Friday Stuff

Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich reminds us that Mango Mussolini will try to take credit for the Biden economy, because of course...can’t tell you how exasperating it is to view all of this data and know that Biden still lost; tells you how insidious and omnipresent right-wing BS is in our media and what passes for political discourse...also, I would blame the absolute, cruel failure to give Biden credit for anything whatsoever on the economy, which depressed turnout and aided in registering Republican voters, which was off the charts last year in our beloved commonwealth, sadly...if you want to take #46 to task for Israel, fine, but that’s another discussion (and I’ve already spent a lot of time haranguing the Dems for finding a way to lose to our bulbous orange demagogue, so I’ll hold off on that for now)...



..and Jesse Dollemore gives us the latest on the utterly terrible D.C. helicopter/plane crash, which killed 67 people...I still can’t believe that we’re going to be looking at four more years of preposterous bullsh*t from this utterly lazy POS – yeah, Big Orange Cheetoh, the FAA was recruiting mentally disabled people or whatever under Biden, which is why THERE WERE EXACTLY NO HORRIBLE INCIDENTS OF THIS TYPE UNDER YOUR PREDECESSOR!!!...and yeah, if you have “common sense,” then I’m a freaking summa cum laude Ph.D. (and I definitely am NOT, for the record)...and this clueless meat sack said he wanted to rebuild the FAA, but he lost the election?? God, I’m already done with this ochre turd!! (slightly NSFW/H).

And by the way, as an astute YouTube commenter noted:

January 20 – Trump fires the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, the department in charge of flight safety
January 21 – Trump freezes hiring for air traffic controllers
January 22 – Trump disbands the Aviation Safety Advisory Committee
January 28 – Trump sends out a buyout/retirement demand to existing employees, removing experienced safety staff
January 29 – First American mid-air collision in 16 years.

Here is the Dollemore clip...



...and David Doel gives us more on issues with the FAA that led to this tragedy...and yes, this goes back to Biden and before, but really, it’s the fault of Congressional underfunding...and good job by Doel to point out YET AGAIN how our corporate media gives Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence cover, this time over #47’s ridiculous DEI charge...and I almost feel like I need to apologize for including more clips from this lying orange abomination (this report echoes info in the above list I know)...and suuure, privatization is supposedly the answer for air traffic controllers, right? Dear God (and that story about the San Carlos airport should be front page news everywhere)...again, if standards for air traffic controllers were allegedly so low under Obama and Biden, then HOW COME THERE WERE NO AIR DISASTERS UNTIL #47 CAME ALONG???!!! (NSFW/H)...



...given all this, what do we have in response from the “opposition” party? Well, Sam of The Majority Report gives us the latest on that (and by the way, “leader” Jeffries in the U.S. House, I was always taught that God helps those who help themselves)...and I don’t want to get started on Schumer, though part of me wants to...how about a little “fire in the belly,” Chuck?? And yeah, leading with “We didn’t defund the police”?? WHY ARE YOU STILL ECHOING BS REPUG TALKING POINTS???!!! TIME TO GO ON OFFENSE, YOU FREAKING COWARD!! At least J.B. Pritzker in Illinois is doing what he’s supposed to (NSFW/H also, though Sam’s outrage is commendable IMO)....



Update 2/1/25: I think it’s appropriate to call out Dems when they don’t stand up the way they should, but to be fair, there were those on the “D” team in the Senate who definitely did the right thing in recent hearings for #47’s garbage Cabinet nominees as noted here.

...and Farron Cousins of Ring of Fire tells us here about how, basically, the world is laughing at Cantaloupe Capone, still over his first administration (Cousins recorded this before the deadly air crash, it should be noted)...can’t possibly imagine what will be the result of this next ruinous term (and yeah, I also can’t imagine the tidal wave of garbage from Combover Caligula that has managed to get the “memory hole” treatment, and it is indeed curious that this is coming out only now as Cousins says...good to get in a plug for Ground News - media literacy should be taught in every school in this nation)...



...and RIP Marianne Faithfull, a true rock n’ roll survivor who was once linked romantically with Mick Jagger (I always thought the Rolling Stones tune “Wild Horses” was about Jagger and Faithfull, but apparently, I was wrong about that...it happens, what can I say?).



Update: For any resident of Northeast Philadelphia impacted by the plane disaster near Northeast Philadelphia Airport who may be in need of shelter, contact Samuel Fels High School; they are providing temporary assistance. Their number is 215-400-7100.

Thursday Stuff

(I know we’re still finding out more about the DC plane/helicopter crash, which is terrible, and our hearts go out to the victims and their families of course...oh, and how about if we remember this while we’re at it? In other words, if this had happened under Biden, our fourth estate would be screaming for impeachment by now.)

Update 1: As predictable as flatulence after indigestion (here).

Update 2: I would say that our former transportation secretary would have insight into this (here).

Chris Hayes gives us a rundown here on the confusion caused by Dear Orange Leader and his cruel and idiotic spending freeze, which of course caused widespread confusion...yep, all of this madness (cutting funding for Meals on Wheels and veterans suicide prevention, for example) is indeed right out of Project 2025 as Hayes rightly says; this is Mango Mussolini trying to inflict maximum pain and hardship in an effort to make our entire government, to say nothing of our lapdog media and legal institutions, bend to his twisted, corrupt will...I know I linked to the HuffPo article about this yesterday...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen gives us an update on the spending freeze, with Jessica Tarlov of Fix Noise giving a reality check to those cackling hyenas on her network...and yeah, this Karoline Leavitt person sends out a tweet causing still more confusion, leading to a judge ruling to unblock the OMB freeze (do we all have whiplash yet from this insanity?)...I know I’ve criticized Dems for being pretty supine while all of this chaos is raging, but someone else who deserves credit for standing up IMO is AOC, and I didn’t want that to go unmentioned...



...and Jesse Dollemore informs us of a brand new lie from this seedy bunch of grifters running the executive branch (in the person of the aformentioned Trumpette Karoline Leavitt), and that has to do with $50 million of condoms to Gaza...seriously (great job by Jesse to not just debunk this latest nonsense, but also to talk about how lies from Trumpworld get propagated by the wingnut echo chamber, and leave it to “the old gray lady” to say, “oh, Leavitt was resolute in her talking points,” or some such nonsense, as if that justifies this madness...mildly NSFW/H)...



...and I don’t have much to add to this man’s incredibly (but appropriate IMO) NSFW/H commentary...

This gentleman is spot-fucking-on. 🎯🎯🎯👇 pic.twitter.com/uFXUARQWuN

— Bill Madden (@maddenifico) January 30, 2025

...and I guess all of the Gropenfuhrer’s goofball Cabinet nominees have been confirmed by now, sadly, except “Brain Worms” RFK Jr. and “Tokyo Rose” Gabbard, but that doesn’t mean that it’s too late to push back against them anyway, as The Lincoln Project reminds us (and I'll cut Lincoln a little slack on the "competent mainstream conservatives" bit for now)...



...and I also guess this is another one of those songs I’m in the mood to hear at times like these (echoing the Lincoln Project clip) – I would ask the title of this tune to Trump supporters if I thought they were capable of coming up with an intelligent answer.

Wednesday Stuff

Emma V. and Matt Lech of The Majority Report inform us that Daily Wire nematode Michael Knowles wants to celebrate Trump’s mass deportations because he’s a sick, twisted SOB...I have to admit that I’ve never heard of anybody smiling and laughing when discussing the “trail of tears” before...and by the way, about that, who were the emigres? WE WERE! THE NATIVE AMERICANS WERE ALREADY HERE!!! (and yes, there I go with the ”all caps” again I know)...interesting, but sad, history, mentioning also the “Palmer raids,” “Operation Wetback” and Japanese internment during World War II (very mildly NSFW/H)...



Update 1/30/25: Uh huh.

...and changing the mood a bit here, Seth Meyers brings us up to speed on the Gropenfuhrer and his little hissy fit with Denmark/Colombia and purging the government watchdogs...and gosh, I never knew that trees were “wet” (#facepalm)...

....and as far as some of #47’s idiotic ramblings about the California wildfires are concerned, “people who actually live in trees” could not be reached for comment. #sadattemptathumoriknow

Here is the Meyers clip...



...and someone named Allan Piper brings us a list of Trump’s broken “day one” promises (hmmm...wonder if our utterly bought-and-paid-for courtier media would try putting together a report like this? And yes, I think I already know the answer)...I know it’s hard to wade through all of the nonsense from this numbskull (referring to #47 of course), but I honestly don’t think he has the authority to ban “sanctuary cities,” though that won’t stop him from trying of course...

Time for a Mad King Don broken promise summary and we’re only 3 days in. pic.twitter.com/zWh6xZlYrq

— 𝔗𝔯𝔲𝔱𝔥 𝔐𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 (@politicsusa46) January 22, 2025

...and echoing the Meyers clip a bit, Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Trump getting put in his place by a Danish politician...I didn’t know that Lisa Murkowski co-authored the statement about Greenland, but it makes sense; I’ve had lots of disagreements with Murkowski, but she comes from a family of political fighters and she’s nobody’s fool, unlike #47...and yeah, all of Cantaloupe Capone’s chaos is a distraction for the benefit mainly of our lapdog corporate media and his lemming followers while he rewards himself and the “pay no price, bear no burden” bunch...



Oh, and by the way, this may be a good time for a public service announcement.

I vaguely recall hearing about an alleged opposition political party in this country that has a storied history of standing up for the majority of people by providing relative income and health security in old age, support of human rights, investments in 21st-century technology, ensuring women’s right to bodily autonomy, advocating for common sense gun laws, paying some degree of attention to the climate crisis, trying to enact a measure of student loan relief...you know, stuff like that. I think the first letter of that party is a “D,” I believe. I think it’s necessary to remind people of the existence of this party because they sure have been freaking quiet lately (with the commendable exceptions of Rashida Tlaib and Jasmine Crockett). Gee, it sure would be nice if they would say or try to do something to push back against all of this insanity, wouldn’t it (here)?

(OK, to be fair, this is progress, but I have to admit that I don’t know what’s worse: Fetterman siding with the Repugs against the ICC to burnish the PA senator’s “everything Israel does is right” bona fides, or the fact that Manchinema may actually have been right after all to preserve the filibuster.)

Update 2/6/25: And yeah, I think this says it (and that is an absolutely STAGGERING disapproval number from Hispanics).

...and well, at least SOMEBODY ELSE is showing a spine (and in our corporate media no less), and as luck would have it, he’s likely going to be leaving us for at least a little while, and that’s Jim Acosta of CNN, who decided that enough was enough (you can also include Professor Krugman, and I realize I didn’t mention anything about him washing his hands, you might say, of “the old gray lady”)...as we learn from here, Acosta was basically assigned to the graveyard shift for his anti-Trump advocacy, and in response, he walked (Ben Meiselas of the Meidas Touch Network tells us about it)...



...and I’ve kind of punted on this clip over the last few days from VoteVets, reminding a certain orange *preznit to do right by the Afghan interpreters who helped our troops during the war and who, as a result, risked their lives and continue to face reprisal in their war-torn country...



...and Monday marked Holocaust Remembrance Day, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Allies during World War II...sorry I neglected to mention that earlier (here)...an elderly lady recalls the horrors of the Nazis from her experience...she also discusses details getting published in the media based on eyewitness accounts of escaping survivors near the end of that war...I don’t really have anything to add except to take note of this tragic lesson of history (more here)...



...and yesterday 1/28 marked the 40th anniversary of the recording of “We Are The World,” which raised about $80 million for African famine relief...maybe it was all a little “self congratulatory” I’ll admit, but I think we should take to heart the overall positive accomplishment of the whole thing (as opposed to now I suppose, where online trolls would be tempted to utterly denigrate such an effort if it took place today...I’d love to be wrong about that).

Tuesday Stuff

John Iadarola and Yasmin Khan of The Damage Report tell us about Bo-Bo Boebert defending pardons for the 1/6 insurrectionists and offering them tours because of course (I think they proved already that they know where the building entrances are, seeing as how they tried to utterly destroy them...and rest assured that, even though those life forms in Colorado sent her back to Congress, that doesn’t mean I’ll stop referring to Boebert's past misdeeds)...and boy, is John’s question at the end spot-on (and I thought Yasmin Khan provided some pretty clear-eyed commentary also, especially about cops having “qualified immunity”...if she and her fiancée are still trying to get out of Texas, I wish them good luck)...



...and if I say something about that vaping, groping harpie from Colorado, then I guess I’m almost legally obligated to include something about Marjorie Trailer Trash Greene...Richard Ojeda informs us that Dem congresswoman Rashida Tlaib went after that biological mistake from the peach state, and unsurprisingly, the issue was immigrants (and yep, I had a feeling this was over that horrible Laken Riley bill that Bri-Fi and WAY TOO MANY GODDAMN CHICKEN DEMS supported, and I was right...I got into that here)...”it’s not about justice, it’s about power” indeed, along with pointing out that Our Lord didn’t preach “blessed are the snitches” as Ojeda rightly says...and by the way, does it even do any good any more to note that Bronzer Beelzebub and his pals killed the Lankford/Murphy bill in the Senate that gave the “R” team everything they wanted on this issue? (Ojeda has had a lot of good commentaries, but this may be his best IMO)...



...and Ojeda talks about creeping authoritarianism (actually, at this point, it may be at a full gallop, tragically), and Thom Hartmann does here also, informing us that “seize the media first” is pretty much right out of the authoritarian playbook...didn’t know that half the country gets their news from social media, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised (explains even more how badly the Dems fell down on that in the last election)...and yep, I also think we need a new phrase to go after these one percent bastards; I mean, we need a lot more than that, but that’s a start anyway (and I think calling them “the morbidly rich” works also)...have to admit that I didn’t know about the “two Santa Claus” theory from The Sainted Ronnie R...



...and in keeping with the dictatorial theme of Dear Orange Leader, Jesse Dollemore brings us the tale of Trumpist lickspittles basically interrogating applicants for administration jobs about when their supposed “MAGA revelation” took place...yep, anybody paying attention to this stuff surely knows at this point what Jesse is emphasizing; namely, that #47 has always wanted nothing but to be a dictator and to make sure those catering to him align with his interests and definitely not what is best for the country...



...and I guess we should take whatever humor we can get when we can get it; Ronny Chieng of The Daily Show lets us know about Our Ochre Abomination trying to end birthright citizenship and getting slapped down by that “bleeding heart” Reaganite judge...



...and as we rearrange the deck chairs while in the path of the proverbial iceberg, I thought it would be worthwhile to enjoy a newer tune while we still can (very slightly NSFW/H for a second).

Monday Stuff

Brian Tyler Cohen and election lawyer Marc Elias talk about Our Ochre Abomination firing 17 inspectors general (or more, tragically), and as Elias points out, what Trump did is illegal of course for reasons Elias notes, though I’m sure Cantaloupe Capone will appeal this to the SCOTUS, who will just say “no prob” and that will be it – love to be wrong...didn’t think about a connection to Pete Hegseth, but sadly, that makes sense (as well as the utter cowardice of the “party of Lincoln” in response)...oh, and on the subject of cowardice, yep, our legacy media is culpable as Cohen says, but more food for thought on that (namely, the near-total absence of protest from the “D” team) is here...and yes, I get Elias’s point that the Dems don’t have power, but that doesn’t mean they have to be silent either...they lose votes not because people actually like Republicans, but because they don’t have a clue about what Dems stand for BECAUSE THEY’RE MISSING IN ACTION AT TIMES LIKE THESE!...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report discuss a recent column by someone named Hamilton Nolan who employes the term “gangster style fascism,” which I believe is completely apt unfortunately; yeah, Dems will get pilloried in attack ads in response when it comes time to run for re-election, BUT THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN ANYWAY REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU DO!!!...I’m presenting the clip of Bishop Budde’s wonderful words again, and it’s important indeed to note the reaction of the couch f*cker and his wife (and I think I mentioned the idiocy with that asshat Mike Collins before also)...the real “chef’s kiss” as far as yours truly is concerned was that typically juvenile post on Truth Septic...and boy, did I get flashbacks to growing up R.C. myself when I heard the phrase “we’ll talk about it in the car on the way home”...



...and Chris Hayes discusses Bronzer Beelzebub going to CA to meet Gavin Newsom over the LA wildfires...#47 wants to kill FEMA of course, which is right out of Project 2025 (Hayes speaks with Dem U.S. House Rep Robert Garcia, who echoes the fact that Project 2025 is indeed here)...and also, by the way, #47 made noises about trying to withhold aid from California if that state didn’t put voter ID in place – hmmm, trying to withhold aid to seek political favors...why does that ring a bell? Oh yeah...it’s because THAT’S WHAT HE TRIED TO DO WITH ZELENSKYY IN UKRAINE! WHICH WAS THE REASON FOR THE FIRST DAMN IMPEACHMENT!!! (and sorry about going crazy with the all caps, but I think it's warranted)...



...and on the one hand, I’m sorry for this lady, but on the other hand, WERE YOU F*CKING ASLEEP WHEN PEOPLE LIKE YOURS TRULY WERE WARNING ABOUT WHAT A THREAT THIS GUY WAS???!! (sorry – there I go with the “all caps” again)...

“Us Latinos voted for Trump and thought he would keep his word. Now we’re afraid to go to work” pic.twitter.com/n3enS0IhgN

— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) January 25, 2025

...and a response to the above clip is here...

IMPORTANT INFORMATION.

If you know an undocumented immigrant who is currently living in fear, please be sure to pass on this important information. pic.twitter.com/iQ76GXMmMW

— 𝔗𝔯𝔲𝔱𝔥 𝔐𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 (@politicsusa46) January 25, 2025

...and this song has been on my mind recently, probably for reasons that are painfully obvious.

Friday Stuff

Kyle Kulinski tells us about Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence having a good chuckle when he’s asked about scamming his sheep-like followers over some inaugural “meme coin”...and yeah, our institutions of power, you might say (though now they’re pretty powerless IMO) continue to do their best to normalize this grift (NSFW/H)...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report brings us the tale of Flori-DUUH! and CA farmer Tony DiMare, who is worried NOW about losing immigrants to pick his crops (where the $#@! were you last year when it mattered, ace?)...and boy, is Krystal Ball ever right about AI being MUCH MORE of a threat to your job than any immigrant could ever be (and more fool the idiots who fell for Bronzer Beelzebub’s con on that)...like many of you I’m sure, I’ve witnessed some utter horror stories on Linkedin about people applying for hundreds of jobs but getting turned down because of how an AI program is used to disqualify them...the “brain drain” this country is going to experience is going to be incalculable and beyond devastating to our economy and way of life...also didn’t know about #47 shutting down the CBP1 app to help those trying to emigrate here legally, but should we really be surprised at this point? Additionally, good job by Figueredo to tie this back to the awful Laken Riley bill, supported by 10 U.S. Senate alleged Democrats (and no disrespect to Figueredo, but it’s truly naïve of him to expect Chuck Schumer to have a spine on this issue or anything else); terrific analysis of this garbage bill by Mark Joseph Stern in particular (also NSFW/H)...



...and I think Dem U.S. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut has been pretty steadfast in warning us about Cantaloupe Capone, and I reluctantly have to admit in fairness that Nicolle Wallace has been that way also...

We are witnessing the unraveling of American democracy by a morally bankrupt authoritarian who believes he is above the law. 😳👇 pic.twitter.com/vAvwNsOqc2

— Bill Madden (@maddenifico) January 23, 2025

...and Brittany Page, sitting in for David Pakman, lets us know here that those pardoned by the Gropenfuhrer for the 1/6 insurrection are apparently planning to act like #47’s personal mob, at least hinting at more violence (including Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys, and the “QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley, who now wants to “buy some mother f***ing guns”), which was predicted by – oh, I don’t know – exactly EVERYONE IN THIS COUNTRY WHO WAS PAYING ATTENTION TO THIS STUFF!!!...



...and Jesse Dollemore lets us know that that allegedly “godly” man “MAGA Mike” Johnson has what you could charitably call a dismissive attitude towards the pardons/sentence commutations handed down to the 1/6 treasonous insurrectionists by Our Ochre Abomination (and yeah, the lying comes as easily as breathing to life forms like Johnson)...



...and David Doel brings us a clip of AOC and Jon Stewart discussing our current predicament (and why this time is different) and what to do about it...yeah, I’m so glad Mango Mussoliini is trying so hard to address the cost of eggs and gas while he gives $500 billion to developing an AI capability...and yes, as sickening as it is, the whole “cultural acceptance” angle now is truly gut-churning (and by the way, I don’t think it’s over the top to say that Snoop Dogg is officially dead to me now)...and GREAT point from Stewart about us needing to bend the proverbial arc of the moral universe that is SUPPOSED to bend towards justice, along with pointing out that, indeed, ways emerge and moments emerge...I always thought that Dubya was electorally invincible and so was his party, but then along came Katrina...and boy, is Doel ever right to point out that right now is the time for collective action (briefly NSFW/H as well)...



...and speaking of eggs, here's an incredibly NSFW/H commentary on the subject...

WARNING ⚠️ Expletives abound, but ItsLuke, caught my attention. So deep breath and here we go.

I can see he’s going to be a regular feature at Truth Matters 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/DhwZfcQutK

— 𝔗𝔯𝔲𝔱𝔥 𝔐𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 (@politicsusa46) January 23, 2025

...and RIP Garth Hudson, the last surviving member of The Band.

Thursday Stuff

Rachel Maddow notifies us pretty much of the start of #47 and “Authoritarianism 101” (pardoning the miscreants responsible for 1/6/21)... it is indeed incredibly unsettling to see how this parallels the behavior of other strongmen around the world as Maddow says...but it’s not like we weren’t freaking warned, people! Why the f*ck do you think people like yours truly were yelling about this stuff last year??!! And boy, is Maddow ever right at the end...and gee, it looks like this got the attention of “The Thin (Skinned) Blue Line,” which, to me, prompts the question...WHAT THE HELL DID YOU EXPECT WHEN YOU ENDORSED HIM??!! WERE YOU ASLEEP WHEN #47 CAMPAIGNED ON RELEASING THESE CRIMINALS??!! (here)



...and Sam of The Majority Report lets us know about the Nazi salute from King Elon I to #47's inauguration crowd; I agree with Sam that this was Musk’s attempt at trolling people, though of course it rightly earned Musk even more condemnation than he’s received already...nice job by Sam to recall the Gilbert Gottfried story about Kurt Waldheim and the salute...also, Musk must’ve gotten the message about how much of a money pit “X” has turned into, because he’s been posting on it much more over the last couple of weeks than I can ever recall (trying to breathe life back into the entity he’s pretty much destroyed)...



...and speaking of these misfit twins Combover Caligula and Elmo, our *preznit appeared to admit that Musk rigged the election in PA, with #47 running his orange yam mouth about “those vote-counting computers” (hmm...wonder if that affected Casey/McCormick also?)..and listen, I don’t have proof of wrongdoing either, though I wish I did; I would only add that, given that our election infrastructure in this country is so easily hackable, I wouldn’t be surprised by ANYTHING that proved that the counts were played with by bad actors like Musk (Farron Cousins tells us about it)...



...and Lawrence O’Donnell discusses “The Trump Standard” when it comes to White House press briefings (looks like the White House press secretary has gone AWOL already)...and boy, is Lawrence right about the great job Jen Psaki did and also how badly Karine Jean-Pierre was beaten up (and sometime justifiably, I’ll admit, but not much)...



...and Jesse Dollemore tells us that Mike Collins of Georgia (you can guess the political party) wants to deport Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, who told Trump to be kind to migrants, LGBTQ individuals, etc. at a national prayer service for the stinking inauguration (and #47’s perturbed puss was one thing, but the next time anybody gets the urge to feel sympathy for Melania, just show that pic of her disgust also)...yeah, let’s kick people who have compassion out of our country, just like Republican Jesus would do, right?...utterly vile individuals who we’ll be saddled with for at least the next four years..heckuva job, everyone who voted for this treasonous asshat and also DID NOT ONE DAMN THING TO HELP HARRIS/WALZ...



Update 1: Such a godly man....not! (here).

Update 2: Nail. Hammer. Head.

...and this tune hit #1 on the British pop charts in 1965 (and she’s still with us, hopefully enjoying a comfortable retirement – always respected Petula Clark for this in particular).

Wednesday Stuff

Seth Meyers brings us A Closer Look on you-know-what on Monday...and what can you say when there are bipeds out there who are shocked over the fact that Cantaloupe Capone cheated many of them out of attending #47’s inaugural in person? I guess there’s just no end to the gullibility of these people...these clips of his disgusting speech are all I want to subject myself to, and it’s all I want to subject you too also, dear reader...oh, and is it my imagination, or did Melania dress like she didn’t want to be recognized? I saw some comments saying she looked like the Hamburglar (and someone’s going to have to explain that spider/jellybean thing to me at the end)...



...and The Lincoln Project gives us a bit of a reality check here in light of Bronzer Beelzebub’s arrival once more in An Oval Office...



...and Belle lets us know here that, while on his way out the door, President Biden declared the Equal Rights Amendment to be the “law of the land”...I think Belle is exactly right; yes, the ERA should have been ratified forever ago, particularly since it has no binding force of law (so there’s really nothing for wingnuts to be PO’ed about...or you would think, anyway), but Biden can’t just say “make it so”...this should reignite action to get moving on ratifying it – not hopeful with this incoming regime, but it’s up to us to keep fighting on this and other issues of course...



...and when it comes to issues directly impacting women, one of the fiercest fighters out there was Cecile Richards, and believe it or not, she just left us...kind of gutted by this news, to tell you the truth...I ran into her a couple of times at Democratic fundraisers/phone banking events, that sort of thing, and for someone with her public profile, she was completely down to earth as far as I was concerned...there aren’t too many good ways to pass out of this life, but having a glioblastoma is truly one of the worst...RIP...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 1/21/10...yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the utterly wretched and despicable ruling by the SCOTUS of Hangin’ Judge JR in the case of Citizens United v. FEC...Roberts apparently only wanted to keep this ruling to apply to political ads, but “Strip Search Sammy” Alito wanted to expand it to the universe to cover ALL corporate campaign spending...given that, here is Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment on that sorry day once more...



...and whenever the insanity gets to be too much, I try to retreat in my mind to our blue state paradise (not sure when we’ll be able to get there again in person), and part of that includes streaming WMVY online because you can rest assured that you’ll hear good new and older music, and this tune falls into the former category...might be my new theme song of sorts for a little while.

Tuesday Stuff

OK, so in the first day under our brand new dictatorship, #47 pulled this country out of the Paris Climate Accords (again - here), took us out of the WHO (so we’re on our own for the next pandemic - here), and got rid of Biden’s cap on insulin prices, among other miseries (here).

And by the way, he also pardoned the life forms responsible for this...



Update: Good!

...and David Pakman discusses Combover Caligula’s faux “populism,” dissected pretty well in this clip...looks like #47 is all crickets now on supposedly bringing down prices (as Pakman says), even though he was crowing about it during the election of course...and as far as I’m concerned, Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian have climbed on board the “crazy train”...I’m sick and tired of ANYONE giving #47 the benefit of the doubt on ANY issue WHICH HE HASN’T EARNED IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen presents a clip of “MAGA Mike” Johnson giving a typical long, convoluted answer when asked, basically, what he and his party propose to do to help lower costs for Americans...yeah, as Cohen says, that means that they don’t have a freaking plan and never had a freaking plan and NEVER WILL HAVE A FREAKING PLAN (to help anyone besides the “pay no price, bear no burden” one percent, that is)...great job by Cohen to go all the way back to The Sainted Ronnie R to find out when wealth inequality really took off in this country...and at this point, I realize it probably doesn’t matter to point out for the umpteenth time that TRUMP KILLED THE FREAKING LANKFORD/MURPHY BORDER BILL IN THE SENATE!!! (NSFW/H)...



...and in the following Rebel HQ clip, somebody named Sage Steele talks with Mr. Ainsley Earhardt (I may have commented on this already, but not with these updates)...pro tip: if you start out by saying “I’m not trying to be mean or insensitive”...yeah, you’re in fact trying to be mean and insensitive...apt reference to “Lysistrata” also, with Steele shaming her own gender for wanting to be with liberal men who use a semblance of brains and compassion to support their partners (from Yasmin Khan...this video showed up on Rebel HQ a few hours ago, but I know Khan probably added these comments last October – I’m sure they’re still timely, though, when it comes to women miscarrying, tragically...hope all is well for Khan)...and the fact that Ken Paxton isn’t behind bars himself (here) instead of trying to interfere with women’s health care decisions is more testimony as to the fetid corruption of “the land of the yellow rose”.

And as far as Steele’s comment about 18 to 24-year-old women is concerned, I give you this (from here)...

Women were more likely than men to support Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz within and across every race/ethnic, age, and education group reported in the available data.

Did Trump peel off support from these demographics? Yes, but not enough for anyone to claim that he won that demographic overall...as far as I’m concerned, this is MORE evidence, as if we needed it, that the Dems need to do a hell of a lot better job of shoring up their base of support instead of saying “fight orange man because he’s bad” (and more on that scumbag John McEntee is here).

Here is the clip...



...and I realize that I didn’t say anything until now about the recent passing of David Lynch...he admitted that he was heavily influenced by what you could call his “Philadelphia experience,” so I’ll give him that...”Twin Peaks” was probably the last TV series I actually kept up with all the way through (I liked this moment with Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Ontkean, I admit), and another lifetime ago I watched “Eraserhead,” “Blue Velvet,” “Wild At Heart” and “The Elephant Man,” which are both stunning and genuinely odd, which I suppose is Lynch’s trademark...genuinely touching remembrances of Lynch from MacLachlan and Isabella Rossellini on social media, it should be noted...



...and on the subject of people who have just left us, we should add Bob Perkins of WRTI-FM...can’t tell you all of the great jazz music that he introduced during his long career on the radio (including this number)...truly a wonderful legacy for us all...RIP.

Monday Stuff

John and Abelina Sabrina of The Damage Report let us know here that it appears that “Curtsy Kyrsten” went too far even for her – her beyond-ridiculous global personal expenses may actually constitute campaign finance violations; CREW may take a long, hard looks at this, though I’m sure no prosecution will be forthcoming, though it should be, even though Sinema is no longer in “the world’s greatest deliberative body” of course...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen lets us know here that #47 wants to make aid to California to fight the wildfires conditional on passage of “one big beautiful bill” with his stinking tax cuts for the “pay no price, bear no burden” bunch...and I completely share Cohen’s NSFW/H sentiments...for “Coach Tubs” to be calling OTHER PEOPLE “imbeciles” may be the biggest “pot, meet kettle” moment in recorded history...and this makes me recall the moment that we, in blue states, required that people in Texas, Flori-DUUH, Oklahoma and North Carolina elect Democrats as a condition of receiving disaster aid – oh, wait...actually, I can’t recall that after all because it NEVER FREAKING HAPPENED and it would be A GROSSLY MONSTROUS THING TO DO if we actually did!...and yeah, I’m not impartial I know, but Gavin Newsom continues to impress me, and the way he’s handling all of this misery in his state is truly commendable...



...and Jesse Dollemore brings us the sorry tale of Pam Bondi, Trump’s AG pick (now that Matt Gaetz is no longer in the running and free to date underage girls again, allegedly!) who falls down on a question about the 14th Amendment, doing her best to be combative – WOW, what arrogance from this b*tch! (oh, and she’ll “look at” birthright citizenship...how freaking generous of her! - #sarcasm)...and by the way, CNN, I don’t give a damn about your BS format of about 20 different talking heads creating noise; just present me with the story along with any actual facts, evidence...stuff like that; I can make up MY OWN MIND, thank you very much...and as far as Bronzer Beelzebub not having an enemies list, I give you this (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and Jordan Zakarin of More Perfect Union brings us a clip of workers fighting for the right to unionize, particularly in Colorado and Maryland...and oh yeah, Not Your Father’s Republican Party is experiencing gains from disaffected workers at the polls, even though Repugs don’t promise a damn thing of benefit to workers either (quite the opposite, actually)...still incomprehensible to me that the Biden Administration vastly expanded workers rights and workplace protections as noted in the clip, but somehow that proved to NOT be a winning message in the election last year (and no, I haven’t forgotten about what led to that sorry result).

(And I’m sorry – well, not really – but I have to digress a bit and say this...like some of you I’m sure, I’m already starting to get Emails from the Democrats to the effect of, “we have special elections coming up and we need to fight Trump, so give us money,” proving that this bunch of clueless election losers running the national organization learned ABSOLUTELY NOTHING from the most recent election...for the love of God, Dems, MAKE A FREAKING CASE ABOUT WHAT YOU STAND FOR! As noted in the MPU video, Harris and the Dems lost last year even though they OVERWHELMINGLY DELIVERED FOR THIS COUNTRY! WILL YOU EVER FREAKING LEARN??!! YOU HAVE THE ISSUES ON YOUR SIDE!! And that comment, by the way, is definitely not aimed at PA/Bucks County Democrats, who are great and do the hard work of canvassing, voter outreach, phone banking, organizing, etc. - more food for thought on that is here.)

Here is the MPU clip...

...and as far as I'm concerned, there is nothing else going on today deserving of mention (here)...

...and for MLK day, I think it's appropriate to revisit this speech from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Barratt Middle School in Philadelphia on October 26. 1967, with the theme of “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?"....



Update 1: An important note is here (here here, and here also).

...and this tune is apropos for the holiday also.



Update 2: And oh yeah, there's this...

Update 3: Well said (also this).

Update 1/20/25: Indeed.

Friday Stuff

Kyle Kulinski tells us that Special Counsel Jack Smith recently released his final report...yeah, Trump was cooked, and the SCOTUS was in on this fix as if somehow we didn’t know about it at this point...a sorry litany of all of the ways that #45/47 did his best to subvert a free and fair election in ’20, to say nothing of the mishandling of classified documents, both of which should have been disqualifying last year, but we are where we are thanks to drop-dead-STOO-PID voters...GREAT point by Kyle about the lower-level conspirators in the fake electors scheme going to jail, but the ones higher up get to skate...if you want to get mad at Biden over Gaza, I can’t blame you, but save some of that rage for Merrick Garland running out the proverbial clock here (NSFW/H)...



...and David Pakman tells us that Trump recently got a pathetically easy interview from Rob Schmitt of Newsmax about the California wildfires and still flubbed it...and if you want to argue about the way California’s water is allocated, I would begin with the fact that about 80% of that state’s water is used for agriculture, but that industry represents only about 2% of California’s GDP (here)...”when Trump speaks, reality takes a back seat” indeed...



...and John of The Damage Report tells us that the Gropenfuhrer didn’t want to do a “Giving Tree” sketch on SNL because the costume made him look fat, or so Trump thought (a typically petty response), which apparently was a secret that Seth Meyers revealed...Meyers was once a writer on SNL...so now #45/47 has to send a tweet in the middle of the night on how unfunny Meyers supposedly is (just like any other person who's about to become "leader" of the free world, again - ugh)...and yes, unfortunately, John is right that Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence may very well decide to go after NBC now since there will likely no longer be any actual adults in this incoming administration to stop him...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us that, apparently, pop star Ethel Cain has some kind of a remedy to the problem of rampant greed among CEOs and businesses overall...and I understand her frustration, but no, I definitely don’t condone violence either despite what these “one percent” bastards manage to do to us...that being said, what a BS comment to say, “oh, you little 26-year-old who doesn’t know anything about the world...why don’t you just work harder and pull yourself up by your bootstraps or something and everything will be fine” – no wonder violence is viewed as a solution (and again, it ISN’T a solution)...and I know I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again; I can’t praise Ground News enough (NSFW/H also)...



...and kudos to the Meidas Touch Network for its decision not to stream Combover Caligula’s inauguration next week (and apparently there will be inclement weather - maybe #47 will pull a William Henry Harrison...#joke..Update: Yeah, I guess)...

More media outlets should take the correct moral stand of MeidasTouch and refuse to stream the inauguration of the loathsome piece of shit. Authoritarian fascism has no place in America. Not now, not ever. 😳👇 pic.twitter.com/EunyeVDJW7

— Bill Madden (@maddenifico) January 16, 2025

...and color me shocked – well, not really – but it looks like OMIGOD THE BORDER!!! isn’t a problem after all, as Jesse Dollemore tells us (so basically, if anybody out there thought that there was actually an issue on our southern border that we weren’t already trying to address and wasn’t anywhere near as extreme as it was made out to be, then you got utterly played)...



...and man, does this guy on TikTok get it...

President Biden is leaving Trump an America that has never been stronger. Remember this, because Trump is going to falsely take credit for it. 😳👇 pic.twitter.com/PIo8Vcwkqh

— Bill Madden (@maddenifico) January 18, 2025

...and I was seriously hoping that I would never have a need to include this tune again, but we are where we are (and as I’ve said in the past, I know it’s about a young girl confined to a wheel chair who is angry because she wants to experience love as other women do, but I’ve always associated it with Bronzer Beelzebub, and I think that, sadly, it’s apt to include it again now).

Thursday Stuff

Hey, did you hear about Repug U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri complaining that the recruitment numbers for our “Miltary” services were down because of DEI (and offering no proof of course)? Schmitt also used that excuse for his claim that white military members were denied promotions...you can rest assured that that’s BS because, if it were true, Schmitt would have had a hearing with that affected military member testifying to support that idiotic claim (from here...Schmitt would have been better off leaving that poster board lying on the floor...and just as a reminder, “Democrat” is always a noun and never an adjective)...



Update 1/17/25: This took place during the Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing for Defense Secretary, and I have to say up front that there will likely be so much insanity coming from the hearings for #47's grossly unqualified nominees that I won't be able to keep track of all of it.

...and I dunno, but Schmitt’s ranting reminded me of something – trying to put my finger on it (from here)...



...and when considering the record of “No Malarkey Joe,” I think we need to keep this in mind, but as Chris Hayes points out, Biden is indeed leaving a “disgraceful legacy” on Gaza...didn’t know about the “Leahy Law,” but it seems pretty damn straightforward to me also...I’ll give Biden credit for an awful lot particularly when it comes to rebuilding our economy, but his supine acquiescence to anything whatsoever that is perpetrated by our “ally” “Bibi” is easily the biggest stain on his presidency...all of this confirms my theory that Vlad the Butcher got ahold of some intel from #45/47 and that got forwarded to Hamas, which helped that group launch its October 7th attack; it’s also pretty damn plain that Netanyahu wanted an excuse to perform ethnic cleansing, according to his own defense minister, so Biden was caught in the middle but he and his team apparently didn’t realize that they were going to have to do something unconventional to get out of this trap, such as telling Netanyahu to pound sand and risk the political fallout...and OF COURSE Netanyahu is pursuing a peace deal NOW that his pal Combover Caligula will be back in An Oval Office soon (here)...ugh...



...and I give Biden credit for calling out the utterly insidious forces trying to wreck our democracy, but yet again, if we had a functioning major political party capable of communicating that message to this country over the prior year, is it too much to think that that could have made a difference in the electoral outcome? And I know there are people out there comparing this to Eisenhower’s “military industrial complex” speech, and that may be true, but what about everyone who had been warning about the shadowy forces pulling all of this garbage? I’m not the biggest fan of Hillary Clinton I’ll admit, but is she EVER going to get credit for her remark about a “vast right-wing conspiracy” all those years ago? And yeah, I know the answer to that question (here)...

Rachel Maddow, on President Biden's farewell address. Let me remind people, Germany's Nazis were a collaboration between the government and wealthy Germans. For all intents and purposes, 2025 America is a facsimile of 1934 Germany — and tonight, Biden warned us of exactly that. pic.twitter.com/V6qsF4f5iJ

— Bill Madden (@maddenifico) January 16, 2025

...and for something even more ridiculous, Jesse Dollemore (definitely not him) lets us know about corporate media attacking Michelle Obama for not attending #47’s inauguration...talk about burying the lede on Combover Caligula “breaking with tradition” by not attending the Biden inaugural...I don’t blame her; actually, she should have company from a whole gang of Democrats also (and I think it should be noted that Michelle Obama IS A PRIVATE CITIZEN WHO CAN DO WHAT SHE DAMN WELL PLEASES!!)...



...and happy upcoming 70th birthday to Steve Earle...if there’s a tune for this moment, I guess this is it.

Wednesday Stuff

Jon Stewart gives us an update on the California wildfires...I honestly didn’t know about President Zelenskyy of Ukraine making an offer to send first responders; I can’t think of a word for that kind of compassion, with his country getting wracked all over the place by Vlad The Butcher...and yeah, “Coach Tubs” proves to be only a slightly bigger asshat than, collectively, the numbskull voters who decided that he belonged in the U.S. Senate in the first place (and again, voting out a terrific populist Democrat like Doug Jones)...I hadn’t realized how much I missed Stewart until I saw this clip...kind of dizzying to keep up with the wingnut BS getting spread all over the place, which is completely by design I know...and OMIGOD, IT’S ALL THE FAULT OF THE LESBIAN DEI FIREFIGHTERS WHO WON’T ‘SEED’ OUR CLOUDS TO MAKE MORE RAIN!! HAAAALP!!! (somewhat NSFW/H)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen informs us of the train wreck that was the Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing...clip includes questions from Sens. Tim Kaine, Elizabeth Warren, and in particular Tammy Duckworth (I honestly didn’t know about ASEAN either, but then again, I haven’t been nominated for Secretary of Defense)...and yes, Jim Banks really is that big of a Trumpist lickspittle, and I’m surprised Markwayne Mullin didn’t challenge a Dem on the Senate Armed Services Committee to a fist fight, since that seems to be what Mullin does best (and I don’t know what the f*ck is wrong with the state of Montana...I don’t care if it’s “God’s country” or not; what kind of a mental defective do you have to be to vote out Jon Tester in favor of a craven, lying opportunist like Tim Sheehy?)...I hope everyone who ignored the pleas of Gen. Mark Milley and also John Kelly to not re-elect #45/47 are proud of themselves; I’m sure they are...



...and Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ lets us know about Repug U.S. House Rep Mike Lawler giving Huckleberry Graham a bit of a reality check on the dough blue states send to red state money pits like South Carolina, all over the so-called “SALT deduction”...and isn’t it just too precious to see Graham pivot to “we’re a low tax state,” which is wingnut code for “our quality of life sucks, but we’re not going to admit that” (and gee, wouldn’t it be nice if one of our two major political parties showed some kind of backbone and pushed back on Graham over this instead of waiting for some intra-party infighting?)...”it’s not about governance, it’s about grift” indeed...



...and Farron Cousins brings us the tale of our incoming regime having trouble hiring staffers because of the insane loyalty demands to Bronzer Beelzebub according to a CBS News report...serves these idiots right (not CBS News of course)...



...and Sam Black of More Perfect Union tells us about “Made in America” manufacturers like John Deere moving jobs overseas, mainly to Mexico (interview in Ottumwa, Iowa with former Deere employee Chris Laursen...and yep, Deere made about $10 billion in profit and used it for stock buybacks and dividends, and instituting “tiers” among the workforce was more of the “divide and conquer” strategy used by Deere and other employers, including CASE...stop me if you’ve heard all of this before)...and yep, this horror show started in the ‘90s after NAFTA; more fool me for once supporting that awful agreement, a mistake I will NEVER make again (and how unsurprising is it that CASE closed its Iowa plant right after the election; you can tell how seriously they cared about Trump’s tariff threat, which the company wouldn’t ultimately pay for anyway)...and I’m sorry I don’t know what the Mexican gentleman is saying, but yeah, getting fired right after winning the union vote is par for the course all right, for Caterpillar and other corporate predators...and once again, Biden did the right thing to crack down on corporate labor abuses by enforcing the USMCA, one of the MANY accomplishments for which he received ZERO CREDIT...I don’t mean to be glib about this, but it’s utterly a fool’s errand to expect Cantaloupe Capone to do the right thing, especially since he intends to gut the manufacturing gains made under Biden...



...and today is the 60th anniversary of the release of “I Can’t Explain,” the first single from The Who, which reached #93 on the U.S. music charts, right smack in the middle of the hippy dippy ‘60s...and if you listen closely, you may hear Yardbird and session musician Jimmy Page on rhythm guitar...striking to see how young everyone once was I know.