Thursday Stuff

Sam and Emma of The Majority Report present a clip with that loon Marjorie Taylor (“Direct and Intense Communism”) Greene spouting off with some news mannequin named Gina Loudon about what the Repugs will do to the DOJ if, God forbid, they somehow take Congress this fall (yep, still butt hurt of course about the raid on Combover Caligula’s compound at Mar-a-Lago...yeah, I think zero $$ for enforcement against politicians, and 20 prosecutors each at a minimum for BLM, Antifa, Hunter Biden’s laptop, etc. looks about right)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen takes on the wingnut talking point of “if they can do this to a former president” in response to the Mar-a-Lago raid (and gee, won’t these clowns be backpedaling like crazy if it turns out that Trump was selling secrets...but on the other hand, maybe not; they’ll just say it’s “fake news” knowing them...and by the way, when it comes to nutty Republicans, my sympathies to the friends and family of Jackie Walorski...a terrible way to go out, and I’m sorry about that, but to keep it real, I should point out that she was on this list too)....



...and in a related vein, I thought this was a pretty spot-on analysis from Trevor Noah of The Daily Show (kind of brings this to mind)...



...and Trae Crowder weighs in also (NSFW/H...”immune to irony and allergic to self-awareness”...damn right!)...



...and as long as we’re on the subject of Our Treasonous Orange Pustule, Adrienne Lawrence, Esq. tells us how 45 wanted to model his administration after the Nazis – gee, I wonder how much longer this parade will continue of “stuff we should have damn well known about at the time but is only coming out now so somebody can make some dough because they’re plugging their new book”? And why is there a twisted logic to the fact that Peter Baker of “the old gray lady” figures in this somehow?...



...and this recent video from Second Thought asks “Can There Be Innovation Under Socialism?” (interesting concrete examples from the USSR and Cuba from about 13:20 to 13:45...”’Isms’ don’t decide what gets created...people do. ‘Isms’ only decide who gets paid.”...I would tend to agree....a little surprised he didn’t mention DARPA and the internet as an example of government innovation that greatly benefitted the private sector, but that’s OK...



...and I’ve been avoiding this all item all week, but I finally have to say something about this South Korean garlic ad...kind of weird to watch the sultry model rub her hand over it the way she does (and apparently farmers in that country were outraged by the ad)...actually, garlic has a lot of health benefits, but somehow I don’t honestly believe that’s what people will take away from this whole dustup (with Ana and John of TYT)...



...and I'm not sure why I neglected to include this tune in my summer selections, but I'll keep it on the playlist from now on.

Wednesday Stuff

Adrienne Lawrence Esq. of Rebel HQ tells us about the alleged background investigation into “I Like Beer” now-SCOTUS Justice Brett Kavanaugh before he was confirmed that included about 4,500 tips that apparently got a reaction of “meh” from the FBI and Director Christopher Wray and weren’t followed up – heckuva job - and speaking of Wray...



...and related to Wray and the Mar-a-Lago FBI raid, I give you this (and this putz is a doctor!)...

...and Katy Tur of MSNBC speaks with Luke Broadwater of the New York Times, who tells us that Doug Mastriano showed up for what was alleged to be an interview with the 1/6 Committee, but didn’t answer any questions and stopped the interview after 15 minutes – typical for that big dumb oaf to think the law applies to everyone else but him, and Pompeo certainly isn’t any better...to support Josh Shapiro running against Mastriano for PA governor (and dear God, people...we CAN’T let Mastriano win!), click here...



...and as I’ve said many times, I know what The Lincoln Project is, but they keep coming up with good videos like this one (with Biden visiting Kentucky and acting like a president is supposed to, as opposed to That Ochre Abomination...more here)...



Update: And by the way, THIS is what I'm talking about!

...and I know I had that WaPo clip a couple of days ago about how the amendment from Dem U.S. Senator Patty Murray to cap insulin at $35 for private insurers failed (more here) – John and Francesca of the Damage Report comment on that also...



...and when it comes to lowdown Repugs, you’d have to go a looong way to find someone worse than FLA guv Ron #DeathSantis, who apparently is willing to let poor kids go without lunches unless Florida schools disobey the common sense nondiscrimination guidelines against LGBTQ kids from the Biden Administration (Farron Cousins tells us more)...



...and the hits just keep on coming, you might say, but I don’t mean that in a good way unfortunately – RIP Lamont Dozier also (so many legendary Motown hits he co-wrote with Brian and Eddie Holland, including this one...and catch Levi Stubbs doing a bit of a Dylan homage as well as James Jamerson’s incredible bass line).

Tuesday Stuff

I realize nobody out there has any insight into why exactly the FBI conducted a raid at Mar-a-Lago (at least, no one should anyway since the investigation is ongoing), but I think Ana and Wosny Lambre are pretty accurate here in speculating that it must have something to do with the 1/6 insurrection...and my God, are there ever a bunch of butt-hurt Repugs out there over it, which to me is pretty hilarious when you consider all of the “lock her up” chants aimed at HRC during the 2016 presidential campaign (with Bri-Fi joining the umbrage parade, as noted here – to help his opponent Ashley Ehasz, click here)...



...and Beau gives us his take on the climate reconciliation bill...kind of perversely amusing to see how quickly the outrage machine has switched from “OMIGOD THOSE HORRIBLE SOCIALISTS OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND THEIR SPENDING SPREE TO MAKE OUR GRANDKIDS SLAVES TO DEBT!” to “OMIGOD WHAT INCREDIBLE PERSECUTION FROM THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND GEORGE SOROS AGAINST OUR PRESIDENT, THE LIKES OF WHICH WE’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE!” (totally forgetting that 45 was impeached twice and encouraged an armed revolt against our government, as well as the fact that Our Treasonous Orange Pustule appointed the FBI director who carried out the raid)...



...and gee, what other head of state out there basically doesn’t recognize the rule of law unless it suits him (here)? And who does he remind us of? Give me a minute, it’s on the tip of my tongue...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that what passes for the brain trust from the “party of Lincoln” is more than a little spooked about the loss of that anti-abortion amendment in Kansas and what impact that could have for the ’22 midterms (as usual, we need to get out and do our part on that score, myself included, to help elect as many Dems as possible)...

...and I seriously don’t think it’s possible to truly communicate (at least not for me) the impact of David McCullough on our shared understanding of this country’s history – a literary titan to be sure, but also someone who brought us lessons from our past in an effort to preserve a shared future for untold generations in accordance with our founding traditions...my introduction to McCullough came via “Mornings on Horseback” and, later, “John Adams” (“The Great Bridge” has been on my short list for some time), and McCullough also effortlessly (or so it seemed) guided us through productions such as “The Civil War,” which he narrated (including in the clip below, with Sam Waterston as Lincoln reading the eternal words of The Gettysburg Address...Shelby Foote provides background also)...McCullough, quite simply, is irreplaceable, and what an enduring legacy he has left for us all...



...and because August, for some reason, is really a cruel month for this stuff, RIP Olivia Newton-John...not ashamed to admit that this one hurts.

Monday Stuff

This NSFW/H clip from Don Winslow gives Rand “Fake Ophthalmologist” Paul the treatment he truly deserves (to do something about him, click here)...



...and this clip from David Doel tells us about The Swanson TV Dinner Heir trying to ridicule Jon Stewart for Stewart’s great work to get the PACT Act passed, along with more on the history of Stewart showing up Carlson from years ago and the Fox host’s infatuation with Viktor Orban of Hungary and what that means for the “party of Lincoln,” namely, that they’ve gone completely off the rails (in case we weren’t already aware of that)...



...and Jayar, Caroline Johnson and Dan Evans tell us about the recent court rulings making a legal human sacrifice out of Alex Jones, ruling that he pay 45.2 mil in punitive damages on top of $4 mil in compensatory damages, but REAL justice would be to also punish those bottom feeders who ruined the lives of the Sandy Hook families filing the suit by harassing them day and night and forcing the families to move multiple times...



...and Thom Hartmann gives us another warning about a recent meeting of wingnuts in Denver recently who apparently are trying to change the Constitution (including through Article V...truly the stuff of nightmares...Hartmann also had a good take here on the scam that is Medicare Advantage...don’t know if these wackadoodles form the Claremont Institute are involved as mentioned here, but we’d be well advised to find out)...



...and Emma of TMR tells us that “Curtsy Kyrsten” got on board with the Manchin/Schumer inflation/reconciliation bill...as long as hedge fund managers and private equity managers can continue to “make bank” with the carried interest loophole...I think it’s pretty safe to point out what Sinema is at this point; the only issue is her asking price...and by the way, listening to “big hair” Blackburn prattle on about how farmers are going to supposedly lose over this bill is hilarious when you consider what Mango Mussolini did to our soybean farmers with that ridiculous trade war of his (here)...and yeah, blame Biden for keeping the tariffs with China in place, but who put them there to begin with? And contrary to what Vigeland says about the Dems and judges, I give you this (Biden has announced 123 federal judicial nominees since January ’21)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us about Repugs (notably Medicare fraudster Lex Luthor Scott) who are apparently FURIOUS about the IRS getting proper staffing to audit the rich in the inflation reduction reconciliation bill (also mildly NSFW/H – happy to see an edge from Cousins on this)...



...and I’m going to go out on probably a short limb here and predict that there’s going to be a big-time blow back on U.S. Senate Repugs who voted against the $35 insulin cap for private insurers (here) – this brief WaPo clip tells us what happened (more to come on this I’m sure)...



...and RIP Judith Durham of The Seekers (sorry, but I can’t help but think of “A Mighty Wind” as I watch this clip).

Sunday Stuff

Ayman Mohyeldin features the link between “Christian nationalism” and the 1/6 insurrection (and to be fair, I think Trumpster Doug Mastriano has tried to distance himself from this lunatic in charge of Gab – how con-vee-nient – as noted here, mainly because he got caught and definitely not because he came down with an attack of conscience... Mohyeldin speaks with Amanda Tyler of Christians Against Christian Nationalism, who lays out pretty well the threat behind this dangerous perversion of faith and its impact on our politics, particularly considering this fall’s elections and the 2024 contests)...



...and Mehdi Hasan tells us that corporations not paying their fair share in taxes costs us about $12 billion...nice grift if you can get it...and coming up $1 trillion short in tax revenue because of IRS underfunding (and leave it to “Cancun” Cruz to come up with a completely wrong-headed “take” on the issue...and I’m truly shocked to hear how reasonable Manchin is here; hard for me to give him credit, but I have to in all fairness for supporting the reconciliation bill, even though it’s an incredibly-paired-back version of Build Back Better...and I love Hasan’s refrain of “(de)fund the tax police”...with Pro Publica’s Jesse Eisinger...more info is here)..



...and Brian Tyler Cohen gives us this clip of Repug U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo saying he thinks the tax burden for Americans will rise from the reconciliation bill, but in reality not because of anything Biden and the Dems are doing, but because of how corporations are likely to pass off the cost of that tax burden to shareholders and their customers...and why the hell is that supposed to be the fault of the Dems? And as Cohen points out, the reconciliation bill is popular among all voters, including 59% of Republicans...also, as noted here, 5 former U.S. treasury secretaries say that this won’t increase the tax liability on anyone making under $400,000 a year...Republicans are unconscionable liars anyway, but they’re really “turning it up to 11” on this on Twitter, and probably elsewhere too (mildly NSFW/H...and once more, I have to ask where the #@!$ the concern was about tax liability over this?)...



...and Caroline Johnson, Jayar and Dan Evans tell us about this bit of performance art at CPAC from this guy Brandon Straka, who apparently is one hell of a snitch and maybe feels like he has to do a penance of sorts by portraying a 1/6 insurrectionist in a cage...



...and yeah, we’re all quite rightly having a good laugh over the campaign of Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz in Pa against John Fetterman, and it is completely deserved for all of the reasons Farron Cousins points out, but NEVER underestimate the ability of the “party of Lincoln” to drudge up slime to throw at their opposition, whether it’s actually true, or – as is usually the case – it’s based on utter lies...to help Fetterman, click here)...



...and the last performer I saw who played multiple instruments on their own track like this was Todd Rundgren, but Madison Cunningham also does that pretty well here too IMO.