Friday Stuff

Ana of TYT (with Farron Cousins) tells us about the 5 remains of fetuses found at the home of D.C. anti-abortion activist Lauren Handy (and boy, is Ana ever right about abortion, the evangelicals and The Sainted Ronnie R – in fact, I’ll go back even further than that and lump in the Catholic Church right after Roe v. Wade in ’73, which – again – is likely to be blown to bits by the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR this June...discussion ends by pointing out once more that the evangelicals and right-wing politicians, as Ana says, don’t give a damn about you unless you’re rich, and that especially counts for kids)...



...and sticking with domestic matters, Trae Crowder reminds us about Mango Mussolini and the 7 ½ hour gap in the White House phone records during the 1/6 insurrection, along with the burner phone stuff (NSFW/H)...



...(oh, and like you I’m sure, I’ve heard an awful lot about the potential tragedy of Republicans taking over the House this fall; if somehow that miserable event comes to pass, do you think there’s a snowball’s chance that legislation like trying to cap the price of insulin would even be introduced, let alone pass...and Bri-Fi voted for it because, though he’s a thoroughly compromised right-wing shill, he’s also not a total idiot...more here and here...oh, and the 1/6 commission would be dissolved also, probably just for kicks as far as Kevin McCarthy and his pals are concerned)...

...and sticking with health care, David Doel brings us yet another great Katie Porter moment, this time using her whiteboard to demonstrate during a meeting with a health insurance industry executive how much they charge for advertising and other admin expenses versus traditional Medicare, which charges virtually nothing, rightly using that as an argument for Medicare for All (Medicare doesn't need to because the plan coverages are more reliable, to say nothing of costing less versus a private insurer)...



...and David Pakman sounds the alarm a bit also, quite correctly pointing out that democracy is in peril if Repugs take the House, with Pakman also noting the apparent total inaction of Merrick Garland to show any urgency at all at prosecuting the 1/6 criminals along with the Dems’ usual inability to engage their base on policy and messaging ...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report bring us the story of this idiot Republican Missouri state senator Elaine Gannon, telling us how Gannon basically harangued a 14-year-old trans kid; that speech by the kid’s mother Debi Jackson is one of the most courageous statements I’ve ever seen (yesterday was the International Trans Day of Visibility – sorry I’m a little late on that)...



...and I need kind of a cool newer tune to help me decompress as we head into the weekend - hopefully this will suffice for you also.

Thursday Stuff

At this point, I honestly don’t know why anybody out there is pretending that Combover Caligula is anything but a dupe of Vlad The Butcher (and that goes for the “party of Lincoln” too), as The Lincoln Project reminds us (and about 45, the article linked to this post is one of the saddest stories I’ve read in a long time, but believe me when I tell you I can relate)...



...and as usual, I think Beau puts everything in perspective here with Trump, Vlad The Butcher and Zelenskyy...



...and this report from the German news service DW discusses both side using drones in the Ukraine war; interview is with Russian military analyst Samuel Bendett at the Center for New American Security...



...and returning to this country, this clip from More Perfect Union discusses the NYPD on Staten Island – which I know is bedrock conservative, to their utter, stoo-pid folly – helping Amazon by arresting workers bringing food to picketers trying to unionize the facility...sorry I couldn’t put up this clip until after the union vote, but hopefully this can also aid in organizing elsewhere...



Update 4/1/22: Outstanding news! (and definitely not an April Fools' joke).

...and Mehdi Hasan speaks with MA Dem Sen. Ed Markey on ending dependence on fossil fuels (“catalyst for conflict” vs. “pathway to peace”...well said by Markey...good for Hasan for asking the tough questions, and I give Markey credit for trying to answer as best he can, but I realize there are no good answers when it comes to discussing #MaseratiManchin)...



...and happy belated 74th birthday to keyboardist John Evan of Jethro Tull - every time I contemplate Our Orange Pestilence, this is one of the songs that comes to mind.

Wednesday Stuff

Thom Hartmann interviews Judd Legum of popular.info who tells us about 6 corporations (including AT&T, CVS, Merck and Comcast) funding attacks on women’s reproductive rights...it’s true that the Dems and Biden have to get their messaging act together for the fall elections, and yes, this is a recording, sadly (and some actual, y’know, policy like student debt forgiveness or Biden trying to extend the child tax credit on his own since Manchinema will block him on that of course would be good too), but if the SCOTUS of Ginni Thomas’s husband, “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh, “Strip Search Sammy” Alito and Amy Coney Island Baby Barrett totally eviscerate Roe, as is expected probably this June...well, that will indeed cause an electoral earthquake, and I’m not sure anyone is prepared for that (hopefully the “D” party is, but yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it)...



...and as a follow-up to the prior clip, Robert Reich points out that abortion bans are pro-poverty, not pro-life (one of the reasons why this issue disgusts me so thoroughly – aside from the fact that women are treated like chattel who shouldn’t have agency over their own bodies – is because, when “balls and strikes” Roberts had his confirmation hearing, he along with other conservatives at their hearings professed a respect for “settled law,” which Roe most definitely is, and now we know how they really feel about that, being the liars that they are)...



...and Jayar Jackson of The Damage Report tells us about that assclown Charlie Kirk trying to scare his single-digit-IQ’d base over Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and some assumed privilege Kirk thinks that the judge conveyed at her recent SCOTUS confirmation hearings; Jayar in response tells us about Franklin Barrett Sechriest who (allegedly) set a synagogue on fire and committed armed robbery against black and Hispanic students at Texas State University, having been indoctrinated by wingnuts like Kirk and his foul ilk...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that it looks like some of the folks in the “trucker convoy” had some brief moments of clarity, you might say, when it comes to whatever it was they thought they were protesting...



...and Lawrence O’Donnell speaks with Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe on the business of Clarence Thomas failing to recuse himself in cases where his nutball wife and the regime of the Gropenfuhrer are involved...considering how far the “Dixiecrats” went to drive Abe Fortas off the SCOTUS so Tricky Dick could appoint 2 justices (Thom Hartmann once more brings the real story here), Dems could definitely raise the same ruckus over Thomas, but yeah, that will happen when the proverbial pigs fly (and let’s not forget this too)...



...and this CBC report tells us about the Russians taking a military beating of sorts in Ukraine, though that doesn’t mean they still aren’t a lethal force, according to military analyst Konrad Muzyka (and I suppose whether or not Ukraine can actually "win" depends on how you define what victory is - I would guess that a stalemate with Russia would count for that...I don't see Ukraine being able to completely drive out Russia, despite their heroic efforts so far, but we'll see of course)...



...and to include some positive news, I give you this from The Lincoln Project...



...and as part of my tribute to artists protesting Spotify over the Joe Rogan anti-vax and anti-mask garbage, I give you another Joni Mitchell tune...winding this down and I have a couple of more selections to go.

Tuesday Stuff

Robert Costa reports on the CBS Morning News about the approximately-7 1/2-hour gap in the White House phone logs on January 6th, 2021...as others have already pointed out, Rose Mary Woods covered up (allegedly of course) about 18 minutes for Tricky Dick way back when, so what does that say about the degree of probable criminality among disgraced presidents between then and now?...



Update: And speaking of the "third eye" network, I sadly give you this, this, this (and I think Aaron Rupar means "Mick"), and this.

...and this Now This clip tells us about the recent display of body bags on the mall in D.C. to spell out “thoughts and prayers” to commemorate the 4-year anniversary of the March For Our Lives against gun violence...great report, and kudos to Manuel Oliver for his bravery in the face of such awful trauma that we all hope and pray to never experience; to do something on this issue, click here...



...and John and Francesca of The Damage Report tell us about Trump-supporting goons going door to door in Colorado to intimidate people of color to try and stop them from voting...and actually, the Dems DID have a plan in the Senate – the For The People Voting Act or whatever that was – but it was killed by #CurtsyKyrsten and #MaseratiManchin...this is why AG Merrick Garland – remember him? – should have already appointed a special prosecutor to investigate this garbage across the country and refer charges to a grand jury if they turn out to be warranted, and I have a feeling Doug Jones would do a great job of heading up something like that...



...and some right wing nut case named Jarrin Jackson, running for the Oklahoma – of course! – state senate, invokes communists while discussing shooting people in the face and brandishing a knife too while he does so...charming (oh, but let's not forget that he worships Jesus Christ also, who, as we know, readily condoned murdering the Pharisees when they disagreed with him - uh huh...Emma Vigeland, Cenk and Jessica Burbank tell us more)...



...and Ali Velshi, reporting from Poland, tells us that the countries backsliding in a non-democratic direction outnumber the ones going in a democratic direction according to a report by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance - terrific...



...and happy belated 60th birthday to bassist Ged Grimes, currently of Simple Minds and previously with the band Danny Wilson – this was the latter’s big hit.

Monday Stuff

Beau of the Fifth Column leads off with the latest report on warming at the Arctic and Antarctic poles; gee, maybe we ought to do something about this climate change thing, huh? And with all due respect to Beau, climate is different from weather...



...and this Rebel HQ clip with Jessica Burbank lets us know that, yes, Rand Paul is a total dope, Part The Infinity as Charlie Pierce might say, and of course he runs kicking and screaming to Fix Noise where he can bloviate and the news mannequins on that network won’t give him any push back at all, and this time of course the subject is COVID-19 (and oh yeah, I’ve got a few G’s just collecting dust in my pocket, so I’ll just go get some monoclonal antibodies if I get ‘Rona as opposed to getting vaxxed and boosted and wearing a piece of cloth on my face, OK?)...



...and John and Francesca of The Damage Report compare the Ketanji Brown Jackson SCOTUS hearings with the process of screening and holding hearings for “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh (the double standard is enough to make you throw up in your mouth IMO)...



...and Joy Reid interviews Dem U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who “brings the receipts” on Leonard Leo, The Federalist Society and the three SCOTUS justices who they promoted, timed for the Ketanji Brown Jackson hearings of course (actually, all 6 conservative justices either belong to The Federalist Society or did at one time...I hope Whitehouse serves in the Senate for many more years because I don’t know anybody else who has “cracked the code” on this issue like he has)...



...and with the mercury taking a dive big time in these parts (recalling the Beau clip somewhat), I had this comedy bit from “back in the day” very much in mind...



...and speaking of Saturday Night Live, RIP drummer Taylor Hawkins of The Foo Fighters (and nobody was slapped during this performance, I should note – and then Smith was rewarded with an Oscar and a standing “O” later...GMAFB! And somewhere, a wingnut is screeching, "See, I told you about black-on-black crime!").



Update: For real.