Tuesday Stuff

I’m going to go meta again with some stuff...I’m going to try and open things up a little bit so not every post is full of “what ridiculous, idiotic and possibly illegal thing did our *preznit do over the last day or so” since even that stuff is part of his strategy to crowd out other more important IMO info in the news cycle (there is some Trump-related stuff in this post, but again, I’m trying to rein that in where I can)...also, posting isn’t going to be on a regular cycle, you might say, for a little while still.

And as part of “opening things up,” I give you Don Lemon discussing the Minnesota state GOP, which recently held a moment of silence for Derek Chauvin at their state convention in Duluth (yep, THAT Derek Chauvin)...but not to worry, because Baby Ben Shapiro jumped right into the fray to defend Chauvin (more than a bit of a “tell” that Shapiro says in essence that Chauvin’s conviction set back race relations due to the extent of property damage as a result of the protests against Chauvin, and I would SERIOUSLY doubt that dollar number anyway...this is a typical “law and order” wingnut argument, though, completely and utterly failing to recognize the human suffering of Floyd, his family and friends)...I honestly can’t think of a time when I’ve had an issue with Keith Ellison – he pretty much nails every issue he’s involved with as far as I’m concerned...also, I don’t know what it says about this country that some guttersnipe like Tony Hinchcliffe can be treated as an alleged comedian, but it can’t be anything good...NSFW/H...



...and keeping with legal stuff, Rachel Maddow informs us that the Gropenfuhrer is destroying the DOJ in court...we get an update on former border patrol officer Greg Bovino, who was relieved of his duties after he failed to deport a third of the population of this country, but not to worry again, because Bovino apparently is still able to jet to a white supremacist conference in Portugal...oh, and Bovino also apparently was trying to prosecute someone in Chicago who allegedly threatened him, but oopsie! – looks like we get still more legal nonsense from this regime, and the case collapsed...and apparently, the same thing happened to the case against the “Broadview Six” who protested at an Illinois ICE facility...nice work by the defense attorneys not just rolling along with the charges getting dropped and deciding to try and get to the bottom of this madness instead...not a good idea to try and hide prosecutorial misbehavior from a judge, you Trumpist legal nitwits...Maddow speaks with Chris Parente, a lawyer representing one of the Broadview Six defendants...



...and staying in that locality, Brian Tyler Cohen speaks with Dem nominee for the U.S. Senate from Illinois (and Lieutenant Governor) Juliana Stratton, who apparently would go after the SCOTUS (thank God!), to say nothing of trying to resurrect the John Lewis For The People Act...glad Cohen mentioned health care, since there has been roaring silence from the “D” team on that among other issues as nearly as I can tell (and of course, utterly forget about the “party of Lincoln”), and I have no doubt that Stratton would fight on that issue also – we definitely need to do battle once more for Medicare for All (I think she says a lot of good stuff here generally about a range of topics)...



...and Farron Cousins brings us the tale of HHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin trying to ban flights to sanctuary cities – this is still MORE illegality from this regime, since what Mullin is proposing is in direct violation of the Constitution as Cousins points out...also it would punish Dems, Repugs, businesses, individuals...and all just in time for the 250th and the World Cup...brilliant! (John Fetterman should feel really stoo-pid for voting to confirm this guy...also NSFW/H)...



...and I realize that The Onion News Network gets a little edgy at times, but given this, I think there’s a point to their humor here...



...and the weather is just too nice in these parts to not include a bit of an upbeat seasonal tune, so here goes.

Monday Stuff

OK, so House Repugs get a bill passed which basically is trying to “disappear” trans people by banning LGBTQ-plus clubs, as well as a knock-off of the “Don’t Say ‘Gay’” law in Flori-DUUUH!, and it also forces teachers to ‘out’ trans students to their parents, opening up this endangered group to possibly verbal and physical abuse (and kudos to Mike Figueredo for courageously telling his story)…”trans refugees” shouldn’t be a thing IMO, but it is in this country, to our shame…I’m sure you have an idea of where this is going, so I’ll just get there – EIGHT F*CKING U.S. HOUSE “DEMOCRATS” voted for this garbage bill along with every Republican – the 8 were Henry Cuellar, Donald Davis, Cleo Fields, Laura Gillen, Vicente Gonzales, Marcy Kaptur, Eugene Vindman (I’ll remember this the next time I get a text from his brother Alex), and the utterly wretched Marie Gluesenkamp Perez…oh, and Gluesenkamp Perez, Gillen and Vindman are members of the Congressional Equality Caucus (truly, you can’t make up this stuff)…fortunately, Dem Rep Mark Takano actually knows what’s going on with this issue…and yeah, I’d like to tell Gluesenkamp Perez what she can do with her “banana bill”; looks like somebody is trying REALLY HARD to appeal to moderates with something of ultimately no consequence while those unicorn “moderates” decide to vote for the Repugs anyway (and as Figueredo points out, Gluesenkamp Perez is even wrong on the state reg she’s criticizing…so many layers of “DUUUH!” here) – I know we’ll need all the “D” seats we can get this fall, but it would almost be worth it if she lost…good for Figueredo to put up that graphic at 10:52 with the phone numbers to call these 8 frauds and tell them to leave Team “D” and join the intolerant fascists who they seem to align with…really deflating to see how odious the influence of AIPAC is on our side with NOT NEARLY ENOUGH politicians opposing those bloodthirsty warmongers…I would add to Figueredo’s observation about purging these centrist Dem election pretenders by saying that progressives are largely the ones going out and doing the “nuts and bolts” stuff to try and win elections (phone banking, texting, canvassing, newspaper Op-Eds, putting up signage, getting folks to the polls), so we should be listened to for that reason if for no other…the lady in that TikTok video also made a lot of sense IMO (NSFW/H)...



...and Belle of the Ranch gives us more on the Gropenfuhrer abandoning promises to our vets...didn’t know about the E.O. on 5/9/25 designating a “center for warrior independence” on the west LA VA campus where homeless vets in that area and around the nation can received the care and benefits that they’re entitled to...so the VA Secretary was supposed to present an “action plan” to Dear Orange Leader within 120 days for a facility to house up to 6K homeless vets to be built by 1/1/28...but oopsie! – there’s exactly nada in the budget for that...oh, and everyone associated with this project had to sign NDAs, just like how an honest and above-board organization is supposed to operate (#joke)...I agree that housing 6K vets in one LA location isn’t such a good idea (should be spread out across the country to make it easier to provide care and assistance); makes it reek of nothing but a PR stunt even more...



...and Corrine Straight of Really American tells us about Deidre Henderson, who is the lieutenant governor of Utah standing up for election security and debunking the nonsense from Great Orange Satan and his flatulent biped followers...that state’s Repug legislature was able to get some “opt in” measure passed for mail-in ballot voting starting in ’29, which creates another obstacle (almost shocking to hear common sense from a Repug, but credit where it’s due, and kudos to Henderson for doing all of the hard work to find out that 27 people out of 2 million in her state were confirmed non-citizens registered to vote...more on these Restoration of America cretins is here)...



...and Jen Psaki gives us a bit of an overview of the shady deals from Cantaloupe Capone (are there any other kind with him?) just in time for the 250th anniversary, as reported by the NYT, including of course the now-$13 million scam at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool...one firm was involved in the 1/6 insurrection, and another has to do with that stinking ballroom...and oh yeah, there’s also the matter of promoting a video game company behind this beyond-ridiculous steel cage fight on the White House lawn on 6/14 (which is also Flag Day of course)...also, this “250 pardons” scheme from Pumpkin Pol Pot has BAD, TERRIBLE IDEA written all over it (and all to shake down still more suckers)...Psaki speaks with Norm Eisen of Democracy Defenders...and of course, it’s not surprising that this regime of guttural lowlifes (at least the DOJ in this case) are pursuing charges against E. Jean Carroll, who apparently is at fault for having the tremendous courage to fight back against Our Sexual Predator-In-Chief (removing my tongue from my cheek on that one)...



...and speaking of the “American State Fair,” or whatever that’s supposed to be, Mr. Newberger gives us a bit of a preview...



...and I liked this newer tune as a bit of a “mellow Monday” selection – no argument with the title whatsoever.