Monday Stuff

Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us about Marjorie Trailer Trash Greene’s typically disgusting new attack on Ilhan Omar and this misinterpretation of what Omar said about this breakaway portion of Somalia, and oh yeah, Cori Bush too while they’re at it, led by this Troy Nehls life form who only wants to see Dementia J. Trump installed for another term, the good of the country be damned – I still don’t like ”defund the police” as a slogan (embraced by Bush), but I support the underlying policy of reallocating police budgets to provide more funds for communities in the way of funding for early childhood and pre-K development, job training, housing assistance, etc., and I know Bush does too, to her credit (and the Leeja Miller video that shows up soon gets into how much $$ politicians and government officials need to spend on security, so the $42K video for her husband sounds reasonable IMO; actually, it sounds like a bargain)...NSFW/H...



...and speaking of Miller, she brings us her first video of the new year on political violence...I have to admit that I didn’t know how widespread the problem was until she started listing all of the states where these incidents occurred, though I knew it was bad; the info on election officials was particularly jarring IMO...the amount of threats since Our Treasonous Orange Overlord seized power is eye opening, but I guess it shouldn’t be surprising (and it’s pretty plain what Marjorie Traitor Greene and Lex Luthor Scott are, but that doesn’t justify violence and “swatting” against them or anyone else – “The call is coming from inside the house, and it has the potential to take us all down with it.”; also, kudos to Miller for giving us ideas on a “way forward” potentially out of this mess, which, as far as I’m concerned, includes throwing #45’s mangy ochre ass in the slam, and I don’t care how butt-hurt his guttural followers get over that...NSFW/H)...



...and Jesse Dollemore informs us of Laura Ingraham and Baby Newton Leroy Gingrich screeching about “OMIGOD, THAT ‘WOKE’ JAMES LANKFORD IS GOING TO GIVE BIDEN A WIN ON IMMIGRATION – HE CAN’T DO THAT...THAT’S TRUMP’S ISSUE!” (spoiler alert – Lankford is indeed a Trumper with a staunchly conservative voting record, in case nobody knew that somehow)...



...and Beau discusses President Biden’s “measured response” to the drone attack that killed our three service people...the bottom line to me is that we just don’t know yet if there will be a “response to the response” as Beau admits, but from all accounts, it looks like this was a prudent move by #46, particularly in that it apparently didn’t strike inside Iran, God forbid...



...and RIP actor and former football player Carl Weathers...have to include a clip from the incredibly PC-incorrect ‘80s film “Action Jackson,” which is a lot of fun IMO if you’re in the mood...



...and in the milestone department, I also should mention that last Saturday was the 65th anniversary of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (here)...I should probably include “American Pie” here for the occasion, but to be honest, I really can’t freaking stand hearing that song any more, so as a compromise, here’s Don McLean performing a Holly tune (absolutely love the bottleneck guitar on this one).

Friday Stuff

I thought Chris Hayes did a pretty thorough job here of backing up his claims on how well the economy is doing under Biden with actual data...so of course the winguts have to kind of blow that off and start screeching about OMIGOD MIGRANT CARAVANS COMING TO DESTROY US!! instead...



...and David Pakman made similar points here, letting us know about more good financial news that Fix Noise is forced to report, including Larry Kudlow...but of course, what REALLY matters to these cretins is that his interview with Marjorie Traitor Greene is only moments away, as well as the impeachment idiocy with DHS Secretary Mayorkas...



Update: More here.

...and Farron Cousins tells us about the recent closed-door testimony (because, as Cousins correctly points out, God forbid U.S. House Repugs in particular would want to conduct business in the cold light of day) of someone named Rob Walker, who makes it abundantly clear that attacks by “the party of Lincoln” in the lower chamber on the Bidens constitute a FREAKING NOTHINGBURGER LIKE WE’VE BEEN SAYING ALL ALONG!!...



...and I don’t know much about Colin Cowherd, except that he’s got his sports TV show on a lot when I’m going in and out of restaurants and food places of one type or another, but Brian Tyler Cohen brings us Cowherd’s recent commentary on OMIGOD I’M GOING TO TALK ABOUT HER YET AGAIN I KNOW!!! – no chance of me becoming a “Swiftie,” but man oh man, does Cowherd nail it about Travis Kelce’s girlfriend and the NFL and the overall misogyny in sports (and 18 minutes out of a 3 ½ hour NFL broadcast is actual football as opposed to other BS? Not surprised)...



...and Jesse Dollemore discusses a recent Lincoln Project ad calling out white “Christian” nationalism, giving these crazies the treatment they truly deserve (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and Beau discusses the utterly awful story of the PA guy who (allegedly) decapitated his father (nice, and in a ‘burb not far from that of your humble narrator) and made a video online, it seems, because it’s 2024 and why the hell not I suppose; Beau uses this to lead into a pretty well done IMO commentary on the border stuff...the “Hee-Haw Hezbollah” – that’s why Beau is who he is (I don’t completely understand Beau’s comment about Abbott in Texas doing what the SCOTUS is allowing, but maybe that wretched governor found some legal wiggle room somewhere)...



...and I’m really trying to be careful with videos from The Young Turks, but I thought this clip was pretty good...Ana and Cenk inform us that Maria Bartiromo recently scraped the proverbial bottom of the barrel once again, blaming DEI for the recent deaths of three of our military in Jordan...I believe they were three reservists...and of course this Texas congressman assumes Biden hasn’t responded to attacks on our military in the region (uh, no)...



...and it’s taken me a little while to get around to this recent tune, but here it is finally – hope the weather dries out where you are and you have a nice, sunny weekend.

Wednesday Stuff

Farron Cousins informs us that the recent Repug primary candidates’ debate for the CO-04 seat didn’t go very well for anyone really, but in particular for Bo-Bo Boebert, who came in fifth out of nine in a straw poll (and 6 of the 9 candidates have criminal records, huh? Terrific - one way to respond is to click here)...



...and Jesse Dollemore tells us about the recent antics of Marjorie Train Wreck Greene, who gave some kind of rally speech in New Hampshire before the “victory” from Tangerine Palpatine...I have to admit that I didn’t know anything about the “Abraham Accords” (which obviously didn’t do a damn thing to prevent October 7th), and after this clip, I care even less ...and Greene is way too much of a dim bulb to realize that she alternately gives Biden credit and blames him at the same time (very mildly NSFW/H at end...more here)...



...and given the prior lunacy of the “party of Lincoln,” I think that’s a good transition into this clip from Robert Reich about the “chaos agenda,” not just for Our Treasonous Tiny-Handed Former *Preznit, but his entire stinking party (I’m detecting more urgency from Reich on this stuff, which is definitely welcome, though it’s not like he’s been a slouch or anything...far from it)...



...and continuing under the heading of U.S. House Republican idiocy, I need to present the following...I don’t know anything about reporter Jim DeFede in Flori-DUUH!, but boy, does he do yeoman work here holding congresswoman Maria Salazar’s feet to the proverbial fire on Salazar taking credit for $$ brought to her district from bills she voted against (and kudos to Brian Tyler Cohen for pointing out that USPS “cluster” where their pensions need to be funded 75 years into the future in an effort to bankrupt the postal service...yeah, exactly NO ORGANIZATION ON EARTH has to deal with a pension burden like that! – more here)...



...well, for a contrast, I’d like to offer the following, and that is Dem U. S. House Rep Dan Goldman speaking out against the impeachment of DHS Secretary Mayorkas in this video from Daily Kos...I think this clip sums up the typical wingnut nonsense on this issue pretty well...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 1/31/18, in which Kyle Kulinski tells us about an article in The Guardian that asks “Why does it cost $32,093 to give birth in the U.S.,” and I’m sure the cost has only increased from that over the last 6 years...important to remember when you hear the wingnuts screeching about the declining white birth rate in this country...NSFW/H...



...and I thought it was great to hear that Jon Stewart is coming back to “The Daily Show,” but I have a feeling that he’ll be toned down a bit from what is displayed in the following clip...still, though, Stewart on a part-time basis and in a bit of a modified form is still a very welcome development...we’ll see (more here)...



...and six of the nine Repug candidates for the CO-04 seat have criminal records, huh? That sounds like a good excuse for this tune.

Tuesday Stuff

Yasmin Khan of Rebel HQ informs us here that our prior ruling cabal under Dementia J. Trump went through A LOT of drugs apparently, about $750K worth, including a lot of name brands at the expense of generic substitutes...I’m actually a little sympathetic to the argument that some of these are needed on a moment’s notice for travel purposes, for example, but I’m even MORE sympathetic to the argument that there should be oversight because we’re paying for this stuff, to say nothing of pharmacologic purposes (and I’m sure this happens regardless of which party is running An Oval Office, but it happens to be more egregious under the Gropenfuhrer)...



...and given the subject of this More Perfect Union report, that makes me even less sympathetic of what is described in the prior clip...this MPU video is titled “Why Going to the Pharmacy Sucks Now”...yep, blame “vertical integration,” short staffing of pharmacists and technicians at the chains, driving the “mom and pops” out of business, etc. – looks like we need another “pharma-geddon” nationwide, to say nothing of more unionization...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report bring us this clip of Rula Daoud of Standing Together speaking out for peace on both sides of the border when it comes to Israel’s Gaza incursion...I know I’ve gone on the record when it comes to what I think of “Bibi,” but the murdering Hamas butchers also need to make a full accounting for all of their captives seized on October 7th...I wouldn’t mind seeing Netanyahu standing in a docket in The Hague along with everyone associated with Hamas who launched their cowardly, despicable attack...I’m sure one day someone will write a book researching everything that went into planning that atrocity, and I definitely will read it eventually...



...and David Doel discusses the recent mass layoffs in the video gaming industry...unionized workers apparently were protected while Microsoft laid off 1,900 non-union employees in one of their gaming divisions, combined with layoffs all over the place at other gaming companies (and yes, more people should follow the courageous example of Saturo Iwata of Nintendo...yeah I know, good luck with that...everybody should commit to memory that line graph Doel presents at about 13:40)...



...and John and Daniel Franzese of The Damage Report bring us some Gen Z demographics...to me, the takeaway is that the “D” team needs to pay more attention to the issues that are important to this ascendant demographic, as opposed to trying to win over some wavering independent boomer voters in a suburban midwestern diner somewhere...”the more woke you get, the more annoying it is to go to sleep” indeed...



...and I'm probably a little early for Valentine's Day with this one, but here it is anyway.

Monday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore discusses the $83.3 million verdict against Our Ochre Abomination in the latest E. Jean Carroll defamation suit... it really is unbelievable when you consider that all #45 had to do was shut his vile orange maw and not keep spouting BS at Carroll, but even that was too much to ask...also, this clip pretty much shows up Alina Habba for being the clueless legal neophyte that she is (she thinks she can "fake being smart"...uh, no - more here)...



...and I thought Farron Cousins did a pretty good job here of analyzing how Biden should handle Texas guv Greg Abbott basically saying “F.U.” to the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR and continuing to put up the barbed wire in the Rio Grande river to kill migrants trying to enter this country...I think Biden ought to wake up Merrick Garland and tell him to go petition the Supremes to try and get an arrest warrant against Abbott if he continues...I would love to see Biden federalize the Texas National Guard also, but that would be handing an issue gift-wrapped to the wingnuts at a time when they’re sinking because of the millstone around their necks in the distinct corpulent form of Combover Caligula...



...and under the heading of crazy Republicans, John and David Shuster (not them of course) discuss U.S. House Rep Nancy Mace apparently wishing to get punched in the face during the 1/6 insurrection...in addition to the great points raised here (especially Mace’s BS towards AOC, with Mace getting put out because the Dem NY rep faced trauma for real, as opposed to the South Carolina rep imagining it apparently), I’m kind of wondering also if Mace believed the nonsense that the insurrectionists weren’t just Dems in disguise and sought combat for that reason as well...



...and we shouldn’t ignore Repug insanity on the state level also as opposed to federally...this Joel Kitchens character of the assembly in Wisconsin sez that he’s an abortion expert because he knows about breeding livestock...just say “oops” and get out (with Sharon Reed and Rayyvana – I think Reed needs to work on her presentation, to be honest...either that, or let Rayyvana take the lead instead...more here)...



...and I’m glad to hear Beau blow up some political clichés here, in particular about getting more conservative as you get older...one of the better analyses IMO on what constitutes the mindset of a Repug voter...and yeah, looks like the boomers are heading for the last electoral roundup as opposed to the Gen Zers and millennials, including LGBTQ folk of course...cry me a freaking river...



..and RIP '60s hipster Melanie Safka.

Friday Stuff

This clip from CNN reminds me once more why I generally try to avoid corporate media; Dana Bash hosts a report from Manu Raj about Tangerine Palpatine telling his minions on Capitol Hill not to approve a bipartisan immigration deal; namely, because like the rest of his wretched party, "Diaper Don" wants the issue to run on in the election as opposed to solving the problem, with “The Mittster” giving away the game a bit...I know what Bash means by “this great stuff,” but let’s just say that that’s a highly inapt phrase for this story, OK (with Melanie Zanona and Josh Dawsey, along with the utterly odious Ramesh Ponnuru, who, let’s not forget, is a “senior analyst” with AEI...that line about Biden allegedly not having the will to deal with the border issue is utter horsesh*t...there’s a reason why I don’t have too many clips from “the most trusted name in news,” and as I watch this, I’m remembering that once more...and on this issue, who, pray tell Dana, are “the hard liners on the left?”)...



...and in a bit of a similar vein, this New York Times video suggests that we need to get back to 1980 on immigration...I have an issue with this clip blaming AOC and Michael Bloomberg for “moving away from the center” on immigration at about 6:20...sounds to me like they were expressing basic human decency, and the “center” only moved because the other side went totally batsh*t insane...more disingenuous corporate media framing IMO...this video also con-vee-niently overlooks the demonization of immigrants from wingnut media, Flush Limbore in particular – guess it would be impolite to mention that, huh?...



..and when it comes to Dementia J. Trump trying to win back the White House, I think this video speaks volumes (yes, it’s the Lincoln Project again, yesterday’s Republicans, don’t give them $$$ but it's up to you, blah blah blah)...



...and Thom Hartmann asks “Does the GOP Want to Kill The Poor?” (again, if you have to ask, you probably know the answer already)...sounds like KY is trying to pass a law allowing property owners to murder anybody who happens to stumble onto their front lawns, or something, just like Jesus would do, right? And why am I not one damn bit surprised to see that this hateful garbage came from some “glibertarian think tank” (the “Cicero Institute”)? And good for Thom to present actual facts and data explaining how these damn hedge funds buy up lots of housing, turn them into rental properties, and drive the cost of rents out of sight to the point where homelessness becomes a problem, tied to the 2008 crash (and yeah, The Sainted Ronnie R emptying the mental hospitals, including Byberry in these parts, sure is part of this awful equation also)...



...and I know I shouldn’t be the least bit surprised to find out once more what an utter pissant Jamie Dimon is, but fortunately, Robert Reich reminds us of that once more in this video...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report discusses the wingnut hysteria over Maine’s trans refugee bill, which is a direct response to trans criminalization in other states...and I’d heard about the garbage with Chaya Raichik getting that position in Oklahoma to ban books, which is also incredibly disgusting...and Figueredo also includes the clip of Joy Reid calling out this Moms for Liberty fraud...nice work, but she’d better be careful, given what happened to Mehdi Hasan...and Utah wants to sentence trans individuals to six months in jail for using the “wrong” freaking bathroom? WTF??!! And “keep educating and informing” indeed (NSFW/H)...



...and this segment from The Majority Report informs us that the “party of Lincoln” is poised to make anti-abortion laws a lot worse...a lady in Flori-DUUH! named Deborah Dorbert tried to end a potentially deadly pregnancy because of something called Potter’s Syndrome (if it’s something you’ve never heard of, to me that means it’s potentially catastrophic), but she basically was forced to carry the pregnancy to term and birth a baby that apparently died after a few short, agonizing minutes...what country am I living in again?...



...well, maybe like you, I feel like I need a bit of a “palate cleanser” after a story like that, so please allow me to introduce my new favorite tune.

Thursday Stuff

David Doel tells us about millionaires and billionaires telling those gathered at Davos to tax them more (and man, is that Princeton study ever depressing, but I know it’s 100 percent true...not surprised that the U.S. has the most millionaires, and there was a time when I once thought that was a GOOD thing...I don’t think I’d ever heard Abigail Disney before, but dayyum, does she get it)...



...and I’d also never heard of Charlie Shamp and Hank Kunneman before, but Jesse Dollemore gives us the gory details, particularly about Ron (“Tree of Righteousness”) #DeathSantis...



...and John and Sharon Reed of The Damage Report discuss the new “king of late nite,” according to Bill Maher (please) talking about AOC in a sexualized fashion, because of course...she checks just about all of the wingnut checkboxes – beautiful woman of color, intelligent, articulate, and in a position of power for the “D” team, so of course the wingnuts freak the “f” out...how pitiably sad...



...and Farron Cousins takes us inside the latest numbers related to the Gropenfuhrer, i.e., how he fared in the New Hampshire primary vs. Nikki Haley, and he has to realize that he’s screwed, though November is still a long way off... I agree with this analysis, but we can’t sit around and “measure the drapes” either...



...and Robert Reich brings us this video about Biden and the economy...we know “President Manchinema” kneecapped the infrastructure bill, but #46 still managed to do a lot of good stuff with the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS bill...Democrats should be touting this stuff all over the place, but at least it’s good that Reich is doing that here...



Update: More here (once more, I wish Dems generally were MUCH better on social media and took their cue from Bill Pascrell, Jr.).

...and happy belated 85th birthday to Ray Stevens...yeah, I know he went the Branson, MO route you might say, but in his day, he had what I thought were some good tunes, including this one.

Wednesday Stuff

You can consider this to be my periodic reminder of the great unwashed who will cast their ballots for Our Treasonous Orange Former Overlord come hell or high water, and to me, that includes the life form driving the vehicle pictured above (and once more, I’ll say again that I know what The Lincoln Project is, but good on them for continuing to sound the alarm)...



...but for a bit of the reality perspective, I give you another typically well-done analysis from Beau, this time on yesterday’s results in the New Hampshire primary (and as far as those who pulled the lever/checked the box for Combover Caligula...well, come hell or high water, Repugs will fall in line)...



...and the political decline of Our Ochre Abomination has to be hastened no doubt by the quite justifiable attacks aimed at him on social media, as David Shuster explains (and I’m a little leery about pointing out the Gropenfuhrer’s cognitive decline also, though that’s happening too...like many of you I’m sure, I’ve seen family members go through that, and despite the fact that we’re talking about Trump, I’m loathe to point that out I have to admit)...



...and Thom Hartmann discusses scientists warning us about micro-plastics (and nano-plastics, actually...terrific – and I’m not one bit surprised to hear that the House Dems and that allegedly awful Nancy Pelosi passed a bill to try and ban microplastics, but it died in “the world’s greatest deliberative body” from yet another Repug filibuster...more here)...



...and going from the ridiculous to the even-more-ridiculous, Kyle tells us about Oklahoma Repug state senator Dusty Deevers, who is trying to pass a bill banning the viewing of all porn (“how many life sentences would you all be serving?” indeed...sounds like another “solution” in search of a problem...NSFW/H)...



...and I didn’t know that you-know-who had run afoul of The Smiths for copyright infringement (here)...I guess you can just add them to the list of performers/groups with a grievance against Our Treasonous Tiny-Handed Former *Preznit.

Tuesday Stuff

This report from More Perfect Union tells us about the Biden Administration’s efforts to end overdraft fees, with Rohit Chopra of the CFPB...I mean, I have a feeling we’re talking about blue sky and unicorns here, but the effort to cap fees at $3 at a minimum is great news...the cynic in me is saying that this is just an effort to distract from the failure of the current bunch in An Oval Office to slap down our pal “Bibi” the way we should, but I think good behavior should be commended and rewarded also...



...and Jesse Dollemore informs us that Ron #DeathSantis has ended his Repug primary campaign for second place behind Combover Caligula, and he also misquoted Winston Churchill for good measure...nice job by Jesse to put together that little mashup of the guv of Flori-DUUUH! talking smack about the head of his party while at the same time “bending the knee” in his concession...



Update: More here.

...and as long as we’re talking about the Repug primary to find out whether or not Nimarata Randhawa will end up as VP on the ticket, Farron Cousins takes us inside the numbers of Mango Mussolini’s victory in Iowa, which was more pathetic than you think (the 7% non-solution, in terms of total Repugs who voted, and apparently Tangerine Palpatine only got 3% of THAT...and boy, is Farron Cousins ever spot-on when it comes to our corporate media serenading us about doom and gloom for Dems, while EVERYTHING is good news for Republicans)...



Update: It was communicated to me somewhat informally that I wasn't playing nice, you might say, to refer to Nikki Haley by her birth name. I have a ton of issues with Haley on policy, but I wasn’t trying to be unkind to her personally, so I’ll stop doing that.

...and Robert Reich refutes the five biggest Repug lies about immigrants coming over our southwest border...yeah, some of these have been pointed out before, but we need to be vigilant against this garbage (making me recall this)...



...and RIP acclaimed director Norman Jewison, who brought us “In The Heat Of The Night” (clip follows), “Moonstruck,” and a bunch of other memorable films – pretty sure he received an honorary Oscar, though he could have taken home the Best Director statue a few times (and speaking of Tinseltown, it appears that the '24 noms have been handed down; the only movie I saw over the prior year was Oppenheimer, and I’m glad to see that it was rewarded commensurately)...



...and also RIP Mary Weiss, lead singer of the '60 all-girl group The Shangri-Las; here is their biggest hit, which I'm sure we know well by now.

Monday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore discusses Dem U.S. House Rep Dan Goldman’s censure resolution against Repug Elise Stefanik for referring to the life forms who launched the 1/6 treasonous insurrection as “hostages”...yeah, I would say that “masturbatory patriotism” applies to Stefanik and the guttural nematodes of her party (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and speaking of Repug U.S. House idiots, Big Stupid Head Matt Gaetz managed to be both racist AND chauvinist at the same time recently, as Farron Cousins explains – heckuva job...



...and turning to the other chamber of Congress, John and Francesca of The Damage Report tell us that Big Hair Blackburn is BAAAACK, introducing something called the Women’s Right To Know Act...I know you’ll be utterly shocked to find out that this is yet another anti-abortion bill, proving once more that the “party of Lincoln” has learned ABSOLUTELY NOTHING from the 2022 mid-term elections after Dobbs was handed down by The Supremes...



...and this video from Mike Figueredo tells us about Kentucky Repug state pol Nick Wilson, who was recently mocked for sponsoring a bill apparently in favor of incest (and this guy was a winner on “Survivor”...I think Figueredo is correct in that omitting the first cousin language was a weird mistake, but let’s not forget the totality of Wilson’s garbage record either, as noted in the clip...NSFW/H)...



...and Beau talks about a grand jury report focusing on the poor police response to the Uvalde gun massacre (great point by Beau that we really don’t know what the grand jury has been tasked to do, so it would be unrealistic to jump to conclusions, and we probably won’t know for certain what’s going on here until just about when the findings are released...as usual, Beau’s T-shirt is spot-on)...



...and The Beach Boys recorded this number to kick off "Pet Sounds" on this day in 1966 (nothing like a little warm, sunny tune to help with the winter doldrums).

Friday Stuff

Brian Tyler Cohen gives us another clip of Dem U.S. House Rep Jared Moskowitz kicking butt again, this time on the whole OMIGOD THOSE DIRTY DARK-SKINNNED PEOPLE ARE POURING OVER OUR SOUTHWEST BORDER IN THEIR MIGRANT CARAVANS AND CRIMING ALL OVER THE PLACE BS from the “party of Lincoln”...”the problem is more useful than the solution” indeed...



...and Ana and John of TYT discuss this Brittany Pietsch person who made a video of her getting fired from some company called Cloudflare (and no, I’m sure her case isn’t a “one off” either)...I have some related experience in these matters, I should say, as I’m sure a hell of a lot of other people do also; I give her credit for standing up and taking on this BS, but personally, I would not do something like this because potential employers do look at this stuff as Ana notes – not saying that’s fair, but only pointing out the reality...also, GREAT point by John that this HR person’s role is one of the jobs that likely will be eliminated because of AI – doesn’t make me incredibly happy to say that, but I’m sure that’s where that is going (and yeah, this Matthew Prince character is truly a jagoff)...



...and speaking of numbskull behavior, Kyle (not him) lets us know that the “Babylon Bee” recently went full racist on Vivek Ramaswamy...yeah, Vivek was an awful candidate, but as usual, conservatives think punching down is funny...kind of an insipid comment by Kyle to compare Vivek to Mayor Pete, seeing as how Buttigieg has gone onto a pretty prominent role in the Biden Administration...however, I think Kyle is absolutely dead-on in his explanation of why this, and conservative “comedy” generally, is always going to be “hacky”...sick bastards (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and it’s been a looong time since I saw a new clip from Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films, but he has one he just put up about all of the underlings turning on the Gropenfuhrer...if you’re reading this, I know you already know this stuff, but I think it bears repeating...



...and Jesse Dollemore brings us the tale of some wingnut named Lauren Witzke who wants to execute Democrats – yep, par for the wretched course...and I find it utterly hard to believe that Rachel Maddow would ever advocate for executing anybody; that’s the first clue IMO that this is utterly ridiculous (and her host on this program is at least as nutty as she is)...



...and Thom Hartmann asks “Can Democracy Survive The Morbidly Rich?”...great to know that, at least in Poland, they’ve had enough of right-wing garbage and are taking action...



..and RIP Peter Schickele, more frequently known by his persona of “PDQ Bach”...I applaud anyone with a bit of wacky sense of humor trying to push creative boundaries (such as with the “Concerto for Horn and Hardart”...nicely done), but this selection is from the ‘70s movie Silent Running with Bruce Dern, where Schickele composed the score with the help of Joan Baez (as presented in the clip)...



...and given the weather in these parts, this tune sure fits for today – please be careful out there.

Thursday Stuff

Mark Joseph Stern of Slate speaks with Sam and Emma of The Majority Report about Biden trying to do a workaround on abortion bans, focusing on Idaho and arguing that federal law pre-empts state law, which our renegade SCOTUS is going to look at, apparently – God help us...Stern mentions Kate Cox of Texas and alludes to other potential calamitous rulings from our theocrats in robes, though they may indeed deny immunity to “Tangerine Palpatine” (like that new one)...



...and speaking of the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR, it looks like they may get effectively rid of governmental regulations which are the underpinnings of everything out government does basically to keep us safe (ugh), as Robert Reich explains...



...and I thought this was an interesting commentary from Beau on the need to stay informed...he gets around to Israel/Palestine at about 5:30, and boy is he right about needing to know “the ingredients for peace”...”humans are creatures of habit, even if the habits are horrible” indeed...



...and speaking of people with horrible habits, Farron Cousins (not him) informs us that voters in CO-04 don’t like Bo-Bo Boebert either, which apparently is also true for her current district of CO-03 (04 is the new district where she’s running to try and stay in office), with Bo-Bo getting attacked for behavior in her Repug primary and attacked for policy-related reasons – that is, not doing a damn thing for her CO-03 constituents – by Dems in anticipation of the general election...



...and I thought this item was genuinely amusing; it looks like Billo The Clown is BIG MAD that, after cheering the book bans in Flori-DUUH! under Ron #DeathSantis, it looks like 2 O’Reilly screeds ended up on the banned list (Killing Jesus and Killing Reagan, apparently)...way too funny (NSFW/H)...



...and I guess, given this clip, the update to the slogan by Horace Greeley (you can Google him) would be “go west, young woman,” – nice to see some sun and sky, even if it’s only in a video for now.

Tuesday Stuff

Farron Cousins brings us the tale of Moms for Liberty school board member Keri Blair of Collierville County, Tennessee, who was arrested for repeatedly shoplifting at Target - yep, just add her to the list of miscreants associated with this foul, fetid organization...



...and the takeaway for me from this Beau clip about Iowa (and I don’t know about you, but I got SO SICK OF THE DAMN SATURATION FREAKING COVERAGE!, especially since it was pretty much a given that Our Ochre Abomination was going to walk away with it) is that 10 percent of Iowa voters who claim that they’ll support Nimarata Randhawa have also said that they’d support Biden over #45...that’s a hell of a lot of prospective voters, and do you honestly believe that that WOULDN’T play out across the country also? And I think this bears repeating also...



...and some maniac named D. John Sauer argued in court that Combover Caligula would have immunity if he ordered the assassination of a political rival using SEAL Team 6 – yes, you read that right, and I know I already commented on this, but this includes the audio (David Pakman brings us the gory details...an no, I’m not going to inflict the rantings of the Treasonous Man-Baby Former *Preznit on anybody)...



...and to discuss a matter of actual substance, Robert Reich informs us of who is better on the economy – the party of our current president or the one of his ruinous predecessor...



...and Jesse Dollemore tells us about “diaper Don” Jr. and Matt Walsh blaming African American women for airline problems...stoo-pidity on an almost subterranean level (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and this tune was #1 on the U.S. Top 40 and R&B charts 55 years ago today.

Monday Stuff

Chris Hayes makes what I think is a damn persuasive argument that we’re pretty much already living in the world of the Gropenfuhrer and his argument of using SEAL Team 6 to “take out” political opponents...good for Hayes to point out that threats of physical violence by ANYONE should DEFINITELY NOT be acceptable, whether it’s by Our Treasonous Orange Pustule or ANYBODY ELSE...



...and as a bit of proof to the prior claim, it looks like Ohio state representative Beth Lear is the latest wingnut (ette?) to publicize punishing kids with some made-up rationalization based on her interpretation of the Gospel, complete with drowning as a punishment...John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report give us the gory details (and I completely agree that quoting the “good book” shouldn’t more or less be a “get out of jail free” card when it comes to violent threats - more here)...



...but we can’t let “the Buckeye State” get all the bigoted “glory,” can we? We need to “share the wealth” with Tennessee too; Jesse Dollemore tells us about some idiot lawmaker in that state named Gino Bulso who has introduced legislation to ban pride flags from classrooms (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and that execrable bottom feeder Matt Walsh says it’s “gay” to buy your Valentine’s Day gift early for your wife/girlfriend (assuming males in his audience HAVE girlfriends), or something (taking a break from terrorizing children’s hospitals for allegedly performing top/bottom surgery on kids, which isn’t a thing)...I think Emma of TMR nails this pretty well (very NSFW/H at the end)...

...and for MLK day, I think it's appropriate to revisit this speech from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Barratt Middle School in Philadelphia on October 26. 1967, with the them of “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?"....



Update 1: An important note is here (here here, and here also).

...and this tune is apropos for the holiday also.



Update 2: And oh yeah, there's this...

Update 3: Well said (also this).

Friday Stuff

Mike Figueredo tells us his “take” that ’24 could be shaping up to be another awful year when it comes to trans rights, explicitly targeting adults (not even bothering to go through the pretense of “protecting kids” any more...and it’s particularly cruel and repellent to basically treat sex offenders better than innocent trans adults as Figueredo explains, and the “chef’s kiss” of BS is finding a way to bring Project 2025 into the picture...and I gave Mike DeWine credit for vetoing that awful Ohio bill earlier, but leave it to a Repug to take something good like that and then utterly destroy it...and more related cruelty is taking place in Indiana and Flori-DUUUH!...NSFW/H)...



...and speaking of pointless performative cruelty...well, we absolutely can’t forget about Texas, now can we...according to this clip, Greg Abbott went onto the Dana Loesch program and said, well, we can’t shoot immigrants, or else Biden would prosecute us for murder, or words to that effect...uuh, yeah, and SO SHOULD ANY OTHER THINKING, FEELING HUMAN BEING WITH A SOUL AND A CONSCIENCE, YOU HOMICIDAL GHOUL!!! John and Brett Erlich discuss...and yeah, I understand the Jon Lovitz quote, but though Biden admittedly has a lot of work in front of him, I don’t see him losing to Our Treasonous Self-Absorbed Delusional Man-Child (but again, there’s lots of time until November and much to do)...GREAT point to remind us that there indeed were plenty of overseas conflicts under Biden’s predecessor, but he was probably wolfing down Cokes and Big Macs while watching Fix Noise instead of manning his post as Commander in Chief while all of it was going on.

And Abbott is allegedly a “Christian”; if he’s supposed to be an avatar of morality, then I’m a nuclear physicist...



Update 1/14/24: More monstrous cruelty from Abbott is here.

...and since it’s Friday, I find that I have some items from the prior week that I’ll admit that I’m a little late on – my bad; here is one of those, with Our Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Orange Pestilence blaming Lincoln’s negotiating skills for The Civil War (and I have a feeling that Mango Mussolini is the only person on the planet who actually believes that), as well as that typically cruel, ridiculous dig at John McCain not being able to lift his arms because he was beaten to a pulp when he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam (and that annoying sniffing of his!)...and yes, to Sam and Emma’s point, if God forbid the “R” party gets power, they will indeed blow up “Obamacare” and replace it with absolutely nothing...



...and as long as we’re talking about former President Fergus Laing, I should include this clip also where David Pakman informs us that top EU official Thierry Breton said that #45 would never help Europe if it were attacked...yeah, we know what Combover Caligula thinks of NATO, so I guess we shouldn’t be completely shocked, should we? And kudos to Pakman for explaining exactly what happened with the Iran nuclear deal; they abided by the terms, but we’re the ones who blew it up...



...and I’m a little delinquent on this also; Ana of TYT discusses a subcontractor for Boeing (Spirit AeroSystems) who apparently failed to address quality control issues which may have led to a defect on the Alaska Airlines plane where the panel blew off in mid-flight – video also notes the reprisals taken by Spriit AeroSystems against employees trying to ensure quality and safety...



...and Thom Hartmann relates a tale or two here of earlier days abroad and how he more or less “greased the palm” of some people out of necessity, drawing an apt IMO comparison to some of the gamesmanship of our gangster, white-collar corpocracy in this country...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ tells us about Hunter Biden showing up for James Comer’s ridiculous hearing on...yeah, you guessed it, HUNTER FREAKING BIDEN, who watched Repug idiots like Nancy Mace and Marjorie Traitor Greene make even bigger fools of themselves (and kudos once again to Jamie Raskin and Jared Moskowitz for making short work of these assclowns...I honestly don’t want to know how f’d up you would have to be to even consider voting for Mace or Greene, let alone actually doing it)...



...and here’s something to help us rock into the weekend – hope it’s a good one for all.

Thursday Stuff

I know I’m a little behind on this item considering the anniversary of the insurrection was last Saturday, but I didn’t want this from Elise Stefanik to get swept under the proverbial rug (and once more, I know what The Lincoln Project is, but as long as they do good work, I’ll include their videos...NSFW/H)...



...and Beau of the Fifth Column tells us that the lawyers for Our Ochre Abomination actually argued in court that a president could send SEAL Team 6 to basically kill any political opponents unless he was impeached and convicted by the Senate (of course, these claims got the thrashing they deserved)...#45 is telling us EXACTLY what he’s all about and what he would do if, God forbid, he ever wielded the reins of power once again...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 1/11/19, which is part of an episode of a TV show from 1958, a western by all appearances, in which a stranger named “Trump” promises to make the townspeople safe by building a wall around their homes (an interesting little curio if nothing else...in some ways, I wish times were as simple now as they were then, or at least as they appeared, and I mean the period in which the show aired, in case there was any doubt)...



...and Farron Cousins brings us this item about aspiring Batman villain Roger Stone getting caught planning assassinations of Jerry Nadler and Eric Swalwell...oh, but just blame AI, huh? Like that doesn’t COMPLETELY FIT THE PROFILE for this execrable bottom feeder, huh?...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us about King Elon I briefly banning more lefty Twitter accounts, though they were reinstated (this is yet another example of “Apartheid Clyde” acting like a man-baby, though the stuff about the NLRB unfortunately lines up with the goals of the “shadow docket” SCOTUS, so that is a bit worrisome...NSFW/H)...



...and on this day 60 years ago, the surgeon general’s report came out linking cigarettes to cancer (here)... I guess this a bit of a curio also, from the same era as the Trump TV show.

Tuesday Stuff

John and Trae Crowder of The Damage Report discuss Massachusetts taxing the rich, and they’re using the revenue raised to pay for universal free school meals, updating infrastructure, and tuition-free education for community college students, among other important needs...yeah, what a shame that we can’t manage to do that across the country – if we did, the one percent would probably go kicking and screaming to their bought-and-paid-for SCOTUS about how their rights are being violated...



...and normally I wouldn’t preoccupy myself with the legalese surrounding the Gropenfuhrer, but given how perilously close we are to rulings that could benefit this treasonous criminal, I think it’s important to familiarize ourselves with the arguments that could very well decide whether or not our democracy ceases to exist; Lawrence O’Donnell fills us in (an important update is here – looks like Combover Caligula will have to try another legal “hail Mary” play)...



...and for even more absurdity from the “party of Lincoln,” Farron Cousins brings us the story of “George Santos” saying that he wants to be the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in another administration run by “diaper Don,” completely forgetting the likelihood that Santos will be in the slam before that opportunity arises, which hopefully will happen at exactly half past NO FREAKING WAY...



...and David Doel informs us that Mehdi Hasan has left MSNBC completely...I definitely agree with Doel’s opinion that Hasan dared to practice actual journalism (especially against Israel’s Mark Regev) and that’s what led to him being “on the outs”...my opinion (and I have no evidence to substantiate it of course) is that Hasan knew he was going to be under a microscope for every little thing he said and did even without his own show, and he probably felt like that wasn’t worth it (I also agree with Doel about Symone Sanders-Townsend and especially Michael Steele...part of me think that the typical corporate media audience for, say, CNN and MSNBC kind of frowns on the occasionally confrontational journalism that we need to be informed...love to be wrong about that)...



...and this video from More Perfect Union tells us more about why abortion clinics are closing, namely, that fewer private health care plans are covering the procedure, along with the fact that fewer sates are covering it through Medicaid (with Brooke Shuman, focusing on a clinic in Bristol, Virginia – abortion is still legal in VA but banned in Tennessee, which is on the border)...important to note the switch from abortions provided in hospitals vs. standalone clinics after Roe, and how the anti-abortion protests accelerated after the switch to clinics...also important to note the rise of so-called “TRAP laws,” having to do with building requirements (e.g., size of doorways), certifications for providers as well as hospital admitting privileges, all of which are totally unnecessary and irrelevant when It comes to providing abortion care...novel approach by the Knoxville, TN Planned Parenthood clinic to operate out of a mobile vehicle, though that shouldn’t be necessary of course...



...and happy 80th birthday to the incomparable Jimmy Page.

Monday Stuff

No, I definitely did not forget that last Saturday was the 3rd anniversary of the insurrection on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol building, encouraged by Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence (Katy Tur speaks with Capitol Police Ofc. Michael Fanone)...



...and Jesse Dollemore tells us about Repug governor of Flori-DUUH! Ron #DeathSantis giving a smug and disgusting answer when asked about the latest school shooting in this country, in Iowa this time (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and that’s probably an appropriate segue into this item about now-former NRA head Wayne LaPierre (here)...hard to measure all of the utter ruin he has inflicted on our lives (clip with Joy Reid is a couple of years old)...



...and I’m probably overloading things a bit here with all of this “Christian nationalist” BS, and apologies for inflicting all of this, but these wackadoodles need to be called out...Chris Williamson tells us more...



...and Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins discuss what is likely to be all of this “deep fake” AI stuff coming for the elections – I hope it isn’t a “tsunami,” but it may well be (another reason to get out front on the messaging RIGHT FREAKING NOW!, “DARK BRANDON”!!)...



...and RIP David Soul – “Starsky and Hutch” was pretty much regular viewing for yours truly way back when...I saw the movie a couple of years ago, and I guess it was a cute “homage”...and I know this is a sappy, saccharine tune, but I like it, so here it is.