Friday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us about “Cancun Cruz” begging for $$$, since he’s apparently getting outraised big time by Colin Allred and is having issues, let's say, according to an internal Repug poll...and by the way, Allred pretty much dog walked him in that recent debate...and oh yeah, Cruz goes on Sean Inanity’s program on that alleged “news” channel to grovel for dough, which, as Cousins says, is likely illegal...maybe the FCC can do something about it? (more here)...



...and yeah, I know The Lincoln Project is pretty much yesterday and today’s non-Trump Republicans, but including their clips is kind of an “enemy of my enemy is my friend” thing, and boy, are they ever spot-on about Our Ochre Abomination (and I’m glad they featured the lies from Cantaloupe Capone to put them in the context of the suffering of hurricane victims, which #45 will never care about of course...and oh yeah, let’s not forget Project 2025 also)...



...and this clip is a couple of days old I know, but I definitely think it’s important to keep in mind...Rachel Maddow tells us about considering a vote for Mango Mussolini and “business decisions”...yeah, if you’re serious about that and you’re trying to decide who to vote for, it’s pretty much a slam dunk for Kamala Harris as far as yours truly is concerned (unless of course “business decisions” is code for “OMIGOD I CAN’T IMAGINE VOTING FOR A BLACK WOMAN FOR PRESIDENT!!”...and when it comes to how good Our Sweaty Orange Bronzer Boy supposedly is for business, allow me to present this)...



...and Miss Beau gives us her analysis of Kamala Harris’s interview with Bret Baier, the “news person” on Fix Noise...a little surprised to hear her say that she doesn’t think the country is on the right track, unless she just misspoke (or unless she thinks Harris should be more progressive, which is fine with me)...



...and Desi Lydic and Grace Coolidge of The Daily Show give us a little more perspective on the Harris/Baier thing, as well as those absolutely priceless reactions from the Univision audience in response to the particularly stoo-pid lies from the Gropenfuhrer about the January 6th insurection...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report let us know that Our Orange Low Energy Boy is apparently looking to nap somewhere, and he’s also at the point where he’s spouting his BS on the Dan Bongino podcast, or whatever that is (and Harvey Weinstein got “schlonged”?? I agree with the observation that he caught himself from saying what he really wanted to say...and mentioning Eric Adams? Yep, more sympathy for actual or accused criminals, which isn’t surprising...more disgusting nonsense is here)...



...and I thought I’d let Tennessee Brando have the last word on the election for now, which will soon be upon us (when it comes to in-person voting...mail-in voting is well underway)...he focuses on the decline of our twice-impeached former *president, with our supposedly august corporate media FINALLY paying attention...yeah, Combover Caligula apparently just stood there dancing for 30-40 minutes at one of these rallies? Un-freaking-believable, even for him! And yeah, Oaks, PA is on the edge of Montgomery County on the way to Pennsyltucky, so I’m not surprised that some of our lower life forms gathered at that location to pledge fealty to Dear Leader...and once more, for the record, Biden stepping down was the right move – I think he genuinely has a health issue – but I will NEVER forgive our alleged media geniuses and the pundit class overall (to say nothing of cowardly Dem politicians) who basically shoved him aside over a single bad debate performance (and some food for thought IMO on that is here)...



...and on this day in 1979, The Buggles hit #1 in the UK with this tune (which was also the first video on that brand new cable channel called MTV, which led the way into all kinds of ‘80s weirdness as far as yours truly is concerned, along with other legitimately terrific stuff...actually, the Wikipedia article has the tune hitting the top UK spot the week of 10/20 - close enough for me).

Wednesday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore brings us the latest on Mango Mussolini threatening to sic the military on his political opponents in an interview with that shrieking harpie Maria Bartiromo, who engages in some typically disgusting demagoguery on her own to set up Bronzer Beelzebub for his “slam dunk” (and Bartiromo is too far gone to care about the clear and present danger posed by Our Ochre Abomination of course)...and even with Biden’s admitted diminished capacity, I would LOVE to watch Cantaloupe Capone try to go bike riding with “No Malarkey Joe,” assuming Our Treasonous Orange Man-Baby could keep his bulbous butt on the seat without sliding off (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and David Shuster tells us about Jessica Tarlov continuing to dish out some reality to those hyenas on “The Five” in the matter of President Biden supposedly not providing relief to states hit by Hurricanes Helene and Milton...I didn’t know that about the Gropenfuhrer just about totally denying relief funds to Roy Cooper of North Carolina, but that sure fits the profile...and “Tampon Tim”? Coming from “Diaper Boy”? Truly, it is to laugh (at Our Treasonous Orange Pustule, I mean)...



...and don’t look now, but Combover Caligula recently stranded individuals who decided to attend a recent Bund rally at Coachella in California, as Ben Meiselas of The Midas Touch Network tells us...and by the way, I’m waaay past the point of actually feeling sorry for these Trumpist life forms who get stranded after #45’s ridiculous hate-filled rallies of his...yeah, blame the mayor of Coachella; that’ll work (and kudos to actor Bryan Cranston for standing up)...



...and this “60 Minutes” segment profiles Al Schmidt, who is the current Secretary for the Commonwealth of PA. regarding the question of how secure voting is in PA (spoiler alert...EVERYTHING IS FREAKING FINE!!!)...I don’t know who this reporter is, but I think either her or her producer dropped the ball on this story; she didn’t even mention Act 77, which reformed mail-in voting in PA (more here) – Repugs supported it because they wanted to get rid of straight-ticket voting, and Dems agreed to that because it expanded mail-in voting...and by the way, Dems are trying to advance a bill in Harrisburg to allow for counting mail-in ballots prior to election day (here), but it probably won’t go anywhere because PA Repugs want their bogus voter ID requirements to be enshrined in PA law (and once again, voter ID is a “solution” in search of a problem... in case you think there ISN’T a purely political motivation behind voter ID in our beloved commonwealth, I would ask that you read this)...



...and RIP Lilly Ledbetter, whose fight for equal pay for equal work led to the paycheck fairness law that bears her name...

...and I have to admit that I went back and forth on this next item a bit, but I decided to include it, and please allow me to “go meta” again with this explanation (hope it’s not too boring).

When I started doing this forever ago, it wasn’t to show the world how allegedly brilliant my prose is. It was (then as now) to promote informed dialogue. If I thought that I could add some explanation to clear up any possible misunderstanding about an issue, I thought I had a right to add it, and I still feel that way. And one of those issues has to do (a bit tangentially I guess) with the incident pictured above, which took place on this day in 1968 (and which led to this idiocy from Brent Musberger, and as far as I know, Musberger has never apologized for it).

To me, there is a direct line between the 1968 Olympic protest of John Carlos and Tommie Smith and that of Colin Kaepernick, taking a knee during the anthem as he did because of police violence which overwhelmingly impacts African Americans (and no, he wasn’t disrespecting our military). The latest example of this is this madness around the police stop of Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins (and not for nothing, but if anyone thinks the NFL didn’t collude to keep out Kaepernick for his protest, then you must live in a magical land of cotton candy, elves and unicorns; I’ve seen so much mediocrity in the allegedly wonderful NFL that I find it impossible to believe that Kaepernick could not have gotten a job as a backup quarterback AT LEAST for SOMEBODY).

(By the way, if you want, you can consider this a bit of a “make up” for the fact that I pretty much ignore Black History Month in February, largely because I think people of all nationalities, ethnicities and gender preferences should be celebrated all the freaking time and not just for a single month. And no, I'm also not saying you have the right to argue with cops when they tell you to do something...I'm just looking for good judgment and common sense on the part of everyone.)

Feel free to disagree of course, on this item as well as anything else (which comes with the territory when you put your opinion out there like this I know), but I think this needed to be said (and I think this tune fits for this topic also).



Update 1: And no sooner did I put this out there when this appears (h/t Eschaton), which reinforces the need for Smith/Carlos/Kaepernick’s protests as far as yours truly is concerned.

Update 2: More food for thought on this topic is here.

Tuesday Stuff

Emma Vigeland of The Majority Report tells us about Bronzer Beelzebub calling into the program of the also-thoroughly-odious Hugh Hewitt, with 45 slobbering over potential new real estate in Gaza...yeah, let’s just build skyscrapers on top of the bodies of dead Palestinians, including kids – what a plan!...and you can indeed argue that the ongoing genocide in that region is built on the model we used against the Native Americans, and other countries used against other indigenous populations, to be fair.

(And by the way, please allow me to articulate the following once more...yes, we should do all we can to bring home any hostages from Hamas’s beyond-cowardly 10/7/23 attacks that can still be rescued and provide a decent burial for those who have perished, and the vile Hamas cretins responsible should be brought to justice and tried in an international court...and THEN we need to step up and lead talks with EVERYONE in the region including Palestinians – spare me this “Abraham Accords” business! – about ending those damn West Bank settlements, rebuilding Gaza and sharing land between Israel and the Palestinians in as non-punitive a way as possible for all sides. Oh, and I wouldn’t mind seeing “Bibi” facing charges of crimes against humanity either.)

With that admittedly boring pretext out of the way, here's the Majority Report segment (NSFW/H)...



...and in response to the Gropenfuhrer’s disparaging comments about Detroit, the Harris/Walz campaign released the following ad, which is spot-on (as usual for the campaign...and yeah, I know I’m biased a bit...and by the way, the MLB club ended up doing pretty well this year also)...



...and playing off that, Tim Walz brings some of his typical energy to these remarks about manufacturing jobs lost under Cantaloupe Capone (and oh yeah, ask the Carrier employees in Indiana about how well 45 “protected their jobs”...he actually did for some, but most of the jobs went offshore, and the remaining employees had to work 8-10 hours a day, 7 days a week...here)...



...and most of our corporate media is definitely waaay too goddamn slow when it comes to “getting the memo” about Our Ochre Abomination, but not Chris Hayes, quite rightly calling what’s taking place a “slow motion insurrection”...yeah, Couch Boy has made it pretty clear that he’ll do the bidding of The Gropenfuhrer without question, as he does in that New York Times interview...also, it seems that 97 election-related lawsuits have been filed by #45 and his allies, to “seed the ground” (as Hayes aptly puts it) to challenge the upcoming vote...Hayes speaks with USC law professor Franita Tolson along with Ian Bassin of the group Protect Democracy, and I know the Stephanopoulos segment with “MAGA Mike” Johnson is a repeat, but I think it’s still timely...and boy, is Bassin ever right to call out our “fourth estate” when it comes to the danger posed by Our Demented Orange Toddler...



...and when it comes to journalists who didn’t put up with any BS (as opposed to the individuals now who make “access” to newsmakers their highest priority as opposed to educating and informing their audience...and gee, who might I be referring to? It’s on the tip of my tongue), a true role model as far as yours truly is concerned was Donald Barlett, who just left us (one example is here)...I thought this clip contained some interesting insights into the New York Times (which isn’t surprising as far as I’m concerned) and the issues that corporate America wants reporters to cover and which ones it wants reporters to leave alone...by the way, the Center for Immigration Studies is a wingnut outfit; I have to admit that I’m surprised that they produced this clip...



...and I don’t see any local area stops for this band on their tour schedule (unless they dropped by already), but if I find one or more, I’ll update that here...like the sound of this newer tune.

Monday Stuff

(This pic was from 3/13/20, lest we forget...and I would ask that you take a minute or two to contemplate the COVID-related horrors that we would face after that date.)

Jesse Dollemore discusses the latest demented musings from Our Ochre Abomination, which leads into a discussion about Bronzer Beelzebub’s utter fumbling of the COVID outbreak, as long as #45 decided that he would make jokes about the Biden circles (which, as Jesse explains, were something Biden instituted because he gave a damn about keeping people safe during a global pandemic, unlike Our Treasonous Low Energy Orange Man-Baby)...



...and as long as we’re mentioning COVID, I think it’s apropos to bring back this clip from nearly four and a half years ago...



...and apologies for being a week late with this clip of George Stephanopoulos questioning “MAGA Mike” Johnson on whether or not Trump lost the presidential election four years ago, and of course Johnson (who led the U.S. House effort to undermine the vote in 2020 for his boss as noted here) refuses to answer the question, as David Shuster tells us...and gee, Uday Jr., don’t you mean the “Democrat Party”? Or, as Joe McCarthy once said, “always emphasize the ‘rat’”? (removing my tongue from my cheek)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen (speaking with attorney Marc Elias) tells us that it looks like the SCOTUS has shown a sliver of a conscience by denying a suit by PA Repugs on behalf of the bogus Independent State Legislature theory (more here)...if God forbid that were ever enacted, it would lead to unregulated gerrymandering and election subversion...and I cannot possible see how this WOULDN’T lead to MAGA mania in the majority of our state legislatures, any of them run by Repugs anyway...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 10/14/19...I believe it was Crooks and Liars who unearthed this clip back then from the 1961 movie “Judgement at Nuremberg” based on the Nazi trials after World War II, with Burt Lancaster as Ernst Janning, one of the 4 judges on trial – in case anybody wonders where MAGA mania would take this country if unchecked, I think this gives you a pretty gut-churning indication (or something hideously like it anyway)...



...and today marks the 30th anniversary of the U.S. release of "Pulp Fiction," with this number kicking off the opening credits.

Sunday Stuff

John and Francesca of the Damage Report bring us this nonsense with Jesse Watters and some Trumpist lackey (Jason Miller I think) telling us that they believe that there’s something up with Dem VP candidate Tim Walz, and that is superimposed with this utterly cringe video of Xitter King Elon pretty much acting like a cranked-out fool at another one of these hate-filled rallies for Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence...I think “unsalvageably uncool” is pretty on the mark...



...and Jesse Dollemore lets us know that Gen. Mark Milley warned Bob Woodward that Bronzer Beelzebub is the “most dangerous person to this country,” also reported in the previously mentioned upcoming book by Woodward (and again, I guess we have to wait until books are written for these revelations instead of reporting them in real time)...and as far as I’m concerned, this clip provides yet more evidence that Merrick Garland is totally overmatched by the job of Attorney General (NSFW/H)...

...and don’t look now, but guv Ron #DeathSantis of Flori-DUUH! is threatening not to air an ad for that state’s pro-choice ballot measure, with the FCC reminding that gubernatorial asshat that, no, you can’t act like a tin pot dictator in this country without repercussions...



...oh, and here's a reminder that our wet noodle PA-01 U.S. House rep wants to deny women their bodily autonomy also...

Brian Fitzpatrick cares more about his MAGA buddies in Washington than for the people of PA-01.

We can't let him get away with trying to strip us of our reproductive freedoms.

One month until Election Day! pic.twitter.com/9mlcPpWd9h

— Ashley Ehasz (@ashley_ehasz) October 5, 2024

...and it would be nice if Bri-Fi could get asked about that in a candidates debate, but noooo...it looks like he’s bailing on that as noted here...and as far as I’m concerned, that means that it’s a good excuse to play this clip once more (and to help Bri-Fi's Dem challenger Ashley Ehasz, click here)...



...and happy 80th birthday to keyboardist Robert Lamm of Chicago.

Friday Stuff

This Lincoln Project clip informs us that those remarks that are kind of casual asides from Byron Donalds and other Trumpist stooges (“yeah, what matters is Inauguration Day, not Election Day”) let you know that these characters will indeed keep trying to overturn our democracy in favor of Our Treasonous Orange Pustule regardless of the electoral outcome...



...and Miss Beau lets us know about our latest grievance from Our Treasonous Orange Man-Baby – you know, it’s almost funny to hear #45 whine about Kamala Harris and “60 Minutes” because, in the process, he gives away everything he tries to do for himself, namely, to have interviews edited to try and make him sound intelligent...and OF COURSE that means, as far as Combover Caligula is concerned, that that program must be “investigated” (that is, kicked off the air)...and since he’s running away from Fix Noise, yeah, I guess he’ll be trying to get air time from OAN and Newsmax next...nice job to work in that line about the pets of Springfield, Ohio...



...and Chris Hayes tells us about the “party of Lincoln” “suddenly” seeing disinformation in the hurricane crisis...oh, so NOW that PEOPLE ARE FREAKING DYING AND LOSING THEIR HOMES, NOW you decide to push back against the outrageous garbage from Marjorie Train Wreck Greene, Ronna Romney McDaniel and the rest of their foul, fetid ilk? Forgive me while I ask a bit of an impolite question...WHERE THE F*CK HAVE YOU IDIOTS BEEN FOR AT LEAST THE LAST EIGHT YEARS OR SO? LIVING UNDER A ROCK??!!...



...and Thom Hartmann brings us the story of Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka, California, an allegedly Catholic institution, which is so “pro-life” that they almost let a woman die who needed a medical abortion since her water broke at about 15 weeks, and the twins she was carrying would not survive...take a bow, you criminal SCOTUS, for trashing Roe and enabling this garbage (and kudos to California AG Rob Bonta for going after these criminals as noted here)...sorry Thom’s video is a little choppy...



...and this latest “Classroom” segment from Sean Morrow and More Perfect union discusses microplastics...and yes, unfortunately, we’re just going to ingest some of this garbage as we live our lives, but it definitely doesn’t help when unregulated manufacturing is responsible also...I’d heard of PCBs, but I’ve never heard about PAHs until now, and I’m not one bit surprised to find that Monsanto is part of this mess also...and calling something a “nurdle” sounds a bit benign, but in this case, it’s anything but...and Diane Wilson is my new heroine for her battle against Formosa Plastics in Seadrift, Texas, which as you can guess is a foreign-owned company manufacturing plastics and nurdles without end, and leaking vinyl chloride which can cause cancer, along with all of the chemical manufacturers mentioned in the video and probably many others also...terrific...



...and I ask myself the title of this song most every day (along with the lyrics a bit also), and I’m sure I’m not alone on that...if you’re reading this, I have a feeling you do too.

Thursday Stuff

Kyle Kulinski gives us an update on Trumpist Royce White in Minnesota, running against Dem Amy Klobuchar in that state’s U.S. Senate contest...I have issues with Klobuchar, but definitely not enough to not support her in her re-election bid (sorry for the double negative)...yeah, White is pretty much a piece of sh*t for saying “the bad guys won” in WWII, which of course spits on the sacrifice of my father along with millions of others who served our nation...and this from some guy who appears to be addicted to porn of one type or another, as if he would have any grounds whatsoever to try and make a charge like that (NSFW/H)...

...and speaking of the leader of White’s party, Lawrence O’Donnell tells us that (according to a soon-to-be-published book by Bob Woodward), Trump sent COVID testing equipment to Vlad The Butcher that WE FREAKING COULD HAVE USED HERE DURING THE PANDEMIC, YOU TRAITOR!!! (and apparently it was needed in particular by hospitals at the time - it wasn’t the testing kits where you swab inside your nose, stick the swab in the card and look for the result)...and I guess we just live in an era where stories like this apparently will NEVER be reported in real time, but only as part of a book deal for some well-heeled scribe like Woodward... and what does it tell you about how dumb 45 is that it took Putin having to warn him about the blowback over the testing equipment? And as far as I'm concerned, the question about who was worse, Trump or Nixon, was settled long ago...glad to hear Harris keep hammering home the point that, at these fascist Bund rallies of his, Mango Mussolini only prattles on about himself and definitely NOT your kids or your family, which, in addition to being completely true, is a great campaign message...also, good for O’Donnell to work in Medicare and that Harris/Walz is proposing expanding coverage to include long-term home care...



...and Jesse Dollemore reminds us that Our Treasonous Orange Pustule is still “blowing kisses” to Orban, Erdogan, Duterte, and other dictators, including Putin and Kim Jong Un of course...THIS should be the blaring red siren when it comes to our elections as far as our utterly useless corporate media is concerned (and I know I alluded to that yesterday), as opposed to saying, “oh, 45 is changing because of cognitive decline”...and oh yeah, Cantaloupe Capone said he’d be trustworthy as dictator to Sean Inanity; what could go wrong (removing my tongue form my cheek)???...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report bring us the news that, apparently, Combover Caligula told the FBI to spike the investigation into “I Like Beer” Brett Kavanaugh (here) – yeah, this sure fits the profile for the Gropenfuhrer, doesn’t it?...this leads into another chapter in the annals of white grievance culture from the previously mentioned Sean Inanity; yeah, they’re trying to find some way, somehow to offset the likely electoral impact of trashing Roe v. Wade and coming up with this nonsense like “OH YEAH? WELL, WHAT ABOUT THE DRAFT AND HOW THAT IMPACTS MEN???!!”...also, they mention 45's beyond ridiculous watch scam (here)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen and Glenn Kirschner tell us about some rare good news from our thoroughly corrupt SCOTUS (as long as we just mentioned Kavanaugh), namely, our Philistines in robes told both Bronze Beelzebub and Xitter King Elon I to pound sand and keep #45’s electronic communication under seal for 6 months as per a lower court order (and in accordance with Special Prosecutor Jack Smith's investigation)...I’m inclined to believe that #45, in collaboration with Xitter, would indeed want this 6-month info to determine the parties in communication with Our Treasonous Orange Man-Baby so they could either lean on them and harass them or get $$ from them of course or try to subvert our government with them...



...and today marks what would have been the 78th birthday of John Prine, who ended up as a COVID casualty, sadly... would he have been saved if he’d gotten tested for COVID earlier, using the equipment that was sent to Russia instead by you-know-who? We’ll never know.

Wednesday Stuff

Miss Beau informs us that it looks like Hurricane Milton is barreling its way towards Ft. Myers in Flori-DUUUH!; hope everybody has gotten the hell out, and if not, what on earth are you waiting for? Oh, and #45 was yapping about supposedly never hearing of a Cat 5 hurricane before...um, Hurricane Dorian was a Cat 5 that happened while he was *president (leading to the whole “sharpie drawing on the map” thing, as pictured) and Hurricane Irma hit Puerto Rico (leading to the whole “watch me pitch paper towels to these people whose homes have been destroyed” thing...and it looks like guv #DeathSantis isn’t taking calls from Biden and Harris, as noted here? What a jagoff...and I guess U.S. House Speaker “MAGA Mike” Johnson couldn’t fund FEMA because he was too busy monitoring his son’s porn intake as noted here)...



...and Trae Crowder gives us some perspective as only he can on how much the wingnuts caterwaul about big gumint, though they want it to do everything they want and be completely available for them 24/7/365, though they’re too dumb to realize that (in light of the ongoing effort to clean up from Helene’s devastation, and with Milton on the way also as already noted...NSFW/H)...

...and here is my occasional reminder that a sizeable portion of this country is nuts and willing to “stand back and stand by” for Our Treasonous Orange Pustule (to do something about that, click here)...



...and Jumpin’ Judas H. Priest On A Pogo Stick! The “Old Gray Lady” FINALLY discovers that #45’s brain is turning into pudding...but OF COURSE they STILL treat Combover Caligula with kid gloves in the process – David Pakman gives us more info on that...



...and today marks what would have been the 84th birthday of John Lennon...



...and happy birthday also to Jackson Browne.

Tuesday Stuff

David Pakman tells us that Our Treasonous Orange Pustule spouted off recently that Kamala Harris is murdering people at another one of these hate-filled rallies in Wisconsin (God, what a delusional psycho this guy is, but we knew that)...yep, as sick as you can imagine, and more and more incoherent as Pakman points out (I’m not even going to research his babblings...$93 trillion, huh? And buildings in Manhattan with no windows, and Democrats supposedly wanting to do something with bathrooms? And if Dems are able to take back the House, then yeah, we’ll be hearing about the Green New Deal again, you orange turd)...



...and Chris Hayes gives us more BS from Combover Caligula and Marjorie Train Wreck Greene, with the latter saying “they” can control the weather (and as Hayes points out, along with at least one Repug in North Carolina government, this stuff is hampering relief effort for people trying to recover from Helene)...I honestly don’t know what you do with the life forms who continue to believe this garbage; let them fester and stew in their own insanity and leave us alone, I guess (and Milton is on its way also, so it looks like this entire awful cycle will repeat itself...love to be wrong – all of this makes me recall this post)...



...and I know I said yesterday I would have something on the Biden Administration settling the dock workers strike, and Mike Figueredo comments on that here, featuring Harold Daggett, the leader of the striking workers, and their quest to obtain an eventual 77 percent pay increase, which, as Figueredo explains, really isn’t that unreasonable given both the specialization of their type of work and the potential danger...also a great point by Figueredo to talk about “class solidarity,” and of course, leave it to some numbskull from Fix Noise to try and spin the strike to make it sound like the longshoremen are trying to hurt farmers and other U.S. consumers while giving Maersk a pass...also, I realize that person questioning Our Ochre Abomination is going to keep yapping about INFLATION KAMALA HARRIS OMIGOD!!!, but it should be noted for about the zillionth time that INFLATION IS STATISTICALLY NOT AN ISSUE IN THIS COUNTRY!!! (here)... and as noted here, Bronzer Beelzebub might have been (with the exception of The Sainted Ronnie R) the most anti-worker president in our lifetimes, and #45’s comments about “dead head spending,” or whatever that mess was, was just a typical pro-business riff on THE ONE PERCENT MUST HAVE THEIR TAX CUTS WHILE THE GAYS AND THE TRANNIES AND THE ILLEGALS AND THOSE LAZY LOW-WAGE WORKERS HAVE TO GET IT IN THE NECK!! (NSFW/H)...



...and I have to admit that I don’t know much about Julie Su (referenced also in the Figueredo clip), but I was impressed by the way she handled that stoo-pid question from some pro-business lackey about “oh, the dockworkers can’t get a 63 percent wage increase phased in over 5 years because that cost will be passed on to consumers” nonsense (from Sam and Emma of The Majority Report...maybe the exact number of the wage increase is between the 77 from Mike Figueredo and the 63 percent here)...one of Sam’s good points has to do with the size of these cargo ships that can only dock in a few ports in this country and the related economic impact...



...and in keeping with anti-worker hostility in this country, this More Perfect Union clip takes a look at the Marathon Petroleum Refinery, which might be the greediest oil company in this country, and that’s saying a lot I know; the Teamsters are striking for a fairer wage and some reasonable time off for the workforce...important story, but it’s hard to hear the damn narrator!...



...and every once in a while, I think we need a bit of an inspirational tune, and I think this newer number works for now.

Monday Stuff

Chris Hayes tells us about Cantaloupe Capone blaming Biden for supposedly not handling disaster relief for the victims of Hurricane Helene properly (big shock – Our Ochre Abomination is LYING again)...but oopsie! It turns out that Our Treasonous Orange Pustule actually did that when he was in An Oval Office...and yes, give #46 and Harris credit also for handling the dock workers strike...and gosh, Sean Inanity haz a sad about the settlement...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! (I’ll have more on that...the settlement, that is)...and oh yeah, a newspaper in North Carolina is telling the leader of Cult 45 to knock it off with the BS about the relief effort (here), and here is a list of Repug U.S. Senators who voted against FEMA funding, including Cancun Cruz and Lex Luthor Scott (to do something about Cruz, click here, and to do something about Scott, click here...and oh yeah, there is this too)...



Update: And here we go again, unfortunately.

...and in a related item, Jesse Dollemore lets us know about more madness from Marjorie Traitor Greene; the GA-14 loon sez “they” can “control the weather” in a tweet of course (to do something about this goofball, click here)...this echoes the Hayes clip a bit of Trump withholding aid during natural disasters (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and speaking of Scott in the “sunshine state,” John and Francesca tell us that the Repug U.S. senatorial mistake admits that “something is happening” when it comes to more extreme weather events and the scarier climate picture, but as for cutting back on carbon emissions to try and do something about it, cue the sound of crickets...and Bo-Bo Boebert’s opponent in Colorado should be able to use this latest bit of stoo-pidity against the Beetlejuice vaping queen...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen informs us that Kamala Harris is going after Bronzer Beelzebub for losing 200K manufacturing jobs...clip does a good job of showing Harris baiting #45, letting the toddler have his meltdown in the debate and then Tim Walz quite correctly chimes in on what a pathetic showing it was, and putting it in the context of other world leaders taking notes...and oh yeah, Couch Boy is indirectly crediting Biden/Harris on manufacturing jobs vs. the ones Mango Mussolini lost, whether he realizes it or not (NSFW/H)...



...and today is the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s cowardly attack on Israel (here), which has truly unleashed hell on earth in response (here), but today is also the 18th anniversary of the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya...as noted here, one of her murderers was pardoned last November for fighting in Ukraine, which is a further insult to Politkovskaya's memory as far as yours truly is concerned...



Update 10/12/24: I failed to give the reminder that Politkovskaya was murdered pretty much on Putin's birthday (here)...I'll let you make of that what you will, dear reader.

..and kudos to “The Boss” for endorsing Kamala Harris (here); I think that calls for the following tune.

Friday Stuff

Lawrence O’Donnell gives us a deeper dive into the latest filing from Jack Smith – gee, looks like Mike Pence took notes, huh? Too bad for Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence...and why did I know that John Eastman was the Trumpist bootlicker trying to plead the case for Mango Mussolini (and I’m sure Eastman will end up in the slam for a looong time, which is exactly what he deserves)...I think O’Donnell kind of trips over himself a bit from about 3:18 to 3:24, but you get the idea that the Electoral College Act forbade what Eastman had in mind and it seems like he and #45 wanted Mike Pence to do the dirty work with getting the slates of fake electors to the state legislatures for confirmation, but Pence wouldn’t go along – never thought I’d be giving Pence credit for anything, but I guess I have to even though he acted out of legal self-preservation...and yeah, Couch Boy made it pretty obvious on Tuesday that he would do what Pence wouldn’t (more here)...



...and I kind of put this on the back burner because of other more timely stuff, but Steve Shives (who previously sat in for Jesse Dollemore, though Jesse is back now) lets us know that Our Ochre Abomination’s latest scam is to sell crappy watches to his sheep-like followers, and for $110 grand? Truly, it is to laugh; indeed, the grift never ends...and “not on our watch,” huh? Nicely done...and that goes not just for Combover Caligula and his “mini me,” but we have to VOTE BLUE UP AND DOWN THE DAMN BALLOT, PEOPLE! (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and in keeping with Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence, Brian Tyler Cohen lets us know that #45 was caught typically trying to lie his way out of the fact that people are leaving his little Bund rallies early...and yeah, there was a hurricane in Flori-DUUH! all right Bronzer Boy...how about the fact that wide swaths of the Southeast up to North Carolina were PULVERIZED by Hurricane Helene, and maybe instead of that typical Ivermectin scam of yours, you could put up an 800 number and a URL onscreen for people to make donations for Helene’s victims? Oh, but that doesn’t help your grift of course...I can dream, can’t I?...and GREAT point about how easy it would be for despots to get Cantaloupe Capone to bait him into doing what THEY want, given how easy it is to get under his skin...



...and of course our thoroughly corrupted SCOTUS did an awful lot to try and establish the leader of Cult 45 as dictator, in the beyond-awful event of Biden’s ruinous predecessor somehow getting another shot at power in An Oval Office...with that in mind, John Oliver take a look at our court system, including circuit courts, state appellate courts, and of course Leonard Leo – and yeah, we already knew that Leo was a lying scumbag, but this segment emphasizes that also...and good for focusing on overturning the Chevron doctrine and the truly huge number of times Chevron was successfully cited as a precedent (and I would say that that was truly a mask-off moment with Gorsuch when he was trying to do his “man of the people” bit...GMAFB!)...



...and at a certain point, I guess you just have to laugh a bit, albeit through clenched teeth (here - incredibly NSFW//H)...



...and the prior clips had to do with political BS, but this one has to do with life and death unfortunately...Mike Figueredo informs us that a South Carolina woman named Amari Marsh was charged with murder after a miscarriage...and yeah, the fact that this lady was contacted BY A GODDAMN COP FOR HER MISCARRIAGE is the first fluorescent red light flashing all over the place...and by the way, cops investigating miscarriages is definitely a thing in South American “Catholic” countries, but I guess we’re officially a third world nation now and I missed the memo (NSFW/H also)...



...and related to the prior clip, Thom Hartmann asks if Texas has outlawed health care for women, given that four counties in “the land of the yellow rose” have passed travel bans saying that, if you transport a woman through that county to get an abortion, you can be sued for up to $10K...also, Repugs are trying to prevent abortion legalization measures from getting passed in Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio, and other anti-women’s healthcare nonsense is going on in other states also, including trying to prevent pro abortion rights petitioners from getting signatures...I hope I’m wrong of course, but I can’t see how this won’t lead to violence somehow...



...and in musical news, today is the 10th anniversary of the death of Paul Revere (of The Raiders, mainly from the ‘60s)...would you believe me if I told you that I accidentally ran into him swimming in a pool at a Residence Inn in Laurel, Maryland? I didn’t realize who it was at first; he struck up a conversation, and at first I thought, what’s the deal with this guy? Then, as we talked, he found a way to work into the conversation that he was a musician, and it came up who he really was; I probably should have recognized him sooner (and I later checked out what he said, and he was right of course...he mentioned that a band member was from Eugene, Oregon, which is correct...turns out it's Mark Lindsay), and I was definitely blown away when we talked with him (I was with our son)...I ran some of the band’s legendary song titles past him, and the smile on his face was electric enough to light up a whole room; I honestly think it was him...damn nice guy...RIP.

Thursday Stuff

I thought this was a pretty decent partial list of the lies from J.D. Vance in last Tuesday’s VP debate from Joy Reid; yeah, Couch Boy does indeed have his whole act patented where he sounds intelligent and doesn’t provide much fodder for his opponent, but you indeed have to dig through what the Repug U.S. Senator from Ohio is saying to find out what a brazen con man he truly is (here)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us about Never Trumper Charlie Sykes pointing out that the Gropenfuhrer’s cognitive decline is getting worse...and yeah, it‘s scary to contemplate that people in this country know they’re being lied to and don’t care; I can assure you that I will NEVER tolerate someone lying to me on an issue, regardless of what political party they represent...clip ends at about 4:38 without the ad...



...and also pertaining to Biden’s ruinous predecessor in An Oval Office, New York Times reporter Michael B. Schmidt discusses how Bronzer Beelzebub wanted to make himself a prosecutor of sorts to go after his critics in 2018, but apparently was stopped by John Kelly and Don McGahn, fortunately (if, God forbid, #45 gets another crack at this, he won’t be told No this time, people, and as Schmidt points out, #45 did indeed go after Schmidt’s phone records as well as those of other reporters)...



...and David Pakman lets us know that Cantaloupe Capone is big mad that Biden delivered hurricane aid to red states (as usual, every accusation from the “R” party is a confession)...and Big Stupid Head Matt Gaetz took a break from trying to solicit sex from teenage girls (allegedly!) so he could vote against FEMA aid to Flori-DUUH! before Hurricane Helene struck...just say “oops” and get out, OK?...I think Pakman needs to do something about his mic...



...and this report from More Perfect Union lets us know about Google and Meta (Facebook) buying up local news organizations and siphoning off billions in ad revenue from these smaller operations...didn’t know how important ad exchanges are to the entire profit-making equation for newspapers and smaller publishers...interesting that Australia came up with a strategy around what Google and Meta are doing (and more on Google’s tactics against the CJPA is here)...as far as I’m concerned, we’re going to have to get serious in this country when it comes to forming some kind of a public-private partnership to fund local news orgs so they can keep people and communities informed (and get through some lean periods of declining ad revenue), but I definitely don’t see enough of an appetite for that, unfortunately...



...and happy 45th birthday to drummer Nate Wood of The Calling.

Wednesday Stuff

Brian Tyler Cohen gives us some clips of last night’s VP debate between Tim Walz and J.D. Vance...wow, Couch Boy sez we need to be energy independent; uh, yeah, and as Cohen points out, that is EXACTLY what Biden and Harris have been working on (creating about 800K manufacturing jobs), as well as the fact that 150K manufacturing jobs left this country when Our Ochre Abomination was in charge; and I thought Tim Walz made a great move to put climate change in the context of what our farmers are dealing with... I’m also glad that Walz mentioned the bill from Repug U.S. Sen. James Lankford that would address what Combover Caligula is screeching about on the border, but #45 wanted Lankford’s bill killed so Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence would have the issue to demagogue about instead...also, it was more than a bit of a tell that Peter Thiel’s puppet Vance wouldn’t acknowledge that NOTHING GODDAMNED ILLEGAL HAPPENED in the 2020 election (here)...Walz needed to at least hold his own last night, and it looks like that happened, so it sounds to me like mission accomplished...



...and I don’t recall that much was said about the “tech bros” supporting Vance in pursuit of a pretty hardcore neocon agenda, but Rachel Maddow covered that pretty well here...and shocker! This all leads back to the at-least-as-nutty Curtis Yarvin...and yeah, we need a CEO/dictator instead of a fully funded, staffed and functioning government – in some insane universe that is (and sure, go ahead and abuse our military yet again for their commitment to protect our way of life by so easily wanting to hand it over to fascists and tin pot dictators)...



...and pertaining to the Repug presidential and VP ticket, I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 10/3/20, in which we learn about all of the individuals Combover Caligula exposed to COVID after he was exposed to Hope Hicks, his White House communications director, who herself tested positive (and #45 eventually tested positive also of course)...typical of his utterly lackadaisical attitude in the face of a global pandemic (more on that is here)...



...and Jesse Dollemore lets us know about the head of the Alabama Supreme Court, Tom Parker (seriously, that’s his name, with no “colonel” added) expressing his support for something called the “seven mountains mandate” which calls on evangelical Christians to “reshape American law and society based on their beliefs” (ugh...no wonder these nematodes support Couch Boy)...oh, and Parker is also calling for his sheep-like followers to pray against a measure that would allow African Americans to have another congressional district...and excuse me while I go out on a bit of a limb here, but somehow I can’t imagine that such a matter is “front of mind” for The Almighty, but what do I know? (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and in somewhat of a related vein (e.g., appealing to wingnuts), Kyle Kulinski (definitely not him) brings us the story of Derrick Anderson, a Repug politician who decided to pose in what appears to be a family photo...um, the problem is that THIS ISN’T HIS FAMILY; I think Kyle is spot-on when he says that these Philistines are trying to find any way to communicate the message that SEE? WE REALLY DON’T HATE WOMEN AND WANT TO DEPRIVE THEM OF THE RIGHT TO MAKE THEIR HEALTH CARE DECISIONS! WHAT ARE YOU, SOME GODLESS, ABORTION-LOVING LIB??!! (NSFW/H)...



...and I hope you’re in the mood for a newer and self-affirming tune, because here it comes.

Tuesday Stuff

Happy 100th birthday to President Carter...yes, he had what I guess you could call a complicated presidency, but there were definitely high points as far as yours truly is concerned, such as the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaty and fully normalizing relations with China; on the minus side was inflation (which any president is limited in fighting, actually) and the Iran Hostage Crisis, with the latter two fully exploited by The Sainted Ronnie R in the 1980 presidential campaign...we should all be disgusted by the lies of Mango Mussolini, but our 40th president set that precedent in the ’80 campaign with all of his untruths, let’s not forget...and of course, Carter’s post-presidency is a model for all of us...



...and speaking of untruths, I have a feeling that the “mini-me” for Our Ochre Abomination will be dealing them fast and furiously tonight in the veep debate, as The Lincoln Project reminds us...



...and in keeping with a theme from the prior two clips, David Doel tells us about Jake Tapper and Dana Bash of CNN spreading the untruth that Dem U.S. House Rep Rashida Tlaib said that Michigan AG Dana Nessel was only prosecuting certain cases because Nessel is Jewish, which TLAIB NEVER FREAKING SAID! And yeah, the “both sides” BS is thick enough to cut with a knife here, because as we know, some campus protestors who may have chanted something impolite about Israel or used spray paint is exactly the same thing as cluster bombs and sniper fire from IDF murdering Gazans as far as our corporate media is concerned...and yeah, I would most definitely agree with Ta-Nehisi Coates also...and good for Doel to put this in the context of the ongoing settlement expansion and occupation...and yeah, it is indeed beyond pathetic to watch Jake Tapper try and weasel his way out of this in questioning Nessel...”well, didn’t YOU imply that about Tlaib and not MEEE??” (and sorry I’m a little late with this)...



...well, to hear something that’s actually true, Miss Beau reminds us that Kamala Harris received about 740 more national security endorsements from across the political spectrum – speaks volumes, I would say...



...and this clip from More Perfect Union tells us about Blackrock: The Conspiracies You Don’t Know; the video also looks at State Street and Vanguard, the two other “big three” asset managers...this is a good video, but one thing that needs to be pointed out is that, yes, Vanguard does charge fees, but overwhelmingly, their success is driven by fund performance and shareholder returns, which is the vision of John Bogle, the company’s founder...and once more, offering stock options to executives as compensation used to be illegal, but it became legal under...all together now...The Sainted F*cking Ronnie R (here...though, to be fair, options have been also offered to employees as part of compensation, though at a greatly reduced amount)...that bar graph at about 8:08 does indeed tell the story...



...and Sam of The Majority Report tells us that it looks like independent U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn is doing well in Nebraska running against incumbent Repug Deb Fischer (and yes, that is a compelling ad)...Osborn isn’t a Dem for sure, but if he could get in and cut into the Repug U.S. senate minority, that would definitely be a win (more on the other U.S. Senate races is here)...



...and I have to tell you that there are some issues, people, personalities etc. that I admit to having a blind spot about, more or less, and maybe #1 on that list was Pete Rose, who signed with the Phillies for what seemed like a gazillion dollars way back when, and there was only one reason for that, and that was to win a World Series, which looked hopelessly out of reach for a roster of high-priced but talented players...there were certain constants growing up in these parts back in that era, and it was that the Phillies and Eagles would likely never win championships; it’s hard to put into words the joy that we felt when the Fightin’ Phils FINALLY won a Series in 1980, which became official when Tug McGraw struck out Willie Wilson immediately after the catch in this clip (easily my most memorable Rose moment)...the red pinstripe bunch doesn’t pull this off without #14; it’s that simple (the ESPN host offering Rose a tribute last night more or less said that Rose should be included in a discussion of the game’s greatest players, and I agree 150 percent...yes, Rose was wrong to gamble and lie about it, but I can think of athletes who have done far worse...just make a damn exception and let him into the HOF, OK?)...



Update 10/2/24: Apologies for failing to note the passing of this sports figure who wore the uni of the Sixers for a brief time; our basketball team traded for Dikembe Mutombo when the Allen Iverson-led Sixers were preparing to go against Shaq, Kobe and the Lakers in the NBA Finals in 2001...our guys did their best, but the Lakers were at their peak back then and they prevailed over the hometown bunch four games to one...Mutombo had the thoroughly unenviable task of going up against Shaq, and the former did his best against the latter, a courageous effort in a losing cause.

...and in addition to the 100th birthday of our 39th president, today also marks the 60th anniversary of the “free speech” movement on college campuses, begun by the arrest of former University of California at Berkeley graduate student Jack Weinberg as noted here (Will Bunch of The Philadelphia Inquirer has more here...here is a tune for the occasion).