I thought this was some great commentary on the Joe Arpaio thing, and I never thought I would EVER agree with Matt Welch at all, but boy is he absolutely spot-on here (oh, and Dems? The next time Pat Toomey and other idiot conservatives mention “sanctuary cities,” can you PLEASE say that these are places that obey the rule of law and practice the exact opposite of Arpaio’s hateful garbage?)…
…and it looks like Teahadist Scott Wagner was at it again here recently – here is a reminder of past bad behavior from this potential candidate for PA governor (taking a page from Greg Gianforte, apparently)…
…and I wish all the best to those in Texas trying to deal with the effects of Harvey; I think it’s important to keep in mind that John Cornyn and Ted Cruz both opposed Sandy relief, as noted here and as Kyle K. correctly notes in thoroughly NSFW fashion – to help, click here…
Update 8/28/17: More ways to help can be accessed from here.
…and maybe this is too easy of a selection, but with the storm situation in the “lone star state,” this tune came immediately to mind.
If there’s anything I actually DO believe about the Gropenfuhrer, it’s that he will in fact shut down the government to pay for his stinking wall. And we’ll all get totally screwed. Bigly…
Here's what would happen if President Trump shut down the government over a border wall tantrum pic.twitter.com/HkuY5D81UW
(Oh, and speaking of stupidity, I realized that I hadn’t checked in with our township’s Republican house organ for a little while, otherwise knowns as the Bucks County Courier Times, but I did so today and came across the following…and yeah, the “letter” was every bit as idiotic as you’d expect from the headline.)
…and here’s a news flash for anyone out there who still may not believe this (related to science also like the prior vid), but renewable energy is actually good business…
…and I know I went on a bit yesterday about how I should do my part to remind people of what the Dems stand for, and even though this clip is a little dated now (to say nothing of incomplete), you can consider this to be my contribution…
Update 9/1/17: This was good also - OK, DNC...let's try to frame some actual policies that work around this, OK?
…and I thought this was another important story from Rachel Maddow, this time about how the U.S.S. Indianapolis was recently found, but quite rightly will remain entombed since it truly is hallowed ground (harks back to the scene in “Jaws” where Quint, played by Robert Shaw, recounts the horror of what happened…that scene was originally scripted by John Milius, by the way, but Shaw himself edited it and delivered it of course)…
…and the Syrian artist who is the subject of this clip is my hero of the week…maybe the whole month actually…
Maybe Donald Trump would sympathize with refugees if he saw himself painted as one (via @_abdallaomari) pic.twitter.com/jqOFmAO3FK
Rachel Maddow talks to Malcolm Nance about the Fusion GPS (and Glenn Simpson) corroboration of the Steele Dossier, which is looking more and more legit – not good news for the Gropenfuhrer…
…and K.O. tells us about all of those backing away from the Dear Leader (including our beloved commonwealth of PA – as far as I’m concerned, the fact that we helped to install this utterly toxic fraud will be a source of eternal shame)…
…and if you want to see how Generalissimo Trump typically lied in his little Phoenix gathering of upright, biped life forms recently, I would ask that you watch this video (and click here)…
…and I can’t think of a word to describe how silly this is (I think Nomiki Konst is exactly right about what ESPN could have done so nobody would have been the wiser)…
And by the way, I’d like to change the topic a bit before I put up the music video.
In a word, I don’t think the national Democratic Party has learned a damn thing after the 2016 election. We’re still playing defense (OMIGOD, STOP TRUMP! GIVE US MONEY!) and sending out Emails with scary subject lines (AWFUL NEWS! STOP TRUMP!). And by pointing that out, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t give money to Democrats (and I’m DEFINITELY not saying you shouldn’t STOP TRUMP).
Update 8/28/17: Oh, and today's screaming Email from the DCCC says "We're BEGGING!" (just an FYI).
And yes, I know my video selections have been pretty much devoted to Trump/Russia, and maybe I need to do more to get out a positive message too. I’ll do what I can to change that.
I’ve had this on my mind since watching the most recent episode of “Real Time With Bill Maher” with former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who said, in about a minute or two, that the Democrats have to figure out what they are, present a positive, alternative vision of this country, and THEN go out and try to get people to join and contribute! Yes, the Trump/Russia stuff and all of Number 45’s miseries need to be addressed, but (and here I go again, I know) THE DEMOCRATS HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO BE INCLUSIVE AGAIN AND NOT JUST THINK PEOPLE WILL VOTE FOR THEM BECAUSE ZOMG THE REPUGS ARE NUTS!!!
The closest I’ve seen to this are the so-called “Justice Democrats” such as Ro Khanna that potty mouth Kyle Kulinski talks about. And yes, DNC centrist losers, maybe there are some aspects of Bernie Sanders’s campaign that puts you off. But he did a hell of a lot better job of galvanizing support in the last election than anyone else did, SO YOU’D BETTER SURE AS HELL TAKE A PAGE FROM HIS BOOK, OR EVEN THE WHOLE DAMN BOOK ITSELF! In short (And once again, here I go again), we’d better figure out a way to bring these internal factions of ours together and end this damn circular firing squad (how about a summit with, say, David Sirota and Peter Daou for starters?).
Ok – with all of that said, here’s another summer tune.
Farron Cousins tells us that Mr.-Puppy-Dog-Eyes-With-The-Shiv got burned by a Catholic nun recently – good one, sister – of course, you’re not hearing nearly enough like this from the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops despite what Cousins says…
…and as noted here, Chile just voted to overturn its abortion ban (speaking of religion – figures that it went into law under Pinochet)…
"I decide. I'm free now to decide." Chile has lifted its complete abortion ban. pic.twitter.com/OPv6cpXG7A
…and I don’t think I’ve ever included a video from Morning Jo(ke) before, and I won’t make a habit of it, but I thought it was appropriate to do so given President Tiny-Handed Egomaniac’s ridiculous prattling about the media and Charlottesville last night in Phoenix (God, what a whiny little bitch, as Bill Maher says!)…
…and K.O. tells us that maybe Robert Mueller is starting to figure out exactly how to get Generalissimo Trump…we can only hope and pray, and then of course go to work to elect Democrats. Would that bring in change for real? Yeah, it would…
…and I know I’m a little behind the news cycle on this, but as noted here, the Gropenfuhrer is blowing off the Kennedy Center Awards...
I honestly don’t know what else we could have expected out of Generalissimo Trump on Afghanistan (here); I believe it was Rick Wilson who said that our preznit had the attention span of a gnat on meth – Dear Leader pretty much has struck out on everything he’s made a half-hearted attempt to do, and I would say that he’s keeping that string intact…
…and Rachel Maddow tells us about the hissy fit staged on Instagram by the wife of Steve Mnuchin, sandwiched in between a truly sobering reminder about this country and our ongoing involvement noted above (more here)…
…and Amy Goodman on Democracy Now talks with the descendants of Stonewall Jackson who want the Confederate statues taken down, particularly those of their great, great grandfather...
…the "the old gray lady" goes from #45 back to Reagan on related issues to see how race and tolerance were handled by prior presidents (re, Charalottesville of course...I’m glad they saved the Obama clip for the end, but there must have been something from #42 – surprised it wasn’t included)…
…oh, and by the way, just a minor detail I know, but it turns out that the Gropenfuhrer’s vacations are bankrupting the Secret Service…
...and here's a summer tune I definitely don't want to forget.
…and I don’t touch on world stuff too often unless something bad happens, I know (I used to devote more time to that stuff in the early days, before my for-profit activities just about totally took over), but I thought this was interesting, particularly since we just travelled “across the pond” about a year ago – it looks like the chimes of Big Ben will fall silent until 2021 due to repairs…
…and be careful if you decide to watch the eclipse, people (more here and here...I think we’re about halfway through at this point in my neck of the woods).
I have a question – am I supposed to be in mourning for this guy?
Because, just to let you know, I’m not.
Yes, give Jerry Lewis credit for raising $2.6 billion to fight Muscular Dystrophy, a truly mind-boggling sum, as noted here.
But as far as I’m concerned, he wasn’t funny. This business about him supposedly being some kind of a comedy god is some of the most preposterous nonsense I’ve ever heard. And yes, I get it that humor is completely subjective – there are people out there who will never get Monty Python, for example, and that doesn’t mean that my sense of humor is better than theirs. It just means that they’re different, that’s all.
Here is how I look at it, though: Pratfalls? Mugging for the camera? Any idiot can do that.
Jerry Lewis criticized President Obama and praised Donald Trump in an interview on World Over with Raymond Arroyo; the iconic comedian also slammed the Syrian refugee program, telling Arroyo “refugees should stay where the hell they are.”
“No one has worked harder for the human condition than I have, but they’re not part of the human condition,” Lewis continued. “If 11 guys in the group of 10,000 are ISIS, how can I take the chance? I don’t want to lose another Frenchman or another Englishman. That bothers me.”
“No one has worked harder for the human condition than I have”? Really? Throughout all of recorded history?
More than, say, Mother Teresa? Jonas Salk? Gregor Mendel? Saint Augustine?
And refugees “should stay where the hell they are”? Gee, it’s a good thing nobody took that advice prior to, say, the Industrial Revolution, or else many millions including your humble narrator probably wouldn’t be here. Oh, but they’re “not part of the human condition,” so why bother, right?
And according to World Nut Daily (here), Lewis said that President Obama was a “failed leader.”
What a clown. And I don’t mean that in terms of the comedic arts…
…but here is somebody who just left us REALLY worthy of tribute as far as I’m concerned; RIP Dick Gregory (I may feature another clip or two with him this week)…
…and on a more positive note, kudos to everyone in Boston who stood tall yesterday (here – good one by comedian George Wallace)…
Boston PD Commissioner William Evans: We had 40,000 people "standing tall against bigotry and hatred in our city, and that's a good feeling" pic.twitter.com/g7NBoLxieR
