“It's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.” – George Carlin
Monday, September 12, 2022
Monday Stuff
This video from More Perfect Union tells us about the unlikely ideological coalition behind Medicaid expansion in South Dakota, with idiot Repug Governor Kristi (“Unsafe At Any Speed”) Noem basically refusing free federal $$ to enable expansion in her state (for ideological reasons of course, since she’s no doubt looking to build her political career)...
...and Dems Elizabeth Warren in the U.S. Senate and Brad Sherman in the U.S. House have introduced a bill to overturn the “right to work” portion of the Taft-Hartley Act (Jessica Burbank and Cenk of TYT tell us more...I think they could have provided a little more background on this as opposed to immediately going to all the “corporate Democrats” stuff – not saying Cenk is wrong, but I think he should “turn the record over”...more here)...
...and Sam of The Majority Report discusses that moron Greg Gutfeld saying only angry single women vote for Dems (abortion on demand up until the point of birth, which actually happens to be illegal unless dictated by medical necessity in states without ridiculous anti-abortion laws, blah blah blah...oh, but Gutfeld is the new “king of late night” according to Bill Maher...give me a damn break!)...
...and Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ tells us about GOP election workers in Michigan being trained to break the rules (lead-in from Brianna Keilar of CNN)...and why the hell shouldn’t people go to jail for this? (and by the way, Cheryl Costantino, voting isn’t supposed to be “fun,” you MAGA hack!)...
...and Jessica Burbank is back with John of The Damage Report to discuss former NFL quarterback Brett Favre (just in time for the new NFL season), who received $1.1 million from public funds in Mississippi to give motivational speeches, taking the $$ and not giving the speeches – and of course, in addition to asking why Favre was such a deadbeat on this, this also begs the question of why the hell an NFL gazillionaire like Favre would need public funds for any reason whatsoever...and when it comes to the totally fouled drinking water in Jackson, Mississippi, I overwhelmingly blame their idiot Repug governor Tate Reeves and the state assembly, but I think a measure of blame should also go to Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, and I don’t enjoy saying that...I saw something on Twitter about Mayor Lumumba supposedly not coming up with a plan to repair the water infrastructure which he needed to submit to the state, and unfortunately I can’t come up with much to refute that...more here...
Update 9/13/22: And $5 million for a new volleyball stadium (here)? While Jackson doesn't have safe running water? Heckuva job...
...and the video for this tune contains a lot of bright, flashing images and the use of tobacco, so consider yourself warned.
Sunday, September 11, 2022
Sunday Stuff
This CNN story basically tells us that the COVID pandemic erased about two decades of advancement in elementary school test scores for math and reading...and, as with every other issue, Republicans have no answer or proposed solution to anything, but merely pointless carping instead – more here...and gee, maybe fathead Repug politicians out there (looking at you, Guv #DeathSantis) should shut the hell up and stop demonizing teachers by calling them “groomers,” given that we have a teacher shortage in this country and students have fallen behind so badly...yet another disaster you can lay at the feet of Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence as far as I’m concerned...
Update 9/12/22: Yeah, this says a lot, doesn't it?
...and if you want to know why I blame Our Ochre Abomination more than anyone else for the still-ongoing ruin inflicted by COVID-19 (which factored in the prior clip in a big way, primarily because it made distance learning a necessity), I present the following from March 2021...
...and when it comes to Mango Mussolini and this solemn day, I would ask that you never forget this also...
...and a restaurant in Virginia apparently came up with (and I wish I were kidding) a “9/11-themed menu”...Jessica Burbank and Cenk tell us more (and I don’t give a damn what family member of Pete Davidson served as a first responder; I find NOTHING even remotely amusing about someone trying to make a joke about that horrific day...not directly relevant for Cenk to mention Our Tiny Handed Orange Would-Be Dictator and Chris Christie, but I’m glad he did anyway)...
…and these next two clips are timely for this day also of course (related items are here, here, and here...oh, and this is typical for Our Former Orange Pustule-In-Chief also).
Update 1: Yep, I think this is a pretty good question (here).
Update 2: More here.
Update 3: In the immortal words of David Huddleston in "Blazing Saddles," "Now who can argue with that?" (here).
Update 9/12/22: Important related info is here.
Friday, September 09, 2022
Friday Stuff
Mike Figueredo of the Humanist Report tells us about GOP candidates campaigning with their wives to try and get rid of the stench over their supporting Dobbs and fetal personhood, which of course means that you can criminally prosecute women and their health care providers...that is, if awful legislation and/or court rulings related to women’s bodily autonomy were to allow that (NSFW/H)...
...and with the prior clip in mind, Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us about Alabama jailing a bleeding pregnant woman for smoking pot while she carried, for which she ended up in an overcrowded jail cell for 3 months where she had to sleep on the floor...not admirable behavior I realize on the part of the would-be mom, but the draconian punishment definitely FAR outweighed the crime (and I thought Cenk made a great point – if she miscarried because of her detainment, then shouldn’t everyone responsible for her confinement be prosecuted for murder? I mean, hey, if you’re going to go after the pregnant woman with that threat hanging over her, then you should go after everybody)...
...and I think anyone who votes for a politician or a judge (hard to separate the two at times I realize) because they’re allegedly “pro-life” and for no other reason should be ridiculed as the Trump-supporting nitwits are who are roasted in this Lincoln Project clip (and apparently Our Ochre Abomination lost what’s left of his mind over it, which is definitely a bonus as far as I’m concerned)...
...and speaking of clueless Trumpsters, Farron Cousins tells us about Michigan Republicans who are suing and claiming the 2020 election results need to be overturned...yeah, we’ve got a real bunch of Darwin award nominees here, don’t we?...
...and I thought this was a typically interesting take from Beau on Cara Mund, a former Miss America running as an independent for North Dakota’s sole U.S. House seat...to her credit, Mund is pro-choice, which seems to be going over better in a red state than you might think...something about Mund was familiar to yours truly (not for any personal reason I hasten to add), and I realized that it was because of this post from a few years back...
...and David Doel gives us a fairly balanced perspective on the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II...I think she quite rightly will be regarded as one of the truly towering historical figures of this century and the prior one for a lot of good reasons (some of which I noted yesterday), but if a lot of folks including her subjects (until recently) end up going “meh” over it, I can’t blame them...
...and here is another Second Thought video on How Capitalism Robs The Developing World...and why did I somehow know that United Fruit was involved in the exploitation of farmland in Cuba? In terms of the history of how capitalism has evolved, so to speak, this might be the best video he’s ever made...and the U.K. along with most of the industrialized world, including the U.S. of course, has profited from the ruinous practice of extracting from so-called undeveloped nations...I know I’m playing catch-up with his videos once more...
...and I also know we have a couple of weeks until the first day of fall, so I’ll try to squeeze in some more summer tunes, including this one.
Thursday, September 08, 2022
Thursday Stuff
David Pakman offers his take on the whole Trump and Secret Nuke Docs at Mar-a-Lago story (discussing the whole “special master” thing too)...probably repetitive, but if there’s a story out there that should be repeated, this one is it...
Update: Yeah, if ever there was a ruling where an appeal was mandated, it was this idiocy from Aileen Cannon (here).
...and when you’ve gone too far for Steve Douchey of the Fix Noise “crotch couch,” then yeah, you’re in pundit no man’s land for sure (and oh yeah, isn’t Little Marco HILARIOUS to criticize the FBI and the Justice Dept. for allegedly leaking on Trump and the secret nuke docs from the SAME BUNCH that cheered on the Comey BUT HER EMAILS!!! leaking garbage against HRC in October 2016)...
...and I’ll Take Ridiculous Campaign Advice For $100 (for whoever replaced Alex Trebek), and Repug U.S. House Rep Gym Jordan sure offers it, telling his party to embrace Dobbs...actually, I hope that that is exactly what they do (Ana and Cenk tell us more...I think Brian Kilmeade was trying to form a sentence but somehow failed)...
...and this clip from Rachel Maddow aired on 8/30 so I know I’m a little late with it...apologies...it has to do with Trumpsters going against the National Archives and all the other loony wingnut BS (against school boards, election workers, libraries, etc.)...and in a way, I think that Huckleberry Graham stuff should be mentioned again instead of going down the corporate media memory hole; I don’t know what kind of disciplinary measures “the world’s greatest deliberative body” could carry out against Graham, but I definitely think he deserves a follow-up for it...it would be worth it for no other reason than to see him kick and scream like they whiny little bitch he truly is...
...and like the rest of the world, I’m still sorting things out a bit over the death of Queen Elizabeth II (here)...yes, she was the head of “the firm,” and brooked no deviation from the course she set out for the royals, but in her defense, she grew up with World War II raging, and the UK suffered from postwar shortages for years, long after we experienced them...in short, her character was forged in tremendous adversity, played out both on the world stage and within her own family, watching the disintegration of her father, who was forced onto the throne because of Edward VIII’s abdication (as noted in the PBS clip)...she also had to establish herself in a government dominated by men of course, which she most definitely did (and that includes the personal stuff with Prince Philip, and she had to go along with that stuff involving her sister Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend)...yeah, you could argue that the whole royalty thing is antiquated for our current age, but it means a lot over there (based on my admittedly limited exposure), and don’t you think some kind of a patriarchal or matriarchal role overarching our government would have reined in, say, Number #45 and all of the fallout from his treasonous garbage? Maybe it wouldn’t have, but as Beau says, it’s just a thought...
...and here is one of the most popular tunes of the day (especially for WWII) while Great Britain endured its finest hour and Princess Elizabeth waited in the wings to ascend to the throne.
Wednesday, September 07, 2022
Wednesday Stuff
Brian Tyler Cohen discusses the WaPo revelations about other countries’ nuke info getting out via Mar-a-Lago (I swear, NOBODY will ever trust us again with any kind of secrets after the escapades of this ruinous egomaniac)...
...and I was going to put up Beau’s commentary on the whole ‘special master’” thing, but events over the last 24 hours have made that a little less of an important discussion; Beau outlines all of the options based on the WaPo story, and they’re all bad...even as we’ve continued to swirl down the metaphorical hopper as a country as a result of the megalomaniacal behavior of this craven, spoiled toddler of a *president, I don’t think I’ve ever felt genuine dread until now (and for the record, on the “special master” thing, one of the reasons why that was a totally whack ruling from that Trump-appointed judge is because the “sm” is apparently someone who mediates between parties, which sounds more applicable to some kind of a civil action...the only matter open for “dispute” is how long the prison sentence will be for Our Treasonous Tiny Handed Former Chief Executive...and again, the question is WHAT THE HELL WERE THOSE DOCS DOING AT TRUMP'S PLACE TO BEGIN WITH??!!)...
...and if some of the life forms who showed up in Wilkes-Barre recently were capable of firing off a brain synapse or two, I’d ask them how proud they must feel for supporting this maniac of a former *president (I’m sure I know the answer, but I’m inclined to ask anyway)...
...and John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report tell us about Texas Governor Greg Abbott lying when he says he can’t raise the age limit on purchasing an AR-15...I’m not going to get into a pissing contest over the legal technicalities, but for Abbott to claim that he can’t call some kind of special legislative session (as Abbott’s challenger Beto O’Rourke has called for) to raise the age of purchasing one of these monstrous weapons of death is an insulting joke (I hope John is right about beating Abbott, but hating Dems is a hell of a drug down there too, as opposed to elsewhere in this country...more here)...
...and Repugs apparently want to sue the Biden Administration to block student debt relief – yeah, Heaven forbid that a president actually tries to enact a policy to help millions in this country as opposed to the uber-wealthy, as David Doel tells us (and damn those lazy millennials for listening to their iPods and MP3s or whatever and not buying homes and raising families...removing my tongue from my cheek)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that Herschel Walker in Georgia has a far better chance of actually winning his U.S. Senate contest against Raphael Warnock than he should, which is also news to keep us pacing the floor at night (we should do what we can for Warnock for the reasons Cousins tells us, not because Warnock is a bad candidate, but because Kemp and the Georgia Republicans are going to do everything they can to screw over the economy in that state to help out Walker, who is nothing but a disaster as a human being...love and kisses to President Manchin and Vice President Sinema for making this country safe for dirty energy criminals and hedge fund managers and letting everyone else fend for themselves, which has a lot to do with making this race MUCH CLOSER than it should be)...
Update 9/8/22: So Walker will only debate if he gets the questions in advance? What a damn joke!
...and I was going to wind down my summer selections with another relaxing tune on my playlist, but I feel more in the mood for this one (will probably be drinking early today).
Tuesday, September 06, 2022
Tuesday Stuff
(Pic has to do with this, by the way...oh, but Paul Manafort, of all people, says 45 apologized, which would truly be a first for Combover Caligula, who never apologizes for ANYTHING...yeah, like I'm supposed to take the word of anybody in "Trumpworld" like Manafort.)
John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report tell us that Cancuz Cruz is in high dudgeon about the “87,000 new IRS agents” BS, allegedly going after the “middle class” (with Cruz failing to point out that that staffing is OVER 10 YEARS, and barely makes a dent in the decades-long IRS underfunding as John points out)...and a clip is added at the end about Cruz (allegedly some genius of jurisprudence in his imagination) saying he thought Obergefell was wrongly decided, or something (“Christian Nationalist Colonel Sanders” – good one by Francesca in an added clip, and the right to privacy was implicit in Griswold also; if anyone thinks “Strip Search Sammy” Alito and his pals aren’t coming after contraception too, then you truly haven’t been paying attention)...
...and Jayar, Cenk and Rayy Vana of TYT tells us that, if (God forbid) Our Ochre Abomination gets the chance, he’ll pardon everyone responsible for 1/6 (in his interview with Freaky Psycho Woman "News Anchor" Who Wants Everyone To See Her Face All The Time)...I get the stuff about Mango Mussolini going to every single wingnut platform out there and maybe the Dems should do a better job of outreach to the lefty equivalents, but on the other hand, at this point, Trump is so desperate that he’ll talk to ANYBODY if he can get some $$ out of it...
...and The Lincoln Project tells us about still more of the OMIGOD THAT CRAZY SENILE DEMOCRAT BABY-KILLING SUPPOSED CATHOLIC SOCIALIST BIDEN WAS SO MEAN TO US WITH HIS NAME CALLING whining about #46’s recent speech in Philly (to me, the most amusing crack came from Louisiana Republican U.S. Senator Cornpone, and former PA Repug U.S. Senator Man-On-Dog seems to always find a way into the conversation also)...
...of course, if the wingnuts cared about threats FOR REAL, then MAYBE they’d have something to say about this Matt Walsh goofball who riled up his lizard-brained followers, one of whom apparently phoned in a bomb threat to Boston’s Children’s Hospital, as David Doel tells us (oh, but Walsh blamed our side because it was only a threat – I guess Walsh would have taken a victory lap if part of the building were destroyed and people were killed or injured...what a loudmouthed, pusillanimous nothing this guy is)...
...and sticking with the theme of pig-headed intolerance, this CNN story tells us about Idaho wingnuts demanding that 400 books be banned from a library (funny in a twisted way considering that the library in question had NONE of those books at the time)...and of course, none of these protesting cowards would go on the record...”The American Redoubt,” huh? God, what a bunch of loons...and why am I not surprised to learn that it’s tied to weaponry? And how ironic that someone came form that alleged liberal bastion of sin in California to mess up the minds of these people...and I’m not sympathetic to the “Welcome to Trump Country” mayor, since, as far as I’m concerned, he helped open the door for this garbage by not seeing Cult 45 as the threat that it truly is...
...and here’s a happy, upbeat newer number about a healthy and fulfilling relationship :-).
Monday, September 05, 2022
Monday Stuff
You can tell President Biden really hit a nerve with all of the butt-hurt Republicans out there in his Philadelphia speech by merely telling the truth; with that in mind, I thought this was a well-done commentary from Texas Paul at Meidas Touch (NSFW/H)...
....and Trae Crowder has a similar NSFW/H take, with a VPN commercial in the middle of his commentary...hey, we all have to pay the bills somehow...
...and with the prior two clips in mind, I thought Beau made a great point (echoed also here by David Frum)...basically, the best thing for Repug electoral prospects is to having nothing whatsoever to do with Former President Fergus Laing so they can keep prattling on about “Oh, Biden socialism, gas prices, inflation, blah blah blah,” but guess what? Now, with his latest hate-filled soiree in Wilkes-Barre, we have all been reminded all over again that THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS WHOLLY AND ALTOGETHER OWNED BY DONALD J. TRUMP...
...and just when you thought Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz couldn’t sink any lower, he goes and maligns two men wrongfully convicted in a murder case who John Fetterman worked tirelessly to clear...if Oz had a speck of integrity, he would realize what an utter fool he has made out of himself in this campaign and drop out, but of course, since our form of politics in this country is more of a steel cage match than an episode of “The West Wing,” he won’t (Chris Hayes brings us the details)...
...and as far as I’m concerned, if you want to get to the root of the problem of how this country has become so cartoonish in our electoral contests, a lot of that has to do with the ascendancy of The Sainted Ronnie R and his demonization of government; Repugs want to destroy this country via tax cuts and the Dems want to rebuild – time to believe in government again, as Thom Hartmann says...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 9/4/14...with all of the unseasonably hot weather out there, let’s not forget one of the biggest culprits standing in the way of the fight against climate change (here)...
....and here’s a reminder of the importance of the holiday, as well as the labor movement overall (more here , here, here, here, and a true relic is here)…
...and here is a tune for the occasion.
Sunday, September 04, 2022
Sunday Stuff
This is Johnny Walker. His Linkedin profile describes him as “Cultural advisor, author, film-maker, entrepreneur and U.S. Navy Seal Trident recipient.”
He posted the following on Linkedin recently (and the middle finger is aimed at Biden of course):
A MESSAGE to our President:(By the way, I’m answering here because Linkedin isn’t – or shouldn’t be, anyway, as far as I’m concerned – a place for news or political commentary. And yes, to be fair, I have no desire to engage in some pointless back-and-forth braying with commentors, many of whom merely want to burnish their alleged “tough guy” bona fides.)
With all due respect, when you call us Republicans "THE enemy of democracy" I can understand that this is part of the political game or your party's political agenda. That's cool. But the problem I'm facing right now is how can I explain to my kids that I am a Republican and not a terrorist as you claim.
This is not the spirit upon which our great nation was built.
This does not promote the same picture of the land of freedom that my brothers in arms offered to me when I fought terrorists by their side.
This is not a helpful way to unite our country - by disparaging 70 million of your fellow citizens.
I AM NOT ISIS, AL QAIDA, IRANIAN MILITIA, OR A MEMBER OF A CARTEL. I AM A PROUD AMERICAN CITIZEN. SO PLEASE DON'T EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN. I HAVE EARNED MY CITIZENSHIP WITH BLOOD AND SACRIFICE.
I AM J WALKER.
If you agree please share it.
To begin, I searched a transcript of Biden’s Philadelphia speech, and I couldn’t find him using the phase “the enemy of democracy” anywhere. I also couldn’t find the word “terrorist.” So I honestly don’t know what speech Walker is referring to.
(I mean, if Walker is looking for inflammatory rhetoric, he could look to the leader of his party, who called Biden “an enemy of the state” in his Bund rally in Wilkes-Barre, PA last night here. Combover Caligula also recently accused Dem PA U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman of taking cocaine, heroin, crystal meth and fentanyl here, which 1) Is a laughably ridiculous lie even for Cult 45...and Fetterman should sue over it IMO, even though of course, being the world class grifter Trump is, I’m sure Fetterman won’t get the satisfaction he deserves, and 2) would be quite a neat trick...ingesting all of those drugs and managing to actually stay alive, and with a serious health condition no less.)
Here is what Biden actually DID say in Philadelphia a few nights ago...
...we must be honest with each other and with ourselves.And despite Walker’s braying in opposition, President Biden happens to be absolutely right (if anything, he understates the problem).
Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic.
Now, I want to be very clear, very clear up front. Not every Republican, not even the majority of Republicans, are MAGA Republicans. Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology. I know, because I’ve been able to work with these mainstream Republicans.
But there’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans. And that is a threat to this country.
So then, by default, Walker is defending the MAGA election deniers...and actually, worse than that, those practicing sabotage of our most important duty as citizens by undermining our ability to conduct free and fair elections across this country with ridiculous election “audits,” onerous anti-voting laws making it harder for younger voters, as well as people of color and other ethnicity, to exercise their franchise, and other foul means. Among other locations, this is talking place in Arizona, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida...and potentially the “Keystone state” of PA if Trumper and insurrection supporter Doug Mastriano, by some catastrophe, manages to win election as governor this fall (here).
And since Walker has nothing to say about the 1/6 attack on the Capitol, which of course was also an attack on the very foundation of our government (here), I assume he approves of that also.
This, to me, is supporting fascism. In big, bold, 72-point type. On the front page of the New York Freaking Times and the Washington Post (I won’t include the Philadelphia Inquirer since I know they’d find a way to try and “both sides” this incredibly important issue, though to be honest, those other two papers might do the same thing).
And without impugning Walker’s service (for which he should be commended and we should all be grateful), I can tell you definitively that my father served in Europe fighting World War II, opposing fascism FOR REAL. So, if he were still alive (and if I were to guess), I can imagine that he would see the “cult of personality” threat from Our Treasonous Tiny Handed Former Chief Executive (who is still very much “on the hook” for this among his myriad other offenses, let’s not forget) along with his democracy-hating minions (who now love a European dictator as evidenced here) and call it out for what it is.
If Walker opposes Democrats for some personal or philosophical reason, that’s his right of course. But for someone who courageously took on the duty of carrying a weapon for this country to NOT see the homegrown, nativist threat posed by our twice-impeached, popular-election-vote-losing *president as well as those he represents who seek to destroy the foundations of our democracy, then I cannot call that anything less than dereliction of duty, which I reluctantly say with the greatest of reservations.
Update: About Wilkes-Barre...yeah, I think it was more meaningful in the original German (here).
Friday, September 02, 2022
Friday Stuff
I watched President Biden’s speech yesterday (live streamed by David Pakman), and though he fumbled a few times in his trademark way, I also thought he made a hell of a lot of good points...I give anybody credit who can make that type of a coherent speech for 20-25 minutes or longer; I would guess there was a teleprompter somewhere, but I’m sure he was talking off the cuff for a lot of it also (Biden knows how to “answer the bell” on this stuff for sure)...I know he has to talk about “mainstream Republicans” and “MAGA Republicans,” but to me, that’s a distinction without a difference anymore – he’s got to extend an “olive branch” I know, even though we also know that the other side will only grab it and stomp on it to pieces (here and here)...I would have liked to have seen Biden note the election recount scheme in Arizona (here) and the fake electors scheme that has also extended from that state to Wisconsin (here), and also to call out MAGA-related threats of violence in Michigan (here), and of course the “give me 11,780” votes garbage from Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence in Georgia (here), but again, I thought the speech was good enough for what it was...I also give Biden credit for coming up with his vision of where he wants to lead the country, which is what presidents are supposed to do (the “curing cancer” thing is a bit of a reach I guess, but it’s probably true that a commentator somewhere also said that about the phrase “We choose to go to the Moon” once spoken by another Democratic president)...I thought it best to present the whole speech in the following clip (and OF COURSE Biden was heckled - he was giving the speech in Philly after all...:-)...more important context IMO is here, here, and here)...
Update: More here, here and here.
...and nice work also by Lawrence O’Donnell to hold Huckleberry Graham’s feet to the fire on his recent “riots in the streets” remark about Biden and the FBI going after Our Ochre Abomination and his trashing of top secret docs at Mar-a-Lago...
Update 9/4/22: I think it's an instructive lesson in biology to examine a human being without an actual spine, as evidenced by Graham (here).
...and Emma Vigeland tells us about Sarah Palin losing in the special U.S. House election to Dem Mary Peltola (to fill the seat that was held by Repug Don Young before he passed away – Young held the seat forever...they also talk about Dem incumbent Mondaire Jones losing in the recent NY-10 U.S. House election...I’ll admit I wasn’t paying a lot of attention there, but I don’t understand why more of the progressives in the primary couldn’t have just gotten the hell out and consolidated around Jones, despite what Emma says, but we are where we are...very mildly NSFW/H...more here)...
...and turning to world news, I thought this Sky News report was a pretty good summary of where Russia and Vlad The Butcher stand with their war of choice in Ukraine, though the prognosis, if you will, at the end is pretty damn grim, acknowledging that the conflict could potentially be on-again, off-again for 50, 60 or 70 years – dear God...
...and returning to the U.S., this collaboration between Second Thought and More Perfect Union tells us about the evils of Cargill, the biggest privately owned company in the U.S., and all of the predatory market practices that have enabled the company’s success for over 100 years...
...but when all else fails, we’ll always have the “culture wars” BS I guess, and David Doel tells us that a Missouri school district is apparently bringing back spanking (with approval of dumb parents); if any of these idiots had decided to lay a hand on the young one, they’d have broken fingers (and of course, Fix Noise turns out to be completely bonkers on this issue, which shouldn’t be surprising I know)...
...and Jayar and David Shuster of Rebel HQ tell us about anti-trans activists in Texas getting a taste of their own wingnut medicine when armed individuals protect some kind of a drag exhibition...nothing like turning the tables on some of these assclowns...to be honest, would this have been an activity we would have attended with our son when he was growing up? Probably not, but I’m not going to get exercised about it either, unlike all of the anti-trans wingnuts out there – lots more important issues to focus on IMO...
...and it’s hard to believe that this is the first recognition of “Friday with Frank” since the one and only Sid Mark has left us, but I think there’s a lot to be said for upholding traditions such as this as we head into Labor Day weekend.
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Wednesday Stuff
Apparently the wingnuts are trying to spin the classified documents story as some kind of FBI frameup, with Bob Cesca quite rightly calling out Monica Crowley here (from the people who LOVED the FBI when James Comey was running all the “BUT HER EMAILS” nonsense with HRC), but I think Beau’s great commentary here cuts right to the heart of the matter as usual (more here)...
...and Ana and Cenk tell us about the latest disgusting stunt from FLA guv Ron #DeathSantis, and that is to parade 20 people (some in their underwear...no bottom to #DeathSantis and his pals) with criminal records who were basically entrapped into thinking they could vote; of course, this gives the “party of Lincoln” the opportunity to blame minority voters instead of the well-off Repugs in “The Villages” who (as noted in the clip) performed voter fraud FOR REAL...and Cenk is right that Charlie Crist should be running with this story until the proverbial cows come home, along with Val Demings, and I’ll be watching to see if this develops any further, but I have a feeling Cenk is right, sadly...aside from basic human decency, Democrats should be calling this out because it will indeed have a chilling effect on a voting constituency they will sorely need if they have any shot at all of winning in a state which is gradually becoming DeSantis’s little version of Viktor Orban’s Hungary, which is definitely by design - more here...
Update 9/1/22: More here.
...and heading west by a few degrees of longitude, Chris Hayes tells us that Jackson, Mississippi apparently doesn’t have running water now, a triumph of Repug “governance” and their assclown governor Tate Reeves (and it’s cold comfort I know that the Repug lawmakers who utterly and cravenly failed on this have to use the same port-o-potties as everyone else)...
...and Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins tell us that the “Kids for Cash” judges were recently ordered to pay $200 million I believe in restitution as noted here...no amount of money is too high for these two criminals as far as I’m concerned (this was a huge story in our beloved commonwealth for reasons that should be obvious I know...the 2013 documentary got into this horrible, heart-breaking scandal – at least one of these kids committed suicide I believe)...
...and I recently put up a Damage Report clip of YouTuber Tim Pool’s attempt at singing and noted how ridiculous it was...that was actually amusing, but now Steven Crowder is back with some kind of a “Saving Private Ryan” alleged parody about wingnuts whose free speech is supposedly threatened or something (or Crowder being temporarily banned from YouTube for typical wingnut BS), and as someone whose father served in Europe in WWII, I can assure you that I most definitely do NOT find this funny – the entitlement of Crowder and his ilk is cowardly and sickening (Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us more)...
...and yesterday marked what would have been the 78th birthday of The Eternal Molly Ivins – I think what she and David Letterman are referring to in the beginning are the SCOTUS confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas (pretty sure this clip is from ’91-‘92...God knows that her incisive wit and literary expertise is still very much needed)...
...and on the subject of milestones, RIP former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...yes, he had a mixed legacy in that, as nearly as I could determine, he never really renounced Communism, and his peace overtures were out of his country’s self-interest, but to be fair, you can say that every world leader acts out of self interest, and I think he should be regarded as a visionary for seeking to curb nuclear proliferation and for this, which hastened the breakup of the empire Putin, catastrophically, is trying to reassemble by brute force...
...and once more, on the subject of milestones, I should note that Princess Diana died 25 years ago today...I recently saw this great documentary on her on HBO On Demand; here is a tune for the occasion.
Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Tuesday Stuff
I know the Second Thought clip yesterday had a lot to do with climate change, and here is more on the ruin we’re facing as a civilization...might as well get the catastrophic news out of the way, as John and Jordan Uhl of The Damage Report tell us...what a shame that sea mammals can’t manufacture green paper to hire lobbyists and support foundations spreading lies about the destruction of this planet from greed and selfishness - and yeah, I think this says it unfortunately...
...and this DW report with Adrian Kriesch talks about world water shortages, focusing on South Africa (timed for World Water Week, which apparently was a few days ago)...discussed with correspondents Lan Wang Erlandsson and Minka Curr...the Daniel Craig/James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace” had a plot line that was absolutely spot-on about this subject IMO...
...and Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us about Huckleberry Graham threatening violence if Our Ochre Abomination is arrested, which should have happened long ago (the arrest I mean...I have a bit of an issue with Cenk’s stuff about “crying” Hillary Clinton - yes, the problems of her campaign have already been pointed out as far as I’m concerned, but she was right about the Comey garbage in 2016...look at everything she was allegedly “crying” about in hindsight and ask yourself honestly if she was wrong...I think she was off base in criticizing Bernie Sanders on Howard Stern, but aside from that...)...
...and Rayy Vana of Rebel HQ tells us about this idiot Georgia private school administrator named Nancy Gordeuk, who blamed “the devil” for her absurdly racist comments at a 2015 commencement...the real twist on this for me comes at the end, when we find out that she wasn’t fired, but was merely demoted until she was allowed to retire recently...yeah, there isn’t “two Americas” – not much there isn’t...
...and Thom Hartmann gives us more on the history of student debt and how it exploded starting with the ruinous reign of The Sainted Ronnie R (and once more, I give you this terrific post on the subject)...
...and I’ve got a few more summer tunes left, and I absolutely want to include this too.
Monday, August 29, 2022
Monday Stuff
David Doel tells us about “Dark Brandon” and his most recent campaign rally in Arizona last week (hey, if the wingnuts are going to come up with this “Let’s Go Brandon” BS, then let’s find a way to give it back to ‘em...and GREAT JOB on the PPP stuff from the Twitter feed)...yeah, to say that this is long overdue is an understatement, but kudos to Biden for hitting all of the right notes and tying it back to the fall elections; now, we’ll have to follow through on campaign work with the goal of policy and legislation that actually makes sense...we’ll see (and when it comes to playing nice with the other side, I give you this)...
...and when it comes to issues that matter, the climate has to be paramount above all others, and this latest from Second Thought tells us how capitalism is destroying the world (“You can’t make money when something’s abundant. It’s only when it’s scarce that the big bucks come in,” indeed...that’s focused on our dirty energy criminals, but it really applies to the world economy writ large)...
...and Emma of The Majority Report tells us how frantically Blake Masters, Repug U.S. Senate candidate in Arizona, is trying to scrub as much anti-abortion BS from his web site as he can; well, unfortunately for Masters, the evidence is here (to help his opponent, Dem incumbent Mark Kelly, click here...and by the way, I know there were people who were mad about Kelly recently saying something about working with Republicans...I’m willing to trust Kelly’s judgment on this since I think he knows AZ voters better than I do and Kelly has a great track record of supporting Dem legislation, unlike that other wretched alleged Democrat from Kelly’s state in the U.S. Senate)...
Update: And speaking of "Curtsy Kyrsten" (here)...
...and Ana and Cenk tell us about a guy who’s pranking Texas Repugs in the best way possible IMO, and that is to create “In God We Trust” posters for “the land of the yellow rose” in Arabic...hey assclowns, it’s not OUR fault that you didn’t think about that when you came up with this bogus law of yours...
...and John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report tell us how YouTuber Tim Pool is apparently trying to venture into music (speaking of assclowns...God, this was funny)...
...and when it comes to musicians for real, RIP jazz organ virtuoso and trumpeter Joey DeFrancesco (from Springfield PA – here...they’re still “dropping like flies” in August sadly).
Friday, August 26, 2022
Friday Stuff
Ana and John of TYT discuss the Fix Noise reaction to Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness...rut-row – it looks like Judge Winebox just admitted that her parents gave her a free ride for college, even though of course she lambastes those trying to pay off their student loans (and by the way, what about all of the PPP grifters who bailed on repaying THEIR loans? How come we’re not hearing any bitching from Pirro and her pals about THAT??!! Ana is good in this segment, but John kills it...Ana mentions the classified documents thing and Trump, which is important but not directly relevant to this topic actually)...
...and comparing student loan debt forgiveness to heroin addiction, as this life form named Will Cain does, is pretty damn loopy even for The Roger Ailes BS Factory – Richard Ojeda tells us more (and yeah, you can thank The Sainted Ronnie R, among many others, for our wretched status quo on student college debt, as noted here)...
Update: I thought this was some important context, and this is a terrific related post.
Update 8/31/22: A little repetitive I know, but I think this is worth adding to the discussion.
...and turning to political campaigns, The Lincoln Project puts Trumpette Kari Lake of Arizona under the spotlight, and it sure as hell isn’t pretty (to help Lake’s competitor for AZ governor, Dem Katie Hobbs, click here)...
...so let's look at a gubernatorial contest on the other side of the country, OK? With that in mind, I thought this was a great opening ad for Charlie Crist, the Dem running against incumbent Ron #DeathSantis in Florida...
...and sticking with The Sunshine State, Farron Cousins tells us that the DOJ is absolutely still going after Matt Gaetz, but the problem (for Gaetz) is that there’s so damn much he could be guilty of that it’s taking awhile to sort things out – hope Gaetz will enjoy the rest of his life in the gray bar hotel...
...and Emma of The Majority Report tells us about this Repug U.S. House Rep Andy Barr of Kentucky totally blowing off Chuck Todd’s question about fighting inflation and instead going right to the wingnut talking points – yep, never a constructive solution from the “party of Lincoln,” only more bombast and pointless distraction (and apparently, Kentucky shares a border with Mexico based on what Barr is screeching about, which is indeed news to me)...
...and this video from More Perfect Union tells us about Becky Ley, a Delta Airlines flight attendant who has gone over to the pro-union side, but definitely not because she seeks to disparage the airline at all...
...and RIP longtime jazz producer Creed Taylor (here), who collaborated with George Benson, Herbie Hancock, Wes Montgomery, Stanley Turrentine and many others, as well as Stan Getz and JoΓ£o Gilberto on this timeless tune.
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Thursday Stuff
Brian Tyler Cohen and More Perfect Union do a pretty deep dive into Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz and all the scammy “miracle cure” stuff as well as links to his shadowy donors and anti-worker policies; when it comes to grifters, yep, Oz and his benefactors are all birds of a shady feather, you might say...Oz has indeed made a fortune abusing people’s trust as a TV pitch man – gee, I can’t imagine who that reminds me of...in response, to help John Fetterman, click here (and by the way, there is also this and this)...
...and Trae Crowder gives his NSFW/H commentary on Biden forgiving student loan debt...
...and this DW report analyzes the Russian war on Ukraine on the 6-month anniversary (with Mathias Bolonger, Roman Goncharenko, William Glucroft and Mike Martin; don’t know who the broadcaster is...God, 7 million displaced inside Ukraine thanks to Vlad The Butcher)...
...well, at least 1 Russian soldier is brave enough to speak out against the war, and that would be Pavel Filatyev, who is featured in this Now This clip...
...and the person sitting in for David Pakman tells us about Brian Stelter being forced out of his job at CNN by cancellation of his show “Reliable Sources” – and yeah, it looks like this nut job John Malone will push the network even further to the right...yeah, just what the world needs – more wingnut BS...I was OK with Stelter on balance, and I hope things work out for him...
...and here comes another seasonal selection.
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
Wednesday Stuff
Lawrence O’Donnell discusses Generalissimo Trump and more than 300 documents at Mar-a-Lago, with some having the highest levels of security apparently, and 45 “went through the boxes himself,” according to a report in the New York Times...and I would agree that Evan Corcoran and Christina Bobb are likely in deep legal doo-doo also...
...and no, the preznit can’t just unilaterally declassify documents (especially when he’s out of office), as Leon Panetta points out, rightly noting that Mango Mussolini’s claim that he can arbitrarily do this is BS (again, don’t know who this guy is who’s sitting in, but he’s pretty good)...
Update: Interesting...
Update 8/27/22: This (and this)...
...and I’m bringing back a clip by Chris Hayes from last May on Trumper Doug Mastriano, the Repug party nominee for governor in our beloved commonwealth of PA, for a couple of reasons: 1) It contains a hell of a lot of important background on this lunatic, and 2) It’s a bit of a prologue to a recent terrific report in the Bucks County Beacon (which has emerged as a powerful progressive voice) by Jennifer Cohn which gets into the scary linkages between Mastriano, Trumpers, insurrectionists and “Christian” nationalists (here)...the best way to combat this is to do whatever you can to support Dem Josh Shapiro for PA governor (here)...
Update: I forgot Mastriano was coming to Delco, which is a natural spot for his political ilk unfortunately (here).
So he wants to make PA the "Florida of the north," huh? Anybody have any more questions?
Update 9/2/22: And it probably should come as no surprise to learn that Mastriano thinks he's above the law (here).
...and kudos to Adrienne Quinn Martin, the Dem chair of Hood County, TX who spoke before a local school board on banning books (Ben Meiselas from Meidas Touch tells us more)...
...and part of me really wanted to ignore this clip, but I decided to say something about it (from David Doel)...I have a feeling the phrase “OK, boomer” was invented for Bill Maher...wow, must be a nice life where the biggest “problem” you have is bitching and whining about NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE A GODDAMN MOVIE....and I don’t have a clue who Harry Styles is, and I can assure you that I don’t care...I can’t believe there was actually a time when I paid attention to Maher (here...before I discovered comment moderation :-), and to be fair, there was a time when he was really “on the beam” and actually living in the reality-based community, but boy, are those days ever long gone (NSFW/H)...
...and it’s probably too late today to hit LBI today (about an hour from Le Manse Doomsy), but I definitely feel like it after watching this clip (maybe tomorrow...).
Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Tuesday Stuff
Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us about Repug U.S. Senate Mistake RoJo saying he was involved in Wisocnsin’s fake electors scheme for “a couple of seconds”...and yeah, as Cenk says, if this were the primary, Johnson would be crowing about participating in this legally actionable fraud, but since we’re now in the general election, RoJo has to try and sound like a “moderate,” when of course he is anything but as noted here (and I caught that cheeky little bit of snark from Cenk, by the way...to do something about Johnson, click here)...
...and when it comes to Repugs running for election to the U.S. Senate, I’m not sure how you could do worse than Herschel Walker in Georgia, running against Raphael Warnock...God, is Walker a train wreck! Yeah, God forbid he strays from the script with Kristi (“Unsafe At Any Speed”) Noem and actually, y’know, ANSWERS THE GODDAMN QUESTION about Roe v. Wade (as well as that “good air in U.S., bad air in China” mess of word salad in criticizing the Green New Deal, to say nothing of also mixing up the days for the proposed debate with Rev. Warnock......as I’ve said before, for the “party of Lincoln” to think that Walker is competent at this point to do anything whatsoever in public life is an enormous “F.U.” to Georgia voters...to help Rev. Warnock, click here)...
Update 8/26?22: I wonder if Walker is now going to tell us that he’s “bigger than Jesus” based on this? If he does, the wingnuts will grit their teeth and not say a damn word in reproach.
...and Farron Cousins tells us about the New York Times report that Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence and Mark Meadows wanted to give redacted classified data to wingnut journalists (related to giving up the info on “Crossfire Hurricane”...and yeah, I buy the theory that they didn’t release the docs b/c they knew they would boomerang on them) – mildly NSFW/H...
...and speaking of “the old gray lady,” Chris Hayes talks with Times journalist Ken Vogel about Leonard Leo and the $1.6 billion dark money donation from this Barre Seid guy for current and future wingnut political campaigns, as noted here (once more, the foul, fetid legacy of Citizens United lives on)...
...and Francesca and Dan Evans of The Damage Report tell us about a far-right Russian propagandist’s daughter (Darya Dugina) who was killed in a car explosion – yeah, Our Former Ol’ Buddy Vlad Putin is quick to blame Ukraine, without any actual proof of course...
...and under the category of those who have departed, RIP Jerry Allison of Buddy Holly and the Crickets.
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