Friday, October 01, 2021

Friday Stuff


(To be fair, though, Sinema had help from 6 other U.S. Senate Dems and one independent in killing that bill, as noted here.)

The Damage Report's John and Jayar give us the latest rotten polling numbers for “Curtsy Kyrsten” (more here)...



...and now Sinema is trying to delete old tweets, as David Doel tells us - way too damn funny (incredibly damning stuff, and Sinema deserves all of it; reference near the end to this guy of course)...



Update: How To Say "FU" To Your Constituents Without Saying "FU" To Your Constituents (here).

...and regarding Sinema’s partner in U.S. Senate Dem obstructionist crime, Rachel Maddow tells us how popular President Biden’s Build Back Better bill is in West Virginia, the state allegedly represented by U.S. Senate Dem Joe Manchin (with Biden's plan polling at about 80 percent...I think Cenk and Ana already nailed this issue with Manchin knowing that anything related to climate – which Sinema allegedly cares about, which I don’t believe – would be a “poison pill” for Manchin because he wants to protect the dying coal industry...and yes, I know it’s tiresome and repetitive to keep bitching about Manchin and that psycho Sinema, but I don’t see where we have a choice about whether or not we have to do that)...



Update: And here is an “undercover” pic of Manchin on his little party boat, which apparently makes him popular among the “smart set” of the Beltway media/political/industrial complex.


#sarcasm

...and I know this clip is about a week old, but Chris Hayes draws a pretty straight line between all the “great replacement” BS from The Swanson TV Dinner Heir and Klansman David Duke (nice tone of measured outrage by Hayes)...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 9/30/13, in which Cenk Uygur, looking a lot younger, give us some numbers from Politifact about who lies more, Democrats or Republicans...what still blows my mind about this clip is that, apparently, George Mason University had something to do with this but somehow still called it straight...wonders truly never cease...



...and I have to admit that this is a pretty good ad against FL guv #DeathSantis (here)...



...and yeah, we need to keep drumming this message home all the way to the 2022 midterms at a minimum (more here...and c’est dommage – speaking of the SCOTUS, it looks like “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh has ‘Rona; I don’t wish that on anyone, but if I did, he would be one of the people I’d select)...



...and happy belated birthday to Trey Anastasio.

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Wednesday Stuff


David Doel brings us more information on how COVID-19 is impacting Biden voters vs. Trump voters, as well as conservative voters in Canada...the graph at about 1:30 almost made me fall out of my chair – this is a public health emergency, people, but good luck trying to get that idea through the thick skulls of Trump voters (I'll admit that you get a bit more of the impact watching the video on YouTube to see more of those first two graphs)...



...and If I read or hear any more BS about how we’re supposed to understand Trump voters and reach out to them and not be a bunch of snotty libs, I offer the following as a response...



...and this CNN clip tells the story of the “Don’t get vaccinated” truck driving around Charlotte, NC, which is actually an interesting bit of reverse psychology, as the report says...



...and I thought this was a really ballsy commentary from Beau on the debt ceiling nonsense from Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao and his pals (and I agree with every word of it)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us about Greg Abbott going ahead with a “fraudit” in TX of course even though Combover Caligula won the freaking state, with Dallas County judge Clay Jenkins among others blasting Abbott over it...



...and Thom Hartmann asks us if we’ve become numb in this country to mass shootings – dear God, I hope not (video gets a little choppy near the end...and you can follow Amee Vanderpool from here)...



...and Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us that it looks like “prosperity gospel” nut Kenneth Copeland wants another private jet, along with some of these other disgusting charlatans...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ tells us about the latest Trump tell-all book from Stephanie Grisham (no honor among thieves and lowlifes, of course...pass the popcorn)...



...and this may be my new favorite song for the moment - hope you like it too.

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Tuesday Stuff (updates)


Francesca and Caroline Johnson of The Damage Report tell us about “Calgary” Cruz trying to trip up law professors on Texas’s racist voter ID law, partly by trying to put words in their mouths...typical...



...and speaking of ways to “disadvantage” people of color, David Doel tells us about the recent UN speech by Mia Motley, the Prime Minister of Barbados, taking that governing body to task on a whole host of issues including the climate and COVID-19 crises... and yeah, it looks on the surface as if the U.S. supports the so-called TRIPS waiver on producing the COVID vaccine for poorer countries, but upon further review, apparently not...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ tells us about former FedEx driver Vincent Paterno, who apparently didn’t want to make deliveries to Democrats...fortunately for this asshat, employers are hiring all over the place, so he’ll probably find something if he hasn’t already (mildly NSFW/H)...



via GIPHY


...and if ever there was a reason to join The Young Turks, it’s because of videos like this, where Ana and Cenk pretty much rip the mask off our thoroughly bought-and-paid-for corporate media on the “Manchin machinations” along with those of “Curtsy Kyrsten” on Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan..and to be honest, I’m starting to wonder if it will EVER see the light of day...Biden and that useless meat sack Schumer might as well tell Manchin and Sinema to make it official and become Republicans at this point, and yeah, that would kill any future piece of legislation, but that’s just about where we are anyway (and as far as Sinema is concerned, this sure fits, doesn’t it?)...



Update: Cenk and Ana took "the old gray lady" to task in the prior clip, and Will Bunch also does so here.

Update 1 9/29/21: Might be worth it to remind everybody what a Friedman Unit is after this.

Update 2 9/29/21: I honestly thought I’d stumbled across Fix Noise when I read this from the Times today (still more about the never-ending Congressional negotiations over “Build Back Better,” the infrastructure bill, or both, or whatever the hell they’re called at this point...and of course the article is behind the pay wall)...
Mr. Biden has thus far failed to convince Ms. Sinema and Mr. Manchin to agree publicly to a framework for how much they are willing to spend and what taxes they are willing to raise to fund the more expansive bill. If Mr. Biden cannot find a way to address their concerns, while also assuaging progressives and persuading them to support his infrastructure bill, he could see the warring factions in his party kill his entire economic agenda in the span of a few days.
Hey, @jimtankersley, how much do you get paid to write total, unmitigated horseshit like this?

There is no “warring” progressive faction in the negotiation. Actually, if anything, progressives have been the ones trying to “move the needle” while alleged sensible (cough) centrists (cough) like (cough, cough) Manchin and “Curtsy Kyrsten” (cough) are saying “no, no, no” to the $3.5 trillion dollar plan spent over 10 years without an alternative. And that’s because Manchin and Sinema’s funders want the entire $3.5 trillion bill to die, even though it’s hugely popular (maybe those two factors are related? Maybe you should report on that instead?).

Here’s a link to Jonathan Chait, who, unlike you, actually knows the issue. And by the way, nice job to “disappear” in the Times once more anything whatsoever to do with U.S. Senate Republican obstruction.

(@tyt)

Update 3 9/29/21: Even though it would be self-defeating to a degree (it's getting to the point where ALL OF THIS is self-defeating), I think Josh Marshall makes a lot of sense here; Sinema's bundlers are clearly counting on the smaller infrastructure bill and not the $3.5 trillion BBB one. So, if there's any question at all about either passing, pass nothing instead.

Update 9/30/21: At the moment, FWIW, I’m reading this great book about the 2008 economic meltdown, and there’s a whole chapter about the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, which was targeted for corporations of course largely at taxpayer expense. What was supposed to happen was that, in response to the “banksters” getting bailed out, homeowners who were “under water” (e.g., the value of their property was less than their mortgage) were supposed to get help through the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP. Well, this article explains why HAMP failed (basically, because the terms of refinancing were left up to the mortgage servicers and not the borrowers, among other issues).

This whole discussion about the somewhat slimmed down infrastructure bill (to help corporations) and the $3.5-trillion-over-10-years “Build Back Better” bill (to help everyone else and this country overall) reminded me of something, and I couldn’t think of what it was. I’m pretty sure it was the TARP/HAMP discussion noted above.

Well, TARP worked and HAMP didn’t. So, instead of the smaller bill working and the BBB bill not working, don’t pass either of the two latter bills. The last thing we need is TARP vs. HAMP 2.0.

Update 10/2/21: This is even more of a reason to kill both bills if we can't get the $3.5 trillion BBB bill passed.

...and on the subject of useless, thoroughly co-opted Democrats, this tells us that U.S. House Rep Kathleen Rice is facing the proverbial music from her constituents on her vote against allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices (and that goes for Scott Peters and Kurt Schrader also as noted here...apparently Schrader is a long-time offender in that category)...



...and Miles Davis died 30 years ago today.

Monday, September 27, 2021

Monday Stuff


David Pakman tells us that The Swanson TV Dinner Heir is saying that the COVID vaccine is killing people (here); not surprising that this garbage is popping up all over Facebook too (more here)...



...and Ana and Wosny Lambre of TYT tell us about anti-vax nurses in Maine backing down in response to a mandate from the Dem governor to get vaxxed or lose their jobs (and based on this, it looks like a neighboring state to Maine’s south suddenly has a lot of job openings now too – “to protect and to serve” – yeah, right; tell me another one...and kudos to columnist Leonard Pitts for this)...



...and Sam, Emma and Matt of The Majority Report tell us more about the so-called “Eastman memo,” which was, if you will, a “first draft” of the wingnut plan to re-install Our Orange Pestilence and trash our democracy (and Mike Pence turned to Dan Quayle, of all people, for advice, and Quayle turned out to be the voice of reason, shockingly enough, as noted here...and oh yeah, paging “Strip Search Sammy” for this...and nice work by Will Bunch here, in a related item)...



...and speaking of authoritarian overreach, Ali Velshi speaks with PA AG Josh Shapiro, who is suing Republicans in our beloved commonwealth to try and keep them from staging one of those ridiculous Ninja recounts similar to Arizona...glad Shapiro mentioned the issue of these Republican bastards trying to get our personal information...I REALLY hope the 1/6 Commission, or whatever it’s called, looks into the damage these recounts are doing to voting infrastructure – I don’t trust those damn ES&S machines to give the right information for one second (here)...



...and while we’re on the subject of Republican corruption, Farron Cousins tells us that, apparently, the state of Arkansas funneled ½ mil in COVID relief $$ to a publishing company run by Mike Huckabee that must have published some BS COVID-related book, and yeah, it looks like the Repugs running the state are trying to entice Sarah Huckabilly Sanders to run for guv...typical for a third-rate banana republic...



...and hey, it’s a nice, sunny fall day in these parts, so how about a bit of an upbeat tune to start the week (boy meets girl, boy acts like an idiot, loses girl and tries to win her back, boy writes a song about it...)?