Friday Stuff

Thom Hartmann tells us about meeting a friend in Portugal who put forward the idea of basically an “underground railroad” for journalists in this country if, God forbid, another Repug seizes control of An Oval Office...almost too surreal to contemplate, but when basically about 30-35 percent of this country has gone Stone Freaking Nuts, we have to prepare for all kinds of eventualities we’ve never imagined...can’t think of a hell hot enough for people who willfully propagate lies for gullible idiots, which has a lot to do with bringing us to this sorry state (here)...



...and I would argue that a big reason for the rot in this country masquerading as informed discourse has to do the wingnutosphere (though our corporate media would just tut-tut over it and blame Both Sides), and their latest collective freakout apparently has to do with cocaine found in the White House (and of course the new “king of late night” is right in the middle of it, along with Marjorie Trailer Park Greene...and though we all know what Greene is, David Shuster should be careful here with even veiled implications that Greene is indulging in some kind of a substance; we have no proof, and we shouldn’t imitate the typical smears from the other side)...



...and when it comes to un-informing people, you’d have to go a looong way IMO to find a bigger example of that than what we just lived through with all of the noise out there on the COVID plague, including the “lab leak” propaganda, which is considered to be a “low confidence” theory by government medical experts...Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us about it...NSFW/H...



Update 7/8/23: Lather, rinse, repeat (here)...

...and speaking of mass stupidity, Kyle Kulinksi (not him) tells us about our wretched SCOTUS, which is apparently going to rule on violent criminals having guns...gee, what ELSE could possibly go wrong with this bunch, I wonder? And why am I not surprised that this latest potential legal disaster originated from the Fifth Circuit, which would be the most wretched federal bench by default if it weren’t for our utterly horrible High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR?...



...and I would say that Watergate was a big milestone in our history which showed the power of the press to unearth the facts to topple a presidency (though I seriously wonder if it would have happened if Fix Noise had been around then, which makes me shudder a bit), but just about from that point on, news orgs had to be profit centers, which made ads, click bait and page views more important than unearthing the truth and educating people...Leeja Miller brings us a pretty comprehensive video on the original "gate" scandal here, and ties it back to all of the ruin of the beyond-wretched Trump Administration, which hopefully we won’t ever have to endure again, though it will be a fight to prevent that I know (as well as making sure any other Repug is kept out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue)...



...and I have to admit that I don’t have a “Plan B’ either...just full steam ahead with what you see here, for better or worse – take it or leave it.

Thursday Stuff

John and Francesca of The Damage Report tell us here how “Apartheid Clyde” messed up the bird app again, trying to set a limit on the number of “reads” and maybe charging for it...just stick the last nails in the metaphorical coffin already, especially in consideration of this...



...and with the recent holiday in mind, Robert Reich takes a hard look at the Repug Party’s claim that “they love America”...tell me another one...



...which is particularly ludicrous given that the overwhelming majority of non-boomers out there aren’t proud of their country, if the poll Kyle Kulinski brings to us is to be believed, and I think it is; Gallup is pretty reliable on this stuff...and yeah, I’m surprised by that 42 percent number among 18-34 Repugs – I also thought that would be higher...and I’d never heard the term “steel man” an argument before, but I guess that’s a thing...



...and Thom Hartmann tells us that “no malarkey Joe” nominated Elliott Abrams, of all people, for some “public diplomacy commission” (unbelievable...and why am I not surprised that Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao is somehow involved in this “cluster”?)...



...and Emma of The Majority Report discusses some state rep in South Dakota named Joe Donnell, who goes on the podcast for this evangelical, Dr. Meri Crouley...ok, so I’m going to try and unpackage this, even though my head hurts already – sooo, Mount Rushmore is a demonic portal, and when the Gropenfuhrer was due to arrive as part of the July 4th festivities (because Kristi “Unsafe At Any Speed” Noem allowed fireworks even though the state, like much of the country, is in the grip of a devastating heat wave and it would be easy for a stray spark to touch some dry tinder and set off a devastating blaze that could torch the whole damn state and beyond)...well, #45 was going to do something in accordance with the Constitution against communism, even though that founding document has not one damn thing to say about it...I swear, I should just try making up my own religion and saying any sh*t I want – I know I’d get followers, but I’d be pretty freaked out about what awaited me in the next life, I should add...mildly NSFW/H...



...and RIP Paul Justman, who made numerous videos (including “Centerfold” and “Freeze Frame” for the J. Geils Band, which include his keyboardist brother Seth) as well as “Standing In The Shadows of Motown,” which is one of the truly great music documentaries IMO...Justman also made this famous video of course.

Wednesday Stuff

Rayy Vana, Cenk and Mondale Robinson discuss the latest Trumpist grift, this time from Melania, who was apparently trying to sell some 1776-themed NFTs to still more gullible idiots (timed for the just-concluded holiday weekend)...and the cherry on the icing on this sh*t sundae is her claiming to give whatever $$ she makes to charity, again...



...and it looks like Bud Light has caved to the wingnuts over this Dylan Mulvaney stuff...and their beer sucks too (NSFW/H)...as Mike Figueredo sez, it’s all about virtue signaling when it comes to social justice causes (such as “rainbow capitalism”) as far as corporations are concerned, including “greenwashing” on the environment...



...and John and Sharon Reed of The Damage Report discuss Daniel Penny’s statements on the death of Jordan Neely...yeah, more white guy entitlement...I have to admit that there were times in my life when I rode the “El” (as in “elevated train”) a lot to get to downtown Philly and I saw some goofball behaviors in the process, but there are all kinds of things I did aside from sneaking up behind a person to try and choke them...move to another car on the train, avert your eyes, read a newspaper (or cell phone now), etc. – a lot of times, transit cops also rode the trains, so you could seek out one of them too if need be....



...and I try to pay attention to world stuff at times also on this site, so I now give you this CBC clip on the rioting in Paris, which may be starting to dissipate, fortunately, based on this...



...and Alex Wagner tells us about Texas Repugs playing games while people in their state die of the heat (and whaddaya know? It looks like solar power may end up saving the day for Greg Abbott and his same-party knuckleheads – of course, as Wagner reminds us, Abbott erroneously blamed “green energy” for the failure of his state’s energy grid last winter...Wagner speaks with Dem state rep James Talarico and David Wallace-Wells of the NYT)...



...and with this idiocy in mind, the latest from Second Thought asks Why Is There So Much Right-Wing Media (good question...knew all about the Kochs of course, but not so much about the Wilkses...I honestly didn’t know about the huge audience for The Daily Wire, which is genuinely scary IMO; no wonder so many people out there are genuinely stoo-pid when it comes to news and politics...also didn’t know how much Chucky Koch has funded The Daily Caller, founded by The Swanson TV Dinner Heir of course, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised...I also didn’t know about this Koch-group FIRE and how The Atlantic had been infiltrated by right-wing BS...and when it comes to groups in the “Kochtopus,” let’s not forget the Commonwealth Foundation in PA, who have heavily bankrolled this character...and I have Ground News downloaded also, and yes, it is invaluable and we should support it as best we can)...



...and in keeping with the theme of garbage wingnut media, I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 7/7/09, in which Mike Papantonio describes the rise of right-wing hate radio “getting out of control” (and as bad as it was 14 years ago...well, we don’t have to imagine how bad it is now, because we live with that reality every day...more here)...



...and here is today's regional weather forecast (with the Texas clip in mind also).

Tuesday Stuff

I give David Pakman credit here for a pretty comprehensive look at RFK Jr., spending more time on the Kennedy scion than I would have to be honest and giving him some credit for halfway decent policy positions, but also noting how utterly gonzo Jr. is when it comes to vaccines, Russia/Ukraine, and supposedly some race-based bioweapon that China is creating...yeah, tell me when the freaking spaceship lands, dude (and also, to say nothing of Jr.’s flirtation with Bannon, Roger Stone, etc.)...



Update 1 7/13/23: And it looks like Jr. "flipped the crazy switch" here also.

Update 2 7/13/23: Uh huh.

...and Emma and the crew from The Majority Report tell us that Moscow Marsha is at it with more wingnuttery, this time with a tweet about how the story of the Titan submersible disaster was meant to distract from the latest nonsense against Hunter Biden and the IRS, or something...what a maroon – and I’ve got absolutely no comment on the NBA, by the way...



...and I’m sure our dark-robed theocratic corporatist overlords on the SCOTUS (the bunch who make up rulings out of less than whole cloth, as we just saw with that ridiculous gay website business) are busy relaxing with their sugar daddies at this moment (well, for most of them anyway), but Trae Crowder reminds us once again of their egregious behavior, which they’re going to hear about now and for the rest of their days...



...and as I’ve said before, I’m a little disappointed with how “Mayor Pete” and Biden handled the East Palestine, OH rail disaster (maybe there’s stuff I don’t know, but at a minimum, they should have imposed that upgraded break rule on ALL trains, and apparently they haven’t done that), but I give Buttigieg credit for responding to CNN’s Dana Bash on the matter of the latest idiocy from the other side, namely, Guv #DeathSantis and his borderline homoerotic campaign ad (Brian Tyler Cohen explains...mildly NSFW/H)...



...and last June 10th marked the 60th anniversary of the so-called “peace speech” by President Kennedy at American University – I neglected to note that at the time unfortunately, so on this most patriotic of holidays, I’d like to bring us the following...

...and Happy July 4th, everybody.

Monday Stuff

So I just want to make sure that I have this right...this Lorie Smith person didn’t actually violate the Colorado anti-discrimination law to begin with, and now it turns out that the person she alleges came to her with a request for a gay wedding website actually did no such thing (and isn't even gay)? And this nonsense actually made it all the way to the SCOTUS and Smith received a favorable ruling because Neil Gorsuch believed there would be some kind of theoretical harm or something because it would violate Smith’s religious beliefs if she were forced to say no to creating a gay wedding website, and potentially violate Colorado law?

If the fact that this case was even heard at all, let alone ruled the way it was, isn’t a reason to expand the Court and impose term limits, among other potential remedies, I don’t know what is (Mike Figueredo tells us more, including reminding us about this robed bunch of theocrats getting rid of Biden's student debt relief...NSFW/H – more here and here)...



...and Ari Melber gives us his take on all of this SCOTUS garbage...I take Melber’s reporting on this a little more seriously since he’s also a lawyer...



...and Chris Hayes and Joy Reid discuss the affirmative action SCOTUS atrocity (what a ballsy commentary by Reid about people of her own race on the question of getting Almost Silent Clarence Thomas installed on the High Court, a commentary which she is more than qualified to make IMO)...



...and I’m presenting this video to give everybody an idea of just how crazy the Supremos have become, on everything really but affirmative action in this instance...this clip has to do with the Bakke case, which ended up putting us on the road to the recent awful ruling on affirmative action; back in 1978, the High Court’s issue was with racial quotas (lower courts had an issue with that also), though they didn’t disagree in principle with using race as a consideration for college admission...of course, since we have no racism anymore and everyone is equal, that’s why our awful SCOTUS of the present day ruled as they did (removing my tongue from my cheek)...



...and returning to our current time, this Rebel HQ clip with Rayy Vana tells us about “Governor Bully” going after Our Ochre Abomination...people are liking Christie since he’s standing up to Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence, but I can recall that the NJ loudmouth former governor screwed over commuters by cancelling the Hudson River tunnel project and routinely demonized teachers, and don’t give me this nonsense about how he didn’t know about shutting down the GW Bridge also...



....and based on this awful development, it looks like it’s time not to politicize gun violence again – here is a tune with this story in mind.



Update 7/4/23: I pray to God that, one day, enough of the voters of this country will love their kids, families, friends and neighborhoods enough to do something about this scourge more than they hate Democrats...and I’m sure I’ll be praying on this for awhile yet (here and here).