Friday Stuff

I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less, and the pic is based on this) from 4/6/20...I have to admit that there are times when I have a hard time dealing with the fact that one of our two major political parties has all but officially nominated an individual for president in this year’s election who is a delusional, lying, narcissistic sociopath, and I have an even harder time with the fact that he has garnered the support that he has despite the fact that we had a pandemic raging out of control under his watch the last time he occupied An Oval Office, along with #45 buying up all of that goddamn corporate debt while we dealt with a plummeting stock market, and to say nothing of the fact that he also likely gave away sensitive intel that quite probably found its way to our enemies...for now, though, I’m going to bring back this clip which, as far as I’m concerned, should be played on a steady rotation every hour until November 5th is over...



...and David Pakman tells us that Bronzer Beelzebub is apparently firing staff and closing field offices, partly to ensure “fealty” to Our Ochre Abomination from the lackeys he does manage to bring on board (and partly, perhaps, because he’s hemorrhaging cash partly because of the ongoing lawsuits...probably waaay too many to count at this point)...



...and with the prior clip in mind, Chris Hayes emphasizes that Tangerine Palpatine, as always, is completely and totally for sale to the highest bidder (and it looks like a predatory used car salesman came to #45’s rescue)...



...and when it comes to the previously noted election, Farron Cousins tells us that RFK Jr. sez Biden is a bigger threat to democracy than Trump...The Kennedy scion should’ve just stuck to his anti-vax quackery – that was bad enough (Cousins pretty patiently and thoroughly IMO debunks this utter nonsense...”BIDEN DELETED MY INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT,” which absolutely DID NOT FREAKING HAPPEN, YOU LOON!!!).

And by the way, isn't this just too precious...



Update 4/8/24: Giving Away The Game 101.

...and I apologize for being a little late with this, but Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott pushed back pretty well I think against the wingnut accusations thrown his way in response to the Key Bridge collapse, with the usual suspects calling Scott the “DEI” mayor, as if that has one damn thing to do with that utterly awful tragedy, assuming it’s even true of course (and by the way, about that, it looks like this got the “memory hole” treatment from our corporate media...NSFW/H)...



...oh, but don’t think that this means that the “party of Lincoln” isn’t going to keep doing every damn thing in the world to marginalize and disenfranchise women also...Thom Hartmann discusses the Repug Plan to Not Let Women Vote After the ’24 Election (Thom mentions that wackadoodle Mark Robinson, and Coulter of course...most of the clip discusses the bureaucratic obstacles states could put up to women voting, including inconsistencies of a married name on, say, a passport, versus a single name on a driver’s license, and how that could be disqualifying...Thom also talks about those High Court Philistines under Hangin’ Judge JR trying to make it illegal to mail abortion pills or obtain contraception, and of course those troglodytes at The Heritage Foundation are cheering it all on...truly a “mask off” moment here, though, as far as I’m concerned, the “D” team was asleep all these years when it came to not relegating the utterly odious Comstock Act to the dustbin of history)...



...and Robert Reich reminds us why the “pay no price, bear no burden” bunch absolutely hates anything to do with funding the Internal Revenue Service...yep, the one percent bastards want to skate at our expense, as usual (and with the willing assistance of their political puppets from the “R” Party of course)...

...and I know I already mentioned that last Wednesday would have been the 100th birthday of Marlon Brando, and I probably could have included this clip for the occasion, but I decided not to...however, this tune was inspired a bit by the phrase made famous from the movie, so I thought I’d add it here (I read accounts of Brando disparaging his performance as Terry Malloy in “On The Waterfront,” but there’s no doubt that it resonated with the audience, making it iconic IMO and enduring probably beyond all of our lifetimes).

Wednesday Stuff

Jesse Watters of Fix Noise sez that Trump voters are so stoo-pid, they’ll buy anything 45 tries to sell to them (probably right, and yeah, this time it’s the bibles); just no bottom for these life forms...Jesse Dollemore tells us about it (slightly NSFW/H)...



...oh, and remember how the wingnuts were all “Oh, President Trump outfoxed the libs again; he made $1 billion on the IPO for Truth Septic”? And do you also remember the recent video from Farron Cousins predicting that the stock was likely to tank before it ever did well (assuming that happens at some point)? Well, according to this CNN report, the Gropenfuhrer’s net worth fell $1 billion in one day (a “meme stock,” huh?...And by the way, more on EBITDA is here)...



...and as we know, one of Our Ochre Abomination’s favorite targets is “the deep state,” though of course he’d be hard pressed to identify it exactly...well, this New York Times video tells us that the “deep state” (i.e., government regulatory bodies and the invaluable service they perform) is actually kind of awesome (keeping kids out of dangerous meat-packing plants, making sure there’s no lead in our water, deflecting an asteroid in space...sounds kind of kickass to me also)...



...and when it comes to government making a positive difference in our lives, Robert Reich recalls when he was Labor Secretary under President Clinton and tried to get a smoking ban passed...and yes, the lesson here indeed is that change can be incremental and slow, but it definitely is possible...



...and on the subject of #45’s opponents in the Repug primary (ancient history by now I guess), it looks like Flori-DUUH! is going to get its 6-week abortion ban under guv #DeathSantis, which could indeed by the Pyrrhic victory John describes (with Sabrina Rios)...and tied with a pot measure? Works for me (kind of “evolving” on that issue I’ll admit)...



...and today marks what would have been the 100th birthday of Hollywood legend Marlon Brando, acclaimed as possibly the finest actor our country has ever produced and who probably was responsible for a whole genre of acting that others have benefited from (based on theory from this guy and Stella Adler of course)...I always liked “One-Eyed Jacks,” his only directing effort and a Western; I thought he could have done interesting work if he continued down that path, but oh well...I could include a clip of one of his movies (probably the “I coulda been a contender” moment from “On The Waterfront” I suppose), but I decided to include this instead as a tribute to Brando’s activism...



...and also in the milestone department, RIP to SCTV’s Joe Flaherty, who didn’t achieve the fame of some of the other members of that great ensemble cast, but who made his mark all the same...I was unsuccessful in finding a clip of Western Redundancy Theater, so I settled for this instead, which was a particularly good “Count Floyd” bit IMO...



...and here’s kind of a poppy newer tune for all those angst-filled kids out there (well, maybe one or two)...hope you enjoy it as we slog through the rain in these parts.

Tuesday Stuff

David Doel tells us all about the wingnut meltdown over Easter falling on Trans Visibility Day (3/31) – good call to note all the Christians who support trans individuals, which shouldn’t need to be mentioned, but sadly it does, pointed out by Sen. Raphael Warnock...this whole business is absurd and ridiculous of course, until we get to the anti-trans bill tracker – truly awful that this is where we’re at in this country, and the bar graph shows that this hateful garbage has really ramped up over the last two years...I don’t recall any passage of sacred Scripture saying that it’s OK to demonize people we don’t like or understand...and I’m a little surprised that Doel didn’t mention this, but he covered a lot of stuff that needed to be mentioned (and when Howie Kurtz is the voice of reason as noted here, you’re definitely “through the looking glass”...mildly NSFW/H)...



...and turning to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Repug U.S. House Rep Tim Walberg basically says we should nuke everything as we did in Hiroshima and Nagasaki...and I don’t buy Walberg’s ridiculous excuse that he meant it as a metaphor, or something...doesn’t sound to me like there’s much ambiguity in what he said to that audience (here)...



...oh, and I’m sure we’ll find out any day now that the WCK had some Hamas-supporting employees, so that automatically justifies this latest criminal slaughter (#sarcasm).

Update 4/4/24: Biden should tell "Bibi" to pound sand and use air quotes when describing Israel as our "ally" for this.

...and continuing with more idiocy from the “party of Lincoln,” John of The Damage Report informs us that some goofball state senator in Minnesota, Warren Limmer, sez that we need guns available all the time and should blow off a proposed safe storage gun law because of THE KILLER COWS!!! And yes, it’s hard to believe now I know, but John is right; the NRA used to be all about gun safety...



...and Jesse Dollemore lets us know that Kristen Welker of “Meet The Press” gave us a heaping helping of “deeply divided, both sides” BS a couple of days ago in response to the Gropenfuhrer’s legal antics...nice to take the paycheck and fundamentally FAIL TO DO YOUR DAMN JOB, HUH?...



...well, for an example of someone at The Peacock Network actually providing detailed commentary and analysis on what kind of ruin Dementia J. Trump could still wreak on this country if, God forbid, he’s returned to An Oval Office this fall, Chris Hayes tells us what happened the last time Our Treasonous Orange Pustule was allowed to enact his utterly ruinous tariffs and how those costs were passed onto consumers (and would be again)...



...and yesterday marked the 40th anniversary of the death of Marvin Gaye.

Monday Stuff

Sam and Emma of The Majority Report bring us the latest on the Gaza carnage Israel continues to inflict in response to the Hamas attack on October 7th (and Dem U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland quite rightly rips “Bibi” in response to the UNRWA charges...yeah, let’s cut funding based on the alleged actions of 14 people related to 10/7, considering that we’re talking about an organization of 13,000 people, as noted in the video...more here)...



Update: I'm loathe to automatically side with Syria and Iran, and I know we need to learn more about this...I pray it isn't an escalation, but I don't see any other conclusion right now.

...and Really American/Chip Franklin do a good job IMO on putting the whole “Biden tied up in the pickup truck” thing in the right insane Trumpian context, connecting the dots to Bannon, Mike Flynn, and all the treasonous lunatics behind 1/6/21...and everybody who justified Bronzer Beelzebub’s recent “bloodbath” comment should feel pretty damn stoo-pid right now...



...oh, and did you hear about the idiot Repug pol in Michigan (Matt Maddock) who thought illegal aliens on buses were being escorted by police, when in reality it was the Gonzaga college men’s basketball team (who ended up losing to Purdue)...just say “oops” and get out (here)...



...and when it comes to financial matters for the “party of Lincoln,” Farron Cousins tells us why they’re worse off that we knew, based on a report from The Daily Beast (great news)...



...and Leeja Miller takes a good, hard look at the potential impact of AI in our elections, as well as looking at what has already transpired around the world...interesting explanation about “Googlebombing” and Dubya in particular...also didn’t know about GANs...as usual, Miller does a great job IMO of outlining the issues at stake from bad actors abusing this technology, and she’s absolutely right about a national media literacy campaign (“DADDIE Saves The Day,” huh? Clever)...also, she’s spot-on about Ground News as far as I’m concerned...I know the "D" team is supposed to "take the high road," but I seriously hope we're getting onboard with this stuff since it will be continually used against us (NSFW/H)...



....and I have to admit that I had this newer tune in mind when it comes to the Gaza carnage (related to the first clip)...so much to do on that score to bring the pressure to bear on all sides to end the utter destruction.

Happy Easter 2024

I hope you all you all have a happy and blessed Easter. If you don't observe anything, may you have a happy and blessed long weekend (and that goes for Ramadan too).