Friday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore informs us of “15 Votes for Speaker” Kevin McCarthy coming just short of naming Big Stupid Head Matt Gaetz as the reason for McCarthy’s ouster from the speaker role...see, Gaetz supposedly wanted McCarthy to get rid of an ethics investigation into the (alleged) matter of Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old...the “family values” party strikes again...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that some wingnut group called Border911 recently allowed Combover Caligula to speak, but they may have broken campaign finance law in the process...see, this group, because of their tax status, can’t do the whole political advocacy thing, but if you invite Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence to speak, how can that NOT be political?

...oh, and apparently, #45 will be in the vicinity of Le Manse Doomsy this weekend, but @RepBrianFitz is getting cold feet about paying homage to the leader of his party (here)...you can run but you can't hide, Bri-Fi - makes me recall this golden oldie...



...and continuing on the subject of our twice-impeached former *preznit, Rachel Maddow tells us about this pretty shady bank that rode to the rescue of Our Ochre Abomination when he ran into financial woes after his abortive reign in An Oval Office mercifully came to an end (Axos Bank, huh?)...and of course, the car loan financial predator who bailed out Dementia J. Trump is this Don Hankey guy, he of the utterly usurious rates for loans charged to individuals and businesses alike (these people doing favors for the Gropenfuhrer obviously haven’t learned the lesson that Everything That Trump Touches Dies, according to Rick Wilson)...



...and Thom Hartmann tells us about some wingnut Astroturf outfit called the Foundation for Government Accountability that is trying to kill the efforts to pass UBI in the states (video lags a bit apparently...yep, the typical one percent bastards are behind the efforts to screw us over yet again...source article is here)...



...and when it comes to the election, David Pakman tells us that Nicole Shanahan, the veep on the ticket with RFK Jr. as the prez candidate, has apparently gone incognito since she was named as junior’s running mate, which is yet another weird development in a totally off-the-wall campaign (good info on Jr. being less of a drag on Biden than he was a few months ago...need to keep that trend going in the right direction)...



...and John and Sharon Reed of The Damage Report inform us that dirty tricksters Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman got what they deserve for racist ’20 robocalls, having to pay up to the tune of $1.25 million...



...and we need to do all we can to make sure a certain Treasonous Insurrectionist doesn’t get anywhere near his old job again...God willing we’ll do that, but in that event, I guess he’ll need another scammy grifting outfit again to fall back on – with that in mind, The Daily Show gives us a glimpse of what “Trump Elementary” would look like...



...and in case you want to feel old for some reason, allow me point out that today is the 70th anniversary of the recording of this song.

Thursday Stuff

Robert Reich gives us examples of “greedflation,” namely concerning Coke and Pepsi, though corporate consolidation and price fixing affects just about every area of our lives as noted here (and with that in mind, kudos to Dem U.S. Senator Bob Casey of our beloved commonwealth of PA for this – to reward good behavior, click here...and yes, I know about this - I'm more concerned about trends than "sky is falling" hysteria given one news report)...



Update: More here.

...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report bring us a clip of Jon Stewart of The Daily Show interviewing Lina Khan, chair of Biden’s FTC, about Apple and AI consolidation (background on the lawsuit against Apple is here – maybe “No Malarkey Joe” isn’t giving us lefties everything on our wish list, but give him credit for the good work he’s doing, going against rapacious corporate bad actors of the “one percent”)...



...and turning once more to Arizona and the recent abortion-related atrocity, Chris Hayes gives us a pretty thorough rehashing of Tangerine Palpatine’s flip-flopping on this issue as well as a comprehensive look at all the ways Republicans, at every level of government, can strip women of their bodily autonomy...just up to us to redouble our efforts to punish these troglodytes where we can in the November elections...



...and this TYT clip covers a lot of the same ground, but it does manage to bring some more detail, in particular about the 1864 decision basically outlawing abortion that was concocted before Arizona was even a state...I think Ana’s presentation is spot-on, and Cenk is right that the policy is the issue, though I’m a little baffled as to why he’s treating that state’s Philistines in black robes with kid gloves the way he is...Cenk may be right that Biden is a winner out of this, but hopefully Ruben Gallego is too...I’m not sure where Ana is coming from with the “Joe Biden performing poorly in swing states” stuff – yeah, he has work to do, but I’d still rather be where he is than Bronzer Beelzebub...and of course, it wouldn’t be TYT without a pointless slam at “corporate Democrats”...there’s a time and a place for that, but NOT on this issue...



Update 4/12/24: Yeah, I would agree with this.

...and I should probably pay a little more attention to Jeff Waldorf than I have previously, particularly given this clip where he discusses the Biden EPA trying to limit “forever” PFAS chemicals in our drinking water...and I know you’ll be absolutely shocked (well, not really I guess) to find out that the EPA under Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence tried to rig it so companies wouldn’t have to report levels of PFAS chemicals, even under the Biden Administration (since some of these nematodes from #45 had burrowed their way into government jobs and could still do their dirty work, apparently...and it looks like the Trumpist culprits here are Mark Hartman and Nancy Beck)...



Update 4/21/24: More here.

...and David Pakman interviews Adrienne Shropshire, Executive Director of BlackPAC, a left-leaning political action committee focused on mobilizing and engaging with African American voters (refuting this “Oh boy, African Americans are gravitating towards Trump” BS...yes, some will vote for him of course, but the data points don’t back that up the claim of some kind of Trumpist wave as of now, and hopefully it will stay that way...we’ll see if the “independent” thing turns into a trend...I’m glad the video gets to the “nuts and bolts” of what Biden has done as president for African Americans vs. his ruinous predecessor, but GOD FREAKING ALMIGHTY, ARE THE DEMS EVER GOING TO GET THEIR DAMN ACT TOGETHER ON MESSAGING THE GOOD STUFF THEY’VE DONE, INCLUDING #46??!!)



...and maybe I shouldn’t include this clip right after the Pakman interview, but I guess this is as good a place as any...what a shame that O.J. Simpson never found the “real killer” (#sarcasm again) of former wife Nicole Brown and her boyfriend Ron Goldman...I could probably do a whole post on the legal circus surrounding Simpson’s criminal trial, as well as the pop culture references surrounding the running back, TV pitchman and actor of sorts, but let me just say this...I won’t mention my employer at the time the criminal trial verdict was handed down, but I’ll simply say that two of my white female co-workers told me they needed to see me in a conference room right away, and of course, being particularly clueless, I had no idea of what was going on...when I got there and closed the door, they told me they were boiling with rage over the verdict but believed they couldn’t say anything in our shared cubicle space because, if an African American co-worker overheard, the two women believed their co-worker(s) would have ratted them out to HR and they couldn’t take the chance...not trying to attack women or African Americans, but I’m just talking about a slice of reality in corporate America...



...and as a bit of a “tribute” to the guy who was found to be liable in the civil trial brought by the Goldman family, I’m including this song which alludes to a truly infamous courtroom moment in the Simpson criminal trial.

Wednesday Stuff

Lawrence O’Donnell put together a nice segment IMO on Our Ochre Abomination and his former support for abortion, though of course now he’s singing the typical wingnut tune on this issue, as it were, and the Biden campaign responded with what I believe is a terrific ad in response...”it was always about politics” indeed – more here and here...



...and keeping with that theme, Farron Cousins gives us this clip of Dementia J. Trump claiming that Democrats want to kill babies after they’re born, which is yet another disgusting Trumpian lie (and Cousins’ outrage here is commendable)...



Update 4/12/24: More here.

...and The Lincoln Project reminds us just how ruthless an authoritarian Mango Mussolini truly is, in the matter of threats to judges and their families presiding over his civil and criminal trials...#45 is running to STAY OUT OF PRISON ’24, and he has no other damn core beliefs or convictions about ANYTHING except that...



...and Kyle Kulinski discusses Chef Jose Andres’ interview with Martha Raddatz of ABC News in which Andres claimed that the WCK chefs who were killed by the IDF were targeted...”this is no longer a war about defending Israel – this is war against humanity itself” indeed (NSFW/H)...



...and I now give you the latest installment of This Day In Doomsy History from 4/10/14...I know I haven’t said anything about climate change for a little while, which is the most important story out there IMO, and this gives me an excuse to work that in...Dem California U.S. House Rep Jared Huffman put together this mashup with words from reps associated with the “party of Lincoln,” most of whom have since departed that body, including Moon Unit Bachmann, Goober Gohmert and Steve (“Calves The Size of Cantaloupes”) King, alleging that they want to do something about the climate crisis (kind of an alternate reality take, I realize, but hey, the other side is good at making it look like the “D” team said stuff they didn’t really say as noted here, so I think it’s high time we returned the favor...more here)...



...and RIP drummer Gerry Conway, who played with Fairport Convention, Jethro Tull and Cat Stevens – a pretty impressive trio there, I would say.

Tuesday Stuff

I’m trying to be careful with TYT videos, but I think this is a good one from Ana and Cenk about a gay and trans advocacy group running ads on conservative TV telling people pretty much to just LEAVE THEM THE HELL ALONE AND LET THEM LIVE THEIR FREAKING LIVES!!! And I’ll acknowledge Cenk’s point about not being too confrontational and trying to patiently and persuasively win over the wingnuts on this and other issues of course (if possible), but bringing up the “birthing person” stuff again was ridiculous (and Ana is the one who got all of that started, so she doesn’t get a pass here as far as I’m concerned).

(And for anybody out there still freaked out about “oh, a gay or a trannie might use MY bathroom”...maybe 1 or 2 people I guess...I have news for you: they probably already have and you just didn’t know it! And by the way, it pains me to say this, truly, but when it comes to stories like this, i genuinely have issues with the people in charge of my faith)...

via GIPHY

...and Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins tell us that Flori-DUUH! just passed a law against mandatory water breaks for outdoor workers...and yeah, as they note in the clip, I think this is all about trying to outdo Texas in wingnuttery...yeah, who cares if we lose a few people from heat exhaustion and dehydration – they would just vote “Democrat” anyway (#sarcasm)...



...and Jesse Dollemore informs us of the insanely racist town of Newbern, Alabama, which hasn’t had an election in about 60 years...but gosh, I thought that, according to “balls and strikes” SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts, we were done with racism, or something (removing my tongue from my cheek, and by the way, I’m not completely sold on reparations, though maybe I need to “evolve” on that...mildly NSFW/H)...



...and here’s another entry to refute the utterly BS claim that “oh, both major political parties are the same”...yes, I have issues with Team “D” at times, but at least our side respects the will of constituents...as far as the “party of Lincoln” is concerned, though – well, in VA, Repug guv Glenn Trumpkin vetoed a bunch of bills, including pot legalization and raising the state’s minimum wage, which were supported by the residents of that commonwealth...John and Francesca tell us about it...



...and this clip from More Perfect Union brings us the story of construction transforming Haywood Country, Tennessee, the city of Stanton in particular...it has to do with something called the Blue Oval City project, which is a Ford auto megaplant to build EV cars and trucks...”this is what it looks like when policy turns into concrete,” indeed, thanks to Biden and the Inflation Reduction Act (and for a wholly other extreme, I give you this)...



...and RIP counterculture activist John Sinclair, who was busted over a pot charge and was immortalized in song by John Lennon with the following tune.

Monday Stuff

It looks like “Bidenomics” gave us more good job numbers and a lower unemployment rate for March, along with success beating back inflation, as The Lincoln Project reminds us (slightly NSFW/H at end)...



...and Beau informs us that “No Labels” will have No Candidates this year, at least for preznit, which is a good thing...as usual, Beau is spot-on about third parties; awhile back, Davey and Chucky Koch tried the third-party path for Davey’s vice presidential campaign, but that didn’t go anywhere, so they basically decided to take over the Repug Party instead...



...and when it comes to #45, Farron Cousins lets us know that Newsmax viewers recently freaked out over a story critical of Our Treasonous Orange Pustule (and oh yeah, blame a “low level staffer”...what a bunch of freakin’ babies!)...



...and Mike Figueredo lets us know that progressive Dem members of Congress are in danger of losing to AIPAC-backed opponents...looks pretty bad for Cori Bush and possibly Jamaal Bowman, unfortunately, and things could go south for Ilhan Omar and Summer Lee too, but we’ll see...as usual, we all need to do what we can to prevent that...definitely need to shine more light on the thoroughly execrable Jeff Yass also; the fact that Yass is a “Bibi” ally is bad enough, but leveraging that to influence our elections is repugnant on a pretty cosmic scale...and yeah, typical lying BS for Bhavini Patel to blame Summer Lee for not voting for Biden’s infrastructure bill when Lee couldn’t have done that because SHE WASN’T EVEN IN CONGRESS YET, as Figueredo tells us, though I don't agree with his “take” that members of “the squad” should run third party if they lose their primaries, because we can’t take the slightest chance of dividing the party enough to let an “R” party candidate actually win, and I'm saying this with Beau's video in mind...yes, our political system is screwed up, but we have to work with it for now, exasperating as that is (NSFW/H)...



...and I thought this was a good CBS News story about all the “Rosie The Riveter” women who played a big role in the World War II effort; looks like they’ll be getting their long-overdue recognition this Wednesday as noted here...



...and I’m not sure what tune is appropriate for a solar eclipse, but I suppose this one will suffice (and in a related story, I’m also not sure if there’s a bigger political absurdity at this moment than Sarah Huckabilly Sanders for this...just don't look up at the damn sky, OK??!!).