I know this clip from Chris Hayes is over a week old now, but I think he makes a few good points that are worth reiterating, along with some important context on Liz Cheney; she’s doing the right thing on the 1/6 Committee (which Hayes rightly points out is about the only area of our government doing oversight on the other branches – and yeah, I also said that yesterday I know), but let’s have no illusion of how extreme a wingnut she is on everything else...
...and that clip of AOC was included in the prior video, and here she is again, interviewed by David Remnick in which she rightly says that democracy is at risk (with John I. and Francesca...and I promise I won’t bitch about how bad the Dems are on messaging as a party since I know they’re not primarily at fault, though as far as I’m concerned you can lump Manchinema in with the culprits Francesca points out)...
...and I’ll admit that I’m going out of order a bit to present this Second Thought clip on the SCOTUS (the real payoff for yours truly comes at about 12:00, explaining why the SCOTUS exists for pretty much the one percent and basically nobody else, though the narrator acknowledges that packing the court and finding a way to enact term limits would be helpful in the short term at least)...
...and Adrienne Lawrence Esq. of Rebel HQ tells us about Trump goons getting subpoenas over their antics with trying to affect Georgia voting in 2020, including Rudy! and Huckleberry Graham (and of course Graham said he won’t comply like the whiny bitch that he truly is – more here)...
...and Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us about that clown show disguised as a Republican Party primary candidates’ debate for governor on Arizona...one of these nematodes will actually win, believe it or not – probably Lake, which is frightening actually because it’s pretty damn clear where that state’s 2024 electoral votes will go if she’s governor; I know I'm a little late with this...and by the way, I know Cenk didn’t mean to imply that beating your wife is funny...meanwhile, Debbie Lesko watches this and says “Hold my beer” (here)...
...and just when you think that it couldn’t possibly get stranger for Repugs in that state, along comes this beyond ridiculous ad from Jerone Davison; David Doel explains (mildly NSFW/H)...
...and turning to world news, I have to admit that I don’t have anything to add concerning the awful assassination of former Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (here...though I think this context is important), but I DO want to add this from Tom Walker (aka “Jonathan Pie”) about the departure of Boris Johnson as British PM (incredibly NSFW/H...gotta love those zany Brits)...
...and I know I’m way overdue for a new tune again, and I thought this would help us slide into what hopefully will be a nice weekend for everybody (not THAT “Purple Haze,” but a neat little number on its own).
(Pic of the girl wounded from the Highland Park shooting came from here.)
Mehdi Hasan speaks with Igor Volsky and Adam Serwer about the latest gun carnage from Highland Park, Illinois and the liability of our renegade SCOTUS, with a good segment here from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (and 7 are now dead, by the way...refreshing candor from Philly Mayor Jim Kenney, and no, I don’t blame him for it...one of the reasons why I like to include segments with Hasan is that, in addition to his insight and thorough reporting, the people he interviews are folks I consider to be pretty solid subject matter experts like Volsky and Serwer)...
...and I give Ana Kasparian so much credit for getting through the next segment, showing the humanity that all of us should feel in response to the story of the 2-year-old boy who lost both of his parents in the Highland Park shooting.
And by the way, there are a lot of times when I’ll say “Oh, don’t be so hard on the Democrats” when it comes to a particular issue where they’re ostensibly trying to do the right thing while the “party of R” is acting batshit insane as usual, but I’m not going to do that here. I don’t think one word of what Ana says here needs a caveat or qualifying language of any kind whatsoever.
And on top of that, I (like maybe you also – I don’t know of course) am seeing more language on social media to the effect of, “If you blame Biden and the Dems for anything and you claim to be a Democratic organizer or worker on a campaign but you’re not organizing more Dems to come out to the polls, then you must be a lousy organizer.” Yes indeed, what would the Democratic Party be without a circular firing squad?
Is there more I can do? Yes, and I’ll endeavor to do that. Is there more all of us can do? I’m sure the answer to that question is also yes. But a thoroughly deflating response from the individual who is pretty much the head of the Democratic Party needs to be called out (and this doesn't help either).
President Biden needs to familiarize himself with the Judiciary Act of 2021 (here), which calls for the Supreme Court to be expanded to 13 justices (the Bloomberg Law article actually calls for 15, which would be one justice for each U.S. appeals court – the number 9 for the SCOTUS justices represented the number of circuit courts at our nation’s founding – more here). So basically, Biden should be saying, “Look, we have a renegade Supreme Court that doesn’t care about precedent or settled law, with a majority of 6 conservative justices who, in addition to disregarding the separation of church and state recognized in our Constitution, lied during their confirmation hearings about respecting Roe (yeah, I know we’re talking about meely-mouthed legalese to try and prevent a repeat of what happened with Robert Bork, but “Strip Search Sammy” Alito sure as hell didn’t say Roe was “egregiously wrong” during his confirmation). For that reason, in addition to holding our majority in the U.S. House, I need at least 2 more Democratic U.S. Senators to get rid of the stinking filibuster and codify Roe into law, in addition to taking another shot at Build Back Better, to say nothing of reinstituting the assault weapons ban and passing actual common sense gun reforms on top of the Murphy/Cornyn bill.” (The Repugs keep coming back to their awful ideas when they don’t pass the first time – why can’t we come back to our ideas that are actually good?). And basically, we have the 1/6 Committee quite rightly carrying out oversight of our lunatic former executive...that's how the "checks and balances" are supposed to work between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of our federal government!
If Biden doesn’t come up with some kind of a comprehensive strategy in response to this SCOTUS full of Philistines and our almost nonstop gun slaughter in this country, then he’s guilty of nothing less than dereliction of duty!
Anyway, here is Ana’s clip...
Update 1 7/8/22: And when it comes to our utterly awful SCOTUS, we should be completely embarrassed by this, which is totally deserved.
Update 2 7/8/22: OK, to be fair, this is progress, however incremental it is.
Update 4 7/8/22: Another step in the right direction (here)...
Update 5 7/8/22: I thought this was a pretty smart take.
...and in case we were wondering what The Roger Ailes BS Factory had to say about all of this..well, it looks like Trae Crowder is all over it (NSFW/H)...
...and speaking of corrupt Repug BS, here is more from RoJo, including taking a private jet to his Florida mansion on the taxpayer dime (at least he doesn’t have to worry about being the very worst of the rotten Repug U.S. Senators, as long as Tuberville, Cruz, Hawley, Lee, and Big Hair Blackburn continue to take up space in “the world’s greatest deliberative body”...to do something about RoJo, click here)...
....and David Doel tells us about big media scrubbing the image of dirty energy companies (I have to admit that I didn’t know the history of the “adver-torial,” but I probably should have. And I’m sure Amy Westervelt is a good reporter, but she’s a TERRIBLE announcer! Despite that, I’m going to get the OptOut app because it’s definitely important...by the way, Bellotti was a SCOTUS decision that allowed corporations to contribute to ballot initiatives – that was a crack in the metaphorical door when it comes to corporations donating to political campaigns, but of course Citizens United kicked that door wide open)...
...and turning to world news a bit, it looks like Boris Johnson is stepping down as British PM (and yes, there are some parallels here between Johnson and Mango Mussolini, but the leader of Cult 45 would NEVER have been able to withstand rough-and-tumble UK politics...not saying Johnson was exactly a towering intellect either, but despite it all, he has better political instincts than Former President Fergus Laing – David Pakman tells us more...and no, I don’t think much in the UK will substantively change either)...
...and I know we think some people in movies and entertainment are immortal somehow (such as Bowie and Mary Tyler Moore...at least I do at times) and it’s a shock to learn when they aren’t, and I think you can say that also about James Caan who recently passed...great in so many films, one of which was Thief with Willie Nelson, Robert Prosky and Tuesday Weld...saw a film Caan appeared in long ago called The Rain People with Duvall also and Shirley Knight, directed by Francis Ford Coppola – neat to see everybody starting out and learning the ropes, you might say...I know Al Pacino as Michael Corleone is the main focus of this clip from The Godfather of course, as it should be, but Caan is memorable also (and don’t get me started on Brian’s Song)...
...and as long as I’m “setting the wayback,” let’s take a trip a few years further still – this tune was Number 1 on the pop charts this week 55 years ago.
David Pakman tells us about the 10-year-old girl in Ohio who was denied an abortion and had to travel over state lines to get one...frankly, I’m not sure what is more shocking 1) The fact that a 10-year-old was raped; 2) The fact that she wasn’t allowed access to this procedure in an emergency; 3) Trying to imagine what she’ll have to deal with for the rest of her life as a result of this experience; or 4) The fact that I’m commenting on this in a matter-of-fact way as opposed to SCREAMING TO THE TOP OF MY LUNGS as a result of the routine barbarity of the Philistines on our Supreme Court (and speaking of atrocities affecting kids, allow me to provide this)...
...and Cenk, Jayar and Caroline Johnson tell us about the bisexual daughter of a Repug state senator, Corrine Dickey, who cut off her father for attacking her reproductive rights as well as same sex marriage, potentially, and that would be Adrian Dickey of the Iowa State Senate...I’m sure Cenk is right about the “two different conversations” take, sadly, and yes, it’s also hard to make the case for cutting off a family member who basically wants to oppress people they don’t agree with...should never get to that point for any reason, let alone over politics, but that’s no excuse to allow yourself to get trampled by others who disagree with your beliefs either...
...and Sam, Emma and guest (Digby?) on The Majority Report discuss the ramifications of the recent awful SCOTUS rulings and what could potentially be “in the cards” later, unfortunately...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 7/4/17, with ammo-sexuals coming onto the grounds of Gettysburg for what was the 154th commemoration...and yeah, I got a laugh out of the guy wearing a Trump shirt who said he wanted to reach people without violence; yeah, I think what he really wanted to do was rearrange somebody’s teeth, or whatever that mess was...to me, that Confederate rag belongs in a museum, and there’s no place for that heavy artillery anywhere in public, let alone on those hallowed grounds (had this in mind when I read about this garbage; that is, a recent appearance by the Proud Boys in downtown Philly)...
...and I have to admit that this is a nice ad from yesterday’s non-Trump Republicans, but for real impact, it should make it clear exactly how to “fight for America” as opposed to invoking well-framed, patriotic images...
...and we're actually getting to the point in these parts when we could use a little rain, but for now, I'm glad to keep things upbeat with this tune describing our current weather condition.
I know I’m a little late with this video, but Lawrence O’Donnell had a really good segment last week over Greg Abbott and Texas’s horrible anti-abortion law – to me, Abbott’s statement that somehow he’s going to get rid of rape (would that anybody could) is a particular kind of “F.U. – I think you’re all stoo-pid” message to the voters of “the land of the yellow rose,” and O’Donnell gives Abbott the treatment he deserves in response...
...and what would life be like in this country without another mass shooting at a public event, this time a July 4th celebration...as long as voters continue to reward Republican politicians who do JUST ABOUT NOTHING ON THIS ISSUE (and yes, I know there are some guilty Dems too), this insanity will continue (and this also happened yesterday where the Declaration was signed of course; apparently 2 Philly cops were wounded...hopefully they'll have a full recovery – and yeah, as someone pointed out, the fact that the Illinois suspect was apprehended as opposed to being shot about 60 times tells you that he’s white, and apparently attended a Trump rally also...definitely fits the profile...more here)...
Update 1: OK, now reports are that the sound of fireworks on the Parkway in Philly may have been mistaken for gunshots - still doesn't explain how the cops got hurt (here).
Update 2: The mutilated bodies from our most recent gun carnage in Illinois should be left at the doorstep of the house of Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao, since (aside from the shooter of course) he's more responsible for this atrocity than anyone (here).
...so what is the “party of Lincoln” preoccupied with instead of common sense gun laws? Why, anti-sodomy laws of course, in particular Texas AG Ken Paxton, proving that he’s one of the great minds of the 12th century, as Cenk and Ana tell us (“butt love” and “derriere delight,” huh?)...
...meanwhile, Utah State Rep Rep. Karianne Lisonbee said recently that women can control the semen intake from men, or some such insanity...John is 100% right in saying that all of this madness is to make sure men pay no price for bad behavior (with Francesca F.)...
Update 3: And we're supposed to find a way to reason with the life forms who support Republican politicians (here).
...oh, and let’s not forget about that pigsty of an alleged “news” network that helps to facilitate all of this dreck; Jon Stewart recently called the SCOTUS the “Fox News” of justice, and I can’t think of too many insults lower than that (Maz Jobrani tells us more)...
...and this DW report tells us about Ukrainian students in Germany trying to cope with the pressure of their country at war with Russia (I think the host is Rebecca Ritters)...
...well, for some news that’s actually good, it appears that the January 6th hearings are having an impact, fortunately, as Farron Cousins tells us (of course, the polls saying this now is positive, but what matters is if voters still feel this way in November – we’ll see)...
...and happy belated 76th birthday to Viola Billups (aka Pearly Gates) of the ‘60s R&B group The Flirtations.
Sam and Emma of The Majority Report speak with a former PA high school football coach (now in New York, apparently) on the pressure faced by players to participate in prayer services now that our “mask off” crazy SCOTUS has enforced religious worship in public schools...so many reasons to oppose this utter lunacy...
...and Jayar, Cenk and Caroline Johnson of TYT discuss Texas trying to refer to slavery as “involuntary relocation” (oh, but Heaven forbid that the whites in charge are “feeling discomfort” as the group points out...I would also be concerned that this garbage doesn’t filter into textbooks that are distributed to classrooms out of state, since there’s a lot of textbook publishing in Texas for some reason...a positive update is here, though these crazies will try again with this garbage I’m sure)...
...and staying with “the land of the yellow rose,” this New York Times report comes from a Texas woman who self-aborted with the help of medication (and I’m sorry – well, actually I’m not – but I’m tired of hearing about Biden being sympathetic to issues affecting women and girls but not offering a full-throated defense of Roe, though this is progress I’ll admit...the Catholic Church, among others, has been itching for this fight for 50 years, and now they’ve gotten what they want, so prepare to reap the whirlwind...and oh yeah, keep shoving that PA grand jury report under the rug while you’re at it)...
...and Francesca and Brett Erlich tell us that this awful SCOTUS isn’t done yet, believe it or not, deciding to go after voting rights, using this bogus theory about “independent state legislatures” taking over honest-to-goodness independent election administration (Brett’s white board moment is pretty damning all right) – I think Keith Olbermann said something a week ago about “blue” states maybe deciding to practice their version of “nullification” in response to these awful rulings, taking a page from John C. Calhoun (you can Google him) – well, we may already be at that point...
...and David Shuster tells us about Seattle Pacific University students, upon graduation, giving pride flags to the interim president of SPU (a “Christian” university) who said LGBTQ issues are a “lifestyle choice” (just say “oops” and get out)...
...and Happy July 4th - if you know of anyone with a dog or two, please be kind with the firecrackers because it freaks them out.
