David Pakman reminds us that the wingnuts will ALWAYS find a way to blame Dems regardless of the evidence, in this case in the matter of the energy disaster in Texas (if you’re not rich, why in God’s name would you EVER vote for a Republican? And why is it that this doesn't surprise me?)...
...and Kyle Kulinski brings us a Vice News report about people on our southwest border resorting to transporting drugs because of our crashed COVID economy (no, I most certainly DON’T think meth should be legalized – I disagree with Kyle on that – but he’s right in that there is A HELL OF A LOT MORE that we need to do to support the people in this country victimized by all of this...and yeah, at times like this, I think this country looks like a failed state too)...
...and part of the reason, I would argue, why people have to resort to the behavior such as that shown in the prior clip is because the federal minimum wage hasn’t been raised since 2009, and Ana and Nando Vila tells us that Joe Manchin, one of the roadblocks, is getting heat to do the right thing, which is a welcome development (and it looks like Manchin is giving @CancunCruz a run for his proverbial money as the most unpopular U.S. Senator based on this)...
...and the answer is no – I’m NEVER going to stop reminding 43 Republican senators that they utterly caved to Generalissimo Trump in the matter of the second impeachment over the 1/6 insurrection...
...and related to the prior clip, Ari Melber tells us about neo-Nazi infiltration of our police...I know there are people who don’t think much of Nancy Pelosi’s call for a 9/11-style commission to look into what happened on 1/6, but I personally think that’s a great idea, and the stuff Melber talks about is part of what should be investigated...
...and Chris Hayes tells us about the somewhat – how can you put it? – “checkered” history of the L. Brent Bozell clan, with the most recent one of the bunch involved in...yep, you guessed it...the catastrophic events of 1/6 (the sarcasm at the end is completely deserved)...
...and concerning what probably is the biggest story of the week (aside from this, which is truly great), John I. and Jayar give the late but not lamented Flush Limbore the sendoff he deserves...
...and I don’t know how many have noticed, but we’re over half a million COVID casualties...and call me crazy, but I would have thought that that would be trending on Twitter or something – that’s a frightening number, but the lack of a reaction that I can see is pretty damn unsettling too...here’s a tune by a guy who lost his own battle with the disease – words to live by always.
As somebody might say (not sure who), this might be the most Ted Cruz thing that Ted Cruz has ever done, namely, flying to Cancun while his home state of Texas endures catastrophic conditions due to a massive failure of that state’s energy grid from the recent snow storm (and as noted at the end here, he basically blamed his daughters and spring break for it...and he even requested a police escort for his return as noted here...just nuking any notions of shame here I realize)...
..and boy, this sure didn't take long, did it (heh)...
Update: Yeah, karma sure is a bitch, isn't it (here and here)?
...and remaining in the “land of the yellow rose,” Jeff Waldorf tells us about former Colorado City mayor Tim Boyd, who lost his job because of this whole “rugged individualism” rap of his in response to the dire predicament of the residents he was elected to serve – bit runs a little long, but Waldorf makes a lot of good points...
...and Chris Hayes refutes a lot of the typical wingnut BS over this pretty directly, to his credit (if your means allows you to assist people in the Lone Star State during this time, please click here)...
...though it's not like they weren't warned 10 years ago, as Rachel Maddow reminds us...
...and I guess FL Repug guv Ron DeathSantis was getting jealous with Texas receiving all of the wingnut attention, so he decided to distribute the COVID vaccine to his campaign contributors over everyone else in that state, as Farron Cousins tells us (more here)...
...and keeping with energy matters, John and Jayar tell us about an Indian girl punished for following the example of Greta Thunberg on the issue of climate; I know we don’t pay a lot of attention to that country, but maybe we should, because there’s some pretty damn un-democratic stuff going on under Modi...
...and I guess it’s in keeping with a bit of an international theme to note that today is the 88th birthday of Yoko Ono (I always had a bit of a soft spot for this tune, and it’s actually combined with a regional weather forecast...please be careful out there).
Like many of you I’m sure, I was taught not to speak ill of someone who has recently passed from this life, considering that to be part of a typical upbringing in my evolution to become a person of decency, kindness and compassion. And for what it’s worth, I believe I’ve stayed true to that (and I emphasize that I’m not looking for medals, since I don’t think anybody should be rewarded for doing the right thing – you’re just supposed to do it and get on with your life).
But I’m going to make an exception for this occasion. And I’m probably committing a sin, and I apologize in advance.
I wasn’t sure I would know how to react to the news that Rush Limbaugh is finally dead after all of these years. And I’m still not sure that I know how exactly.
Even now, it’s hard to gauge and calculate the utter ruin on our media and political landscape inflicted by this man. Prior to his rise, right-wing media was pretty much the home of kooks and addled academics with a grievance against some kind of slight that can more often than not be traced back to the Democratic Party (or also what used to be called Eisenhower Republicanism, where our 34th president campaigned partly on a platform of making sure everyone eligible for Social Security enrolled as well as encouraging union membership). I’m thinking of William F. Buckley, Clarence Manion, and conservative book publisher Henry Regnery (all of whom are discussed in this great book).
But Rush Limbaugh turned all of it into entertainment. He made it profitable. And he kicked open the door for legions of wannabes to follow him, many of whom still ply their dark art to this day (and who will be noted elsewhere in this post).
There is so much that is utterly vile and despicable about Rush Limbaugh that I’m not sure anybody can properly catalog it in a single post or a series of posts (Media Matters has done a better job of that than I ever could). I just want to communicate one anecdote, if you will.
And that has to do with Sandra Fluke, who (as noted here) was a Georgetown University Law student who gave a speech about nine years ago to House Democrats in support of mandating insurance coverage for contraceptives. And of course, Limbaugh attacked her, labeling her a “slut” and a “prostitute” (noted in the second clip).
Well, later that year, I was phone-banking in the Bristol, PA Democratic Party headquarters, and Fluke stopped by with Cecile Richards, then of Planned Parenthood. And I complimented Fluke on her courage for speaking out on women’s health care. She acted a little embarrassed, though she appreciated the praise. And I was struck by the fact that, physically, she was about 5’ 4” or 5’ 5” with kind of a slight build, though that didn’t reflect her courage in standing up to the pre-eminent media bully of our age (as is often the case, when you see somebody through an electronic viewing screen of some type, they loom larger than they are in real like, with notable exceptions of course).
As I spoke with Fluke, I thought to myself, what kind of a pathetic, hateful alleged “man” would go after someone like this lady, who was only practicing the free speech under the First Amendment to the Constitution that is guaranteed to everyone, including him?
I’m sure there will be people praising Limbaugh in the coming days. He will be remembered as a media giant and influencer who played a big part in the conservative revolution in this country. And that will be true.
However, I will look upon him now and forever as one of the vilest life forms who has ever walked upright on two legs. And as far as I’m concerned, that is all the mention he deserves. Part of the reason is noted in this TYT clip from October 2009, in which Detroit residents gathered for economic assistance in the wake of the recession in the prior year, and Limbaugh used it as an excuse for his typical race-baiting (with the “Democrat” Party reference thrown in at the end for good measure - more here, here and here)...
...and as if we wanted more reasons to utterly detest this character...well, here they are (yep, Limbaugh getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom was truly an obscenity that I probably didn't say much about at the time because of more pressing news affecting our country and the world)...
Update: Yeah, I think this is pretty spot-on also from Will Bunch.
Update 2/18/21: And this is pretty well said from Eric Boehlert.
Update 2/20/21: What a sorry-ass legacy (here)...and Frank Bruni doesn't get any points either; when Bruni apologizes for being George W. Bush's PR flunky in the '00 election (here), then I'll take him seriously.
...and turning to the garbage network that Limbaugh helped spawn with Roger Ailes (and I hope both of them are incinerating in Gehenna at this moment), Ana and Aida Rodriguez tell us more about right-wing media saying the Green New Deal is responsible for the energy misery in Texas (and Rodriguez is dead-on about the coast-to-coast influence of greed on all of this)...
...and Chris Hayes gives us more on this (some of this is a little repetitive, but it’s important)...
...and you can consider this clip to be a reminder that we should NEVER, EVER FORGET the individuals in the U.S. Senate who just voted to acquit the Gropenfuhrer for the 1/6 insurrection against this country...
Funny how executive orders were so damn wonderful under the Gropenfuhrer, but now they’re toxic under Number 46 as far as the usual suspects at Fix Noise are concerned (and this is pretty damn absurd for that network too, more germane to the "Damage Report" clip maybe; I guess people think Stuart Varney is more intelligent because he has an English accent, but he may be one of the stupidest of the bunch, and that’s saying something I know, though I do think Greg Gutfeld will remain the reigning champ in that category)...
...and the “Morning Joe” people talk about U.S. Senate Repugs facing reprisals back home for voting to impeach Mango Mussolini, including Richard Burr, Pat Toomey (again, shocked by that, though I’m sure it helps that he has nothing whatsoever to lose politically), Ben Sasse, and Susan Collins, who I’m sure is disheartened and disappointed, and Bill Cassidy also of course (more here)...
...and turning to those who continued to carry water for the twice-impeached Number 45, John I. and Ben Dixon of "The Damage Report" tell us about the response from Ted Cruz to the snowstorm and power outages plaguing his state...not so much crowing and bashing of California now, is there, Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton (still don’t understand why Paxton isn’t in jail...I hope everybody gets the help they need, but that should apply regardless of wherever you are in this country or the territories)...
...and I thought this was kind of a dreamy, escapist little number to help us deal with the winter doldrums (overdue again for a newer tune).
I guess, aside from death and taxes (and Democratic congressional capitulation – don’t worry; I won’t go all nutty all over again, since I just climbed down from that metaphorical ledge), something else that is constant is Fix Noise demonizing immigrants, even though, on balance, they commit less crime than naturalized Americans do, as far as that information is available, as noted here and here (David Pakman talks about that and more...I apologize for including waaaay too much of that damn lunatic Laura Ingraham)...
...meanwhile, for the reality point of view, John Iadarola and Ali Noorani talk about immigration and Social Security and trying to grow our economy in general (the fact that this country is, for all intents and purposes, a service economy means that we constantly need a fresh supply of labor to keep productive)...
...and David Doel highlights a CNN report on kids losing their parents to QAnon – a pretty deep dive into explaining why this group is a cult (and I’m not including this to be patronizing, but only to emphasize how important it is for people to get help...I hope things work out for these young women and their families) – Farron Cousins said earlier that we should take on that responsibility as a country, as in helping to deprogram people, but I’m sorry; we have a lot more pressing needs, so that’s a “no” from me...
...and speaking of Cousins, he tells us here that Louisiana Repug Sen. Bill Cassidy was censured for deciding to go forward with the 2nd impeachment...and he still voted to convict Trump in spite of that...kudos (of course, I’m sure Cassidy will now flip and do some truly nutso stuff to try and win back his beloved base)...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 2/15/13; the following MoveOn ad shows a gun owner claiming that the NRA “doesn’t speak for me,” which I think is timely given that yesterday was the 3rd anniversary, believe it or not, of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, FL (and here is another related item)...
...and I know we usually commemorate Washington and Lincoln on President’s Day, but I’d like to include this tune for Number 37; anyone who thinks we’re still not living in Richard Nixon’s political shadow is dreaming or delusional as far as I’m concerned.
