Thom Hartmann discusses some truly disturbing info buried in Jack Smith’s multiple-count indictment of Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence, and that is the plan for what could have been basically another version of the Kent State massacre, but on a national scale (The Sainted Ronnie R’s remarks as CA guv led to the bloodbath Reagan wanted in Ohio on 5/1/70...I didn’t know the Kent State carnage led to an explosion of membership in The Weather Underground, but it doesn’t surprise me...frightening to realize how close we were to losing our government, and that’s not hyperbole - I mean recently...and of course Rojo and Sen. Grasshole are allegedly involved, and Tuberville also...feel like I’m picking up with this asshat from Alabama where I left off last Friday...and it looks like Jamelle Bouie noticed the same thing as Hartmann based on this)...
...and Chris Hayes speaks with PA Dem U.S. House member Madeleine Dean, who rips Senate Repugs who acquitted #45 (and silence from Bri-Fi too of course...I give Dean a lot of credit, but it’s almost quaint at this point to expect Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao to act in any kind of an honorable way)...
...and Beau tells us about the latest social media mess with Combover Caligula – he just can’t stop trying to grift, and he also can’t stop yelling and acting up like the demented toddler that he is (as I type this, there’s probably some stuff going on with the Obama-appointed judge...we’ll see of course)...
...and when it comes to Trumpist sycophants, it looks like the “mayor of 9/11” is in legal trouble too (“your tits belong to me,” huh? God, I feel like I need to be de-loused after this, and also for the anti-Semitic stuff too, and I mean no disrespect to Jesse Dollemore) – NSFW/H...
...and when it comes to the competition for the Repug Party nomination for preznit next year, it looks like Flori-DUUH! guv #DeathSantis is into “slitting throats”...(good one about not getting his hands dirty unless it involves pudding...and not to quibble with Cousins, but really, it’s only 45 people since Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms...I think Cousins is completely spot-on with the rest of his commentary, though)...
...and David Doel tells us about CNBC’s Jim Cramer quaking in his metaphorical boots over UAW President Shawn Fain and a potential strike (Cramer remains an unbelievable tool...and more on former UAW head Walter Reuther is here, by the way)...
...and for anybody in Ohio who may be reading this, I would just like to remind you of how important tomorrow’s vote is (more here)...
Update 8/8/23: Sweet! (here, and yeah, I think this about says it).
...and I’m continuing to work my way down the list of summer selections with this tune.
Farron Cousins tells us that the antics of Repug U.S. Senatorial idiot Tommy Tuberville of Alabama arguably just cost that state the Space Force; Mango Mussolini had made the decision to send the SF from Colorado Springs to Huntsville in Tuberville’s state (likely because that state, as you would expect, went for the Gropenfuhrer big time in ’16 and ’20), but it looks like “Dark Brandon” reversed that (more here – Nail. Hammer. Head. commentary from Cousins...”play stupid games, win stupid prizes” indeed...that state could have had Doug Jones instead, but they elected this hammerhead in Jones’s place)...
...and Kyle Kulinski tells us about Tuberville’s “it’s called summer” remark, leading into similar idiocy from U.S. House Repug Steve Scalise and his same-party pal Kevin Cramer of North Dakota in the U.S. Senate...Cramer won a close election because of that last-minute ruling that post office boxes weren’t allowed as acceptable residences for that state’s voters, which ruled out a whole bunch of indigenous folks who would have likely voted for Dem Heidi Heitkamp instead as noted here...by the time the ruling was overturned, the damage was done (I'm pretty sure that's what happened - I'll keep checking)...oh, and it looks like the cretins behind Project 2025 want to boil the planet also, as Kyle tells us...
Update 8/12/23: I said this somewhere else, but I'll say it again here; climate change deniers like Tuberville have blood on their hands for this.
...and speaking of the heat, John and Yasmin Khan tell us that prisons in “the land of the yellow rose” have reached 146 degrees Fahrenheit...but of course “all hat, no cattle” Greg Abbott couldn’t give a fig, just as he doesn’t care about any dead bodies found near his barbed wire in the Rio Grande River (here...and it's likely that at least 271 prisoners have died in Texas jails due to the heat over an approximately 20-year period, as we learn in the clip).
Oh, and being the pointy-headed lib that I am, I feel compelled to mention that such abuse of prisoners runs counter to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; this year marks its 75th anniversary, and of course this country signed off on it (more here and here)...and I realize one problem is that the language, commendable as it is, allows for some legal wiggle room for political weasels like Abbott and his pals...
Update 8/11/23: One more for Abbott's body count (here).
...and I realize this is a recurring theme for Repugs like “It’s Called Summer” Tuberville, but this New York Times report tells us about people down on their luck trying to deal with the baking temperatures in Flori-DUUUH!, focusing on “the city of the Mouse”... “I Feel Like I’m In Hell” is a thoroughly unsurprising sentiment from these folks just trying to survive...
...well, because I want to wrap up this post (and likely the week) with something a little more upbeat, I now bring you the latest form Leeja Miller about Why Unions Will Save America (NSFW/H – she swears like a truck driver, but I believe it’s warranted and I hope YouTube doesn’t ding her for it...the segment starts out by talking about the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike dealing with potential impact of AI and residuals, particularly for streaming productions...the history of the labor movement is discussed going back to the 1800s – I didn’t know it took 10 freaking years for staffing levels to return to normal at airports after The Sainted Ronnie R broke up PATCO, but yeah, that sure figures...and when the wingnuts scream about union membership, they always talk about public sector unions, which traditionally have lower paying jobs than those in the private sector, but often better benefits to offset that...however, the number of private sector unions, as a result of Reagan giving the signal to his fellow plutocrats that unions were fair game, is now microscopic – GREAT point about the protection of union membership to try and hang onto jobs despite losses due to the pandemic – “without unions, the $$ doesn’t ‘trickle down’ – it coagulates at the very top” indeed...more on the PRO Act is here...I realize I'm probably a month early with this video, but there's always a good time for it IMO)...
...and I would tend to agree that “the heart is the hero” indeed...some on the other side of the political spectrum mistake compassion for weakness, which is their folly as far as I’m concerned...if doing this exercise of mine can somehow benefit a single person versus any damn corporation in existence, then I feel like I’ve accomplished something, and maybe I can build on it to help us all see better times someday.
Robert Reich tells us about the five made-up “crises” by the “party of Lincoln” in an attempt to deflect from the REAL issues (the climate, worsening wealth inequality, attacks on women’s health care, failure to substantively address gun violence, etc. – I would only add that we need a vigorous response from Team “D” in light of all of these issues and more)...
...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tells us that the DOJ of “Dark Brandon” is going after “All Hat No Cattle” Texas guv Greg Abbott on putting the barbed wire in the Rio Grande by filing a lawsuit (and Emma has a point about Biden and Title 42, unfortunately, as noted here, though Abbott is primarily at fault here of course - more here)...
Update: Monstrous and awful, but not surprising unfortunately (here).
...and this clip from More Perfect Union tells us the back story on EV jobs, focusing on Lordstown, Ohio, which was a GM plant for six decades, but it shut down in 2019 – apparently, the Biden Administration is trying to bring the plant back to life through this company called Ultium, which is paying its workers poverty wages to do incredibly dangerous work, and is still fighting its work force over a collective bargaining agreement...
...and David Pakman tells us about Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee who will be overseeing the trial from the 3rd Trump indictment, this one with 4 counts all carrying prison time – apparently, to her credit (as Pakman tells us), Judge Chutkan has been tough on sentencing defendants found guilty on charges related to the 1/6 insurrection...sadly, I think Pakman is right; the MAGA life forms will do anything they can to go after her, unrepentant vermin that they are...
...and as a “compare and contrast” exercise, I give you Jeff Waldorf discussing Laura “What Need Have We Of Proof?” Ingraham when it comes to the Bidens vs. the Trumps of course (with Ingraham and her fellow bottom-feeders yelling louder and louder about OMIGOD HUNTER BIDEN'S NUDE PICS AND HIS LAPTOP! as more garbage seeps out about Our Treasonous Orange Crapsack...more here)...
...and I find myself in need of a musical palate cleanser of sorts; I think this seasonal tune will do.
Ana of TYT tells us about the 3rd indictment handed down against Mango Mussolini (here), this one with 4 counts related to the January 6th insurrection, and each count carries prison time, with the minimum of the 4 stipulating 5 years in the slam; I’m inclined to believe Ana, though, when she says that Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence probably won’t end up behind bars and will spend the rest of his life appealing guilty verdicts...
...and Max Burns of Rebel HQ brings us the clip of Dem U.S. House Rep Dan Goldman telling us what we likely already knew, and that is that all of this Devon Archer testimony (“OMIGOD THE SMOKING GUN SHOWING JOE BIDEN INTERCEDED IN BUSINESS ON BEHALF OF HUNTER!”) turned out to be a complete and total flop, with Gym Jordan and Andy Biggs bravely running away from the cameras when questioned about it (God only knows how much taxpayer $$ was spend on this idiocy)...
...and Burns alluded to Biden’s economic record in the prior clip, and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us more about that, with Maria Bartiromo of The Roger Ailes BS Factory rooting for a recession, while of course the good news from “Bidenomics” belies that - awwwww...once more, GREAT work by Cohen contrasting Dems vs. Repugs when it comes to money matters...
...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us about the insane right-wing propaganda taught in schools in Flori-DUUH! (from PragerU, of course)...and dontcha know Charlie Kirk and TP USA are somehow involved in this mess now also...depressing to hear about Gen Z boys, but that’s kind of borne out by my own admittedly limited knowledge on this subject – one of the many ways that girls are ahead of the curve, relatively speaking (nonsense like this is all the “party of Lincoln” has to offer in lieu of actual governance that actually helps people, as evidenced in the Cohen clip)...
...and speaking of wingnut idiocy, some “right side broadcasting network” scumbag named Matthew Alvarez basically encourages violence in his comments with some Trumpist life form in Erie, PA who wants to “kill them all”...oh, but later, Alvarez tried to claim he wasn’t serious when he said that...GMAFB! – David Shuster tells us about it...
...and if it's early August (and it is now), then that means it's time for this summer tune.
Leeja Miller brings us a well-researched clip on How Religious Conservatives Ruined Everything...her lawyerly perspective comes through in an important way as far as I’m concerned when she talks about the free speech cases that got the “fundies” all butt-hurt, particularly on school prayer, leading to the backlash under Falwell and Robertson and encouraged by The Sainted Ronnie R...I’m loathe to give Dubya credit for anything, but at least under his watch, we didn’t get constitutional amendments banning abortion and school prayer, thank God (NSFW/H)...
...and Thom Hartmann discusses some Nazi student at the University of Chicago who somehow managed to shut down a professor who wanted to teach a class about the history of “whiteness”...this loser named Daniel Schmidt basically doxxes the professor and the usual attacks happen, unfortunately, as the wretched jihad against free thought continues in this country (more here...and a backgrounder on the whole "gay wedding website" nonsense that the SCOTUS used as an excuse to destroy protection against discrimination is here)...
...and speaking of Nazis (or Nazi-like behavior at a minimum), Mike Figueredo (definitely not him) of The Humanist Report tells us about sadistic right-wing a-holes celebrating a couple fleeing Flori-DUUH! to protect their trans child...and the U.S. now has to be part of the “rainbow railroad” to get LGBTQ people out of hostile countries (or states at least – also NSFW/H)...
Update: Naaah, that state isn't doing "the big swirl in the hopper"...not much it isn't (here).
...and turning a few degrees west, Cliff Schecter of Blue Amp tells us about Dem U.S. Senator Brian Schatz going after his Repug colleague Tommy Tuberville of Alabama for the latter’s hold on military promotions; interesting theory that Tuberville may be doing this in case, God forbid, a certain Treasonous Orange Pustule managed to worm his way back into An Oval Office so he can see to it that lickspittles who obey 45 only are installed...truly the stuff of nightmares (yet another NSFW/H clip)...
...and Jesse Dollemore brings us the story of this Derrick Van Orden character of Wisconsin who first went nuts over a John Oliver segment about “an LGBT-positive book,” and NOW he’s attacked the congressional pages in the Capitol rotunda for taking a nap (????)...I don’t care if this guy is a former Navy SEAL or not; it sounds like he needs to address his anger issues, but first he needs to f*cking resign from Congress (a little late on the weekend wishes I’ll admit...still another NSFW/H clip)...
...and I know I’m also very late with extending happy 80th birthday wishes to Mick Jagger – I’m sure he had a blast.
I know I sounded off on Saturday about the Dems and lousy messaging, but while this isn’t from the major party organizations, it DEFINITELY nails the important talking points on Biden and the economy (link is here...kudos to Cliff Schecter and others on his Blue Amp channel - I subscribed on YouTube immediately after I saw this, FWIW)...
...because this is what we’re up against, people (and more depressing info on that is here)...
...and Brian Tyler Cohen tries heroically IMO to refute the lies from Combover Caligula about our economy under Biden (mildly NSFW/H...and who does he think will go for this "Communist" line?)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that the Gropenfuhrer wants “All Trump, All The Time” over at Fix Noise, and apparently he’s not getting that, and he’s having yet another meltdown over it with ALL CAPS POSTS APPARENTLY over at “Truth Septic”...and he’s throwing “law enforcement” under the bus too? I thought Repugs “backed the blue”...so confusing...and I’ll admit that I need to read up on “diminishing marginal utility”...
...and it’s all the more incredible that the “party of Lincoln” continues to enjoy such support from “the great unwashed” given the mounting evidence that the deaths of Repug supporters in Flori-DUUUH! and Ohio have been linked to anti-vaccine BS, and other deaths overall are attributed to political allegiance...and yeah, I think stating that there were “thousands of preventable deaths” kind of soft cells the problem, I would say (Kyle Kulinski tells us more...NSFW/H)...
...and Rayyvana, Cenk and Jackson White of TYT tell us about a Houston, TX school district that is eliminating librarians apparently and replacing them with “team centers” for kids with disciplinary issues...WHAAAA??? (Rayyvana, Cenk and Jackson White...pretty solid analysis from Cenk on this, to be fair...and this school superintendent Mike Miles is bad news, as noted here)...
...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us about the latest with the new “king of late night” according to Bill Maher (and no, I’m never going to stop harping on that), and that would be Greg Gutfeld of The Roger Ailes BS Factory apparently trying to explain the ”good side” of the Holocaust to Jessica Tarlov, who (and this is the cherry on the icing of this sh*t sundae) is Jewish (more is here)...
...and RIP Randy Meisner of The Eagles; I once saw that great Showtime documentary on the band years ago, and Glenn Frey recounted how Meisner said he wasn’t going to perform “Take It To The Limit” one night before a show (which, as far as I’m concerned, is an anthemic tune – a lot of Meisner remembrances are featuring that number, which is only right) because Meisner was tired of singing it, and Frey told him to perform the tune because there were people in attendance who may end up seeing the band live only once in their lives and might have come just for that number (or words to that effect), so Meisner sang it and then quit the band soon afterwards...not trying to diss either Frey or Meisner here, neither of whom are here any longer to defend themselves.
Jesse Dollemore tells us that it looks like 20 million of our fellow Americans say we need violence to reinstall a certain Treasonous Orange Pustule to An Oval Office again...and yeah, this Guardian story is scary for sure, but as Dollemore says, “both sides-ing” this is utter nonsense...”anger and radicalization,” whatever “radicalization” means (just saying that can be open to interpretation, that's all), is definitely not the same thing as a threat or actual violent move of some type against someone or something, which the Trumpsters are more than willing to do again, and I see ZERO equivalent on our side when it comes to this madness...
...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report bring us the news that the utterly odious Frank Luntz is trying to sound the alarm about the latest ad from The Gropenfuhrer, this one about the “deep state” of course (though I agree with the TMR crew that the only individuals who will be motivated to do anything are the lizard-brained earthlings that comprise Cult 45 and probably no one else)...and yeah, among the other lunacies, there’s the bit about “owning every politician that mattered” and they have a pic of Michael Moore, WHO ISN’T EVEN A FREAKING POLITICIAN!!!...
...well, at least the mayor of Erie in our beloved commonwealth of PA has apparently gotten the memo, you might say, and he wants Mango Mussolini to pay the cost of his upcoming brown shirt rally tonight in advance since there apparently is a matter of $35K outstanding from one of #45’s 2018 hate fests there (Ana and Cenk of TYT...one of the best critiques of the MAGA lunatics I’ve heard in a while, to be fair)...
...and when it comes to other Repugs who want to be preznit, Max Burns of Rebel HQ tells us about Tim Scott, who definitely wants to cut Social Security for younger voters along with #DeathSantis, Pence, Nikki Haley, and pretty much the rest of that damn party (and as Biden basically said, Scott starts throwing around these numbers for Medicare/Medicaid/Social Security which actually pale when compared to the TRILLIONS in tax cuts signed into law by Combover Caligula, which his party in Congress passed of course)...
...and speaking of the governor of Flori-DUUH!, apparently he would nominate RFK Jr. to run the FDA or the CDC if, by some catastrophic development, #DeathSantis ends up winning the election next year...I thought this was a good clap-back from The Lincoln Project (more here)...
...and Mehdi Hasan speaks with Paul Krugman about Biden’s economy and what I would call the gulf between public perception and economic reality – and let’s not forget the importance of the Infrastructure Investment Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act also.
And by the way, I give Hasan credit for pushing the point about how the Dems CONTINUALLY SCREW UP THE MESSAGING on just about any damn issue and let the other side run with their utter BS narratives, which end up filling the void on social media because the “D” party REFUSES TO FIGHT BACK! (and to be fair to Krugman, I really don’t expect him to be an expert on that topic). And yes, we know what the online stuff is (including this space, I’ll admit), but if you’re serious about winning hearts and minds, you’d damn well better be out there trying to tell people THE FREAKING TRUTH!
(And yes, I know I’ve beat this drum many times, but I believe I have to yet again. And I'll even admit that it's not completely the fault of Team "D.")
Here is yet another example. Lauren Boebert is truly one of the most vile examples of homo sapiens walking on two legs as far as I’m concerned, and we all know about how she threw the pin in the trash of the young girl who was one of the victims of the Uvalde massacre. Well, as noted in the Yahoo News story, she’s blaming the fact that she was wearing air pods and mistook the individual who handed her the pin for someone who had confronted her earlier.
As far as I’m concerned, that excuse is totally ridiculous, but utterly typical. However, as a bit of a “thought exercise,” let’s pretend that what she says is the truth. Do you want to know how an actual adult with a scintilla of brains and/or compassion likely would have handled an incident like this? They would have said, “The other day, I was approached by someone who handed me a pin that represented 10-year-old Maite Rodriguez, who was killed by a gunman in Uvalde, TX. It was shaped in the form of one of the sneakers she typically wore. I mistakenly took the pin and tossed it in the trash without thinking, and I am genuinely sorry for such a callous act. As a response, here is what I want to do. My office will donate $25,000 to Everytown USA or The Brady Campaign to combat gun violence. I personally don’t support these organizations, but I would like to extend this gesture of goodwill on behalf of Maite Rodriguez and the other Uvalde victims and their families and friends. Thank you.”
I realize that, as this Repug Party is presently composed, there is ZERO POSSIBILITY that ANYONE in that group would even contemplate a gesture like this. However, as I said, this is what an actual adult with a scintilla of brains and/or compassion would do. And the fact that there is STONE FREAKING SILENCE on this from those professional election losers at the DNC and DCCC is a typically pathetic response (and that also goes for Adam Frisch, who supposedly is running to try and unseat Boebert next year. I haven’t heard a peep from him on this either).
Anyway, here is the Hasan/Krugman clip...
...and I’m a little behind on this I know, but John and Brett Erlich bring us their “garbage people” from the week before last I believe, and Kyrsten Sinema made that list for her idiotic “Barbenheimer” tweet...God, is this woman ever living in her own private Idaho, you might say (though RoJo still led the pack in awfulness, which is definitely “on the nose” for him...I definitely plan to see "Oppenheimer," and if I have anything worthwhile to say, I may post about it, just to warn you in advance)...
...and I hope you’re ready to rock into the weekend with this new little number.
Willie Geist and some of the “Morning Joe” crew (I recognized Mike Barnicle, but not the other lady) interview Bloomberg News reporter David Kocieniewski on the story of the proliferation of U.S. guns in Thailand, the Philippines, Central America and elsewhere, particularly these weapons of death manufactured by Sig Sauer (typically disgusting story of how the gun maker tried to “launder” the sale of the German weapons in this country, and when Germany found out about it, they put the CEO in prison for a few weeks, which is exactly what some of the corporate criminals in this country deserve also...and yeah, I’d like to see the Biden Commerce Department stand up a little more on this issue too)...
...and Thom Hartmann discusses “Operation Save America,” yet another spin off group from the evangelicals...yeah, they hate gays and Muslims of course, but they REALLY hate women who have abortions (this all-male panel in charge...of course...thinks that women not giving birth deserve the death penalty)...but they’re “pro life” – uh huh (more here)...
...and Mike Figueredo tells us that it looks like a bunch of conservative moms tried another ban of LGBTQ-themed books at a pride display at a San Diego library...these loons basically checked out the books in question and pretty much held the books hostage, if you will, and boy, did San Diego ever step up big time in response – nicely done...and all of this madness while the planet continues to melt (NSFW/H)...
...and gee, it looks like Repug U.S. Senators Cornpone Kennedy and Huckleberry Graham are all in a snit over Dem attempts to rein in our out-of-control SCOTUS with even the blandest of measures...the proposals from Dem U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Sheldon Whitehouse, important as they are, have a hard road in the “60 Votes For Passage” U.S. Senate and no shot whatsoever in the U.S. House with those lunatics in charge, but it’s important to try and hold our renegades in robes accountable (John and Jayar tell us about it...this is yet another issue where I hear nothing but stone freaking silence from the national Democratic Party organizations, who may end up losing the battle for the narrative on this issue among others)...
...and Beau tells us that “15 Votes For Speaker” Kevin McCarthy may actually launch an impeachment inquiry against Biden...yeah, I can see that slim majority going up in smoke big time next year, though we all need to work to make sure that happens; good point by Beau on what independent voters would likely think of this nuttiness, especially since those who might vote in favor of impeaching Biden failed to do so for Mango Mussolini when much stronger cases were made against him...
...and here’s another summer tune to help us all (hopefully) decompress a bit.
I thought this was a pretty comprehensive video by Leeja Miller on the history of policing in this country and how police forces can trace their origins back to hunting for runaway slaves, and I think it’s safe to say that that mentality also prevails at the moment, expanded a bit for people of other ethnicities...I know it’s been covered pretty thoroughly that investing in communities before law enforcement gets involved (as well as funding mental health services for real) yields a better return on investment, if you will, and if wingnuts weren’t so preoccupied with “punching down,” they’d be onboard with that, but we know the score on that one...
...and retired Army Major Richard Ojeda tells us about the recent dustup between CNN’s Dana Bash and former VP Mike Pence on the question of the 1/6 insurrectionists...Pence is a coward basically, but I grudgingly have to point out that he did the right thing when the Trumpist mob stormed the Capitol; I know Cenk Uygur, among others, has noted that, if Pence had refused to certify the election, then the states would have sent their fake Trump electors (and make no mistake – they were ready to go on that, especially in Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia), and since there would have been a conflict with the actual electors, the whole thing would likely have been decided by the House of Representatives...fortunately, the SCOTUS of Hangin’ Judge JR ruled against that “independent legislative theory” BS (which would have opened the door for Repug-run legislatures to ignore the vote on behalf of a candidate for their party), but you KNOW another case related to that will come around again...
...and Kyle Kulinski tells us that Ron #DeathSantis of Flori-DUUH! recently ran another controversial campaign ad, with this one invoking Nazi imagery; at least this latest ad didn’t have borderline homoerotic porn, so I guess we’re supposed to call that progress? More here...
...and Mike Figueredo brings us the story of Texas Dem U.S. House Rep Greg Casar protesting HB 2127, which denies water breaks to construction workers in that state (Casar is staging a "thirst strike" in response)...I realize the Biden Administration has its hands full trying to run the country and also trying to combat all of the idiocy from the “party of Lincoln,” but if there’s a way to craft a federal rule to override what Greg Abbott and his fellow maniacs are doing on this issue in particular, then I personally am all for it...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that the Club for Growth is dropping $20 mil for lunatic U.S. House Repugs, because of course (the “Patriot 20,” huh? Pardon me while I gag...and OF COUUURRRSSE it includes Biggs, Boebert, Gaetz, Gosar, etc...the “worst of the worst” indeed...and yeah, great point by Cousins about why the CFG would want THESE lunatics as opposed to OTHER Repug lunatics who likely would win those seats in the general election anyway, unfortunately...I guess these corporatist mongrels need to throw their money around in other new, creative ways now that “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey is mercifully gone at last from public life)...
...and I knew it was only a matter of time before the wingnuts got all ZOMG OBAMA KILLED HIS CHEF!!! after the news broke about the awful accident involving Tafari Campbell at South Beach on MVY...of course, this totally ignores the pesky little fact that the Obamas WEREN’T EVEN FREAKING THERE WHEN IT HAPPENED!!!, though of course they apparently were on the island...cue the "X Files" music I guess...ugh - let the wingnut conspiracy theories commence (John and Adrienne Lawrence discuss it)...
...and RIP Sinead O’Connor – 56 is way too young (and as always, pop culture imitation is the sincerest form of flattery)...
...and while she wasn’t personally my musical cup of tea, she represented a particular type of artistry, and I respect that (and no, I really never cared about her tearing up that picture of the Pope...she was trying to give voice to institutionalized religious oppression, which is actually worse now here than in Ireland).
Francesca, Cenk and Mark Thompson tell us that blue states are planning to use shield laws to send abortion pills to patients in red states, which I think is a good way to say “FU” to the wingnuts on this issue; shield laws have apparently been put into practice in the EU also, which is where the idea comes from I believe...kind of unbelievable that, in this day and age, we have to create what amounts to an “underground railroad” like this, but thanks to wingnut judges along with the execrable Leonard Leo and The Federalist Society, we are where we indeed are...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that Hunter Biden’s lawyers have filed an ethics complaint against Marjorie Traitor Greene for introducing those nude pics in that congressional hearing last week...yeah, Greene should end up in the slam for that, and I don’t say that lightly, but speaking only for myself, I’ve had enough of the utter nonsense of that bunch and it’s waaaay past time for somebody to pay a price for it, and with the exception of Boebert, who else is more deserving?...
...and Jesse Dollemore tells us about Alabama Repugs flipping off the SCOTUS, more specifically, on a ruling that would require the voting map in that state to be redrawn to include a second majority African American district...
...and Eric Swalwell talks about “15 Votes for Speaker” McCarthy trying to expunge Trump’s impeachments, which I don't even think is a thing (and one of those 19 U.S. House Repugs in Biden-won districts is this guy of course – to do something about Bri-Fi, click here...and good for Swalwell to mention rebuilding that section of I-95, which was a partnership with the Feds and PA Dems and was indeed a remarkable accomplishment...and yes, I know we have to pay attention to Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence from time to time, but to be honest, I’m tired of wasting calories on that narcissistic sociopath; put him in the slam for 20 years and be done with it)...
...and David Doel tells us about a volunteer group in Houston (Food Not Bombs) which has been fined thousands apparently for feeding the homeless outside of a library (doing so when the place is closed after hours...and yeah, four cops are just standing there waiting to ticket the group – can’t get my head around the stoo-pidity, I have to admit)...and in case anybody out there is thinking “oh, there he goes bashing Repugs again”...well, they’re at least partly to blame for what goes on in this country, but Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner is a Dem...and yeah, I think Doel is exactly right that all of this is because the mayor doesn’t want the homeless near city hall...
...and this is a bit of a summer song...looks like the mercury is going to climb again in these parts, so please be careful and look in on anybody who’s infirmed or elderly if you can as well as kids, and don’t forget your pets either if you have them.
Thom Hartmann tells us that The Roger Ailes BS Factory recently ran with a “story” about how misgendering people in Michigan, as an act by itself, is now a crime, but even though the “story” turned out to be total BS, Repug politicians in that state are trying to recall 5 Dem politicians in the state house who supposedly are responsible for the law, which doesn’t do what the Repugs say it does...does your head hurt over this nonsense yet?...
...and Jesse Dollemore tells us that RFK Jr. recently ran with his hurt fee fees over to the same propaganda network noted previously after getting called out in that recent U.S. House hearing (slightly NSFW/H)...Jr. may be one of the most pathetic public figures I’ve seen in a loooong time, because of this and myriad other reasons (more here)...
...and speaking of pathetic figures, Francesca, Cenk and Mark Thompson of TYT (not them) tell us about megadonors contributing to “Curtsy Kyrsten” in her sure-to-fail re-election campaign...yes, as the panel notes, the real danger is that Sinema could pull votes away from Ruben Gallego and allow that loon Kari Lake to win the seat...
...and Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins tell us how much corporate America loves stoo-pid politicians who do what they’re told, especially on the local level; the issue is all of the Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! that people are excited about at the ribbon-cutting ceremony when these places break ground, but then – ooopsie! – most of those jobs evaporate after these corporate criminals get their money...Foxconn, Boeing and Amazon are mentioned here, but there are probably too many other companies to name...
...well, for an example of an employer actually doing the right thing, this More Perfect Union clip goes to the home district of Marjorie Trailer Park Greene to find that it is becoming a hub of sorts for Hanwha Qcells, a company that makes solar panels, believe it or not (and yeah, it looks like this is another reason for our corporate media to go “meh” on the Inflation Reduction Act, making the polls on what a great job overall Biden has done with the economy even more negative instead...and yeah, Marjorie Traitor Greene is still an idiot, but we knew that)...
...and happy belated 70th birthday to Eric Bazilian of The Hooters.
I now give you the latest installment of “The Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 7/22/16, in which we view the Friends of the Earth ad That Fox News Doesn’t Want Its Viewers To See (more here, here, here, here, here, and here)...
Update 7/28/23: And why does this not surprise me in any way (these criminals have been trying to demolish government agencies that protect us, namely the EPA and CDC, only since about freaking forever).
...and Jeff Waldorf tells us that the individual taking over the 8 PM slot for The Swanson TV Dinner Heir on Rupert The Pirate’s propaganda channel is blaming “eco-extremists” for trying to call attention to the catastrophic effects of climate change (more here)...
...and on this subject, I thought Beau had some good advice about letting the wingnuts take a bit of a “victory lap” over their proposal for “a trillion trees,” which of course is barely doing anything positive and, by itself, won’t come anywhere close to solving the problem...I understand what Beau is saying and I think he’s basically right, but it’s still pretty damn pathetic that this is the best the other side can support at this point...
...and turning to other matters (in this case, the ’24 presidential election), Farron Cousins tells us that Repug candidate Vivek Ramsawamy sez that 1/6 happened because “big tech” censored the Hunter Biden “story”...almost as dumb as Ramaswamy telling Don Lemon that African Americans can thank the Second Amendment for their civil rights (mildly NSFW/H)...
...and Ana of TYT brings us the story of 16-year-old Guatemalan immigrant Duvan Perez, who was killed in an accident at a meat processing plant in Mississippi...child labor violations are up 283% since 2015 as the clip tells us, and I have to admit that it’s hard for me to get my head around a number like that...and why am I not surprised that, when it comes to potentially eliminating laws against child labor (I don’t buy the “loosening” framing here, BTW), this gut-churning development manages to somehow link back to the irredeemable Leonard Leo? And I understand Ana’s frustration at the end, believe me, but until more people realize that they need to care about their families, friends and communities (and the planet, which is another discussion noted previously) more than they hate Democrats, stories like this will probably continue, and believe me when I tell you that I want to be wrong...
...and here is another summmer tune to hopefully give us a brief respite from all of this utter madness.
Jesse Dollemore is joined by Cliff Schecter to discuss the latest antics of Marjorie Trailer Park Greene and her decision to introduce what apparently are nude Hunter Biden pics into a congressional hearing, which violates a D.C. ordinance about revenge porn as Jesse points out...yeah, there truly is no bottom for these life forms, and Lesley Stahl, among others, should feel like a total idiot for legitimizing the monstrous behavior of this utter lunatic...
...and this story is referred to in the prior clip...Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us about Greg Abbott’s decision to order the border patrol to force immigrant kids into the Rio Grande river with barbed wire...I wish I could disagree with the comment from Matt about not a big stink being raised because Trump isn’t president anymore, but unfortunately I can’t (hopefully Dark Brandon will stand up and do the right thing, though Abbott is the one inflicting this barbarism, and yeah, mentioning Elliott Abrams is sadly apropos)...more here...
...and Thom Hartmann tells us about the right-wing billionaires’ plan to turn this country into an authoritarian dictatorship, and how the treasonous criminals trying to perpetrate this really aren’t shy about it; I have a feeling that they’re getting impatient with waiting for enough states to agree to an Article V convention to rip up our Constitution and rewrite it according to their own demented vision and are just trying to cut to the proverbial chase instead (and yeah, the Trump gang will know how to wield power this time if they ever get another chance, as Thom points out – we have to do our best to make sure that NEVER happens)...
...and speaking of Our Treasonous Orange Pustule of a *president, it looks like he’s having a sad/hissy fit, as Farron Cousins points out, because Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabilly Sanders won’t endorse him for prez next year, and she’s also apparently cozying up to Ron #DeathSantis, and I think Farron Cousins is right...which makes it all the more delicious that 45 is having another meltdown over this political slight from someone who indeed might be a table server at Cracker Barrel if it weren’t for her job from Fergus Laing to be a paid liar on behalf of our prior ruling cabal of grifters, criminals and other assorted lowlifes...
...well, for a bit of good news, Kyle Kulinski tells us that the “party of Lincoln” is hemorrhaging young voters primarily over student loan debt according to a poll in Axios (cool! – NSFW/H)...
...and I began the week with the passing of one musical legend, and I’ll try to wrap it up with noting the passing of another, and that would be the incomparable Tony Bennett...I absolutely have to include this as a tribute (more here and here).
John and Jayar of The Damage Report tell us that, apparently, this country music bumpkin named Jason Aldean came up with a song called “Try That In A Small Town,” or something, which some people are in a snit over because it could be interpreted to give an OK to racial violence I suppose (GREAT point by Jayar to associate this with what happened in 1/6/21 – yeah, don’t try this in a small town, or whatever, but beating the snot out of the D.C. Capitol police is fine because you’re doing it to help Our Ochre Abomination, which is a completely apropos argument by Jayar as far as I’m concerned)...
...and on the subject of preserving our democracy (tied to 1/6 of course), Cenk and Ana of TYT tell us that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is charging 16 in that state’s fake electors scheme in ’20; yeah, these (alleged) criminals could be looking at serious time indeed in the big house, but as the TYT hosts note, this sends a very-much-needed chilling effect to those who might want to try this again (and Wisconsin also tried something like this, but RoJo among other miscreants will likely skate of course, and I should always note that the “Badger State” involvement is also only “alleged”)...
...and venturing below that Mason-Dixon line, Farron Cousins tells us that the embrace of white supremacy by Alabama’s Repug U.S. senatorial mistake Tommy Tuberville is only making him MORE popular to his constituents, and Cousins gives us a bit of perspective on that...interesting in an unintentionally funny way that Roy Moore hanging out at shopping malls to hook up with underage girls, allegedly again of course, was a bridge too far for the life forms in his home state, but Tuberville’s antics apparently aren’t – just no words for how contemptible this all is, both by Tuberville and also his supporters...
...and turning a little southeast, David Pakman tells us that there are now at last count 6 cases of malaria in Flori-DUUUH!...and yeah, that number doesn’t constitute a panic in the scheme of things, but yeah, to not have two people in the public health roles that Pakman mentions so the state can respond is definitely a problem for #DeathSantis that’s more typical of a third world tin pot dictatorship, which that state basically is now...
...and I don’t know if I’ve ever been prouder of my Doylestown “peeps” than I am at this moment in response to this story, in which some truly terrific residents of the area (and they crossed party lines as Mike Figueredo points out, just to make that clear) gave this “Billboard Chris” nematode and other “Moms for Liberty” lowlifes the treatment they deserved when they tried their antics against LGBTQ youth (and props to Steve Santarsiero also...NSFW/H...and just to make it clear for the millionth time, kids aren’t getting drugs or bottom surgery!!)...
...and I try to “find my people” every day that I do this, and I hope it makes a difference somehow.
David Doel reminds us of what is plainly obvious to anyone with a brain (excluding the MAGA life forms by saying that I know), and that is the fact that Our Treasonous Orange Pustule of a Former *President plans to go full dictator in 2025 (if he, God forbid, gets the chance), spending money as he sees fit and firing anyone in the federal government that he wants...darkly funny to me to hear this narcissistic psycho claim to respect the Constitution, though last I checked, that founding document has something to say about Congress wielding “the power of the purse”...yeah, we know who’s running the House, but they still have final say on how funds are spent...oh, and I don’t believe the Constitution has one damn thing to say about the FEC, FCC or any other governmental agency...and great point by Doel that these ideas would be recommended to ANY Repug preznit besides Combover Caligula...and yeah, on the topic of “What 45 has planned in private,” at a minimum, I see a federal effort to purge state voting rolls of Democrats – and yes, I know the states still have authority on that, fortunately, but I believe various Repug bottom feeders, like this John Eastman character, would come up with some utter nonsense legal doctrine like that “independent legislative theory” BS that would end up ultimately being enshrined by the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR (the “shadow docket” SCOTUS shot it down already I know, but we should NEVER assume that they’ll keep doing that...more here...and don't you just love the totally bland, milquetoast framing of this madness by "The old gray lady"?)...
...and oh yeah, apparently “Governor Bully” is getting a bit of a bump in the polls...as I and others have pointed out, who was the one who scuttled the Hudson River commuter tunnel project even though it would have been bankrolled primarily by the Feds? Who was it who closed the GW Bridge for political payback (and don’t even imagine telling me that Christie didn’t know about that)? Who was it who routinely demonized teachers, and likely still will do that given the chance? Oh, and who was it who came up with the brilliant idea for #45 to interrupt Biden like crazy during the first ’20 presidential debate (though I guess we really should thank Christie for such a boneheaded move that ended up helping Biden)?
...and John and River Butcher of The Damage Report tell us that an Italian judge recently ruled that a “grope” has to last for at least 10 seconds for it to be considered a criminal offense, apparently, which is a callous bit of specious legal reasoning at a minimum, I would say...
...and Jessica Burbank with More Perfect Union bring us the story of an abortion protection measure in Ohio, which apparently has broad support...so what does the “party of Lincoln” want to do about that? Well, since they love democracy so much (snark), they want to make it harder for ballot measures to show up when Ohioans go to vote in November, by raising the percentage of signatures required from 50 to 60 via a special election next month (this is tied to that condom ad on Monday, in case you’re wondering)...and OF COOUURRSSE this is bankrolled by megadonors like this scumbag Richard Uihlein and this Mike Gonidakis character...the wingnuts obviously learned how to try and gum up the works based on the opposition to their forced birth policies in other states, and this appears to be their latest move...
...and the latest from Second Thought tells us This Is Why You’re Poor (NSFW/H)...no, it basically isn’t because of a “character defect” or you didn’t get the “right” degree in college...structural inequality is pretty much baked into the metaphorical economic pie...”Poverty is a necessary byproduct of consistent profit” and “you can’t outrun rent hikes by working harder” indeed...
...and David Pakman tells us that Adam Frisch recently posted some terrific fundraising numbers in his race to unseat Bo-Bo Boebert in CO-03 next year – to help Frisch, click here...
Update 2 7/19/23: If at all possible, I never intend to stop reminding Boebert about her latest monstrous act (here),
...and yesterday was the fifth anniversary of Billy Joel Day in New York, which is a bit apropos; I try not to think of that shrieking incumbent Repug harpie in the U.S. House noted in the prior clip, but when I’m forced to do so, this is one of the tunes that comes to mind.
Yes, the wild weather we’ve been dealing with in this country is pretty dramatic, including the truly awful story of the lives lost due to flooding at Washington’s Crossing in these parts (here), but John and Jessica Burbank of The Damage Report tell us about mass flooding and heat in Europe, resulting in the deaths of about 61,000 people...we’re long past the point where the climate measures commendably enacted by Biden and congressional Democrats need to be strengthened, and if that means that the MAGA lunatics on Capitol Hill need to have yet another meltdown like the spoiled, coddled children that they are, all the better...
...and David Pakman brings us that clip of RFK Jr. that everyone is quite rightly losing their minds about...yes, it’s bad form to record something off the record like this, but I would argue that, when the remarks are this crazy, that outweighs any claim to proprietary communication...the alleged Democratic candidate for preznit said in the video that COVID was “ethnically targeted” to spare Jews and Chinese...I would worry about this loon screwing up the general election, but hopefully he’ll electorally hang himself before then with insanity like this (until I saw this clip, I hadn’t seen that remark about Ukraine collecting Russian DNA, which is at least as nutty as the other stuff...and the “furin dockin cleave”...WHAAA????)...
...and in the prior clip, we saw RFK Jr. trying to stir up a conspiracy for no good reason, and in the following commentary from Jesse Dollemore, we learn about conservatives saying kids aren’t being taught Cursive so they won’t read the Constitution, which of course is a totally ridiculous argument BUT SPOUTED OFF WITH GREAT AUTHORITAH!!! - NSFW/H...sooo, this wingnuts in these TikTok videos (and is there anybody in creation who DOESN’T have a Tik Tok video at this point?) draw a line from kids not being taught cursive to liberals not having a f*cking backbone, or something – and by the way, in my admittedly limited experience, the whole “Cursive” thing is a parochial school matter as opposed to public schools, and I’m not sure why, but I can tell you that it’s NOT because public school teachers don’t want kids to understand and appreciate our country’s founding documents...
...and speaking of wingnut lunacy, Ana and Cenk (not them) tell us about Megan McArdle of the WaPo saying that higher wages create homelessness, which, as Cenk says, is a right-wing argument that is merely wrong (largely) as opposed to being certifiably insane for the reasons the TYT hosts point out...the clip gets into all kinds of reasons for homelessness, and yes, McArdle does have a bit of a point about housing in LA (though I would argue that that’s a problem nationwide, albeit to varying degrees), but another factor not mentioned is that blocks of real estate have been bought up by private equity firms, and they’re partly to blame for exorbitant rents also (here).
...actually, I did a little research into McArdle, and she’s pretty bonkers, based on the following:
She said here that kids should be trained to run at an active shooter if one finds his way into a classroom...what a freaking ghoul.
Given her apparent love of guns, she also has a problem with an assault weapons ban of course (here).
She also would have had had no problem if Obama had been shot during one of those fascistic rallies protesting the Affordable Care Act (which is actually a law of course now) back in ’09 (here).
There’s much more lunacy here (hard to catalog all of the nuttiness in this post...I guess she’s a more strident, female version of David Brooks...nice work if you can get it and still stand to look at yourself in the mirror, I guess).
Oh, and I almost forgot this from one of my "betters."
Anyway, here's the TYT video...
...and I realize that Marjorie Traitor Greene is way too stoo-pid to know that she just handed Dark Brandon one hell of a campaign ad, but that’s what she just did, as The Lincoln Project points out (and the White House response is here on the bird app)...
...and here’s a pretty nice summer tune to try and lighten things up a bit.
