware figures so prominently in a lot of corporate discussions is because that state has the easiest requirements for incorporation in the country, and it’s highly unlikely that any “corporate charter” originating from Delaware...and yes, a corporate charter is actually a thing, which is a document outlining guidelines for governance pretty much...will ever get revoked...and yeah, when income inequality is so bad that even the IMF is admitting that it’s stifling economic growth, yeah, we’re pretty much “through the looking glass”...and great job to draw a connection between tax havens and the “poor mouth” cries about not being able to provide public services)...
...and Brett Erlich gives us his take on Jon Stewart’s latest commentary, vis-a-vis the wingnuts “working the refs” pretty much as usual (NSFW/H)...as I contemplate this video (in the matter of people voting for wingnuts against their interests), I want to point out that I recently saw a white paneled van heading towards Levittown on Oxford Valley Rd. in the area of Bucks County, Pa near Sesame Place in these parts, likely driven by someone in a construction-related trade (judging by how beaten up the vehicle looked – apparently used for a lot of related work), with a whole bunch of logos on the rear windows and back doors and bumpers...one said “Union: Yes!,” but then another said “Let’s Go Brandon,” and I thought to myself, just how big of a schmuck are you anyway?...
...oh, and apparently Orrin Hatch died recently (more here) – with that in mind, I give you this great clip from Jayar Jackson (around December ’18) pointing out Hatch’s double standard when comparing President Clinton to Combover Caligula...
...and this clip from More Perfect Union tells us about the efforts to unionize cannabis industry workers and those who were fired for trying to form a “grow house” union in Colorado at Green Dragon, which apparently is a massive dispensary...just because the company is in the pot business is not a reason to assume they’re NOT corporate pirates too (NSFW/H)...
...and Caroline Johnson of Rebel HQ tells us about airlines, Delta in particular, relaxing mask mandates in accordance with CDC guidelines as a result of that ruling from that Trumpster judge (here)...
...and this is a personal selection for yours truly – just need something to help me face this week, that’s all (don't blink or you'll miss it :-).
Brian Tyler Cohen brings us the Rachel Maddow clip from last night that everyone is quite rightly talking about, where House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy denied asking Trump to resign, when in fact - oopsie! – there are tapes directly refuting that (and yeah, as Cohen says, when McCarthy lies this brazenly about that, imagine what else he lies brazenly about – NSFW/H)...
...and speaking of Republicans lying, Yasmin Khan of Rebel HQ tells us about 54 math textbooks in FLA that have been rejected by Guv Ron #DeathSantis because of “critical race theory,” which, y’know, ISN’T ACTUALLY A THING, PEOPLE!!!, at least not in elementary school (more here...clip starts off with this guy Ralph Rebandt who apparently is running on the "God ticket" for governor of Michigan)...
...well, if I had to choose between Republicans lying to me versus Republicans who may threaten to kill me, as Herschel Walker might (as indicated in this Really American clip), I guess I’d rather have them lie to my face, which I say reluctantly of course (to help Rev. Warnock, click here)...
...and turning to the latest from Vlad The Butcher in Ukraine, this DW clip tells us that the battle for the Donbas has begun (with correspondents Mathias Bolinger and Rebecca Ritters...I dare you not to get choked up by the little girl with her teddy bear near the end)...
...and Joy Reid speaks with producer Ali Arouzi and correspondent Malcolm Nance (such respect to Nance, serving as part of a 20K-strong multi-national force to protect the people of Ukraine, civilians in particular...”I’m done talking” indeed)...
...and I now give you the latest installment of "This Day In Doomsy History" from 4/22/15 - yeah, we know what Bill Maher has turned into, but back when he was actually good, he made some great points here about Republicans and environmentalism...
...and in terms of non-musical video clips, I have to end with this one – John and Ana of TYT tell us how Greg Kelly of Newsmax recently portrayed Baby Ben Shapiro as “a black conservative hero”...way too damn funny...
...and with the Maher clip in mind, I want to wish everyone a Happy Earth Day (this tune is particularly timely in light of this, unfortunately...an important update is here).
Yeah, we know what Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao is, but it needs to be repeated over and over, and once more, The Lincoln Project goes where the DNC and DSCC fear to tread (and to help a Dem running against the other U.S. Senatorial mistake from Kentucky, click here)...
...and “grim reaper” McConnell would be nothing without dark money to keep him in power, and Rachel Maddow speaks with Jane Mayer, someone who is truly an expert on that subject, on what Mayer has uncovered about some right-wing outfit called the American Accountability Foundation going after Biden nominees...
...and this clip includes Ana, Francesca and Kate Bettino of TYT telling us that teen depression is skyrocketing unfortunately; I’m not sure how helpful it is to include a clip bitching about social media (for the benefit of anybody who may be reading this), but I hope it’s therapeutic at the very least to include this info (I think Francesca nails this in the Greta Thunberg discussion at about 16:30...I’m sooo glad that this stuff wasn’t around when I was growing up, to be honest)...
...and on the subject of mental health, I’m sure it doesn’t help that Oklahoma just passed another anti-abortion bill that only makes an exception for the life of the mother, meaning that (as Cousins points out), women may have to carry their “rape baby” all the way to term (God willing that circumstance won’t arise, but unfortunately we know the probability that it will...utterly monstrous, and Cousins’ outrage towards the end is completely spot-on IMO)...
...and I know I’m a little late with this, but Emma V. and Nomiki Konst of The Majority Report talk about The Swanson TV Dinner Heir and his interview with that loony Penn law professor Amy Wax (NSFW/H but for a good reason as far as I’m concerned)...
...and Thom Hartmann takes a deeper dive into Lex Luthor’s Scott’s 11-point plan to return the U.S. basically to those glorious years of the 1800s (hey, @DNC, @DNCC, @DSCC and anybody I may have missed – are you going to start screaming your heads off about this, or what?)...
...well, in case anybody needs an example of how to fight back, Michigan Dem state senator Mallory McMorrow provides one here (in response to that slanderous lunatic Lana Theis – yep, this is the Repug Party now totally beholden to Trumpism – Brian Tyler Cohen explains...mildly NSFW/H)...
...and it should be noted that a true legend in broadcasting left us earlier this week, and that would be Sid Mark (here), the host of “Fridays with Frank,” “Sundays with Sinatra” and the syndicated “Sounds of Sinatra” program...there was a period during the ‘90s when I can’t tell you how many times we would put in the FM crystal set in the Doomsy household and turn on WWDB-FM and leave it on pretty much all day, and we would spend quality time of sorts with Gil Gross and Pat Farnack in the AM, and then the one and only Irv Homer in the afternoon along with Kent Voss during the evening drive time, along with Dr. Jim Corea in the evening, and Sid Mark of course on Fridays and Sundays (sometimes Saturday too)...I definitely didn’t follow Mark when his program went to WPHT-AM (after Beasley Broadcasting eviscerated WWDB in 2000...Beasley and Clear Channel have pretty much destroyed non-public terrestrial radio), partly because the sound quality went down the drain (sounded like Radio Free Europe when compared to FM fidelity) and also because, as a matter of principle, I choose to do ASOLUTELY NOTHING to support AM talk radio, but it was nice to know that Mark’s Sinatra programs were still out there...didn’t grow up listening to Sinatra, but because of Mark’s show I came to appreciate “that skinny kid from Hoboken”...this was the tune that closed Mark’s program – what a wonderful legacy Mark and Sinatra both left us.
It really is getting to the point where there are so many damn mass shootings going on that it’s impossible to keep track of them all; this is a story about an incident at a South Carolina mall (to go with this also)...
...well, for some good news when it comes to these stories, Mehdi Hasan speaks with two Syrian immigrants (Zack Tahhan and his friend) who helped to stop the (alleged) Brooklyn subway shooter (great stuff from these guys)...
...and going from the sublime to the utterly ridiculous, Emma and Matt Lech tell us about Tucker Carlson’s documentarily trailer on “the end of men” or something – ummmm (and what’s the deal with the damn British accent? And yeah, definitely NSFW/H)...
...and Trae Crowder tells us about the recent dustup on the plane with the “Christian” guitarist and Ilhan Omar’s completely correct response (here - I'm old enough to remember a certain "Kenyan Muslim socialist" president who made a remark about people clinging to guns and religion, or something, and the wingnuts had one of the all-time hissy fits over it)...
...and Beau gives us his take on Texas guv Greg Abbott doing his best to try and ruin the economy by dumping a lot of produce to drive up inflation (here)...
...and Adrienne Lawrence, Wosny Lambre and Ben Gleib tell us that the RNC just pulled out of presidential debates – figures (stinking cowards, and all to please their orange overlord as stated in the clip...God almighty, these children have been yelling about “bias” for DAMN NEAR 70 YEARS NOW!!! TURN THE RECORD OVER, WILLYA??!!)...
...and John and Francesca tell us about 16 people being arrested protesting Joe Manchin in West Virginia (and sorry that I didn't publicize the global protests over trying to save our planet...more here)...
...and I thought this was a pretty “fly” newer tune – hope you agree.
Jordan Klepper of The Daily Show gives those CPAC lunatics the treatment they deserve here (Klepper’s special will air on Comedy Central on April 21st)...
...and John of TYT tells us about Mike Lee and Chip Roy sending texts to Mark Meadows to get some talking points about the 1/6 insurrection (with Francesca and Farron Cousins...”brother, we need something!” Just too precious...and GREAT point by Francesca about the difference between the smokescreen BS and the “parliamentary” stuff that the Repugs are doing their level best to try and enact to change the outcome of our elections...and boy is Cousins ever right too about appointing a special prosecutor for this whole mess – I definitely would nominate Doug Jones for that)...
...and Lawrence O’Donnell brings us that GREAT speech by state house rep Ian Mackey of Missouri against more anti-LGBTQ garbage from Mackey’s fellow Repug rep Chuck Basye (for support, click here)...
...but don’t worry – Basye’s party of con men and women and grifters have a plan to “save America”...for themselves, their donors and no one else, of course...
...and the latest video from Second Thought asks “What If We Just Stopped Working,” or at least, working so much (slightly NSFW/H) – hey, I’m willing to give a 32-hour-work-week a try, but good luck waiting for that to happen...should probably include this again around Labor Day to be honest...
...and on the subject of income (and saving the planet ultimately), Robert Reich and Dem U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse discuss the proposed windfall profits tax on this country's dirty energy corporate cretins (and we could actually get some extra greenbacks out of this deal while we’re at it)...
...and I realized I never officially ended my tribute to the artists boycotting Spotify over the Joe Rogan anti-vax BS on COVID, so I should probably do that now with a tune from Nils Lofgren...
I hope you all you all have a happy and blessed Easter. If you don't observe anything, may you have a happy and blessed long weekend (and that goes for Passover and Ramadan too).
This clip from Meidas Touch kind of goes over what we already know I’ll admit when it comes to the "party of Lincoln" and how they just love Vlad The Butcher, but it definitely bears repeating as far as I’m concerned...
...and this report from the German news service DW tells us that, among other things, Vlad The Butcher is redeploying his troops to the east of Ukraine to the Donbas region in an effort to gain a foothold of sorts in that country, having failed to take Kyiv...and yeah, that appointment of Alexander Dvornikov as head of Russian forces doesn’t bode well for mitigation of the slaughter anytime soon...
...and Rachel Maddow (who apparently is back for a limited time) tells us about brave Russians speaking out against the war, partly through food labels in supermarkets...
...and Ana tells us about privately owned but publicly funded charter schools (and how the hell is that even legal?), in this case Hillsdale College expanding into charters and laying on the conservative propaganda pretty thick of course (starting In Tennessee – yeah, that figures...and yeah, more than anything else, the charter school movement is anti-union big time...the last minute or so of this clip about fighting back is pretty important)...
...and Jayar Jackson and David Doel of Rebel HQ discuss Greg Abbott’s ridiculous bus stunt with the immigrants (and yeah, it’s nice that Abbott is indirectly helping these people on the Texas taxpayer dime, but of course Abbott, as you might expect, will do nothing but utterly lie about that)...
...and I haven't checked in with John Oliver in a loooong time (nothing against him, I wish to emphasize), but his latest report on data brokers is pretty interesting, and the payoff at the end is terrific (pretty sure this is NSFW/H)...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 4/10/12, in which our corporate media politely called out Former President Nutball (43 that is) here over his stupendously awful tax cuts and what they did to the debt...
...and speaking of money, I just wanted everyone to know that the tax filing deadline was extended to Monday April 18th; hope you end up OK...we did fine, fortunately.
Farron Cousins tells us that, based on a recent Gallup poll, 53 percent of those polled support development of renewable energy to fight the climate crisis (and yeah, as Cousins says, implying that investment in renewable energy actually ISN’T a stimulus for the economy is pretty much a lie)...
...and Trae Crowder discusses Herschel Walker, running as a Repug for the Georgia U.S. Senate seat against Raphael Warnock...I mean, after Tommy Tuberville won in Alabama (to say nothing of Greene, Boebert, Cawthorn and other low lights from that party), I assume that the methane dispensers supporting these assclowns will vote for ANYBODY with a pulse who has an “R” after their name...not only is Walker not a serious candidate IMO – and yeah, I know he can win anyway – but I think the man is in cognitive decline, and I’m not saying that to make fun of him, but only to point out that he needs professional help and shouldn’t be ANYWHERE NEAR a political campaign for public office (mildly NSFW/H)...
...and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about that utterly nuts “interview” Maria Bartiromo (of course) conducted with Walker (NSFW/H)...
...and just for the hell of it, here’s more on now-SCOTUS-Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson from Trevor Noah (the Dulcé Sloan bit was OK I guess)...
...and as long as we’re discussing Walker and the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR, I thought this was a cautionary reminder from Lawrence O’Donnell that Almost Silent Clarence Thomas should, at a minimum, be forced to recuse himself from any cases involving Mango Mussolini and the 1/6 insurrection; at the most, he should be removed from the Court altogether (hey, if Abe Fortas was forced to step down for an alleged financial impropriety of about $15K, along with $20K a year for unspecified advice to a Wall Street financier as noted here, then Thomas should face the same fate for this)...
...and on the one hand, I guess this is a tune about renewal, but on the other hand, the lyric about being “drunk on borrowed time” definitely harks back to the first video in this post as far as I’m concerned.
Thom Hartmann tells us about the Republican hate and fear strategy to serve the rich (yep, an anti-LGBTQ agenda, and demonizing minorities of course...and it should probably come as no surprise that FLA guv Ron #DeathSantis is lying yet again about a girl getting some kind of conversion treatment without the knowledge of her parents..and nothing against Thom of course, but what does it tell you about how insane the other side is that HE HAS TO EXPLAIN WHAT THE HELL EMPATHY IS??!! And yeah, this also provides an important lesson in corporations not wanting to pay for a goddamn thing and instead concocting non-issues to distract voters as usual...
...and Farron Cousins tells us about some Trumpist wingnut named Robert Shapiro, who is apparently running in NJ to primary Repug U.S. House Rep Chris Smith (tells you how nutty the “party of Lincoln” is to do that to someone as conservative as Smith...Shapiro wants “Let’s Go Brandon FJB” to appear next to his name on the ballot...and you know what? I agree with Cousins – let the guy do it and prove to the entire world that he’s a total idiot)...
...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ brings us the story of Russian soldiers who apparently brought radioactive material form Chernobyl home with them; I would laugh at their stupidity if it weren’t for the fact that this will likely put innocent people at a grave health risk...
...and Tiffany Cross of MSNBC speaks with Evan Milligan, executive director of the voting rights organization Alabama Forward, and Latosha Brown of Black Voters Matter on a case before the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR having to do with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (trying to get a voting districting map instituted in AL that doesn’t do still more to deny representation to people of color, which Alabama would surely do if they could)...
..and Ana of TYT discusses Wonder Boy Jared Kushner’s startup company getting $2 billion from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bone Saw, which could very well indeed by a tit-for-tat for not holding the Saudis to account over the murder of U.S. citizen Jamal Khashoggi...oh, but please tell me about Hunter Biden’s laptop again, OK?...a particularly disgusting update is here...and in terms of our awful relationship with our “good friends” the Saudis, well, a long time ago I read the book “Veil” by Bob Woodward about the secret wars of the CIA under The Sainted Ronnie R, and any time that regime wanted to bankroll anything that actually wasn’t an illegal arms sale, they went right to the Saudis...
...and if I do say so myself, I think this tune is an apt selection given the prior video.
(Thanks to @AdamKinzinger on Twitter for the pic.)
This CBC report tells us about the condemnation following the train station bombing in the Kramatorsk region of Ukraine by Vlad The Butcher (reporter is speaking from Lviv...and yeah, targeting schools and orphanages too...again, a pox on any world leader who turned their eye to Putin up until this madness boiled over...more here...
...and one more time, I want to take note of the recent vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson as the next SCOTUS justice; every U.S. Senate Repug walked out except for Mitt Romney while the Dems applauded, with Huckleberry Graham and Fake Ophthalmologist Paul holding up the vote...also, that Fix Noise guttersnipe Jesse Watters tells us that Dems blocked Janice Rogers Brown for the SCOTUS...she was never nominated to begin with...
...and with the prior clip in mind, Chris Hayes talks about how he thinks Dems can avoid getting painted into a corner, as it were, on crime (with idiots like Tom Cotton trying to confront KBJ on something she wouldn't know about unless you were talking about particular cases or statutes...I don’t think there’s a particularly clear approach that Hayes comes up with here, though he does outline the issue very well...I know some have held up Camden, N.J. as a model when it comes to de-escalating the role of the police, but what I’ve read is kind of a mixed bag, though IMO the emphasis on community policing is the right way to go (here)...there quite simply is no “quick fix” on this issue like so many others, but it will take a mix of “carrots” and “sticks” to address it properly...not the sort of thing you can turn into a slogan that fits on a bumper sticker, and that’s why a lot of so-called “moderate” independent voters will tune it out and instead just side with the Repug who yells “THEY WANT TO DEFUND THE POLICE” the loudest, and I’m honestly not 100% sure of what you can do about that except to stick to the courage of your convictions...and by the way, I’m hot and cold on Philly DA Larry Krasner; I think his advocacy has been a good thing in a lot of ways, though he has had a misstep or two as noted here...and by the way, Hayes knows a thing or two on this subject, as noted here...and playing offense for a change is a good thing too)...
...and David Doel speaks with Alex Kotch again, this time on nonprofits funding climate science denial and more or less “laundering” funds for this awful cause through mega-money managers like Fidelity and Vanguard (oh, great – have to remember the term “greenwashing”)...
...and the latest from Second Thought tells us why means testing is a bad idea, partly because it pointlessly increases the cost of affected legislation (and yeah, that $5 billion set aside by states for welfare is indeed an eye-popping number...”means testing costs the same or sometimes more than the service you’re trying to provide universally” – yep, I can believe that...and it figures that Bri-Fi, that idiot Gottheimer and #MaseratiManchin would come down on the wrong side of this issue...when discussing the OPM report, the number of people lost in 2000 due to poverty, lack of education and other factors in the Columbia study is gob-smacking)...
...and Will Bunch of inquirer.com recently noted that Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence held another one of his hate fests over the weekend (how the hell is he actually NOT in jail yet? And I don’t mean Bunch of course.) and a Johnny Cash tune was played in the background (here), and it was correctly pointed out that, were the “man in black” still with us, he would’ve been one of the first people to call out #45...well, commenter Brian Cummings on Twitter linked to this great Cash tune from back in the day, and I thought it was too apropos of a selection to not include here.
Nice work by Jimmy Kimmel here to give Slimy Sean Inanity the treatment he completely deserves (and I realize this isn’t funny, but to see how the Fix Noise propagandist lied to his audience about ‘Rona and no doubt had a bit of a hand in getting some of them killed with his propaganda, click here)...
...and Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us about the latest wingnut idiocy from Texas guv Greg Abbott, this time on supposedly busing/flying illegal immigrants to Washington, D.C. – but gee, it looks like taxpayers in “the land of the yellow rose” would have to pay for that, wouldn’t they? Just say “oops” and get out...and to do something about Abbott, click here...
...and Ari Melber speaks with Prof. Paul Krugman about the importance of unions in our economy, in light of the unionization of Amazon’s Staten Island warehouse (and I’m convinced that, if Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao actually told the truth about something, he would turn into a pillar of salt...he indeed has "sold his soul for a tax cut")...
...and I keep waiting for the Democrats to crank out “quick response” ads like this one, this time with Dem U.S. Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii quite rightly giving it to that treasonous POS Josh Hawley, but fortunately The Lincoln Project took care of that...
...and Jayar Jackson and Adrienne Lawrence bring us this clip of Tulsa, OK police taunting and arresting a 70-year-old woman in the bathroom of a Habitat for Humanity Re-store who was having some kind of a mental breakdown (here)...hard to imagine how this could have been handled worse; all the people who act like police budgets in this country are sacrosanct should try explaining that in good faith after watching this...
...and that clip definitely put me in the mood to hear this tune.
...and Robert Reich tells us why the KBJ confirmation matters so much, namely because the SCOTUS and its “shadow docket” poses all kinds of ways to potentially make our lives worse, as Reich explains...
...with the culprits on the High Court being confirmed under Republican presidents, from the party that apparently wants to “leave democracy,” as Beau explains (also noting that those wretched CPAC mongrels want to have their next gathering in Viktor Orban’s Hungary, given their love of right-wing authoritarians)...
...and as a bit of a companion piece to Beau’s commentary, Jessica Burbank of Rebel HQ points out how our wingnut media is committed to fascism, with Burbank reminding us that, basically, it’s the “center left” against the wingnuts who want to drive the metaphorical bus of democracy over a cliff (more on the U.S. House Repugs opposing the NATO resolution is here)...
...and I know I’m pretty late with this installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 4/4/16, which has to do with a video for the film “The Brainwashing of My Dad” by Jen Senko (concerning the insidious effect of right-wing media), but the main reason why I’m presenting it now is because Senko will be interviewed about it this Sunday 4/10 on KSQD community radio (5 PM PST – can be livestreamed...more here)...
...and this video from More Perfect Union has to do with the efforts of Capitol Hill congressional staffers to unionize, led by Dems Andy Levin in the House and Sherrod Brown in the Senate (I’m sure this is an issue where you REALLY CAN say it’s “both sides”)...
...and a few of the clips in this post have to do with the pernicious effects of right-wing media in our lives, and I can think of few other people who fought that more valiantly than Eric Boehlert...there’s no way I could bring this week to a close without including this segment (unless I post tomorrow – not sure yet)...I think Chris Hayes spoke eloquently for millions here in tribute to Boehlert (he definitely did for me)...
...and I had a few tunes in my head that I thought were appropriate for this occasion, but I settled on this one (yes, we can’t help but be mournful, but we also should reflect on how fortunate we were to have Boehlert and his courageous work for a time and try to pick up his mantle, if you will, as best we can).
Beau of the Fifth Column discusses what comes next for the “party of Lincoln” in the wake of three Republican U.S. Senators (Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Mitt Romney) saying they will vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court; this is kind of a “glass half empty” perspective I’ll admit, but it tells you how much the proverbial deck is stacked against us that we have to fight so hard for an incredibly qualified person to be confirmed while “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh, Gorsuch and Amy Coney Island Baby Barrett basically skated onto the High Court (some blow back against a particular Republican U.S. Senator is noted a litle later...and speaking of nutty Republicans, I also give you this...and to be honest, this isn't surprising to anybody out there paying attention)...
...and I haven’t checked in with Brian Tyler Cohen in a little while, not for any particular reason I should emphasize; here, he tells us of Maria Bartiromo being forced to admit a great recent jobs report from the Biden Administration...and no, I don’t think anyone at Fix Noise gives a damn about whether or not the job that’s created is “low paying” or not (mildly NSFW/H...clip ends at about 7:24)...
...and Sam and Emma talk about “Tokyo Rose” Gabbard and her infatuation with wingnuttery and our kids (a particularly good analysis here of this fraud IMO...of course, Gabbard provides NO SPECIFICS anywhere, such as actual citations of poor student performance from reputable sources – yes, I’m sure that’s a “thing,” but when you’re making the charges she makes, she should have some actual, y’know, DATA to support her argument)...
...and the latest from Second Thought tells us about the secret history of drugs and capitalism (no real big “gotchas” here, but a lot of important historical context on how the U.S. has crafted its drug policy to achieve maximum economic impact against less prosperous countries, to say nothing of pointlessly incarcerating certain demographics of the population versus providing common sense treatments for drug dependency, including needle exchanges)...
...and John I. and Dan Evans of The Damage Report tell us about Repug U.S. Senator Charles Grasshole really getting it from a voter in a town hall over the way the Senate Repugs acted during the KBJ circus (I’m starting to get REALLY fed up with the dreaded “CW” from EVERYBODY that the “party of Lincoln” is going to “run the table” in the midterms later this year...yes, I have a pretty good idea that there is reason to believe that, but we need to keep fighting as much as we can regardless...I don’t think it’s hyperbole at all to say that democracy itself is at stake)...
...and somewhat with the prior clip in mind, David Pakman tells us that it looks like COVID may have killed more Repug voters than Dems...it’s awful when ANYONE dies from COVID or any other reason, I hasten to add...
...and speaking of those who have departed, I have to tell you that it takes an awful lot to make me stop dead in my tracks over something, but that’s how I feel about the news of the passing of Eric Boehlert; I can’t freaking believe it, to be honest...my deepest sympathies to all concerned...ugh (here he is recently doing what he did so well, and that is to hold our utterly bought-and-paid-for corporate media to account, in the matter of the recent Ginni Thomas revelations)...
...and as long as I’m on the melancholy subject of people who have died, RIP Philly music legend Bobby Rydell (here).
