Saturday Stuff

Robert Reich gives us another one of his periodic reminders that the “self-made billionaire” BS is truly a myth, starting with Musk, Bezos, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, etc...



...and Chris Hayes gives us a preview of what would happen if (God forbid) Republicans capture any of the two legislative bodies on Capitol Hill, to say nothing of the White House also in 2024 (more motivation for us to do what we can to get Dems elected, as if we didn’t know how important that is already)...Medicare and Social Security ABSOLUTELY will be on the chopping block, and we can expect a federal 15-week abortion ban and more stinking tax cuts (and this J.R. Majewski clown really put his foot in it with his alleged military service, didn’t he...update is here...and what the hell is it with Repugs who actually think they can rap?...and I thought this was a hoot also)...



...and Trae Crowder tells us about Repugs losing what’s left of their minds over the Stacey Abrams quote about the lack of a six-week fetal heartbeat, which was verified by medical science (which Repugs don’t believe in, I know)...



...and John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report tells us that protestors of Vlad The Butcher’s war of choice in Ukraine have automatically been drafted into service (and yeah, as they say, what kind of message does it send to your existing forces to conscript people WHO DON’T EVEN WANT TO BE THERE??!!)...



...and Brittany Page joins Jesse Dollemore on The Dollermore Daily to talk about Mississippi, first on the water in Jackson – and also what a doctrinaire Repug fathead Tate Reeves is – and second, having to do with the Brett Favre funds misappropriation stuff (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and it’s “up, up and away” with this neat newer tune (make sure you hang around until the end :-).

Friday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore tells us that Our Treasonous Tiny Handed Former Dictator is BIG MAD that #DeathSantis apparently stole his awful immigrant kidnapping idea, and of course leave it to #45 to add his particularly heinous twist to all of this of shipping actual violent criminals to blue states, and except for Cheney and Kinzinger, NOT A DAMN ONE OF THEM IN HIS PARTY WILL SAY ANYTHING TO OPPOSE HIM!!! And by the way, all the best to Dollemore on his health issues...



...and this clip from The Lincoln Project tells us about Doug Mastriano and the connection between his campaign and the utterly awful and depraved Gab anti-Semitic web site; to help Josh Shapiro, the Dem running for PA governor, click here...



...and uh oh, it looks like Mr. Crudite himself, Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz went to Kensington to (allegedly) help drug addicts shoot up to film a campaign video...and yeah, I’d like to know how many of those people in that vehicle made it to drug rehab also...this is a serious problem that deserves a MUCH BETTER treatment than a drive-by photo-op...that crowd Oz spoke to later (“See? I actually went to Democrat cities! I’m not just a Hollywood celebrity!”) was about as “diverse” as a jar of mayonnaise...I think this segment goes off the rails a bit in the last minute over the George Floyd stuff to be honest, though the fundamental point about performative stuff from the “R” party (and the Dems to a lesser extent) is true, I have to admit (in response, to help John Fetterman, click here)...



...and here’s a backgrounder on Ashley Ehasz, the Dem running to unseat Brian Fitzpatrick as PA-01 U.S. House rep; to help the campaign, click here (and more on Bri-Fi is here)...



...and Thom Hartmann tells us about more anti-abortion garbage in Georgia, West Virginia, Texas and Utah...and refusing to treat miscarriages? Looks like some of our states below that Mason-Dixon line are being run by some of the most enlightened minds of the 13th century...



...well, one way to try and fix that is to vote for Dems like Beto O’Rourke, running for Texas governor against the thoroughly despicable Greg Abbott – to help, click here (I keep waiting for elderly white conservative boomers to start loving their kids and embracing climate justice, economic reform and sane policies concerning women’s reproductive health more than they viscerally hate Democrats, and I’m sure I’ll keep waiting...clip is briefly NSFW/H, but for a good reason)...



Update: I saw on Twitter that the Houston Chronicle says that voters are breaking towards Abbott based on immigration and away from abortion; not taking issue with the paper, but this makes zero sense to me given that Abbott was responsible for this.

...and turning to entertainment, this week marked the passing of a guy who probably was the very last surviving male member of The Rat Pack, and that was longtime character actor Henry Silva – here he is in a truly great film that had trouble getting released for awhile because of the subject matter (re, an assassination)...



...and Silva made a living portraying villains, which brings to mind this tune (for me anyway, which is actually a cover of a Larry Williams song).

Thursday Stuff

I realize that we here in our beloved commonwealth of PA don’t have bragging rights when it comes to election corrupt idiot politicians (see “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey), but I have to admit that it is predictably discouraging to see voters in Wisconsin apparently trending towards RoJo – love to be wrong...here is a reminder of why Johnson most definitely does NOT deserve another term in the U.S. Senate from Texas Paul at Meidas Touch, with RoJo blaming “CRT” and “wokeness” for the Uvalde massacre (to help Johnson's opponent Mandela Barnes, click here...NSFW/H)...



Update: And how is this for a Freudian slip?

...and I thought this was a pretty well-done New York Times video with Johnny Harris (taking a break from bitching about NIMBY libs and real estate in Southern California) and Michelle Cottle about the most urgent threat to our elections...this is what happens when we coddle the Trumpsters including Bannon and Mango Mussolini himself, and this is also what happens when the John Lewis For The People Act gets stopped dead in its tracks in Congress by the “party of Lincoln” – Dems (and in this case, Liz Cheney also) have tried to pass laws to ensure election integrity (here), but as noted here, Bri-Fi (among others in his party) have opposed these efforts...to do something about that, click here (and let’s not forget the role of the John Eastman garbage in all of this as noted here)...



...and speaking of legal stuff, Farron Cousins tells us that the defamation lawsuit against Pillow Guy from Smartmatic will be allowed to proceed (and yeah, Dominion should follow with their suit also, and I’m sure they will)...



Update: More here (what a freak show).

...but as deserved as that is, the REAL topper came from the 11th Circuit Court hours ago against Our Ochre Abomination himself, in which the whole “special master” ruling from Trumpster flunky judge Aileen Cannon got the legal thrashing it deserved...Beau tells us more (more here)...



...and from Satan’s lips to his minions’ ears as far as I’m concerned; I think that’s the best way to summarize this next story, with MAGA lunatics flooding the suicide prevention hot line for our veterans to try and release the treasonous insurrectionist 1/6 criminals (Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us more)...



..and this tune was #1 on the Billboard pop charts on this day 55 years ago.

Wednesday Stuff

(This is just a reminder that the "kangaroo court" pictured above, including that smiling African American woman, are the ones - along with all other Republican politicians - who have decided that women in this country shouldn't be allowed to exercise their own bodily autonomy.)

Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us about Huckleberry Graham’s latest abortion stunt blowing up in his face, you might say...and yeah, Dems damn sure should run with what Graham says here in ads throwing it back at him, but we’ll see – more here...



...and for a bit of heartbreaking reality on this story, Ana and Cenk of TYT discuss a Texas woman named Kailee DeSpain, who apparently was passionately anti-abortion along with her husband; she had to travel out of state to get an abortion herself because of truly dire pregnancy complications (to New Mexico apparently)...and in case anyone thinks I’m going to be snarky about that, think again; I’m genuinely sorry for the heartbreak she and her husband have faced as a result of this horrific development concerning the in-utero life inside her, but I would only ask that they please try to understand that anyone who is pro-choice loves the life of the unborn also, even though I’m sure the DeSpains can probably see our side in a more tolerant light now, though I’m sorry it’s because of what has happened to them – and I think Cenk is referring to the Sandy Senn clip that I included a couple of days ago with Brian Tyler Cohen...



...and turning to other domestic political matters, it looks like Our Ochre Abomination is threatening civil war if he’s indicted...well, he’s on the way to that based on this, among many other reaons (Richard Ojeda has more on this...and here is more on Matt Whitaker, yet another Trumpist bottom feeder from our prior ruling cabal)...



...and it sounds like U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie, Mango Mussolini’s handpicked “special master,” is all done with the games from #45 on the Mar-a-Lago docs mess (David Pakman gives us the details - love the face freeze)...



...and in case anyone has forgotten about Vlad The Butcher and his war of choice in Ukraine, Beau tells us about the latest Russian referendum and how it’s a propaganda stunt as a likely pretext to further conscription of young men of fighting age in that country to be sent off to “the meat grinder”...



...and since tomorrow is the first day of fall, it’s time to ring down the curtain on my summer selections until next year (sniff, though this is a great time of year also).

Tuesday Stuff

Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Javier Salazar, Bexar County, TX Sheriff, who is apparently trying to open an investigation into Ron #DeathSantis’s little stunt of flying 48 migrants to Martha’s Vineyard...of all of the aspects of this ridiculous story that (I have to admit) that I didn’t pay much attention to, one was the taxpayer cost of flying these people to the island...



...and Farron Cousins references the video clip with Sheriff Salazar...Judd Legum got his hands on the brochure that #DeathSantis used to lure the migrants, which may very well end up being more ammunition behind the lawsuit(s) that will surely follow from all of this...



...and John and Francesca of The Damage Report tell us about a MA lawmaker also looking at #DeathSantis for human trafficking...GOOD! (and good also for John for pointing out that immigrants come into this country from a whole bunch of other places besides the border with Mexico...it remains to be seen how much more of this Abbott and #DeathSantis are going to pull, but the more they do, the more it will add to the legal consequences against them)...



Update 9/21/22: Gee, isn't THIS interesting?

...and as if there weren’t more reasons to be mad at Flori-DUUH’s utter Republican mistake of a governor, this More Perfect Union clip notes that energy prices in The Sunshine State are going nuts because of the Florida Power and Light utility, which is a big-time player in Republican politics of course... wonder if #DeathSantis’s MVY stunt was intended to deflect from this? And more is here...



...and here is still another reason to despise #DeathSantis, with him making fun of those paying off student loans, and anyone going to college of course...thank God we didn’t have a-holes like this guy calling the shots after WWII when a whole bunch of vets, like my dad, went to college on the GI Bill – when this guy falls hard, which he eventually will, I’m going to sit back right easy and have a good laugh (and “zombie studies,” huh? And how big of a teacher shortage are you looking at again? And of course he utters this puke in front of those Heritage Foundation guttersnipes - to do something in response, click here)...



...and I’ve had this song on my mind while all of this migrant misery has been playing out, so I thought I’d share it here.

Monday Stuff

(I know the cartoon should say 2022 instead of 2019, but I think it's close enough.)

Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report discusses the ongoing campaign in this country to take away women’s bodily autonomy, with a focus on “crisis pregnancy centers,” which are not licensed medical facilities, it should be noted, but are instead places for wingnut indoctrination – NSFW/H...



...and related to the prior story, Brian Tyler Cohen talks about 2 South Carolina Republicans in the state senate duking it out over more garbage anti-abortion nonsense...and yes, Sandy Senn is absolutely right here, and Shane Massey is just another idiot Repug male trying to regulate women’s biology (more here – and yeah, for every anti-abortion bill, I think a companion bill should be introduced that sets up a database that tracks purchases of Viagra and Cialis for male politicians, as well as keeping a record of which ones have received vasectomies)...



...and when it comes to that depraved stunt by FLA guv Ron #DeathSantis to dump the undocumented migrants at Martha’s Vineyard (who were transported off the island to a facility set up on Cape Cod where they can be processed through immigration), I thought Vaush had a particularly smart take here (more here – Emma V. of The Majority Report had a segment on this also, but it included a clip with Jesse Watters and Mike Pompeo, and I absolutely can’t stomach those two together)...



...and related to the MVY story, Stephanie Ruhle tells us how this little maneuver by #DeathSantis and Greg Abbott of Texas mirrors the “reverse freedom rides” of exactly 60 years ago (more here)...



...and Ana and Cenk of TYT bring us the story of Trumpster Cathy Latham in Coffee County, GA, who allowed voting machines to be hacked on 1/7/21, which of course was the day after the insurrection...time to start throwing these people in prison for a looooong time, as Cenk says – more here)...



...and in the Wordpress post I linked to above about Martha’s Vineyard, I mentioned the public radio station WMVY, which is terrific; this newer number comes right from their playlist.