Saturday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us that Marjorie Trailer Park Greene recently demanded that Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao resign from the Senate after another episode where McConnell froze in response to a reporter’s question...I have plenty of political issues with the utterly wretched Kentucky U.S. Senator, but despite what he and his pals wish for us, I don’t wish for any illness towards him...yes, you can argue that his health situation means he needs to give it up, but you can say that about Di-Fi on our side too of course as Cousins notes (and yeah, it’s typically cowardly and disgusting for Greene to take swipes at Sen. John Fetterman and #46 – and from that same party, I have a pretty damn low opinion of this person also, who somehow is trying to remain relevant as a candidate for preznit)...



...and I know this video is a few days old, but I still thought it was some pretty relevant stuff from Beau on the water problems in “the land of the yellow rose,” Houston in particular (and this is behind a paywall – sorry – but it takes a good, long, hard look at how corrupt ERCOT is in that state)...



...and Yasmin Khan of Rebel HQ tells us that someone in Alabama associated with the political party that screeches the loudest about voter fraud was nabbed for – wait for it! – voter fraud for real (more here)...



...continuing, Jesse Dollemore gives us more evidence that Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence wants to imprison Dems if, by some utterly nightmarish circumstance, he’s re-elected next year...I can’t believe Glenn Beck is still out there grifting (maybe I shouldn’t be surprised), but that does seem to be the case - and I'll add that book to my reading list (and of course, what would Repug demagoguery be without references to the “Democrat Party”?)...



...also, Cenk, Michael Shure and Aida Rodriguez tell us that Biden has removed pot as a Schedule I drug, moving it to Schedule III (yes, good news, and I’ll admit I don’t know all the legal whys and wherefores, but I STILL don’t know why the $#@! pot dispensaries can’t operate like normal businesses AT LONG FREAKING LAST...I’m good with Cenk here until at about 11:00, arguing that Biden is dishonest because he didn’t fight for the public option in health care reform – I’m not going to go back and research that even though Cenk may be right, but I’m just saying that that’s a rather gratuitous slap at #46 and the Dems...pot legalization and decriminalization polls well with older voters too, though personally I’m more in favor of the latter than the former; there should be conditions behind legalization for recreational use IMO)...



...and RIP Jimmy Buffett...I always liked his songs and I think, more than anything else, he just wanted to put on a good show for folks, which he did for a hell of a long time; my biggest problem was with a-hole yuppies in management who treated their workers like crap, but then would say “Whoo-hoo! Buffett’s coming to the Camden Waterfront (or whatever it’s called now), and I’ve got tickets, so I can put on my parrot head, drink too much and generally act like a total idiot!” or words to that effect of course, but that wasn’t Buffett’s fault...he also did a terrific cover of “Pacing The Cage” by Bruce Cockburn...I’ve referenced this clip from David Letterman in the past, and I’m glad to show it once more now, though I wish it weren’t for this occasion.



Update 9/3/23: Good times.

Thursday Stuff

David Doel discusses The Roger Ailes BS Factory deciding to turn on Vivek Ramaswamy...aww, poor widdle baby (yeah, it is kind of amusing to hear Vivek R. try and confront Al Sharpton over a lack of political experience...take a look in the freaking mirror, dude! And yeah, when you’ve crossed Eminem, you’re in dangerous territory...interesting report discussing what a conniving shyster Ramaswamy truly is, which makes him perfect for that party I know)...



Update 9/1/23: Probably some duplication here, but I think it needs to be pointed out all the same.

...and Jesse Dollemore tells us that Jesse Watters of the previously noted utter trash network of an alleged “news” channel recently said that African Americans like Trump because he’s a criminal...gee, racism much? And apparently Charlie Kirk chimed in on this also...oh yeah, “rage against the regime” is soooo clever...NOT! (NSFW/H)...



...and I suppose I probably should leave the whole Oliver Anthony thing alone at this point, but Mike Figueredo tells us that Anthony tried to clarify himself and managed to be more incoherent...maybe the song is unintentionally representing more people because it IS incoherent politically and there’s a lot of that out there, in no small part because of confusion on the issues caused by our “both sides” corporate media IMO (NSFW/H)...and I have to admit that I didn’t have actually agreeing with Marc Thiessen on my Bingo card, but there you are...this all reminds me of the dustup when The Sainted Ronnie R gave credit to Bruce Springsteen for “Born In The U.S.A.” without having the first clue of what the song was about...start out with the truth, as in someone’s true circumstance, and craft a song about THAT instead of navel-gazing for no good reason...and no, I don’t think the song is an endorsement of Dems either in any way...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that “15 Votes For Speaker” Kevin McCarthy appears to be moving ahead with an impeachment inquiry on President Biden...hang this around the necks of EVERY REPUBLICAN POLITICIAN IN THIS COUNTRY!! And by the way, one of those “R plus 3-4” U.S. House reps Cousins mentions happens to be this guy (and to do something about him, click here)...



...and in this New York Times video, 5 college students are interviewed about “legacy admissions,” which they apparently benefitted from when they were accepted (“affirmative action for the rich” indeed, it seems)...



...and happy belated 75th birthday to drummer Danny Seraphine of Chicago - hope it was a good one.

Wednesday Stuff

Francesca Fiorentini and Nina Turner discuss the Biden/Harris ad to protect abortion rights (I’ll grant Turner's point that Roe wasn’t “codified” when it should have been, but I blame the Democratic Party at large for that as opposed to one president...the “D” team should have seen the game the other side was playing on abortion and fought back – of course, HRC said in ’16 that the SCOTUS was on the ballot and too damn many people blew her off, and that played a part in our current mess also...really, though, what we need is a constitutional amendment on this, as well as birth control, interracial and same-sex marriage, etc., since that seems to be only way to really beat the wingnuts on this stuff, but good luck with all of that when we, to this point, still can’t get the ERA done in this country, which isn’t even binding, but just a recommendation that women get paid the same as men...Turner also assumes that Biden could have gotten Manchinema to do what he wanted on the filibuster; would that that were true...to be honest, I think Turner’s take on Biden’s role in this is a little skewed, to put it mildly – not saying Biden is perfect, but only that he can’t just tell Congress to “make it so” by snapping his fingers or whatever)...



...and in a related item, Beau tells us that the “party of Lincoln” thinks it should restrict reproductive rights on the federal level...yeah, keep playing that number despite the fact that it’s MASSIVELY UNPOPULAR, and do the Dems’ work for them of having to remind voters about how wretched the Repugs are on this issue in particular...



...and Thom Hartmann asks if the governor of Flori-DUUUH! Ron #DeathSantis inspired the Jacksonville gunman...I realize we’ll never know, but interesting, and important, to speculate (Thom goes down the list of policies from the wretched governor of that state that likely played a role in their recent gun carnage)...



...and Farron Cousins focuses on another Repug candidate for preznit, and that would be Nikki Haley, who apparently wants Gen Zs and millennials to work until they’re dust (assuming they can all find decent paying jobs of course)...



...and Ana and Cenk of TYT bring us the story of a CEO of a bank in Australia who’s forcing employees back to the workplace for their “mental health”...I actually agree with the take here that the CEO has the right to encourage the work force to come back to the office, even if only for a couple of days a week (she may have just misspoke on the “mental health” thing; she probably would have been fine if she left that out)...it’s kind of a “push pull” thing with the workers; I definitely get it (e.g., at what point does it become financially prohibitive given commuting costs, for example, versus just staying at home and doing the work there)...I’m a little surprised Ana and Cenk didn’t know what “hot desking” was, which means that where you end up working when you DO come back to the office is kind of a crapshoot...



...and when it comes to the latest developments concerning Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence, Rachel Maddow tells us what it could be like if, by some horrific possibility, #45 manages to get elected again (kind of restating the obvious, but it needs to be repeated over and over IMO...this is the kind of typically restrained corporate media take that I’ve come to expect from The Comcast Network...nothing personally against Maddow, but I almost expected her to start blinking her eyes in some kind of code like a hostage, as if to say “DON’T YOU FREAKING PEOPLE REALIZE THE GAME THAT’S BEING PLAYED HERE BY MANGO MUSSOLINI AND HIS MINIONS? WAKE THE F*CK UP!”...more here)...



...and I’ve had this kicking around for about a week or so, and I think this is the time to present it (actually some GOOD news)...U.S. scientists have achieved a net energy gain for the 2nd time in a nuclear fusion reaction...I mean, it’s not like we’re going to be living in the world of “The Jetsons” tomorrow, but it’s still cool stuff I have to say (report is from the CBC)...



...and here’s a bit of an inspirational newer tune to help us keep trying to bend that arc towards justice, as MLK once said (and I know we recently observed the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington and the “I Have A Dream” speech – more here).

Tuesday Stuff

Leeja Miller tells us Why Republicans Are So Chauvinist, or something (NSFW/H...interesting analysis of the Barbie movie I have to say, and no, I have no intention of seeing it, though I did see “Oppenheimer,” and as far as I’m concerned, they should just give Christopher Nolan the Oscar now, as well as Cillian Murphy...the important history lesson starts at about 10:48 with Betty Friedan and her book The Feminine Mystique from 1963, and I think it’s safe to say that that book broke a lot of ground...I’d forgotten about exactly what happened with the ERA, but yeah, we can thank Phyllis Schlafly and The Sainted Ronnie R for killing it thus far...”black and white thinking will be the death of us all” – I hope not of course, but we’ll see...also, “Anti-feminism must be understood as part of a larger ecosystem of ideological polarization, social segregation, and misperceptions.” – uh, yep)...



...and Francesca and Nina Turner of The Damage Report tell us more about the recent Jacksonville, FL shooting, with more info on the murderous coward who perpetrated it (I don’t know what Vivek Ramaswamy said about race in that “debate” that was so terrible, but as far as I’m concerned, anyone who has the gall to believe that they can lecture Don Lemon, of all people, about African Americans by saying that they owe whatever civil rights they’ve won to the Second Amendment, as noted here, should not be taken seriously any longer on a damn thing)...



...and Ana of TYT tells us about some alleged health insurer called Corizon Health which supposedly caters to prisons; apparently, they’re looking at lawsuits over alleged malpractice, approximately 475 total...dear God (the video discusses the “Texas Two-Step,” which appears to be some corporate maneuver to escape liability and declare bankruptcy at the same time – bleeping criminals all!)...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report speak with Jon Shelton, author of “The Education Myth: How Human Capital Trumped Social Democracy” (glad to hear Shelton make the connection between public education and trying to be informed citizens in a democracy, which is exactly what the wingnuts want to utterly destroy...also good to hear a fairer take on the Truman Administration; yes, it was a bit of a complicated legacy, but there was “glass half full” stuff for sure, like his education commission as Shelton points out)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that the “one percent” knows that Mango Mussolini can skate in the Repug primary, but he has no shot in the general election (and boy, is Cousins ever right about Repugs falling in line on election day...it will be interesting to see if an alternative to Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence emerges from this motley group, but in the final analysis, I think we should keep this foremost in our thoughts from Will Bunch)...



...and RIP David LaFlamme of It’s A Beautiful Day, with their signature hit from “back in the day.”

Monday Stuff

Katie Phang of MSNBC speaks with Dem U.S. House Rep Max Frost of Flori-DUUH! on this country’s most recent gun carnage in Jacksonville; yes, it’s true that the person who pulled the trigger was a lone nut who apparently was influenced by neo-Nazi garbage (don’t have to worry about “allegedly” since he’s dead), but anybody who doesn’t feel a shred of blame for propagating hate of any kind (LGBTQ, racial, anti-immigrant, etc.) and helping to create the festering toxic stew that allowed this character to bubble to the surface truly has no soul (and this is about as dumb a “take” as you can expect from Repug prez wannabe Vivek Ramaswamy...and apparently that state's guv #DeathSantis got an earful when he spoke publicly on it...more on him a little later)...



...and in the “stoo-pid is as stoo-pid does” category, Retired Army Major Richard Ojeda (definitely not him) tells us that the wingnuts are apparently trying to be funny again by continuing to punch down, as evidenced by this “Tyrus” guy who, as Ojeda explains, was accused of sexual harassment at that putrid noxious outhouse of an alleged TV network (where that “Gutfeld” mess airs)...



...and apparently (and with a nod to a clip from last Friday), apparently Kid Rock and Oliver Anthony have gone “woke”...I’m not a bit surprised to find out that Kid Rock really drinks Bud Light and apparently serves it at his bar, even though he professes to hate the product, and I didn’t know anything about this Oliver Anthony guy until this clip, but he apparently has some reservations about the wingnuts embracing his song (NSFW/H)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen gives us additional info on Anthony – looks like his song was really aimed at classism/elitism and wasn’t meant to be some jingoistic tune on behalf of one side or the other, really; points to him for his honesty (the clip also includes that nonsense in the debate from #DeathSantis about making America like Flori-DUUH!, and a great response from Billy Bragg is here – NSFW/H once more)...

via GIPHY

...and as long as we’re mentioning “The Sunshine State,” I should also include this More Perfect Union video about how #DeathSantis is letting billionaires destroy his state...looks like the guv got this $30K golf simulator from a real estate mogul, more or less, and 42 of these billionaire cretins are fronting #DeathSantis, according to investigative journalist Jason Garcia (and it also looks like these real estate criminals are doing everything possible to fight basic landlord/tenant protections against raising rent, eviction moratoriums, etc, all while screaming like spoiled little brats for their damn tax cuts...clip has to do with the ruin inflicted when it comes to housing, insurance and energy...after watching this report, I’d sooner contemplate moving to Yemen than I would to #DeathSantis-stan)...



...and given the recent passing of Bernie Marsden of Whitesnake, I guess I'm almost legally obligated to show this video.