Saturday Stuff

When it comes to simpatico media egging on the human mistakes responsible for the Allen, TX mass shooting and this, the Lincoln Project is here to remind us that, even though “Tuckums” is no more, The Roger Ailes BS Factory is continuing to churn out their bilious garbage that feeds these cretins – if your brand is advertising of Fox, you’re indeed paying for it...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ tells us here about right wing nut job U.S. Repug House Rep James Comer swinging and missing again, you might say, on Hunter Biden, who, last I checked, wasn’t elected to a damn thing and plays no role in government whatsoever...

...and about Marjorie Traitor Greene’s charge about Biden making her high school a gun-free zone, I would ask that you consider this...



...and Beau gives us a little insight here into a recent encounter he had with other disabled vets at a diner...I know the Dems aren’t completely innocent either when it comes to exploiting our military for political gain, but to me, it’s particularly galling and offensive that a political party that wraps itself around “supporting the troops” would cut vets’ benefits when they think the vets aren’t paying attention, which is exactly what’s going on, as Beau tells us...



...and John and Francesca of The Damage Report tell us about Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav saying the writers’ strike will end because they love the work, or whatever – of course, being comped a quarter of a bil helps as far as Zaslav is concerned...must be nice...



...and this More Perfect Union “Classroom” video tells us about Milton Friedman, the wingnut economist who (I would argue) has wrought the greatest impact on our lives particularly over the last 40 years or so...that being said, I disagree with F.D. Signifier when he says we’ve allegedly had the same president since Reagan – yeah, I know he means on the economy, but I still think that’s a pretty damn irresponsible comment...however, good for Signifier to draw the link between Freidman, The Sainted Ronnie R and the suburban racism underlying all of this “free the power of the corporations” BS concerning our economy (somewhat NSFW/H)...



...and sticking with financial stuff, this Second Thought clip tells us The Truth About Recessions...”when businesses have to choose between the needs of their workers and the needs of capitalists to generate profits, the latter always wins out in the end.”...uh, yep (and I never thought of the “planned economy” concept before, I have to admit...sounds like something worth exploring)...



...and I have to admit that I’ve tried to steer clear of anything to do with that train wreck of a “town hall” with the Gropenfuhrer because of my utter disgust with both him and the network that decided to air that atrocity, but I thought this was a particularly good response to all of that from Chris Hayes...as I’ve probably said in the past, I know something about the state of Vermont, which has beautiful scenery and a lot of people who are “middle of the road” politically, and I also know a thing or two about New Hampshire, which also has beautiful scenery but a lot of folks who are braying wingnuts politically, so I grudgingly have to admit that CNN picked the right venue if they wanted to fluff Our Ochre Abomination, which they certainly did...



...and here’s a newer tune to help us enjoy the weekend, hopefully – I guess “piece of the pie” is something that gives a bit of a nod to the MPU and Second Thought clips on money stuff, but I just think it rocks, so here it is.

Thursday Stuff

David Doel tells us here that “George Santos,” or whoever the hell he REALLY is, is now looking at a 13-count indictment, including charges of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making materially false statements to the House of Representatives…and it’s almost too surreal to point out that the “leadership” in that chamber passed a bill today that would defund efforts to crack down on unemployment fraud, with Bri-Fi voting Yes of course, as noted here, repealing fraud prevention funds included in the American Rescue Plan (to do something about that, click here)…



…and Beau gives us his verdict on that beyond-ridiculous “clown hall” with Mango Mussolini and his single-digit-IQ unwashed followers in attendance – I think this sums up my sentiments on it pretty well (oh, and before we decide to give any credit at all to U.S. Senate Repug Todd Young of Indiana for walking away from Our Ochre Abomination as noted here, let’s take a minute to consider what he is really saying…not, “I’m having nothing whatsoever to do with this thoroughly amoral monster who incited an insurrection against the peaceful transfer of power in our government and would do so again in a heartbeat were he to get the chance.”…noooo – Young is supposedly washing his hands of Our Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Former *President only because he’s a “loser.”)

Also (and I don’t mean this towards Beau), but PLEASE spare me all of the surprise that Combover Caligula still inspires such adulation among these biped life forms. Like you also I’m sure, I interact in some capacity with these people in my life, though I try to minimize it as much as I can. And it’s quite possible that these individuals will NEVER, EVER LEARN, so can we please stop wishing on rainbows, sunshine and lollipops that somehow they will realize A MODICUM OF COMMON SENSE ON THIS SUBJECT??!!



Update: Oh, but Kaitlan Collins is such an impeccable journalist, isn't she...looks like every angle of this ridiculous wingnut freak show was covered (here - and by the way, the whole "George Soros boogeyman" BS is the fault primarily of this guy).

Update 5/12/23: Another post mortem is here (and this and this are pretty damn disgusting too).

Update 5/13/23: I would call this a rather twisted definition of the word "fun."

…and to put a bit of an exclamation point on the sheer, apocalyptic idiocy of way too many of our fellow citizens, Farron Cousins tells us that “the land of the yellow rose” is going to make it easier to get guns in the wake of the recent mass slaughter in Allen, Texas…



Update: And when it comes to awful court cases involving guns, I give you this, based on an utterly terrible ruling by the SCOTUS of Hangin' Judge JR authored by Almost Silent Clarence Thomas...no word on whether or not he first had the ruling vetted by Harlan Crow.

…and gee, should we really be surprised that this human mistake who wrought all of this carnage with a weapon of death was thoroughly radicalized in the wingnut fever swamps, as John and Aida Rodriguez tell us?...



…and when it comes to indoctrinating the crazies, let’s not forget the role of the recently-deposed-from-his-media-perch Swanson TV Dinner Heir, with “Tuckums” acting like he wants to go after Fix Noise – mainly, it looks like he wants to get out of his “non-compete” with The Roger Ailes BS Factory – pass the popcorn (and I honestly don’t know what would happen if he ran for elected office either, but I imagine that he’d get enough of a swath of voters to make things interesting...not happy to point that out, but I think that’s the reality…I’ll be honest; some of Ana and Cenk’s recent “takes” have been a little tiresome lately IMO, but I think they get it right here)...



…and on the subject of Carlson, it looks like he’s getting support from Brett Favre in Mississippi, as Jesse Dollemore tells us (didn’t know Favre was accused of some kind of sexual assault, I have to admit, but of course I knew about the cruel nonsense with pilfering funds for his daughter’s volleyball stadium)...



...and this More Perfect Union video tells us about the food delivery apps (Grub Hub, Uber Eats) trying to kill gig economy delivery workers’ efforts in New York City for a $25 minimum wage – probably sounds like a lot until you realize the cost of doing just about anything in The Big Apple, particularly when it comes to housing and paying for health insurance, if you can afford it (and if you think I trust goofball Mayor Eric Adams or Chuck Schumer, I have a bridge to one of the five boroughs to sell to you)...



…and we’ve had a nice patch of spring weather in these parts, so that’s kind of putting me in the mood for this tune.

Wednesday Stuff

Beau of the Fifth Column talks about the verdict returned against the Gropenfuhrer in the E. Jean Carroll civil rape trial, a multi-million-dollar settlement that he’ll no doubt try to weasel his way out of since Our Ochre Abomination has already said he’ll appeal (here)...and his response of “oh, I didn’t do it because she’s not my type” is typical for a disgusting, amoral pig like #45 (along with the true-to-form hysterical, all caps rant on social media proclaiming his innocence) – I think’s Beau’s urgency telling people still supporting this monster to WAKE THE “F” UP AT LONG FREAKING LAST is commendable (and oh yeah, there is this too)...



Update: You can count me as "disgusted" also (here).

...and Farron Cousins tells us about more financial corruption with Leonard Leo of The Federalist Society, Ginni Thomas, and Kellyanne Conjob – EVERY U.S. Senate Democrat should be screaming about this SCOTUS-related garbage as much as Sheldon Whitehouse is...



...and David Doel tells us about Newsmax and Greg Kelly blaming the wrong person for the Allen, TX mass shooting, and apparently Kelly can’t recognize a swastika when he sees it (and I never watched the damn “Superman” TV show with wingnut Dean Cain, and I’m glad I didn’t...”dangerous freedom vs. peaceful slavery,” huh? Goofball...)...



...and turning to Newsmax’s wingnut TV competitor, Jesse Dollemore (not him) includes a clip from CNN of all of the Fix Noise idiots (them of course) braying about no charges for sedition or whatever for January 6th...the charges and convictions rolled out later of course...womp womp...



...but not to worry...if you feel yourself overcome with frustration from that danged li-bu-ruuul media and the “woke mind” virus, why, now you can take it out on an unwitting subject with the “patriot hammer,” as we learn from The Daily Show (NSFW/H)...



...and we’re part of the way through “National Nurse’s Month” – here is a tune for the occasion.

Tuesday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us all about Marjorie Trailer Park Greene doing the thing she does best (worst?) after the latest mass gun slaughter in this country, this time in AllenTX, and that is to blame EVERYTHING IMAGINABLE for the attack except GUNS!! And yes, I realize that’s completely predictable given the approximately $30K she has received in “independent” NRA contributions as noted here...



...and David Doel brings us more here, including the comments of first responder Stephen Spainhouer (more here)...and when it comes to thoroughly bought-and-paid-for Texas Repug guv Greg Abbott and mental health, I think we should be mindful of this... and after I read this, I wanted to vomit in my mouth...



...and Lawrence O’Donnell tells us about his own personal battle to find restraint in reporting these stories of mass murder, tying this to Pete Hamill’s account of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy (mildly NSFW/H...kudos to O’Donnell for showing some humanity...more here)...



Update 5/15/23: Shot (no pun intended) and chaser.

...and turning to another raging controversy in this country (quite rightly so), I have to admit that I’m a little behind on the story of the killing of Jordan Neely on an NYC subway and the automatic wingnut praise of the person who took Neely’s life – my bad – but of course we can rely on the Foxies to come up with exactly the wrong take (John and Brett Erlich...so much that’s wrong with Jesse Watters’ commentary in particular, but the implied chauvinism is typical for The Roger Ailes BS Factory where Watters says in essence “oh, women were scared, and they were happy that a guy stepped in and did something about this”...as if Watters has a freaking clue about that and was being honest in any way at all...and one more, for what I guess is the 150th time, allow me to point out that police funding was included in Biden’s American Rescue Plan in response to COVID, but every Repug voted No, so you tell me who wants to “defund” the freaking cops and who doesn’t...more here)...



...and Thom Hartmann (who I linked to above) tells us about Presidents Who Were Traitors (Nixon, Reagan, Dubya and Trump...Thom mentions Anna Chennault scuttling the Paris peace talks in ’68 for Tricky Dick...I think Thom means the first elected president after Nixon was Reagan, since Gerald Ford was appointed of course and inherited the job when Nixon resigned...GREAT job of “connecting the dots,” though I wouldn’t necessarily lump in GHWB...he won with the Willie Horton ad, that ridiculous image of Dukakis in the tank, Bernard Shaw’s “What would you do if Kitty Dukakis was raped and murdered?” gotcha question in one of the debates, and stuff like that....I know this stuff is repetitive, but I'll keep coming back to it particularly since the other side has no problem at all doing that for stuff against us that are lies; why should I be reticient about doing that when the info is true?)...



...and on this day in 1973, Mick Jagger donated about $150,000 to the $350,000 raised by the Rolling Stones’ January benefit concert to aid the victims of the earthquake in Nicaragua...here is a commemorative tune from that era.

Monday Stuff

Before I say another word, I should point out that I know all about this. And yes – like most of the rest of us, I’m genuinely sorry and I also am sympathetic of course. But that’s cold comfort, I know, and kind of a useless way to feel in light of everything I realize. Particularly because these horror shows will continue as long as Republicans control any level of government whatsoever. And Republicans will continue to wield power as long as primarily white conservative boomer Independents and Republicans continue to believe that protecting their privilege is more important than preventing the mind-numbing carnage of men and women and boys and girls with their faces and body parts utterly blown to bits due to indiscriminate attacks from murderous lunatics wielding weapons of death that belong on a military battlefield (and even that is debatable as far as I’m concerned) and absolutely nowhere else. I’ve posted I don’t know how many goddamn times about this, and I have to admit that there are times when I don’t know what else there is that’s left to say, like right now.

Update: After further consideration you might say, I'll plan to have something on both this and the Jordan Neely subway killing tomorrow.

Turning to the videos, Max Burns of Rebel HQ tells us about that nematode Jesse Watters of Fix Noise who is apparently one of the bipeds at The Roger Ailes BS Factory angling for the prime-time slot previously held by The Swanson TV Dinner Heir; the clip presents the typical misogyny from the cackling idiots on that channel, including the new "king of late night" Gutfeld! according to Bill Maher (spare me)...the clip also alleges a conspiracy with Biden and DOJ docs (with Watters pulling the DOJ “secret documents” trick knowing the DOJ can’t confirm that, as Burns tells us...and when it comes to Watters, let's not forget this)...



...and Beau tells us that Dem PACS are coordinating in response to the awful U.S. House Repug votes on this debt ceiling nonsense (if this budges the needle just a bit with the independent voters I just mentioned, then it’s worth it...Dems need to peel off enough of these characters to win enough seats to regain their majority, and that’s just the reality...do I like that? Hell no! And also, apparently Biden and co. are contemplating some maneuver involving the 14th Amendment...anything to avert a recession for real in this country, as well as across the world...of course, he could also just mint the damn coin!, but I guess that isn’t going to happen)...



...and turning to our completely and utterly corrupt SCOTUS, Francis Maxwell of Meidas Touch tells us about Dem U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse putting the High Court on blast when it comes to ethics reform (and here is another particularly disgusting anecdote involving Almost Silent Clarnece Thomas; not legally actionable I realize, but boy, does it give you a gut-churning insight IMO)...



...and David Pakman tells us that Repugs in Flori-DUUUH!! are trying to pass a bill to ban diversity programs and gender pronouns different from biological sex...yeah, good luck enforcing THAT! – what country am I living in again?...

...and once in a while, we get the news of someone passing from our midst who I thought did terrific work behind the scenes, as it were, to improve our lives, and one such person was former JFK FCC head Newton Minow (pictured at the microphone above). As the New York Times reminds us, he once warned us about television, saying the following:

“You will see a procession of game shows, violence, audience participation shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, Western bad men, Western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence and cartoons. And endlessly, commercials — many screaming, cajoling and offending. And most of all, boredom.”

He added, “If you think I exaggerate, try it.”

Of course, in today’s environment, I would also include the internet, our video games, PCs, smart phones, and other gadgets. Yes, I’m as dependent on some of this stuff as the rest of us, but I’m just saying that we need to remember that all of these things are tools that we control to (hopefully) better our own lives and those around us. I think that sentiment was implicit in Minow’s warning.

And with that in mind, I give you this slightly NSFW/H clip from “Network” about TV (a movie that contained enough smarts for about five other movies also)...



...and from roughly that era, I also give you this tune.



And speaking of the FCC, I thought this was noteworthy; I believe that Gigi Sohn was eminently qualified, but she offended conservatives, which the political/media/industrial complex simply will not allow.