Saturday Stuff

So “Cadet Bone Spurs” supposedly couldn’t visit the Aisne-Marne American cemetery in France to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, sending White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo instead (here).

What a pathetic excuse for an alleged chief of state!

Well, at least one leader of an industrialized nation knows how to pay proper respect (here).

However, the Gropenfuhrer has no problem involving our military in a ridiculous PR stunt to supposedly fight off that relentless horde of destitute immigrants posing no threat whatsoever that are approaching our border with Mexico…



Update 11/11/18: Talk about a picture being worth a minimum of a thousand words (here)...

…and Mike Papantonio and Mollye Barrows tell us about a phone “help line” for women who, apparently, are trying to self-induce abortions at home and avert prosecution (heckuva job, all you evangelicals or anyone else out there supporting Generalissimo Trump and the Repugs who are responsible for this travesty)…



…and Cenk brings what I consider to be quite justifiable outrage to this discussion of newly elected U.S. Senator (my God…) Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and her comments in the wake of the Thousand Oaks mass shooting – I know I’ve said a variation of this many, many times and I’m sure I will again, but how messed up of a person do you have to be to actually vote this soulless harridan into any kind of a position of governmental responsibility whatsoever?...



…and given our Tiny-Handed Dictator Wannabe’s latest outrage, I couldn’t help but think of this song.

Friday Stuff (update)

I know Kyle (NSFW of course) got pretty “wonky” here, as he put it, but I think there’s not one thing wrong with that – he talks about Trumper Larry Kudlow saying a federal minimum wage is a "terrible" idea (typical… wonder if ol’ Larry has been visiting the snow man again? And no, I’m not trivializing drug use by saying that.)… I would also argue that another example of conservatives being dragged kicking and screaming into the cold light of day is on health care coverage for pre-existing conditions, putting aside the brazen lying that went on in the most recent election of course (and by the way, the Repugs’ idea of a “small business” would be, oh I don’t know…maybe Papa John’s? And a “living wage law”? And “Medicare for all” by state? Interesting…)…



…and I was tempted to say the “recently concluded” election, but I’m definitely glad that I CAN’T say that, though the electoral garbage going on in Florida and Georgia DEFINITELY doesn’t make me happy…oh, but didn’t Hangin’ Judge JR of The Supremes, he of the “I just want to call balls and strikes” BS, tells us that racism doesn’t exist anymore and that’s why he gutted the Voting Rights Act? Well, maybe not for him…



…and while the Dems winning back the U.S. House was definitely a high point of the week, this for sure was another low point for all of the reasons Cenk and Ana tell us here – didn’t know much about it until I saw a tweet from Charlie Pierce yesterday…so many ways that this is wrong and STOO-PID!...yes, we know what Tucker Carlson is, but LEAVE HIS FAMILY AND HIS HOUSE ALONE!! WHY THE HELL DO WE NEED TO SAY THIS??!!

Yeah, now this validates his garbage that we’re all a bunch of Saul Alinsky-loving, violence-prone socialists who want to destroy motherhood and apple pie and let the Honduran immigrant caravan full of ISIS and MS-13 killers run rampant on our border and rape and pillage everything in sight – heckuva job, you idiots!...nice that you now have common cause with these lunatics...



Update 11/10/18: OK, so the door wasn’t broken, but apparently the property was spray painted? Nice (here…and yes, I’m being sarcastic).

As I said, we know what Carlson is and how he manages to stir up the wingnut fever swamps against selected targets, which is awful and truly deplorable…but YOU…DON’T…GO…TO…HIS…HOUSE!

…and I was going to put this up as my NSFW-also response to the U.S. Senate contests so far – though I think we all need to hear this from time to time – but I should point out that I definitely don’t share Will McAvoy’s opinion of millennials, who came through big time in the elections earlier this week from what I read (including here)…well done (and speaking of the electorate, apparently white women are starting to give up on Generalissimo Trump as noted here, but I think they need to do it a little damn faster!)…



…and Beto drops the “F”-bomb here in thanking his supporters (shades of Chase Utley in these parts about 10 years ago), which I’m fine with given the circumstances…I know I alluded to this recently , but I’m sure we’ll be hearing from Beto again…hope so anyway…



…and RIP jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove.

Thursday Stuff

Here is a BBC report on the latest mass shooting carnage in this country; according to this story, 13 are dead (developing story of course), including the shooter, though there are at least two twists to the story this time around…the person pulling the trigger was a veteran, and he actually DIDN’T use an AR-15 but, apparently, a .45 caliber handgun with an extended magazine (update is here, and that means of course that it’s time for “thoughts and prayers,” because we can’t expect that much of anything else will happen on the national level, can we?)…

Oh, and by the way, I have a message for Republican voters in Indiana, Missouri and North Dakota: you DO realize, don’t you, that you just elected politicians from the Trump/Kavanaugh Party to the U.S. Senate to replace Dems who will do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the issue of gun violence, right? Were you soooo scared about the alleged “immigrant caravan” full of MS-13 gang members and ISIS murderers coming to our border that you took leave of your senses? Apparently so (and oh, by the way, let’s not forget this too.)

And I would bother to chastise Texas and Florida also, but even though I know there are some great Democrats in these states, they’re comparatively hopeless at the moment and probably for the foreseeable future...

…and speaking of the election that just took place, Hasan Piker tells us more…



…and Trevor Noah weighs in also on the news, including that ultra-bizarro presser the Gropenfuhrer held yesterday where Jim Acosta was called out (if I ever see Acosta, the first drink is on me), and also the departure of immunity gnome Jeffy Sessions (and cannabis stocks went crazy yesterday on the news of the firing – have to get a piece of that action somehow)…



..and though this remains a great tune, I’ll look forward to the day when I no longer feel that I need to respond to a news tragedy by including it in one of these posts.

Wednesday Stuff

(My electoral post mortem, for what it’s worth, is here.)

John I. and Cenk of TYT tell us more on progressive women running and winning in yesterday's elections…



…and I think Pete Davidson of SNL probably could have handled this situation a little better with one of our veterans, but as far as I’m concerned, this is yet another example of “the billion dollar anger industry” revving up – hey, instead of churning up indignation over this idiotic faux pas on TV, why not direct it towards our politicians who continue to place our military in harm’s way without giving them a good reason why their lives should be on the line in the first place? Oh, and what about our alleged Leader Of The Free World WHO IS TOO BUSY PLAYING GOLF TO VISIT THEM?

Kyle erupts at about 8:15, but he’s absolutely right, though I think mentioning Rand Paul (who I still think is an idiot) and “Medicare for All” was “a bridge too far” IMHO (NSFW)…



…and if Dems had any brains (we’ll see), they should go all in on “Medicare for All,” but I’m not holding my breath…



…and happy 75th birthday to Joni Mitchell.

Tuesday Stuff

(In case you may still need reading/viewing material before casting your ballot, I provided a bunch of info from yesterday’s post.)

Here are things that I definitely WILL NOT miss now that this latest tortuous election cycle is nearly over:

Dem purity tests from the usual suspects (yes, Cenk and TYT are great and do terrific work, but I’m tired of tweets saying, “Oh, the House races are more exciting because of progressives” (which is true I know) “and the Senate races by comparison are boring and we’ll probably lose because of all of the corporate Democrats” (well, we’ll see, but comments like that are DISTINCTLY UNHELPFUL…can we PLEASE have the self-incriminating, circular-firing-squad BS AFTER the election and not DURING??!!)

And this is a perfect example from someone else who I otherwise greatly respect.

Update 11/7/18: After looking at what I've seen of the results, Cenk turned out to be absolutely right. However, competing for the U.S. Senate, especially in "white bread" middle America and the south, is a much trickier proposition than running for a U.S. House seat.

Anything whatsoever to do with Steve Kornacki – I can think of few pursuits that are more futile than trying to examine the “tribalism” of our politics.

Here’s what’s going on. The other side is getting crazier by the day, and a big part of our side has been (wrongly, I think) moving more towards the center to accommodate them somehow, which is now and always will be a waste of time. Meanwhile, the progressive left is providing a future for this country (a vision combined with practical, real-world proposals) that is a hell of a lot more in line with what the vast majority of this country truly wants.

The end.

Lectures from “boomers,” my generational cohort, to millennials, saying, on the one hand, “Oh please save us – you’re our only hope,” while simultaneously lecturing and hectoring them for not voting in the numbers of other demographic voting blocks.

Note to boomers: the mess we’re currently dealing with is overwhelmingly OUR FAULT because we let ourselves be tricked and conned into either staying home when we needed to get our asses to the polls instead or deciding to trust in a certain delusional, orange maniac who possessed neither the mental capacity, disposition, or inclination in any way whatsoever to practice governance as a democratically elected chief of state. And don’t even get me started on how we ended up putting Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao or Mr.-Puppy-Dog-Eyes-With-The-Shiv in charge of Congress, to say nothing of letting the “party of Lincoln” dominate our state and municipal elections.

And given that rant, it may seem to be a little contradictory to include this video from Bill Maher, but I nonetheless thought he made good points…



…though this is definitely an encouraging sign…



…and never, EVER forget this (more here)…



…and oh yeah, speaking of the traitorous "loyal opposition," let’s not forget about the former Hazelton, PA mayor running for the U.S. Senate…



…on the other hand, here are reasons for support incumbent Dem Bob Casey instead…



…and when it came to the chief Teahadist in our beloved commonwealth, as I said before, I was so repulsed by the violence that I forgot about the elitism (golf spikes?)…



…in opposition, though, I think this really rocks, and let’s all show it in PA by electing Gov. Tom Wolf to another term…



...and on this day, I can think of no more appropriate tune than this one.

Monday Stuff

(By the way, my prior posts related to the 2018 mid-terms are here, here, here, here, and here.)

Rachel Maddow tells us that, should the Dems win the U.S. House tomorrow, that would mean that THEY would be in charge of the House congressional committees, which wield a hell of a lot of power, including subpoenaing the tax records of a Certain Orange, Delusional, Wannabe Dictator…



…and I didn’t forget about the Tallahassee yoga shooting (here) – God almighty…



…and Farron Cousins tells us that Energy Secretary Rick “Goodhair” Perry recently gave away the proverbial game when it comes to storing nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain, which is a big deal in Nevada (yes, Dean Heller opposes it because he isn’t dumb as a door knob, but what good does THAT do when the rest of his party SUPPORTS IT?).

In response, to support Dem Jacky Rosen, please click here…



…and Pete Olson of Texas kind of mixes up both his bigotry and racism in attacking his Dem opponent (just say “oops” and get out - this is actually hilarious in a thoroughly unintentional way)…



…and turning to our beloved commonwealth, please support Perry Warren for state representative (for PA-31 folk)…



…as well as Steve Santarsiero for State Senate (District 10)…



(By the way, if anyone from Steve's campaign is reading this, check your site. I haven't been able to access it all day...Update: I just got in.)

…and Scott Wallace for the U.S. House of Representatives (for PA-01)…

(And by the way, I don’t know if I ever said this in so many words, but the reason why I’ve included this pic is to show that, as is so often the case, Not Your Father’s Republican Party was guilty of big-time overreach on their latest tax cut scam. I drove past this sign awhile back a couple of times, but finally, when I saw it the third time, I realized I had to pull over and get this picture. And sure enough, as soon as the Repugs realized that voters were onto their latest con, they pulled up these signs. And of course, you can consider my inclusion of this picture my attempt to make sure that voters NEVER FORGET that this is part of their latest disgusting swindle at our expense…and as we know by now, Bri-Fi voted for those horrible tax cuts from Trump and his party, not once, but twice).

Update: Oh, and I somehow forgot about these oh-so-precious moments from Bri-Fi's campaign (probably because I subconsciously wanted to preserve my gag reflex)...

…and here’s a tune to put some “pep in our step” while we engage in any last-minute campaign activities and get ready to head to the polls.