Monday Stuff

(For a final time, I posted about the U.S. Senate races here and the U.S. House races here.)

In case anyone had any doubt where the Repugs stood on the issue of voter participation, I give you one of their founding fathers, Paul Weyrich, speaking to a bunch of fellow travelers in 1980...



…and it’s time to turn to The Stupidest Life Form In The Universe for a bit of comic relief, though the attack on Wendy Davis is a typically untrue bit of slime (what a shame there are no grown-ups in that party to tell Gohmert to STFU)…



..and leave it to John Oliver to provide incisive political commentary that's also funny as hell here (borderline NSFW - the last 4:00 of this in particular are prime)...



...and former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich reminds us once more of what's at stake tomorrow (I know John Oliver downgraded the importance of the federal elections a bit, but he didn't say that they weren't important too)...



..and this is probably the first video I ever saw of Kevin Strouse, and I think it's the best, and I'd like to present it as the final one before tomorrow's crucial election – if you can help tomorrow, click here (and for PA-31 folk in Bucks County, vote for Steve Santarsiero tomorrow for state rep and Steve Cickay for state senator in district 10)...



...and here's the last time for this little number this year also - tomorrow is the day to "leave it all in the road," people.

Sunday Stuff

(Once more, I posted about the U.S. Senate races here and the U.S. House races here.)

I had this in mind after reading this story (NSFW)...



...and it looks like Huckleberry Graham decided to “show a little leg” again (also NSFW)...



...and in keeping with the “one percent” theme, I give you this (and to help Kevin Strouse, click here)...



...and this song describes Joni Ernst, Bill Cassidy, and David Perdue, among others, and for anyone who may be reading this from Iowa, Louisiana and Georgia, I have a question: do you honestly think those three, or really any Republican any more in this congress, is going to give a damn about you?

Saturday Stuff

(Once more, I posted about the U.S. Senate races here and the U.S. House races here.)

Chris Hayes talks to two of the OK Go guys after their latest neat new video (not really related to the usual stuff, but I thought it was a nice change of pace – I see they've progressed way beyond treadmills)...



...and horrors! Mary Landrieu actually told the truth here; funny that there was no right-wing pearl clutching over the remarks of Ron Natinsky here...



….and to help Kevin Strouse in the final days of the campaign, please click here...



...and happy upcoming 70th birthday to Keith Emerson.

Friday Stuff

(Once more, I also posted here.)

Why do I have a feeling that Mrs. Graham and Ben Bradlee are doing somersaults in their graves at this moment? Lawrence O’Donnell explains...



…and here’s more on the Repugs and their “jobs, jobs, jobs” agenda (and are Joni Ernst and Cory Gardner weasels or aren’t they – of course, we already knew about Hosni Mubarak Walker)…



…and our corporate media strikes again – what a joke (NSFW – and Ana Kasparian makes a great point at about 3:50)…



…and just because we have all the election stuff going on, that doesn’t mean that we should forget about the issues that truly matter (here - more fine work by Brave New Films)…



...and hey, why not have a little Halloween fun (depends on your definition of "fun," I guess)...



...and of course, this day also proves that you never need much of an excuse for "prog" rock, including this number.

Thursday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

At first, I have to say that I actually thought James Keady was being a bit of a jerk at Governor Bully's press conference – definitely not a fan of Christie, but that's no excuse for rudeness...however, listen to Keady's interview with Chris Hayes to find out who is really being rude (I would argue incompetent, actually - here)...



...and oh yeah, it's time to beat up President Hopey Changey over high gas prices again – oh, wait (reminds me of the title of one of J.D. Mullane's more ridiculous blog posts, after Number 44 authorized the raid that killed bin Laden...”bin Laden Dead, Gas $4 a Gallon”...and while we're on the subject...)...



...and there are only a few days left for me to get in some more shots at "Wall Street Scott" Brown (and to help Jeanne Shaheen, click here)...



...and I'm sure the title of this tune will be a popular phrase among Trick-or-Treaters tomorrow.

Wednesday Stuff

(Update 10/30/14: I also posted here.)

OK, I was able to get this video from The Rachel Maddow show about former Gen. Irv Halter, a Dem running against incumbent Colorado Repug U.S. House Rep Doug Lamborn – didn’t realize just how bad Lamborn was until I watched this…



…and while I don’t really have a “dog” in the “hunt” for any of the U.S. Senate contests, as you might say, I’d like to do what I can to stick it to “Wall Street Scott” Brown however I can (in response, to help incumbent Dem Senator Jeanne Shaheen, click here)…



…and I would call this a rockin’ good time with a purpose…



…and I only have a day or so left to add this video, so I’d better do it now.

Tuesday Stuff

(Update 10/30/14: I also posted here.)

John Oliver brings us what I think is the perspective we need on the whole Ebola thing (here)...



…and seaking of Ebola, I thought this was a great commentary by Rev. Al about Dr. Craig Spencer and Nurse Kaci Hickox, who have put their own lives on the line to fight the Ebola scourge in Africa, as opposed to politicians in this country like “Governor Bully” and his pal Andrew Cuomo of New York who imagine themselves to be medical professionals, but who are merely politicians instead…



...and as long as we're on the subject of science, today would be the 100th birthday of Dr. Jonas Salk - his importance is noted in the following video...



…and oh noes, it looks like our own PA Guv Tom “Space Cadet” Corbett “photo shopped’ an African American lady onto his campaign web site, someone from a place where you can download generic clip art (apparently Mikey the Beloved did the same thing with an image of a wheelchair in an ad on behalf of our veterans…if I watched more TV, I guess I’d know more about that for real; to help return Corbett to private life, click here)...



...and speaking of our wet noodle PA-08 U.S. House rep, while it's nice that Mikey got that guy freed from a Central American jail or whatever, how about if Fitzpatrick gave something approximating that degree of attention to the rest of his constituents, which is lacking in the following clip (and to do something about it in the final days, click here - oh, and his PR apparatus, otherwise known as the Bucks County Courier Times, has revved up, running front-page banner and full page ads for him in the first section every day since Monday October 20th)...



...all of which makes me want to hear this one more time (and with this in mind also).

Monday Stuff

(Update 10/30/14: I also posted here.)

Alex Wagner talks to New York Times reporter extraordinaire James Risen about his new book documenting the insidious rise of the national security state under both Number 43 and Number 44…



..and nice work here by “give 'em hell, Harry” Truman on the minimum wage, as Melissa Harris-Perry explains (and Truman actually used the phrase "trickle-down," proving beyond a doubt that the Repugs have been peddling the same snake oil for at least 60 years)...



…and I give you the latest from FAIR TV (OK, two things: 1) We actually do have a surgeon general, Dr. Boris Lushniak, who more or less has held onto the job without the confirmation of Dr. Vivek Murthy, who is the nominee of the Obama Administration and, by rights, should be on the job at this moment; and 2) I will NEVER defend Mumia Abu-Jamal, but that utterly ridiculous law that PA Guv Tom “Space Cadet” Corbett just signed helped to further enhance Abu-Jamal’s profile in yet another way that he doesn’t deserve)…



...and I feel like hearing another tune from Jack Bruce, and a timely one at that.

Saturday Stuff

Since MSNBC's web site apparently no longer allows embedding of videos from The Rachel Maddow Show, I guess this is the only way we'll be able to access their great content, including this (about the latest lies from the Roger Ailes BS Factory)...



...and I don't enjoy saying this, but maybe it's time to let the women take charge, particularly since the politicians (primarily men) have made such a hash of things...



..and here is some typically spot-on, NSFW commentary from Bill Maher about the Kansas gubernatorial contest (and, really, about voters pretty much all over this country, unfortunately)...

...and RIP Jack Bruce - made me recall this post that I'm proud of, to be honest (wish I had the time and resources to do more like it - sigh...this tune is perhaps the most emblematic of Bruce's collaborations with lyricist Pete Brown; have to admit that, of the three, I thought Ginger Baker would go first).

Friday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

I’d be laughing at this if it weren’t pretty much the God’s-honest truth (here)…



...and as far as the U.S. House is concerned, who can forget this stellar moment starring our own Mikey the Beloved - to do something about it, click here...



...and I thought this was an interesting report by Chris Hayes on just what kind of demographic political representation we have in this country (I think the answer is pretty simple, to be honest - elderly white people vote!)...



...and with that in mind, this is simply just too precious for words...



…and it looks like it’s time for another blogger ethics panel, as Atrios might say (for a reason why this is particularly awful, check out the pix from here...BP was "Dregs of the Year" for 2010)…



...and I don't know about you, but I'm in the mood for a bit of escapism (NSFW).

#37, Steve Southerland (FL-02)

(This is part of my 2014 U.S. House voting guide.)

Here, Southerland tells us that he hates his job, apparently (all the more reason to return him to private life).

Here, he came up with an amendment to a bill requiring SNAP recipients to work 20 hours a week at a minimum or have their benefits cut off (nice guy).

He organized a “men only” fundraiser along with Governor Bully and Lex Luthor Scott here (nice – Southerland is defending his seat in a contest against Dem Gwen Graham, daughter of former Senator and Governor Bob Graham),

He helped to vote down a measure here that would have discouraged the government from giving contracts to companies that have committed wage theft.

He “pink-washed” his sexist campaign and votes here (what a guy).

And let's not forget that, like just about everyone else in his party in the U.S. House (including Mikey the Beloved), Southerland voted to extend the government shut down here.

As noted above, Southerland is opposed in the 2014 election by Dem Gwen Graham - to help her, click here.

Update 11/6/14: Not much to cheer about from Tuesday on the "D" side, but nice work here.

#34, Michael Grimm (NY-11)

(This is for my 2014 U.S. House voting guide.)

Here, Grimm was indicted on 20 counts, including fraud and perjury (sweet).

He threatened to throw a reporter off a balcony inside the Capitol building (here and here).

He sponsored something called the Whistleblower Improvement Act here, which, actually, would force whistleblowers to talk to their employers first (yeah, some “improvement” that is).

As noted here, some of his campaign contributors are in the porn business (funny).

Here, he said that his campaign office had been vandalized, though police couldn’t find any destruction to the computer equipment that Grimm claimed took place; oh, and he equated the vandalism of his campaign headquarters with the Gabby Giffords shooting (jackass).

Grimm is opposed in the 2014 election cycle by Dem Domenic M. Recchia Jr. - to help the Dem challenger, click here.

#28, Mike Coffman (CO-06)

(This is for my 2014 U.S. House voting guide.)

Here, Coffman thinks a 15-year wait, among other obstacles, constitutes an “automatic path” to citizenship.

He said immigration bills “cleared the house” here (uh, no).

He once sponsored a bill allowing DREAMers who served in the military to gain citizenship but is now walking that back, of course (and he was confronted about that here).

Coffman said that President Obama “in his heart” was "not an American" here (nice - I realize that he's pretty much just parroting Repug orthodoxy on that subject, though).

He wanted to raise the eligibility for Social Security to age 70, which is tantamount to a cut (here).

Coffman is opposed in the 2014 election cycle by Dem Andrew Romanoff - to help Romanoff, click here.

#26, Mo Brooks (SC-05)

(This is for my 2014 U.S. House voting guide.)

Here, Brooks said he wants to deport all 8 million undocumented workers (uh huh).

Here, he said Obama divides us on “race, greed, sex and envy” (huh?) – gee, “project” much, Congressman?

Oh, and I guess that's part of the Democrats’ “war on whites,” or something (here).

Here, he said in July ’11 that our credit rating would be improved by not raising the debt ceiling (uh, that’s not what happened).

Here, he said he thinks that our ol’ buddy Vlad Putin is trying to keep us way from the space station, or something, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding.

For the 2014 election cycle, Brooks is opposed by Independent Mark Bray - to help Bray, click here.

#11, Trey Gowdy (SC-04)

(This is for my 2014 U.S. House voting guide.)

I guess it’s inevitable that I point this out (though Gowdy gets accidental honesty points here).

And let’s not forget how Gowdy and company are using BENGHAZI!!! to raise money, despite their faux protestations to the contrary (here).

And lest anyone wonder about whether or not they’ll be beating this proverbial dead horse for 2016, I give you this (here).

Also, Gowdy is apparently known for theatrics, as noted here (perfect for the Repugs).

For the 2014 election cycle, Gowdy is defending his seat against Libertarian Curtis E. McLaughlin - to help McLaughlin, click here.

#9, Martha Roby (AL-02)

(This is for my 2014 U.S. House voting guide.)

With the departure of “Moon Unit” Bachmann, the Teahadists are looking for a new “lightning rod” to congregate around and practice their faux indignation every chance they get. And had Marsha Blackburn been named to the BENGHAZI!! "cluster" instead of Roby, then she would have solidified her own wingnut bona fides. But she wasn’t.

And Roby brings her own brand of “crazy, to wit…

She didn’t push back against a “birther” calling Obama a “communist despot” here.

“Stockholm Syndrome” Roby voted against the Violence Against Women Act here.

She introduced bill to eliminate overtime pay here.

And as we all know, more gun laws won’t solve the problem (here - removing my tongue from my cheek).

Here is more zaniness from Roby (fourth bullet).

For the 2014 election cycle, Roby is facing Dem challenger Erick Wright - to help Wright, click here.

Wednesday Stuff

I thought this bit from John Oliver on The Supremes was hilarious and inspired (here)...



...oh, and remember the time Mikey the Beloved accused President Obama of treason, as he did in this clip between 4:16 and 4:20? If you want him to return to private life in a few days, click here...



..and that goes for PA Guv Tom “Space Cadet” Corbett too; the “fun” in this clip starts at about :50 – to make a difference, click here...



...and based on this, I guess Toys R Us won't be selling any Walter White dolls (from “Breaking Bad” for the uninitiated) for the holidays – c'est dommage (made me felt like hearing this song).

/>

#22, Peter Roskam (IL-06)

(This is for my 2014 U.S. House voting guide.)

Here, Roskam basically lied about whether or not he knew former House Speaker Tom DeLay, aka, The Bugman (not a crime I realize, but I think it sends a message).

As of 2008, he’s received over $100 grand in oil money and has fought against clean energy, of course (here).

Roskam was under investigation for a $750,000 (!) trip to Taiwan in 2011 (also noted here that he failed to report about $103,000 in fundraising expenditures in ’05).

Here, Roskam co-introduced a bill to block federal funding of universities “engaging in a boycott of Israeli academic institutions or scholars.” (um, let me see here, where is that dictionary? “Free speech”…what exactly is that definition again?). And yes, Dan Lipinski definitely should know better.

Roskam is defending his seat against Dem Michael Mason - to help Mason, click here.

Tuesday Stuff

Alex Wagner tells us about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's dissent, joined by Kagan and Sotomayor, on the Supremes' decision to allow Texas's awful voter ID ruling to stand (yep, there goes Hangin' Judge JR "calling balls and strikes" again, huh? And it looks like Alex Wagner got cut off a bit)...



...and Ed Schultz and Sen. Bernie Sanders give us the latest on the Repugs and their efforts to kill the postal service (yep, if they had their way, the “party of Lincoln” would have us pining for the day when all we had to complain about was the price of “forever” stamps)…



...and RIP Ben Bradlee...



...and I had this tune in mind when considering the Ed Schultz piece above.

Monday Stuff

Melissa Harris-Perry gives South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley a lesson on what the Confederate Flag really means (here)…



…and I know I shouldn’t waste time with anything to do with Sean Inanity, but I can’t help it because this Stephen Colbert bit is just way too damn funny (here)…

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…and to help out Kevin Strouse in the closing days of the campaign, please click here…



...and happy 64th birthday to Tom Petty.

Friday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

I give you Stephen Colbert on the supposed WMD revelations in Iraq...

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…also, this tells us about gun-related threats to Anita Sarkeesian, who backed out of a speech about women and online gaming at Utah State (I don’t know what else to say either, Cenk...more here)…



...and I give you the latest installment of FAIR TV (and by the way, how somebody votes is nobody else's damn business, regardless of your political party)...



...and this is a truly depressing item; not really the way I'd like to wrap up the week, so here is a bit of an upbeat musical response.

Thursday Stuff

I wish Shep Smith would go off-script more often because he makes so much damn sense, as he does here ("Obama" fever, huh? Freudian slip for that bunch, wouldn't you say?)...



…and I cannot believe that we’re still talking about that stupid embargo in the Caribbean, but kudos to Lawrence O’Donnell for doing so…



..and it looks like the mistake of Tennesee's 7th congressional district struck again here...



...and sorry, but this is the only response that I think is appropriate.

Wednesday Stuff

Did you hear the one about the infectious disease outbreak that occurred in the U.S. while we did not have a surgeon general on the job? As Rachel Maddow explains, this, sadly, is no joke…



…and I had a bit of a problem with the very end of this Ebola-related commentary, but otherwise I’m absolutely fine with this TYT (and NSFW) takedown of Keith A-Blow of Fix Noise (yep, that 30 percent just won’t budge, will they?)…



…and I give you another triumph of red state America, in time for the season (and yeah, the bit at the end with the local news reporter is particularly silly)…



…and I’ve been meaning to work this in for a little while now, so here it is (and yeah, if anything I can think of lately deserves an encore, this would qualify).

Tuesday Stuff

Kudos to Melissa Harris-Perry for giving Hosni Mubarak Walker the following dose of reality (here)…



…and nice work by Frankie Goes to the Vatican here – though you knew the inevitable push back would follow; all of which made me recall this evergreen item from Stephen Colbert…

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...and I give you the latest installment of FAIR TV (I'm so old that I can remember when Judy Woodruff actually didn't have a problem asking hard-hitting questions, but I guess those days are done – what a pity)...

…and I’m going to save you from wasting your time reading this corporate media garbage and cut right to the proverbial chase instead.

Here is the message: the economy isn’t sunshine, lollipops and rainbows every day. Why? Because Magical Prince Obama in the White House hasn’t made everything all peachy keen, of course.

How could this be? He has such obliging public servants ready to work with him, doesn’t he? And so popular too!

And as we know, Obama has been surpassed on job creation by every other president, hasn’t he?

Oh well, I guess this means that those silly voters will barely show up to the polls in November, ensuring that the Republicans will strengthen their hold on one chamber of Capitol Hill and completely take over the other.

And maybe it will also mean the economy will be better. Or maybe it won’t. Either way, it will all be the fault of those silly voters. And Magical Prince Obama, of course.

And oh, it’s 5:00 – time for the whores of the Beltway media/political/industrial complex to belly up to the bar (make sure to pass the sweet and sour shrimp, along with the plate of nachos).

…

All of this absolutely SCREAMS for us to go out and vote for Democrats in a few weeks, to say nothing of supporting them as our means allow. Yes, our corporate media will keep concocting conservative-friendly nonsense like this regardless, and It’s true that the Dems are definitely not perfect, but do you honestly think any of the issues we face will get better if you don’t?

Which brings me back to this video – I think it’s time to dust this off. I did well with it in ’06, ’08 also, not so much in ’10, and a little better in ’12. Let’s see if it can manage to do the trick again.

Monday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

Joy Reid brings us what I thought was an interesting perspective on Columbus Day (and Dan Snyder continues to be an utter tool)…



…and John Oliver recognizes the holiday as only he can…



…oh, and you know that Ebola stuff that has been in the news lately? You know, the thing that we’ve known about for about oh, say, the last 40 YEARS BUT HAVEN’T COME UP WITH A VACCINE FOR YET BECAUSE OF BUDGET CUTS TO SCIENCE BY REPUBLICAN CONGRESSES??!!...

(Oh, and please spare the whole, “Hey libtard, you Dems were in charge from 2008 to 2010” nonsense. As if anyone could undo a decade of Republican Congressional f*ckups in 2 years…)…



…and once again, what say you on all this, Mikey the Beloved? And once more, cue the sound of crickets (and to do something about that, click here)…

...and while I'm on the subject, please click here to help keep this ad for Kevin Strouse on the air; to help out the campaign in the closing days, please click here (like to see something like this about all of Mikey's votes in favor of the shut down last year)…



...and don't blink, or you'll miss the ending of this one (not bad for an "unofficial" video).

Sunday Stuff

I cannot possibly imagine why anyone who claims to be a Democrat (or even an independent, for that matter) wouldn't realize how important it is to vote in the November election, but in case somehow anyone needed any additional motivation, I think Lawrence O'Donnell provides it here...



..and sticking with O'Donnell, he interviews Dale Ho, director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, about the video Ho filmed with Lewis Black (great stuff)...



...and usually I find that Steve Kornacki is a poor substitute for Rachel Maddow, but I think this was a good report on all the latest Ebola stuff (“field hearings” - what a joke)...



...and to me, just about anything that encourages higher voter turnout can't be bad (here).

Thursday Stuff

RIP Jan Hooks - I always thought she was a highly underrated comedy talent...



...and Rachel Maddow gives us another “Debunktion Junction” over more Repug idiocy, this time from Rep. Duncan Hunter (which was also debunked by the Mexican government, for the record)...



...and here are two commemorative birthday tunes - one for this guy...



...and one for this guy (NSFW).

Wednesday Stuff

I have to admit that I was pretty much done with the whole “Bill Maher/Ben Affleck radical Muslim argument thing” almost as soon as it happened, but in response, I thought this was a good commentary from Chris Hayes…



…and drat those Chinese again, as Jon Stewart explains here (I thought the stuff on North Korea’s “Lil’ Kim” was great)…

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…and fortunately, we have Stephen Colbert to put the usual Fix Noise suspects in their place over Ebola here (“What’s that? You’re all lying, stupid and irresponsibly trying to create a panic? Because too many people are getting wise to your act that all you do is propagate BS Republican Party talking points while pretending to be an actual news network? What’s that again??”)…

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...and I thought this was kind of a mellow "hump day" selection, so here it is.

Tuesday Stuff

As noted here, Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was murdered eight years ago yesterday; before those ISIS monsters started beheading Americans and others, the fourth estate was becoming a more and more dangerous profession – not hard to figure out that she was ultimately killed because our ol’ buddy Vlad Putin was getting a little uncomfortable with her reporting on Chechnya; dots haven’t all been connected yet, but I have no doubt that that’s where there'll lead one day…



…and I don’t mean to insult Politkovskaya by claiming that her courageous work bears any resemblance to anything by Chuck Todd, but he’s a charter member of our Beltway media-political-industrial complex so of course he ends up with Reince Priebus – luckily, Rachel Maddow interviewed Nancy Northrup of the Center for Reproductive Rights to obtain the reality perspective about the closing of clinics in the "yellow rose" state (as I've said, vote for a Dem as if your life depends on it, because it just might)...



..and here is Cenk Uygur telling us about the lady trying to organize a union at Burger King (sent home for a particularly laughable excuse also, if I may say so)...



…and I think the preceding item makes this tune a timely selection ("rather feed pigs than humanity" indeed).

Monday Stuff

I give you the latest installment of FAIR TV...



...and here is the latest economic news (I don't think this comes close to the whole story, but David Cay Johnston definitely gets this stuff)...



…and John Oliver continues to bring us enlightening commentary that is also funny as hell here (NSFW, and he manages to work in Philly too)…



...and RIP Paul Revere (and yes, that was his real name, the guy in this band of course).

Saturday Stuff

I thought this was particularly NSFW spot-on commentary from Bill Maher about those wastes of space in charge of the U.S. House in particular (and to do something about that in PA-08, click here)...



...and I think Jon Stewart hit this one right out of the park, as it were (here)...

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...and nice work by Chris Hayes to remind everyone how utterly wrong the wingnutosphere was on the Affordable Care Law (Hey Sean, how many stations dropped you this week – tee hee)...



...and here's a nice, rockin' non-message tune from this century (the guy with the face fungus managed to spook me out a bit, though).

Friday Stuff

I thought this was a nice feature by Chris Hayes, timed for the one-year anniversary of the roll out of the Affordable Care Law...



...and yes, I know it's truly shocking to hear about this (removing my tongue from my cheek), which puts this “Young Turks” video with Cenk and Ana from a few years ago in the proper context (and once again, the captions are unintentionally hilarious – and to send PA's “Space Cadet” governor back to private life once and for all - he who apparently was asleep for this also - click here)...



…and I get it that Leon Panetta is basically a Dem, though he does seem to sway with the prevailing wind, as it were, but I think he’s wrong to say that ISIS is Obama’s fault here, seeing as how he went along with the Status of Forces Agreement as well, which I think was the right thing to do.

As Igor Volsky of Think Progress tells us...

...while Panetta’s book reinforces longstanding criticism of Obama’s Iraq policy, his assessment clashes mightily with his public statements about the administration’s efforts to secure a status of forces agreement (SOFA) with Iraq.

For instance, during an Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Iraq in November of 2011, Panetta specifically dismissed McCain’s claims that the Obama administration was committed (to) complete withdrawal and did not want to leave residual troops in Iraq, reminding the Arizona senator that Iraqi leaders must agree to American presence in the country and provide American soldiers with immunity from prosecution.

“Senator McCain, that’s just simply not true,” Panetta began. “I guess you can believe that and I respect your beliefs…but that’s not how it happened. This is about negotiating with a sovereign country. An independent country, this was about their needs. This is not about us telling them what we’re going to do for them or what they’re going to have to do. … This is about their country making a decision as to what is necessary here.”

He stressed that for American troops to remain in the country, “you absolutely have to have immunities and those immunities have to be granted by a SOFA agreement. I was not about to have our troops go there in place without those immunities.”

Iraq told us to get out, which was their right, and Syria let the terrorist insurgents fester…not sure which president was supposed to be able to look into a crystal ball and figure that out…made me recall this Panetta-related clip (CYA 101 here as far as I’m concerned)…



…and I suppose I’m putting a twist on this by including this tune; always a cautionary lesson for yours truly.

Thursday Stuff

Oh, and October 1st was also the first birthday of healthcare.gov - Joy Reid reports (and sorry, Dems, if you don't stand and fight over the ACA, then you deserve what you get)...



…and it looks like the Repugs are up to their typical voter-caging garbage in North Carolina, among other places I’m sure, and as you might have guessed, Chucky and Dave Koch are behind it (more on this wretched duo here - oh, and one more thing...)…



…and Melissa Harris-Perry gives us an open letter to Colorado school board member Julie Williams, who basically wants to see our history of protest taken out of our social studies textbooks (achtung, baby!)…



...and I have to tell you that I actually was having a pleasant evening until I saw this (I really wish this guy would go away. I really do).

Oh, so we're supposed to have more patience with Mesopotamia, or something, you clueless meat sack? Well, at least he didn’t say we should give it six more months.

I will say, though, that I thought it was a nice touch for Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History to be “interviewed” by Brian Kilmeade of Fix Noise, since I believe the two are intellectual equals.

Wednesday Stuff

Happy 90th birthday to President Jimmy Carter – yeah, yeah, we get it, one term and he left with lower approval ratings, and he didn’t play the Beltway insider game the way he should have, but I defy anyone to go back and do a fair, independent analysis of the 1980 presidential campaign and try to catalog the wall-to-wall lies of The Sainted Ronnie R; it will be an eye-opener…wouldn’t have made a difference in the outcome, but imagine the howls of outrage if a Democrat had done anything like that (actually, Bill Clinton turned the tables a bit on that score in ’92 – you know what they say about paybacks; by the way, “The Unfinished Presidency” is a great book)…

...oh, and remember what happened a year ago today? Come on, let’s think really hard now…



…and Jon Stewart gives us another lesson in Civics 101 here (NSFW…I’d be laughing if it weren’t so damn true)…

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…and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the UC Berkeley Free Speech movement (here), I give you this (based on “Riot in Cell Block #9,” by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller).

Tuesday Stuff

What’s going on in the Kansas U.S. Senate race is interesting, but what’s going on in the Kansas gubernatorial contest in intriguing also – I think we know what just about always happens when Repug “Tax Cuts Are Their Jesus” ideology collides with reality (and Kris Kobach is truly the very worst non-federal secretary of state in this country)…



…and here is still more repulsive news on behalf of the “one percent” as well as the rest of us (NSFW - more here, and here)…



…and the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR is up to more nonsense (there goes Roberts “calling balls and strikes” again…and how ridiculous is this given what Iowa Repug Senate Candidate Joni Ernst said in the clip below? And maybe Cory Gardner is technically right about the so-called "personhood" bill not being introduced in Washington, but the next question should have been "Do you support a federal 'personhood' bill?" so we can watch him lie about that too)…



...and happy 50th birthday to Trey Anastasio.

Monday Stuff

It's particularly galling to read Baby Newton Leroy and his hosanna to himself over the 20th anniversary of the “Contract on America” here – I thought Rick Perlstein provided a good response here (basically, the whole damn thing was a sap to anyone voting for Ross Perot - who? - in 1992), and the following video from K.O. definitely still fits…



…and here’s the latest on the Repugs and their efforts to reach women voters; I think Celinda Lake made a great point when she said that the Repugs only care about not losing women more than they win men’s votes, and believe me when I tell you that that cold, hard fact doesn’t make me happy…



...oh, and by the way, here is a reminder that we do indeed have a campaign to unseat Mikey the Beloved in the PA-08 U.S. House race; this is the Dem candidate, Kevin Strouse (in case you hadn't heard) – to do what you can, click here...



..and yeah, “how is this still a thing” indeed (NSFW)...



…and I know I already got into the whole “coffee cup salute” thing last Friday, but I think this borderline NSFW clip by Jon Stewart needs to be seen by as many people as possible (more here - I’m sure just about everyone already has viewed it by now, but here it is again for good measure)…

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...and I thought this was a fun little video to enjoy while the days get shorter (sad).

Friday Stuff

I thought Rev. Al had some really good words to say here about Eric Holder (he also paid tribute to Holder on "All In" last night; in the interview, Chris Hayes stuck in this comedy bit that, I thought, wasn't particularly appropriate at that moment, and I don't think Sharpton did either - Holder deserves a tribute, but like others in this administration, he didn't go after the "banksters" either)...



...and yeah, this is about what you would expect with the news of Holder's resignation, including commentary from Ana Kasparian and Ben Mankiewicz of "The Young Turks" - NSFW...



...and I can’t think of a single time when I’ve heard sportscaster Bob Costas opine on any subject and haven’t found him to be intelligent, engaging and persuasive; I don’t think I’ve ever found myself disagreeing with him either, but I would still feel the same way even if I didn’t see eye to eye on a particular subject – really intelligent commentary here IMHO…



...and I give you the latest from FAIR TV...

…and for anyone who takes this latest wingnut flap seriously (not talking about Stephen Colbert of course), why dontcha just go grab a great big steaming cup of STFU…

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...and yeah, I guess that makes me want to hear this tune.

Thursday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

I can't think of a word that truly communicates my level of disgust with Hamid Karzai, who, as noted here, is stepping down as head (as much as anyone can be in charge of that country) of Afghanistan; for this monstrous ingrate to show no gratitude whatsoever – indeed, to heap ridicule on this country – is thoroughly repellent given the sacrifices of our military, particularly those killed and wounded...except for bin Laden, I've never advocated violence against anyone because it's wrong, but I might make another exception in Karzai's case; let the Taliban capture him and then find out how long it takes for Karzai to grovel to us asking for help – I thought this was a good report on him...



...and yes, it’s obvious, but good that Stephen Colbert pointed this out about “Chuckles” Krauthammer – something to remember while you ponder yet another corporate media absurdity, in that Krauthammer is one of the most widely-published columnists in syndication…

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…and as far as I’m concerned, Charles Rangel is a highly imperfect messenger on just about anything, but on this issue, he’s absolutely right (not about the goddamn draft though; I’ll admit that he’s consistent on that, but he’s consistently wrong - nice job on the "Water for the World Act" also)…



…and here’s a bit of a Thursday treat – yum.

Tuesday Stuff

"Why not now" indeed - as far as I'm concerned, this issue trumps all others (more here)...



...and yeah, you go Rev. Al - nothing like listening to rich white guys pontificate about the poor in this country, is there?...



…and here’s some more spot-on comedy from John Oliver with a purpose (here)…



..and happy 65th (!) birthday to The Boss – not much of a celebratory song really, even though I'm in the mood for it, particularly since I think it was about The First Mrs. Bruce, with (ironically) The Second Mrs. Bruce singing backup vocal so well on it.

Monday Stuff

Here's the latest climate news (yes, Alex, we get it that China and India aren't attending the climate summit, to their eternal folly – and in a related story, why am I definitely not surprised by this...more here)…



...and I give you the latest from Not Your Father's Republican Party (NSFW)...



…and I have to admit that I was genuinely touched by this…



…and 25 years ago today, legendary composer and lyricist Irving Berlin died; yeah, I think we all know about “White Christmas,” but he crafted many other legendary tunes also, including this one sung by that scrawny kid from Hoboken (changing things up again a bit here).

Saturday Stuff

Tough luck there, Scotland (here) - I'm sure you'll try again; all the best...



...at least most of those voting in that election knew what they were voting for or against, as opposed to this country...



...and I know that President Obama is carrying a heavy load with zero assistance from those majority clowns in the U.S. House in particular and not a lot from the Senate either (there's the legislative branch of government as well as the executive, after all), but he still needs to answer the question posed in this video...



...and I really need to go off a bit here.

In these parts (Bucks County, PA, in particular the Neshaminy School District), there's a controversy brewing over the fact that Gillian McGoldrick, editor-in-chief of Neshaminy HS’s student newspaper The Playwickian, as well as faculty adviser Tara Huber, were both suspended by Neshaminy School District Superintendent Robert Copeland because McGoldrick and Huber were apparently the ones behind a decision not to publish the word “Redskin” in a Letter to the Editor after the two quite rightly IMHO had decided that the term was an “offensive racial slur” and it would no longer appear in the paper.

Well, the oh-so-august-in-their-imaginations editorial board of the Bucks County Courier Times basically came down on the side of Copeland and the school administration yesterday, in part because the Courier Times believes that “it's just plain silly to expect people to debate an issue without mentioning the issue by name” (kind of mirrors this attitude as far as I'm concerned).

I honestly don't know what there is to “debate” here. The paper decided that the term was offensive and wouldn't appear in the paper (of course, leave it to the Courier Times to side with the powers that be, apparently believing that it's more important for McGoldrick to be punished than rewarded for exercising a responsible journalistic instinct). The “issue” is that the term wouldn't appear any more – as noted in the Huffington Post link above, similar protests are going on elsewhere over that term...or don't the “news professionals” of the Courier Times editorial board realize that?

Besides, I don't want to hear any high-minded claptrap from the Courier Times about how important it is not to favor one opinion on an issue over another (the “pro” and “anti” Redskin camps, if you will). On the same page that the Courier Times ran this editorial yesterday, they published one of their typically wingnutty letters with the title of “The 'Shameocrat Party'.” And believe me when I tell you that they would NEVER run a comparable headline against a Republican politician or talking point. They would NEVER condone anything like the language they allow against Democrats on a routine basis if that language were pointed at someone or something having to do with Not Your Father's Republican Party (there was an Op-Ed referring to Republicans as "godless," but that language barely appears at all on the Op-Ed page, nowhere near in proportion to anti-Democratic pejoratives).

(Here's another example: a story appeared in the paper a couple of years ago about how “Mikey the Beloved” Fitzpatrick pre-screens his “Town Hall” questions and how they end up usually being “softball” self-flattering stuff. Faster than you can say Karl Rove, someone from the Fitzpatrick camp complained to the Courier Times and that story – shockingly, some sound journalism from the usually wretched Gary Weckselblatt – COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED online subsequent to publication.)

So no, Courier Times, I don't want to hear any of your self-serving BS about supposedly sound journalistic ethics while you continues to slavishly kow tow to elderly white conservatives who never heard an anti-Obama talking point from the Roger Ailes BS Factory that they didn't wholeheartedly endorse (sorry I don't have links to the Courier Times Op-Ed stuff, but it's all behind their stupid pay wall by now anyway, which is a whole other rant).

And since, again, we're talking about the Bucks County Courier Times, that means that it's time for this tune (tongue in cheek, of course).

Friday Stuff

Oh, so those accused in the cowardly attack of a gay couple in Philadelphia may claim self-defense (here) – Really??...

Apparently some of these life forms reside in Bucks County, humble abode of yours truly – more’s the pity…



…and in more pleasant Philly news, kudos for this – Tweety and Mayor Michael Nutter bring us the details…



…and yeah, I think Sean Inanity gave us a bit more of a look into his upbringing here than we ever wanted; as usual, Stephen Colbert has a response here (it rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again, Sean)…

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...and Rachel Maddow gives us more details on dereliction of duty by those meat sacks in Congress (more here, and something else to keep in mind on this is here - typical)…



…and I give you the latest installment of FAIR TV…



…and to me, those idiots on Capitol Hill have turned the meaning of this tune inside out; had it in my head all day today.

Thursday Stuff

Why do I have a feeling that the Darren Wilson whitewash is well underway (more here – MO governor Jay Nixon looks like even more of a chump for not appointing a special prosecutor)…



…and last I checked, this creature named Eric Frein was still at large – yeah, a lot of the cops in Ferguson, MO look bad, but I still don’t believe that they represent the majority of law enforcement, which deserves our support, especially with stuff like this going on…



…and yeah, it’s time for BENGHAZI! BENGHAZI! BENGHAZI! BENGHAZI!!!, whether we want it or not (and except for the Repug base, I think not – I also think John Stanton tried to sneak in a Repug talking point at the very end, but good work by Alex Wagner to shoot him down)…



…and I hope you’re in the mood for some Thursday blues/funk, because here it comes (and with horns too – why of course, right?).

Wednesday Stuff

Why anyone would think Joe Scar, armed with his ever-filled container of Starbucks, would know the first thing about how members of Willard Mitt's despised "47 percent" actually vote is something I cannot comprehend - nice work here by Cenk Uygur...



...and God, when are stories like this one going to end - will it take a federal grand jury for this also?...



...and John Oliver strikes again, this time on corporations abusing social media (NSFW)...



…and I thought this was good news; never had even an iota of evidence that any proceeds whatsoever have gone to support terrorism – I think he’s a guy who wants to make a positive contribution with his great music (here is a sample from yesteryear).