Friday Stuff

RIP Jonathan Winters…



…and oh yeah, how’s that new GOP “rebranding” effort going?

Well, this is what they did on the issue of fair pay for women, and this is what they did on the issue of marriage equality. Next up…race relations.

And from what Jon Stewart tells us, they’re not doing such a hot job on that front either (here)…



…and when it comes to “broad appeal to the electorate” – I’ll let Rachel Maddow give you the rest of the gory details (and I think MSNBC really needs to re-think the lead-in to that prison show)…

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…and happy birthday to John Kay of Steppenwolf…this great autobiographical tune tells his story.

Thursday Stuff

I referred to this movie clip over here…



…and I talked a bit about this too…

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…and I thought this was an interesting report (based on this) on why pot should be, at the least, decriminalized (China is even making our drugs for us, people, along with just about everything else)…



…and gee, I wonder if Matt Katz and the Philadelphia Inquirer know about this from their beloved “Governor Bully” (and to help Barbara Buono, click here)…



…and I thought this was some interesting commentary on the economy from Jared Bernstein…

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…and a belated happy 50th birthday to Julian Lennon.

Wednesday Stuff

How many more indeed (this ad was featured on the Rachel Maddow Show this evening)…



Update: And boy, is our corporate media spinning the whole alleged storyline of “gosh, those ‘moderate’ Democrats and supposedly ‘moderate’ Repugs are sure in a bind or whatever about voting in favor of common-sense gun legislation favored by just about everyone in this country who doesn’t live inside the stinking Beltway political-media-industrial complex,” kind of like this (And this was a particularly repugnant example – h/t Atrios).

…and oh yeah, did you hear the one about how Hitler supposedly confiscated everyone’s guns once Nazi Germany rose to power? Too funny…



…and speaking of TRMS, she tells us, among other things, how our infamous governor in our beloved commonwealth is giving us a bad name once again (I wish Allyson Schwartz all the best – she’ll need it all and more, even against Corbett; keep tilting at those windmills)…

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Update 4/12/13: And aren't you glad the Repugs have left "values" issues like reproductive rights behind - uh huh...

…and I kind of like this tune, so here it is (time to return to this decade again – hey, cheer up, kid!).

Tuesday Stuff

I thought this was some clear-eyed commentary on the passing of Margaret Thatcher (and I’m not the biggest fan in the world of Russell Brand, but I thought this was interesting also)…

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…and John Fugelsang has some timely thoughts on Confederate History Month – yes, I’m serious…



…and it looks like Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao is showing his true colors again (and there’s no comparison to the alleged brouhaha over his wife’s ethnicity – none; Jack Conway overplayed the “values” stuff against Rand Paul and lost…McConnell deserves nothing less than the same fate)…

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…and RIP Andy Johns, the producer behind this great tune as well as many others.

A Memo To The “Gang of 14” (updates)

Based on this story, it looks like 14 U.S. Senators (possibly 15) are refusing to let gun control legislation introduced by Harry Reid even come up for a vote in “the world’s greatest deliberative body” (please).

I honestly don’t know what else I can do at this point except to try and shame these bastards as my limited means allows, so here they are:

Mitch McConnell

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Update 4/18/13: One day this scumbag will be out of public life for good, and that can't come soon enough (here).

Rand Paul

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Ted Cruz

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Mike Lee

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James Inhofe

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Richard Burr

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Mike Enzi

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Marco Rubio

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Jerry Moran

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Pat Roberts

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Ron Johnson

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Dan Coats

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Mike Crapo

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James Risch

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P.S. – I would have added “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey to the list, but it looks like, based on this, he’s coming around a bit on universal background checks – or so he says.

Update 1: Gee, ya' think?

Update 2: No, I don't expect that they would (here).

Update 4/10/13: And I guess I might as well add this character in light of this stupid remark (the names are linked to other content, by the way)…

John Boozman

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Monday Stuff

A notable female politician who left us today will probably get most of the headlines, but here is another courageous woman who deserves a mention also…



…and here is more on “chained CPI” (and why it’s such an awful idea) from Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, who continues to impress…



…and it’s actually kind of sickening to watch this report, good as it is, and realize that, this corporate “person,” as Willard Mitt Romney infamously referred to it, really can’t be touched…

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…and I guess I should observe some respectful silence in light of this, but I would be able to just write her off as a leader who made some truly awful decisions and leave it at that if it weren’t for the fact that she shamelessly and slavishly heaped praise on The Sainted Ronnie R the way she did (h/t Wonkette for jogging my memory on this great song).

Sunday Stuff

Bill Maher says here what has been on my mind for some time about the “glibertarians” (here, and God, was Stephen Moore a real flaming a-hole on that episode – fortunately, it was his mistake to try and scrap with Sen. Bernie Sanders - NSFW)…



…and here’s something a little mellow for a sunny spring Sunday.