Friday Stuff

John I. and Gary Chambers of The Damage Report tell us about the military advisors quitting on “Curtsy Kyrsten” (good work in particular by Chambers here to talk about the human cost of Sinema’s games, particularly related to the climate)...



...and Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us about Sinema’s obstructionist pal Joe Manchin meeting with a Trump-supporting billionaire, because of course he is (”lean to the green” indeed)...



...oh, and remember that alleged voting rights compromise where Manchin pretty much guaranteed that he could get 10 Republicans in the U.S. Senate to sign on? Well, I think you can guess what happened with that, as Rachel Maddow explains – womp womp...



...and turning to labor news, this More Perfect Union video tells us about Kellogg workers striking for more tolerable working conditions, such as actually getting at least some of their weekends off...



...which (as far as I’m concerned), dovetails into this Second Thought video about what capitalism has done to work (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and Beau talks about declaring the American Bumble Bee as endangered; uh, this is indeed a big freaking deal, people...without bees pollenating, we’re pretty much all dead...



...with all of this negativity, though, I’d like to offer something a little more upbeat IMO, and that is the news of Summer Lee running in our beloved commonwealth to replace retiring Dem U.S. House Rep Mike Doyle (a link to her campaign site is here)...



...and a belated happy 75th birthday to trumpeter Lee Loughnane of the band Chicago.

Thursday Stuff

John and Nina Turner of The Damage Report tell us about “Tuckums” complaining about the other side – and not himself, as always – allegedly using COVID to divide us...and of course, The Swanson TV Dinner Heir dragged the death of Colin Powell into his rant...



...and on the subject of our ongoing plague, Chris Hayes talks with Judd Legum about Koch-backed groups funding COVID school protests against mask mandates (I would argue with Hayes’s claim that this ISN’T astroturfing...and boy, does Fairfax County, VA have a checkered history when it comes to race issues, as noted here)...



...and in this Rebel HQ clip, David Shuster tells us about Liz Cheney talking about the Trump/Bannon connection to the 1/6 insurrection (yeah, lots of issues with Cheney on just about every other issue, but she’s on the right track for sure here – and I guess I should be surprised that eight Republicans, including Bri-Fi, voted to hold Bannon in contempt as noted here and here)...



...and sticking with that awful day in January, Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Jamie Rasklin giving Matt Gaetz the treatment he deserves in the matter of the investigation into the 1/6 attacks (and dear God, is Gaetz EVER going to be indicted for all of that alleged garbage with paying underage girls for sex?)...



...and MSNBC, as is their wont, stupidly cut this Rachel Maddow clip to remove the minute-or-so of the speech yesterday by Independent Maine Senator Angus King, but this otherwise includes most of her interview with King (and I don’t think 24% of the people having basically a veto over everyone else squares with the intent of the framers either...and with all due respect to King, I don’t think Manchin and Sinema have a bipartisan molecule in their wretched bodies...King was referring to Lawrence O’Donnell in the clip, who also once worked as a Senate staffer)...



...and RIP Broadway and movie composer Leslie Bricusse, who brought us this tune among many memorable others.

Wednesday Stuff

Here’s another great new video from Don Winslow, giving Joe Manchin the treatment he deserves...oh, and please spare me the “take it easy on him and Sinema because we need them for their votes” BS – there is actual human misery associated with the antics of these two cretins, and that needs to be pointed out at every opportunity...



...and speaking of human misery, I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 10/19/11 – what follows is a Koch Brothers Exposed video from Robert Greenwald about what they did to Crossett, Arkansas, where their Georgia Pacific plant poisoned the community (and even though David Koch has “shed his mortal coil,” Charles is still around to inflict more ruin, as noted here)...



...and this Now This clip tells us of a grieving Virginia mother who tragically lost her daughter to COVID...and then I read about characters like that idiot college football coach who gave up a MILLION DOLLAR SALARY because he wasn’t man enough to get the damn vaccine...and apparently, this fool is suing over it...OF COOUUURRRRSE!, as Cenk would say...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about that allegedly “reasonable” Republican U.S. House Rep Adam Kinzinger on why he opposed voting rights legislation in the House (first, I’d like to see Kinzinger provide ANY DOCUMENTATION WHATSOEVER to support his erroneous claim that the preclearance provision of the VRA was “temporary,” and second, the point of public financing is to GET THE DAMN DIRTY PRIVATE $$$ OUT OF OUR ELECTIONS, or work towards that goal anyway)...



...and I wasn’t around to include this Second Thought video last week on “Automation: Capitalism vs. Socialism,” so here it is now (not sure that the “owner vs. worker” class thing started under automation and hadn’t already existed for hundreds of years already dating back to the middle ages or earlier, but that’s OK, and he’s absolutely right about the need for UBI as the pace of technological change increases)...



...and I thought this was a cool new fall tune for sunny day in these parts – may go out and rake some leaves or burn a scented maple candle, or something like that.

Tuesday Stuff

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends”...I’ve put this off for as long as I could, still basking in the glow of our blue state getaway, but I guess this is as good a time as any to try and rev this thing up again.

To begin, David Doel tells us about CNN apparently getting a little butt-hurt about Bernie Sanders calling out our corporate media overall for utterly falling down on the job when it comes to reporting on the Build Back Better bill (I was hoping that this would be passed somehow while I was gone, but no such luck)...



...and of course, one of the biggest reasons for this is the gamesmanship of “Curtsy Kyrsten”...Chris Hayes quite rightly shines the spotlight on her along with Ryan Grim of The Intercept (What is she doing? For whatever my opinion is worth – not a lot I know – I think there’s more going on than just the corruption, though there’s plenty of that of course...I just think Sinema is nuts...and I REALLY hope that, at a certain point, the Dems focus more on what they need to do to help their party in key congressional races, particularly the U.S. Senate, and figure out what kind of messaging they can come up with to get their base to turn out, which should happen anyway I know...and yes, the BBB bill would go a long way to help with that, but if they can’t get the whole damn thing, is there a way to get particular pieces to help people like, say, Maggie Hassan or Catherine Cortez Masto, for example, both of whom have contests next year? Or maybe shorten the bill from ten years to five? And yes, I know those aren’t good options, but it looks like a fraction of a loaf is all we’re going to get, if anything...and yeah, this figures too...and I think this is a spot-on comment from Cenk)...



...and sticking with TYT and nut cases from the “party of Lincoln,” Ana and Cenk tell us about wingnuts screeching over the recent mass killing in Norway (and I’m sure Boebert and her twisted ilk will bloviate now about “bow and arrow” control, or some such nonsense)...



...and David Pakman tells us about some utterly bonkers remarks at a Trump rally in Iowa (want to know how soulless cretins like Boebert, MTG and Madison Cawthorn managed to get elected? Just watch the certifiable loons in this clip) – God, the grift never ends with Former Generalissimo Trump, and yeah, our news organizations with initials for names should look at these life forms supporting Our Treasonous Orange Pustule to really get a clue as to what’s going on, as opposed to these “Trump voter in Trump country” stories where reporters visit just about every diner in the south and the Midwest...



...and I thought this was a particularly well done commentary from Rachel Maddow on Gen. Colin Powell, who died at 84 (here)...



...and RIP Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains.