Friday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us about “Cancun Cruz” begging for $$$, since he’s apparently getting outraised big time by Colin Allred and is having issues, let's say, according to an internal Repug poll...and by the way, Allred pretty much dog walked him in that recent debate...and oh yeah, Cruz goes on Sean Inanity’s program on that alleged “news” channel to grovel for dough, which, as Cousins says, is likely illegal...maybe the FCC can do something about it? (more here)...



...and yeah, I know The Lincoln Project is pretty much yesterday and today’s non-Trump Republicans, but including their clips is kind of an “enemy of my enemy is my friend” thing, and boy, are they ever spot-on about Our Ochre Abomination (and I’m glad they featured the lies from Cantaloupe Capone to put them in the context of the suffering of hurricane victims, which #45 will never care about of course...and oh yeah, let’s not forget Project 2025 also)...



...and this clip is a couple of days old I know, but I definitely think it’s important to keep in mind...Rachel Maddow tells us about considering a vote for Mango Mussolini and “business decisions”...yeah, if you’re serious about that and you’re trying to decide who to vote for, it’s pretty much a slam dunk for Kamala Harris as far as yours truly is concerned (unless of course “business decisions” is code for “OMIGOD I CAN’T IMAGINE VOTING FOR A BLACK WOMAN FOR PRESIDENT!!”...and when it comes to how good Our Sweaty Orange Bronzer Boy supposedly is for business, allow me to present this)...



...and Miss Beau gives us her analysis of Kamala Harris’s interview with Bret Baier, the “news person” on Fix Noise...a little surprised to hear her say that she doesn’t think the country is on the right track, unless she just misspoke (or unless she thinks Harris should be more progressive, which is fine with me)...



...and Desi Lydic and Grace Coolidge of The Daily Show give us a little more perspective on the Harris/Baier thing, as well as those absolutely priceless reactions from the Univision audience in response to the particularly stoo-pid lies from the Gropenfuhrer about the January 6th insurection...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report let us know that Our Orange Low Energy Boy is apparently looking to nap somewhere, and he’s also at the point where he’s spouting his BS on the Dan Bongino podcast, or whatever that is (and Harvey Weinstein got “schlonged”?? I agree with the observation that he caught himself from saying what he really wanted to say...and mentioning Eric Adams? Yep, more sympathy for actual or accused criminals, which isn’t surprising...more disgusting nonsense is here)...



...and I thought I’d let Tennessee Brando have the last word on the election for now, which will soon be upon us (when it comes to in-person voting...mail-in voting is well underway)...he focuses on the decline of our twice-impeached former *president, with our supposedly august corporate media FINALLY paying attention...yeah, Combover Caligula apparently just stood there dancing for 30-40 minutes at one of these rallies? Un-freaking-believable, even for him! And yeah, Oaks, PA is on the edge of Montgomery County on the way to Pennsyltucky, so I’m not surprised that some of our lower life forms gathered at that location to pledge fealty to Dear Leader...and once more, for the record, Biden stepping down was the right move – I think he genuinely has a health issue – but I will NEVER forgive our alleged media geniuses and the pundit class overall (to say nothing of cowardly Dem politicians) who basically shoved him aside over a single bad debate performance (and some food for thought IMO on that is here)...



...and on this day in 1979, The Buggles hit #1 in the UK with this tune (which was also the first video on that brand new cable channel called MTV, which led the way into all kinds of ‘80s weirdness as far as yours truly is concerned, along with other legitimately terrific stuff...actually, the Wikipedia article has the tune hitting the top UK spot the week of 10/20 - close enough for me).

Wednesday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore brings us the latest on Mango Mussolini threatening to sic the military on his political opponents in an interview with that shrieking harpie Maria Bartiromo, who engages in some typically disgusting demagoguery on her own to set up Bronzer Beelzebub for his “slam dunk” (and Bartiromo is too far gone to care about the clear and present danger posed by Our Ochre Abomination of course)...and even with Biden’s admitted diminished capacity, I would LOVE to watch Cantaloupe Capone try to go bike riding with “No Malarkey Joe,” assuming Our Treasonous Orange Man-Baby could keep his bulbous butt on the seat without sliding off (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and David Shuster tells us about Jessica Tarlov continuing to dish out some reality to those hyenas on “The Five” in the matter of President Biden supposedly not providing relief to states hit by Hurricanes Helene and Milton...I didn’t know that about the Gropenfuhrer just about totally denying relief funds to Roy Cooper of North Carolina, but that sure fits the profile...and “Tampon Tim”? Coming from “Diaper Boy”? Truly, it is to laugh (at Our Treasonous Orange Pustule, I mean)...



...and don’t look now, but Combover Caligula recently stranded individuals who decided to attend a recent Bund rally at Coachella in California, as Ben Meiselas of The Midas Touch Network tells us...and by the way, I’m waaay past the point of actually feeling sorry for these Trumpist life forms who get stranded after #45’s ridiculous hate-filled rallies of his...yeah, blame the mayor of Coachella; that’ll work (and kudos to actor Bryan Cranston for standing up)...



...and this “60 Minutes” segment profiles Al Schmidt, who is the current Secretary for the Commonwealth of PA. regarding the question of how secure voting is in PA (spoiler alert...EVERYTHING IS FREAKING FINE!!!)...I don’t know who this reporter is, but I think either her or her producer dropped the ball on this story; she didn’t even mention Act 77, which reformed mail-in voting in PA (more here) – Repugs supported it because they wanted to get rid of straight-ticket voting, and Dems agreed to that because it expanded mail-in voting...and by the way, Dems are trying to advance a bill in Harrisburg to allow for counting mail-in ballots prior to election day (here), but it probably won’t go anywhere because PA Repugs want their bogus voter ID requirements to be enshrined in PA law (and once again, voter ID is a “solution” in search of a problem... in case you think there ISN’T a purely political motivation behind voter ID in our beloved commonwealth, I would ask that you read this)...



...and RIP Lilly Ledbetter, whose fight for equal pay for equal work led to the paycheck fairness law that bears her name...

...and I have to admit that I went back and forth on this next item a bit, but I decided to include it, and please allow me to “go meta” again with this explanation (hope it’s not too boring).

When I started doing this forever ago, it wasn’t to show the world how allegedly brilliant my prose is. It was (then as now) to promote informed dialogue. If I thought that I could add some explanation to clear up any possible misunderstanding about an issue, I thought I had a right to add it, and I still feel that way. And one of those issues has to do (a bit tangentially I guess) with the incident pictured above, which took place on this day in 1968 (and which led to this idiocy from Brent Musberger, and as far as I know, Musberger has never apologized for it).

To me, there is a direct line between the 1968 Olympic protest of John Carlos and Tommie Smith and that of Colin Kaepernick, taking a knee during the anthem as he did because of police violence which overwhelmingly impacts African Americans (and no, he wasn’t disrespecting our military). The latest example of this is this madness around the police stop of Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins (and not for nothing, but if anyone thinks the NFL didn’t collude to keep out Kaepernick for his protest, then you must live in a magical land of cotton candy, elves and unicorns; I’ve seen so much mediocrity in the allegedly wonderful NFL that I find it impossible to believe that Kaepernick could not have gotten a job as a backup quarterback AT LEAST for SOMEBODY).

(By the way, if you want, you can consider this a bit of a “make up” for the fact that I pretty much ignore Black History Month in February, largely because I think people of all nationalities, ethnicities and gender preferences should be celebrated all the freaking time and not just for a single month. And no, I'm also not saying you have the right to argue with cops when they tell you to do something...I'm just looking for good judgment and common sense on the part of everyone.)

Feel free to disagree of course, on this item as well as anything else (which comes with the territory when you put your opinion out there like this I know), but I think this needed to be said (and I think this tune fits for this topic also).



Update 1: And no sooner did I put this out there when this appears (h/t Eschaton), which reinforces the need for Smith/Carlos/Kaepernick’s protests as far as yours truly is concerned.

Update 2: More food for thought on this topic is here.

Tuesday Stuff

Emma Vigeland of The Majority Report tells us about Bronzer Beelzebub calling into the program of the also-thoroughly-odious Hugh Hewitt, with 45 slobbering over potential new real estate in Gaza...yeah, let’s just build skyscrapers on top of the bodies of dead Palestinians, including kids – what a plan!...and you can indeed argue that the ongoing genocide in that region is built on the model we used against the Native Americans, and other countries used against other indigenous populations, to be fair.

(And by the way, please allow me to articulate the following once more...yes, we should do all we can to bring home any hostages from Hamas’s beyond-cowardly 10/7/23 attacks that can still be rescued and provide a decent burial for those who have perished, and the vile Hamas cretins responsible should be brought to justice and tried in an international court...and THEN we need to step up and lead talks with EVERYONE in the region including Palestinians – spare me this “Abraham Accords” business! – about ending those damn West Bank settlements, rebuilding Gaza and sharing land between Israel and the Palestinians in as non-punitive a way as possible for all sides. Oh, and I wouldn’t mind seeing “Bibi” facing charges of crimes against humanity either.)

With that admittedly boring pretext out of the way, here's the Majority Report segment (NSFW/H)...



...and in response to the Gropenfuhrer’s disparaging comments about Detroit, the Harris/Walz campaign released the following ad, which is spot-on (as usual for the campaign...and yeah, I know I’m biased a bit...and by the way, the MLB club ended up doing pretty well this year also)...



...and playing off that, Tim Walz brings some of his typical energy to these remarks about manufacturing jobs lost under Cantaloupe Capone (and oh yeah, ask the Carrier employees in Indiana about how well 45 “protected their jobs”...he actually did for some, but most of the jobs went offshore, and the remaining employees had to work 8-10 hours a day, 7 days a week...here)...



...and most of our corporate media is definitely waaay too goddamn slow when it comes to “getting the memo” about Our Ochre Abomination, but not Chris Hayes, quite rightly calling what’s taking place a “slow motion insurrection”...yeah, Couch Boy has made it pretty clear that he’ll do the bidding of The Gropenfuhrer without question, as he does in that New York Times interview...also, it seems that 97 election-related lawsuits have been filed by #45 and his allies, to “seed the ground” (as Hayes aptly puts it) to challenge the upcoming vote...Hayes speaks with USC law professor Franita Tolson along with Ian Bassin of the group Protect Democracy, and I know the Stephanopoulos segment with “MAGA Mike” Johnson is a repeat, but I think it’s still timely...and boy, is Bassin ever right to call out our “fourth estate” when it comes to the danger posed by Our Demented Orange Toddler...



...and when it comes to journalists who didn’t put up with any BS (as opposed to the individuals now who make “access” to newsmakers their highest priority as opposed to educating and informing their audience...and gee, who might I be referring to? It’s on the tip of my tongue), a true role model as far as yours truly is concerned was Donald Barlett, who just left us (one example is here)...I thought this clip contained some interesting insights into the New York Times (which isn’t surprising as far as I’m concerned) and the issues that corporate America wants reporters to cover and which ones it wants reporters to leave alone...by the way, the Center for Immigration Studies is a wingnut outfit; I have to admit that I’m surprised that they produced this clip...



...and I don’t see any local area stops for this band on their tour schedule (unless they dropped by already), but if I find one or more, I’ll update that here...like the sound of this newer tune.

Monday Stuff

(This pic was from 3/13/20, lest we forget...and I would ask that you take a minute or two to contemplate the COVID-related horrors that we would face after that date.)

Jesse Dollemore discusses the latest demented musings from Our Ochre Abomination, which leads into a discussion about Bronzer Beelzebub’s utter fumbling of the COVID outbreak, as long as #45 decided that he would make jokes about the Biden circles (which, as Jesse explains, were something Biden instituted because he gave a damn about keeping people safe during a global pandemic, unlike Our Treasonous Low Energy Orange Man-Baby)...



...and as long as we’re mentioning COVID, I think it’s apropos to bring back this clip from nearly four and a half years ago...



...and apologies for being a week late with this clip of George Stephanopoulos questioning “MAGA Mike” Johnson on whether or not Trump lost the presidential election four years ago, and of course Johnson (who led the U.S. House effort to undermine the vote in 2020 for his boss as noted here) refuses to answer the question, as David Shuster tells us...and gee, Uday Jr., don’t you mean the “Democrat Party”? Or, as Joe McCarthy once said, “always emphasize the ‘rat’”? (removing my tongue from my cheek)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen (speaking with attorney Marc Elias) tells us that it looks like the SCOTUS has shown a sliver of a conscience by denying a suit by PA Repugs on behalf of the bogus Independent State Legislature theory (more here)...if God forbid that were ever enacted, it would lead to unregulated gerrymandering and election subversion...and I cannot possible see how this WOULDN’T lead to MAGA mania in the majority of our state legislatures, any of them run by Repugs anyway...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 10/14/19...I believe it was Crooks and Liars who unearthed this clip back then from the 1961 movie “Judgement at Nuremberg” based on the Nazi trials after World War II, with Burt Lancaster as Ernst Janning, one of the 4 judges on trial – in case anybody wonders where MAGA mania would take this country if unchecked, I think this gives you a pretty gut-churning indication (or something hideously like it anyway)...



...and today marks the 30th anniversary of the U.S. release of "Pulp Fiction," with this number kicking off the opening credits.

Sunday Stuff

John and Francesca of the Damage Report bring us this nonsense with Jesse Watters and some Trumpist lackey (Jason Miller I think) telling us that they believe that there’s something up with Dem VP candidate Tim Walz, and that is superimposed with this utterly cringe video of Xitter King Elon pretty much acting like a cranked-out fool at another one of these hate-filled rallies for Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence...I think “unsalvageably uncool” is pretty on the mark...



...and Jesse Dollemore lets us know that Gen. Mark Milley warned Bob Woodward that Bronzer Beelzebub is the “most dangerous person to this country,” also reported in the previously mentioned upcoming book by Woodward (and again, I guess we have to wait until books are written for these revelations instead of reporting them in real time)...and as far as I’m concerned, this clip provides yet more evidence that Merrick Garland is totally overmatched by the job of Attorney General (NSFW/H)...



...and don’t look now, but guv Ron #DeathSantis of Flori-DUUH! is threatening not to air an ad for that state’s pro-choice ballot measure, with the FCC reminding that gubernatorial asshat that, no, you can’t act like a tin pot dictator in this country without repercussions...



...oh, and here's a reminder that our wet noodle PA-01 U.S. House rep wants to deny women their bodily autonomy also...

Brian Fitzpatrick cares more about his MAGA buddies in Washington than for the people of PA-01.

We can't let him get away with trying to strip us of our reproductive freedoms.

One month until Election Day! pic.twitter.com/9mlcPpWd9h

— Ashley Ehasz (@ashley_ehasz) October 5, 2024

...and it would be nice if Bri-Fi could get asked about that in a candidates debate, but noooo...it looks like he’s bailing on that as noted here...and as far as I’m concerned, that means that it’s a good excuse to play this clip once more (and to help Bri-Fi's Dem challenger Ashley Ehasz, click here)...



...and happy 80th birthday to keyboardist Robert Lamm of Chicago.