Friday Stuff

This clip from CNN reminds me once more why I generally try to avoid corporate media; Dana Bash hosts a report from Manu Raj about Tangerine Palpatine telling his minions on Capitol Hill not to approve a bipartisan immigration deal; namely, because like the rest of his wretched party, "Diaper Don" wants the issue to run on in the election as opposed to solving the problem, with “The Mittster” giving away the game a bit...I know what Bash means by “this great stuff,” but let’s just say that that’s a highly inapt phrase for this story, OK (with Melanie Zanona and Josh Dawsey, along with the utterly odious Ramesh Ponnuru, who, let’s not forget, is a “senior analyst” with AEI...that line about Biden allegedly not having the will to deal with the border issue is utter horsesh*t...there’s a reason why I don’t have too many clips from “the most trusted name in news,” and as I watch this, I’m remembering that once more...and on this issue, who, pray tell Dana, are “the hard liners on the left?”)...



...and in a bit of a similar vein, this New York Times video suggests that we need to get back to 1980 on immigration...I have an issue with this clip blaming AOC and Michael Bloomberg for “moving away from the center” on immigration at about 6:20...sounds to me like they were expressing basic human decency, and the “center” only moved because the other side went totally batsh*t insane...more disingenuous corporate media framing IMO...this video also con-vee-niently overlooks the demonization of immigrants from wingnut media, Flush Limbore in particular – guess it would be impolite to mention that, huh?...



..and when it comes to Dementia J. Trump trying to win back the White House, I think this video speaks volumes (yes, it’s the Lincoln Project again, yesterday’s Republicans, don’t give them $$$ but it's up to you, blah blah blah)...



...and Thom Hartmann asks “Does the GOP Want to Kill The Poor?” (again, if you have to ask, you probably know the answer already)...sounds like KY is trying to pass a law allowing property owners to murder anybody who happens to stumble onto their front lawns, or something, just like Jesus would do, right? And why am I not one damn bit surprised to see that this hateful garbage came from some “glibertarian think tank” (the “Cicero Institute”)? And good for Thom to present actual facts and data explaining how these damn hedge funds buy up lots of housing, turn them into rental properties, and drive the cost of rents out of sight to the point where homelessness becomes a problem, tied to the 2008 crash (and yeah, The Sainted Ronnie R emptying the mental hospitals, including Byberry in these parts, sure is part of this awful equation also)...



...and I know I shouldn’t be the least bit surprised to find out once more what an utter pissant Jamie Dimon is, but fortunately, Robert Reich reminds us of that once more in this video...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report discusses the wingnut hysteria over Maine’s trans refugee bill, which is a direct response to trans criminalization in other states...and I’d heard about the garbage with Chaya Raichik getting that position in Oklahoma to ban books, which is also incredibly disgusting...and Figueredo also includes the clip of Joy Reid calling out this Moms for Liberty fraud...nice work, but she’d better be careful, given what happened to Mehdi Hasan...and Utah wants to sentence trans individuals to six months in jail for using the “wrong” freaking bathroom? WTF??!! And “keep educating and informing” indeed (NSFW/H)...



...and this segment from The Majority Report informs us that the “party of Lincoln” is poised to make anti-abortion laws a lot worse...a lady in Flori-DUUH! named Deborah Dorbert tried to end a potentially deadly pregnancy because of something called Potter’s Syndrome (if it’s something you’ve never heard of, to me that means it’s potentially catastrophic), but she basically was forced to carry the pregnancy to term and birth a baby that apparently died after a few short, agonizing minutes...what country am I living in again?...



...well, maybe like you, I feel like I need a bit of a “palate cleanser” after a story like that, so please allow me to introduce my new favorite tune.

Thursday Stuff

David Doel tells us about millionaires and billionaires telling those gathered at Davos to tax them more (and man, is that Princeton study ever depressing, but I know it’s 100 percent true...not surprised that the U.S. has the most millionaires, and there was a time when I once thought that was a GOOD thing...I don’t think I’d ever heard Abigail Disney before, but dayyum, does she get it)...



...and I’d also never heard of Charlie Shamp and Hank Kunneman before, but Jesse Dollemore gives us the gory details, particularly about Ron (“Tree of Righteousness”) #DeathSantis...



...and John and Sharon Reed of The Damage Report discuss the new “king of late nite,” according to Bill Maher (please) talking about AOC in a sexualized fashion, because of course...she checks just about all of the wingnut checkboxes – beautiful woman of color, intelligent, articulate, and in a position of power for the “D” team, so of course the wingnuts freak the “f” out...how pitiably sad...



...and Farron Cousins takes us inside the latest numbers related to the Gropenfuhrer, i.e., how he fared in the New Hampshire primary vs. Nikki Haley, and he has to realize that he’s screwed, though November is still a long way off... I agree with this analysis, but we can’t sit around and “measure the drapes” either...



...and Robert Reich brings us this video about Biden and the economy...we know “President Manchinema” kneecapped the infrastructure bill, but #46 still managed to do a lot of good stuff with the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS bill...Democrats should be touting this stuff all over the place, but at least it’s good that Reich is doing that here...



Update: More here (once more, I wish Dems generally were MUCH better on social media and took their cue from Bill Pascrell, Jr.).

...and happy belated 85th birthday to Ray Stevens...yeah, I know he went the Branson, MO route you might say, but in his day, he had what I thought were some good tunes, including this one.

Wednesday Stuff

You can consider this to be my periodic reminder of the great unwashed who will cast their ballots for Our Treasonous Orange Former Overlord come hell or high water, and to me, that includes the life form driving the vehicle pictured above (and once more, I’ll say again that I know what The Lincoln Project is, but good on them for continuing to sound the alarm)...



...but for a bit of the reality perspective, I give you another typically well-done analysis from Beau, this time on yesterday’s results in the New Hampshire primary (and as far as those who pulled the lever/checked the box for Combover Caligula...well, come hell or high water, Repugs will fall in line)...



...and the political decline of Our Ochre Abomination has to be hastened no doubt by the quite justifiable attacks aimed at him on social media, as David Shuster explains (and I’m a little leery about pointing out the Gropenfuhrer’s cognitive decline also, though that’s happening too...like many of you I’m sure, I’ve seen family members go through that, and despite the fact that we’re talking about Trump, I’m loathe to point that out I have to admit)...



...and Thom Hartmann discusses scientists warning us about micro-plastics (and nano-plastics, actually...terrific – and I’m not one bit surprised to hear that the House Dems and that allegedly awful Nancy Pelosi passed a bill to try and ban microplastics, but it died in “the world’s greatest deliberative body” from yet another Repug filibuster...more here)...



...and going from the ridiculous to the even-more-ridiculous, Kyle tells us about Oklahoma Repug state senator Dusty Deevers, who is trying to pass a bill banning the viewing of all porn (“how many life sentences would you all be serving?” indeed...sounds like another “solution” in search of a problem...NSFW/H)...



...and I didn’t know that you-know-who had run afoul of The Smiths for copyright infringement (here)...I guess you can just add them to the list of performers/groups with a grievance against Our Treasonous Tiny-Handed Former *Preznit.

Tuesday Stuff

This report from More Perfect Union tells us about the Biden Administration’s efforts to end overdraft fees, with Rohit Chopra of the CFPB...I mean, I have a feeling we’re talking about blue sky and unicorns here, but the effort to cap fees at $3 at a minimum is great news...the cynic in me is saying that this is just an effort to distract from the failure of the current bunch in An Oval Office to slap down our pal “Bibi” the way we should, but I think good behavior should be commended and rewarded also...



...and Jesse Dollemore informs us that Ron #DeathSantis has ended his Repug primary campaign for second place behind Combover Caligula, and he also misquoted Winston Churchill for good measure...nice job by Jesse to put together that little mashup of the guv of Flori-DUUUH! talking smack about the head of his party while at the same time “bending the knee” in his concession...



Update: More here.

...and as long as we’re talking about the Repug primary to find out whether or not Nimarata Randhawa will end up as VP on the ticket, Farron Cousins takes us inside the numbers of Mango Mussolini’s victory in Iowa, which was more pathetic than you think (the 7% non-solution, in terms of total Repugs who voted, and apparently Tangerine Palpatine only got 3% of THAT...and boy, is Farron Cousins ever spot-on when it comes to our corporate media serenading us about doom and gloom for Dems, while EVERYTHING is good news for Republicans)...



Update: It was communicated to me somewhat informally that I wasn't playing nice, you might say, to refer to Nikki Haley by her birth name. I have a ton of issues with Haley on policy, but I wasn’t trying to be unkind to her personally, so I’ll stop doing that.

...and Robert Reich refutes the five biggest Repug lies about immigrants coming over our southwest border...yeah, some of these have been pointed out before, but we need to be vigilant against this garbage (making me recall this)...



...and RIP acclaimed director Norman Jewison, who brought us “In The Heat Of The Night” (clip follows), “Moonstruck,” and a bunch of other memorable films – pretty sure he received an honorary Oscar, though he could have taken home the Best Director statue a few times (and speaking of Tinseltown, it appears that the '24 noms have been handed down; the only movie I saw over the prior year was Oppenheimer, and I’m glad to see that it was rewarded commensurately)...



...and also RIP Mary Weiss, lead singer of the '60 all-girl group The Shangri-Las; here is their biggest hit, which I'm sure we know well by now.

Monday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore discusses Dem U.S. House Rep Dan Goldman’s censure resolution against Repug Elise Stefanik for referring to the life forms who launched the 1/6 treasonous insurrection as “hostages”...yeah, I would say that “masturbatory patriotism” applies to Stefanik and the guttural nematodes of her party (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and speaking of Repug U.S. House idiots, Big Stupid Head Matt Gaetz managed to be both racist AND chauvinist at the same time recently, as Farron Cousins explains – heckuva job...



...and turning to the other chamber of Congress, John and Francesca of The Damage Report tell us that Big Hair Blackburn is BAAAACK, introducing something called the Women’s Right To Know Act...I know you’ll be utterly shocked to find out that this is yet another anti-abortion bill, proving once more that the “party of Lincoln” has learned ABSOLUTELY NOTHING from the 2022 mid-term elections after Dobbs was handed down by The Supremes...



...and this video from Mike Figueredo tells us about Kentucky Repug state pol Nick Wilson, who was recently mocked for sponsoring a bill apparently in favor of incest (and this guy was a winner on “Survivor”...I think Figueredo is correct in that omitting the first cousin language was a weird mistake, but let’s not forget the totality of Wilson’s garbage record either, as noted in the clip...NSFW/H)...



...and Beau talks about a grand jury report focusing on the poor police response to the Uvalde gun massacre (great point by Beau that we really don’t know what the grand jury has been tasked to do, so it would be unrealistic to jump to conclusions, and we probably won’t know for certain what’s going on here until just about when the findings are released...as usual, Beau’s T-shirt is spot-on)...



...and The Beach Boys recorded this number to kick off "Pet Sounds" on this day in 1966 (nothing like a little warm, sunny tune to help with the winter doldrums).