Thursday Stuff

This clip from More Perfect Union tells us about a 32-year Pharma rep named Lisa Pratta who spills the beans on some of the ways people in her business comped doctors...if you can imagine it, then it was probably used as an incentive to get the drugs in circulation; this clip discusses the pressure to over-prescribe Acthar made by Questcor for MS patients...as is often the case, Questcor was bought up in a merger, this time with a company called Mallinckrodt, which subsequently paid $15 million to make claims of wrongdoing against Questcor go away...just keep telling yourself that this country has the greatest health care system in the world...sure we do...



...and Robert Reich revisits the question of “Should America Be Run Like A Business?” (presumably the government of course, to which the correct answer is “Hell freaking no!”)...and as Reich points out, that’s code language anyway for privatizing the hell out of everything so only those with the most dough can benefit, which basically is the story of this country over the last 40 years or so...”the purpose of government is not to show a profit” indeed...



...and John Iadarola of The Damage Report tells us that Trumpist numbskull Sean Duffy recently said that states that don’t let ICE goons in to seize people illegally won’t get infrastructure funding, a move that no doubt is illegal as hell and will be ruled as such by a court (with Elex Michaelson)...



...and David Doel brings us the story of Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the Dem NYC mayoral primary...and of course, it tells you what kind of an inside-out world Fix Noise inhabits where they put up that pic saying, among other things, that Mamdani will combat ICE...and their audience is supposed to think that’s a BAD thing? And yeah, that graphic showing the amount of dough that the DNC centrist establishment basically set on fire for Andrew Cuomo is an eye-opener all right (and kudos to David Hogg for playing his part in this)...and yes, Mamdani bringing out new voters is HUUUUGE! And yeah, kind of a ballsy comment about Cuomo from Brad Lander IMO, though not undeserved, and kudos to Lander for helping Mamdani...not sure it really does any good to resurrect what happened with India Walton, but whatever (NSFW/H)...



...and Seth Meyers brings us “A Closer Look” on Our Ochre Abomination dropping an “F” bomb when Israel and Iran break a ceasefire...and oh yeah, Combover Caligula thinks he should get the Nobel Peace Prize; only someone with the gnat-on-meth brain of Our Treasonous Orange Pustule could bomb another country and then somehow claim that he’s a “peacemaker” (although, to be fair, I give you this)...



...and I know I'm definitely overdue for a new tune - I hope this will suffice.

Wednesday Stuff

Rachel Maddow tells us of opposition to Cantaloupe Capone growing as he betrays immigrant family members of service personnel; particularly timely given Iran’s retaliatory strike at our base in Qatar (hopefully there were no injuries or fatalities; there are none that I know of so far)...and it looks like ICE goons beat on the father of two active duty Marines and one who is retired...”proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free,” right?...and I apologize for being a little “behind the curve” on the protests from last Saturday, but Maddow commendably brings us an update here...



...and David Pakman pretty much busts our ruling regime of lying grifters and frauds on using fake protest images, trying to create and perpetuate the myth that Los Angeles has been on fire for weeks and #47 had no choice but to send the National Guard and the Marines...oh, and speaking of the Gropenfuhrer, apparently our allegedly august corporate media will focus more on the impoliteness of this moment, as opposed to the bald-faced stoo-pidity of what Cantaloupe Capone actually said...



...and Brittany Page informs us of U.S. Senate Repugs doubling down on the cruelty in the “Big, Beautiful Act,” which, again, represents the largest wealth transfer in our country’s history...yep, our task is to get the word out about this garbage, and as I’ve said before, any member of the Democratic Party (besides AOC I mean) should be YELLING THEIR HEAD OFF about this on social media...tens of millions of people losing health care coverage, including medications and life-saving treatments, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities...as far as I’m concerned, you have to be a stone-cold moron to trust Repug politicians on this (and as pointed out previously, the head of the CBO is a Repug named Phillip L. Swagel, definitely not some pointy headed lib, but someone who, apparently, sticks to the numbers)...and once more, to contact the Senate and tell them what you think of this garbage bill, click here (and to contact the House, click here)...

via GIPHY

...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us about U.S. House Repug Rep in Flori-DUUUH! Kat Cammack who got pregnant, had an ectopic pregnancy, feared for her life and was able to get the help she needed because she’s a Repug woman with influence (and of course, since Florida’s ridiculous anti-abortion law wasn’t written by a doctor, there’s no attempt to define how an ectopic pregnancy is an exceptional circumstance that allows for treatment)...and somehow, she STILL blames Democrats for her ordeal??!!...despite her stoo-pidity, I wish her the best with her latest pregnancy...oh, and I’m sure it will come as absolutely no shock whatsoever that Cammack is NOTORIOUSLY anti-abortion, with a 100% rating from the Susan B. Anthony bunch of anti-choice zealots, voting against the DoD allowing service members to travel out-of-state for abortions (and this is from the “states’ rights” party of course); Cammack also voted to defund NGOs for women in developing countries who may need an abortion...she also voted to keep abortion drugs from being sent through the mail, and also supports the Hyde Amendment named after a serial philanderer to make sure federal funds aren’t used to cover abortions because of course (how the $#@! does Hyde still exist?)...and women in states in this country arrested for miscarriages? I would say that we’re devolving into a banana republic, but based on this, I think we’re already there...I most definitely am not a life sciences professional, but through a simple Google search I found this...do you want to know what basically isn’t dangerous in this country? Abortion. Do you want to know what IS? PREGNANCY! And as far as I’m concerned, the fact that this idiot Cammack goes right to GEORGE SOROS GEORGE SOROS GEORGE SOROS GEORGE SOROS GEORGE SOROS is PROOF POSITIVE that she is LYYYY-ING!!! (more here - NSFW/H)...



...oh, and let’s not forget how far-reaching the impact of Bronzer Beelzebub’s utterly ridiculous tariffs is – heh (based on this, let’s not forget)...



...and RIP guitarist Mick Ralphs of Bad Company and Mott the Hoople.

Tuesday Stuff

It appears that the L.A. Dodgers are not just champions of basball, but also of human rights - kudos; Hunter Avallone of Occupy Democrats tells us about ICE thugs getting turned around recently when they tried to invade Dodger Stadium...oh, so NOW ICE is claiming that wasn’t them at the ballpark? Gee, then who owned those vehicles with CBP markings?...



Update: I didn't really have this in mind for the pic, but it does seem to fit, so...

...and in a related item, Chris Hayes gives us the latest on Bronzer Beelzebub’s ICE goons and how they are gradually eroding the freedom we have enjoyed as a nation for all of these years to come and go as we please (“an assault on the idea of America itself” indeed)...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ discusses the anti-Trump statue on the national mall...report also covers other types of expression, such as the person complaining in a Trump baby costume (equipped with a diaper of course) outside of a D.C. courthouse, as well as the leering statue of the Gropenfuhrer in Philly...oh, and it looks like “Trump Mobile” is going to be yet another failed enterprise from this conniving bunch of grifters...



...and Kyle Kulinski brings us the story of the utterly awful polling on the “Big Beautiful Act”...a lot of times, I get PO’ed at Kyle for going out of his way to hit Dems, but not here; if, as a national party, the Dems knew what the hell they were doing with social media, our feeds would be FLOODED with ALL OF THE WAYS THAT THIS BILL IS A DISASTER...and once more, to contact the Senate and tell them what you think of this garbage bill, click here (and to contact the House, click here – NSFW/H)...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 6/23/21, in which Thom Hartmann informs us that elementary schools in Finland are teaching kids media literacy - great idea, and one which should be replicated in this country IMO, especially given the proliferation of right-wing BS in this country as Thom points out...by the way, the Fairness Doctrine and the equal-time requirement for presenting opposing points of view didn’t apply to cable TV and definitely didn’t apply to online sites, and they were overturned by a court anyway under The Sainted Ronnie R...and Thom is also correct to point out that the 1996 Telecommunication Act signed under Clinton would have to be revisited also...it took awhile for conservatives to lock up control of the media, and this is a big part of how they did it, and good luck trying to reverse it...”We need to educate Americans about how to spot propaganda” indeed - might have to adjust the volume a bit...



...and I now give you today's regional forecast.

Monday Stuff

Belle of the Ranch gives us her analysis of Generalissimo Trump’s decision to bomb Iran...I have to admit that I’m a little skeeved to find myself on the same side once again with Thomas Massie, along with (and this is EVEN MORE of a shock) Marjorie Train Wreck Greene...and John Fetterman continues to prove to me that there is something medically wrong with him and he needs to resign...the one part of this awful story I definitely believe is that congressional Repugs were briefed in advance but Dems were not...the biggest concern to me are the “non-state actors scattered across the Middle East,” as Belle points out, who might now engage in an action on Iran’s behalf, with 40K U.S. troops in the region...



Update: And in a move that surprises virtually no one, I give you this - hopefully our personnel weren't harmed.

...and Tennessee Brando gives us his take on #47’s illegal pre-emptive strike on another nation, including Combover Caligula predicting that former President Obama would attack Iran...oh, and VP “Hillbilly Elegy” said we had “dumb” presidents over the last 25 years? And THAT is why the couch f*cker’s boss launched this dangerously ridiculous move? Gee, projection much, J.D.?...and Brando is spot-on to point out that our utterly wretched SCOTUS of Hangin’ Judge JR has their grubby fingerprints all over this too by giving this maniacal orange doofus a pass for “official acts” (and as usual, AOC is spot-on)...



...and of course, leave it to The Onion to send our esteemed legislative branch a timely message (and I’m sure Bri-Fi was included – heh)...

...and I don’t know who this gentleman is from Occupy Democrats, but doesn’t it give you a warm, cozy feeling, my fellow prisoners, to know that the person in charge of White House staffing may be a Russian agent?... when you’ve lost Rupert The Pirate’s vanity rag, I would say that you have a problem...and kudos to Brian Krebs for figuring this out, but if I were him, I’d stay clear of any open windows on upper levels of apartment buildings, and I’d probably hire a food tester too (here)...



...and RIP Gunilla Knutson, the Swedish model/actress featured in this ad from the hippy, trippy ‘60s...



...and from that era, the Electric Prunes had a big hit with this number, which I present as a tribute to band member James Lowe - RIP also.

Friday Stuff

David Shuster brings us the latest on ICE thugs arresting people in Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket (aside from the grotesque human rights abuse, yeah, this will pretty much destroy retail businesses at the height of the tourist season...and not that this Lying Treasonous Orange Glob of Trans Fats actually cares, but he’s basically destroying tourism overall to this country, as Shuster points out)...if memory serves, it looks like the exchange with the ICE thug, the guy filming and island law enforcement took place in an area of Oak Bluffs on MVY on the way to Vineyard Haven...



...and returning to the murders of Melissa Hortman and her husband and the near-killing of John Hartman and his wife, Jesse Dollemore lets us know that, apparently, the wife of suspect Vance Luther Boelter was apprehended on her way to the airport I believe...yeah, considering that (as someone on Bluesky pointed out) Philando Castile was complying with police in Minnesota by presenting his firearm when he was shot dead, and here Boelter’s wife from that state was allowed to skate despite compiling her cache of ammunition, along with a gun and passports (nah, this guy isn’t a flight risk...not much he isn’t), given all that, I would say that there are at least two versions of justice when it comes to Life In These United States...Jesse makes a damn good argument when it comes to making sure this isn’t a federal case, because I ABSOLUTELY could see the Gropenfuhrer letting this psycho skate if he were convicted...and I know we touched on Mike Lee’s thoroughly stoo-pid propaganda on this already in the BTC clip with Tina Smith, but I have no problem mentioning it again (actually, I think Lee’s cruel, lying nonsense should be kept on a continuous loop of sorts to make sure everyone knows what a guttural lowlife he truly is)...mildly NSFW/H...



...and I really haven’t bothered to say anything about the NYC mayoral primary to this point, but Mike Figueredo tells us that it looks like Zohran Mamdani is putting up a pretty good fight against Andrew Cuomo, with the latter being the big-money-endorsed Dem in the primary (which basically is the election, when you get down to it)...I’d honestly forgotten about the stuff with Andrew Cuomo and COVID patients dying in nursing homes, but I’d remembered the “sex pest” stuff though...I would support Mamdani just for shouting at mush mouth Tom Homan the way Mamdani did...and yeah, Cuomo’s response to ICE goons like Homan seems to be, “oh well, tsk tsk, ICE shouldn’t be doing that, but let’s not be rude,” whereas Mamdani’s response, quite rightly, is to tell ICE and Homan to GTFO...I know Figueredo gets a little pedantic at times, but I think he’s fundamentally right when he talks about needing socialism (to a point) to combat late-stage capitalism, since neoliberalism very definitely has failed IMO (and that “We stand with Israel” moment with Dem “leaders” Schumer and Jeffries along with “MAGA Mike” Johnson tells you how rigged the game truly is)...I’m also not sure how productive it is to revisit the Kamala Harris campaign; as far as I’m concerned, yes, she’s partly to blame for what happened, but more than anything else, she was betrayed by DNC-centrist-Beltway losers who think the base of their party watches “Morning Jo(ke)”...that being said, I think Figueredo is right to say that Dems need to start electing people with a genuine vision for the future...(NSFW/H also)...



...and Kyle Kulinski brings us the sordid tale of a 1/6 vermin who Generalissimo Trump pardoned, and it turned out that this nematode had a child p*rn conviction, because of course...actually, finding the child p*rn stuff stemmed from a warrant over the 1/6 insurrection, and this scumwaffle is saying, “oh, you have to let me walk over my child p*rn charge since I was pardoned,” and unfortunately (as Kyle says), this tactic indeed might work (NSFW/H also)...



...and here’s an upbeat message from The Onion to take us into the weekend – heh (very definitely NSFW/H)...



...and with the recent precipitation in these parts, this tune has been on my mind...



...and I'd like to wrap up my tribute to Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys with these two selections.

Thursday Stuff

Brittany Page tells us about Repugs in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate fighting among themselves about how much to steal from poor people in order to pass their latest tax scam bill (and of course, the “party of Lincoln” is claiming that the CBO are a bunch of godless commie libs, when, in reality, they most definitely are not)...Page is absolutely right about the utterly BS framing of the question from the CNBC news mannequin towards Philip Swagel, the CBO head (who is indeed Republican)...and gosh, I thought Grandpa Thune was supposed to be a common-sense Repug, or something; the Senate Majority Leader said here that the CBO was “flat wrong” over the bill, putting him in league with Trumpette spokes-liar Karoline Leavitt (202-224-3121 is the number to call to tell your U.S. Senators to vote No on this cruel madness...you can also send an Email from this link)...



...and Rachel Maddow lets us know that Bronzer Beelzebub is apparently unable to contend with “the depth and breadth of feeling against him” based on the protests, and getting treated like he’s “Putin’s intern” at the G7, which apparently prompted him to leave early in a hissy fit; heckuva job, all you idiots who could have prevented this last year, but didn’t (and speaking of the election, I definitely think this needs to be looked at more closely...I’m not an IT guru by any means, but it appears to at least be possible that King Elon found a way to put out a “patch” on voting machines in swing states in particular that ended up with some kind of algorithm that changed machine votes in favor of Cantaloupe Capone and undercounted Kamala Harris...and if you want another angle to this, I would ask that you read the comment in the article from Robert Jaffe about shenanigans with a company called Tripp Lite that Leonard Leo...yes, him again...sold to Eaton Corporation that eventually bought Palantir, with the latter adept at making behind-the-scenes software changes...curiouser and curiouser)...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ tells us about a C-SPAN caller (Sarah from Virginia) who commendably gave it to Jake Tapper for his junk screed on former President Biden...as the caller rightly pointed out, the Biden criticism is INCREDIBLY disproportionate in response to his accomplishments in the White House (of course, just about anybody would stand out in response to the cretin-in-chief we have now)...at about 6:40, the clip turns to Elizabeth Warren grilling Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over the utter fraud of the “Big Beautiful Act”...in a weird way, I acknowledge that Bessent has a disgusting capability to cram a bunch of out-of-context utter lies into his monologue in response to Warren’s question...yes, kids get a benefit from Medicaid, which THEY FREAKING NEED BECAUSE PARENTS WHO ARE WORKING ALSO INCLUDE THEIR KIDS IN HEALTH COVERAGE!! Also, work requirements have been tried on the state level, and they actually discourage employment BECAUSE PARENTS ON MEDICAID HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN WORK AND TAKING CARE OF THEIR KIDS OR ELDERLY DEPENDENTS!! (God, I’m SO F*CKING TIRED of dealing with the UTTER BULLSH*T arguments from the other side on this!!!)...



...and I didn’t say anything last year about today’s holiday, so I’d like to make up for that now with this clip with Dr. Marcia Chatelain of the African American Studies program at Georgetown University, speaking about Juneteenth...date marks the day that African Americans in Galveston, TX found out that they were free after the Civil War in 1865, and of course, the holiday has come to represent so much more than just that, as Dr. Chatelain tells us...



Update: I suppose (DEFINITELY MAGA)...

...and returning to Brian Wilson, here are two more Beach Boys tunes.

Wednesday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us that the whole “No Tax on Tips” thing in the latest tax scam bill from Congress is yet another bait-and-switch...and yeah, having the CEO of Uber on hand when you’re discussing what supposedly is a policy initiative of your administration is yet another “tell” that you’re peddling snake oil...and I’ve been waiting to hear someone explain why the whole “no taxes on tips” thing is another con, and I'm glad Cousins does that here (namely, because it does indeed depress wages and disincentivizes businesses to RAISE wages, and also, service workers get clobbered on their tax returns also, as Cousins notes)...



...and David Pakman informs us that Sarah Huckabilly Sanders recently appeared on Fix Noise and trashed California, saying “oh, we wouldn’t have protests in Arkansas like those in that dreaded liberal hellhole of California,” and in response Gavin Newsom absolutely flattens her by pointing out that the homicide rate in Walmart-land is twice that of The Golden State...Pakman is also spot-on to note how advanced California is vs. Arkansas; as noted, the latter is basically a third-world country by comparison...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen interviews Minnesota Dem U.S. Senator Tina Smith in response to the murder of Melissa Hortman and her husband and the near-killing of John Hoffman and his wife (and I give Smith so much credit for going right after that disgusting, demagogic Repug meat sack Mike Lee for his beyond insulting tweets in response to the shootings, and I totally believe that he didn’t know how to act when he was called on his garbage)...NSFW/H but for a good reason (Smith calling out Lee’s bullsh*t, that is)...



...and I suppose I’m legally obligated to acknowledge the Trump fellating spectacle U.S. Army anniversary parade last Saturday, so with that in mind, here’s this...



...and here are more tunes from Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys (the latter is based on this).

Tuesday Stuff

Anthony Vincent Gallo of Occupy Democrats informs us that a gunman was apparently camping out at a “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City, and one man is dead as a result, basically (story is still kind of fluid at this point to be honest and some details haven’t been confirmed)...and of course, leave it to loopy Laura Loomer to pour gasoline on the metaphorical fire over the Minnesota gunman...and if it turns out that the man in Utah who was killed died as a result of friendly fire, don’t look for me to dump on the cops because they didn’t initiate the conflict; they were only responding as best they could - blame the coward who started the whole mess (and also of course, spineless politicians who constantly do the bidding of the NRA and refuse to enact virtually any kind of common sense gun laws...more here...also this)...



...and speaking of right-wing violence, Jesse Dollemore tells us that this Vance Boelter psychopath is apparently an obsessed Trumper, despite the wingnut caterwauling to the contrary – figures...and oh yeah, he was also a fundie nut job who viscerally hated abortion – yep, this guy checks all the boxes all right when it comes to domestic terrorism (NSFW/H)...



...and Tennessee Brando chimes in with some thoughts on the assassination of Melisssa Hortman and her husband in Minnesota, along with the serious wounding of John Hoffman and his wife...and I give Brando credit for his approach of waiting a bit so many of the facts are in before he opines on a particular topic...and not surprisingly, Governor Tim Walz hits just the right notes in his remarks on this tragedy...I’m glad to hear Brando speak out so forcefully to make it clear that IT’S NOT OUR SIDE LOOKING TO ENGAGE IN POLITICAL VIOLENCE! (NSFW/H also)...

via GIPHY

...and Sam and the crew of The Majority Report discuss a Trump voter in Flori-DUUUH! (Key West in particular) who runs a roofing company telling everyone how he’s upset about ICE taking his workers...awww...and I’m sorry, but this Vincent Scardina guy can go take a long walk off a short pier if he says he wants “normalcy”...WHAT THE #$@! WAS “NORMAL” ABOUT TRUMP 1.0 TO MAKE YOU THINK 2.0 WOULD BE ANY BETTER? And yeah, ”What’s on the other side of this ledger?” indeed...



...and maybe it’s just as well that I keep presenting these Beach Boys tunes in honor of Brian Wilson since they’re a bit of a salve for the insanity reigning all about us, I have to admit.

Monday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore provides an update on the murder of Minnesota state rep Melissa Hortman and her husband and the serious wounding of fellow Dem state rep John Hoffman and his wife...it looks like the (alleged!) murderous freak responsible is named Vance Luther Boelter (here)...and one of the reasons why I don’t give a flying...fig...about what Dear Leader has to say about this is because he was absolutely fine with what happened on 1/6...as Jesse says, apparently this nut case had a hit list of about 70 Dems, which is another vitally important element of this awful story...an update is here (NSFW/H)...



...and this clip from More Perfect Union provides a dire warning from measles country, with doctors sounding the alarm in Dallas County, TX...yep, funding cuts from “Bobby Brainworms” is a big reason, along with this ridiculous, Repug-backed (of course) bill allowing parents to opt out of mandatory vaccinations for their kids...beyond belief that this country, despite decades of hard work enabling us to develop state-of-the-art treatments, is now allowing some uninformed, provincial rubes to destroy all of that progress...I also have a feeling that it will take decades to restore this country to a sound footing to face these threats to public health...



...and Kyle Kulinski tells us here that it looks like Stuart Varney is out of patience with Trumpist BS on the economy (I believe the person Varney is talking with is Lori Chavez-DeRemer)...shocking that one of Rupert’s minions is going off-script, but I guess Varney has hit his limit, though I’m sure he’ll be a loyal suck-up again shortly...and losing 8K jobs is “holding steady”?? And “tens of trillions” reinvested in this country? Lady, you’re on f*cking crack! And I’m glad to hear Kyle mention once more the CHIPS Act from Biden, which Trump killed of course (NSFW/H...and yes, this is the clip I moved from Friday to make room for the Chris Hayes video about the "No Kings" marches)...



...and Seth Meyers gives us “A Closer Look”...apparently, the Gropenfuhrer wasn’t received too well at the Kennedy Center – c’est dommage...”and with a strong contingent of drag queens” is kind of the chaser after the shot, if you will...among the MANY problems with this morally bankrupt administration, perhaps one of the biggest ones is letting Baby Goebbels run wild to the point where we need to put up a safe zone around a high school graduation...



...and I’m planning to feature Beach Boys tunes for the remainder of the week in honor of Brian Wilson...also, to be honest with you, I may be completely done with this band after the tribute is over; I have no opinion of Al Jardine one way or the other, but Mike Love is a total POS.

Sunday Stuff (updates)

What follows is a PBS report on yesterday’s “No Kings” protests, including Taco-A-Lago (heh), Atlanta, Boston, Philly...John Yang interviews Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the group Public Citizen (more here)...



...here is the protest from Chicago...



...and also from Michigan (including Detroit and Ann Arbor)...and Bill Huizenga really is that big of an a-hole...



...and downtown Orlando in the "sunshine state" (Tampa Bay also - "I draw the line at crazy" too)...



...Houston, TX (including a brief interview with Dem U.S. House Rep Al Green)...



...Dallas (Dallas, people)...



...Arizona...



...Northern Virginia...



...Maryland (with Dem U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen - if any Dem politician didn't show up for these protests, they should have a damn good excuse)...



...Idaho...



...Oregon and Washington (and no, I don’t trust one word coming out of the mouth of spokes-liar Karoline Leavitt)...



...Hawaii...



...heading back to the mainland, here are the protests in Rhode Island and Massachusetts (and of course this Joe Powers guy chooses not to address the issues the protestors are marching about; if he were to do that, I’m sure he would be sent back to “the factory” and taught to obey Dear Leader extra hard next time)...



...and we can't forget NYC, can we?...



...or Philly of course (NJ also in the rain)...



...crossing the country again, this is what took place in northern California



...and 60K in San Diego? Outstanding!...



...San Francisco also...



...and finally, to Los Angeles...



...where Brian Tyler Cohen killed it with this speech...



...and by the way, to effect political change (or try to, anyway), click here to make sure you’re registered to vote (and yes, I know the Democrats, as a party, have issues, but they’re the best shot we have).

And I agree with about 97 percent or so of this great tune from "Little Steven."



Update 1: Not surprised, fortunately, but still great news (here).

Update 2: And here comes a truly ridiculous overreaction from an idiot Repug governor, this one in Missouri (here).

Update 3: Offered without further comment...

Update 1 6/16/25: Once more, I don't see violence from our side, but as far as the wingnuts are concerned, I give you this.

Update 2 6/16/25: And Heaven forbid that we do anything to interfere with the Men’s College World Series, amirite? (here)

Update 6/17/25: If you're on Bluesky, I would ask that you check this out.

Update 6/18/25: Here is another potentially murderous whack job who, thank God, was thwarted, and from this locality also (here).

Friday Stuff

I think Robert Reich does a great job here of telling us what we need to do tomorrow...for more information, click here (and moments like this were made for commentary by The Rude Pundit; with that in mind, I give you this)...



...and Desi Lydic of The Daily Show is back with Generalissimo “Sharpest Bulb” #47 omitting more oral flatulence in front of a captive audience at Fort Bragg (particularly screened for the MAGA faithful and “no fatties,” which is actually hilarious given that this is another attempt to fluff what must be the easily bruised ego of Bronzer Beelzebub, possibly the most out-of-shape chief executive we’ve ever seen this side of William Howard Taft)...and here is another headline alert for this sundowning orange meat sack; JAPAN WASN’T IN WORLD WAR I!!!...also with Ronny Chieng...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen brings us the news of Dem U.S. Senator Alex Padilla getting shoved out of a press briefing, dragged to the ground and handcuffed by Trumpist goons, all for trying to ask a question to DHS Secretary Kristi (“Unsafe At Any Speed”) Noem, which is part of Padilla’s job as a member of the legislative branch, and that is to conduct oversight of our out-of-control executive regime (Cohen speaks with Marc Elias; the latter is absolutely right that we need to look at the “big picture” as opposed to isolated incidents of going after Democratic judges, lawyers and politicians)...oh, and by the way, here’s an incredibly naïve suggestion (which I first saw at Eschaton, to give credit where it’s due); if Harry Reid were still the Senate Dem leader, I have a feeling that he would stage a mass walkout of his party in response and grind “the world’s greatest deliberative body” screeching to a halt (and once again, ICE agents are “doxxed”? Show proof...which you can’t because it hasn’t happened.)...



...and Chris Hayes tells us about the efforts to mobilize for tomorrow, and of course, the propagandizing in response from Fix Noise...Hayes correctly IMO draws a link between the 1/6 actual insurrection (and the Gropenfuhrer has largely pardoned those responsible, let’s not forget) and the “No Kings” protests...so of course, the wingnutosphere including Fix Noise has to spasm itself to life and use all kinds of deep fake, AI garbage and video clips of other events to try and scare their lemming-like audience into thinking that OMIGOD THE NATION IS UNDER ATTACK FROM ANTIFA, TREN DE ARAGUA AND GODLESS COMMIE LIBS!!!...and kudos to Hayes for presenting clips of prior protests for civil rights and in response to the Vietnam War, which is important history that we need to never forget (for anyone keeping score at home, I made an “executive decision” to move the Kyle Kulinski clip to next week)...



...and David Shuster informs us that MAGA has apparently erupted at Walmart heiress Christy Walton for promoting “No Kings Day,” so OF COURSE there is the inevitable boycott from “the great unwashed”...and in case you think I’m going to somehow feel sympathy for those smiley-faced SOBs, I can assure that I won’t especially since they don’t endorse Walton’s position...price gouging was something happening routinely under Biden coming out of COVID, but now with Our Treasonous Orange Pustule trying to burn down our government as well as our economy, any notion of discretion or propriety about not raising prices too high in response to Our Toddler-In-Chief’s beyond ridiculous tariffs is utterly gone, so yeah, raise the price of the Little Debbie’s Assortment by 30 percent – those NASCAR-loving hillbillies will just have to suck it...



...and turning to world events, John of The Damage Report tells us about Greta Thunberg getting deported when she sailed as part of an aid boat to Gaza, which of course was targeted by the IDF since supplying food and medical aid constitutes a terroristic attack somehow...I’m hot and cold on Sharon Reed to be honest, but she’s absolutely right to point out how cartoonish it is to have an “either/or” response to this ongoing misery...kind of a minor nit pick here to point out that Thunberg is now 22 and obviously no longer a child (and as far as this is concerned, let our "ally" fend for itself)...



...and I now continue my Brian Wilson tribute with these tunes.

Thursday Stuff

Leeja Miller gives us a summary of how we got to the point we’re at with the L.A. protests and the fascistic response from our ruling cabal...Miller takes a deeper dive into the incredibly illegal order to deploy forces wherever “I’ll drink to that” Hegseth wants to send them, in any number for no fixed duration apparently. – terrific...and just as a reminder, this all started because of ICE raids getting carried out in typical indiscriminate fashion from our Trumpist regime...one of Miller’s great points is that Our Ochre Abomination is using the precedent of federalizing a state’s national guard (in CA) to do the bidding of the white nationalists who were brought to heel the last time a state’s national guard was federalized (in Alabama) in response to the Bloody Sunday riots, with the guard used in response to LBJ’s order in 1965 to ensure the safety of marchers from Selma to Montgomery...not exactly happy with citing David Frum here, but to his credit, I think he’s articulated the playbook from our ruling regime of thugs and bottom-feeders; they will indeed try to replicate their garbage in other “blue” cities leading up to the 2026 midterms I’m sure (NSFW/H)...



...and Jesse Dollemore discusses Kaitlan Collins of CNN playing a clip of Dear Leader admitting that he can’t call in the national guard unless he’s requested to do so by a governor, so in response, mush mouth Tom Homan is all “humuna humuna humuna”...I have to admit that there’s so much propaganda and outright BS in those comments from Homan that it almost doesn’t deserve a response...kind of interesting in a dark way I’ll admit that Homan somehow found a niche of sorts in the Obama Administration before he became the soulless face of immigrant persecution (well, one of them anyway) for Trumpworld (here)...



...and Desi Lydic of The Daily Show gives us her take on the violence in LA spurred on by Homan, Baby Goebbels and Mango Mussolini...and I’m sure when Cantaloupe Capone hears about Posse Comitatus, he probably thinks about Stormy Daniels, and I guess I’d better leave it at that...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 6/12/20, in which Rachel Maddow gives us a reminder of the ways that Our Treasonous Orange Pustule seeks to offend one and all; this spot-on commentary came from the George Floyd protests (clip goes into a loop of other Maddow videos)...

...and I honestly don’t know who has been more important in American popular music over the last 60 years or so than Brian Wilson...yes, he peaked in the ‘60s and flamed out pretty much after that (hurt also by health issues, some of which were self-inflicted), though The Beach Boys also made some good tunes in the ‘70s...I know when it comes to musical icons in the U.S. that Dylan is part of that discussion too, but Wilson was a singer/composer/producer whose influence has spanned over decades, for “Pet Sounds” if for nothing else...I’m going to be featuring Beach Boys tunes for a little while as a tribute.

Wednesday Stuff

Tennessee Brando does a bit of a “compare and contrast” video when it comes to Fix Noise and the anti-Biden drumbeat versus you-know-who...”oh, Biden slipped and fell...oh, Biden misspoke in mid-sentence or trailed off or something,” but of course when Dear Leader does the same thing...crickets...and of course, Tim Burchett has less than nothing to say about King Elon alleging that the Gropenfuhrer is in the Epstein files (NSFW/H)...



...and Rachel Maddow tells us about the ongoing, and growing, “No Kings” protests set up damn near everywhere on 6/14...peaceful, everywhere, unstoppable; works for me...

Motcha Dbvideo GIFfrom Motcha GIFs

...and with “the big breakup” in mind, Farron Cousins informs us that Cantaloupe Capone has threatened “serious consequences” for King Elon if the king of Nazi Xitter decides to help Dems or do anything really that Trump World doesn’t like...I knew Bezos had government contracts in addition to Elon, but I didn’t know that they were worth more than Amazon’s retail business, huge as that is...yep, shutting off that spigot of public dough is indeed one way to get back at these rich bastards...Cousins does a good job IMO in listing all the ways that the Gropenfuhrer could punish his fellow capitalist vultures...pass the popcorn...



...and this report from More Perfect Union tells us about Dupont and 3M poisoning the food supply and putting a Michigan farmer out of business...and yes, this has to do with PFAS chemicals (I remember Bri-Fi made some noise about this some years back since they were found at particularly high levels at a retirement community; this tells us that he’s involved in a bipartisan task force with Dem U.S. House Rep Kristen McDonald Rivet, which is literally better than nothing – I’ll let you know if this amounts to anything)...a twisted sort of irony I suppose that the root of this misery goes back to the manufacture of the non-stick material Teflon, and you can chalk this up as another case of Biden doing something right he received no credit for, and that was trying to institute limits on PFAS chemicals in drinking water (or, at least, his EPA head Michael Regan tried to do that, and OF COOOUUURRSE new EPA head Lee Zeldin is going to sh*tcan all of that in true Trumpist fashion)...mildly NSFW/H also...



...and given that we’re right in the middle of the season of graduation commencements, Lewis Black is here to give us his take on the state of education and “ChatGPT University” (NSFW/H of course)...



...and I’d like to continue my tribute to Sly Stone with this seasonal number.

Tuesday Stuff

Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ lets us know that 13.7 million Americans will lose their health care from Medicaid cuts under the “Big, Beautiful Act,” commendably getting called out by AOC...and deregulating gun suppressors? Ah, “smell the freedom” on that one, my fellow prisoners...also, getting rid of SNAP benefits, coming for Planned Parenthood also because of course (and as Ojeda points out, the CO-08 U.S. House rep is some Repug named Gabe Evans, in case you were wondering)...and once more, I have to admit that I’m shocked to hear some reality from Thomas Massie of all people, but credit where it’s due...and of course Kevin (“Human Capital Stock”) Hassett is just so gleeful over taking more from the people who can afford it least (here)...



...and Tennessee Brando tells us more on #47 basically declaring war on blue states by deploying (illegally of course) the National Guard against California, aided and abetted by the scurrilous High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR that gave #47 cover for “official acts”...and Brando is about 150 percent correct when talking about the long-term damage of Our Treasonous Orange Pustule, and I think he’s also correct to tie all of this back to the Patriot Act under Dubya...and there’s so much lies and idiocy in that clip with Kristi Noem, who apparently was against federalizing the National Guard before she was for it, you might say, that’s it is hard indeed to get your head around all of it (NSFW/H)...



...and in a related story, David Doel tells us about the Australian news correspondent who was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet, and yes, it does appear that she was targeted, as were others with cell phones...and oh yeah, there’s the LAPD beating up a defenseless protestor on the ground, including trampling him with a horse – what machismo, huh? And it’s an interesting bit of context IMO to recall public disapproval of the “freedom riders” in the ‘60s; it just goes to show that public opinion may be slow to catch up at times, which is OK...



...and heading back to D.C., Jesse Dollemore tells us about some U.S. House Repug loon named Mary Miller who sent some insane anti-immigrant tweet about a Sikh leading a prayer, and timed for D-Day, which is the cherry on the icing of this sh*t sundae for the reasons Jesse mentions (and Jesse brings us the clip with her invoking Hitler on 1/6 – ummm, there is NEVER A PROPER REASON OR OCCASION TO INVOKE HITLER!)...and I have to admit that I’m shocked to hear that the Sikh chaplain was introduced by Jeff Van Drew, of all people (NSFW/H also)...



...oh, and Bobby Brainworms just gutted the 17-member CDC panel that issues vaccine recommendations, because of course (and after Jr. promised in his confirmation hearing that he wouldn’t do that); it sounds like he’s going to reconstitute the board likely with a bunch of crackpots...



...and RIP Sly Stone - I think this tune is more apropos than ever.

Monday Stuff

Ben Meiselas of the Meidas Touch Network tells us about Our Ochre Abomination basically declaring war on Los Angeles by trying to federalize CA’s national guard since folks in that town bravely stood up to the jackbooted tactics of Trump’s ICE thugs...and I suppose it will come as a shock (well, maybe not really) that none of the conditions of the statute invoked by this regime (10 USC 12406) apply here...the only “invasion” is by the ICE goons, and this *preznit most definitely did NOT work with any officials in CA including Governor “Newscum” and LA Mayor Karen Bass...and “I’ll drink to that” Hegseth wants to mobilize Marines at Camp Pendleton and throw them into this mess also, further adding to the criminality of this utterly lawless administration...



Oh, and by the way...

...and Chris Hayes gives us more on the rise of the secret police under Cantaloupe Capone (“The Trump/Stephen Miller era of immigration and renditioning”)...as Hayes says, our ruling regime thinks they can do whatever they want to anyone undocumented or here legally; the only way this garbage will stop is by throwing people from our lawless regime in prison for a very long time (oh, and mush mouth Tom Homan is sooo worried about the safety of his ICE thugs and runs crying to Laura Ingraham about it of course – name for me a single instance of one of Homan’s goons getting doxed or having their picture hung on a Wanted poster or whatever; spoiler alert: he can’t...video ends at kind of a weird place)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen and Marc Elias discuss the SCOTUS ruling that ends up giving “Big Balls” and some of Elon’s other idiot incels access to our Social Security data...and I’ve heard Elias discuss the “presumption of regularity” before as something of a legal doctrine; it sounds like there could be another ”shoe to drop,” if you will, when it comes to ruling about the supposed “merits” of Musk’s clueless crew getting their hands on this highly sensitive info, but given that we’re talking about the SCOTUS of Hangin’ Judge JR, I’m not optimistic of them doing the right thing (and even if, by some miracle, the Supremes ruled against the Gropenfuhrer, that likely wouldn’t stop #47 anyway since he doesn’t give a fig about the law or judicial precedent)...yep, as Elias says, we’re not just talking about “the gang that couldn’t shoot straight,” but “the gang that wouldn’t have good intentions even if they COULD shoot straight”...



...and Thom Hartmann asks “How did the land of Lincoln, Roosevelt(s), Eisenhower and Kennedy become a playground for billionaire sociopaths?”...indeed, and maybe you’re thinking, “oh, here he goes again, blaming John Roberts for Citizens United,” and you’re absolutely right...Thom blames Anthony Kennedy for the expansive C.U. ruling, but I’ve read that that was Alito's handiwork (pretty sure I saw that in “We The Corporations” by Adam Winkler)...and I would agree that revealing the source of the money doesn’t generally diminish the impact of the money, in an ad that is...there’s a reason I advocate voting out every Republican (and a few Dems also), and Thom also makes that case pretty well here I believe...



...and Mike Figueredo brings us the news that corporations that pandered to #47 are crying about declining revenue from boycotts, with Target having to request a meeting with Rev. Al Sharpton over the company’s rollback of DEI initiatives, and the meeting didn’t fix Target’s problems as Figueredo points out; by the way, I’m not going to be cheering bad news for Target – yes, the company didn’t use good judgment to kowtow to Cantaloupe Capone, but the bigger issue as far as I’m concerned is that we’re heading into a recession, and hurting Target will make it even worse for employees facing layoffs...and yes, I feel that way also about Wal-of-China Mart and Home Depot, utterly wretched corporate entities that employ a lot of innocent people likely to be hurt in a downturn affecting our end stage capitalist economy...and color me shocked (well, not really) that “Mickey D’s” is facing a backlash over Pumpkin Pol Pot’s ridiculous drive-through window stunt last year...(NSFW/H)...



...and RIP songwriter Roger Nichols, who composed this hit for The Carpenters, among other great tunes (selection is apropos for today...not to be confused with the record producer of the same name who recorded Steely Dan and other bands).