Tuesday Stuff

By the way, Rachel, PA is a “commonwealth” (once again, I hark back to the “Big Dog” intervening in the 2012 Democratic primary for AG on behalf of Kane and against Patrick Murphy for the latter’s decision to support Obama for president; not going to hold this against Hillary now, though, because, IMHO, Bill Maher – can I drop MORE names? – is right when he says that you can’t run on “boutique” issues in an Armageddon election)…



…and speak of the devil, the Big Orange Cheetoh can answer the questions on his tax returns all right - will he (here)? We'll see (and it’s pretty sad when Former Gov. “Hike The Appalachian Trail” looks like a paragon of virtue here - and talk about sordid birds of a feather here)...



...and with the prior clip in mind, Cenk gets into all of the Ukraine/Paul Manafort stuff as reported by “the old gray lady”…



Update 8/19/16: If you can’t take the heat, might as well get out of Trump’s kitchen, comrade (here).

…and I know I touched on this last week when I said something about MSNBC’s coverage, but I’m glad Brian Stelter of CNN decided to take a bit harder of a look at the latest nonsense from Sean Inanity and his odious fellow travelers about alleged health issues plaguing HRC here (and I think this is one hell of a response)…



…and good job by Planned Parenthood here, giving “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey exactly what he deserves (more here, and to help Katie McGinty, click here)…



…and here’s a tune that, sadly, is topical once more (more here - to help if you can, please click here).



Update 8/17/16: I don't know the first thing about her music, but kudos anyway for this.

Monday Stuff

This is the crap you get when you vote for Repugs, my fellow prisoners – and in case you hadn’t guessed yet, I should point out that Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is a thoroughly unconscionable liar (here)…



...and Cenk helps lift the veil and explain more seedy goings-on at Fix Noise (here)...



…and kudos to Jimmy Dore for unearthing this foul nugget from Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao; I have a little more faith in HRC than Jimmy does, but we’ll see of course…



…and happy belated 75th birthday to David Crosby; I know there are dustups going on right now with Nash and Young but I’m staying out of that – just appreciating his music, that’s all.

Friday Stuff

I couldn’t let the week come to a close without noting the passage of Captain Noah, a beloved kids' show host in these parts from too long ago of a time – he was one of a group that included Pixanne, Gene London, Sally Starr, Chief Halftown, and a bunch of others; there was once a time when they held court on weekday and Saturday mornings, and they basically were surrogate parents to an entire generation of baby boomers, and when I say surrogate parents, I mean that as a compliment…can’t put a number on how much all of that stuff means before someone else quite correctly pointed out that “it takes a village”…RIP…



…and returning to the present day, Rev. Al recently spoke with Cheryl Lankford, a Gold Star widow whose husband was killed in Iraq and who is currently suing “The Donald” (others have joined her suit) in response to the Repug presidential candidate’s “Trump University” scam…



...and yeah, here we go with The Big Orange Cheetoh again, but I can’t resist the opportunity to feature both David Cay Johnston and Charlie Pierce at the same time, all including Lawrence O'Donnell making good points as usual…

...and such classy supporters, of course...

...and when it comes to "Fergus Laing," I give you another lesson in “the art of the deal” – give me a break (didn’t see the follow-up clip)…



…and maybe this is how true change starts to happen (and don’t laugh when I tell you that the Dems actually tried to clean up the student loan mess – well, somewhat – at least when it comes to subsidized student loans, as noted here)…



…and this may be the most important 6:24 you’ve seen and/or heard in a long time, and it comes to us courtesy of Thom Hartmann, which really isn’t surprising (and to illustrate his point, I should note that Chris Hayes had a really good interview last night with an economist about what Hillary Clinton is proposing - you think there's a snowball's chance that that video can be found on MSNBC's still-utterly-wretched web site? No way in hell...but ample time was devoted on "All In" tonight to the supposedly burning issue of whether or not Hillary Clinton is trying to hide a stroke, purported by Sean Hannity and Alex Jones of course; for the latter, reality itself is a "false flag")...



…and this is just a reminder to folk in PA-08 that Steve still needs our help (and yes, for the umpteenth time, background checks on private gun sales weren’t enacted, but not because Steve didn’t fight like hell for them) – to do what you can, click here (and I thought this was interesting)..



…and happy belated 62nd (!) birthday to Joe Jackson.

Thursday Stuff

Yep, all it takes is one all right (I think Cenk from yesterday is absolutely right; the Big Orange Cheetoh is pretty much desperate at this point and looking for an escape hatch, for the right price of course)…



…and I gotta tell ya’ that I saw this item about Joe Scar telling Mika not to bother her pretty little head, you wimpy little Democrat you, while daddy here tells her all about how the Repug Party will be “serious,” and what put me off wasn’t even his attempt at “mansplaining” (bad as that was), but the notion that, somehow, the “party of Lincoln” belongs to Scarborough, a charter member of our thoroughly-bought-and-paid-for Beltway corporate media; the sense of self-entitlement from “Morning Jo(ke)” on display here is almost nauseating.

I hate to break the news to Scarborough, but this is truly the face (ahem…) of Not Your Father’s Republican Party (h/t Wonkette).

And I think this pic is a perfect complement to Kyle’s related NSFW commentary here (the ACORN stuff is truly hilarious)…

…and in case “Governor Bully” thinks the Bridge stuff is going to go away – heh heh (here - NSFW)…



…and I hope you’re in the mood to rock out in the middle of a thunderstorm (at least around here for the moment).

Wednesday Stuff

Kudos to Cenk for bringing the outrage against the “Trumpster fire,” and kudos for focusing on his single-digit-IQ’d followers also ("red shirt guy" would decry what Trump said later)…



…and I would say that the rules of logic and common sense never have applied to the “Donald Drumpf” campaign, and I would also say that this proves it (Rachel was quite rightly laughing a few days ago, but I don't think anyone is laughing now)…



…and I know I recently featured a “Special Comment” from Keith Olbermann last week as part of “This Day In Doomsy History,” but here is another one from 8/10/09 featuring Caribou Barbie and her “death panel” lie about health care reform, which was working its way through Congress at that time of course; another high-profile Repug inflicting stupidity on our discourse, not unlike “Fergus Laing” and his recent language (some reality on the Affordable Care Law is here)…

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…and here’s something a little upbeat to try and shake off the recent unpleasantness in the news.

More Tuesday Stuff

OK, now this lunatic needs to be put in a straight jacket and locked in a rubber room (and take the key and flush it down the toilet – here and here)…



…because, apparently, something like this is what he has in mind if Hillary Clinton wins in November…



…and until today, I would say that this was the lowest of the low of the Trump campaign…



...and at a certain point, all I can do is just ask this question.

Tuesday Stuff

I agree with Seth Meyers in that everybody should stand back from the “Trumpster fire,” though I'd say Hillary thus far is doing a good job of using this stuff to keep The Big Orange Cheetoh off-balance (here) - and Meyers is definitely right about people being more interested in the sideshow than the show…I would take it a bit further and tell people to wake the #$@! up, but if he did, I’m sure his audience would disappear)...



...and by the way, the Repug presidential hopeful is getting trounced when it comes to the millennial vote (I'm more concerned about the Stein/Johnson numbers, actually - I think expecting a high-profile Repug to endorse Gary Johnson is "pie in the sky" at this point, but stranger things have happened)..



...also, I'm not sure that I agree with Kyle here that prostitution should be legal, but I think that, otherwise, he makes some good points in this commentary on China's typical repression of dissent…



…and whaddaya say we enjoy the last few weeks of the season we have left, OK?

Monday Stuff

This is genius stuff by John Oliver on newspapers (and funny too, by the way - NSFW), even if it is depressing in its utterly real depiction of what’s going on with “the fourth estate.”

I know he’s right about supporting local news organizations, but let me just tell you my little tale on this for what it’s worth, OK?

Currently, we subscribe to the Bucks County Courier Times in these parts; I say “currently” because that is always subject to household budgeting decisions (and by the way, the fact that we subscribe to a newspaper doesn’t make us special, I hasten to add). It is also subject to my ever-shrinking tolerance for putting up with the never-ending and utter bilious conservative garbage that composes the vast majority of the Op-Ed page of that newspaper.

When was the last time the Courier Times published Gene Lyons? David Sirota? Joe Conason? Connie Schultz? Froma Harrop? Cynthia Tucker? Not a clue – couldn’t tell you.

George Will? Charles Krauthammer? Cal Thomas (and assorted other whack jobs)? That’s easy – too many times to mention.

And by the way, I know the paper is going to publish conservative content. As much as I detest these people because what they say bears absolutely no resemblance to my day-to-day reality (and because they are SO UTTERLY WRONG on the issues that matter most to my family), I still realize that their voices deserve to be heard also. However, the notion of editorial balance in that paper is a choice between “glibertarian,” right wing and ultra right wing (with Eugene Robinson thrown in once and awhile, along with “liberal” Richard Cohen).

Bottom line: I can see myself one day cancelling our subscription. And yes, that will hurt the efforts of the paper’s beat reporters, who do genuinely good work. And I’m sorry about that.

However, the Courier Times (among many other news organizations) has made the calculated decision to cater its editorial content to elderly white conservatives first and foremost. And in that regard, they are hastening their own extinction (there ARE other audiences, by the way).

And for that reason, I do not understand why I should feel any responsibility for what will likely be their demise one day…



…and yeah, I would say that Bill Maher is spot-on here (NSFW also)…



…and speaking of The Big Orange Cheetoh, kudos to Stephen Colbert and particularly that guy in drag (here – what a creep; “The Donald” I mean of course)…



…and these guys are coming to the TLA in these parts in early October – should be a rockin’ good time.

Friday Stuff

I guess “Donald Drumpf” would consider a boot across someone’s throat to be “safe” too (here)…



…and apparently we need to update this ad based on this…



…and by the way, I’m not kidding (and the stuff about Nixon is truly chilling)…



…and I wonder if we should start calling him “Donald Trumpovich” (here - more here)…



…and I know some of this stuff on "Fergus Laing" has been done to death already, but I liked the comment from Seth Meyers in particular about Twitter here…



…and it shouldn’t be necessary to run this ad since women should be on a par with men when it comes to equal pay, among other measures, but it is (to help, click here – I’m going to miss Barbara Mikulski)…



…and this is just a reminder to PA-08 folk that we can’t forget to help Steve Santarsiero in his fight to prevent “Mikey Part 2” this fall – to help, click here (and yes, it's true background checks weren't enacted, but not because Steve didn't give it a hell of an effort)…



…and I guess, given the earlier videos in particular, you can call this a theme for a “Trumpocalypse” that we have to make sure never happens.

More Thursday Stuff

Why indeed (more here)…



…a question that should be posed to this fraud from our own beloved commonwealth also (to do something about "No Corporate Tax" Toomey, click here...and let's not forget this too)…



…and I am sooo glad someone brought back this clip about how "Donald Drumpf" VP candidate Mike Pence once compared Iraq to an Indiana open market, or something (here, and I got a kick out of this too)...



Update 1 8/14/16: I would say that this fits the sorry "Pence profile" also.

Update 2 8/14/16: OUCH!

…and yeah, I think this song fits given everything in the news lately.

Thursday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

To me, this clip proves that all of the stuff with “Fergus Laing” is waay too far inside the proverbial looking glass to just write it off as partisan politics…



…and dare I hope that this is the beginning of the end of voter ID laws?...



…and as long as we’re talking about legal stuff, I should note that this may be the best commentary on holding hearings for the nomination of (and eventually confirming) Judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court that I've heard yet…



…and a belated happy 90th birthday to Tony Bennett.

Wednesday Stuff

Note to HRC – this particularly abysmal Gallup number for Trump is golden, but there’s a long way to go in this election; it still has to be won…



…and yet another funny commentary on the most recent election stuff from Samantha Bee has an appropriately hard edge at the very end (here)…



…and I’m not sure exactly how Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley got out of his most recent infidelity scandal, but I guess he did somehow…and who knows, he might get out of this too…



…and yeah, I think it’s time to dial up some sweet jammin’ blues – enjoy.

Tuesday Stuff

No, I haven’t forgotten about “This Day In Doomsy History”; the latest installment below is from 8/2/11, in which K.O. delivers a truly epic “Special Comment” on that stinking debt deal between Number 44 and “Man Tan” Boehner, who was then Speaker of the House, which brought us the beginning of the wretched austerity we, and a good part of the world, still live under…


Update 8/12/16: And here is why that still matters.

…and by the way, let’s not forget about the antics of Fix Noise head Roger Ailes (“alleged,” let’s not forget, though it’s telling that, as Chris Hayes and Gabriel Sherman tell us, the stories of these women are pretty similar even though they, in all likelihood, have never communicated with each other…a related post is here)…



…and I don’t know how the hell the miserable ingrates shown at this rally for Repug VP nominee Mike Pence can boo and throw catcalls at the military mother asking about “Donald Drumpf” and his attack on the Khans, and then applaud themselves with Pence making the utterly saccharine and disgusting remark about “honoring their service” in regard to our veterans (and here is more garbage from Pence on this – by the way, as nearly as I can tell, Pence never served, though his son serves in the Marines…also, as Think Progress tells us, Humayun Khan was killed in 2004, while Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History was still taking up space in An Oval Office, as opposed to Number 44…”that’s what freedom looks like,” huh? Shouting down someone who disagrees with you? Well, I guess that’s how it looks to YOU)…



…and a hat tip goes out to Dan Reed of WXPN in these parts for the reminder that “The Concert for Bangladesh” took place 45 years ago yesterday, which, to my knowledge, was the first of the all-star shows of its type for various worthy causes, including “Farm Aid” and “The Concert for New York City” after 9/11 – as the Wikipedia article tells us, the money raised from the two shows was eventually distributed to those who needed it by 1981, and if you want to blame anyone for the holdup, blame former Beatle manager Allen Klein…George Harrison would also advise Bob Geldof on financial matters for “Live Aid” in 1985 to prevent the same mistake.

Monday Stuff

Geez oh man, it’s looks like that “Indian-sounding” Fareed Zakaria brought his potty mouth to the party here – kudos (and when it comes to racist, sexist, and other types of garbage spewing from the mouth of the presidential nominee of the “party of Lincoln,” it’s a feature, not a bug, you might say)…



…and yeah, what John Oliver says here too – NSFW (I just hope HRC doesn’t get caught up in this stuff too and realize that she’d got to go out and win this election)…



...and here is more from Donald "A Little Ride" Drumpf (hard to catalog all the refuse he spews, I'll admit - and by the way, here is a bit of reality on this subject - not saying our military hasn’t gotten its act together on this, but we’d all be best served by the proper context)...



…and I don’t know if this tune is apolitical or not, but I think it rocks, with maybe more than a bit of a message to the subject of these videos.

Sunday Stuff

I’ve got some leftovers from the prior week I still need to get to, so here they come – among other things, last week was a really bad one for voter ID laws, as noted here, which is truly good news…



…and the Rev. Dr. William Barber really “brought the heat” at the DNC, as it were, reminding us of what Democrats are supposed to be all about (and no disrespect to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who I’m sure was good too, but how on earth do you top that?)…



…as did former Dem Michigan Mayor Jennifer Granholm here – I’m sure a lot of people got the Carly Simon reference, but I’m sure many others were scratching their heads over it too (didn't know Granholm packed that kind of ooomph - learn something new every day)...



…and I absolutely can’t forget about this summer tune, now can I?

Friday Stuff

(By the way, my page views have been going insane over the last week or so, which is probably coincidental timed for the conventions…still, thanks to one and all.)

And speaking of same, kudos to Gen. John Allen (here) – like, wow…



…and I would call this stirring also, though for a wholly other reason; tied to the same theme as the prior clip, though…



…and from the sublime to the ridiculous we go here – just say “oops” and get out, NC Repugs (more here)…



…and I have a feeling Ed Schultz is still getting over the fact that Hillary is the Dem nominee for prez and not Bernie Sanders, but we are where we are, and credit to HRC where I think it’s due – besides, it’s all about keeping out “Fergus Laing” at this point…



…and maybe I shouldn’t be diverting attention to “The Donald” again, but I feel I have to; kudos to Thom Hartmann here…



…and when even those evangelical sheep finally realize that they’re getting conned, then maybe the shadows for the Repugs are longer than we thought…



…and it’s probably no surprise whatsoever that I agree with Eric Holder’s assessment of the nominee of the “party of Lincoln,” namely, that his latest remarks about Russia hacking Hillary Clinton’s Email automatically disqualifies him for president, but I’m presenting the clip anyway…



…and best wishes for a happy 70th birthday tomorrow to Jeffrey Hammond of Jethro Tull (doesn’t rock out quite like the original, but I would still call this a pretty good version).

Thursday Stuff

This may be it for President Hopey Changey and his great speeches – if so, he sure exited with a memorable one (here); the wingnuts will always hate him of course, in no small part because Obama truly understands this country better than they ever will (and I'm sure the Dems had permission to use the music)…



…something amplified by Joe Biden earlier, particularly in this excerpt (here)…



…and I always respected Joe Crowley for a lot of reasons, but I REALLY respect him for this (Sam Seder is talking about “The Music Man” and Professor Harold Hill, by the way, which would fit The Donald if he had a benevolent molecule in his body, which of course he doesn’t)…



…and given that the Dem convention is wrapping up tonight, what do you say to a tune to help us get about the tough work of winning this damn election, and (dare I hope) taking back Congress?

Wednesday Stuff

I know the focus in Philly is quite rightly on the Democratic National Convention, but I thought this was a cautionary discussion Chris Hayes had with Howard Fineman and E.J. Dionne recently; I’d love to agree with the latter about Trump’s “ceiling,” but one of the truly scary aspects of all of this is that I don’t think we really know what that is – just means we have to work harder for HRC, that’s all…



…that being said, I should also say that this absolutely has to mean the end for this guy and his presidential hopes (and yes, I know there have been a slew of these moments already, but this has to be the proverbial last straw – more here)…



…and this starts with Sen. Al Franken talking about Michelle Obama’s speech, but it ends with Franken telling the media to do their damn jobs (“facts don’t seem to matter,” Mrs. Greenspan? Are you vying for the title of Grand Dame Of Our Beltway Courtier Media?)…



…and when I think about Trump (I try not to do that a lot, I'll admit), songs like this come to mind.

Tuesday Stuff

John Oliver does it again (NSFW)...



…and yeah, I guess I got trolled by Juilan Assange on some of the earlier Wikileaks stuff – not ashamed to admit if I made a mistake; I thought he had the wherewithal to know when he was getting played by Putin, but apparently he doesn’t (stuff like this from the Trump campaign shows a sophistication I didn’t expect I’ll admit, though I don’t think it shows sophistication to violate U.S. campaign finance law either…you would think that the quite-likely involvement of foreign actors in our election would infuriate the voters of this country…you would think)…



…and I thought this was a good commentary by Kyle Kulinski about what was probably the most memorable line of Michelle’s Obama’s speech at the Democratic Convention last night (NSFW also – the last minute or so in particular is the true takeaway IMHO)…



…and a happy belated birthday to Chepito Areas of Santana – I hope the title of this song reflects the spirits of the country overall after Day 2 of the Dem convention as opposed to last week’s hatefest in Cleveland.

Monday Stuff

Kudos to Fareed Zakaria for this (and I don’t give a damn about his accent – actually, if you want to hear an extremely NSFW response to Coulter, click here)…



…and memo to our corporate media; any chance that you people are going to wake the hell up and confront “The Donald” over his failure to release his tax returns (here)?

Naah, didn’t think so (zzzzzz)…



…so yeah, maybe it’s time once more for some good old fashioned outrage, and Jon Stewart brings it, as they say, just in time (here)…



…and I don’t know if the rain making its way through these parts will bring much relief over the next day or so – hopefully it will.