#Happy Curtsy Day! Yeah, today marks the one-year anniversary of this incredibly tone-deaf action from Arizona’s U.S. senatorial mistake (here)...
...and David Doel discusses Elie Mystal’s appearance on The View partly in response to Biden’s State of the Union address (and yeah, this is another example of Dems having to try and educate voters and not fall into the conservative BS narratives related to the most newsworthy issues...we actually used to have the Constitution amended on a fairly frequent basis until the ruinous right-wing ascendancy pretty much captured our government...and I have a feeling that tweet from Michael Ian Black was meant to be tongue-in-cheek)...
...and John and Viviana Vigil of The Damage Report tell us about Texas and Greg Abbott going after parents of trans kids, saying that those kids receiving gender-affirming treatment are victims of child abuse (but oh, the Repugs are against “big gumint”...yeah, tell me another one...the ACLU is fighting back to their credit)...
...and with all of the stories out there on corporate pricing driving inflation as noted here (and the “I” word, by the way, is an issue all over the world as we get restarted post-COVID...and hopefully we’re done with variants), I thought it would be a good idea to bring us a bit of a history lesson; President Kennedy spoke out against U.S. Steel when they pulled a similar trick just about 60 years ago as noted in this clip (sorry the video quality is a little off - more here)...
...and Chris Hayes brings us a history lesson on how we got to where we currently are regarding Russia’s incursion into Ukraine, including the three “prongs,” if you will, from Putin that he was able to apply successfully (including the not-insignificant role played by Paul Manafort and his own odious political history)...
...and the German network DW brings us “Conflict Zone” with Sarah Kelly, on the matter of Vlad The Butcher potentially extending his deadly incursion from Ukraine to Poland and the Baltic states (with Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks)...
...and while Vlad The Butcher continues waging war, this tune has remained very much on my mind (for this reason also - more here).
This report from the German news service DW on Russia’s Ukraine war gives us the latest on that horrific conflict over the last week, which includes the U.N. vote against Vlad The Butcher, with security analyst Ed Arnold and commentator Giulia Saudelli...and yeah, smooth move by Putin to arrest children protesting the war with flowers...
Update 3/5/22: And oh yeah, regarding the trucking convoy apparently coming to a neighborhood near you, I thought this was telling.
...and David Pakman tells us that Putin in now guilty of war crimes, including (allegedly) bombing a kindergarten and an orphanage...God almighty...gee, I wish Dubya, among others, had seen this coming when he allegedly looked into Putin’s soul...what a goddamn sick joke that was...
...and returning to domestic matters, Cenk, Ana and John of TYT discuss the progressive response from Dem Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib to Biden’s State of the Union address earlier this week – sounds like Tlaib hit all of the right notes (and we need to make that point about corporate greed and inflation over and over and over again)...
...and Robert Reich does that here also in another great video...
...and fortunately that CPAC freak show is history, but I thought Beau had yet another good take on it, giving it the brief, incisive attention it deserves (not a lot to be taken seriously from it as far as I’m concerned...let those frothing idiots go nuts, have at it and leave sane people alone, OK, though I think his point about Mango Mussolini’s 11-point dip is worth noting)...
...and Adrienne Lawrence Esq. of Rebel HQ tells us about Repug U.S. House wingnut Van Taylor, who was caught in an affair with a jihadist and won’t seek re-election (womp womp)...
...and David Doel tells us about Florida students protesting the “Don’t Say Gay” bill from Guv #DeathSantis (and the leader of the protest was suspended – of course it was stoo-pid to do that, the suspension I mean, but kudos to him for his courage - more here)...
...and despite it all, I’m going to see if I can make things a little more upbeat with this tune as the week nears a close.
Cenk, John and Francesca of TYT discuss the State of the Union address from President Biden last night – lots of what I’m sure is excellent analysis...and no, I didn’t watch the SOTU from Biden, just like I didn’t watch it from Generalissimo Trump and Obama – I think I soured on all of it pretty much after Dubya’s 2003 address, which was one of the most grotesque examples of wall-to-wall lies I’ve ever seen in my life...I care about how political stuff affects people’s everyday lives, and as far as I’m concerned, the SOTU is theatrics regardless of who’s giving the speech (though apparently Little Miss Trailer Trash from Colorado and that lunatic from Georgia outdid themselves, as evidenced by the pic and noted here) – I’ve read people on the Twitterz saying “oh, Biden needed to give the speech of his life, and he didn’t.”
It’s...a...freaking...speech...people!...
...and as usual, Beau had what appears to be a thoughtful take on the speech, as well as a commentary on Russia’s performance (mistakes) in Ukraine and NATO’s upper hand (more on the story of Highway 80 in Iraq is here - more on the Russia/Ukraine war will follow shortly)...
...however, I also need to mention that FLA Guv Ron #DeathSantis, being the punk and coward that he is, decided to harass high school students who quite sensibly were masked (and that goes for that POS aide of #DeathSantis who thought the whole thing was funny - I think the women were just laughing nervously)...gee, what a sterling example of GOP manhood Florida’s gubernatorial mistake is, he being the guy who also sent state troopers to the house of Rebekah Jones to intimidate her and her family all because she was trying to report on actual COVID numbers as opposed to the made-up ones from #DeathSantis (here)...and believe it or not, as noted here, embarrassing the students wasn’t even the worst thing #DeathSantis did - easy to talk smack about another country when you're safely ensconed hundreds of miles away...
...and this Now This clip notes that some reporters and commentators are getting blow back for pointing out that many Ukrainians trying to flee are white and Christian...I think they’re trying to point out the similarities of Ukrainians to much of their viewing audience, but of course it gives short shrift to war victims such as those in Yemen and Syria, to say nothing of the Palestinians of course, and to say nothing of black Ukrainians also – makes me wonder about the priorities of news organizations that actually DON’T report on other Middle Eastern conflicts the way I think they should – if I ruled the world, every day would be the first day of spring...
...and Sam, Emma and Matt Duss of The Majority Report talk about the Ukrainian journalist who confronted UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as noted here (and Emma correctly points out that establishing a no-fly zone is a declaration of war against a country with a dangerously unhinged leader WHO HAS FREAKING NUKES! Yes, it’s terrible what Ukrainians are facing, especially women and children, and I don’t have an answer for that unfortunately, but we have no choice but to take the long view, as the panelists point out)...
...and for those who think it’s up to us on Team “D” to somehow find a way to achieve some common ground with these lunatics from the GQP, Farron Cousins tells us that half of Trump voters polled think Putin is a better leader for Russia than Biden is for this country – traitorous assholes...
Update 3/4/22: Yeah, this sure figures, doesn't it?
...and in a bit of unequivocal good news, David Doel tells us about Biden’s SCOTUS nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace Stephen Breyer...stomach-churning to imagine all the ways the “party of Lincoln” (along with Manchinema of course...yeah, I know what they’ve said, but I don’t trust them as far as I can pee) will do their best to turn her hearings into a thinly-veiled-racist smear job even though Jackson has been confirmed three times for lower court positions by the U.S. Senate...
Update: And of course, it begins with The Swanson TV Dinner Heir (here).
...and we recently observed the 40th anniversary of the release of “Swing To The Right” by Todd Rundgren and Utopia (2/24/82), a recording that was prescient in a few ways IMHO...that applies to this tune maybe more than any of the others (with the title being a nod to this, let's not forget).
This report from the German news service DW tells us, among other things, that that country has agreed to a major arms delivery to the war-besieged-by-Putin country of Ukraine, with interviews with correspondent Thomas Sparrow, on-the-ground-in-Ukraine aid worker Darya Romanenko, journalist Igor Kossov, analyst Pavel Felgenhauer, Monika Sieradzka, and Joung-ha Ghedini-Williams of UNHCR...
...and Ali Velshi discussed a claim that Putin thought Russia would be welcomed with open arms in their Ukraine incursion (some Cheney-esque hubris going on apparently, thinking the Russians would be “greeted as liberators” by the Ukrainians...with correspondent Erin McLaughlin and Keir Simmons...that 17-mile Russian column is pretty damn ominous, though...also, pretty cheeky comment aimed at Combover Caligula at the very end, but I’m sure it’s spot-on for both wretched world “leaders”)...
...and Adrienne Lawrence of Rebel HQ tells us about Anonymous hackers fighting back against Russia for Ukraine, to try and counter the cyber-garbage staged from Putin and his cohorts...
...and this Meidas Touch clip shows how “Tuckums” is trying to erase his love of Vlad The Butcher (yeah, good luck with that one)...
...and Cenk and Ana of TYT tell us about that ridiculous tweet from Repug U.S. House idiot Clay Higgins about millennials (or whichever generational cohort) and their “woke sky” or something in response to Russia butchery in Ukraine...as idiotic as this tweet is, and it is that for sure, it’s still grating to see Repugs having no hesitancy at all to send out stoo-pid messaging while Dems can’t make up their minds to send out good messaging of their own...
...and hopefully the title of this cool newer tune will eventually apply to the Russian strongman and his aspirations for global dominance – all we can do is help out where we can, and pray IMHO.
Cenk, Jackson White and Adrienne Lawrence “bring the receipts” on the wingnuts and their love of Vlad The Butcher (and if Charlie Kirk saw combat for real, he’d run away crying with a stain on his pants)...
...and Rachel Maddow discusses sanctions against Russia some more with Hagar Chemali, who was in charge of this under Obama (sanctions in general I mean)...
...and turning to non-Ukraine-war stuff, Farron Cousins discusses 13 different individual studies showing that Trump supporters are inherently prejudiced...yeah I know, sky is blue and water is wet, but still interesting IMO...
...and this More Perfect Union clip tells us about the plight of farm workers exploited in Maine...and by the way, Gov. Janet Mills is allegedly a Democrat, so she is particularly at fault here for her veto of the bill on behalf of the rights of these people (old enough to remember watching a CBS Reports documentary called Harvest of Shame produced by Edward R. Murrow...good luck finding something like that on the cables nowadays)...
...and this Second Thought video tells us why so-called “billionaire philanthropy” won’t solve anything (another fault of Bill and Melinda Gates are their dogged opposition to the waiver of patent protections for life-saving COVID meds to be distributed to the third world...not saying the drug makers shouldn’t be allowed to make a profit, but can we please put world health first before the almighty dollar for a change, as noted here...and by the way, I think the headline of the linked article is incredibly incorrect; Gates only went along with the waiver because it was supported by the Biden Administration, so props to them instead...Gates changed his mind pretty much after the fact)...
...and RIP Sally Kellerman, an actress who appeared in the film “M.A.S.H” of course (can’t have one of these scenes without the other)...
...and as part of our ongoing tribute to artists protesting Spotify over continuing to grant a platform to Joe Rogan after his anti-vax BS (here), here's another great Neil Young tune.
This Ukrainian military ad is a few years old, but I still think it’s pretty effective...
...and this in-depth report from the German television service DW gets into a lot of history on “Vlad The Butcher” Putin and his global aspirations, including his quest to dominate Ukraine and Putin’s utterly bizarre – and dare I say unhinged? – vision of returning the Russian empire to something that’s almost pre-Communist (and recalling Putin’s remark about the breakup of the Soviet Union as the worst crisis of the 20th century, or words to that effect...if I could, I’d be trying to get Sweden and especially Finland into NATO right now)...
...and this Young Turks clip with Cenk and Ana from last Thursday gives us more analysis, along with Cenk’s theory about Putin’s gamble on waging war vs. Western sanctions as well as how this all could play out with the Russian oligarchs also...I think Cenk’s theory is pretty correct, ominous as it is, except for one thing; I definitely see the Russian military getting “bogged down” in Ukraine...
...and Rachel Maddow is back just in time to provide some more important context on Vlad The Butcher’s incursion into that besieged country (and yeah, I would say “shambolic disgrace” describes what Putin has done to Russia all right)...
...and John and Brett of The Damage Report tell us about the incredible bravery of the 13 Ukrainian border guards defending that island who were slaughtered by the cowards of the Russian military...
...and happy belated 80th birthday to singer Paul Jones, formerly of Manfred Mann (with a tune whose title definitely applies to Putin...have to return this site to something approximating normalcy at some point).
My Wordpress post basically asks why the hell the Democrats aren’t coming up with ads attacking Repugs for a host of issues, and one of them is their “bromance” with that lunatic waging war in Ukraine, but at least The Lincoln Project is stepping up (and yeah, I know they’re basically rebranded Republican grifters, but they’re doing good work once more)...
...and Ali Velshi speaks with Ben Rhodes, former deputy national security adviser under Obama, about all of the ways that Generalissimo Trump did his best to put us on a glide path to the current ruinous circumstances unfolding in that area of the world...
...and Thom Hartmann tells us about Franklin Graham saying we should “pray for President Putin”...I MIGHT be amenable to this for the sake of peace overall if Graham had said something equivalent to Biden, which he didn’t of course (and boy, did James Madison among our founders envision this insanity...and I also realize that the fluid nature of the war currently being waged is making some of these clips a little more dated than I would like)...
...and Mehdi Hasan gives us a bit of a history lesson on bad Russian behavior under Putin since about 1999, with Nina Kruscheva and author Yuri Felshtinsky...
...and Beau brings us some more important context on all this (and oh yeah, there's this too)...
...and to be fair (and given this), it’s safe to say that Putin played Dubya, as noted in this clip, but he also played a few current and former U.S. politicians as well (as well as many of the adoring throng in that audience, it would seem... Boris Nemtsov, Boris Berezovsky, Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova, Sergei Magnitsky, Natalia Estemirova, Anna Politkovskaya, Alexander Litvinenko, Sergei Yushenkov, Yuri Shchekochikhin...all were Puitin critics who died under suspicious circumstances, as noted here)...
...and by the way, I would call this pretty emphatic....
Update: As Will Bunch said, not all "leaders" have bone spurs (here).
...and I realize that this tune was birthed during the era of The Sainted Ronnie R and the mutually missed oportunity of nuclear deterrence, which is a wholly other matter than Putin's catastrophic incursion into Ukraine, but if for no other reason, presenting this once more serves as a reminder of the long-simmering hostility that helped bring us to this awful point.
Farron Cousins tells us that Repug U.S. Senator Tom Cotton has been bitching about the so-called “first step” act allegedly leading to more crime and how awful the Dems are for supposedly creating it, when in reality it was signed into law by Generalissimo Trump with the Repugs in control of Congress...and I have to admit that I don’t know what a “slap chop” is, but yeah, it’s pretty damning that these “criminals” are stealing milk, baby formula, diapers, etc. – tell me one more time about “American exceptionalism,” OK?...
...and Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ tells us about the Trumper Marine Corps reservist (!) making fake COVID vaccination cards (more here)...you know, I’m going to “back up” just a bit here and point out that, many, many moons ago when I started this blog thing for better or worse, my goal was to promote informed dialogue across the political spectrum...try not to laugh too hard, OK? However, that has morphed into cataloging the utter insanity of the other side almost non-stop...and yes, I am aware of that, though I’ll foreshadow things a bit here and say that there was a bit of a misstep recently from Team D that I’ll discuss shortly...
...and I can’t tell you how depressing it is to learn about what’s been going on with the Hershey corporation because I have so many happy memories associated with Hershey, Pa. while I was growing up; this More Perfect Union video gets into the thoroughly obnoxious details (yeah, yet another CEO blathering on a Zoom call about how great her workforce is, when in reality she’s treating them like dog crap)...
...and Emma Vigeland of The Majority Report tells us more about the “misstep” I referred to earlier, and that is Dem U.S. Senator Bob Menendez saying that New Jersey is a “maker” state and PA is a “moocher” one...ummm, I’m pretty sure that, as they note in the clip, Menendex was taking a shot at “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey (who can’t be gone from the Senate soon enough), but see, here’s the problem...we have an election coming up for Toomey’s happily-soon-to-be-vacant seat, and we don’t need Menendez putting his foot in it and amping things up for the other side and hurting Dem turnout...quite simply, along with Di-Fi, Menendez needs to announce his retirement...the only reason he's still in the Senate is because the Repugs ran the utterly awful Bob Hugin against him last time, and I’m afraid they won’t make that mistake again (and Vigeland sure is right about NJ and pharma...NSFW/H at the very end)...
...and Alex Wagner, sitting in for Rachel Maddow, talks to media critic David Folkenflik about The Swanson TV Dinner Heir’s bromance with Our Former Ol’ Buddy Vlad Putin (and the subsequent effect of Republican political candidates in primary contests who apparently are tripping over themselves to curry Carlson’s favor – hard to truly describe how utterly disgusting this is, especially given the powder keg that Ukraine has turned into and the threat of more military madness from the crazed Russian calling the shots)...
...and I have a bit of a melancholy two-fer; first, RIP Gary Brooker of Procal Harum (here), and also, RIP Martha’s Vineyard mainstay Everett Poole (here)...never truly a visit to the island without stopping by Mr. Poole’s chandlery in Menemsha...his shop hours were pretty much whenever you saw the Ford pickup in the driveway, and to say he’d earned the right to call his own shots is an understatement...I can think of no more apt tune for these occasions than this one...fair winds and following seas.
John and Francesca of The Damage Report tell us about The Swanson TV Dinner Heir’s obsession over AOC, which, yeah, is actually pretty damn messed up even for “Tuckums” - oh, and there was this too...
(Oh, and apparently, in an effort to ignore Putin’s incursion into Ukraine, Carlson interviewed Kyle Rittenhouse, with the latter threatening to sue individuals and news organizations over the fallout from his all-but-guaranteed-by-that-goofball-judge not guilty verdict...heh.)
...that being said, I realize there’s not one thing that’s funny about this utterly dangerous situation with Putin’s move into the separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in Ukraine; what follows is a report from the DW German TV network – Putin also apparently gave that nutty speech earlier today about trying to re-create some pre-communist Russian state...FWIW, I definitely DON’T have a good feeling about this, and years of coddling of this nut by prior presidents has led us to this point IMO...
...and returning to what admittedly is more typical fare for this site, Sam, Emma and Ben Burgis of The Majority Report tell us about the 41 percent increase in child poverty over the month of January (the child tax credit ran out largely because of Machinema and EVERY SINGLE U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN...and actually, Will Bunch, to be fair, really raised the alarm over this recently...wanna know why this story isn’t gaining more traction? Because, overwhelmingly, people in the suburbs DON’T CARE, and yeah, they think child poverty is somehow a “choice”...more fool them)...
...and I know I touched on all of the insanity at school board meetings yesterday with Farron Cousins, but Joy Reid “follows the money” a bit on this story (and I suppose it shouldn’t shock me to hear that the national Dems apparently STILL haven’t gotten their messaging act together against the CRT boogeyman, as well as the “Defund the Police” garbage...last I checked, Dems supported funding of public sector workers in COVID relief and Repugs didn’t...COPS are public sector workers, so YOU tell ME who’s “defunding the police” and who isn’t...and boy, is Matthew Dowd ever right at the end)...
...and speaking of no ideas and only resentment, Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ tells us about this Repug loon Wendy Rogers, a state senator in Arizona who is trying to push “the Overton Window,” which, as far as I’m concerned, has been pushed by the “party of Lincoln” beyond all reason as it is...
Update 3/1/22: Just add this to the garbage on Rogers I guess.
...and I know I'm overdue for a Neil Young tune as a tribute to a guy standing up to Joe Rogan and his anti-vax, anti-mask BS on Spotify, so here's something else from Young's catalogue.
I would say that this Meidas Touch clip tells us all we need to know about the Trumpsters and what “taking the fifth” truly means to these treasonous jackals, our recent ruling cabal of liars, traitors and idiots...
...and Farron Cousins tells us about the threats faced by school board members from lunatic parents all over the country over (checks notes), let’s see now...wearing a goddamn piece of cloth over their kids faces, CRT of course (which isn’t taught in ANY elementary school), books about gender identification...seemingly every goddamn thing EXCEPT FREAKING GUNS!!!! (NSFW/H, but for a good reason)...the now-adult one once went to the Pennsbury School District – THANK GOD we no longer have to worry about his K-12 education NOW, or else we’d likely have to go to these nutty meetings and battle some of these troglodyte flesh lumps screeching their garbage (oh, but Smerky just says it’s because of “polarization,” which is typical for a clueless corporate media hack like him)...
...and as long as we're on the subject of idiotic right-wing attacks, Beau tells us about the wingnut frothing ("Cancun" Cruz and raised-fist-traitor Josh Hawley in particular) against Biden nominee Nina Morrison (for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York) because of Morrison's work on The Innocence Project...ummm, last I checked, everyone accused of a crime in this country is guaranteed legal representation...more here...
...and Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ tells us about a financial web site (Zero Hedge) accused of spreading propaganda in support of Our Former Ol’ Buddy Vladimir Putin (more here)...
...and when it comes to more nonsense in Flori-DUUUHH (land of Ron #DeathSantis), Chris Hayes speaks with reporter Bianca Padro Ocasio of the Miami Herald on Repugs’ efforts in The Sunshine State to illegally change registration of elderly voters from Democrats to Republicans - one negative from this is that formerly Dem voters could no longer vote in their "closed" primary system, which is similar to PA...
...and Thom Hartmann gives us another important history lesson, this time on the Clinton Administration’s funding of abstinence-only sex ed (caving to the wingnuts apparently, which is always a lose-lose proposition) and the Obama teen pregnancy prevention program, and how the rates of teen pregnancy dropped more under Obama than Clinton (what's past is prologue IMHO when it comes to topics some people stupidly find to be uncomfortable to discuss)...
...and as I’ve said before, I really don’t care about Black History Month, mainly because I think African Americans deserve more than one damn month, but I guess you can consider the latest clip from Second Thought below to be my contribution to this discussion (re, how history of accomplishments by leading figures in this area have been co-opted into a narrative to make whites more comfortable)...
...and I realize that the person we recognize first and foremost on President’s Day is the first person to occupy the office, but just to change things up a bit, here’s a tune about Number 29 (and I think the steel drums are a nice touch).
I’m including this Inside Edition video on some awful airline passenger behavior as a lead-in to this item, about 8 idiot Republican U.S. senators opposing a no-fly database of unruly passengers because correctly categorizing them as such “equates them with terrorists”...and the problem is? (MSNBC had a video on this with Alex Wagner, sitting in for Rachel Maddow, speaking with Sara Nelson, president of the flight attendants union, but for some ridiculous reason I can’t embed it here...not sure if it’s an MSNBC thing or a YouTube thing)...
...and it looks like Mango Mussolini’s accounting firm bailed on him and his sorry brood of vipers, including Ivanka, Uday and Qusay...and that primarily affects the last 10 years of records (rut-row)...
...and Cenk and David Shuster tell us about the Sandy Hook families winning a legal battle against Remington with a $73 million judgment, essentially putting out of business the company that manufactures these weapons of death...
...and sticking with TYT, John and Wosny Lambre discuss an Indiana high school allowing students to “opt out” of Black History Month lessons...gee, won’t it be a shame for these kids when they grow up and learn about the world beyond the suburbs (I saw an African American on Twitter asking if he could opt out of learning about white history...I mean, yes, that won’t happen and there’s a bit of humor in that comment, but he made a good point)...
...and Mehdi Hasan (speaking with Charlie Savage of the New York Times) tells us about the right wing’s latest obsession (this Durham probe nonsense about HRC allegedly spying on Trump, when, if anything, it happened when Obama was president, and likely because Combover Caligula was using that secretive Russian phone...more here...God, how much MORE information do you need to prove that #45 was “mobbed up” and in hock to Putin up to his flabby butt? – makes me recall the quote that the lie is halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its pants, echoed in the linked Will Bunch column)...
...and I thought this was a somewhat upbeat newer tune to help bring the week to a close (unless I post tomorrow of course), though it may be a little early for Halloween I'll admit.
This video from More Perfect Union brings us West Virginia coal miners telling their thoroughly bought-and-paid-for alleged Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin to support Build Back Better...yes, we know the odds are long on this, but we need to keep fighting...
...and Joy Reid speaks with Lindsay Owens on companies overcharging in response to inflation and how they’re rewarded for this utterly disgusting behavior by their shareholders (Owens has been doing a great job in reporting this, as noted here and here – and some related info is here).
Oh, and when it comes to the economy and the issue of gas prices...yes, they’re going up on Biden’s watch b/c we’re restarting from COVID, we’re getting screwed by Russia and the Saudis of course, some of our refineries are shutting down – to say nothing of the fact that we need to be moving a hell of a lot faster on alternative energy including EVs – and gas prices ALWAYS GO UP IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER!
But I hope anyone reading this realizes that, if you turn on Biden and the Dems over this single issue, you’re rewarding a treasonous party of insurrectionists pledging their loyalty to a failed “reality show” TV star, a bunch who will give you ABSOLUTELY NOTHING if, God forbid, they seize the reins of power once more later this year...and worse than that, have given every indication that they will do whatever they can to kill our democracy and replace it with some kind of corporate despotic authoritarianism instead.
I mean, you do realize that, don’t you?...
...and somewhat related to the prior clip, Farron Cousins tells us about red states suing Biden for raising the minimum wage for federal contract workers (can’t say I’m surprised, stoo-pid a move as this is)...
...and in keeping with the theme of Republican idiocy, John and Francesca tell us about that assclown Thomas Massie who apparently is advocating for overthrowing the government...gee, didn’t Kentucky already try such treasonous behavior during the Civil War?
Massie is nothing but a stinking coward. If he encountered violence for real, he'd soil himself...
...and I thought this was a somewhat humorous commentary from Jeff Wiggins on the wingnut tears over the non-whiteness (well, except for Eminem of course) of the Super Bowl halftime show...pass the popcorn (staying with the theme of right-wing nonsense...gee, wasn't "Sexual Anarchy" a song by Black Flag?? - joke :-)...
...and speaking of bands, RIP Ian McDonald of King Crimson and Foreigner.
Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about departing Repug U.S. House Rep (and 1/6 Commission member) Adam Kinzinger on his party’s infatuation with Our Former Ol’ Buddy Vlad Putin, including The Swanson TV Dinner Heir of course (remember when Dubya uttered this nonsense about Putin, by the way? And good commentary, but I think Cohen uncharacteristically “loses the plot” himself a bit conflating Mohammed Bone Saw and Saudi Arabia with Russia...unless he’s saying Repugs automatically align with oppressive regimes, and he’s right about that...have to laugh at our corporate media at this point actually being surprised by the descent of the "party of Lincoln" into authoritarianism - have you people been living under a rock?)...
...and speaking of right-wing idiocy, Ari Melber contrasts all of the “crack pipe” nonsense against Biden’s record on jobs and the economy (from Fix Noise to the treasonous Josh Hawley, little Marco Rubio, Senator Foghorn Leghorn, etc.)...
...but to be fair...I hate to agree with David Doel on this point, but I think he’s right about Biden stealing billions from Afghan civilians...don’t know any other way to describe it either (and yes, I realize this story is a little more complicated and families of 9/11 victims deserved to be compensated too, but I still think this is the wrong way to do it)...
Update 2/16/22: This is an important clarification.
...and John and Brian Unger of The Damage Report tell us that the DOJ is FINALLY looking into how Generalissimo Trump destroyed documents, at the request of the National Archives (who initiated the investigation of course)...
...and on the subject of wingnut discontent, Brett Erlich tells us of the great unwashed bailing on Dear Leader, including “conservative Barbie” literally wiping his name off her shirt (NSFW/H)...
...and Beau tells us that he thinks the Canadian government did a good job on handling the trucker nonsense in Ottawa (and I would tend to agree – and speaking of which, you’ve got to read this hilarious thread)...
...and RIP film director and special effects wizard Douglas Trumbull – yes, even though I think “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” were incredibly sloooowwwww films, they looked amazing and helped break ground for the type of movie innovations we pretty much take for granted now...what follows is a clip from the Trumbull-directed film Silent Running about astronauts tasked to guard pods which contain the last remaining natural resources on earth (and no spoilers here in case anybody hasn’t seen it...interesting story about how the mini-robots ended up involved in a lawsuit over Star Wars as I vaguely recall)...
...and props to Eminem for taking a knee at the Super Bowl – I think this is a relatively PG-rated number, so you should be OK without headphones or ear buds.
Ali Velshi, sitting in for Rachel Maddow, tells us about the anti-abortion nonsense in Oklahoma, New Hampshire and Flori-DUUUUHHH!...always “jobs, jobs, jobs” for Not Your Father’s Republican Party (Velshi speaks with Florida State Rep. Anna Eskamani)...
...and Sam and Emma V. discuss the “pause” of this Texas idiot named Shelly Luther, who apparently is running for elected office in "the land of the yellow rose" and caught herself saying that it was OK to make fund of trans kids, as Emma says, and tried to figure out some way to walk that back...well, it’s impossible to “walk back” something so grotesque, lady (I think this clip of this idiot is a few days old, actually - more is here...good job by Sam to draw a line from this garbage right to school choice)...
...and I hate giving Michael Smerconish the time of day, but he’s the only one saying anything so far about the Central Bucks County School District school administrator who didn’t want the kids to visit the Holocaust Museum but wanted them to “study” roller coasters at Dorney Park instead (tied to COVID immunization...uummm, it’s not “polarization,” Smerky...it’s AWFUL CONDUCT PRIMARILY BY ONE POLITICAL PARTY THAT’S DRIVING STUPIDITY LIKE THIS! I DEFY YOU TO PRODUCE A DEM PARTY EQUIVALENT TO THIS STORY! - more is here)...
...and this More Perfect Union clip tells us of that U.S. Senatorial Republican waste (which one, I know) RoJo, who apparently is washing his hands of trying to win unionized jobs for Wisconsin and is happy with letting them go to the non-union state of South Carolina instead...
...and regarding work in this country, this great Second Thought video tells us why millions are quitting their jobs...
...and RIP filmmaker Ivan Reitman, who brought us many memorable movie movements, including this one of course (as producer...NSFW/H)...
...and I know Presidents Day is a week from today, but the birthday of #16 was Saturday, so with that in mind, I wanted to change things up a bit with this clip...not sure how much longer the “button-down mind” is going to be with us, but hopefully for a good while yet...
Caroline Johnson of Rebel HQ tells us about the rich hoarding art during the pandemic while a good portion of the rest of this country tries to get by in our “gig” economy of Grub Hub and Door Dash deliveries (to say nothing of Amazon of course) and holding down multiple jobs to support themselves and their families...let me know when it’s time for the pitchforks and torches, OK? (and boy, am I ever SICK AND TIRED of these alleged news stories of the rich buying whatever playthings they want!!!)...
...and a big part of that IMO is the wealth accumulated by our politicians from stock trades, which should be illegal (Cenk and Ana tell us more, leading in with that Republican clown Tommy Tuberville, but there are plenty of Dems guilty of this behavior too... GREAT point by Cenk about tossing the filibuster to raise the debt ceiling but not for voting of course)...
...and Krystal Ball of More Perfect Union has more on this issue (and Jon Ossoff, as Ball points out, is the guy in the Senate sponsoring the bill against stock ownership with Mark Kelly, interestingly enough since Ossoff is also mentioned in this clip as someone who has benefitted from this odious practice – I’m sure he sees the error of this ways)...
...and Thom Hartmann tells us more on Generalissimo Trump and “toilet gate,” along with the “burner phone” stuff from Stingray, which apparently downloads phone and computer data, as well as from other devices, and screws up those devices in the process, all without the knowledge of the device owner of course...and yeah, here’s a thought...the next time it turns out that a journalist or anybody else has evidence of a crime being committed and they do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in response (like this author) and instead get it published in a book much later, how about if the person who does nothing GETS FREAKING PROSECUTED??!!...
...and Farron Cousins tells us the story of Repug Wisconsin Rep. Elijah Behnke, who tells his supporters that they have to "cheat like the Democrats" in elections (just say "oops" and get out...more here)...
...and I had only put up one tune by Joni Mitchell previously (under the heading of highlighting artists who don’t want anything to do with Spotify), and I thought I should include something having to do with parties since a certain football game is going to be played this weekend (torn on who I’d like to see win – it would be good if the Bengals finally pulled it off, but I’m glad to see Matthew Stafford in the spotlight after so many years with those bad Detroit teams)...with that in mind, I offer the following (“I told you when I met you I was crazy.” indeed...Court and Spark is one of the all-time great recordings IMO).
David Doel tells us about Amir Locke, who (apparently) is the latest African-American fatality (from yet another no-knock search) from the Minneapolis Police Force (oh, but somehow they’re blaming the St. Paul police for this too? Get your damn story straight, people!)...
...and Ana and Cenk of TYT bring us the latest on the document destruction by Our Treasonous Tiny-Handed Orange Pestilence (probably more than we’ll ever know), with lots of files that should have gone to the national archives somehow ending up at Mar-a-Lago instead (I honestly didn’t know about Trump stealing his own doctor’s records, but boy, it sure fits the profile, doesn’t it...more here)...
Update 2/10/22: Our corporate media does it again (here).
...and John and David Shuster of The Damage Report tell us about Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao making positive noises in response to the Cheney/Kinzinger censure...but yeah, at best, talk is ALL IT WILL EVER BE with that death eater, the Senate Minority Leader...I think the observation that he’s trying to distance himself from the Gropenfuhrer is spot-on, as well as the good point that McConnell wanted NOTHING TO DO with the 1/6 Committee...
...and Jackson White of Rebel HQ (tied to the prior clip a little) tells us of Kevin McCarthy’s latest stupidity, this time with his claim that the mask/vaccination mandates from the federal gov’t under Biden aren’t working...oh, and I LOVE this line about more people dying under Biden than Trump – TRUMP LET COVID EXPLODE IN HIS LAST YEAR B/C HE THOUGHT IT WAS A “HOAX”! BIDEN HAS HAD TO DEAL WITH IT LONGER THAN TFG!!!
Oh, and Our Boy Kevin is ready to "move on" from COVID, huh? What a shame that this person won't be able to hear Kevin's message...
And boy, is White correct on what we have to do about the midterms...
...and “liberal redneck” Trae Crowder tells us about the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Flori-DUUHHH! (NSFW/H)...
...and I'll try to wrap this up on an upbeat note by wishing a happy 80th(!) birthday to Carole King.
I now give you Legitimate Political Discourse, ladies and gentlemen, courtesy of The Lincoln Project (and yes, I know these people are just grifting Republicans also trying to turn over a new leaf, but once more, they’re doing good work – very NSFW/H, but for a good reason...the DNC should be cranking out attack ads on this also, but don't hold your breath waiting for THAT to happen)...
...and Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell of CNN tell us about 140 Republicans and so-called conservative leaders who signed a statement opposing the RNC’s censure of Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger...pass the popcorn (Stephanie Grisham is nothing but a Trump quisling as far as I’m concerned who’s now looking for a halfway decent payday for her book...and every time I hear the phrase “conservative principles,” I want to gag...Officer Fanone is spot-on of course)...
...and Beau gives us his take on the Canadian trucker antics in Ottawa...and of course, as usual, we’re talking about a noisy minority carrying on like spoiled brats...and as much as my opinion matters, I would have to share Beau’s take in that it’s best to wait out these life forms, though I know the people of Ottawa whose lives are being disrupted aren’t in the mood for that...and good point in that I really didn’t have “excessive border regulation” (which apparently these truckers are mad about) as something I thought Trump supporters would be pushing back against, seeing as how that is EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT when it comes to our border with Mexico (and why am I not one bit surprised by this?)...
...and John and Francesca of The Damage Report tell us about Elon Musk offering a kid $5K to shut down a Twitter account that apparently follows the whereabouts of Musk’s plane ($5K? IS THAT ALL??? What a cheapskate!)...
...and I realize this next little feature, as it were, has been inactive for a little while, but I’m going to try bringing it back at least for now, and that is “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 2/9/11...with Super Bowl 56 coming up (oh, excuse me – LVI), I think that gives us the opportunity to recall Billo The Clown interviewing Former President Obama, as well as another O’Reilly interview where he interrupted the former president 48 times as noted here (hey, the least Billo could have done was limit it to 44 to keep the numerical symmetry working).
Well, I think that calls for a replay of the following heralded moment (clip is also definitely NSFW/H because of potty mouth Billo)...
...and here is a bit of a wintry number to try and mellow things out a bit after Billo’s antics.
Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ tells us about Rand “Fake Ophthalmologist” Paul claiming that masks don’t work when it comes to spreading COVID-19, and enabling morons like that guy on the plane arguing with a pilot about putting a piece of cloth on his face (the idiot passenger I mean)...what I would give to see somebody give Paul, Carlson and these other assclowns a dose of reality; they don’t have the guts to spout this lying garbage on a COVID ward or in front of a family watching a loved one slowly die from this plague...easy to spout this garbage courtesy of The Roger Ailes BS Factory where there will NEVER be any push-back (a response to Paul is here)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that the land of Guv Ron #DeathSantis is trying to out-wingnut this entire country with voter suppression, white appeasement and anti-abortion laws, among other calamities (including this guy, who came from that alleged medical board where another member believes that women suffering from ovarian cancer are having sleep sex with demons, or something)...
...and I realize the bar is set pretty low when we’re talking about democracy vs. authoritarianism (shouldn’t be much to think about), but it looks like “Onward Christian Soldiers” Mike Pence said the right thing here (but let’s not forget this too)...
...and David Pakman tells us that Combover Caligula wanted to seize voting machines in battleground states that he lost in the 2020 election (and we should keep this in mind too, as well as this...I remember reading about Sandy Berger from the Clinton Administration allegedly hiding documents in his underwear – which of course was more utter BS from the wingnuts – FOR YEARS!!!)...
...and Chris Hayes tells us about Neil Gorsuch’s speech to a closed-door conservative gathering, in The Land Of The Mouse of course (which wasn’t recorded...what, you think this is REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY? WHAT ARE YOU, A DUMB LIB OR SOMETHING?).
And by the way, when it comes to Gorsuch, let’s not forget this too...
...and RIP drummer Sam Lay of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
