Thursday Stuff

Brittany Page tells us about Repugs in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate fighting among themselves about how much to steal from poor people in order to pass their latest tax scam bill (and of course, the “party of Lincoln” is claiming that the CBO are a bunch of godless commie libs, when, in reality, they most definitely are not)...Page is absolutely right about the utterly BS framing of the question from the CNBC news mannequin towards Philip Swagel, the CBO head (who is indeed Republican)...and gosh, I thought Grandpa Thune was supposed to be a common-sense Repug, or something; the Senate Majority Leader said here that the CBO was “flat wrong” over the bill, putting him in league with Trumpette spokes-liar Karoline Leavitt (202-224-3121 is the number to call to tell your U.S. Senators to vote No on this cruel madness...you can also send an Email from this link)...



...and Rachel Maddow lets us know that Bronzer Beelzebub is apparently unable to contend with “the depth and breadth of feeling against him” based on the protests, and getting treated like he’s “Putin’s intern” at the G7, which apparently prompted him to leave early in a hissy fit; heckuva job, all you idiots who could have prevented this last year, but didn’t (and speaking of the election, I definitely think this needs to be looked at more closely...I’m not an IT guru by any means, but it appears to at least be possible that King Elon found a way to put out a “patch” on voting machines in swing states in particular that ended up with some kind of algorithm that changed machine votes in favor of Cantaloupe Capone and undercounted Kamala Harris...and if you want another angle to this, I would ask that you read the comment in the article from Robert Jaffe about shenanigans with a company called Tripp Lite that Leonard Leo...yes, him again...sold to Eaton Corporation that eventually bought Palantir, with the latter adept at making behind-the-scenes software changes...curiouser and curiouser)...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ tells us about a C-SPAN caller (Sarah from Virginia) who commendably gave it to Jake Tapper for his junk screed on former President Biden...as the caller rightly pointed out, the Biden criticism is INCREDIBLY disproportionate in response to his accomplishments in the White House (of course, just about anybody would stand out in response to the cretin-in-chief we have now)...at about 6:40, the clip turns to Elizabeth Warren grilling Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over the utter fraud of the “Big Beautiful Act”...in a weird way, I acknowledge that Bessent has a disgusting capability to cram a bunch of out-of-context utter lies into his monologue in response to Warren’s question...yes, kids get a benefit from Medicaid, which THEY FREAKING NEED BECAUSE PARENTS WHO ARE WORKING ALSO INCLUDE THEIR KIDS IN HEALTH COVERAGE!! Also, work requirements have been tried on the state level, and they actually discourage employment BECAUSE PARENTS ON MEDICAID HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN WORK AND TAKING CARE OF THEIR KIDS OR ELDERLY DEPENDENTS!! (God, I’m SO F*CKING TIRED of dealing with the UTTER BULLSH*T arguments from the other side on this!!!)...



...and I didn’t say anything last year about today’s holiday, so I’d like to make up for that now with this clip with Dr. Marcia Chatelain of the African American Studies program at Georgetown University, speaking about Juneteenth...date marks the day that African Americans in Galveston, TX found out that they were free after the Civil War in 1865, and of course, the holiday has come to represent so much more than just that, as Dr. Chatelain tells us...



Update: I suppose (DEFINITELY MAGA)...

...and returning to Brian Wilson, here are two more Beach Boys tunes.

Wednesday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us that the whole “No Tax on Tips” thing in the latest tax scam bill from Congress is yet another bait-and-switch...and yeah, having the CEO of Uber on hand when you’re discussing what supposedly is a policy initiative of your administration is yet another “tell” that you’re peddling snake oil...and I’ve been waiting to hear someone explain why the whole “no taxes on tips” thing is another con, and I'm glad Cousins does that here (namely, because it does indeed depress wages and disincentivizes businesses to RAISE wages, and also, service workers get clobbered on their tax returns also, as Cousins notes)...



...and David Pakman informs us that Sarah Huckabilly Sanders recently appeared on Fix Noise and trashed California, saying “oh, we wouldn’t have protests in Arkansas like those in that dreaded liberal hellhole of California,” and in response Gavin Newsom absolutely flattens her by pointing out that the homicide rate in Walmart-land is twice that of The Golden State...Pakman is also spot-on to note how advanced California is vs. Arkansas; as noted, the latter is basically a third-world country by comparison...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen interviews Minnesota Dem U.S. Senator Tina Smith in response to the murder of Melissa Hortman and her husband and the near-killing of John Hoffman and his wife (and I give Smith so much credit for going right after that disgusting, demagogic Repug meat sack Mike Lee for his beyond insulting tweets in response to the shootings, and I totally believe that he didn’t know how to act when he was called on his garbage)...NSFW/H but for a good reason (Smith calling out Lee’s bullsh*t, that is)...



...and I suppose I’m legally obligated to acknowledge the Trump fellating spectacle U.S. Army anniversary parade last Saturday, so with that in mind, here’s this...



...and here are more tunes from Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys (the latter is based on this).

Tuesday Stuff

Anthony Vincent Gallo of Occupy Democrats informs us that a gunman was apparently camping out at a “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City, and one man is dead as a result, basically (story is still kind of fluid at this point to be honest and some details haven’t been confirmed)...and of course, leave it to loopy Laura Loomer to pour gasoline on the metaphorical fire over the Minnesota gunman...and if it turns out that the man in Utah who was killed died as a result of friendly fire, don’t look for me to dump on the cops because they didn’t initiate the conflict; they were only responding as best they could - blame the coward who started the whole mess (and also of course, spineless politicians who constantly do the bidding of the NRA and refuse to enact virtually any kind of common sense gun laws...more here...also this)...



...and speaking of right-wing violence, Jesse Dollemore tells us that this Vance Boelter psychopath is apparently an obsessed Trumper, despite the wingnut caterwauling to the contrary – figures...and oh yeah, he was also a fundie nut job who viscerally hated abortion – yep, this guy checks all the boxes all right when it comes to domestic terrorism (NSFW/H)...



...and Tennessee Brando chimes in with some thoughts on the assassination of Melisssa Hortman and her husband in Minnesota, along with the serious wounding of John Hoffman and his wife...and I give Brando credit for his approach of waiting a bit so many of the facts are in before he opines on a particular topic...and not surprisingly, Governor Tim Walz hits just the right notes in his remarks on this tragedy...I’m glad to hear Brando speak out so forcefully to make it clear that IT’S NOT OUR SIDE LOOKING TO ENGAGE IN POLITICAL VIOLENCE! (NSFW/H also)...

via GIPHY

...and Sam and the crew of The Majority Report discuss a Trump voter in Flori-DUUUH! (Key West in particular) who runs a roofing company telling everyone how he’s upset about ICE taking his workers...awww...and I’m sorry, but this Vincent Scardina guy can go take a long walk off a short pier if he says he wants “normalcy”...WHAT THE #$@! WAS “NORMAL” ABOUT TRUMP 1.0 TO MAKE YOU THINK 2.0 WOULD BE ANY BETTER? And yeah, ”What’s on the other side of this ledger?” indeed...



...and maybe it’s just as well that I keep presenting these Beach Boys tunes in honor of Brian Wilson since they’re a bit of a salve for the insanity reigning all about us, I have to admit.

Monday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore provides an update on the murder of Minnesota state rep Melissa Hortman and her husband and the serious wounding of fellow Dem state rep John Hoffman and his wife...it looks like the (alleged!) murderous freak responsible is named Vance Luther Boelter (here)...and one of the reasons why I don’t give a flying...fig...about what Dear Leader has to say about this is because he was absolutely fine with what happened on 1/6...as Jesse says, apparently this nut case had a hit list of about 70 Dems, which is another vitally important element of this awful story...an update is here (NSFW/H)...



...and this clip from More Perfect Union provides a dire warning from measles country, with doctors sounding the alarm in Dallas County, TX...yep, funding cuts from “Bobby Brainworms” is a big reason, along with this ridiculous, Repug-backed (of course) bill allowing parents to opt out of mandatory vaccinations for their kids...beyond belief that this country, despite decades of hard work enabling us to develop state-of-the-art treatments, is now allowing some uninformed, provincial rubes to destroy all of that progress...I also have a feeling that it will take decades to restore this country to a sound footing to face these threats to public health...



...and Kyle Kulinski tells us here that it looks like Stuart Varney is out of patience with Trumpist BS on the economy (I believe the person Varney is talking with is Lori Chavez-DeRemer)...shocking that one of Rupert’s minions is going off-script, but I guess Varney has hit his limit, though I’m sure he’ll be a loyal suck-up again shortly...and losing 8K jobs is “holding steady”?? And “tens of trillions” reinvested in this country? Lady, you’re on f*cking crack! And I’m glad to hear Kyle mention once more the CHIPS Act from Biden, which Trump killed of course (NSFW/H...and yes, this is the clip I moved from Friday to make room for the Chris Hayes video about the "No Kings" marches)...



...and Seth Meyers gives us “A Closer Look”...apparently, the Gropenfuhrer wasn’t received too well at the Kennedy Center – c’est dommage...”and with a strong contingent of drag queens” is kind of the chaser after the shot, if you will...among the MANY problems with this morally bankrupt administration, perhaps one of the biggest ones is letting Baby Goebbels run wild to the point where we need to put up a safe zone around a high school graduation...



...and I’m planning to feature Beach Boys tunes for the remainder of the week in honor of Brian Wilson...also, to be honest with you, I may be completely done with this band after the tribute is over; I have no opinion of Al Jardine one way or the other, but Mike Love is a total POS.

Sunday Stuff (updates)

What follows is a PBS report on yesterday’s “No Kings” protests, including Taco-A-Lago (heh), Atlanta, Boston, Philly...John Yang interviews Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the group Public Citizen (more here)...



...here is the protest from Chicago...



...and also from Michigan (including Detroit and Ann Arbor)...and Bill Huizenga really is that big of an a-hole...



...and downtown Orlando in the "sunshine state" (Tampa Bay also - "I draw the line at crazy" too)...



...Houston, TX (including a brief interview with Dem U.S. House Rep Al Green)...



...Dallas (Dallas, people)...



...Arizona...



...Northern Virginia...



...Maryland (with Dem U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen - if any Dem politician didn't show up for these protests, they should have a damn good excuse)...



...Idaho...



...Oregon and Washington (and no, I don’t trust one word coming out of the mouth of spokes-liar Karoline Leavitt)...



...Hawaii...



...heading back to the mainland, here are the protests in Rhode Island and Massachusetts (and of course this Joe Powers guy chooses not to address the issues the protestors are marching about; if he were to do that, I’m sure he would be sent back to “the factory” and taught to obey Dear Leader extra hard next time)...



...and we can't forget NYC, can we?...



...or Philly of course (NJ also in the rain)...



...crossing the country again, this is what took place in northern California



...and 60K in San Diego? Outstanding!...



...San Francisco also...



...and finally, to Los Angeles...



...where Brian Tyler Cohen killed it with this speech...



...and by the way, to effect political change (or try to, anyway), click here to make sure you’re registered to vote (and yes, I know the Democrats, as a party, have issues, but they’re the best shot we have).

And I agree with about 97 percent or so of this great tune from "Little Steven."



Update 1: Not surprised, fortunately, but still great news (here).

Update 2: And here comes a truly ridiculous overreaction from an idiot Repug governor, this one in Missouri (here).

Update 3: Offered without further comment...

Update 1 6/16/25: Once more, I don't see violence from our side, but as far as the wingnuts are concerned, I give you this.

Update 2 6/16/25: And Heaven forbid that we do anything to interfere with the Men’s College World Series, amirite? (here)

Update 6/17/25: If you're on Bluesky, I would ask that you check this out.

Update 6/18/25: Here is another potentially murderous whack job who, thank God, was thwarted, and from this locality also (here).

Friday Stuff

I think Robert Reich does a great job here of telling us what we need to do tomorrow...for more information, click here (and moments like this were made for commentary by The Rude Pundit; with that in mind, I give you this)...



...and Desi Lydic of The Daily Show is back with Generalissimo “Sharpest Bulb” #47 omitting more oral flatulence in front of a captive audience at Fort Bragg (particularly screened for the MAGA faithful and “no fatties,” which is actually hilarious given that this is another attempt to fluff what must be the easily bruised ego of Bronzer Beelzebub, possibly the most out-of-shape chief executive we’ve ever seen this side of William Howard Taft)...and here is another headline alert for this sundowning orange meat sack; JAPAN WASN’T IN WORLD WAR I!!!...also with Ronny Chieng...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen brings us the news of Dem U.S. Senator Alex Padilla getting shoved out of a press briefing, dragged to the ground and handcuffed by Trumpist goons, all for trying to ask a question to DHS Secretary Kristi (“Unsafe At Any Speed”) Noem, which is part of Padilla’s job as a member of the legislative branch, and that is to conduct oversight of our out-of-control executive regime (Cohen speaks with Marc Elias; the latter is absolutely right that we need to look at the “big picture” as opposed to isolated incidents of going after Democratic judges, lawyers and politicians)...oh, and by the way, here’s an incredibly naïve suggestion (which I first saw at Eschaton, to give credit where it’s due); if Harry Reid were still the Senate Dem leader, I have a feeling that he would stage a mass walkout of his party in response and grind “the world’s greatest deliberative body” screeching to a halt (and once again, ICE agents are “doxxed”? Show proof...which you can’t because it hasn’t happened.)...



...and Chris Hayes tells us about the efforts to mobilize for tomorrow, and of course, the propagandizing in response from Fix Noise...Hayes correctly IMO draws a link between the 1/6 actual insurrection (and the Gropenfuhrer has largely pardoned those responsible, let’s not forget) and the “No Kings” protests...so of course, the wingnutosphere including Fix Noise has to spasm itself to life and use all kinds of deep fake, AI garbage and video clips of other events to try and scare their lemming-like audience into thinking that OMIGOD THE NATION IS UNDER ATTACK FROM ANTIFA, TREN DE ARAGUA AND GODLESS COMMIE LIBS!!!...and kudos to Hayes for presenting clips of prior protests for civil rights and in response to the Vietnam War, which is important history that we need to never forget (for anyone keeping score at home, I made an “executive decision” to move the Kyle Kulinski clip to next week)...



...and David Shuster informs us that MAGA has apparently erupted at Walmart heiress Christy Walton for promoting “No Kings Day,” so OF COURSE there is the inevitable boycott from “the great unwashed”...and in case you think I’m going to somehow feel sympathy for those smiley-faced SOBs, I can assure that I won’t especially since they don’t endorse Walton’s position...price gouging was something happening routinely under Biden coming out of COVID, but now with Our Treasonous Orange Pustule trying to burn down our government as well as our economy, any notion of discretion or propriety about not raising prices too high in response to Our Toddler-In-Chief’s beyond ridiculous tariffs is utterly gone, so yeah, raise the price of the Little Debbie’s Assortment by 30 percent – those NASCAR-loving hillbillies will just have to suck it...



...and turning to world events, John of The Damage Report tells us about Greta Thunberg getting deported when she sailed as part of an aid boat to Gaza, which of course was targeted by the IDF since supplying food and medical aid constitutes a terroristic attack somehow...I’m hot and cold on Sharon Reed to be honest, but she’s absolutely right to point out how cartoonish it is to have an “either/or” response to this ongoing misery...kind of a minor nit pick here to point out that Thunberg is now 22 and obviously no longer a child (and as far as this is concerned, let our "ally" fend for itself)...



...and I now continue my Brian Wilson tribute with these tunes.

Thursday Stuff

Leeja Miller gives us a summary of how we got to the point we’re at with the L.A. protests and the fascistic response from our ruling cabal...Miller takes a deeper dive into the incredibly illegal order to deploy forces wherever “I’ll drink to that” Hegseth wants to send them, in any number for no fixed duration apparently. – terrific...and just as a reminder, this all started because of ICE raids getting carried out in typical indiscriminate fashion from our Trumpist regime...one of Miller’s great points is that Our Ochre Abomination is using the precedent of federalizing a state’s national guard (in CA) to do the bidding of the white nationalists who were brought to heel the last time a state’s national guard was federalized (in Alabama) in response to the Bloody Sunday riots, with the guard used in response to LBJ’s order in 1965 to ensure the safety of marchers from Selma to Montgomery...not exactly happy with citing David Frum here, but to his credit, I think he’s articulated the playbook from our ruling regime of thugs and bottom-feeders; they will indeed try to replicate their garbage in other “blue” cities leading up to the 2026 midterms I’m sure (NSFW/H)...



...and Jesse Dollemore discusses Kaitlan Collins of CNN playing a clip of Dear Leader admitting that he can’t call in the national guard unless he’s requested to do so by a governor, so in response, mush mouth Tom Homan is all “humuna humuna humuna”...I have to admit that there’s so much propaganda and outright BS in those comments from Homan that it almost doesn’t deserve a response...kind of interesting in a dark way I’ll admit that Homan somehow found a niche of sorts in the Obama Administration before he became the soulless face of immigrant persecution (well, one of them anyway) for Trumpworld (here)...



...and Desi Lydic of The Daily Show gives us her take on the violence in LA spurred on by Homan, Baby Goebbels and Mango Mussolini...and I’m sure when Cantaloupe Capone hears about Posse Comitatus, he probably thinks about Stormy Daniels, and I guess I’d better leave it at that...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 6/12/20, in which Rachel Maddow gives us a reminder of the ways that Our Treasonous Orange Pustule seeks to offend one and all; this spot-on commentary came from the George Floyd protests (clip goes into a loop of other Maddow videos)...

...and I honestly don’t know who has been more important in American popular music over the last 60 years or so than Brian Wilson...yes, he peaked in the ‘60s and flamed out pretty much after that (hurt also by health issues, some of which were self-inflicted), though The Beach Boys also made some good tunes in the ‘70s...I know when it comes to musical icons in the U.S. that Dylan is part of that discussion too, but Wilson was a singer/composer/producer whose influence has spanned over decades, for “Pet Sounds” if for nothing else...I’m going to be featuring Beach Boys tunes for a little while as a tribute.

Wednesday Stuff

Tennessee Brando does a bit of a “compare and contrast” video when it comes to Fix Noise and the anti-Biden drumbeat versus you-know-who...”oh, Biden slipped and fell...oh, Biden misspoke in mid-sentence or trailed off or something,” but of course when Dear Leader does the same thing...crickets...and of course, Tim Burchett has less than nothing to say about King Elon alleging that the Gropenfuhrer is in the Epstein files (NSFW/H)...



...and Rachel Maddow tells us about the ongoing, and growing, “No Kings” protests set up damn near everywhere on 6/14...peaceful, everywhere, unstoppable; works for me...

Motcha Dbvideo GIFfrom Motcha GIFs

...and with “the big breakup” in mind, Farron Cousins informs us that Cantaloupe Capone has threatened “serious consequences” for King Elon if the king of Nazi Xitter decides to help Dems or do anything really that Trump World doesn’t like...I knew Bezos had government contracts in addition to Elon, but I didn’t know that they were worth more than Amazon’s retail business, huge as that is...yep, shutting off that spigot of public dough is indeed one way to get back at these rich bastards...Cousins does a good job IMO in listing all the ways that the Gropenfuhrer could punish his fellow capitalist vultures...pass the popcorn...



...and this report from More Perfect Union tells us about Dupont and 3M poisoning the food supply and putting a Michigan farmer out of business...and yes, this has to do with PFAS chemicals (I remember Bri-Fi made some noise about this some years back since they were found at particularly high levels at a retirement community; this tells us that he’s involved in a bipartisan task force with Dem U.S. House Rep Kristen McDonald Rivet, which is literally better than nothing – I’ll let you know if this amounts to anything)...a twisted sort of irony I suppose that the root of this misery goes back to the manufacture of the non-stick material Teflon, and you can chalk this up as another case of Biden doing something right he received no credit for, and that was trying to institute limits on PFAS chemicals in drinking water (or, at least, his EPA head Michael Regan tried to do that, and OF COOOUUURRSE new EPA head Lee Zeldin is going to sh*tcan all of that in true Trumpist fashion)...mildly NSFW/H also...



...and given that we’re right in the middle of the season of graduation commencements, Lewis Black is here to give us his take on the state of education and “ChatGPT University” (NSFW/H of course)...



...and I’d like to continue my tribute to Sly Stone with this seasonal number.

Tuesday Stuff

Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ lets us know that 13.7 million Americans will lose their health care from Medicaid cuts under the “Big, Beautiful Act,” commendably getting called out by AOC...and deregulating gun suppressors? Ah, “smell the freedom” on that one, my fellow prisoners...also, getting rid of SNAP benefits, coming for Planned Parenthood also because of course (and as Ojeda points out, the CO-08 U.S. House rep is some Repug named Gabe Evans, in case you were wondering)...and once more, I have to admit that I’m shocked to hear some reality from Thomas Massie of all people, but credit where it’s due...and of course Kevin (“Human Capital Stock”) Hassett is just so gleeful over taking more from the people who can afford it least (here)...



...and Tennessee Brando tells us more on #47 basically declaring war on blue states by deploying (illegally of course) the National Guard against California, aided and abetted by the scurrilous High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR that gave #47 cover for “official acts”...and Brando is about 150 percent correct when talking about the long-term damage of Our Treasonous Orange Pustule, and I think he’s also correct to tie all of this back to the Patriot Act under Dubya...and there’s so much lies and idiocy in that clip with Kristi Noem, who apparently was against federalizing the National Guard before she was for it, you might say, that’s it is hard indeed to get your head around all of it (NSFW/H)...



...and in a related story, David Doel tells us about the Australian news correspondent who was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet, and yes, it does appear that she was targeted, as were others with cell phones...and oh yeah, there’s the LAPD beating up a defenseless protestor on the ground, including trampling him with a horse – what machismo, huh? And it’s an interesting bit of context IMO to recall public disapproval of the “freedom riders” in the ‘60s; it just goes to show that public opinion may be slow to catch up at times, which is OK...



...and heading back to D.C., Jesse Dollemore tells us about some U.S. House Repug loon named Mary Miller who sent some insane anti-immigrant tweet about a Sikh leading a prayer, and timed for D-Day, which is the cherry on the icing of this sh*t sundae for the reasons Jesse mentions (and Jesse brings us the clip with her invoking Hitler on 1/6 – ummm, there is NEVER A PROPER REASON OR OCCASION TO INVOKE HITLER!)...and I have to admit that I’m shocked to hear that the Sikh chaplain was introduced by Jeff Van Drew, of all people (NSFW/H also)...



...oh, and Bobby Brainworms just gutted the 17-member CDC panel that issues vaccine recommendations, because of course (and after Jr. promised in his confirmation hearing that he wouldn’t do that); it sounds like he’s going to reconstitute the board likely with a bunch of crackpots...



...and RIP Sly Stone - I think this tune is more apropos than ever.

Monday Stuff

Ben Meiselas of the Meidas Touch Network tells us about Our Ochre Abomination basically declaring war on Los Angeles by trying to federalize CA’s national guard since folks in that town bravely stood up to the jackbooted tactics of Trump’s ICE thugs...and I suppose it will come as a shock (well, maybe not really) that none of the conditions of the statute invoked by this regime (10 USC 12406) apply here...the only “invasion” is by the ICE goons, and this *preznit most definitely did NOT work with any officials in CA including Governor “Newscum” and LA Mayor Karen Bass...and “I’ll drink to that” Hegseth wants to mobilize Marines at Camp Pendleton and throw them into this mess also, further adding to the criminality of this utterly lawless administration...



Oh, and by the way...

...and Chris Hayes gives us more on the rise of the secret police under Cantaloupe Capone (“The Trump/Stephen Miller era of immigration and renditioning”)...as Hayes says, our ruling regime thinks they can do whatever they want to anyone undocumented or here legally; the only way this garbage will stop is by throwing people from our lawless regime in prison for a very long time (oh, and mush mouth Tom Homan is sooo worried about the safety of his ICE thugs and runs crying to Laura Ingraham about it of course – name for me a single instance of one of Homan’s goons getting doxed or having their picture hung on a Wanted poster or whatever; spoiler alert: he can’t...video ends at kind of a weird place)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen and Marc Elias discuss the SCOTUS ruling that ends up giving “Big Balls” and some of Elon’s other idiot incels access to our Social Security data...and I’ve heard Elias discuss the “presumption of regularity” before as something of a legal doctrine; it sounds like there could be another ”shoe to drop,” if you will, when it comes to ruling about the supposed “merits” of Musk’s clueless crew getting their hands on this highly sensitive info, but given that we’re talking about the SCOTUS of Hangin’ Judge JR, I’m not optimistic of them doing the right thing (and even if, by some miracle, the Supremes ruled against the Gropenfuhrer, that likely wouldn’t stop #47 anyway since he doesn’t give a fig about the law or judicial precedent)...yep, as Elias says, we’re not just talking about “the gang that couldn’t shoot straight,” but “the gang that wouldn’t have good intentions even if they COULD shoot straight”...



...and Thom Hartmann asks “How did the land of Lincoln, Roosevelt(s), Eisenhower and Kennedy become a playground for billionaire sociopaths?”...indeed, and maybe you’re thinking, “oh, here he goes again, blaming John Roberts for Citizens United,” and you’re absolutely right...Thom blames Anthony Kennedy for the expansive C.U. ruling, but I’ve read that that was Alito's handiwork (pretty sure I saw that in “We The Corporations” by Adam Winkler)...and I would agree that revealing the source of the money doesn’t generally diminish the impact of the money, in an ad that is...there’s a reason I advocate voting out every Republican (and a few Dems also), and Thom also makes that case pretty well here I believe...



...and Mike Figueredo brings us the news that corporations that pandered to #47 are crying about declining revenue from boycotts, with Target having to request a meeting with Rev. Al Sharpton over the company’s rollback of DEI initiatives, and the meeting didn’t fix Target’s problems as Figueredo points out; by the way, I’m not going to be cheering bad news for Target – yes, the company didn’t use good judgment to kowtow to Cantaloupe Capone, but the bigger issue as far as I’m concerned is that we’re heading into a recession, and hurting Target will make it even worse for employees facing layoffs...and yes, I feel that way also about Wal-of-China Mart and Home Depot, utterly wretched corporate entities that employ a lot of innocent people likely to be hurt in a downturn affecting our end stage capitalist economy...and color me shocked (well, not really) that “Mickey D’s” is facing a backlash over Pumpkin Pol Pot’s ridiculous drive-through window stunt last year...(NSFW/H)...



...and RIP songwriter Roger Nichols, who composed this hit for The Carpenters, among other great tunes (selection is apropos for today...not to be confused with the record producer of the same name who recorded Steely Dan and other bands).

Friday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore tells us that a humongous weapons cache, including machine guns and grenade launchers, allegedly belonging to a neo-Nazi in Washington state was just uncovered and seized by authorities (bringing this video on the 81st anniversary of D-Day, of course); apparently this was tied to an attack at a nearby Army base (and I agree with Jesse on guns 100 percent; it would be incredibly disturbing to publish pictures of those who were shot with an AR-15 with those enormous rounds, but if we did that, I guarantee you that that would be the end of the discussion about not allowing military-grade assault rifles for civilians, meaning those weapons of death would be banned)...as a side note, it looks like “I’ll drink to that” Hegseth ALSO wants to rename the U.S.S. Harvey Milk (in addition to renaming the ships named after Thurgood Marshall and Medgar Evers) because we have to make sure to “hate teh gay” as long as we’re also being racist...I should also point out that normally I wouldn’t call out someone who has a problem with alcohol since that’s an easy trap for anyone to fall into, and maybe this is a shortcoming on my part, but I’m just about done with extending normal rules of civility to anyone in our ruling regime...



...and I have to admit more than a little disgust with our fourth-estate feeding frenzy over the Trump-Musk rift; I think our corporate media cousins should instead take a page from Kyle Kulinski here, who tells us about Lawrence O’Donnell commendably getting a little choked up over King Elon I basically killing a 5-year-old orphan (and just as a reminder, PEPFAR was passed under Dubya’s term in office; at first, I actually opposed PEPFAR because I wanted this country to work through the UN instead of “going it alone,” but I came to realize that the program ended up doing a lot of good)...and I don’t want to imagine the deal with the devil “Little Marco” Rubio made, but he’ll now never get rid of his Trump stench either...Rubio should join those other two in the slam (and some of this repeats a bit from yesterday’s clip with Kyle I know, but it’s important and SHOULD be repeated IMO)...



...and I’m not exactly sure of the date of this Rebel HQ clip with John Iadarola, but I believe it has to do with the markup of a “Dismantle DEI” bill, and of course Repug U.S. House Rep Clay Higgins goes “WAAAH! I’M A VETERAN AND YOU’RE TRYING TO DENY MY SPEECH!” (umm...no one is trying to do that)...fortunately, Ayanna Pressley and Jasmine Crockett effectively pushed back against Higgins, and Jared Moskowitz offered some important clarification also...

...and Farron Cousins lets us know that Dems recently scored a win in a state house contest in South Carolina, with Keishan Scott beating Repug Bill Odin...and yes, I realize this was a blue seat that Scott was likely to win anyway, but I believe the story here is the 40-point margin of victory, which is more than double the percentage by which Kamala Harris won that district last year; as Cousins notes, when you add that to the series of recent Dem electoral wins, that should give our side some momentum to build upon for this year and the next...



...and this breaking story from the Onion News Network, America’s Finest News Source, brings us the human tragedy of the return of J.D. Vance’s “inner hillbilly”...oh, the humanity...just when you were no doubt wondering what the almost-forgotten veep was up to, along comes this setback...yep, who among us is immune from falling prey to this deadly affliction requiring, at a minimum, a “banjo-ectomy” (heh)...



Update 6/7/25: Once more from America's Finest News Source (here).

...and it’s been a little while since I rocked out around here, so how about if I make amends with this newer tune?

Thursday Stuff

Rachel Maddow brings us the tale of Apartheid Clyde’s attempt to utterly destroy the U.S. Institute of Peace...Elmo forced out the staff of the organization, then was told he couldn’t do that (org was created by Congress, not the executive branch...Musk/Trump couldn’t take either the building or the org’s endowment), and then the staff returned to find their building infested with water damage, rats and roaches, and oh yeah, a hell of a lot of cannabis too (oddly apropos IMO, though it’s crappy of course that the USIP employees, who did NOT ONE DAMN THING WRONG, had to deal with that...and BTW, I heard the person who clocked Musk was Scott Bessent...hard to root for a winner in that episode)...



Update 6/7/25: Told ya' (here).

...and Jesse Dollemore informs us that the new head of FEMA, David Richardson, apparently didn’t know that hurricane season in the Atlantic was an actual thing...oh, but not to worry, because Richardson will “run right over you” if you do anything contrary to the intent of Our Ochre Abomination...slightly NSFW/H...



...and in a related vein, Kyle Kulinski gives us a clip of Florida climatologist John Morales basically giving us a warning that hurricane forecasting isn’t going to be worth much because of NOAA destruction from King Elon I...and Kyle is 150 percent correct that Musk needs to go to the gray bar hotel for all of his illegal DOGE wreckage (his boss should have been there already of course...and oh yeah, the hurricane season that FEMA head David Richardson didn’t know about is about to hit...NSFW/H also)...



...and concerning the “Big Beautiful Act” (and yes, once more, it is literally called that), Robert Reich blows up more lies about work requirements in Medicaid; the “party of Lincoln” on Capitol Hill wants to make such a requirement a federal condition, if you will, when it already is ruinous on the state level and actually works against people trying to find employment, as Reich explains (in the end, though, it’s all a scam anyway to kick people who need it off Medicaid to pay for more stinking tax cuts)...



...and since we have to take humor where we can get it IMO, “The Daily Show” tells us about “White Flight” racial support pilots, along with firefighters, boat captains and surgeons (laughing through clenched teeth I guess, somewhat)...



...and I'm just trying to keep up a halfway decent seasonal frame of mind with this tune.

Wednesday Stuff

Sam and Emma of The Majority Report discuss people in a San Diego neighborhood who are fed up with getting terrorized by ICE goons, looking to give these jackbooted thugs the treatment they deserve, including getting in their faces...it didn’t occur to me at first about how the post-9/11 environment put us on a glide path to an authoritarian fascist takeover, but yeah, I think that makes sense unfortunately...normally I wouldn’t advocate shaming law enforcement, but for something like this, yeah, I’m down with it...a related item is here (slightly NSFW/H)...



Update: More here.

...and Belle gives us more on “Russia’s Pearl Harbor,” with well-orchestrated drone attacks taking out Russia’s bombers...and apparently, Zelenskyy very wisely didn’t tell Our Treasonous Orange Pustule that it was coming...lots of “fog of war” stuff going on here, but it looks like this was a wide-ranging and significant attack, and yes, the fallout from this may likely have a strategic impact affecting every country, though don’t expect the U.S., with its gaggle of clueless sycophants in charge, to know exactly how to respond (love to be wrong)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that Wired reported that TV producers are sucking up to Cantaloupe Capone by coming up with more wingnut TV shows...one day, the book on this whole sorry era will be written, so to speak, and it will duly note those who utterly caved to Bronzer Beelzebub, as well as those who resisted #47 and his same-party playmates...Cousins is absolutely right of course about people having more diverse choices for whatever content they choose to view, which goes WAAY beyond the traditional channels which I guess you would call “basic cable” at this point, beyond to subscription or streaming services, as well as YouTube and social media (hopefully some people are using that time to read my dumb little musings too...I can dream, can’t I?)...



...and Yasmin Khan and Jayar Jackson discuss the recent violence against those protesting to free Israelis held hostage by Hamas from the 10/7 attacks (8 were injured in Boulder, CO)...no excuse for violence against anyone peacefully protesting no matter what the cause...sooo, it appears the “perp” here got a temporary visa that expired a few months ago, so of course here comes Baby Goebbels to blame Biden somehow (leave it to a wingnut to take an exceptional case like this and try and turn it into a rule)...Jayar is right about “home grown,” if you will, violence being more frequent than attacks such as this, bad as this attack is...



...and speaking of pointless violence, Kyle Kulinski tells us about an LGBTQ woman beaten for using a bathroom...anyone convicted of a crime like that should face 20 years in prison...and OF COOURRSE Texas is trying to pass a bill making it a crime to identify as transgender, punishable by jail time...I wish I could agree with the sentiment that the moral arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice, but if these dark days have proven anything IMO, it is that that noble sentiment doesn’t apply any more, tragically (I mean, I’m not giving up, I hasten to add, but I’m only saying that a just society isn’t inevitable unless we fight for it, as Kyle says – NSFW/H also)...



...and the weather in these parts is just too nice to not include something upbeat for the season, so here it is.

Tuesday Stuff

Tripping Musk GIFfrom Tripping Musk GIFs

This clip of Sam Black with More Perfect Union tells us how King Elon I is poisoning Memphis, TN, where, for some reason, Apartheid Clyde decided to build the world’s largest supercomputer, and OF COURSE he managed to do this by skirting environmental permits...KeShaun Pearson of the group Memphis Community Against Pollution is interviewed, along with Patrick Anderson of the Southern Environmental Law Center and Joseph Goffman, formerly of the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation (looks like mobile gas turbines are wreaking havoc with the environment – figures for a judgment-impaired ketamine addict like Musk...and oh yeah, it also appears that there are more cases of COPD also; just add this to Elon’s body count along with those in the third world who are dying from Musk abolishing US AID)...and shocker I know to find out that Musk was lying about how many gas turbines were actually working at the Memphis plant...and oh yeah, Lee Zeldin is just another toady from a regime of liars and sycophants, but we knew that of course...



...and Leeja Miller asks if America’s food system Is safe under Trump? Yep, if you have to ask the question, I think you know the answer, and this is yet another story that ties back to HHS Secretary “Bobby Brainworms”...also, Elmo and his merry bank of fellow idiot DOGE incels have slashed the food safety budget – really, it’s a matter of “pick your poison” anymore, whether it’s our airspace which has become more unsafe, our environment which has become more polluted, our air and water that has become more toxic, our food that has become more dangerous to consume, and on and on...for example, did you know we had an e coli outbreak last year that sickened 90 people across 15 states, including a young boy who went into kidney failure? And of course, there are more lies from our regime of frauds about food safety inspectors who were in fact forced out of their jobs, despite the BS from Our Ochre Abomination...and of course, leave it to this Brooke Rollins character to do the bidding of Pumpkin Pol Pot, turning over a pittance of funding to the states to supposedly pick up the slack for ensuring food safety...and I think Miller also takes a pretty clear-eyed look at the “wellness” industry here; yes, some of the intentions are good I know, but when they’re priced beyond the reach of most folks, what good are they?...Miller is also spot-on about washing fruits and vegetables to prevent food borne illness, especially lettuce (NSFW/H)...



...and David Pakman tells us that Repugs in Congress have introduced a bill to strip all federal funding from any U.S. medical school that acknowledges systemic racism or DEI in any way (HR 3518)...yes, they are indeed trying to legislate ideological conformity in the medical field...this garbage, among many other negative consequences, is going to speed up the “brain drain” of those who formerly came to this country to study, but now will look elsewhere instead because of this utter madness...it will likely take decades to undo the insanity of this ruinous reign of #47 and his playmates...movement conservatism as a whole is about redefining reality as they see it, and this is just another front on that ongoing battle...



...and Jesse Dollemore tells us about our “stable genius” *preznit reposting stuff on Truth Septic about Biden supposedly being dead and replaced by a clone/robot (and yeah, I think “feckless dipsh*t” says it, though I’m not sure that it applies only to the person who originally concocted this drivel...slightly NSFW/H)...



(And by the way, speaking of #46, I just want to comment on this...no, there isn’t some crisis in the Democratic Party about the way the issue of Biden’s age was handled, and I have to admit that I’m getting pretty sick of hearing about it. Yes, he should have stepped down earlier, but BIDEN IS NOW A PRIVATE CITIZEN! Do you want to know who does care about this? Repugs and a bunch of independents, who likely hated everything Biden did anyway. That being said, if you want to argue that the Dems are slow in working in “new blood,” particularly AOC, then I’ll have to grant you that point, sadly.)

...and Glenn Kirschner of “Justice Matters” discusses Trump’s pardon of tax cheat Paul Walczak, a nursing home executive who stole millions in employee payroll taxes, after Trump got a $1 million donation from Walczak’s mom; there’s plenty of other putrid stuff related to #47’s pardons (more here), but we can focus on this one for now...Kirschner emphasizes the dough that Walczak stole from the feds, which means you, me, and everyone in this country who pays taxes...I’m old enough to remember the wingnuts absolutely losing what’s left of their minds when Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich when Clinton was on his way out the door...somehow I don’t think we’ll hear a fraction of the outrage over Walczak, though we should, as well as the other hooligans Our Ochre Abomination pardoned...one of Kirschner’s great points is that the pardon means that Walczak doesn’t have to repay what he admitted that he stole in Social Security dough...



...and with all of this madness going on, I personally am having a harder time with abiding by the sentiment of this newer tune, though I do know that we need to locate our own little oasis of calm amidst this hellscape wherever we can find it.

Monday Stuff

Brian Tyler Cohen gives us the latest on Iowa Repug Senator Joni (“We All Are Going To Die”) Ernst after that episode of talking down to her constituents at a town hall; it looks like, now, she filmed some TikTok clip or something with her apparently at a cemetery, mentioning “the tooth fairy” and telling people to embrace Our Lord...God almighty, what planet does this woman live on?? (here). And I continue to be impressed by James Talarico every time I see him speak (NSFW/H)...



Update: Cause, meet effect (here).

...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ informs us that the markets win when Mango Mussolini loses, in this case with the federal court ruling Trump’s tariffs are “contrary to law”...so OF COURSE Cantaloupe Capone goes running to the SCOTUS to get what he wants...and oh yeah, Our Treasonous Orange Pustule is costing American tourism at least $12 billion, and I have a feeling that’s a low-ball estimate...



...oh, and speaking of Cantaloupe Capone and the courts, it looks like there’s a bit of a wingnut “food fight” going on with Bronzer Beelzebub and Leonard Leo (here)...hard to root for a winner in that contest; I’d love to see each of them take the other down somehow...



...and I realize there are so many ways the utterly ruinous reign of this *preznit is making us less safe and our lives more dangerous and it’s really difficult to cover them all (which is completely by design for this bunch), but on the public health front, it looks like “Bobby Brainworms” is playing the role you would expect in undermining public health, citing made-up “sources” in some “MAHA” report (ugh), as Brittany Page explains here (one of her great points is the fact that Jr.’s garbage about not covering the COVID vaccine for some groups, after Jr. lied in his confirmation hearing about that of course, now creates an opening for insurance company bastards to weasel their way out of covering certain groups for the vax...oh, and Jr. is going to stop publishing in the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet because “they’re all corrupt”? And where exactly did Jr. get HIS medical degree again? And as you might expect, Jr. is coming after mifepristone...hope everyone who wanted Pumpkin Pol Pot to win last year is happy about this)...



...and RIP Loretta Swit, who of course played Maj. Margaret Houlihan on the M.A.S.H TV show...she basically took a character used for gags from Robert Altman’s great movie and gave her a hell of a lot of humanity; I honestly didn’t know she won two Emmys for playing Margaret, but I’m not surprised...



...and happy 85th birthday to drummer Earl Young of the Trammps; their big hit of course was “Disco Inferno,” but Young also played on some timeless Philly International recordings, including this one.