Friday Stuff

Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian of TYT bring us up to date on the latest nonsense with this “Freedom Fuel” scam from Dementia Donnie (and yes, I realize Ana knows Philadelphia isn’t a state, so I’ll overlook that for now)...also, I have no issue with her snark about Israel because I think she’s right...and the price of gas at these shyster outfits has gone back to the market rate, huh? Figures...sooo, according to the inevitable-in-this-case lawsuit, somebody named Syed Kazmi and his brother purchased $4 million in fuel and then his company, KRSM, proceeded to stiff the outfit he bought the gas from (Mansfield Energy), allegedly of course; hard to root for anybody here I’ll admit...an “accounting dispute” over misplaced invoices, huh? Interesting euphemism for theft I’ll admit (again, allegedly)...I think Cenk goes off the rails a bit here when talking about the Kochs (more on what he’s talking about is here), though I’m sure he has a point in another context...also, the Kazmis have a history of pulling stuff like this, as we learn (whoopsie!)...

via GIPHY

...and when it comes to financial nonsense from the “party of Lincoln,” Repug U.S. Senator Ashley Moody of Flori-DUUH! was caught skimming about $10 mil from a children’s health fund (here) – also allegedly of course...maybe I’m more sympathetic than I should be towards the grand jury that found so much damn corruption between Moody and outgoing governor #DeathSantis and his wife that they couldn’t sort through all of it to file charges; what a goddamn cesspool!...but oh, “Governor Fancy White Boots” predictably shows his ire towards the leaker of the report to the grand jury, as opposed to admit getting caught red handed (yeah, a naïve thought on my part I’ll admit about #DeathSantis showing anything approximating contrition)...definitely an opportunity to get a word in here for Angie Nixon, and yeah, I know it’s Flori-DUUH!, but we need to fight as best we can anyway...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ brings us more sordid tales of financial mismanagement from the regime of Bronzer Beelzebub – it’s really a shame that we apparently don’t have actual, honest-to-goodness adults in this administration who know what the hell to do about the bond market (here)...definitely above my pay grade, but as noted, higher bond yields make lending/borrowing more difficult (in response to inflation and debt, by both countries and corporations...and oh yeah, Our Tiny-Handed Egomaniac’s war of choice versus Iran isn’t helping either)...oh, but the stock market is doing great, so everything is fine, except for the fact that the stock market is riding the ”sugar high,” if you will, of the AI bubble, and when that pops, it will be everyone for themselves...also no insight on whether or not Vlad The Butcher will try to nuke Ukraine, God forbid, which would also impact neighboring countries covered under NATO’s Article V...is it time to start drinking heavily yet?...



...and Josh Gay of Ring of Fire tells us that there’s nothing to see here, just the Gropenfuhrer’s DOE posting a video equating Our Ochre Abomination with a certain German Nazi guy from the 1930s and 40s (from that Gary Oldman move about Churchill); of course, since we’re talking about the regime of Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence, they were too dumb and/or too arrogant to care...I’d forgotten that the ruinous plan for the DOE was to shut down the whole damn agency (yeah, who needs an educated and trained workforce to compete for jobs in the 21st century, amirite?)...



...and David Doel tells us that it looks like Fix Noise shill Maria Bartiromo is out of a job, though I have no doubt that our cretinous ruling regime will find a spot for her somewhere...well, at least Mike Huckabee has praise for him/her (???)...and I guess we need to revisit Our Sweaty Orange Bronzer Boy whining for the zillionth time about the 2020 election – God willing, one day we won’t have to be inflicted with this nonsense any more...looks like Oliver Darcy got the lowdown on all of this; regardless of who you are, you can’t violate the policy of your employer as Bartiromo did in sharing internal information, especially with THIS White House (slightly NSFW/H)...



Update 1: More here.

Update 2: Ummmm....o-kaaay I guess (here).

...and RIP Gloria Steinem; Willie Geist hosts a look back at her life and career...among her many accomplishments was advocacy for the Equal Rights Amendment, which guaranteed equal legal rights regardless of sex (will always remember how that privileged, insulting harpie...and I could think of worse names for her...Phyllis Schlafly sabotaged it)...with Susan Page, Eugene Robinson and Jonathan Lemire (good point about the ridicule Steinem endured from the usual wingnut suspects, and I’m sure they’ll still have the “knives out” even though Steinem has passed)...



...and I have to admit that I’m liking these little musical numbers from Jesse Welles more and more...



...and since we’re heading into the Labor Day weekend, it’s time once more for some “Friday with Frank.”

Wednesday Stuff (updates)

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.

Update 9/3/26: And what is Bri-Fi focused on? Inflation? Our disintegrating economy? Health insurance? Ensuring that our elections proceed fairly without interference? The damn Iran war?

No. He voted to make sure the SCOTUS justice count remains at 9, as noted here (the procedural motion failed).

Update 9/4/26: Oh, and I thought this was a pretty damn interesting little nugget from our PA-01 U.S. House Rep (about why he plans to pass on the “Trump-a-looza Repug Mid-Term Convention” as noted here)...

“I’m not a party guy,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) said (sic) in an interview Tuesday, explaining why he won’t be in Texas next week. “I believe in ending the two-party system. Get back to our roots as a country.”

Oh really, Brian? You’re making it known that you have a problem with conflicting opinions and points of view and arriving at a mutual consensus? “L’etat c’est moi,” you might say?

Typical for a Trumpist lickspittle like you to feel that way.

And 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.