Jesse Dollemore lets us know that Don The Con fired the architect who warned #47 that his stinking ballroom was just too damn big because of course...and Cheetoh Benito “exercising restraint”??? What a “laff riot” THAT is...and Jesse keeps calling this “Hitler sh*t” because that’s pretty much what it is...and leave it to Our Treasonous Orange Pustule to engage in this madness and bypass any org having to do with D.C. that might exercise a scintilla of oversight to this clusterf*ck...and it would be not surprising in any way for this ridiculous project to hurt the structural integrity of the actual White House to the point where the whole damn thing needed to be rebuilt (mildly NSFW/H)...
...and Robert Reich goes after this mess with that damn ballroom from the angle of the corporate players involved and what they’re looking to gain by currying favor with Combover Caligula...what a vile rogues gallery of bootlickers and bottom-feeders...
...and Stephanie Ruhle tells us that the economic forecasting firm Challenger says that our glorious capitalist economy is looking at about 1.1 million layoffs this year, the most since the pandemic in ’20, with folks struggling to make ends meet largely because of Mango Mussolini’s wretched non-governance, including tariffs, ICE’s despicable tactics and attacking health care (and DOGE destroying about 300K jobs), but about 2,900 billionaires are ”livin’ large,” to the tune of about $16 trillion (interview with Natasha Sarin and Rohit Chopra)...good points by all but also Chopra, pointing out what younger individuals trying to start to make a life for themselves are dealing with...and “Trump Accounts For Babies”?? Great...so #47 can scam a whole new generation of potential suckers I guess (as Sarin says, just fund the damn child tax credit and forget about some new scheme to make the banksters wealthier than they are already)...oh, and Sean Duffy wants to bring back station wagons? How? By overturning more Biden policy, this time making vehicles ultimately more expensive as Sarin points out, and non-competitive globally (to say nothing of climate change, which our villainous ruling cabal doesn’t believe in anyway of course...more here)...
...and I’ll let Mr. Newberger have the last word for now...
Jen Psaki lets us know that it looks like Donnie Accordion Hands is trying to find new ways to pass the time aside from dumb president stuff like, y’know, ACTUALLY TRYING TO SAVE OUR ECONOMY, GETTING RID OF THOSE STOO-PID TARIFFS, REINING IN HIS ICE GOONS, etc. and is now making speeches about renaming American football...and oh yeah, the Tangerine Toddler got that alleged “peace” award from FIFA, one of the most corrupt organizations on earth, as Psaki reminds us; that thing looks pretty damn weird with those hands reaching out of the ground like they’re from “The Walking Dead” (and I would ask that you bear this in mind as you take note of that)...clip revisits “I’ll Drink To That” Hegseth preaching to people far better than he’ll ever be about “war fighters”...also, we learn more about Crazy Eyes Kash Patel using the FBI to cart around his 27-year-old girlfriend...Psaki speaks with Miles Taylor who was DHS Chief of Staff during Trump 1.0 and a guy who sums up this madness pretty well (I knew the Gropenfuhrer was allergic to memos longer than a page, but I didn’t know that he was that way about memos longer than a freaking paragraph!)...
...and Jerrod Zisser of Ring of Fire lets us know that, apparently, Pumpkin Pol Pot’s ICE goons in New York managed to somehow lose a 6-year-old boy named Yuanxin; this story tells us that ICE claims the boy is in federal custody, but it seems that nobody knows where he is (and given the bunch of belligerent incompetents in charge of our government, do you actually trust them?)...
This ABC News report tells us about Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, a Boston college student who was trying to fly to Austin, TX for a family visit, but she ended up getting detained by the ICE Gestapo and eventually was sent to Honduras, a country she knows practically nothing about, despite a judge’s order (oh, and she had to try and sleep on a cold floor, and God only knows what other kind of deprivations she had to endure...more here)...
...and I’ve been meaning to get to this all week, so I’d better do it now; Robert Reich tells us more about Palantir (and its “Lord Of The Rings” provenance, if you will), a company that makes these AI platforms that are sold all over the place (including to the military) and are subsequently used to amass huge amounts of personal data that are used to increase the surveillance state to an ever-greater degree...and as if that isn’t bad enough, Palantir is doing all of this with billions in taxpayer dough...and I remember the wingnuts losing what’s left of their minds about putting info on gun owners into a database monitored by the government, but I don’t recall hearing a peep out of them in response to what Palantir wants to do, which is compile a massive government database of their own, used for immigration surveillance among other nefarious purposes...clip explains why Peter Thiel could be the most dangerous person in this country, aside from Cantaloupe Capone of course...
...and this New York Times clip tells us that the Tangerine Toddler’s aid cuts are forcing food pantries to replace fruits and vegetables with junk food...food cost 28% more now than it did in ’20, as we learn from the clip...also, the Gropenfuhrer has cut more than $1 billion in federal food aid, including a program sending food from farms to low-income Americans, calling it “a Biden-era slush fund” (figures)...I’d like to see this Brooke Rollins character be forced to miss a meal for a change instead of dining at a five-star hotel...oh, and two million are likely to lose access to food stamps next year; I would say that these times are Dickensian, but they’re likely worse than that...
...and another culprit in this country’s misery is private equity IMO, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren has some pending legislation to address that (she should be the Senate minority leader; maybe Schumer can ask “the Baileys” if that’s a good idea – here)...
...and here are more selections in the spirit of the season.
Chris Hayes takes a look at a presidency in decline (though I’ll admit that it’s hard to measure that considering that this administration has been in the gutter ever since it took power in January)...and I know I’m repeating myself, but while I’m definitely not a medical professional, from what I read, an MRI is NOT part of a “yearly physical,” even a “yearly” one for #47 that apparently takes place every six months...oh, and for the record, Dementia Donnie granted asylum to the accused shooter of the two D.C. national guard members, one of whom was killed (here)...
...and when it comes to more madness from Pumpkin Pol Pot, Kyle Kulinski tells us that Our Treasonous Orange Yam is scamming his voters again in order to get an alleged “tariff rebate check” (found out by Ben Meiselas of the Meidas Touch Network) – yep, sounds like the mask is completely off with our ruling gang of cretins...I didn’t know about the latest BS with Cheetoh Benito and Vlad The Butcher having to do with Ukraine (also including Steve Witkoff and Wonder Boy Jared Kushner, and communicating on unencrypted devices with Russia to make it all extra stoo-pid), but that sure fits the seamy, disgusting profile all right...yeah, let’s just COMPLETELY SELL OUT UKRAINE so we can help Russia carve it up and get oil and mineral rights, to say nothing of U.S. companies getting richer from reconstruction contracts (and I think “mob-ocracy” is about right, with Venezuela apparently next on the list... trying to control my vomit reflex...definitely NSFW/H)...
...and as you let the previous clip sink in a bit, I would also ask that you listen to the story of this man, who served our country way back when and had to be abused (along with his wife) by our insane for-profit health care system in this country...oh, and he was also cast aside by our predatory capitalist economy and left to fend for himself, leading him to the point where, at 88 years old, he has to work a crappy job in our service economy...I’m hearing (and I’m sure you are too) of young men and women in their 20s who are leaving this country for (hopefully) a better life overseas, and after seeing stories like this, I don’t blame them one bit...
We are the wealthiest country in the world and yet this is how we treat our seniors and veterans. If you support Trump and Republicans ripping away SNAP, Medicaid, and Obamacare subsidies to give tax cuts to billionaires — GO FUCK YOURSELF. 😳👇 pic.twitter.com/wMP214280s
...and Michael Kosta wishes us all a “Merry Bizmas” (and converting to Islam to save dough at Christmas time? Hit me!)...and a BDSM teddy bear also? Wonder how many of them you can buy by dealing blow at the food court near the Sbarro (#joke)...
...and yep, you guessed it - time for more seasonal tunes.
CNN’s Harry Enten and John Berman take a look at the TN-07 race won by Repug Matt Van Epps over Dem Aftyn Behn, but not by much, as we learn from Enten...more importantly, Enten discusses the Dem overperformance across the country, and the TN-07 result is part of that trend; this makes me gnash my teeth a bit because I think to myself “where the hell were these people last year??!!,” but we are where we are...Enten's segment ends at about 3:47 (it should also be noted that the “R” team had to spend an ungodly amount of dough to keep Van Epps afloat, though Behn benefitted a bit from a lot of funding also)...I’m not the biggest fan in the world of David Axelrod, but he does make a good point that the Dems had better watch out for Repugs suddenly saying, “Oh, vote for me because I care about affordability too”; the “D” team needs to come up with a response, or better yet, hammer the “R” candidate over that so much that voters never forget it (more here)...
...and staying with the “volunteer state,” Farron Cousins tells us that libraries across Tennessee (with the exceptions of Knoxville and Memphis) are shut down on the orders of Secretary of State Tre Hargett (do I really need to identify the party?) so books with LBGTQ or DEI-related characters or themes can be purged, which is part of the whole effort to indeed erase these folks...great point by Cousins that none of the dough that comes from the state pays for the books, so the libraries could conceivably tell this Hargett guy to pound sand (more here...the dogs at the end are adorable)...
...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report brings us the story of University of Oklahoma student Samantha Fulnecky, who got a trans professor fired by claiming “religious persecution” led by these Turning Point USA scumwads (who are still at it despite the demise of their founder Charlie Kirk)...sooo, Fulnecky cites the Bible and doesn’t provide empirical evidence in her essay (which was about gender, and Fulnecky was supposed to use the class material in her essay, which she really didn’t do), and she received zero points for it, and she got hurt fee fees over it and decided that she would try to get the professor canned (if this were a theology class, then maybe this would be acceptable...maybe)...I would say that Figueredo is indeed being conspiratorial in saying that this student was out to “get” this prof, if it weren’t for the fact that doing that is indeed right out of the wingnut playbook...oh, and this student’s mom is a wingnut podcaster and attorney for some January 6th treasonous insurrectionists; yep, that “checks all the boxes” all right...more here (NSFW/H)...
Brian Tyler Cohen tells us of Kristi (“Unsafe At Any Speed”) Noem implicating herself in a crime on national TV in an interview with Kristen Welker, with Noem basically agreeing with Welker that she chose to ignore a judge’s order to stop sending migrants to a prison in El Salvador (and I don’t want to hear this “activist judge” bullsh*t – this regime of criminals doesn’t get to decide which court orders they want to follow and which ones they want to ignore, as Cohen says)...Marc Elias provides legal insight on this also; didn’t know Judge Boasberg can appoint someone to look into all of Noem’s disgusting nonsense and, as Elias says, we may not even need to wait until a future Democratic congress for investigation into this barbarity...good job by Cohen to go over everybody the Tangerine Toddler has thrown under the proverbial bus (and why am I not surprised by this from Noem in any way?)...
...and as a bit of a follow up, Jerrod Zisser of Ring of Fire brings us the story of ICE wanting more ways to track you, going waaay beyond typical demographic stuff (contracting with Palantir for more surveillance garbage)...yep, mixing up targeted enforcement and broad domestic monitoring seems to be the goal here, or one of them anyway (Robert Reich also has a clip on this that I’ll plan to get to soon – more here)...
...and this CBC report gives a pretty good rundown on how Texas and California want to gerrymander for the ’26 election (and once more, if the Lone Star State had decided not to engage in this nonsense first, then CA would have kept out of it also)...with reporter Andrew Chang...pretty good description of how gerrymandering works, including “packing and cracking”...good job to report the derivation of the actual term “gerrymander” dating back to the 1800s...and it would have been nice if the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR had actually pushed back against gerrymandering in 2019, but of course they didn’t (probably because it usually helps Repugs as noted in the report) and we are where we are...
...and Stephen Colbert of The Late Show brings us the latest bedlam from Our Orange Atrocity...$37 for a MAGA red hat Christmas ornament? Yep, sound about white...and props to Dem MN guv Tim Walz for the most called-for 4-word response to the Gropenfuhrer that could be mustered short of profanity (I know I’m behind the news cycle on that a bit, but I think it bears repeating since the cut was aimed at Walz’s special needs son...typically putrid for Pumpkin Pol Pot)...oh, and we’re reminded of the latest murderous madness from “Kill Them All” Hegseth...”I don’t know anything about it – you talking about the two men?”; he doesn’t even bother to keep his lies straight any more (not sure what Colbert has against Caillou...#joke...a related item is here)...oh, and when we’re talking about incompetents in this administration, we have to include Crazy Eyes Kash (“I Need Help Finding My FBI Jacket”) Patel...
Lawrence O’Donnell reminds us of Mango Mussolini and Ghislaine Maxwell (who has said she’ll take the fifth if called to testify under oath) and how Repugs are tethered to this orange psychopath...oh, and Cheetoh Benito has suffered a 39 percent decline over his first wretched term? I guess I’ll continue to await the breathless corporate media coverage on that like we were exposed to relentlessly after Biden’s admittedly bad debate performance last year (and we’ll likely keep waiting)...
...and Chris Hayes speaks with Dem U.S. House Rep Eric Swalwell on the latter’s lawsuit against Trumper Bill Pulte over at HUD...Swalwell is fighting back against Pulte for attacking Adam Schiff, Letitia James, and Swalwell himself, with Pulte wasting God knows how many taxpayer dollars in these silly inquisitions (the reason Pulte is culpable in particular is because he’s been looking into people’s mortgage records)...Hayes and Swalwell also talk about the TN-07 general election today between Trumper Matt Van Epps and Dem Aftyn Behn...
...and Belle of the Ranch informs us of 20 states suing Our Treasonous Orange Pustule to reinstate funding for HUD’s Continuum of Care program, with Trumpers turning permanent housing into temporary shelter, with strings attached of course (with the aforementioned NY AG Letitia James fighting for permanent funding, which is bound to drive the Tangerine Toddler particularly nuts...more here)...
...and I guess I’m a few days late with this NSFW/H item from America’s Finest News Source, but I suppose it’s still timely for this time of year...
Kyle Kulinski tells us the awful news that ICE/DHS has “disappeared” at least 4,200 people...I didn’t know we were deporting people to Libya – one of these days (and assuming Dems ever return to power), we ABSOLUTELY MUST hold these psychopaths to account for this cruel madness, or else it will keep coming back in an ever more insidious form with more and more groups of people at risk...I’m going to be careful here and agree somewhat with what Kyle says about it taking as long as it has for violence against the forces sent to terrorize our cities, though of course I don’t condone it (either the occupation or the violent response) and I know Kyle doesn’t either (NSFW/H)...
...and there is at least the possibility of a mass exodus from the U.S. House with the ’26 elections looming, and one of those calling it quits is Repug Rep Troy Nehls of Texas, who once said here that, if he were alive during Biblical times, Charlie Kirk would have been the 13th disciple – a pretty good response to the attempt to sanitize what Kirk actually said and did is here...
...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report brings us more on the TN-07 U.S. special election (vote is tomorrow) between Repug Matt Van Epps and Dem Aftyn Behn...I think you can indeed measure how close this race truly is by the degree of absolute absurdity in the “oppo” stuff that is being dug up against Behn...and yes, I know how this pattern usually goes, especially down south (race is close, RNC and like groups drop millions in attack ads all over the place, Repug wins in a walk), but we’ll see if that holds up again this time around (I often wonder where this country would be if independent voters truly did their homework from election to election and didn’t just vote based on “vibes,” which I think happens way too often)...great point by Figueredo about how all of the gerrymandering BS could backfire on the Repugs (and I’m not going to give Carville any credit because he has been WAAAY LATE on the issues that matter and spent years talking/writing smack about progressives, to say nothing of those idiotic remarks earlier this year about Dems doing nothing in response to the utter economic collapse of this country...NSFW/H also)...
...and Mr. Newberger provides a response to our (perhaps) war criminal in charge of the DoD (more here)...
Update 12/2/25: Uh oh, it looks like "Whiskey Pete" screwed the metaphorical pooch (here).
...and I’ll be honest – given the utter awfulness of our ruling regime, I went back and forth on whether or not I should include the seasonal selections I put up here right about now, but in the end, I decided that I’m not going to let these SOBs ruin my holiday (that’s my position at this moment), so I’m just going to include them as per usual.
Farron Cousins tells us about MAGA freaks (some bunch called SoCal Patriots) wanting to take over Disneyland, because, as we know, nothing says how much you oppose a certain business than giving that business a bunch of money to patronize them, and doing so on the day of a pride event is turning the stoo-pid up to 11 (SMDH)...slightly NSFW/H...
...and Glenn Kirschner of Justice Matters gives us his take on the 5 Dem members of Congress who have encouraged our military not to follow unlawful orders, including Sen. Mark Kelly, who has a record of accomplishment in service to our country that the Trumpers can only dream about (with Kelly subsequently earning the wrath of “I’ll Drink To That” Hegseth, and oh yeah, Crazy Eyes Kash Patel and the FBI climbed onboard this crazy train also)...Kirschner methodically communicates what the Dem Congress members said and how their words are on legally sound footing (not only are these members required to point out that unlawful orders shouldn’t be followed, but the offending service members could be liable for following those orders, with the potential to be court martialed)...
...and Jen Psaki gives us a rundown on Cantaloupe Capone’s “clown car cabinet” living up to its name, including Kristi (“Unsafe At Any Speed”) Noem and the aforementioned Kash Patel, who has taken a lot of jet trips that apparently have nothing whatsoever to do with his job as FBI Director, including to a hunting resort in Texas called the “Boondoggle Ranch”...and I know the details about Noem funneling taxpayer dollars to a favored firm isn’t new stuff, but it still bears repeating IMO, along with Sean “Let’s All Dress Up To Go To The Airport” Duffy; didn’t know he scrapped a Biden-era policy to comp travelers for flight disruptions, but that doesn’t surprise me either...and let’s not forget Scott Bessent telling folks to move from a blue state to a red state, completely ignoring the fact that blue states subsidize the hell out of red states (here)...and let’s not forget Bobby Brainworms trying once again to spread the fiction that vaccines cause autism (didn’t know a lot about the Olivia Nuzzi business, but that does indeed stink to high Heaven)...I know the Mark Kelly dustup was covered in the prior Kirschner clip, so I’ll pretty much “leave it there” on that one (and the Lindsey Halligan/James Comey/Letitia James story is also behind the news cycle I know, but still important to note)...
...and John and Sharon Reed of The Damage Report tells us that the Dems have the largest generic ballot lead for next year’s midterms that we’ve seen in 8 years, but that doesn’t mean that we can slack off and NOT put in the necessary work to at least take over the U.S. House, and at a minimum make a dent in the “R” party’s Senate majority (and the drag from the Tangerine Toddler, currently polling at a whopping 24 percent among independents, has a lot to do with that)...I’m not exactly sure how the Dems messed up New York, if that’s what Reed is talking about, but to be honest I have issues with her from time to time, though she’s right to imply that Dems need to tell people that they’ll get stuff done if people vote for them...and speaking of supporting Dems, let’s not forget about Aftyn Behn in Tennessee; to help her, click here...
...and Mr. Newberger gives us another number ripped from the headlines...
...and dear God, it really is that time of year again, isn't it?
I got a kick out of this pic, I have to admit (courtesy of Pixdaus and Daily Kos)...
...and here's another holiday fave, with an intro by Seth MacFarlane as Stewie Griffin (and again, the captions make this hilarious as far as I'm concerned)...
...and here is more holiday fun...
...and I liked this also, I have to admit...
...and here's a Thanksgiving message for those wonderful folks at the TSA.
Update 1: And here is another late addition.
Update 2: Might as well add this too (and yeah, "Man Tan" Boehner is long gone I know, but those who've followed him have done their best to make things worse).
Update 3: Imagine all the people that can be fed for $35 grand (here, getting serious for a minute).
Update 4: And since I add to this list every year, I might as well include this too (hasta la vista, baby!).
Update 5: And I suppose this is an apropos item too.
…and thank goodness the “culture warriors” of Fix Noise are trying to protect the holiday…
…and I guess this is an appropriate tune for the day...
...along with this.
Update 11/25/21: Well said.
Update 11/27/21: And here is a video about another holiday tradition.
...and I'll let Trae Crowder have the last word for now (NSFW/H).
David Shuster of Rebel HQ lets us know that architects have warned that Trump’s ballroom is a national embarrassment, doubling the size of the main White House building (and still more lies from Combover Caligula about the existing architecture not being touched or whatever...and as far as this “first lady” is concerned, losing that office is likely NBD to her since she probably isn’t there much anyway)...and I think that 33 percent approval is too high, but I realize those are the Trumpist cult life forms on that one...and yes, Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence has violated yet another law, this time not clearing his wretched plans through the National Capital Planning Commission (I mean, they’d flag what #47 is doing anyway, which is likely the reason they’re being left out of this mess)...and if #47 says this cluster will cost $300 million, you can be sure the amount will actually be at least double (here are some of the other guilty parties)...oh, and some of that dough will supposedly come from the $230 million he expects from the DOJ (in essence, suing the U.S. taxpayer?) Typical gall from this flatulent meat sack...GREAT point by Shuster about Repug congressional silence, and that includes this guy...and Jessica Tarlov should get a medal at least for continuing to drop her truth bombs on those miscreants at The Roger Ailes BS Factory...
...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us that hundreds of pro-Trump X accts are actually foreign bots...leave it to Apartheid Clyde to stumble into doing the right thing (rolling out the new feature to increase transparency, albeit to drive engagement and ad revenue as Figueredo says by posting ever-crazier stuff), and also step on a huge metaphorical rake in the process, finding out that “America First” accounts are originating in Russia (of course), India, Pakistan, Nigeria (!), Thailand and the UAE, among other places...didn’t know that bots now make up the majority of online traffic, but I suppose that tracks (you can be sure that I’m a flesh and blood human though, my fellow prisoners)...and sadly, I also believe this will get worse because of generative AI...and it’s pretty plain that Elmo is messing around with Grok also, something that actually does work the way it should, a bit anyway...and the “throat goat”? I think I need to be de-loused after hearing that...NSFW/H...
...and given that we’re in the busiest time of the year for folks on the move, I thought I’d include this CBC report on Canada travel to the US dipping sharply in October, marking the 9th month of declines, because of the Gropenfuhrer (about 24% for air travel and 30% for land travel, included in a 6.3% drop in international visits and about a 3% drop in tourism spending, adding up to a loss of about 5.7 billion over last year)... with CBC reporter Jennifer LaGrassa, Prof. Usha Haley and US restaurant general manager Bob DiMattia...of course, we’re hoping for folks to come for the FIFA World Cup and the 250th, but I think we’re “whistling in the dark” on that one...we’ll see...
..and Robert Reich informs us of what Pumpkin Pol Pot is doing to Thanksgiving, with more on #47’s price increases, with turkey up 40%, partly because he’s fired scientists and bird flu experts while the avian flu wreaks havoc; also, his CDC and Department of Agriculture cut off reporting to states on this outbreak, so there’s no coordination on fighting back...he also rolled back anti-monopoly policies intended to at least slow down mergers of food companies that exacerbates price gouging...also, those stinking tariffs adding what’s essentially an import tax worsens this mess also, particularly since we import so much of our food (and with respect, I don’t expect our “conservative relatives” to see ANYTHING on this...I know I mentioned the plight of our farmers earlier in that More Perfect Union clip from a day or so ago)...
..and Seth Meyers presents another “A Closer Look,” including Cantaloupe Capone’s weird turkey pardon...and dressing like a Swarthmore English Lit prof, huh?...it’s actually painful to watch this babbling idiot go on about Illinois Dem guv J.B. Pritzker and Hunter Biden (and as if Combover Caligula has the right to criticize ANYBODY for being overweight)...and oh yeah, we had gang members, drug dealers and rapists walking through our open borders, but all that’s been fixed now (treated once more to Dementia Donnie’s Greatest Hits, though I guess “grass beef and smoothies” is a newer number)...oh, and he’s still going after his political enemies of course even though their cases were thrown out, including “Leticia” James...and let’s also not forget Marjorie “Traitor” Brown – yep, that last lonely synapse in #47’s noggin is flickering again...and his name is the sound you make when you sit in a golf cart – good one...
...and this might be the last newer tune for a little while, but as with all things concerning this site, it’s up in the air – just in case, here it is.
Yasmin Khan of Rebel HQ tells us about Fix Noise trying to spin the Jeffey Epstein files story into a “Democrat hoax” and failing (once more, Jessica Tarlov brings the reality perspective to that gaggle of idiots on that propaganda network)...and as far as Hakeem Jeffries is concerned, he wouldn’t be in the role he’s in unless the donor class gave its seal of approval, which speaks volumes to me about how he is NOT the voice we need in the U.S. House (despite random moments when he shows a flash of leadership)...and of course, leave it to Kilmeade to come up with “Yeah, well, so-and-so mentioned Jeffries and that’s enough,” and Gutfeld joins in with the borderline “ad hom” because he has no other way to respond...also, Harry Enten brings the polling numbers which are pretty much indisputably bad on Epstein in particular for the Gropenfuhrer...and Lawrence Jones’s idiotic “let’s blame the people wanting the damn files released” take on this is pretty much DOA...
...and David Pakman discusses ABC’s Jonathan Karl holding Kevin (“Human Capital Stock”) Hassett to account on the economy, particularly over that ridiculous “Walmart’s Thanksgiving Prices Are Cheaper” nonsense line (you couldn’t pay me enough to actually eat food from Walmart, by the way)...and “The prices didn’t go up because of the tariffs, but they are going to go down because we’re removing the tariffs”...I’ll tell you what; if anybody out there can make sense of that, please let me know and I’ll turn this blog over to you and let you write these posts, OK? And I think this is a pretty good response to Hassett’s BS from CNN’s Daniel Dale...
...meanwhile, Ali Velshi of MS NOW gives us some reality on the economy, with numbers from September...the unemployment rate is 4.4% which is the highest in four years, though, as with everything else, the trends are what matter (and I don’t expect that they’ll be good)...not sure exactly why black women have been hit so hard in this economy (more than any other demographic), though I could guess I suppose, maybe because of the carnage this administration has wrought on the federal workforce and DEI initiatives...Velshi speaks with Justin Wolfers and Caleb Silver...”Uncertainty is kryptonite” indeed, for everybody...along with everybody else, I’m hearing that AI is driving our economy; I hope we’re prepared for that not being the case at a certain point, and I don’t see that we are...we’ve just experienced the weakest January through September in the US labor market in 15 years, with the exception of the ’20 COVID shutdown (and we know who was prez for that)...and Silver says “stagflation,” which confirms my worst fears that we would be looking at this in Q4...Wolfers in particular does a good job IMO in explaining how #47 drones on about “affordability” without having the remotest idea of what to do about it...I’m a little uncomfortable with Velshi’s phrase “the black economy,” but overall he’s a pretty straight shooter...”Manufacturing is what rich people think poor people should do” is likely correct; that said, it’s think it’s a good thing to see an increase in enrollment in trade schools...
...and Jesse Dollemore discusses the “big fat ‘L’” with the James Comey and Letitia James cases being dismissed because Lindsey Halligan was improperly named as prosecutor without Senate confirmation, according to the ruling (and yeah, Merrick Garland moving at a glacial pace on some of the prosecutions under Biden helped to bring us to this point)...I’m not a legal professional in any way whatsoever, but what does it tell you about our regime that they thought they could prosecute based on indictments that weren’t even presented to a full grand jury?...(mildly NSFW/H)...
...and harking back to the first clip a bit, Mr. Newberger gives us the “Epstein-O-Matic” (laughing through clenched teeth a bit on this one I realize)...
Leave it to our awful ruling regime under the guise of fake Education Secretary Linda McMahon to decertify nursing as a professional degree, limiting access to funding for those who want to pursue nursing as a college course of study...this report informs us of a student in rural Kentucky who commendably is trying to continue her education as a nurse practitioner in light of this boneheaded policy (more here and here...and this gaggle of idiots is likely coming for liberal arts also in 3,2,1)...
...also, Cheetoh Benito removed references to dead Native Americans getting kidnapped and murdered in a report that was mandated by Congress as part of a bill signed into law under the first awful Trump administration (and here’s a shocker – it truly was bipartisan legislation, supported by Senate Dem Catherine Cortez Masto and Repug Markwayne Mullin)...of course, Our Treasonous Orange Meat Sack claimed the report is “DEI,” so the report got sh*tcanned (Farron Cousins tells us about it)...
...and this report from Sam Black at More Perfect Union informs us that farm bankruptcies in Arkansas (especially soybeans, but also affecting cotton, corn and rice) have doubled, and to be fair, this is a problem that has been brewing since before Cantaloupe Capone 2.0 took over given that we’ve been importing so much of our food for a good while, and those damn mergers and acquisitions are part of the problem also, including Bayer and Monsanto which actually was completed in 2018 under Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence 1.0 (and $560 billion in farm debt this year? God almighty...our farmers need help with paying for materials to run their businesses as well as trying to level the market for them somehow)...there HAS TO BE A WAY for the dough promised by our politicians to get into the hands of our farmers instead of into the pockets of the people they owe...watching the gentleman driving through that gutted and deserted Arkansas town makes me realize how folks could give up hope and turn to a politician peddling easy answers to complex issues (losing 300k farms since 1997...just no words at a certain point, except to also blame those stinking “free” trade deals, and both of our political parties are culpable on that...I knew that Scott Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, owned a lot of farm land, though I would except that he has never picked a single crop in his life)...at a minimum, we need to repair our obviously broken supply management system, though of course “Big Ag” will fight that with all they have...
...and I guess I’m supposed to feel some sympathy for Marjorie Train Wreck Greene, now that she’s leaving the U.S. House after falling out of favor with the Tangerine Toddler...well, I don’t; this clip with Nina Turner from about two years ago brings us Greene pushing back against a battery plant in her district (more here...”we’re the Bible belt, not the battery belt”...OWWW, THE STOO-PID!!! IT BURNS US!)...and for all of those out there thinking, “oh, she’s so courageous to stand up to Mango Mussolini,” I would ask that you keep in mind the following: 1) Just wait until she resurfaces at some point on a podcast with The Swanson TV Dinner Heir and/or Nick Fuentes, and 2) This is more proof that the political violence in this country is coming from the right and not the left; does anyone seriously think Greene would do this if, say, Jasmine Crockett or Ilhan Omar had said something borderline threatening, which I don’t think they’d do anyway?...
...and I think Mr. Newberger has come up with another appropriate response here...
Mr. and Mrs. Scar bring us the story of Catholics forming a united front against detention and deportation of immigrants, and that includes Pope Leo commendably speaking out on their behalf, along with other faith leaders getting slammed to the ground by the ICE Gestapo in Chicago at this Broadview facility (with reporter Britt Miller, immigration advocate Dylan Corbett, Willie Geist, and Gabriel Sherman)...and I’m not one bit surprised to find out that almost three quarters of those detained are NOT criminals, since the fear and intimidation is the point (and OF COURSE clergy was refused the chance to administer Holy Communion)...and remind me again about which president the fundie nut jobs supported, the practicing Catholic or Our Treasonous Orange Pustule (from what I’ve seen, the Episcopalian Church has been pretty steadfast on social justice issues, which the Catholic Church has been kind of hit-and-miss on, especially under Pope Benny)...and if Couch Boy and Mush Mouth Tom Homan are alleged Catholics, then I’m a Chinese aviator...
...and to emphasize the importance of Pope Leo’s words, MS NOW’s Alicia Menendez brings us the story of Vicente Ventura Aguilar, who has been detained in ICE custody for at least 44 days; while in detention, he suffered what was called a “medical emergency” and now apparently has gone missing somehow, with Aguilar’s family believing him to be dead (in addition to being supremely evil, it’s plain that the Trumpers are also incompetent)...and to “work like Amazon Prime but for human beings”; I’m sure Pee Wee German heard that and felt what passes for a stir in his manhood...Menendez speaks with reporter David Noriega and Lindsey Toczylowski, President and CEO of Immigrant Defenders Law Center...
...and John and Sharon Reed of The Damage Report bring us the story of a Texas woman who died after being told she couldn’t get an abortion...another casualty from the SCOTUS destroying Roe, though I’m sure our six Philistines on the High Court won’t regard it as such...preeclampsia can be a deadly consequence of pregnancy, and tragically, that’s what happened here at 20 weeks...also, it’s definitely the case here that the woman was looked upon as pretty much an incubator of her fetus and not as a person with agency to make her own health care decisions...and 90 doctors were involved in her care, but nobody helped her to abort the pregnancy??!! Yeah, just keep telling me that we have the greatest health care system in the world...while I laugh in your face (as much as I give the Catholic Church credit for the prior story, I wish nothing but a pox on them for playing a role in leading us to this utterly barbaric moment)...
...and Jerrod Zisser of Ring of Fire lets us know about a massive THC ban tucked away in the government spending bill, affecting people needing medical cannabis and CBD products for all kinds of reasons, including sleep (saying products can contain no more than 0.4 percent of THC per container, which is basically nothing...this bill apparently also gets rid of a provision allowing VA doctors to prescribe medical cannabis)...fortunately, it looks like there’s a one-year ban before this takes effect, so we definitely have a chance to fix this...
...and Tennessee Brando tells us that Pumpkin Pol Pot has now gone on record on calling for the execution of Democratic lawmakers, and I realize that’s the logical result of the deterioration of what passes for our politics under this treasonous orange meat sack...you would think he and his lizard-brained followers would realize they need to tamp that stuff down after the Charlie Kirk killing, but no such luck...good point by Brando that amplifying that garbage, coming form the POTUS, is likely worse than if #47 had said that himself, though that would be awful too (and good for Brando for not giving “faith leaders” a pass on this stuff, like this Joel Webbon nut case I mentioned on Wednesday...mildly NSFW/H)...
...and Ali Velshi speaks with Dem U.S. House candidate Aftyn Behn, running for the TN-07 seat...affordability is a big-time issue up not just in Tennessee but everywhere, and addressing that starts with restoring the credits for the ACA which Trump and his minions destroyed as a result of the shutdown (and while the Senate may vote on the credits – maybe–MAGA Mike Johnson has no interest in doing that in the House)...oh, and gutting Medicaid also ended up shuttering rural hospitals and closing wards such as those for OB/GYN services and maternity care, as well as end-of-life care...so much to be done to rescue our economy from Cheetoh Benito, and it starts with booting every single goddamn Republican...
...and Stephen Colbert gives us a “Late Show” news update...fighting back “tooth and cankle” on the Epstein files – good one (is ANYONE going to just take away this orange nightmare’s cell phone at some point so he stops with these “War and Peace” rants on Truth Septic?)...and I wonder if we can just call her Pam “New Information” Bondi now? And good one about Kash “Terrified, Or The Edibles Just Kicked In” Patel – I mean, yeah, this is all pathetic, but as far as I’m concerned, we need to find a way to laugh at these cretins...oh, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy thinks that all it takes to solve our flying woes is for everyone to dress up like it’s the 1950s and we’re visiting the doctor; God almighty, what a gaggle of idiots we have in charge of the federal government (and I hope Nancy Sinatra files a cease and desist order about that tune selection)...love the Fix Noise “poll”; watch that trash network actually use it now...
..and happy upcoming 75th birthday to Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads and the Tom-Tom Club.
Robert Reich tells us about “Mickey D’s” seeing a double-digit dip in lower and middle-income customers over the first quarter of the year, which is definitely part of a disturbing trend of income consolidation between the wealthy and everyone else...I’m old enough to remember John Edwards talking about “two Americas” and how he was ridiculed for it, and here’s proof that he was right (and yes, I know he set his political career on fire over a highly transparent infidelity)...I’m also old enough to remember Bill Clinton talking about how this country is the biggest service economy in the world (not sure of that now) and how job growth is dependent across a variety of industries (retail, hospitality, entertainment, all the way up to white collar service jobs, unionized and non-unionized, etc.)...you would think both of our major political parties would get that, but as far as I can see, only one does...
...and speaking of income inequality, Tennessee Brando lets us know that the Tangerine Toddler wants McDonald’s workers to get paid less...you would think he’d be trying to cut those employees a break after this – and yes, I know that’s a bad joke (tied a bit to the Reich clip)...good point by Brando about prices only going in one direction, which NO PRESIDENT can affect one way or the other to be honest...important to emphasize (as Brando points out) that SNAP recipients ALREADY ARE WORKING, AND OFTEN MULTIPLE JOBS, and how it continues to be good sport I guess for selfish people to punch down at others perceived to be lazy or delinquent in some way and that’s why they’re in dire straits...”if we tax them, they’ll take our jobs”; yep, that’s how those one percent bastards hang onto power all right (NSFW/H)...
...and David Pakman tells us about Mango Mussolini’s “quiet, piggy” remark to reporter Catherine Lucey...with all of the “flood the zone” madness from this trash fire of a presidential administration, I realize there are other matters to address, but some, like this, are too odious to ignore...again, the entitlement is the point as far as I’m concerned...what Pumpkin Pol Pot manages to get away with is continually part of an absolutely sickening double standard (and I’m sure the Epstein files have been expurgated every way over Sunday by now...love to be wrong)...”Trump has broken the machinery of shame” indeed...
...and Rachel Maddow brings us the story of the town of Newport, Oregon pushing back against an ICE prison (and yes, I think Dungeness crabs are delicious)...oh, and leave it to Our Demented Orange Toddler to take away the town’s Coast Guard rescue helicopter that’s needed in case of an accident involving anyone fishing for crab (which is something anyone who has watched “The Deadliest Catch” would know about, to say nothing of doing that incredibly dangerous work for real)...sooo, apparently the Coast Guard facility is intended to be converted into an ICE prison (secretly, of course)...to the town’s credit, they protested and now the contractor has backed out (though, apparently, some secretive person or entity is STILL trying to build an ICE detention center in the area)...Maddow speaks with Oregon state rep David Gomberg...
...and Ronny Chieng of The Daily Show informs us of Marjorie Trailer Park Greene acting like a normal human being against Cantaloupe Capone (and as a reminder, that’s because family members need the ACA credits that just got sh*tcanned...if it weren’t affecting her personally, she definitely wouldn’t care)...and yeah, there’s more on those files (important as it is to keep that front and center in our media I know)...also, don’t expect an iota of sympathy from me when it comes to Larry Summers, who I always thought was out of his depth economically, and now morally too, or so it appears...and I’m not one bit surprised that Clay Higgins was the ONLY MEMBER OF CONGRESS to vote against releasing the damn files (including the Senate)...and OH MY FREAKING GOD, I CAN’T WITH THE DAMN ACCORDION HANDS!!!...and oh yeah, about Mohammed Bone Saw and Jamal Khashoggi, there is this – Josh Johnson also gives his take on this also (kind of hit and miss, but that’s OK...NSFW/H)...
...and this tune hit #1 on the Billboard chart on this day in 1955.
