Friday Stuff

I guess, surprising almost no one, “Democratic” U.S. Senator Joe Manchin has announced that he won’t run for another term, leaving his seat open and meaning it will quite possibly flip to the “R” side, adding to the already tough sledding the Dems will face in next year’s elections in that body in particular (and let’s not forget that the "Team D" has another problem with Menendez in New Jersey that they’d better figure out)...with that in mind, I bring you this clip from The Damage Report from October ’21 in which we learn about Manchin blocking Biden’s infrastructure bill because of clean energy investments...yes, a “skinny” version of the bill eventually passed (maybe “emaciated” is more precise?), but no thanks to Manchin (we also learn that Manchin has supported $9.1 trillion in military spending – no “offsets” required for that, huh? And yeah, the bit with Manchin arguing over discretionary spending onboard his yacht with the boat protestors is particularly "on the nose" for him...and when it comes to Manchin, I think this bears repeating)...

And speaking of our military, Happy Veterans Day tomorrow (though I need to point out this related disgusting absurdity from that quitter of a college football coach).

...and with the theme of what I would call neglected domestic spending in mind, Leeja Miller discusses the idea of universal basic income, or UBI for short (I didn’t know how far back the idea of UBI goes, to the 1700s, at least, with Sir Thomas More in England and Thomas Paine in this country...also didn’t know that MLK and the Black Panthers supported UBI as well...additionally, I didn’t know that “Tricky Dick” supported a negative income tax, which works in a similar manner as UBI – and the Earned Income Tax Credit was a move in this direction, but it wasn’t nearly enough...I knew a little about the annual dividend program in Alaska, but I learned more about it in this clip...I strongly suspected that none of the programs mentioned here had a damn thing to do with workforce participation but had EVERYTHING to do with the well being of the recipients of the dough, but it’s nice to get that confirmation...Manchin is mentioned at about 28:00 in this clip, but only because he blocked the expansion of the COVID child tax credit...figures...kind of wonky stuff, but important...and yeah, short-term up-front costs always trump long term positive benefits for sure for those who oppose this stuff; Thom Hartmann had some thoughts on UBI here...briefly NSFW/H)...



...and this More Perfect Union clip discusses what states could do to lower drug prices; creating boards to set ceilings for drug prices makes a hell of a lot of sense, and I was shocked to hear that the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR actually went along with that in Arkansas; clip focuses on the effort in Michigan (God, I wish those in Democratic alleged leadership would watch these clips, because they have a lot of good ideas on which to run campaigns)...



...and turning to Mango Mussolini, David Pakman tells us that, in the nightmarish scenario of #45 regaining power, he would want to us the military right away (good for Pakman to mention Posse Comitatus...and speaking of Thom Hartmann, a related item is here)...



...and David Shuster tells us that VA Repug guv Glenn Trumpkin is falling down on trying to restore voting rights to felons (with Adrienne Lawrence, who makes good points at the end, but to be honest, she lost me a bit when she started talking about housing reparations)...good for Shuster to mention Fairfax County, which definitely has a troubled racial history...and as noted previously, given last Tuesday’s electoral results, I don’t think we’ll be hearing about Trumpkin as a prez candidate for a little while...



...and returning a bit to the Rashida Tlaib censure BS from Wednesday, Mike Figueredo tells us that Debbie Wasserman Schultz recently said that those opposing her resolution of Israel’s support for invading Gaza last month “have no soul,” and OF COOOOUURRRSE she and that execrable toad Josh Gottheimer joined 20 other House Dem members to vote in favor of censuring Tlaib as previously noted (NSFW/H)...I know we’re going to need to re-elect every Dem politician that we can next year, but it sickens me that that means supporting characters like these 22 frauds (and to help Rashida Tlaib, click here)...



Update 1: When it comes to the Israel/Gaza carnage, I think there’s so much that we don’t know about what exactly led up to this, and with the understandable (to a point) outrage on both sides, I’m afraid it will get lost in all of the “fog of war” stuff (and yes, I know the loss of human life is paramount, and an accounting to the last person must be made on all sides, as much as possible, anyway).

I have a hard time believing any of the culprits in all of this, but I’m actually tempted to go along with Hezbollah (again, to a point) when they say that they didn’t see this coming. You can accuse me of being a conspiracy nut (never stopped me before :- ), but I have a sneaking suspicion that this leads back to Russia somehow. Putin won’t admit it, but he knows that he’s in a stalemate in Ukraine (as is Zelenskyy, unfortunately, especially with the weather getting worse), and staging an attack like this might just end up fracturing our support of Ukraine at the expense of jumping in on the side of Israel as we have. And that ALSO goes against world opinion pretty much and puts us in bed with “Bibi” more than usual (the Israeli PM, for my money, has always been a blundering idiot who ended up getting played by all sides...Putin is detestable of course, but you don’t rise through the KGB unless you figured out how to stage stuff like this). Also, the use of sympathetic media including online channels to box us in with Netanyahu (again, to overextend ourselves and making it harder to support Ukraine) is something Russia is good at and ties in nicely to a Putin objective.

Oh, and of course, all of this helps A Certain Treasonous Tiny-Handed Former Chief Executive, which ALSO is desirable for Putin.

Am I right, or am I full of it? We’ll see.

Update 2: "From the river to the sea" indeed (here and here...if somehow the hospital bombing link turns out to be wrong, I'll update this post - I'd like to believe it is, but I'm sure it isn't unfortunately).

...and in this clip, Brittany Page defends Housing First as an example of providing shelter for those who have other issues (such as chemical dependency) that need to be addressed and cites Houston as a success story...I’m a little unclear on what exactly the dustup with TYT is all about, but I think the video provides important information...I think Ana Kasparian is right in that this issue is complicated (I would focus on the role of private equity firms in pricing housing out of sight), but that doesn’t mean that we should throw up our hands over it either...if TYT wanted to be honest actors here, they would invite Page onto the show with Cenk and Ana to discuss this, but I won’t hold my breath waiting for that...



...and happy upcoming 70th birthday to Marshall Crenshaw.



(Also, posting may be iffy for the next week or so...don't know yet.)

Wednesday Stuff

Well, color us surprised! https://t.co/F91BvG3WNZ pic.twitter.com/rIEzwLJ7Ry

— Justice Democrats (@justicedems) November 8, 2023

This may be a little “inside baseball,” but I’ll mention it anyway...when I put these posts together, I generally try to mix things up to try and keep them interesting (to me, anyway, which is the only audience I truly know for certain of course)...with that admittedly boring intro out of the way, I’m just letting you know that I’m leading off with Jesse Dollemore for the second day in a row, which I try not to do, but I think he totally killed it in this clip on the unbelievably cowardly censure of Dem U.S. House Rep Rashida Tlaib (and I’ll tell you straight up that I’m GENUINELY ANGRY that 22 alleged “Democrats” in the House supported this despicable act – the vote I mean of course). I believe Tlaib’s offense that could have potentially destroyed our republic as far as these cowards are concerned (and don’t worry, I’m not absolving the “party of Lincoln” either) was to utter the six words in the top pic of this post in defense of innocent Palestinians (and yes, overwhelmingly, they DON’T support Hamas, though Netanyahu’s destruction is forcing them in that direction). Well then, you can expect yours truly to introduce this phrase when appropriate in the future when it comes to honoring the rights of innocent Palestinians (and innocent Israelis).

By the way, doesn’t it always figure with our party? We overwhelmingly did great in the off-cycle elections yesterday (I think a couple of these “Moms for Liberty” nuts won in schoolboard contests in Nazareth, PA, but in not a lot of other places that I could see)...Andy Beshear won in Kentucky, the Ohio amendment in defense of abortion passed, Virginia’s state government is in the hands of Democrats (I guess that means that Glenn “Trumpkin” won’t be mentioned as a ’24 Repug prez candidate any more)...a lot of good stuff happened (also, closer to home, Diane Marseglia and Bob Harvie were returned as Dem Bucks County, PA commissioners). Yes, Tate Reeves “won” in Mississippi because the voting machines in Jackson (a largely African American and Democratic area) somehow ran out of paper – oopsie! – though that wasn’t an issue for Republican districts of course. Yes, there were plenty of positive developments...but now we have to deal with this madness too.

Update 11/10/23: In the matter of the recent elections, leave it to Former Senator Man-On-Dog to think that abortion somehow is "sexy" (here).

On a simple-human-decency level, censuring Tlaib is pointless performative cruelty. However, I’d like to point out another level in which this is ridiculously self-destructive.

Dem U.S. Senator Gary Peters of Michigan isn’t up for re-election until 2026, but I vividly remember his 2020 election against John James (to say nothing of Biden’s contest against Our Treasonous Tiny-Handed Orange Pustule). The Peters campaign absolutely set a record for utterly browbeating yours truly NON FREAKING STOP for about EIGHT GODDAMN MONTHS with texts, Emails and phone calls. And yes, the election was close in Michigan, not just for Peters, but for Biden also. And I maintain that the margin of victory was provided by an utterly astronomical turnout in Detroit (something on the order of 90 percent as nearly as I can recall, which is truly unheard of, voting straight “D” up and down the ballot). And do you want to know who had a hell of a lot to do with that?

RASHIDA FREAKING TLAIB, YOU GODDAMN IDIOTS!!! And don't you think you'll need her to do something like that again this time a year from now? Especially with an open Dem seat?

I would ask that you keep all this in mind while you watch Jesse Dollemore’s great clip (and I agree that Jamie Raskin is about a thousand percent right also...also, Brad Schneider likes to text me for $$$, so he can officially f*ck all the way off now)...



Update: More on the elections are here, here and here.

...and sticking with the ongoing Israel/Gaza tragedy (and yes, an accounting needs to be made of everyone killed and taken hostage, and that goes for Palestinians as well as Israelis), Kyle Kulinski gives us his take here – I don’t completely buy Kyle’s argument that Biden is “plummeting in the polls” because of the Middle East (referencing that garbage Siena/NYT mess again)...yes, the Dems are going to have to find some way to press for a two-state solution and get serious about the Palestinians in a way in which “Bibi” utterly refuses, and I’ll admit that a lot of pro-Palestinian voices have been heard lately (which is just Democracy 101 as far as I’m concerned); I’m just asking that we keep this in perspective, that’s all...Kyle discusses Ryan Zinke who’s been busy recently (focused yesterday in that monuments bill business); today, he’s just trying to ban all Palestinians from the U.S., that’s all, which is illegal for probably six different reasons at least...Kyle kind of “jumps the shark” a bit by bringing up Japanese internment during WWII – yes, it was awful, but what’s the freaking point?...

...and Farron Cousins tells us that the re-election campaign for Bo-Bo Boebert in CO-03 is in chaos now because of that vaping/handsy business with her ex-boyfriend at the “Beetlejuice” concert...what a thoroughly stoo-pid way to set your career on fire, though it fits her profile of course (and to help her opponent, Dem Adam Frisch, click here)...



...and Francesca and Nina Turner of The Damage Report tells us that, apparently, Mr. “Mystery Money,” “MAGA Mike” Johnson, intends to pass CR after CR after CR, etc. to keep our government running (and of course they’re going to try their Dickensian BS and hope Big Stupid Head Matt Gaetz doesn’t file another motion to vacate...what a damn joke...and Turner is absolutely right about domestic spending)...



...and nice job by The Daily Show to give Johnson the spanking he deserves here (sorry – couldn’t resist...slightly NSFW/H)...



...and yeah, not much to see here - just a brand new tune from The Beatles, that's all :-).

Tuesday Stuff

And here is today's voting guide...

To begin, Jesse Dollemore tells us of Steve Scalise not admitting to George Stephanopoulos that Biden won in ’20...and by the way, I’m tired of hearing the typical BS from Repug liars like Scalise that states didn’t follow the voting laws on their books, or whatever (makes me recall this post)...there were over 60 lawsuits at my last count about this stuff, and I’m pretty sure the only one that was successful in PA had to do with a handful of addresses on secret ballot envelopes WHICH DIDN’T AFFECT A DAMN THING IN THE OVERALL VOTE (and oh yeah, Combover Caligula keeps running his maw with demented utterances to verbally assault us)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen discuses “Mayor Pete” speaking with Stephen Colbert about Christo-fascist Mike Johnson attacking Buttigieg and gay/trans individuals in this country (and with all due respect to Cohen, something else that doomed Tom Emmer in his bid for House Speaker is that he supported certifying the 2020 election as noted here)...



...and in this clip from Crooks and Liars, former Trumpster and now Repug U.S. House Rep Ryan Zinke rose in support of a bill under the false belief that it only was intended to preserve monuments of our founding fathers, so of course Marjorie Traitor Greene jumped in to allege that Robert E. Lee founded our country (wrong answer, Marge!)...fortunately, Dem Rep Chellie Pingree politely set everybody straight (here)...

via GIPHY

...and Farron Cousins tells us more about the exodus out of Flori-DUUH!, including 15 major insurance companies, and newly arrived Repug voters also departing as a result...not that I’m sympathetic to an insurance company, but just stating a fact (you couldn’t pay me enough money to move anywhere near “the sunshine state”)...



Update 11/10/23: Not even close to a fan of Vivek R. and I'd rather watch paint dry than any Repug candidates' debate, but I have to admit that this was one hell of a roast.

...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report take a caller discussing the incredibly disappointing Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and her utter failure to support teachers in her district (WA-03...I have to admit that I had high hopes for her, especially since she won with comparatively little national Dem Party support, but it looks like her seat may get flipped because of what appears to be her Sinema-esque behavior)...



...and I haven’t made up my mind on this tune to be honest, but I have to admit that I like the harmonies, so here goes.

Monday Stuff

Leeja Miller gives us probably the best takedown of the Powell Memo I’ve yet seen, picking apart its weaselly and propagandistic language and faux-legalese...“equality feels like oppression when you’re the one benefitting from historical inequalities” indeed...once again, we owe a debt IMO to Jack Anderson for unearthing the Powell Memo in all of its infamy, though it was too late to keep Powell off the High Court of course... interesting that Chucky Koch disagreed with the Powell Memo, saying it didn’t go far enough and businesses weren’t committed to “free enterprise,” which is giving away the game a bit I’d say...good for Miller to mention Powell’s role in the Bellotti 1978 SCOTUS decision, though, to be fair, she should have also mentioned Buckley v. Valeo from ’76, along with Consolidated Edison and Central Hudson Gas & Electric, both in ‘80, which played roles in the “corporate money as speech” movement as well...also didn’t know that Powell hired, unknowingly apparently, more gay clerks than any other justice, including Paul Smith, who had a role in Lawrence v. Texas, which our current Taliban-esque High Court may yet demolish also...



...and Farron Cousins tells that, apparently, Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao showed signs of life recently, leaping to the defense of the big money Repug donor class, his one and only constituency (who Powell was considering in his memo of course)...one day, he’s going to shed his mortal coil as will we all, and if I see that day, I’ll smile quietly to myself because he likely will earn a trip straight to Gehenna...and yes, I know, judge not lest ye be judged...and by the way, Brave Sir Josh Hawley’s alleged plan to get money out of politics is yet another “bait and switch,” but we knew that, right?...



...and David Pakman tells us about fellow Repug U.S. Senators turning on the quitter of a college football coach Tommy Tuberville...ABOUT FREAKING TIME!! And I understand that Willard Mitt Romney is trying to “split the baby” and not totally blame Tuberville, but I would submit that Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin has the right to dictate whatever policy he believes is important in his role as Defense Secretary; Austin isn’t the one supposedly out of line here...



...and Symone Sanders-Townsend of MSNBC looks at issues at stake in elections tomorrow in Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and Mississippi (more on the Tate Reeves/Brett Favre stuff is here...and when it comes to Virginia, please don't forget this and this)...



Update: More on the importance of Virginia's elections tomorrow is here and here.

...and this More Perfect Union video discusses Why 30% of rural hospitals are closing...and I know you’ll be shocked..well, not really...to find that The Sainted Ronnie R changed the formula of how Medicare reimbursed rural hospitals, which is a big factor leading to the closure of so many, along with the pigheadedness of Repug-run state governments in not expanding Medicaid, which is basically walking away from free federal money – and if 230K Mississippians are uninsured, imagine what the number is across the entire country...the clip also presents more information on why NO ONE should be suckered in by the utter scam of Medicare Advantage...more on the Save Rural Hospitals Act is here...



...and happy upcoming 80th birthday to the one and only Joni Mitchell.

Friday Stuff (updates)

Emma and the crew form The Majority Report discuss Dem U.S. Senator Dick Durbin calling for a cease fire in the Israel/Gaza conflict...also, kudos to Minneapolis area Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg for courageously asking for the same thing from President Biden (and I have a pretty good idea of what that fool Amy Schumer did, which is about par for the wretched course with her)...



Update 1: Hey, does anybody want to hear my admittedly-dumb-lefty-blogger take on this story?

(I mean, if Cenk Uygur can announce a run for president, then the least I can do is opine as a self-proclaimed foreign policy expert.)

I don’t know how many people have noticed the debate about funding for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and our border going on with our supposedly august U.S. Senate. There are those who want everything funded in one bill (Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao, Huckelberry Graham and others), and then there are those like Mike Lee and “Russia Ron” Johnson who want funding for Israel to be voted on as a standalone bill and vote on the other items separately (meaning of course that they’re willing to do Putin’s bidding and tell Ukraine and Zelenskyy to pound sand).

Well, although I certainly don’t have an inside track on this stuff, I don’t think it takes a genius to see that China is watching this too. And I also don’t know how many people have noticed that Hezbollah and Iran have been strangely quiet while the Israel/Gaza carnage proceeds apace (what better opportunity for them to intercede against “Bibi” than now)?

I think Iran and Hezbollah are shying away for now because China told them to. China is waiting to see if we approve military funding for Taiwan. Because if we do, China may just decide to pull back from the region and say, “OK, enemies of Israel and the U.S., go ahead and lob a shell or two at one of those ships in the Mediterranean. As of now, we don’t care.” And if that happens and we get hit and members of our military get killed, then we’ll respond of course, and we’ll all be speedily on our way to World War III.

People far smarter than I am no doubt know that we’re stuck in a vulnerable position. Hamas are cowardly, bloodthirsty murderers, but “Bibi” is proving that he’s little better. And the Israeli PM has been trying to sucker us into another Mideast mess ever since we extricated ourselves from Dubya’s Not-So-Excellent Iraq Adventure. Hell, if Netanyahu really wanted to get Hamas, he’d find a way to go after them in Qatar or put some kind of pressure on that government to give them up. But as far as I’m concerned, Netanyahu doesn’t want that. What he wants is a Palestinian genocide. And unfortunately, he’s getting it with our help thus far.

I’m saying this because I care very much about the fate of innocent Israelis and Palestinians, and I care even more about our military that could end up in harm’s way before all is said and done. I just don’t see any good way out of this without still more bloodshed on an ever-more-sickening scale, but believe me when I tell you that I want to be wrong (Update: And I almost forgot about this charming moment from "Bibi" - and yes, that's a bad joke I know).

...and focusing on domestic U.S. politics, David Pakman informs us that “MAGA Mike” Johnson’s wife scrubbed her website where she compared homosexuality to bestiality...so many issues with this guy, and I thought this was a good recent column by Charles Blow about the House Speaker...



...and David Shuster tells us that Johnson has “feels” apparently of Biden’s illegality, and that’s enough for an investigation by itself...and as Robert Garcia says, this is positively rich coming from a party whose de facto head is facing 91 criminals counts spread across 4 indictments (and nice work by Jen Psaki also)...



...and in keeping with those lunatics in charge of the U.S. House, Jayar Jackson and Jordan Uhl discuss the beyond-Dickensian budget cuts proposed by Not Your Father’s Republican Party and “MAGA Mike” in particularly (CHIP, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the ACA, etc.)...what a weaselly little shit Johnson is, though I realize that shouldn’t be surprising (I think Jordan Uhl goes off the rails here a bit when criticizing Dems for not telling the IDF and Israel to call for a cease fire in Gaza since that’s a wholly separate issue, as noted in the first video, but I think the message has gone forth from TYT and Cenk Uygur in particular to find any way possible to bash Dems regardless of the issue...yes, there are times when that’s called for I admit, but TYT overdoes it big time...and I don’t completely buy Jayar’s argument at the end that we’ll run out of money; I’m not saying we should spend like drunken sailors, but that’s not an excuse for demagoguery either...by the way, on a bit of an unrelated note, you can expect to see fewer “Second Thought” and TYT clips because I think their content has become highly questionable for different reasons)...



Update 2: I can think of few better illustrations of the old adage "pride goeth before a fall" than this.

Update 3: Curiouser and curiouser (here).

Update 11/4/23: I have a feeling that the day will come sooner than later when Johnson wishes he'd never become speaker and stayed as a relative back-bencher...well, too damn late now (here).

Update 11/5/23: The more we learn about "MAGA Mike," the weirder (and more dangerous) he looks (here, to say nothing of corrupt as noted here).

...and turning once more to “the world’s greatest deliberative body,” Beau talks about the proposed bill from Brave Sir Josh Hawley allegedly getting big donor $$ out of politics (spoiler alert – the bill is a “red herring”) with Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao saying “not on my watch”...good explanation by Beau of just how daunting it would be to destroy Citizens United...not saying it’s impossible, but we would need a wholly other High Court (run by the “D” team, which hasn’t happened for over 50 years) from the one we have now to enable that (more from Jane Mayer is here)...



...and today marks the 50th anniversary of the release of “Quadrophenia” by The Who, their sixth studio album and second “concept” recording after “Tommy” (I've seen a release date of today as well as October 29th, for the record)...I believe they had a third "concept" recording they were working on called “Lighthouse” but they couldn’t quote pull it together, though it ultimately became “Who’s Next?,” which to me is their greatest work...this song fits on so many levels for yours truly, especially right now.

Thursday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore discusses Brave Sir Josh Hawley disrespecting Homeland Secretary Alexander Mayorkas over an admittedly offensive blog post from someone in DHS...kudos to Mayorkas for his measured response, telling Cowardly Josh that, yeah you numbskull, it’s a personnel matter and I can’t discuss it publicly; as Jesse says, Hawley is grandstanding to get an appearance on Fix Noise, OAN or some other similar channel, as well as clicks on X or whatever, and that’s about it (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and when it comes to the U.S. House on Capitol Hill under “MAGA Mike” Johnson, Chris Hayes tells us that, with war raging and an economy trying to find its way completely out of COVID (and more or less doing that as opposed to most of the rest of the world), to say nothing of climate change (more on that a little later), the “party of Lincoln” is laser focused on its top priority, and that’s ensuring that yacht owners can cheat on their taxes (and speaking of money matters, I think this is sketchy AF).

(And by the way, speaking of the “lower chamber,” I know they had that idiotic vote from Marjorie Trailer Park Greene trying to equate a protest on behalf of Palestinians as an “insurrection,” or some such typical nonsense, and that was shot down, which of course was the right thing. I know they also had that vote to expel “George Santos,” which was likewise shot down. And this may come as a bit of a surprise, but I’m glad that failed also. I thought Jamie Raskin put it well here...yes, Santos is a serial liar and a contemptible character for all kinds of reasons, but since he hasn’t been convicted of a crime, I agree with Raskin. Expelling him would have set a terrible precedent, which – and I cannot emphasize this strongly enough – DEFINITELY would have been used against Democrats in the future. Besides, if we’re just talking about the typical political BS and no actual illegality involving some kind of a court conviction, the remedy to get rid of Santos is to vote his ass out of office.)

Anyway, here's the Hayes clip...

Update: And speaking of that life form from GA-14, I thought this was a typically disgusting move.

...and Mike Figueredo tells us how AIPAC is pretty much a terrorist organization that has been able to get way too many politicians to knuckle under to it, including Huckleberry Graham, who apparently thinks there should be no threshold for kids getting killed by Israelis or Hamas in order to say enough and call for a cease fire (figures...and when it comes to confronting AIPAC, which is long overdue IMO, I have to admit that I’m utterly shocked to find myself on the same side as Thomas Massie, but he’s on the right side of an issue for a change...I would also like to see these lawmakers criticize all of the anti-BDS laws out there, but we’ll see about that...I thought this was a terrific and highly comprehensive report on the insidious influence of AIPAC on our politics, and yes, we should definitely help Cori Bush too...and by the way, more on Brian Mast is here)...



...and I have to admit that I’m as bewildered as anybody as to why the story of Acapulco’s destruction hasn’t received more coverage, as Thom Hartmann is also (I think Will Bunch recently said the same thing on Twitter/X/whatever...my guess is because stories about climate change don’t generate a lot of buzz overall, though I can think of no story that’s more important)...



...and Kyle Kulinski tells us that UAW president Shawn Fain is trying to get contracts put in place for other unions as well as his own so they expire on 4/30/28 in time for May Day, at which time Fain plans to hold a general strike to take on the wretched billionaire class...beyond freaking awesome (and I didn’t know about the RAND Corporation study that $50 trillion was stolen by the top one percent from the rest of us since WWII...bleeping criminals!)...



...and don’t know about you, but I’m getting ready to pack in, so hopefully this number can mellow us out a bit.

Wednesday Stuff

Francesca and Nina Turner of The Damage Report discuss the push-back against the incursion into Gaza from “Bibi,” and that includes anti-war protests from American Jews...I have a feeling Biden badly misread public opinion on this; yes, I‘m not questioning Israel’s right to defend itself, but I’m only saying that I’m sure Hamas gamed this scenario out all over the place before they launched their attack on October7th – hard for me to find the words to communicate how despicable Hamas truly is, but Biden has to find a way to advocate for Palestinians here, and that means pushing for a two-state solution, right of return, Jerusalem as a shared capital, way beyond just calling for humanitarian relief – I’m basically talking about all of the stuff Netanyahu has brushed aside...as soon as you find yourself in a position where you’re indiscriminately attacking women and children, you’ve definitely lost (and I’m sure Turner is right about the cascading impact of all of this, unfortunately)...



...and I thought Joy Reid offered a pretty good summation of this horrible conflict...and again, I don’t know what the big deal is about harvesting olives or planting olive trees – I can’t imagine how that’s an excuse to shoot someone dead (I never knew of any tree that planted a bomb or murdered women and children)...I didn’t watch the follow-up segment to this, but it’s not hard to figure that what’s next unfortunately is more destruction and more military brinkmanship with this country, China, Iran, and others...



...and given the prior two clips, I think this is apropos from the New York Times, which features comments from Israelis in the wake of the Hamas attacks...I just hope that the monumental incompetence of “Bibi” doesn’t somehow get brushed aside in the quite-called-for-IMO rush to judgment against Hamas (who aren't even IN Gaza, let's not forget - last reports are that they're in Qatar)..



...and returning to this country, Leeja Miller tells us How Lobbying Is Ruining Democracy...I have to admit that I didn’t know about that 760-to-1 ratio in terms of campaign donations versus $ from tax breaks and loosened regulations, but it just about turned my stomach...also didn’t know about the $$ raked in by Chuck Schumer, but that doesn’t surprise me either...and China spent $62 million on our elections in 2022??...also, if I ruled the world, NOBODY working in our politics would be able to get a job as a lobbyist for TEN FREAKING YEARS after they left their public job...also didn’t know about the Lobbying Disclosure Act of ’95 (and what initiated it)...additionally, I didn’t know about the $34-to-$1 ratio of corporations lobbying vs. public interest groups (I always thought the term “lobbyist” in this country originated with the hangers-on around the time of the Civil War in particular who gathered at the Willard Hotel in D.C.)...lots of great ideas at the end of this clip to try and clean up our lobbying mess...



...and Sam Seder of The Majority Report informs us on how the Biden DOL came out with a ruling that reinstates an Obama-era standard for joint employers, making it easier for workers and unions to hold companies liable for labor law violations by their franchisees and contractors (so yeah, if the owner of a “Mickey D’s,” for example, is found liable for violations of, say, workers below an age standard working too many hours, the parent company can’t just wash their hands and say they have no control over what a franchisee does –the parent company is on the hook too)...and GREAT point by Sam starting at about 2:40 that, when you elect someone president, you’re also electing a “network of relationships” for that person, and IMO, the consequences of that are a hell of a lot more severe than electing a single person...



...and RIP Dwight Twilley from a couple of weeks ago – here is one of his signature hits.

Tuesday Stuff

Tell me once more how Biden is the one who supposedly has cognitive difficulties; The Lincoln Project brings us about a minute and a half (which is all I can take, to be honest) of our treasonous, delusional narcissistic former *preznit in his most recent public appearance (and yeah, he says he’s in Sioux Falls, when in reality he’s in Sioux City, Iowa...and yes, I know The Lincoln Project are just yesterday’s Republicans, and maybe in the future too, but they keep making good clips for now)...



Update: Duly noted, but as I said, their videos are still good.

...and I know I’m a little behind the news cycle with this David Pakman clip of the Gropenfuhrer giving top secret intel on our nuke subs to Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt, but it’s still a vitally important story...#45 should be in the slam for this if for no other reason, though there are plenty of others of course...



...and Francesca and Nina Turner of The Damage Report bring us proof positive (according to the WaPo) that those stinking December 2017 tax cuts from Combover Caligula (voted for by all Repugs, including this guy, and to do something about Bri-Fi, click here) increased the debt by $10 trillion (along with Dubya's of course)...remember this the next time you hear these frauds carrying on about OH, THE DEBT THAT’S STEALING FROM OUR GRANDKIDS!!!...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that Fix Noise staffers are apparently letting out the secret that Our Ochre Abomination is being blacklisted from live interviews on their propaganda network because they don’t want to get sued by Smartmatic or Dominion again, so they’re only allowing pre-recorded appearances so they can screen what he says in advance...actually, Benedict Donald should be “blacklisted” from appearing on The Roger Ailes BS Channel AT ALL...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 11/3/16, in which Keith Olbermann gives us another of his “The Closer” segments about “Trump TV”...as far as I’m concerned, the only reason why #45 didn’t implement some of the stuff K.O. talks about here is because Our Treasonous Tiny-Handed Former Chief Executive didn’t understand how to wield the power to try and make it happen; in the beyond nightmarish scenario of another Trump term, I believe he would know how to put what Olbermann is talking about into place...

...and given that admittedly frightful prospect, I still would like to wish everyone a Happy Halloween.

Monday Stuff

It looks like Bo-Bo- Boebert in CO-03 is going to get a Repug primary challenger as a result of “Getting Handy With Her Now-Ex Boyfriend At The ‘Beetlejuice’ Musical”-gate, as Francesca and Brett Erlich tell us...more than any other reason, I’m sure it’s really because of her paltry fundraising numbers compared to Dem challenger Adam Frisch (and it shouldn’t be all about the $$ I know – sigh); to help Frisch, click here...



...and sticking with the “Centennial State,” apparently some idiot Repug state rep named Ron Weinberg sez that kids using their preferred pronouns could confuse police during a mass shooting...kind of breaking the stoo-pid meter on that one, I must say...



...and Eric Gardner of More Perfect Union discusses the effort from Medicare to try and negotiate prices for 10 prescription drugs and the full-on legal war waged by those Big Pharma bastards in response...



...and just in time for the visitation of witches, goblins and other spectral forces, Robert Reich brings us the three myths of “zombie economics” that absolutely refuse to die, though they should have been buried long ago of course...



...and here are a couple of tunes to get into the spirit of the season, if we aren’t there already.

Friday Stuff

(A backgrounder on this typically clueless moment from "The Gipper" is here.)

Leeja Miller asks Why Is Healthcare So Expensive (GREAT question)...I knew our maternal mortality numbers in this country were awful, but I didn’t know the figure was over twice as bad as the OEC average...one of the many great points in this video has to do with the specialization in health care as Miller notes, in order to maximize profit IMO; this is one of the reasons that I would recommend a nurse practitioner for a yearly checkup if you can because that’s the only class of medical professional I’ve seen who looks at the WHOLE patient picture (NSFW/H at the very end, though I agree with what she says...I meant to put this video up earlier in the week, but it got bumped for other more timely items)...



...and Thom Hartmann tells us about the wingnut threat from within and without of our government (I think he means “Section 8” housing, not “Section 9”)...Thom starts by talking about the carnage from right-wing billionaires, then shifts to global threats, alleging (correctly I think) that the “party of Lincoln” is doing its best to weaken our standing in the world (and when it comes to billionaires trying to undermine this country, I would add this person to that sorry list)...



...and when it comes to what I would call domestic enemies of this country, I don’t think it’s possible to ignore Marjorie Traitor Greene...kudos to Becca Balint of Vermont here, even though her commendable effort will likely go for naught since this howler monkey in a dress from Georgia doesn’t possess a molecule of contrition...



...and with an eye towards the Middle East, Mike Figueredo tells us that the wingnuts in this country (along with the far right in Israel) treat Palestinians as animals (which we knew), alleging that they all support Hamas (spoiler alert – WRONG!) – and I’m not going to waste my time rebutting all of the nonsense from that nematode Jesse Watters...didn’t know that 38 states have adopted anti-BDS laws, including my own beloved commonwealth of PA...ugh...and with all due respect to Mike Figueredo, I’ve been yelling about “Bibi” Netanyahu for a little while now, starting with his goading of this country to go after “militant Islam” after 9/11 here, though Figueredo is completely right to call out ANYONE who supports anti-BDS laws, which run completely in opposition to our Constitutional freedoms (NSFW/H also)...



...and in case you were wondering whether or not some wingnut propagandist would try to link the Hamas attack on Israel and their Gaza incursion with the most recent mass gun slaughter in this country in Maine...well, no need to worry on that, because Baby Newton Leroy Gingrich is all over it – oh, and here is one response to his idiotic claim that, basically, more “permit-less carry” is needed in this country...

"By making it easy for almost anyone to carry a concealed handgun in public, right-to-carry laws increase violent crime, firearm robberies, gun thefts, workplace homicides, and mass shootings. Right-to-carry laws make it harder for law enforcement to solve violent crimes and are opposed by many law enforcement leaders across the country. Similarly, permitless carry harms public safety by removing essential safety measures designed to ensure that those carrying handguns in public have been properly trained and vetted. Evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the removal of concealed carry permitting systems is associated with higher rates of gun homicide and violent crime."

More from Emma V. and the Majority Report on this is here...



...and I think we all deserve a nice weekend after this week’s insanity, and I’d like to get that started with this little number.

Thursday Stuff (updates)

I’d like to offer “thoughts and prayers” for real to the families and friends of the victims of the latest mass gun carnage in this country in Lewiston, Maine (particularly for the father who believes his son was one of the victims), and I’m sorry that that sounds like the typical pat, nothing response at times like this. For that reason, I think I should give what I believe is a more concrete explanation that has a lot to do with this horrible tragedy:

U. S. House Democrats passed a renewal of the assault weapons ban last year, as noted here (with all but 2 Repugs voting in favor while all others opposed it).

The renewal of the ban died in the U.S. Senate because it didn’t meet the magical 60-vote threshold for passage (here), with just about every Republican opposing, along with “President” Joe Manchin and “Curtsy Kyrsten” refusing to get rid of the stinking filibuster (if that were gone, only a simple majority vote would be needed).

That more than any other reason is why mass gun slaughter continues in this country (with the typical garbage, "values voter" nonsense from "MAGA Mike" Johnson on this issue here)...



Update: Commendable, but more like this - A LOT MORE.

Update 10/28/23: Good - hopefully he's doing somersaults in hell at this moment.

...and speaking of the new, truly awful U.S. House speaker, Brian Tyler Cohen gives us more here...yeah, when you get the endorsement of Matt “Trying To Pick Up Underage Girls, Allegedly Of Course” Gaetz, you have NOTHING to be proud of...I just wish SOMEBODY had asked Johnson if he’d received Trump’s endorsement before he put his name in nomination for speaker, but I’m sure a whole gang of wingnuts would have shouted SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!!! instead of Ol’ Grandma Ginny Foxx (and by the way, this puts Johnson second in line for the presidency, in case we’d forgotten about that...and one of those 18 Repugs in Biden-won districts voting for Johnson is this guy, and to do something about Bri-Fi once and for all, click here)...



Update 1 10/27/23: The more I think about this stuff, the more if occurs to me that Johnson may have been the guy the wingnuts wanted all along and the stuff with Gym Jordan, Emmer, etc. was just a smokescreen. The way these cretins operate, it wouldn’t surprise me if that were the case.

Update 2 10/27/23: Given this, let’s make sure that #MAGAMikeJohnson continues to be “the gift that keeps on giving,” in particular when running against those 18 Repug U.S. House Reps from Biden districts (including this guy, and once more, to do something about Bri-Fi, press here).

Update 3 10/27/23: Uh, yep.

Update 4 10/27/23: And the hits just keep on coming for the new U.S. House Speaker (here, here, here, here, and here).

Update 5 10/27/23: I wonder if Johnson will, at some point, wish he could crawl back under the rock he emerged from; too late for that, though (here, here, here, here, here, and here).

Update 10/30/23: Maybe Johnson needs to spend a little less time with "the good book" (though he likely misinteprets it) and a little more time providing constituent service for real (here...and this is scary AF as far as yours truly is concerned...this stinks too, as does this).

Update 11/2/23: And this is sketchy AF about "MAGA Mike" too.

Update 11/10/23: Still more Johnson Christo-fascist garbage is here.

...and our wet noodle PA-01 rep likes to tell us all about his involvement in “No Labels”; fortunately; Robert Reich cuts through that BS here...



...oh, and in the matter of Ms. SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!!!, I thought this was a good video from The Lincoln Project (boy, would I LOVE to see the @DNC or @DCCC come after her with an "oppo" ad for this, y'know, like Repugs would try to do to us)...



...and when it comes to Not Your Father’s Republican Party, it appears that they engaged in a bit of revenge porn against Dem candidate Susanna Gibson running for Virginia state house delegate (District 57 I believe), as Kyle Kulinski tells us...



...and happy 70th birthday to Keith Strickland of the B-52s.

Wednesday Stuff

Apparently, U.S. House Repugs have done what they do best, and that is to get in line behind a fairly nondescript, corporatist white guy who checks all the wingnut checkboxes (and approved by Trump of course) and make him U.S. House Speaker – how pathetic (more here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).

And by the way, as Jesse Dollemore points out here, Mike Johnson of Louisiana was one of the 7 of 9 overall speaker candidates who voted against certifying President Biden’s election (oh, and as noted here, Johnson “double dipped” while he allegedly served in state government, picking up “tens of thousands” in fees on a legal team representing the state in a federal court trial over abortion clinic restrictions)...



Update 1: And this was a typically charming moment also featuring "Granny Clampett" Virginia Foxx (apologies to Irene Ryan).

...and ZOMG! “Dark Brandon” was comped with a $200K payback from his brother for what I guess was a family loan..I guess the “scandal” is that Biden does his best to take care of his family..??? (more nonsense from James Comer and U.S. House Republicans...Jayar Jackson and Viviana Vigil discuss)...



Update 2: When it comes to political figures (which SCOTUS justices are, let's not forget) and alleged financial shenanigans (real in this case, IMO), I'm sure Comer and his pals won't have a word to say about this.

...well, for some more positive U.S. political news, Faron Cousins tells us that Ruben Gallego is pretty much cleaning the metaphorical clocks of Kari Lake and “Curtsy Kyrsten” Sinema in fundraising, though we indeed do have a looong way to go until November ’24 – to help Gallego, click here...



...and it looks like, if you imagine that you’re going to criticize Israel in any way whatsoever, you’re going to be met with a whole bunch of SHUTUP SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP SHUTUP!!!!!, as Dave Chappelle recently found out, though he also criticized Hamas, as well he should (Kyle Kulinski tells us more)...



...and speaking of African American entertainment icons (I guess Chappelle qualifies), RIP Richard Roundtree – I once read an interview where he said that, to portray John Shaft, he pretended he was really director Gordon Parks (an icon in his own right IMO), since that’s the way Parks acted, and Roundtree meant it as a tribute of sorts...



...and I guess The New Basement Tapes is the latest supergroup of sorts to come along (I detected The Living Elvis, but I’m a little fuzzy on the other members)...I thought this was a well-done tune.

Tuesday Stuff

(I had some unexpected technical difficulties, but hopefully they've been resolved.)

Farron Cousins discusses Jeffrey Toobin’s recent Op-Ed in the New York Times arguing that Mango Mussolini is going to get someone killed, with Toobin linking the antics of 45 to the Murrah building bombing by Timothy McVeigh in ’95; the clip also notes how #45 and his minions are going after New York AG Letitia James, among others targets with, at a minimum, threatening vitriol – hopefully no worse than that, though that’s bad enough...



...and gee, wasn’t Kayleigh McEnany the one who said she would never lie to us, or something? Well (as David Shuster points out), McEnany’s trash network clipped a quote of President Biden answering a reporter’s question about the Israel/Hamas war and the horrific loss of that conflict to try and make Biden look bad– typical for these lowlifes...



...and speaking of the Israel/Hamas war, Sam and Emma of The Majority Report discuss the threats and censorship to pro-Palestinian voices, which Is insane...and yeah, GREAT point to ask where the #$@! these alleged “free speech warriors” like Bari freaking Weiss are when Harvard students are getting doxed and having job offers rescinded for supporting the Palestinians, who overwhelming DO NOT support Hamas, though the incursion by Netanyahu is forcing them in that direction...and on the one hand, I DO NOT support the fact that Israel has allowed the Gaza “open air prison” to exist, but on the other hand, I cannot think of a hell hot enough for Hamas...and don’t ask me who bombed that hospital, because I have no clue on that...



...and on the subject of domestic political stuff, Thom Hartmann talks about what will happen to the right to privacy if (God forbid) the wingnuts win in next year’s elections (or even some THIS year, I would guess)...Thom discusses the Griswold, Lawrence and Obergefell SCOTUS rulings, which are in the sights of Harlan Crow puppet Clarence Thomas, “Strip Search Sammy” Alito, etc...

...but not Loving...hmmm, I can’t imagine why.



...and Brian Tyler Cohen speaks with attorney Marc Elias on redistricting legal cases across the U.S. that could create more Dem districts, though it’s impossible to predict how courts will rule of course...the only one I’m hearing that looks out of reach is Ohio unfortunately, and North Carolina’s map is horrible also sadly, but there are definite pickup possibilities elsewhere...



...and RIP Sirius XM’s Dusty Street – she was based on the “left coast” so I didn’t hear her during my formative years, but I came to enjoy her show over the last year or so on the “deep tracks” channel...heard a few wonderful tributes lately including one from Jim Ladd; I think this is an apropos tune in her honor.