Kyle Kulinski tells us about the U.S. House Repug spending plan (using the term charitably – extortion scheme is more correct IMO) to keep our government operating (harking back to Project 2025 again...the cruelty is always the point with these maniacs)...
...so, if the “crazy caucus” isn’t bothering with dumb stuff like, y’know, trying to keep our government operating, what are they focusing on instead? Why, trying to impeach #46 because Our Treasonous Tiny-Handed Former *preznit wanted his party to do it, as David Doel tells us (and GREAT job by House Democrats, especially Max Frost, to give this hearing the treatment it deserved)...I can recall when Jonathan Turley was on “Countdown” with Keith Olbermann all the freaking time, but I guess he likes his bread buttered by the other side now...looks like this was the price “15 Votes For Speaker” McCarthy had to pay in order to get his crazy caucus not to let the government shut down, though they apparently will do that anyway – that’s what you get when you negotiate with someone trying to hold you hostage...and nothing on the home page of this guy about his party’s plans to toss thousands of people out of work and throw the lives of millions into chaos if a budget isn't approved by end of 9/30...
Update 9/29/23: And concerning the shutdown, I give you this and this from the party that spits on anyone who isn't part of the "one percent."
...and David Pakman gives us Brian Kilmeade of Fix Noise trying to flog this narrative about Biden interfering against Ukraine and Victor Shokin on behalf of Hunter (which has been disproven MANY times), and the Fix Noise mouthpiece gets the pushback he deserves from former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko...
...and Emma of The Majority Report comments on a clip of UAW worker Douglas Moore speaking about the strike...important to note that more established line workers like Moore who apparently aren’t affected as much by the tier system are walking out for the benefit of younger workers who are, and in addition to ending tiers, Moore wants the COLAs to be restored, which, given the profits of the automakers, seems like a pretty damn reasonable request...
...and this More Perfect Union video tells us about a New Deal-era program coming back to fight climate change (the “American Climate Corps,” discussed in an interview with Ali Zaidi, the Biden White House National Climate Advisor)...
...and 9/29 marks the 15th anniversary of the Dow’s suffering what was (at the time) the largest single-day point drop in its history (here), which kick-started The Grear Recession, brought on by Congress’s inability to pass a budgetary relief bill from Bushco – another lesson in Repug congressional intransigence that led to fiscal disaster...hopefully past isn’t prologue given what looks like an upcoming shutdown as previously noted...I think this tune is apropos.
David Doel tells us about President Biden speaking out in support of the UAW strikers; lots of good stuff about the pro-worker Biden NLRB; I didn't know this is the first time a chief executive did this, which is all the more notable...I knew about that National Right to Work outfit (hmmm, just smell the Astroturf!), but I also didn’t know we were up to 27 states with right-to-work laws, which of course is “right to work for less with lousy or no benefits” (pretty sure Illinois got rid of their RTW law)...props to the workers who utterly blew up the BS about Mango Mussolini supposedly being “pro-worker” echoed by the corporate media nonsense from “the most trusted name in news”...
...and I’m behind a bit on my Leeja Miller clips and I’m going out of order here to present the following on “Project 2025”; I think I got into this with a Kyle Kulinski clip, but this is a much deeper dive (NSFW/H)...I know the whole “administrative law” segment is pretty dry, but it’s also pretty damn important to know about to get an understanding of why the wingnuts hate our governmental agencies so damn much, mainly because they interfere with our precious “free market” from doing whatever the hell it wants...and oh yeah, we learn about the whole “unitary executive theory” madness once more...and I’d never heard of “Schedule F” until now, but yeah, it’s pretty “cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs” like the rest of this depraved lunacy...the conservative grievance mentality drips from every word of every odious page of this wretched “manifesto,” including basically imprisoning any LGBTQ person, anyone who purveys “pornography,” or anyone advocating a “woke agenda” of course...the fact that forces in this country could produce something like this in the 21st century is truly a “mask off” moment...
...and the Blue Amp Channel guy (not Cliff Schecter) tells us about the 3 things the Repug candidates for preznit won’t talk about in tonight’s clown show debate...
...and Jesse Dollemore and Brittany Page tell us about the “party of Lincoln” being more concerned about attire in the U.S. Senate than hungry kids (well-done interview clip with Nell Menefee-Libey discussing the WIC program, and if I were to see “I’m Disappointed” Collins in a bikini, I would likely need shock therapy...NSFW/H)...
...and Mike Figueredo tells us about Repugs getting all big mad at Talyor Swift for encouraging thousands (at least) of her fans to register to vote...OF COOOUURRRSE!, as Cenk Uygur might say...as for her music, I really don’t have an opinion either way – it’s OK I guess, but it doesn’t do anything for me, which is fine (NSFW/H)...
...and speaking of musicians, RIP Terry Kirkman of The Association.
Chris Hayes discusses the utterly woeful anti-union record of Our Treasonous Tiny-Handed Former *President, who apparently will be speaking at a non-union auto parts manufacturer in Michigan as noted here (and oh yeah, “woke” EVs are the issue...GMAFB!)...
...and Francesca and Nina Turner of The Damage Report tell us that, apparently, Evangelicals at the Family Research Council’s “Pray, Vote, Stand” summit are being a little closed-mouthed about their victories, particularly on Dobbs, probably b/c they know how pissed off people are about them (as Francesca notes, interesting to me that there’s apparently a larger decline in Sunday services attendance among Repugs than Dems...and let's not EVER forget that Roe was struck down by SCOTUS justices nominated by and confirmed under Combover Caligula...those wretched three made the difference)...
...and Kyle Kulinski discusses Mehdi’s Hasan’s commentary on Dem U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (more here...kind of a pointless dig at Dick Durbin, but I agree with Kyle’s other points, especially comparing the response of lefties to Menendez vs. Repugs doing what they do best, and that’s pretty much falling in line for the antics of their party, and spot-on to draw a comparison also to Almost Silent Clarence Thomas and “George Santos”...mildly NSFW/H)...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 9/22/15...the Hillary Clinton campaign (remember her?) put together this video from the Repug Party debates from that period to point out that the “party of Lincoln” was utterly silent on the issues that mattered most, something to keep in mind for tomorrow night’s idiocy (and gee, that HRC sure was a stinky candidate for ABSOLUTELY NAILING THEM ON THIS, wasn’t she...yes, tongue-in-cheek once more)...
...and last Sunday marked what would have been the 75th birthday of the one and only Phil Hartman...
David Pakman gives us a clip of Our Ochre Abomination threatening Jews for not supporting him, and on Rosh Hashanah no less (and happy Yom Kippur to all who observe, by the way)...in the process of having another online tantrum at Truth Septic, #45 rattles off his highly questionable list of “accomplishments” (and of course, what would ANY kind of a conservative message be without misspellings?)...
Update: Naaah, this isn’t what dictators and demagogues do, is it?
...and Jesse Dollemore gives us another example of poor white Repugs screwing themselves over for Trump (three clips include Marjorie Traitor Greene’s boyfriend interviewing a couple of people at an Iowa rally for the Gropenfuhrer...I don’t know if the problem is that these folks have just grown up to advanced middle age in an environment where there is no alternative media besides right wing talk radio and other like-minded broadcast networks, or how much of a role their faith plays in all of this – not trying to impugn religion per se, I hasten to add – but these folks are flat-out, dead wrong to support the “party of Lincoln” in any way whatsoever)...
...and Krystal, Kyle and friends discuss the Andy Beshear ad featuring a young girl named Hadley who was raped by her stepfather, and the clip is aimed right at Kentucky Repug Daniel Cameron...yeah, call out these monsters for what they truly are...more here (and I thought this was a little illuminating also, though not in a good way)...
...and Francesca and Mondale Robinson of The Damage Report tell us about a Texas school cancelling, if you will, a graphic novel of “The Diary of Anne Frank,” supposedly because it has all that icky gay woman stuff (tongue in cheek; watching this, it occurs to me that we don’t have to refer to Repugs, “Moms for Liberty” and other like-minded clowns as figurative Nazis; this is LITERAL Nazi garbage)...
...and Cliff Schecter tells us that Dem U.S. House Rep Eric Swalwell of CA made Gym Jordan run away in the recent Merrick Garland hearing by speaking truth to Repug Party BS (mildly NSFW/H)...
...and I know these guys are touring, but on the other coast at the moment – don’t know if they made it into our area recently, but I’ll keep an eye out to see if they return in the future and try to get the word out here...love their sound.
Leeja Miller gives us a history of the "party of Lincoln" caterwauling about "voter fraud" (and I'm definitely a fan of Ground News also, FWIW)...I briefly forgot about how much the lies from McCain about Obama and ACORN managed to stick...glad to see Kris Kobach get dragged over propaganda on immigration and voting fraud (and the "Show Me Your Papers" law, along with Crosscheck), along with Samuel Huntington...and I'm REALLY glad to see Cleta Mitchell get her "time in the barrel" (and the Bradley Foundation) and it's shocking a bit to learn that Mitchell started on "Team D" and ended up with the likes of Ginni Thomas...the last 3:00 in particular really nails the issue...."That tarnishment of democracy becomes obvious only at a point when it's impossible to reverse it" indeed...
...and I thought Kyle Kulinski did a great job here of summarizing all the ways Dems in state government have improved the lives of their constituents, and the latest example of that is PA Dem guv Josh Shapiro, getting a “motor voter” measure put into place, which could get “tens of thousands” more PA voters signed up in the first year as noted here (and Al Schmidt, by the way, was the former Republican elections official in Philly targeted by Mango Mussolini and his minions over alleged “voter fraud,” referenced in the first clip of course)...
...and Cliff Schecter tells us about Rupert The Pirate stepping down from his perch at News Corp apparently, but handing the reins over to his son Lachlan, who might actually be worse, believe it or not (more here)...
...and Mike Figueredo tells us about Louisiana Repug John Raymond, who apparently is trying to run for the state house and has been endorsed by his party even though he has been charged with child cruelty (here...though of course, he wants to “protect” kids from LGBTQ individuals...uh huh)...Raymond is apparently a pastor-turned-politician (heckuva combo)... and I watched the first two seasons of “Survivor” and then said enough because I thought those people were suffering way too damn much for the sake of a freaking TV show; more to the point, this guy Raymond needs counseling at a minimum and should have nothing whatsoever to do with a job representing constituents in a public role...NSFW/H...
...and I know I spend a hell of a lot of time at this site basically documenting all manner of Repug-party misbehavior to varying degrees of illegality, but if you think that means that I’m going to turn a blind eye when the culprit is someone from the “D” party, you’re very much mistaken, and there is probably no better (worse?) illustration of that than Dem U.S. Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey; as far as I’m concerned, he dodged an electoral bullet, so to speak, in 2018 when the R team ran the utterly awful Bob Hugin against him, and I said at the time that they won’t make that mistake again, and I’m sure they won’t...and yeah, Menendez is entitled his day in court as are we all, innocent until proven guilty and all that and everything is alleged, but I don’t want to imagine the awfulness of losing control of the U.S. Senate because Menendez wouldn’t give up his job despite all of the cries for him to step down at last (more here and here)...
...and when it comes to the unruly children in charge of the U.S. House (who STILL haven’t passed the bills they need to fund the government - more here and here), it looks like Dan Bishop, Gym Jordan, etc. tried to rattle AG Merrick Garland, to no avail whatsoever (to Garland’s credit – Francesca and Mondale Robinson give us the details)...
...and given what I just said, I suppose I should note that the cretinous U.S. House mongrels in charge have come up with their idea of a budget, which, as Thom Hartmann says, can indeed be summarized by this statement; the rich get richer, and you die (Thom provides more discussion of Jordan’s antics against Merrick Garland...good for Jerry Nadler to call out Jordan for the liar he is)...and yeah, the budget games from these unruly children in the U.S. House is typical...I’d forgotten that Bill Clinton didn’t add to the deficits (interesting background on the “two Santa Claus theory”...more on wingnut Jude Wanniski is here)...
...and I don’t know if this qualifies as some kind of a “Gen Z” anthem or not, but at least it’s an upbeat number for us to drink and party to for what looks like a soggy weekend coming up in a few hours.
Getting called out by filthy, unkempt liberal bloggers like yours truly is one thing, but when it comes from a hometown TV station that is taking you to task, then I would say that that’s a wholly other matter, as Kyle Clark of 9NEWS Denver recently showed us concerning Bo-Bo Boebert (to do something in response, click here)...
...and Blue Amp Channel gives us an ostensibly humorous item concerning the head of Boebert’s party in the House, and that would be “15 Votes for Speaker” Kevin McCarthy (and from the Reap What You Freaking Sow file, I give you this and this)...
Update: I had a feeling it would be a sh*tshow trying to get anything from the House after the 15 speaker votes lunacy, and it looks like I was right (here).
...and Jesse Dollemore informs us that, apparently, this Shannon Bream person at Fix Noise lamented the fact that Repugs get blamed for government shutdowns...uh, YEAH! (and the bar is set pretty low when Turd Blossom actually looks like a statesman; as usual, it’s all about the “optics” for our corporate media cousins as opposed to, y’know, actual stuff that impacts people’s lives...and here is the latest concerning that trash "news" network)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us here that Our Ochre Abomination would scribble “To Do” lists on the back of classified documents like the demented toddler that he truly is...here’s a video idea in response; I’d like to see someone pretending to be a head of a hostile foreign country with a classified doc they smuggled out of Mar-a-Lago, but then seeing ketchup stains on it or #45’s itinerary, and they have a good laugh over it and the camera freezes just as they’re getting ready to press a button launching an attack against this country...do I think this is funny? Hell freaking no, but maybe something like that could get the attention of the majority of this country that has just come to accept this insanity as so much white noise, and I have to reluctantly add that that includes your humble narrator at times (and if anyone came up with a video like that, it would probably be The Lincoln Project, since we can’t count on anything like that from the @DNC...probably worried about offending independent, Trump-leaning voters in an Ohio diner somewhere)...
...and speaking of The Lincoln Project, this is a pretty solid endorsement of “Dark Brandon” (not like there’s much choice I know, but credit where it’s due, something to give us more reason to support Biden and the Dems given this insanity...and good work by #46 here also)...
...and I should note that, given my pretty thorough disinterest in much of what country music has become, I didn’t know anything about Maren Morris until yesterday, but it looks like she’s had enough of that whole scene based on the following tune and “Get The Hell Out Of Here”...welcome to the fight (more here).
Jesse Dollemore and Brittany Page on the “I Doubt It” podcast discuss alleged Democratic U.S. senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia saying he just wants to “bring people together” while he helps plunge millions of kids in this country into poverty...and Harris Faulkner is every bit as disgusting as usual, and I agree that the woman panelist on that Fix Noise mess should have just said “hey, the child tax credit was expanded in the American Rescue Plan of 2021, which EVERY REPUBLICAN VOTED AGAINST (here and here) and the credit was allowed to sunset, and President Biden is trying to bring it back” and left it at that (more here and here)...
...and Rachel Maddow tells us about the Princeton Gerrymandering Project (and yeah, I agree that it’s not much of a name either), which, fortunately for all of us, is keeping track of the awful gerrymandering going on in (primarily) Repug-run statehouses, leading into a commentary on Janet Protasiewicz winning the state supreme court seat in Wisconsin (Maddow interviews Ben Wikler about it...a link to the site Wikler mentions is here)...
...and David Doel tells us that Mango Mussolini plans to give a speech to the striking UAW members on the same day as another one of these ridiculous Repug “debates” that 45 intends to blow off again...yeah, ask the employees of Carrier in Indiana how much Preznit Fergus Laing looked out for their jobs as noted here (about 80 were saved vs. 600 or so getting offshored)...uh huh (pretty comprehensive report comparing the “R” and “D” teams on this, and props especially to Rashida Tlaib)...
...and it looks like conservative women are slamming Bo-Bo Boebert for her recent antics with her date while they were watching the musical “Beetlejiuce” in that Denver theater...yeah, all the outrage is completely deserved (and how's this for a typically laughable excuse...NSFW/H)...
...and I don’t know a lot about this Mission Democracy group, but this is one hell of an ad, harking back a bit to at least one during World War II where we needed to be on the lookout against insidious forces trying to thoroughly corrupt our way of life, then as now...
...and Adrienne Lawrence Esq. of Rebel HQ discusses the wingnuts going after John Fetterman and the relaxed U.S. Senate dress code (I have a lot of issues with “the world’s greatest deliberative body,” but this definitely isn’t one of them)...
...and the last clip was a bit amusing, but this one couldn’t be more serious; time to give these lunatics trying to turn this country into some kind of Christo-fascist corpocracy the treatment they deserve (from here)...
...and RIP British singer-songwriter Roger Whittaker; I can recall this tune getting played all over the place “back in the day.”
I apologize for being a little late to the party, as it were, on the mess with Kristen Welker taking over on “Meet The Press” and allowing Our Ochre Abomination to (as usual) lie with virtual impunity; this is partly because I was waiting for other folks to weigh in, as Beau does here (and more from my A-list “betters” is here and here...it’s all about rating and views/clicks and ad dollars, and #45 apparently still helps with all of that despite the fact that he’s utterly allergic to the truth)...
Update: I know Keith Olbermann has spoken almost reverentially abot Russert (speaking of "Meet The Press"), and K.O.'s entitled to his "take" of course, but I think we need to remember this too.
...and David Pakman tells us about President Biden making a deal with Iran to unfreeze assets for the release of 5 U.S. citizens detained by that outlaw country, and of course the wingnuts lose what’s left of their minds...
...and Rayy Vana and Nina Turner of The Damage Report tell us that Oho Repugs are trying AGAIN to get an anti-abortion ballot measure passed, and this time, they’re trying to add language to confuse voters even more (yeah, really trying to whip up that “anti-baby” voting bloc; I swear, do Repugs pass ANYTHING besides anti-abortion bills and tax cuts? And Frank LaRose is doing this stuff, by the way, to help mobilize his base since he may end up taking on Sherrod Brown for the U.S. Senate from Ohio next year, and if there is EVER somebody out there who deserves our support, it’s Brown)...
...and David Balaban of Rebel HQ tells us about a woman holding an anti-abortion sign who was questioned about the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, and as a result, ended up too stumped to continue the discussion, along with Our Treasonous Lying Fraud Of A Tiny-Handed Former *Preznit and “executing babies” (and no, that definitely isn’t a “thing”)..by the way, the catchphrase “abortion on demand” has been around forever, and it has ALWAYS been used to whip up the wingnuts into full froth (not that surprising, I realize)...
...and Kyle Kulinski tells us that the Repugs keep fighting Biden on weed (and once again, I’m in favor of full decriminalization, but for it to be legalized, I think there should be a bunch of caveats, but that’s just me I know)...good call by Kyle to mention regulating the THC content; also, James Lankford is a Repug U.S. Senator and Pete Sessions is a Repug U.S. House rep, just to make that absolutely clear, though they’re both awful...
...and today is the 50th anniversary of the death of legendary country rocker Gram Parsons; The Eagles wrote this tune in Parsons’ honor.
Leeja Miller tells us all about the conservative attack on public schools and how the emphasis went from using them as a way to make those who'd recently arrived as immigrants familiar with this country to becoming a means to build a career ...a lot of important history and many good points, including how “school choice” is a “two-fer” – one, it attacks funding for teachers unions which traditionally vote Democratic as Miller says, and two, it’s an effort to eliminate public schools, in line with what Milton Friedman and the “Chicago boys” want for public education, which is to kill it altogether (and school vouchers are a tool to help accomplish that also) – didn’t know about that Grover Norquist quote, but it sure fits...and yeah the quote from Mike Pompeo is as stoo-pid and inflammatory as you can expect...and just as a reminder, the whole “litter boxes in schools” thing started because teachers set them up for students who might be stuck in lockdowns BECAUSE OF AN ACTIVE FREAKING SHOOTER, WHICH TIES BACK TO THE FACT THAT THIS COUNTRY PRETTY MUCH REFUSES TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT OUR EPIDEMIC OF GUN VIOLENCE (more on that a bit later), and teachers quite rightly realized that some students might need to relieve themselves when stuck in a classroom for an extended period of time...this video also gives charter schools the treatment they deserve (NSFW/H)...
...and Thom Hartmann discusses some unanswered questions about January 6th, such as who planted the pipe bombs in D.C., who removed the panic buttons in the office of Dem U.S. House rep Ayanna Pressley, etc. (the 1/6 Commission with Bennie Thompson, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger was a good start, but so much more needs to be done on that front)...GREAT questions asked by Thom Hartmann about what we STILL don’t know about the 1/6 insurrection, including wondering if Tuberville is deliberately holding open military promotions in case, God forbid, Our Tiny-Handed Treasonous Orange Pustule gets back into An Oval Office and then he’d be able to appoint his favorites to those posts...and I also didn’t know about the bus being locked that contained the riot gear for the DC cops – ugh...and more on the recent “second bullet” revelation from retired Secret Service agent Paul Landis, written about recently by Will Bunch of inquirer.com, is here...
...also, Francesca, Cenk and Mark Thompson discuss the recent revelations about South Dakota guv Kristi (Unsafe At Any Speed) Noem and Corey Lewandowski (womp, womp)...and man, it’s hard to keep track of Lewandowski’s antics even with a scorecard...and GREAT point by Francesca that, somehow, we know every damn thing in the world about Hunter freaking Biden, who wasn’t elected to a damn thing, but garbage like this with Noem and Lewandowski manages to seep through and go largely untouched; as I’ve probably said before (and will say again in a minute or two), what people do in their personal lives isn’t an issue with me as long as they’re adults and everything is consensual, but the hypocrisy of these folks doing all this while they screech about how other people should live is the point...
...and I have to admit that I’m a little amused by this next item; it turns out that Repug party donors may be fleeing Tim Scott because they think he’s gay (mildly NSFW/H)...my problem with Scott has nothing to do with his personal life, which isn’t anyone’s damn business – it’s the fact that he gives you about two minutes of word salad when you ask him about abortions along with the fact that he’s from a party that is COMPLETELY BOUGHT AND PAID FOR BY THE DONOR CLASS...and yeah, that’s true of way too many Dems also, but definitely not all...
Update 9/19/23: Again, I don't care about the personal stuff with Scott, but I VERY MUCH care about nonsense like this (auto workers are NOT federal workers, you assclown).
...and Rayy Vana and Nina Turner of The Damage Report bring us the news that Dem New Mexico guv Michelle Lujan Grisham has temporarily suspended “open and concealed carry” in her state, with some exceptions, because of a recent spate of shootings, leading to wingnuts’ heads exploding of course...and I’m sure Rayy Vana means “gun control advocates” (an update is here, telling us that a federal judge, David Herrera Urias, has at least temporarily blocked the governor’s order, because Heaven forbid that we do ANYTHING to interfere with the almighty Second Amendment, or at least the wingnut misinterpretation of it...and by the way, as much as I wish we could, we can’t blame Combover Caligula on this one; the judge is a Biden appointee)...
...and happy belated 70th birthday to jazzman Earl Klugh.
Farron Cousins tells us that Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence may have created a ruling while he was prez that will make it impossible for those numbskulls in the House to impeach Biden since parties that could be involved (such as banks) don’t have to comply by turning over records to the investigation since the inquiry didn’t begin with a full House vote (womp, womp)...
...and based on this Lincoln Project clip, YOU tell ME who’s apparently too old and senile to be president...this is yet another example of our corporate media cousins pushing a narrative for clicks, reads and likes, and money ultimately; we’re only talking about a 3-year difference between Biden and Combover Caligula anyway...
Update 9/16/23: Gee, where's the tut-tutting corporate media BS from @peterbakernyt over this? I mean, he's a one-man factory for cranking out contrarian stuff over #46 (here...and no, I'm not going to pick apart his latest anti-Biden screed because I've done that too many damn times already...all I'm asking for is a little perspective with you-know-who, that's all, but apparently that's too heavy a lift for Baker and his brethren).
...and Emma of The Majority Report asks Why Conservatives Hate Democracy, with author Matthew Dallek discussing his book about how the Birchers energized the American right and how they’re anti-democracy...I forgot about some of the stuff with Patrick Buchanan in the ’00 election, and I’m glad to see Ron Paul get dragged here because he absolutely deserves it...he used his libertarian contrarianism to try and hide his racism as far as I’m concerned...also good to link the influence of the Birchers to these “Moms for Liberty” treasonous lunatics infesting school board meetings and curricula all over this country...
...and Jesse Dollemore tells us all about that sick f*cking cop in Seattle who, in response to running over a female protestor, had a laugh and said, “just write a check – she had limited value”...apparently, one cop did the running over and another cop did the joking about it (more here)...
...and More Perfect Union tells us that, amidst all of the labor stuff going on with the UAW, workers for Marvel just won the first union in visual effects history (oh, and when it comes to the SAG/AFTRA walkout, this should not be a surprising development in any way...Maher basically crossed the picket line to continue his now-wretched program during the last screenwriters strike from 2007-2008)...
Update 9/18/23: Lots of issues with Maher, but kudos to him for doing the right thing here.
...and today is a somber anniversary; to be precise, it’s the 60th of the firebombing of a Birmingham, Alabama church that killed “4 Little Girls”...former U.S. Senator Doug Jones prosecuted the case and brought the two Klansmen accused of this heinous, cowardly act to justice (here)...of course, Jones was tossed in his most recent election in favor of Tommy Tuberville, which, as far as I’m concerned, is an almost unspeakable insult...
...and I tried coming up with a tune that’s timely for this weekend’s climate protests, including New York City (here), and I settled on this one...
...and I held out for as long as I could, but since this is the last official weekend of summer (sniff), that means I have to conclude my seasonal tunes with this number.
Mike Figueredo gives us a pretty clear-eyed commentary on what Canada plans to do if this country officially loses its mind next year in the event that it returns the Rethuglican Party to power across the federal government (and of course, we have a preview of that with the deranged, out-of-control toddlers running the U.S. House)...with professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat explaining why the entire “party of Lincoln” is a threat to democracy and not just Combover Caligula (NSFW/H)...
...and Kyle Kulinski (referencing Mike Figueredo) gives us a reminder of the utter horror show of Project 2025, if (God forbid) the wingnuts are able to put it into play (under the scenario that's definitely giving pause to our neighbors on our northern border as noted previously), which makes it all the more urgent that we do all we can to prevent that from ever happening, and as far as I’m concerned, that partly means yelling our heads off about it as well as doing some organizing of our own, helping with campaigns, writing to newspapers, and confronting people like this guy to get him on the record as to whether or not he supports it, because, if anybody does, it makes it all the more urgent that we vote them the hell out (and to do something about Bri-Fi, click here)...
...and David Pakman asks How Did The Right Wing Destroy America...I think he hits on a lot of important stuff, though he can’t cover all of it of course (and yes, I realize there is a theme in these first three clips)...
...and I referenced the out-of-control toddlers running the U.S. House previously, and one of their most notorious members would be Bo-Bo Boebert, who apparently got tossed from a theater production of “Beetlejuice” in Colorado because rules against vaping, recording the program and apparently just acting like a decent, civilized person don’t apply to her, you see (to do something about Boebert, click here...and as far as Politico is concerned, Atrios...or maybe Charles Pierce?...called it "Tiger Beat on the Potomac" for a reason)...
Update 9/15/23: As usual, every accusation is a confession (here...and for this? Ewwww...gross!).
Update 9/16/23: Give it enough time, and yeah, their accusations will bite the wingnuts in the butt (here).
...and it’s been a little while I know since some corporatist POS made noise to decry “the rabble” working for a living, but not to worry...along comes Australia’s Tim Gurner to bleat that any economic problems are all the fault of those entitled millennials drinking their $4 lattes and eating avocado toast (more on “We Need To See Unemployment Rise” Gurner is here and here – Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us more)...
Update: If you can't take the heat, then don't run your mouth with stoo-pid BS in the first place (here).
...and happy 64th birthday to lead singer Morten Harket of the ‘80s pop band a-ha...yeah, I could include their hit, but I always liked this number too.
David Pakman discusses Kaitlan Collins of CNN interviewing Repug U.S. House Rep Nancy Mace about the impeachment inquiry that the Freedumb Caucus in the House has started against President Biden...yeah, no evidence apparently and a bunch of bills to fund the government and other important needs sitting on the desk of “15 Votes for Speaker” McCarthy as noted here, but THIS is what they decide to do with their time – pathetic...
...and as far as I’m concerned, the impeachment BS is in part meant to distract from this, which is Biden’s overwhelmingly positive record on the economy (as Jayar and David Shuster tell us), though there are some chinks in the armor, as it were (and yes, I know about the damn polling), and if the “party of Lincoln” weren’t so hung up on the usual BS, including “values” nonsense (OMIGOD, THE GAYS AND THE TRANNIES ARE GOING TO INDOCTRINATE YOU!!), they might help to address the actual financial issues Jayar and Shuster are talking about (yeah, I can dream, I know)...
...though, apparently, the “party of Lincoln” apparently has FINALLY “gotten the memo” on how toxic their “pro life” label has become and are looking to rebrand themselves...yeah, it’s all about the marketing for these cretins and that’s it...God forbid that they’d actually, y’know, change their awful policy – fine, go ahead and keep losing elections (Rayy Vana, Cenk and Nina Turner...and I don’t understand Cenk saying “politicians” are massive liars – yeah, but on this issue, it’s the “R” party and that’s about it – Cenk does make a GREAT point with that “You just described Roe” line...and isn’t it also amusing that somehow we NEVER found out who leaked the draft Dobbs opinion? My money is on Ginni Thomas, and someone will have to prove to me that I’m wrong...and even though I agree with her, what’s with this “Senator” Nina Turner business? She’s not in Ohio state government any more)...
...and this More Perfect Union clip tells us about Maine fighting back against soaring utility bills and lousy service (with Pine Tree Power vs. Versant and Central Maine Power, with the latter two entities including a lot of overseas investment...that by itself isn’t a bad thing if they’re providing the best customer service, which doesn’t even seem to be remotely happening, apparently)...
...and David Doel discusses an interview Jake Tapper of CNN conducted with UAW president Shawn Fain, with the spot-on quote “we’re going to wreck THEIR economy,” referring to the shareholder class of course and the pending strike...and I honestly don’t know why Doel wouldn’t give Biden credit for anything positive from the NLRB, which is an agency of the federal government after all (and yeah, the Andrew Ross Sorkin clip with the Ford CEO is about what you can expect – the Ford guy is indirectly right when he says “we live in a different world”...also, I know ’24 is still a ways off, but why anybody would even imagine voting for a “green” – which is pretty much a vote for Trump – is something I cannot fathom)...
...and fall isn’t officially here yet, so I think there’s still time to get in a bit of a dreamy end-of-summer tune (and a newer one at that).
David Shuster of Rebel HQ tells us about Peter Douchebag of Fix Noise claiming that President Biden is treated like a toddler, or something, based on some quote from some goofball book about the Biden Administration, and Karine Jean-Pierre pushed back against that nonsense of course (and as noted here, this is yet more projection from The Roger Ailes BS Factory, which employs the “reporter” in question...and no disrespect to Shuster, but I have ZERO interest in anything to do with Marjorie Trailer Park Greene)...
...and in this episode of the “I Doubt It” podcast, Brittany Page and Jesse Dollemore tells us about the governor of Flori-DUUUH!, “Pudding Fingers” #DeathSantis, and his interrupting an African American man (and a veteran no less) who asked a legitimate question about how the policies of the #DeathSantis Administration are hurting African Americans, while the Neo-Nazis are on parade of course...and oh yeah, Ainsley (“HE’S READ BOOKS!”) Earhardt is execrable in this also, and Kayleigh McEnany is no better (pertaining to the climate crisis)...
...and we know of course the significance of 9/11 in this country and much of the world, but that date means a whole other nightmare for Chile; they recently observed the 50th anniversary of a U.S.-backed coup that installed strongman Augusto Pinochet and overthrew socialist Salvador Allende (with no small help from “Dr.” Henry Kissinger, who somehow still draws breath, and the “Chicago Boys” including Milton Friedman, as noted here and here)...
...and normally I wouldn’t pay much attention to either Joe Rogan or Bill Maher, but I thought this was an interesting clip from Kyle Kulinski where he discusses Maher pushing back on Biden vs. Trump (though of course Maher can’t help but sound like an utter fool over the alleged “woke” stuff in the Biden Administration...the next time somebody makes that charge, I would LOVE for the interviewer to get an explanation of what all this supposedly awful “woke” stuff is)...yeah, Rogan is a knucklehead for sure...”oh, Biden lies.” – shocker!Name for me a politician who doesn’t (NSFW/H)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us here about the Repugs on Capitol Hill launching bills in the House and Senate to try and overturn Biden’s effort to lower student loan repayment (briefly NSFW/H, which is out of character for Cousins, but he’s absolutely right in his context...Nail. Hammer. Head. for sure)...
...and happy belated 80th birthday to Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead.
Lawrence O’Donnell speaks with Dem U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse about sending that letter to Hangin’ Judge JR about “Strip Search Sammy” Alito’s shady grifting (as well as the “nutty” observations about Congress and the SCOTUS...yeah, Alito is all “I KNOW NUUUU-THING!” a la Sgt. Schultz in his confirmation hearing, but he just chirps merrily along to the editorial board of the Murdoch Street Journal...nice – more here)...
...and Beau had another good take here IMO on that nematode Tommy Tuberville of Alabama pertaining to the “warrior poet archetype” (and once more, it’s actually amusing in a weird way to see the total pass that Senate Majority “Leader” Chuck Schumer gets on this – and yes, I know overwhelmingly this is the fault of Tuberville and Republicans – but our corporate media totally loses their minds over “OMIGOD NANCY PELOSI IS 80 AND SHE’S RUNNING FOR ANOTHER TERM!”)...at least Elizabeth Warren is showing signs of life on this issue as noted here...
...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us about Big Stoo-pid Head Matt Gaetz (and I can’t believe he’s going to skate over that charge of consorting with underage girls for sex, but apparently he will as noted here) and Caribou Barbie invoking violence if the crimes from Mango Mussolini keep him off the ’24 prez ballot, which, by all rights, should be the case based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, if for no other reason (and as noted in the clip, Palin was responsible for that “crosshairs” pic with the district of Gabrielle Giffords before Giffords was shot in the head – you would think the half-term former Alaska guv would know not to engage in violent rhetoric in any way after that, but apparently not...and as far as Mike Huckabilly is concerned, he needs to STFU also)...
...and Thom Hartmann lets us know that “15 Votes for Speaker” McCarthy has a whole bunch of bills to keep our government operating that aren’t moving, and of course the “Freedumb Caucus” wants to burn everything down as we know...
…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...and I thought this was also a timely reminder).
Update 1: Yep, I think this is a pretty good question (here).
Jesse Dollemore tells us about Repug U.S. Senatorial Mistake Tommy Tuberville sniveling over his holding up military promotions because the Repugs “support the troops”...and oh yeah, let’s have “Tubs” remind us once again how he was a quitter of a college football coach with that mural on the wall THAT HAS NOT ONE DAMN THING TO DO WITH REPRESENTING THE CONSTITUENTS OF HIS STATE! And it’s a typical bitch move to basically say, “I helped get the Secretary of the Navy confirmed, and this is how he pays me back”...the life forms in Alabama who sent this putz to our nation’s capital must be sooo proud...and I’m sure they are (more fool them...and I should note for Jesse’s sake that Louie Gohmert basically set his political career on fire in Texas, which was no small feat, and is no longer in the U.S. House...and more Tuberville idiocy concerning our military is here - keep digging that hole, Coach!...and good job by Jesse to make the underwear ad a little amusing IMO)...
...and sticking with the “party of Lincoln,” Jayar and David Shuster inform us of these cretins in Llano, Texas (of course) who have introduced a new ordinance to allow police and bystanders to arrest or file a lawsuit against anyone suspected of traveling on highways to leave the state to get an abortion (more here)...
...and Kyle Kulinski tells us about Mango Mussolini illegally selling mugshot merch, and it turns out that the dough he raised could conceivably be used for long-overdue maintenance to the Fulton Country jail, as Kyle explains (which would be ironic beyond belief...I have a feeling, though, knowing the Gropenfuhrer, that that $7.1 million amount raised from selling his image is an inflated number, though maybe it is legit...trust but verify, as somebody once said)...
...and I have a lot to say about this next item, so please bear with me – David Doel discusses an ad for President Biden to be aired on “60 Minutes”...and yeah, I’m not saying to ignore the CNN poll Doel mentions, but I would take it with more than a grain of salt; Biden has work to do I know,, but I’m not sure how many people have really focused on this stuff yet...also, I have to admit getting a little tired of these “takes” from Doel and others like, “oh, Biden caved to Manchinema so he did nothing”...what the hell do you call the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS Act and the Infrastructure bill? And look who’s fighting Biden on student debt relief...IT’S THE DAMN STINKING REPUBLICANS, AS USUAL!! And I know Doel cites that list from The Lever, which is David Sirota’s outfit, and Sirota will never be satisfied that Biden isn’t Bernie Sanders (yes, I supported Sanders too, but he lost and Biden won...can we please freaking more on??!!)...also, this should make a big difference to younger voters...and as far as putting pressure on Manchin and Sinema goes, how about this? Yes, “Curtsy Kyrsten” went “independent” and is from a purple state when the politics are a little trickier, but West Virginia where Manchin is from is red as hell...idiot bloggers like me can call out Manchin, and he deserves it, but when it comes to realpolitik, Manchin could yet switch to the “R” team to screw over the Dems in a fit of pique, which means a hell of a lot less getting done in “the world’s greatest deliberative body” than we have now, so yes, unfortunately, at times, Dems have to play Manchin’s game...at a certain point, we need to stop dumping on the politicians and instead point out what idiots voters are who keep sending back the “R” party to power even though all they do is sh*t on anyone who isn’t their funders (and by the way, this tells us what an utter joke that poll by “the most trusted name in news” truly is...it skews almost 60 percent in favor of the Repugs!)...
...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report discuss “Apartheid Clyde” threatening to sue the ADL over the failure of the “X/bird app” under King Elon I – the ADL criticized the lack of content moderation under Musk, which got his shorts in a knot, and that apparently led to this current dustup...I’m not the biggest fan of the ADL either, but this looks like still more avoidance by somebody alleged to be some kind of well-moneyed genius who in reality is just some thin-skinned prima donna who has made a career out of “falling upward,” as it were (and I thought this was an interesting related item)...
...and Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins tell us about a complaint filed by the NLRB over Amazon’s harassment of its workforce trying to unionize...I give Jeff Bezos slightly more credit for brains than Musk, but aside from that, everything I said about the person in charge of the “X/bird app” applies to the guy who made a penis-shaped rocket that he sent flying into space...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 9/7/13...I didn’t get this in for Labor Day, but it’s definitely apropos for that and just about any other occasion really (and in consideration of the prior video also of course...more here)...
...and RIP Gary Wright – he blew up all over the place of course with “The Dream Weaver,” an LP (you can Google it) which has a whole bunch of good tunes, though I always thought he deserved a lot of credit for “The Light of Smiles” too, which includes this number...he made some memorable music with the band Spooky Tooth also; I think any appreciation of Wright should include that as well.
Jayar Jackson and Rayyvana of The Damage Report discuss the NRSC and the NRCC (Repug Party national campaign organizations) supporting a lawsuit that a Trumpist judge is helping to forward along that would make it easier for STILL MORE damn dirty dark money to infest our politics...sounds like a bureaucratic maneuver of sorts eliminating House and Senate campaign committees to set up special operations for so-called “independent” expenditures (wink, wink) to boost candidates with TV ads (and yes, this would partly help Dems too, but definitely not to the same degree)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us about the 15-year-old in New Hampshire who claims (with witnesses) that he was twice manhandled by the campaign team of Flori-DUUH! guv Ron #DeathSantis...God, “Mr. Pudding Fingers” sure is a big brave dude, isn’t he?...
...and speaking of courage (or the lack thereof) Ana and David Shuster of TYT bring us this clip of Josh Hawley, still flogging this “manhood” issue (hey dude, you want to represent as some kind of a “real man”? Don’t go running out of the Capitol like a little bitch after you hold up your fist in solidarity with the 1/6 insurrectionists, as Shuster mentions...interesting discussion, and I’m glad to hear about “reaching out” and supporting different personalities and profiles of not just men, but women too...as far as I’m concerned, NO politician is an authority on this subject, and definitely not Hawley, and that goes for lefties too; if, say, Sherrod Brown, Ed Markey or Eric Swalwell started riffing on this subject like Hawley, I wouldn’t trust them either...Hawley isn’t interested in constructive solutions to real issues of loneliness, effects of social distancing and working from home, as well as arguably too much time spent on the Internet...mea culpa on that one – to the extent that Hawley actually IS interested, it is in coming up with something that can fit on a bumper sticker or sell more of his schlocky books – chasing clout and the almighty dollar and that’s about it)...
...and did you know that, like me, you’re probably paying for Kim Kardashian’s private jet, as well as other celebrities of course, which end up spewing more CO2 into the atmosphere than, say, flying commercial like we might do? This clip from More Perfect Union tells us about it (and I’m sure it’s not hard to figure out how the rules got skewed in their favor...and I noted Markey previously, but kudos to him for fighting the good fight on this issue in particular)...
...and focusing on Wisconsin, Chris Hayes speaks with reporter Ruth Conniff about Repugs in that state threatening to impeach newly elected justice Janet Protasiewicz if she rules on a case involving gerrymandered voting maps (and I forgot how much of a WATB Dan Kelly was in his “concession”...sooo, this Robin Vos character may try to impeach Protasiewicz because she stated a plainly obvious fact about the gerrymandered voting maps? Wow, what “weak sauce” THAT is!)...
...and here’s a newer tune from Bruce Cockburn, still kicking it at 78...rock on, dude!
