Saturday Stuff

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



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

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



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



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

Friday Stuff

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



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



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



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

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

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



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



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

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



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

Thursday Stuff

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



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



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



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



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

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

Wednesday Stuff

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



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



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



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



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



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

My 2024 U.S. Senate Voting Guide

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

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

Here is the guide:

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

(1) - Incumbent Kyrsten Sinema (I) retiring

(2) - Appointed Laphonza Butler (D) retiring

(3) - Robert Hyde (I) also running

(4) - Incumbent Tom Carper (D) retiring

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

(5) - Incumbent Mike Braun (R) retiring

(6) - Democrat David Costello is also running

(7) - Incumbent Ben Cardin (D) retiring

(8) - Incumbent Debbie Stabenow (D) retiring

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

(10) - Mitt Romney (R) retiring

(11) - Joe Manchin (D) retiring

Monday Stuff

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



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



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



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

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

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

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

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



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



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



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



Update: Well said.

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

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

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

Friday Stuff

Brittany Page, sitting in for David Pakman, tells us that Bronzer Beelzebub thinks he’d win California in an election if Jesus counted the votes, or something, in an interview with Dr. Phil that was so soft he should have brought a couple of pillows for the occasion (as Page says, even when Our Ochre Abomination is handed the talking points, he still fumbles them...and the CA stuff is yet another self-inflicted mess #45 will be able to just skate past with the help of our corporate media)...I’m not familiar with that quote from Anne Lamott, but it makes sense...



...and Thom Hartmann asks about the miraculously-healing wound in the right ear of the Gropenfuhrer from the Butler, PA shooting...interesting that we apparently haven’t seen any medical records related to the attack from the hospital where #45 was treated – I guess we’re supposed to take it on faith that it happened exactly the way Combover Caligula said it did...well, color me suspicious (and Thom alludes to the ongoing story of the incident at Arlington with Our Treasonous Orange Pustule and his minions...more on that is here...and I think Thom is referring to Evander Holyfield, not Mike Tyson)...



...and Miss Beau offers commentary on the Arlington mess...yep, there was a time when this garbage by itself would have been enough to sink a presidential campaign, but then again, how many damn times have we said that in the past about #45 and his myriad other f*ckups?...



...and OF COUURRRSE, we have this from the demented sociopath running for his old job...

...and Major General (Retired) Paul Eaton discusses the impact of Project 2025 on our military, as well as our country overall really – if you watch no other video in this post, please watch this one...



...and oh look...Cantaloupe Capone posted some particularly nutty memes on Truth Septic in response to Jack Smith refiling charges against him...and of course, what would a Trumpist rant be without at least one misspelling...double check Marc Elias, dude (NSFW/H)...

...and Farron Cousins tells us about another recording that has just come out demonstrating that alleged couch-f*cker J.D. Vance is truly one of the most sanctimonious assh*les on the planet, uttering more garbage about being uncomfortable around adults who don’t have biological children...imagine the response if a Democrat actually spouted hateful crap like this...



...and today would have been the 80th birthday of The Eternal Molly Ivins; to say we could use her incisive wit and observations now is an enormous understatement (and I'm pretty sure they were discussing this)...



...and in accordance with my annual tradition heading into the Labor Day weekend, I give you a little “Friday with Frank”; I have a couple of more summer tunes to get to before the official end of the season.

Thursday Stuff

Rachel Maddow brings us the story on how the “party of Lincoln” is turning into nothing but a Trumpist cult, turning her (and our) attention to the states...for example, in Michigan, someone in that state’s Repug party was escorted out of a state convention by police (and before anyone has a desire to feel sorry for Pete Hoekstra, allow me to point out his incredibly racist campaign ad some years ago)...and it looks like Flori-DUUH! went through something like that also with Christian Ziegler...and you KNEW Kari Lake in Arizona would show up in this mess somewhere too...and of course Ronna Romney McDaniel was forced out by Mary Trump...and oh yeah, let’s not forget Colorado also (chaos is indeed their brand, people)...



...and Robert Reich reminds us that it’s all about the stinking tax cuts for those “one percent” bastards out there who are willing to help crater our democracy to protect their privilege (and that sure as hell means supporting Combover Caligula)...



...additionally, Lawrence O’Donnell tells us that the DJIA and NASDAQ are apparently reacting favorably to the ascent of Kamala Harris in the polls, and the descent of the Gropenfuhrer (and Jack Smith refiled charges against Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence)...also, O’Donnell brings us Harris’s ad to encourage home ownership, which hits yet another important issue (and draws a contrast with Cantaloupe Capone and his predatory real estate practices)...and boy, is O’Donnell right about the electoral college (slightly NSFW/H at the very end)...



...and Ben Gleib tries to find some semblance of sanity from the leader of “Cult 45”...yeeaahh, it’s not going to happen...



...and this clip from More Perfect Union brings us the awful story of Antonio Gaston, a Stellantis assembly line worker who died on the job; you could make the case that he never should have had to relocate to the plant where he lost his life, but he was forced to go there after a plant closure in Belvidere, Illinois, which Biden, Shawn Fain, and the rest of the UAW are (commendably) fighting...



...and I thought this was a bit of a life-affirming newer tune...advice for us all.

Wednesday Stuff

Chris Hayes makes the case that the Dems need to win convincingly this fall, mainly because of that relic called the electoral college that gives an advantage to the south and Midwest in this country that works in favor of Repugs, as well as the garbage taking place on election boards across this nation in which they’re preparing not to certify a (hopefully) Harris-Walz win...I would say that the “compare and contrast” clips between Kamala Harris and Cantaloupe Capone speak volumes...



...and Miss Beau gets a bit POed (commendably) about Our Ochre Abomination’s claim about what was left behind from our Afghanistan withdrawal, as well as #45’s nonsense about no troops being shot at in 18 months, or some such idiocy – once more, I give you this in response...

...and concerning the VP nominee on the Repug ticket, I just want to revisit the DNC briefly to focus on the speech from John Russell of More Perfect Union (an MPU clip follows later), with Russell being an actual Appalachian, as opposed to the alleged couch f*cker (with Jordan Uhl, Sharon Reed and Yasmin Khan) ....um, I’m sure Sharon Reed wasn’t trying to be complimentary by calling Vance the “master of the pivot”; Vance isn’t a “master” of anything...and boy, that was some long-winded instruction from the “old gray lady” on how to cover Vance; wonder if they’d consider issuing instructions like that for a Dem? You know, like “when pronouncing the Dem presidential nominee’s first name, emphasize the first syllable,” and, “She didn’t actually allow MS-13 gang members into the country, despite Trump’s ads to the contrary”...somehow I think I already know the answer to that one...



...and despite what David Pakman is inferring here, I honestly don’t think that Vance will get dumped for RFK Jr (the latter just suspended his campaign)....good job by Pakman to lead in with the snarky stuff against the “brain worm” guy...I know I shouldn’t feel a shred of pity for Jr., but the stuff he’s talking about is so bonkers and not connected to anything remotely resembling politics in this country that I can’t help but feel a bit of sorrow, mainly for the fact that Jr. has so effectively driven a wedge into his storied family...in another context, his discussion about puberty rates could be useful, but not in any way when it comes to running for the White House (I’ve read that there are chemicals in our water that are a factor on that, but again, not useful stuff when running for the most important job in the country, if not the world)...



...and John Russell is back with this More Perfect Union clip on Elliott County, Kentucky – I mean no disrespect to the man who says quite rightly that Andy Beshear earned his vote, but quite wrongly adds that Joe Biden didn’t (another Dem screwup on messaging IMO), but those two opinions don’t make logical sense to me, especially considering this (Elliott County is on that list)...and I give Beshear credit for going back to the “FDR playbook,” which is what Dems should be doing EVERYWHERE as far as I’m concerned...



...and I now give you today's regional weather forecast.

Tuesday Stuff

David Shuster brings us the sorry tale of the Gropenfuhrer’s latest mess, this time at Arlington National Cemetery, posing for a photo-op in the company of our honored dead, which is pretty despicable and violates guidelines for visitors (here)...I would argue that he wouldn’t give a damn about the wreath-laying ceremony unless he could find a way to try and blame Biden/Harris for our withdrawal from Afghanistan (one response is here)...and Trump is such a military genius (snark) that he freed 5,000 of the Taliban as noted here...and concerning our service people, I’m still waiting for #45 to get the treatment he deserves for this...



Update: And why am I not surprised by this?

Update 8/29/24: So now it appears that "MAGA Mike" Johnson ran interference to get you-know-who into Arlington (here)? I hesitate to say that this is "weird"...but it kind of is.

...and Jesse Dollemore (who actually DID serve) tells us that it sounds like the leader of “Cult 45” is getting ready to bail on the ABC debate with Kamala Harris...and of course there are a whole bunch of misspellings in that ridiculous tweet, including Donna Brazile...and that was a really cool video in support of Harris at the DNC IMO, including questioning “I Like Beer” Brett K. (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and David Doel brings us the results of a recent CNN panel of undecided voters, with two-thirds of those polled saying they would vote for VP Harris...and indeed, getting people off the couch to vote, as Doel puts it, is ALWAYS an issue...and yeah, I think the real estate guy only cares about his wallet and that’s about it (Project 2025 not so much)...mildly NSFW/H also...



Update 8/28/24: Apparently the real estate guy was a Trump plant...figures (here).

Update 8/30/24: God almighty, not again! (here).

...and I know I alluded a bit to J.D. Vance (speaking of "getting off the couch" - heh) and the doughnut shop nonsense yesterday, but Sam, Emma and the crew from The Majority Report have more to say on that here...let’s see, Vance could have asked “Do you work other jobs besides this one?,” “Are any of you in high school or college?,” “Do you support family members?”...yeah, this is about what you would expect from someone trying to maintain a semblance of humanity amidst all of his obvious fakery...simple human decency is obviously a bridge too far for Senator “Hillbilly Elegy”...



...and this “TYT Investigates” clip lets us know about the efforts of Tim Walz to pass the STOCK Act, which is a ban on insider trading, signed into law by former President Obama here; Walz commendably moved this forward with the help of late U.S. House Reps Louise Slaughter (Dem) and Walter Jones (Repug)...I think there should also be a ban on stock trading, period, for federal government officials, but I’m not hopeful about that to be honest...



...and it’s hard for me to believe that it’s been 34 years today since we lost SRV – I think the occasion calls for this tune among his truly memorable body of work.

Monday Stuff

Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report informs us that even some conservatives were grossed out by the attacks on Tim Walz’s son Gus at the Democratic National Convention (I thought kids were supposed to be “off limits,” which is why I’ve never said anything about Barron Trump, for example)...and as we see, Coulter and her lizard-brained, simpatico online nut cases said stuff typically cruel and stoo-pid...and by the way, I give Matt Walsh ZERO points here because his biggest problem with the attacks on Gus Walz is that they reflect an inability to “think strategically”...that’s about what you’d expect from a guttural lowlife like Walsh whose hateful vitriol ends up encouraging bomb threats against a children’s hospital...and I reluctantly have to go along with Figueredo here on the response to the Palestinian protests near the end; yeah, I get it that the Dems need AIPAC, but that doesn’t mean that they can pretend Palestinians don’t exist either...and kudos to former First Lady Michelle Obama for this (NSFW/H)...



...and David Shuster informs us that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg gave it back recently to somebody named Lawrence Jones of Fix Noise over a smorgasbord of wingnut BS (Biden’s too old and incompetent, inflation, gun crime, the border, blah blah...and speaking of The Roger Ailes BS Factory and the Dem convention, I give you this...and in a related item, I give you this)...



...and Emma of The Majority Report presents a brief clip of Bernie Sanders’s speech attacking big $$ in politics (a bit of a veiled reference to AIPAC IMO for dark money spent to unseat Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman in their primaries, though I also think those two had other issues besides the Israel lobby)...



...and sticking with the Dem convention somewhat (that’s where John and Brett Erlich were in this clip), we learn about an ad from Mango Mussolini attacking Harris on the border (God, this is boring!)...using images from Trump’s ruinous term and one from Morocco...womp womp! (this is a bit of a follow-up to the Tennessee Brando clip on Friday)...

...and Kyle Kulinski lets us know about J.D. Vance dodging the question about raising the minimum wage...good point by Kyle about mentioning the PRO Act and the fact that the couch f*cker (allegedly!) didn’t show up for the Senate vote on expanding the child tax credit...oh, and there’s this too (NSFW/H also)....



...and happy belated 70th birthday to Elvis Costello; once read this pretty cool memoir years ago, for what it's worth.

Friday Stuff

Tennessee Brando brings us a clip of Repug politicians refusing to carry water for Dementia J. Trump on the border any more, including James Lankford, “The Mittster” and Dan Crenshaw...absolutely shocking to hear common sense on this from Chip Roy also, but yeah, this is where we’re at...and I think we’ve truly entered The Twilight Zone when Dubya criticizes nativism and Smoot-Hawley, and #43 is absolutely right; of course, it would be nice if Commander Codpiece would actually criticize The Gropenfuhrer by name, but yeah, that will happen when everything turns into sunshine, lollipops and rainbows I know...and none of this will stop the "OMIGOD KAMALA HARRIS LET MS-13 GANG MEMBERS OVER OUR BORDER AND THEY DID CRIMING!!!" garbage ads...



...and Robert Reich tells us why the rents are so high, and I know it’s not exactly a revelation to find out that it’s because of price gouging, which is the theme of the next set of clips...and yeah, stock buybacks continue to be the insidious “gift that keeps on giving,” brought to us by The Sainted Ronnie R...looks like these private equity bastards are using a company called Real Page that allows them to collude on pricing...more on the meat companies follows in the next clip...



...and this from More Perfect Union tells us about some outfit called Agri Stats (alluded to in the Reich video) which apparently gathers consumer data shared by the meat packing industry (Tyson and Cargill in particular) in an effort to regulate prices (following the example of Real Page as noted above), which (and cut me a little slack on this, OK?) is quite likely ILLEGAL AS FREAKING HELL...not surprised to see Keith Ellison doing the right thing here, and I’m also not surprised to hear that overpricing at Walmart has driven price gouging...The Sherman Act may be the most important piece of antitrust legislation we’ve ever signed into law, and yeah, it needs updating for sure as stated in the clip...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report bring us the news that a body of work is emerging showing that it’s pretty much price gouging that’s responsible for corporate inflation...nice work by The Groundwork Collaborative (and as soon as I saw Stephen Moore’s mug, I knew that we were in for a load of “bullpucky” about “oh, we can’t have an anti-price gouging law on the federal level because it will kill ‘mom and pop’ businesses,” putting aside the fact that many states already have such laws, as noted in the clip..and GREAT POINT about keeping Lina Khan on the job)...



...and as far as I’m concerned, you can always count on Thom Hartmann for an important history lesson on how we’ve come to this point where the “one percent” have managed to enact policies and write laws (and spout their media propaganda) that afflict the afflicted and comfort the comfortable, you might say...in the late 70s, what you would call movement conservatism was flat on its metaphorical back, but “The Gipper” brought it back to life and supercharged it...



...well, now that I’ve totally bummed everybody out, allow me to present a newer upbeat tune to kick off our weekend.

Thursday Stuff

Brian Tyler Cohen brings us this clip of Cantaloupe Capone whining about how poorly he thinks he was treated by the Obamas at the DNC, which is hilarious when you consider that the leader of “Cult 45” rose to prominence of a sort by questioning the patriotism of our 44th president over and over...I honestly didn’t think Former President Hopey Changey was trying to get personal, but I could be wrong; I just thought he was mimicking the “accordion hands” bit from Our Ochre Abomination...but yeah, it sure would be funny if he DID mean to be personal, huh?...



...and Anthony Vincent Gallo of Occupy Democrats discusses the contrast between the affection shown to Dem VP nominee Tim Walz by former students/football players and the disdain for the Gropenfuhrer, and kudos to Neil Young for allowing the use of one of his many great tunes (and I know we’re all quite rightly remembering this great moment also)...



...and as a bit of a compare-and-contrast exercise, I give you this from The Lincoln Project on who would likely be holding cabinet positions in an utterly dystopian second term for Combover Caligula...



...and as the head of the “party of Lincoln,” Bronzer Beelzebub is more guilty than anyone else of depriving women of health care as a result of repealing Roe, but there are plenty of other culprits in his party who share blame as well...John Iadarola and Danielle Moodle remind us of that as they bring us this AP study informing us that over 100 pregnant women in medical emergencies were turned away from hospital ERs...GREAT point that we have the training and technology in this country to provide the medical care that pregnancy deserves, but wingnut ideology is the obstacle here as we know...



...and normally I would pay more attention to a stink bug or dung beetle than I would to a contemptible guttersnipe like Charlie Kirk, but I think that we need a reminder every once in a while of what a loathsome POS he truly is, as Sam Seder and Emma Vigeland of The Majority Report tell us (NSFW/H)...



...and I’m continuing to work my way down my list of summer tunes with this number.