Monday Stuff

This NSFW/H clip from Don Winslow gives Rand “Fake Ophthalmologist” Paul the treatment he truly deserves (to do something about him, click here)...



...and this clip from David Doel tells us about The Swanson TV Dinner Heir trying to ridicule Jon Stewart for Stewart’s great work to get the PACT Act passed, along with more on the history of Stewart showing up Carlson from years ago and the Fox host’s infatuation with Viktor Orban of Hungary and what that means for the “party of Lincoln,” namely, that they’ve gone completely off the rails (in case we weren’t already aware of that)...



...and Jayar, Caroline Johnson and Dan Evans tell us about the recent court rulings making a legal human sacrifice out of Alex Jones, ruling that he pay 45.2 mil in punitive damages on top of $4 mil in compensatory damages, but REAL justice would be to also punish those bottom feeders who ruined the lives of the Sandy Hook families filing the suit by harassing them day and night and forcing the families to move multiple times...



...and Thom Hartmann gives us another warning about a recent meeting of wingnuts in Denver recently who apparently are trying to change the Constitution (including through Article V...truly the stuff of nightmares...Hartmann also had a good take here on the scam that is Medicare Advantage...don’t know if these wackadoodles form the Claremont Institute are involved as mentioned here, but we’d be well advised to find out)...



...and Emma of TMR tells us that “Curtsy Kyrsten” got on board with the Manchin/Schumer inflation/reconciliation bill...as long as hedge fund managers and private equity managers can continue to “make bank” with the carried interest loophole...I think it’s pretty safe to point out what Sinema is at this point; the only issue is her asking price...and by the way, listening to “big hair” Blackburn prattle on about how farmers are going to supposedly lose over this bill is hilarious when you consider what Mango Mussolini did to our soybean farmers with that ridiculous trade war of his (here)...and yeah, blame Biden for keeping the tariffs with China in place, but who put them there to begin with? And contrary to what Vigeland says about the Dems and judges, I give you this (Biden has announced 123 federal judicial nominees since January ’21)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us about Repugs (notably Medicare fraudster Lex Luthor Scott) who are apparently FURIOUS about the IRS getting proper staffing to audit the rich in the inflation reduction reconciliation bill (also mildly NSFW/H – happy to see an edge from Cousins on this)...



...and I’m going to go out on probably a short limb here and predict that there’s going to be a big-time blow back on U.S. Senate Repugs who voted against the $35 insulin cap for private insurers (here) – this brief WaPo clip tells us what happened (more to come on this I’m sure)...



...and RIP Judith Durham of The Seekers (sorry, but I can’t help but think of “A Mighty Wind” as I watch this clip).

Sunday Stuff

Ayman Mohyeldin features the link between “Christian nationalism” and the 1/6 insurrection (and to be fair, I think Trumpster Doug Mastriano has tried to distance himself from this lunatic in charge of Gab – how con-vee-nient – as noted here, mainly because he got caught and definitely not because he came down with an attack of conscience... Mohyeldin speaks with Amanda Tyler of Christians Against Christian Nationalism, who lays out pretty well the threat behind this dangerous perversion of faith and its impact on our politics, particularly considering this fall’s elections and the 2024 contests)...



...and Mehdi Hasan tells us that corporations not paying their fair share in taxes costs us about $12 billion...nice grift if you can get it...and coming up $1 trillion short in tax revenue because of IRS underfunding (and leave it to “Cancun” Cruz to come up with a completely wrong-headed “take” on the issue...and I’m truly shocked to hear how reasonable Manchin is here; hard for me to give him credit, but I have to in all fairness for supporting the reconciliation bill, even though it’s an incredibly-paired-back version of Build Back Better...and I love Hasan’s refrain of “(de)fund the tax police”...with Pro Publica’s Jesse Eisinger...more info is here)..



...and Brian Tyler Cohen gives us this clip of Repug U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo saying he thinks the tax burden for Americans will rise from the reconciliation bill, but in reality not because of anything Biden and the Dems are doing, but because of how corporations are likely to pass off the cost of that tax burden to shareholders and their customers...and why the hell is that supposed to be the fault of the Dems? And as Cohen points out, the reconciliation bill is popular among all voters, including 59% of Republicans...also, as noted here, 5 former U.S. treasury secretaries say that this won’t increase the tax liability on anyone making under $400,000 a year...Republicans are unconscionable liars anyway, but they’re really “turning it up to 11” on this on Twitter, and probably elsewhere too (mildly NSFW/H...and once more, I have to ask where the #@!$ the concern was about tax liability over this?)...



...and Caroline Johnson, Jayar and Dan Evans tell us about this bit of performance art at CPAC from this guy Brandon Straka, who apparently is one hell of a snitch and maybe feels like he has to do a penance of sorts by portraying a 1/6 insurrectionist in a cage...



...and yeah, we’re all quite rightly having a good laugh over the campaign of Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz in Pa against John Fetterman, and it is completely deserved for all of the reasons Farron Cousins points out, but NEVER underestimate the ability of the “party of Lincoln” to drudge up slime to throw at their opposition, whether it’s actually true, or – as is usually the case – it’s based on utter lies...to help Fetterman, click here)...



...and the last performer I saw who played multiple instruments on their own track like this was Todd Rundgren, but Madison Cunningham also does that pretty well here too IMO.

Friday Stuff

John and Jessica Burbank tell us of someone involved in the 1/6 insurrection who was sentenced to 7 years in prison, and the family of this person wants Combover Caligula to be sentenced also (yep, them and about a hundred or so million other people at least, I would guess...great catch by Burbank on Edward Bernays, by the way)...



...and when it comes to the bottom feeders who cheer on the moral and intellectual decay of this country that led to the 1/6 riot (as well as other awful consequences), this Daily Show clip tells us that there’s no separation between “Tuckums” and his far right pals and David Duke and the KKK (and there’s no separation with this Hungarian autocrat either)...



...and if, after watching those CPAC nut jobs give Viktor Orban a standing “O” for invoking racial purity, you STILL want to turn the crazy meter up higher, I give you this from that loon Lauren Boebert, who says that an assault weapons ban will lead to eating dogs (oy!)...



...and Beau discusses former White House Counsel under Trump Pat Cipollone getting a subpoena (trying to get to one of the main sources of this insanity) – I thought these points were particularly interesting: 1) The DOJ usually defends executive privilege as opposed to going after a member of the executive branch that invokes privilege in withholding testimony (so, partly for that reason, they’ll know how to get through Cipollone’s arguments against testifying on certain points); and 2) The fact that the DOJ is looking at Cipollone DEFINITELY means they’re looking at the Gropenfuhrer also...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report discuss that corrupt U.S. Senate Repug guttersnipe RoJo trying to cut Social Security – GREAT analysis...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History,” and I know I’m REALLY late with this since I originally included this video on 7/31/11, but I think it’s pretty timely given the prior clip...Bernie Sanders talks about Chucky and Dave Koch doing their demonic best to try and dismantle Social Security (more here...and it’s just Chucky now of course, though, given his funding against efforts to combat climate change, he wants to help burn down the whole damn planet, not just seniors in this country who would be made to work until 70 at least if Koch had his way)...



Update 8/7/22: More here.

...and I’m going out of order again with putting up Second Thought videos, but I’m doing that because it has a lot to do with what I posted about here, with the title of “Why Are Dems Funding Far-Right Candidates?” (and I’m sure the other side has been doing comparable stuff for awhile, but that doesn’t justify the scheme as far as I’m concerned)...unfortunately, I think he makes a great point about how, when capitalism fails, it’s replaced by fascism and not socialism, as we saw with Hitler and Mussolini around WWII of course, and how Dems are, arguably, playing into that with that ridiculous strategy to support Trumper lunatic Doug Mastriano and his wretched ilk...another terrific analysis of our political and economic structure in this country IMO – the goal of the political class (including our bought-and-paid-for corporate media) is to preserve the wretched status quo for our economic class, ultimately – maybe not a “news flash” but important to consider all the same...



...and given the temperature in these parts, I think this tune definitely fits...please keep hydrated and look out for anyone you know of who could be oppressed by the heat (elderly, homebound, kids, pets, etc.).

Wednesday Stuff

This clip form More Perfect Union tells us about a potential rail strike that could affect about 115,000 workers; the Biden Administration is trying its hand at mediation to arrive at a contract that would avert a work stoppage (definitely not a good result for most of us while trying to head off a recession, but it’s still important to support the workers striking for equitable pay, time off, benefits, safer working conditions, etc...there is a history behind rail strikes of course – the illustration above shows the U.S. Army breaking up the 1893 Pullman Strike...the work action ultimately led to the signing into law of recognition of Labor Day by President Grover Cleveland the following year, as noted here...probably a few weeks early in pointing this out I know)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us about the DCCC and other like-minded organizations using their funds to hype election-denying pro-MAGA candidates (“gobsmacking” and “dunderheaded” doesn’t even begin to describe this as far as I’m concerned; I had a lot more to say about this here)...



...and it seems that TX guv Greg Abbott was busy at a Huntsville fundraiser hosted by his pal Jeff Bradley after the Uvalde school massacre (and Bradley got a little bitchy when questioned about it apparently – Ana with Jessica Burbank...more here)...



...and David Pakman tells us about Kansas – Kansas! – voters defeating an anti-abortion amendment...I pretty much agree with Pakman’s coverage here, since I’ve seen pretty much the same anecdotal analysis elsewhere also – you can be sure that the other side is going to look at this and try to change their messaging for future upcoming contests on this issue, but it’s pretty damn hard to get around the inescapable fact that the “shadow docket” SCOTUS took away a hard-earned right enjoyed by nearly half of this country for about the last 50 years...



...and keeping with the theme of the prior clip, Sam and Emma and the Majority Report crew discuss the consequences of the Dobbs ruling in polling data so far, also considering the good news from Kansas last night, though nothing is “written in stone” of course as the panel says; they may be correct that, tragically, more stories of women probably dying of sepsis from untreated ectopic pregnancies will emerge, combined with the likelihood that that will impact public polling and support for abortion...still unbelievable that we’ve reached this barbaric state in this country, but the fundamentalist nut jobs have been itching for this fight for 50 years – now let them live with the result...and yeah, GREAT point that “Caribou Barbie” once railed about “death panels” from Obamacare – well, what the hell do you call what we have now based on this...highlighting the following below...

...here is the video...



...and happy birthday to the incomparable Tony Bennett.

Tuesday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us about Our Treasonous Orange Pustule of a Former *President deciding to bury his first wife on his golf course in NJ for tax breaks...Bedminster to be exact; I’ve given up thinking “oh well, he can’t go any lower than this,” because he always ends up proving me wrong - wonder if you have to take a penalty stroke if your ball hits the marker?...



...and Don Winslow recently produced another great video on the Georgia U.S. Senate contest between Dem incumbent Raphael Warnock and Repug challenger Herschel Walker (to help Warnock, click here – Walker needs help also, but more of a medical variety I would say having nothing to do with a job in public service)...



...and John, Jessica Burbank and Ramesh Srinivasan discuss an anti-oil company ad; yep, these price-gouging criminals are more responsible for inflation than anyone else (and let’s not forget the horrible SCOTUS ruling in the West Virginia case, as noted here, and how trying to emasculate the EPA from regulating pollution plays into this)...



...and David Pakman tells us about that OAN loon Alison Steinberg pleading for libs to watch her channel, given that her trash network has been pretty much de-platformed by all the major telcos by now – couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch...



...and Sam and Emma and the crew from The Majority Report tell us about Trudy Busch Valentine running in the Dem U.S. Senate primary from Missouri (vote is today), who apparently doesn’t know what Citizens United is...just say “oops” and get out (support Lucas Kunce instead)...



Update: Busch Valentine won - ugh!

...and Beau gives us his take on Biden taking out Ayman al-Zawahiri (here)...yes, there are always going to be unintended consequences when stuff like this happens, but Beau makes a hell of a good argument IMO for killing this absolutely horrible bad actor in that region...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen gives us an excerpt of Job Stewart talking to Chuck Todd about U.S. Senate Repugs voting down the PACT Act, in particular "Cancun" Cruz; I believe the “party of Lincoln” will indeed come back to this and help pass the bill, given how mercilessly they’re getting roasted on this, which is completely deserved (NSFW/H, with a GREAT finish by Cohen IMO)...



Update: The bill finally passed - and that worthles POS Toomey STILL VOTED NO!!

...and with the thermometer ticking upward again, I'm in the mood for a beach tune, so here goes.

Monday Stuff

I think the title of this Don Winslow video says it all – 7 Years, No Indcitment...



...and as long as the Gropenfuhrer remains free to walk among non-criminals, he poses a threat to our way of life, as Thom Hartmann tells us...kudos to Hartmann for continuing to point out how Our Ochre Abomination was motivated by the former leader of Nazi Germany (including the threat to put “undesirables” in internment camps...great stuff from Hartmann here also)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen gives us a clip of Dem Ohio U.S. House Rep (and Senate candidate) Tim Ryan blasting the “party of Lincoln” over their opposition to the CHIPS Act (Bri-Fi voted Yes because he’s not a total idiot, despite his other issues...to do something about him, click here – more here)...



...and speaking of Republicans Behaving Badly, this from Meidas Touch tells us about members of the “party of Lincoln” currently blocking the PACT Act in the U.S. Senate (more here)...



...and John and Jayar tell us about Matt Gaetz making fun of pro-abortion activist Olivia Julianna – an update appears below (kudos)...

In the same week I raise $2 million for abortion funds, I get to stand alongside such fierce advocates like @JasmineForUS @CandaceValenTX and a true Texas legend @wendydavis.

Texas women will not stand for this. We are fighting back, and we will win. pic.twitter.com/3hJ0MUA0EI

— Olivia Julianna 🗳 (@0liviajulianna) July 31, 2022

...and Ana K., Rayyvana and Mark Thompson of TYT discuss Josh Hawley’s screed about masculinity, as if Hawley would have the first clue about that (GREAT point about what a joke the “fidelity” thing is given that Hawley was fronting for Mango Mussolini, he of the many women suing him for all manner of sexual misconduct)...



...and this next clip pays tribute to someone who stood for something that Hawley and his ilk will never be, and that is truly a role model – RIP Nichelle Nichols, who of course portrayed Lt. Uhura on “Star Trek: The Original Series” (clip is from “The Search For Spock,” which I think had some inspired moments, but also some other stuff that required suspending belief, to be kind...and also, though he and the Celtics beat the Sixers pretty regularly, I have to pay tribute to Bill Russell as well, who truly was a warrior, you might say)...



...and I don't think the first clip in this post required much of an explanation, and I believe the same holds true for this fairly current musical selection.

Sunday Stuff

John I. and Abelina Sabrina of The Damage Report tell us about Chick-Fil-A putting up a posting on social media advertising a job that pays in sandwiches in lieu of actual money...not surprised that this is illegal, but it’s also laughably ridiculous given that company’s profitability and alleged religiosity...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us about “Strip Search Sammy” Alito taking a victory lap of sorts over the Dobbs SCOTUS ruling that eviscerated Roe (and yeah, I guess those in attendance, in lieu of laughing or applauding, could have just rattled their jewelry and that would have been good enough...yep, Alito sure turned the cringe meter up to 11, didn’t he...more here...and yes, I linked to this on Friday I know)...



...and I had to include this clip from David Doel also about John Fetterman’s contest with Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz, who apparently went on a European vacation while Fetterman expanded his lead...yes, this is encouraging, but as Doel points out, we have a loooong way to go until November, and the “party of Lincoln” can run a whole bunch of BS attack ads until then, but as long a Fetterman keeps driving the narrative, that will put him in a good position (and that indeed is a lesson for other Dem candidates...and kudos to Little Steven of course too...to help, click here - mildly NSFW/H)...



...and there’s a possibility of rain in these parts for overnight, but other than that, I think the title of this tune fits for the temperature at the moment.

Friday Stuff

I know this clip on the SCOTUS is presented as a bit of a joke, but it has the tragic consequence of being completely accurate (definitely NSFW/H...more antics from “Strip Search Sammy” are here)...



...and we recently had to deal with one of the more inane stories to grab headlines, with VP Kamala Harris taking flak, you might say, over introducing herself to a meeting of folks with disabilities...I think this David Doel clip kind of runs on a bit, but he makes good points; however, I think the criticisms of Dems and their admittedly cozy corporate ties can wait for another video, but that’s OK, and I’m getting a little tired of people like Doel saying Dems have delivered nothing at all, as opposed to just saying that they’ve fallen short on student debt relief, reclassifying pot from a Schedule 1 drug, etc. (and with this in mind too) – listening to Lara Trump makes me want to rub a cheese grader over my head to get her to shut her mitt...mildly NSFW/H...people losing their minds about identifying yourself with pronouns apparently have no familiarity with Linkedin, for example, where that happens all the freaking time...



...and this More Perfect Union clip reminds us that CEOs have enjoyed soaring pay during our current bout with inflation, as opposed to their employees (and let’s not forget that the thoroughly odious practice of stock buybacks was legalized by The Sainted Ronnie R...Target is profiled here, but there are a hell of a lot of other culprits also...670 to 1, huh? Welcome to The Gilded Age II on steroids)...



...and as long as we’re on the subject of inflation, I give you some truth on this subject from Robert Reich...



...and I thought this Second Thought video offered a pretty thorough critique of working under capitalism, but not so much about working under socialism, though I think he pretty much acknowledges that we really don’t have a one-size-fits-all working example to look at on that, though the discussion about the health care professionals in Cuba is definitely important to consider (and ownership of the means of production, if you choose to refer to it as such, is definitely something I think we should explore)...



...and Beau tells us about the Biden Administration trying to plant 1.2 billion trees to fight climate change, something else I’m sure his administration won’t get credit for from our corporate-owned beltway media that can’t get through a news cycle without trying to gin up a controversy of one type or another...can’t wait for the caterwauling from Fix Noise and the usual right-wing suspects on this...



...and sticking with science matters, this DW report tells us that Vlad The Butcher has apparently decided to stop cooperating with this country on the space station as of 2024; from the report by Lea Albrecht, it sounds like the station was likely to reach obsolescence by that time anyway, though I’m sure the fact that we’re helping to arm Ukraine helped hasten the decision, which is just too bad for Putin as far as I’m concerned...



...and I hope this tune helps us ease into a nice, lazy summer weekend for everybody.

Thursday Stuff

Mehdi Hasan interviews former Repug U.S. House Rep Carlos Curbelo over the brown shirt Turning Point USA rally last weekend in #DeathSantis Land, which also turned out to be a rally for the Gropenfuhrer of course, complete with Nazi flags and other regalia (a sneaky little bit of “both siderism” here from Curbelo; I’m not saying lefties are perfect by any means, but I don’t see an equivalent on our side to the neo-Nazi garbage and what led up to the 1/6 insurrection)...



...and I know the prior Rachel Maddow video got into all of the “Christian nationalism” stuff, but I think it’s important to keep beating that metaphorical drum, which University of Oklahoma professor Samuel Perry does here, interviewed by Victor Blackwell of CNN...



...and any religious imagery associated with the “party of Lincoln” is a particularly sick joke as far as I’m concerned given what has transpired from “the world’s greatest deliberative body” on Capitol Hill over the PACT Act (here)...Jon Stewart truly spits NSFW/H fire on this, as well he should; this may be the worst dragging “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey has ever received, and it’s completely deserved...



Update: More here.

Update 7/29/22: Offered without further comment...

This is the fist bump everyone needs to be talking about.

Ted Cruz and fellow Republicans celebrating after blocking a bill to help toxin-exposed veterans survive. pic.twitter.com/wJvRseE7B4

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) July 29, 2022

...and Farron Cousins tells us that, if God forbid Repugs find a way to take over the U.S. House this fall, yeah, get ready for all kinds of Hunter Biden garbage (or, maybe not - can never quite tell with that bunch), and Dr. Fauci pretty much says, have at it, hoss, as Cenk Uygur might say (and Cousins is referring to this, by the way)...



...and I thought this was very insightful clip from David Shuster of Rebel HQ, who tells us about a Michigan man apologizing to the LGBTQ community for his words and actions, and those of others I’m sure, towards the man’s “suite mate,” presumably someone he shared a room with while in college, who killed himself...



...and I'll just keep going down my summer selections list with this tune.

Wednesday Stuff

I’ll bet you didn’t know who Gerald L.K. Smith was before this recent Rachel Maddow video (well, maybe you did)...apparently, he’s the one behind the whole “Christian nationalist” stuff in this country, and you can draw a line (including the anti-Semitism) right from Smith to Repug PA gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano and Marjorie Taylor Greene...apparently, this clip got Greene’s panties all in a knot – hey, if the wingnut shoe fits, wear it (and to support Josh Shapiro running against Mastriano, click here)...



...and sticking with the Keystone State (which is a commonwealth, actually, to split hairs), John and Wosny Lambre of The Damage Report tell us about wingnut U.S. House Rep Glenn Thompson, who voted against a same sex marriage bill and then attended his gay son’s wedding (double standard much? And Thompson, for the record, is also on this list)...



...and as long as we’re dealing with LGBTQ matters, Sam, Emma and company at The Majority Report tell us about the idiotic right winger getting thrown out of Petsmart for complaining about a pride flag...GREAT point at the end by Sam about going to corporations and telling shareholders you don’t agree with the damn flag instead of picking on store employees likely working for a hell of a lot less (more here)...



...and it also appears that the NY GOP is working extra hard to try and spin this admittedly idiotic incident with Lee Zeldin into some kind of attack made possible by Democrats somehow, with a cat-faced fob somehow turning into brass knuckles with daggers, or some such nonsense (oh, but the Monroe County DA could have charged this guy Jakubonis, but she’s working for Zeldin’s campaign...how con-vee-nient...Jayar and Jessica Burbank tell us more)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that GOP pollster Frank Luntz says Trump could ruin everything for the ’22 midterms for his party – we can only hope, and let’s all work to make that a reality of course (I think Cousins is right to consider the impact of COVID, as well as the fact that Luntz is definitely NOT an impartial observer here, but we should ALSO consider the impact of the SCOTUS gutting Roe, and yeah, that will have an impact too, which probably has yet to be decided)...



...and closer to home, this local news report tells us that the Central Bucks School District basically instituted a book ban; they can call it whatever they want, but that’s what it is – oh, so now I guess Dr. Abe Lucabaugh, superintendent of the district, is now a critic of English literature also??...



...which makes me recall this clip (from this great film)...



...and speaking of books, I guess we’d better keep the one in this video away from Lucabaugh too :-).

Tuesday Stuff

I have to admit that this is one hell of an edgy video, but it’s completely within bounds, you might say, as far as I’m concerned – if Texas Republicans including Greg Abbott want to act like monsters, then they should be portrayed as such...



...and David Shuster and Adrienne Lawrence, Esq. discuss young conservatives who apparently don’t understand why the politicians who they think are looking out for them are opposed to birth control – how many more ways do you need to get played by these charlatans before you figure out what the game is?...



...and John and Francesca discuss Matt Gaetz, who wasn’t sufficiently attracted to a particular activist, so, as John sez, Gaetz doesn’t think she deserves rights...well, she came up with a GREAT comeback, to her credit...there’s a reason why #RapeyMcForehead was trending on Twitter recently, and I’m completely serious – still beyond belief to me that Gaetz hasn’t faced charges yet for this...



...and I’m sure this is a big shocker – not! – but the Secret Service apparently found all of the text messages that they originally said were missing under the threat of a criminal investigation – Farron Cousins has more...



...and apparently (according to David Pakman), Lex Luthor Scott is whining about people going back to work...yeah, well, unemployment is already low as noted here, you criminal (but Heaven forbid that verifiable truth and reality should get in the way of a Republican Party talking point)...



...and I guess this will suffice as of now for our regional weather forecast.

Monday Stuff

John and Yasmin Khan of the Damage Report tell us about the Biden White House wanting to take a kid gloves approach to U.S. Senate alleged Democrat Joe Manchin because Biden and company are apparently worried about having negotiations with Manchin on the climate blow up, or something – as stated in this clip, you’re assuming Manchin is a good faith actor on this stuff; HOW MANY DAMN TIMES DOES HE HAVE TO SHOW YOU THAT HE ISN’T??!!...



...and gee, it looks like that Brave Sir Josh Hawley Bravely Ran Away, you might say...and yeah, I know that clip has made multiple rounds on the internet by now (I thought this was a pretty good comeback), but of course, that Repug U.S. Senate mistake from Missouri remains unbowed, yapping about alleged PA election fraud in 2020, which didn’t actually take place despite all of the damn lawsuits (with Cenk, Jayar and Jessica Burbank...and I DEFINITELY hope Cenk is right about John Fetterman, but let’s keep working to make that happen)...



...and Matt, Emma and the TMR crew tell us about Harvard-educated former pro football center Matt Birk, who is definitely spouting some wingnut nonsense, running for lieutenant governor in Minnesota, speaking on 6/24 when Roe was overturned – after watching this clip, I wonder if Birk has some CTE going on, and I’m not trying to be flip...I hope he gets checked out, and also decides to have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO DO with running for public office...yeah, watch me talk about rape, rape and rape, and then make a joke about women drivers; what a “laff riot” (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and David Pakman tells us about Texas hospitals not treating patients with serious pregnancy issues out of fear of violating the post-Roe abortion ban, seeing as how at least one of the drugs used for abortion is also used to terminate crisis pregnancies (oh, but let’s not interrupt “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh at his waffle house, because that would be rude...GMAFB!)...



...and according to this clip from the German TV channel DW, Russia’s military is suffering “hundreds of casualties every day” according to a U.S. military analyst...glad to see Russia is apparently not advancing, thought there’s nothing to celebrate when it comes to war because it involves wholesale ruin, and particularly since there really is no “safe space” in Ukraine from Russian attacks – with correspondent Nick Connolly...



...and don’t look now, but here comes a newer tune for a change while we await what hopefully will be some much-needed rain in these parts.

Friday Stuff

I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 7/24/13...one of the many utterly ruinous aspects of the slide by the Republican Party into authoritarianism as far as I’m concerned is the fact that it has done a lot to drive good, talented people out of government or managed to keep them from getting elected in the first place, and Exhibit A on that score as far as I’m concerned is former Dem PA U.S. House Rep Rush Holt of New Jersey...yes, he ran in the NJ Dem U.S. Senatorial primary and lost to Cory Booker, which is just the system at work I know, but I’m sure his voice would be greatly appreciated...here, he discussed the simplest way to fix Social Security (in consideration of this)...



...and Brett Erlich of TYT talks about last night’s 1/6 Committee hearing, highlighted by “Running Man” Josh Hawley and members of the Secret Service who apparently were sending text messages to family members because they thought they were going to be killed – tells you how much we’re sitting on the knife-edge of our democracy that these corrupt, delusional maniacs could (and likely will) try this insanity again in one form or another (and working to undermine our elections state by state as well)...



...and I have to admit that I thought this was a pretty spot-on analysis from an MSNBC panel of Rachel Maddow, Alex Wagner, Stephanie Ruhle, Ari Melber and Joy Reid about combatting all of the Trumpist BS from the “party of Lincoln” and putting the 1/6 Committee hearings in that context... I thought Maddow’s last comment was particularly spot-on (“fight fire with water”)...



...and Jayar and Jessica Burbank discuss Dem members of Congress who were recently arrested protesting in front of the SCOTUS over the Dobbs ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade (oh, but let’s have days of media hand-wringing over protesting “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh at his upscale waffle house, or whatever that mess was...yes, I realize there definitely was a performative aspect to this protest that actually may be a little self-defeating, but it would have been far worse to do nothing)...



...and as long as we’re discussing Congress, I think that’s a good time to include this Second Thought video about our federal legislators lining their own pockets via stock trading...and yes, that should be illegal...I know we discussed Mango Mussolini’s antics previously with the 1/6 Committee clips, but there were times when I wondered why the hell Congress didn’t just go after him for violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution, and then I remembered that that might hold up our House and Senate politicians to scrutiny they didn’t want...and yeah, that’s not a good reason to not take that approach with Number 45 I’ll admit...



...and happy belated 75th birthday to Carlos Santana (not the ballplayer); best wishes for continued good health (I featured the Woodstock parody yesterday, so I might as well include the real thing now).

Thursday Stuff

(I honestly tried to get this done before the January 6th Committee hearing, but no dice...my bad.)

Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins tell us about that recent horrible SCOTUS ruling on the environment (here...hard to keep track of all of their awful rulings I'll admit), which could have even worse ripple effects involving other government regulatory agencies...oh swell (and it sounds like the “major question doctrine” is the latest insane wingnut talking point to try and gut governmental protections we’ve taken for granted – can I book my shuttle to Mars now to go live somewhere else? Oh, and this goofy doctrine will only apply in “major question cases,” huh? Just like Bush v. Gore would never be cited as a precedent involving electoral cases again – suurrre...I thought the end game for this SCOTUS was destroying privacy protections, but after watching this and reading this article about all of the wingnut love for Viktor Orban of Hungary, I’m beginning to think that their REAL end game using the "shadow docket" is the end of representative democracy, with rulings like this basically rendering a democratically elected government helpless)...



...and speaking of Republican insanity, this nut job named Michael Peroutka apparently recently won the Repug nomination for Attorney General in Maryland, with Peroutka being a known white supremacist and pro-Confederacy advocate (mad that MD wasn’t allowed to secede during the Civil War...terrific...and oh yeah, Peroutka seems to be mad at “coastal states”...what the hell do you think Maryland is, you moron? John Iadarola and Jessica Burbank provide commentary...and I think Burbank’s right, unfortunately, about this country’s descent into fascism, carried out in a slow-motion fashion under the radar of our clueless news orgs with initials for names, but again, we certainly can fight back, being the descendants of people who definitely weren’t fearful...if they were, this country wouldn’t exist at all)...



...and one way to fight back is to do all we can to elect Democrats and to bug the living hell out of them until they do what we want; however, if (God willing) John Fetterman is sent to “the world’s greatest deliberative body,” I don’t think we’ll have that problem...this Meidas Touch ad against Fetterman’s opponent Mehmet Oz (which apparently broke the Internet) is one of the best political ads I’ve ever seen...to help Fetterman, click here...



...and when it comes to those really calling the shots in our thoroughly rigged corpocracy, Thom Hartmann asks How Do We Take On the 27 Oligarchs? (about billionaires drowning out the voices of everyday Americans, spending $1.2 billion in 2020 on that election cycle, hastened of course by the SCOTUS decisions of Buckley v. Valeo and Bellotti in the ‘70s and Citizens United of course and McCutcheon in our era...billionaires contributed nearly 1 out of every 10 dollars in the ‘20 election cycle according to Hartmann – to say that’s waaaay out of whack is as huge of an understatement as anyone can imagine – and yes, let’s not forget about the “For The People” Act...if we hold the House and build on our Senate majority this fall, this definitely can happen, people!)...



...and as long as we’re on the subject of standing up and making our voices heard, this More Perfect Union clip tells us that animators on “The Simpsons,” “Family Guy” and ”American Dad” (who aren’t covered by unions already in shop) are fighting for unionization for themselves, which they’re more than entitled to...



...and sticking with humor, RIP Sean Kelly of National Lampoon, lyricist who wrote for the stage play Lemmings and who also wrote for Saturday Night Live for a time.

Wednesday Stuff

Ayman Mohyeldin of MSNBC speaks with Texas congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher, sponsor of the Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act (passed with 3 Repug votes including Bri-Fi); they both also discuss the Women’s Health Protection Act which received no Republican support at all, which would allow the Feds the right to supersede these horrible state bills banning abortion and also try to prevent women and young girls from traveling to other states to receive the health care they need (more here...so Bri-Fi voted to support abortions as part of health care, though he voted against overriding these ridiculous state laws with federal legislation, which basically means that this is another symbolic gesture at best...to send Bri-Fi packing this fall, click here...I'm pretty sure that my analysis here is correct, but if I find anything to indicate otherwise, I'll update this post, and I couldn't find anything on Bri-Fi's home page on this)...

...and I don’t have a clue as to what the political future holds for Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, but I DO know that he continually does a terrific job sparring with wingnuts on behalf of his boss’s administration and, by extension, for the people of this country; here, he gives Repug U.S. House wingnut Troy Nehls exactly the treatment he deserves, and Scott Perry (who sought a pardon from Mango Mussolini, let’s not forget) is only slightly better (Brian Tyler Cohen explains...mildly NSFW/H)...



...and I also know we don’t want to get too preoccupied with the fall elections yet, though they are coming and we all have work to do, but Farron Cousins tells us that the weapons industry has already spent $10.2 mil for both parties and received an ungodly return on investment, with a defense budget that is approaching $1 trillion...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us that – whoopsie! – all of a sudden, the Secret Service can’t find a whole bunch of texts related to the treasonous 1/6 insurrection, which is breaking federal law actually (not finding this info I mean)...



...and Robert Reich tells us How Big Companies Do Their Worst To Try and Bust Unions (more here, and when it comes to our corporate media giving #46 the credit he deserves and failing to do so, I would ask that you keep this in mind...apparently, if our news orgs with initials for names as well as Fix Noise aren’t complaining, such as when it comes to the baby formula shortage...which wasn’t Biden’s fault either...I guess that means that the problem is solved; Heaven forbid that Biden actually get any credit...a related item is here)...



...and I usually include this summer selection before this point in the year, but it definitely applies today and for the rest of the week in these parts...please be careful and look in on anyone elderly or infirmed that you may know, as well as kids who may fall ill, since they’re particularly at risk at times like this.

Tuesday Stuff

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 I thought this was a great ad from the group Mothers Against Greg Abbott (and why am I totally not surprised by this disgusting development?)...



...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.

Monday Stuff

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)...



...and RIP William "Poogie" Hart of legendary Philly soul band The Delfonics.