Wednesday Stuff

(I assure you that in absolutely no way am I trying to be amusing by including this cartoon.)

Leeja Miller is back with a segment on How Conservatives Ruined Marriage...absolutely spot-on when it comes to the wingnuts trying to whip up some kind of a panic as opposed to, y’know, ACTUALLY TRYING TO SOLVE THE ISSUE THEY’RE YELLING ABOUT!...didn’t know about the concept of “coverture” until I saw this, and yeah, it’s a pretty gut-churning idea as far as yours truly is concerned...video does a nice job of summarizing the legal benefits of marriage versus living as a single person; still the second-biggest commitment you’ll ever make as far as yours truly is concerned, though it’s worth it IMO, even though the cost gets more prohibitive every day, and the “marriage penalty” for someone of less $$ marrying someone who makes more is indeed a factor...conservative attempts to “fix” the marriage “problem” tend to not take into consideration the complex factors that can be detrimental to relationships (paraphrasing here I’ll admit), and she also makes good points about welfare disincentivizing marriage; yeah, I’ll admit it...and I didn’t know about “the ‘war’ on no-fault divorce,” but it doesn’t surprise me; pretty powerful arguments in favor of no-fault divorce that I didn’t know about...and God almighty, there are more thoroughly antiquated ideas about marriages and families that are utterly awful (the ideas I mean) which are covered in...everybody say it with me now...Project Freaking 2025! (NSFW/H)...



...and this ad from the Harris/Walz campaign features a brave young woman who is pretty much “collateral damage” as far as the Philistines in robes on the High Court are concerned (as well as Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence of course)...



Update 9/19/24: And by the way, it finally happened; a woman died because of Dobbs as noted here (according to Kamala Harris, and I believe she's correct...and I'm sure there are many other cases we don't know about).

...and Miss Beau informs us that the Supreme Court for our beloved commonwealth of PA has ruled that mail-in ballot envelopes must be dated or they’ll get thrown out, which is a ridiculous procedural BS ruling for the reason she states; when the envelopes are received, they’re logged and dated anyway...ugh...I always make sure my mail-in ballot envelopes are dated anyway, for the record...



...and David Pakman reminds us that there has only been a fraction of the discussion on the mental faculty failure of Cantaloupe Capone versus President Biden’s lapses after the first debate (and I think the term “sane washing” is apt)...

...and Sam of The Majority Report discusses a clip of the couch-f*cker (alleged!) on CNBC trying to justify immigrant hatred...if Vance and his fellow pea-brains who support him would actually crack open a U.S. history book, they would find out how important immigration is to this country; the clip informs us that Springfield, Ohio went over $1 billion in tax revenue last year, and the hard work of Haitian immigrants in that town rebuilding their economy had a lot to do with that...



...and Jesse Dollemore brings us the beyond-ridiculous tale of the beyond-ridiculous Alabama U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, who threatens violence if the SAVE Act isn’t passed (more idiotic fluff from the nutters in charge of the U.S. House; actual voter fraud at the polls takes place at such a microscopic level that there’s almost no point in keeping track of it, and it’s caught by poll workers doing their due diligence...I moved this from yesterday because of the Eleven Films clip, which was more timely)...



...and we lost the "Notorious RBG" 4 years ago today...God willing (and dependent on our efforts), the Dems will hold the Senate and the White House (and take back the House??), and if that happens, Justice Sonia Sotomayor seriously needs to consider stepping for health reasons IMO...



...and happy 75th birthday to guitarist/keyboardist Kerry Livgren of Kansas.

Tuesday Stuff

John Iadarola tells us that King Elon I of Xitter recently took a break from his quest to utterly destroy that once-pretty-good social media platform and instead promote some ridiculous meme about Kamala Harris allegedly being a Communist, or something, in response to Harris’s completely true observation that Bronzer Beelzebub did indeed say that he wanted to be a dictator on day one...have to admit that I got a kick out of the responses to Musk...



...and as I just about always say, yes, I know what The Lincoln Project is, but they keep coming up with good ads, and I think this is a pretty good response to the prior segment...



...and David Pakman tells us more about the former supporter of Combover Caligula who (allegedly) took a gun to the Mar-a-Lago golf course to whack #45...yeah, this alleged perp does indeed have a long history of run-ins with law enforcement (and I can guess who gave wackadoodle responses to this attempt on the life of Our Tiny-Handed Former Chief Executive and who was actually sane)...

...and David Doel lets us know that the Repug VP nominee just admitted to making up the story about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio...I have no doubt that all Vance hears about are alleged problems with Haitian immigrants because (as Doel points out) that’s all you’re going to hear when you only interact with racists...



...and here is a public service message from sane people everywhere...



...and every once in a while, I feel like I need a newer tune as a palate cleanser of sorts, and I think this will do the trick.

Monday Stuff

Kyle Kulinski tells us about Kamala Harris getting a post-debate bounce in the polls...and by the way, don’t include me as one of the people who said that Biden got “shellacked” during the first debate; yes, he came across as a doddering old man, which was bad, but I have yet to hear a criticism OVER ANYTHING HE ACTUALLY FREAKING SAID!!! DID ANYBODY PAY ATTENTION TO THAT???!!! And yes, Biden being “pushed aside” says it (Kyle corrected himself, but he was right), and Biden’s exit is the main reason why I’ve barely looked at the “old gray lady” for a while, especially for the political coverage and the columnists...Biden stepping down for Harris was, in essence, a positive development, but I’m still PO’ed about the way #46 was shoved out of the way after the first debate...



...and I thought this ad from The Lincoln Project captured the utter horror and shock in 2016 upon finding out the presidential election result...should redouble our efforts to ensure that that NEVER happens again (and yes, I heard about this, and I have no comment except the obvious, which is to say that violence in any form is wrong)...



...and Thom Hartmann gives us more on the real horror of the presidency of Our Ochre Abomination...and believe it or not, I’m sure there is more stuff not listed here...



...and echoing the cartoon a bit, Jesse Dollemore tells us about bomb threats shutting down Springfield, Ohio, while Combover Caligula and his “mini me” fan the flames with their hateful rhetoric and propaganda about immigrants eating dogs or some such insanity (more here, here and here...and oh yeah, we can't forget this either...and an important and thoroughly unsurprising update is here)...



...and every once in a while, I try to change up things a bit here, so I’m presenting the following item...I saw this, and I couldn’t help but think of this scene from “Bull Durham”...



...and RIP bassist Herbie Flowers; he sat in on a bunch of hits, though he’ll likely be remembered for his playing on this tune from Lou Reed more than any other in his discography.

Friday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore tells us about Combover Caligula running to Fix Noise with his hurt fee fees after the spanking he got at the presidential debate...and what else can you expect from that nematode Jesse Watters? And yeah, 45 is doing the “accordion hands” bit again (and those phony baloney polling results are hilarious)..."The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command" (from here)...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ brings us some harpie named Lindsay Burke from the Heritage Foundation who tries calling out Katie Porter for spending “other people’s money,” specifically concerning childcare; which Repugs oppose of course, to their folly IMO; Dems support it, which isn’t surprising I guess...Burke is mentioned here, and yes, she’s also linked to Project 2025...this also includes a clip of Porter with a “pharma benefit manager” and her white board discussing pharma profits, which is a truly sickening topic as far as yours truly is concerned...PA’s Summer Lee also stands up against these cretins, and yeah, I don’t know how the individuals who run United Healthcare sleep at night, but somehow they do I guess (I also don’t know who the narrator is later in this video)...



...and David Doel discusses the killing of an American by the IDF in Israel (actually, there has been more than just one)... I agree that we should cut off weapons sales to “Bibi,” but the problem is that Israel would turn around and likely get arms from Russia and/or China; I’m not talking about what’s right and wrong, I’m talking about realpolitik...also, I’d forgotten about Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in an about as horrific a way as you probably can’t imagine (during the wingnut triumphalism of the wretched years of George W. Bush, Corrie was vilified in utterly repugnant ways)...mildly NSFW/H...



...and this clip from More Perfect Union tells us about tech billionaires trying to take over rural America, Solano County, CA in particular, through some outfit called Flannery Associates, and doing everything they can to utterly piss off the locals in the process, including farmers (more here...mildly NSFW/H also)...

...and John Iadarola tells us that “all hat, no cattle” Texas guv Greg Abbott has a problem with VP Kamala Harris busing migrants from the border, which is hilarious in a way because Abbott did the same damn thing, but the difference is that Harris doesn’t plan to drop them in the middle of nowhere with only the clothes on their backs, and in cold weather if it can be avoided...and actually, Abbott spent more dough on his cruelty than John states here; this is closer to the actual number...and good point by John to note that the busing thing started from Abbott because he complained that Biden wasn’t doing enough, so now Harris take a more active role like Abbott wants, but Abbott complains anyway? Is logic anywhere in sight here??...



...and Marc Elias and Paige Moskowitz of Democracy Docket let us know that, apparently, Missouri will be unable to keep a pro-abortion measure off the ballot in November, despite the best (worst?) efforts of Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (however, it looks like nearby Indiana is going in the wrong direction because of Repug wingnut judge Kelsey Blake Hanlon as noted here)...



...and as noted here, yesterday was the 15th anniversary of massive protests by the Teahadists in Washington, D.C., with the teabaggers being a premier “astroturf” organization protesting the Affordable Care Act and other measures to try and level the economic playing field after the Great Recession; as noted in the video (featuring a tune from the funniest math professor of all time), this bunch was, and remains, utterly racist to its core (more here and here)...



...and kudos to Linda Ronstadt for this; when I think of the Repug ticket for preznit and VP, this tune comes to mind almost immediately...lots of stories out there about her class and professionalism, but the one I remember the most is how what was once her backup band wanted to strike out on their own, and not only did she not get PO’ed about that and support them, but she also sang one of their tunes to help them (“Desperado”), and of course I’m talking about these guys.

Wednesday Stuff

(I predict that "I have concepts of a plan" will go down as the most infamous line of any presidential debate ever uttered for all time.)

I cannot tell you how happy I am to see somebody finally, FINALLY give this treasonous orange meat sack the treatment he deserves at long freaking last! And it’s a shame that I have to say this, but I hope they provide extra Secret Service protection for the VP...and I'm sure more analysis from Trump's trainwreck last night will be forthcoming...



Update 1: I didn't have "words of wisdom from Mike Tyson" on my Bingo card, but credit where it's due (here).

Update 2: As predictable as flatulence after indigestion (here).

...and this clip from The Lincoln Project reminds us that every VP from recent history has endorsed Kamala Harris (I don’t see Al Gore here, but I don’t think it’s hard to figure out his endorsement at this point)...



...and Sam of The Majority Report informs us that it looks like “pastor” Mark Robinson, the Repug gubernatorial nominee in North Carolina, was found out to be visiting porn shops (yeah, a “categorical no,” huh? Just say “oops” and get out...on second thought, stay in and drag down the ticket)...and “just straight American porn,” huh? As opposed to “that vile, BDS-loving, anti-Zionist BLM lefty, abortion-loving porn,” you mean (removing my tongue from my cheek)...



...and when it comes to individuals speaking the truth in the face of what I’m sure will be international condemnation, I give Irish MP Thomas Gould credit for this...



...and these next two clips are timely for this day also of course (related items are here, here, and here...oh, and this is typical for Our Former Orange Pustule-In-Chief also...and I thought this was also a timely reminder).





Update 1: More here.

Update 2: In the immortal words of David Huddleston in "Blazing Saddles," "Now who can argue with that?" (here).

Update 9/12/22: Important related info is here.

Update 9/12/23: And this needs to be remembered also.

Update 9/13/24: As we know, there is truly no bottom with this treasonous egomaniac (here).

Tuesday Stuff

David Pakman gives us a report on Tim Walz acting pretty much like a normal human being when ordering doughnuts, aimed pretty much right at you-know-who (and yes, Pakman gives us a brief excerpt of the alleged couch fornicator and his beyond-wooden episode with workers in the same business)...yes, as Pakman points out, we choose to vote or not vote for people based on what policies they support and their actual accomplishments instead of whether or not they favor glazed, sprinkled or Boston Cream, but a compare-and-contrast exercise on this stuff can still yield telling results...



...but turning to stuff that is a lot more serious I’ll admit, Jesse Dollemore brings us this utterly demented tweet from Bronze Beelzebub in which he threatens prison for anyone who donates to Kamala Harris, pretty much giving away the game when it comes to what he’d do if, God forbid, he ever got anywhere near An Oval Office again...oh well, I guess that means yours truly might end up wearing an orange jumpsuit, and no, I’m definitely not laughing about that...and is Jesse ever right about our brain-dead corporate media’s lack of a response to Mango Mussolini’s antics, as noted here (and nice job to donate and put Our Treasonous Orange Pustule in his place...and when it comes to the “party of Lincoln” and immigration, here is one response)...



...and as if we needed anything else to point out the threat of Combover Caligula, I give you this from the Harris/Walz campaign...

...and there are times when I think we should laugh at the couch f*cker (alleged!), but this idiocy is serious stuff IMO...the Repug VP nominee has helped to amplify the beyond-ridiculous claim of Haitian immigrants kidnapping and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, which of course began with a nutty uncle reading a right-wing meme somewhere that was spread in an online forum and somehow found its way to an otherwise-reputable news organization (aided in no small part by King Elon I of Xitter...I know I said I wouldn’t pay much attention to Scar and company, but they’re “on the beam” on this issue I’ll admit...more here)...



...and Rachel Maddow reminds us of Holocaust denial coming up somehow ad nauseum with the Trump/Vance campaign, which is definitely a feature and not a bug, in order to serve the purpose of mythologizing white history writ large and trivializing the suffering inflicted by the Nazi regime to somehow make some “strongman” type leader in this country more palatable, which, among other things, pisses all over the sacrifice of the “greatest generation” to preserve our way of life...oh, and by the way, it also means that violence against your enemies is OK...



...and Miss Beau gives us some interesting IMO polling numbers...waaay too damn close given that Our Treasonous Orange Lunatic is sunsetting right before our eyes, but some of this is encouraging I’ll admit – nice to know that Tim Walz is already in favorable territory...



...and RIP James Earl Jones, shown here in a scene from the stage production “Fences” with Courtney Vance...easy to remember his many movie roles as well we should, but we should also never forget what a titan he was onstage also...



...and happy 75th birthday to drummer Barriemore Barlow of Jethro Tull.

Monday Stuff

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but it’s still depressing to travel throughout Fairless Hills, Lower Makefield, and Newtown in these parts and see small mounted billboards for Trump/Vance; I haven’t come across a lot of them, but I’ve seen too many for my liking (and I’m sure it’s no surprise to find out that the biggest one faces Route 332 near the Newtown Athletic Club, run by Jim Worthington, who paid for buses to send a bunch of MAGA crazies to Washington, D.C. on 1/6/21 as noted here...and this guy attended a Worthington fundraiser, let's not forget).

I mean, I realize that some of these life forms would sooner chop off a body part than vote for a Dem, but at a minimum I would expect them NOT to advertise support for Cantaloupe Capone and the (alleged) couch f*cker. However, it seems that that is too much to ask also. These cretins would sooner trash our nearly-250-year-old Democratic experiment in this country in order to protect their privilege (a lot of how I feel about this was captured here...also, I'm not going to kid you; there are times when I'm really ashamed of my gender primarily for this reason).

And with all of this in mind, I give you the following from Brian Tyler Cohen discussing Liz Cheney endorsing Kamala Harris at Duke University...yes, I have problems with Cheney and her old man for sure, but in this instance they’re doing the right thing and deserve credit and thanks IMO; this leads into the Dem endorsement from McCain’s son and “the Mittster”...so glad to hear Cohen say that this isn’t the time for damn purity tests from our side and talking about how important it is that we expand our coalition...



...and as a bit of a follow-up to the Crooks and Liars clip, Chris Hayes presents answers from the Gropenfuhrer (and I’m being a little loose in defining “answer” in his case I know) and VP Kamala Harris on the issue of childcare in this country... I try not to pay too much attention to that lying orange sack of sh*t, but God almighty, his answer might just be the most insulting gibberish I’ve ever heard from him, and that’s saying something I know...



...and Mango Mussolini is happily leading the way for myriad other right-wing bullies, including King Elon I of Xitter as Thom Hartmann points out...”Elmo” has truly turned the formerly halfway decent social media platform into what can be charitably described now as a dumpster fire (more here)...



...and this clip from More Perfect Union discusses Alabama using incarcerated individuals (non-violent offenders) to work at businesses in that state, including fast food establishments...apparently that leads to an “elevated” status of some type with some privileges, but it also looks like the state takes about 40 percent out of the incarcerated workers’ paychecks before taxes...doesn’t sound like such a great deal to me, and it may be illegal anyway (and yeah, it indeed looks like this has “evolved” from slavery with basically the same demographic)...



...and RIP Jim Riswold, who brought us ads like this one way back when...



...and RIP also Sergio Mendes, who brought what I guess you could call a “bossa nova” sound to contemporary music, which he featured in this Beatles cover from way back when; classy to refer to Lennon/McCartney as the “Rodgers and Hart of Carnaby Street” (and don't look for the trumpet player 😊).

Saturday Stuff

We continue to deal with the effects of yet another instance of mass gun violence in this nation, this time in Georgia (and I know I alluded to this already), but it’s relevant again now because the (alleged) couch-f*cker J.D. Vance has referred to another mass shooting as a “fact of life,” and showing not the slightest inclination to do anything about it, which is yet another example of the “party of Lincoln” washing their hands of their responsibility to help keep us safe...Vance basically says, “well, mass shootings happen in states with strict gun laws and in state without strict gun laws,” purposefully ignoring ANY approach to try and solved this problem; wingnuts ABSOLUTELY LOVE to bash the city of Chicago, for example, because they say that that’s an example of strict gun control not working, when in fact, guns used in crime in Illinois are also purchased in Indiana, Wisconsin, and other states that have less strict gun laws (here...more here)...I was glad to hear Eugene Robinson in this clip because he’s one of the few people in corporate media I trust, and I thought Charlie Sykes made sense (I know he’s a recent convert to our side, but I can definitely see him going back to the “R” team later at some point), but Willie Geist was a little too quick to jump in and say, “Well, Vance really meant this” (which is typical for that program, one of the reasons why I usually don’t pay much attention to it to be honest), and it took Mrs. Scar to commendably introduce the Vance stuff...and Scar himself, while he's correct about making safe storage and red flag laws mandatory (and I would add mandatory background checks for ALL purchases and reduced magazine sizes), is a VERY imperfect messenger on this issue; he had a chance to do something about this when he represented Flori-DUUUH! in the U.S. House, and this is what happened instead...



Update: It looks like it's still not time to "politicize gun violence" (here).

...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 9/9/14, in which the group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense (now Everytown for Gun Safety) launched an ad campaign against Kroger’s supermarket and their laissez faire policy, you might say, when it comes to customers brandishing firearms; exactly the type of civic action (I guess you could call it that) that we need on a continual basis on a few issues IMO, including this one...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report brought us this clip that’s roughly a year old, probably older, of RoJo The Clown in Wisconsin buying into a right-wing hoax about litter boxes and kids allegedly identifying as cats...Figueredo takes this in the direction of kids dealing with gender dysphoria, which is topical also I realize, but I’m including this video here with gun-related stuff to highlight this more than anything else (and this sadly fits also)...and I suppose his take on circumcision is apropos since that’s in the same “ballpark,” if you will, as gender-affirming surgery (which, again, doesn’t happen unless you’re 18 and you’ve gotten a hell of a lot of counseling first)...



...and at a certain point, I don’t know what else there is to do but just kick it...kind of in the mood to hear this tune, which has a hell of a bass line, among other good points.

Friday Stuff

Anthony Vincent Gallo of Occupy Democrats brings us more evidence that Repug rank-and-file voters are getting fed up with Combover Caligula (with evidence presented by some unnamed expert I suppose on MSNBC); you can nit pick about people thinking that politics is a TV show (which it definitely isn’t completely IMO), but the headline I suppose is that those individuals are starting to see reality...well, some of them...I would argue that you can’t really draw a parallel between Our Ochre Abomination and President Carter; yes, #39 was a bit naïve I’ll admit in his governance even though I admired him, but the former Georgia peanut farmer was buffeted by one disaster after another, up to and including the Iran hostage crisis...the problems with the leader of Cult 45 are all self-inflicted...



...and as if to add to the Occupy Democrats clip, Chris Hayes brings us two former Trump supporters who reveal why they’ve dumped Cantaloupe Capone at long freaking last...I’m glad these two have seen the light, but I have to admit that I’m getting tired of hearing anybody complaining about inflation; we really don’t have it so bad versus the rest of the world on that score (and “A mattress with bed bugs,” huh? Yeah, that fits)...



...and Jesse Dollemore lets us know that Joe Scar apparently called out his fellow fourth-estate brethren on normalizing the Gropenfuhrer, albeit with kid gloves (not surprised to hear Scar mention Clinton v. Dole in ’96 since Scar was one of the most rabid Clinton haters of all time in his day – Jesse is spot-on with his outrage also IMO; even when Scar and Jeffrey Goldberg criticize Bronzer Beelzebub, they do it oh-so-politely since they’re all part of the Beltway media/political/industrial complex...please pass the sweet and sour shrimp...more here and here)...



...and under the heading of normalizing insanity from Mango Mussolini, I give you the following from "the old gray lady" earlier this week (more here)...

Gee, it never occured to me that "deportations" counted as actual housing policy...example number 6287 of Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence propped up by our corporate media (h/t Atrios at Eschaton).

...and David Pakman informs us of the alleged “scandal” with Tim Walz and a dog that wasn’t his...umm, do the assclowns spreading this nonsense realize that you can pet a dog THAT ISN’T ACTUALLY YOURS??!! And I’m quite sure Pakman meant to say, “Trump and Vance,” but it came out wrong...



...and this story sure has blown up all over the place; David Doel informs us that Dave Rubin, Tim Pool and Benny Johnson, among other online nutters it seems, have been caught taking big dough from Vlad The Butcher to push pro-Russia talking points...and Israel has been doing something similar, or so it seems, though that is generating a lesser amount of coverage...as funny as it would be if these three knuckleheads had actually broken any laws, I should note that it appears that they didn’t, though it does look like they got utterly played...”when you’re chasing money, you don’t care” indeed...and yeah, never a problem with funding if you’re promoting wingnut talking points, but it’s a whole other matter on the other side (more here...mildly NSFW/H)...



...and Sam of The Majority Report takes a call from a lady in these parts who brings us the news of a City Hall protest tomorrow against a proposal by the Sixers to build an arena in Chinatown, with the hashtag of #NoStadiumInChinatown...I saw a report online that the basketball team is currently entertaining an offer from New Jersey to move; I have a two-word answer – buh-bye...completely fed up with extortion from sports team billionaires, especially given that they’ve delivered exactly ONE championship in about the last 60 years thanks mainly to Moses Malone, God rest him...

...and I thought this was freakin' hilarious - no words...



...and yesterday marked the 60th anniversary of the beginning of a three-week run of this song at #1 on the pop charts...Eric Burdon, to me, has always been this enigmatic guy who probably could have made a bigger name for himself if it weren’t for his talent for self-destruction...he’s managed to make it to 83, though, so he’s obviously doing something right.

Thursday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us of the Gropenfuhrer losing what’s left of his mind with ever-greater frequency on Truth Septic...”a monkey clashing the cymbals” – good one (and as noted here, the online platform for #45 is just another in his unending scams, which may end up going belly up before Cantaloupe Capone manages to extract what little he can from it)...



...and Tennessee Brando reminds us about Combover Caligula spilling the beans on his love of dictators, along with this madness of supposedly knowing all he needs to know on a given topic after only a five-minute discussion, and our bought-and-paid-for Beltway courtier media stays quiet...it would be nice if “Maggot” Haberman and that crowd would actually PAY FREAKING ATTENTION to what #45 says when he’s “letting his hair down” like this, which they apparently don’t at the moment (I have to brush up on my “Matlock” episodes, to be honest)...



...and Robert Reich gives us another thoughtful commentary IMO on what we can do to mobilize and get out the vote for Harris/Walz and against Trump and the “Hillbilly Elegy” guy...patience and tolerance will get us further than snark and name-calling, and yes, I know I need to relearn that at times here...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report brings us this item about Cornel West peddling anti-vax BS, so of course that means that he and RFK Jr. are now buds; I’ve respected West for a little while, but I always felt deep down that he was basically a huckster more than anything else, and it gives me no pleasure to see that belief confirmed...didn’t know West took $$ from Harlan Crow, which is pretty much “game, set, match” as far as yours truly is concerned...and I think West is blowing smoke on this alleged position in the (hopefully) Harris administration, and Jill Stein is the biggest non-Trump/Vance joke of them all (NSFW/H)...



...and Anthony Vincent Gallo of Occupy Democrats tells us about a recording blowing up on Repug U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy of Montana, running against incumbent Dem Jon Tester – just a tad racist towards native Americans and playing to a stereotype that could be applied more precisely to good ol’ boys like Sheehy (or at least like Sheehy pretends to be)...

...and what would Life In These United States be without still another pointless and utterly cruel mass shooting, and in a school of course (here)...sure would be nice if everybody screeching about trannies in the bathrooms and books offending people’s delicate sensibilities would give a damn about the fact that PEOPLE ARE STILL GETTING SLAUGHTERED FROM THESE WEAPONS OF DEATH, INCLUDING KIDS! – here’s another damn anti-gun song because I don’t know how to persuade the troglodytes who need to be dragged screaming into the cold light of day on this issue (and yeah, this too).

Wednesday Stuff

David Doel tells us all about those grandparents supposedly posing such a mortal threat as they protested in front of Sh*tty Bank HQ in NYC, given that that organization has so effectively bankrolled dirty energy companies contributing to the climate crisis...yes, I know the cops had to arrest the 29 demonstrators, but it’s still an utterly pathetic gesture (on the part of the cops, I mean)...



...and VoteVets have been hitting it out of the park, you might say, in their ads recently against Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence, and they really blasted #45 once again to their credit over the disgusting mess at Arlington, as David Shuster tells us (and I think the ads from The Lincoln Project are well done, but sometimes too cute for their own good...just sayin’)...



...and I thought this was a good clip from Bernie Sanders, targeted primarily for the up-and-coming (and actually, already here) next generation of voters; would that more folks affiliated with team “D” would follow suit (expanding Medicare and Social Security, allowing Medicare to cover dental and vision, raising taxes on corporations, and getting damn dirty money out of politics by passing a law overturning Citizens United once and for all)...



....and Yasmin Khan brings us a bit of a cheeky campaign ad from Trisha Calvarese, running against Bo-Bo Boebert in CO-04 (or was it 03? Oh, riiight...it’s 04); I don’t know what’s going on in that race, but Calvarese is going to have to find some way to reach the “fundie” nut jobs who are conditioned to pull the “R” lever in the voting booth, even if it’s for the vaping Beetlejuice “queen”...and I don’t understand why Khan mentioned Reese Witherspoon, but I’ll admit that I could be missing something there...



...and every time I think the “land of the yellow rose” can’t get MORE despicable, they manage to prove me wrong; looks like DA Ken Paxton carried out a raid against individuals trying to register people to vote, mainly Latino (I don’t care if Paxton was found not to be liable by that kangaroo court...he’s as worthless a POS as Abbott and Cruz, maybe more so) as Marc Elias (with Brian Tyler Cohen) says...and yeah, this has a parallel to what happened under #DeathSantis in Flori-DUUUH! with entrapping voters...and I completely believe that Paxton, Abbott and the rest of that wretched “R” team in that state were envious of voter purging efforts elsewhere as Elias says, and they wanted to get in on the “fun”...



...and RIP country music session guitarist Pete Wade, who sometimes crossed over to other genres, as he did many years ago on this tune from Joan Baez’s folk record “One Day At A Time” (I personally liked this version of the song from Woodstock better; the studio version was recorded later).

My 2024 U.S. Senate Voting Guide

This is probably as good a time as any to roll out my 2024 U.S. Senate voting guide, which (I’ll admit) is definitely slanted towards team “D,” which I’ve done in the past (for those keeping score at home 😊). There are still some contests outstanding, and I’ll update this list as warranted by events in the respective campaigns noted below.

Also, as long as I’m trying to link Republicans to issues of import affecting the majority of people in this country, I should include this from Robert Reich, who reminds us that all 9 incumbent Republican U.S. senators seeking re-election voted against the Right to In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Act...definitely something to take into account I believe (more here).

Here is the guide:

State	Incumbent	Challenger
Arizona (1)	Ruben Gallego (D) vs. Kari Lake (R) - no incumbent
California (2)	Adam Schiff (D) vs. Steve Garvey (R) - no incumbent
Connecticut (3)	Chris Murphy (D)	Matthew Corey (R)
Delaware (4)	Lisa Blunt Rochester (D) vs. Eric Hansen (R - 4a) - no incumbent
Florida	Rick Scott (R)	Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D)
Hawaii	Mazie Hirono (D)	Bob McDermott (R)
Indiana (5)	Valerie McCray (D) vs. Jim Banks (R) - no incumbent
Maine (6)	Angus King (I)	Demi Kouzounas (R)
Maryland (7)	Angela Alsobrooks (D) vs. Larry Hogan (R) - no incumbent
Massachusetts	Elizabeth Warren (D)	John Deaton (R)
Michigan (8)	Elissa Slotkin (D) vs. Mike Rogers (R) - no incumbent
Minnesota	Amy Klobuchar (D)	Royce White (R)
Mississippi	Roger Wicker (R)	Ty Pinkins (D)
Missouri	Josh Hawley (R)	Lucas Kunce (D)
Montana	Jon Tester (D)	Tim Sheehy (R)
Nebraska (regular)	Deb Fischer (R)	Dan Osborn (I)
Nebraska (special) (9)	Pete Ricketts (R)	Preston Love, Jr. (D)
Nevada	Jacky Rosen (D)	Sam Brown (R)
New Jersey	Andrew Kim (D) vs. Curtis Bashaw (R)
New Mexico	Martin Heinrich (D)	Nella Domenici (R)
New York	Kirsten Gillibrand (D)	Mike Sapraicone (R)
North Dakota	Kevin Cramer (R)	Katrina Christiansen (D)
Ohio	Sherrod Brown (D)	Bernie Moreno (R)
Pennsylvania	Bob Casey Jr. (D)	Dave McCormick (R)
Rhode Island	Sheldon Whitehouse (D)	Patricia Morgan (R)
Tennessee	Marsha Blackburn (R)	Gloria Johnson (D)
Texas	Ted Cruz (R)	Colin Allred (D)
Utah (10)	Caroline Gleich (D) vs. John Curtis (R) - no incumbent
Vermont	Bernie Sanders (I)	Gerald Malloy (R)
Virginia	Tim Kaine (D)	Hung Cao (R)
Washington	Maria Cantwell (D)	Raul Garcia (R)
West Virginia (11)	Glenn Elliott (D) vs. Jim Justice (R) - no incumbent
Wisconsin	Tammy Baldwin (D)	Eric Hovde (R)
Wyoming	John Barrasso (R)	Scott Morrow (D)

(1) - Incumbent Kyrsten Sinema (I) retiring

(2) - Appointed Laphonza Butler (D) retiring

(3) - Robert Hyde (I) also running

(4) - Incumbent Tom Carper (D) retiring

    (4a) - As noted here, the inflation rate as of 9/11/24 was 2.5 percent, so Hansen should STFU.

(5) - Incumbent Mike Braun (R) retiring

(6) - Democrat David Costello is also running

(7) - Incumbent Ben Cardin (D) retiring

(8) - Incumbent Debbie Stabenow (D) retiring

(9) - Election is for last 2 years of term of Ben Sasse (R)

(10) - Mitt Romney (R) retiring

(11) - Joe Manchin (D) retiring

Monday Stuff

Here is a clip reminding us of the importance of today's holiday, as well as the labor movement overall (more here , here, here, here, and a true relic is here...and as noted here, the beat goes on, you might say)…



...and this local news report from Portland tells us about workers going on strike against the Fred Meyer food stores, owned by Kroger (and you can put me down as a “No” on the Kroger/Albertson’s merger, partly for the reasons noted here...more here and here)...



...and this video last year from Ana Kasparian of TYT tells us that a Kroger employee in Tennessee died from extreme heat while working in the salvage department of the grocery store, leading into more information on workers dying or getting sick form the heat across the country, particularly in Texas (big surprise, I know...I haven't been able to track down an update to anything posted here, but if I come across something, I'll update this post)...



...and speaking of unsafe working conditions, I think we should be mindful of this story of a Boar's Head plant in Virginia, particularly the following (which led to a listeria outbreak that has thus far killed 9 people and sickened 57 across 18 states)...

Insects and mold were identified at the Virginia Boar’s Head plant linked to the recall, according to USDA documents.

Reports from the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service show 84 “noncompliances” from January 2022 to August 2024, 69 of them since August 2023. They describe insects, alive and dead, in several areas of the Jarratt, Virginia, plant, at various times and mold seen on doors, near a hand-washing sink and on a ceiling at different points. One report from February 2024 described “blood in puddles on the floor” and a “rancid smell in the cooler.”

(And by the way, as you read the CNN story, please keep in mind that our Philistines in robes on the High Court of Hangin' Judge JR just issued this ruling making it harder for government regulatory agencies to do their jobs, including the USDA – decision was handed down from 6 wingnut justices confirmed under Republican presidents and Senates - more here).

...and speaking of heat, this tells us about road workers dealing excessive temperatures (not just from the weather, but steaming asphalt also) in Kent County, Michigan...



...and o-ho the Wells Fargo Wagon is a-comin’ down the street...but first it looks like they’ll have to retrieve an employee in Tempe, AZ who died on the job and wasn’t noticed for four days, as this news story tells us (and no, I’m not making light of this tragedy)...



...and this story tells us about 4500 hotel workers in the Boston area preparing to strike; I would say that doing this on Labor Day weekend is a particularly gutsy call, not just because of the holiday but also given that college students are coming to town for the fall semester (a related item is here)...



...and Robert Reich tells us about 5 ways to strengthen labor and the middle class of this country...video is 11 years old, but it still has some good points about leveling the playing field, you might say, for workers...and I’m pretty sure the minimum wage adjusted for productivity and inflation is around $15 an hour now...good idea about increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit also (and let's not forget this, by the way)...



Update: Well said.

...and this line stood out for yours truly from this link...

“When adjusted for inflation, the 2024 federal minimum wage in the United States is over 40 percent lower than the minimum wage in 1970.”

...Ugh...and here is a tune for the holiday.