I give you the following clip to commemorate what would have been the 100th birthday today of legendary TV journalist and anchorman (before the term became a subject of parody) Walter Cronkite; I could probably include a bunch of other stuff in addition to Cronkite’s commentary on Vietnam, but I’m trying to point out how television news, by virtue of the depth of its reporting and what I would consider the moral clarity of many of the people who once brought it to us (people shaped in part by work as foreign correspondents, often during wartime – not saying these people were saints, just pros at their jobs), helped to make us more enlightened and informed than we are now, and I realize that’s a huge understatement…
…and what does it tell you that the editorial mantle, if you will, once worn by Cronkite now has to be picked up by comedians such as Seth Meyers (who does so admirably here again IMHO) and others because our corporate media personalities at our “news” organizations with initials for names have been so thoroughly cowed and co-opted, all in the name of trying to defeat “liberal bias”?…
…and in this TYT clip (NSFW), Ana’s utter disgust in response to the “Trump-ette” profiled (telling women allegedly assaulted by "Fergus Laing" to "get over it") is palpable and entirely justified as far as I’m concerned…
…and in response, this is definitely NSFW also, but for a good reason…
..oh, and did you hear the one about Trump showing up at an AIDS charity benefit and stealing a seat from the person who was there legitimately, and of course contributing nothing – Trump I mean of course (great work on Trump's alleged charitable contributions by the WaPo's David Fahrenthold)…
…and here is the latest on the Trump/Pence “poll watchers” (an update is here - and what kos sez here, by the way - NSFW again)…
…and I’m not exactly sure how amusing this actually is, but I thought I’d present it anyway; yes, I definitely side with the parents, but I’m not saying that there aren’t times when we ALL need to get a grip, as it were…
...and yeah, not really a message or anything here, just a tune for the weekend, which I’m sure will be a working one for many of us.
I didn’t think we’d ever have to go down this road again, but given the campaign of The Big Orange Cheetoh, I guess I’m really not that surprised (here)…
…and K.O. is back with the latest on “Trump TV” – I honestly thought it was a fallback also, but fortunately Olbermann knows better (and you can consider me a fan now of Katy Tur, by the way – she’s indeed a looker, but that’s not the reason; I respect her courage and fortitude)…
…and kudos to Sam Bee for giving the “Alt-right” (still think that’s waaay too benign a term) the treatment they deserve here (NSFW)…
…and Thom Hartmann asks another good question, this time about something not related to politics – prayers and support for the families of the two Iowa police officers and friends (and “allegedly,” let’s not forget – don’t want to say or do anything to prejudice the trial)…
…and it looks like “Bri-Fi” of The Trump Party is out with an endorsement for president; leave it to him to make the wrong choice (to help Steve Santarsiero, click here)…
..and Lee Camp gives us some tongue-in-cheek commentary on voter restrictions (NSFW)…
...and as long as I'm on the subject...
…and congratulations to the Chicago Cubs, world champions at long last (and how much of a baseball stud is Cubs GM Theo Epstein anyway, accomplishing this and also helping to break the “curse of the Bambino” for the Bosox some years back? And by the way, please have some pity on former Phils' reserve outfielder Michael Martinez, who will now be forever remembered for making Cleveland's final out).
Rachel Maddow tells us about the influence of the Klan on the campaign of “Fergus Laing” (and no, I never thought I would have to say something like that about a current or potential president)…
...and Chris Hayes discusses one “deplorable” in particular, the guy chanting “Jew-S-A” (well, more than one, actually – talking with Jason Johnson of The Root – bonus points to Hayes for reminding everyone that eliminationist rhetoric from the GOP goes back to Jesse Helms and before that, actually)…
…and K.O. brings us the latest on “Donald Drumpf-ski” (the original version of "The Manchurian Candidate" is truly a great movie IMHO, by the way)…
…and yes, this bears repeating, all the way up through next Tuesday…
…and I’ll be honest – we’re more than busy enough in PA with our own races, but it’s particularly galling to see all of that Koch money apparently making a difference in Wisconsin in favor of that guttural scumwad Ron Johnson (here) – as a reminder of how loathsome he truly is, I bring you this video from about six years ago in which Johnson opposed a bill that would remove the statute of limitations preventing some victims of child abuse from suing their abusers (more here)…
…and oh yeah, as the Daily Kos post tells us, Johnson also wants to impeach Hillary Clinton, who (and I realize this is a minor detail as far as Johnson is concerned), HASN’T EVEN BEEN SWORN IN YET!!!...
I have a feeling that Jason Chaffetz will manage to win re-election a week from today, but if voters of Utah’s 3rd congressional district have any moral scruples whatsoever, they should send Chaffetz packing so he can concentrate on keeping his utterly worthless ass out of prison (re, more nonsense with the Repug nominee for president)…
…and I think Thom Hartmann asks more than one really good question here…
…and instead a featuring a campaign ad with Steve Santarsiero (to help, click here), I thought I’d include this clip of Steve talking about two bills he’s sponsored in the PA House that, as far as I’m concerned, represent common sense gun reform measures (e.g., background checks on private purchase of long guns & not allowing anyone on the terror watch list to buy a gun)…
…a theme amplified by David Pakman also from about the same time period (and speaking of guns...)…
…and a belated happy 70th birthday to drummer Chris Slade of AC/DC and some other “prog” rock bands, including the one featured on this tune.
I think Bill Maher is absolutely right about voter ignorance in this country (here – NSFW), but he really shouldn’t pick on millennials too much as opposed to the “baby boomer” cohort, because…
…and K.O. is back with #32, telling us that “Donald Drumpf” has another man crush on a dictator who apparently hates this country now also…
…and Joy Reid talks with Ari Berman and Subodh Chandra about the Repugs and their attempts at voter intimidation and trying to keep Dems from the polls, particularly in Ohio and Wisconsin, referencing the consent decree the “party of Lincoln” is operating under following their antics in the 1981 gubernatorial election in NJ that Rachel Maddow discussed last week…
…and I thought this was a good commentary by Fareed Zakaria on the recent idiocy with FBI Director James Comey, though I would respectfully take issue with his characterization of Iran-Contra in the ‘80s since the activities of The Sainted Ronnie R and his pals were a violation of the Boland Amendment and did indeed break a federal law (a clumsy cut on Zakaria’s commentary at the end – and in a related story, I definitely concur with this)…
…and it sounds like “Kristol Mess” is continuing his streak of being completely and utterly wrong at punditry, as Kyle tells us (NSFW)…
…and as noted here, the proverbial beat goes on (and at this point, you'd have to be a stone-cold moron to think that Trump is actually telling the truth about anything whatsoever, but unfortunately, there are a lot of them in this country - just refresh if video doesn't appear immediately)…
(Oh, and by the way, I know I should stay off Facebook until the election is over, but some of the stuff I’m seeing in support of “Fergus Laing” is so weak as to be almost laughable, such as, well, Trump has acted like an utter pig towards women and demonized Hispanics and Muslims and proven to be utterly inept on the world stage largely because of his pathological behavior and unbelievable stupidity…but he once paid for helicopters to get our troops out of Desert Storm, or something – paraphrasing of course…)
…which of course perfectly ties into what the true “owners” of the Republican Party (think Rupert Murdoch) really want…
…and isn’t thisjust too precious? House Repugs not even bothering to wait for HRC to win before they talk about how they’re going to obstruct everything she tries to do…
…and closer to home, to support Steve Santarsiero for Congress, click here…
…and I’m sure this song will be really popular tomorrow night.
