I thought this was a truly courageous moment by President Obama – you can tell it was good because the wingnuts totally lost their bloody minds (can hardly wait to see how that hack J.D. Mullane in the Bucks County Courier Times tries to spin this so he can accuse Obama of racism...I like that slogan we can try to use against the Repugs - "shut up and learn," assuming that's even possible)…
…and I’m not really presenting this for laughs, but only to make the obvious point that there was a time in this country when we invested in manufacturing, as well as schools, infrastructure, and working-class families – stop doing that and decide to give tax cuts to millionaires instead, and this happens…
…and I couldn’t let the week end without this clip from Lewis Black here in response to “Goodhair” Perry – NSFW (damn, this is awesome!)…
…and here is our regional weather forecast; we might get a break in the heat in these parts tomorrow.
Ever wonder how exactly the infamous “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida wasn’t repudiated as it should have been by Lex Luthor Scott after Trayvon Martin’s murder? Rachel Maddow explains ("Support The Troops" indeed)…
…and speaking of bad Republican governors, CREW brings us a pretty sorry list here (though there are two Dems on board, Andrew Cuomo and Steve Beshear)…
…and I call this a great idea from U.S. House Dems Mark Pocan and Keith Ellison, but good luck trying to get those knuckleheads on Capitol Hill to do the right thing for a change…
This is just a reminder of what time of year it is, assuming we haven’t already figured that out from the 90-degree temps around here (and "Sims" making out - eeewwwwww)…
…and I give you the following bit of candor from Rob Gleason of PA’s Republican Party, admitting what we pretty much already knew here…
…and I also give you Improv Night at “Viewpoint,” with John Fugelsang and Frank Conniff – I’m not sure if Edward Snowden is going to stay in Russia, but whether he does or not, the sun will still rise in the East and set in the West regardless (da!)…
Update 7/18/13: The "Viewpoint" skit makes fun of this story, which deserves to be made fun of as far as I'm concerned (as Atrios might say, I'm so old that I can remember a Democratic president who was widely ridiculed for not allowing U.S. athletes to compete in the 1980 Olympic Games in the then-Soviet Union).
…and kudos to Bruce Springsteen for this – doesn’t look like the drum beat in opposition to the Trayvon Martin tragedy is letting up, nor should it (and speaking of Rolling Stone, I'm still mulling over this).
I believe I should make it clear that, even though my response to the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin verdict recently was a bit muted, rest assured that I was definitely appalled all the same. I didn’t say much because 1) I don’t usually comment on matters related to our criminal justice system, partly because trying to keep up with real-time events in my commentary is something I’m not able to do as much as I’d like (Georgia’s state-sponsored murder of Troy Davis was definitely an exception, though), and 2) based on my cursory examination of what was going on, it seemed clear that Zimmerman’s defense was on its way, partly through under-handed but no less legal means, to establishing reasonable doubt.
However, the outcome of the trial is a tragedy all the same, and to get an idea as to why (in case that isn’t apparent already), I would suggest that you read this Think Progress post. Basically, if Zimmerman had been a black man without notoriety and Martin had been a white man in a similar circumstance, Zimmerman would be in prison by now. Also, as I pointed out fairly soon afterwards, ALEC has blood on its hands for supporting the utterly odious “stand your ground” law that gave Zimmerman the flimsiest of legal pretexts to approach Martin, “armed” only with some iced tea and a bag of Skittles.
And given all of this, I think the following commentary from Melissa Harris-Perry is completely appropriate (here)…
...and leave it to Martin Bashir to cut through all the BS also with this poignant commentary...
...turning to other stuff, looks like it's more "jobs, jobs, jobs" from Orange Man and his pals (or, as I’ve said before, if men got pregnant, there would be so many over-the-counter “morning after” and birth control pills that you wouldn’t be able to count them, all advertised on Spike TV and Maxim Magazine of course)…
I could have done without Matt Lewis, Liz Mair (who tried to blame liberals for the Trayvon Martin tragedy and/or the immigration mess…typical) and the Ford guy (Dr. Cornel West almost made up for it), but otherwise, kudos to Bill Maher for this - NSFW…
