Sunday Stuff

Beau of the Fifth Column does a bit of a “compare and contrast” exercise with U.S. and Egyptian peace plans over the Israel/Gaza slaughter...and yeah, wondering who the “Palestinian experts” would be is indeed a high hurdle, but as Beau says, this is progress, and it also sounds like, on balance, the Egyptian plan could work out better than the U.S. one...



...and Ana Kasparian of TYT brings us more horror stories from Israel’s incursion into Gaza, including IDF dogs attacking an elderly man in a wheelchair at a hospital, all within the view of kids needing treatment (and sure, they won’t grow up to be terrorists, will they, assuming they live)...as bad as this stuff is, and it is that, I believe we also need to address the sickening Hamas atrocities documented here (and John Fetterman gets a completely deserved shot in this clip also)...



...and when it comes to barbarism, Thom Hartmann tells us that Alabama is threatening to kill Kenneth Eugene Smith with a method deemed to be too cruel for euthanizing animals; sounds like asphyxiation...yes, Smith was a bad guy as Thom points out, but really? As Thom says, at this point, if you’re going to go this route, just crucify him and send a message to the world that we’re no better than, say, Iran...



...and Ben Gleib of Rebel HQ informs us that the usual right-wing creatures are losing what’s left of their minds over a “lesbian Virgin Mary”!! And of course, Fix Noise is ALL OVER IT, PEOPLE...and it looks like the human race was saved by a Times Square Christmas display from the Mormons – trying desperately hard not to sacrifice any brain cells over this...



...and Vox News gives us the top stories of the year that is about to end; I was hoping for something kind of upbeat here, though I guess that’s not possible at the moment...



...and Mike Figueredo gives us the Humanist Report awards for 2023...yeah, I would say “Bibi” being the biggest scumbag is completely deserved, but I honestly don’t know why Biden was a nominee in that category – no disrespect to the MVP winner, who was a fine choice, but I also would have selected Shawn Fain (NSFW/H)...



...and whaddaya say to rockin’ in the New Year a bit with this newer tune?...



...and in accordance with my annual custom, I want to thank anyone who has spent any time at this site over the prior year; I hope some of this has been enlightening and/or informative. I know it’s a broken record to point out that I’m simply not able to author longer-form posts full of content and links, so I rely on other folks (and their video clips basically) who are at least as knowledgeable on the topics in question, and often more so. My goal all along has been to promote informed dialogue and thus a deeper understanding of the most important issues we face and not necessarily to shove my opinion down anybody’s throat. Yes, this site definitely is liberal/progressive, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s because people of our ideological bent live in the reality-based community more do than the other side (or I try to anyway, as much as possible).

As a bit of self-promotion, I just want to note that, if I’m able to keep doing this next June, it will mark the 20th year of this site, believe it or not. I never expected it to last this long, seeing as how I started it to find a way to bitch over George W. Bush and the lowlifes of his regime, and that was my only goal way back when. This really is a week-to-week thing, and I‘m just lucky more than anything else that I’ve been able to keep it going. If anything ends up affecting that in ’24, I’ll let you know as soon as I can.

Most years at this time, I say, “Next year is going to be a big year,” and I’m saying that again now because, yeah, 2024 is going to be a big year. We need to hold the Senate somehow, take the House and hold the White House, and that means ALL OF US getting off the sidelines and doing what we can to elect Democrats, even some who don’t deserve it to be honest (and that doesn’t even take into account the battles for state and local government going on across the country). To me, it’s not hyperbole to say that if we end up giving control to the “party of Lincoln,” this could be the last open election that we actually have (and anybody who thinks that, say, Nikki Haley would govern differently than #45 must be living under a rock). The other side has been creeping towards fascism and authoritarianism for about the last 40 years, and voters looking to reward that either don’t have the intellectual capacity to care about it or are too busy living their lives to properly understand what’s going on (and no, I don’t think that’s an excuse either). This means that ALL OF US need to find a way to engage these folks somehow...and I’m not calling for confrontation by saying that, but only for a patient, peaceful resolve in discussing the issues. Of course, if someone doesn’t want to be bothered but only seeks confrontation, I would just walk away and let them stew in their own rage, since that will eat them up faster than anything we could ever do on our own.

I wish all good things for you in the new year and the ability for all of us to keep up the fight, and though it may seem trite to include this tune given all of the wreckage going on in the world right now, I still believe in its message, and I hope you do too.

Onward!

Friday Stuff

David Doel discusses the mess with Nimarata (“What Do You Want Me To Say About Slavery?”) Randhawa (aka Nikki Haley – more here and here)...man, talk about stepping on the proverbial rake – and no, I have to admit that I didn’t expect this to blow up the way it did either, though I DEFINITELY expected a totally tone deaf answer from Haley...and oh yeah, let’s just accept Haley’s BS excuse that the questioner was “a Democratic plant” WITHOUT ONE IOTA OF ACTUAL PROOF OF SUCH AN UTTERLY RIDICULOUS CHARGE!

Yeah...a “Democratic plant” at a Repug town hall in New Hampshire...wanna try selling me a bridge to one of the five New York boroughs while you’re at it?...



...meanwhile, as far as I’m concerned, if you REALLY want to go after Haley for something, try all of the anti-union BS that Brian Tyler Cohen (and More Perfect Union) get into here...and yeah, as far as I’m concerned, there’s a straight line between that and the generally poor overall quality of life in “the Palmetto State”...



...and turning to the “fourth estate,” Chris Hayes debunks the myth perpetrated by Fix Noise (among the usual right-wing suspects) about “organized shoplifting,” timed for the holidays of course...didn’t see the follow-up segment on trying to undercut Biden on the economy...



...and the Hayes clip is probably a nice transition to this one, where Robert Reich tells us about the three things our corporate media should do when reporting on the ’24 election...



...and in the milestones department, I forgot to note the 70th birthday of Philly’s own David Ricketts of David and David on November 16th...



...and the 75th of guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter on December 13th.

Thursday Stuff

As Brian Tyler Cohen tells us here, it looks like Bo-Bo-Boebert is switching from running to defend her seat in Colorado’s third district to taking a shot at the CO-04 seat left open when Ken Buck decided not to seek another term...yes, as Cohen tells us, the 04 seat is about “R plus infinity” and 03 is about "R plus 9," which should be good enough for Bo-Bo, but Boebert’s problem (one of them) is that a bunch of her same-party playmates are taking a shot at the 04 seat also, and to say that Boebert is in for a bruising primary is an understatement; the Repugs sure know how to play hardball against each other as well as in the general...this is pretty much the political equivalent of a “Hail Mary” pass in football because Boebert’s internal polling is apparently awful...



Update: To help Dem Ike McCorkle in CO-04, click here.

...and if you want a reminder as to how Boebert got into this fix (aside from that handy business with her then-boyfriend at the “Beetlejuice” concert...and the vaping when a pregnant woman asked her to stop didn’t help either), this video “brings the receipts”...first, she gets in a snit saying the Constitution isn’t evolving, or something, and comparing herself to Our Lord...yep, big time wackadoodle of course ...as Eric Swalwell points out, if the Constitution didn’t “evolve”, she wouldn’t be able to vote (David Shuster and others provide commentary including Mondale Robinson...and even though Boebert isn’t running in CO-03 anymore, please click here to help Dem challenger Adam Frisch)...



...and as far as the leader of the “Trump Party” is concerned, Jesse Dollemore tells us about #45’s Christmas “greetings,” wishing his enemies would rot in hell...video also includes a discussion about something on social media from this Derrick Evans character who pleaded guilty to charges related to 1/6, but now that Evans is done with his sentence, any notion of contrition is out the window and he’s fine with tweeting an image of Democrats hung from a Christmas tree, including Kamala Harris of course...but oh yeah, he apologized later and deleted his account on X/Twitter/whatever...wonder how long it will be before this guy recants his latest “apology” and says or does something stoo-pid again?...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report plays a Tik Tok video of working Americans talking about the myth of the American dream...kind of echoes what I have on the header of this page...have to admit that I didn’t know about the “silver tsunami” but it tracks, unfortunately...heartbreaking in particular to watch the segment of the woman trying to pay off her student loan, who no doubt did everything she was told to do by the supposedly elite political ruling class in this country...and if you want to blame some Democrats (paging Manchinema, as well as probably Coons and a few others) for letting the pandemic protections lapse such as the child tax credit, pause on student debt, expanded unemployment benefits and school lunch funding, then go ahead, but also MAKE DAMN SURE YOU ALSO BLAME GREEDHEAD FREAKING REPUGS FOR FIGHTING US TOOTH AND NAIL ON ALL OF THAT AND MORE (NSFW/H)...



...and RIP Tom Smothers (hard to believe in this day and age how their show, “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” was once canned for expressing a political opinion, but that was before the right-wing outrage machine had coalesced into what it is now, helped along by “right thinking” liberals...the duo helped kick-start the comedy careers of Rob Reiner and Steve Martin, among others, and the show created a template followed by “Saturday Night Live,” “The Daily Show” and other programs as the Times piece points out)...



...and in another “missed milestone” from the year, I neglected to note the passing of keyboardist John Gosling of The Kinks in August...my bad.

Wednesday Stuff

Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur of TYT discuss the obscene wealth accumulated by billionaire heirs of CEOs...and yeah, as Ana sez, to me, the big takeaway here is that the problem of private equity running amok into all kinds of areas of our lives (as opposed to, say, actual public investment) is going to get worse...and Cenk dumps on wealth managers here a bit, which is misinformed at a minimum as far as I’m concerned, though Cenk’s analysis of what private equity does is correct (which Ana pointed out also)...and yeah, the “party of Lincoln” has been trying to get rid of the estate tax for at least 30 years...



Update 12/28/23: More here.

...and the Republican Accountability Project reminds us of the threat posed by The Gropenfuhrer, which we should all be aware of at this point, and the most important thing to do in response is to vote for Biden/Harris, even though we may not agree with everything they’ve done and supported...

...because we have to negate at the polls life forms like the guy driving the vehicle with this disgusting bumper sticker.

...and as long as we’re discussing Our Ochre Abomination, I should also present this clip of John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report criticizing #45 for saying that Biden is coming after Catholics, with SWAT teams in churches or some such idiocy...



...well, for a bit of much-needed levity, Sam and Emma of The Majority Report discuss a clip from ’05 with Sam on CNN paired with some knucklehead named Bob Knight to talk about the “war on Christmas” (not the dead, chair-throwing basketball coach, but the director of something called the Culture and Family Institute, affiliated with the Christian conservative organization Concerned Women for America)...great stuff at the end with Sam pretending to be offended over mentioning Nazis...nice work also by Sam to point out with humor how ridiculously trivial this topic is right out of the gate...



...and in the few days left for 2023, I want to get to some milestones that I missed or didn’t get to for some reason during the year, and I have to admit that I missed a big one on 9/20, which was the 50th anniversary of the deaths of Jim Croce and Maury Muehleisen in a plane crash...I’d like to present the following as a remembrance.

Tuesday Stuff

Chris Hayes interviews Jodi Kantor, who co-wrote the piece with Adam Liptak of the New York Times last week on what led up to the atrocious Dobbs decision overturning Roe...and no disrespect to Kantor who is a fine reporter, but I kind of lose patience with the hair-splitting exercise of giving a shred of credibility here to Amy Coney Island Baby Barrett, and “Beer Bong Brett” Kavanaugh acts like the duplicitous fraud he is through and through, and this “de-listing” BS to create the appearance of deliberation and distance when THEY WERE GOING TO DIVE ALL OVER THIS ALL ALONG is another disgusting piece to this awful saga...and the back story on the leaked opinion is pretty interesting, though the whole exercise described here is contemptible on its face (and I still say it was leaked by Ginni Thomas...try proving me wrong)...



...and I know this clip is also a little old, but I think it matters to get “disappointed” Susan Collins of Maine on the record over the case of Kate Cox in Texas, to say nothing of reminding us on how Collins caved for “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh, as well as the fact that The Supremes will hear the mifepristone case necessitated by this ruling from that goofball Trumpist judge in Texas (John and Adrienne Lawrence, who makes a scary but completely correct comment on how this SCOTUS doesn’t give a fig about precedent)...



...and Mike Figueredo tells us more on the rise and fall of Moms for Liberty (and you can’t just say a “whites only toy drive” is an oopsie! and leave it at that...and yeah, more stuff here on the Zieglers in Flori-DUUH!...NSFW/H)...



...and this clip from Eleven Films in honor of #SolidaritySeason presents Howard Schultz of Starbucks and Bob Iger of Disney, among other truly bad corporate actors, basically saying “the rabble” is having it too easy again (Bernie and AOC also are featured “rallying the troops”)...



...oh, and in case anybody was thinking of taking a journey “across the pond” over the holiday break...well, I might think again (incredibly NSFW/H)...



...and this selection from our neighbor to the north means that it's time to conclude our holiday tunes for the year...hope you enjoyed.

Merry Christmas 2023

I may include this video from The Lincoln Project every Christmas; a terrific timeless message (first added it in 2021)...



...and once more, I give you the holiday light show that I first included here on 12/23/10...



...and here are a couple of items for this day in particular; “Feed the Hungry” in Savannah, GA recently held their own Christmas dinner...apparently they were able to do the same for Thanksgiving, and they had toys for the kids too...just another example of folks stepping up and doing the right thing...



...and here’s a clip of the Make a Wish Foundation flying kids to Italy a couple of weeks ago to enjoy Christmas...good stuff (sorry if the subtitles are hard to read)...



...and all the best of the season from me, Nat and the gang.

Sunday Stuff

I’m going to deviate a bit from the typical fare at this site and present this clip from CNBC about funding for AI, ChatGPT in particular, and how jobs in that emerging development area could be a destination for folks impacted by tech layoffs this year; clip first aired about four months ago...I know on balance that the economic news is good, but as someone who spends varying amounts of time on Linkedin for different reasons, I should note that I’ve seen some horror stories about people looking for work having to deal with multiple phone screens, in-person interviews, presentations, assessments, competency tests, the lot, often only to find that the job requirements for the position changed, funding was eliminated, work was offshored, etc. – I hope the information in this clip can aid job seekers somehow; nothing sucks quite like looking for a job during the holidays, and yes, I know what that’s like (not now, fortunately...and of course, leave it to that puke Jim Cramer to be calling for people to get canned in order to spur earnings on “the big board”)...



...and returning to the political stuff, Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe and former U.S. Court of Appeals Judge J. Michael Luttig speak with Ali Velshi about the legal wrangling over keeping Combover Caligula off the Repug presidential ballot in Colorado...clip is deliberate and goes on for a bit, but these two perspectives in particular are really important IMO (and here is some typical idiocy in response)...



...and going even further down the Trumpist rabbit hole, apparently “prophet” Julie Green talked with God about Putin’s 2020 election secrets (uh huh), as Jesse Dollemore tells us (mildly NSFW/H...I can take or leave the phone bit, but I think “arrogant mook” is a correct description)...



...and Trae Crowder returns with holiday greetings (NSFW/H)...



...and we only have a handful of seasonal selections left, but I think these deserve to be included also.

Saturday Stuff

I now give you the latest installment of This Day In Doomsy History (more or less) from 12/18/18, in which Casey Michel reports on the World Congress of Families Conference in Moldova (more here)...want to know how Vlad The Butcher managed to get such a grip on American (allegedly Christian) evangelicals and, by extension, the Republican Party, leading the way to the installment of The Gropenfuhrer in 2016? This has a lot to do with that (with this Allen Carlson character travelling to Russia to form the WCF)...yes, Putin is beyond contemptible, but the Russians know how to play this country politically and maximize the impact of our divisions...I’m definitely not saying we should give up in response, but I AM saying that we should understand what we’re up against, and we should call out the traitors and collaborators working with the forces in Russia seeking to defeat us...I think the National Prayer Breakfast should be ripped up by its roots and utterly destroyed for all of the damage that it has done to this country - and by the way, speaking of how evil Putin is, I know I haven't had a video about the Ukraine war for a long time; that has more to do with the fact that those videos end up being age restricted on YouTube - I definitely haven't forgotten about it, for what it's worth...



...and as if we need a reminder (though I know we don’t really), Fix Noise is beating the drum for the return of Trump (and by extension, Putin’s influence) by calling for a civil war that they pretty much would gladly cheer on from the safety of their luxurious studio in NYC while “the rabble” ate each other alive, all for ratings (with Ingraham and that nematode Jesse Watters leading the cry – Jesse Dollemore tells us about it)...



...well, for more positive religious news, Beau tells us that Pope Francis has said that the Catholic Church can bless same-sex unions, though this doesn’t mean that they’ll participate in a same-sex wedding...still, though, this is definitely good news IMO and a big step forward for an institution that, shall we say, moves at a glacial pace on this stuff...



...and More Perfect Union brings us another fine clip, this time about the fight to save a nursing home in Lincoln County, Wisconsin, which apparently is pretty bedrock conservative (some sneaky stuff playing out with the town council and attempts at privatization, to say nothing of across the whole country, with costs going up and the level of care going down)...pretty galling to find out that 700 nursing homes across the country have been forced to close since 2020...great to see the residents stepping up in response; we can all profit from such a fine example...



...and I hope these selections are helping you get into the holiday spirit, if you aren't there already.

Friday Stuff

Farron Cousins brings us the story of Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabilly Sanders deciding to take health care away from 78,000 kids in under a year by kicking them off Medicaid – oh yes, go kicking and screaming about “Dark Brandon”; he doesn’t run your punk ass state...you allegedly do...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ tells us about St. Louis cops who crashed a vehicle into a gay bar and then arrested the bar owner for supposedly putting a hand on a cop, though that is being contested (the officer allegedly made a homophobic slur)...and there’s also a video of reporter Jesse Blackburn in PA being accosted by a cop for doing nothing wrong, as far as we can see (Blackburn reported on a case in a public area, but the local constable got in his face anyway...I didn’t see the clip of the break-in by the cops in Connecticut)...



...and Sam Seder of The Majority Report speaks with Ari Tolany, research consultant for Women for Weapons Trade Transparency; they discuss the piece Tolany wrote for In These Times on “How Israel Got an Endless Supply of U.S.-Made Smart Bombs”...the amount of munitions we’ve sent to that country and continue to send is jaw-dropping...and I know this is a broken record, but so much of the garbage that currently afflicts us can indeed be traced back to The Sainted Ronnie R, who made sure Israel started getting these precision-guided munitions in return for pulling out of Lebanon (and I would say that the reporting on this stuff is “deliberately opaque” also)...



...and here’s another clip I meant to get to previously; John of The Damage Report, with Ramesh Srinivasan and Mondale Robinson, tell us about the wingnuts losing what’s left of their minds over a “Nutcracker” presentation by Dr. Jill Biden at the White House...there actually was a time in this country when perpetual outrage over every little thing wasn’t being manufactured endlessly; the person primarily responsible for this now as far as I’m concerned, more than anyone else, is Roger Ailes...I don’t know of course what his fate in the great beyond is for doing this, but I can’t imagine that it’s anything good...



...and I'm continuing to work my way down the list of seasonal tunes with these selections.

Thursday Stuff

Brian Tyler Cohen discusses the “Mayor of 9/11” and the $148 million judgment against him for maligning the mother and daughter Georgia poll workers in the ’20 election...Rudy! obviously has never learned the phrase “when you’re in a hole, stop digging”...this guy could have absolutely coasted, but because he aligned himself with Mango Mussolini, he’ll likely be disbarred and spend the rest of his life paying off debts for his malfeasance (more here)...



Update: This trick didn't work for Alex Jones, and it won't work for Rudy either.

...and I want to go a little “inside baseball” here a bit and point out the following...when I’m in holiday mode like this, I’m more prone to skip around certain videos that might have been a little more topical previously...that’s not my cunning plan by any means, but it’s just the way things turn out sometimes; I’m saying this because this fine Majority Report clip with Emma V. on Israel’s Gaza incursion might have been more timely earlier in the week or last week, but it just got bumped for other stuff...educational for yours truly, I have to admit, because I’d hung onto the possibility of a two-state solution for the Palestinians when in reality that may have been just a liberal pipe dream given all of those stinking settlements on the West Bank...even Yitzhak Rabin apparently said that the Palestinians should have “less than a state” or something, and he got his brains blown out just for that...makes me despair over this issue even more actually, and I realize that’s not constructive either, but I just don’t know how else to react over this, aside from cutting off Israel at its metaphorical knees unless it agrees to mediation to get its remaining hostages freed, assuming they aren’t already dead (and this makes me detest “Bibi” and his cadre of “true believers” in Israel and this country even more, including that shameless harpie arguing with the interviewer)...



...and it’s also an incredible downer to watch this clip from David Doel on PA’s Dem U.S. Senator John Fetterman...I think Fetterman has made the political calculation that he doesn’t have a snowball’s chance of remaining in the U.S. Senate unless he cozies up to AIPAC, which sadly is probably correct, and no, I don’t know what the answer to that is either at the moment...I should say that I’m not completely comfortable with Doel’s framing of “not many Israeli civilian deaths,” though the power balance numbers he presents when compared with casualties in Gaza are irrefutable IMO...yes, I’m very concerned about Fetterman’s clownish behavior also when it comes to the Gaza carnage, but I’m not ready to totally give up on the guy based on this alone, though it is pretty bad (haven't forgotten that we could have been stuck with "Dr. Crudite") – hopefully there will be no other reason for me to bail on him (and yeah, to say you’re not a progressive after all those tweets is beyond belief; THAT is more concerning to me than anything...slightly NSFW/H)...



...and as a bit of a “compare and contrast” exercise, Mike Figueredo sez that AIPAC is planning to spend $100 million to get rid of progressive candidates (I don’t need any additional reasons to detest AIPAC, though this is pretty damn disgusting also; imagine the better ways that money could be put to use for their nation as well as the Palestinians on Gaza)...according to Ryan Grim, though (mentioned in the TMR clip), AOC told AIPAC what they could do...and before anybody asks, “Why didn’t John Fetterman do that?,” let me point out that, at best, PA is plus 2 or 3 on the D side (which is basically a tossup as far as I’m concerned), but AOC's district is about a +14 in favor of the Dems, so she can afford to take that position...and I think Shri Thanedar is a lying idiot also (NSFW/H)...



And by the way, here are links to help members of “the squad”...

Jamaal Bowman (click here)

Cori Bush (click here)

Pramila Jayapal (click here)

Summer Lee (click here)

AOC (click here)

Ilhan Omar (click here)

Ayanna Pressley (click here)

Rashida Tlaib (click here)

...continuing, here are more seasonal offerings.

Wednesday Stuff

Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur of TYT bring us the oh-so-woeful story (snark) of Almost Silent Clarence “The Job Is Not Worth Doin’ For What They Pay” Thomas...more great reporting from ProPublica...as I read these astounding dollar figures that the Thomases borrowed (and let’s not forget that this includes Ginni too, who gave aid and comfort to the 1/6 traitors and of course is still part of the cadre that wants to overturn our government), I couldn’t help but remember the incredibly paltry sum by comparison that forced Abe Fortas off the High Court and led to the conservative hammerlock that Tricky Dick created, which exists with The Supremes to this day...



...but the big story on Action News, as they say, is A Certain Treasonous Orange Pestilence not being allowed on the presidential ballot in Colorado for inciting the 1/6 insurrection...yeah, this whole thing is headed straight for the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR as alluded to above, which is probably where this whole matter belongs (and if they find a way to rule in Combover Caligula’s favor, there should be crowds with torches and pitchforks in front of 1 First St. NE...David Doel tells us more...and speaking of Action News, my sympathies for real over this)...



Update 1/2/24: Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold is truly a hero as far as I'm concerned (here).

...and returning to the story of Christian and Bridget Ziegler and the former’s attempt to get paid before he steps down from his Repug Party post in Flori-DUUH!, Farron Cousins tells us that Big Stupid Head Matt Gaetz took a break from cavorting with underage teenage girls (allegedly!) to say that politicians accused of involvement in sex scandals should resign...you first, pal...



...and I give Chris Hayes so much credit for this incredibly clear-eyed analysis of why the Gaza attacks must end...yes, Hamas started this with their indefensible assault on October 7th, but as Hayes tells us, the vast majority of Gaza has been destroyed, putting huge numbers of people at risk for disease, starvation, and continuing slaughter...and no, pointing that out doesn’t automatically mean siding with Hamas; the murdering cowards of that despicable organization should be held to account, but in an international court...

(OK, so YouTube flagged the clip as age inappropriate somehow, probably because of the film of the kid from Gaza with part of his leg missing. I think that's ridiculous, but I don't own the platform - here's the link to the video...yes, the kid missing part of his leg is terrible, but calling attention to atrocities like that is part of what Hayes was doing...more here.)

...and Kyle Kulinski brings us the latest “woke Pope” developments, with Francis commendably calling out the IDF as guilty of terrorism for targeting Christians in churches; shouldn’t be that controversial to state such a plainly obvious fact...#46, IMO, is getting played on this by AIPAC, and when push comes to shove, those cretins won’t be there for him next November...I have a feeling Kyle is right on what this has done to Biden’s support among younger voters, and his support by Muslims is pretty damn microscopic now unfortunately...



...and I know it's hard to keep up anything approximating a holiday spirit given these stories, but please allow me to keep trying anyway with these selections.

Tuesday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore and Brittany Page discuss the Moms for Liberty idiots in Flori-DUUH! who remain defiant despite the rape allegation and the story of the “three way,” particularly Bridget Ziegler, who refuses to step down from her role on the Sarasota school board...and yeah, it sound to me also like Christian Ziegler wants to “get paid” (an update is here)...



Update 1/2/24: Looks like Christian Ziegler may be on his way to the gray bar hotel - hope he has a good lawyer (here).

...and great job by the student in Sarasota giving Ziegler the treatment she deserves in the public meeting here...



...and Thom Hartmann gives us the latest on the efforts of the Repug Party to destroy the Constitution and rewrite it to give the rich every damn thing they want...it sounds like the next battleground will be our thoroughly bought-and-paid-for SCOTUS, who may rule that the six state challenges to the Constitution from long ago are still in force, giving the wingnuts the magic number of 34 to call a convention, which would be awful, requiring us to fight even harder to oppose it...



...and John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report tell us about the umbrage from the usual right-wing suspects over the film “Leave The World Behind” based on the book (here...and yeah, it sounds like the wingnuts are showing absolutely zero self-awareness, Part The Infinity as Charlie Pierce might say, and all over one line of dialogue from one scene apparently which has white people fee fees all in a tizzy, and I can’t think of a word to describe how pathetic It is that these knuckleheads are apparently caterwauling about it when they are TOO LAZY TO ACTUALLY GO SEE THE THING THEY’RE COMPLAINING ABOUT! And no, I didn’t see it yet either, but I’m not the one yelling about it)...



...and here are more seasonal selections.

Monday Stuff

The latest clip from Second Thought tells us How The Far Right Infiltrates U.S. Education (I honestly didn’t know that Dennis Prager has 3.2 million YouTube subscribers...ugh...those poor kids; if I was being forced to watch a video of Jordan freaking Peterson, I might end up wanting to “go postal” myself...and why am I also not surprised to see that this motley outfit has gotten such a buildup in Flori-DUUUH!? And why is it no damn surprise either that this garbage can be traced back to The Sainted Ronnie R? –“capitalism is not equipped to solve the problems it creates”...and IMO “we sold our souls for short-term profit maximization” should be written on the headstone of the very last boomer who sheds his or her mortal coil...and I heard about the dustup with Nebula, but I didn’t want to say anything b/c I wasn’t sure how verifiable the rumor was; I’m glad it wasn’t as severe as I’d heard at first)...



...and don’t look now, but our corporate media is actually DOING SOME INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING INSTEAD OF PRATTLING ON ABOUT THE POLITICAL “HORSE RACE”...Lester Holt and reporter Sam Brock of NBC News inform us of the utter scam of Medicare Advantage, with claims routinely denied...of course, the Medicare enrollment period just ended; not sure why this report didn’t air during enrollment instead of after it...



...and I know I’ve alluded to this before, but I’m going to do it again – Rachel Maddow tells us that this Congress is the most pitiable bunch of losers we’ve seen since Herbert Hoover and The Great Depression (22 bills passed with our current gaggle of idiots and frauds as opposed to 21 about 90 years ago)...and yes, this is symptomatic of a slow lurch towards authoritarianism, which we have to fight with all of the legal means at our disposal (more here)...



Update 12/19/23: I updated this item to correct the number of bills; I admit that math was never my strong suit :-).

...well, for some good news, this video from More Perfect Union tells us about the successful unionization effort by the UAW at the Blue Bird plant in Georgia, which should be helpful in the EV-powered future for vehicles such as school buses...great to see a victory for labor in hostile terrain; I suppose this clip is a bookend of sorts for yesterday’s nonsense with Marjorie Traitor Greene saying she didn’t want jobs in her district because it would take workers from existing businesses (translation: she doesn’t want workers to benefit from a labor competition which is a positive outcome of job growth and economic development...and kudos to that brave Bluebird worker who gave the TV interview)...



...and here are more seasonal tunes.

Sunday Stuff

Nina Turner of Rebel HQ tells us about Marjorie Trailer Park Greene railing about the EV plant in her district (more here)...as of now, 4 Democrats are running in the primary election scheduled for next May...and yeah, I know this is a pretty solid “R” seat despite Greene’s lunacy, but there’s no percentage at all if we do nothing in response.



And speaking of Republican idiocy, I believe I need to communicate the following item.

First of all, I have to confess that I shop very infrequently at Home Depot. And yes, I know the person in charge of Home Depot is a Trumpist a-hole who believes workers in this country are lazy and deserve absolutely nothing from our government (here). And I’ve gone out of my way to the Lowe’s in my area from time to time as a matter of principle, but unfortunately, Home Depot has a better selection for what I need.

Well, I journeyed to the one in my area (Fairless Hills, more or less), picked up some seasonal stuff, and while I was exiting the parking lot, I found myself behind a certain individual with the bumper sticker shown below.

(I should also note, by the way, that Home Depot, and actually the Lowe’s in Middletown also, are pretty much wingnut central. Bumper stickers like the one in the pic are definitely not a “one off.”)

To me, this puts a bit of emphasis on the fact that WE NEED TO GET FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS REGISTERED TO VOTE if they aren't already and we also need to MAKE SURE THEY GET TO THE POLLS. Life forms like this character in the Lincoln 4x4 pictured above most definitely will be voting, and we need to do all we can to electorally neutralize him and others like him (and yes, a guy was driving).

...continuing, David Doel tells us about all the wingnut umbrage over a Dem staffer who allegedly filmed gay sex in a Senate hearing room, so of course this person was fired, and OF COOOURRRSE wingnut media are losing what’s left of their minds over it...and no, I don’t condone it either, but can we get a freaking grip, people? Also, I like the way Doel presents that clip of Generalissimo Trump using white nationalist dictator rhetoric again at one of his hate rallies, with Doel basically saying to us, “what do YOU think matters more?” (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and this gives me a chance to work in a couple of more seasonal tunes.

Saturday Stuff

Farron Cousins brings us the story of a certain Treasonous Orange Pestilence trying to extort 2024 prez endorsements from willing lackeys U.S. Senate Republicans, and that would be Cancun Cruz and “Running Man” Josh Hawley, and the tactic actually worked in the latter case... I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am in a way (and to do something about the Texas mistake, click here...to do something about Brave Sir Josh, click here)...



...and Jesse Dollemore tells us about yet another fundie assclown who tells us to vote for Combover Caligula or there will be “punishments and retribution”...try bringing it, wingnut (“evangelical nutter butter”....good one)...



...and speaking of manufactured outrage, it looks like the ammo-sexuals out there are all in a snit over this ad from Mothers for Democracy, timed for the recent 11th anniversary of the Sandy Hook massacre...those kids would be teenagers now...



...and it looks like “MAGA Mike” Johnson was crowing against “single party impeachments” four years ago, but whoopsie! It looks like we have a “Seinfeld” one against Dark Brandon now (meaning that it’s about nothing)...every U.S. House Republican voted for it, including this guy, and to do something about our wet noodle PA-01 rep, click here (NSFW/H)...



...and I know some of this stuff makes it hard to get into the mood for the season, but I'm going to keep presenting these tunes to help that process anyway.

Friday Stuff

David Pakman brings us this clip of Ron Johnson doing his best to keep the unofficial title of Biggest Idiot in the U.S. Senate by alleging that the “D” party uses fake electors in an interview with Kaitlan Collins of CNN (here), which actually is a violation of federal election law as noted here... I agree with Pakman – Collins pushed back, but she definitely could have done a better job of it IMO (and Democrat is of course a noun and not an adjective...not that Rojo cares about that I realize)...



Update: Kudos to Collins also for this.

Update 7/15/24: Just say "oops" and get out, RoJo (here).

...and Robert Reich reminds us about the Moore v. U.S. case on the SCOTUS docket that could potentially lead to the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR tying Congress’s metaphorical hands when it comes to enacting a wealth tax on the increased value of investments...and yes, “Strip Search Sammy” and Almost Silent Clarence Thomas should recuse if they had a speck of integrity, which they don’t, so they won’t...and when it comes to replacing our U.S. House Rep in PA-01, please click here...



...and Mike Figueredo brings us the story of Evangelicals furious at Iowa governor Kim Reynolds for allowing a holiday display from the Satanic Temple in the state’s rotunda...hey, this is what happens when you go for all of this “religious liberty” stuff...and I agree; that Iowa rep who is also a minister said that this whole discussion should be guided by the First Amendment, and he’s right (NSFW/H)...



Update 12/16/23: I wonder if this Michael Cassidy idiot realizes how much free publicity he has given to the Satantic Temple by his ridiculous act of vandalism (allegedly, of course).

...and I’m a little late with this I know, but I didn’t want to forget it; Lewis Black on “The Daily Show” looks back at ’23 like only he can (w/Charlamagne tha God)...



...and RIP Essra Mohawk...



...and here are more seasonal selections.

Thursday Stuff

Kyle Kulinksi tells us the latest on “MAGA Mike” Johnson and all of the legal work he did for the looney tunes who lose what’s left of their minds over gay people and drag shows (here)...and let’s not forget that Johnson took advantage of an exception in Louisiana state law that allowed him to make “tens of thousands of dollars” as part of the legal team representing the state in a federal court trial over abortion clinic restrictions (noted here...a pretty rank case of double-dipping as far as yours truly is concerned)...and yeah, I think “Grant Storms” sounds like a porn star too...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen brings us this clip of Brianna Keilar of CNN trying to brings facts and logic to the claims of wingnut Tim Burchett about Hunter Biden and Joe Biden BLAH BLAH FREAKING BLAH!...OMIGOD, #46 WAS PAID BY HIS SON FOR A CAR LOAN!!! WHAT A “SCANDAL”!! And boy, is Cohen ever right about the wingnuts trying to own the narrative, facts and logic be damned...makes me recall this post (NSFW/H)...



...and given all of the garbage allegations against Hunter Biden, I think it’s called for to give the man the opportunity to speak for himself, which he did yesterday...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that, while it’s great that Adam Frisch running against Bo-Bo Boebert in CO-14 has raised a lot of dough from Hollywood types (4X the amount it seems), Frisch needs to downplay that a bit; yes, it shouldn’t matter, but unfortunately it does...I know what Cousins is talking about when it comes to getting people riled up over celebrities like that; it’s pretty blue where Le Manse Doomsy resides, but there are definitely red pockets too (I’ll admit that I’m not completely sure what the answer is to that either, people getting worked up over famous donations I mean)...



...and ready or not, it's time for more seasonal selections.

Wednesday Stuff

Mike Figueredo tells us about Kate Cox, the Texas woman who was at first granted an abortion because her fetus was diagnosed with something called Edwards Syndrome, which is an almost assuredly fatal condition, but was then denied the abortion by Ken Paxton and the ghouls of the Texas Supreme Court, forcing her to flee the state to get the health care she needs, also to save her own reproductive health...as the clip informs us, it tells you how toothless the exception provision is in these monstrous laws, and these battles are playing out in at least 14 states as Cox’s lawyer points out (more here - NSFW/H)...



...and as someone who has journeyed “across the pond” like millions of others I’m sure, I can tell you that I have had to avail myself of Britain’s National Health Service, and I have been satisfied with the care I received as well as the affordable cost...this New York Times video tells us how it has recently fallen into decline; basically, when you don’t invest in something and let the privateers from this country take over (with the all-too-willing help of the Tories), you get the predictable result...



...and Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ brings us a clip of Adam Mockler doing his best to reach the brainless bipeds still supporting Our Ochre Abomination...want to know why Ukraine funding has been in trouble recently? Because of these knuckle draggers who actually think Vlad The Butcher is acting in our interests, that’s why...



...and I’ll loop Ana and Cenk of TYT back into this...they inform us that Hannah Giles of Project Veritas recently stepped down and pretty much spilled the beans on James O’Keefe and the other bottom feeders at that wretched outfit...allow me to pass the popcorn while I watch those guttersnipes eat each other alive...



...and I hope you find these seasonal tunes to be a little more enjoyable and/or fulfilling somehow.