Friday Stuff (updates)

Hey, The Dark Knight gets it right; we should too...



Update 1/1/22: At a certain point, there are just no more damn words (here, and here...and here).

...and speaking of movies, I thought I'd add this "TCM Remembers" clip for the prior year...



...and returning to more standard fare for this site, Chris Hayes tells us how our corporate media is feeding into the “true crime” narrative, especially in the wingnutosphere (it’s almost funny to watch the preposterous lies of Bill Hemmer about “defund the police” in “Democrat-run cities,” who of course collects a paycheck for The Roger Ailes BS Factory...and yeah, the “new king of late night,” as Bill Maher calls Gutfeld, whiffs again when it comes to commenting on verifiable truth and reality...with Amanda Mull, Donna Edwards and Tim Miller...once again, the task falls upon people with an ounce of common sense to unpackage right wing BS and try to communicate what is really going on...not sure why the video was edited to not include Edwards)...



...and this Rebel HQ clip tells us about a 14-year-old girl who was accidentally killed by cops in an LA mall while shopping with her mom (and gee, I wonder if right-wing hysteria revved up people to be extra scared? Do you even need to ask...with David Shuster...and by the way, as awful as it is that the girl was killed, I’ll wait for a further review before I decide to pass judgment on the cops; I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that they thought the perp was armed, and if they’d waited to find that out, they might be dead by now)...



...and this More Perfect Union clip tells us that 2021 was, in essence, the “year of the worker”...



...and as is my custom, I want to take this opportunity to thank anyone and everyone who has spent any time whatsoever at this site over the prior year.

To say I am greatly concerned as we close out 2021 is an understatement, as I’m sure you are also. Our side continues to try and preserve this country as best we can (posting on social media, speaking out, organizing, doing all manner of related stuff including contributing financially to Democratic organizations as our means allows) while the other side in the political spectrum becomes more and more engulfed by utter madness. This isn’t helped by a national Democratic political party that continues to deliver half to three-quarters of a loaf at best, you might say (and yes, I know President Manchin and Vice President Sinema have a lot to do with that). And this also isn’t helped by our corporate media which continues to give cover, for the most part, to those seeking to overthrow our democracy, as well as way too damn many people in this country who don’t see the threat as it readies itself to try and barge down the metaphorical door once again, having failed on 1/6 and learning what went wrong as they get ready to make another attempt to seize power by force.

And oh yeah, Democrats, PLEASE DO A BETTER JOB ON MESSAGING AND USING SOCIAL MEDIA THAN YOU ARE DOING RIGHT NOW! (Update 1/1/22: Credit where it's due here) The DNC should be cranking out videos all over the place at year-end like this showing the benefits of passing COVID relief and the infrastructure bill (as well as the John Lewis voting bill in the House) in an effort to try and seize the narrative away from the “party of Lincoln,” who of course are going to try and gin up outrage over alleged “big spending, failed policies” (I’ve been looking for this stuff and so far I can’t find it). And yeah, the Dems will have no choice but to keep up this message about why CRT is a total non-issue, as well as sticking to their guns on COVID masking and vaccination. GO ON THE ATTACK FOR A DAMN CHANGE, OK??!! (Update 1/1/22: More food for thought on this is here, here, and here.)

Well, with all of that out of the way (and with the More Perfect Union clip very much in mind), I present this tune also to commemorate the 75th birthday of Patti Smith...here’s for all good things in 2022.

Update: And because 2021 wasn't done messing with us - ugh (more here and here).

Thursday Stuff

Thom Hartmann wonders what will happen when the treasonous lunatics behind the 1/6 insurrection decide to try again (and yeah, there sure is a common thread among these crazies, and you’ll never guess what it is)...



...and since it’s a day of the week with a “y” in it, it’s time to talk about another mass shooting...and another one in Colorado...and another one involving a right-wing lunatic making common cause with the traitors noted in the prior clip...and while I have issues with Joe Rogan, I hold him to a lower standard than I do The Swanson TV Dinner Heir, employed with what purports to be a “news” network (Cenk tells us about it...more here)...



...and I’ll admit that It takes a lot for me to be PO’ed with the Biden Administration, but I think they F’d up on the CDC’s decision to shorten COVID quarantine time after the airline industry started complaining about “personnel shortages” and “workforce disruptions”...that decision affects all manner of service employees, including nurses, and I think that group in particular should, at a minimum, have the flexibility to decide for themselves how long they should be out if they’re exposed to the virus since they’re front-line health care workers...



...and Farron Cousins pretty much takes apart Lauren Boebert, who admits that she doesn’t know what government really does...big surprise, I know...



...and I need a minute or two to set up this next clip (inspired by this recent Daily Kos post).

It’s something pretty much accepted in our beloved commonwealth of PA that the type of education your kids will receive is based on the zip code where you live. No, I most certainly do not think that is fair, and we need to come up with a more equitable funding solution. And yes, if that involved a few more dollars every year in state taxes to fund early childhood education in poorer areas of the state, I’m for that, partly because it’s better to invest in kids early on as opposed to not doing that and having them end up in our corrections system later (in addition to making financial sense, it’s also morally the right thing to do IMO).

Well, there is currently a lawsuit pending over this issue. And the Daily Kos post noted above discusses it, and gives us the following excerpt:

During Week 4 of the proceedings in the William Penn School District, et al v. Pennsylvania Department of Education lawsuit...Republicans, in their infinite wisdom, argued that Dr. (Steven) Barnett’s point (that preschool programs can benefit students long after they’ve entered kindergarten, especially those living in poverty) makes it clear that Pennsylvania shouldn’t even bother with preschools to begin with if students are destined to fail due to lack of resources.

“What use would someone on the McDonald’s career track have for Algebra 1,” (attorney for Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman) John Krill argued during week four proceedings. He then went even further in his musings: “The question in my mind is, thorough and efficient (school funding) to what end? To serve the needs of the Commonwealth. Lest we forget, the Commonwealth has many needs,” Krill said. “There’s a need for retail workers, for people who know how to flip a pizza crust.”

Hey asshole, guess what? I worked at McDonald’s for two years and was graduated from Temple University about 40 years ago (not that I’m “all that,” because I definitely am not).

Not all of us are lucky enough to be born Republican. And if that isn’t a joke, I don’t know what is.

With all of the ridiculous antics going on at school board meetings about kids allegedly being taught critical race theory – which isn’t an actual thing – the focus instead, at least in PA, should be on the school funding inequities studied in this clip; it’s from May 2020, but it pretty much captures our ridiculous status quo on this issue...



Update 1/4/22: And just to show you that Dems can be assclowns also on issues like this, I give you the following here.

...and RIP Les Emmerson of the group Five Man Electrical Band (another COVID casualty); what follows is their signature hit.

Wednesday Stuff

I thought this was a pretty good clip with Ayman Mohyeldin (sitting in for Rachel Maddow) and Jon Ralston on former Dem Senate Leader Harry Reid, who passed away yesterday, though I think they overdid it a bit on the “Harry Reid blew up the filibuster” thing...maybe they could have presented evidence that Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao filibustered EVERYTHING, and that’s why Reid made that move, which McConnell and Mango Mussolini exploited of course to get a whole bunch of wingnut judges confirmed – more on Reid including that great Jack Gordon story is here...



Update 1: Yes, Reid was a hardass, but he was also capable of the kindness remembered here.

Update 2: Here is another tribute (here, here and here also).

...and Cenk (looking much younger) gives us an example of Reid fighting back against Republicans being typically disingenuous in 2010 on criticizing Obama and the Senate Dems for trying to pass health care reform through reconciliation...



...and returning to someone who is a much lesser light, if you will, when it comes to the legislative branch of our federal government, David Pakman tells us about Madison (“Cry More, Lib”) Cawthorn and that whole sketchy story of how Cawthorn met his now-ex-wife, which, apparently, reeks of some kind of Russian “kompromat” scheme – yeah, I don’t know of any “cause and effect” issues here, but at a minimum, Cawthorn should have a briefing with intelligence operatives over this...



...and this Damage Report segment tells us about 2 cops in Mobile, AL (of course) showing off their “homeless quilt”...nice Christmas spirit, you two assholes (the statement condemning their actions from the police department is OK I guess, but yeah, are these two going to be disciplined somehow? Probably not)...

...and staying below that Mason-Dixon line, this Now This clip tells us about librarians fighting back against book bans, and of course the epicenter for this appears to be Texas, though attacking librarians like this is happening all over the country apparently – just about no words for this at this point...



...and RIP Wanda Young of The Marvelettes, with her signature tune.

Monday Stuff

Farron Cousins discusses how the allies of The Gropenfuhrer are suing the 1/6 commission to keep records from being revealed, and of course they’ll cause more ridiculous delays in an effort to “run out the clock,” as Cousins says (and good point made here about Merrick Garland and the DOJ not baring their fangs, if you will)...



...and Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us about Amazon workers walking out in multiple warehouses before the holiday...and yes, this is another case of “no traffic cop” as Cenk says (and 6 people dying at the Bessemer, AL warehouse? Ugh...and apparently Apple workers have walked also as noted here)...



...and this Second Thought clip tells us how “feel good” stories let a broken system off the hook, including the bit about the manager at Modell Sporting Goods – good for her, but yeah, the company made over a quarter of a million dollars, so please forgive me if I don’t think Modell is suddenly so noble and humanitarian for doing what they should have done anyway, which is to compensate their people properly (I don’t know if this is the best video he’s ever done, but it may be the most important)...



...and this BBC report tells us about the food/humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan...funny in the Kubrickian (word?) sense that we’re not hearing a peep out of the “OMIGOD BIDEN IS SO AWFUL TO END OUR FOREVER WAR!” crowd now over starving children and families seeking shelter and basic life necessities we take for granted, since the story doesn’t involve a military response on our part (to help, click here)...



...and RIP Archbishop Desmond Tutu – yes, he stood tall against Apartheid in South Africa, but he also took up the mantle for other oppressed people including the Palestinians, let’s not forget...



...and since we’re in year-end mode, I should point out that I somehow neglected to mention the passing this year of violinist extraordinaire Robby Steinhardt of Kansas; please allow me the following remembrance.

Sunday Stuff

I'll bet you're saying to yourself, "That POS Charlie Kirk didn't actually compared Kyle Rittenhouse to Jesus, did he?"

Um, actually, he did - no bottom for these life forms...

Charlie Kirk compared Kyle Rittenhouse to wrongly accused Bible characters “including Jesus Christ.” pic.twitter.com/pWwJF9aBxj

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) December 22, 2021

Update: Truth! (and it's "Barabbas")

...and Francesca and Brett of The Damage Report tell us that millions of families are starving for the holidays...yeah, blame President Manchin and Vice President Sinema, but also blame EVERY SINGLE DAMN U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN FOR OPPOSING THE CHILD TAX CREDIT! (And contrary to what the alleged Democrat in the Senate from West Virginia says, the money doesn’t go to drugs, as the video shows..and by the way, MSNBC, Manchin’s claim isn’t “misguided”...IT’S F*CKING WRONG!!!)...



...and Robert Reich tells us that one of the weapons that the “party of Lincoln” manages to use to their advantage, in addition to our lapdog corporate media, is cynicism bred from continual Republican lying and utter cowardice from a few truly infamous Democrats, though of course we have to keep fighting through all of that garbage...



...and this More Perfect Union video tells us what President Biden can do right now to decriminalize pot, which is exactly the type of bold, decisive measure that could encourage younger (and older) voters to show up at the polls next year...also helps that, from a policy perspective, it’s the right damn thing to do anyway (and I also think legalization should be up to the states)...



...and Rachel Maddow gives us a video on Herschel Walker, who apparently is the Repug candidate running against incumbent Dem Raphael Warnock for the U.S. Senate from Georgia, with Walker telling us that “Senator” John Lewis wouldn’t want his name on the voting rights bill, which of course bears his name – the U.S. House version that is...think about the F.U. Trump and McConnell are giving Georgia voters by thinking that this lummox is qualified for public office...



...and I officially bring down the curtain, as it were, with my seasonal selections with this tune (sniff :-).