Friday Stuff

Hey, it’s “Dictator For A Day” Donnie...yeah, he only wants to run the country “for one day”...uh huh – I guess he believes a “day” has an indefinite time period...and as Farron Cousins notes, if God forbid he ended up back in charge, he would be able to enact a bunch of stuff with the typical presidential power, though Mango Mussolini would go waaay beyond that of course (and what’s at least as vile and repugnant to me, as opposed to the treasonous words of Our Traitorous Orange Meat Sack, are the life forms in the audience who applauded when 45 said this garbage...somewhat NSFW/H)...



...and according to a survey in the WaPo I believe, women are getting more and more disgusted with Trumpers and not wanting to date them, and of course these Fix Noise harpies are big mad about that (Ben Gleib of Rebel HQ fills us in on the details)...



...and when it comes to our thoroughly compromised SCOTUS, Ali Velshi informs us about a case from some self-entitled jagoff with apparently too much time and money on his hands, and that would be this George Jarkesy guy who brought suit against the SEC and its governmental tribunal, a group which provides an important function as noted in this clip including an interview with author and NYU law professor Melissa Murray...this case could indeed potentially upend our government and the “administrative state” that actually does the important legwork providing for our quality of life...the wingnuts have been going after governmental regular bodies ever since the Teahadists swept into power in 2010 (mainly Chucky and Davey Koch attacking the EPA), and maybe even earlier than that, and this is just the latest assault...yeah, this whole case has “bad idea” written all over it IMO, so OF COOURRSE the wretched Court of Hangin’ Judge JR leapt into action...



...and as long as we’re talking about The Supremes, I should include this video from Leeja Miller, telling us that the proposed ethics code from this bunch is worse than we think (hinging on the difference between the words “should” and “shall”)...lots of interesting background IMO on what judges and lawyers can and can’t do, and Miller gets to the SCOTUS at about 10:50...legal trickery is highlighted I know, but it’s important to mention...also, more weasel wording is discussed that allows justices (according to their joke of a code) to speak at what amounts to right-wing advocacy groups, codifying their existing garbage behavior as Miller points out...yeah, these “carve outs” stink to high heaven as she says...also, nice work to point out that separation of powers in the Constitution does NOT mean that the branches of government can’t regulate each other...I believe it was mentioned in one of the obits for Sandra Day O’Connor how important it is for justices to have served in a governmental capacity before they were elevated to the SCOTUS (which O’Connor did in the Arizona state senate...Earl Warren was a Republican governor of California, which was a credential that appealed to President Eisenhower, who nominated him); I think this bunch we have now is pretty much proof positive of how out of touch you can be without that important experience (well, for six of the nine anyway)...



...and I now present the following seasonal selections, including our annual remembrance.

Thursday Stuff

(Yes, I know that GOP clown show was last night, but for now I'd rather focus on more important stuff.)

Sam and Emma of The Majority Report comment on the horrific reports of civilian casualties coming out of Gaza...like many of you I’m sure, I feel compelled to say something about this gut-churning slaughter, though that doesn’t mean that I’m willing to give Hamas a pass on their brutality under any circumstances...and Biden Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin gave a speech where he basically told Netanyahu to limit civilian casualties, which I’m sure “Bibi” categorically ignored...as far as I’m concerned, Netanyahu is as bloodthirsty as Hamas, and it’s pathetic that he’s not getting called out enough for it IMO; tells you what a stranglehold AIPAC has on our politicians and the allegedly sane corporate media discourse on this carnage...



Update 12/10/23: Yeah, this sure figures, doesn't it?

...so what do our corporate media cousins do instead when it comes to civilian deaths in Gaza? Why, that means it’s time to attack Dem U.S. House Rep Pramila Jayapal, who happens to be on the COMPLETELY CORRECT side of this issue (as is Bernie), as David Doel tells us...Netanyahu wants to bomb the Palestinians into extinction...I would say that we’re looong past the point of international mediation, not only on the war but the whole matter of a Palestinian state, Jerusalem as a shared capital and negotiating right of return (as much as any of that can actually take place now given what that area of the world has turned into)...



...and Mike Figueredo brings us the story of Jewish Americans and others condemning this garbage resolution that just passed the U.S. House equating Anti-Zionism with antisemitism (with some Repug U.S. House idiot named Max Miller cheering on the ruin in Gaza...and yes, I agree that this is comparable to accusing someone of being anti-Catholic if they criticized the Church for covering up the abuse scandal...NSFW/H)...



...and speaking of U.S. House idiocy, Speaker “MAGA Mike” Johnson sez in this clip that the Repugs are the “rule of law team” while they plan to go ahead with the Biden impeachment inquiry (oh, and does that have anything to do with Hunter Biden wanting a public hearing which James Comer refuses to give him for some reason, I wonder? And yeah, Johnson is a lying sack of sh*t on the two impeachments of #45, but we knew that – Jesse Dollemore tells us about it...NSFW/H also)...



...and I realize that it may be pretty hard to feel like watching some of these seasonal numbers (including a song to commemorate the beginning of the "festival of lights"), but I hope these tunes can lift our spirits up somehow anyway.

Wednesday Stuff

Retired Army Major Richard Ojeda brings us this video of Michael Shure interviewing Trump supporters at his most recent hate fest in Iowa...I give Shure credit for exercising the proverbial patience of Job while trying to reach these life forms, which is more than I can do for certain...



...and as a bit of a follow-up, Farron Cousins tells us that Fix Noise had to cut away from broadcasting #45 and his antics at the rally noted above because his lies were so awful (I think Cousins is exactly right in that The Roger Ailes BS Factory didn’t want to get sued again...aside from ratings, I can’t think of another reason why they would bail on Combover Caligula like that)...



...and transitioning to the economy under #46, this clip from More Perfect Union discusses how clean energy companies rely on contracting firms to staff and frequently underpay an exploitable workforce, citing one particular case in Buckeye, Arizona...when picking produce is a more desirable job than installing a solar panel, I think something is seriously wrong; fortunately, there is a unionization effort underway...regardless, the jobs created here are another success story of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act IMO...



...and RIP Norman Lear, and I don’t think it’s an overstatement to call him a great American for a few reasons (I thought this was an excellent appreciation)...like many of you I'm sure, I can remember the guts it took for Lear to found People For The American Way and stand up to Jerry Falwell and The Sainted Ronnie R when both were riding high, to say nothing of revolutionizing TV sitcoms...we can all profit from Lear’s courageous example...



...and RIP also Denny Laine of Wings and the original version of The Moody Blues; he was famous for this tune, which was actually a cover...the original was performed by R&B singer Bessie Banks...



...and here are more seasonal offerings.

Tuesday Stuff

Thom Hartmann discusses a report from Pro Publica and Lever News on the rip-off of Medicare Advantage and our scammy for-profit health care system in general – Thom cites a story of a guy in Michigan with an aggressive form of lymphoma, but Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan won’t pay for the treatment because it’s over $100 grand...his outrage is completely justified, and I can use a few words here myself to say what I think of this that probably would get me dinged for content moderation (and I'm pretty sure the open enrollment period for Medicare is almost done)...



...and Beau gives us his take on the Senate Judiciary Committee issuing subpoenas to Leonard Leo and Harlan Crow for the SCOTUS nonsense (and no, I don’t see 60 votes coming to enforce a subpoena...and I agree with Beau; just put forward the damn SCOTUS ethics code and let that stand or fall, but if it goes down, get those Senate cretins on the record for voting against it...of course, Biden and the Dems should be well on their way to packing the Court by now, particularly in light of this, and this also has to do with Moore, but we are where we are - sigh)...

via GIPHY

...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report informs us of “Meatball Ron” lying again, this time about banning gender studies for grades pre-K through 3rd, when in reality he’s trying to ban these studies through grade 12 in Flori-DUUH!...oopsie! And yeah, that transphobic idiot Michael Knowles really does give away the game here as Figueredo says...the goal is to do everything possible to erase trans and queer individuals entirely (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and moving a few degrees west, Farron Cousins lets us know that former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabilly sez that impeaching Biden would be a disaster...yeah, Huckabilly kind of stumbled into the truth here (though not for the reasons he points out), but as Cousins tells us, there’s plenty of historical precedent behind the argument that impeachment (based on zero evidence to date) would definitely be a boon for #46...



...and here are more seasonal selections.

Monday Stuff

Gee, it looks as if a certain Treasonous Tiny Handed Former *preznit doesn’t have immunity from prosecution for 3 separate civil lawsuits holding Our Ochre Abomination liable for the 1/6 insurrection, as ruled by a U.S. appeals court; Rayy Vana, Cenk Uygur and Jordan Uhl bring us the details...I thought Rayy Vana’s analysis was solid, Cenk’s was interesting a bit – and he may be right in his pessimism, sadly – but Jordan Uhl might as well not even have bothered to show up...



...and Lawrence O’Donnell starts off here by discussing a passage in Liz Cheney’s new book (and you just KNEW that was coming in time for the holidays, right?) where Combover Caligula is referred to as “Orange Jesus,” which, as far as I’m concerned, is pretty damn blasphemous; I really wish she had found a way to attribute that quote to an individual or individuals...and by the way, don’t think I’m anywhere close to climbing onboard some kind of Liz Cheney bandwagon, because I’m definitely not; she was right about #45 but absolutely 100 percent dead wrong on everything else...it takes awhile for O’Donnell to get to the point, but it’s worth it when he does...probably the most damning indictment of our corporate media that I’ve heard from someone on an actual corporate media channel...



...and from one extreme of a TV network doing the right thing to the exact opposite in the other direction, Farron Cousins tells us about Brian Kilmeade of Fix Noise praising slaveowners in an interview with the equally odious Charlie Kirk, because of course - and yeah, most of the northern states managed to do just fine without slavery, but I guess they don't count somehow...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report bring us the clip of Mehdi Hasan interviewing Israeli diplomat Mark Regev that, in all likelihood, led to Hasan losing his show on MSNBC... I guess the “back and forth” offended people’s sensibilities or something (and I know Hamas started this with that horrible attack on the music festival including taking the hostages, but I thought Regev’s responses along the lines of “yeah, I know those are pictures of kids that got bombed, but why aren’t you showing dead Hamas soldiers instead?” was pretty damn weak...I know MSNBC’s sucky ratings particularly on weekends played a part here also, but like the TMR panel, I thought the main reason Hasan lost his show was the Regev exchange)...



...and here are more seasonal selections.