Monday Stuff

Don’t forget, tomorrow is primary election day in PA, and the guy in this clip needs our vote…



…and here’s a reminder about the cretins who want to hold sway over all…

 

…and given this item, I thought it would be a good idea to replay this campaign ad from 2000 that was unbelievably prescient about Dubya – you really want to see “The Ownership Society on Steroids” under Willard Mitt after November, people?...

 

Update 4/25/12: Uh, yep.

…all of which put me in the mind to hear this tune again…



 ...and for more related "food for thought," press the button.
Global Economy Blues

Sunday Stuff

Happy 75th birthday to Jack Nicholson – I could be here all night sorting through clips to put up here, from “Chinatown,” “Five Easy Pieces,” “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Batman” even, and many other films, but this will do (from “A Few Good Men,” of course)...



...and here’s a tune to listen to between the raindrops.

 

More Saturday Stuff

Kudos to Martin Bashir for this (the typical right-wing character assassination in response, mainly to Bashir’s body of work in general, is here...and here is another “insert foot in mouth and turn” moment on the economy from Willard Mitt)...

...and Happy Earth Day, everybody (more here).

Saturday Stuff

Like The Eternal George Carlin said, they’re after our Social Security, as noted here, as well as our Medicare (and if you don’t know who “they” are, then you haven’t been paying attention)..
.


...and I don’t know about you, but I’m in the mood for kind of an Indie-retro tune, so this should do the trick.

Thursday Stuff

You are scum for this, Mikey the Beloved. Absolutely unmitigated, unrepentant scum (though the crowd behavior is about what you would expect from his lizard-brained, nematode followers). And I can’t wait to see the verbal gymnastics employed by the Bucks County Courier Times in Mikey’s defense to attack those who point that out.

Want to do something about it? Click here (maybe it will begin to tilt some of the fundraising numbers a bit in Kathy Boockvar’s direction; let’s hope so anyway)…



…and RIP Levon Helm, performing here a little while back with a few friends.

Thursday Mashup (4/19/12)

(Once more, don’t count on these posts on a regular basis anymore…about once in a while is the best I can do, unfortunately).

From the “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose” category, I give you the following from Fix Noise here (with “Bush’s Brain” propagandizing about our chief executive and the veep)…

Mr. Biden offered other wild assertions that didn’t even get a mild pushback on Sunday morning. For example, Mr. Biden said Mitt Romney wanted to “let Detroit go bankrupt,” apparently referring to General Motors and Chrysler and not the city. But GM and Chrysler did go bankrupt: their bankruptcies were decided by the president -- not by a court -- and rather than going forward with an infusion of private capital, the two businesses received $85 billion from the taxpayers, with at least $24 billion of that unlikely to ever be returned.

How is that a “wild assertion” from Willard Mitt Romney given this (though, in true weaselly form, Rove doesn’t say that Biden was lying, because he wasn’t).

And in the matter of taxpayer money that supposedly will never be repaid, I give you this…

Earlier today, General Motors announced that the company paid $4.7 billion to the U.S. government and $1.1 billion to the Canadian government, fulfilling its obligation agreed to when it received its initial bailout funds. In total, GM received $52 billion from the U.S. government, but only $6.7 billion of this amount was considered a loan. The company already paid back $2 billion, so this $4.7 billion is the last payment.

This doesn’t mean that “Government Motors” is no more. Despite the payback, the government still owns a controlling portion of the restructured GM. The United States will eventually relinquish its ownership, but this will take some time. Even when the new GM completes its initial public offering, the U.S. government will still be an owner for some time.

Also, when it comes to presidents and automaker bailouts, I give you this (and in the matter of the auto industry in this country, this asks a great question).

Oh, and here’s another goody from the former Bushco political maven…

The vice president also plunged into health care, asserting, “there’s millions of people out there” already benefiting from provisions in the new law. But far fewer people with preexisting conditions have signed up than anticipated (just 49,000), a much-ballyhooed subsidy for small businesses has gone virtually unused, and thousands of companies have been forced to seek waivers to keep millions of workers covered by existing policies.

Gee, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear Karl had been reading the Bucks County Courier Times, since they did a more thorough job of trashing the Affordable Care Act than anyone else I’d seen when it was recently argued before the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR (with nary a favorable point of view like this one in sight).

And as far as Rove’s “thousands” claim is concerned…well, try about 1,200, as Media Matters notes here (with a common-sense explanation also...more ACA myths and facts are here).

Rove also tells us the following...

The vice president went similarly overboard in suggesting America is drilling more wells, pumping more oil, and importing less oil because of this Administration’s policies. This is really happening in spite of Mr. Obama, not because of him.

WAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

Of course, maybe Rove is trying to deflect attention away from this (hat tip to The Political Junkie)…

After declining to levels not seen since the 1940s, U.S. crude production began rising again in 2009. Drilling rigs have rushed into the nation's oil fields, suggesting a surge in domestic crude is on the horizon.

The number of rigs in U.S. oil fields has more than quad¬rupled in the past three years to 1,272, according to the Baker Hughes rig count. Including those in natural gas fields, the United States now has more rigs at work than the entire rest of the world.

"It's staggering," said Marshall Adkins, who directs energy research for the financial services firm Raymond James. "If we continue growing anywhere near that pace and keep squeezing demand out of the system, that puts you in a world where we are not importing oil in 10 years."

Gee, wonder why that didn’t happen in oh, say, 2005, 2006, 0r 2007…you know, when Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History was taking up space in An Oval Office (with Rove by his side)?

Basically, you’d be better off watching cartoons as opposed to reading or watching anything from Fix Noise, as noted here, though, when you get right down to it, it’s pretty hard to tell the difference (and I don't expect that this question will ever be answered).

And get a load of the latest from Moon Unit Bachmann here on the issue of trying to crack down on oil speculators…

"This is just about waving a tar baby in the air and saying that something else is a problem," Bachmann said in an interview Wednesday with The Shark Tank, a conservative news organization that covers Florida politics. "I have never seen a more irresponsible president who is infantile in the way that he continually blames everyone else for his failure to first diagnose the problem and second to address the problem. It's always everyone else's fault."

…

"It's anybody but Obama for Obama. And that's why we have to call him out," she said. "The president is a complete and utter fraud and a hypocrite on this issue, with all due respect."

“Waving a tar baby” – waay too damn funny (though definitely an inappropriate comment, I hasten to add)…

In response, as noted here, the CEO of ExxonMobil admitted that oil should be about $60-$70 a barrel, even though it’s really at about $100 at the moment, allowing for at least some price impact from oil speculation.

And an actual, honest-to-goodness oil trader tells us the following here…

The oil game is overrun with IB desks, hedge funders, long/short punters, algos, HFT's and private trade houses like Vitol, Trafigura and Glencore. And yes, Virginia -- fraud can happen: We've forgotten too quickly about such stellar examples as Enron and Amaranth.

These are not the guys that anyone should look to protect. They absolutely jack up the prices of oil that you and I are forced to pay at the pumps. But they are the beneficiaries of the continued defense of the broken oil markets as they are today. We haven't made much progress.

So, it looks like, once more, the Repug U.S. House Rep from Minnesota and one-time presidential candidate is showing to the whole world that she has the mendacity of a lizard, the self-reflection of the most oblivious narcissist imaginable and the cognitive capacity of a flea.

With all due respect.

Finally, a certain V.D. Hanson ramps up the right-wing noise machine against Obama some more here…

The president also unwisely attacked the Supreme Court as it deliberated the constitutionality of Obamacare. He needlessly referred to the justices as “unelected,” and wrongly claimed that they had little precedent to overturn laws that dealt with commerce. The gaffe about the Court and its history was doubly embarrassing because Obama has often reminded the public that he used to teach constitutional law.

Gosh, isn’t that a funny one from “The Pericles of Petticoat Junction”? Hanson has a problem with Obama’s reference to Supreme Court justices as “unelected,” but he has no problem apparently with Obama’s predecessor saying basically the same thing over and over again, as noted here...and for good measure, I give you this.

There’s other typically ripe stuff here from Hanson, but I’ll leave that for now because life is short and I’ve about spent my BS tolerance for one day.

And by the way, did you know Obama (and, by extension, Chicago Bears head football coach Lovie Smith) were recently accused by Hanson of “retrograde tribalism” (here) according to Hanson? Interesting racist code language, I must say.

Truly, words fail.

Wednesday Stuff

Yes, I know it’s ridiculous to keep harping on the idiocy of Fix Noise, since all they’ll do is recycle pretty much the same crap all over again for the next news cycle, but even though I feel like I’m tilting at about 20 windmills as it were, I also feel like I have to keep trying to speak truth to stupid...

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...and even though he hung on waaay too long, give Dick Clark credit for popularizing pop music on “American Bandstand,” which once originated out of the studios of 46th and Market Streets in Philadelphia.

Tuesday Stuff

(To answer a question from elsewhere – why yes, it did.)

Oh, and in the matter of the PA Democratic Primary for Attorney General…why of course Philadelphia Engulf And Devour Mega-Money Corporate Media endorsed Kathleen Kane over Patrick Murphy. Gee, I wonder if it’s because they’re looking for a sacrificial lamb against the Repug nominee in the general election. Ya’ think?

OK, I'll grant Kane her prosecutorial experience in this state, but as far as I'm concerned, you need a whole lot more than just that going for you, and based on this, I have grave doubts.

And let's face it - the only reason Clinton supported her is because Murphy supported Obama in '08 and Kane supported Hillary...not a crime I realize, but let's just be honest about this, OK?

And with that in mind, I have some questions for Ms. Kane:

- What exactly would she do if one of these godawful fracking operations blew up somewhere, trashed the environment even more and hopelessly fouled all the groundwater? Would she go after the parties involved and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law?

- What exactly is your position on "right to work" legislation, considering that your husband runs an anti-union trucking company? Would you prosecute in the event of unfair anti-union activity?

- Would you oppose Corbett's "fetal ultrasound" bill as strenuously as Patrick has (as noted in the clip below...and yes, I looked on her site, but couldn't find any responses)?

While we ponder her answers (assuming they ever arrive), please click here…



…and speaking of Tom “Space Cadet” Corbett’s atrocity…



…and here’s more fun with another Romney playmate (looks like Mr. “Cat Scratch Fever” is going to get a visit from the Secret Service, the ones not involved in the scandal anyway – what a maroon…and by the way, either option works for me, scumbag)…



…and I know I seem to be getting a bunch of tunes without videos anymore, but they’re just too damn good to ignore.

Monday Stuff

I thought subliminal advertising had gone the way of the Corvair and Brylcreem, but then again, the Repugs are the truly “mad men” (well, mainly that gender, but not totally)...



...and for everyone filing by today, I hope you get a refund (we did).

Sunday Stuff

Anyone with any familiarity with this blog at all should know what I think of John Edwards, a guy I tried to support as strenuously as I could in my way until I realized that I’d been utterly played (not too big to admit that that hasn’t happened once every so often), but still, I think the following needs to be said (from this Rachel Maddow report from Friday)...

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...and congratulations to this well-deserving, albeit posthumous, entrant into the 2012 Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame (more here).

Saturday Stuff

Nice to know that Willard Mitt Romney surrogate and former Repug U.S. House Rep Pete Hoekstra is as big of a dope as he ever was; naaah, the Repugs aren’t waging a war on women…not much they aren’t (here)…



…and Happy Titanic Day – watch out for stray icebergs.

Friday Stuff

I would like to thank the 59 Catholic leaders who have officially expressed their opposition to the latest budget scheme from Paul Ryan, noted here...



...and I realize it's probably a big step for me to assume that Ryan even has a soul, but assuming he does, he should try listening to this song.

Thursday Stuff

Looks like it’s time again for “the professional left” in the form of yours truly to take Number 44 to task over this; sooo…he quite rightly supported overturning DADT, but he apparently has no problem with LGBT discrimination in the workplace (here)? And that goes on top of the JOBS bill BS as noted here (the first sign of trouble is when sleazy weasel Eric Cantor showed up for the signing into law – he shouldn't even be in the same area code...I give you Matt Taibbi on this here).

Oh, and you know the recent strip search ruling by the Supreme Court? It was actually supported by the Obama DOJ (here).

There are some things that can be excused by right-wing looniness, but not this…



...meanwhile, looks like Willard Mitt and his GOP playmates continue to have self-inflicted “woman trouble” (here...more charming and related stuff here and here, and oh yeah, this too)…



…leading to this potentially game-changing development (wink)…


Romney To Travel Back In Time To Kill Liberal Versions Of Himself

…but returning to the Obama stuff, I happened to hear this tune once more recently, and sadly, I think it still fits.

Tuesday Stuff

Yeah, somehow I’m not surprised that he now wants to run away from those stinking, ruinous tax cuts of his (here)...



...and adios, Little Ricky – have to admit that I never thought he’d get this far (a testimony to the lunacy of the Repugs as far as yours truly is concerned)...



Update 4/12/12: ROFLMAO...

...and concerning the all-but-named Repug presidential nominee, I give you this...



...and I thought this was a whompin’ little number, so here it is.

Sunday Stuff

RIP Mike Wallace – I don’t know if it’s completely accurate to say that he invented investigative TV journalism, but if he didn’t, he came pretty close.

There are probably hundreds or maybe thousands of clips out there of interviews he conducted (perhaps the most famous – or infamous, depending on your point of view – broadcasts he was responsible for had to do with Gen. Westmoreland and the Vietnam War, Jeffrey Wigand and the Brown and Williamson stuff, and Khomeni and the quote from Sadat rightly calling the Iranian thug a “lunatic”). For no particular reason, though, here is a clip from a 1964 interview with Malcolm X (as I heard this, I was struck a bit by the parallels – as I see them, anyway – between the “Negro community” and the “Occupy” movement).

I may feature other Wallace clips over the coming days, depending on what I can track down. As a country, we’re better for his efforts at “afflicting the comfortable,” as the saying goes (and Malcolm X was referring to former NYC Police Commissioner Michael Murphy, by the way)…



Update: And oh yeah, this was memorable also...



...and more stuff is noted here...



…and Happy Easter to everyone observing the holiday.

Saturday Stuff

I more or less skimmed over this New York Times story today about corporate lobbyists whining about supposedly onerous rules that the Obama Administration was trying to implement concerning their activities, and it made me recall this Brave New Films clip from Bernie Sanders from a couple of years ago (and by the way, the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR upheld the Austin campaign finance decision in Michigan, though that did not one bit of good because it was overturned by the horrendous Citizens United ruling – and yes, Chris Van Hollen and Jim Moran truly make me want to gag for reasons noted in the Times story)...



...and this is pretty much what I think of the complaints from the lobbyists (like to see these cretins get “tuned up” in a similar fashion as depicted in this video)

Friday Stuff

Yep, as usual, I would say also that the choice couldn’t be clearer (here)...



...and gee, Repugs, don’t overdo it in your support for Willard Mitt, the all-but-named presidential nominee of your party (and yep, not surprised about this, unfortunately – nothing unites the knuckle-draggers like their hatred for that alleged Kenyan Marxist socialist community organizer)...

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...and speaking of Willard Mitt, I give you the following (pathetic)...



...and here is Rachel Maddow’s report on voter suppression in Michigan (actually, it’s more like Democracy suppression – and I thought the Repugs didn’t like “czars”)...

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...turning to jazz (were we?), legendary saxophonist Gerry Mulligan would have been 85 today...



...and returning to this century, I give you the following (overdue for a strange video, so here goes).

Tuesday Stuff

Well, since we don’t have K.O. again, I guess it’s time to turn to Cenk Uygur, among others; I grant Cenk his points, but let’s give Obama some credit here for saying this stuff – yes, it would be nice if he would back it up…maybe he will?...but it really is hard to do that when his opposition is certifiably insane…



…and speaking of his insane opposition…



…and to answer your question, yes, I’m still steaming about this one (and Kennedy is supposed to be a centrist?)...



...and deep down, this is a tune about yours truly, believe it or not (sorry, no video again).

Monday Stuff

Given this latest atrocity from the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR, I think it’s a good idea to revisit these wise and prescient words from Sen. Al Franken around the time of the Elena Kagan confirmation hearing – haven’t heard much lately from him, though (and Number 44 actually thinks the bunch in the black robes isn’t going trash the individual mandate before they get out of Washington, D.c. in a couple of months...let’s just say that I’m not optimistic)...



Update: My bad, I meant to include this John Cole link earlier.

...and even though there’s no video, I’m sure you can “fill in the blanks” as well as I can here.

Sunday Stuff

Yes, this has some bad words, but I thought it also had some funny stuff – it’s time for “The Onion Week In Review”…


Penn State T-Shirt Awkwardly Looked Away From

…and sorry I neglected to note the passing of Earl Scruggs earlier this week…I’ll do so now.