Welcome to Doomsy’s News/Politics Catchup Post, Black Friday edition...Kyle Kulinski brings us the story of “Anarcho-Capitalist Extremist” (and aspiring James Bond villian from the looks of him) Javier Milei, who was just elected president of Argentina...yeah, it’s nuts all right, but it’s kind of a “break the glass” moment when inflation in that country is at about 138 percent...interesting point contrasting hard-core Trumpers in this country who are primarily older vs. Milei supporters who are primarily younger (NSFW/H)...and in other global news, this is a pretty wacky development also...
...and in the matter of giving aid and comfort to ultra-nationalist crazies in this country as opposed to overseas, Mike Figueredo tells us that King Elon I is losing advertisers on Twitter/X/whatever it’s called because – oh, I don’t know – HE’S ENDORSING ANTI-SEMITIC TROPES AND OTHER BS??!! (NSFW/H)...
...and when it comes to contrasting our economy with that of our South American neighbor noted in the first clip, Beau gives us his take on how he thinks people in this country feel about our own money matters, just in time for holiday shopping (good trend for Biden, but we’re a long way to next November of course)...
...despite that, we can still count on Fix Noise propagandists to try and gin up hysteria over “Biden-flation” or whatever they’re calling it these days, including that knucklehead Jason Chaffetz (here - John and Jayar discuss)...
...and Jesse Dollemore informs us that Maria Bartiromo was recently spreading more unhinged conspiracy theories (still flogging that Chinese lab leak business as the source of COVID-19...I’m going to go out on a very short limb here and predict that there will NEVER be a consensus formed around that as the cause of the pandemic..oh, and she also accused the FBI of pretending to be Trumpers helping to stage the 1/6 insurrection...what a wackadoodle this woman is)...
...and Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins discuss how a right wing “think tank” has pushed to get rid of child labor protections in Flori-DUUH!, affiliated with this Dick Uihlein character...and yeah, I know about “Soros” this and “Soros” that, but to imply an equivalency between him and the ideological wingnuts on the other side, both in terms of $$ in politics and influence on legislation, is utterly ridiculous (I think Pap needs to get a freaking grip, basically)...
...and like some other items here, I know this is a couple of days old, but I was still sorry to hear about it...I know they’re Philly/Temple guys, but I’ve been basically hot and cold on Hall and Oates...I hope they get everything worked out (tune is about the energy crisis from that era, if you can believe it...the tune, that is)...
...and dear God, it really is that time of year again, isn't it?
I got a kick out of this pic, I have to admit (courtesy of Pixdaus and Daily Kos)...
...and here's another holiday fave, with an intro by Seth MacFarlane as Stewie Griffin (and again, the captions make this hilarious as far as I'm concerned)...
...and here's more holiday fun...
...and I kind of liked this also (hat tip for this to Daily Kos)...
...and here's a Thanksgiving message for those wonderful folks at the TSA.
Update 1: And here is another late addition.
Update 2: Might as well add this too (and yeah, "Man Tan" Boehner is long gone I know, but those who've followed him have done their best to make things worse).
Update 3: Imagine all the people that can be fed for $35 grand (here, getting serious for a minute).
Update 4: And since I add to this list every year, I might as well include this too (hasta la vista, baby!).
Update 5: And I suppose this is an apropos item too.
…and thank goodness the “culture warriors” of Fix Noise are trying to protect the holiday (more here)…
…and I guess this is an appropriate tune for the day...
...along with this.
Update: Yes, as I and others have pointed out, we know what The Lincoln Project is, but this is a wonderful ad.
Update 11/25/21: Well said.
Update 11/27/21: And here is a video about another holiday tradition.
I’m guessing that I’m not alone on this, but I find myself in kind of a place where I need to keep reminding myself why this date matters. And it does of course, primarily because of the human tragedy represented by this sorrowful occasion, but also because what I and others believe was the state-sanctioned murder of this country’s chief executive represented an assault on an institution of government (the executive branch of course).
I wrote about my own personal recollections of that day many years ago here, so I’ll try not to repeat too much of that. I’ll only say that, with the passage of time and acquiring a bit more of an adult perspective on things (which I guess is debatable), you can appreciate the legacy of the man at the center of all of this while still looking back at that time with what I guess you could call a bit of a jaundiced outlook.
In fewer words – the point of this is not to stain the legacy of our 35th president, slain on that infamous day in Dallas 60 years ago. However, I’d like to offer more history on his family and that era, most of which has already been added to our collective “memory bank” by now. And, like with all towering figures of history, there’s fact, there’s legend, there’s rumor and innuendo, and then there’s a place where all of that comes together (or, as the reporter says at the end of “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”).
With this date in mind, I more or less assigned myself the task of reading “The Dark Side of Camelot” by Seymour M. Hersh earlier this year (purchased at a terrific little place called Second Time Books in Mount Laurel, NJ). I trust Hersh on this stuff; he’s a first-rate reporter and he puts together a scrupulously detailed narrative with tons of citations, going back to JFK’s grandfather, John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, who (in Hersh’s telling) more or less created the Kennedy template of the glad-handing pol who campaigned with theatricality and maintained a larger-than-life presence in Boston’s “north end” (and managed to acquire and spread around lots of cash – JFK named his boat “Honey Fitz” as a tribute). His daughter Rose married Joe Kennedy, an unparalleled businessman who managed to acquire so much money in his own right that it likely will be impossible to ever trace all of it. “The Ambassador,” as Kennedy was called by his kids (out of equal parts fear and respect) earned the title for representing our government in the U.K. during World War II, at which time he butted heads with FDR and Winston Churchill over making peace with “Herr Hitler” because (as Kennedy saw it), England and the rest of the kingdom would never survive the Nazi onslaught.
However, Joe Kennedy changed his tune and did all he could to support the rising political career of his second-oldest son Jack (his oldest, Joe Jr., died in World War II). And while a lot of this wasn’t exactly news to yours truly, it was a bit mind-blowing to see the extent of the payoffs in the 1960 political campaign, primarily in West Virginia and Illinois. Also, Hersh makes a compelling case that Dem Missouri senator Stuart Symington was slated to be JFK’s running mate (which would have helped in the California Dem primary, which JFK lost), but Lyndon Johnson and Sam Rayburn found a way to change that, likely through acquiring dirt on Kennedy.
And with that in mind...well, I didn’t mention the women, did I? Yes, there are the ones we knew about – Marilyn Monroe of course, along with Judith Campbell Exner (the go-between for the president and Sam Giancana...Hersh makes it pretty plain that Giancana and Johnny Rosselli were basically working some kind of a “back channel” in Cuba to get Cuban Premier Fidel Castro killed...there were many “back channels” in JFK’s presidency). However, I didn’t know about JFK’s quite likely first marriage to Palm Beach socialite Durie Malcolm (before Jacqueline Bouvier of course), and the escapades with Ellen Rometsch of East Germany, who quite probably was a spy; if the news of JFK’s dalliances with her had become public, then it very likely would have had the same impact in this country that the Profumo Scandal had in Great Britain, which was going on at about the same time. There were many others that I’m not going to try and list here (there’s also reports of the many naked pool parties at the White House in the first lady’s absence, though they appeared to reconcile in JFK's final months, partly due to the death of their son Patrick).
(I mentioned Castro earlier – Hersh posits that JFK pretty much spent most all of his presidency trying to get back at Cuba for the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, even to this point where our interference on that island – which, aside from its proximity to our shores, really didn’t have strategic importance - may have precipitated the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also, as I read this, it became crystal clear how much Bobby Kennedy spent running interference for his brother and trying to clean up any controversies...especially after the Bay of Pigs, the two formed an ironclad bond to keep out those they perceived as a threat, which included the vast majority of the D.C. political, military and media establishment.)
One item saddened me a bit among the others, and that is when I found out that JFK’s speech at American University in D.C. (known as the “peace speech,” which was praised by former Soviet Union Premier Nikita Khrushchev) was meant to deter missile testing in the sea/ocean and the air, but not underground testing, which continued after Kennedy spoke those wonderful words. Also, by trying to “beat the Soviets to the punch,” the goal of the Kennedy Administration (as a bit of an undercurrent to the speech) was to lock in our advantage on nuclear warheads. I guess that’s just realpolitik at work, though (and Khrushchev was penalized for, in essence, getting played by JFK on the speech, and arguably the Cuban Missile Crisis also, as the Soviets saw it anyway; Khrushchev was deposed in October 1964, though fortunately for him as opposed to Kennedy, the price he paid was political only). It was also more than a little startling to read that JFK, in the final months of his time in office, contemplated an attack on what was believed to be a Chinese nuclear facility, even to the point where he approached Khrushchev for help (the Soviet premier angrily refused).
As I said, I thought Hersh did a terrific job, and his book is worth the read for sure. And again, my goal is not to denigrate JFK’s memory. However, I think we’re doing ourselves a disservice if we fail to take into account all of the history of any public figure who has captured our imagination and influenced both our politics and popular culture, for now and likely for untold future generations.
And with all of this in mind, I now give you a clip of the announcement from Walter Cronkite of Kennedy's assassination (narrated by Charles Osgood)...
Thom Hartmann says that Now We Know How Hitler Did It (comparing Our Ochre Abomination with you-know-who)...continually infuriates me that, given that millions of Americans fought ACTUAL real-life Nazis in WWII, including my father and men and women of his generation, now these cosplaying freaks are out in force as Thom says supporting the next wannabe Repug strongman (or woman, I guess, when it comes to Nimarata Nikki Haley, née Randhawa)...I don’t completely buy Thom’s comparison of Germany losing WWI and the rise of Nazism to us getting stuck in Iraq and Afghanistan and the economic fallout as a result, but it is worth considering, and he’s spot-on about everything else, which is truly scary and should give us more impetus to make sure these cretins NEVER get near the reins of power again, at a minimum (at maximum, they should be incarcerated themselves)...
...and to show how close we came to this madness the last time around, I offer the following from The Lincoln Project...
...and turning to a top story (tied to the prior clips a bit), Sam and Emma of The Majority Report discuss a recent segment on Joy Reid’s MSNBC program in which Michael Cohen and Peter Beinart debate whether or not Israel’s response to 10/7 will ensure Israel’s safety in the long term...and seconding what Sam says, yes, Peter Beinart has really come around, to his credit, with the flashpoint for discussion being Israel’s attack on the Al-Shifa hospital (and with that topic in mind, this is good, but this needs to be followed up with action on a two-state solution for real...and imagine having to protest in the street to get your government to negotiate for release of hostages, though, to be fair, I should note this also)...
...and shifting gears a bit to another of the day’s top stories, allow me to extend RIP wishes for former First Lady Rosalynn Carter...as many others have already said, may her memory be a blessing (I’ll always remember her absolutely icy response to a question from Mike Wallace of “60 Minutes” about the Reagans, which, given the way that campaign played out in 1980, was completely appropriate IMO)...
...and as I’ve said before, I’m a little wary when it comes to TYT videos, but I thought Ana Kasparian did a good job here taking down Repug U.S. House idiot Ralph Norman, who is fighting the Biden effort to get rid of junk fees...and of course, in the Repug-run House, Norman’s amendment passed..and yeah, she takes a shot at the Dems at the end, but some of them deserve it on this issue...good job to play that clip at the end to basically emphasize that screwing over this country is definitely “baked in” when it comes to what passes for Repug political strategy...
...and I can tell that we’re edging closer to the holidays because Fix Noise is back with more of their idiocy, and this time, that nematode Jesse Watters, along with this Riley Gaines person, are both upset about a Target holiday ornament of a black Santa in a wheelchair; must be nice if this is the biggest issue you have to deal with in your life...and the “Dylanization” of corporate America? As in the “he not busy bein’ born is busy dyin’” Dylan? Really?? (mildly NSFW/H) – Jesse Dollemore brings us all the nonsense...
Update 11/25/23: Interesting bit of karma, I must say (here).
...and to wrap up this post on a more thoughtful and important note, I should point out that we recently observed the 160th anniversary of The Gettysburg Address (read here by Sam Waterston)...
...and speaking of recent anniversaries, Nirvana’s “MTG Unplugged” show aired 30 years ago on 11/18.
Jesse Dollemore tells us all about Repug U.S. House Rep Clay Higgins, who recently broke the stoo-pid meter carrying on about “ghost buses” with FBI employees supposedly masquerading as insurrectionists on January 6th at a hearing with FBI Director Christopher Wray...of course, if Higgins cared about buses for real that transported insurrectionists to the Capitol, he might want to investigate this, though he doesn’t of course, and won’t (mildly NSFW/H)...
...and on the subject of giving aid and comfort to anyone seeking to destroy our democratic form of government, Second Thought brings us this video about Project 2025, The New Fascist Playbook ...clip was made before Tim Scott dropped out with barely anyone noticing...and I think J.T. Chapman’s “tankie” views come through a bit when he says that there isn’t much difference between the “R” and the “D” party in presidential elections – if I honestly believed that, I can assure you that I’d be doing something else besides spending the time and effort I do with this dumb little blog...however, he’s definitely right to sound the alarm about “Project 2025,” which of course our corporate media basically ignores (he also forgot to note Cornel West as a Dem candidate, albeit an unlikely one I know)...”When you have a higher power on your side, it’s pretty easy to justify horrific acts” indeed (pertaining to the faux religiosity of the cretins behind the effort to wreck our democracy)...and I honestly didn’t know that this “unitary executive theory” BS went back to The Sainted Ronnie R (I thought it came from Dark Lord “Deadeye Dick” Cheney), but I probably should have guessed that...Chapman also has what I think is an unduly dark vision of Biden’s electoral prospects – I’m more worried about the fallout from the Gaza carnage than anything else as noted here – but we definitely can’t take anything for granted either and need to put in the work to ensure sanity prevails...this video is OK, but Leeja Miller’s clip on this subject is better IMO...
...and speaking of Miller, her latest segment has to do with Madalyn Murray O’Hair, who had a lot to do with keeping religion out of public school, though of course that’s something the wingnuts will abolish once and for all if, God forbid, they get the chance with this Project 2025 madness...yes, faith is important to yours truly, but I also believe that faith and spirituality are personal and nobody has the right to force their beliefs on others (briefly NSFW/H)...the story of how O’Hair, her son and granddaughter met their end could be a video by itself...sorry I’m going out of order a bit with her clips...
...and Emma Vigeland of The Majority Report interviews Sophia Moccio and Aaron Habrack, nurses at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ, who are on strike primarily for safe staffing ratios, and of course RWJ, being total bastards, decided to cancel health insurance for their striking employees after the job action exceeded a month...damn, out for 83 days? And the story they tell about RWJ is sadly typical for other hospitals that I‘ve heard of; it’s all about returning shareholder value, and everyone and everything else be damned, including patients...
...and staying with the topic of health care, this More Perfect Union presentation tells us about 10 million poor families across the country losing Medicaid coverage because of something called the “unwinding,” (ending of COVID-related coverage pretty much), with this taking place in states run by Republicans of course, including the governor and legislatures (continually disgusts me how easily they manage to do this particularly when it comes to the health of children)...
...and I had a new tune by The Beatles last week, so how about a new one from The Rolling Stones also?
I know I’m a little behind on at least one of these clips, but here goes anyway...David Doel tells us about the recent “rally for Israel” with “MAGA Mike” Johnson, John Hagee, Van Jones, etc. (yeah, when you’ve got the “use the Jews as cannon fodder to rapture our asses up to heaven” guy leading the way, that tells you how bonkers all of this is...and no, I haven’t forgotten that Hamas launched that beyond-cowardly hang glider attack on that concert and killed innocent Jews and others and took a bunch of people hostage, which kicked off this latest insanity, and that needs to be put right as much as possible, including making a full accounting of all of the victims, releasing ALL hostages and putting those Hamas murderers in a prison cell and throwing away the key...an opinion or two on that is here...mildly NSFW/H)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that Our Ochre Abomination basically went “straight up Adolf” in a recent speech, comparing those who oppose him to vermin, leading to a recent bout of Fix Noise humanoids Brian Kilmeade and Laura Ingraham deciding to attack those who rightly called out #45 over it (more here...another item I'm behind on I'll admit)...
...and speaking of The Roger Ailes BS Factory, Kyle Kulinksi tells us about Fix Noise reporter Jason Donner, who is suing the network because he said he was fired for fact-checking lies about the January 6th insurrection...even if he has a case, I hope he’s prepared for the fact that the minions and life forms who congregate to that channel like cockroaches on a dung heap are going to do their best to make his life utterly miserable...and I’m not going to say that some kind of lefty bias doesn’t happen on MSNBC or CNN (MSNBC is pretty much a safe space for Dems I realize), but to argue that those two networks are comparable to the channel of Rupert The Pirate is utterly absurd (NSFW/H)...
..and John and Jayar of The Damage Report tell us that, while he wasn’t making a speech condoning mass slaughter by Israel, the new U.S. House speaker managed to get a stopgap budget passed, with help from Dems of course...looks like the “D” team went along because it keeps current funding levels, but yeah, these 2 CR deadlines look typically ridiculous, which again is all we can expect I suppose when the “party of Lincoln” is in charge of the U.S. House...what a pitiable joke...
...and to prove that we’re living in some kind of a post-Stanley Kubrick timeline of absurdity, Jesse Dollemore tells us that the “QAnon Shaman” is running for Congress from Arizona...hey, at this point, I’m not sure how he can be any worse than Paul Gosar, Bo-Bo Boebert, Marjorie Traitor Greene, Scott Perry, or some of the other upright bipeds currently taking up space in our nation’s capital...
..and happy belated 91st birthday to Petula Clark.
Mike Figueredo talks about Fix Noise and the wingnutosphere trying to gin up fear and outrage over supporting Israel amidst their slaughter in Gaza...and that weirdness with those two alleged Hamas-sympathizing kids was cringe all right, but not in the intended way (and yeah, isn’t Sean Inanity just great to give his speech saying, “I’m hearing Nazi slogans in the halls of Congress” – proof? – “and on those college campuses, and this reminds me of Nazi Germany...you have 30 seconds to respond” as if somehow that would be enough to argue the point, which of course Inanity wouldn’t allow anyway...and GREAT point by Figueredo to mention the Charlottesville tiki torch neo-Nazis and wonder if Inanity was living under a rock during all of that...and I also think this is a spot-on related post; when you find yourself losing the guy responsible for this, yeah, that's pretty damn bad...NSFW/H).
(And oh yeah, if Inanity really cared about comparisons to the Nazis, which he doesn’t of course, he might have a word or two to say about this.)...
...and related to the carnage in Gaza, Jesse Dollemore discusses Dem State Rep Angie Nixon of Flord-DUUH! giving an impassioned speech on behalf of innocent Palestinians (and yes, there ARE innocent Palestinians – quite a lot, actually), asking how many must die, and this ghoul named Michelle Salzman says “all of them”...and listen, I haven’t forgotten about the Israeli victims of that concert as well as releasing the hostages (and making a FULL accounting for those hostages likely killed) and bringing the Hamas cowardly murderers to justice, but I also don’t think that means that the IDF can say “Oh, Hamas is using human shields at a hospital, so that means we can bomb that hospital to ashes and the people inside too”...it’s going to require a pretty huge degree of leadership on our side to stake out a position in this that gives Hamas the warranted treatment IMO but also slaps down Israel as well, and I have to tell you that I’m not optimistic about that)...
...and John and Francesca of The Damage Report bring us the news of “MAGA Mike” Johnson’s proposed budget, which separates Israel and Ukraine funding (I think Ukraine should get what it needs and Israel shouldn’t get a dime, but I understand that that runs directly in opposition to the political reality)...and yeah, Chip Roy and Marjori Traitor Greene are psychos and we knew that, but once again, there are people who vote for these sociopaths, and they need to be ridiculed also IMO...can’t find the words to communicate my disgust with the fact that we’re dealing with this beyond ridiculous budget brinksmanship again from the “party of Lincoln”...JUST FUND THE DAMN GOVERNMENT AND ALL THAT ENTAILS FOR THE COMING YEAR AND BE DONE WITH IT, YOU IDIOTS!! Apparently, though, Johnson is willing to maintain current funding levels as noted here, which (again) should be a given, but with this bunch running the House, nothing is certain I know...
...and speaking of money matters, Farron Cousins tells us that it seems that a certain Treasonous Tiny-Handed Orange Pustule of a former *president is having trouble running his businesses, which of course may end up going down the drain anyway given all of the legal stuff going on... couldn’t happen to a more deserving scumbag...
...and David Pakman tells us about a Texas Republican city council candidate named Brad Benson who was charged in a child porn-related case hours before an election...yes, innocent until proven guilty and all that, but why is it that this stuff keeps happening with those associated with the political party screaming the loudest about “groomers” on our side?...
...and I had a bit of a women’s empowerment theme going yesterday so maybe I should have included this video at that time, but better late than never I guess (and don't try this at home, kids).
Cliff Schecter of Blue Amp Channel discusses Michigan state senator Danya Polehanki, who responded to former Detroit News reporter Charlie LeDuff, who used a vulgar, coded insult towards Attorney General Dana Nessel...gosh, maybe there are jobs some men shouldn’t have because they’re too emotional :-)...and by the way, on the subjects of strong women and journalism, I was sorry to hear about this...
...and David Pakman tells us that “MAGA Mike” Johnson hasn’t disclosed bank accounts in 7 years of tax filings – oh yeah, “modest means” my ass, you lying POS...and isn’t it just too precious to listen to this Fix Noise hairdo act like living “paycheck to paycheck” has only existed under Biden instead of...oh, I don’t know... MAYBE THE LAST 20 FREAKING YEARS AT LEAST, AND LIKELY LONGER THAN THAT!!!...
...and Francesca of The Damage Report talks about the new U.S. House Speaker and this “Covenant Eyes” app that he uses in his house, so basically, he can rat out his son if he watches porn?? And make $20 for doing so – typically weird combination of someone’s twisted notion of morality with a capitalist inclination to make a fast buck or two (clip of Johnson discussing this is from ’20)...
...and pursuant to the prior two clips, I know earlier I said that I was going to give Second Thought a pass, but I’m reconsidering that; I thought this was a pretty well-informed clip on “Christian” nationalism...nice to see that there’s a bit of a split between evangelicals and “Christian” nationalists, but not a lot...disturbing to see how African Americans and even Democrats embrace this stuff...yep, spot-on to call Christian nationalists “fanboys” obsessed with America itself, or their version of it more precisely...interesting that his data shows that those who actually practice their religion are more likely to support immigrants and oppose gun violence, to say nothing of NOT voting for a certain Treasonous Orange Pestilence...I think the stuff with A.J. Shortly (sic?) is interesting, though it does kind of take away the momentum somewhat...I’d forgotten a bit about the importance of Acts:15, sadly; glad to be reminded again here...
...and when it comes to what I guess you could call religious extremism, I would say that this was a rather interesting (shall we say) ad that came from a bunch in Kootenai County in Idaho...no, kids that young aren’t going to be introduced into a book about anal sex...and yes, the SNL skit was amusing, and we can laugh, but alleged adults are actually taking this sh*t seriously, and using a child’s voice in this ad is beyond despicable (Jesse Dollemore and Brittany Page tell us about it)...
I guess, surprising almost no one, “Democratic” U.S. Senator Joe Manchin has announced that he won’t run for another term, leaving his seat open and meaning it will quite possibly flip to the “R” side, adding to the already tough sledding the Dems will face in next year’s elections in that body in particular (and let’s not forget that the "Team D" has another problem with Menendez in New Jersey that they’d better figure out)...with that in mind, I bring you this clip from The Damage Report from October ’21 in which we learn about Manchin blocking Biden’s infrastructure bill because of clean energy investments...yes, a “skinny” version of the bill eventually passed (maybe “emaciated” is more precise?), but no thanks to Manchin (we also learn that Manchin has supported $9.1 trillion in military spending – no “offsets” required for that, huh? And yeah, the bit with Manchin arguing over discretionary spending onboard his yacht with the boat protestors is particularly "on the nose" for him...and when it comes to Manchin, I think this bears repeating)...
And speaking of our military, Happy Veterans Day tomorrow (though I need to point out this related disgusting absurdity from that quitter of a college football coach).
...and with the theme of what I would call neglected domestic spending in mind, Leeja Miller discusses the idea of universal basic income, or UBI for short (I didn’t know how far back the idea of UBI goes, to the 1700s, at least, with Sir Thomas More in England and Thomas Paine in this country...also didn’t know that MLK and the Black Panthers supported UBI as well...additionally, I didn’t know that “Tricky Dick” supported a negative income tax, which works in a similar manner as UBI – and the Earned Income Tax Credit was a move in this direction, but it wasn’t nearly enough...I knew a little about the annual dividend program in Alaska, but I learned more about it in this clip...I strongly suspected that none of the programs mentioned here had a damn thing to do with workforce participation but had EVERYTHING to do with the well being of the recipients of the dough, but it’s nice to get that confirmation...Manchin is mentioned at about 28:00 in this clip, but only because he blocked the expansion of the COVID child tax credit...figures...kind of wonky stuff, but important...and yeah, short-term up-front costs always trump long term positive benefits for sure for those who oppose this stuff; Thom Hartmann had some thoughts on UBI here...briefly NSFW/H)...
...and this More Perfect Union clip discusses what states could do to lower drug prices; creating boards to set ceilings for drug prices makes a hell of a lot of sense, and I was shocked to hear that the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR actually went along with that in Arkansas; clip focuses on the effort in Michigan (God, I wish those in Democratic alleged leadership would watch these clips, because they have a lot of good ideas on which to run campaigns)...
...and turning to Mango Mussolini, David Pakman tells us that, in the nightmarish scenario of #45 regaining power, he would want to us the military right away (good for Pakman to mention Posse Comitatus...and speaking of Thom Hartmann, a related item is here)...
...and David Shuster tells us that VA Repug guv Glenn Trumpkin is falling down on trying to restore voting rights to felons (with Adrienne Lawrence, who makes good points at the end, but to be honest, she lost me a bit when she started talking about housing reparations)...good for Shuster to mention Fairfax County, which definitely has a troubled racial history...and as noted previously, given last Tuesday’s electoral results, I don’t think we’ll be hearing about Trumpkin as a prez candidate for a little while...
...and returning a bit to the Rashida Tlaib censure BS from Wednesday, Mike Figueredo tells us that Debbie Wasserman Schultz recently said that those opposing her resolution of Israel’s support for invading Gaza last month “have no soul,” and OF COOOOUURRRSE she and that execrable toad Josh Gottheimer joined 20 other House Dem members to vote in favor of censuring Tlaib as previously noted (NSFW/H)...I know we’re going to need to re-elect every Dem politician that we can next year, but it sickens me that that means supporting characters like these 22 frauds (and to help Rashida Tlaib, click here)...
Update 1: When it comes to the Israel/Gaza carnage, I think there’s so much that we don’t know about what exactly led up to this, and with the understandable (to a point) outrage on both sides, I’m afraid it will get lost in all of the “fog of war” stuff (and yes, I know the loss of human life is paramount, and an accounting to the last person must be made on all sides, as much as possible, anyway).
I have a hard time believing any of the culprits in all of this, but I’m actually tempted to go along with Hezbollah (again, to a point) when they say that they didn’t see this coming. You can accuse me of being a conspiracy nut (never stopped me before :- ), but I have a sneaking suspicion that this leads back to Russia somehow. Putin won’t admit it, but he knows that he’s in a stalemate in Ukraine (as is Zelenskyy, unfortunately, especially with the weather getting worse), and staging an attack like this might just end up fracturing our support of Ukraine at the expense of jumping in on the side of Israel as we have. And that ALSO goes against world opinion pretty much and puts us in bed with “Bibi” more than usual (the Israeli PM, for my money, has always been a blundering idiot who ended up getting played by all sides...Putin is detestable of course, but you don’t rise through the KGB unless you figured out how to stage stuff like this). Also, the use of sympathetic media including online channels to box us in with Netanyahu (again, to overextend ourselves and making it harder to support Ukraine) is something Russia is good at and ties in nicely to a Putin objective.
Oh, and of course, all of this helps A Certain Treasonous Tiny-Handed Former Chief Executive, which ALSO is desirable for Putin.
Am I right, or am I full of it? We’ll see.
Update 2: "From the river to the sea" indeed (here and here...if somehow the hospital bombing link turns out to be wrong, I'll update this post - I'd like to believe it is, but I'm sure it isn't unfortunately).
...and in this clip, Brittany Page defends Housing First as an example of providing shelter for those who have other issues (such as chemical dependency) that need to be addressed and cites Houston as a success story...I’m a little unclear on what exactly the dustup with TYT is all about, but I think the video provides important information...I think Ana Kasparian is right in that this issue is complicated (I would focus on the role of private equity firms in pricing housing out of sight), but that doesn’t mean that we should throw up our hands over it either...if TYT wanted to be honest actors here, they would invite Page onto the show with Cenk and Ana to discuss this, but I won’t hold my breath waiting for that...
This may be a little “inside baseball,” but I’ll mention it anyway...when I put these posts together, I generally try to mix things up to try and keep them interesting (to me, anyway, which is the only audience I truly know for certain of course)...with that admittedly boring intro out of the way, I’m just letting you know that I’m leading off with Jesse Dollemore for the second day in a row, which I try not to do, but I think he totally killed it in this clip on the unbelievably cowardly censure of Dem U.S. House Rep Rashida Tlaib (and I’ll tell you straight up that I’m GENUINELY ANGRY that 22 alleged “Democrats” in the House supported this despicable act – the vote I mean of course). I believe Tlaib’s offense that could have potentially destroyed our republic as far as these cowards are concerned (and don’t worry, I’m not absolving the “party of Lincoln” either) was to utter the six words in the top pic of this post in defense of innocent Palestinians (and yes, overwhelmingly, they DON’T support Hamas, though Netanyahu’s destruction is forcing them in that direction). Well then, you can expect yours truly to introduce this phrase when appropriate in the future when it comes to honoring the rights of innocent Palestinians (and innocent Israelis).
By the way, doesn’t it always figure with our party? We overwhelmingly did great in the off-cycle elections yesterday (I think a couple of these “Moms for Liberty” nuts won in schoolboard contests in Nazareth, PA, but in not a lot of other places that I could see)...Andy Beshear won in Kentucky, the Ohio amendment in defense of abortion passed, Virginia’s state government is in the hands of Democrats (I guess that means that Glenn “Trumpkin” won’t be mentioned as a ’24 Repug prez candidate any more)...a lot of good stuff happened (also, closer to home, Diane Marseglia and Bob Harvie were returned as Dem Bucks County, PA commissioners). Yes, Tate Reeves “won” in Mississippi because the voting machines in Jackson (a largely African American and Democratic area) somehow ran out of paper – oopsie! – though that wasn’t an issue for Republican districts of course. Yes, there were plenty of positive developments...but now we have to deal with this madness too.
Update 11/10/23: In the matter of the recent elections, leave it to Former Senator Man-On-Dog to think that abortion somehow is "sexy" (here).
On a simple-human-decency level, censuring Tlaib is pointless performative cruelty. However, I’d like to point out another level in which this is ridiculously self-destructive.
Dem U.S. Senator Gary Peters of Michigan isn’t up for re-election until 2026, but I vividly remember his 2020 election against John James (to say nothing of Biden’s contest against Our Treasonous Tiny-Handed Orange Pustule). The Peters campaign absolutely set a record for utterly browbeating yours truly NON FREAKING STOP for about EIGHT GODDAMN MONTHS with texts, Emails and phone calls. And yes, the election was close in Michigan, not just for Peters, but for Biden also. And I maintain that the margin of victory was provided by an utterly astronomical turnout in Detroit (something on the order of 90 percent as nearly as I can recall, which is truly unheard of, voting straight “D” up and down the ballot). And do you want to know who had a hell of a lot to do with that?
RASHIDA FREAKING TLAIB, YOU GODDAMN IDIOTS!!! And don't you think you'll need her to do something like that again this time a year from now? Especially with an open Dem seat?
I would ask that you keep all this in mind while you watch Jesse Dollemore’s great clip (and I agree that Jamie Raskin is about a thousand percent right also...also, Brad Schneider likes to text me for $$$, so he can officially f*ck all the way off now)...
Update: More on the elections are here, here and here.
...and sticking with the ongoing Israel/Gaza tragedy (and yes, an accounting needs to be made of everyone killed and taken hostage, and that goes for Palestinians as well as Israelis), Kyle Kulinski gives us his take here – I don’t completely buy Kyle’s argument that Biden is “plummeting in the polls” because of the Middle East (referencing that garbage Siena/NYT mess again)...yes, the Dems are going to have to find some way to press for a two-state solution and get serious about the Palestinians in a way in which “Bibi” utterly refuses, and I’ll admit that a lot of pro-Palestinian voices have been heard lately (which is just Democracy 101 as far as I’m concerned); I’m just asking that we keep this in perspective, that’s all...Kyle discusses Ryan Zinke who’s been busy recently (focused yesterday in that monuments bill business); today, he’s just trying to ban all Palestinians from the U.S., that’s all, which is illegal for probably six different reasons at least...Kyle kind of “jumps the shark” a bit by bringing up Japanese internment during WWII – yes, it was awful, but what’s the freaking point?...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that the re-election campaign for Bo-Bo Boebert in CO-03 is in chaos now because of that vaping/handsy business with her ex-boyfriend at the “Beetlejuice” concert...what a thoroughly stoo-pid way to set your career on fire, though it fits her profile of course (and to help her opponent, Dem Adam Frisch, click here)...
...and Francesca and Nina Turner of The Damage Report tells us that, apparently, Mr. “Mystery Money,” “MAGA Mike” Johnson, intends to pass CR after CR after CR, etc. to keep our government running (and of course they’re going to try their Dickensian BS and hope Big Stupid Head Matt Gaetz doesn’t file another motion to vacate...what a damn joke...and Turner is absolutely right about domestic spending)...
...and nice job by The Daily Show to give Johnson the spanking he deserves here (sorry – couldn’t resist...slightly NSFW/H)...
To begin, Jesse Dollemore tells us of Steve Scalise not admitting to George Stephanopoulos that Biden won in ’20...and by the way, I’m tired of hearing the typical BS from Repug liars like Scalise that states didn’t follow the voting laws on their books, or whatever (makes me recall this post)...there were over 60 lawsuits at my last count about this stuff, and I’m pretty sure the only one that was successful in PA had to do with a handful of addresses on secret ballot envelopes WHICH DIDN’T AFFECT A DAMN THING IN THE OVERALL VOTE (and oh yeah, Combover Caligula keeps running his maw with demented utterances to verbally assault us)...
...and Brian Tyler Cohen discuses “Mayor Pete” speaking with Stephen Colbert about Christo-fascist Mike Johnson attacking Buttigieg and gay/trans individuals in this country (and with all due respect to Cohen, something else that doomed Tom Emmer in his bid for House Speaker is that he supported certifying the 2020 election as noted here)...
...and in this clip from Crooks and Liars, former Trumpster and now Repug U.S. House Rep Ryan Zinke rose in support of a bill under the false belief that it only was intended to preserve monuments of our founding fathers, so of course Marjorie Traitor Greene jumped in to allege that Robert E. Lee founded our country (wrong answer, Marge!)...fortunately, Dem Rep Chellie Pingree politely set everybody straight (here)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us more about the exodus out of Flori-DUUH!, including 15 major insurance companies, and newly arrived Repug voters also departing as a result...not that I’m sympathetic to an insurance company, but just stating a fact (you couldn’t pay me enough money to move anywhere near “the sunshine state”)...
Update 11/10/23: Not even close to a fan of Vivek R. and I'd rather watch paint dry than any Repug candidates' debate, but I have to admit that this was one hell of a roast.
...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report take a caller discussing the incredibly disappointing Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and her utter failure to support teachers in her district (WA-03...I have to admit that I had high hopes for her, especially since she won with comparatively little national Dem Party support, but it looks like her seat may get flipped because of what appears to be her Sinema-esque behavior)...
...and I haven’t made up my mind on this tune to be honest, but I have to admit that I like the harmonies, so here goes.
Leeja Miller gives us probably the best takedown of the Powell Memo I’ve yet seen, picking apart its weaselly and propagandistic language and faux-legalese...“equality feels like oppression when you’re the one benefitting from historical inequalities” indeed...once again, we owe a debt IMO to Jack Anderson for unearthing the Powell Memo in all of its infamy, though it was too late to keep Powell off the High Court of course... interesting that Chucky Koch disagreed with the Powell Memo, saying it didn’t go far enough and businesses weren’t committed to “free enterprise,” which is giving away the game a bit I’d say...good for Miller to mention Powell’s role in the Bellotti 1978 SCOTUS decision, though, to be fair, she should have also mentioned Buckley v. Valeo from ’76, along with Consolidated Edison and Central Hudson Gas & Electric, both in ‘80, which played roles in the “corporate money as speech” movement as well...also didn’t know that Powell hired, unknowingly apparently, more gay clerks than any other justice, including Paul Smith, who had a role in Lawrence v. Texas, which our current Taliban-esque High Court may yet demolish also...
...and Farron Cousins tells that, apparently, Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao showed signs of life recently, leaping to the defense of the big money Repug donor class, his one and only constituency (who Powell was considering in his memo of course)...one day, he’s going to shed his mortal coil as will we all, and if I see that day, I’ll smile quietly to myself because he likely will earn a trip straight to Gehenna...and yes, I know, judge not lest ye be judged...and by the way, Brave Sir Josh Hawley’s alleged plan to get money out of politics is yet another “bait and switch,” but we knew that, right?...
...and David Pakman tells us about fellow Repug U.S. Senators turning on the quitter of a college football coach Tommy Tuberville...ABOUT FREAKING TIME!! And I understand that Willard Mitt Romney is trying to “split the baby” and not totally blame Tuberville, but I would submit that Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin has the right to dictate whatever policy he believes is important in his role as Defense Secretary; Austin isn’t the one supposedly out of line here...
...and Symone Sanders-Townsend of MSNBC looks at issues at stake in elections tomorrow in Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and Mississippi (more on the Tate Reeves/Brett Favre stuff is here...and when it comes to Virginia, please don't forget this and this)...
Update: More on the importance of Virginia's elections tomorrow is here and here.
...and this More Perfect Union video discusses Why 30% of rural hospitals are closing...and I know you’ll be shocked..well, not really...to find that The Sainted Ronnie R changed the formula of how Medicare reimbursed rural hospitals, which is a big factor leading to the closure of so many, along with the pigheadedness of Repug-run state governments in not expanding Medicaid, which is basically walking away from free federal money – and if 230K Mississippians are uninsured, imagine what the number is across the entire country...the clip also presents more information on why NO ONE should be suckered in by the utter scam of Medicare Advantage...more on the Save Rural Hospitals Act is here...
...and happy upcoming 80th birthday to the one and only Joni Mitchell.
Emma and the crew form The Majority Report discuss Dem U.S. Senator Dick Durbin calling for a cease fire in the Israel/Gaza conflict...also, kudos to Minneapolis area Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg for courageously asking for the same thing from President Biden (and I have a pretty good idea of what that fool Amy Schumer did, which is about par for the wretched course with her)...
Update 1: Hey, does anybody want to hear my admittedly-dumb-lefty-blogger take on this story?
(I mean, if Cenk Uygur can announce a run for president, then the least I can do is opine as a self-proclaimed foreign policy expert.)
I don’t know how many people have noticed the debate about funding for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and our border going on with our supposedly august U.S. Senate. There are those who want everything funded in one bill (Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao, Huckelberry Graham and others), and then there are those like Mike Lee and “Russia Ron” Johnson who want funding for Israel to be voted on as a standalone bill and vote on the other items separately (meaning of course that they’re willing to do Putin’s bidding and tell Ukraine and Zelenskyy to pound sand).
Well, although I certainly don’t have an inside track on this stuff, I don’t think it takes a genius to see that China is watching this too. And I also don’t know how many people have noticed that Hezbollah and Iran have been strangely quiet while the Israel/Gaza carnage proceeds apace (what better opportunity for them to intercede against “Bibi” than now)?
I think Iran and Hezbollah are shying away for now because China told them to. China is waiting to see if we approve military funding for Taiwan. Because if we do, China may just decide to pull back from the region and say, “OK, enemies of Israel and the U.S., go ahead and lob a shell or two at one of those ships in the Mediterranean. As of now, we don’t care.” And if that happens and we get hit and members of our military get killed, then we’ll respond of course, and we’ll all be speedily on our way to World War III.
People far smarter than I am no doubt know that we’re stuck in a vulnerable position. Hamas are cowardly, bloodthirsty murderers, but “Bibi” is proving that he’s little better. And the Israeli PM has been trying to sucker us into another Mideast mess ever since we extricated ourselves from Dubya’s Not-So-Excellent Iraq Adventure. Hell, if Netanyahu really wanted to get Hamas, he’d find a way to go after them in Qatar or put some kind of pressure on that government to give them up. But as far as I’m concerned, Netanyahu doesn’t want that. What he wants is a Palestinian genocide. And unfortunately, he’s getting it with our help thus far.
I’m saying this because I care very much about the fate of innocent Israelis and Palestinians, and I care even more about our military that could end up in harm’s way before all is said and done. I just don’t see any good way out of this without still more bloodshed on an ever-more-sickening scale, but believe me when I tell you that I want to be wrong (Update: And I almost forgot about this charming moment from "Bibi" - and yes, that's a bad joke I know).
...and focusing on domestic U.S. politics, David Pakman informs us that “MAGA Mike” Johnson’s wife scrubbed her website where she compared homosexuality to bestiality...so many issues with this guy, and I thought this was a good recent column by Charles Blow about the House Speaker...
...and David Shuster tells us that Johnson has “feels” apparently of Biden’s illegality, and that’s enough for an investigation by itself...and as Robert Garcia says, this is positively rich coming from a party whose de facto head is facing 91 criminals counts spread across 4 indictments (and nice work by Jen Psaki also)...
...and in keeping with those lunatics in charge of the U.S. House, Jayar Jackson and Jordan Uhl discuss the beyond-Dickensian budget cuts proposed by Not Your Father’s Republican Party and “MAGA Mike” in particularly (CHIP, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the ACA, etc.)...what a weaselly little shit Johnson is, though I realize that shouldn’t be surprising (I think Jordan Uhl goes off the rails here a bit when criticizing Dems for not telling the IDF and Israel to call for a cease fire in Gaza since that’s a wholly separate issue, as noted in the first video, but I think the message has gone forth from TYT and Cenk Uygur in particular to find any way possible to bash Dems regardless of the issue...yes, there are times when that’s called for I admit, but TYT overdoes it big time...and I don’t completely buy Jayar’s argument at the end that we’ll run out of money; I’m not saying we should spend like drunken sailors, but that’s not an excuse for demagoguery either...by the way, on a bit of an unrelated note, you can expect to see fewer “Second Thought” and TYT clips because I think their content has become highly questionable for different reasons)...
Update 2: I can think of few better illustrations of the old adage "pride goeth before a fall" than this.
Update 11/4/23: I have a feeling that the day will come sooner than later when Johnson wishes he'd never become speaker and stayed as a relative back-bencher...well, too damn late now (here).
Update 11/5/23: The more we learn about "MAGA Mike," the weirder (and more dangerous) he looks (here, to say nothing of corrupt as noted here).
...and turning once more to “the world’s greatest deliberative body,” Beau talks about the proposed bill from Brave Sir Josh Hawley allegedly getting big donor $$ out of politics (spoiler alert – the bill is a “red herring”) with Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao saying “not on my watch”...good explanation by Beau of just how daunting it would be to destroy Citizens United...not saying it’s impossible, but we would need a wholly other High Court (run by the “D” team, which hasn’t happened for over 50 years) from the one we have now to enable that (more from Jane Mayer is here)...
...and today marks the 50th anniversary of the release of “Quadrophenia” by The Who, their sixth studio album and second “concept” recording after “Tommy” (I've seen a release date of today as well as October 29th, for the record)...I believe they had a third "concept" recording they were working on called “Lighthouse” but they couldn’t quote pull it together, though it ultimately became “Who’s Next?,” which to me is their greatest work...this song fits on so many levels for yours truly, especially right now.
