Friday Stuff

As long as the dust has settled a bit on the elections for the most part (not completely with some contests in the U.S. House I know, along with the vote count that’s ongoing in the U.S. Senate elections in Alaska and Mississippi), I’d like to say a thing or two about this guy.

My intent here is not to dance on the political grave of Brian Fitzpatrick (besides, the way this stuff generally works, he’ll likely be back for another try at this). As much as I hate to point this out, he has been a canny and resilient political adversary. You don’t manage to last 10 years in office, dispatching a variety of Dem opponents, unless you have some well-honed political instincts. Also (and here’s something else I don’t want to note, but I should), the Republican political organization in this U.S. House district and in Bucks County, PA generally is formidable (our folks work heroically and make all manner of sacrifices, but the “R” team more often than not has their act together on this stuff for sure...I mean, the policies and legislation they support stinks to high heaven, but that's another discussion).

In addition to the reality we all know too well about how badly everything has gone in this country with this wretched Trump 2.0 term (which could have been foreseen by anyone with their eyes open), there have been other reasons why this election cycle was different for sure from those in the past (aging/declining Republican core voter base, a younger and more racially/ethnically diverse voting block that is ascendant, to say nothing of LBGTQ folks and women-single-parent households, all of whom inherently lean to the “D” side for the most part). I wasn’t close enough to the Bob Harvie campaign to know exactly what was going on (unlike in prior years where I was more involved with other candidates – long story there), but they obviously were successful. I also have a feeling that, given the state of things overall with the economy, the Iran war, the corruption and other factors, we’re going to find out that a lot of Republican voters stayed home (no disrespect to the Harvie campaign in saying that).

My main point is that, for a Republican Party that generally knows what they’re doing, they showed an astonishing inability to “read the room” this time around (generally representative of the “Trump Party” overall I admit). We know their policies are utterly indefensible, but Fitzpatrick (as nearly as I could tell) did virtually nothing to try and tout whatever accomplishments he’s managed over the last two years (and again, we’re not talking about much I know). His strategy seemed to be to run and hide (which I tried to point out with those dippy cartoons) while his GOP-aligned front group stuck these ridiculous signs all over the place trying to make Bob Harvie look like a criminal, saying “Release The Bob Harvie Files” (more on that here...Harvie was never the target of an FBI investigation or ever charged with a crime) and “Bob Harvie Voted Himself A Pay Raise” (and again, assuming that’s even true, it’s laughable to think that no other politician has ever done that, including Bri-Fi). It is incomprehensible to me to think that anyone on the other side believed that that could be a winning strategy.

Fortunately, though, everything worked out well and the PA-01 U.S. House seat will be safely represented by our team for at least the next two years.

(Also, when it comes to "not reading the room," I give you this.)

Now to the videos...Kyle Kulinski talks about Michigan Dem Senator-Elect Abdul El-Sayed’s victory speech calling out his utterly rancid opponent Mike Rogers, along with Couch Boy (oh, and “Haley Who”? Whatsername again?)...I would agree with Kyle’s assessment that millennial politics has finally arrived...”a battle between the money and the many” — nice turn of phrase!...NSFW/H...



..and Belle of the Ranch talks about what Dems can and can’t do...yep, #47 is indeed a lame duck now, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t still pretty damn dangerous, unfortunately...great that the Dems will truly have the “power of the purse” now, in addition to other political weapons they could bring to bear (and I agree with Belle’s take that they should force #47 to use that veto pen as much as he wishes to do so)...and oh yeah, oversight will be a big time factor also, along with subpoena power...the ability to block another potential wingnut SCOTUS justice is definitely important also...



...and Farron Cousins lets us know that an international law professor named Jamie Rowen thinks #47 may try to flee the country at the end of his term if the heat gets too much for him, like Flavio Bolsonaro did, maybe to the UAE or Saudi Arabia, trying possibly to stay a step ahead of the ICC (assuming we got involved again with that body I know) - interesting...



...and leave it to Jesse Welles to give us a typically pithy look at what unfolded earlier this week (also NSFW/H)...



...and Seth Meyers gives us A Closer Look...yes, I don’t think it hurts at this point to still do a victory lap, though the much harder work lies ahead of course...still hard for yours truly to get my head around all of the Dem wins, and I don’t think it exactly makes me an expert to point out that that came out of utter disgust with the “party of Lincoln” (and #47) more than anything else...hard to describe the utter delusion of Cantaloupe Capone to be whining about the damn reflecting pool on the eve of last Tuesday’s wipeout (wonder how many on the “R” team wish now that they’d put Don The Con in his place years ago, which they could have done during one of the impeachments? Ooopsie)...and Uday Jr. tells everyone the Dems want to make Ohio a state (#facepalm)...”The emotional palate of a badger” – good one...I know I already had that clip of Our Sweaty Bronzer Boy whining about Fix Noise polling, and here it is again...and leave it to Sean Inanity, who’s spent literally decades propagandizing about Democrats, to say that “the hatred against (Trump) is unprecedented” – pot, meet kettle...and “helicopters on the roof,” huh? Exactly what is front of mind for voters dealing with our awful, non-DOW-and-NASDAQ economy, the Iran war, the stinking tariffs, the unending corruption, ICE, hiding the Epstein files, loss of health care (which is due to kick in even more in January from the Big Beautiful Clusterf*ck), and on and on...



...and I know I’m a day behind on this tune in light of this, but better late than never I guess.

Wednesday Stuff

(I'll let Markos Moulitsas give his take on last night's historic results here.)

To begin, I give you an NBC 10 report on Bob Harvie’s win in the PA-01 U.S. House contest with Bri-Fi last night (I can't tell you what it means to say that at last)...Josh Shapiro was returned as PA guv also...Bob Brooks also defeated Ryan Mackenzie (another U.S. House win for the “D” team)...so awesome also that that turncoat Jeff Van Drew was sent packing in NJ as well...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ gives us more...kind of tells you how epic last night’s results were, so much so that Rupert The Pirate’s vanity rag couldn’t even spin them in a favorable light...great stuff in particular with returning Dem Georgia U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff and Senator-Elect Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, along with Senator-Elect Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota...and oh yeah, let’s blame Susie Wiles for everything last night (#facepalm)...and former Trumpette spokes-liar Karoline Leavitt blames dumb voters and the media – wingnut tears truly taste delicious...oh, and Spray Tan Satan actually thinks he WASN’T on the ballot?? Way too damn funny...I know Ossoff’s political instincts are pretty good and I’m sure his victory speech played pretty well overall, but it sounded a little too “middle of the road” for yours truly to be honest...I think we should put that clip of MAGA Mike Johnson saying he’ll be the speaker in the next Congress in a time capsule – more Republican entitlement on display...



...and Jesse Dollemore continues our coverage, you might say; looks like Cantaloupe Capone lost what’s left of his mind over last night’s results...yep, Greg Abbott is OUT in The Lone Star State; #47 sent out some tweet that was all sweetness and light, and then Don The Con turned on him when results started to go badly (and Bret Baier allows Mango Mussolini to tell another one of his lying “sir” stories because of course)...looks like one of the few blemishes I’ve found so far are assclown Alabama voters electing Tommy Tuberville governor, which isn’t a surprise I know, sadly...Pete Ricketts won in Nebraska, BTW...and I honestly don’t know what that orange dipsh*t is talking about when it comes to the World Trade Center – if he’s talking about 9/11, the Trump Party ended up taking over in the 2002 U.S. Congressional elections (Dennis Hastert became Majority Leader in the House and Bill Frist in the Senate)...also, #47’s approval within his own party is at about 74%, last I checked...Jesse is also completely spot-on to say this fight needs to continue, and it anything, get amped up even more... way beyond awesome that Bo-Bo Boebert may get politically kicked to the curb also...NSFW/H...



...and Thom Hartmann provides more proof that Our Sweaty Bronzer Boy was indeed on the ballot yesterday as already noted, despite his ravings to the contrary, and sitting at a 38 percent approval number...anybody who actually thinks the inhabitant in An Oval Office will work with Democrats must believe in candy cotton ponies and sugar plumb fairies also...of all the U.S. Senate races, aside from Michigan, I was also particularly concerned about New Hampshire, but nice work by Chris Pappas to pull off a win...



...and leave it to Mr. Newberger to give us a catchy tune for us all to dance to...



...and if you want to take or leave the inherently spiritual message of this song, I get it, but I still think it fits for this joyous occasion.

Tuesday Stuff

Today is indeed the day to elect Bob Harvie, all you PA-01 folks out there (along with Steve Santarsiero for PA's 10th Senate district, as well as Perry Warren for PA's 31st House district)...



...and Chris Hayes goes over the collection of “cretins, flunkies and psychos” from the “R” team on the ballot...yes, Ken Paxton is truly awful, and Darline Graham really is that clueless as we know, and abuser (allegedly) Max Miller in Ohio is still on the ballot for the U.S. House...oh, and we also learn about this Brandon Herrera U.S. House sociopath in Texas, along with Victor (“Does It Matter If I Killed People As An Adult”) Marx, the evangelical running for Colorado governor who apparently can also perform exorcisms over the phone – uh huh...and there’s also David (“Stolen Valor”) Flippo, along with Trumper Anthony Constantino in New York who’s a big-time data center booster...”a wretched hive of scum and villany” indeed...



...and John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report inform us on “America Next,” some wingnut Astroturf outfit...sooo, “liberals are the new racists,” huh? Nice job of cranking out AI slop I would say from a Repug org founded for former Repug Louisiana guv Bobby (“Don’t Call Me Piyush”) Jindal, of all people...and yes, the way this outfit is set up, we don’t get to find out who’s actually funding it – nice...



...and this New York Times clip tells us Why Kansas Ranchers Are Turning On Trump, mainly because of the import of “mystery meat” from Argentina earlier this year which ended up costing our cattle ranchers thousands of dollars without making much of a difference in the supermarket price...yes, I know I’ve gone down this road with stories like this in the past and “R” party voters ended up falling in line as usual, but I guess we’ll see if that holds true this time also...



...and Farron Cousins lets us know that someone running a Repug-voter focus group was apparently shocked to find out that those voters actually don’t like billionaires; I would ask that you remember this the next time you hear a corporate media pundit sound off on the left-wing echo chamber, and yes, that is a bit of thing, but there’s NO EQUIVALENCY with how dominant that is on the other side, and I would argue that this is more proof of that...hopefully these disillusioned folks will just sit out this election – I mean, it would be awesome if they voted for Team D, but I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for that (and I agree with Cousins’ assessment about breaking up our two-party duopoly near the end of this clip FWIW)...



...and I think this is a timely tune for today, written by Little Steven of course.

Monday Stuff

Brittany Page talks about King Elon I trying to roll the “party of Lincoln” given the fact that he’s funding a good bit of their last-minute campaign BS, to the tune of about $400 million, an utterly ungodly sum...that $366 million comparison to $32 of household income is indeed pretty damning...good point by Page about the corporate media double standard of not holding Apartheid Clyde accountable for the garbage he reposts on a regular basis versus coming down with a case of the vapors over Abdul El-Sayed supposedly not condemning the Muslim Brotherhood hard or fast enough...



...and Kyle Kulinski brings us the tale of turncoat Michigan Dem Haley Stevens officially stabbing her party’s U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in the back and endorsing Repug Mike Rogers...looks like Stevens’s husband says that no Democrat should vote El-Sayed because he’s supposedly anti-Israel, or some such garbage...so Stevens’s husband follows Ron #DeathSantis on the bad X app, along with Libs of TikTok, which kind of gives away the game for yours truly (here)...NSFW/H...



Update: And speaking of nonsense against Dem U.S. Senate candidates, there is also this.

...and David Pakman tells us about Fix Noise’s ratings decline in the highly coveted 25-54 age demographic (its biggest drop in 25 years)...I think this is interesting, but we also need to see if these numbers are borne out past the election...I also think Pakman makes a good point about what could be an enthusiasm gap, you might say, in this particular election cycle as far as the wingnuts are concerned...almost funny to hear the Gropenfuhrer complain NOW about The Roger Ailes BS Factory when that trash network was the biggest cheerleader for Dementia J. Trump for years (here)...



...and I have to admit that the political ads I’ve seen this cycle are kind of hit and miss, and I know this isn’t a recent one from Sherrod Brown, but I still thought it was good...



...and Mr. Newberger tries to make sense of the Haley Stevens debacle...lotsa luck on that one I know (and I'm not surprised by this, and I think this is kind of spot-on also)...



...and I thought this was a cool newer upbeat tune - don't blink or you'll miss it.

Friday Stuff

Brian Tyler Cohen presents a clip of Former President Hopey Changey lighting up a rally in Georgia for Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms, focusing on that “cheesecake factory” remark about what Mango Mussolini has done to the “people’s house”...I realize #44 is preaching to the faithful and this likely won’t move the needle much for anyone who doesn’t support him anyway, but standing up and calling out the madness from the regime of the Gropenfuhrer is still the right call, and as Cohen says, the outrage over what an African American president recently said is just another damn distraction anyway (NSFW/H)...



...and John Iadarola gives us more evidence of some one-time Trump voters getting fed up with affordability as a big issue, the stinking corruption, the Iran war, the explosion of data centers, Islamophobia, the Epstein files, culture war nonsense, etc., all while our quality of life gets worse every day (and Harry Enten is back with more positive numbers, but we have to see this thing through to the end next Tuesday of course...I have a feeling that some of these interviews are old, but this is a recent video)...



...and this clip from Natasha Del Toro of More Perfect Union looks at health care in rural Flori-DUUH (Putnam County) where they went in big time for the Gropenfuhrer of course...450K folks lost their ACA coverage this year (including Medicaid), the most of any state as we learn...so sorry to hear about the man with testicular cancer and the fight he’s going through with “the best health care money can buy,” along with the lady fighting multiple myeloma...looks like Dem U.S. Senate Rep Angie Nixon stood tall again here in meeting with affected residents (typical horror stories from some of the brave folks speaking here)...M4A continues to be the answer, and I know that will be a heavy lift particularly in that state, but I honestly don’t see any other option...and I realize we have to present the crazy point of view, so along comes Ashley Moody, appointed to her job in the U.S. Senate by Guv #DeathSantis, trying to run and hide from supporting cuts to Medicaid and gutting ACA credits...”we shouldn’t have to fight to just stay alive” indeed...

...and RIP Sir Patrick Stewart...so many great performances that I don’t think it’s possible to catalog all of them (including Lenin in "Fall of Eagles" and Lucius Aelius Sejanus in "I, Claudius"), and I believe he did his best to show a face of humanity to the world in the process, including in this clip...



...and the Onion News Network asks the question that most every wingnut is asking, I would imagine, and that is “should food cost more?” (if it enhances Dear Leader in any way whatsoever, I would imagine...slightly NSFW/H also)...



...and I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween tomorrow.

Wednesday Stuff

David Pakman discusses the impact of the ruinous economic policies of the Tangerine Toddler, in particular on our farmers...yep, #47 creates a problem (the tariffs and the war with Iran, driving up the price of fuel including diesel, and messing up their ability for farmers to trade their goods), then worsens the problem, then concocts a taxpayer-funded bailout and demands that everyone thank him for it...



...and as a bit of a follow-up, John and Jayar of The Damage Report ask if rural voters in this country are FINALLY getting the message on the “party of Lincoln”? I won’t hold my breath, but we’ll see...this definitely is echoed in my own family circle, you might say; some folks would NEVER imagine voting for a Dem, so it’s a “win,” more or less, if they just sit out, but as John says, that’s not the best circumstance either...I know John is being tongue in cheek at the end about these troglodyte Repug voters and politicians and guns, and he’s right, but that bit still made a little uncomfortable, I have to say...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ informs us that it looks like Flavio Bolsonaro lost the most recent election in Brazil to incumbent president Luiz Inácio Lula (Flavio is the son of the convicted former preznit Jair Bolsonaro, who went to the joint for his role in an insurrection in that country; apparently, Brazil is a nation that holds its leaders accountable)...looks like Lula responded to our idiotic tariffs against his country with some of his own...oh, and it also looks like Meta meddled in this contest also; in a country where the rule of law is actually respected, I would say that that’s something that should be investigated...didn’t know that Meta suspended its “No Kings” page in the middle of the protests, but that doesn’t surprise me – ooopsie!...oh, and OF COURSE Bolsonaro is yelling about a “rigged election,” just like you-know-who (an update is here, and I can’t help but think that somewhere, Michael Brooks is smiling)...



...and Tennessee Brando gives us his rundown on elections elsewhere in the world...I knew about the populist win in Brazil of course as well as Hungary, but I have to admit that I didn’t know about Serbia (and apparently “Bibi” is up for a vote also – I know pretty much nothing on Israeli politics I have to admit, but it sure would be nice is he got the boot, to say nothing of standing in a docket at the Hague)...definitely NSFW/H...



...and Desi Lydic takes a look at folks online who could potentially be influencing your vote...yeah, there are all those journos out there who actually went to the time, trouble and expense to get educated and build up a track record of reporting (well, some of them anyway) and maybe even write a book or two that could be watched/listened to, but instead, too damn many people learned about a candidate for office from some online goodball while checking out cat videos or a recipe for carbonara (and with all due respect to Ed Markey, I think he needs to sit it out the next time he gets a chance to appear online like that)...



...and RIP Donnie Iris.

Monday Stuff

This is good news people, but’s let’s have no illusions; this campaign is going to be a fight until the very end, so let's keep up our efforts (and to help Bob Harvie, click here).

To begin, Kyle Kulinski tells us that it looks like “pastor” Kenneth Copeland is big mad at Dems again, invoking more hellfire and damnation over all those babies the “D” team allegedly murdered, as if the Clintons, Obama and Biden invented abortion (I guess I shouldn’t snark on that too badly because I’m sure that’s what a lot of folks actually believe)...I don’t know anybody else besides Kyle calling out our disgusting war crimes with our “ally” “Bibi” that we conducted against Iran (and yes, I know Iran are bad actors overall, but that doesn’t excuse our pre-emptive war either)...I would only add on top of Kyle’s great (though profane of course) response the following question: is Our Lord going to have the likely million names read to Republican voters of everyone sentenced to death (mainly kids) in sub-Saharan Africa from King Elon I destroying US AID? Also, I know Kyle misspoke a bit; we are WAAAY past the primaries, dawg (definitely NSFW/H)...



...and Brittany Page discusses the role of corporate media and some Dems in bringing us to the sorry point in our politics where we are at the moment, with the Gropenfuhrer calling the shots from An Oval Office, and I realize that Dementia J. Trump is just going to keep mispronouncing the name of the Dem U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan up to and including Election Day (“Mohammed El Allah Akbar Jihadi El-Sayed,” or other idiotic variations)...and I’ll give David Axelrod a measure of credit for playing the role he did in getting President Obama elected twice, but Axelrod also was lucky enough to land with a charismatic and skilled candidate, to be fair...I think some of the CNN panel observations are kind of moronic, actually; sooo, just let Trump and Mike Rogers spout these lies about El-Sayed, and the Dem should just let them get away with it??? That has a lot to do with why people don’t have much to do with the “D” team, to be honest...I’m glad Page also gets into the BS with Jan Crawford of the formerly highly respectable CBS News and the fact that Crawford went waaaay out of her way to attack El-Sayed, showing that Crawford is merely a political actor supported by Bari Weiss as opposed to a legitimate news professional...I didn’t know about Crawford’s softball “interview” with Strip Search Sammy, but that tracks also sadly...and let’s bring David Brooks to the party also and his take against Jon Ossoff for quite rightly calling out the white nationalist garbage concerning Ossoff’s opponent Mike Collins; what discussion of faux media equivalency is complete without BoBo, I wonder...mildly NSFW/H...



...and Farron Cousins discusses Repugs in Michigan telling #47 to stay away; so many reasons why, but Our Ochre Abomination’s Not-So-Excellent Adventure in Iran and those beyond stoo-pid tariffs are the biggest culprits, you might say...it looks like #47 went ahead with his little Bund rally anyway, and with a typical bit of misogyny of course...



...and this CBC News report informs us of the backlash to data centers and the problem for the Repugs, particularly in Ohio...glad to see people of different political allegiances working together to fight against the encroachment of these monstrosities consuming precious resources, driving up costs and ruining folks’ quality of life, but it should not have come to this point...don’t know much about that Alan (“data centers have been around forever”) Sturm guy, but he’s definitely part of the problem also...and oh yeah, it’s really rich for Jon Husted in Ohio to blame Democrats on the issue of data centers – WHO THE HELL IS IN CHARGE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGAIN, SPARKY??!!...more on this is here, and to help Sherrod Brown, click here...



...and speaking of Husted (and harking back to the Nicki Minaj stuff also), I’ll give you a little insight into how the “sausage gets made” again...I honestly deliberate and weigh the pros and cons of the videos I put up here and try to evaluate how much they could impact voters’ perceptions and people’s involvement in the political process...oh, WTF – I’m just kidding...I saw this clip from Mr. Newberger and took about 10 seconds to decide based on this...



...and I definitely like this newer number, though it kind of wraps up quick (and I thought about Bri-Fi on the title for sure).