Friday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us that the antics of Repug U.S. Senatorial idiot Tommy Tuberville of Alabama arguably just cost that state the Space Force; Mango Mussolini had made the decision to send the SF from Colorado Springs to Huntsville in Tuberville’s state (likely because that state, as you would expect, went for the Gropenfuhrer big time in ’16 and ’20), but it looks like “Dark Brandon” reversed that (more here – Nail. Hammer. Head. commentary from Cousins...”play stupid games, win stupid prizes” indeed...that state could have had Doug Jones instead, but they elected this hammerhead in Jones’s place)...



...and Kyle Kulinski tells us about Tuberville’s “it’s called summer” remark, leading into similar idiocy from U.S. House Repug Steve Scalise and his same-party pal Kevin Cramer of North Dakota in the U.S. Senate...Cramer won a close election because of that last-minute ruling that post office boxes weren’t allowed as acceptable residences for that state’s voters, which ruled out a whole bunch of indigenous folks who would have likely voted for Dem Heidi Heitkamp instead as noted here...by the time the ruling was overturned, the damage was done (I'm pretty sure that's what happened - I'll keep checking)...oh, and it looks like the cretins behind Project 2025 want to boil the planet also, as Kyle tells us...



Update 8/12/23: I said this somewhere else, but I'll say it again here; climate change deniers like Tuberville have blood on their hands for this.

...and speaking of the heat, John and Yasmin Khan tell us that prisons in “the land of the yellow rose” have reached 146 degrees Fahrenheit...but of course “all hat, no cattle” Greg Abbott couldn’t give a fig, just as he doesn’t care about any dead bodies found near his barbed wire in the Rio Grande River (here...and it's likely that at least 271 prisoners have died in Texas jails due to the heat over an approximately 20-year period, as we learn in the clip).

Oh, and being the pointy-headed lib that I am, I feel compelled to mention that such abuse of prisoners runs counter to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; this year marks its 75th anniversary, and of course this country signed off on it (more here and here)...and I realize one problem is that the language, commendable as it is, allows for some legal wiggle room for political weasels like Abbott and his pals...



Update 8/11/23: One more for Abbott's body count (here).

...and I realize this is a recurring theme for Repugs like “It’s Called Summer” Tuberville, but this New York Times report tells us about people down on their luck trying to deal with the baking temperatures in Flori-DUUUH!, focusing on “the city of the Mouse”... “I Feel Like I’m In Hell” is a thoroughly unsurprising sentiment from these folks just trying to survive...



...well, because I want to wrap up this post (and likely the week) with something a little more upbeat, I now bring you the latest form Leeja Miller about Why Unions Will Save America (NSFW/H – she swears like a truck driver, but I believe it’s warranted and I hope YouTube doesn’t ding her for it...the segment starts out by talking about the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike dealing with potential impact of AI and residuals, particularly for streaming productions...the history of the labor movement is discussed going back to the 1800s – I didn’t know it took 10 freaking years for staffing levels to return to normal at airports after The Sainted Ronnie R broke up PATCO, but yeah, that sure figures...and when the wingnuts scream about union membership, they always talk about public sector unions, which traditionally have lower paying jobs than those in the private sector, but often better benefits to offset that...however, the number of private sector unions, as a result of Reagan giving the signal to his fellow plutocrats that unions were fair game, is now microscopic – GREAT point about the protection of union membership to try and hang onto jobs despite losses due to the pandemic – “without unions, the $$ doesn’t ‘trickle down’ – it coagulates at the very top” indeed...more on the PRO Act is here...I realize I'm probably a month early with this video, but there's always a good time for it IMO)...



...and I would tend to agree that “the heart is the hero” indeed...some on the other side of the political spectrum mistake compassion for weakness, which is their folly as far as I’m concerned...if doing this exercise of mine can somehow benefit a single person versus any damn corporation in existence, then I feel like I’ve accomplished something, and maybe I can build on it to help us all see better times someday.

Thursday Stuff

Robert Reich tells us about the five made-up “crises” by the “party of Lincoln” in an attempt to deflect from the REAL issues (the climate, worsening wealth inequality, attacks on women’s health care, failure to substantively address gun violence, etc. – I would only add that we need a vigorous response from Team “D” in light of all of these issues and more)...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tells us that the DOJ of “Dark Brandon” is going after “All Hat No Cattle” Texas guv Greg Abbott on putting the barbed wire in the Rio Grande by filing a lawsuit (and Emma has a point about Biden and Title 42, unfortunately, as noted here, though Abbott is primarily at fault here of course - more here)...



Update: Monstrous and awful, but not surprising unfortunately (here).

...and this clip from More Perfect Union tells us the back story on EV jobs, focusing on Lordstown, Ohio, which was a GM plant for six decades, but it shut down in 2019 – apparently, the Biden Administration is trying to bring the plant back to life through this company called Ultium, which is paying its workers poverty wages to do incredibly dangerous work, and is still fighting its work force over a collective bargaining agreement...



...and David Pakman tells us about Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee who will be overseeing the trial from the 3rd Trump indictment, this one with 4 counts all carrying prison time – apparently, to her credit (as Pakman tells us), Judge Chutkan has been tough on sentencing defendants found guilty on charges related to the 1/6 insurrection...sadly, I think Pakman is right; the MAGA life forms will do anything they can to go after her, unrepentant vermin that they are...



...and as a “compare and contrast” exercise, I give you Jeff Waldorf discussing Laura “What Need Have We Of Proof?” Ingraham when it comes to the Bidens vs. the Trumps of course (with Ingraham and her fellow bottom-feeders yelling louder and louder about OMIGOD HUNTER BIDEN'S NUDE PICS AND HIS LAPTOP! as more garbage seeps out about Our Treasonous Orange Crapsack...more here)...



...and I find myself in need of a musical palate cleanser of sorts; I think this seasonal tune will do.

Wednesday Stuff

Ana of TYT tells us about the 3rd indictment handed down against Mango Mussolini (here), this one with 4 counts related to the January 6th insurrection, and each count carries prison time, with the minimum of the 4 stipulating 5 years in the slam; I’m inclined to believe Ana, though, when she says that Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence probably won’t end up behind bars and will spend the rest of his life appealing guilty verdicts...



...and Max Burns of Rebel HQ brings us the clip of Dem U.S. House Rep Dan Goldman telling us what we likely already knew, and that is that all of this Devon Archer testimony (“OMIGOD THE SMOKING GUN SHOWING JOE BIDEN INTERCEDED IN BUSINESS ON BEHALF OF HUNTER!”) turned out to be a complete and total flop, with Gym Jordan and Andy Biggs bravely running away from the cameras when questioned about it (God only knows how much taxpayer $$ was spend on this idiocy)...



...and Burns alluded to Biden’s economic record in the prior clip, and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us more about that, with Maria Bartiromo of The Roger Ailes BS Factory rooting for a recession, while of course the good news from “Bidenomics” belies that - awwwww...once more, GREAT work by Cohen contrasting Dems vs. Repugs when it comes to money matters...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us about the insane right-wing propaganda taught in schools in Flori-DUUH! (from PragerU, of course)...and dontcha know Charlie Kirk and TP USA are somehow involved in this mess now also...depressing to hear about Gen Z boys, but that’s kind of borne out by my own admittedly limited knowledge on this subject – one of the many ways that girls are ahead of the curve, relatively speaking (nonsense like this is all the “party of Lincoln” has to offer in lieu of actual governance that actually helps people, as evidenced in the Cohen clip)...



...and speaking of wingnut idiocy, some “right side broadcasting network” scumbag named Matthew Alvarez basically encourages violence in his comments with some Trumpist life form in Erie, PA who wants to “kill them all”...oh, but later, Alvarez tried to claim he wasn’t serious when he said that...GMAFB! – David Shuster tells us about it...



...and if it's early August (and it is now), then that means it's time for this summer tune.

Tuesday Stuff

Leeja Miller brings us a well-researched clip on How Religious Conservatives Ruined Everything...her lawyerly perspective comes through in an important way as far as I’m concerned when she talks about the free speech cases that got the “fundies” all butt-hurt, particularly on school prayer, leading to the backlash under Falwell and Robertson and encouraged by The Sainted Ronnie R...I’m loathe to give Dubya credit for anything, but at least under his watch, we didn’t get constitutional amendments banning abortion and school prayer, thank God (NSFW/H)...



...and Thom Hartmann discusses some Nazi student at the University of Chicago who somehow managed to shut down a professor who wanted to teach a class about the history of “whiteness”...this loser named Daniel Schmidt basically doxxes the professor and the usual attacks happen, unfortunately, as the wretched jihad against free thought continues in this country (more here...and a backgrounder on the whole "gay wedding website" nonsense that the SCOTUS used as an excuse to destroy protection against discrimination is here)...

via GIPHY

...and speaking of Nazis (or Nazi-like behavior at a minimum), Mike Figueredo (definitely not him) of The Humanist Report tells us about sadistic right-wing a-holes celebrating a couple fleeing Flori-DUUH! to protect their trans child...and the U.S. now has to be part of the “rainbow railroad” to get LGBTQ people out of hostile countries (or states at least – also NSFW/H)...



Update: Naaah, that state isn't doing "the big swirl in the hopper"...not much it isn't (here).

...and turning a few degrees west, Cliff Schecter of Blue Amp tells us about Dem U.S. Senator Brian Schatz going after his Repug colleague Tommy Tuberville of Alabama for the latter’s hold on military promotions; interesting theory that Tuberville may be doing this in case, God forbid, a certain Treasonous Orange Pustule managed to worm his way back into An Oval Office so he can see to it that lickspittles who obey 45 only are installed...truly the stuff of nightmares (yet another NSFW/H clip)...



...and Jesse Dollemore brings us the story of this Derrick Van Orden character of Wisconsin who first went nuts over a John Oliver segment about “an LGBT-positive book,” and NOW he’s attacked the congressional pages in the Capitol rotunda for taking a nap (????)...I don’t care if this guy is a former Navy SEAL or not; it sounds like he needs to address his anger issues, but first he needs to f*cking resign from Congress (a little late on the weekend wishes I’ll admit...still another NSFW/H clip)...



...and I know I’m also very late with extending happy 80th birthday wishes to Mick Jagger – I’m sure he had a blast.

Monday Stuff

I know I sounded off on Saturday about the Dems and lousy messaging, but while this isn’t from the major party organizations, it DEFINITELY nails the important talking points on Biden and the economy (link is here...kudos to Cliff Schecter and others on his Blue Amp channel - I subscribed on YouTube immediately after I saw this, FWIW)...



...because this is what we’re up against, people (and more depressing info on that is here)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen tries heroically IMO to refute the lies from Combover Caligula about our economy under Biden (mildly NSFW/H...and who does he think will go for this "Communist" line?)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that the Gropenfuhrer wants “All Trump, All The Time” over at Fix Noise, and apparently he’s not getting that, and he’s having yet another meltdown over it with ALL CAPS POSTS APPARENTLY over at “Truth Septic”...and he’s throwing “law enforcement” under the bus too? I thought Repugs “backed the blue”...so confusing...and I’ll admit that I need to read up on “diminishing marginal utility”...



...and it’s all the more incredible that the “party of Lincoln” continues to enjoy such support from “the great unwashed” given the mounting evidence that the deaths of Repug supporters in Flori-DUUUH! and Ohio have been linked to anti-vaccine BS, and other deaths overall are attributed to political allegiance...and yeah, I think stating that there were “thousands of preventable deaths” kind of soft cells the problem, I would say (Kyle Kulinski tells us more...NSFW/H)...



...and Rayyvana, Cenk and Jackson White of TYT tell us about a Houston, TX school district that is eliminating librarians apparently and replacing them with “team centers” for kids with disciplinary issues...WHAAAA??? (Rayyvana, Cenk and Jackson White...pretty solid analysis from Cenk on this, to be fair...and this school superintendent Mike Miles is bad news, as noted here)...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us about the latest with the new “king of late night” according to Bill Maher (and no, I’m never going to stop harping on that), and that would be Greg Gutfeld of The Roger Ailes BS Factory apparently trying to explain the ”good side” of the Holocaust to Jessica Tarlov, who (and this is the cherry on the icing of this sh*t sundae) is Jewish (more is here)...



...and RIP Randy Meisner of The Eagles; I once saw that great Showtime documentary on the band years ago, and Glenn Frey recounted how Meisner said he wasn’t going to perform “Take It To The Limit” one night before a show (which, as far as I’m concerned, is an anthemic tune – a lot of Meisner remembrances are featuring that number, which is only right) because Meisner was tired of singing it, and Frey told him to perform the tune because there were people in attendance who may end up seeing the band live only once in their lives and might have come just for that number (or words to that effect), so Meisner sang it and then quit the band soon afterwards...not trying to diss either Frey or Meisner here, neither of whom are here any longer to defend themselves.