Thursday Stuff

This horrible SCOTUS continues to cement its utterly awful reputation with yet another ridiculous ruling discussed here by Sam and Emma (and sorry – I don’t know who the reporter is here...Rick Perlstein?), which is Andrus v. Texas, which, unfortunately, makes a mockery of the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution (the slow-motion coup continues in full sight, people...oh, and just for kicks, they knee-capped the EPA today as noted here)...



Update 7/1/22: More from this utterly awful High Court is here.

...and Ana of TYT tells us about Ginni Thomas deciding not to cooperate with the 1/6 committee (even though Thomas said she would earlier), with Ana going over the communications between Thomas and Mark Meadows, as well as trying to get rid of the legitimate electors in Arizona (though Ana is being a little ridiculous in saying Biden is only “a little” better than Trump, even though I have some issues with #46 also)...



...and in case anyone thought the “party of Lincoln” would offer anything substantive in response while this High Court horror show continues unabated...well, think again; Cancun Cruz has apparently gone to war, you might say, with Elmo of Sesame Street over kids getting the COVID vaccine (with Francesca and Jayar...and yeah, Reason #67,452 why Cruz is a shameless asshole)...



...and the latest clip from Second Thought makes a pretty good argument against referring to anyone as being a member of the “middle class”...I have to admit that I didn’t know about that pithy quote from John Steinbeck...also didn’t know about the rates of failure of small businesses in this country...daunting stuff...and though I can see where he’s going with this kind of early on in the clip, I also think he’s right – you either work for others or “work” for yourself, which I put in quotes because it often, but not always, means living off the work of others, which indeed is nice “work” if you can get it...



...and speaking of work-related stuff, this clip from More Perfect Union tells us about union-busting tactics from Trader Joe’s in Vermont, as well as the successful unionizing campaign of a store in Massachusetts (NSFW/H)...



...and I neglected to mention the 70th birthday last week of Tim Finn of Crowded House; this is a tune that I think is applicable in a few different scenarios during these troubled days (looking at our corrupt SCOTUS primarily...and with that in mind, kudos to KBJ as noted here).

Wednesday Stuff

So, to recap (based on this Brett Erlich TYT clip), Cassidy Hutchinson testified that there were shooters posted in trees around the Capitol on 1/6 (or at least, if not from Hutchinson, it was known by Capitol police apparently), with these shooters apparently there to provide cover for Our Treasonous Tiny-Handed Former Chief Executive (with a phalanx of Secret Service agents around him) as he planned to re-enter the Capitol and presumably seize power with the help of Mike Pence, who would refuse to certify the election on January 6th. However, in addition to Pence doing his duty according to the Constitution (and let’s not trip over ourselves giving him credit for doing what he should have done anyway), the Secret Service wouldn’t drive Trump to the Capitol that day (according to Hutchinson), rightly telling Mango Mussolini that they’d be breaking the law, to the point where Trump tried to grab one of them by the throat. They DID manage to get him to a fast food restaurant where he presumably had another in a series of tantrums and threw a plate which splattered ketchup on the wall. Are those the lowlights (more here)?

It is long past time to put Combover Caligula in a cell, and this should mandate that beyond any doubt. And by the way, unless we thoroughly prosecute EVERYONE involved in this madness, the NEXT TIME Republicans try this (and you KNOW there will be a “next time”), there won’t be a Cassidy Hutchinson or a Bobby Engel (the Secret Service agent) doing the right thing. They will ALL be “true believers,” possibly operating under the direction of #DeathSantis, Cotton, Hawley, or another of these treasonous monsters (that being said, more info on Engel and Tony Ornato, another Secret Service agent involved in these incidents, is here)...



Update: Yeah, I definitely would agree with this.

Update 7/1/22: Thought so (here)...

...and Sam of The Majority Report tells us that the “party of Lincoln” is apparently panicking over the recent awful SCOTUS rulings, looking at the polling...yeah, but the bleeping Dems better damn well know what to do in response! And what Sam is referring to in the “65-foot-high ceiling” remark is that states would put ridiculous building code restrictions onto facilities where Planned Parenthood operated that they couldn’t possibly meet because of an undue financial burden in reconstructing those facilities, but they faced shut down if they couldn’t meet those requirements somehow...yet another snaky, lowdown game certain states would play to shut down PP centers...and I know it’s no surprise that Mark Levin is lying, but it’s interesting that he talks about cases “bubbling up” to the SCOTUS to supposedly prevent any litigation against Roe, when in fact that is the EXACT STRATEGY the wingnuts used to ultimately overturn Roe...



...and Trae Crowder gives us his NSFW/H take on the recent SCOTUS insanity...oh, and add this to the pile of wretched garbage from this renegade High Court bunch of lunatics...



...and kudos to Alma Adams, NC-12 U.S. House Rep, for telling Biden he needs to declare a public health emergency after the horrible Dobbs decision overturning Roe...



...and Beau gives us an enlightened take IMO on that oh-so-scary headline about 1 million new Republican voters, providing some much-needed context...



...and apparently, the one and only Bob Perkins is retiring as a full-time jazz DJ on radio station WRTI in these parts – congratulations on a great career full of bringing us the “GM,” as in good music (I think this tune is apropos for the occasion).

Tuesday Stuff

Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ tells us about this Trumpster idiot Mary Miller who cheered on the recent SCOTUS atrocity (I know there have been a few atrocities from this bunch) by saying the Dobbs ruling was a victory for “white life”...and yes, I think that’s exactly what she meant especially since she was cheered on when she said it, particularly by Our Treasonous Orange Pustule of a Former “President” sharing the stage with her - more here...



...and in the matter of the 1/6 insurrection, I think this is a particularly good clip from Don Winslow; the supine Democratic Party, particularly in the Senate, the “world’s most useless legislative body,” should be going after both of the Thomases (and yes, we know Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao and his caucus are thoroughly unrepentant monsters, but they're not in charge, and we have to make sure they STAY in the minority after November)...



...and David Doel brings us this clip about the two activists calling out the Dems over not enshrining Roe in legislation (even though the House just passed a bill doing that which is being blocked in the Senate by all Repugs plus Manchin...I guess it’s way too much to ask for this MSNBC person to provide that context)...I agree with about 75 percent of what Zoe Warren says here in the first clip about Dems not codifying Roe and how that was a colossal blown opportunity, but please allow me to point out the following 1) Bill Clinton in the ‘90s spent the overwhelming majority of his term fighting with a Republican congress that ended up impeaching him over a blowjob, so there was NO WAY he would have been able to sign legislation enshrining Roe into law from that bunch, and 2) Barack Obama enjoyed a congressional majority for not even 2 years, mostly spent on getting health care reform passed (as imperfect as it is, it’s still a leap forward...though I’m sure this renegade SCOTUS can’t wait to blow THAT up too)...so basically, if you want to be mad at Dems, fine, but also be mad at the overwhelming majority of elderly boomer conservatives in the suburbs who keep rewarding the “party of Lincoln” regardless every election...and Warren should spare me her indignation about a fundraising appeal from Biden – thanks to Citizens United and this SCOTUS full of treacherous, bad legal actors fronting for our criminal ruling corpocracy, that’s just the way the game is played...no issue whatsoever with the second clip because I think Warren and her co-worker are exactly right...also, I think any “man” who approves of Dobbs should be made to wear a chastity belt for at least a month (NSFW/H)...



...and turning to the economy, Pap and Farron Cousins tell us about price gouging form Tyson foods – yep, just give your business to a local butcher instead if you can and show these Tyson pricks what you think of them for their shameless grift...



...and Ana of TYT discusses Larry Summers saying we should have fewer jobs to cool down the economy, which of course seems to casually disregard the hardship millions would face as a result (a little concerning to hear Ana say in a matter-of-fact way that she thinks we’re entering a recession, but she may be right unfortunately...she’s also correct about the outsized role of the Federal Reserve and our politicians not providing for those hurt the most by the shock of a downturn, since the true “owners” in our ownership society don’t give a fig about that...a related post is here)...



...and I think it’s been a little while since I put up Janis Joplin’s version of this great seasonal number from George Gershwin, so please allow me to do so here.

Monday Stuff

I totally get that it’s difficult to keep up with all of the insanity in the news given all of the nutty rulings from our SCOTUS which has now gone “mask off” and totally rogue at this point, but it looks like some life forms in “the land of the yellow rose” are making noises like they want to secede again...to which I say, GOOD! Don’t let the door hit you on your way out, and we’ll just bring in D.C. and Puerto Rico instead...and of course, what would a wingnut hissy fit be without at least one misspelling, as shown (Lawrence O’Donnell speaks with Eddie Glaude and Melissa Murray...and if Bushie Jack Goldsmith thinks we shouldn’t do anything against treasonous Repugs to placate the mob, then we might just as well declare that democracy is finished and fascism has won...but I’m definitely not ready to do that yet)...



...and returning to our renegade Supreme Court, Fareed Zakaria speaks with NYT reporter Emily Bazelon on about how the flimsy legal underpinning behind the Dobbs decision gutting Roe is based in this court’s radical interpretation of that pesky 14th Amendment (originally passed to recognize slaves as Americans, it has been used WAY MORE to establish “corporate rights”...and with all due respect to Bazelon, I honestly don’t think this SCOTUS gives a damn about popular American opinion or whatever, though I do think she and Zakaria are right that Hangin’ Judge JR is pretty much a figurehead at this point)...



...and this CBC report tells us about the protests over the end of Roe (and if the Democrats had any spine as a party, they would begin proceedings in the Senate to have “Strip Search Sammy” Alito impeached, given his recent words on Roe and his testimony on his SCOTUS confirmation that he basically considered it to be settled law, instead of “egregiously wrong,” which is what he recently said when he destroyed it...everything going on with this SCOTUS, including decisions just handed down and some which may be yet to come, absolutely SCREAMS for a vigorous executive and congressional response from Team “D” (something like this), though I don’t see that they’re up to the challenge...love to be wrong)...



...and Farron Cousins, sitting in for David Pakman, tells us about Roger Marshall, U.S. Senatorial idiot from Kansas, who is trying to block a school lunch program because he thinks Biden is trying to disallow discrimination against LGBTQ youth...reason number TEN ZILLION NOT TO VOTE FOR FREAKING REPUBLICANS!...



...and this tells us about the latest nutty SCOTUS decision, and this one has to do with the wingnuts siding with the Washington State football coach who prayed on the 50 yard line after games (here), with Gorsuch saying, “Well, he wasn’t in a classroom, so it’s OK?” Umm, WAS HE AN EMPLOYEE OF THE SCHOOL OR WASN’T HE? SO OF COURSE HE WAS ACTING WITH THE SCHOOL’S APPROVAL!!

Oh, and I love the part about, well, this won’t open the floodgates for cases involving religious expression in public schools...yeah, just like Bush V. Gore won’t rip open a hole in allowing partisan legislatures to run roughshod over independent election administration...not much it won’t (not blaming Pete Williams because I think he’s reporting this in an evenhanded way...oh, but we don’t have “white privilege” in this country...not much we don’t – all that idiot coach had to do was pray in private, like the Bible says, actually, and all of this mess could have been avoided)...



...and I’m overdue for a newer tune I know; hopefully this can help us take our minds off this insanity for awhile.

Sunday Stuff

Sam Seder of The Majority Report discusses future potentially awful SCOTUS rulings that could also be handed down as a result of the recent destruction of Roe v. Wade, basically coming after the right to privacy, trying to reverse Obergefell, Griswold, Lawrence in Texas...everything, and probably Loving too, which would make Clarence Thomas’s marriage illegal...and Sam is correct to mention that Bush v. Gore has been cited repeatedly as a precedent in election cases, even though the majority authoring the opinion said – wink, wink – not to do that...mildly NSFW/H...



...and Adrienne Lawrence Esq. of Rebel HQ tells us about the reaction of world leaders to abolishing Roe (so terrific, we’re now on the same page as Russia and Nicaragua...and if the “party of Lincoln” manages to take control of the federal government, well, in that nightmare scenario, they’ll pass a nationwide ban on abortion with no exceptions, to say nothing of coming after Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid, so they’ll do their best to reap utter destruction “from the cradle to the grave” - more here)...



...oh, and let’s also not forget what those high court lunatic ideologues have done to Miranda also, as MSNBC’s Tiffany Cross discusses with Yale Professor Phillip Atiba Goff (GREAT analysis...”This stuff is coordinated, and I need folks to know that.”...damn straight! And that graphic about the arrests of African Americans and Latinos didn't appear for long, but that had important information also)...



...and the latest Second Thought video gets into why we hate bureaucracy...and yeah, I’m not surprised Milton Friedman is included here, because as we know, the only bureaucracy that’s useless is from the gov’t and NEVER from our glorious private industry in our neoliberal economy...OK, snark mode off (and yep, it isn’t hard to connect the dots to Maggie Thatcher in the UK and The Sainted Ronnie R)...and GREAT point about the pitfall of measuring a school the same way you would measure a private business (but still kind of harsh to prank those call center workers I'll admit)...



...and Ana and John of TYT tell us about Jim Cramer on “Gen Z’ers” allegedly “not being frugal enough”...in addition to student loans, the insane cost of housing is a factor also when it comes to young people starting out behind the financial 8-ball, along with stagnant wages of course relative to inflation and the cost of living – but yeah, it’s easier for Cramer to whine about “those crazy kids” actually doing dumb stuff like, y’know, gathering for drinks at bars LIKE EVERY OTHER GENERATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE DONE! Why, they should be “pulling themselves up by their bootstraps,” or something...



...and this is another one of those moments where I need a bit of a musical palate cleanser, so I now offer the following.