So it looks as if “meth house” Bannon is going to surrender himself on Monday after being indicted by a grand jury on 2 counts of contempt of Congress (for Making Treason Great Again I guess) – I suppose he’s going to have one big monster blowout this weekend before he goes over (John, Cenk and Nina Turner offer commentary)...
...and with Bannon’s encouragement (along with those of his QAnon and fellow right-wing loony followers), it seems 13 U.S. House Republicans are facing a lot of heat for voting for the “corporate stuff” infrastructure bill (with Fred Upton getting a particularly disgusting and cowardly death threat, which is messed up on so many levels)...once again, I hate to give props to Bri-Fi for anything, but he made the right move here...can’t think of a word to describe the stupidity (to say nothing of the entitlement) of lunatics who scream like pigs in an abattoir over legislation primarily benefitting corporations, though that isn’t the reason for their complaint (just doing what Dear Leader Mango Mussolini tells them); can’t imagine what they’ll do if by some miracle the BBB bill gets passed (Caroline Johnson of Rebel HQ tells us more)...
...and it sounds like Peter Alexander of NBC News was trying some kind of a “gotcha” question on behalf of the “party of Lincoln” about why Biden can’t use some mystical presidential power, with daisies and unicorns I guess, to make everybody sing fa la la and just get along related to this “Let’s Go Brandon” nonsense (fortunately, Jen Psaki is incredibly adept at fending off that idiocy)...as Ana Kasparian correctly points out, the “Let’s Go Brandon” people should just have the honesty to say “F Biden” because that’s what they really mean, just like all this idiocy about Critical Race Theory is just the latest catchphrase to make the wingnuts comfortable with their racism (Brian Tyler Cohen tells us more)...
...and this important video from More Perfect Union tells us that the U.S. actually once had federally funded day care...in 1943 during WWII, and tried to bring it back in 1971, but it was stopped by Tricky Dick and “Uber Alles” Buchanan (“a long leap into the dark,” huh? Right, but not in the way he means)...
...and when it comes to other countries doing the right thing, David Doel tells us here that Portugal just passed a law making it illegal for employers to “message” you after work...this is the face of economic socialism, people (not sold on the U.S. decriminalizing ALL drugs, but this is definitely important info)...
I honestly try not to pay a lot of attention to Candace Owens because I think she’s a walking, talking train wreck, and generally speaking, her takes are hot garbage, but I feel like I need to include this clip from Farron Cousins because he pretty much treats Owens in the manner she deserves concerning the latest wingnut contretemps, which has to do with Big Bird of Sesame Street encouraging children to get the COVID vaccine...
...and I know I’m a little behind the news cycle on this one, but here it is anyway – Rachel Maddow brings us a report on Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who apparently is going to be the surgeon general for the state of FLA...her report calls into question his alleged bona fides with UCLA, as well as his association with this ultra-scammy outfit called “America’s Frontline Doctors,” including that nutty Caribbean woman – who was taken out of the video for some odd reason – and this “telemedicine” grift..and “Freedom has a home here (in FLA),” huh? I guess you mean the “freedom” to die an awful death with a machine forcing you to breathe...
...and Mehdi Hasan interview journalist Jonathan Freedman and U of P professor Andrea Kane on the commonwealth of Virginia trying to ban books...yep, CRT was just the tip of the metaphorical spear when it comes to utterly quashing any dissent from right-wing orthodoxy, particularly in education (good point unfortunately about us taking our eye off the ball, as it were, when it comes to complaining about individual speakers on college campuses, and meanwhile this backlash against the imaginary issue of CRT sprung up)...
...and it seems that this Johnny Harris person recently made waves with a New York Times video about how blue states (California in particular) have a housing problem (here)...and hey, if he’s saying that lefties/libs are as guilty of NIMBYism as those on the right side of the political spectrum – well, I’m forced to acknowledge that point. I will say, though, that as long as he’s gone to the trouble to explain this issue and how it impacts blue states, I’ll now await a report from him on how it also impacts red ones (and I’m sure I’ll keep waiting).
And no, I didn’t watch his entire clip on the subject, but I’ll try to later (again, I’m not taking issue with the points he’s making, but only that I don’t think he’s presenting the whole story).
But with this in mind, I decided to read up on this guy a bit. And it turns out that he has what I would call a little bit too cozy of a relationship with the World Economic Forum (as Tom Nicholas discusses in this video). And I’m not saying Harris did anything overtly unethical with the WEF, but I also think he danced along that razor’s edge between journalism and propaganda (in the way Nicholas discusses – interesting take here IMO on the difference between inserting ads in a video vs. presenting wholly sponsored content).
And hey, run ads or promotional spots on your site to drive up traffic and/or increase monetization? Sure, why not? Nothing wrong with trying to make a buck (unless you’re talking about this site, which is a separate discussion).
Turn over your entire platform to some shadowy entity with questionable intent no questions asked, while presenting yourself as an objective journalist? I would argue that that’s a wholly other matter (and I wish Nicholas would speak up a little because it's hard to hear him!)...
Update 11/13/21: OK, in the interest of fairness, I finally watched the New York Times video with Harris and Binyamin Appelbaum (and I’ll admit that maybe I should have done this earlier, but again, I didn’t think that was germane to the Harris/WEF thing anyway), and I have some observations as an admitted non-expert on housing:
Harris and Appelbaum are aware that there has been an overall slowdown on new housing construction partly because of COVID-related labor and materials issues (here) and also because of unaffordability nationwide, right?
You can talk about “not enough housing and too many people trying to get it” all over the country (I’m pretty sure that’s a reasonably accurate observation).
You can also discuss the price of housing units going through the roof partly because they’re being bought up by hedge funds (here).
At about 2:40, Harris blames liberals for the way zoning maps are laid out in California and says that’s part of the reason for the lack of high density housing in Palo Alto. I have no information on that to argue with him. However, I wonder if Harris cares to mention this article, which talks about high density housing plans in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philly, Chicago, and Louisville, Kentucky (to be fair)?
Also, here’s a personal observation. We visited Vermont about a month ago (a state which, of course, has a Democratic U.S. Senator and an independent who caucuses with Dems, along with a pretty middle-of-the-road Republican governor, as well as a high COVID vax rate), and we dined out at a fairly upscale restaurant in Manchester. We spoke with one of the owners who apologized for not having enough wait staff, and we told her it definitely wasn’t an issue related to our food or service, both of which were excellent. She told us that one of the reasons why she couldn’t get enough workers was because people from New York bought up a lot of the properties and charged pretty exorbitant rents, and the kids couldn’t afford the rent, so they didn’t come to the area to work (couldn’t really). I’m not saying that necessarily to trash New Yorkers (and I don’t have an answer to that issue I’ll admit), but I’m only saying this to point out that the issue of high-density housing is one that cuts across political and ideological lines, and I think it’s a little disingenuous at a minimum for Harris to pretend that only liberals are at fault here.
Update 11/14/21: Here is more from the New York Times on this subject.
Update 1/29/22: Gee, I wonder if Harris is going to blame "liberals" for this?
...and Emma, Matt Lech and Brandon Sutton discuss Tulsi Gabbard’s remarks about the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, which has turned into a complete circus because of that utterly bonkers judge (and yeah, I think Rittenhouse will beat the biggest charges unfortunately, though he’ll get a slap on the wrist over the lesser ones)...for whatever my take on this is worth, I think Gabbard’s grift towards liberals/progressives has now been pretty thoroughly exposed, so now she’s trying a feint back to the right in search of some centrist, moderate take on this to burnish more imaginary bona fides to try and remain visible in the court of public opinion...not sure what was up with Matt Binder – was he baked or something?...
...and here’s something I thought I would never say – kudos to Gene Simmons for this recent quote (hope he doesn’t go back on it).
(More information related to the above pic can be found here and here.)
I try to balance responding to wingnut idiocy at this site along with showing “people power” stuff particularly when it comes to protests and organizing (or, at least, if I show wingnut BS, I try to present the sane, rational alternative side of the argument), though it’s true (as I’ve said in the past) that I’ve also spent a lot of time responding to idiot pundits on the other side, but I don’t have the bandwidth to do that like I used so (pointing out that people like Andrew Malcolm, Victor Davis Hanson, Rod Dreher, etc. are nothing but paid propagandists).
Why am I giving you that admittedly boring preamble? Because some stupidity from the other side is just too rank to ignore IMO.
Which brings me to Dennis Prager saying something along the lines of “Can you imagine if gays and IV drug users had been made pariahs during the AIDS epidemic as the anti-vaxxers are now during the COVID pandemic?” (or something close to that).
And my answer (as John I. points out in his excellent clip) is an emphatic YEAH, I SURE AS HELL CAN IMAGINE, BECAUSE THEY WERE VILIFIED THAT WAY! And the links above (referencing the pic of washed-up singer and orange juice salesperson Anita Bryant, one of the most notorious figures on the right in the late ‘70s-‘80s) provide more information in that regard.
So here is the great Damage Report clip on this subject...
...and also, in the matter of responding to wingnut idiocy, David Doel points out why Repug U.S. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri is completely and totally full of crap, alleging an attack on manhood from “the liberal left” or something...as usual, the “party of Lincoln” offers performative BS and absolutely nothing else to help the vast majority of the people of this country...
...oh, and by the way, former Bushco Labor Secretary and Trump Transportation Secretary Mrs. Mitch McConnell (apparently, she just LOVES to be referred to that way) recently said that it’s the patriotic duty of American workers to go back to their jobs, or something (here)...Rachel Maddow reminds us just how awful Elaine Chao was as transportation secretary under Trump in this 2019 clip (and you can read about a lot of her antics during the Bush years from here...the stuff on Chao starts at about 7:10, and Maddow speaks with former Obama Administration deputy labor secretary Chris Lu)...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 11/10/11...the next time you hear the “party of No” yapping about how the Biden Administration is supposedly “anti-business”...or “anti-Christmas” at a minimum I guess (here), get a load of what they said 10 years ago concerning the LAST Democratic president...
...and RIP actor Dean Stockwell, who had a long and diverse career in film and TV...
...and returning to Rachel Maddow...she showed a clip during her show last night (here) of an advocacy group apparently trying to garner support for the John Lewis Voting Rights Act (I guess that’s what it’s still called) in the Senate by making some kind of a cutesy video about “electile dysfunction,” or something like that.
And yeah, I briefly chuckled very slightly to myself. But then I stopped to think for a second. And I found myself getting pretty pissed off, actually.
To begin, Mark Ruffalo appears in the video, and to be fair, he has participated in a lot more protests than I have, particularly regarding the climate, so I really don’t have the right to sit in judgment of him in particular for this.
However, I couldn’t help but come up with one conclusion about this overall, and it is this; this ad will persuade APPROXIMATELY NO ONE who isn’t predisposed to support expanding voting rights anyway!
How about an ad instead that reminds everyone of what people had to suffer in this country to win the right to vote that was enshrined by the original Voting Rights Act of 1965? How about showing African Americans facing attack dogs and firehoses, and George Wallace, Bull Connor and the like (to say nothing of how Native Americans have been disenfranchised, partly for the apparently unforgivable crime of using P.O. boxes for mailing addresses instead of numbered roadways)?
How about reminding people of how Republicans have done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BUT TRY TO GUT VOTING RIGHTS AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY? And how about showing that video of conservative godfather Paul Weyrich from 1980 saying how conservatives shouldn’t support expanding voting rights for everyone?
How about showing a little fire on this issue for a change?
And hey, if you’re stuck for imagery, you can probably use some of what’s in this video.
Ari Melber of MSNBC brings us another Special Report on “Cruel Capitalism,” noting all of the strikes going on across the country as well as the revival of the attempts to unionize...GREAT point about how idiot red-state governors who cut unemployment benefits had more job losses than blue states that kept the benefit...
...and Jim Acosta reminds us how actual grownups (i.e., Democrats) act when they lose elections, in this case Terry McAuliffe conceding to Glenn Trumpkin (and no, I’m not going to stop calling him that unless he disavows Our Treasonous Orange Pustule, which he won’t do because it would be heresy to their beloved “base”..."stop the squeal" - good one)...
...and Beau tells us about the latest “culture war” nonsense with conservatives, this time going after Big Bird on Sesame Street...but rest assured that they’re also going to try a feint back to pretending to be somewhat normal in time for a year from now (the bottom line is that the “R” party is nothing but a bunch of ridiculous, disgusting liars and attempted con artists offering only performative BS...and yeah, the video I put up from Beau last week about how the "party of Lincoln" is going to try and recast itself for suburban voters was pretty good)...
...and Sam and Emma bring us a bit of a “lightning round” of sorts on political stuff from across the country that took place on this day last week (including the hometown of “Curtsy Kyrsten” raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour)...
...and John and Francesca of The Damage Report tell us about AOC “keeping it real” on the corporate infrastructure bill (and God only knows if we'll ever see the other one)...and yeah, I’m disappointed by Amy Siskind’s take also...this clip just reinforces my opinion that NOTHING should have passed...and yes, I support Ro Khanna as well, and I respect him because he’s fundamentally right, but he’s trying to be pragmatic too - I get it...
...and the prior clip involving AOC was a little tongue-in-cheek I know, but there is nothing even remotely amusing about this one pertaining to the NY-14 U.S. House rep...and no, I’m not going to include that disgusting Anime mess from Paul Gosar either...I don’t know if this man is mentally ill or not, and I’m not qualified to make that diagnosis, but he sure as hell is acting like it...he doesn’t just need to be removed from Congress; he needs to be arrested...pretty much for the hell of it, I went to the websites of the New York Times and Washington Post to see if there’s any mention of this, and there isn’t, but there is a mention buried a bit on the main page of the web site for the Associated Press (lots on the Travis Scott/Astroworld tragedy of course, which is expected...another awful story)...do I need to point out what would happen if a DEM did something like this, and castigating them all over the place would be the right thing to do?...Lawrence O’Donnell speaks here with Gosar’s sister, who is PLEADING for an intervention as forcefully as she can, to her credit...
Rayy Vana of Rebel HQ tells us about that crazy Repug U.S. House Rep (which one, I know) Lauren Boebert and her rant against Pete Buttigieg and paid family leave (more information on the Dem challengers running against this goofball can be found here...if I had to listen to that voice 24/7, I swear to God I would kill myself)...
Update 11/09/21: Kerry Donovan is now out unfortunately (here).
...and Ana and Cenk tell us about the latest insane rant about blah blah Biden deep state conspiracy, blah blah magnetized COVID vaccine, blah blah Ivermectin, etc...
...and with the prior clip in mind a bit, David Pakman tells us about some school board anti-vax anti-mask nut working in anti-Semitic tropes in a public meeting, apparently along with all of the other wingnut “greatest hits” (including CRT of course, which, it should be noted, isn't actually a thing)...
...fortunately, though, there are some Democrats out there with actual spines, and David Doel tells us about one of them, U.S. House Rep Jamie Raskin, over "socialism" (I LOVE the look on the face of the guy Raskin is speaking to in the hearing, with an expression of “how DARE you question me!,” and of course he’s not wearing a mask)...
...and Farron Cousins has some actual good news about Number 46, aside from the recent passage of the infrastructure bill...how about giving Biden a little credit for 30 circuit and district court judges getting confirmed (as well as getting the RIGHT kind of judges on the bench, who actually represented REAL PEOPLE as trial lawyers or public advocates before they were confirmed)?...
...and happy belated 80th birthday to Art Garfunkel.
