Friday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

I wish K.O. were still in politics, but it’s great that he’s back, and I think he shows some admirable restraint here dealing with this nut job CBS columnist basically making fun of NFL players whose post-retirement lives were ruined due to the head trauma inflicted during their careers (Keith mentioned Andre Waters, the former Eagle who killed himself, and though I know he could have mentioned many others, he could have added this guy too – and given all of the wingnuts who cheered on the mess in Iraq without actually suffering for it themselves, why wouldn’t they feel the same disconnect towards professional athletes?)…



…and here’s another milestone coming up, a quite unhappy but vitally important one, of which we’re reminded by Rev. Al Sharpton…

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…and if a businessman knows that Keystone XL is a sucker bet, then why shouldn’t the rest of us feel the same way?...



…and happy belated 60th birthday to Tommy Shaw of Styx – here’s a song from them which is a bit topical at the moment (and yes, I know it was written by Dennis DeYoung…sue me).

Thursday Stuff

In addition to the anniversary we observed a few hours ago, yesterday was also the 40th anniversary of the coup in Chile which installed dictator Augusto Pinochet (and as is so often the case, we were on the wrong side)…



…and we lost Ambassador Chris Stevens in Libya a year ago also, as noted here (BENGHAZI! calls for a serious bipartisan investigation; good luck trying to get that from the numbskulls in charge of the U.S. House)…

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…and speaking of foreign stuff, here is Jon Stewart’s one-and-only take on what’s going on in Syria (and welcome back, by the way - Update 9/14/13: And the "takeaway" is here)…



...and Johnny Cash died 10 years ago today.

Wednesday Stuff

I’ve got a few things to get to, but they can wait for a day at least – I’ve seen fewer and fewer flags on this day flying at people’s homes as years have gone by, driving around for the usual reasons; today I didn’t see any at all…



…and I wish I could track down the original video for this, which was as great as the actual tune.

Tuesday Stuff

Fifty years ago today, 20 African American schoolchildren attended their first day of public school in Alabama, marking the end of segregation in that state (the climax to the incident noted here – President Kennedy spoke to the nation about it in the clip below)…



…and I don’t know why Martin Bashir ended this with a quote from Pope Douthat, but I still think this is a good commentary…

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…and I thought this was funny stuff once more from Stephen Colbert, but I have to admit that it makes my liberal heart sad to see John Kerry as the butt of jokes, even though he admittedly misspoke (Update 9/11/13 - Although, on the other hand...)…



…and “Take Back The City” is a neat tune from these guys, and I think this is also.

Monday Stuff

Yep, I think this pretty much says it…



…and some at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver are protesting a “humanitarian” award to be given to Dubya here (Giving him an award? Seriously?).

With that in mind, I think this is a totally appropriate response…



…and here is more comedy gold from Stephen Colbert on Fix Noise, Eric Bolling in particular…



…and here is a bit of a numerological tune.

Saturday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

I didn’t quite get to this on Labor Day, but I don’t want to forget it, so here it is…



...and in case you wonder why MoveOn.org matters, take a look at this…



…and our own PA Guv Tom “Space Cadet” Corbett put his foot in it again, as noted here – what a clueless meat sack (kind of explains this a bit too)…



…and no message music today – again, not a fan of a lot of new stuff, but this is OK (I recognize some of these movies :-).

Thursday Stuff

I’m not a bit surprised that Rummy, who was completely and utterly wrong on Iraq along with the rest of the foul, fetid Bushco bunch, has returned to lend us his “expertise” on Syria, as noted here; lather, rinse, repeat (dear God)…



…and here’s a reminder of how our supposedly august captains of industry in this country who damn near wrecked our economy don’t deserve any slack either…



…and we recently put to rest a beloved family member who smoked the vast majority of her adult life – please, people, do…not…smoke…



…and I wouldn’t know Robin Thicke if I tripped over him, but I do know that there will never be another Marvin Gaye, singing here with Philly’s own Tammi Terrell from back in the day (a response to this article).

Wednesday Stuff

Martin Bashir has some cautionary words for Number 44 here on Syria…

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…and I think Rachel Maddow does us all a real service here by reminding us what a President McCain would have done at this point in his presidency (and what commanding leadership on display here – pitiful that he never gets called out the way he should by the Beltway courtier media)…



…and this is just sad; Emily Yates, a veteran protesting the Syria stuff at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, was accosted here and carted off even though she appeared to be doing absolutely nothing wrong – I’ve been to a few historical sites and we have a lot of respect for the park police, but as far as I’m concerned, this was nothing but an utter embarrassment (NSFW)…



…and I think “Gramps” McCain would do well to listen to this song, and maybe even President Hopey Changey too.

Tuesday Stuff

This qualifies as actual “news” from Governor Bully (happy birthday to his wife) – however, if I were a New Jersey taxpayer and I ended up footing the bill for this nonsense, I’d be plenty steamed (more here – though, as I’ve noted before, we don’t have bragging rights in PA, the land of Governor “Space Cadet”…and to help Christie’s opponent Barbara Buono – and yes, it still matters very much – click here...and from the "thin-skinned egomaniac" files, I give you this; so criticizing Christie for being out of shape is the same thing as criticizing his weight? Really??)…



…and have you heard about “meatless Mondays” yet? Well, here is more info…



…and count me in with Amy Goodman on the whole Syria thing here (even though it disgusts me to be anywhere near the same side as that moron Rand Paul) – yes, what’s happening in Syria is terrible, and yes, it cries out for a solution, but there are several problems at least: 1) You go up against Syria, you might as well go up against Russia and Iran too, and maybe even China; 2) I don’t know any way to help the anti-Assad insurgents without indirectly helping al Qaeda too…

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…and this song also covers how I feel about the whole Syria mess (h/t Atrios – and another bad thing about this is that it gives Gramps McCain and Huckleberry Graham a chance to flaunt some imaginary foreign policy bona fides on the Sunday morning gab fests and make them look like they’re playing President too…and of course, Boehner and that sleazy weasel Eric Cantor now see a way for the words “Obama” and “quagmire” to end up in the same sentence – and I’m not referring to “Family Guy”– which is just ducky as far as they’re concerned).

Monday Stuff

RIP David Frost…



…and here is an example of Frost’s sense of humor, presenting the funniest math professor of all time…



…and yes, we know that Pat Robertson is pretty much comic relief at this point while he runs out the clock, but I have to admit that this was a good take down by Anderson Cooper (the “AIDS ring,” huh? Sick old bastard…)…



…and here is a song for the holiday.



Update 9/15/13: And here is a late but timely entry.

Friday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

Did Kathleen Hicks actually say that Colin Powell’s assessment of Iraq in 2003 was “intelligence based”? Really???

Other than that, I thought this discussion moderated by Chris Hayes on the Syria thing was well done…

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…and I don’t know what it’s going to take for Philly Mayor Michael Nutter to call out PA Gov Tom “Space Cadet” Corbett for being the wingnut that Corbett truly is, but hopefully this video will help that along (here)…



…and Joy Reid is sadly correct, I believe, on the gun issue here…

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…and I’d better put up this video now since I have only a few days left.

Thursday Stuff

I thought this was an important postscript in light of yesterday (typical – nice line about Lincoln from “corporate media” Milbank, I have to admit)…

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…and with Labor Day coming up, here is another timely message from Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich…



…and here is something sickening on a couple of levels at least (a “measles” outbreak, people – what country am I living in again? And why am I not a bit surprised that this happened in Texas? And yeah, NYC too I guess)…

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…and I can take or leave a lot of current music, but this tune is growing on me a little.

Wednesday Stuff

I’ll try to return to something like normal posting (whatever “normal” is, I’ll admit) as soon as I can.

As I watch this, I remembered what Bill Maher said recently about this country and its wars – we’re looking at a potential “intervention” somewhere else in the world, but maybe we need to “intervene” on behalf of…ourselves…???...

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…and Aaron DiDonato brings us the latest on the fracking drillers in PA trying to scam our beloved commonwealth (he still needs to lose that music and find something better, even though I still mostly dig ELP...more here)…



...and here is the speech that we commemorate today (more here)...



...and here is a tune for the occasion.

Saturday Stuff

I’m not sure what words I can provide to do justice to this anniversary, so instead I’ll just show this clip…

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...and I give you a “don’t know much about geography” Teahadist and “Calgary” Cruz supporter here…



…and boy, is it good to see a Repug being attacked over an anti-environmental policy as Mike Coffman is here (“this is a recording, this is a recording”)…

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…and I was really sorry to hear about this concerning Linda Ronstadt; she sang many types of music, but of course she’ll probably be regarded eventually as the pre-eminent “California rock” (whatever that is exactly, I’ll admit) female vocalist (or vocalist overall) of all time…in the documentary about the rock group The Eagles on Showtime, Glenn Frey and Don Henley recalled how she helped them by adding them to her touring band (along with Bernie Leadon also, I think), and when they decided to go on their own, Ronstadt was very classy and supportive of them, even taking their more-or-less throwaway song “Desperado” from their ill-fated second album and turning it into a gigantic hit…all the best to her (I don’t know anyone who sang “cover” songs better, including this one).

Friday Stuff

For someone who supposedly has such dead-on political instincts, I’m a bit surprised to see Governor Bully attach himself to the cast-iron political anchor known as Steve Lonegan (as in “anchor that is bound to sink straight to the bottom as quickly as possible”)…



Update: HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

…and it continues to defy my understanding as to why anyone thinks U.S. Senator Tom Coburn is actually sane (to say nothing of “Calgary” Cruz…I have to admit that I was mystified by about the first minute of this with the comments of this Goldie Taylor person – have to have “balance,” I guess)…

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…and here is more proof that you would be better off watching nothing at all as opposed to watching a single minute of Fix Noise…

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…and happy belated 50th birthday to Tori Amos.

Tuesday Stuff

Say hello to Al Jazeera America (Time Warner Cable leapt into action immediately and dropped it – nice)…



…and speaking of courageous journalism, Rachel had better be careful with this, or the next thing you know, President Hopey Changey will sit silent while she endures the same treatment at airports as Laura Poitras and Glenn Greenwald...

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…and even though I’m pissed off at Number 44 over the secrecy BS, I still have to give him credit for the ACA – the initial question from the constituent here is great, but there are so many lies in Joe Heck’s response that I don’t think I can answer them all…

“Nobody had a chance to read it.”

Um, the original legislation was released just about four years ago, as noted here, so there was, in fact, plenty of opportunity…

“It was passed in the middle of the night.”

No – actually, it was passed in broad daylight in the Senate and House on March 21, 2010 and signed into law by President Obama two days later, as noted here.

“There was no opportunity for competing plans to be debated.”

Charles P. Pierce responds here.

“No such thing as a free, preventive health care service…”

That’s a straw man that nobody is arguing about (Heck is having a rhetorical conversation with himself on this as far as I’m concerned). Yes, the ACA provides greater coverage, but so far, that hasn’t led to greater out-of-pocket expenses (see California and New York). And the individual mandate will provide a much larger pool of plan participants than the insurance companies will benefit from because of the ACA (and my God, is it tiresome to have to keep making these arguments over and over!).

And as I’ve also said, I’m tired of this argument that businesses that have more than the “magic number” of 50 employees will get it in the neck. The ACA was signed into law three years ago, and businesses have had that long to meet its requirements. If you need another worker but can’t hire an FTE, hire a contractor!...



…and here another nice, up-tempo number.

Monday Stuff

Posting is going to be really up in the air for a little while for personal reasons – here is John Fugelsang’s goodbye to Current (classy)…



…and here’s a special request – Neil was always one of her favorites.

Saturday Stuff

Happy 70th birthday to movie legend Robert De Niro…



…and this is probably an appropriate tune for a Saturday night – don’t’ try this at home (or If you do, just don’t tell anybody).

Friday Stuff

You know, I hate to rain to the “moderate Mikey” parade, what with everyone so happy about him supporting wind energy tax credits, but why exactly does he favor phasing them out (noted here)? And is he prepared to do the same thing to oil subsidies (here)? And why again exactly did he once oppose funding development of clean energy anyway (here)?

Sounds to me like more of the behavior depicted in this video…



…and no, I’m not going to give up on the issue of the Repugs trying to make sure hungry Americans starve, as long as they keep trying, and you know they will…

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…and I can’t wait to hear more corporate media tut-tutting from Bob Schieffer over this (cue the sound of crickets); yes, this isn’t good, but if we were talking about Bushco, Dubya, Cheney, Rummy and that bunch would have just yelled back “Oh, yeah? 9/11, 9/11, 9/11!!!” and our thoroughly cowed corporate media would have dutifully sat down and shut up on cue – just sayin’…

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…and RIP Allen Lanier of Blue Oyster Cult…

Thursday Stuff

Jack Germond was one of the handful of print journalists that I admired way back in those supposedly awful Clinton years, back when we last saw anything close to actual prosperity – not proud of admitting that I spent more time than I probably should have watching “Dr. McLaughlin’s Gong Show,” but I always thought Germond was the rock of sanity while lunacy reigned just about all around…love the Germond quote from Dan Balz here about interviewing politicians in New Hampshire…RIP…



…and I would guess that Mohamed Morsi in Egypt probably would not have done everything we would have liked, but that’s still no excuse for the carnage depicted in this video (interesting analysis anchored here by Chris Hayes – an equally-tragic-at-least update is here)…

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…and Martin Bashir had a clip on the U.S. House and immigration here that I thought was typically well done – the House will never pass comprehensive immigration reform, and it will end up as a great big political millstone around their necks that they will completely deserve…

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…and this guy is coming to the Philly Folk Festival in these parts starting tomorrow (yep, the graphics on this video are really busy :- ).

Wednesday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

To me, Bob Schieffer is the epitome of the thoroughly compromised Beltway media courtier; I cannot imagine how he possible believes that he has the right to lecture Edward Snowden, but somehow he does (John Amato responds better than I could here)…



Update 8/16/13: Wonder if we’ll hear tut-tutting from Schieffer over this – cue the sound of crickets in the meantime.

…and if we really had a liberal media, then exceptional reporting like this by Rachel Maddow on Governor Bully would be the norm instead of the exception (I cannot believe 2016 is being discussed now, but as long as it is, I thought Bill Burton in particular had some interesting observations)…

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…and speaking of the word “liberal,” John Fugelsang has some good thoughts on that here (never knew it to be a pejorative by narrow-minded types until The Sainted Ronnie R occupied An Oval Office)…



…and here’s a question – how exactly can you go wrong with both Buddy Guy and Gary Clark, Jr.? Here’s the answer – you can’t.

Tuesday Stuff

I know it’s hard to believe that I’m including a video from Smerky (and leading with Drudge - pathetic), but I think he makes some good points on the whole presidential vacation thing, citing Mark Knoller of CBS News; of course, Smerky being who he is, you know he’s going to defend Dubya, but the numbers tell the story as far as I’m concerned…

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…and nice to see Martin Bashir bringing more of an edge, particularly concerning that worm Darrell Issa; by the way, here is the Levin/Cummings WaPo piece - haven’t checked it out yet, but I plan to soon…

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…and last night I included a video from Dem John Morse, facing a recall election for his common-sense gun votes in the Colorado state house; Angela Giron is also, and to help, click here.



Update 8/14/13: Ugh...

…and here’s an upbeat little number as the summer winds down.

Monday Stuff

Want more evidence that Repug U.S. House Rep Dana Rohrabacher is a Koch-ALEC-Teahadist tool (here)? Watch this…



…and the town hall “fun” has already started, I see, as Martin Bashir and Dem Rep. Raul Grijalva point out here (and no, it isn't an intentional bad joke to have a video discussing climate change follow with a video including a Keystone XL commercial, which would only make the problem worse and not do spit for job creation)…

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…and here is a video on behalf of one of the two Dem state house reps in Colorado facing a recall for doing the right thing on common-sense gun laws; I’ll try to get to the other as soon as I can (and to help, click here - and sadly, how typical is this?)…



…and no, this tune isn’t autobiographical…honest.

Sunday Stuff

Time will tell, I suppose (and I wouldn’t trust anything from Major Garrett based on this)…



…and here is an econ history lesson…ah, but the Repugs will keep trying to resuscitate that zombie lie about “supply side” economics anyway…



…and speaking of Repug non-governance, I guess “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey’s new nickname should be “I told you we’d kill it” based on this (and to help Admiral Joe, click here – yes, 2016 is a ways off, but he’s going to have a mighty fight on his hands)…



…and yep, whether you like it or not, here comes another summer song (P.S. - Happy 75th birthday to Dash Crofts on 8/14).

Saturday Stuff

As I said already, this won’t create jobs, and good luck trying to clean up a tar sands spill…



…and it looks like, if the House votes again to repeal Obamacare, Markwayne Mullin will be Number #41, as noted here (based on this and this)…



Update 8/12/13: Yep, I'd say Mullin has #41 locked up based on this.

…and here is the latest on the Repugs and their “jobs, jobs, jobs” agenda, to say nothing of outreach to women voters (more here)…

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…and here is a bit of a summer song – only a few weeks left (sigh).

Friday Stuff

Remember news stories like this?...

Juneau, Alaska - An Alaska scientist whose observations of drowned polar bears helped galvanize the global warming movement has been reprimanded for improper release of government documents.

An Interior Department official said emails released by Charles Monnett were cited by a federal appeals court in decisions to vacate approval by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management of an oil and gas company's Arctic exploration plan.

The official, Walter Cruickshank, deputy director of BOEM, said in a memo that an inspector general's investigation contained findings that Monnett had improperly disclosed internal government documents, which he said were later used against the agency in court. He also said the investigation made other findings in regards to Monnett's conduct, but he wasn't taking action on those. He would not specify those findings.

Cruickshank called Monnett's "misconduct very serious," and said any future misconduct may lead to more severe discipline, including removal from federal service.

Well, even though I’ll admit that it’s important to maintain custody of “internal government documents,” I would say that the message was lost a bit here. And we recently received the following reminder…

Want to refresh our memories as to how we got to this point? I give you the following from here (and kudos to those protesters noted here)…



…and I’m sure Americans for Prosperity and a whole bunch of other “astroturf” groups are going to be loud and obnoxious at town halls that I’m sure will be forthcoming over the congressional break, but here is the flip side (a dose of reality on this subject - more here)…



…and I posted about this over here also, but kudos to Martin Bashir for this commentary…

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…and as much as I wanted to ignore Former Senator Man-On-Dog for this, I’m sorry, I just couldn’t; here is something of a musical response.

Wednesday Stuff

“You want fries with that?” (and yes, I labored there once many moons ago, and hopefully not ever again – here)…



…and leave it to the Teahadists to claim that they’re being repressed from speaking out by the IRS, or something, loud enough to be heard on every cable channel in this country…



…and this was a neat little tidbit unearthed by The Rachel Maddow Show – more bad news for Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao (takes a minute or two to get there, but it’s worth it)…

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…and I think this is a song about where the Teahadists actually live.

Tuesday Stuff

Normally I wouldn’t waste anyone’s time with the latest Billo nonsense, but if putting up this video keeps so much as two kids from making a big mistake with their lives, then it will be worth it (and once again, f*ck the Keystone XL – it won’t create jobs, and good luck trying to clean up a tar sands spill)…

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…and I don’t know if the Voting Rights Act can be saved after John Roberts and The Supremes eviscerated it, but at the very least, this is an important remembrance…

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…and I know this is familiar territory, but John Fugelsang connects the dots right back to ALEC, which needs to happen a lot more…



…and RIP George Duke.

Monday Stuff

Here’s a bit of a history lesson – the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed 50 years ago today…



...and good for John F. for sticking up for Al Jazeera, which reports on stories of everyday people impacted by our corpocracy that our news organizations with initials for names apparently don’t care about anymore…



…also, Martin Bashir begins his segment on the work that Congress, in particular our pitiful U.S. House, has left undone (even though “Man Tan” Boehner and that sleazy weasel Eric Cantor have no trouble raising funds as opposed to performing actual governance; the former is apparently in town somewhere near here raising dough for Mikey the Beloved)…

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…and speaking of Republican cretins in the U.S. House, Melissa Harris-Perry reminds us of another one here (and shove Keystone XL where the sun don't shine while you're at it!)…

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…oh, and do you want another demonstration of why man-made climate change matters? Take a look…



…and this doesn’t look like too bad of a commute.