David Shuster of Rebel HQ informs us that, gosh, Dementia Donnie’s poll numbers on immigration are going down in a big way...who would have thought that turning ICE into jackbooted thugs and carrying out raids indiscriminately would be so wildly unpopular, huh (Harry Enten provides the gory details)...and leave it to mush mouth Tom Homan from this regime of liars to spread more untruths about racial profiling on Fix Noise...and wow, what a hard-hitting “interview” with Lara Trump...spare me...and I knew at some point Greg Abbott was going to get around to blaming the victims of the flooding disaster in his state, and true to his wretched form, he did so, comparing the death of over 100 people (and many others missing) to a damn football game...
...and Jesse Dollemore brings us the sorry tale of well-off MAGA “Christians” laughing over Vlad The Butcher bombing a Ukraine nursing home during some White House gathering, and of course Paula White is smack dab in the middle of this mess...she’s actually right about this regime accomplishing more in the last five months than the past several decades, but there is NOT ONE DAMN THING to be proud of about that...and once again, tell me which recent U.S. president actually attended worship services and who didn’t – go ahead, I’ll wait while you look that up...I actually apologize for including any video at all of this clueless orange meat sack spouting his gibberish, but attention must be paid at some point, unfortunately...mildly NSFW/H...
...and Sam and Emma and the crew of The Majority Report give us an update on “Alligator Alcatraz” – maybe “Alligator Auschwitz” is more apropos...kudos to the Miami Herald for their reporting on this travesty...hundreds detained with no criminal charges...and “vicious and deranged psychopaths,” huh? Show me some proof...and hundreds with “pending” charges? Suuuure...just leave it to our ruling gang of cretins to make up something at some point I guess...and once more, Dem U.S. House Rep Max Frost stands tall...and yeah, the trucking company involved in transporting detainees to this torture chamber is putting duct tape over their logo to keep people from finding out who they are...”proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free,” right?...
...and David Pakman brings us the latest on “the list” from Jeffrey Epstein that apparently either doesn’t exist after all or, if it does, then it was created by “Crooked Hillary,” “Sleepy Joe” and Obama, and don’t you DARE even imagine that Bronzer Beelzebub is on it, you godless commie lib...and by the way, it looks like Ghislaine Maxwell is getting ready to spill the proverbial beans; I hope her life insurance is paid up (don’t wish anything negative, I hasten to add)...
...and the prior item is a bit of a lead-in to this number from Mr. Newberger...
...and I think this tune is apropos for the individuals mentioned in the second video (and I don't mean Jesse).
David Doel informs us of Republican dumbasses in Wisconsin and Minnesota blaming Canada for wildfire smoke entering our country, which (as noted in the clip) is ridiculous partly b/c Canada helped us when we had wildfires...and oh yes, only Americans enjoy summer and want to create lasting good memories or something, whereas Canadians...oh, I don’t know...yearn for a constant 32 degrees Fahrenheit or something? And a “smoky” one at that? And OF COURSE Tom Tiffany is right smack in the middle of this, along with Glenn Grothman, Pete Stauber, Tom Emmer and other knuckleheads...oh, and by the way, when it comes to China and their response to the climate crisis (in response to that assclown Grothman), I give you this; “more wind turbines and solar panels were installed (in China) last year than in the rest of the world combined”...slightly NSFW/H...
...and Chris Hayes tells us that, indeed, there are times when things need to be politicized (referring to the recent devastating flood in Texas and the sorely lacking response...more here, which probably covers some familiar ground, but I think it needs to be mentioned over and over and over)...
...and as a bit of a follow-up, David Pakman tells us that DHS Secretary Kristi (“Unsafe At Any Speed”) Noem apparently thanked God that MORE people weren’t killed in the flood...Noem’s feeble words about faith sound like utter garbage (and no David, I don’t think you’re missing anything)...mildly NSFW/H also...
...and Rachel Maddow lets us know that Our Ochre Abomination and his cohorts are trying to be scary, but in reality, they’re awful and weird...and oh yeah, CA needs its National Guard troops back to prepare for wildfire season, but Mango Mussolini says nuuuh-uuuuh – I need them to roust legal immigrants at Home Depot, work sites and restaurants instead...and oh yeah, let’s fan out across MacArthur Park for no good reason, apparently because someone left a cake out in the rain (sorry...couldn’t resist)...
...and I realize our ruling cabal of idiots and bottom feeders keep perpetuating their own twisted mythology in all kinds of disgusting ways, and here is another one, as Jesse Dollemore tells us...the official White House account on Nazi Twitter posted a meme comparing Cantaloupe Capone to Superman...y’know, I wonder if anybody is going to break the news to Our Demented Toddler-In-Chief that Superman is an alien who relies on solar energy – kind of defeats their idiocy I would say (mildly NSFW/H as well)...
...and I need a summer tune to decompress a bit, and I always thought this was a good number for that, so here it is.
Belle of the Ranch gives us a commentary on MAGA throwing a fit over the Gropenfuhrer deciding to sh*tcan the Epstein client list (oh, I’m sorry...I mean “Pam Blondi” instead, as if the latter would act without the direction of the former)...and did anybody seriously think that list would be released EVER?? I mean, I know MAGA collectively are idiot rubes, but boy does this take the proverbial cake (and if you supported Combover Caligula because of the Epstein thing only, then you’re too damn stoo-pid for words)...
...and Thom Hartmann gives us data to indicate that we may be heading for a depression in this country (I guess we’d better stock up on canned goods and gold futures...peachy), with consumer spending down .9 percent for May...all kinds of other indicators going down also...I honestly didn’t know the business with the debt ceiling went back to Woodrow Wilson and World War I, but I DID know that the debt ceiling became an issue when Baby Newton Leroy Gingrich was House Speaker...also, I’m pretty sure the so-called “Gephardt Rule” automatically raised the debt ceiling when a budget was passed, but it was repealed by Republicans of course...and yeah, capping the so-called SALT deduction at $10K was indeed a Trumpster move to screw over blue states as Thom says, and I knew blue states contributed more economically to our country than red states, but I didn’t know by just how much until I saw this (at a minimum, I think we’re looking at stagflation in the third quarter...love to be wrong)...
...and Caleb Cunningham and Farron Cousins tell us about Bronzer Beelzebub/DOGE cancelling about 1,653 scientific research programs that will put us DECADES behind the rest of the world when it comes to advancements in all kinds of ways to improve our lives...oh, but one day, #47 will bring down the price of eggs and everything will be good, right?...and yes, there was definitely a push-back in 2004 against research funding, but Repug animosity towards higher education really goes back to Tricky Dick Nixon, and probably even before that...I’m a little unnerved with Cunningham’s remark about “not being competent enough to have a minimum wage job”; maybe true, but that rhetoric doesn’t help anybody...good argument about how ridiculous it is for Louisiana to keep feeding the prison-industrial complex, as well as the fact that the return on scientific investment should be “above the fold,” as it were...
...and Lawrence O’Donnell brings us the newest wretched developments of Pumpkin Pol Pot’s war on civil liberties, with the haunting words “they can do that to anyone”...I never imagined that we’d be at a point in this country where I need to carry a passport card, but then again, I never imagined A LOT of things we’re currently dealing with from our ruling cabal of bottom feeders and guttural lowlifes...and yes, it definitely figures that the Gropenfuhrer would try to get his criminal defense lawyer, Emil Bove, installed on the Supreme Court (and kudos to Erez Reuveni for standing up and speaking out)...oh, and by the way, a federal judge in New Hampshire appointed by Dubya issued a nationwide injunction to stop Our Ochre Abomination from trying to deny birthright citizenship...have to keep fighting in the courts and wherever else we’re able to at this point...
...and John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report do a good job IMO of pointing out just how petty and small Our Treasonous Orange Pustule truly is by going after PBS (and Sesame Street, because of “Donald Grump”) and NPR...
Update 7/15/25: Heeding their master's voice again - way beyond pathetic (here).
...and I like this newer tune, and I think the message (inasmuch as there IS one) speaks for itself.
Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us about Marjorie Traitor Greene and other wingnuts who think Dems can control weather; actually, what had more to do with anything else in the day camp disaster in Kerr County was the complete and total failure of local government officials to do all they could to keep the kids and camp counselors safe...and yes, it’s hard not to feel like other people’s stoo-pidity is indeed sucking the life out of you, but we must find a way to overcome that of course...and kudos to meteorologist Matthew Cappucci for trying to bring sanity to all of this...I could actually feel brain cells dying as I listened to that numbskull Kandiss Taylor...and “fascist conspiratorial death cult” is kind of what I had in mind also...and the craziness has infected the highest levels of our government as noted here (and once again, this video makes me recall this post...NSFW/H)...
Update 7/13/25: Yeah, this sure figures, doesn't it?
...and Farron Cousins tells us that the IRS under our ruling regime had told churches they can now endorse political candidates...and why am I not a bit surprised to find out that the lawsuit that initiated that moronic decision from the Trump gang originated in Texas...and I’m sure Cousins is right to point out that, on top of this, corporations will now be able to deduct contributions to those orgs that previously weren’t allowed to make any official endorsement (though I can recall campaign signs for “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey that just happened to be on the grounds of the golf course near my church, and those signs could be viewed easily upon driving out of the parking lot)...I don’t think Cousins is being melodramatic at all, unfortunately, and speaking only for myself, I can’t tell you how important my faith is, but if I EVER hear a religious figure endorsing a candidate (and seriously, what party would receive such an endorsement?), I’m going to have a very hard decision to make (the most outrageous example I can think of that came just short of endorsing a candidate, barely, was something I posted about here)...
...and I thought this guy on TikTok provided some important context in light of “Juneteenth,” which was a couple of weeks ago I know...yes, once Republicans under Lincoln were libs and Dems were pro-business conservatives, but that script has definitely flipped for the reasons noted in the clip (mildly NSFW/H also)...
Here is some very important American history for the dumbest motherfuckers on the planet, Trump supporters. 😳👇 pic.twitter.com/ITHMLPfRWp
...and Sam Black of More Perfect Union brings us an electrician in Maine who voted for Trump, and it cost him his job, with billions cut from the Big Beautiful Clusterf*ck that would have gone to clean energy development...so many ways that last year’s election absolutely f’d this country, but though this doesn’t get a lot of attention, it is definitely a big one also (and maybe if our glorious fourth estate had decided to give a fraction of coverage to the Inflation Reduction Act, the infrastructure bill and the CHIPS Act as opposed to “Hunter Biden’s laptop,” we’d be in a very different place than the one we’re in now, and I’m definitely not letting the @DNC off the hook for doing a piss poor job of NOT selling the good works from “No Malarkey Joe” also)...and yes, we all knew about the immigration con (and for the zillionth time, Trump told U.S. Senate Repugs to kill the Murphy-Lankford bill), but it’s telling to me to see that what happened with the Palestinians in Gaza also resonated with the Maine man interviewed here...I’m not sure I can communicate how truly depressing it is to watch this (slightly NSFW/H as well)...
...and for a wholly other take on the utterly ruinous bill Cantaloupe Capone just signed into law, Michael Kosta of The Daily Show tells us that it looks like gamblers will have to pay taxes on losses...oh, and it will be easier to get gun silencers – just goes to show what happens when you put arguably the world’s most powerful economy (though AsiaPAC is ascendant of course) in the hands of a demented, narcissistic toddler...
...and Lawrence O’Donnell brings us the latest on Bronzer Beelzebub trying to distract The Great Unwashed from what was supposedly going to be the “big story” about the Epstein files (as if #47 would EVER let something like that get out)...party of me wants to laugh at Alex Jones, but part of me is cringing also, and oh yeah, let’s let The Swanson TV Dinner Heir have his say as well...and yeah, the “investigations” into John Brennan and James Comey are worth about as much as you can expect for the reasons O’Donnell notes (part of me is happy to see Comey go through the wringer because of the “BUT HER EMAILS!!!” garbage from 2016, but NOT to serve the whims of our contemptible Liar-In-Chief)...also, I don’t know anybody who goes after corporate media who actually works in corporate media like O’Donnell, and he deserves special credit for that (and Lawrence DEFINITELY is talking about this idiot without mentioning his name)...
...and kids, I’ll let Mr. Newberger have the last word for now...I’m not sure what kind of a musical someone could make out of Pumpkin Pol Pot 2.0 – at this point, I’d be willing to let John Waters take a shot if he were up to it...
...and I don’t know about you, but I need something to take me to another place, and this number from the "prog rock" era should do the trick.
Chris Williamson of Rebel HQ brings us the news of wingnuts cheering (of course) when police and ICE do all they can to prevent non-violent protests in LA, totally ignoring the fact that ICE and a ramped-up police presence is doing more to make conditions worse than anything else...looks like Charlie Kirk, Rachel Campos Duffy, Laura Ingraham, Matt Walsh, Meth Head Bannon and some other numbskull are leading the media charge, which isn’t surprising I realize...and oh yeah, as long as we’re playing the “golden oldies,” let’s hear the “great replacement theory” BS once more from Ingraham...
...and in a related item, I would say this mirrors reality a bit too closely, unfortunately...
...and John and Jayar of The Damage Report brings us the unfortunate news that, aww, Our Widdle Orange Baby’s poll numbers are dropping – c’est dommage...sooo, it looks like he’s going to be a “strong deport people we don’t like” guy and a “strong farmer” guy too? Aren’t you proud of yourselves, all you idiots who made sure we got stuck with this assclown for four more years...
...and I thought this was a particularly good commentary from Belle of the Ranch about Cantaloupe Capone and the Iran attack...”countries don’t have friends, they have interests” for sure...great point about Russia, China and North Korea not jumping to Iran’s side after the bombing; I swear, the Gropenfuhrer must be the damn luckiest head of a government (allegedly) that I’ve ever seen (though I don’t suppose we’re going to find out what the actual aftermath of that attack turns out to be...and the T-shirt is apropos for sure)...
...and Ronny Chieng of The Daily Show tells us about more tariff threats from “President TACO”...”Dear Mr. Japan,” huh? Naah, Our Ochre Abomination isn’t sunsetting...not much he isn’t...
Farron Cousins informs us of Bronzer Beelzebub pardoning the 1/6 rioters, including Jared L. Wise who was brought on as a DOJ advisor, and OF COURSE Wise will serve with Ed Martin, who somehow ends up in the middle of a lot of particularly seamy stuff with this regime...and I don’t think it’s too convoluted on the part of Cousins to say that, yeah, the legal double standard for Cantaloupe Capone here is indeed racist as hell (NSFW/H)...
...and David Doel tells us about Canadian-born U.S. citizen Cynthia Olivera who supported Trump and apparently will now be deported...she went to a meeting that she thought had to do with getting her green card, but she received a rather rude surprise (and she was granted a permit from Biden allowing her to work here, but look who she voted for instead last year)...and yes, we’re all responsible for our actions and this lady is too, but the right-wing media environment in this country is indeed a factor...and soo, Olivera was trying to leave legally, but ICE is detaining her anyway? Try lying to me one more time and say that the garbage from our ruling gang of thugs ISN’T about punishment first and foremost (and oh yeah, the waste of money too from this regime to exact all of this revenge)...
...and continuing from the annals of “I voted for the leopards eating faces and OMIGOD THEY ATE MY FACE AND THEY WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO!”, Kyle Kulinski tells us that, apparently, young men realize they f’d up by supporting Our Ochre Abomination (the “strength of his persona”?? Well, that tells you how good Repugs are at hoodwinking voters...they “voted on vibes” indeed, but to be fair, a lot of others did also)...I don’t believe Dems will win this entire generational cohort of younger voters going forward (love to be wrong...at least, not without a hell of a lot better of an outreach effort than they’ve mustered so far), but they need to find a way to peel off enough of this demographic to win in the future...and here is that disgusting quote from Steve Scalise about 35-year-old gamers in their mother’s basements or something playing video games – this era’s equivalent of “welfare queens” from The Sainted Ronnie R...and by the way, the House version of the Big Beautiful Generational Wealth Transfer would have cut health care for 10.9 million people as we see in the clip, so when Bri-Fi says that the House version of the bill kept Medicaid in intact, he is LYYYY-IIINNNG (NSFW/H also)...
...and when even Fix Noise (with screeching harpie Maria Bartiromo) can’t even sugar coat the coming Trump-cession, which will be made worse by that wretched Big Beautiful You-Know-What, you KNOW there is a problem (so OF COURSE Bartiromo, knowing how utterly awful the data is for Our Sweaty Orange Boy, immediately tries flipping the script to “THAT COMMUNIST MAMDANI IN NEW YORK!!”)...I know I'm a little behind on this, but I wanted to make sure it was mentioned...
...and I realize the main topic of this bit really isn’t funny, but aside from marching and fighting these bastards in court, humor of a sort is the only other weapon we have at the moment...
...and I don’t see any Philly dates for these guys, but it appears they’ll be coming to Baltimore and Red Bank, NJ in October – should be good shows (and I’m sure they’ll perform this newer tune).
David Pakman pretty much tells us that Combover Caligula and Apartheid Clyde have blood on their hands over the DOGE cuts and the flooding in Texas...damn right (God almighty, now the body count is about 104)...and yeah, it’s typically repugnant for the MAGA knuckle draggers (who, as far as I’m concerned, are just the latest incarnation of what the Repug Party is at their core anyway) to accuse our side of cheering on this tragedy....and as far as “MAGA Mike” Johnson’s request that we “pray,” I know I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again; I was taught that the Lord helps those who help themselves – besides, any presumed religiosity from that disgusting fraud acting as U.S. House Speaker might as well be porn, which he knows something about, let’s not forget, as noted here (more here and here...if you can help, please click here)...
Update 7/10/25: And why am I not surprised by this?
...and leave it to "Cancun Cruz" to do what he does best at times of crisis for his state (here...more here)...
...and Belle give us the latest on hospitals closing from the Big Beautiful Atrocity...great point that a lot of people on Medicaid don’t know it because the state they live in calls it something else (e.g., Heritage Health in Frontier County, Nebraska)...Oklahoma may be next on the list for closures also...oh, and it looks like 33 medical centers in Louisiana are facing that fate as well (gee, didn’t “MAGA Mike” Johnson just say that reports of hospital closures in his state due to Medicaid cuts were “nonsense”?)...more here...
...and Chris Hayes “brings the receipts” on just how unpopular the “Big Beautiful Clusterf*ck” is, according to Georgetown University political scientist Christoper Warshaw...Hayes speaks with data scientist G. Elliott Morris for more info (good point that the Repugs know how unpopular the Medicaid cuts are, so that’s why they’re time-delayed...a typically deceitful move by these cretins)...a “prioritization of the elites” most definitely (and another clumsy cut from MSNBC at the end)...
...and Jesse Dollemore talks with Michigan State Senate Majority Whip Mallory McMorrow, running for the Dem nomination for the U.S. Senate from Michigan...I was impressed by her in previous clips giving it right back to Repugs, and credit to her also for being one of the few Dems I could see that ACTUALLY PAID ATTENTION to Project 2025 last year as Jesse points out...and she’s absolutely right about having a plan on Day One, or else she and the Dems won’t get anywhere (are you paying attention, @DNC?)...mildly NSFW/H...
...and Brian Tyler Cohen says that it looks like there’s “nothing to see here” on the Jeffrey Epstein file and he offed himself (allegedly), so let’s move along, OK? – gee, how con-veee-nient given all of the powerful people who were part of that clique, huh? And I honestly didn’t know about all of the wingnut “influencers” at the White House who were supposedly there for an Epstein file “reveal” or something...color me suspicious, but somehow I think a certain orange individual is up to his flabby, jowly neck in all of those misdeeds...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 7/7/15...did you ever wonder how OAN, Real America’s Voice and the other competitors to Fix Noise could have been influenced in their programming decisions? Well, wonder no more – here is the ”One Percent News” (more here...and yes, this is tongue-in-cheek)...
Brian Tyler Cohen brings us a clip of U.S. House Repugs chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A!” like it’s a high-school pep rally of course while they gut Medicaid, SNAP and all other manner of government assistance...yeah, those U.S. House Repug lowlifes are just SO PROUD OF THEMSELVES for passing Bronzer Beelzebub’s “Big Beautiful Clusterf*ck”...oh, and here comes Bri-Fi to plead that he didn’t think Medicaid would be cut; again, he’s either naïve or stoo-pid, or both (the last CBO estimate had 10.9 million losing coverage in the House version)...and oh yeah, isn’t it interesting to see how Tim Burchett was for the CBO budget estimates before he was against them...and yeah, I knew Huckleberry Graham was a servile lickspittle, but wow, does that anecdote about the wings and a T-shirt prove it...and not to be outdone, Drunken Van Orden of Wisconsin also fell for the Gropenfuhrer’s “charm offensive,” apparently, when it comes to cutting Medicaid funding for rural hospitals...
...and Sam of The Majority Report brings us the clip of Dem U.S. House Rep Joe Neguse talking about a “whaler tax cut” that bought around Lisa Murkowski, apparently, on this horrible budget bill (and Jim McGovern chimes in also in a snarky but appropriate manner IMO)...and yeah, Brave Sir Josh Hawley did indeed cave on the Big Beautiful Atrocity before he presumably ran away again...and I totally get Sam’s snarky comment about Dem U.S. Senate “leader” Chuck Schumer – again, I can’t think of a word to describe how pathetic it is that he actually took the job once held by Harry Reid, who would have dragged Schumer’s sorry butt all over the place...the fact that Schumer didn’t tell every Senate Dem to get up and walk out immediately after the way Sen. Padilla was attacked is typical...
...and I’m going to digress a bit here and remind us all about the genocide Israel is committing in Gaza (and yes, it is in fact a “genocide” according to the UN and Amnesty International as noted here), bombing a popular seaside café frequented by Palestinians about a week ago...American neurosurgeon Dr. Abdul Basit Khan in Gaza speaks with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales of Democracy Now!; Khan said the collective carnage in that area is “the worst thing he’s ever seen” (and just in time for this)...
...and venturing into the theater of the absurd in this country, David Pakman (not him) tells us that State Department spokes-person Tammy Bruce thanks God for Trump (and #47 cares absolutely nothing about Palestinians in Gaza of course; if he does, it’s only to see them wiped out)...”the total collapse of honest political discourse” indeed...in a weird way, Bruce is actually right about “the middle east changing forever,” but DEFINITELY NOT in a way favorable to us or basic humanity (see prior clip)...and oh yeah, let’s hear once more about what the Gropenfuhrer has “given up and sacrificed” to be *preznit (here)...and sooo, Bruce knows absolutely nothing apparently about #47’s plans (and he probably doesn’t either), but she “knows to trust him”; Bruce is giving “Baghdad Bob” a run for his money (the language of a cult indeed)...and in case you’re wondering how #47 found Bruce, I think this gives you a hint...
...and Tennessee Brando tells us about MAGA tipping their hand a bit with some “Christian nationalist” pastor saying that only “Christian nationalist” men can be in charge (the guy looks like Matt Walsh a bit)...yep, you can always count on the wingnuts to peel off the mask of supposed moderation the first chance they get...glad to hear Brando draw a link between the Obama “Kenyan Muslim” garbage and attacks against Zohran Mamdani, which to me are two peas in the same disgusting pod...and I’m a fan of Sturgill Simpson too, by the way (mildly NSFW/H)...
...and even though dumb Americans (for the most part, barring Apartheid Clyde and the Palantir shenanigans) elected Pumpkin Pol Pot and not a deity, I still find myself wanting to hear this tune.
I realize that the “Big Beautiful Gutting Of Our Government Services And Our Economy” will soon be in the grubby, ketchup-stained hands of Our Ochre Abomination, but I’m going to keep including clips on how ruinous it truly is...this clip form More Perfect Union tells us How “BBB” Transfers Trillions From Workers To Wall Street...the rate of CEO-to-worker pay has absolutely gone bonkers, starting around year 2000 or so...and yes, this is another horror story about how stock buybacks used to be illegal, but The Sainted Ronnie R just smiled and said, “Oh, it’s ‘Morning In America,’ so everything is fine,” and it magically became legal, and of course, this ruinous piece of garbage legislation is going to supercharge all of this mess (and I’d actually forgotten about the role the 2017 Tax Scam from Cantaloupe Capone has played in all of this by slashing the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent)...video takes a look at Lowe’s, but to be fair, what that company has done has pretty much been replicated across a vast array of other industries...and I have to admit that I didn’t have “Little Marco Rubio Trying To Control Stock Buybacks” on my Bingo card – of course, he immediately fell back into line when the “pay no price, bear no burden” bunch got their collective shorts in a knot (and who else but “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey shows up to shill for the one percent, amirite?)...and yeah, that guy with the “These Colors Don’t Run” shirt sure is proud of himself for not voting last year – about the kind of political engagement you’d expect that has led to our current calamity...
...and this clip form Robert Reich and More Perfect Union features former Biden FTC head Lina Khan telling us How Monopolies Steal Your Freedom...terrific analysis of what monopolies do to the industries they take over and how that affects us as consumers, including depressing wages, along with ridiculous non-compete clauses for all kinds of industries to prevent workers from getting better jobs...and no, you can’t just say “oh, that’s just capitalism, you pointy-headed lib”...this is predatory, rapacious greed, pure and simple, which (and I don’t mean to shock anybody) has NOT ONE DAMN THING TO DO with pure market competition...
...and Sam and the crew of The Majority Report bring us this item about Dem U.S. House Rep Jim McGovern pushing back on some U.S. House Repug named Brett Guthrie of Kentucky (of course); Guthrie apparently thinks his constituents on Medicaid are all freeloaders (and once again, I give you this from the Kaiser Family Foundation which explains that work requirements will drive people off Medicaid...18K people in Arkansas lost coverage without increasing employment due to work requirements...as Sam says, the overwhelming number of people on Medicaid ALREADY ARE EMPLOYED!)...
...and I realize that it’s hard to find humor at the moment, but I think this is apropos from Mr. Newberger...sometimes the only way we have to fight these cretins is to heap ridicule upon them (and a related item is here)...
...and as long as we’re talking about Flori-DUUH!, I give you this clip from Tennessee Brando timed for the release of the concentration camp in the Everglades, with Ron #DeathSantis starting a question with a lie about Zohran Mamdani in New York, accusing him of being a “communist” (please)...and of course, Our Ochre Abomination takes that softball and does what he always does, and that’s add lies and propaganda on top of that...and I think Brando is absolutely right; the racism and islamophobia aimed at Mamdani is going to be so far off the charts that it will likely be impossible to keep track of all of it...(NSFW/H)...
...and I now give you the latest installment of "This Day In Doomsy History" from 7/4/19: “Why America Is Just OK” from the New York Times...kind of an interesting curio given all of the MAGA insanity currently running amok, but if nothing else, this is an important reminder of what this country still is (despite Repug Party efforts doing their worst) and how far we still have to go...
...and part of me wants to fly an upside-down flag in front of Le Manse Doomsy, but I reconsidered and will present the following tunes for the holiday instead.
(By the way, I know the House is inching closer to a final vote on the Big Beautiful Bullsh*t Bill , but I’m going to keep putting up videos attacking it for a little while longer.)
David Pakman gives us the clip of Repug Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska giving her “death stare” to reporter Ryan Nobles who had the affrontery (as far as Murkowski is concerned) to call her out over her sellout vote on Trump’s trash bill to reward his campaign contributors and stick the rest of us with the residue...I wonder if Murkowski will be so brave to Rand (Fake Ophthalmologist) Paul who said the words in the first place?...
Update 7/5/25: Speaking of Alaska, I think this pretty much says it.
...and AOC cuts right to the heart of the matter on the Big Beautiful Clusterf*ck...”you should be ashamed”...and yes, she’s right, but the other side has proved that they’re not capable of shame, so...and I knew the whole “no taxes on tips” thing was a joke, and as far as I’m concerned, the cap of $25 grand is more or less throwing money at you when the john calls the cab and tells you to get the hell out...
...and Kyle Kulinski goes down the whole laundry list of cuts from DOGE as well as everything that will be destroyed because of the “BBB,” including scientific and medical research...and oh yeah, as a result of Our Ochre Abomination’s immigration roundup of college students in particular, we will indeed suffer a “brain drain” in this country...of course, that doesn’t diminish the cruelty inflicted on other workers who pretty much make our economy run on a daily basis (NSFW/H)...
...and Farron Cousins informs us that Trump’s “Big Beautiful Giveaway To The Rich” will kill 51K people a year; health experts signed onto a letter earlier this year saying as much...with the focus on gutting Medicaid, it’s easy to look past all of the other myriad monstrous ways this disgusting bill could ruin our lives, such as heating and cooling assistance as Cousins points out...
...oh, and in the likely event that this horrible legislative monstrosity passes and gets signed into law, what is next on the checklist for Dementia Donnie? Why, rounding up and deporting U.S. citizens, which #47 says is his “next job”...more lies and BS from this delusional narcissist and clueless egomaniac (Jesse Dollemore tells us about it)...
...and I guess, for better or worse, I had this newer tune in mind when I read about this (there were, and are, worse evangelical characters than Swaggart IMO, but as far as I’m concerned, he was emblematic of the moral rot of that band of zealots all the same).
Update: To be fair, here is Bri-Fi’s statement in opposition to the “Big, Beautiful Generational Ripoff” (Thomas Massie was the other No vote on the "R" side...more here).
So Bri-Fi says he opposed Medicaid cuts in the Senate version of the bill, and that’s why he voted No on the final version. My question is this; how the hell else did he think making that beyond wretched 2017 giveaway permanent would be paid for (an earlier vote in favor is here)?
If Bri-Fi cared so much about Medicaid cuts, then why was he NOT one of the 12 U.S. House Reps who opposed them in this letter to House Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson? Oh, riiight...Bri-Fi can’t go against his leadership, or else MAGA will primary him – got it.
If Bri-Fi seriously thought that gutting the social safety net was NOT how this garbage bill would be paid for, then he truly is an idiot and/or a liar. I mean, the “Freedumb” Caucus is nuts of course, but at least they’re showing their craziness and deceit out in the open.
John and Jayar of The Damage Report inform us of Dementia Donnie blowing off the funeral for Dem state rep Melissa Hortman and her husband...I realize it isn’t exactly front-page news to point out that Cantaloupe Capone is a heartless, narcissistic monster, but part of the reason I’m mentioning this is because everything pertaining to this Vance Boelter person (the alleged assassin) has somehow fallen off the media radar, as nearly as I can tell anyway, particularly given the fact that this guy had a weapons cache and a bunch of other Dems he was apparently targeting...gee, you’d think that would be worth a few more stories at least, along with the possibility that he might have had an accomplice or two...??...with all of his myriad outrages, I’d forgotten that Our Ochre Abomination didn’t even issue a statement in response to the shootings of the Hortmans, along with John Hoffman and his wife (and apparently Boelter may or may not be on a suicide watch as noted here – don’t look for a speck of sympathy from me)...
...and Thom Hartmann tells us that almost a quarter of those polled according to yougov think we’re already in a dictatorship...peachy...Thom says that if you intimidate a couple of people in certain jobs/industries, you can intimidate other people in those jobs/industries, and he may be right...and once again, it’s a comment to how dark a place we’re at when someone like Thomas Massie stands as a voice of reason, but that’s the case for now, so OF COURSE a Super PAC now arises to take down Massie in Kentucky, and Thom is correct about Chris LaCivita and the Swift Boat Lying Liars from about 20 years ago (more on the War Powers resolution with Ro Khanna and Massie is here)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us how underwater Our Treasonous Orange Pustule is when it comes to his approval rating, which is only bound to get worse after the passage of his Big Beautiful Obscenity, with 53% of those polled saying we’re going in the wrong direction; I know the BBB number was bad, but only 35 percent approval? Yeah, that’s a pretty subterranean polling number...
...and Sam and the crew from The Majority Report tell us that it looks like Dem U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff recently tried to get Repug Doug Collins to explain exactly what is proposed to be cut by $17-18 billion in the VA budget, though it appears to be a reduction in headcount, which will no doubt mean a reduction in services for our veterans (typical Trumpist move to stonewall anyone conducting oversight)...figures for this bunch...and apparently it was too much trouble for Collins to properly prepare for the hearing even though all he had to go over was a 26-slide Power Point presentation...”the dog ate my homework” indeed from Collins...
...and I think this clip puts Trumpist spokes-liar Karoline Leavitt in the context she truly deserves...
...and here is another seasonal tune.
Update 1: Damn straight (about the "Big Beautiful Atrocity")...
Update 2: Don't give Bri-Fi a moment's peace over this...
(One more time, click here to contact your U.S. senator and tell them to vote NO on the "Big Beautiful Atrocity"...more here).
Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ brings us more voter remorse over #47, including the woman laughing about the “Trump mobile” scam (ummm...I wouldn’t be laughing if I knew how hard I got utterly played, but that’s just me I guess)... I have to admit that I get a little fed up with how Joe Rogan is taken seriously as some kind of a political prognosticator, but I guess that’s just the reality...and Thomas Massie definitely isn’t a “profile in courage” by any means, but at least he can “read the room”...and yeah, the “four dipsh*ts of the apocalypse” are indeed saddling up (NSFW/H)...
...and Belle of the Ranch gives us more background on Combover Caligula’s Medicaid cuts, and she commendably blows up some of the rhetoric on BBB...the CBO has released their numbers, cutting Medicaid, Medicare and the ACA by $1.1, mostly out of Medicaid...also, 11.8 million people losing health insurance by 2034, all for massive tax cuts for the “pay no price, bear no burden” bunch...also, $325 million to create an additional bureaucracy and paperwork hurdles to require constant tracking of people receiving Medicaid, and possibly Medicare too to make sure they remain eligible...and yes, the Senate version is actually worse when it comes to work requirements and proof of attending school...and of course, the Repugs are saying this will only affect undocumented workers, which (and you’d better fetch the fainting couch when you hear this) is a BIG FAT LIE; “non-verified citizenship” only affects 1 in 10 of those who will be kicked off Medicaid...I have a feeling that passing this bill will truly be the reckoning for the utter stoo-pidity of anybody who voted for Cantaloupe Capone, as well as the rest of us who will pretty much be collateral damage...and oh yes, it’s time to dump on LGBTQ individuals again; for the umpteenth freaking time, KIDS AREN’T GETTING BOTTOM SURGERY! THEY’RE GETTING REVERSIBLE PUBERTY BLOCKERS, WHICH MOST OF THEM WANT BECAUSE THEY’RE SERIOUS ABOUT TRANSITIONING!!! And as Belle says, we’re only talking about 13K surgeries per year in a country with about 330 million people...and by the way, every freaking bit of this mess was completely predictable, and individuals like yours truly, filthy unkempt liberal blogger that I am, were yelling as loud as we could to warn everybody...
...and Tennessee Brando brings us Repug U.S. Senator form North Carolina Thom Tills going scorched earth on BBB...of course, Tillis is on his way out the door, but credit where it’s due I guess...and oh yeah, let’s pillory Obama again for saying “if you like your doctor, you can keep him,” which admittedly was a mistake, while also not counting the DAILY TORRENT OF LIES from the “party of Lincoln”...imperfect as the ACA was (and still is), it still covered millions who would have otherwise been left to fend for themselves...and with respect to Brando, work requirements in Medicaid would cause the largest increase in the number of people without health insurance; the Kaiser Family Foundation breaks that down here, so Tillis is wrong on that score...also with respect to Brando, Clinton, Obama and Dubya were right to ignore Our Treasonous Orange Egomaniac (NSFW/H also)...
Update 1: I suppose this was inevitable given the election results last year, but the fight was still worth it.
And by the way, don’t give “Fake Ophthalmologist” Rand Paul and “Disappointed” Collins any credit. Their opposition was political theater; the result was predetermined (and yeah, Lisa Murkowski sure reached for the "chicken switch" also...and even though he was a commendable No vote, now John Fetterman can begin his vacation down the shore).
Also, here’s a message for those clueless election losers at the @DNC...this is a golden opportunity to put into place your thus-far-nonexistent social media strategy. It shouldn’t be up to a British-sounding comedian to explain to this country how monumentally awful this legislative atrocity truly is.
Update 2: A LOT more like this (as far as I'm concerned, Warren should be the Dem Senate leader for real).
And now, for no particular reason, I’d like to step back and “go meta” a bit and discuss “how the sausage gets made” around here.
I happened to come across a couple of Rebel HQ clips in which they presented Marjorie Trailer Park Greene getting called out by Dem Rep Melanie Stansbury as well as another clip with another Repug numbskull named John McGuire getting the same commendable treatment from AOC. I actually tried to listen to Greene and her “Democrat colleague” this and “Democrat colleague” that, as well as this guy McGuire peddling his garbage in front of Dem governors J.B. Pritzker and Tim Walz. I actually stopped watching both clips after a few seconds, even though I’m sure Stansbury and AOC did indeed respond effectively. Here is why...Greene and McGuire proved that they are both stupendous liars, and even though I give Rebel HQ credit for putting up the clips with AOC and Stansbury, I refuse to give bandwidth to people who plainly are trying to cram as much disinformation as they can in a limited space (referring to Greene and McGuire of course). Given that they don’t know or don’t care about verifiable truth and reality, Greene and McGuire simply do not deserve to be taken seriously on any topic as far as I’m concerned (makes me recall this post).
(Of course, putting Greene in charge of ANYTHING, let alone a House subcommittee, is a great big middle-finger-raised-on-high from Not Your Father’s Republican Party aimed right at our democratic form of government, but that’s a whole other discussion I know.)
Now back to the videos...I suppose this item makes the following relevant again...
...and RIP Lalo Schifrin, who composed this memorable theme among many others...
...and this may be the longest “moving” song I’ve ever heard, but it’s kind of a badass tune IMO, notwithstanding “AI Melania” on guitar :-).
Hunter Avallone of Occupy Democrats brings us the tale of the Norwegian tourist who was stopped at Newark Airport and sent home over an ant-Trump meme (oh, but DHS says that’s wrong as noted here)...and when you’ve lost a bulb as dim as Joe Rogan, I would definitely say that you’ve gone WAAAY too far...and of course, Pam “Blondi” figures into this mess somehow, because of course (and kudos to Dem U.S. House Rep Madeleine Dean for giving it right back to this clueless bimbo)...and Avallone is right; it makes you wonder who ICE is really looking out for if they’re preoccupied with trying to nail people who don’t genuflect properly before the altar of Cantaloupe Capone (and apologies for scaring anyone with that pic)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that the “Sunshine State” is proposing a new migrant detention center based in the Everglades, an “Alligator Alcatraz,” if you will, which of course would utterly destroy the ecosystem of that area (I mean, I realize it’s not as if any Repug actually cares about that I know), in addition to representing still more cruelty and barbarism from Our Ochre Abomination and the “party of Lincoln”; apparently the alleged genius who came up with this sadistic idea was Flori-DUUH! Attorney General James Uthmeier...(more here and here – also here and here...NSFW/H)...
...and John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report let us know that, while they were on their way out the door to begin their vacations, our wretched SCOTUS under Hangin’ Judge JR allowed Mango Mussolini to determine whether or not birthright citizenship applies to residents born in this country to parents here temporarily or under protected status, which kind of flies in the face of...wait, let me think for a second...oh yeah, THE 14TH FREAKING AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION!! And for now, this garbage decision only applies to 28 states, but just wait until cases start popping up in other localities currently not affected that will enshrine this dictatorial insanity there also...one of John’s great points is that our joke of a SCOTUS isn’t even defending actual laws, but merely decrees from Bronzer Beelzebub which may or may not stand up in other courts, which is probably as pathetically servile as you can get...also, good for John for mentioning the INSANE inconsistency in this SCOTUS doing all it could to destroy Biden’s attempt to forgive student loan debt on the one hand, but on the other hand, giving Our Treasonous Orange Demagogue EVERYTHING he wants here, and in other decisions...
...and RIP former Dem U.S. House Rep Caroyln McCarthy, who got into politics when her husband was murdered and son critically injured by the Long Island subway gunman (here)... powerful testimony about her career to combat gun violence (she doesn’t mention fighting the NRA in this clip, though that definitely was part of her courageous profile)...
...and here’s a new hit tune that we can sing along to while our economy does the “big swirl in the hopper”...
...and I would say that it’s time for another seasonal selection.
Kyle Kulinski brings us the latest polling on Bronzer Beelzebub’s bombing of Iran...the good news is #47’s overall awful numbers as brought to us by Harry Enten of CNN, but the bad (but not surprising) news is the rock-solid support Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence still enjoys from his party...and boy, is Kyle ever right about Dubya’s administration spending two years beating us over the head with “IRAQ HAS WMD! WE WILL BE GREETED AS LIBERATORS!!,” etc., etc, prior to launching his illegal war...and I pretty much gave up hope on any Repug when it comes to this or any other issue that matters in my life, to be honest (NSFW/H)...
..and with the prior clip in mind, Jesse Dollemore brings us the gory details about “Whiskey Pete” Hegseth’s freak out in front of the media, especially to Fix Noise reporter Jennifer Griffin (I honestly didn’t know that network actually paid attention to news for real)...GREAT point by Jesse that every single word of that rant from Our Completely Out Of His Depth SecDef was written in advance...oh, and speaking of “leaking classified information,” let’s not forget this...and once more (and here I go again I know), we had a deal with Iran to keep them from enriching uranium that was achieved under President Obama principally by former Secretary of State John Kerry, and Iran abided by that deal, but Trump walked away from it (by the way, I cannot POSSIBLY imagine why MSNBC decided to make the Chris Hayes video "private"...what utter morons!)...
...and Brian Tyler Cohen and Glenn Kirschner give us another “Legal Breakdown” episode...the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals just issued a ruling about another immigrant snatched by our ruling regime and transported to El Salvador by the name of Jordin Melgar-Salmeron, saying that the gangsters in charge of the executive branch must return Melgar-Salmeron to this country “as soon as possible”...sounds like, if the Trumpsters had just left this guy alone and let justice run its course, he would have been deported anyway, but of course they didn’t do that and this guy was denied his “reasonable fear” hearing as Kirschner explains (NSFW/H)...
...and Yasmin Khan of Rebel HQ lets us know about #47’s pick for director of the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships within DHS (think counter-terrorism), and it looks like it’s a 22-year-old Repug named Thomas Fugate (you can tell how seriously this nematode takes his job from his pic) – Rachel Maddow rightly calls out this guttersnipe...Khan goes over other news stories and comes back to the Maddow clip at about 4:26...soooo, what exactly are this guy Fugate’s “qualifications”? Well, he apparently mowed lawns and worked as a supermarket clerk – ah, smell the “free-dumb,” my fellow prisoners...and oh yeah, he also had an internship at The Heritage Foundation and is a big time fluffer for Our Sweaty Orange Boy, and in MAGA world, that apparently is all you need...
...and Tim Miller and Sam Stein of The Bulwark discuss “Grim Reaper” McConnell’s “They’ll get over it” remark on Medicaid (story originated from Punchbowl News)...yep, Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao just wants to push through his stinking tax cut, and it doesn’t matter to him how many dead bodies he racks up as a result...maybe not quite as bad as Joni “We’re all going to die one day” Ernst, but right up there all the same...and let’s not forget that that death eater from Kentucky has one foot out the door, as it were, as noted in the clip (more fool the people of his state commonwealth who kept sending this decrepit fossil back to D.C. every six years)...and I can just imagine what kind of lies the Trump Super PAC is spreading about the “Big Beautiful Act” in ruby red Louisiana...I didn’t know that North Carolina could end up losing the most Medicaid funds; no wonder Thom Tillis wants McConnell to STFU, and I know “Running Man” Josh Hawley is at least pretending to be concerned also (mildly NSFW/H)...
...and RIP Bill Moyers...I always thought he was a pretty straight-shooting news/editorial pro on the issues that mattered...the New York Times obit described him as the opposite of a self-promoting blowhard, and I think that’s a pretty correct observation...Moyers IMO was responsible for a lot of quality journalism, especially on TV...many years ago, I saw him interview Joseph Campbell in that series about “the power of myths”; interesting, albeit a little highbrow...this clip is a commentary about a US drone attack in the Middle East which no doubt drove those we were trying to win over right to the cause of terrorists seeking to do us harm...and don’t be too shocked to realize that this commentary is aimed right at President Hopey Changey...yes, I supported Obama and still do, but he’s not infallible; no one is of course...
...and I’m glad FEMA head David Richardson (the guy who didn’t know there was a hurricane season) seems to have “righted the ship,” to a degree, as noted here, but it looks like he now has a brand new scandal – heh (NSFW/H as well)...
...and happy upcoming 80th birthday to bassist David Knights of Procal Harum.
