Gee, it looks as if a certain Treasonous Tiny Handed Former *preznit doesn’t have immunity from prosecution for 3 separate civil lawsuits holding Our Ochre Abomination liable for the 1/6 insurrection, as ruled by a U.S. appeals court; Rayy Vana, Cenk Uygur and Jordan Uhl bring us the details...I thought Rayy Vana’s analysis was solid, Cenk’s was interesting a bit – and he may be right in his pessimism, sadly – but Jordan Uhl might as well not even have bothered to show up...
...and Lawrence O’Donnell starts off here by discussing a passage in Liz Cheney’s new book (and you just KNEW that was coming in time for the holidays, right?) where Combover Caligula is referred to as “Orange Jesus,” which, as far as I’m concerned, is pretty damn blasphemous; I really wish she had found a way to attribute that quote to an individual or individuals...and by the way, don’t think I’m anywhere close to climbing onboard some kind of Liz Cheney bandwagon, because I’m definitely not; she was right about #45 but absolutely 100 percent dead wrong on everything else...it takes awhile for O’Donnell to get to the point, but it’s worth it when he does...probably the most damning indictment of our corporate media that I’ve heard from someone on an actual corporate media channel...
...and from one extreme of a TV network doing the right thing to the exact opposite in the other direction, Farron Cousins tells us about Brian Kilmeade of Fix Noise praising slaveowners in an interview with the equally odious Charlie Kirk, because of course - and yeah, most of the northern states managed to do just fine without slavery, but I guess they don't count somehow...
...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report bring us the clip of Mehdi Hasan interviewing Israeli diplomat Mark Regev that, in all likelihood, led to Hasan losing his show on MSNBC... I guess the “back and forth” offended people’s sensibilities or something (and I know Hamas started this with that horrible attack on the music festival including taking the hostages, but I thought Regev’s responses along the lines of “yeah, I know those are pictures of kids that got bombed, but why aren’t you showing dead Hamas soldiers instead?” was pretty damn weak...I know MSNBC’s sucky ratings particularly on weekends played a part here also, but like the TMR panel, I thought the main reason Hasan lost his show was the Regev exchange)...
David Doel comments here on the expulsion of “George Santos” from the U.S. House...I know I said before that Santos, barring a conviction, should remain in office until the voters have their say, and part of me still feels that way to be honest...this way, “MAGA Mike” Johnson can say, “See? We expelled one of our own, while those dastardly Dems continue allowing Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib to represent here” (definitely tongue-in-cheek on that one), and also, by getting rid of Santos before he’s convicted, the Repugs have created a precedent that they DEFINITELY will use against Dems...in a weird way I admit, I’ll actually miss Santos and his ridiculous, brazen lies, acting as a walking, talking endorsement to NOT vote for Republicans...and I think Doel is right to point out that Santos’s offending his corporate sugar daddies was the straw that broke the metaphorical camel’s back here...
...and Jesse Dollemore brings us a clip of Bo-Bo Boebert doing what she does best, and that is acting like a total idiot, this time with an official from the Social Security Administration about productivity of folks working from home...and yeah, I think you can see already where this is going (a guy named Orrin Hank McKnelly from the SSA testifies...yeah, Bo-Bo throws around a lot of numbers here to try and sound smart, but fortunately McKnelly, the actual adult in this situation, backs up his own argument beautifully...note to Jesse, however; Louie Gohmert is no longer in the U.S. House, fortunately...to do something about Boebert, click here)...
...and I thought this was a pretty balanced tribute to SCOTUS Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who was definitely conservative, but also tried to balance that I believe with some common sense rulings as noted in the clip...and call me a pointy headed lib if you want, but I honestly do not believe that she would have supported the Dobbs decision...
...and just in time for the holidays, it looks like Fix Noise is fighting the “war on Christmas” once more, as Jordan Klepper and Desi Lydic of The Daily Show tell us...
...and with the big day in mind, I present the following seasonal offerings...
...including this one as a tribute to Shane MacGowan of The Pogues.
Looks like it is time to play catch-up once again...to begin, Mike Figueredo tells us about King Elon I endorsing antisemitism on Twitter/X/the bird app/whatever the hell it is, and hemorrhaging advertisers as a result, apparently...and despite that, OF COURSE Musk is welcomed with open arms by “Bibi” for PR purposes, as Figueredo says, and yeah, that audio clip shows just how nutty Netanyahu is; he’s never going to stop trying to sucker the U.S. into another war in the Mideast...and I also think that Jonathan Greenblatt of the ADL is a little ”out to lunch” here also, to put it mildly...I totally agree with Figueredo; it’s wrong to blame all Jews for Netanyahu’s carnage in Gaza, and it’s wrong to blame all Palestinians (or their supporters) for the cowardly atrocities of Hamas...and unfortunately, the truce is over and the wholesale ruin in Israel and Gaza has resumed as noted here (NSFW/H...more here)...
Update 12/2/23: I have to admit that I didn’t pay a lot of attention to Musk’s recent interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin (and seriously, can you think of an individual who’s likely to give you more in the way of softball questions than business apologist Sorkin?), but I recently watched some of this segment on it with Vaush, and I honestly think Musk is mentally ill...and no, I’m not a life sciences professional and I’m not qualified to seriously make that claim. However, it’s been a looong time since I saw an interview that was this much of a train wreck...the closest I can think of is Tom Snyder talking to Charles Manson (or trying to, actually) many moons ago.
...and as long as we’re discussing the latest war in the Middle East, I should bring you this clip from Sam Seder refuting the beyond-ridiculous claim from U.S. senatorial mistake Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma (do I really need to mention the political party?) in an interview with David Asman of Fix Noise about how the employees of (presumably) Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza knew there were incoming IDF fighters??? Huh??? And by the way, I would call this linked article a voice of sanity on this issue (and this doesn't surprise me in the least)...
...and David Doel gives us his take on the cancellation of Mehdi Hasan’s show on MSNBC...and yeah, access, ratings and framing the stories a certain way for the audience is a big freaking deal...granted, Fix Noise does this on a much bigger (and more propagandistic IMO) scale, but MSNBC does indeed do a variation of the same thing...and yeah, I understand the ratings argument, but Michael Steele USED TO BE THE FREAKING HEAD OF THE RNC AND IS BASICALLY A NEVER TRUMPER!! And Alex Witt is also a charter member of the “both sides corporate media” club...ugh (I wish Doel had included a clip of a Hasan interview, but there could be a licensing/copyright issue there, as well as the timeframe of trying to get this video ready I realize...more from Dan Froomkin on this is here)...
...and when it comes to the economy and the positive impact of the Biden Administration IMO, Farron Cousins tells us about #46 visiting the Colorado district of Lauren Boebert to take a tour of a company called CS Wind, the largest producer of wind towers in the U.S (here)...got millions to expand business through the Inflation Reduction Act (which Bo-Bo Boebert called “garbage”...figures – to do something about the U.S. House mistake from CO-14, click here...and more good related stuff is here).
Oh, and speaking of financial matters, it looks like New York Times politics reporter Katie Rogers was trying to be cute recently over the story of the White House Christmas tree falling down and acting like that was symbolic somehow of this administration’s handling of the economy (here).
Given that, do you want to know who Rogers links to in an effort to find proof of Biden’s alleged misdeeds on this issue? The Washington Post? The Financial Times? Fox “News,” even?
No. Some rando on Twitter named “DC_Draino.”
What’s the matter? Catturd wasn’t available?
If Rogers is interested in the opinion of an actual adult who knows something on this topic, she should consult her co-worker Professor Krugman here (Krugman has likely forgotten more on this subject than Rogers will ever know...and more on this subject is here).
Here’s the Cousins video...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 12/1/20, in which Chucky Koch whines to his preferred media lickspittles about how the politicians he paid for aren’t doing every damn thing he wants (and yes, to echo Kyle Kulinski’s point, I think “American Ayatollah” is about right – this clip is timely a bit given that Koch has apparently decided to fund the presidential candidacy of Nimarata Nikki Randhawa as noted here)...
...and David Shuster tells us about Flori-DUUH! Republican Party chair Christian Zielger, married to the head of a Moms for Liberty chapter...in another instance in the “do as I say, not as I do” annals of Repug Party garbage, it looks like Ziegler is facing charges of sexual battery for engaging in a threesome and getting a little out of hand it seems...more here (and I didn’t see the clip with Marjorie Trailer Park Greene – important to hold her to account of course, but to be honest, I can only deal with so much of this stuff)...
Update 12/7/23: There are folks making snarky remarks about this, but it is a seriously disturbing development in this already awful story...rest assured that, if anybody at any point ever mentions Bill Clinton and Monica Whatsername again, respond with this...basically, there's a very graphic cell phone video, allegedly, and I'll leave it at that.
Like you I’m sure, I was taught when I was brought up not to celebrate misfortune. And normally I would abide by that. But for this occasion, I think I should make an exception.
HE’S FINALLY GONE!!!
The Eternal Molly Ivins reminded us in December 2002 that “Dr.” Henry Kissinger “cannot travel to Britain, Brazil, and many other countries because they cannot guarantee his immunity from legal proceedings.” Ivins also pointed out that “Kissinger is wanted for questioning about the international terrorist network called Operation Condor, which conducted killings, kidnappings, and bombings in several countries, including (the U.S.), such as the 1976 bombing in Washington, D.C. that killed a noted Chilean dissident and his companion.” (stuff is all behind a paywall now). Also, as Ivins noted here, the noted political satirist Tom Lehrer basically gave up when Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973.
Continuing (as noted by journalist Christopher Hitchens), Kissinger and President Gerald Ford traveled to Jakarta, Indonesia in December 1975 (Kissinger was Ford’s Secretary of State); at the time, the U.S. was the primary supplier of Indonesian military hardware. After the visit concluded, Indonesia launched an invasion of nearby East Timor, which included a massacre in the capital of Dili affecting a quarter of the Timorese population. The U.S. announced a doubling of military aid to the region soon after the conflict began; according to Amnesty International, Asia Watch and even the Indonesian miliary, 200,000 people were killed in a conflict that lasted for 24 years until East Timor voted for independence.
Additionally, Kissinger was responsible for the infamous “salted peanuts” memo to Tricky Dick that he mentioned to Dubya in response to the quite logical calls to get us the hell out of #43’s Not-So-Excellent Adventure in Iraq, noted here (the memo was written by Kissinger in ’69 in response to calls to get us out of Vietnam).
I have no doubt that there will be a lot of Kissinger hagiography coming our way for a little while, but I would only ask that you consider all of this also (in addition to what is presented in this clip...there’s probably a bit of repetition, but I think that’s good under the circumstances...and let's not forget this too...more Kissinger stuff is here and here)...
...and turning to domestic matters, Brian Tyler Cohen tells us that Sen. Cornpone Kennedy of Louisiana recently confronted Dr. Megan Ranney about gun violence in Chicago; yeah, pretend hicks like Kennedy and his Repug party playmates just love to yammer on about how allegedly evil those dastardly blue states are...and yeah, gun violence is a problem all over this country, but try cleaning up the mess in your own backyard first before you try to talk down to anybody else (more here)...
...and given the prior clip, it may come as a bit of a shock (well, maybe not really) to learn that the “party of Lincoln” is running out of dough...yeah, as Farron Cousins sez, they haven’t done anything to benefit most of this country, which they just don’t do anymore anyway and haven’t done for awhile, but they haven’t even done anything to benefit their fat cat donors either, and that is REALLY the point of no return when it comes to financing these clowns, though I’m sure those sweet dark money donations will arrive in time for the next election cycle...
...and apologies for being a little behind on this clip, but Leeja Miller discusses the pros and cons of term limits...and I agree with a good bit of what she says, but let’s not forget that Robert Bork got a vote in the Senate, which he lost...meanwhile, Obama’s SCOTUS pick Merrick Garland COULDN’T EVEN GET A FREAKING HEARING IN THE SENATE BECAUSE OF “GRIM REAPER” McCONNELL!...and I have to admit that it does give pause to yours truly to realize what Miller is saying about Bernie Sanders, AOC and term limits; great argument in her favor I must say, as well as what that would mean for congressional staffers and having to turn to lobbyists even more than we do already...and I think mandatory retirement ages for Congress and the judiciary on the federal level are something we should move forward on, to be honest, but good luck with that given the octogenarians in those bodies...and yes, our inability to amend the Constitution over about the last 50 years is very definitely baked in by the “one percent” and the “party of Lincoln,” and “Cancun Cruz’s” antics are part and parcel of that IMO...and boy, is she ever right about the corrupting influence of $$ in politics; I almost threw up when I heard that $10 million was spent on “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh (NSFW/H also at the end)...
Sean Morrow of More Perfect Union tells us that, with all of the global carnage going on primarily in Gaza, stocks in defense companies are doing pretty well, which is typically gross...didn’t know about the “NSC 68” memo...clip does a good job of pointing out the winners and losers in our out-of-control defense spending in this country...a select group of shareholders are the big winners of course, and regular consumers and our military personnel are each “the biggest loser” you might say...template for this was created by FDR during WWII as the clip notes, though I cannot possibly imagine that he envisioned what all of this would become in peacetime...Eisenhower, among others, saw this coming, which is why he made the speech about the “military industrial complex” of course...
...and related to what is going on in the Middle East (hopefully the cease fire in place will hold), Ana Kasparian of TYT tells us about the shooting of 3 Palestinians in Burlington, VT...suspect is someone named Jason Eaton...I thought this was a pretty good analysis by Ana, but then Wosny Lambre comes in and references “the so-called Hamas terrorists”??? What the hell is “so-called” for when THEY RAID A MUSIC FESTIVAL AND TAKE ISRAELIS HOSTAGE, INCLUDING WOMEN AND CHILDREN??!!...yet another reason why I’m careful about TYT clips, to be honest...this story is a littler personal for yours truly since we’ve been to Burlington a few times; it’s a beautiful little town nestled amidst the white mountains – just proves that random violence can strike anywhere, as if we needed to learn that lesson once again...Vermont has folks of all kinds of political affiliations, though, based on our experience, New Hampshire right next door has more folks who are inclined to side with the “R” party, and no, that’s not a blanket condemnation (I watched this clip twice to make sure I didn't screw this up, and yeah, Wosny Lambre really said "so-called" Hamas terrorists...and I thought this was a good column on the ongoing conflict)...
...and staying in New England for this one, Jesse Dollemore tells us about some Fix Noise guttersnipe named Lucas Tomlinson who cites a “reporter” yelling out that Biden is too old (in some place on Nantucket), when in fact, Tomlinson is the reporter doing that...yeah, “journalistic ethics”...what does that mean? And when it comes to Biden and the polls, I would ask that you consider this (and here is some reputable sourcing on the Rainbow Bridge story on the U.S.-Canada border)...
...and happy belated 80th birthday to Randy Newman...
John and Yasmin Khan of The Damage Report inform us that the leader of the Philadelphia Moms for Liberty chapter was busted as a registered sex offender...namely, this Philip Fisher, Jr. person, though there could be more of a backstory here to be fair...Fisher claims here that he’s being railroaded by Lyndon LaRouche, which would be a pretty neat trick since LaRouche DIED FOUR FREAKING YEARS AGO! (more here - and no, John, I don’t think this stuff is a coincidence either)...
...and David Pakman tells us about neo-Nazis marching in Wisconsin...namely, these “Blood Tribe” troglodytes (and I know this is a side note, but I wonder how many of these lunatics have infiltrated pro-Palestinian protests in response to the carnage in Israel and Gaza?)...
...and I know this clip is a few days old, but I didn’t want to ignore it; Repug U.S. House Rep Chip Roy of Texas recently blasted his own party for accomplishing nothing, which is exactly what the donor class pulling the puppet strings for his party wants...before anybody decides to feel sorry for Roy, though, allow me to present this (Farron Cousins explains...Roy's remarks should be included in every single damn campaign ad run by ANY DEMOCRAT running for the U.S. House, including this worthy choice)...
Farron Cousins makes a pretty convincing argument that Republican U.S. and state congressional majorities wouldn’t exist without gerrymandering...yep, launch wars and pass tax cuts – that’s about it...and yes, Dan Crenshaw, Gym Jordan and other life forms owe their political existence to this odious tactic...one answer is to lean on these charlatans to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act...
...and Brittany Page and Jesse Dollemore discuss some recent article in “the old gray lady” about dumb voters who may lean for Trump ("Kamala, but not Joe"? Is that really a thing?), believe it or not (continuing to flog this narrative which has probably generated at least a thousand inches of column space...and this Trump person is a financial analyst? Judas H. Priest, people!...and yeah, one way to reach voters like the two profiled, as opposed to calling them names, is TO HAVE A COHERENT SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY THAT MAKES SENSE SINCE EVERYBODY IN THE DAMN WORLD IS PLAYING WITH THEIR FREAKING CELL PHONES, OK DNC?? AND MAYBE MULTI-LANGUAGE SUPPORT SHOULD BE WORTH CONSIDERING ALSO, PARTICULARLY SPANISH?? And I don’t absolve myself when I say that about the devices, just to let you know...and yes, keep beating the drum about Project 2025 – mildly NSFW/H)...
...and Leeja Miller makes the case that the U.S. is neither a pure democracy nor a pure republic...important history on our country’s founding and how influenced we were by prior forms of government in nations that went before us, such as ancient Greece and Rome...important civics stuff that every citizen of this country should know about...great point to mention that what led to Rome’s fall wasn’t going from a representative to a pure democracy; it was going from representative democracy to a FREAKING EMPIRE!...to me, the best part of this is Miller ripping the mask off these people who yammer on and on that we’re a republic and not a democracy and how that’s code for returning this country to an era of racial and sexual oppression and continuing to coddle the richest at everyone else’s expense (and trying to legitimize all of the “stop the steal” BS with the veneer of flowery academic language in that report...another great point from Miller is that those yelling that we’re a republic and not a democracy know that that demographics are not on their side, though they won’t admit that that’s the main reason for their complaint...NSFW/H also)...
...and Sam Seder continues to ask the hard questions about Israel’s incursion into Gaza...and no, I haven’t forgotten about Hamas kidnapping Israelis that started this latest horror show...boy, is Sam right to ask what the hell the number of casualties is for Bibi to stop bombing in Gaza, leading into the discussion about the NLRB ruling about McDonald’s, which I think I highlighted previously, but yes, it’s such a big deal IMO that it’s worth it to discuss it again...and once more, Sam is right about the individuals behind the president you vote for, as opposed to the person him or herself (NSFW/H as well)...
Welcome to Doomsy’s News/Politics Catchup Post, Black Friday edition...Kyle Kulinski brings us the story of “Anarcho-Capitalist Extremist” (and aspiring James Bond villian from the looks of him) Javier Milei, who was just elected president of Argentina...yeah, it’s nuts all right, but it’s kind of a “break the glass” moment when inflation in that country is at about 138 percent...interesting point contrasting hard-core Trumpers in this country who are primarily older vs. Milei supporters who are primarily younger (NSFW/H)...and in other global news, this is a pretty wacky development also...
...and in the matter of giving aid and comfort to ultra-nationalist crazies in this country as opposed to overseas, Mike Figueredo tells us that King Elon I is losing advertisers on Twitter/X/whatever it’s called because – oh, I don’t know – HE’S ENDORSING ANTI-SEMITIC TROPES AND OTHER BS??!! (NSFW/H)...
...and when it comes to contrasting our economy with that of our South American neighbor noted in the first clip, Beau gives us his take on how he thinks people in this country feel about our own money matters, just in time for holiday shopping (good trend for Biden, but we’re a long way to next November of course)...
...despite that, we can still count on Fix Noise propagandists to try and gin up hysteria over “Biden-flation” or whatever they’re calling it these days, including that knucklehead Jason Chaffetz (here - John and Jayar discuss)...
...and Jesse Dollemore informs us that Maria Bartiromo was recently spreading more unhinged conspiracy theories (still flogging that Chinese lab leak business as the source of COVID-19...I’m going to go out on a very short limb here and predict that there will NEVER be a consensus formed around that as the cause of the pandemic..oh, and she also accused the FBI of pretending to be Trumpers helping to stage the 1/6 insurrection...what a wackadoodle this woman is)...
...and Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins discuss how a right wing “think tank” has pushed to get rid of child labor protections in Flori-DUUH!, affiliated with this Dick Uihlein character...and yeah, I know about “Soros” this and “Soros” that, but to imply an equivalency between him and the ideological wingnuts on the other side, both in terms of $$ in politics and influence on legislation, is utterly ridiculous (I think Pap needs to get a freaking grip, basically)...
...and like some other items here, I know this is a couple of days old, but I was still sorry to hear about it...I know they’re Philly/Temple guys, but I’ve been basically hot and cold on Hall and Oates...I hope they get everything worked out (tune is about the energy crisis from that era, if you can believe it...the tune, that is)...
...and dear God, it really is that time of year again, isn't it?
I got a kick out of this pic, I have to admit (courtesy of Pixdaus and Daily Kos)...
...and here's another holiday fave, with an intro by Seth MacFarlane as Stewie Griffin (and again, the captions make this hilarious as far as I'm concerned)...
...and here's more holiday fun...
...and I kind of liked this also (hat tip for this to Daily Kos)...
...and here's a Thanksgiving message for those wonderful folks at the TSA.
Update 1: And here is another late addition.
Update 2: Might as well add this too (and yeah, "Man Tan" Boehner is long gone I know, but those who've followed him have done their best to make things worse).
Update 3: Imagine all the people that can be fed for $35 grand (here, getting serious for a minute).
Update 4: And since I add to this list every year, I might as well include this too (hasta la vista, baby!).
Update 5: And I suppose this is an apropos item too.
…and thank goodness the “culture warriors” of Fix Noise are trying to protect the holiday (more here)…
…and I guess this is an appropriate tune for the day...
...along with this.
Update: Yes, as I and others have pointed out, we know what The Lincoln Project is, but this is a wonderful ad.
Update 11/25/21: Well said.
Update 11/27/21: And here is a video about another holiday tradition.
I’m guessing that I’m not alone on this, but I find myself in kind of a place where I need to keep reminding myself why this date matters. And it does of course, primarily because of the human tragedy represented by this sorrowful occasion, but also because what I and others believe was the state-sanctioned murder of this country’s chief executive represented an assault on an institution of government (the executive branch of course).
I wrote about my own personal recollections of that day many years ago here, so I’ll try not to repeat too much of that. I’ll only say that, with the passage of time and acquiring a bit more of an adult perspective on things (which I guess is debatable), you can appreciate the legacy of the man at the center of all of this while still looking back at that time with what I guess you could call a bit of a jaundiced outlook.
In fewer words – the point of this is not to stain the legacy of our 35th president, slain on that infamous day in Dallas 60 years ago. However, I’d like to offer more history on his family and that era, most of which has already been added to our collective “memory bank” by now. And, like with all towering figures of history, there’s fact, there’s legend, there’s rumor and innuendo, and then there’s a place where all of that comes together (or, as the reporter says at the end of “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”).
With this date in mind, I more or less assigned myself the task of reading “The Dark Side of Camelot” by Seymour M. Hersh earlier this year (purchased at a terrific little place called Second Time Books in Mount Laurel, NJ). I trust Hersh on this stuff; he’s a first-rate reporter and he puts together a scrupulously detailed narrative with tons of citations, going back to JFK’s grandfather, John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, who (in Hersh’s telling) more or less created the Kennedy template of the glad-handing pol who campaigned with theatricality and maintained a larger-than-life presence in Boston’s “north end” (and managed to acquire and spread around lots of cash – JFK named his boat “Honey Fitz” as a tribute). His daughter Rose married Joe Kennedy, an unparalleled businessman who managed to acquire so much money in his own right that it likely will be impossible to ever trace all of it. “The Ambassador,” as Kennedy was called by his kids (out of equal parts fear and respect) earned the title for representing our government in the U.K. during World War II, at which time he butted heads with FDR and Winston Churchill over making peace with “Herr Hitler” because (as Kennedy saw it), England and the rest of the kingdom would never survive the Nazi onslaught.
However, Joe Kennedy changed his tune and did all he could to support the rising political career of his second-oldest son Jack (his oldest, Joe Jr., died in World War II). And while a lot of this wasn’t exactly news to yours truly, it was a bit mind-blowing to see the extent of the payoffs in the 1960 political campaign, primarily in West Virginia and Illinois. Also, Hersh makes a compelling case that Dem Missouri senator Stuart Symington was slated to be JFK’s running mate (which would have helped in the California Dem primary, which JFK lost), but Lyndon Johnson and Sam Rayburn found a way to change that, likely through acquiring dirt on Kennedy.
And with that in mind...well, I didn’t mention the women, did I? Yes, there are the ones we knew about – Marilyn Monroe of course, along with Judith Campbell Exner (the go-between for the president and Sam Giancana...Hersh makes it pretty plain that Giancana and Johnny Rosselli were basically working some kind of a “back channel” in Cuba to get Cuban Premier Fidel Castro killed...there were many “back channels” in JFK’s presidency). However, I didn’t know about JFK’s quite likely first marriage to Palm Beach socialite Durie Malcolm (before Jacqueline Bouvier of course), and the escapades with Ellen Rometsch of East Germany, who quite probably was a spy; if the news of JFK’s dalliances with her had become public, then it very likely would have had the same impact in this country that the Profumo Scandal had in Great Britain, which was going on at about the same time. There were many others that I’m not going to try and list here (there’s also reports of the many naked pool parties at the White House in the first lady’s absence, though they appeared to reconcile in JFK's final months, partly due to the death of their son Patrick).
(I mentioned Castro earlier – Hersh posits that JFK pretty much spent most all of his presidency trying to get back at Cuba for the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, even to this point where our interference on that island – which, aside from its proximity to our shores, really didn’t have strategic importance - may have precipitated the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also, as I read this, it became crystal clear how much Bobby Kennedy spent running interference for his brother and trying to clean up any controversies...especially after the Bay of Pigs, the two formed an ironclad bond to keep out those they perceived as a threat, which included the vast majority of the D.C. political, military and media establishment.)
One item saddened me a bit among the others, and that is when I found out that JFK’s speech at American University in D.C. (known as the “peace speech,” which was praised by former Soviet Union Premier Nikita Khrushchev) was meant to deter missile testing in the sea/ocean and the air, but not underground testing, which continued after Kennedy spoke those wonderful words. Also, by trying to “beat the Soviets to the punch,” the goal of the Kennedy Administration (as a bit of an undercurrent to the speech) was to lock in our advantage on nuclear warheads. I guess that’s just realpolitik at work, though (and Khrushchev was penalized for, in essence, getting played by JFK on the speech, and arguably the Cuban Missile Crisis also, as the Soviets saw it anyway; Khrushchev was deposed in October 1964, though fortunately for him as opposed to Kennedy, the price he paid was political only). It was also more than a little startling to read that JFK, in the final months of his time in office, contemplated an attack on what was believed to be a Chinese nuclear facility, even to the point where he approached Khrushchev for help (the Soviet premier angrily refused).
As I said, I thought Hersh did a terrific job, and his book is worth the read for sure. And again, my goal is not to denigrate JFK’s memory. However, I think we’re doing ourselves a disservice if we fail to take into account all of the history of any public figure who has captured our imagination and influenced both our politics and popular culture, for now and likely for untold future generations.
And with all of this in mind, I now give you a clip of the announcement from Walter Cronkite of Kennedy's assassination (narrated by Charles Osgood)...
Thom Hartmann says that Now We Know How Hitler Did It (comparing Our Ochre Abomination with you-know-who)...continually infuriates me that, given that millions of Americans fought ACTUAL real-life Nazis in WWII, including my father and men and women of his generation, now these cosplaying freaks are out in force as Thom says supporting the next wannabe Repug strongman (or woman, I guess, when it comes to Nimarata Nikki Haley, née Randhawa)...I don’t completely buy Thom’s comparison of Germany losing WWI and the rise of Nazism to us getting stuck in Iraq and Afghanistan and the economic fallout as a result, but it is worth considering, and he’s spot-on about everything else, which is truly scary and should give us more impetus to make sure these cretins NEVER get near the reins of power again, at a minimum (at maximum, they should be incarcerated themselves)...
...and to show how close we came to this madness the last time around, I offer the following from The Lincoln Project...
...and turning to a top story (tied to the prior clips a bit), Sam and Emma of The Majority Report discuss a recent segment on Joy Reid’s MSNBC program in which Michael Cohen and Peter Beinart debate whether or not Israel’s response to 10/7 will ensure Israel’s safety in the long term...and seconding what Sam says, yes, Peter Beinart has really come around, to his credit, with the flashpoint for discussion being Israel’s attack on the Al-Shifa hospital (and with that topic in mind, this is good, but this needs to be followed up with action on a two-state solution for real...and imagine having to protest in the street to get your government to negotiate for release of hostages, though, to be fair, I should note this also)...
...and shifting gears a bit to another of the day’s top stories, allow me to extend RIP wishes for former First Lady Rosalynn Carter...as many others have already said, may her memory be a blessing (I’ll always remember her absolutely icy response to a question from Mike Wallace of “60 Minutes” about the Reagans, which, given the way that campaign played out in 1980, was completely appropriate IMO)...
...and as I’ve said before, I’m a little wary when it comes to TYT videos, but I thought Ana Kasparian did a good job here taking down Repug U.S. House idiot Ralph Norman, who is fighting the Biden effort to get rid of junk fees...and of course, in the Repug-run House, Norman’s amendment passed..and yeah, she takes a shot at the Dems at the end, but some of them deserve it on this issue...good job to play that clip at the end to basically emphasize that screwing over this country is definitely “baked in” when it comes to what passes for Repug political strategy...
...and I can tell that we’re edging closer to the holidays because Fix Noise is back with more of their idiocy, and this time, that nematode Jesse Watters, along with this Riley Gaines person, are both upset about a Target holiday ornament of a black Santa in a wheelchair; must be nice if this is the biggest issue you have to deal with in your life...and the “Dylanization” of corporate America? As in the “he not busy bein’ born is busy dyin’” Dylan? Really?? (mildly NSFW/H) – Jesse Dollemore brings us all the nonsense...
Update 11/25/23: Interesting bit of karma, I must say (here).
...and to wrap up this post on a more thoughtful and important note, I should point out that we recently observed the 160th anniversary of The Gettysburg Address (read here by Sam Waterston)...
...and speaking of recent anniversaries, Nirvana’s “MTG Unplugged” show aired 30 years ago on 11/18.
Jesse Dollemore tells us all about Repug U.S. House Rep Clay Higgins, who recently broke the stoo-pid meter carrying on about “ghost buses” with FBI employees supposedly masquerading as insurrectionists on January 6th at a hearing with FBI Director Christopher Wray...of course, if Higgins cared about buses for real that transported insurrectionists to the Capitol, he might want to investigate this, though he doesn’t of course, and won’t (mildly NSFW/H)...
...and on the subject of giving aid and comfort to anyone seeking to destroy our democratic form of government, Second Thought brings us this video about Project 2025, The New Fascist Playbook ...clip was made before Tim Scott dropped out with barely anyone noticing...and I think J.T. Chapman’s “tankie” views come through a bit when he says that there isn’t much difference between the “R” and the “D” party in presidential elections – if I honestly believed that, I can assure you that I’d be doing something else besides spending the time and effort I do with this dumb little blog...however, he’s definitely right to sound the alarm about “Project 2025,” which of course our corporate media basically ignores (he also forgot to note Cornel West as a Dem candidate, albeit an unlikely one I know)...”When you have a higher power on your side, it’s pretty easy to justify horrific acts” indeed (pertaining to the faux religiosity of the cretins behind the effort to wreck our democracy)...and I honestly didn’t know that this “unitary executive theory” BS went back to The Sainted Ronnie R (I thought it came from Dark Lord “Deadeye Dick” Cheney), but I probably should have guessed that...Chapman also has what I think is an unduly dark vision of Biden’s electoral prospects – I’m more worried about the fallout from the Gaza carnage than anything else as noted here – but we definitely can’t take anything for granted either and need to put in the work to ensure sanity prevails...this video is OK, but Leeja Miller’s clip on this subject is better IMO...
...and speaking of Miller, her latest segment has to do with Madalyn Murray O’Hair, who had a lot to do with keeping religion out of public school, though of course that’s something the wingnuts will abolish once and for all if, God forbid, they get the chance with this Project 2025 madness...yes, faith is important to yours truly, but I also believe that faith and spirituality are personal and nobody has the right to force their beliefs on others (briefly NSFW/H)...the story of how O’Hair, her son and granddaughter met their end could be a video by itself...sorry I’m going out of order a bit with her clips...
...and Emma Vigeland of The Majority Report interviews Sophia Moccio and Aaron Habrack, nurses at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ, who are on strike primarily for safe staffing ratios, and of course RWJ, being total bastards, decided to cancel health insurance for their striking employees after the job action exceeded a month...damn, out for 83 days? And the story they tell about RWJ is sadly typical for other hospitals that I‘ve heard of; it’s all about returning shareholder value, and everyone and everything else be damned, including patients...
...and staying with the topic of health care, this More Perfect Union presentation tells us about 10 million poor families across the country losing Medicaid coverage because of something called the “unwinding,” (ending of COVID-related coverage pretty much), with this taking place in states run by Republicans of course, including the governor and legislatures (continually disgusts me how easily they manage to do this particularly when it comes to the health of children)...
...and I had a new tune by The Beatles last week, so how about a new one from The Rolling Stones also?
I know I’m a little behind on at least one of these clips, but here goes anyway...David Doel tells us about the recent “rally for Israel” with “MAGA Mike” Johnson, John Hagee, Van Jones, etc. (yeah, when you’ve got the “use the Jews as cannon fodder to rapture our asses up to heaven” guy leading the way, that tells you how bonkers all of this is...and no, I haven’t forgotten that Hamas launched that beyond-cowardly hang glider attack on that concert and killed innocent Jews and others and took a bunch of people hostage, which kicked off this latest insanity, and that needs to be put right as much as possible, including making a full accounting of all of the victims, releasing ALL hostages and putting those Hamas murderers in a prison cell and throwing away the key...an opinion or two on that is here...mildly NSFW/H)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that Our Ochre Abomination basically went “straight up Adolf” in a recent speech, comparing those who oppose him to vermin, leading to a recent bout of Fix Noise humanoids Brian Kilmeade and Laura Ingraham deciding to attack those who rightly called out #45 over it (more here...another item I'm behind on I'll admit)...
...and speaking of The Roger Ailes BS Factory, Kyle Kulinksi tells us about Fix Noise reporter Jason Donner, who is suing the network because he said he was fired for fact-checking lies about the January 6th insurrection...even if he has a case, I hope he’s prepared for the fact that the minions and life forms who congregate to that channel like cockroaches on a dung heap are going to do their best to make his life utterly miserable...and I’m not going to say that some kind of lefty bias doesn’t happen on MSNBC or CNN (MSNBC is pretty much a safe space for Dems I realize), but to argue that those two networks are comparable to the channel of Rupert The Pirate is utterly absurd (NSFW/H)...
..and John and Jayar of The Damage Report tell us that, while he wasn’t making a speech condoning mass slaughter by Israel, the new U.S. House speaker managed to get a stopgap budget passed, with help from Dems of course...looks like the “D” team went along because it keeps current funding levels, but yeah, these 2 CR deadlines look typically ridiculous, which again is all we can expect I suppose when the “party of Lincoln” is in charge of the U.S. House...what a pitiable joke...
...and to prove that we’re living in some kind of a post-Stanley Kubrick timeline of absurdity, Jesse Dollemore tells us that the “QAnon Shaman” is running for Congress from Arizona...hey, at this point, I’m not sure how he can be any worse than Paul Gosar, Bo-Bo Boebert, Marjorie Traitor Greene, Scott Perry, or some of the other upright bipeds currently taking up space in our nation’s capital...
..and happy belated 91st birthday to Petula Clark.
Mike Figueredo talks about Fix Noise and the wingnutosphere trying to gin up fear and outrage over supporting Israel amidst their slaughter in Gaza...and that weirdness with those two alleged Hamas-sympathizing kids was cringe all right, but not in the intended way (and yeah, isn’t Sean Inanity just great to give his speech saying, “I’m hearing Nazi slogans in the halls of Congress” – proof? – “and on those college campuses, and this reminds me of Nazi Germany...you have 30 seconds to respond” as if somehow that would be enough to argue the point, which of course Inanity wouldn’t allow anyway...and GREAT point by Figueredo to mention the Charlottesville tiki torch neo-Nazis and wonder if Inanity was living under a rock during all of that...and I also think this is a spot-on related post; when you find yourself losing the guy responsible for this, yeah, that's pretty damn bad...NSFW/H).
(And oh yeah, if Inanity really cared about comparisons to the Nazis, which he doesn’t of course, he might have a word or two to say about this.)...
...and related to the carnage in Gaza, Jesse Dollemore discusses Dem State Rep Angie Nixon of Flord-DUUH! giving an impassioned speech on behalf of innocent Palestinians (and yes, there ARE innocent Palestinians – quite a lot, actually), asking how many must die, and this ghoul named Michelle Salzman says “all of them”...and listen, I haven’t forgotten about the Israeli victims of that concert as well as releasing the hostages (and making a FULL accounting for those hostages likely killed) and bringing the Hamas cowardly murderers to justice, but I also don’t think that means that the IDF can say “Oh, Hamas is using human shields at a hospital, so that means we can bomb that hospital to ashes and the people inside too”...it’s going to require a pretty huge degree of leadership on our side to stake out a position in this that gives Hamas the warranted treatment IMO but also slaps down Israel as well, and I have to tell you that I’m not optimistic about that)...
...and John and Francesca of The Damage Report bring us the news of “MAGA Mike” Johnson’s proposed budget, which separates Israel and Ukraine funding (I think Ukraine should get what it needs and Israel shouldn’t get a dime, but I understand that that runs directly in opposition to the political reality)...and yeah, Chip Roy and Marjori Traitor Greene are psychos and we knew that, but once again, there are people who vote for these sociopaths, and they need to be ridiculed also IMO...can’t find the words to communicate my disgust with the fact that we’re dealing with this beyond ridiculous budget brinksmanship again from the “party of Lincoln”...JUST FUND THE DAMN GOVERNMENT AND ALL THAT ENTAILS FOR THE COMING YEAR AND BE DONE WITH IT, YOU IDIOTS!! Apparently, though, Johnson is willing to maintain current funding levels as noted here, which (again) should be a given, but with this bunch running the House, nothing is certain I know...
...and speaking of money matters, Farron Cousins tells us that it seems that a certain Treasonous Tiny-Handed Orange Pustule of a former *president is having trouble running his businesses, which of course may end up going down the drain anyway given all of the legal stuff going on... couldn’t happen to a more deserving scumbag...
...and David Pakman tells us about a Texas Republican city council candidate named Brad Benson who was charged in a child porn-related case hours before an election...yes, innocent until proven guilty and all that, but why is it that this stuff keeps happening with those associated with the political party screaming the loudest about “groomers” on our side?...
...and I had a bit of a women’s empowerment theme going yesterday so maybe I should have included this video at that time, but better late than never I guess (and don't try this at home, kids).
Cliff Schecter of Blue Amp Channel discusses Michigan state senator Danya Polehanki, who responded to former Detroit News reporter Charlie LeDuff, who used a vulgar, coded insult towards Attorney General Dana Nessel...gosh, maybe there are jobs some men shouldn’t have because they’re too emotional :-)...and by the way, on the subjects of strong women and journalism, I was sorry to hear about this...
...and David Pakman tells us that “MAGA Mike” Johnson hasn’t disclosed bank accounts in 7 years of tax filings – oh yeah, “modest means” my ass, you lying POS...and isn’t it just too precious to listen to this Fix Noise hairdo act like living “paycheck to paycheck” has only existed under Biden instead of...oh, I don’t know... MAYBE THE LAST 20 FREAKING YEARS AT LEAST, AND LIKELY LONGER THAN THAT!!!...
...and Francesca of The Damage Report talks about the new U.S. House Speaker and this “Covenant Eyes” app that he uses in his house, so basically, he can rat out his son if he watches porn?? And make $20 for doing so – typically weird combination of someone’s twisted notion of morality with a capitalist inclination to make a fast buck or two (clip of Johnson discussing this is from ’20)...
...and pursuant to the prior two clips, I know earlier I said that I was going to give Second Thought a pass, but I’m reconsidering that; I thought this was a pretty well-informed clip on “Christian” nationalism...nice to see that there’s a bit of a split between evangelicals and “Christian” nationalists, but not a lot...disturbing to see how African Americans and even Democrats embrace this stuff...yep, spot-on to call Christian nationalists “fanboys” obsessed with America itself, or their version of it more precisely...interesting that his data shows that those who actually practice their religion are more likely to support immigrants and oppose gun violence, to say nothing of NOT voting for a certain Treasonous Orange Pestilence...I think the stuff with A.J. Shortly (sic?) is interesting, though it does kind of take away the momentum somewhat...I’d forgotten a bit about the importance of Acts:15, sadly; glad to be reminded again here...
...and when it comes to what I guess you could call religious extremism, I would say that this was a rather interesting (shall we say) ad that came from a bunch in Kootenai County in Idaho...no, kids that young aren’t going to be introduced into a book about anal sex...and yes, the SNL skit was amusing, and we can laugh, but alleged adults are actually taking this sh*t seriously, and using a child’s voice in this ad is beyond despicable (Jesse Dollemore and Brittany Page tell us about it)...
