Saturday, August 03, 2019

Saturday Stuff (updates)


Like many, many, MANY other people I realize, I have spent years (and probably decades now that I think of it) doing what I can to call for what I would call common sense gun reform in this country (in light of the latest horror show on this issue that we can all read about here). I’m not saying this in an effort to say, “hey, I’m so great – look at me.” Far from it. There are probably marches and protests that I could have participated in but didn’t for whatever reason. I’ve written to politicians of both parties, I’ve written to newspapers, I’ve tried to discuss the issue with family and friends (trying not to incur anyone’s wrath, but trying to win the day with the most intelligent persuasion I could muster), and I’ve posted all kinds of content online that I tried to make as well informed as I could (along with videos sympathetic to my point of view of course), in particular at this dippy little blog that you happen to be reading at this moment (and as always, thank you for that).

But really, nothing has worked. I would say that too many Democrats have not shown what I would consider the necessary fortitude on this issue, with notable exceptions such as Connecticut Dem Sen. Chris Murphy, as well as Dem Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who have horrific first-hand experience viewing the carnage from gun violence that I hope and pray none of us ever have to experience (it’s bad enough others had to go through that ordeal). And of course, the “party of Lincoln,” for my money, have been the most steadfast advocates for our nihilistic status quo on the issue of guns among anyone else in this country.

Are we really going to go through this ridiculous cycle once more? No, I’m not saying the proper measure of expressions of sympathy for the victims and their families and friends is “ridiculous” in any way. You know what I mean – our side quite rightly IMHO says that we should reduce clip sizes on assault weapons (or banning them entirely and advertising a buy-back policy, which makes more sense to me – and please spare me another lecture on “fully automatic versus semi-automatic”…both kinds will kill you equally dead), enable sharing of bullet tracing data along with gun purchases in a federal database, mandating a background check for ANY GUN PURCHASE OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER, ALONG WITH A MANDATORY WAITING PERIOD OF AT LEAST A WEEK (and yeah, I’m sure that will put the whole “gun show” industry out of business – too freaking bad!), federalizing gun laws to strict standards (and getting rid of the whole “gun law reciprocity” BS favored by this guy among others), sharing mental health data across the country if someone wants to buy a gun, particularly in matters of spousal or domestic partner abuse (another common thread in all of this), more federal $$ to police right-wing sites online (yeah, I know which Orange Pestilence will go bananas over that – heh)…I think that covers a lot of where we come down on this. And of course, the other side, as usual, will offer virtually nothing in response.

Well, in my quest to come up with some kind of a deterrent given this horrible vacuum we deal with on this issue that leads to ever more violence, ever more destruction, ever more ruin, I came up with an idea. And I’ll admit that it’s by no means the best idea out there, but I don’t see anyone else coming up with anything close to a solution on this, so here goes.

Apparently the shooter in our latest gun atrocity actually managed to NOT kill himself also. Given that, I think we should make an example of this life form.

Here’s what I mean – if this person is found guilty by a jury of his peers, then instead of lifetime incarceration or death by a mix of chemicals, electricity or what have you, then we should go “full medieval” on this person, tie him to a stake, disembowel him and hack off his limbs. And with the TV cameras rolling of course. And HBO could broadcast it or another cable service, or standard cable networks – whatever. Hell, they could make it a Pay Per View event. The video clips might end up running on YouTube, Hulu or Netflix forever.

Aw, c’mon conservatives – you KNOW something like this is what you’ve dreamed of! Make a statement to the entire world that this country has truly descended into the dark ages in the Trumpian era, just like you’d been planning for really ever since Richard Nixon’s “Southern Strategy.” This will satisfy your lust for violence and uphold what constitutes law and order as far as you’re concerned. Stop “talking the talk” and try “walking the walk” instead!

Yes, the ACLU, God bless them, will sue to try and prevent this. But with the Gropenfuhrer and #MoscowMitch packing the courts at record speed, and with a conservative majority on the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR, I’d lay even money that this could pass legal muster.

I mean, as long as we’re not going to address this issue in a manner that makes actual sense, let’s do this in a way to puff up ourselves on the world stage like the clueless, narrow-minded ignoramuses we’ve turned into as a country (with notable exceptions of course) and provide at least a minimal deterrent. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!...

(And with all due respect to Cenk, I think guns are a worse issue than corruption, though both are terrible…I read online that, when the cops got to the Walmart, there were so many people with weapons they didn’t know who to try and apprehend first – more here)…



…and I realize I could go after a lot of politicians for the reasons Cenk just noted (including plenty of Dems, including the subject of this piece), but I’m going to highlight these two in particular since they’re particularly craven and compromised on this issue (more here)…



…and before you feel any impulse of gratitude towards “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey on this issue, you should know this (from here)…
(The Center for Responsive Politics) asserts on Open Secrets that Toomey received $79,908 in pro-gun rights money during the 2016 cycle. But that number doesn’t just count contributions from pro-gun rights groups like the NRA or the SCI – the overwhelming majority of that $79,908 is from individuals who CRP classifies as pro-gun rights based on other donations they have made.

If someone donates to a pro-gun rights group like the NRA and also donates to a candidate the group has supported at some point, CRP decides that the donation made to the candidate is motivated by gun rights. Even though the NRA didn’t support Toomey in 2016, CRP classified some individual contributions as gun rights money because the NRA has given to Toomey in the past.
Now to the clip…



...and I don't believe I need to offer an explanation for this tune - here it is.




Update 1 8/4/19:


And that assclown Kevin McCarthy blamed video games of course (here). Because, as we know, video games are all over the place in Japan and they have the exact same problem we do (smh).

Lather, rinse, repeat...

Update 2 8/4/19: I wonder if "Squee" would approve (here)?

Update 3 8/4/19: Definitely not helpful (here)…

Update 4 8/4/19: Hard to correctly communicate what I think of the utter cowardice behind this statement

We took the lead in winning World War II and we put men on the moon. Yeah, if we summon the courage and political will, we can definitely fix this (and something in that spirit is here).

Update 5 8/4/19: And speaking of cowardice (here and here...and yes, Cornyn actually DID compare gun violence to homelessness)...if this isn’t a reason for Beto O’Rourke to suspend his presidential campaign and run against Cornyn instead for the U.S. Senate, I don’t know what is.

Update 8/6/19: Gee, "No Corporate Tax" Pat, I would consider "remaining alive and unharmed" to be "popular" too (here).

Friday, August 02, 2019

Friday Stuff


I definitely agree with Chris Hayes – this is truly a fine report by Trymaine Lee about what has happened to coal mining in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming (and yeah, Generalissimo Trump is lying again, Part The Infinity as Charlie Pierce might say)…



…and one thread in common with the prior clip and this one is the role of venture capitalism; Sam Seder and David Dayen talk at the recent Netroots Nation conference about the closing of Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia (and the role of Paladin Healthcare in this travesty – definitely an unfortunate aspect of “gentrification”…when I read about the real estate exemption of deductibility for tax purposes, I wanted to throw my keyboard right out the window – and by the way, after watching this clip, all I can say is, if you underestimate the Bernie Sanders campaign, you do so at your peril…sorry I’m a little late on this story…more here)…



…and Jefferson Smith sits in here for Thom Hartmann and reminds us of FDR’s popularity with younger Dem voters and how that translated into generational change, you might say – definitely a formula we need to repeat…



…and speaking of younger voters, Kyle drags Art Laffer in exactly the manner that he deserves (well, Laffer – aptly named IMHO – was right at the very end anyway about him being fat and old…NSFW)…



…and David Pakman tells us that the Gropenfuhrer is making noises like he’s actually turning on Fox; I’ll bet money – not much on my budget – that Mango Mussolini, in an effort to monetize EVERY BLOODY THING ABOUT THIS RUINOUS REGIME, will indeed find a way to put together an Official All-Trump Network…



…and I guess it really isn’t that surprising to find out the The Sainted Ronnie Reagan truly was a racist, given what his political party has turned into (as well as this of course), as Farron Cousins tells us…



…and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 8/3/10; remember when Repugs used to run ads like this (referencing the LBJ “Daisy” ad of course – Bill Cooper lost and ended up supporting Bill Huizenga, who eventually won, even though Huizenga is a mess, as noted here…what I would call some fitting current-day context is here)…



…and usually by now we’ve managed to escape to our blue-state paradise for a week or so, but our plans will be a little different this year; here’s a seasonal tune I feel like hearing to conjure up some happy memories (sigh).

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Wednesday Stuff


Gosh, it looks like #MitchMcTreason won’t do anything to help ensure the integrity of our elections – can’t say that I’m one bit surprised…



…and when Farron Cousins says this stuff, yeah, that’s one thing, but when Joe Scarborough says the same thing with more emphasis – well (and I watched some clips of Majority Leader McTurtle in supposedly high dudgeon over this, blaming “the left” as usual of course, but I didn’t think what he said was noteworthy enough to include here – and by the way, to do something about this U.S. senatorial mistake, click here)…



Update: This and this (and this, and this).

Update 8/5/19: You're a real sick son of a bitch, #MassMurderMitch (here),

…and I’m not sure how I missed this (I’m playing catch-up here a bit, I realize)…I know there are lefties out there who genuinely despise Bernie Sanders, and I have to admit that I’m not totally sure why (I know he’s a lightning rod for good and maybe bad), but he has been in the forefront of economic populist issues for a while now, and with the possible notable section of Elizabeth Warren, I don’t know anyone else who can make that claim, as Kyle K. reminds us (NSFW…and apparently Bernie was yelling at the debate last night and that put some people off – sounds like it’s time to fetch the fainting couch)…



…and with all of the yammering by Mango Mussolini about the city of Baltimore, I thought this was a particularly ironic response by Cenk and Ana…



…and yeah, I realize these are more lies from the Gropenfuhrer, this time about 9/11, in light of the health care bill for first responders that was FINALLY passed and signed into law (Ari Melber and Barbara Res tell us)…



…and last Monday marked the 45th anniversary of the death of “Mama” Cass Elliot; I think this is a fitting tune for the occasion (and this clip is actually 50 years old - smh).

Monday, July 29, 2019

Monday Stuff


I know this really isn’t a surprise, but it looks like the Repugs in Congress were definitely carrying water for Sean Inanity and Fix Noise and others on that accursed network in the matter of their questioning of Special Counsel Robert Mueller last week, which I realize is "dog bites man" stuff (I'm not going to comment on all of the "BUT LOOK OVER THERE!" idiocy of Congressional Republicans, though I will only add that NOT ONE STINKING WORD of the Steele Dossier has been disproven, and that wasn't even the impetus behind Mueller's investigation anyway - it was George Papadopoulos running his mouth to that Australian diplomat in Great Britain - and one of the congressional Repugs was actually dumb enough to give away the game and preface his question by saying “According to Gregg Jarrett” – heh – more here…)...



…and kudos to CNN anchor Victor Blackwell for showing some commendable humanity in the face of the rank racism and prejudice emanating from our Orange Pustule in An Oval Office – Brian Tyler Cohen explains...



Oh, and when it comes to “infested” areas of this country, I give you this...



Update 8/4/19: I think this is a terrific post on this subject from Jon Perr of Daily Kos.

…and speaking of red state “infestation,” you might say, it looks like something in the neighborhood of 15, 600 people may have died because their states refused Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Law - John I. and Ana of TYT explain…



Update 7/30/19: Sad but true here...

..and I have to admit that I found this item to be typically ridiculous involving MoDo of the New York Times – “my dad was a cop, so I automatically am one of the rabble, like you,” or something…hey, good for Carl Hulse on getting his book published, and sure, go ahead and have a party, but don’t get snippy when you get called out for the very behavior that shows the media/political/industrial complex for what it truly is, which is a gaggle of self-important opportunists – made me recall this clip (I know there are some “Worst Person” segments out there somewhere with Dowd, but I wasn’t able to track down any of them…c’est dommage)…



…and Robert Reich calls out the Repugs for more typical propaganda on raising the federal minimum wage…



…and this seasonal tune goes out to the pitching staff of our own Philadelphia Phillies, except for Aaron Nola and possibly Hector Neris…we were at the game on Saturday against Atlanta, and it’s always a fun time at the ballpark for any reason, but the top of the third inning may have been the worst exhibition of allegedly major league baseball that I’d ever seen…those hideous burgundy uniforms didn’t help either (it was ‘70s retro night, and the best part of that was the movie parodies of “Close Encounters Of The Third Kind” and “Monty Python And The Holy Grail” with the Phanatic)…yes, Atlanta is a good hitting team, and the REAL problem with the pitching as far as I’m concerned is poor drafts when Ruben Amaro was the GM, but what’s done is done.