Saturday Stuff

There are so many people of character IMO who didn’t make it to the century mark, but to me, it is an obscenity that “Dr.” Henry Kissinger has apparently managed to get there...this “Democracy Now!” report from Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez includes interviews with authors Nick Turse and Greg Grandin, with Turse focusing on Kissinger’s legacy in Cambodia and how our bombing helped to create a vacuum that was filled by the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot…I honestly didn’t know Kissinger recorded phone calls during his days with Nixon, but it doesn’t surprise me…kudos to Turse for putting human faces on the Biblical level of suffering authorized by Kissinger (and I felt like putting my fist through the monitor when I saw Kissinger swat away that question about being a war criminal, which he plainly is)…good point by Grandin about how we really don’t know what the hell he's done while running “Kissinger Associates”…and I always respected the late Anthony Bourdain, but I DEFINITELY did even more after hearing that quote (and in case you want to get MORE infuriated with Kissinger, this links to his “salted peanuts” remark to Dubya about drawing down and ending the utterly awful Iraq War II)….and there’s more on Reagan later in this post BTW…



Update: More from David Corn here...

...and returning to our current debt ceiling crisis (and leave it to those crazies running the U.S. House to just pack up and leave right in the middle of it), Chris Hayes tells us about the Repugs and their utterly deranged debt plan, including cutting development for COVID vaccines to combat what are likely to be future variants, as well as knee-capping funding for vax distribution around the world (and yeah, I know King Elon I and #DeathSantis pooped the metaphorical bed over the latter’s campaign kickoff for prez, but I’m not going to devote time and energy on that...sorry)...



...and I thought this was an instructive clip from Kyle Kulinski about how exactly the debt ceiling crisis is being reported, and as you can imagine, our corporate media is doing everything they can to give cover to the “R” party, because, as far as they’re concerned, the very worst thing you can do is piss off a conservative, and this is just another example...

...and by the way, I heard something the other day that I thought was merely a bad joke, but after doing some investigating, I found out that it was actually true, and that is that Wolf-Pac is trying to align itself with ALEC for a so-called Article V Convention to rewrite the Constitution, as noted here (I have a feeling I’m a little late to the party on this, since I also found an article about this from last August after doing some investigating over the last day or so). I should also point out that, to be fair, I don’t see Cenk Uygur’s name listed as a member of Wolf-Pac, so it’s possible that he isn’t involved in the group any more (though he has spoken out in favor of an Article V convention).

However, I should still add that this is utter madness. How many damn times does it need to be pointed out that WINGNUTS ONLY WANT TO PLAY US AND ARE NOT SERIOUS ACTORS WHEN IT COMES TO POLICY OR LEGISLATION??!! Uygur of all people should know that!...

...and I stumbled across this video form Leeja Miller, who gives us a fairly comprehensive history lesson on The Sainted Ronnie R (NSFW/H)...good job to tell the TRUE story of Linda Taylor, the “welfare queen” Reagan kept referring to; Taylor actually scammed about $8K instead of $150 per year as Miller points out...so many reasons to detest Reagan, one of which being the fact that, though he played an amiable dunce on TV, he was also a willful stupendous liar about government entitlements and a whole range of other subjects...one of my more infamous Reagan memories (there are many) is what happened to the Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry for the mentally ill (just referred to as Byberry for short, named for a road near the facility)...as if by magic, the place closed and a whole bunch of people needing treatment ended up on the street, and yes, this happened during Reagan’s term in 1987 (it was officially closed by 1990...more here...I’ll have to keep an eye out for more content from Miller)...



...and I’m probably overloading everybody with policy stuff with these clips, but maybe you can pass the time watching them on (hopefully) the beach or if you’re able to get some much-needed-for-us-all down time elsewhere over the next few days...here is another long but important video from Second Thought aptly titled “The Myth of Capitalist Peace” (“Violence doesn’t just go away with free trade; it turns inward” indeed)...



...and for a bit of humor (arguably I guess), The Daily Show asks “When Was America Last Great?” (kind of sad and telling that we have to think about the answer, truth be told)...



...and I can think of absolutely no other reason to include this except for Kissinger’s birthday...



(And by the way, speaking of song parodies, I think the following should be remembered here.)

...and as luck would have it, Kissinger’s birthday falls on the same day that we fete this guy also, who I’m sure couldn’t be more diametrically opposed politically...I can only think of this tune above all others from his library when I consider the shameful legacy of “the good doctor” (a cartoon image of Kissinger shows up for a second).

Thursday Stuff

Chris Hayes speaks with Peter Rogell of Flori-DUUUH! on the “torture” (Rogell’s word, not mine or Hayes’s as he notes) that Ron #DeathSantis inflicted on his family, forcing Deborah Dorbert (who I believe is Rogell’s daughter) to give birth to a baby who could not breathe and had no chance of survival...and as if that isn’t horrible enough, we learn about more anti-LBGTQ BS in that state, which is becoming more awful by the minute...



...and sticking with more “values” nonsense, David Doel tells us about Nikki Haley’s own version of anti-trans BS, which went over like a thud at this “eggs and politics” breakfast in New Hampshire (as if she actually has a shot at winning her party’s nomination)...so yes, there are some slivers of sanity form that bunch...and once more, it figures that Haley and her same-party pals went to New Hampshire – this may help Haley slightly in a primary, but it won’t do a lick of good in the general election, which she won’t get to anyway...this is a pretty comprehensive report from Doel with a lot of data points, and I admire his honesty at the end – I absolutely know how he feels (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and stories like this would get me, Doel, and other reasonably sane people discouraged also, and that is wingnuts losing their sh*t over pride clothing at Target...the planet is melting, we’re drowning in guns (mainly assault weapons), women are losing their health care, our life expectancy in this country is decreasing, the rich are getting richer at our expense, and THIS is the idiocy these life forms choose to preoccupy themselves with (as John and Jayar tell us – some serious drip going on with Jayar’s cap)...



...well, if you want an example of how our side can use power effectively for its constituents, Sam and Emma of The Majority Report give us the Minnesota Farm Labor Party at work...the clip also includes Uber drivers winning a wage increase – LOVE that clip of the workers chanting “Yes we can”....”When you get the power, you use it” indeed (and don’t get me started on how the D.C. Dems, notably Biden and the thoroughly useless Chuck Schumer, don’t fight on similar issues and, for the 1000th time, manage to lose control of the narrative because of lousy messaging...that doesn’t stop Team D from HECTORING ME RELENTLESSLY MULTIPLE TIMES EVERY DAMN DAY for money with phone calls, Emails and texts...I can’t believe you guys are losing out to these troglodytes running the U.S. House...please find a damn spine somehow!)...



...and moving a little further south geographically, Jesse Dollemore tells us about actor Jon Hamm making an ad for Dem Lucas Kunce of Missouri, running against incumbent Repug U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (with “running” being literal in Hawley’s case of course)...Hawley’s screeds about masculinity are an utter joke, particularly against a Marine vet like Kunce...



...and my anger at Biden that I noted earlier has to do with this debt ceiling nonsense, which could end up hosing the economy of the world and not just us...I don’t want to hear any of this “10 dimensional chess, smartest guy in the room” BS about #46 – it was plainly obvious that the other side was just going to engage in more and more hostage taking and refuse to be serious about negotiations, and “Dark Brandon” should have acted accordingly and minted the damn coin, invoked the 14th amendment, made sure the Gephardt Rule was reinstated before the Dems lost the House, etc...

...and another musical icon has departed...RIP Tina Turner (I went back and forth on choosing which of these tunes to add, but I finally said the hell with it and went with both).

Wednesday Stuff

Gee, it looks like South Carolina Repug guv Henry McMaster is trying to moonlight as a comedian or something, since he recently spoke at a Repug Party fundraiser over the weekend and said he looks forward to the day when Dems are so rare that they can be hunted like dogs, or words to that effect...funnier still to me (well, not really) is the response from his spokesman that “oh, the governor makes this joke all the time...Dems need to lighten up,” as if somehow that makes everything all right (more here and here).

This tells us that South Carolina is one of the worst states in this country to raise a family. And yes, I get it that the link is from 2019, but somehow I don’t think things have changed that much. However, just to make sure, this from 2022 (a little more recent) says that “the Palmetto state” ranks 43rd in education, this tells us that the state is the 8th worst in the nation for health care, and this tells us that an absolutely staggering number of kids (300K) in South Carolina live in poverty.

Try laughing at that, you asshats...



...and returning to our regularly scheduled idiocy over the debt ceiling (which, as a reminder, is a fight TO PAY FOR FUNDS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN ALLOCATED BY THOSE IDIOTS IN THE U.S. HOUSE, PARTICULARLY FOR #45’s HORRIBLE DECEMBER 2017 TAX CUTS!), John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report bring us some well-reasoned commentary from Dem Jamie Raskin (and good job by Brett in particular to point out how this utterly ridiculous nonsense helps China, a country Repugs claim to despise...more here from David Cay Johnston, one of the few people left on the "bird app" who actually has a brain)...



...and speaking of how we’re looked at internationally (considering China from the prior clip), David Pakman speaks with caller Ben in France who thinks that other countries think we’re bonkers over all of this “culture war” madness, and it’s hard to argue with that sadly (not totally sold on UBI, but if we can afford trillions in tax cuts for billionaires, then I think it’s a topic worth exploring at least)...



...and as a bit of a follow-up to the Pakman clip, Sam and Emma of The Majority Report bring us this Darcy Schoening goofball of Moms for Liberty...this woman is a few fries short of a happy meal, but tragically, a lot of her fellow travelers are taking her seriously...she does give away the game a bit, though, as Emma notes, because the whole thing about the Dems supposedly trying to indoctrinate our kids is ultimately a conspiracy as far as they’re concerned to make their kids vote for Dems (and to demonize teachers of course, trying to hurt their union and its political influence)...somehow I have a feeling the kids may very well vote for Dems anyway regardless of what their parents say or do, to say nothing of teachers, who wouldn’t be involved in that decision anyways despite what these crazies believe...and for a taste of this madness a little closer to home, I give you this...



....and David Doel brings us a clip of Discovery CEO David Zaslav facing a chant of “pay your writers” while giving the commencement address at Boston University...the plane flying the banner overhead was a nice touch also...any way these plutocrats can be lawfully humiliated is fine with me...of course, that assumes they understand the concept of shame, which is problematic I realize (and kudos to Adam Conover of course)...



...and they’re coming to the Anchor Rock Club in Atlantic City, NJ on June 10th and the Mann in Philly on June 29th as noted here, and I’m sure this selection will be included on both dates.

Tuesday Stuff

(Posting may get a little iffy as we approach the holiday...I’m not sure yet.)

Joy Reid and Ali Velshi give us a history lesson of sorts on the “party of Lincoln” and demonizing poor people, going back to Reagan, Rudy! and that alleged Christian Newt...on SNAP and Medicaid, timed for all this debt ceiling nonsense of course (and I thought this was timely information also)...



...and John, Cenk and Max Burns tell us about this J’Den McAdory nut in Maryland strolling around a school bus stop with an AK-47, protesting a gun law signed by Dem governor Wes Moore...this lunatic should be strapped to a chair and made to look at photos of the dead kids in Uvalde and elsewhere (I’m picturing something like “Clockwork Orange” with his eyelids pulled open; I don’t say that lightly, but I for one am getting fed up with these life forms, and I’m sure I have a lot of company)...



...and I know I got into that ridiculous RFK Jr. interview yesterday ("argle bargle, free market, argle bargle"), but here is more from the crew of The Majority Report, including Emma V. and Matt Binder (taking another look at Jr.’s vanity run for prez in ’24, the “winner of the gene pool” as Mike Figueredo put it yesterday...Jr. is also pretty lowdown for his lawsuit against Daily Kos...NSFW/H...and it was indeed Teddy Kennedy, God rest him, who tried to put the brakes on Cape Wind because it would block his view from the MA coastline; I think Cape Wind had other negative issues, truth be told, but I also don’t think the Kennedy thing by itself was a reason to shoot it down, which I think happened in 2017)...



...and kudos to Chris Hayes for going after turncoat-former-Dem Tricia Cotham, the North Carolina state rep, who helped the Repugs get a supermajority with that move...so OF COURSE they immediately instituted a 12-week abortion ban, overriding Dem governor Roy Cooper’s veto... somehow Cotham sleeps at night I suppose, though I can’t imagine how...



...and Hayes discussed yesterday the planetary danger of going over 1.5 degrees Celsius, and Beau echoes that again here...can’t say that enough, and to say we need a “whole of government” approach to this (to say nothing of our glorious private sector) is a huge understatement...part of me wishes Biden could pull a “Wag the Dog” or “Capricorn One” thing to convince everybody that the planet is heating because of a terrorist Islamist death ray or something, and then the money spigot would open and never shut off...



...so what is the outrage du jour for the Repug party instead of an issue that actually matters (as previously noted)? Well, Farron Cousins tells us here that Texas guv Greg Abbott is big mad at Dominion Voting Systems for getting The Swanson TV Dinner Heir fired...Abbott should be happy anyway that, despite it all, Dominion may go out of business as noted here...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report discusses Marjorie Trailer Park Greene and her boyfriend (right-wing broadcaster Brian Glenn) in drag – after she said drag queens were domestic terrorists...well, that’s about par for the nutty course with this disgusting harpie (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and happy belated 75th birthday to Leo Sayer.

Monday Stuff

The Lincoln Project calls out “TNN” for that beyond-ridiculous “town hall” with the Gropenfuhrer (and I would say that Christiane Amanpour should be in charge of that network instead of that wingnut Chris Licht also based on this...I know this is a little old for the news cycle, but I think it bears repeating)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Dem U.S. House Rep Jasmine Crockett clapping back against (I believe) wingnut Anna Paulina Luna on the issue of D.C. crime related to the rest of this country, particularly red states (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report tell us that, apparently, Governor Bully is going to declare again for preznit on the Repug side... yeah, that figures...still amazes me how this guy was able to skate over the G.W. bridge stuff and killing the Hudson River tunnel project, along with his relentless attacks against teachers of course...



...and Ali Velshi discusses a Missouri father of a trans kid speaking out against another anti-LGBTQ bill being sponsored in that state (utter hatred on display here against these kids...didn’t see Velshi speaking with Jasmine Crockett later...he also interviews Rabbi Daniel Bogard and Debi Jackson, both parents of trans kids)...



...and Mike Figueredo brings us a a pretty long clip of Krystal Ball interviewing RFK Jr., who, as far as I’m concerned, diminishes himself every time he opens his mouth...the ’24 “candidate” says we should have “single payer private insurance” which shoots down any alleged argument...he goes on and on restating the problem of chronic disease and lousy health outcomes WITHOUT OFFERING A DAMN SOLUTION! And that answer about climate change, Davos and “totalitarianism” is straight out of la la land, and of course the anti-vax stuff is wackadoodle time also...”make it make sense” indeed – NSFW/H)...



...additionally, Chris Hayes reminds us that climate change has completely disappeared from Repug Party talking points, particularly for presidential candidates emerging for ’24 (OF COOUUURRRSE! as Cenk sez)...



...oh, and Farron Cousins informs us that 5 Repugs who once yelled about earmarks in ’21 now are lining up for them, including Marjorie Traitor Greene, Bo-Bo Boebert (who wrote a column saying they were bad), etc...Cousins is right about earmarks – you can’t judge if they’re good or bad unless you know what they’re for...if they’re for projects in your district putting people to work and/or adding economically to your district, then they’re OK...



...and RIP bassist Andy Rourke of The Smiths.