I don’t know what kind of a mental defective you have to be at this point to STILL support Mango Mussolini given everything that has come to light about the persecution faced by impartial election administration officials after November 2020, including the few brave souls in this clip (and yes, I know Philly’s Al Schmidt and Georgia’s Brad Raffensperger are from the “party of Lincoln,” but they know what election integrity is), as well as the African American mother and daughter, but I certainly don’t want to go to that demonic place...no other sane person should want that either (and I know what The Lincoln Project is, but they keep doing great work like this)...
...and when it comes to wingnut craziness, Repug U.S. House Congressional Mistake Lauren Boebert always finds a way to seep into the discussion somehow; this time, she’s being investigated by the FBI for saying we need to “terminate” the Biden presidency (nice job, you loon - David Pakman explains)...
...and Brian Tyler Cohen brings us this clip from Rachel Maddow that aired last night about a memo circulated throughout the DOJ about avoiding political influence (as usual, Democrats act like government is to be treated like an episode of The West Wing, which is admirable, but Repugs treat it like a steel cage match...part of me thinks that this whole DOJ memo dustup is a “tempest in a teapot,” you might say, but unfortunately it plays into the narrative of AG Merrick Garland operating slower than you-know-what through a goose when it comes to prosecuting those responsible for the 1/6 insurrection, including a certain Ochre Abomination who wants another crack at the presidency so he can try to establish himself as Dictator For Life...and yeah, referencing anything from Bill Barr is tone deaf at a minimum)...
Update: I thought this was a really smart take on this subject.
...and Emma of The Majority Report discusses Joe Manchin killing the Dems’ climate change legislation in budget reconciliation (oh yeah, “inflation” is the latest excuse, along with taxes, blah blah blah...meanwhile, the planet continues to melt – and to his credit, Bernie Sanders boiled over, you might say, with Martha Raddatz on one of those trash Sunday morning shows over this nonsense...and I have to admit that, as much as Josh Gottheimer is a toad, I’m in favor of restoring the SALT tax provision, but not at the expense of life on the only planet we live on)...
...and speaking of the health of planet Earth, it looks like Our Treasonous Orange Pustule Of A Former “President” made fun of the climate crisis at another bonkers rally in Alaska – he had to go practically to Russia to spout this nonsense about creating ”more beachfront property” (with John and Francesca...and I hadn’t thought about how the other side is going to “weaponize” this in pursuit of fascism as John says, but unfortunately I think he’s absolutely right)...
...and Caroline Johnson of Rebel HQ tells us about sea lions going after tourists on a beach in La Jolla, CA – have to admit that I didn’t know about the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the role of former MA Senator and Obama Admin Secretary of State John Kerry...good advice for leaving nature alone of course...
...and I think the prior clip is a good excuse to include this tune.
Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us of Leon Cooperman complaining about the vilification of wealthy people which to him is apparently the #1 problem facing this country...keep polishing the windows in your ivory tower, which apparently reflect at everyone else but the 1%...good on Cenk for mentioning Biden and that horrible bankruptcy bill (and yes, #46 really was referred to before as the "senator from MBNA"); most corporations set up their “corporate charters,” which are governance models (and yes, that’s really a “thing”) in Delaware since that state has the easiest incorporation requirements...
...and oh yes, welcome to the new week with another mass shooting, this time in an Indiana mall, where (apparently) the “good guy with a gun” finally showed up, but not until 4 people (at last count) had been killed and 2 others injured (here...and Indiana’s idiot Repug Governor Eric Holcomb signed a bill earlier this year allowing permit-less carry of handguns as noted here, despite objections of state police, though we don’t yet know if a handgun was used in this shooting I wish to emphasize...and guns went off in North Carolina also near a comedy club as noted here...terrific)...
...and on the subject of guns, John I. and Jessica Burbank of The Damage Report give us Dick Durbin talking about the “JR-15” marketed to kids...every time I think the gun-humpers can’t possibly plummet to a new depth, they manage to do it (GREAT point by Burbank about the ammo-sexuals crowing like “Oh, you dumb lib – you don’t know that the AR stands for ArmaLite Rifle,” when that distinction plainly doesn’t matter here)...
...and David Pakman discusses that BS during the U.S. House committee hearing with Ralph Norman where this fool talks about “post birth abortion” and allowing parents to kill birthed babies, which is barbaric and ridiculous for all of the reasons pointed out, and also illegal...and why the hell can’t the committee chair cut off the mic of this clown Norman for this garbage? And yes, maybe those testifying could have just said “No – your questions are ridiculous,” but I don’t think the onus should be on the witnesses; Norman, by the way, is also on this list, which shouldn't be surprising I guess...
...and this New York Times clip examines all of the corporate-speak behind “Net Zero” pledges and how they’re covering up for the fact that nobody knows if those goals are actually attainable, to say nothing of the fact that the timelines are so far in the future, putting aside the fact that the planet is superheating RIGHT FREAKING NOW as noted here...
...and The Lincoln Project reminds us that "they knew" and "they helped" concerning the 1/6 insurrection, including PA's utterly wretched Repug U.S. House Rep Scott Perry...
...and as bad as Fix Noise is, it looks like the sports portion of that network was guilty over the weekend of some astonishingly horrible judgment; I’ll let the narrator provide the appalling details...a little concerned about how this person is so quick to blame “the left” for allegedly not caring about the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, particularly since the first person I saw who called attention to this atrocity was @KeithOlbermann, but I’ll let that go for now because that’s a little tangential (more here)...
Thom Hartmann reminds us that the U.S. is the only nation on earth with more guns than people, and it isn’t even close actually, with guns being the leading cause of childhood death in the U.S. – Thom also discusses what Justin Trudeau is doing in Canada in response to a ’20 attack in Nova Scotia, as well as the madness going on in this country (clip is about a week old I know)...
...and Ana and Cenk tell us that the U.S. House passed the Amber Alert bill for active shootings by a vote of 260-169...vote is here (Bri-Fi voted Yes because, though I have lots of disagreements with him, he has a brain, which is more than I can say for Matt Gaetz (and why the hell isn't he facing charges for statutory rape??!!)...and usually I agree with Cenk about the Dems being too passive on these issues, but to be fair, Nancy Pelosi did give a bit of a statement criticizing the No votes – I saw the link on Yahoo News but I can’t find it at the moment...I think he’s absolutely right, however, about the bill’s chances in the Senate, sadly – damn, we need at least 2 more Senate Democrats in the worst way so we can tell #Manchinema to pound sand...kind of makes me wonder why Senate Dems didn’t push for D.C. and Puerto Rico statehood as soon as they took power in ’21, but of course, that would have called for “leader” Schumer to actually figure out some kind of a winning electoral strategy)...
...and Trae Crowder gives a very NSFW/H but spot-on critique of the most recent security footage inside the Robb school in Uvalde, which truly is pathetic...gee, why didn't they all order something off Door Dash while they were all waiting to SHOW A FREAKING SPINE AND TRY TO RESCUE THOSE KIDS WHO WERE GETTING SLAUGHTERED??!!...
...and Mehdi Hasan discusses the story of the 10-year-old girl in Ohio who was raped and impregnated and the wingnut outcry in response (and apparently this Catherine Glenn Foster person is trying to give Mean Jean Schmidt a run for her money when it comes to making the most obnoxious public pronouncements on this issue, along with Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita...Hasan interviews OB/GYN Dr. Jennifer Conti for the reality point of view on this subject – more here, here, and here)...
...and David Doel tells us how the wingnuts hopped on board the propaganda train in a hurry to blame BLM activists for pro-Biden, anti-Trump graffiti and starting a fire in Minnesota, when it turned out it was really a Trumpster who was responsible after all in a case of insurance fraud (rut-row...also NSFW/H)...
...and this was a particularly nutty posting week for yours truly, so I’m happy to chill out with this newer selection; hope you can all enjoy the weekend also.
For what it’s worth, I definitely share Chris Hayes's take on Trumper Pat Cipollone and his testimony for the 1/6 Committee, including Cipollone’s comments about “the normals” and “the crazies” advising Trump, along with the clip from the ’16 debate w/HRC where Trump basically refused to say he’d accept the results of an election if he lost, which should have been a bright red flashing siren to anybody with a brain, but we know what happened of course (and kudos to Hayes for presenting the other clips where Our Treasonous Orange Pustule of a Former “President” reiterated that position)...
...and David Doel tells us about “Blow ‘em Up” Bolton admitting to planning at least one coup d’etat (oh, but not here, which I don’t actually believe of course...mildly NSFW/H)...
...and Sam and Emma tell us about that U.S. Senatorial mistake RoJo in Wisconsin pulling an ad about the immigrants who died in the trailer in Texas (here), which is awful of course (the fatalities I mean), and particularly so since the ad was ready right after the Highland Park shooting...I realize it’s an exercise in futility to try and bring an intelligent perspective to something as idiotic as RoJo’s typical wingnuttery, but yeah, if we really did have an “open borders” policy, those people in the trailer wouldn’t have suffocated or died of exposure (to do something about Johnson, click here)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us about Dem U.S. House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and her efforts to get the gun makers to testify before her committee on July 20th (Maloney, to her credit, has been pretty relentless on this issue, and I have a feeling her great work here is also partly motivated by the fact that, somehow, she’s apparently in a congressional redistricting fight with Jerry Nadler)...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 7/13/12...Stuart Zechman points out an important distinction for Social Security and Medicare, namely, that the programs are insurance and not safety nets per se, and yes, there is a difference...important to keep this in mind with the “party of Lincoln” making noises about “sunsetting” Social Security and Medicare (here and here)...
...and happy belated 80th birthday to drummer Stephen Jo Bladd of The J. Geils Band.
Sam, Emma and Matt of The Majority Report tell us about Khiara M. Bridges handing Josh Hawley his ass in the matter of trans and non-binary people and pregnancy (mildly NSFW/H...and unfortunately I think Sam and Emma are right about The Swanson TV Dinner Heir – all the more reason to defend Bridges indeed)...
...and speaking of abortion (and, by extension, Roe of course), it looks like AOC is trying to take the fight to the wingnuts by asking Senate Majority “Leader” Chuck Schumer to pull his thumb out and make some freaking noise about the fact that the last three SCOTUS nominees in particular lied their legal asses off over Roe, though AOC wants the Dems to focus on Gorsuch and “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh (spot-on analysis by Jessica Burbank in particular, with John I.)...
...and good for Mayor Pete to defend the anti-Kavanaugh protests, and on Fix Noise no less...
...and the latest from Second Thought asks If Retirement Still Is Achievable (and why am I not surprised that The Sainted Ronnie R raised the retirement age to 67?...”The poorer you are, the earlier you’re likely to die”...and that doesn’t even take COVID into account I’m sure, with pensions only covering 13% of the workforce by 2008 – great, and why am I also not surprised about that sneaky 401(k) rule change from Mango Mussolini courtesy of Blackstone? To be fair, this clip should also rebuke the BS that cutting Social Security benefits can reduce the deficit, which is patently untrue, as well as the fact that removing the cap on earnings subject to Social Security withholding would ensure the program’s solvency, which most definitely IS true, but that’s kind of political territory I realize and that’s not where he wants to go...the last two minutes of this clip should be absolutely memorized by any worker in this country)...
...and John is back with Ana of TYT to talk about penguins refusing fake food in Japan (why can’t those damn penguins just pull themselves up by their bootstraps, or something? And yeah, I know Japan technically isn’t part of “the ownership society” but still – heh)...
...and happy upcoming 80th birthday to Roger McGuinn of The Byrds.
Omigod the horror...“I Like Beer” Kavanaugh was forced to flee his dinner at a swanky steakhouse by pro-choice protesters...sorry, but you forfeit your “right to privacy” on this one (with John, Cenk and Jessica Burbank...cue the world’s smallest violin...I think the two cases before Citizens United that Cenk is referring to are Bellotti in 1976 and Central Hudson Gas in 1980, but I also think it’s a little ham-handed to quickly pivot against the Dems here...we’re talking about 6 horrible SCOTUS justices nominated and confirmed under Repug presidents, not Dems...and by the way, as far as I’m concerned, if you’re not violent and pose no physical threat to anybody, protesting near the home of a public figure is OK; if you signed up for that kind of a high-profile job with all of the perks, you should just accept that as the price of doing business, and that especially goes for a SCOTUS justice since, last I checked, you can’t do that around the Supreme Court building because it’s fenced off)...
...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us about CA Dem Governor Gavin Newsom announcing that that state will produce its own insulin (Josh Shapiro should get on board with this)...
...and David Pakman tells us that the Ochre Abomination apparently ordered revenge IRS audits against James Comey and Andrew McCabe of the FBI...yep, if true, it’s yet another felony...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that Greg Kelly of Newsmax is attacking Cassidy Hutchinson, which is utterly stoo-pid for all of the reasons Cousins points out here...
...and I know that, ultimately, it really isn’t that funny to see how beyond clueless some of these Republican political candidates are (including some of these folks in Arizona that I noted in an earlier video), but as long as they’re going to give us this material, I think we might as well use it...
...and I believe it’s time for another summer selection, so here goes.
Lawrence O’Donnell brings us a really good commentary IMO on the electoral college and the scheme in PA to try and rig the ’24 votes in our commonwealth for Combover Caligula (along with that Eric Greitens insanity at the end – Dave Steil, by the way (one of the 9 Republicans endorsing Josh Shapiro), used to be my Pa state house rep; he was the last good Republican politician I ever voted for, and I don’t expect that to change)...
...and Mehdi Hasan continues with the theme of GOP extremism (starting with MTG and including Blake Masters, who has the sickening gall to display a crucifix while he spouts his insane garbage...with David Jolly and Molly Jong-Fast...I know Jolly is Yesterday’s Republican who has seen the light, and while I wonder what took him so long, I also give him credit, but he’s right to lay the blame for this more or less at the feet of people how support Greene, Masters, etc. - and by the way, as far as I know, Aiden McCarthy hasn't been told about his parents yet)...
...and turning to our beloved commonwealth, it looks like congressional Republicans were pulling their own garbage stunt with SB 106 late on Friday, which has the insidious two-fer of trying to make abortion illegal and disenfranchising Democratic voters at the same time (here)... State Rep Joanna McClinton gave exactly the response that was required here (as did Malcolm Kenyatta – who has his mic cut – and other Dems)...
...and I give Abigail Martin credit for going public with all of this BS with trying to get her birth control pills refilled at Walgreen’s (with Jayar and Jessica Burbank of Rebel HQ – and speaking of ectopic pregnancies, I give you this mess from "the old gray lady")...
...and in a related story, you might say, this More Perfect Union clip tells us about Planned Parenthood employees trying to unionize after Roe was overturned to provide the best possible patient care for those seeking abortions...
...and I know it’s kind of late for a Sunday, but I don’t think that means that we can’t still go to “church.”
I know this clip from Chris Hayes is over a week old now, but I think he makes a few good points that are worth reiterating, along with some important context on Liz Cheney; she’s doing the right thing on the 1/6 Committee (which Hayes rightly points out is about the only area of our government doing oversight on the other branches – and yeah, I also said that yesterday I know), but let’s have no illusion of how extreme a wingnut she is on everything else...
...and that clip of AOC was included in the prior video, and here she is again, interviewed by David Remnick in which she rightly says that democracy is at risk (with John I. and Francesca...and I promise I won’t bitch about how bad the Dems are on messaging as a party since I know they’re not primarily at fault, though as far as I’m concerned you can lump Manchinema in with the culprits Francesca points out)...
...and I’ll admit that I’m going out of order a bit to present this Second Thought clip on the SCOTUS (the real payoff for yours truly comes at about 12:00, explaining why the SCOTUS exists for pretty much the one percent and basically nobody else, though the narrator acknowledges that packing the court and finding a way to enact term limits would be helpful in the short term at least)...
...and Adrienne Lawrence Esq. of Rebel HQ tells us about Trump goons getting subpoenas over their antics with trying to affect Georgia voting in 2020, including Rudy! and Huckleberry Graham (and of course Graham said he won’t comply like the whiny bitch that he truly is – more here)...
...and Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us about that clown show disguised as a Republican Party primary candidates’ debate for governor on Arizona...one of these nematodes will actually win, believe it or not – probably Lake, which is frightening actually because it’s pretty damn clear where that state’s 2024 electoral votes will go if she’s governor; I know I'm a little late with this...and by the way, I know Cenk didn’t mean to imply that beating your wife is funny...meanwhile, Debbie Lesko watches this and says “Hold my beer” (here)...
...and just when you think that it couldn’t possibly get stranger for Repugs in that state, along comes this beyond ridiculous ad from Jerone Davison; David Doel explains (mildly NSFW/H)...
...and turning to world news, I have to admit that I don’t have anything to add concerning the awful assassination of former Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (here...though I think this context is important), but I DO want to add this from Tom Walker (aka “Jonathan Pie”) about the departure of Boris Johnson as British PM (incredibly NSFW/H...gotta love those zany Brits)...
...and I know I’m way overdue for a new tune again, and I thought this would help us slide into what hopefully will be a nice weekend for everybody (not THAT “Purple Haze,” but a neat little number on its own).
(Pic of the girl wounded from the Highland Park shooting came from here.)
Mehdi Hasan speaks with Igor Volsky and Adam Serwer about the latest gun carnage from Highland Park, Illinois and the liability of our renegade SCOTUS, with a good segment here from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (and 7 are now dead, by the way...refreshing candor from Philly Mayor Jim Kenney, and no, I don’t blame him for it...one of the reasons why I like to include segments with Hasan is that, in addition to his insight and thorough reporting, the people he interviews are folks I consider to be pretty solid subject matter experts like Volsky and Serwer)...
...and I give Ana Kasparian so much credit for getting through the next segment, showing the humanity that all of us should feel in response to the story of the 2-year-old boy who lost both of his parents in the Highland Park shooting.
And by the way, there are a lot of times when I’ll say “Oh, don’t be so hard on the Democrats” when it comes to a particular issue where they’re ostensibly trying to do the right thing while the “party of R” is acting batshit insane as usual, but I’m not going to do that here. I don’t think one word of what Ana says here needs a caveat or qualifying language of any kind whatsoever.
And on top of that, I (like maybe you also – I don’t know of course) am seeing more language on social media to the effect of, “If you blame Biden and the Dems for anything and you claim to be a Democratic organizer or worker on a campaign but you’re not organizing more Dems to come out to the polls, then you must be a lousy organizer.” Yes indeed, what would the Democratic Party be without a circular firing squad?
Is there more I can do? Yes, and I’ll endeavor to do that. Is there more all of us can do? I’m sure the answer to that question is also yes. But a thoroughly deflating response from the individual who is pretty much the head of the Democratic Party needs to be called out (and this doesn't help either).
President Biden needs to familiarize himself with the Judiciary Act of 2021 (here), which calls for the Supreme Court to be expanded to 13 justices (the Bloomberg Law article actually calls for 15, which would be one justice for each U.S. appeals court – the number 9 for the SCOTUS justices represented the number of circuit courts at our nation’s founding – more here). So basically, Biden should be saying, “Look, we have a renegade Supreme Court that doesn’t care about precedent or settled law, with a majority of 6 conservative justices who, in addition to disregarding the separation of church and state recognized in our Constitution, lied during their confirmation hearings about respecting Roe (yeah, I know we’re talking about meely-mouthed legalese to try and prevent a repeat of what happened with Robert Bork, but “Strip Search Sammy” Alito sure as hell didn’t say Roe was “egregiously wrong” during his confirmation). For that reason, in addition to holding our majority in the U.S. House, I need at least 2 more Democratic U.S. Senators to get rid of the stinking filibuster and codify Roe into law, in addition to taking another shot at Build Back Better, to say nothing of reinstituting the assault weapons ban and passing actual common sense gun reforms on top of the Murphy/Cornyn bill.” (The Repugs keep coming back to their awful ideas when they don’t pass the first time – why can’t we come back to our ideas that are actually good?). And basically, we have the 1/6 Committee quite rightly carrying out oversight of our lunatic former executive...that's how the "checks and balances" are supposed to work between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of our federal government!
If Biden doesn’t come up with some kind of a comprehensive strategy in response to this SCOTUS full of Philistines and our almost nonstop gun slaughter in this country, then he’s guilty of nothing less than dereliction of duty!
Anyway, here is Ana’s clip...
Update 1 7/8/22: And when it comes to our utterly awful SCOTUS, we should be completely embarrassed by this, which is totally deserved.
Update 2 7/8/22: OK, to be fair, this is progress, however incremental it is.
Update 4 7/8/22: Another step in the right direction (here)...
Update 5 7/8/22: I thought this was a pretty smart take.
...and in case we were wondering what The Roger Ailes BS Factory had to say about all of this..well, it looks like Trae Crowder is all over it (NSFW/H)...
...and speaking of corrupt Repug BS, here is more from RoJo, including taking a private jet to his Florida mansion on the taxpayer dime (at least he doesn’t have to worry about being the very worst of the rotten Repug U.S. Senators, as long as Tuberville, Cruz, Hawley, Lee, and Big Hair Blackburn continue to take up space in “the world’s greatest deliberative body”...to do something about RoJo, click here)...
....and David Doel tells us about big media scrubbing the image of dirty energy companies (I have to admit that I didn’t know the history of the “adver-torial,” but I probably should have. And I’m sure Amy Westervelt is a good reporter, but she’s a TERRIBLE announcer! Despite that, I’m going to get the OptOut app because it’s definitely important...by the way, Bellotti was a SCOTUS decision that allowed corporations to contribute to ballot initiatives – that was a crack in the metaphorical door when it comes to corporations donating to political campaigns, but of course Citizens United kicked that door wide open)...
...and turning to world news a bit, it looks like Boris Johnson is stepping down as British PM (and yes, there are some parallels here between Johnson and Mango Mussolini, but the leader of Cult 45 would NEVER have been able to withstand rough-and-tumble UK politics...not saying Johnson was exactly a towering intellect either, but despite it all, he has better political instincts than Former President Fergus Laing – David Pakman tells us more...and no, I don’t think much in the UK will substantively change either)...
...and I know we think some people in movies and entertainment are immortal somehow (such as Bowie and Mary Tyler Moore...at least I do at times) and it’s a shock to learn when they aren’t, and I think you can say that also about James Caan who recently passed...great in so many films, one of which was Thief with Willie Nelson, Robert Prosky and Tuesday Weld...saw a film Caan appeared in long ago called The Rain People with Duvall also and Shirley Knight, directed by Francis Ford Coppola – neat to see everybody starting out and learning the ropes, you might say...I know Al Pacino as Michael Corleone is the main focus of this clip from The Godfather of course, as it should be, but Caan is memorable also (and don’t get me started on Brian’s Song)...
...and as long as I’m “setting the wayback,” let’s take a trip a few years further still – this tune was Number 1 on the pop charts this week 55 years ago.
David Pakman tells us about the 10-year-old girl in Ohio who was denied an abortion and had to travel over state lines to get one...frankly, I’m not sure what is more shocking 1) The fact that a 10-year-old was raped; 2) The fact that she wasn’t allowed access to this procedure in an emergency; 3) Trying to imagine what she’ll have to deal with for the rest of her life as a result of this experience; or 4) The fact that I’m commenting on this in a matter-of-fact way as opposed to SCREAMING TO THE TOP OF MY LUNGS as a result of the routine barbarity of the Philistines on our Supreme Court (and speaking of atrocities affecting kids, allow me to provide this)...
...and Cenk, Jayar and Caroline Johnson tell us about the bisexual daughter of a Repug state senator, Corrine Dickey, who cut off her father for attacking her reproductive rights as well as same sex marriage, potentially, and that would be Adrian Dickey of the Iowa State Senate...I’m sure Cenk is right about the “two different conversations” take, sadly, and yes, it’s also hard to make the case for cutting off a family member who basically wants to oppress people they don’t agree with...should never get to that point for any reason, let alone over politics, but that’s no excuse to allow yourself to get trampled by others who disagree with your beliefs either...
...and Sam, Emma and guest (Digby?) on The Majority Report discuss the ramifications of the recent awful SCOTUS rulings and what could potentially be “in the cards” later, unfortunately...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 7/4/17, with ammo-sexuals coming onto the grounds of Gettysburg for what was the 154th commemoration...and yeah, I got a laugh out of the guy wearing a Trump shirt who said he wanted to reach people without violence; yeah, I think what he really wanted to do was rearrange somebody’s teeth, or whatever that mess was...to me, that Confederate rag belongs in a museum, and there’s no place for that heavy artillery anywhere in public, let alone on those hallowed grounds (had this in mind when I read about this garbage; that is, a recent appearance by the Proud Boys in downtown Philly)...
...and I have to admit that this is a nice ad from yesterday’s non-Trump Republicans, but for real impact, it should make it clear exactly how to “fight for America” as opposed to invoking well-framed, patriotic images...
...and we're actually getting to the point in these parts when we could use a little rain, but for now, I'm glad to keep things upbeat with this tune describing our current weather condition.
I know I’m a little late with this video, but Lawrence O’Donnell had a really good segment last week over Greg Abbott and Texas’s horrible anti-abortion law – to me, Abbott’s statement that somehow he’s going to get rid of rape (would that anybody could) is a particular kind of “F.U. – I think you’re all stoo-pid” message to the voters of “the land of the yellow rose,” and O’Donnell gives Abbott the treatment he deserves in response...
...and what would life be like in this country without another mass shooting at a public event, this time a July 4th celebration...as long as voters continue to reward Republican politicians who do JUST ABOUT NOTHING ON THIS ISSUE (and yes, I know there are some guilty Dems too), this insanity will continue (and this also happened yesterday where the Declaration was signed of course; apparently 2 Philly cops were wounded...hopefully they'll have a full recovery – and yeah, as someone pointed out, the fact that the Illinois suspect was apprehended as opposed to being shot about 60 times tells you that he’s white, and apparently attended a Trump rally also...definitely fits the profile...more here)...
Update 1: OK, now reports are that the sound of fireworks on the Parkway in Philly may have been mistaken for gunshots - still doesn't explain how the cops got hurt (here).
Update 2: The mutilated bodies from our most recent gun carnage in Illinois should be left at the doorstep of the house of Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao, since (aside from the shooter of course) he's more responsible for this atrocity than anyone (here).
...so what is the “party of Lincoln” preoccupied with instead of common sense gun laws? Why, anti-sodomy laws of course, in particular Texas AG Ken Paxton, proving that he’s one of the great minds of the 12th century, as Cenk and Ana tell us (“butt love” and “derriere delight,” huh?)...
...meanwhile, Utah State Rep Rep. Karianne Lisonbee said recently that women can control the semen intake from men, or some such insanity...John is 100% right in saying that all of this madness is to make sure men pay no price for bad behavior (with Francesca F.)...
Update 3: And we're supposed to find a way to reason with the life forms who support Republican politicians (here).
...oh, and let’s not forget about that pigsty of an alleged “news” network that helps to facilitate all of this dreck; Jon Stewart recently called the SCOTUS the “Fox News” of justice, and I can’t think of too many insults lower than that (Maz Jobrani tells us more)...
...and this DW report tells us about Ukrainian students in Germany trying to cope with the pressure of their country at war with Russia (I think the host is Rebecca Ritters)...
...well, for some news that’s actually good, it appears that the January 6th hearings are having an impact, fortunately, as Farron Cousins tells us (of course, the polls saying this now is positive, but what matters is if voters still feel this way in November – we’ll see)...
...and happy belated 76th birthday to Viola Billups (aka Pearly Gates) of the ‘60s R&B group The Flirtations.
Sam and Emma of The Majority Report speak with a former PA high school football coach (now in New York, apparently) on the pressure faced by players to participate in prayer services now that our “mask off” crazy SCOTUS has enforced religious worship in public schools...so many reasons to oppose this utter lunacy...
...and Jayar, Cenk and Caroline Johnson of TYT discuss Texas trying to refer to slavery as “involuntary relocation” (oh, but Heaven forbid that the whites in charge are “feeling discomfort” as the group points out...I would also be concerned that this garbage doesn’t filter into textbooks that are distributed to classrooms out of state, since there’s a lot of textbook publishing in Texas for some reason...a positive update is here, though these crazies will try again with this garbage I’m sure)...
...and staying with “the land of the yellow rose,” this New York Times report comes from a Texas woman who self-aborted with the help of medication (and I’m sorry – well, actually I’m not – but I’m tired of hearing about Biden being sympathetic to issues affecting women and girls but not offering a full-throated defense of Roe, though this is progress I’ll admit...the Catholic Church, among others, has been itching for this fight for 50 years, and now they’ve gotten what they want, so prepare to reap the whirlwind...and oh yeah, keep shoving that PA grand jury report under the rug while you’re at it)...
...and Francesca and Brett Erlich tell us that this awful SCOTUS isn’t done yet, believe it or not, deciding to go after voting rights, using this bogus theory about “independent state legislatures” taking over honest-to-goodness independent election administration (Brett’s white board moment is pretty damning all right) – I think Keith Olbermann said something a week ago about “blue” states maybe deciding to practice their version of “nullification” in response to these awful rulings, taking a page from John C. Calhoun (you can Google him) – well, we may already be at that point...
...and David Shuster tells us about Seattle Pacific University students, upon graduation, giving pride flags to the interim president of SPU (a “Christian” university) who said LGBTQ issues are a “lifestyle choice” (just say “oops” and get out)...
...and Happy July 4th - if you know of anyone with a dog or two, please be kind with the firecrackers because it freaks them out.
This horrible SCOTUS continues to cement its utterly awful reputation with yet another ridiculous ruling discussed here by Sam and Emma (and sorry – I don’t know who the reporter is here...Rick Perlstein?), which is Andrus v. Texas, which, unfortunately, makes a mockery of the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution (the slow-motion coup continues in full sight, people...oh, and just for kicks, they knee-capped the EPA today as noted here)...
Update 7/1/22: More from this utterly awful High Court is here.
...and Ana of TYT tells us about Ginni Thomas deciding not to cooperate with the 1/6 committee (even though Thomas said she would earlier), with Ana going over the communications between Thomas and Mark Meadows, as well as trying to get rid of the legitimate electors in Arizona (though Ana is being a little ridiculous in saying Biden is only “a little” better than Trump, even though I have some issues with #46 also)...
...and in case anyone thought the “party of Lincoln” would offer anything substantive in response while this High Court horror show continues unabated...well, think again; Cancun Cruz has apparently gone to war, you might say, with Elmo of Sesame Street over kids getting the COVID vaccine (with Francesca and Jayar...and yeah, Reason #67,452 why Cruz is a shameless asshole)...
...and the latest clip from Second Thought makes a pretty good argument against referring to anyone as being a member of the “middle class”...I have to admit that I didn’t know about that pithy quote from John Steinbeck...also didn’t know about the rates of failure of small businesses in this country...daunting stuff...and though I can see where he’s going with this kind of early on in the clip, I also think he’s right – you either work for others or “work” for yourself, which I put in quotes because it often, but not always, means living off the work of others, which indeed is nice “work” if you can get it...
...and speaking of work-related stuff, this clip from More Perfect Union tells us about union-busting tactics from Trader Joe’s in Vermont, as well as the successful unionizing campaign of a store in Massachusetts (NSFW/H)...
...and I neglected to mention the 70th birthday last week of Tim Finn of Crowded House; this is a tune that I think is applicable in a few different scenarios during these troubled days (looking at our corrupt SCOTUS primarily...and with that in mind, kudos to KBJ as noted here).
So, to recap (based on this Brett Erlich TYT clip), Cassidy Hutchinson testified that there were shooters posted in trees around the Capitol on 1/6 (or at least, if not from Hutchinson, it was known by Capitol police apparently), with these shooters apparently there to provide cover for Our Treasonous Tiny-Handed Former Chief Executive (with a phalanx of Secret Service agents around him) as he planned to re-enter the Capitol and presumably seize power with the help of Mike Pence, who would refuse to certify the election on January 6th. However, in addition to Pence doing his duty according to the Constitution (and let’s not trip over ourselves giving him credit for doing what he should have done anyway), the Secret Service wouldn’t drive Trump to the Capitol that day (according to Hutchinson), rightly telling Mango Mussolini that they’d be breaking the law, to the point where Trump tried to grab one of them by the throat. They DID manage to get him to a fast food restaurant where he presumably had another in a series of tantrums and threw a plate which splattered ketchup on the wall. Are those the lowlights (more here)?
It is long past time to put Combover Caligula in a cell, and this should mandate that beyond any doubt. And by the way, unless we thoroughly prosecute EVERYONE involved in this madness, the NEXT TIME Republicans try this (and you KNOW there will be a “next time”), there won’t be a Cassidy Hutchinson or a Bobby Engel (the Secret Service agent) doing the right thing. They will ALL be “true believers,” possibly operating under the direction of #DeathSantis, Cotton, Hawley, or another of these treasonous monsters (that being said, more info on Engel and Tony Ornato, another Secret Service agent involved in these incidents, is here)...
...and Sam of The Majority Report tells us that the “party of Lincoln” is apparently panicking over the recent awful SCOTUS rulings, looking at the polling...yeah, but the bleeping Dems better damn well know what to do in response! And what Sam is referring to in the “65-foot-high ceiling” remark is that states would put ridiculous building code restrictions onto facilities where Planned Parenthood operated that they couldn’t possibly meet because of an undue financial burden in reconstructing those facilities, but they faced shut down if they couldn’t meet those requirements somehow...yet another snaky, lowdown game certain states would play to shut down PP centers...and I know it’s no surprise that Mark Levin is lying, but it’s interesting that he talks about cases “bubbling up” to the SCOTUS to supposedly prevent any litigation against Roe, when in fact that is the EXACT STRATEGY the wingnuts used to ultimately overturnRoe...
...and Trae Crowder gives us his NSFW/H take on the recent SCOTUS insanity...oh, and add this to the pile of wretched garbage from this renegade High Court bunch of lunatics...
...and kudos to Alma Adams, NC-12 U.S. House Rep, for telling Biden he needs to declare a public health emergency after the horrible Dobbs decision overturning Roe...
...and Beau gives us an enlightened take IMO on that oh-so-scary headline about 1 million new Republican voters, providing some much-needed context...
...and apparently, the one and only Bob Perkins is retiring as a full-time jazz DJ on radio station WRTI in these parts – congratulations on a great career full of bringing us the “GM,” as in good music (I think this tune is apropos for the occasion).
Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ tells us about this Trumpster idiot Mary Miller who cheered on the recent SCOTUS atrocity (I know there have been a few atrocities from this bunch) by saying the Dobbs ruling was a victory for “white life”...and yes, I think that’s exactly what she meant especially since she was cheered on when she said it, particularly by Our Treasonous Orange Pustule of a Former “President” sharing the stage with her - more here...
...and in the matter of the 1/6 insurrection, I think this is a particularly good clip from Don Winslow; the supine Democratic Party, particularly in the Senate, the “world’s most useless legislative body,” should be going after both of the Thomases (and yes, we know Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao and his caucus are thoroughly unrepentant monsters, but they're not in charge, and we have to make sure they STAY in the minority after November)...
...and David Doel brings us this clip about the two activists calling out the Dems over not enshrining Roe in legislation (even though the House just passed a bill doing that which is being blocked in the Senate by all Repugs plus Manchin...I guess it’s way too much to ask for this MSNBC person to provide that context)...I agree with about 75 percent of what Zoe Warren says here in the first clip about Dems not codifying Roe and how that was a colossal blown opportunity, but please allow me to point out the following 1) Bill Clinton in the ‘90s spent the overwhelming majority of his term fighting with a Republican congress that ended up impeaching him over a blowjob, so there was NO WAY he would have been able to sign legislation enshrining Roe into law from that bunch, and 2) Barack Obama enjoyed a congressional majority for not even 2 years, mostly spent on getting health care reform passed (as imperfect as it is, it’s still a leap forward...though I’m sure this renegade SCOTUS can’t wait to blow THAT up too)...so basically, if you want to be mad at Dems, fine, but also be mad at the overwhelming majority of elderly boomer conservatives in the suburbs who keep rewarding the “party of Lincoln” regardless every election...and Warren should spare me her indignation about a fundraising appeal from Biden – thanks to Citizens United and this SCOTUS full of treacherous, bad legal actors fronting for our criminal ruling corpocracy, that’s just the way the game is played...no issue whatsoever with the second clip because I think Warren and her co-worker are exactly right...also, I think any “man” who approves of Dobbs should be made to wear a chastity belt for at least a month (NSFW/H)...
...and turning to the economy, Pap and Farron Cousins tell us about price gouging form Tyson foods – yep, just give your business to a local butcher instead if you can and show these Tyson pricks what you think of them for their shameless grift...
...and Ana of TYT discusses Larry Summers saying we should have fewer jobs to cool down the economy, which of course seems to casually disregard the hardship millions would face as a result (a little concerning to hear Ana say in a matter-of-fact way that she thinks we’re entering a recession, but she may be right unfortunately...she’s also correct about the outsized role of the Federal Reserve and our politicians not providing for those hurt the most by the shock of a downturn, since the true “owners” in our ownership society don’t give a fig about that...a related post is here)...
...and I think it’s been a little while since I put up Janis Joplin’s version of this great seasonal number from George Gershwin, so please allow me to do so here.
I totally get that it’s difficult to keep up with all of the insanity in the news given all of the nutty rulings from our SCOTUS which has now gone “mask off” and totally rogue at this point, but it looks like some life forms in “the land of the yellow rose” are making noises like they want to secede again...to which I say, GOOD! Don’t let the door hit you on your way out, and we’ll just bring in D.C. and Puerto Rico instead...and of course, what would a wingnut hissy fit be without at least one misspelling, as shown (Lawrence O’Donnell speaks with Eddie Glaude and Melissa Murray...and if Bushie Jack Goldsmith thinks we shouldn’t do anything against treasonous Repugs to placate the mob, then we might just as well declare that democracy is finished and fascism has won...but I’m definitely not ready to do that yet)...
...and returning to our renegade Supreme Court, Fareed Zakaria speaks with NYT reporter Emily Bazelon on about how the flimsy legal underpinning behind the Dobbs decision gutting Roe is based in this court’s radical interpretation of that pesky 14th Amendment (originally passed to recognize slaves as Americans, it has been used WAY MORE to establish “corporate rights”...and with all due respect to Bazelon, I honestly don’t think this SCOTUS gives a damn about popular American opinion or whatever, though I do think she and Zakaria are right that Hangin’ Judge JR is pretty much a figurehead at this point)...
...and this CBC report tells us about the protests over the end of Roe (and if the Democrats had any spine as a party, they would begin proceedings in the Senate to have “Strip Search Sammy” Alito impeached, given his recent words on Roe and his testimony on his SCOTUS confirmation that he basically considered it to be settled law, instead of “egregiously wrong,” which is what he recently said when he destroyed it...everything going on with this SCOTUS, including decisions just handed down and some which may be yet to come, absolutely SCREAMS for a vigorous executive and congressional response from Team “D” (something like this), though I don’t see that they’re up to the challenge...love to be wrong)...
...and Farron Cousins, sitting in for David Pakman, tells us about Roger Marshall, U.S. Senatorial idiot from Kansas, who is trying to block a school lunch program because he thinks Biden is trying to disallow discrimination against LGBTQ youth...reason number TEN ZILLION NOT TO VOTE FOR FREAKING REPUBLICANS!...
...and this tells us about the latest nutty SCOTUS decision, and this one has to do with the wingnuts siding with the Washington State football coach who prayed on the 50 yard line after games (here), with Gorsuch saying, “Well, he wasn’t in a classroom, so it’s OK?” Umm, WAS HE AN EMPLOYEE OF THE SCHOOL OR WASN’T HE? SO OF COURSE HE WAS ACTING WITH THE SCHOOL’S APPROVAL!!
Oh, and I love the part about, well, this won’t open the floodgates for cases involving religious expression in public schools...yeah, just like Bush V. Gore won’t rip open a hole in allowing partisan legislatures to run roughshod over independent election administration...not much it won’t (not blaming Pete Williams because I think he’s reporting this in an evenhanded way...oh, but we don’t have “white privilege” in this country...not much we don’t – all that idiot coach had to do was pray in private, like the Bible says, actually, and all of this mess could have been avoided)...
...and I’m overdue for a newer tune I know; hopefully this can help us take our minds off this insanity for awhile.
Sam Seder of The Majority Report discusses future potentially awful SCOTUS rulings that could also be handed down as a result of the recent destruction of Roe v. Wade, basically coming after the right to privacy, trying to reverse Obergefell, Griswold, Lawrence in Texas...everything, and probably Loving too, which would make Clarence Thomas’s marriage illegal...and Sam is correct to mention that Bush v. Gore has been cited repeatedly as a precedent in election cases, even though the majority authoring the opinion said – wink, wink – not to do that...mildly NSFW/H...
...and Adrienne Lawrence Esq. of Rebel HQ tells us about the reaction of world leaders to abolishing Roe (so terrific, we’re now on the same page as Russia and Nicaragua...and if the “party of Lincoln” manages to take control of the federal government, well, in that nightmare scenario, they’ll pass a nationwide ban on abortion with no exceptions, to say nothing of coming after Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid, so they’ll do their best to reap utter destruction “from the cradle to the grave” - more here)...
...oh, and let’s also not forget what those high court lunatic ideologues have done to Miranda also, as MSNBC’s Tiffany Cross discusses with Yale Professor Phillip Atiba Goff (GREAT analysis...”This stuff is coordinated, and I need folks to know that.”...damn straight! And that graphic about the arrests of African Americans and Latinos didn't appear for long, but that had important information also)...
...and the latest Second Thought video gets into why we hate bureaucracy...and yeah, I’m not surprised Milton Friedman is included here, because as we know, the only bureaucracy that’s useless is from the gov’t and NEVER from our glorious private industry in our neoliberal economy...OK, snark mode off (and yep, it isn’t hard to connect the dots to Maggie Thatcher in the UK and The Sainted Ronnie R)...and GREAT point about the pitfall of measuring a school the same way you would measure a private business (but still kind of harsh to prank those call center workers I'll admit)...
...and Ana and John of TYT tell us about Jim Cramer on “Gen Z’ers” allegedly “not being frugal enough”...in addition to student loans, the insane cost of housing is a factor also when it comes to young people starting out behind the financial 8-ball, along with stagnant wages of course relative to inflation and the cost of living – but yeah, it’s easier for Cramer to whine about “those crazy kids” actually doing dumb stuff like, y’know, gathering for drinks at bars LIKE EVERY OTHER GENERATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE DONE! Why, they should be “pulling themselves up by their bootstraps,” or something...
...and this is another one of those moments where I need a bit of a musical palate cleanser, so I now offer the following.
