Wednesday Stuff

This is your periodic reminder that our PA-01 U.S. House Rep Brian Fitzpatrick won’t come out of hiding and debate his Democratic challenger Bob Harvie running in this fall’s election.

Just to briefly go “meta,” I’ll point out that I try to include videos here about issues that affect people’s lives, though sometimes I know I get caught up in the political circus, you might say...however, this clip from Rachel Maddow falls into a whole other category as far as I’m concerned...she discusses the Gropenfuhrer dishonoring those who helped us in wartime by deporting these brave individuals to the Central African Republic (people who were promised that they could come to this country, but have now been deported to where a civil war is ongoing and naturalized citizens of this country are told to stay away from...we tell anybody going there to have a DNA sample on file so they can be identified after they’re dead, as we learn)...oh, and those deported to that awful place may end up going back to the countries from which we took them, which could likely be a death sentence – basically, if our military needs to rely on intelligence from folks on the ground in the future, the locals will never trust us again because we didn’t keep our word...kudos to Marine Col. Zachary Schmidt for standing up and doing the right thing here...and oh yeah, we’re also doing this to Iranians who helped us (and letting the Iranian government “hand pick” the people they want sent back, even though we’re bombing the crap out of their country, which is a whole other atrocity we’re committing for Israel)...hard to contain my rage towards our disgusting ruling regime over this to tell you the truth...



...and speaking of deportations, “Logical Leftist” Jeff Waldorf informs us that ICE recently deported MAGA troll Milo Yiannopoulos, who cheered in mass deportations – I realize I’m probably a little late on this... would be apropos if he were shipped off to CECOT or the Central African Republic (such a benign sounding name for a place of horrors), but sending him back to the U.K. will do for now I guess...not surprised that Loopy Laura Loomer was one of the first people to do the “happy dance” over this...



...and turning from shameful cowardice by our vile ruling regime in the first video to merely idiocy on the part of those who share the same party affiliation, David Doel (definitely not him) informs us that it looks like Darline Graham (running for her dead brother’s U.S. Senate seat) stepped on the metaphorical rake again, saying her parents never had any of that dadgum “big gumint” health care, I reckon...typical for this provincial nitwit to say her Dem opponent Dr. Annie Andrews backs abortion up until birth, which ISN’T A THING BECAUSE IT’S FREAKING MURDER...good point that Graham should be forced to reject her government-provided health care if she ends up elected to the U.S. Senate (I’m sure Andrews is excellent and God bless her, but I’m tired of trying to advocate for common sense and watching life forms who obviously don’t know better continue to press the “R” button on election day)...and yes, medical debt is indeed the number one source of bankruptcy in this country (and the Big Beautiful Clusterf*ck has made the problem of trying to obtain a bare minimum of coverage MUCH worse)..NSFW/H...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen brings us another demented tweet from Combover Caligula, saying that if you don’t want a data center, then you’re “backwards and poor” according to Don The Con...sooo, as Cohen says, if you oppose jacked-up utility rates, loss of water and a constant hum 24 hours a day, particularly when trying to sleep, then you dig Uncle Ho (you can Google him) and Chairman Mao or something??? And I can’t believe I’m turning to “Kristol Mess” as the voice of reason on this, but when you’re right, you’re right...

...according to the chart Cohen presents, I think it’s pretty damn conclusive that nobody wants these damn data centers in their backyard...and oh, along comes “Couch Boy” to parrot whatever nonsense his boss comes up with, and that goes for Trumpist Jon Husted also (and Fix Noise is unintentionally hilarious...”Mamdani’s Socialist Agenda”...OOOGA BOOGA!! SCARY MUSLIM SCARY MUSLIM SCARY MUSLIM SCARY MUSLIM SCARY MUSLIM!!!!)...and when it comes to this supposed 17-year campaign starting under Obama to raise energy prices (nonsense spouted by Trumpist DOE Secretary Chris Wright), I give you this.

Here's the BTC clip...



...and I really don’t have common cause with departing Repug U.S. House Rep Thomas Massie on much of anything (I recall when he tried to own former Secretary of State John Kerry and got his lunch handed to him), but I have to give him credit for this – makes me recall this clip from The Onion...



...and we’re in the “dog days” of summer for sure – please be careful with the heat.

Tuesday Stuff

David Pakman tells us that Our Ochre Abomination wants potential Repug voters to “pretend I’m on the ballot” in November – WORKS FOR ME!!...I can’t imagine what kind of a mental defective you have to be to ONLY vote if Combover Caligula is running (which he can’t now), but we know there are millions of life forms that fall into that category...also, I’d forgotten about that beyond ridiculous mid-term convention the “party of Lincoln” is planning for Dallas in a couple of weeks – you know what? They should go for it and keep reminding everybody how entitled and out of touch they really are...Pakman is right that the strategy that makes sense is to “localize” everything – of course, that also brings up the question to me of “why the $#@! haven’t you idiots actually addressed our problems” (directed towards the party in power), but that’s just me I guess.

And of course, when Pakman talks about vulnerable Repugs, that includes this guy...



...and this report from CBC News tells us that those stinking tariffs could put Canadian liquor producers “on ice,” including one company part owned by Dan Aykroyd...as one producer notes, a 50 percent tariff basically reduces its profit to zero...we learn that more bottles of Crown Royal are sold in Texas than all of Canada, which isn’t surprising to yours truly (I’d be drinking heavily also if, God forbid, I resided in the Lone Star State)...



...and when it comes to our cattle ranchers, it looks like this scheme to import beef from God knows where is backfiring (big surprise – not!), with ranchers claiming that beef prices aren’t the biggest issue; the big problem is the price of fuel that gets passed down to consumers (I would also say a big problem is voters in farm country casting their ballots for Repugs, but that’s another matter I know)...Cantaloupe Capone's decision to import “mystery meat” is basically stabbing our cattle ranchers in the back...this also encourages looking at other nutrition options besides beef, which, for the consumer, isn’t a bad idea I believe, though I don’t think we should tell our ranchers to kick rocks, despite what were likely some wrong-headed votes by those people...the rancher interviewed is probably spot-on about Brazilian meat packer JBS calling the shots (and apparently, our dairy industry is also getting hammered since they feel the effects of all this trade madness as well)...



...and while we rightly pay tribute to Dolly Parton and her legacy of giving selflessly, Belle reminds us about the “R” team cutting funds for Parton’s book program, where free books were sent to kids under 5, particularly in Indiana and Missouri (more here)...



...and I thought this was another catchy little number from Jesse Welles...



...and I’m still deciding how much I actually like this newer tune...I wouldn’t recommend dancing like this around 12th and Norris and a lot of other spots in Philly, and probably a lot of spots in NJ as well.

Monday Stuff

Jesse Dollemore informs us that Repugs are abandoning Don The Con as they seek re-election...color me (not) shocked, but it looks like the sheeple in the Repug rank and file are FINALLY realizing just how much they’ve been played by Our Treasonous Orange Pustule...glad the men in Iowa and Texas came around, but it definitely should not have taken this utter mess to get them to vote for their self-interest (or act like they will) instead of “oh, we have to keep the gays and the trannies out of women’s sports” (which basically isn’t a thing) and “we have to make sure kids don’t get bottom surgery to change their gender” (which DEFINITELY isn’t a thing); I know there are other dog whistles out there, but I’m not going to acknowledge them because there’s no point...Jesse is spot-on in saying that elections are won and lost by independents; I wish it were by the “D” team, but that’s just the reality...he’s also right that the “party of Lincoln” knows these godawful polling numbers for sure (NSFW/H)...



...and speaking of polling, Kyle Kulinski lets us know that voters were asked about our support of Israel (is “Bibi” and his awful regime committing a genocide, should the U.S. sanction Israel, and the numbers are as bad as you’d expect...and yes, I know Dems, for the most part, were polled, so these results aren’t that surprising)...I’ll be honest; there are times I could do without some of Kyle’s hyperbole (that’s what I think it is anyway), but when it comes to Hakeem Jeffries, I’m there for all of it...I’m afraid Kyle is also right about the act we’re going to get from these centrist Dems about “oh, Netanyahu has to be reined in”...yeah, he’s PART of the problem, but it’s MUCH BIGGER than that (and I have a problem when I see Christian priests and nuns knocked down and spat upon by West Bank settlers)...NSFW/H again...



...and this Majority Report clip features NY Repug Mike Lawler bragging about kicking people off healthcare...oh, Lawler’s party “strengthened” Medicaid by – all together now – “rooting out waste, fraud and abuse”...also, as far as that nematode Jesse Watters is concerned, I realize, being a millionaire TV pundit, he doesn’t give a damn about the debt incurred by doctors, but I’m sure they’re comped to some degree by pharma companies to help pay that off in order to push certain meds (and no, that shouldn’t be happening, and I’m not trying to criticize doctors, just acknowledging the “through the looking glass” health care system in this country)...also, the “employer pays for health care” model is a dinosaur from post-World War II that we’re leaving behind, which on balance may be a good thing (but not if there’s no reliable substitute)...not familiar with the “functional unemployment” issue; I’ll have to look into that...to be honest, I get a little fed up with these people at TMR and their lazy takes at times; Lord knows I have issues with the national Dems, but the ONE THING I’ll give them credit for is that they’re pretty consistent about wanting to restore ACA credits and Medicare (acknowledged somewhat by Matt Lech...I’d like to see M4A also, but whining about it won’t get anything done)...I also believed it was proved awhile back that the “Somali Medicare fraud in Minnesota” thing was utter BS, which, again, is rich coming from the political party behind this.

Oh, and here are a couple of other notes:

Anyone here illegally is unable to get SNAP or Medicaid as noted here (Lawler’s first lie).

Also, 10 million people may lose Medicaid coverage because of work requirements as noted here (oh, and the requirements are due to go into effect next January, when the elections will be over – how con-vee-nient)...

On top of that, I realize jackals like Lawler don’t care if people have medical conditions that don’t allow them to “work, volunteer or go to school” (here).

Here is the clip (also NSFW/H)...



...and I know the ICE shooting in Biddeford, Maine is behind the news cycle a bit, but I still think the fallout matters, and John Iadarola at Demcoracy Watch tells us about it...apparently there are protests also aimed at “Disappointed” Susan Collins over it as well (about freaking time)...definitely like John’s sarcasm aimed at Collins as “the woman that trusted Brett Kavanaugh”...good also for John to remind everyone that Collins voted to give ICE $38 billion, with a “b”...on a somewhat related matter, I guess we’ll see actual charges filed against Graham Platner (over the admittedly bad allegations that forced him to drop out) at around the same time that we’ll see proof of life from “Weekend at Bernie’s” McConnell...more ICE garbage is here...

...and it looks like our northern neighbors are continuing to stand up to that lumpy orange sack of trans fats, prejudice and idiocy...



...and RIP boomer-era one-hit wonder and TV star Shelley Fabares.

Friday Stuff

This is your occasional reminder that our PA-01 Repug U.S. House Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick still refuses to stick his head out of the sand and agree to debate Dem challenger Bob Harvie.

To begin, John and David Shuster bring us more nonsense from Big Hair Blackburn in Tennessee; it seems that she wants to hold onto her U.S. Senate seat until she likely wins the governor’s election (love to be wrong, but I’m probably not), so SHE gets to name her replacement, not the current Repug governor Bill Lee...a truly cosmic level of entitlement here...I mean, at least in Kentucky (where “Weekend at Bernie’s” McConnell allegedly still resides in this dimension), Gov. Andy Beshear is a Dem, so there’s at least SOME twisted logic going on with that, but Blackburn’s stunt turns the corruption meter to 11, you might say...and oh yeah, another actual, for-real election notwithstanding this nonsense would be 2030...I didn’t realize the Trumpian level of extortion going on here from Mad Marsha, but kudos to Shuster for pointing that out...



...and I thought this was an interesting report from CBS News and Aaron MacLean about why the Army is apparently turning its back on drone warfare...reading between the lines a bit, I think we got our heads metaphorically handed to us on this by Ukraine when we participated in exercises with that nation, so our “Department of WOOOAAARRR” decided, in a fit of pique, to overturn the checkboard in a huff, pick up its toys and go home...not sure how this snuck by Bari Weiss because you can be sure she would have made this sound as flattering to our ruling regime as possible...



...and Robert Reich gives us more details on the reason for high electricity bills (and it’s not just data centers)...private utility companies apparently have to rely on venture capital to build up their infrastructure – I’m old enough to remember that governmental budgets would take care of stuff like this instead of these financial vultures trying to pick us apart...utilities are supposed to submit to tight regulation to keep from price gouging, with rates set by a public utility commission (good luck with that I know)...private utilities demanded a total of $31 billion in rate increases in ’25...good idea to have a federal law banning public utilities from using ratepayer dough for political activities (again, good luck with that – not surprised to hear that we HAD a law against that that was repealed under Dubya)...another good reason here to have utility commissioners appointed rather than elected (should be the other way around I know) because of corruption to curry political favors for those running for these positions...good idea to cap utility profits and ban them from using customer dough for political activities again... as we learn, a bill tied to this in Connecticut has saved customers about $10 million...more on the Lowering Utility Bills Act is here...



...and Belle tells us more about Cantaloupe Capone threatening to tear down the Kennedy Center (and don’t expect to hear a peep out of Bri-Fi on THAT either...I know I had a reference to this in that Lawrence O’Donnell clip yesterday)...you know what my answer is? GOOD. DISPLAY TO THE WHOLE FREAKING WORLD WHAT A MENTAL PATIENT THIS GUY TRULY IS!!! And oh...now this lunatic thinks he’s an architect who can determine when a building is “structurally unsound”? Is that what I’m hearing now?...On top of that, I hadn’t paid much attention to Don The Con trying to slap his name on that carrier and ban the Navy from naming it after the more deserving African American service member (here), not because it isn’t outrageous also, but only because I have only so much time and so many hours in the day to opine on this stuff... I think commenting on all of this madness is dragging Belle down a bit – it would for me anyway – but good for her to keep going (and she doesn’t hold back at the end, nor should she)...



...and Steve Harness of Really American tells us more on Bronzer Beelzebub hated on in plenty of places here and around the world, including a sculpture of him in a trash bin in Ireland (he’s scheduled to fly there for another damn golf outing on September 12)... that piece of art from Iran looks like that Nirvana album cover, though I’m sure they could care less about copyright infringement...and with all due respect to the good people in Iowa, you made your Trumpist bed (and you’ve voted for awful Republicans for years), so go lie in it...and a negative approval rating in 47 out of 50 states for Cheetoh Hitler? It’s not like people weren’t warned (surprised by 3 that are actually positive; can’t imagine what drugs they’re taking...briefly NSFW/H)...

...and I haven’t included a clip from The Lincoln Project for a little while, but I thought this was pretty spot-on; we’re living with the awful reality I know and don’t need much of a reminder, but I still think the reminders are important from time to time...



...and RIP Tim Curry – I realize this clip is about both Curry and Eddie Murphy, which is fine (I just was never into “Rocky Horror,” but I thought Curry was great in the “Muppet Treasure Island” flick – just a matter of preference I know...I also saw him in an arty movie called "The Ploughman's Lunch" years ago, which was different to say the least)...



...and RIP also Janie Bradford, who was also a co-writer on Motown’s first hit by Barrett Strong, covered by The Beatles, among others.

Thursday Stuff

John and Aida Rodriguez tell us that Fix Noise is apparently sinking in ratings, losing about 43 percent of their key ad demographic (25-54) in a year; pass the popcorn...looks like The Roger Ailes BS Factory is learning the hard lesson that Everything That Trump Touches Dies...gee, let’s see how many reasons why their sheep-like viewers can be fed up: 1) The Iran war, 2) Our wretched economy and those stinking tariffs, 3) The general incompetence, people losing heath insurance and related facilities closing down because of the Big Beautiful Clusterf*ck, 4) The corruption, including this “meme coin” garbage, etc...I have a feeling those numbers will pick up for that channel as the elections heat up, but we’ll see...good for Rodriguez to say that you should check out information you get from any source, but you don’t have to do that for me because I’m infallible (#joke)...



...and it looks like 2 kids have died of measles in our beloved commonwealth (here), with Gov. Shapiro trying to be tactful IMO on communicating to Bobby Brainworms that, SEE, LOOK WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU SPREAD PROPAGANDA ABOUT VACCINES AND TRUSTING DOCTORS, YOU NITWIT!!! Oh, and I’m seeing some stuff online about Jr. allegedly saying that Shapiro refused help from the CDC, which 1) is something I want to see confirmed from a reputable news site, and 2) would make sense in a way since God only knows what Jr. has done to that vitally important agency...



Update 8/28/26: More here (and here from "Dr. Crudite").

...and Lawrence O’Donnell tells us to remember the names of Brett Shumate, Eric Hamilton and Brantley Mayers; these are the Trumpist toady DOJ lawyers that threatened to potentially tear down the Kennedy Center unless Diaper Donnie gets his name plastered on it (here and here)...Lawrence gets the reality perspective from Andrew Weissmann on the latest garbage from our ruling regime about mail-in voting from our Philistines in robes...good point by Weissmann that our six judicial lunatics referenced the Trumpist garbage language about securing elections in their ruling, which indeed is a bad sign (the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR screws the metaphorical pooch once again)...



...and Josh Gay of Ring of Fire brings us an update on the Gropenfuhrer’s typically idiotic trade war with our northern neighbor...I’m surprised he didn’t want to rename Lake Ontario to Lake Mar-a-Lago, but give him time I guess...didn’t know about the American Indian derivation of the name; something else we appropriated from another culture...oh, and I guess, for the hell of it, #47 decides to invoke the dead brother of Ontario premier Doug Ford who also was addicted to crack cocaine – yeah, why resist behind a stupid assh*le to the fullest extent possible (and I’m not referring to Ford)...I don’t know exactly what it says about Our Treasonous Orange Pustule that he said something in a tweet that was the EXACT OPPOSITE of what his negotiators are saying (about protesting French Canadians actually speaking French), except to emphasize further that we’ve been in 25th Amendment territory for-freaking-evah...



...and with the prior video in mind, I give you the following (nicely done)...



...and if you’re looking for a mellow newer tune to help wind down the week, well, here it is.

Tuesday Stuff

Farron Cousins brings us the news that a PA Democrat won a state house seat that had been held by Repugs for 30 years – an individual named Brandon Dukes emerged as the winner (and that included Butler, Pa., where Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence was allegedly shot in the ear that time)...I’ll grant Cousins’s point that something big may indeed be going on, but 1) Dems need to know how to capitalize on that, and I think many do (but others don’t), and 2) We have a looong way to go until November, and you just KNOW that the “party of Lincoln” is going to be pulling every lowdown trick in the book to try and hang onto power, so we just need to keep up our efforts until after the election is said and done...



...and Thom Hartmann tells us about the Gropenfuhrer trying to get himself a bank for his crypto scam...important that Thom points out that crypto isn’t currency by itself so its valuation could literally be anything...good discussion by Thom IMO about this “meme coin” garbage from Great Orange Satan and how the valuation is determined by how popular it is among the rubes and suckers, and also by the UAE in order to get computer chips from NVIDIA...and since enough is never enough, #47 goes to his comptroller of the currency to try and print his own money (Judas H. Priest, what a freaking nightmare!)...if this garbage infiltrates world financial markets somehow, the ’08 Recession will look like a picnic (and do you seriously trust these jackals in charge to prevent that?)...also, when it comes to the nuts and bolts of our elections, I think Greg Palast is pretty good about covering that stuff...Thom turns to this idiocy with Hakeem Jeffires at about 7:25...according to a Yale University study, M4A (opposed by Jeffries) would save 114K lives a year as Thom points out, and when even the freaking CATO Institute says it would save us $1 trillion a year, what else do you need to know for God’s sake??...also, I’m often OK with incumbent Dems losing in primaries in order to shake things up, but U.S. House Rep John Larson in Connecticut was pretty good IMO...



...and this New York Times clip includes an interview with Erika Vandermeer, the mother of a sailor onboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln...mercifully, the ship will be relieved by the U.S.S. George Washington, though God only knows when...it’s hard for me to be judgmental towards these fine individuals who have family members placing themselves in harm’s way for this country, but I don’t think that absolves them of the duty to follow current events and process that information to make intelligent decisions (which they plainly didn’t do when supporting Bronzer Beelzebub)...



...and Rachel Maddow informs us that “Moms For Liberty” is apparently losing its grip on politics in Flori-DUUUH...among other infamies, this is the group that fought against COVID vaccines and mask mandates at the height of the pandemic; they’re also big into book bans...maybe their most frequently used tactic was to run for school boards and win, unfortunately, particularly in Sarasota County...apparently, two Democratic candidates ran for positions on that school board, and both won, in a county where registered Repugs outnumber Dems 2-1...Maddow speaks with Megan Tennimon, one of the Dem schoolboard candidates who won their election...good sign to hear about all of the involvement of young people in the Dem campaigns here; that clueless bunch of election losers in our Beltway political/media/industrial complex for the DNC should pay attention to this and realize how important it is to build policy and a platform for future generations and forget about trying to win over these unicorn “moderates” in suburban bedroom communities who will never support you anyway...



...and as far as I’m concerned, Jesse Welles “hit it out of the park” again with this one...

...and I’ll admit that there have been plenty of other artists I paid more attention to than Dolly Parton, mainly because country music, for the most part, isn’t my thing, though I always respected folks like Patsy Cline, George Jones, Hank Williams and Loretta Lynn (and probably some others who escape me)...also, you can be sure I was put off by folks like Toby Keith who tripped over themselves trying to climb the Republican bandwagon when it was fashionable (he never did apologize to the Dixie Chicks as near as I could tell)...Dolly Parton, though, always took the opportunity to be above all that and come across as a kind, decent person (some of her philanthropy is noted here - she also donated "tens of millions" on behalf of disaster relief and medical and educational causes); that also doesn’t take into account her stature as an accomplished performer and composer...I can’t help but feel the lights dimming a bit at this moment with her passing (and once again, we lose someone in August, which seems to be a bad month for that)...RIP.

Monday Stuff

This is your occasional reminder that our PA-01 Repug U.S. House Rep Brian Fitzpatrick still refuses to stick his head out of his shell and agree to debate Dem challenger Bob Harvie.

To begin, David Pakman lets us know that it looks like Darline Graham (Repug nominee for U.S. Senator in South Carolina) can’t stop setting on that metaphorical rake...after her cosmic “duuuh” moment on the question about Taiwan and the South China Sea in that debate before she invoked her dead brother Huckleberry and her dad (and again, consider what would have happened if an answer like that had come from the mouth of a Democrat), she goes on Sean Inanity and goes all “oh, I HATE BOYS IN GIRLS’ SPORTS, so it’s all good” (like that’s an actual thing...spoiler alert: IT FREAKING ISN”T because her state, in their utter stoo-pidity, already bans trans athletes)...and again, she talks about her constituents concerned about making ends meet or whatever...REMIND ME AGAIN WHICH POLITICAL PARTY HAS COMPLETE CONTROL OF OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!!!...and I know Pakman makes a good point about Graham likely being right about what Repug South Carolinians truly care about, which is a more damning indictment of those life forms than anything I can come up with...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ informs us that it looks like the AI bubble is about to burst, according to Michael Burry, the investor profiled in “The Big Short” (terrific)...didn’t know that tech stocks account for a third of the S&P credit ratings – yep, not feeling warm and fuzzy about valuations of companies like NVIDIA that are taking off basically due to speculation (over-leveraged to the hilt)...have to admit that “Human Capital Stock” Kevin Hassett does a better job of plastering that insipid smile on his face in order to lie and cover up bad news that anybody else I’ve ever seen...



...and Brittany Page takes a look at the typically cruel and ridiculous plan by Bronzer Beelzebub to keep the poor from college, beginning with a discussion of the “caste” system in India, which our ruling oligarchy very much wants to impose here also...Don The Con wants to only “comp” college students for loans based on how much money they would make in a chosen field, which has to be illegal AF, but since laws apparently don’t apply anymore, who the hell knows?...Page is spot-on to point out that the Trumpers are doing the EXACT OPPOSITE of what they SHOULD be doing, which is making education more affordable...speaking only for myself, I was once in a situation where I was between jobs and I worked part time at a bookstore; well then, since that was definitely below the projected earnings for the degree I graduated with, then would I have been ineligible for a student loan??? And oh yeah, our plutocrats in power are also changing the amount of loans that can be taken out (usurious as our student loan process is anyway) based on the course of study...and leaving off advanced nursing programs since they apparently aren’t considered as a “professional” degree? Who the hell is going to take care of the ever-aging population of this country? A CPA (and no disrespect to that profession)???...



...and checking out political stuff “across the pond,” Jonathan Pie gives a typically spot-on commentary on how our ruling gaggle of idiots plays the “blame Canada” card at every opportunity when things aren’t going well, which is all the time any more basically...what I would give for our beyond useless corporate media to say straight up that Cantaloupe Capone makes bank out of the chaos he creates (and again, that’s one of the reasons #47 hates renewable energy so much, because he can’t game the market, unless he cancels fully funded projects such as wind turbines of course)...Pie once again hits the nail on the head when it comes to the gut-churning corruption of our ruling gangster regime (NSFW/H)...



...and harking back to the Pakman clip, I give you the following from Mr. Newberger...



...and here is another seasonal selection.

Friday Stuff

Josh Gay of Ring of Fire informs us that there’s a backlog of about 121K applications for Canadian citizenship, with a surge fueled by folks in this country (big surprise), many of whom have been able to trace their ancestry back to our northern neighbor...looks like it could take two years to sift through the applications at this point...”never bet against Americans fleeing a problem we created” indeed...1,500 record requests in Quebec in a month versus 43 in the same month a year ago (I don’t think we’re going to hear another ridiculous “sir” story over THAT one...and by the way, I think Tim Horton’s coffee is really good)...



Update 8/22/26: More related (and predictable) madness is here.

...and here’s a story on CBC News that you likely won’t find on our bought-and-paid-for corporate media, and it’s that of Loui Ridi, a Palestinian American man who returned home to defend his property from attack by Jewish settlers on the occupied West Bank, with our “ally” “Bibi” encouraging settler violence...shocked to hear Mike Huckabee refusing to rush in and defend All Things Israel, but yeah, good luck trying to put measures into place to try and prevent attacks such as those described in this clip...



...and returning to this country, Robert Reich asks “Who’s The World’s Worst Billionaire” (lots of competition here), and the nod goes to Jeff Bezos – so many reasons I know, but one is Amazon punishing other websites such as Walmart or Target by forcing them to raise prices to ensure Amazon’s competitiveness for the same product (Price Fixing 101)...we’re also reminded of Bezos contributing $1 mil to the inauguration of Cheetoh Hitler 2.0 while shelling out $75 mil for that ridiculous “Melania” alleged documentary...Bezos, along with other plutocrats of course, has chipped in on that ridiculous ballroom and emasculated the once proud WaPo...I didn’t know Bezos had also picked up $65 mil from our regime of grifters and bottom feeders for AWS, but that tracks also unfortunately...and 30K job cuts since last October, huh? Also typical...didn’t know about the man who went into cardiac arrest and died while the manager told other Amazon warehouse employees to keep working (allegedly)...I had heard about the $26 mil spent on union-busting consultants, though...



...and Jesse Dollemore brings us more polling data from CNN’s Harry Enten to indicate just how much Our Ochre Abomination is sinking among the electorate – 31 points underwater at this moment, and 47 points down with independent voters (I admit that I get steamed at the latter group from time to time because I think their voting judgment is basically “feels over reals,” if you will, but the undeniable fact is that they decide our elections)...also, when it comes to the “I” word, yes, I think you need to follow where the facts go (again, assuming Dems are in charge, and we need to work to ensure that outcome), but there is SO MUCH CORRUPTION that needs to be winnowed through that we can’t get totally bogged down in it – a tough task to be sure (and once again, thanks to idiot voters in ’24 who saw to it that we were stuck with all of this)...



...and with everything doing the “big swirl in the hopper,” you might say, the true face of MAGA and the Repug Party is showing itself, meaning that it is a hate movement above all else (in case we didn’t somehow know that already) aimed at liberals, leftists and minorities first and foremost...and right on cue, we have Joel Webbon joining the fray once more, telling “modern feminist pagan women” that they need to starve (I can recall an era when Mel Brooks would make jokes about this, but tragically, this really is the worst timeline we’re living through)...God, what a mental and emotional sewer this Webbon guy must be living in to throw out all of this judgmental garbage...I must have missed the reading in sacred Scripture where Our Lord told the destitute “you starve, glory be to God”...and oh yeah, let’s bring settler colonialism back to Africa while we’re at it, and if you oppose it, we’ll kill you...yep, using what they imagine to be Christianity to fuel their own hatred for sure...also, let’s not forget the racism and intolerance of anyone whose skin is too brown for Webbon’s liking (won’t defend Vivek R. for any other reason, I hasten to add...I hate to acknowledge that Webbon is correct about how Ramaswamy “made bank,” but he is...and “suicidal empathy”; I have to admit that that’s a new one)...Kyle Kulinski tells us about it (NSFW/H)...



...and I need to catch up a bit on my summer selections, and I definitely didn’t want to forget this one.

Thursday Stuff

I was actually going to pass on the whole Darline Graham matter where she said foreign policy wasn’t her thing, or whatever, in that debate (and started wrapping herself around the memory of her dead brother, who was no great shakes either IMO, and her dad), but I thought Brian Tyler Cohen’s take on that was pretty important...as he says, this fits into the typical pattern of the Gropenfuhrer surrounding himself with people as dumb as #47 is (good commentary towards the end by Katie Porter on CNN...and once more, the corporate media double standard is on display here – does anyone seriously believe that a Dem would have received the “kid gloves” treatment if they had stepped into it like Graham did here?)...



...and speaking of double standards, David Pakman lets us know here that “President Deals” was caught using the same “cheat sheet” that Biden apparently once used (leading to weeks of ridicule for #46, but of course, since our current *preznit has “the magic R” after his name, it’s time for our corporate media to go into snooze mode)...I know Pakman knows that it’s not possible for anyone associated with Not Your Father’s Republican Party to actually be embarrassed about a damn thing, and this is more evidence of that (as if we needed it, I know)...I may look into Pakman’s book – probably an interesting read...



...and the “Logical Leftist” tells us that it looks like the typical DNC Beltway centrist election losers are back to pretend to be the adults in the room, or something, over Abdul El-Sayed’s Dem U.S. Senate primary win in Michigan, to the point where they’re actually backing a Trump Repug (including this Michael Horowitz character)??...beyond belief (well, maybe not really) that AIPAC spent $32 million to try and defeat El-Sayed (once more, love and kisses to the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR for Citizens United)...oh, and Horowitz (along with others I’m sure) objects to El-Sayed’s endorsement from Hasan Piker (the outrage against Piker has elevated his profile more than he could ever do on his own)...glad to hear Jeff Waldorf bring up 2016 and how we more or less held our noses and “voted for Hillz” even though we supported Bernie Sanders in the Dem primary...the double standard on display here from the supposedly elite political insider class is enough to make me retch (and I seem to recall Carville saying there was no room for both him and Piker in the party or something, but if Carville has come around to supporting El-Sayed, then good for him)...hard to overstate how important it is that we hold Michigan; no chance on getting the Senate if we don’t (a related item is here)...



...and speaking of corporate insider Dems, Tennessee Brando (definitely not him) tells us about that utter train wreck of an appearance on “Meet The Press” by Hakeem Jeffries where he repeatedly said that Medicare For All isn’t a priority for him, with M4A supported by – gee, I dunno – ABOUT 65 FREAKING PERCENT OF THIS COUNTRY!!! Brando is right for sure about everyone needing to be unified against Our Ochre Abomination, especially since our corporate media will be inflicting all of their “Dems In Disarray” narratives whether they’re actually warranted or not...if somehow the projected “blue wave” turns into a “blue trickle,” though, it will be because of garbage like this from Jeffries...this tells us that Jeffries has received about roughly $1.4 million in donations from health care-related companies and individuals – yet another reason to get damn dirty corporate money out of politics, as if we needed another one (nice ROI from Jeffries to make his bundlers happy, though)...Brando gets revved up at about 7:30, and he’s about 150 percent correct (NSFW/H)...



Update 8/21/26: Jeffries should read this to find a clue on this issue.

Update 8/24/26: What planet does Jeffries live on these days (here).

...and with the Brian Tyler Cohen clip in mind, I give you this from Mr. Newberger...



...and the weather is going to be a bit dreary in these parts, so I thought I’d include this seasonal tune as a bit of a pick-me-up.

Wednesday Stuff

Gee, I’m old enough to remember when a Senate Majority Leader would find out if a senior member of that body from his party EVEN STILL HAD A PULSE – I’m also old enough to remember the old “Saturday Night Live” joke that Generalissimo Francisco Franco was still dead (the joke being that the guy held on for months and the reporting centered around that with nothing new until Franco finally croaked – the same definitely applies to Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao as far as yours truly is concerned)...Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is asked to comment (and yes, this is my periodic reminder that our “Weekend At Bernie’s” senator still shares this mortal space on earth, allegedly)...

...and Sam at The Majority Report informs us that #47 wants ICE to intimidate midterm voters at polling places, based on comments from his consigliere and AG Todd Blanche...Sam cites the two U.S. laws prohibiting harassment of voters at polling places (above), which Blanche obviously doesn’t know or care about (the whole “keeping illegals from voting” being the harassment excuse of course)...GREAT point by Matt Lech that the Trumpers supposedly caring about “election integrity” is rich given that THEY TRIED TO OVERTURN THE 2020 ELECTION!!...I wish Sam hadn’t included that clip at the end of Don The Con, but I suppose attention must be paid (oh, but first he says he won’t mention a country, but you can see, given the immature child he is, that he REALLY DOES want to mention a country, so OF COURSE he blurts out “Somalia”)...



...and Farron Cousins lets us know that Cantaloupe Capone’s insanity is triggering supply chain shortages, including food banks in red states...also, the strategic petroleum reserve is at its lowest level in 45 years, with fuel released to artificially keep gas prices from soaring through the roof; are you tired of the winning yet?...and oh yeah, as Cousins says, our utterly cowed Fourth Estate refuses to hold Our Demented Toddler of a *preznit to account on his deadline for supposedly wrapping up his Not-So-Excellent Adventure in Iran...



..and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report discusses DSA member Angie Nixon winning her primary in Flori-DUUH over Alex Vindman to challenge Repug Ashley Moody for Moody’s U.S. Senate seat...a couple of big caveats here; 1) Corpora-Dems Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz won also, and 2) We’re talking Flori-DUUH, people – we need to keep that in mind...also, this tells us more about the Repug primary for the 6th Congressional district in that state, which truly was a race to the bottom as noted between the incumbent (the utterly misnamed Randy Fine) and the challenger, Daniel Bilzerian, who allegedly isn’t a neo-Nazi, but walks and talks like one...sounds like FL-06 Repugs had a choice between an anti-Muslim nut (Fine) and an anti-Jewish one (Bilzerian), so of course they went with the anti-Muslim one...sounds like Oliver Larkin, running in the primary against Moskowitz, put up a good fight, but there are all kinds of cautionary political lessons out there of candidates losing the first time but then coming back and getting it done (NSFW/H)...



Update 8/20/26: “Oh, but it wasn’t MEEEE rifling through that constituent’s mailbox, but my dastardly evil twin”...suuuure (SMDH – here).

...and leave it to Mr. Newberger to give us another musical response to our current nightmare (NSFW/H also)...



...and RIP drummer Frank Beard of ZZ Top.

Tuesday Stuff

Belle of the Ranch gives us her take on how Combover Caligula blew it with his Not-So-Excellent Adventure in Iran...good point about how the stoo-pidity of using precision guided munitions all the way through instead of to finish off the opponent undercut the mission (and no, I’m not a war expert), which further enforces my belief that #47 and SecDef Kegseth thought this would be over quick...I mean, I’m glad they really didn’t send in ground forces, but they never should have engaged our military AT ALL...”there comes a point where you’re just making the rubble bounce” indeed...particularly good job on the shirt, btw...



...and this clip from TYT with Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian tells us about military families ripping Combover Caligula on his aformentioned Iran debacle (and I know I already included that clip of him next to the jet saying that our military personnel on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln hadn’t been deployed long enough)...I applaud the family member saying that Bronzer Beelzebub needs to redeem himself, but sadly, that ship has sailed, no pun intended...we also hear from the family of the 13-year vet who tried to jump ship, literally...and of course, leave it to Fix Noise to give cover for our utterly incompetent ruling regime, quoting people like Repug U.S. House Rep Pat Fallon and SecDef Kegseth of course (and retired General Jack Keane)...and oh yeah, here comes the leader of Cult 45 again with another of his idiotic “sir” stories (yet another lying “tell”)...I’m loathe to give credit to these two hosts to be honest, but to be fair, Ana makes a good point that the criminal neglect of our carriers isn’t just limited to the Abraham Lincoln...good catch by Cenk I have to admit also on Keane wearing both the U.S. AND Israeli flags on Keane’s jacket lapel (and nice to get in another shot at the completely execrable Mark Levin)...I start to lose Ana at about 15:28; yes, there are plenty of Dem sellouts on Israel, but tell me what chance in hell there is of Repugs actually supporting someone like Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan (Section 224 of the ’27 NDAA needs to be utterly destroyed, which relates to this)...didn’t see the connection here with potentially more ruin in Gaza with Wonder Boy Jared Kushner– ugh (and I wonder how many days/weeks of Repug and corporate media outrage there would have been if a DEMOCRAT had actually met with Hamas)...I detest Kushner of course, but calling him “the new Epstein” is a typical stretch for these two...I will give Ana credit for adding the historical context on prior naval deployments...and the “populist right”?? Cenk, WHAT PLANET DO YOU LIVE ON???...otherwise, I think there’s a lot of good commentary in this clip...



...and sticking with global matters, Joe Scar gives us his take on Dementia J. Trump deciding to cut off military exercises with South Korea...calling our *preznit’s policy on this “jagged,” IMO, is typical corporate media understatement...I would say “insane, delusional, dangerous,” etc.; try connecting the dots here – there’s a reason why Our Tiny Handed Would-Be Dictator is tearing down everything built after WWII, and that’s because that’s exactly what his Russian operative in charge wants...with reporter David Rohde...



...and returning to matters in this country, Sam and Emma of The Majority Report comment on someone named Lydia Moynihan at Rupert The Pirate’s vanity rag, who is apparently shocked at the increased popularity on NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani...I mean, I get it that NYC is an enclave unto itself, you might say, but how about giving Mamdani a speck of credit for seeing which way the political wind is blowing? And oh yeah, Moynihan is in charge of “business” for that scandal sheet, or something...”charisma doesn’t matter if you’re not delivering on your promises” indeed, though I agree with Emma’s assessment that voters will respond to you if they see you fighting for them even if you fall short (also agree with Sam’s take that our corporate media views anyone working government successfully as a threat)...



...and I should probably include more tunes here from Jesse Welles, but I thought it was time to feature one now (NSFW/H, I guess)...



...and The Doors signed with Elektra Records on this day in 1966 – this is a tune from their debut release.

Monday Stuff

Oh, gee...Cadet Bone Spurs doesn’t think our sailors and personnel on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln have been deployed long enough (here and a related utterly brainless, and costly, idea is here)...



...and Kenny Hesse of Really American gives us the latest on the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool BS, among other f*ckups from our “Justice” Department under the Gropenfuhrer...looks like Judge Winebox couldn’t make a case against this David Hearn guy after all – womp womp...I definitely did not grow up on Scooby Doo cartoons, but I thought that wasn’t too bad of a parody...John Oliver’s clip of the sandwich thrower is funny in a Stanley Kubrick “Dr. Strangelove” kind of way I think (NSFW/H)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen gives us some current polling numbers on the U.S. Senate contests...tells you something that the info cited here is from Fix Noise, but take nothing for granted here, people; I guarantee you that these contests will tighten up in the fall...it looks like this bad data for the “R” team got the attention of Meth Head Bannon, as well as that pissant Jesse Watters (in the case of Ken Paxton, who’s lucky that #47 is as big of a crook as he is, because otherwise, that title would go to “Mr. 9 Million and 15 Homes On a $153K-A-Year Salary”)...



...and Dan Lieberman of More Perfect Union tells us how much data centers in the west are soaking up precious water...and no, I don’t trust a word on this subject from Microsoft’s Satya Nadella...meanwhile, individuals like pecan farmer Roberto Roque in New Mexico wonders how the hell he's going to make a living under these conditions, and he definitely isn't alone...also, this Project Jupiter monstrosity beckons also (“who meters their water” indeed)...ok, so the shareholders are told “don’t worry, be happy,” but meanwhile, residents such as those in El Paso (where Meta is building a data center) have seen water rate increases for 11 straight years, including a double-digit one this year (funny, but when this issue comes up, I don’t hear any wingnut chest thumping over how great it is to move from one of those supposedly awful blue states to “the land of the yellow rose”)...so indirect water usage could be ten times higher than direct usage, according to an individual who has studied this issue? Peachy...as we learn, eight states have introduced bills requiring water use reporting – that should be the standard across this country (get these thieving corporate bastards on the record FWIW)...



Update 8/18/26: And for the corporatist point of view on this subject, I give you this (Bluesky link).

...and with all of the completely predictable madness reigning at the moment, Mr. Newberger tells us what’s most important to Our Ochre Abomination...



...and I think the title of this newer tune is an appropriate response (his name that is, not the building itself).

Friday Stuff

(For what it's worth, I was able to post for all five days this week, but that will probably be the exception going forward and not the rule.)

Lawrence O’Donnell informs us that Trumpette short-time spokes-liar Karoline Leavitt is at it again, telling us to ignore reality and give her boss credit for our supposedly booming economy (sorry to mention her on consecutive days)...according to a USA Today survey in June, 30 percent of those polled said they use a credit card to pay for groceries and other essentials, and if that isn’t a blaring siren, I don’t know what is (along with the destruction of needed services such as Medicare/Medicaid, SNAP, etc.)...I know Nicholas Kristof is kind of hit-and-miss when it comes to reporting, but when he’s on the mark he really nails it IMO, as he does here meeting with people victimized by our end stage capitalist economy, including Latoya Foster in Pine Bluff, Arkansas...more on “The Other America” by Michael Harrington is here...



...and I’ll turn to TYT once more for the story of sailors on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln deployed in the Gulf apparently trying to throw themselves overboard...in addition to the ridiculous over-extension of the deployment of our military, some are also racked with guilt over the bombing of civilians; wonder when we’re going to hear about this on Fix Noise? I would guess at half past never...I realize Cenk Uygur is being tongue-in-cheek asking why Israel doesn’t help out our military, but even though there’s likely no practical way to do that, he has a point (oh, riiiight – I forgot about this)...I didn’t know about the suicides by our cyber personnel, on top of all of this misery...I would respectfully remind everyone that one of the first things our utterly lawless regime did when they seized power in ’25 was to fire scores of our senior military officers overseeing our service branches, which rated hardly a mention in our beyond useless corporate media, and I would argue that we now get sucking up to Israel at the expense of our own safety as a result...I remembered the ’83 bombing of our Marine barracks in Beirut (which we responded to by attacking Grenada), but I’d forgotten about Israel bombing the U.S.S. Liberty...good commentary IMO from Elliot Morgan also...additionally, the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln was where Dubya had his “Mission Accomplished” moment – a bit tangential I know, but just pointing that out...



...and in today’s chapter of “gee, how can our rotten regime find a new way to piss off another one of our allies?”, this report from CBC News lets us know that 60,000 Canadians have signed a petition to expel Pete Hoekstra as U.S. ambassador to Canada...maybe it wasn’t a good idea for Hoekstra to retweet that “51st State” garbage, huh?...



...and I stumbled across this clip a day or so ago...it looks like Arkansas farmers are having a particularly tough time along with farmers across the country...energy costs from #47’s war of choice in Iran along with Ukraine/Russia are ultimately eating into whatever profitability they’re eking out (not much it seems), along with impact from those stinking tariffs...I would also include the effects of the climate crisis as a factor affecting how successful a season our farmers have (though I’m not an expert on farm policy I admit)...I realize no political party is blameless on this issue, but I cannot imagine why anybody would think Republicans, particularly in Arkansas, give a damn about them...more here (and you KNOW how they voted two years ago, right?)...



...and speaking of hard labor, Mr. Newberger gives Not Your Father’s Republican Party the shot they deserve over their obedience to Our Ochre Abomination...



...and here’s some good news – we’ve got a fall recording to look forward to from this guy ("Hippies, Thugs and Heroes")...here is the first single.