Friday Stuff

I know this clip on the SCOTUS is presented as a bit of a joke, but it has the tragic consequence of being completely accurate (definitely NSFW/H...more antics from “Strip Search Sammy” are here)...



...and we recently had to deal with one of the more inane stories to grab headlines, with VP Kamala Harris taking flak, you might say, over introducing herself to a meeting of folks with disabilities...I think this David Doel clip kind of runs on a bit, but he makes good points; however, I think the criticisms of Dems and their admittedly cozy corporate ties can wait for another video, but that’s OK, and I’m getting a little tired of people like Doel saying Dems have delivered nothing at all, as opposed to just saying that they’ve fallen short on student debt relief, reclassifying pot from a Schedule 1 drug, etc. (and with this in mind too) – listening to Lara Trump makes me want to rub a cheese grader over my head to get her to shut her mitt...mildly NSFW/H...people losing their minds about identifying yourself with pronouns apparently have no familiarity with Linkedin, for example, where that happens all the freaking time...



...and this More Perfect Union clip reminds us that CEOs have enjoyed soaring pay during our current bout with inflation, as opposed to their employees (and let’s not forget that the thoroughly odious practice of stock buybacks was legalized by The Sainted Ronnie R...Target is profiled here, but there are a hell of a lot of other culprits also...670 to 1, huh? Welcome to The Gilded Age II on steroids)...



...and as long as we’re on the subject of inflation, I give you some truth on this subject from Robert Reich...



...and I thought this Second Thought video offered a pretty thorough critique of working under capitalism, but not so much about working under socialism, though I think he pretty much acknowledges that we really don’t have a one-size-fits-all working example to look at on that, though the discussion about the health care professionals in Cuba is definitely important to consider (and ownership of the means of production, if you choose to refer to it as such, is definitely something I think we should explore)...



...and Beau tells us about the Biden Administration trying to plant 1.2 billion trees to fight climate change, something else I’m sure his administration won’t get credit for from our corporate-owned beltway media that can’t get through a news cycle without trying to gin up a controversy of one type or another...can’t wait for the caterwauling from Fix Noise and the usual right-wing suspects on this...



...and sticking with science matters, this DW report tells us that Vlad The Butcher has apparently decided to stop cooperating with this country on the space station as of 2024; from the report by Lea Albrecht, it sounds like the station was likely to reach obsolescence by that time anyway, though I’m sure the fact that we’re helping to arm Ukraine helped hasten the decision, which is just too bad for Putin as far as I’m concerned...



...and I hope this tune helps us ease into a nice, lazy summer weekend for everybody.

Thursday Stuff

Mehdi Hasan interviews former Repug U.S. House Rep Carlos Curbelo over the brown shirt Turning Point USA rally last weekend in #DeathSantis Land, which also turned out to be a rally for the Gropenfuhrer of course, complete with Nazi flags and other regalia (a sneaky little bit of “both siderism” here from Curbelo; I’m not saying lefties are perfect by any means, but I don’t see an equivalent on our side to the neo-Nazi garbage and what led up to the 1/6 insurrection)...



...and I know the prior Rachel Maddow video got into all of the “Christian nationalism” stuff, but I think it’s important to keep beating that metaphorical drum, which University of Oklahoma professor Samuel Perry does here, interviewed by Victor Blackwell of CNN...



...and any religious imagery associated with the “party of Lincoln” is a particularly sick joke as far as I’m concerned given what has transpired from “the world’s greatest deliberative body” on Capitol Hill over the PACT Act (here)...Jon Stewart truly spits NSFW/H fire on this, as well he should; this may be the worst dragging “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey has ever received, and it’s completely deserved...



Update: More here.

Update 7/29/22: Offered without further comment...

This is the fist bump everyone needs to be talking about.

Ted Cruz and fellow Republicans celebrating after blocking a bill to help toxin-exposed veterans survive. pic.twitter.com/wJvRseE7B4

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) July 29, 2022

...and Farron Cousins tells us that, if God forbid Repugs find a way to take over the U.S. House this fall, yeah, get ready for all kinds of Hunter Biden garbage (or, maybe not - can never quite tell with that bunch), and Dr. Fauci pretty much says, have at it, hoss, as Cenk Uygur might say (and Cousins is referring to this, by the way)...



...and I thought this was very insightful clip from David Shuster of Rebel HQ, who tells us about a Michigan man apologizing to the LGBTQ community for his words and actions, and those of others I’m sure, towards the man’s “suite mate,” presumably someone he shared a room with while in college, who killed himself...



...and I'll just keep going down my summer selections list with this tune.

Wednesday Stuff

I’ll bet you didn’t know who Gerald L.K. Smith was before this recent Rachel Maddow video (well, maybe you did)...apparently, he’s the one behind the whole “Christian nationalist” stuff in this country, and you can draw a line (including the anti-Semitism) right from Smith to Repug PA gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano and Marjorie Taylor Greene...apparently, this clip got Greene’s panties all in a knot – hey, if the wingnut shoe fits, wear it (and to support Josh Shapiro running against Mastriano, click here)...



...and sticking with the Keystone State (which is a commonwealth, actually, to split hairs), John and Wosny Lambre of The Damage Report tell us about wingnut U.S. House Rep Glenn Thompson, who voted against a same sex marriage bill and then attended his gay son’s wedding (double standard much? And Thompson, for the record, is also on this list)...



...and as long as we’re dealing with LGBTQ matters, Sam, Emma and company at The Majority Report tell us about the idiotic right winger getting thrown out of Petsmart for complaining about a pride flag...GREAT point at the end by Sam about going to corporations and telling shareholders you don’t agree with the damn flag instead of picking on store employees likely working for a hell of a lot less (more here)...



...and it also appears that the NY GOP is working extra hard to try and spin this admittedly idiotic incident with Lee Zeldin into some kind of attack made possible by Democrats somehow, with a cat-faced fob somehow turning into brass knuckles with daggers, or some such nonsense (oh, but the Monroe County DA could have charged this guy Jakubonis, but she’s working for Zeldin’s campaign...how con-vee-nient...Jayar and Jessica Burbank tell us more)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that GOP pollster Frank Luntz says Trump could ruin everything for the ’22 midterms for his party – we can only hope, and let’s all work to make that a reality of course (I think Cousins is right to consider the impact of COVID, as well as the fact that Luntz is definitely NOT an impartial observer here, but we should ALSO consider the impact of the SCOTUS gutting Roe, and yeah, that will have an impact too, which probably has yet to be decided)...



...and closer to home, this local news report tells us that the Central Bucks School District basically instituted a book ban; they can call it whatever they want, but that’s what it is – oh, so now I guess Dr. Abe Lucabaugh, superintendent of the district, is now a critic of English literature also??...



...which makes me recall this clip (from this great film)...



...and speaking of books, I guess we’d better keep the one in this video away from Lucabaugh too :-).

Tuesday Stuff

I have to admit that this is one hell of an edgy video, but it’s completely within bounds, you might say, as far as I’m concerned – if Texas Republicans including Greg Abbott want to act like monsters, then they should be portrayed as such...



...and David Shuster and Adrienne Lawrence, Esq. discuss young conservatives who apparently don’t understand why the politicians who they think are looking out for them are opposed to birth control – how many more ways do you need to get played by these charlatans before you figure out what the game is?...



...and John and Francesca discuss Matt Gaetz, who wasn’t sufficiently attracted to a particular activist, so, as John sez, Gaetz doesn’t think she deserves rights...well, she came up with a GREAT comeback, to her credit...there’s a reason why #RapeyMcForehead was trending on Twitter recently, and I’m completely serious – still beyond belief to me that Gaetz hasn’t faced charges yet for this...



...and I’m sure this is a big shocker – not! – but the Secret Service apparently found all of the text messages that they originally said were missing under the threat of a criminal investigation – Farron Cousins has more...



...and apparently (according to David Pakman), Lex Luthor Scott is whining about people going back to work...yeah, well, unemployment is already low as noted here, you criminal (but Heaven forbid that verifiable truth and reality should get in the way of a Republican Party talking point)...



...and I guess this will suffice as of now for our regional weather forecast.

Monday Stuff

John and Yasmin Khan of the Damage Report tell us about the Biden White House wanting to take a kid gloves approach to U.S. Senate alleged Democrat Joe Manchin because Biden and company are apparently worried about having negotiations with Manchin on the climate blow up, or something – as stated in this clip, you’re assuming Manchin is a good faith actor on this stuff; HOW MANY DAMN TIMES DOES HE HAVE TO SHOW YOU THAT HE ISN’T??!!...



...and gee, it looks like that Brave Sir Josh Hawley Bravely Ran Away, you might say...and yeah, I know that clip has made multiple rounds on the internet by now (I thought this was a pretty good comeback), but of course, that Repug U.S. Senate mistake from Missouri remains unbowed, yapping about alleged PA election fraud in 2020, which didn’t actually take place despite all of the damn lawsuits (with Cenk, Jayar and Jessica Burbank...and I DEFINITELY hope Cenk is right about John Fetterman, but let’s keep working to make that happen)...



...and Matt, Emma and the TMR crew tell us about Harvard-educated former pro football center Matt Birk, who is definitely spouting some wingnut nonsense, running for lieutenant governor in Minnesota, speaking on 6/24 when Roe was overturned – after watching this clip, I wonder if Birk has some CTE going on, and I’m not trying to be flip...I hope he gets checked out, and also decides to have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO DO with running for public office...yeah, watch me talk about rape, rape and rape, and then make a joke about women drivers; what a “laff riot” (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and David Pakman tells us about Texas hospitals not treating patients with serious pregnancy issues out of fear of violating the post-Roe abortion ban, seeing as how at least one of the drugs used for abortion is also used to terminate crisis pregnancies (oh, but let’s not interrupt “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh at his waffle house, because that would be rude...GMAFB!)...



...and according to this clip from the German TV channel DW, Russia’s military is suffering “hundreds of casualties every day” according to a U.S. military analyst...glad to see Russia is apparently not advancing, thought there’s nothing to celebrate when it comes to war because it involves wholesale ruin, and particularly since there really is no “safe space” in Ukraine from Russian attacks – with correspondent Nick Connolly...



...and don’t look now, but here comes a newer tune for a change while we await what hopefully will be some much-needed rain in these parts.