Monday Stuff

Leeja Miller gives us probably the best takedown of the Powell Memo I’ve yet seen, picking apart its weaselly and propagandistic language and faux-legalese...“equality feels like oppression when you’re the one benefitting from historical inequalities” indeed...once again, we owe a debt IMO to Jack Anderson for unearthing the Powell Memo in all of its infamy, though it was too late to keep Powell off the High Court of course... interesting that Chucky Koch disagreed with the Powell Memo, saying it didn’t go far enough and businesses weren’t committed to “free enterprise,” which is giving away the game a bit I’d say...good for Miller to mention Powell’s role in the Bellotti 1978 SCOTUS decision, though, to be fair, she should have also mentioned Buckley v. Valeo from ’76, along with Consolidated Edison and Central Hudson Gas & Electric, both in ‘80, which played roles in the “corporate money as speech” movement as well...also didn’t know that Powell hired, unknowingly apparently, more gay clerks than any other justice, including Paul Smith, who had a role in Lawrence v. Texas, which our current Taliban-esque High Court may yet demolish also...



...and Farron Cousins tells that, apparently, Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao showed signs of life recently, leaping to the defense of the big money Repug donor class, his one and only constituency (who Powell was considering in his memo of course)...one day, he’s going to shed his mortal coil as will we all, and if I see that day, I’ll smile quietly to myself because he likely will earn a trip straight to Gehenna...and yes, I know, judge not lest ye be judged...and by the way, Brave Sir Josh Hawley’s alleged plan to get money out of politics is yet another “bait and switch,” but we knew that, right?...



...and David Pakman tells us about fellow Repug U.S. Senators turning on the quitter of a college football coach Tommy Tuberville...ABOUT FREAKING TIME!! And I understand that Willard Mitt Romney is trying to “split the baby” and not totally blame Tuberville, but I would submit that Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin has the right to dictate whatever policy he believes is important in his role as Defense Secretary; Austin isn’t the one supposedly out of line here...



...and Symone Sanders-Townsend of MSNBC looks at issues at stake in elections tomorrow in Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and Mississippi (more on the Tate Reeves/Brett Favre stuff is here...and when it comes to Virginia, please don't forget this and this)...



Update: More on the importance of Virginia's elections tomorrow is here and here.

...and this More Perfect Union video discusses Why 30% of rural hospitals are closing...and I know you’ll be shocked..well, not really...to find that The Sainted Ronnie R changed the formula of how Medicare reimbursed rural hospitals, which is a big factor leading to the closure of so many, along with the pigheadedness of Repug-run state governments in not expanding Medicaid, which is basically walking away from free federal money – and if 230K Mississippians are uninsured, imagine what the number is across the entire country...the clip also presents more information on why NO ONE should be suckered in by the utter scam of Medicare Advantage...more on the Save Rural Hospitals Act is here...



...and happy upcoming 80th birthday to the one and only Joni Mitchell.

Friday Stuff (updates)

Emma and the crew form The Majority Report discuss Dem U.S. Senator Dick Durbin calling for a cease fire in the Israel/Gaza conflict...also, kudos to Minneapolis area Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg for courageously asking for the same thing from President Biden (and I have a pretty good idea of what that fool Amy Schumer did, which is about par for the wretched course with her)...



Update 1: Hey, does anybody want to hear my admittedly-dumb-lefty-blogger take on this story?

(I mean, if Cenk Uygur can announce a run for president, then the least I can do is opine as a self-proclaimed foreign policy expert.)

I don’t know how many people have noticed the debate about funding for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and our border going on with our supposedly august U.S. Senate. There are those who want everything funded in one bill (Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao, Huckelberry Graham and others), and then there are those like Mike Lee and “Russia Ron” Johnson who want funding for Israel to be voted on as a standalone bill and vote on the other items separately (meaning of course that they’re willing to do Putin’s bidding and tell Ukraine and Zelenskyy to pound sand).

Well, although I certainly don’t have an inside track on this stuff, I don’t think it takes a genius to see that China is watching this too. And I also don’t know how many people have noticed that Hezbollah and Iran have been strangely quiet while the Israel/Gaza carnage proceeds apace (what better opportunity for them to intercede against “Bibi” than now)?

I think Iran and Hezbollah are shying away for now because China told them to. China is waiting to see if we approve military funding for Taiwan. Because if we do, China may just decide to pull back from the region and say, “OK, enemies of Israel and the U.S., go ahead and lob a shell or two at one of those ships in the Mediterranean. As of now, we don’t care.” And if that happens and we get hit and members of our military get killed, then we’ll respond of course, and we’ll all be speedily on our way to World War III.

People far smarter than I am no doubt know that we’re stuck in a vulnerable position. Hamas are cowardly, bloodthirsty murderers, but “Bibi” is proving that he’s little better. And the Israeli PM has been trying to sucker us into another Mideast mess ever since we extricated ourselves from Dubya’s Not-So-Excellent Iraq Adventure. Hell, if Netanyahu really wanted to get Hamas, he’d find a way to go after them in Qatar or put some kind of pressure on that government to give them up. But as far as I’m concerned, Netanyahu doesn’t want that. What he wants is a Palestinian genocide. And unfortunately, he’s getting it with our help thus far.

I’m saying this because I care very much about the fate of innocent Israelis and Palestinians, and I care even more about our military that could end up in harm’s way before all is said and done. I just don’t see any good way out of this without still more bloodshed on an ever-more-sickening scale, but believe me when I tell you that I want to be wrong (Update: And I almost forgot about this charming moment from "Bibi" - and yes, that's a bad joke I know).

...and focusing on domestic U.S. politics, David Pakman informs us that “MAGA Mike” Johnson’s wife scrubbed her website where she compared homosexuality to bestiality...so many issues with this guy, and I thought this was a good recent column by Charles Blow about the House Speaker...



...and David Shuster tells us that Johnson has “feels” apparently of Biden’s illegality, and that’s enough for an investigation by itself...and as Robert Garcia says, this is positively rich coming from a party whose de facto head is facing 91 criminals counts spread across 4 indictments (and nice work by Jen Psaki also)...



...and in keeping with those lunatics in charge of the U.S. House, Jayar Jackson and Jordan Uhl discuss the beyond-Dickensian budget cuts proposed by Not Your Father’s Republican Party and “MAGA Mike” in particularly (CHIP, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the ACA, etc.)...what a weaselly little shit Johnson is, though I realize that shouldn’t be surprising (I think Jordan Uhl goes off the rails here a bit when criticizing Dems for not telling the IDF and Israel to call for a cease fire in Gaza since that’s a wholly separate issue, as noted in the first video, but I think the message has gone forth from TYT and Cenk Uygur in particular to find any way possible to bash Dems regardless of the issue...yes, there are times when that’s called for I admit, but TYT overdoes it big time...and I don’t completely buy Jayar’s argument at the end that we’ll run out of money; I’m not saying we should spend like drunken sailors, but that’s not an excuse for demagoguery either...by the way, on a bit of an unrelated note, you can expect to see fewer “Second Thought” and TYT clips because I think their content has become highly questionable for different reasons)...



Update 2: I can think of few better illustrations of the old adage "pride goeth before a fall" than this.

Update 3: Curiouser and curiouser (here).

Update 11/4/23: I have a feeling that the day will come sooner than later when Johnson wishes he'd never become speaker and stayed as a relative back-bencher...well, too damn late now (here).

Update 11/5/23: The more we learn about "MAGA Mike," the weirder (and more dangerous) he looks (here, to say nothing of corrupt as noted here).

...and turning once more to “the world’s greatest deliberative body,” Beau talks about the proposed bill from Brave Sir Josh Hawley allegedly getting big donor $$ out of politics (spoiler alert – the bill is a “red herring”) with Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao saying “not on my watch”...good explanation by Beau of just how daunting it would be to destroy Citizens United...not saying it’s impossible, but we would need a wholly other High Court (run by the “D” team, which hasn’t happened for over 50 years) from the one we have now to enable that (more from Jane Mayer is here)...



...and today marks the 50th anniversary of the release of “Quadrophenia” by The Who, their sixth studio album and second “concept” recording after “Tommy” (I've seen a release date of today as well as October 29th, for the record)...I believe they had a third "concept" recording they were working on called “Lighthouse” but they couldn’t quote pull it together, though it ultimately became “Who’s Next?,” which to me is their greatest work...this song fits on so many levels for yours truly, especially right now.

Thursday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore discusses Brave Sir Josh Hawley disrespecting Homeland Secretary Alexander Mayorkas over an admittedly offensive blog post from someone in DHS...kudos to Mayorkas for his measured response, telling Cowardly Josh that, yeah you numbskull, it’s a personnel matter and I can’t discuss it publicly; as Jesse says, Hawley is grandstanding to get an appearance on Fix Noise, OAN or some other similar channel, as well as clicks on X or whatever, and that’s about it (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and when it comes to the U.S. House on Capitol Hill under “MAGA Mike” Johnson, Chris Hayes tells us that, with war raging and an economy trying to find its way completely out of COVID (and more or less doing that as opposed to most of the rest of the world), to say nothing of climate change (more on that a little later), the “party of Lincoln” is laser focused on its top priority, and that’s ensuring that yacht owners can cheat on their taxes (and speaking of money matters, I think this is sketchy AF).

(And by the way, speaking of the “lower chamber,” I know they had that idiotic vote from Marjorie Trailer Park Greene trying to equate a protest on behalf of Palestinians as an “insurrection,” or some such typical nonsense, and that was shot down, which of course was the right thing. I know they also had that vote to expel “George Santos,” which was likewise shot down. And this may come as a bit of a surprise, but I’m glad that failed also. I thought Jamie Raskin put it well here...yes, Santos is a serial liar and a contemptible character for all kinds of reasons, but since he hasn’t been convicted of a crime, I agree with Raskin. Expelling him would have set a terrible precedent, which – and I cannot emphasize this strongly enough – DEFINITELY would have been used against Democrats in the future. Besides, if we’re just talking about the typical political BS and no actual illegality involving some kind of a court conviction, the remedy to get rid of Santos is to vote his ass out of office.)

Anyway, here's the Hayes clip...

Update: And speaking of that life form from GA-14, I thought this was a typically disgusting move.

...and Mike Figueredo tells us how AIPAC is pretty much a terrorist organization that has been able to get way too many politicians to knuckle under to it, including Huckleberry Graham, who apparently thinks there should be no threshold for kids getting killed by Israelis or Hamas in order to say enough and call for a cease fire (figures...and when it comes to confronting AIPAC, which is long overdue IMO, I have to admit that I’m utterly shocked to find myself on the same side as Thomas Massie, but he’s on the right side of an issue for a change...I would also like to see these lawmakers criticize all of the anti-BDS laws out there, but we’ll see about that...I thought this was a terrific and highly comprehensive report on the insidious influence of AIPAC on our politics, and yes, we should definitely help Cori Bush too...and by the way, more on Brian Mast is here)...



...and I have to admit that I’m as bewildered as anybody as to why the story of Acapulco’s destruction hasn’t received more coverage, as Thom Hartmann is also (I think Will Bunch recently said the same thing on Twitter/X/whatever...my guess is because stories about climate change don’t generate a lot of buzz overall, though I can think of no story that’s more important)...



...and Kyle Kulinski tells us that UAW president Shawn Fain is trying to get contracts put in place for other unions as well as his own so they expire on 4/30/28 in time for May Day, at which time Fain plans to hold a general strike to take on the wretched billionaire class...beyond freaking awesome (and I didn’t know about the RAND Corporation study that $50 trillion was stolen by the top one percent from the rest of us since WWII...bleeping criminals!)...



...and don’t know about you, but I’m getting ready to pack in, so hopefully this number can mellow us out a bit.

Wednesday Stuff

Francesca and Nina Turner of The Damage Report discuss the push-back against the incursion into Gaza from “Bibi,” and that includes anti-war protests from American Jews...I have a feeling Biden badly misread public opinion on this; yes, I‘m not questioning Israel’s right to defend itself, but I’m only saying that I’m sure Hamas gamed this scenario out all over the place before they launched their attack on October7th – hard for me to find the words to communicate how despicable Hamas truly is, but Biden has to find a way to advocate for Palestinians here, and that means pushing for a two-state solution, right of return, Jerusalem as a shared capital, way beyond just calling for humanitarian relief – I’m basically talking about all of the stuff Netanyahu has brushed aside...as soon as you find yourself in a position where you’re indiscriminately attacking women and children, you’ve definitely lost (and I’m sure Turner is right about the cascading impact of all of this, unfortunately)...



...and I thought Joy Reid offered a pretty good summation of this horrible conflict...and again, I don’t know what the big deal is about harvesting olives or planting olive trees – I can’t imagine how that’s an excuse to shoot someone dead (I never knew of any tree that planted a bomb or murdered women and children)...I didn’t watch the follow-up segment to this, but it’s not hard to figure that what’s next unfortunately is more destruction and more military brinkmanship with this country, China, Iran, and others...



...and given the prior two clips, I think this is apropos from the New York Times, which features comments from Israelis in the wake of the Hamas attacks...I just hope that the monumental incompetence of “Bibi” doesn’t somehow get brushed aside in the quite-called-for-IMO rush to judgment against Hamas (who aren't even IN Gaza, let's not forget - last reports are that they're in Qatar)..



...and returning to this country, Leeja Miller tells us How Lobbying Is Ruining Democracy...I have to admit that I didn’t know about that 760-to-1 ratio in terms of campaign donations versus $ from tax breaks and loosened regulations, but it just about turned my stomach...also didn’t know about the $$ raked in by Chuck Schumer, but that doesn’t surprise me either...and China spent $62 million on our elections in 2022??...also, if I ruled the world, NOBODY working in our politics would be able to get a job as a lobbyist for TEN FREAKING YEARS after they left their public job...also didn’t know about the Lobbying Disclosure Act of ’95 (and what initiated it)...additionally, I didn’t know about the $34-to-$1 ratio of corporations lobbying vs. public interest groups (I always thought the term “lobbyist” in this country originated with the hangers-on around the time of the Civil War in particular who gathered at the Willard Hotel in D.C.)...lots of great ideas at the end of this clip to try and clean up our lobbying mess...



...and Sam Seder of The Majority Report informs us on how the Biden DOL came out with a ruling that reinstates an Obama-era standard for joint employers, making it easier for workers and unions to hold companies liable for labor law violations by their franchisees and contractors (so yeah, if the owner of a “Mickey D’s,” for example, is found liable for violations of, say, workers below an age standard working too many hours, the parent company can’t just wash their hands and say they have no control over what a franchisee does –the parent company is on the hook too)...and GREAT point by Sam starting at about 2:40 that, when you elect someone president, you’re also electing a “network of relationships” for that person, and IMO, the consequences of that are a hell of a lot more severe than electing a single person...



...and RIP Dwight Twilley from a couple of weeks ago – here is one of his signature hits.

Tuesday Stuff

Tell me once more how Biden is the one who supposedly has cognitive difficulties; The Lincoln Project brings us about a minute and a half (which is all I can take, to be honest) of our treasonous, delusional narcissistic former *preznit in his most recent public appearance (and yeah, he says he’s in Sioux Falls, when in reality he’s in Sioux City, Iowa...and yes, I know The Lincoln Project are just yesterday’s Republicans, and maybe in the future too, but they keep making good clips for now)...



Update: Duly noted, but as I said, their videos are still good.

...and I know I’m a little behind the news cycle with this David Pakman clip of the Gropenfuhrer giving top secret intel on our nuke subs to Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt, but it’s still a vitally important story...#45 should be in the slam for this if for no other reason, though there are plenty of others of course...



...and Francesca and Nina Turner of The Damage Report bring us proof positive (according to the WaPo) that those stinking December 2017 tax cuts from Combover Caligula (voted for by all Repugs, including this guy, and to do something about Bri-Fi, click here) increased the debt by $10 trillion (along with Dubya's of course)...remember this the next time you hear these frauds carrying on about OH, THE DEBT THAT’S STEALING FROM OUR GRANDKIDS!!!...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that Fix Noise staffers are apparently letting out the secret that Our Ochre Abomination is being blacklisted from live interviews on their propaganda network because they don’t want to get sued by Smartmatic or Dominion again, so they’re only allowing pre-recorded appearances so they can screen what he says in advance...actually, Benedict Donald should be “blacklisted” from appearing on The Roger Ailes BS Channel AT ALL...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 11/3/16, in which Keith Olbermann gives us another of his “The Closer” segments about “Trump TV”...as far as I’m concerned, the only reason why #45 didn’t implement some of the stuff K.O. talks about here is because Our Treasonous Tiny-Handed Former Chief Executive didn’t understand how to wield the power to try and make it happen; in the beyond nightmarish scenario of another Trump term, I believe he would know how to put what Olbermann is talking about into place...

...and given that admittedly frightful prospect, I still would like to wish everyone a Happy Halloween.

Monday Stuff

It looks like Bo-Bo- Boebert in CO-03 is going to get a Repug primary challenger as a result of “Getting Handy With Her Now-Ex Boyfriend At The ‘Beetlejuice’ Musical”-gate, as Francesca and Brett Erlich tell us...more than any other reason, I’m sure it’s really because of her paltry fundraising numbers compared to Dem challenger Adam Frisch (and it shouldn’t be all about the $$ I know – sigh); to help Frisch, click here...



...and sticking with the “Centennial State,” apparently some idiot Repug state rep named Ron Weinberg sez that kids using their preferred pronouns could confuse police during a mass shooting...kind of breaking the stoo-pid meter on that one, I must say...



...and Eric Gardner of More Perfect Union discusses the effort from Medicare to try and negotiate prices for 10 prescription drugs and the full-on legal war waged by those Big Pharma bastards in response...



...and just in time for the visitation of witches, goblins and other spectral forces, Robert Reich brings us the three myths of “zombie economics” that absolutely refuse to die, though they should have been buried long ago of course...



...and here are a couple of tunes to get into the spirit of the season, if we aren’t there already.

Friday Stuff

(A backgrounder on this typically clueless moment from "The Gipper" is here.)

Leeja Miller asks Why Is Healthcare So Expensive (GREAT question)...I knew our maternal mortality numbers in this country were awful, but I didn’t know the figure was over twice as bad as the OEC average...one of the many great points in this video has to do with the specialization in health care as Miller notes, in order to maximize profit IMO; this is one of the reasons that I would recommend a nurse practitioner for a yearly checkup if you can because that’s the only class of medical professional I’ve seen who looks at the WHOLE patient picture (NSFW/H at the very end, though I agree with what she says...I meant to put this video up earlier in the week, but it got bumped for other more timely items)...



...and Thom Hartmann tells us about the wingnut threat from within and without of our government (I think he means “Section 8” housing, not “Section 9”)...Thom starts by talking about the carnage from right-wing billionaires, then shifts to global threats, alleging (correctly I think) that the “party of Lincoln” is doing its best to weaken our standing in the world (and when it comes to billionaires trying to undermine this country, I would add this person to that sorry list)...



...and when it comes to what I would call domestic enemies of this country, I don’t think it’s possible to ignore Marjorie Traitor Greene...kudos to Becca Balint of Vermont here, even though her commendable effort will likely go for naught since this howler monkey in a dress from Georgia doesn’t possess a molecule of contrition...



...and with an eye towards the Middle East, Mike Figueredo tells us that the wingnuts in this country (along with the far right in Israel) treat Palestinians as animals (which we knew), alleging that they all support Hamas (spoiler alert – WRONG!) – and I’m not going to waste my time rebutting all of the nonsense from that nematode Jesse Watters...didn’t know that 38 states have adopted anti-BDS laws, including my own beloved commonwealth of PA...ugh...and with all due respect to Mike Figueredo, I’ve been yelling about “Bibi” Netanyahu for a little while now, starting with his goading of this country to go after “militant Islam” after 9/11 here, though Figueredo is completely right to call out ANYONE who supports anti-BDS laws, which run completely in opposition to our Constitutional freedoms (NSFW/H also)...



...and in case you were wondering whether or not some wingnut propagandist would try to link the Hamas attack on Israel and their Gaza incursion with the most recent mass gun slaughter in this country in Maine...well, no need to worry on that, because Baby Newton Leroy Gingrich is all over it – oh, and here is one response to his idiotic claim that, basically, more “permit-less carry” is needed in this country...

"By making it easy for almost anyone to carry a concealed handgun in public, right-to-carry laws increase violent crime, firearm robberies, gun thefts, workplace homicides, and mass shootings. Right-to-carry laws make it harder for law enforcement to solve violent crimes and are opposed by many law enforcement leaders across the country. Similarly, permitless carry harms public safety by removing essential safety measures designed to ensure that those carrying handguns in public have been properly trained and vetted. Evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the removal of concealed carry permitting systems is associated with higher rates of gun homicide and violent crime."

More from Emma V. and the Majority Report on this is here...



...and I think we all deserve a nice weekend after this week’s insanity, and I’d like to get that started with this little number.

Thursday Stuff (updates)

I’d like to offer “thoughts and prayers” for real to the families and friends of the victims of the latest mass gun carnage in this country in Lewiston, Maine (particularly for the father who believes his son was one of the victims), and I’m sorry that that sounds like the typical pat, nothing response at times like this. For that reason, I think I should give what I believe is a more concrete explanation that has a lot to do with this horrible tragedy:

U. S. House Democrats passed a renewal of the assault weapons ban last year, as noted here (with all but 2 Repugs voting in favor while all others opposed it).

The renewal of the ban died in the U.S. Senate because it didn’t meet the magical 60-vote threshold for passage (here), with just about every Republican opposing, along with “President” Joe Manchin and “Curtsy Kyrsten” refusing to get rid of the stinking filibuster (if that were gone, only a simple majority vote would be needed).

That more than any other reason is why mass gun slaughter continues in this country (with the typical garbage, "values voter" nonsense from "MAGA Mike" Johnson on this issue here)...



Update: Commendable, but more like this - A LOT MORE.

Update 10/28/23: Good - hopefully he's doing somersaults in hell at this moment.

...and speaking of the new, truly awful U.S. House speaker, Brian Tyler Cohen gives us more here...yeah, when you get the endorsement of Matt “Trying To Pick Up Underage Girls, Allegedly Of Course” Gaetz, you have NOTHING to be proud of...I just wish SOMEBODY had asked Johnson if he’d received Trump’s endorsement before he put his name in nomination for speaker, but I’m sure a whole gang of wingnuts would have shouted SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!!! instead of Ol’ Grandma Ginny Foxx (and by the way, this puts Johnson second in line for the presidency, in case we’d forgotten about that...and one of those 18 Repugs in Biden-won districts voting for Johnson is this guy, and to do something about Bri-Fi once and for all, click here)...



Update 1 10/27/23: The more I think about this stuff, the more if occurs to me that Johnson may have been the guy the wingnuts wanted all along and the stuff with Gym Jordan, Emmer, etc. was just a smokescreen. The way these cretins operate, it wouldn’t surprise me if that were the case.

Update 2 10/27/23: Given this, let’s make sure that #MAGAMikeJohnson continues to be “the gift that keeps on giving,” in particular when running against those 18 Repug U.S. House Reps from Biden districts (including this guy, and once more, to do something about Bri-Fi, press here).

Update 3 10/27/23: Uh, yep.

Update 4 10/27/23: And the hits just keep on coming for the new U.S. House Speaker (here, here, here, here, and here).

Update 5 10/27/23: I wonder if Johnson will, at some point, wish he could crawl back under the rock he emerged from; too late for that, though (here, here, here, here, here, and here).

Update 10/30/23: Maybe Johnson needs to spend a little less time with "the good book" (though he likely misinteprets it) and a little more time providing constituent service for real (here...and this is scary AF as far as yours truly is concerned...this stinks too, as does this).

Update 11/2/23: And this is sketchy AF about "MAGA Mike" too.

Update 11/10/23: Still more Johnson Christo-fascist garbage is here.

...and our wet noodle PA-01 rep likes to tell us all about his involvement in “No Labels”; fortunately; Robert Reich cuts through that BS here...



...oh, and in the matter of Ms. SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!!!, I thought this was a good video from The Lincoln Project (boy, would I LOVE to see the @DNC or @DCCC come after her with an "oppo" ad for this, y'know, like Repugs would try to do to us)...



...and when it comes to Not Your Father’s Republican Party, it appears that they engaged in a bit of revenge porn against Dem candidate Susanna Gibson running for Virginia state house delegate (District 57 I believe), as Kyle Kulinski tells us...



...and happy 70th birthday to Keith Strickland of the B-52s.

Wednesday Stuff

Apparently, U.S. House Repugs have done what they do best, and that is to get in line behind a fairly nondescript, corporatist white guy who checks all the wingnut checkboxes (and approved by Trump of course) and make him U.S. House Speaker – how pathetic (more here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).

And by the way, as Jesse Dollemore points out here, Mike Johnson of Louisiana was one of the 7 of 9 overall speaker candidates who voted against certifying President Biden’s election (oh, and as noted here, Johnson “double dipped” while he allegedly served in state government, picking up “tens of thousands” in fees on a legal team representing the state in a federal court trial over abortion clinic restrictions)...



Update 1: And this was a typically charming moment also featuring "Granny Clampett" Virginia Foxx (apologies to Irene Ryan).

...and ZOMG! “Dark Brandon” was comped with a $200K payback from his brother for what I guess was a family loan..I guess the “scandal” is that Biden does his best to take care of his family..??? (more nonsense from James Comer and U.S. House Republicans...Jayar Jackson and Viviana Vigil discuss)...



Update 2: When it comes to political figures (which SCOTUS justices are, let's not forget) and alleged financial shenanigans (real in this case, IMO), I'm sure Comer and his pals won't have a word to say about this.

...well, for some more positive U.S. political news, Faron Cousins tells us that Ruben Gallego is pretty much cleaning the metaphorical clocks of Kari Lake and “Curtsy Kyrsten” Sinema in fundraising, though we indeed do have a looong way to go until November ’24 – to help Gallego, click here...



...and it looks like, if you imagine that you’re going to criticize Israel in any way whatsoever, you’re going to be met with a whole bunch of SHUTUP SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP SHUTUP!!!!!, as Dave Chappelle recently found out, though he also criticized Hamas, as well he should (Kyle Kulinski tells us more)...



...and speaking of African American entertainment icons (I guess Chappelle qualifies), RIP Richard Roundtree – I once read an interview where he said that, to portray John Shaft, he pretended he was really director Gordon Parks (an icon in his own right IMO), since that’s the way Parks acted, and Roundtree meant it as a tribute of sorts...



...and I guess The New Basement Tapes is the latest supergroup of sorts to come along (I detected The Living Elvis, but I’m a little fuzzy on the other members)...I thought this was a well-done tune.

Tuesday Stuff

(I had some unexpected technical difficulties, but hopefully they've been resolved.)

Farron Cousins discusses Jeffrey Toobin’s recent Op-Ed in the New York Times arguing that Mango Mussolini is going to get someone killed, with Toobin linking the antics of 45 to the Murrah building bombing by Timothy McVeigh in ’95; the clip also notes how #45 and his minions are going after New York AG Letitia James, among others targets with, at a minimum, threatening vitriol – hopefully no worse than that, though that’s bad enough...



...and gee, wasn’t Kayleigh McEnany the one who said she would never lie to us, or something? Well (as David Shuster points out), McEnany’s trash network clipped a quote of President Biden answering a reporter’s question about the Israel/Hamas war and the horrific loss of that conflict to try and make Biden look bad– typical for these lowlifes...



...and speaking of the Israel/Hamas war, Sam and Emma of The Majority Report discuss the threats and censorship to pro-Palestinian voices, which Is insane...and yeah, GREAT point to ask where the #$@! these alleged “free speech warriors” like Bari freaking Weiss are when Harvard students are getting doxed and having job offers rescinded for supporting the Palestinians, who overwhelming DO NOT support Hamas, though the incursion by Netanyahu is forcing them in that direction...and on the one hand, I DO NOT support the fact that Israel has allowed the Gaza “open air prison” to exist, but on the other hand, I cannot think of a hell hot enough for Hamas...and don’t ask me who bombed that hospital, because I have no clue on that...



...and on the subject of domestic political stuff, Thom Hartmann talks about what will happen to the right to privacy if (God forbid) the wingnuts win in next year’s elections (or even some THIS year, I would guess)...Thom discusses the Griswold, Lawrence and Obergefell SCOTUS rulings, which are in the sights of Harlan Crow puppet Clarence Thomas, “Strip Search Sammy” Alito, etc...

...but not Loving...hmmm, I can’t imagine why.



...and Brian Tyler Cohen speaks with attorney Marc Elias on redistricting legal cases across the U.S. that could create more Dem districts, though it’s impossible to predict how courts will rule of course...the only one I’m hearing that looks out of reach is Ohio unfortunately, and North Carolina’s map is horrible also sadly, but there are definite pickup possibilities elsewhere...



...and RIP Sirius XM’s Dusty Street – she was based on the “left coast” so I didn’t hear her during my formative years, but I came to enjoy her show over the last year or so on the “deep tracks” channel...heard a few wonderful tributes lately including one from Jim Ladd; I think this is an apropos tune in her honor.

Friday Stuff

Kyle Kulinski tells us that President Biden is up by 7 points in a recent Marist poll, which is positive news of course, though we do have a looong way to go until November ‘24 (and independent voters are still idiots...God forbid that our democracy goes down the tubes, but if that awful event happens, it will be because of them...and I think Kyle is doing a bit of navel-gazing here speculating about what kind of pull RFK Jr. could have with Dems – hopefully there isn’t any negative impact against #46)...



...and Beau gives us his take on Biden’s 3rd-quarter funding numbers vs. Combover Caligula...good point about the importance of the “cash on hand” dollar figure, where Biden also smokes Our Treasonous Orange Pustule – but yeah, Beau is right of course; have to be vigilant and take nothing for granted...



...and retired Army Major Richard Ojeda tells us about this wackadoodle MAGA “pastor” named Robert Henderson who didn’t think a president should be criticized under Trump, but whoopsie! He’s singing a different tune now that Biden is in office (more here)...



...and once more, I know what The Lincoln Project is (if you choose to make a donation, that’s on you), but they keep cranking out good clips, like this one about Gym Jordan, who I believe is going to make another attempt to be U.S. House Speaker - ugh!...



Update 1: What is it that they say about the definition of insanity? Doing the same wrong thing over and over and getting the same result? (here).

Update 2: Um, yep.

...and in a related vein, Brianna Keilar interviews Repug U.S. House idiot Austin Scott, who keeps repeating the same damn tired talking points about how the Dems took out McCarthy, he was the largest House fundraiser, etc. – kudos to Keilar for reminding this asshat that the motion to vacate was brought against McCarthy by a member of McCarthy’s own damn party, and if everyone in the GOP House had voted to keep McCarthy, WE WOULDN’T EVEN BE FREAKING TALKING ABOUT THIS!!!...



...and I didn’t know that “climate gentrification” was a thing, but it appears now that it is, particularly around Miami in Flori-DUUH! of course, given the encroaching seawater on that state from the climate change that they don’t want to seriously address; Thom Hartmann offers some commentary...



...and this clip from “The Classroom” at More Perfect Union tells us about The Secret Meeting That Broke Our Food System (destroying the “free seed” system and the role played by the ASTA – kind of wonky but important...definitely didn’t know about the battle to privatize every single molecule of our food, but I know I shouldn’t be surprised – DID know about the link between Bayer and I.G. Farben and Zyklon B, I have to admit, and OF COURSE Bayer absorbed Monsanto, who IMO is responsible more than anyone else for the garbage in our food...NSFW/H)...



...and I’m kind of liking this new tune from Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company...hope you agree.

Thursday Stuff

Leave it to that cowardly pantywaist Jesse Watters of Fix Noise to want REVENGE! against Palestinians in the utterly awful Israel/Gaza war...fortunately, a Navy SEAL put Watters in his place in a matter-of-fact way; I have to admit that I don’t understand how “Bibi” in Israel was caught completely off guard with an attack that apparently was in preparation for two years...in terms of an intelligence failure, yes, there is a comparison to be made between this catastrophe and 9/11 as far as yours truly is concerned (David Pakman tells us about it)...



...meanwhile, for the reality point of view on a related story, Joy Reid speaks with Mehdi Hasan and Michelle Goldberg on the utterly awful news of the 6-year-old Palestinian boy in Chicago, Wadea Al-Fayoume, who was stabbed to death (26 times? Dear Lord...), and his mother was attacked also...so much credit to Hasan in particular for calling out the usual suspects here...I kind of go back and forth on Goldberg (not crazy about the “keyboard radicals” stuff and wanting “a decent left,” to be honest, which she seems to backpedal from in the interview), but I’ll cut her some slack on this occasion...



...and Joy Reid quite rightly points out that the wingnuts howling about George Soros, in addition to being ridiculous (yeah, some retired billionaire on a farm or whatever in New York state is in reality this evil lefty puppet master), is also anti-Semitic, and Leeja Miller dives a lot deeper here into how Soros became such a boogeyman for conservatives...terrific reporting on how Soros made his billions and his “open societies” philosophy, and yeah, Miller nails it by tying all of the anti-Soros BS to Arthur Finkelstein (linking it to Viktor Orban and other Repug politicos going back to Tricky Dick...NSFW/H at the very end, but boy, is she ever right!)...



...and Jesse Dollemore discusses the utter dysfunction by the children in the U.S. House of Representatives and presents a clip of Chris Hayes talking with Jamie Raskin about, maybe, Liz Cheney or The Mittster as an alternative U.S. House Speaker...and here is my question in response; if the roles were reversed, would the Repugs be asked to capitulate for the sake of a Democrat? Probably about half past NEVER ON YOUR GODDAMN LIFE!...and yeah, good for Jesse here to point out, though Cheney and Romney support the Constitution (which shouldn’t even be a question for any of these knuckleheads in government), Cheney and Romney are TERRIBLE on the actual issues, and it does show indeed how far we’ve fallen that we’re apparently making that a secondary consideration (the Letterhack YouTube thing was yesterday I believe)...



...and oh yeah, as long we’re talking about The Mittster, I think we should rerun this campaign ad from Former President Obama on 10/19/12 about that infamous quote from Romney about letting Detroit go bankrupt during The Great Recession (here), in case anybody gets it into their head that Romney is some kind of a “reasonable” Republican (and yeah, you guessed it; time once more for “This Day In Doomsy History”)...



...and happy 66th birthday to Karl Wallinger of World Party.

Wednesday Stuff

Francesca and Brett Erlich bring us an update on the SAG-AFTRA strike, which apparently is going on because the studio heads are digging in their heels on the issues of AI, wages keeping up with inflation, and increased revenue share (the WGA strike has been settled for a little while now as noted in the clip)...that graphic with the studio CEO pay and median studio employee salary with the ratio of one to the other is pretty damn mind blowing and actually comparable to what corporate plutocrats in this country are earning vs. the workforce; not saying it’s right, I wish to emphasize, but only making a comparison...



...and Kyle Kulinski informs us that “Meatball Ron” #DeathSantis thinks that ALL Palestinians are anti-Semites, which is both factually incorrect and a ridiculous piece of wingnut propaganda...I think this is a pretty good takedown from Kyle about the dangers of the black-and-white thinking (or what passes for thinking, I should say) on the part of #DeathSantis and his same-party pals, as Kyle points out (and yeah, are there pro-Palestinian protests at colleges? Yep, but there are also plenty of pro-Israel protests in college campuses as noted here)...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report wonder Why The Crimewave Myth Persists...the crew looks at a Target store closing in East Harlem with no data to back up the claim of an alleged increase in crime, though ANOTHER Target will be built about a mile from the one that will close, and yeah, I also think Target guessed wrong here on where the gentrification would take place; doesn’t sound like it really has much to do with crime...GREAT point about CVS and their stock buybacks; if you’re so damn worried about crime, maybe reinvest back into security indeed...and yes, I think there is a correlation between locations of violent crime and lowest minimum wages in the country as Emma notes...



...and retired Army Major Richard Ojeda tells us about some Texas Repug U.S. congressional dumbass named Keith Self who blames OMIGOD BIDEN OPEN BORDERS! for the fact that his party can’t get their goddamn act together in the U.S. House, though fortunately this clown Self was called on it by CNN anchor Boris Sanchez (who had better watch his butt now – as I’ve said before, the worst thing you can do in corporate media is NOT to be deliberately, factually wrong...it’s pissing off a conservative)...and by the way, Gym Jordan lost his second vote for speaker with more defections than the first vote, but not Bri-Fi of course...to do something about our PA-01 rep who supports a guy who did nothing when OSU wrestlers contacted him about being sexually abused, click here.



(And by the way, when it comes to Repug congressional dysfunction, there’s more than just the nonsense in the U.S. House and “Coach” Tuberville blocking DoD-related promotions as noted here...there’s also Rand “Fake Ophthalmologist” Paul blocking diplomatic appointments as noted here.)...

...and I know I’ve bashed the @DNC, @DCCC, @DSCC and related organizations plenty of times because of what I would call their “duck and hide” social media strategy (or what passes for one, with notable exceptions like AOC and Bill Pascrell of NJ), so the least I can do is put up this video of what they do with our donations; clip is almost a year old and I’m sorry I didn’t find it sooner (should not have been that hard to track down), but better late than never I guess (always a good time to contribute however you can, and this video is an important lesson IMO especially for the even-more-critical races next year)...



...and given the first clip, I’m in the mood for a tune about movies; this immediately came to mind.

Tuesday Stuff

Thom Hartmann tells us that Gym Jordan may end up as the next U.S. House Speaker and opines on what an awful development that would be, even though apparently Jordan lost the first round of voting...Thom goes down the whole sordid list of Jordan and Trump-related offenses, to say nothing of legislation Jordan has opposed, as well as the fact that not a single piece of legislation Jordan has proposed/introduced has become law over his 16 years in the House (and when you're a Repug who has lost Man Tan Boehner, you’re really out on a limb...despite the initial vote setback, I’m sure this guy, a member of this group, will cave as he always does and vote for Jordan – to do something about Bri-Fi at last, click here)...



Update: Yep, Bri-Fi caved for Jordan all right (here).

...and when it comes to the usual corporate media “take” on all of the dysfunction in the U.S. House that has created an opportunity for Jordan, you can rely on “both sides” Dave Gregory to find a way to blame Dems for this utter mess in one of our legislative branches of government (and actually, I was at least as PO’ed about Gregory’s “ferment on college campuses” and “anti-Semitic left” remarks also as I was with the “where are the Dems?” idiocy...”Dancin’ Dave” is indeed working overtime here to come up with some kind of faux equivalency between the two sides, as Jesse Dollemore tells us)...



...and given the theme of Repug politicians going off the deep end, Mike Figueredo brings us the story of someone named Joseph Viso, Jr. (anti-vax skeptic, anti-LGBTQ, thinks Dems are communists, etc.) who literally smeared sh*t on the locks and doorknobs of a day care where he had a dispute next to his business at the time...nice freaking guy...oh, and I guess I can only say THANKS, OBAMA! in response (and yes, I’m definitely kidding...sooo I guess this happened awhile ago, so why is it coming to light only now I wonder?...NSFW/H)...



...and this report from the CBC tells us that the U.S. and France, among other countries, are trying to contain the horror show going on in Gaza between Israel and Hamas...I have to be careful with these clips because I want to keep information as current as I can, and I also don’t want to get dinged by YouTube for violent content, which I really can’t do much about...doesn’t mean I’m trying to ignore this, I wish to emphasize...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less), with a 10/18/08 clip courtesy of Michael Morrill and Keystone Progress...folks from Chester County, PA speak out in favor of President Obama and criticize the rhetoric coming from the McCain/Palin campaign aimed at former President Hopey Changey...I never criticized – or at least, I don’t think I did – some of the attacks from McCain aimed at Obama and Biden back then since they weren’t personal; my biggest complaints with McCain had to do with policy – of course, the former half-term Alaska governor who was McCain’s running mate was another story...this is kind of a relic that pre-dates the rise of the Gropenfuhrer of course, but I still think it’s timely to present something like this every so often as a reminder that we can agree or disagree without trying to tear each other to pieces in the process...



...and I may be a month or two early for this number, but I thought it was a neat newer tune (and sadly apropos), so here it is.

Monday Stuff

Emma Vigeland of The Majority Report brings us the latest on the U.S. House Speaker mess, with Don Bacon and Austin Scott criticizing their party for acting like the spoiled brats that they truly are; Scott did indeed take a shot at speaker, but lost the vote and said he would support Gym Jordan instead, who would be a typically horrific choice, which probably means Jordan has the best shot...and by the way, all I hear from this guy is crickets, except for some typically bland, milquetoast statement criticizing “extremism”; to do something about Bri-Fi at last, click here...



...and Leeja Miller gives us another well-done IMO clip, this time on The Heritage Foundation, which was founded in 1973 by Paul Weyrich, Edwin Feulner and also Joseph Coors (of Coors Beer)...good job by Miller to discuss the spinoffs of Heritage including ALEC, and the link between Heritage and the Powell Memo (which sprang in part from the regulation of the auto industry on behalf of consumers, to say nothing of linking cigarettes to cancer and warning this country about that also, which hurt Powell’s benefactors at Philip Morris)...didn’t know about the “Mandate for Leadership” that was ready when The Sainted Ronnie R set about trying to destroy our government in 1981, as well as future iterations of that atrocity...also didn’t know about the hand that Heritage played in Bill Clinton’s 1996 welfare “reform” bill, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised...also didn’t know about Heritage’s rebound under Mango Mussolini (with the utterly execrable Jim DeMint leading the way)...and the “Index of Dependency” is another typically repulsive deliverable, if you will, from these guttural bottom feeders...also important to note the State Policy Network (founded in 1992 by Thomas Roe, former board member of Heritage) and their impact at school board and local zoning board/town hall meetings, which Miller discusses, as well as the link to Project 2025 (NSFW/H especially near the end, and yes, her swearing is appropriate IMO)...



...and the latest from Second Thought discusses What Happens To Rich People Under Socialism...to me, the takeaway is that there would still be rich people, but they would accrue wealth within a bottom-up framework in favor of workers instead of the “trickle down” propaganda that has been spoon fed to us by our media among other culprits...personally, I think you should be able to get rich if you also take care of your workforce, but you shouldn’t if you don’t...nice to hear some sanity on the issue of what a socialist economy would actually look like...“The main concern of socialism is equal democratic and economic power”...sounds like a plan!...



...maybe those opposing socialism think it would be like this scene from “Doctor Zhivago” (spoiler alert: it wouldn’t be...clip depicts life immediately after the 1917 Communist revolution in Russia)...



...and speaking of movies, RIP Piper Laurie (clip is from “The Hustler” of course)...



...and RIP also Rudolph Isley of The Isley Brothers.