Friday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us about teachers protesting Cancun Cruz’s response to the Uvalde slaughter (and yeah, this sure fits Cruz’s utterly wretched profile also, doesn’t it?)...



...meanwhile, in the other chamber of the U.S. Congress, Eric Swalwell took it right to Repug lawmakers including Gym Jordan by blowing up their ridiculous talking points in favor of inaction on gun control (and by the way, for the benefit of any wingnut out there who could be reading this – doubtful, I know, but still – I know that the “AR” in the name of the AR-15 weapon of mass murder represents the name of the gun manufacturer...and GREAT JOB in particular by Swalwell to point out about $350 million in police funding in the COVID relief bill passed last year that was completely opposed by Republicans including Bri-Fi)...



...and Ayman Mohyeldin, sitting in for Rachel Maddow, speaks with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson about the Repug party poll disruptions planned for the fall across multiple states under the guise of “election integrity,” including Michigan of course (with Cleta Mitchell using Fairfax County, VA as a model for disruption...Mitchell of course is “best buds” with Ginni Thomas, which, as we know, ties back to the 1/6 insurrection as noted here...all of this, in addition to likely being illegal as hell, looks like a good argument for mail-in voting)...



...and Thom Hartmann asks if this country will survive a “fourth turning” based on this book...and boy, I hope he’s right about a new progressive era arising from our current misery, but it looks like we’ll all have to wait and see of course (and do our best to try and bring that about)...



...and this DW report tells us about the ongoing destruction in the Donbas region, specifically in Sievierodonetsk, with the U.S. and Germany apparently sending some more heavy weapons to that besieged country of Ukraine, with reports by correspondents Rebecca Ritters, Frank Ledwidge (I like the line about treating the saber-rattling from Sergey Lavrov with “mild contempt”), Mathias Bolinger and Barbara Wesel, hosted by Gerhard Elfers...



...and returning to this country, this More Perfect Union clip tells us about Amazon workers in North Carolina trying to unionize (motivated by the triumph for union rights at the Amazon Staten Island facility)...



...and when it comes to the economy, I think we should definitely pay attention to Robert Reich’s 5 ways to fight back against corporate price gouging (using inflation as an excuse, of course...and I’d forgotten that The Sainted Ronnie R legalized stock buy backs in ’82, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised)...



...and I neglected to mention the passing earlier this week of drummer extraordinaire Alan White, famous for his time with Yes as well as sitting in on “All Things Must Pass” by George Harrison of course as well as The Plastic Ono Band...here is one of his signature performances.

Thursday Stuff

Chris Hayes brings us the story of the parents of the Uvalde, TX mass murder victims decorating the tiny caskets for their kids (there are just no words at a certain point)...Hayes also commendably takes apart the right-wing BS excuse about a teacher allegedly leaving a door open that the mass murderer used to gain entry (I don’t know how the cops and politicians in that locality find a way to sleep at night, but somehow I guess they do)...



...and Trevor Noah makes similar points with humor, though it is a bit of a fine line I’ll admit when it comes to calling out life forms like Repug U.S. Senator RoJo of Wisconsin (and to help Mandela Barnes, click here...mildly NSFW/H)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about the idiot Repug U.S. House Rep Billy Long of Missouri, who blames...wait for it!...ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION and ABORTION for gun violence; I have to say that that’s a neat little way to tie together the biggest pet peeves of the wingnuts, though of course it has nothing to do with verifiable truth and reality (and apparently this Long clown is running for the U.S. Senate...NSFW/H also)...



...and John and Francesca of The Damage Report discuss Biden claiming that there are “rational Republicans” on the gun issue in the wake of the Uvalde massacre (and I hate to admit it, but Francesca is right that the Repugs “do stuff” once they get power...of course, they use it to screw over everybody of course...I think Francesca is right to blame the Dems since they supposedly hold power in “the world’s greatest deliberative body,” but the U.S. Senate remains a deeply broken institution, mainly, but not exclusively, because of Republicans...and I know what the Sunday morning shows are, but they’re basically pabulum on behalf of the political/media/industrial complex where authority can pretty much get its way without much push back...in fewer words, Biden and his people blew it by not seizing the opportunity as noted here)...

...and speaking of those ridiculous Sunday programs, I don’t believe we’ve heard so much as a peep out of “Governor Bully” in the wake of the Uvalde massacre; Christie has made a career out of vilifying teachers every way possible, so you’d think he’d be “in his glory” now...

Update 6/5/22: Yeah, I guess he was bound to say something utterly stoo-pid at some point, so I suppose this was inevitable.

..and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report discuss this terrific opening campaign ad from Charles Booker running against Rand (“Fake Ophthalmologist”) Paul in the Kentucky U.S. Senate race...GREAT points about creating an actual infrastructure to run a campaign as opposed to trying to drown your opponent in negative campaign ads, which, for a Dem, works approximately never (to help Booker, click here)...



...and this tune doubles as our regional weather forecast and I guess what you could call the opening of my summer selections – hope you enjoy.

Wednesday Stuff (updates)

I don’t know who Texas Paul is – the last clip I posted from him included a lot of righteous outrage IMO – but this one is pretty thoughtful and deliberate about why Our Lord would be closer to a Democrat than a Republican...hard to argue as far as I’m concerned...



...and Max Burns of Rebel HQ tells us about a Texas teacher (speaking of “the land of the yellow rose”) named Taylor Mora who made a Tik Tok video explaining what she has to do to try and keep herself and her students safe in the event of an active shooter...I saw a tweet recently saying that, if you’re mad at Biden and the Dems and decide to stay home on election day this year, then congratulations...you’ve ceded power to these goddamn lunatics like Lauren Boebert, MTG, Gaetz (is he EVER going to be locked up for alleged sex with a minor?), Biggs, Gosar, and the rest of that sorry lot...not saying you can’t complain about Biden and the Dems when it’s warranted, but just know what the stakes are, OK?...



Update: This murderous insanity truly is never going to end, is it (here)?

Update 1 6/2/22: No, I guess it isn't (here).

Update 2 6/2/22: Just...I can't even (here).

...and Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us about a 20-year study by New York University and the American University of Beirut demonstrating how neoliberalism affects our acceptance of income inequality (more here)...



...and oh, don’t look now, but 5 Republicans were kicked off the primary ballot for committing election fraud according to the state board of canvassers in Michigan; once more, the party screaming about “voter fraud” needs to take a look in the mirror (Farron Cousins explains)...



...and let’s not forget that, when it comes to the U.S. Senate race in Ohio, Repug nominee J.D. Vance truly thinks that you’re stoo-pid...yep, grifting con man passing himself off as some “down home” guy or whatever – typical for today’s “Trumpster fire” version of the Repug Party (here and here – to help Vance’s opponent, Dem Tim Ryan, click here)...



...and there’s a brief bad word in this tune, but otherwise I think it’s a pretty cool and mellow summer selection (will adjust the playlist accordingly now for the time of year), so here it is.

Tuesday Stuff

David Doel tells us that departing Repug U.S. House Rep Adam Kinzinger wants the legal age for gun purchases to be raised to 21 as well as making AR-15s off limits (especially open carry for that type of weapon of death...and I have to admit that I didn’t know about the competition between the NRA and Gun Owners of America...and I think the phrase “grifting scam” is apropos...by the way, Kinzinger and Liz Cheney have stood tall for the committee looking into the 1/6 insurrection, but because the Repugs are now the wholly-owned Trump party, both will lose their political careers over it...Kinzinger has already said he’s out partly because of redistricting, and last I checked, Cheney was losing to her Trump-supported primary opponent in Wyoming by 30 points as noted here)...



Update 1: Yeah, I think this says it...

I'm a Republican, and I approve this message. pic.twitter.com/M5RoSwcdOQ

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) May 31, 2022

...and Beau echoes some of Kinzinger’s points here...I like his ideas about regulating gun ownership, getting at the root issues, including trying to change the culture of misogyny and glorifying video game violence (though I think that becomes a “straw man” argument at a certain point...if someone gets stabbed in a sword fight, does that mean they can blame the estate of William Shakespeare?), Medicare for All so we can stop talking about mental health and DO SOMETHING about it, as well as raising the age of gun ownership, AR-15s in particular, to 21...



...and when it comes to the carnage inflicted by mass gun-related slaughter, Brian Tyler Cohen tells us that Greg Abbott was booed recently when he showed up for a memorial at Uvalde, TX for the victims of the attack in that city...yeah, I can see that the Repug strategy will be what they always pull, and that is more lies and avoidance, then people’s outrage gets spent and before you know it it’s time to move onto the next disaster...lather, rinse, repeat...



Update 2: And apparently the Uvalde school may be bulldozed (here), which is a typical move by a despotic regime trying to cover up a crime.

Update 6/1/22: Definitely food for thought (here).

...and David Pakman tells us that an anti-vaccine, anti-gay street preacher allegedly killed his wife because God told him to – huh? And I think this awful story shows a bit that you can’t just say “oh. mental illness caused this” without evaluating all the factors at hand, such as comparing this to the alleged Buffalo shooter as Pakman does...glad to see Pakman doing his best to make sure the connection between the Buffalo lunatic and the "great replacement" garbage from The Swanson TV Dinner Heir doesn't get the "memory hole" treatment...



...and RIP Ronnie Hawkins; I’m sure you can pretty much regard him as a “founding father” for many artists, including The Band of course...



...and happy belated 55th birthday to Sven Pipien of The Black Crowes.

Monday Stuff

This latest clip from Second Thought talks about Generalissimo Trump trying to steal the next election and how democracy could be perverted by ANY demagogic politician, though one party in particular has definitely shown more of an impulse for that as we know (and apparently Our Treasonous Orange Pustule of a former “president” was acting like a sociopath again here)...



...and when it comes to the Uvalde, TX massacre, Ali Velshi tells us about the student walkouts across the country over our complete inaction on the issue of school gun violence (and oh yeah, there are some “adults” saying the students shouldn’t be allowed to protest, which of course totally ignores our tradition of protest in this country and shows how stoo-pid some of these people are)...



..and speaking of stoo-pid people, I think that’s a pretty good lead-in to this segment with Ron Johnson, the Repug U.S. Senatorial mistake from Wisconsin, who of course blames CRT, video games, and the lack of Sunday picnics (or something) for the Uvalde slaughter...there’s so much utter BS in what Johnson is saying that it’s hard to unpack all of it, but if he seriously thinks the federal government can’t solve problems, WHY THE HELL IS HE WORKING FOR IT??!!

At least RoJo doesn’t have to worry about being the biggest idiot in the U.S. Senate, as long as Tommy Tuberville continues to take up space in “the world’s greatest deliberative body” (and to do something about Johnson, click here and here)...also, when it comes to gun solutions that actually worked (until 2004 that is), let’s not forget this (as David Shuster pointed out, discussing with Jayar Jackson)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that TX Governor Greg Abbott attended a fundraiser right after the Uvalde massacre, which, as far as I’m concerned, is spitting in the metaphorical eye of the dead kids, their parents, families, classmates, and other school personnel who will now be forever traumatized by this latest episode of mass murder in this country...



...and I thought this was a well-done Lincoln Project video with today’s holiday in mind...



...and yes, I know this video is pretty much UK-centric when it comes to the military profiled here, but I think it’s appropriate for this day all the same, and also because this song was written about a Canadian service member who died in Afghanistan, and for the first time since forever, we don’t have an official military presence in that country, though God only knows if civilian contractors are over there...this goes out to everyone who has paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, as well as their families and friends.