Friday Stuff

I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 7/24/13...one of the many utterly ruinous aspects of the slide by the Republican Party into authoritarianism as far as I’m concerned is the fact that it has done a lot to drive good, talented people out of government or managed to keep them from getting elected in the first place, and Exhibit A on that score as far as I’m concerned is former Dem PA U.S. House Rep Rush Holt of New Jersey...yes, he ran in the NJ Dem U.S. Senatorial primary and lost to Cory Booker, which is just the system at work I know, but I’m sure his voice would be greatly appreciated...here, he discussed the simplest way to fix Social Security (in consideration of this)...



...and Brett Erlich of TYT talks about last night’s 1/6 Committee hearing, highlighted by “Running Man” Josh Hawley and members of the Secret Service who apparently were sending text messages to family members because they thought they were going to be killed – tells you how much we’re sitting on the knife-edge of our democracy that these corrupt, delusional maniacs could (and likely will) try this insanity again in one form or another (and working to undermine our elections state by state as well)...



...and I have to admit that I thought this was a pretty spot-on analysis from an MSNBC panel of Rachel Maddow, Alex Wagner, Stephanie Ruhle, Ari Melber and Joy Reid about combatting all of the Trumpist BS from the “party of Lincoln” and putting the 1/6 Committee hearings in that context... I thought Maddow’s last comment was particularly spot-on (“fight fire with water”)...



...and Jayar and Jessica Burbank discuss Dem members of Congress who were recently arrested protesting in front of the SCOTUS over the Dobbs ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade (oh, but let’s have days of media hand-wringing over protesting “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh at his upscale waffle house, or whatever that mess was...yes, I realize there definitely was a performative aspect to this protest that actually may be a little self-defeating, but it would have been far worse to do nothing)...



...and as long as we’re discussing Congress, I think that’s a good time to include this Second Thought video about our federal legislators lining their own pockets via stock trading...and yes, that should be illegal...I know we discussed Mango Mussolini’s antics previously with the 1/6 Committee clips, but there were times when I wondered why the hell Congress didn’t just go after him for violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution, and then I remembered that that might hold up our House and Senate politicians to scrutiny they didn’t want...and yeah, that’s not a good reason to not take that approach with Number 45 I’ll admit...



...and happy belated 75th birthday to Carlos Santana (not the ballplayer); best wishes for continued good health (I featured the Woodstock parody yesterday, so I might as well include the real thing now).

Thursday Stuff

(I honestly tried to get this done before the January 6th Committee hearing, but no dice...my bad.)

Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins tell us about that recent horrible SCOTUS ruling on the environment (here...hard to keep track of all of their awful rulings I'll admit), which could have even worse ripple effects involving other government regulatory agencies...oh swell (and it sounds like the “major question doctrine” is the latest insane wingnut talking point to try and gut governmental protections we’ve taken for granted – can I book my shuttle to Mars now to go live somewhere else? Oh, and this goofy doctrine will only apply in “major question cases,” huh? Just like Bush v. Gore would never be cited as a precedent involving electoral cases again – suurrre...I thought the end game for this SCOTUS was destroying privacy protections, but after watching this and reading this article about all of the wingnut love for Viktor Orban of Hungary, I’m beginning to think that their REAL end game using the "shadow docket" is the end of representative democracy, with rulings like this basically rendering a democratically elected government helpless)...



...and speaking of Republican insanity, this nut job named Michael Peroutka apparently recently won the Repug nomination for Attorney General in Maryland, with Peroutka being a known white supremacist and pro-Confederacy advocate (mad that MD wasn’t allowed to secede during the Civil War...terrific...and oh yeah, Peroutka seems to be mad at “coastal states”...what the hell do you think Maryland is, you moron? John Iadarola and Jessica Burbank provide commentary...and I think Burbank’s right, unfortunately, about this country’s descent into fascism, carried out in a slow-motion fashion under the radar of our clueless news orgs with initials for names, but again, we certainly can fight back, being the descendants of people who definitely weren’t fearful...if they were, this country wouldn’t exist at all)...



...and one way to fight back is to do all we can to elect Democrats and to bug the living hell out of them until they do what we want; however, if (God willing) John Fetterman is sent to “the world’s greatest deliberative body,” I don’t think we’ll have that problem...this Meidas Touch ad against Fetterman’s opponent Mehmet Oz (which apparently broke the Internet) is one of the best political ads I’ve ever seen...to help Fetterman, click here...



...and when it comes to those really calling the shots in our thoroughly rigged corpocracy, Thom Hartmann asks How Do We Take On the 27 Oligarchs? (about billionaires drowning out the voices of everyday Americans, spending $1.2 billion in 2020 on that election cycle, hastened of course by the SCOTUS decisions of Buckley v. Valeo and Bellotti in the ‘70s and Citizens United of course and McCutcheon in our era...billionaires contributed nearly 1 out of every 10 dollars in the ‘20 election cycle according to Hartmann – to say that’s waaaay out of whack is as huge of an understatement as anyone can imagine – and yes, let’s not forget about the “For The People” Act...if we hold the House and build on our Senate majority this fall, this definitely can happen, people!)...



...and as long as we’re on the subject of standing up and making our voices heard, this More Perfect Union clip tells us that animators on “The Simpsons,” “Family Guy” and ”American Dad” (who aren’t covered by unions already in shop) are fighting for unionization for themselves, which they’re more than entitled to...



...and sticking with humor, RIP Sean Kelly of National Lampoon, lyricist who wrote for the stage play Lemmings and who also wrote for Saturday Night Live for a time.

Wednesday Stuff

Ayman Mohyeldin of MSNBC speaks with Texas congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher, sponsor of the Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act (passed with 3 Repug votes including Bri-Fi); they both also discuss the Women’s Health Protection Act which received no Republican support at all, which would allow the Feds the right to supersede these horrible state bills banning abortion and also try to prevent women and young girls from traveling to other states to receive the health care they need (more here...so Bri-Fi voted to support abortions as part of health care, though he voted against overriding these ridiculous state laws with federal legislation, which basically means that this is another symbolic gesture at best...to send Bri-Fi packing this fall, click here...I'm pretty sure that my analysis here is correct, but if I find anything to indicate otherwise, I'll update this post, and I couldn't find anything on Bri-Fi's home page on this)...

...and I don’t have a clue as to what the political future holds for Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, but I DO know that he continually does a terrific job sparring with wingnuts on behalf of his boss’s administration and, by extension, for the people of this country; here, he gives Repug U.S. House wingnut Troy Nehls exactly the treatment he deserves, and Scott Perry (who sought a pardon from Mango Mussolini, let’s not forget) is only slightly better (Brian Tyler Cohen explains...mildly NSFW/H)...



...and I also know we don’t want to get too preoccupied with the fall elections yet, though they are coming and we all have work to do, but Farron Cousins tells us that the weapons industry has already spent $10.2 mil for both parties and received an ungodly return on investment, with a defense budget that is approaching $1 trillion...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us that – whoopsie! – all of a sudden, the Secret Service can’t find a whole bunch of texts related to the treasonous 1/6 insurrection, which is breaking federal law actually (not finding this info I mean)...



...and Robert Reich tells us How Big Companies Do Their Worst To Try and Bust Unions (more here, and when it comes to our corporate media giving #46 the credit he deserves and failing to do so, I would ask that you keep this in mind...apparently, if our news orgs with initials for names as well as Fix Noise aren’t complaining, such as when it comes to the baby formula shortage...which wasn’t Biden’s fault either...I guess that means that the problem is solved; Heaven forbid that Biden actually get any credit...a related item is here)...



...and I usually include this summer selection before this point in the year, but it definitely applies today and for the rest of the week in these parts...please be careful and look in on anyone elderly or infirmed that you may know, as well as kids who may fall ill, since they’re particularly at risk at times like this.

Tuesday Stuff

I don’t know what kind of a mental defective you have to be at this point to STILL support Mango Mussolini given everything that has come to light about the persecution faced by impartial election administration officials after November 2020, including the few brave souls in this clip (and yes, I know Philly’s Al Schmidt and Georgia’s Brad Raffensperger are from the “party of Lincoln,” but they know what election integrity is), as well as the African American mother and daughter, but I certainly don’t want to go to that demonic place...no other sane person should want that either (and I know what The Lincoln Project is, but they keep doing great work like this)...



...and when it comes to wingnut craziness, Repug U.S. House Congressional Mistake Lauren Boebert always finds a way to seep into the discussion somehow; this time, she’s being investigated by the FBI for saying we need to “terminate” the Biden presidency (nice job, you loon - David Pakman explains)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen brings us this clip from Rachel Maddow that aired last night about a memo circulated throughout the DOJ about avoiding political influence (as usual, Democrats act like government is to be treated like an episode of The West Wing, which is admirable, but Repugs treat it like a steel cage match...part of me thinks that this whole DOJ memo dustup is a “tempest in a teapot,” you might say, but unfortunately it plays into the narrative of AG Merrick Garland operating slower than you-know-what through a goose when it comes to prosecuting those responsible for the 1/6 insurrection, including a certain Ochre Abomination who wants another crack at the presidency so he can try to establish himself as Dictator For Life...and yeah, referencing anything from Bill Barr is tone deaf at a minimum)...



Update: I thought this was a really smart take on this subject.

...and Emma of The Majority Report discusses Joe Manchin killing the Dems’ climate change legislation in budget reconciliation (oh yeah, “inflation” is the latest excuse, along with taxes, blah blah blah...meanwhile, the planet continues to melt – and to his credit, Bernie Sanders boiled over, you might say, with Martha Raddatz on one of those trash Sunday morning shows over this nonsense...and I have to admit that, as much as Josh Gottheimer is a toad, I’m in favor of restoring the SALT tax provision, but not at the expense of life on the only planet we live on)...



...and speaking of the health of planet Earth, it looks like Our Treasonous Orange Pustule Of A Former “President” made fun of the climate crisis at another bonkers rally in Alaska – he had to go practically to Russia to spout this nonsense about creating ”more beachfront property” (with John and Francesca...and I hadn’t thought about how the other side is going to “weaponize” this in pursuit of fascism as John says, but unfortunately I think he’s absolutely right)...



...and I thought this was a great ad from the group Mothers Against Greg Abbott (and why am I totally not surprised by this disgusting development?)...



...and Caroline Johnson of Rebel HQ tells us about sea lions going after tourists on a beach in La Jolla, CA – have to admit that I didn’t know about the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the role of former MA Senator and Obama Admin Secretary of State John Kerry...good advice for leaving nature alone of course...



...and I think the prior clip is a good excuse to include this tune.

Monday Stuff

Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us of Leon Cooperman complaining about the vilification of wealthy people which to him is apparently the #1 problem facing this country...keep polishing the windows in your ivory tower, which apparently reflect at everyone else but the 1%...good on Cenk for mentioning Biden and that horrible bankruptcy bill (and yes, #46 really was referred to before as the "senator from MBNA"); most corporations set up their “corporate charters,” which are governance models (and yes, that’s really a “thing”) in Delaware since that state has the easiest incorporation requirements...



...and oh yes, welcome to the new week with another mass shooting, this time in an Indiana mall, where (apparently) the “good guy with a gun” finally showed up, but not until 4 people (at last count) had been killed and 2 others injured (here...and Indiana’s idiot Repug Governor Eric Holcomb signed a bill earlier this year allowing permit-less carry of handguns as noted here, despite objections of state police, though we don’t yet know if a handgun was used in this shooting I wish to emphasize...and guns went off in North Carolina also near a comedy club as noted here...terrific)...



...and on the subject of guns, John I. and Jessica Burbank of The Damage Report give us Dick Durbin talking about the “JR-15” marketed to kids...every time I think the gun-humpers can’t possibly plummet to a new depth, they manage to do it (GREAT point by Burbank about the ammo-sexuals crowing like “Oh, you dumb lib – you don’t know that the AR stands for ArmaLite Rifle,” when that distinction plainly doesn’t matter here)...



...and David Pakman discusses that BS during the U.S. House committee hearing with Ralph Norman where this fool talks about “post birth abortion” and allowing parents to kill birthed babies, which is barbaric and ridiculous for all of the reasons pointed out, and also illegal...and why the hell can’t the committee chair cut off the mic of this clown Norman for this garbage? And yes, maybe those testifying could have just said “No – your questions are ridiculous,” but I don’t think the onus should be on the witnesses; Norman, by the way, is also on this list, which shouldn't be surprising I guess...



...and this New York Times clip examines all of the corporate-speak behind “Net Zero” pledges and how they’re covering up for the fact that nobody knows if those goals are actually attainable, to say nothing of the fact that the timelines are so far in the future, putting aside the fact that the planet is superheating RIGHT FREAKING NOW as noted here...



...and The Lincoln Project reminds us that "they knew" and "they helped" concerning the 1/6 insurrection, including PA's utterly wretched Repug U.S. House Rep Scott Perry...



...and as bad as Fix Noise is, it looks like the sports portion of that network was guilty over the weekend of some astonishingly horrible judgment; I’ll let the narrator provide the appalling details...a little concerned about how this person is so quick to blame “the left” for allegedly not caring about the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, particularly since the first person I saw who called attention to this atrocity was @KeithOlbermann, but I’ll let that go for now because that’s a little tangential (more here)...



...and RIP William "Poogie" Hart of legendary Philly soul band The Delfonics.