Tuesday Stuff

This TikTok-er made a pretty solid case IMO as to how our president-elect is doing the bidding of Vlad The Butcher once more when it comes to Greenland, Panama and Canada (more emphasis is here...NSFW/H)...

No lies detected! pic.twitter.com/GIdc35JGMf

— Meidas_Charise Lee (@charise_lee) December 27, 2024

...oh, and while our corporate media and allegedly elite “decision makers” were carrying on about how Biden was supposedly too old to be president, did you know that the GOP chair of the House Appropriations Committee had apparently checked into a nursing home, and in the memory care facility no less? I’m referring to Texas congresswoman Kay Granger...and no, I’m not against Granger getting the care that she needs (even though her party would deny that to millions of others if they could), but far as I’m concerned, Granger should be forced to pay back her salary for all the days she was out (she’s officially stepping down with the new session of Congress due to begin next month)...also interesting IMO that I don’t recall hearing a peep out of “Team D” on this; at least, nothing I’ve been able to track down anyway...and yes, even when Granger was in control of her faculties, her votes were indeed terrible...Kyle Kulinski explains (NSFW/H also)...



...and this Rebel HQ clip presents Connecticut Dem U.S. Senator Chris Murphy discussing the three-pronged attack from Mango Mussolini to try and turn this country into an oligarchy (assuming we’re not there already of course, unfortunately): 1) Prosecuting Liz Cheney criminally, 2) Trump’s lawsuit against the Iowa pollster and the newspaper for publishing election information he doesn’t like, and 3) ABC paying Trump $15 million to make the George S. lawsuit go away even though Stephanopoulos was substantively correct in his reporting on #45/47...



...and David Pakman presents data to support his argument that corporate media is losing its grip given the results of the election...I think there’s a bit of a cyclical element to this as Pakman says (when the political circus gets revved up again, some of these folks will come back to CNN and MSNBC, assuming they still exist in their present form), but to be honest, I think the majority of the people tuning out of legacy media now realize how they got utterly played by the election “horserace” coverage (as opposed to dumb stuff I guess like, y’know, actual policy and proposed legislation) and walking away more or less is their form of protest...the worst part to me is that this will indirectly benefit Fix Noise because their audience of sheep will tune in regardless...and yes, I blame the media outlets themselves for allowing this situation to occur; this was entirely predictable given that the affected networks made the decision long ago to value “balance” in coverage over analysis of verifiable truth and reality, and their viewers have finally gotten wise to that...



... and speaking of The Roger Ailes BS Factory, it looks like the engagement of Sean Inanity and Ainsley Earhardt is considered “news”...and by the way, if people at that network want to play around on their spouses, that’s their business (seedy and lowdown as it is), but don’t do that and then turn around and pretend to be moral arbiters for anybody else (and isn’t Earhardt just too precious for words...“WHAT ABOUT THE MAJORITY???!!” huh? What a freaking bimbo!)...



...and in keeping with my annual custom, I want to take a minute or two and thank everyone who has spent any time at this site over the prior year, indulging me and my musings on politics, news, legal stuff, and a host of other subjects. I don’t pretend to be some font of eternal wisdom or anything, but in accordance with my bio, I try to cut through the BS, you might say, and present the best content that I can (usually from other creators who I happen to agree with, I’ll admit).

For better or worse, I started this thing in 2005 as response to Dubya and all of the myriad screwups of his ruinous term; a whole bunch of other folks did likewise, creating their own presences online, though they largely have moved on since then. I may have said this before, but I’ll repeat it...what triggered me in particular was a speech Dubya gave on the 60th anniversary commemoration of VE Day. It was written by the late Michael Gerson, who had kind of a demented “gift” for couching some really ugly attacks on those who dared question #43 by using some flowery language (Gerson, you’ll recall, was the guy who coined the phrase “the soft bigotry of low expectations” for those who opposed Dubya’s version of No Child Left Behind). In his speech, Dubya basically said that the Global War on Terror (remember that one?) was more important than World War II (again, speaking Gerson’s words). That was a cut at the sacrifice of my father and millions of other men and women during that era which pretty much infuriated me, and I decided to start this thing not having a clue as to whether or not it would make a difference, mainly to get back at Dubya and movement conservatism in general. That said, if you’d told me back then that I’d be in the middle of my 20th year of doing this and saying these words, I would have told you that you were nuts (shows what I know I guess).

Going back all of those years, though, I have to confess that I feel less certain about continuing to do this now than at any prior point over all of this time. I firmly believe that the incoming bunch of criminals, grifters and various other bottom feeders are going to prove their utter incompetence on the world stage; they’re going to try and do everything President Elon says, but they’re going to find that it is utterly tanking the economy and will end up loosening the reins a bit (on the orders of the “one percent” and no one else). However, that doesn’t mean that they can’t do a hell of a lot of damage in the meantime. Things are going to be bad, people, but what form that will take exactly is something that I don’t think anybody can determine at the moment.

Does that mean that we should automatically comply with everything this incoming regime wants? Hell freaking no! We still have myriad tools to use to resist, and we should be unrelenting in that effort. And there are a hell of a lot more of us than there are of them.

So with that in mind, I offer our final tune of 2024 to commemorate the 78th birthday of Patti Smith (and I read "Just Kids" this year which was mainly about Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe...a terrific book). Let’s do everything that our means allows to continue nurturing the oldest representative democracy on earth, for our families, friends and untold future generations.

Onward!



Update 1/1/25: And all the best in the new year to one and all, if I didn't say that in so many words.

A Tribute To A Peanut Farmer (updates)

I have to admit that there’s a lot to process when it comes to the news that former President Jimmy Carter has passed (which we were warned about some months ago as noted here), with Carter being the longest-lived former president and one of the three longest-lived world leaders.

Like many who have served in government in this country (though not so much given mostly the fools and charlatans we have now), Carter made himself through hard work, education (as an engineer), and service to our country. He has the second-longest record of military service of any president since 1950 besides Dwight Eisenhower. And you don’t end up serving on a nuclear submarine under a demanding taskmaster like Admiral Hyman Rickover by being a dummy.

I think, to really consider how Carter emerged, we need to look back (as well as we can) on the era where he rose to a politically elite status. He benefited from the template of a political “outsider” who served as a governor before he was elected to the presidency (Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Dubya would follow suit), though, to be fair, there were other presidents who had first served as a governor of a state before Carter who won the White House (James Polk, both Roosevelts, Rutherford B. Hayes and Woodrow Wilson, for example). This benefitted Carter in 1976 because the country was fed up both with Watergate and the Vietnam War (I was a teenager at the time and can recall this somewhat). Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon was a pretty loud and clear message that maintaining the status quo was paramount in D.C., and that was exactly the message that enough of the country who elected Carter did NOT want to hear (to be fair, Ford was also lampooned pretty ruthlessly in the media, and he had that debate slip-up where he said that the people of Poland did not consider themselves to be under then-Soviet domination, which was decidedly not the case). The mid-to-late ‘70s was also a bad era for the economy mainly because of OPEC and inflation, which hurt Ford in ’76 (and would do the same thing to Carter four years later). Reagan also made a play for the White House in 1976 which frayed the support of the Republican Party behind Ford (and again, Ted Kennedy would do something similar four years later, which also hurt Carter).

You can’t really call Carter’s 1976 election a mandate, since the results were pretty close. However, Ford respected the outcome and didn’t whine about fraud and file 60 lawsuits along with trying to get fake electors named to certify an illegal victory (like you-know-who of course, as noted here). Ford respected the process and allowed the winner to ascend to power (again, like Carter would do four years later). Ford and Carter came to respect one another, from an era where that kind of collegiality is probably now extinct unfortunately, though President Obama and Senator John McCain did manage to achieve that for a time later.

I believe Carter’s biggest problem as president was, ironically I guess, the fact that he really did try to govern as an outsider in a snake pit of a town run by politicians, consultants, lobbyists, and media poohbahs who hold sway pretty much regardless of which party is in power. On the plus side, he made the Department of Energy and the Department of Education cabinet-level positions. The Panama Canal treaty was also a net positive for this country, and normalization of relations with China (that whole process started under Nixon of course) was pretty much recognizing the inevitable. Another milestone of sorts for Carter was the “crisis of confidence” speech where he dared to talk to the people of this country like adults about consumption, primarily concerning our energy habits (here and here). Carter actually got about an 11-point bump in the polls as noted here (Reagan would later denigrate what Carter said of course, calling it the “malaise” speech, even though that word didn’t even show up in the text), but Carter negated any positives from the speech by firing his cabinet, giving ammunition to both Reagan and Ted Kennedy. Carter also pursued Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) and the Camp David Accords with Menachem Begin of Israel and Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt in 1978 (I always thought Sadat was the most courageous of the three to pursue peace, and he was slaughtered for it by Islamist radicals three years later). To me, this all played into the narrative of Carter as the guy of big themes and actual or would-be accomplishments who didn’t suffer fools gladly, to the point where it ended up alienating most everyone around him. I’m not necessarily saying he was wrong, but only that that had a lot to do with undoing him politically (and oh yeah, was Carter ever right about the damn solar panels, which Reagan of course ripped from the White House the first chance he got). As president, Carter also deregulated the airline and trucking industries to make them more competitive, though that ended up playing into the corporate consolidation that has taken place in this country ever since. Also, I always thought Carter was completely played by his Federal Reserve Chair (and Reagan pal) Paul Volcker, who raised the federal funds interest rate to nearly 20 percent and ushered in the 1980-1982 recession (yes, it tamed inflation, but at a terrible cost to U.S. workers). Oh, and on the economy, let’s not forget candidate Reagan’s snarky quote that “Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.” Reagan also referred to “the Carter depression” in August 1980, even though Reagan economic advisor Alan Greenspan said, “I wouldn’t have used that term.” Despite inflation and a slowed-down economy, Carter still managed to create nearly 10 million jobs during his presidency as noted here.

Carter was buffeted by issues that likely would have crippled any presidency regardless of party, but no issue loomed larger than the Iran hostage crisis, which began in November 1979 after Ayatollah Khomeini took over that country. I’ll go along with the notion that Carter didn’t “read the room” in terms of how despised the Shah of Iran was (who of course this country installed after toppling that country’s elected ruler, Mohammed Mosaddegh, in 1958). It was inconceivable at that time, though, to realize that a nation-state would do what Iran did and take 52 American diplomats and associated personnel hostage for about 444 days. And speaking of Reagan, he basically committed treason by undercutting the Carter Administration’s efforts to free the hostages with his own deal to get himself elected in the bargain (here - something similar to what Richard Nixon did in scuttling the Paris peace talks to try and end the Vietnam War in 1968 so he could get elected also). I will unequivocally blame Carter for the failed hostage rescue attempt (I believe it was crippled by a literal desert storm which forced down our helicopters, taking the lives of 8 U.S. military personnel and 1 Iranian), but I will praise Carter for maintaining steadfast vigilance to ensure that all of our hostages returned even after Carter lost the 1980 presidential election. Also, boycotting the 1980 Olympics over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was probably the right call, but it played into the image of Carter as a moral scold, which allowed Reagan to continue acting like the amiable, “don’t worry, be happy” candidate he purported to be, which went over better with way too damn many voters in this country. I also once read that Carter wasn’t more combative towards Reagan and his relentless lies about Carter’s record during the debates because he expected the media to call out Reagan over his untruths, which pretty much didn’t happen.

According to historian Douglas Brinkley, “While in office, Carter...achieved a host of less showy, but still significant diplomatic military goals, Including restoring stable relations with Greece and Turkey, NATO’s southeast flank; reducing US ground troops in South Korea; pardoning Vietnam War draft resistors; concluding the Tokyo Round Trade Agreement; providing US assistance to the resistance in Afghanistan; making diplomatic overtures to Cuba and Vietnam; welcoming refugees from Indochina; scrapping the B1 bomber; and cancelling plans to develop a neutron bomb. The Carter administration's sheer level and range of activity, if not the results, suggested a foreign policy equivalent of the domestic activity of the first year of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal,” wrote historian Gaddis Smith. Instead of praising Carter for his many significant successes, however, most newspaper columnists reviewing his presidency in the 1980s credited Carter only for what he didn't do, such as abandon civil rights or send American soldier to war. As veteran newspaperman Haynes Johnson observed “No matter what Carter did, he received credit for almost nothing. And even Henry Kissinger admitted that Carter never really got a fair shake.” It should also be noted that Carter never received the benefit of nominating a U.S. Supreme Court justice (despite that, Carter can claim to be the author of these fine words).

I realize that the sort of “Cliff Notes” version of Jimmy Carter over the last 40 years or so is that of someone who has traveled the world on behalf of free and fair elections in emerging democracies, as well as someone who (through the Carter Center, which he founded of course) has fought health ailments across the globe such as trachoma, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis and Guinea worm disease (here). And again, according to historian Douglas Brinkley (and if you want to truly read about Carter’s post-presidency, I wholeheartedly suggest Brinkley’s book), “Since leaving office, Carter had been involved in mediating an impressive list of foreign disputes, civil wars, and political transitions in such troubled lands as Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia. North Korea, Haiti and Bosnia. He had also monitored elections in Panama (1989, 1994), Nicaragua (1990, 1996), Haiti (1987, 1990, 1995), The Dominican Republic (1990), Zambia (1991), Guyana (1990 to 1992), Paraguay (1993), The West Bank/Gaza (1996), Liberia (1997), and Jamaica (1997).” And oh yes, there is the tireless work both he and Rosalynn performed for Habitat for Humanity as well as the legion of worthy causes in this post.

However, I think it’s important to look at Carter in a larger context, including his presidency and the forces he sought to bring to heel to fulfill the role I honestly believe he sought to fill as the political outsider trying to put government to work on behalf of this country (and not being shy about presenting hard truths to the nation when he believed it was warranted). As whatever tributes and remembrances unfold as we mourn the passing of our 39th president, I hope that we keep all of this in mind.

(Additional remembrances are here and here...and as always, pop culture imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.)...



And when it comes to a tune for this occasion, I have to admit that I kept coming back to this one. The Allman Brothers definitely supported Jimmy Carter, and I believe the man from Plains, Georgia lived his life as if he felt he indeed had no time to waste. I think we can all profit from such a sterling example of a life that was well-lived.

Adios, President Carter - fair winds and following seas.



Update 1: More here.

Update 2: And as I drove by Jim Worthington’s Newtown Athletic Club (here), the American flag was at full staff and not half staff...what an utter POS that guy is.

Update 12/30/24: Another important Carter legacy is noted by law professor Melissa Murray here.

Update 1 12/31/24: Worthington's flag at the NAC is still at full staff - what an assh*le!

Update 2 12/31/24: Yeah, it looks like Colorado state rep Matt Soper is as big of an assclown as Worthington (here, and more on Babi Yar Park is here).

Thursday Stuff

Apparently that death eater in Kentucky, Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao, is opposing the stance of RFK Jr. (Trumps HHS nominee) to revoke approval for the polio vaccine (here); once again, a conservative only cares about an issue because it affects them personally...yeah, McConnell sure cares about the well being of young kids among others (snark), which is why he rejected additional child care funding in Biden’s “Build Back Better” bill as noted here and here...you’ll be forgiven if you’ve forgotten about BBB since our corporate media gave it the memory hole treatment and the utterly useless losers at the @DNC didn’t bother to remind anyone about it during the election...this is a surprisingly lucid commentary IMO from TYT without Cenk losing his mind about “corporate Democrats” to the point where it utterly biases anything else he has to say (John I. and Jayar Jackson have good observations also)...



Update: And I guess we can look forward to more of this, unfortunately.

...and speaking of the “party of Lincoln” opposing measures to protect the health of this country, Farron Cousins answers some questions about Repugs wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid (more here)...and no, as Cousins says, that doesn’t mean more $$ in your paycheck, you numbskull (not referring to Cousins of course)...I know I’ve harped on this incessantly, and apologies for that, but if we had AN ACTUAL FUNCTIONING DEMOCRATIC PARTY THAT COULD COMMUNICATE POLICY TO VOTERS INSTEAD OF JUST SHAKING THEM DOWN FOR DOUGH, then the message would be communicated that YES, THE DEMS ARE THE MAJOR POLITICAL PARTY THAT WILL ACTUALLY LOOK OUT FOR YOU ON THIS ISSUE AND MANY OTHERS (sorry for the “all caps,” but I think it’s warranted)...



...and speaking of the incoming bunch of grifters and frauds, we’re reminded that the U.S. House report on the quite probably illegal (alleged!) escapades of One-Time AG Nominee Big Stupid Head Matt Gaetz was just released, and it reeks to high heaven probably worse than anyone can imagine (the fact that he wasn’t charged in Flori-DUUH! is a testimony for yours truly as to how utterly corrupt that state is...NSFW/H – more here)...

I need y'all to listen to this. This is who Trump picked to be the top law and order cop in the United States — which begs the question: What have we become as a nation that we tolerate this shit? What the fuck have we become? 😳👇 pic.twitter.com/FP3SAX5J7C

— Bill Madden (@maddenifico) December 24, 2024

...and Belle gives us some background on Our Demented Toddler-In-Chief’s railing against Panama, claiming that he wants the U.S. to take back the Canal...great context on how little the U.S. pays to ship goods through the Canal (and maybe we should give this guy some credit for negotiating that way back during his presidency), as well as the good points about how our military intervention in central America including the Canal region has contributed to the refugees approaching our southern border who #45/47 wants to imprison...



...and Jesse Dollemore lets us know that firefighters are finding out that they should have supported Harris/Walz instead of refusing to endorse, which was basically good news for Bronzer Beelzebub - what's done is done for now, though...



...and with this tune, I ring down the curtain on the seasonal selections for another year – hope your holiday celebrations are all you ask for.

Merry Christmas 2024

I may include this clip from The Lincoln Project every Christmas; a terrific timeless message (first added it in 2021, and as far as I'm concerned, it has never been more true than it is at this moment)...



...and once more, I give you the holiday light show that I first included here on 12/23/10...



...and this tells us about a successful Toys for Tots campaign this year (sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps) in Idaho...



...and here are some scenes from a Christmas village in Finland near the Arctic Circle...



...and all the best of the season from me, Nat and the gang (the "festival of lights" came really late this year, but if you observe, I hope it's enjoyable also).

Tuesday Stuff

This clip from More Perfect Union tells us about Amazon workers trying to organize and shutting down a warehouse on Staten Island over the holidays...God almighty, imagine getting written up by management for water and bathroom breaks (and how typical for an oligarch like Jeff Bezos in this day and age to simply pretend a union doesn’t exist and arguing that in court); I’m as guilty as anyone else of ordering stuff from Amazon, especially this time of year, and if I can change my behavior in any way on that, I will...there’s an “Amazon Fresh” store (which I guess is groceries mainly) down the street from Le Manse Doomsy, so I‘ll make a point of avoiding that at a minimum...



...and this Rebel HQ clip brings us Repug U.S. House Rep Tim Burchett (who infamously told us that his father once said that we can’t do anything about gun violence, so Burchett decided to wash his hands of the problem as noted here) trying to gin up some alleged controversy about illegal immigrants getting counted in “Democrat” states (and once again, “Democrat” is always a noun, not an adjective), leading to greater electoral representation somehow – fortunately, Dem Rep Jasmine Crockett drops a few truth bombs, as it were, on how Texas uses an increase in minority populations (maybe the majority now, actually) to somehow justify increased funding for services in white Republican districts in that wretched state (and by the way, given what illegal immigrants contribute to our economy, I don’t have an issue with counting them in the census)...and I’m not up on anything having to do with Caitlin Clark or women’s basketball players; nothing against them, I hasten to add, but I’m just preoccupied with other stuff, that’s all (Jackson White provides commentary)...



...and leave it to The Daily Show to put the right "2024" spin on this holiday season...



...and ho, ho, ho – it looks like a certain white bearded individual with a red suit is looking to “get his freak on” before he does the whole thing with the sleigh and reindeer and dropping off gifts for the kids and everyone else 😉...



...and we only have a handful of seasonal selections left, but I think these deserve to be included also.

Monday Stuff

I’m going back to the prior election (painful as that is I know) to bring back this reminder about all of the fundie nut jobs out there who cast their ballot for Bronzer Beelzebub and also did so in 2016 (Calvin University's Kristin Kobes Du Mez is interviewed on the subject..."oh yes, dear white father Trump, lead us around because we're too dumb to do it ourselves, and make sure you hate the same people we do, and protect our privilege"...)...



Update 12/24/24: And by the way, if anybody wonders why attendance at organized religious services is down, I would arge that garbage like this is part of the reason...one response is here.

...and David Pakman informs us that this may be the absolute worst “I told you so” moment for the MAGA numbskulls, who will likely STILL be too dumb to realize how badly they’ve gotten played...and just as a reminder, Social Security operates independently of the federal budget, so anybody who says that one contributes to the other is lying for sure (here), though Pakman is right that President Musk and the Repugs will do everything they can to try and slash it along with Medicare/Medicaid (and Aaron Rupar is indeed pretty knowledgeable on this subject)...



...and even though I suppose we’re done with the latest idiotic brinksmanship on the budget (at least for a little while), I just want to revisit this clip from Chris Hayes in which he commendably reminds us that President Elmo and Vice President Trump tried to cut about $190 million in funds to fight kids’ cancer so our poor, oppressed billionaires (snark) can have more stinking tax cuts...don’t think for a minute that these guttural lowlifes will be shamed to the point where they won’t try something like this again...

Chris Hayes: “President-elect Musk, the richest man in the world, worth 250 billion dollars, took 150 million dollars from kids with cancer.” Pure. Fucking. Evil. No wonder the trumps love Elon so much. They like to steal money from kids with cancer too.pic.twitter.com/JHMuGrUFlW

— 😱 Scary Larry 😱 🇺🇦✊🏻🇺🇸🗽 (@aintscarylarry) December 21, 2024

...and I don’t know who this guy is in this very NSFW/H clip, but I’ve been waiting for someone to go after Dem turncoat Lindy Li after her “stench of loser” remark about Democrats as well as her apparent endorsement of Pete Hegseth for Trump Secretary of Defense, calling him “a pretty good guy” as noted here, notwithstanding, y’know, the alcoholism and apparent abuse of women (here), as well as the fact that I’m sure Hegseth doesn’t know a damn thing about overseeing a federal agency in an administrative capacity.

(Also, I know I’ve taken shots at the @DNC and will continue to do so because of their utter strategic negligence in the just-ended campaign, but apparently, Li was part of what passed for a brain trust in that organization and seems to show no remorse whatsoever for her failed electoral performance, which isn’t surprising...rats fleeing a sinking ship and all that.)...

Lindy li you’re a Liar & a Clout chaser @lindyli pic.twitter.com/3HKuLhEMYJ

— 2RawTooReal (@2RawTooReal) December 21, 2024

Update: And by the way, @DNC - every damn word of this!...want to know why turnout was depressed in the last election?

Upddate 1/14/25: “I’ll take ‘Developments That Could Have Been Foreseen By Just About Everyone On Earth’ for $100, Alex” (here – and yeah, I know he’s dead).

...and I don’t know about you, but I feel like I need all of these holiday selections that I can find after some of these videos in order to keep what’s left of my sanity, especially since we’re coming into the home stretch.

Sunday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore tells us about CREW filing a complaint against “Curtsy Kyrsten” for spending in typical lavish fashion for herself on trips using campaign funds (apparently), which is an issue in part since she really didn’t campaign for her seat so she really doesn’t have an excuse to have the dough in the first place; even for Sinema, these charges are utterly disgusting as Jesse says and she should go to jail...more on Sinema and “President” Manchin “doing the deed” on Biden’s NLRB nominee is here (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and Belle (I guess that’s what she refers to herself as now – no issue on my end) tells us about the Gropenfuhrer actually being correct about getting rid of the damn debt ceiling...of course, we’re talking about a human being whose brain operates like a gnat on meth and I’m sure he’s already forgotten about this (#45/47 of course)...she’s right about the debt as a percentage of GDP and how that just about always goes up under Repug presidents and comes down when Dems occupy An Oval Office...by the way, we used to have something called the “Gephardt Rule” (named after this guy) which automatically raised the debt ceiling when the federal budget passed, but House Repugs got rid of it a few years ago (Dems in the House brought it back in 2019 with some modifications)...

via GIPHY

...and John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report tell us about Flori-DUUH! guv Ron #DeathSantis putting the kibosh, as it were, on a bill in his state to join a national compact which would allocate electoral votes based on the popular vote total (and as always, there’s a tweet involved from you-know-who, which actually made sense in terms of getting rid of the damn electoral college, but again, we’re talking about a guy whose brain is basically pudding at this point...I was thinking of #45/47, but maybe that applies to #DeathSantis too...and I refer to him that way because of his efforts to cover up COVID fatalities in the “sunshine state”)...



...and I know I’m a little behind the news cycle on this one, but I didn’t want to forget it; Seth Meyers gives us his take on DRONES!!! (more here)...I know it’s WAAAY too much to ask of our fourth estate to spend a fraction of their time obsessing about DRONES!! instead on the policy ramifications of what our incoming group of billionaire ne’er-do-wells plan to do to this country...and yeah, MAGA-loving Jeff Van Drew is acting like the utter man-baby he truly is on this issue (and OF COURSE he runs to Fix Noise with his idiotic theory about Iran sending drones I suppose to KILL US ALL!!! OMIGOD!!!)...



...and I've got a few more seasonal selections to go as we get ready for the big day.

Saturday Stuff

Ben Meiselas of the Meidas Touch Network lets us know that the stock market took a dive this week mainly because Fed Chair Jerome Powell is signaling fewer rate cuts in ‘25 in response to all of the economic garbage from our incoming bunch of bottom feeders (mainly mass deportation and tariffs) that is likely to worsen inflation...”the pied piper of broken promises,” indeed (regarding #45/47 of course)...



...and Chris Hayes discusses AOC getting passed over for ranking member of the House Oversight Committee in favor of Gerry Connolly...Hayes argues that the Dems still aren’t taking the age issue seriously, and I reluctantly have to agree; I would argue that they also aren’t taking seriously the disconnect between the clueless election losers of the @DNC and the true base of the party, which is younger and more diverse (and represented by AOC) than the “old guard” which is centrist and watches “Morning Jo(ke)” (and is dwindling) and represented by Pelosi, Connolly, etc...one of these days, we’re going to have a true opposition party, but for now, this is what we’ve got...



...and at this point, I would say that Dem U.S. House Rep Richard Neal of Massachusetts is all of us...

EVERY. FUCKING. WORD. IF. THIS.@elonmusk is nothing more than a CIVILIAN. That motherfucker, rich or not, has no goddamn business telling the @GOP @HouseGOP @SenateGOP what bills they should or should not vote for. Republicans are fucking cowards.

👇👇👇👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/1mQjb28vil

— Gene Trevino (@GenoVeno73) December 20, 2024

...and by the way, we have everything on the record, you assclowns...

Every fucking promise is a lie. 🎯🎯🎯👇 pic.twitter.com/mrIve0CJ8J

— Bill Madden (@maddenifico) December 21, 2024

...and after those clips, I'm definitely in the mood for some reasonal tunes, and I hope you are also.

Friday Stuff

With all of the awful nominees for cabinet positions as part of our incoming bunch of failures, celebrity suckups and various other bottom feeders, it’s not hard to forget how bad Tulsi Gabbard would be as DNI (she being the cheerleader, if you will, for dictators everywhere including al-Assad and Putin), but yes, she would be her own brand of terrible, as The Lincoln Project reminds us (keep waiting for that national political party org with a “D” as its leading initial to fight back, and I guess I’ll have to keep waiting)...



...well, at least somebody on the “D” team is showing a pulse, and that would be Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut quite rightly railing against our corporate media for kow-towing to Bronzer Beelzebub...aside from standing up to #45/47, Liz Cheney represents absolutely nothing that I believe in, but that doesn’t make the smear campaign against her any less of an utter obscenity...



...and Rachel Maddow tells us about some of the horror stories behind the “Tesla Self-Driving Beta” launch...nice work, Elmo; some real horror stories including people getting killed, as well as a kid having to be airlifted from injuries suffered when one of these vehicles blew through a bus stop...looks like over 2 million Teslas are the subject of a probe that will be spiked by the incoming Trump gang...and oh yeah, let’s blame “excessive data collection” as the cause instead of these deadly monstrosities randomly destroying lives...yeah, that’s the ticket...



...and speaking of President Elmo, Seth Meyers gives us “A Closer Look” on what will likely be a government shut down, just in time for the holidays...I’d love to be wrong, but I don’t think I am since this is apparently what the Xitter king wants (and yeah, I guess we’re at the phase where some Biden memes are going to find their way into the discussion...more here, here and here)...



Update 1: And by the way, you KNOW it must be bad for U.S. House Repugs because Bri-Fi’s working extra hard to get out press releases online about dedicating gymnasiums, giving out awards to high school students and visiting senior centers, all to avoid having to deal with the fact that HIS POLITICAL PARTY WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YET ANOTHER GOVERNMENT SHUT DOWN (and as corny as all of this is, I have to reluctantly point out that people remember it at election time and that has a lot to do with why he keeps getting sent back to Washington...watch and learn, Democrats).

Oh, I’m sorry...I forgot that Bri-Fi, along with Dem Rep Brendan Boyle, sponsored H.R. 4534, the Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act of 2024, a bill which bill “requires the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct an interagency review of lung cancer research, prevention, and awareness with respect to women and underserved populations,” according to the bill’s text.

Well, that’s all well and good (and “interagency review” sounds like something that could lead to a report that ends up in a dead-letter file somewhere), but here’s my question; how much money are you going to allocate for something like this? I read through the bill’s text and a transcript of the floor remarks when this was introduced, and I couldn’t find out that information. Are you going to spend more money on therapies for women in “underserved populations” to get the treatment they need (or are you going to allocate same to the Department of Health and Human Services to see measures implemented that would cut down on the increased incidents of lung cancer that you noted)? Basically, what is the practical impact of such a bill (and I would ask this of Rep. Boyle also)?

Don’t hide behind a damn press release, Bri-Fi...AGAIN! Come out of your hidey hole and face the music!

Update 2: It appears that this ridiculous game of chicken may be averted for now.

Update 12/24/24: Hey Bri-Fi, any words of reproach for these cretins in your own party? Didn’t think so...

...and I hope you're in the mood for more seasonal tunes, because here they are.

Thursday Stuff

Thom Hartmann tells us about Judge Lewis A. Kaplan defending E. Jean Carroll on the question of whether or not Combover Caligula was guilty of r*pe, which, according to New York law, appears to be pretty close to the same thing as sexual abuse (here)...despite that, ABC is apparently going to fork over $15 mil to Trump’s “presidential library” as a sign of subservience in light of the entirely accurate reporting from George Stephanopoulos on this (more here)...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ discusses Canada and #47’s ridiculous tariffs...not the biggest fan of Doug Ford, but it doesn’t take much for him to look like the good guy here...and it also appears that our neighbors to the north are likely to start a boycott of their own (heckuva job, all you MAGA numbskulls who brought this on)...yep, I can see another “Trump Tower” going up in Alberta or Manitoba somewhere and probably Tijuana too, which is likely the transactional endgame for all of Cantaloupe Capone’s usual nonsense so he can claim "victory"...and I know Kevin O’Leary of “Shark Tank” was also in a prior clip with Mike Figueredo...



...and like Canada, it appears that certain Repug U.S. senators are apparently tired of getting bullied by Trump and his supporters, including King Elon, Lewandowski, Vivek R., etc. (with senators griping behind the scenes of course)...as Farron Cousins notes, some of them managed to get re-elected in states Trump lost, like “disappointed” Collins in Maine, which is another reason why the lackeys for Combover Caligula should STFU...



...and speaking of folks fed up even though this wretched incoming crew hasn't even officially take over yet, I give you another very NSFW/H TikTok clip from someone who appears to be an everyday person; we're the only ones who thus far have held Combover Caligula to account for his wrongdoing (in a court of law, that is), and I don't expect that to change...

Let’s be honest, this guy nails it. The geriatric Diaper Don and his nerdy, dorky tech bros would be the LAST ppl you’d expect to try to “take down” a world power like the good ol’ USA. Talk a/b total misfits and a Big L (on their foreheads) for “losers”! 🤣👍⬇️ pic.twitter.com/VhOMKm7mFA

— Beep🇺🇸 (@fiercefreckled) December 18, 2024

...and in case anybody was wondering if I was running out of seasonal stuff...well, don't worry - still a few items left :-).

Wednesday Stuff

Miranda Scholl of Rebel HQ brings us this video of AOC, in a congressional hearing, cutting through the BS that was flying around all over the place in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton and the aftermath (more here)...and I’m sure it’s no surprise to find out that Gym Jordan is completely and utterly wrong again when it comes to FEMA policy (that bit about the text supposedly telling FEMA workers to ignore the homes of Trumpers smells like a setup), and fortunately Summer Lee responds (and speaking of AOC, yes, I definitely think she's earned the right to chair the House Oversight Committee as noted here...no disrespect to Gerry Connolly...even though her bid apparently fell short, and if you want to blame the Dems for maintaining the geriatric status quo here, I'll reluctantly go along with that)...



...and David Pakman tells us that #47 and French President Emmanuel Macron did a “presser” when 47 went over for the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral...I can’t find the words to properly communicate my disgust that this life form will be on the world stage again for a minimum of four more years utterly embarrassing this nation because he has NO FREAKING CLUE about what he’s saying and continually makes up his bullsh*t, and I don’t mean Macron (slightly NSFW/H)...



...and speaking of disgust with Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence, I don’t agree with every word this man says in this incredibly NSFW/H clip, but boy do I understand the sentiment (and this goes along with it IMO)...

There is a brutal honesty to what this gentleman is saying — and I am frequently hearing the same sentiment. 😳👇 pic.twitter.com/XBTUdvsaJu

— Bill Madden (@maddenifico) December 16, 2024

...and speaking of disgust, I’ve gone back and forth on this, but I have to say something...as noted here, President Biden granted clemency to about 1500 people (which a president has a right to do), but one of them was for Judge Michael Conahan, who was a central figure in the so-called “Kids for Cash” scandal in PA, with Conahan's sentence commuted by two years...Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! speaks with Sandy Fonzo, whose son Ed took his life after getting sentenced to juvenile detention by Judge Mark Ciavarella (more here)...Goodman also speaks with journalist Robert May, who made a 2013 documentary on the scandal (which was excellent, albeit gut-wrenching); May tells us that the two judges didn’t technically take bribes to incarcerate kids per se (mainly to help the for-profit-prison-builder pal of Ciavarella – yet another reason why for-profit prisons should NEVER, EVER EXIST!), but their actions amounted to the same thing as incarcerating kids for cash, so the label is pretty much accurate...I’ve defended “No Malarkey Joe” plenty of times, but in commuting Conahan’s sentence, he screwed the metaphorical pooch...



...well, in spite of that story, I’m going to present these holiday selections anyway because I think we all need them to lighten the mood a bit...I definitely do anyway.

Tuesday Stuff

This video from The Lincoln Project gives us a look into what awaits from the bone-headed tariff policy and disgusting attack on veterans’ health care from our incoming bunch of grifters and bottom feeders, and all for the purpose of rewarding the “pay no price, bear no burden” bunch who will be calling the shots in the upcoming cabinet for #47...



...and Ben Meiselas of the Meidas Touch Network lets us know that most of those polled somehow don’t think Trump will do what he says he’s going to do, and don’t like what he’s proposing anyway...tariffs on Mexico and Canada, trying to impose martial law (which may be a trickier legal fight, though given the awful behavior of our SCOTUS, that may be easier for Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence sadly), eliminating the CFPB, trying to get rid of the ACA, de-regulating cryptocurrency, mass deportation of course...and yes, I get it that people in this country generally disapprove of politicians, but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that number at 75 percent before...also, eliminating the Dept. of Education, letting “Elmo” be a Trump advisor, amnesty for the 1/6 insurrectionists, etc., etc., etc. (and yes, as far as I’m concerned, this disconnect here is very much the fault of corporate media also for utterly failing in its task to inform and educate voters)...



...and I think Dem U.S. House Rep Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico pretty much nails the purpose of the Gropenfuhrer putting manifestly unqualified people in charge of federal agencies...

Rep. Melanie Stansbury is spot-fucking-on about what the fascist Trump regime is up to. 🎯🎯🎯👇 pic.twitter.com/FPS55BTFER

— Bill Madden (@maddenifico) December 15, 2024

...and in this Occupy Democrats clip (don’t know who the presenter is), MSNBC’s Alicia Menendez apparently couldn’t sanitize the latest gibberish from Cantaloupe Capone...clip leads in with Marc Elias explaining how the wingnuts can’t get their story straight on 1/6/21...and unfortunately, I think Elias and Michael Steele (who could have done something about this when he held office, but didn’t) are right about the militia that #45/47 has organized and has probably infiltrated our military and law enforcement all over the place, ready to do the bidding of Bronzer Beelzebub at a moment’s notice (NSFW/H)...



...and I would guess that I'm about 2/3rds of the way through my seasonal selections (or maybe more)...don't want to leave these out, however.









Update: And by the way, I know there was another goddamn mass shooting yesterday, this time in Wisconsin (here...and I guess it’s a kind of sick evolution on this that this time, the apparent shooter was female). And I honestly don’t know what the hell else there is to say about it anymore, and apparently, Repug politicians don’t even go through the self-serving exercise of blathering about “thoughts and prayers” anymore either (I mean, ideas we’ve discussed probably a hundred times or more are still out there waiting to be tried). And this latest carnage took place in a state where one of their U.S. senators spouted this insulting nonsense.

Gee, maybe if one of those killed had been a CEO with a seven or eight-figure salary instead of a school student, our media and politicians would pay attention (and no, I don’t advocate violence against anybody).

Also, if you want to know why our ridiculous status quo on this awful issue never changes, the mentality on display here is a big reason why (as the C&L linked post tells us, in 2019, Dem Governor Tony Evers ordered the legislature to take up two very specific, common sense gun laws - a red flag law and stricter, more thorough universal background checks. The Republicans gaveled in and gaveled out of the special sessions in less than a minute, with no action of course).

Monday Stuff

Before I get to my regular commentary, I just want to say something about our departing Dem U.S. Senator Bob Casey of PA.

I didn’t follow too closely what exactly was going on with his campaign, to be honest. I know he quite rightly called out his Repug opponent Dave McCormick for profiting off of Chinese fentanyl, which (though it stinks to high heaven as far as yours truly is concerned) doesn’t constitute a crime by itself (at least, not as far as I’ve been able to determine). And silly me...I would have thought Casey’s record of accomplishment in the U.S. Senate would have earned him the benefit of the doubt in what was shaping up to be a close election. However, we now know that Casey, in all likelihood, ended up drowning, so to speak, in negative TV ads towards the end of the campaign (“OMIGOD, THE ECONOMY...which was quite good, as it turned out...AND ZOMG THE SCARY BROWN PEOPLE COMING OVER THE BORDER!!!...and I've lived here for most of my life, and I'm not aware of PA sharing a border with Mexico - #facepalm). And I’m sure we can “thank,” in part, King Elon and the tech bros for the cash infusion that enabled that garbage to take place (and once again, love and kisses to the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR for Citizens United and reaping another awful election outcome).

I’m thinking of this in particular right now because Senator Casey sent out a typically classy Email this evening thanking his supporters and letting everyone know what an honor it has been for him to serve this commonwealth in the U.S. Senate. And I want to reciprocate by thanking Senator Casey for setting a hard-working, decent example of how someone should conduct themselves in public service for these many years (and I have a feeling there are quite a few people in Ohio who feel the same way about Sherrod Brown, as well as some in Montana about Jon Tester). I can recall one occasion in particular when we planned a visit to Washington, D.C. and Senator Casey’s office helped us obtain tickets for a White House visit, which was memorable (we missed “Bo,” the Obama’s dog, by only a few minutes as it turned out). We remain indebted to Senator Casey’s office for handling this in typically expert fashion.

I have no doubt that Senator Casey will now pursue an enterprise worthy of his time, talent, and basic decency, and I wish him all the best in that endeavor (and I will expect absolutely nothing from Dave McCormick).

And by the way...on the subject of constituent service, I have a message for this guy.

I don’t know what the hell is going on with John Fetterman either (here). I sincerely hope he isn’t positioning himself to be Manchinema 2.0, because he’s going to have a very short Senate career if he does. In the meantime, though, I have a bone to pick with him on something else.

I reached out to Sen. Fetterman from his web page a little while ago on an issue in the news. I haven’t received a reply from Fetterman yet, though I can appreciate that that will likely take some time. However, I didn’t even get an auto-generated Email acknowledging my message. Are you kidding??!! Senator Casey did that at a minimum, and I cannot recall a time when he didn’t follow up with a personal message addressing the issue. Hell, even Bri-Fi will send you an auto-generated acknowledgement!

This is Fulfilling The Role Of A Congressional Politician 101, Senator. Do better next time!

Now to the videos...Brian Tyler Cohen and election lawyer Marc Elias tell us about the Repug power grab in North Carolina...see, the Repug legislature in that state, put in place by one of the worst partisan gerrymanders in the country as Elias points out, is trying to strip the incoming Dev guv of his power as well as other newly elected Dems including the attorney general, as well as passing a whole array of measures against voting...and yeah, that bit about picking state supreme court justices from some partisan list as opposed to a judicial election or gubernatorial appointment is particularly nuts...



...and sticking with the “Tar Heel” state, this Rebel HQ clip brings us some utter idiocy from Repug U.S. House Rep Virginia Foxx; first, we find that the Repug-run U.S. House passed so-called “anti ESG” bills (more here – not sure when the remarks in this clip took place)...yeah, Repugs aren’t dancing to the tune of dirty energy companies; not much they aren’t...clip is kind of a composite of idiocy from Foxx...”Mr. Speaker, I object to what my colleague is saying, even though he didn’t say it was about me and I know it really is,” more or less (Jackson White explains at the end)...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report informs us that elites are terrified at support for Luigi Mangione...and no, I don’t support the *alleged* actions of this individual either...I didn’t know about the “Wanted” posters, and though I don’t condone that as well, I certainly understand the rage (unfortunately, this is all likely to play right into the hands of you-know-who after 1/20/25)...and I think it’s a bit of a stretch to bring back the “Bernie 2016” stuff, though Figueredo is right about Medicare for All being the answer, but good luck trying to make that case all over again; I also don’t think Figueredo has a crystal ball that tells him that Brian Thompson wouldn’t have been murdered if we’d listened to Bernie (may be right, but we’ll never know), but he’s right about the crooks who caused the ’08 recession not going to the slam, which was an obscenity...I think Bill Burr is on the right track also, and as far as I’m concerned, the less said about “The View,” the better (NSFW/H)...



...and I thought Cliff Schecter offered a more populist “take” on the “one percent” here (actually, a fraction of that)...he’s also spot-on about the Louis Brandeis quote that we can have vast wealth or a democracy, but not both...yeah, Peter Thiel, King Elon I, Vivek R and others are indeed part of the oligarchy; we can start by naming who the enemy is and then figure out the next steps...



...and yep, you guessed it - time for more seasonal tunes.