Friday Stuff

Lawrence O’Donnell interviews Dem U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse about the latest flag madness with High Court Justice “Strip Search Sammy” (good for Lawrence to remind everyone that Dubya gave us Alito)...I didn’t know that recusal for SCOTUS justices was actually based on a law; good – kind of a longshot to see Alito and Thomas head off to the gray bar hotel for their antics I know, as opposed to what you would call the “garden variety” corruption of Gorsuch, “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Island Baby Barrett, but it’s still nice to think about IMO...GREAT historical context by Lawrence towards the end of how Repug presidents overall have put us on what you could call a glide path to this sorry day...



...and with the prior video in mind, I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 5/25/20, when COVID was raging and, in essence, Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao of Kentucky said that blue states should fend for themselves...glad I found this clip from comedian Vic Dibitetto, since I believe his response applies to this also...



...and as far as I’m concerned, this story should outrage everyone on earth...David Doel lets us know about Israeli activists (I guess that’s what they are) blocking and destroying food aid to be sent to Gazans, who are in the midst of a full-blown famine...Doel quite rightly lays the blame for this at the feet of “Bibi”; yes, for the zillionth time, we know what Hamas is, and they started this with their attack on 10/7 (arguably, though Israel has been mistreating Palestinian prisoners for years), but it’s pretty damn plain that all Israel cares about in response is genocide against the Palestinians as official policy (NSFW/H)...



...and turning from something cruel and deadly to something else that’s merely pathetic and actually a little humorous, Sam and Emma of The Majority Report let us know that “America’s Mayor” recently got served on the livestream of his 80th birthday party related to an Arizona election lawsuit – good times...



...and Kyle Clark of 9NEWS in Denver brings us a report on that state’s Repug party telling Colorado families to pull their kids from public schools so they won’t be “turned trans," or something...yep, this is about what you can expect from a bunch whose political influence is dwindling and chooses to offer ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to their constituents (here)...



...and if you want MORE evidence that Not Your Father’s Republican Party has ZERO INTEREST in actual governance, then allow me to include this clip of Farron Cousins informing us of Repug U.S. House Rep Andy Ogles proposing the “Let Trump Speak” Act that would prohibit judges from issuing gag orders to any defendants in civil or criminal proceedings...yeah, assuming idiocy like this could actually be enforced in legal proceedings (Cousins’ outrage is commendable IMO)...



...and I’m going to go “meta” again briefly and point out that, during the break, we traveled once more to the U.K., and as far as I’m concerned, they’re definitely ahead of us when it comes to the “tube” and regional rail (though we do a lot right in this country to be fair, given our crumbling infrastructure)...with that in mind, I was glad to see this item about how high-speed rail could actually be coming to the U.S. AT LONG FREAKING LAST...and we should absolutely credit “Dark Brandon” and the Infrastructure Bill for getting that started, as noted in the video (with Jessica Burbank and More Perfect Union)...



...and I’ve got a backlog of cool new tunes to get to, so I’d better start with that now...hope you enjoy.

Wednesday Stuff

I realize I’m a little late in bringing the clip of Marjorie Train Wreck Greene getting her ass handed to her by Jasmine Crockett when the GA-14 nightmare made yet another stoo-pid remark, this time about Crockett’s eyebrows, but I absolutely couldn’t let this pass by (with a commentary by Mondale Robinson... and I have to admit that John Fetterman totally blew it with the tweet that AOC responded to here)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us here about Willard Mitt Romney criticizing fellow Repugs for showing up at Generalissimo Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan, alluded to in the prior clip...I have no illusions about The Mittster, but for now, credit for good behavior...



...and when it comes to Repugs vying to join Romney in “the world’s greatest deliberative body,” Rachel Maddow tells us about the issues facing those running in Michigan, Montana, Arizona, and our own beloved commonwealth of PA, including Connecticut’s own Dave McCormick who sort of well maybe but not really grew up on a farm, or near one, or something)...



Update 5/24/24: Here is another name for the rogues gallery.

....and I’m not familiar with the gentleman from Occupy Democrats who brings us the following clip, but in the ongoing matter of Harrison Butker’s ridiculous commencement address, it looks like the nuns who founded Benedictine College where Butker spoke decided to set the record straight...nicely done...



...and going from something merely ridiculous to a story that’s cruel and barbaric, well, you can count on Texas guv Greg Abbott to lower the bar to subterranean depths as he does here, pardoning a life form who murdered a BLM protestor – Jesse Dollemore tells us about it...



...and happy belated 75th birthday to drummer Bill Bruford of Yes and King Crimson.

Tuesday Stuff

Farron Cousins discusses how #45 is trying to conjure up some imaginary debate with Biden on Fix Noise as a way to ultimately pull out of the scheduled debates with #46 that Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence supposedly agreed to...at this point, why anybody would trust Mango Mussolini as far as they can pee is something I will never, ever understand...



...and John of The Damage Report informs us that Our Treasonous Former *preznit is trying to take credit for the stock market, again, which just hit 40,000...and again (and I know this needs to be pointed out over and over), the Dow, NASDAQ, S&P, etc. are just ONE MEASURE of how the economy is doing overall, as Brett Erlich points out...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us about Alabama’s attempt to expand a “Don’t Say Gay” bill through 12th grade, which died the legislative death it deserved (copying and pasting from Flori-DUUH!, with questions getting asked by Republicans about how bogus the bill is; they obviously didn’t get the memo that they were supposed to play along with this nonsense and not hold it to scrutiny...NSFW/H)....



...and Alex Wagner discusses the kerfuffle with Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker’s commencement address at Benedictine College, where Butker of course reeled off the laundry list of wingnut grievances and tossed in a bit of old-fashioned misogyny to boot...one reaction, as far as I’m concerned, is that it’s absolutely ridiculous for an NFL football player to act like he has the remotest clue about what college graduates will be dealing with in that mean old world that awaits them, but on the other hand, I didn’t hear anyone in that audience booing him either...quite the opposite, which, to me, is a testament to how thoroughly those in attendance have been indoctrinated...Wagner discusses this with Leah Litman, law professor at the University of Michigan, and kudos to Wagner for presenting this in context with all of the hateful legislative BS in this country in support of Butker’s intolerant IMO views (and of course, leave it to the wingnuts to claim that Butker's being oppressed as noted here...spare me)...



...and turning to the destruction in Gaza, Beau informs us that the ICC is seeking applications for arrest warrants for what passes for Hamas leadership and “Bibi” over the 10/7 attack and Israel’s latest incursion into Gaza...important to note, as Beau says, that these are applications for warrants at this point; we’ll see what comes afterwards (and I don’t have anything on this item – hardly a fan of Iran, but I wouldn’t wish that fate on anyone)...



...and speaking of mortality, RIP David Sanborn (ugh)...I’m going to break into my summer selections a little early for this one as a tribute (and James gets a little NSFW/H part of the way through here, just to warn you).

Monday Stuff

Time to rev this thing back up again for real, and for starters I give you this clip about “Strip Search Sammy” Alito flying the U.S. flag upside down at his house in sympathy with the 1/6 insurrectionists...I have issues with Steve Schmidt, but there’s lots of good commentary here IMO, including Schmidt admitting that those who criticized Alito at his SCOTUS confirmation hearing were right after all, but I disagree with Schmidt saying that we can’t do anything about our 9 Philistines in robes...Biden needs to at least try to bring the total number of justices to 13, but I know that won’t happen anytime soon, if at all...Schmidt also deserves credit for calling out Dubya for saying nothing whatsoever about Alito, Thomas, or anyone else on our bought-and-paid-for High Court, but that fits the profile for #43, sadly...



...and I guess it’s apropos to transition from Schmidt to The Lincoln Project (again, if you choose to support them, you’re on your own, and I believe Schmidt has separated himself from the group); and yeah, I know, “Trump, Hitler, blah blah blah,” but it’s important to keep beating the metaphorical drum on this stuff...



Update 5/21/24: A "unified Reich," huh? Nice (here)...

...though Leeja Miller gives a bit of a different interpretation of what a beyond awful second presidency from Bronzer Beelzebub would look like, ultimately ending our democracy (NSFW/H)...didn’t know about the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, I have to admit...video discusses the Gropenfuhrer rolling back environmental initiatives, staffing government agencies with lackey loyalists from think tanks and corporations, curtailing the right to protest and using the military to forcibly deport immigrants (at a minimum), and otherwise wield any power he wants under his typically perverse interpretation of Article II of the Constitution, among other acts of madness...and yes, I know I just included the Trump/Hitler clip, but I believe that Miller is correct in that a catastrophic Trump second term would bring us the dissolution of rights more typical of Viktor Orban’s Hungary or Erdogan’s Turkey than something as dramatic as the Nazis, but I could be wrong of course and we need to do all we can to make sure this remains a merely theoretical discussion...



...and while I was away on my break, we lost a notable Dem in our beloved commonwealth, and I’m referring to Cyril Wecht, who served as Allegheny County coroner, though he’s most notable for casting doubts on the conclusion of the Warren Commission concerning the JFK assassination – I have no idea if scientific evidence will ever be released to confirm that Wecht is correct to say that there was more than one gunman, but I’ll hold fast to the hope that we’ll see that day...I’m not familiar with the case Wecht is referring to where he says he has his biggest regret – Wecht also went after the NFL for its treatment of concussed players who were later found to have developed CTE, and of the many who suffered that awful fate, I can recall what happened with Andre Waters of the Eagles and shudder...



...and last Friday marked the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education SCOTUS ruling (from a time when our High Court wasn’t totally purchased by Leonard Leo and The Federalist Society)...yes, this was a momentous and long-overdue decision to assign the scurrilous Plessy v. Ferguson atrocity to the legal dustbin where it belonged, but do not fail to note the extent of the white backlash to Brown which persists to this day and will likely continue, including the “massive resistance” movement and the unfortunate fact that segregation has returned to schools such as those in Virginia, with state and commonwealth budgetary decisions limiting educational opportunity for everyone except the most well-to-do (here)...



...and RIP Duane Eddy.

Friday Stuff

OK, I’m back from my much-needed break, and I’ll probably rev this thing up again for real starting early next week. Until I do, though, I have to address some unfinished business, you might say.

While I was on my unplanned absence at the beginning of the month (slightly before that to be exact), we lost the last surviving member of the original lineup of The Moody Blues, and I’m referring to Mike Pinder (pictured). It should be noted that Justin Hayward and John Lodge stepped into the lineup to replace Denny Laine and Clint Warwick, and from that point, the group reconstituted themselves from a combo performing what you would call pop hits into the prog rock-based fivesome that went off in a wholly other direction starting with “Days of Future Passed.”

With that in mind, I’d like to present the following tunes either written or heavily influenced by Pinder as a tribute...







...including this one, which may be the most recognizable from the band’s entire catalog (Pinder voiced the “Late Lament” at the end).

Friday Stuff

This time a week ago, I said I’d be cutting back on posting. Well, I hadn’t expected to cut back on it as much as I did.

I’ll just briefly go “meta” again (and sorry...I know this is boring) and say that, once in a while, life stuff and my for-profit activities collide in a big way, and that’s kind of what’s going on. It’s not bad stuff, I wish to emphasize, and it’s working itself out. When that happens, posting to this dumb little blog is a casualty since it doesn’t earn yours truly any bread and is actually kind of a vanity exercise, I know. And I’m not complaining when I say that. As I’ve said in the past, I know there’s stuff I could do to raise my profile and generate more traffic, but I haven’t, and that’s on me.

So now, I’m playing a bit of a game of catch-up with some of these items, and I don’t expect to be truly caught up any time soon. With that in mind, I begin with John and Francesca of The Damage Report talking about “15 Votes For Speaker” Kevin McCarthy saying that President Biden should involve himself in the criminal trial for #45...to send a message that #46 isn’t involved? WHAAA??? And GREAT point by John that, if somehow the roles were reversed, Combover Caligula would be spouting off on Truth Septic nonstop about it...



...and I think Chris Hayes gives us a pretty comprehensive look at this country’s most recent protest history, going back to student demonstrations over Vietnam and the Iraq war as a bit of a compare-and-contrast exercise with the college campus protests over Israel’s latest incursion into Gaza...could there be agitators in these current protests trying to radicalize the student protestors further? I’m sure that’s possible, but I also think dismissing the student protests out of hand is categorically wrong (and interesting note about Samuel L. Jackson)...



...and Texas Paul on the Meidas Touch network gives us his take on the bit about Kristi Noem shooting her dog for supposedly eating chickens, or something...there are ways to humanely put down the animal, especially if you live in rural America like Texas Paul does...I think “trying to live in a modern world off of old fiction” explains it...yep, lots of “made-up crap” indeed (more here...mildly NSFW/H)...



...and I believe Beau gave us some pretty thoughtful analysis on the U.S. House Dems protecting “MAGA Mike” Johnson against the vacate motion by Marjorie Train Wreck Greene as a reward for Johnson helping to get the Ukraine aid through...I agree with the observation that helping Johnson is probably the best alternative for now, since the Dems obviously don’t have the votes to install Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker...at least not yet...



...and Leeja Miller informs of the wingnut strategy against contraception, with Alabama’s Supreme Court’s ruling that “all embryo’ed lives matter”...I think Miller takes a pretty clear-eyed look at what these Philistines in robes want to do to the 14th Amendment (referring primarily to the SCOTUS of Hangin’ Judge JR)...the clip also discusses those troglodytes trying to ban mifepristone, along with trying to keep government agencies from doing their jobs, in this case the FDA, and turning it over to wingnut courts instead via hypothetical lawsuits (leading often to Trumpist lackey judge Matthew Kacsmaryk..clip is also a primer on the beyond-ridiculous Comstock Act...and yeah, leave it to the Catholic Church to come out against IVF and surrogacy...important history in particular at about 25:50)...NSFW/H (and again, I know I’m a little behind on some of these clips)...



...and happy belated 70th birthday to bassist Prescott Niles of The Knack.



And with that, I take my leave of you once again for a scheduled absence. I’ll plan to rev this thing back up again around 5/19 or 5/20.

Friday Stuff

(I'm going to be cutting back on posting for a bit, just to let you know.)

I know I mentioned this previously, but here is the clip of John of The Damage Report telling us about “MAGA Mike” Johnson getting the treatment he deserved at Columbia (with Elise Stefanik and the equally odious Virginia Foxx...GREAT points by John about the “party of Lincoln” being totally disingenuous, to say nothing of patronizing, in criticizing the student protests, having typically no interest in dissenting points of view from their prepared talking points...I mean, Johnson and his pals could be in D.C. doing some, y’know, actual legislating that HAPPENS TO BE THEIR DAMN JOBS, but they’re doing this nonsense instead)...



...and for the reality perspective on Israel’s incursion into Gaza, I thought Bernie Sanders was spot-on here (and I was glad to see this...God only knows the condition of the remaining hostages after all this time)...



...and I have to admit that I’m not paying a lot of attention to the trial of Combover Caligula in Manhattan, but I thought it was interesting (as Farron Cousins explains) to hear from the hilariously-inaptly-named David Pecker of the National Enquirer about all the negative stories involving #45 and how they were handled (letting the Trump gang know about some controversy blowing up and how to try and resolve it, a tactic which might actually be illegal, in addition to being immoral as hell of course...as far as I’m concerned, Mango Mussolini should be in the slam already, but this is where we are...sigh)...



...and I should note that I was a bit anxious about the fate of Dem U.S. House Rep Summer Lee of our beloved commonwealth of Pa, but it looks like she whupped challenger Bhavini Patel in the primary, fortunately (Lee brought back a gang of dough to her district and won endorsements up and down the Dem ballot, which had a lot to do with her victory...and truly awesome to stick it to Trumpist sycophant Jeff Yass by the way, who funded Patel)...



...and we were able to get a bit of a refund already from the feds, and I hope you were able to get yours also; with that in mind, Josh Johnson of The Daily Show speaks with tax expert Robert Wood about how we can maximize our gains, you might say...basically, if you own a home, never sell it and hang onto it until you die...got it...



...and I need something kind of mellow to close out the week, and I think this works.

Thursday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore brings us the news of Repug Mississippi guv Tate Reeves proclaiming Confederate Heritage Month again (additionally, kudos to Dem former MS governor Ray Mabus for speaking out against this garbage...this clip pretty much lays bare the ridiculous claim that the “war between the states” had nothing to do with slavery)...



...and Kyle Kulinski lets us know that Newsmax and OANN were recently smacked with having to pay out to Smartmatic and (probably) Dominion over 2020 election lies (terms not disclosed...couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch of scumwaffles – NSFW/H)...



...oh, and did everybody catch what Repug U.S. House Rep Tony Gonzales said recently about his colleagues, Big Stupid Head Matt Gaetz and the incredibly-inaptly-named Bob Good in particular (here)? And yeah, innocent until proven guilty and all that when it comes to the rep from Flori-DUUH!...but we’ll see, won’t we?...



...and when it comes to bottom-feeders from the “party of Lincoln” in the U.S. House, we can’t leave out Marjorie Traitor Greene, can we, who was recently trashed by Thom Tillis, among others, including “The Mittster” – she looks even worse than usual after threatening to dump “MAGA Mike” Johnson, with the foreign aid package getting through anyway despite her ridiculous threats (Jeff Waldorf explains)...to do something about “Capitol Hill Karen,” click here...



...and Emma V. of The Majority Report tells us about faculty joining protests on college campuses against Israel, starting with Columbia of course – “This is absolutely not one of these times when it’s time to be silent” indeed (mildly NSFW/H)...and it looks like Harvard has joined in also as noted here...additionally, I don’t have a clue as to what the U.S. House Speaker thought he was going to accomplish, but I’m glad he got the treatment he deserved (here)...



...and this tune sure works for me any time of the year, including now (and on any issue also, including the one noted in the prior clip).

Tuesday Stuff

Brian Tyler Cohen presents a clip of Dem U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff going after U.S. Senate Repugs for not moving on a border security bill co-authored by James Lankford, and of course U.S. House Repugs, doing the bidding of you-know-who, continue to act in bad faith (and yes, I know the foreign aid bills, concerning what Rosa DeLauro was saying, FINALLY passed for Ukraine, Taiwan and, unfortunately, Israel)...



Update 4/24/24: I meant that the aid package FINALLY passed the House; as noted here, it has now passed the Senate and Biden will likely sign onto it before too much longer.

...and while Ossoff quite rightly held the “party of Lincoln” to account, Dem Jasmine Crockett in the U.S. House brought the receipts, you might say, in response to typical BS talking points about immigrants driving up crime and increasing the size of municipalities and, by extension, big gumint benefits for blue states, when in reality, Texas grew by 2 congressional seats and New York lost a seat, as Crockett points out, as well as the fact that violent crime has gone down in all categories in Tarrant County and the rest of “the land of the yellow rose,” which shoots down another line of right-wing BS about immigrants and crime...



...and for more nonsense from the “loyal opposition,” John and Francesca of The Damage Report bring us this clip of CNN’s Dana Bash and South Dakota Repug guv Kristi (“Unsafe At Any Speed”) Noem trying to evade answering a question about abortion, of course, saying that there should only be an exception for the life of the mother (even though those “exceptions” are basically toothless)...Noem also says that “one tragedy shouldn’t beget another tragedy,” or something, meaning that the mother should be forced to carry her rapist’s baby to term, making Noem one of the most enlightened minds of the 13th century...



Update 4/26/24: Given the corporate media hagiography surrounding her, it's easy to forget what a monster Noem truly is (here).

...and for some truly absurd behavior from the Trump Party, Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report gives us a look at the West Virginia Republican gubernatorial primary, complete with some truly ridiculous transphobic ads, which I guess shouldn’t come as a surprise, mainly from Chris Miller and Patrick Morrissey...oh, but their PACS aren’t coordinating with the candidates...yeah, tell me another one...and for the zillionth time, KIDS AREN’T GETTING GODDAMN BOTTOM SURGERY as Figueredo tells us...and of course, this Moore Capito guy has to do his own fear mongering on this too...and by the way, what does it say about this guy’s parents, including her mom the senator, that they thought her maiden and married names would be good enough for this guy and he didn’t even need a first name of his own, but I digress (NSFW/H)...



...and Farron Cousins lets us know that the Dems won another special election recently, this time in Michigan...yes, as Cousins points out, these were pretty blue seats anyway, but the level of turnout is the key as far as I’m concerned, and we need to sustain that... I know Cousins isn’t telling us to rest on our laurels or anything, and neither am I, but I’m just saying that we should keep things in context, that’s all...



...and happy belated 65th birthday to Robert Smith of The Cure.

Monday Stuff

This New York Times retro video deals with the Columbine mass school shooting...we recently observed the 25th anniversary, believe it or not...I guess, like a lot of other people, I’ll be wrestling with exactly why the ‘90s was a time when (mostly rural) rage on the part of white kids whose brains were broken for some reason seemed to flourish, in this attack, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Branch Davidian siege, and assorted other incidents of violence...more than anything IMO, it’s the damn, stinking guns, but I would argue also that, in the “heartland,” our government’s failed neoliberal policies (and The Sainted Ronnie R is definitely to blame I believe, but he has company on both sides of the aisle), particularly towards our farmers and businesses that built up towns across the country, was a factor also, though there was plenty of violence in our cities too, and that remains the case across the country to this day, tragically...it takes more courage, imagination and will to tackle our gun violence epidemic across this country than I believe we possess at the moment, and I’d love to be wrong about that (more here)...



...and this Now This clip deals with Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs), which are pretty much vehicles for wingnut indoctrination and provide no medical purpose for pregnant people seeking an abortion or related services (and CPCs don’t deserve one stinking dime of federal funding – trying to cut that off is yet another good move by the Biden Administration flying under the corporate media radar, if you will)...



...and John Russell and More Perfect Union inform us of the biggest labor win in decades, and that is Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, TN just voting to join the UAW...awesome! Now, onto Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, and South Carolina! (and here is more on the BS anti-union efforts on the part of Repug Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, among others, presented because we can expect this at a minimum in response to other pro-union organizing)...



...and Jeff Waldorf lets us know here that “Capitol Hill Karen” received a warning, apparently, to lay off “MAGA Mike” Johnson from some conservative personality named Sarah Posner, who came to Johnson’s defense, along with this Liz Peek person...jeez, a wingnut “food fight” (pass the popcorn...and to do something about Marjorie Train Wreck Greene, click here)...



...and this clip from TYT shows Dem U.S. House Rep Jim McGovern pushing back against Repug U.S. House idiot Guy Reschenthaler, who accuses Democrats of being guilty somehow of anti-Semitic incidents and sympathizing with terrorists, or some such nonsense...and by the way, when it comes to a ridiculous over-reaction against pro-Palestinian protests, you’d be hard pressed to find a more excessive response than that of Columbia University President Minouche Shafik as noted here...



Update 4/23/24: It looks like U of P isn't doing any better on this issue (here).

...and by the way, Happy Earth Day.

Friday Stuff

Farron Cousins presents an ad from the Republican Accountability Project against the Gropenfuhrer and his boasting about ending Roe; the ad points out that 33 million women live in states where abortion is effectively illegal (and it looks like U.S. Senate Repug idiot Joni Ernst went out of her way to remind everybody which party is responsible for this atrocity)...



Update 1: And apparently Lex Luthor Scott wants to join the party, as it were (here).

Update 2: Gee, isn’t it great that we made women’s health care the responsibility of the states instead of enshrining Roe into law the way those dirty hippies wanted (#sarcasm – here)?

...and it appears that Marjorie Traitor Greene recently gained the support of equally useless U.S. House idiot Thomas Massie in Greene’s bid to try and oust Johnson as House Speaker...and the Mayorkas impeachment in the Senate got the treatment it deserved (here – NSFW/H)...



...and this clip from Sam Van Pykeren, Ari Berman and Mother Jones explains How Minority Rule Is Threatening U.S. Democracy Like Never Before...the point is that this country has been governed by a privileged class since its founding, and that is taking on new dimensions in our current era that we have to be on the lookout against and fight as our time and means allows (I know he’s hawking a book, but Berman is a pretty bright guy when it comes to this stuff IMO...one of the great points is the obscene amount of wealth from our politicians in this current time – how the hell can you expect them to represent us as opposed to their rich pals unless we scream out heads off, as it were? - clip is slightly NSFW/H also)...



...and the next time you hear anybody say, “oh, the two major political parties are the same...there’s no point in voting,” show them this clip of Dem U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff in Georgia going after the guy who is STILL somehow U.S. Postmaster General, and that’s Trumpist holdover Louis DeJoy...Ossoff calls out DeJoy over the beyond-ridiculous mail delays in Georgia, particularly around Atlanta apparently (here)...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report discuss what the media gets wrong about Trumpers with author David Masciotra...interesting background on the “exurbs” and how they took off in the ‘90s, right about when Fix Noise started and all of the rage against the Clintons was at full froth, and how the wealth level of those folks definitely belies their “populist” myth (see Jim Worthington of the Newtown Athletic Club in these parts)...yes, I believe Masciotra that a lot of the Trumpers are better off than we think, but there are PLENTY of individuals without a “pot,” if you will, who have signed on also...

...including individuals such as the asshat driving this vehicle (no idea of how wealthy this person is, but I'm guessing he/she is somewhere in the shrinking "middle class")...



...and this definitely isn’t the way I was planning to end the week – RIP Dickey Betts of The Allman Brothers Band...I’m sure a few folks will recall “Ramblin’ Man” and “Blue Sky” among other tunes, and they’re great, but I’m settling on this one.

Wednesday Stuff

Chris Hayes informs us that Repug U.S. Senator Tom (“Militarize Our Cities”) Cotton recently opined on Xitter/whatever King Elon is calling it about basically disrupting protestors any way possible, up to and including using violence (here also...and 139 separate incidents of running over those exercising their rights, huh, including the action of this loser? And yeah, I get it that it’s frustrating to sit in traffic when people are making a disruption, but the right of peaceful protest is articulated in the First Amendment to the Constitution, a document with which Cotton should familiarize himself)...



...and when it comes to putting wingnuts in their place, Jesse Dollemore brings us this item about George Stephanopoulos rather politely caling out New Hampshire Repug guv Chris Sununu for saying that he’ll support Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence after first saying he’d support Nikki Haley – I know there were folks tripping over themselves to praise Stephanopoulos, and he does deserve credit, but I think what was displayed is all the push-back that was allowed given the circumstances (I think both George S. and Hayes have been told how far they can go when calling out members of the “party of Lincoln”...Jesse is right of course to recall the wingnut caterwauling over Bill Clinton, though I most definitely do NOT agree that the impeachment was “necessary” – censure and move on, I always said, FWIW, and here is more Sununu family idiocy towards the Clintons...NSFW/H)...



...and John and Francesca of The Damage Report let us know that the stock of Truth Septic is continuing to take a nosedive (more here...yep, another scam from Our Ochre Abomination – and how would you like to be Jerry Dean McLain of Oklahoma from this story?)...



Update 4/20/24: Way too damn funny (here).

...and I know I’m a little delinquent on this item, but Sam and Emma of The Majority Report let us know that it looks like the nomination of Adeel Mangi to the federal appeals court is just about dead, for racist Muslim reasons of course from the usual “R” Party suspects as pointed out here (and leave it to some corpa-Dems in the Senate to pile on also, sadly, including Jacky Rosen in Nevada...and yeah, she’s in a tough re-election, but I don’t think that makes her position the right one by any means...as noted, this is a tough issue for Biden since he’s trying to build support from the Muslim community any way he can, from the self-inflicted wound of supporting our “ally” in Israel)...



...and Alec Opperman and More Perfect Union tell us about all the ways the food companies in this country are slowly poisoning us...interesting parallels between the purveyors of so much of our processed garbage and corporate villains like Philip Morris and how the former decided to market their products in much the same way as the latter, and with comparably ruinous health effects (more info here and here)...also, to protest the price gouging of Kellogg’s, click here...



...and I know I said yesterday that there are 2 belated 80th birthdays I want to get to, and here is the second one for Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna.

Tuesday Stuff

Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us that Repug U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (long “A,” in case you were wondering) of Idaho opposes the monthly child tax credit passed during COVID relief which pulled about 35-40% of kids out of poverty, and then it ran out and we said whoopsie! and Repugs blocked renewing it (along with President Manchin I believe)...sounds like there’s some half-assed scheme to try and bring the tax credit back tied to corporate tax cuts – OF COOOUUURRRSE!, as Cenk Uygur would say (more here)...



...and Farron Cousins informs us that U.S. Senate Repugs recently told MAGA Mike Johnson to not be a coward...yeah, I can’t think of the Kubrickian absurdity behind those Repug lowlifes in “the world’s greatest deliberative body” now supposedly being the responsible adults vs. the other chamber, or some such nonsense...I mean, Team “D” could be the ones yelling about this stuff instead, but I guess that’s too controversial for Dem Senate “Leader” Chuck Schumer (who will NEVER get called out in our corporate media for being utterly spineless)...



...and speaking of those unruly children in the U.S. House, David Pakman tells us about an incident from last December with Bo-Bo Boebert that we’re just finding out about now where she was apparently “three sheets to the wind” and trying to force a “selfie” with Combover Caligula...pathetic for so many reasons (and to do something about Boebert, click here)...



...and the prior clip is probably an appropriate segue into this one, where Leeja Miller points out all of the distractions that we’re faced with from our media consumption...yes, like Miller, I’m definitely not trying to be “holier than thou” either – one person’s mental break online can be another person’s source of ridicule I suppose, though I definitely don’t advocate attacking folks for going to Tik Tok or scrolling over Facebook or Instagram if that’s your “jam”...if Lauren Boebert actually acted like a reasonable adult in her job, then yeah, it probably would be excessive to include a clip having to do with her getting hammered at some fundraiser or whatever, but in her case, the hypocrisy is the point... interesting historical context on the rise of our preoccupation with celebrity, and I knew media consolidation was bad, but I didn’t know we’d gone from 50 companies down to six...ugh! – and yes, lay the blame at the feet of The Sainted Ronnie R, though he’s hardly alone on that one...one of the reasons why this clip is important IMO is because it explains how our preoccupation with what I would call “celebrity piffle” sucks all (or most) of the effort out of actual political engagement, as Miller points out (more here and here – NSFW/H)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen and Marc Elias discuss state Repugs in AZ trying to get rid of judicial retention elections so the wingnuts in robes can stay on the bench for-evah...some minutiae and fine print stuff discussed here by Elias, but this is what the “R” party does to stay in power since their numbers to do that through the electoral process are dwindling (and when it comes to judges, the goal of the “R” party of course is to stay in power to render more goofball decisions to take away voting agency from the majority of this country and hand more of it to the ”one percent”)...



...and there are a couple of belated 80th birthdays I’d like to acknowledge if I can, and here is one for John Kay of Steppenwolf...one reason why this tune is awesome is because it tells Kay’s early life story on the run with his mother from then-Soviet occupied East Germany to West Germany; I think it’s pretty safe to say that that experience informed some of the band’s more political work, which we can all draw from for inspiration as far as I’m concerned.

Monday Stuff

Like many of you I’m sure, I wanted to read up a bit on Iran’s attack on Israel with drones and missiles, which was widely anticipated after Israel blew up part of Iran’s embassy in Syria. And yes, Israel has the right to defend itself (and as I’ve said before, the murdering Hamas cowards should release all 10/7 captives immediately and turn themselves over for prosecution on criminal charges by an international court), and no, I don’t approve of ANYONE getting killed in a hostile action (and Israel should have declared a cease fire months ago IMO, but of course that would have interfered with their goal of exterminating the Palestinians). But only a total idiot – or “Bibi” Netanyahu, which are just about the same category as far as I’m concerned – would NOT have expected Iran to strike back in the manner in which they just did (an update is here).

So, with that admittedly long-winded explanation out of the way, I went to CNN’s website to read about the latest updates to the story. And I poked around on the site a bit reading some linked content, and I found myself wondering why I didn’t go to their site more often.

And then I saw this...

Oh, riiiight...I remember now. This network continues to give a paycheck to Michael Smerconish.

With all of the stories out there about internet revenue collapsing and online influencers having to scramble for a buck, to say nothing of legacy media consolidation and layoffs (haven’t heard of any recently, and I hope that means we’re done with that, but I’m afraid that will change as we progress through the year...love to be wrong)...with all of that going on, there’s never a “rainy day” for corporate media punditry, or so it seems.

I don’t know if Smerky is the biggest offender out there when it comes to “balance” at any cost, “access” opining to keep his audience jaded and (I would argue) uninformed to the desired level possible to gin up views and clicks, but he’s definitely in the upper (lower?) echelon in that category to my taste. He’s perfected his act of naysaying in the face of common sense and verifiable reality as perceived by anyone with greater than a double-digit IQ, in both print media in the Philadelphia Inquirer and also on AM talk radio (as stated, being “contrary” in the service of right-wing talking points is indeed a growth industry). So I suppose I feel a bit of guilt since the locale in which I reside is pretty much responsible for allowing Smerky to perfect his wretched act before he hit the big time. And I am quite sure that Smerky, ensconced on his corporate media perch, won’t have to worry about his next paycheck as long as he continues with his contrarian schtick in response to the biggest stories of the day, especially if it involves Dear Leader Trump as noted or anything having to do with the “R” party.

(And oh yeah, when it comes to Smerky, let’s not forget this, this and this.)

(And by the way, to the point of the headline - "F" Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence! If Smerky doesn't think #45 will get a fair trial in NYC, fine. Ship Bronzer Beelzebub off to GITMO, then.)

Now to the videos...Beau of the Fifth Column informs us that Biden is still trying to get a vote in the House for an aid package to Ukraine, and it sounds like, if that happens and Marjorie Trailer Park Greene gets her vacate motion on the calendar, then the Dems will support Johnson...a bit of a Faustian bargain I would say...and the “laundry” stuff has to do with this, and not, it isn’t a headline form The Onion...as Beau says, the pending legislation would mean our appliances would be LESS energy efficient and we would end up paying more in our utility bills...I think this is as close as Beau gets to being genuinely disgusted - once again, the T-shirt tells the story...



Update 4/16/24: Looks like attacking energy efficiency and raising our utility rates is off the table for now (here).

...and John and Sharon Reed of The Damage Report tells us about John Fredrickson, a Nebraska state senator who gave an impassioned speech against an anti-trans bill and managed to move some wingnut hearts and minds, apparently...and I knew there were a lot of garbage statewide bills to suppress the trans community, but 540??!! Jumpin’ Judas H. Priest on a pogo stick!! (I don’t think Reed brings a hell of a lot to the table in these discussions, but maybe that’s just me)...



...and Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins tell us that the company operating the vessel that hit the Key bridge in Maryland apparently has a long history of safety violations (one of the reasons I’m selective about these videos with Papantonio is because his default position is to hate on anything having to do with our government, when I believe going to the Coast Guard first about a problem like the one discussed makes sense since an employer is much more likely to sweep a potential problem under the proverbial rug such as the series of issues really that led to the boat accident that took out the bridge; also, Maersk is an absolutely huge international shipping company, and I think that a voice on behalf of our government is more likely to make an impact on them than a single whistle blower) ...



...and The Lincoln Project comes after RFK Jr. pretty hard in this clip, which I think is definitely deserved, though I’m not sure that it was necessary to mention that Jr. is a recovering heroin addict...



...and I now give you the latest installment of This Day In Doomsy History from 4/15/11...given that today is tax day, I think it’s apropos to focus on money matters, and with that in mind, Rachel Maddow gives us a clip of President Obama presenting some instructive math on how the “party of Lincoln” will NEVER stop trying to balance the budget on the backs of those who can least afford it and manage to feather the collective nest of the “pay no price, bear no burden” bunch, as they last did in December 2017 as mentioned here (and the actual number from the video is about $198K, but $200K is close enough)...



...and we managed to do OK for the feds and for PA, and I hope everything worked out for you when you filed also.

Friday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore informs us of “15 Votes for Speaker” Kevin McCarthy coming just short of naming Big Stupid Head Matt Gaetz as the reason for McCarthy’s ouster from the speaker role...see, Gaetz supposedly wanted McCarthy to get rid of an ethics investigation into the (alleged) matter of Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old...the “family values” party strikes again...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that some wingnut group called Border911 recently allowed Combover Caligula to speak, but they may have broken campaign finance law in the process...see, this group, because of their tax status, can’t do the whole political advocacy thing, but if you invite Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence to speak, how can that NOT be political?

...oh, and apparently, #45 will be in the vicinity of Le Manse Doomsy this weekend, but @RepBrianFitz is getting cold feet about paying homage to the leader of his party (here)...you can run but you can't hide, Bri-Fi - makes me recall this golden oldie...



...and continuing on the subject of our twice-impeached former *preznit, Rachel Maddow tells us about this pretty shady bank that rode to the rescue of Our Ochre Abomination when he ran into financial woes after his abortive reign in An Oval Office mercifully came to an end (Axos Bank, huh?)...and of course, the car loan financial predator who bailed out Dementia J. Trump is this Don Hankey guy, he of the utterly usurious rates for loans charged to individuals and businesses alike (these people doing favors for the Gropenfuhrer obviously haven’t learned the lesson that Everything That Trump Touches Dies, according to Rick Wilson)...



...and Thom Hartmann tells us about some wingnut Astroturf outfit called the Foundation for Government Accountability that is trying to kill the efforts to pass UBI in the states (video lags a bit apparently...yep, the typical one percent bastards are behind the efforts to screw us over yet again...source article is here)...



...and when it comes to the election, David Pakman tells us that Nicole Shanahan, the veep on the ticket with RFK Jr. as the prez candidate, has apparently gone incognito since she was named as junior’s running mate, which is yet another weird development in a totally off-the-wall campaign (good info on Jr. being less of a drag on Biden than he was a few months ago...need to keep that trend going in the right direction)...



...and John and Sharon Reed of The Damage Report inform us that dirty tricksters Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman got what they deserve for racist ’20 robocalls, having to pay up to the tune of $1.25 million...



...and we need to do all we can to make sure a certain Treasonous Insurrectionist doesn’t get anywhere near his old job again...God willing we’ll do that, but in that event, I guess he’ll need another scammy grifting outfit again to fall back on – with that in mind, The Daily Show gives us a glimpse of what “Trump Elementary” would look like...



...and in case you want to feel old for some reason, allow me point out that today is the 70th anniversary of the recording of this song.

Thursday Stuff

Robert Reich gives us examples of “greedflation,” namely concerning Coke and Pepsi, though corporate consolidation and price fixing affects just about every area of our lives as noted here (and with that in mind, kudos to Dem U.S. Senator Bob Casey of our beloved commonwealth of PA for this – to reward good behavior, click here...and yes, I know about this - I'm more concerned about trends than "sky is falling" hysteria given one news report)...



Update: More here.

...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report bring us a clip of Jon Stewart of The Daily Show interviewing Lina Khan, chair of Biden’s FTC, about Apple and AI consolidation (background on the lawsuit against Apple is here – maybe “No Malarkey Joe” isn’t giving us lefties everything on our wish list, but give him credit for the good work he’s doing, going against rapacious corporate bad actors of the “one percent”)...



...and turning once more to Arizona and the recent abortion-related atrocity, Chris Hayes gives us a pretty thorough rehashing of Tangerine Palpatine’s flip-flopping on this issue as well as a comprehensive look at all the ways Republicans, at every level of government, can strip women of their bodily autonomy...just up to us to redouble our efforts to punish these troglodytes where we can in the November elections...



...and this TYT clip covers a lot of the same ground, but it does manage to bring some more detail, in particular about the 1864 decision basically outlawing abortion that was concocted before Arizona was even a state...I think Ana’s presentation is spot-on, and Cenk is right that the policy is the issue, though I’m a little baffled as to why he’s treating that state’s Philistines in black robes with kid gloves the way he is...Cenk may be right that Biden is a winner out of this, but hopefully Ruben Gallego is too...I’m not sure where Ana is coming from with the “Joe Biden performing poorly in swing states” stuff – yeah, he has work to do, but I’d still rather be where he is than Bronzer Beelzebub...and of course, it wouldn’t be TYT without a pointless slam at “corporate Democrats”...there’s a time and a place for that, but NOT on this issue...



Update 4/12/24: Yeah, I would agree with this.

...and I should probably pay a little more attention to Jeff Waldorf than I have previously, particularly given this clip where he discusses the Biden EPA trying to limit “forever” PFAS chemicals in our drinking water...and I know you’ll be absolutely shocked (well, not really I guess) to find out that the EPA under Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence tried to rig it so companies wouldn’t have to report levels of PFAS chemicals, even under the Biden Administration (since some of these nematodes from #45 had burrowed their way into government jobs and could still do their dirty work, apparently...and it looks like the Trumpist culprits here are Mark Hartman and Nancy Beck)...



Update 4/21/24: More here.

...and David Pakman interviews Adrienne Shropshire, Executive Director of BlackPAC, a left-leaning political action committee focused on mobilizing and engaging with African American voters (refuting this “Oh boy, African Americans are gravitating towards Trump” BS...yes, some will vote for him of course, but the data points don’t back that up the claim of some kind of Trumpist wave as of now, and hopefully it will stay that way...we’ll see if the “independent” thing turns into a trend...I’m glad the video gets to the “nuts and bolts” of what Biden has done as president for African Americans vs. his ruinous predecessor, but GOD FREAKING ALMIGHTY, ARE THE DEMS EVER GOING TO GET THEIR DAMN ACT TOGETHER ON MESSAGING THE GOOD STUFF THEY’VE DONE, INCLUDING #46??!!)



...and maybe I shouldn’t include this clip right after the Pakman interview, but I guess this is as good a place as any...what a shame that O.J. Simpson never found the “real killer” (#sarcasm again) of former wife Nicole Brown and her boyfriend Ron Goldman...I could probably do a whole post on the legal circus surrounding Simpson’s criminal trial, as well as the pop culture references surrounding the running back, TV pitchman and actor of sorts, but let me just say this...I won’t mention my employer at the time the criminal trial verdict was handed down, but I’ll simply say that two of my white female co-workers told me they needed to see me in a conference room right away, and of course, being particularly clueless, I had no idea of what was going on...when I got there and closed the door, they told me they were boiling with rage over the verdict but believed they couldn’t say anything in our shared cubicle space because, if an African American co-worker overheard, the two women believed their co-worker(s) would have ratted them out to HR and they couldn’t take the chance...not trying to attack women or African Americans, but I’m just talking about a slice of reality in corporate America...



...and as a bit of a “tribute” to the guy who was found to be liable in the civil trial brought by the Goldman family, I’m including this song which alludes to a truly infamous courtroom moment in the Simpson criminal trial.