Thom Hartmann asks if white supremacy and oligarch wealth is all the GOP stands for...If you have to ask the question, I’m sure you know the answer...interesting history on the cotton gin prior to the Civil War, and I hope I’m being only hyperbolic to think that we could be heading for those days again, but Thom makes a pretty damn good case that we are, especially with not much push-back, though there is some from Team “D” to be fair (as somebody else once said, the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves – for electing these frauds, I mean)...
...and Mike Figueredo of Humanist Report discusses the wingnuts beating their chests about a “red wave,” when, in reality, if they DO win, it will be because of gerrymandering in Florida and New York, which was allowed when President Manchin and Vice President Sinema killed the John Lewis Voting Act...NSFW/H (I’m letting these goofballs have more of their say in this clip than I would normally, but I think it’s hilarious for all of these people, including Baby Ben, to refuse to chastise their voters in any way whatsoever, though of course Shapiro can’t resist being snarky towards Arizona election officials, when those people should be praised for ensuring that our elections are fair despite the howls of Trumpist outrage)...
...and this is more reporting from TYT on ballot initiatives protecting abortion rights, notably in Kentucky and Montana (Ana Kasparian, Aishwarya Nag Choudhury, and Kate Bettino discuss)..
...and Farron Cousins says that he’ll be happy never having to hear of Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz again...we’ll see (as somebody said, Everything Trump Touches Dies...unfortunately, though, I think Boebert is going to make it back into the House, last I heard...can’t imagine the mind-numbing stupidity of supporting this person, and hopefully I never will)...
...and this next-to-latest video from Second Thought tells us How Capitalism Exploits Disasters, which may be timely with Hurricane Nicole bearing down on Ron #DeathSantis-stan (latest is here) – “Capitalism produces hierarchies of power, and that power entrenches these hierarchies.”...damn straight!...
...and this More Perfect Union video tells us about strippers forming a union at the Star Garden strip club (good for them)...
...and with workforce issues in mind, I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 11/14/08, which is some more snark aimed at corporations exploiting their workforce to prevent ANY possibly of the Employee Free Choice Act being passed and signed into law...it made it through the House awhile back, but died in the Senate, as you might expect (wonder if it could be re-introduced, maybe by a certain newly-elected U.S. Senator from PA?)...
...and today would have been the 95th birthday of Mose Allison.
Trae Crowder brings us his take on the election results, including the upcoming runoff (ugh!) between Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock in Georgia (and do I EVER wish that Mango Mussolini would stick his bloated orange face right into the middle of this for the Repug; again, what does it tell you what Not Your Father’s Republican Party truly thinks of people of color that they would consider Walker a reasonable political choice?...and “whites with walkers”...heh)...
...and this Damage Report clip with John and Jayar tells us about Tik Toker Dara Faye calling Repug U.S. House Rep Mike Garcia about her menstruation/ovulation...hey, if Garcia is going to act like an expert on women’s anatomy, then he should go “the whole night yards” you might say, right?...
...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us about Fix Noise having a tough time explaining the election – awww, boo-freaking-hoo, Ainsley Earhardt...and I honestly don’t know why Sam is confused about what the Repugs will run on...WHAT THE HELL DO THEY ALWAYS RUN ON? "OMIGOD, DEMS BURNING DOWN OUR CITIES WITH CRIME, OPEN BORDERS, FENTANYL HALLOWEEN CANDY, HIGH SCHOOL KIDS USING LITTER BOXES," etc...that said, Sam makes a good point about what a clusterf*ck NYC Dems made out of the crime issue with their nutty mayor Eric Adams and how that played into the already messed-up situation with Mondaire Jones and Sean Maloney that, unfortunately, created an opening for the winning U.S. House Republican, along with the departed-but-not-missed NY governor Andrew Cuomo and his role in U.S. House gerrymandering ...I have a feeling that Emma’s comment at the very end about the Repugs taking the House by the slimmest of margins, though they’ll be plagued by infighting, may be correct, but we’ll see of course)...
...and Trumpist nut jobs (basically, just rebranded Republicans) were on display recently in Asheville, NC (which I thought was a cool place...maybe it still is? – Richard Ojeda tells us more)...
...and I agree with a lot of this post-election analysis from Chris Hayes, though he seems to “disappear” the influence of younger voters...not sure why (maybe because they don’t watch MSNBC?...and oh yeah, there was this)...
...and this J.T. Chapman/MPU collaboration focuses on billionaire scumbag Peter Thiel, who of course is doing all he can to buy our elections (and I have to admit that I hadn’t heard of “litigation financing” until now, as well as this “dark enlightenment” stuff...no end to the scheming of these rich cretins)...
...and sticking with the regularly scheduled carnage of Vlad The Butcher in Ukraine, it looks like Russian troops are pulling back from the city of Kherson, though it’s unclear as to what the next move is; it’s definitely progress for Ukraine, but there’s also definitely some “fog of war” stuff going on here too...with DW correspondent Nick Connolly...
...and RIP legendary engineer Joe Tarsia, who played a big role in the Philly Sound, starting with the Cameo/Parkway label before his work with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff; here is a signature tune from “back in the day.”
Cenk and Ana tells us about Vlad Putin and his pals acting pretty brazenly in the matter of interfering in our elections, making some kind of reference to “liver” and “kidneys,” which sounds pretty “old world,” I have to admit (and also, to be honest, it's not like we haven't done the same thing ourselves to other countries in the past).
And by the way (speaking of elections), congratulations to all of the winning Dems, including Josh Shapiro; of all of the candidates, his is the race that we ABSOLUTELY had to win, and Shapiro was called as the winner pretty early last night (happily, it was a bad night for “Christian nationalist” nut job Doug Mastriano and other election-denying Repugs, including Kari Lake...Update 11/10: I know the Lake/Hobbs race hasn't been called yet). Kudos also go to John Fetterman; we'll see about the Senate, though of course that and the House are still in play...and yes, it’s pretty damn unbelievable that the Georgia contest between Herschel Walker and Dem incumbent Raphael Warnock looks like it’s headed to a runoff, but that probably should not have been that surprising. To me, the lesson of the Fetterman win is to build your ground game, which Fetterman did in every county of this commonwealth. How the national Democratic Party somehow either forgot to learn that lesson or de-prioritized it at the expense of massive TV ad blitzes is something I cannot understand, and since Chuck Schumer and Jaime Harrison were basically incommunicado in the cycle for some strange reason, all we can do is guess at whatever their logic was. And of course, we’ll learn more about the cycle that just ended over the coming days, but normally the mid-terms would be awful for the party in power, but it wasn’t I believe for 2 reasons. The first is the repercussions on the SCOTUS Dobbs decision, and the second is the engagement of younger voters.
And on that subject, I think congratulations are in order to Ashley Ehasz. Even though she lost, she got a lot of younger engagement and built a coalition that Bucks County Democrats would do well to sustain and try to add onto in the ensuing years, to say nothing of the state and national party trying to do that also. Ehasz came flying out of the gate (unlike, say, Scott Wallace a few years ago with that bizarre video segment with Diane Marseglia with the two of them wondering why Wallace was running, or whatever that was) and made it clear what she was trying to accomplish with her campaign, and she did a great job on social media (unlike the rest of the party generally, and I know I’ve already expounded on that). To be fair, PA-01 is rough sledding for ANY Democrat, partly because of this centrist mythology created around Brian Fitzpatrick by our media, as well as Fitzpatrick’s occasionally middle-of-the-road votes. Also, a Dem running in this district absolutely has to find a way to peel away enough votes from, say, Quakertown, Wrightstown, Perkasie, Warrington...places that are Republican strongholds with McMansion communities. The Dobbs SCOTUS ruling resonated all over the country, but not enough in the suburbs to make a difference when it came to voting out Republicans. However, I have a feeling that it DID pretty much kill any potential for a “red wave,” which is definitely a victory of sorts.
Still, though (and I'm sorry if I sound like a bit of a wet blanket), it's unbelievable to me that truly obscene amounts of money keep getting spent in our elections, especially on the national level, and the candidates we elect are pretty much the same over and over (yes, there are notable victories to be sure, but not many overall).
Anyway, here’s the TYT clip...
...and David Doel gives us his take on the election, noting that AIPAC spent $4 million against Summer Lee, though they might as well have set that $$ on fire...that’s nothing compared to Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao dumping $41 million for Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz...and yeah, it’s gratifying to know that that money went for nothing also, but it’s sickening to think of all of the better ways that that money could have been spent (and yeah, it’s likely that NO Democrat would have won in Ron #DeathSantis-stan, but when Val Demings and Charlie Crist were basically mute during that voting purge stunt pulled by the FLA guv, I had a feeling they were going to be toast anyway...I didn’t know about the Cortez-Masto/Laxalt race, but God, talk about “not reading the room” – ugh!...to do something to help, click here...very mildly NSFW/H)...
...and I probably shouldn’t spend a millisecond on Our Ochre Abomination, but I guess I have to revel a bit in yet another of his unending hissy fits over the vote, as Jesse Dollemore tells us (though, as noted, Walker is still in the running, unfortunately)...
...and Lawrence O’Donnell (in a clip before the vote) gives us two confessions related to Trump and misinformation (including that nut Tim Michels, running for WI governor – Michels lost, fortunately...and I would respectfully disagree with Lawrence’s assessment that “millions of Trump supporters” are smarter than Our Ochre Abomination...their actions certainly don’t indicate that)...
...and Adrienne Lawrence tells us about GOP state rep Janel Brandtjen trying to keep military ballots from being counted...yeah, I’m remembering all of the wingnuts yelling “SUPPORT THE TROOPS, YOU DUMB LIB!” during Dubya’s Iraq War...and of course, EVERYBODY had those yellow car decals too (and Brandtjen won her election, which, to me, puts the lie even more to the notion that the Republican Party overall gives a damn about our military)...
...and I need something to help me chill out a bit from the events of the last day or so; I hope this does the trick for you also.
David Pakman tells us about Former President Bill Clinton’s recent remarks, which perfectly sum up Not Your Father’s Republican Party...
...so what is The Treasonous Insurrectionist Party doing instead? They’re trying to block 26 million student loan debtors for obtaining forgiveness for their loans of course, arguing that student loan forgiveness will diminish tax revenues; I guess it shouldn’t be surprising to hear such an idiotic argument from the political party that still believes in trickle-down economics, despite the mountain of evidence proving that IT IS AN UTTER FRAUD! (Farron Cousins tells us about it)...
...and Ali Velshi tells us here about Blake Masters lying at a rally in the matter of how much money the U.S. sends to Ukraine and whether or not we should even send anything at all (we should of course), as well as which president threatened to use nukes (hint: it was the leader of Cult 45)...yeah, there are a lot of reasons why Masters shouldn’t be elected despite all the $$ nut job billionaire Peter Thiel is throwing at him, and here are some more (to do what you can to help Masters’ opponent, Dem incumbent U.S. Senator Mark Kelly, click here)...
...and Jayar and Jackson White of Rebel HQ bring us the story of some Oath Keeper nut and insurrectionist (Stewart Rhodes) comparing himself to Nelson Mandela and saying his ilk shouldn’t be afraid to go to prison for 20 years...and we’re supposed to make common cause with these lunatics (“What you become is a slave,” huh? As if you would know.)...
...and this dropped from Really American last night; apparently, Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz has been housing Turkish nationals in a luxurious condominium who of course won’t recognize Turkey’s Armenian genocide (to help John Fetterman and get rid of this quack at long last, click here)...
...and I know the odds are long for Beto O’Rourke in Texas at this point (I can’t imagine a mindset that hates Democrats so damn much that you’d want to wreck your entire state for it, and hopefully I never will), but this New York Times video essay tells us about what I would call Greg Abbott’s criminal negligence during a winter energy crisis not quite two years ago in which hundreds of people in his state died, including the mother of a woman profiled in the clip...
...and Beau reads a truly touching letter from someone whose dad passed away, though you could argue that he “died to MAGA” first (if you watch Steve Kornacki tonight in front of that damn map with all of his projections and statistics, I would respectfully ask that you please remember that the “horserace” BS isn’t what this stuff should be all about – first and foremost, it’s all about flesh-and-blood people and their needs and aspirations, as well as those of their families and friends, echoed in the prior clip also)...
...and I know in the past on election day I’ve put up “Stand Up” by Trapt here, but I think this tune is also pretty apropos for the wingnuts who want to bring an end to roughly about 246 years of our elected democracy.
More than any other person or entity, the Republican Party is responsible for the events of January 6, 2021, as shown once more in this clip as they occurred (and let's not forget these bastards either)...
...and for PA folks, to support John Fetterman running for the U.S. Senate, click here (as well as Ashley Ehasz and Josh Shapiro)...
...and to support Mandela Barnes running for the U.S. Senate in Wisconsin, click here (and RoJo would be leading the charge to dismatle Social Security and Medicare; more on that here)...
...and to support Tim Ryan running for the U.S. Senate in Ohio, click here...
...and to support Dem incumbent U.S. Senator Mark Kelly in Arizona running for another term, click here (mildly NSFW/H)...
...and to support Val Demings running for the U.S. Senate from Florida, click here...
...and here is another clip from Brian Tyler Cohen (a repeat, I know) on Repug South Carolina state senator Sandy Senn having it out with fellow Repug Shane Massey over yet another ridiculous anti-abortion bill in this country (I realize it's way too late to get anybody registered, but everything else Cohen says is about a thousand percent correct - an update is here...and make no mistake; Huckleberry Graham wants the SAME THING for the whole damn country!)...
...and if you're looking for a motivational tune for tomorrow, allow me to offer the following.
John of TYT tells us that billionaires spent nearly $900 million in this midterm election cycle up to 9/30; once more, Citizens United is “the gift that keeps on giving”...with Cenk and Mark Thompson...and yeah, I think Cenk has a good point about corporate media reporters, but he goes around the bend a bit when he says that those reporters are as crazed as the MAGA nutjobs...that bar chart at about 10:00 tells the story...
...and speaking of corporate media, Anderson Cooper brings us this CNN clip on a fired pastor of a Baptist church in Virginia who spoke out against the Gropenfuhrer (and it's not exactly a "news flash" to point out the fact that the Evangelicals are essentially Republican party sheep).
And by the way, I just want to say this with respect to Pastor Kopp. Like many of you I’m sure, I work and live with more than a few conservatives who are good neighbors and (I’m sure) work hard in their jobs and support their families and friends as best they can (in more than a few cases, I strongly suspect that these people are conservative, but I just don’t “go there” in an effort to keep everything on good terms – I know enough to know that they will NEVER support a Democrat under any circumstances, so I try not to engage with them politically. However, if they seek me out on that subject...well then, I’ll defend myself and my positions as best I can).
If these people choose to support Trump and ANY Republican...well, I think they’re catastrophically wrong, but I don’t have the right to say that they’re bad people. However, if they’re one of these MAGA lunatics who threaten violence of any kind against me, my family or friends, or threaten harm against us in any way at all, then yeah, they’re bad people and should be called out accordingly, but only then.
I know it’s a tricky balancing act to get this exactly right, but even though Pastor Kopp should get credit for identifying the true threat to this country, I think he went a little farther than he should have. That being said, we need a hell of a lot more Pastor Kopp’s in this country...
...also (and sticking with the media), I was trying to find something on Cheri Beasley running against Ted Budd for a U.S. Senate seat in North Carolina (seat opened by the retirement of Repug Richard Burr), and I came up with this NC local news segment where Beasley claimed that Budd voted against 4 bills to fund North Carolina police, to the tune of $32 million in appropriations (Budd apparently said the bills cost too much money...typical).
So along comes this local news reporter or someone from Politifact or whatever, who basically says, “Well, Budd voted against the bills (actually, it was 5 bills, truth be told), but these were huge appropriations bills including funding for the Department of Justice who then awarded the funding for local police anyway, so we rate the claim as Mostly False.”
Are you f’ing kidding me? Gee, how much more of a Budd apologist can you be? Did he vote against the damn bills or didn’t he? Who cares if the cops got the funding some other way or not? Budd apparently voted no on the bills, which makes Beasley’s claim correct!
#localnewsfail
...continuing, Beau tells us about Repug U.S. House Rep Dan Crenshaw’s apparent moment of clarity, emphasizing that all of the perpetrators of The Big Lie are laughing their asses off at all of the gullible fools who’ve bought into it (Beau’s T-shirts always have apropos messages for his commentaries, but none more so than today)...
...and I know this clip from Rachel Maddow is a few days old starting with the news about Paul Pelosi’s surgery in response to the hammer attack he suffered (an update is here), but I wanted to make sure I included it before the vote...yeah, Trump Jr.’s underwear and hammer tweet was about what you could expect, as was the response from the just-as-execrable Charlie Kirk...and oh yeah, Kari Lake is just so damn funny, isn’t she (#trumpettetrash), but yeah, our choice is indeed between democracy or violent repression – no middle road (and more disgusting wingnut violence in our beloved commonwealth is noted here)...
