Friday Stuff

Once more, I know what The Lincoln Project is, but they’re right to sound the alarm over the chance that we won't pay our bills starting on June 1st...just mint the freaking coin already, Joe!...



...that being said, I have to admit that I’m shocked over the possibility that Big Stupid Head Matt Gaetz and AOC might unite politically in favor of a bill banning members of Congress from trading stocks and putting any stock shares they own in a blind trust, but apparently that’s the case, as Farron Cousins tells us...



...but before we get a little goo-goo over the other side (yeah, I know – not likely to happen), let’s not forget that an anti-LGBTQ group based in Arizona is apparently trying to force its hate agenda in Africa (with the “party of Lincoln” cheering on of course...Rachel Maddow speaks with Frank Mugisha, executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda)...



...and going a little further west beyond Arizona, John and Danielle Moodle of The Damage Report tell us that Utah residents can’t log onto Pornhub because their state gumint decided to “screw around and find out,” you might say...what will all of those repressed Mormons do now, I wonder?...



...and in case we’re getting a little fatigued with all of the Clarence Thomas/Harlan Crow stuff, well, it looks like we have another billionaire sugar daddy scandal, this time involving Herschel Walker and about half a million dollars or so, which I guess is pretty much what you can expect when you’ve got someone like Walker who had no business whatsoever running for any kind of a position in government, let alone the U.S. Senate – Jesse Dollemore explains...



...and Eric Gardner of More Perfect Union tells us in this clip about the thoroughly odious practice of stock buybacks, which should be illegal and actually were in this country until The Sainted Ronnie R decided to allow it (actually, Reagan’s SEC head John Shad is the guilty party on this one, as the clip explains)...



...and turning to the Hollywood writer’s strike, David Doel brings us this CNN clip of writer/performer Adam Conover discussing the issues...sounds like the whole “gig economy” thing is a big sticking point, as it should be considering that there are heads of entertainment companies raking in millions while the writers struggle to make ends meet (the last time there was a strike, I remember Bill Maher had a version of “Real Time” without the writers...nice job to be a scab...and the show was an embarrassing train wreck, even more than it is now)...



...and normally I would have included this tune yesterday for the 53rd anniversary, but I featured the Gordon Lightfoot tribute music instead, which is fine...better late than never I guess (weird to present this for the first time without David Crosby).

Thursday Stuff

Rachel Maddow gives us a warning about the “Nazi stuff” in Ohio (and elsewhere, unfortunately) going after drag shows – and great job to tie this to all of the hate legislation supported by the “party of Lincoln,” though I wish to God that wasn’t the case of course (and no, this image wasn't photoshopped...it was from a Bloomsburg, PA rally for Combover Caligula in September 2016 as noted here)...



...and John and Ana of TYT tell us about some Repug lawmakers in TX advancing a bill to overturn election results on some flimsy pretext about running out of ballot paper for more than an hour – now watch “all hat no cattle” Abbott and his minions do their best to short change voting machines in one particular Dem county (Harris County, apparently) to have exactly that happen so they can claim to overthrow the results – not 100% clear on the total BS procedural stuff for this nonsense, I have to admit...once more, heckuva job, Hangin’ Judge JR and his corrupt SCOTUS, to eviscerate the VRA and preclearance to allow this nonsense to happen...



...and sticking with “the land of the yellow rose,” Beau answers a question from someone who apparently called him a “female dog” (???) about Greg Abbott-stan and this bill to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms...Beau also discusses the Constitution and the commonwealths of PA and Virginia on the whole “after school Satan club” thing (more here)...



...and also sticking with our thoroughly corrupt SCOTUS, Mike Figueredo discusses WATB “Strip Search Sammy” Alito, and Figueredo also mentions Neil Gorsuch not naming the buyer for his property (which I know I got into earlier) and Hangin’ Judge JR’s wife making a cool $10 mil recruiting lawyers for top law firms, to say nothing of Almost Silent Clarence Thomas of course (and believe it or not, there is more on this guy and Harlan Crow here) and the fact that Brett Kavanaugh is pretty much guilty of sexual assault (allegedly...NSFW/H at the end)...



Update 5/5/23: Thomas just needs to go - full stop (here).

...and I realize corrupting the SCOTUS is pretty much the gig for Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao and Leonard Leo and The Federalist Society, but the “Nazi stuff” Rachel Maddow mentioned used to demonize the gays and LGBTQ individuals, as well as the Ten Commandments and going after women’s health care (and other stuff), are the issues used as distractions by the donor class (through they have real-world repercussions of course) to steal more and more in the way of tax cuts and all kinds of other corporate gifts via “model” legislation from the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC...this video is a primer...and yes, you guessed it; time for another installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 5/5/13 (and Chucky Koch and his cretinous pals were in the news recently again here)...



...and I know I mentioned earlier that I’m overdue for another Seth Meyers clip, and here is a recent “Closer Look” segment on Ron #DeathSantis’s dip in the polls, Our Ochre Abomination still holding electoral sway for his great unwashed minions, and Biden’s announcement that he’s running again...and oh yeah, Tucker’s downfall and the repercussions at Fix Noise once more (and well-said words at the end about the negotiations, though the strike has come to pass as noted here...I'll plan to have more on that tomorrow)...



...and here are two more tunes from Gordon Lightfoot.

Wednesday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us that “Tuckums” talked trash about his own network’s web site here, which could have been yet another reason why the gaggle of liars and sycophants that he used to belong to decided to give him the heave-ho... and yeah, I agree with Cousins a bit here, and he’s right about climate change unfortunately, and the blogger stuff too...



...and it looks like Carlson got to say goodbye after all – heh (from Stephen Colbert...I have to be a bit of a grinch, though, and point out that all of this coverage of The Swanson TV Dinner Heir has taken away from the other infinitely more important stories facing us, notably the pending default on our debt, the climate of course, the battle over women’s health care, Russia/Ukraine, and on and on)...



...and sticking a bit with Carlson’s former network, Kyle Kulinski tells us about that nematode Stuart Varney and his fellow clown Sean (“Democrat Party”) Duffy and some back-and-forth on a Fix Noise poll that DEFINITELY trends against their narrative (especially on guns), so of course Varney tries to blow it off – I have to admit that Kyle has gotten a little better lately with his “takes” IMO...



...and Jesse Dollemore brings us this U.S. House brainiac James Comer running his maw about “oh, Hunter Biden this, Biden crime family that!!,” and he’s so stoo-pid about it that he’s even getting push-back from this news mannequin at The Roger Ailes BS Factory...



...and John I., Wosny Lambre and David Doel (interesting combo) talk about Flori-DUUH! guv Ron #DeathSantis and his GITMO experience, basically laughing while inmates were force-fed as noted here (and too late to go after Rummy on torture, BTW)...and I agree that the Gropenfuhrer would definitely own GITMO torture if he could (”I oversaw the best torture – many people are saying this.”)...



...and Alonzo Bodden of Rebel HQ tells us about these Minnesota Repugs who oppose legalization of pot for recreational use...OK, full disclosure once more; I don’t favor legalization for recreational use either for personal reasons (I’m open to persuasion though), but if states/commonwealths/municipalities vote for it, then they should have it, and I’m on board with everything else...removing pot as a Schedule 1 drug, federally decriminalizing pot offenses, allowing dispensaries to transact like regular businesses (ridiculous that they currently can’t), prescribing Marinol in hospitals/dispensaries, etc...I personally think the THC content should also be regulated, and I think only Maine and Michigan do that as noted here...I’m highlighting this clip because I have to admit that the anti-pot arguments are so ridiculous – if you oppose it, you can make more constructive points, as opposed to this “8-foot plant” and “2 ounces equals 3 joints” nonsense (more here and here)...



...and there was a time when I would partake in “the leaf,” I have to admit (and if you think I’m a hypocrite, well, all I can say is that being a parent changes your perspective on a lot of things), and one of my “go to” artists to listen to whilst in a mellow mood was Gordon Lightfoot...yet another icon of days gone by has now departed, though he’s left behind the gift of his art for future generations to embrace and appreciate.

Tuesday Stuff

John Oliver gave us this segment on immigration a couple of nights ago (nice job to refer to that life form called Stephen Miller as “incel Caillou,” though Biden and the Dems do have work to do for sure – and somehow I don’t think introducing a facial recognition app is going to solve this...we need a “whole of government” solution, and good luck with that and the kicking and screaming of the “party of Lincoln”...I wish we could exclude private companies like CoreCivic and Geo Group, but unfortunately I don’t know how to freeze them out of this...if nothing else, Biden and company need to put up more of a fight against right wing BS on this...this has been an issue for decades, and it’s only getting worse with governmental instability and climate change plaguing the whole world, not just affected countries from which refugees are trying to escape...and there's more idiocy from the "loyal opposition" on that in a later clip – of course, with the writers’ strike now going forward as noted here, this might be his last show for a little while...NSFW/H)...



...and in keeping with the theme of our ridiculous immigration situation in this country, Beau tells us about supposed tough guy and Texas guv Greg Abbott and his “bounty,” or whatever that nonsense was, to get the alleged murderer of 5 people in Abbott’s state – and oh yeah, categorizing them as “illegals” first (which apparently isn't true) as opposed to, y’know, people, is a typically lowball move from “all hat no cattle” Abbott... Beau’s right that this whole damn mess from Abbott is yet another PR stunt (more here)...



Update: Well, this is a relief.

...so what is “the lone star state” focused on instead? Why, treating women in an utterly barbaric way of course... Texas resident Amanda Zurawski gave testimony to the U.S. Senate about her utterly horrible experience because abortion wasn’t available to her as a medical care option, with her senators Cruz and Cornyn absent during her testimony of course (NSFW/H)...



Update 5/4/23: More barbarous cruelty from a so-called "developed" nation is here.

...and speaking of anti-abortion nonsense, Rayy Vana of Rebel HQ tells us about Dr. Nisha Verma dealing with Sen. John Neely Cornpone of Louisiana and his ridiculous hypothetical about abortion, which is typical for someone who will never be “in the stirrups,” and no, that definitely is not a cowboy reference...



...and in another example of U.S. congressional Repugs acting like total fools, Ben Gleib and Cenk Uygur discuss Marjorie Traitor Greene rambling on like the nutcase she is over climate change...and oh yeah, RoJo contributed more nonsense in the Senate (you know him, the guy who “won” by 27K votes last year in his election even though the votes of 37K Dems in Wisconsin were suppressed as noted here – hey Cenk, try bitching about THAT instead of going right to your default of “Dems suck,” OK?)...

...and this happened 20 years ago, which definitely brings to mind this tune.

Monday Stuff (updates)

Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins tell us about the amendment offered by Dem U.S. House Rep Pramila Jayapal saying that the 14th Amendment applies only to actual, flesh-and-blood people (In response to Citizens United of course)...actually, the concept of “corporate personhood” goes back to lawyer Roscoe Conkling of the late 1800s and his ridiculous misinterpretation of that amendment (written for freed slaves, let’s not forget), all of which is detailed pretty well in this great book... and no, I don’t think Jayapal’s amendment has a chance of passage either in the U.S. House under its current wretched “leadership,” unfortunately (Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao, among others of the “party of Lincoln,” would spend his last breath if need be fighting such an amendment from Jayapal...and that doesn’t mean I wish harm to the Senate minority “leader,” despite what he wishes for us, so let’s be clear on that, OK?)...



...and staying with the SCOTUS, Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us about AOC speaking out about Hangin’ Judge JR blowing off a request to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee (and by the way, the Lochner era was the most -pro-business SCOTUS this country had seen – from around the time of the Depression – until this current bunch, that is...NSFW/H)...

...and for more High Court hijinks, I give you this...

Update: Almost Silent Clarence just keeps digging that hole, doesn't he? (here).

Update 5/4/23: The deeper we dig, the worse the stench (here and here).

Update 5/6/23: And Thomas even threw his own sister under the bus, as noted here.

...and returning to our current insanity, Sam and Emma of The Majority Report give us an update on Montana state rep Zooey Zephyr; apparently she can vote and do other functions in the MT “lege” but can’t talk because a trans woman is apparently so threatening to all of these allegedly manly men...we also hear the story of the son of Governor Greg Gianforte asking his old man to lay off with the anti-trans stuff, and finally leading into the woman (Kerri Seekins-Crowe) who would rather her daughter die than be trans (and I know what the Daily Mail is, but apparently they’re pretty accurate with this story of some of the monstrous cruelty of Steven Crowder towards his wife, as noted here)...



...and turning to this nation’s gun carnage, David Pakman gives us evidence that gun violence is worse in red states (and apparently the alleged perp of this recent atrocity in Texas is still at large, though authorities know who he is – more here)...



...well, we can fight back, and John I., Francesca and Samantha Schacher talk about what I guess would have to be a Dem-only attempt to implement and/or expand a nationwide gun buyback program, beginning in Denver, CO (more on Schacher’s group #Here4TheKids is here)...



...and to put a little “pep in your step” to start the week, allow me to offer this.