Thursday Stuff

RIP Burt Kwouk (who?)…



…and hey, all you Teahadists out there (who I’m sure aren’t reading this)…all you self-proclaimed Constitutional experts who don’t want to spend a dime on anything except STUFF YOU LIKE and claim to hate “big gumint” with an undying passion…do you know what happens when you oppose ANY TAX INCREASE AT ALL? Stuff like this, as Rachel Maddow tells us; nuclear codes for ICBMs stored on 8” floppy disks – technology that went out with odd/even rationing days, platform boots, and reruns of “Flatbush.”

U-S-A! U-S-A!

(And yeah, I know the Hillary Clinton Email thing is so done by now, but I still think this was interesting)…



…and I’ll be honest; I was tempted to put up another video showing “The Donald” as the boorish lout that he is, but instead, I’m going to add this from Amy Goodman and Noam Chomsky that gives some much-needed context instead (the real takeaway is in the last minute)…



…and here is today’s class warfare update (I still don’t know her name; she’s right, but she doesn’t have to be so damn giddy about it)…

…and whaddya say I give you two more Bob Dylan tunes – this is his most recent, which I’ve kind of gone back and forth on a bit…



…and this is from Before The Flood – what is, for my money, one of the finest live recordings of all time.

Wednesday Stuff

It sounds like Elizabeth Warren quite rightly gave it to “Donald Drumpf” again - it’s getting harder and harder to catalog all of the ways that this guy is nothing but an utter parasite; the life forms who support him, as far as I’m concerned, are some of the sickest people on this planet…



…and leave it to our corporate media to give “The Donald” a pass on this also...well, mostly anyway, except for David Cay Johnston, fortunately…



…and just to show that the Dems aren’t immune from criticism either as far as I’m concerned, I give you this (NSFW)…

…and here are some more tunes to celebrate Bob Dylan’s birthday…





…and as has been said before, pop culture imitation is the sincerest form of flattery (funny NSFW stuff by Christopher Guest in particular, and if your cable provider offers Showtime, I should tell you again that this is great…as we learn, putting the magazine out of business was one of the early so-called accomplishments of the so-called “Christian Coalition,” but by then, most of the talent had gone to Saturday Night Live, Second City TV, or they were on their own at that point anyway).

Tuesday Stuff

Looks like karma is a bitch, huh Governor Bully (not that I necessarily condone fat-shaming either, though it’s not as if Christie hasn’t been told of what a liability that is also - here)…



…and speaking of “Fergus Laing,” it looks like Marine Alexander McCoy is holding Trump to account – thanks for his service then as now (and how pathetically weak is it for “The Comcast Network” to feature promos for their own shows IN THEIR OWN STINKING VIDEOS??!! Just fast forward to about 2:06 if you can)…



…and I definitely don’t want to make a habit of actually paying attention to that barely animate life form Pat Robertson, but I’ll let Kyle Kulinksi take a shot at him anyway (NSFW – and as far as that quote from FDR goes, I would ask that you read this)…

…and happy 75th birthday to “Mistah Bob”; may feature more Dylan tunes this week also.

Monday Stuff

RIP Alan Young...



…and Ed Schultz interviews Repug Congressman Walter Jones and Dem Rick Nolan on the 28 pages of the 9/11 Report that should be declassified by now (I’m in favor of seeking restitution against individuals, but not governments – as much as I don’t like our “friends” the Saudis, trying to go after an entire regime could definitely boomerang on us)…



...and I thought this was a GREAT commentary from Rachel Maddow on the fact that the U.S. House of Representatives has done zilch in the matter of convicted former Speaker Dennis Hastert (oh, but they took down his picture – give me a break; if he’d been a Dem he’d be getting vilified 24/7, which should be happening regardless)…



…and those idiots in Arkansas who elected this clown must be so proud (NSFW – great response by Jimmy Dore, and Cenk finishes up pretty well too; spot-on about our corporate media)…



…and yep, you know it, you love it…time for another installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 5/23/12 on the Repugs and their supposed women’s outreach (“Make America Great Again”…hmm, sounds familiar…of course, at least two of the three people in this video are no longer with The Comcast Network, M H-P and Martin Bashir, and I think Krystle Ball is gone also…great point about Republican women having a harder time winning their primaries than Dem women)...



…and on this day in 1979 as noted here, Tom Petty faced off with Shelter Records as part of a contract dispute which, in addition to garnering more hard-earned dough for himself, lowered the price of the recording, which is a really nice “two-fer” as far as I’m concerned.

Friday Stuff

You know what? I don't know how much of the anti-Sanders stuff out there is media trolling by the Hillary campaign and how much of it is a meltdown from the Sanders campaign, including the Nevada business (and I'll admit that the numbers are in HRC's favor), but let's not forget this, shall we?...

(For example, Cenk Uygur, who I respect, said that he hasn’t seen video of a chair being thrown during the Nevada stuff – neither have I, but isn’t that missing the larger point?)...

…also, I didn’t give much of a thought to the recent passing of former Utah Repug Senator Bob Bennett (I had issues with the guy, but he was pretty normal compared to the rest of that bunch, including the utter lowlife who ended up getting his job), but I thought this was pretty touching, to say nothing of completely called for at a minimum…



…and speaking of Cenk, I also thought he and Ana gave a good analysis here of the dustup over Facebook and so-called preferred right-wing content (funny that you never hear about liberals and progressives being allowed to vet the “news” content of The Daily Tucker, Clownhall.com, The Weakly Standard, and of course Fix Noise)…



…and kudos to the striking Verizon workers – all the best…



…and just keep telling yourself that “The Handmaid’s Tale” is fiction when you watch this (by the way, I’ve been watching a great documentary on Showtime called “Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead” about National Lampoon – would really like to know what people like Doug Kenney, Henry Beard and John Hughes before he went commercial would do with something like this story)…



Update: Wow, here is a sentence I thought I’d never write – kudos to Repug governor Mary Fallin for this (yeah, I'm sure she has an ulterior motive, but nice job to do the right thing).

…and Thom Hartmann brings us economic and labor news for the week (“B. Barry Bamz” ought to pay attention to the first item in particular – one of the more depressing segments I realize, and I’m not sure what we can do about it except work for change, all of us)…



…and I’ll be honest; I go back and forth on these guys, but I like this new tune in particular.

Thursday Stuff

RIP Morley Safer (jeez, didn’t they just give him a retirement party the other day?)…I thought most of his features were pretty good – he actually had a segment with The Muppets years ago that I thought was pretty funny, and he had a really hard time keeping a straight face, which I certainly don’t hold against him…he made his name, though, doing some truly balls-out reporting during the Vietnam War, including this segment…

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...and OMFG (here – and by the way, you didn’t hear any of these numbskulls prattling on about a refugee crisis during the…oh, let me think – now what was that little dustup again?? And I don’t necessarily like the TSA either, but how exactly do they constitute a “security problem”?).

TEH STUPID!! IT BURNS US!!!!…



…and yeah, there’s some humor in this, but for the eleventy billionth time, this makes it loud and clear to me that Hillary Clinton needs to make the case for herself – we’ll see…



…and I give you Example Part The Infinity, as Charles Pierce might say, of how conservatives have no sense of humor whatsoever (apropos in particular in light of the prior clip)…



...and Thom Hartmann brings us science and green news for the week (For the last time? Gee, I hope not.)...



…and I guess I’m overdue for a “relationship” song, so here you go.

Wednesday Stuff

Once again, Elizabeth Warren speaks and we listen, this time on Zika (here).

And by the way, I have a message for the supposed Democratic Party “leadership”; before we lose another congressional election, why don’t we actually make the case (including putting up some videos) highlighting the stuff that Warren is talking about? You know, how absolutely horrible congressional Republicans are when it comes to infrastructure, the economy overall, funding government to do its job properly (including the Zika nonsense Warren is talking about), and trying to pass anti-trans or anti-Planned Parenthood and abortion laws every other week, as well as other stuff? You know, actually DO THE HARD WORK OF EXPLAINING TO VOTERS HOW DEMOCRATS ACTUALLY GOVERN LIKE ADULTS AS OPPOSED TO THE OTHER SIDE!

For the most part, Republicans are corporatist greedhead monsters and Democrats are compromised cowards, with at least one notable exception. Please go out there and prove me wrong about the “D” team, OK?...



…and sorry again to be such a downer; I can’t believe that this story actually took place in this country, but it did (see above for not doing anything about it)…



…and kudos to Samantha Bee again for this (definitely NSFW, but for a good reason, in response that is - nice)…



…and RIP Guy Clark – I’m pretty sure Tom Rush covered this tune.

Tuesday Stuff

Yeah, I think this about says it (Update 5/20/16: "30 pieces of silver" indeed, and no, I don't think that's an inapt way to put it)...

The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore
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…and Samantha Bee does it again, giving the “jump for Jesus” crowd exactly what they deserve (here)…



…and just say “oops” and get out, Jon Keyser and Colorado Republicans (gee whiz, sounds like one or more people were caught committing voter fraud for real – from the party that screams about it the loudest, it should be noted – which, last I checked, was a felony; more related stuff is here...more on Michael Bennet is here)…



…and I don’t know about you, but I think we all need to hear something like this from time to time.

Monday Stuff

With the never-ending corporate media bloviating about "The Donald" (including this latest idiocy), I think a little more of a taste of reality is in order...



...and speaking of corporate media bloviating, kudos to Bill Maher for this (most recent show was great; even glibertarian Jack Hunter made sense - I have a feeling HBO won't allow this to stay up for long)...



...and once more, it's time for another installment of "This Day In Doomsy History" from 5/14/10 (and yes, Number 44 was spot-on, but as we know, the Repugs took over the House in 2010 in no small part because Dem voters didn't show up in November, and they took the Senate in 2014 for much the same reason - it's up to all of us to erase that mistake; I may show this video a few more times before Election Day)...



…and it looks like Russ Feingold struck back against that turd Ron Johnson in this ad, from here – more of the latter’s disgusting stupidity is here…not that Johnson would actually do this of course, but he should click here to learn about some of the people he insulted – to help Russ, click here)…



…and this tells us about Guido Menzio, an associate professor in the economics department at the University of Pennsylvania, who committed the apparently unpardonable sin of performing – wait for it! – MATH ON AN AIRPLANE! JUDAS H. PRIEST ON A POGO STICK!!!...



...…and I set out to highlight more recent tunes, but this cover is about 8-9 years old of a tune from way back, but I still think it’s pretty good.

Friday Stuff

As Karoli says, I guess this is called Harry Reid having no more sh*ts to give...



…and kudos to those zany Canadians for this idea, trying to generate some love from the utter horror of a Donald Trump presidency (and stop saying it can’t happen, because it could – we have to get out and work to prevent that!)…



Update 5/14/16: This post is basically about Trump, but it could be about so many other categories also – Nail. Hammer. Head.

…and while we’re on the topic of world stuff, I should note that, for a brief period last Sunday, Germany very nearly generated all of the power it needed from renewable sources…



…and Steve ended up having to spend a lot to defeat Shaughnessy Naughton, someone who truly gives Democrats a bad name, and that goes for everyone associated with her – if you can spare some coin (or for any other reason), please click here; he’s going to need a lot of help against “Mikey Pt. 2”…



…and Thom Hartmann brings us economic and labor news for the week (GREAT item about banking in North Dakota)…



…and happy birthday to Stevie Wonder; here’s a tune that’s apropos for today’s date on the calendar (seriously thinking about a week with only new or recent stuff because of my backlog – may make that happen soon).

Thursday Stuff

RIP Michael Ratner – so many important lessons in this clip, as well as acknowledgement of the battles that still remain to be fought…



…and the answer to the question is yes – Rosemary Collyer is a Dubya appointee from 2002 (more here)…



…and Michael Brooks of “The Majority Report” tells us that Israel’s so-called “justice” minister considers ANY criticism of Israel to be “anti-Semitic” (please – more here…)…



…and a lot of times, I put up tunes here that are tied to a milestone or a news story of some type, or it’s something new that I really like – well, neither of those circumstances apply; I heard part of this on the radio this morning during my travels (too busy to hear the whole thing), and it brought back some happy memories, so I thought I’d put up all of it here; hard to believe Kenny Loggins was once this mellow before he became an ‘80s pop/rock icon (pics are from the John Muir Woods and Big Basin, CA).

Wednesday Stuff

Back to “all Trump” again – apologies in advance…

Here’s another video about “The Donald” acting like the Neanderthal we truly know he is. However, with this in mind, I should point out a concern…

After a point, bashing Trump will start to generate diminished returns, as it were, kind of like the whole boxing “rope-a-dope” thing (though in no way do I mean to point out that Trump is the political equivalent of Muhammad Ali – fortunately, he isn’t).

But if and when we get to that point, it will be up to the presumptive Democratic Party nominee to make her case. Spending from now until November pointing out the obvious about “Donald Drumpf” is not a political strategy that will guarantee success by itself (yes, HRC is definitely a known commodity, but that doesn’t let her off the hook).

OK, with that said…



…and I thought this was some well-done commentary from Brian Stelter on the all-but-named Republican nominee (here)…



…and Cenk, John & Jimmy give us the latest Trump insanity about debt, and it is literally that…NSFW – stuff from about 5:20 is the most important)...



…and I know I have to be careful because giving “Fergus Laing” even bad publicity is still publicity of a sort, but I liked this interview that Rev. Al conducted with Larry Wilmore on the subject (and I thought Wilmore did just fine as the emcee of the “nerd prom” recently)...



…and Lawrence O’Donnell talks to Rich Cohen about “The Donald” using songs by The Rolling Stones without their permission of course at Trump’s rallies; sounds to me like this is a case of “the singer, not the song” which actually is a Stones tune…



…and keeping with music, I should note that Bob Marley died 35 years ago today.

Tuesday Stuff

Yes, there is other stuff going on besides “The Donald” and the trans-bathroom idiocy, though I'm sure I'll end up returning to at least one of those situations tomorrow – for starters, if I were Number 44, I would keep using this ammunition as long as the other side is dumb enough to give it to me (here)…



…and it looks like Goldman Sachs is trying to help militarize space (oh, peachy – and oh yeah, more money for NSA spying too)…



…and Kyle Kulinski tells us that Colorado is becoming a haven for medical marijuana “refugees” (NSFW – the last 45 seconds in particular is the real “takeaway” IMHO)…



…and sticking with medical stuff, I wanted to find a tune to commemorate National Nurse’s Week, which runs from 5/6 to 5/12, and I first thought of “Teenage Enema Nurses in Bondage” (uh, no), but I settled on this instead, which fits I think (lots of songs for doctors but few for nurses, which, when you consider who supposedly does patient care and who does it for real, is oddly appropriate).

Monday Stuff

Lawrence O’Donnell speaks with Richard Clarke on the horrifying thought of actually giving security briefings to Donald Trump, whose comments to Chuck Todd(ler) about Hillary Clinton’s OMIGODJUSTSTOPALREADY Email server are as big a joke as he is…

…by the way, I would ask that you try to wrap your head around the absurdity of the so-called Clinton Email controversy by contemplating what Clarke says here; namely, that she was wrong to use a personal server, but if she used a public one that she was supposed to, the Chinese would have hacked it anyway…



…and we attempt to joke about it because we must (here)…

Bathroom Cop from Funny Or Die

…and I give you yet another installment of “This Day in Doomsy History” from 5/6/2008 (well, not exactly the day, but there you are); I would ask that, if somehow you have any impulse to consider “Fergus Laing” as a serious candidate for president, you would watch this clip and realize that all of this garbage comes from THE LAST TIME we elected (more or less) a Repug for president…



…and kudos to JT for this.

Saturday Stuff

This is just about too despicable for words – I hope one day that Ken Shupe experiences a breakdown of his vehicle on the road and is denied service the way he denied it to Cassie McWade – what an idiot, Shupe I mean…



…also, Chris Hayes talks to David Cay Johnston about “Trumponomics” (great point by Johnston about the state of New Jersey intervening on Trump’s behalf against his casino creditors, supposedly contrary to Trump/Repug “free market” ideology)…



…and I’ve fallen down a bit on the “science and green news” videos from Thom Hartmann, so here is the most current segment…



…and here’s another tune for Mother’s Day, because why not?

Friday Stuff

Yeah, I know we’ve definitely done the “bathroom bills” thing to death (the best commentary as far as I’m concerned, though, was from The Young Turks who actually bothered to read the fine print and realize that these bills are also assaults on worker protections), but I still thought this was a good commentary from Seth Meyers last week, if for no other reason than to give us an opportunity to take a final shot or two at “Calgary” Cruz (here - sadly, though, this remains topical, as noted here)…



…and while I think Ben Howe of Red State doth protest too much, I also thinks he makes some good points about “The Donald”; seriously, though, Howe and other conservatives shouldn’t be too shocked by this, since they’ve been catering to “the great unwashed” of their beloved base for years (including the late but still lamentable Andrew Breitbart), and their elevation of someone like Trump should not be surprising at all…



…and as you know if you’ve spent much time at this site at all, you know that I’m definitely not averse to using humor to try and make a serious point (here)…



…and Thom Hartmann brings us economic and labor news for the week…



…and to be honest, this isn’t exactly the type of story I was looking for given that Mother’s Day is Sunday, but I still thought it was interesting, particularly the last minute (those zany Aussies)…



…and as Mr. S. might say, happy Mother’s Day to all you muthas out there.

Thursday Stuff

Rachel Maddow brings us another fine report on what the ascendancy of “The Donald” truly means in the appropriate historical context… as Karoli at Crooks and Liars noted previously, it should scare the hell out of any sane person that Trump will now actually receive classified CIA briefings…beyond freaking belief…



…and with everything else going on, I have to admit that I didn’t pay a lot of attention to this story, but fortunately Ana Kasparian of The Young Turks did; great work, including her “in your face” finish (NSFW)…



…and given all of the pandering against the LGBT community out there with all of the “bathroom” legislation, particularly in North Carolina (and to this I say, "Gee, ya' think?!"), I think it’s time once more for another installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 5/5/11, in which Minnesota State Representative Steve Simon spoke so eloquently in defense of all of the “non-straights” out there (backgrounder here)…



...all of which somehow makes me want to hear this song.

Wednesday Stuff

“May the Fourth Be With You” indeed (and I thought "The Force Awakens" was pretty good, for what it's worth)…



…and yeah I know I’m not exactly impartial here, but I still think this is an effective ad…



…and by the way, bye Ted…



…and bye John (takes a few minutes to get to Kasich, but it does)…

…leaving this cretin still standing, which, as far as I’m concerned, is proof that the “party of Lincoln” doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously (NSFW – and yes, people, he actually could win)…



…and when it comes to this election cycle, I have a feeling that Keb’ Mo’ is exactly right.

Tuesday Stuff

RIP Father Daniel Berrigan (a little late with this I know)…



...and as long as we're traveling back in time a bit..to truly appreciate the next clip, you need to watch this one first (harking back to this)…



…and in the clip below, Rachel Maddow interviews Republican Bill Bogert, who starred (I guess that’s the correct word) in the prior ad; what a nugget of history she unearthed here, and totally appropriate IMHO; the big difference to me, though, is that, after the landslide Goldwater defeat in ’64, the “party of Lincoln” reinvented itself and ultimately began the ruinous conservative ascendancy many years later – after what may come this fall, they could indeed be heading to extinction, which would be utterly deserved…



…and I personally think we’re waaay past the point of talking about climate change, but kudos to Jimmy Kimmel & co. for fighting the good fight (here)…



…and it’s taken me a little while I know to get around to this Kyle Kulinski clip about the Illinois police chief getting rid of body cameras, but here it is anyway (NSFW)…

...and when I saw this on tha’ Twitterz, I immediately thought of this song, and yeah, I know it doesn’t quite fit, but I want to hear it anyway (if you don’t follow Chris Hayes, by the way, you should).

Monday Stuff

Yesterday was the 13th anniversary of “Mission Accomplished” Day; here is an appropriate tribute of sorts (and in the "reap what you sow" dept., I give you this)…



…oh, and I just remembered that I need to stop by Target and pick up some home furnishings (NSFW – “Goober” Gohmert proves once more that he is the stupidest life form in the entire universe – I didn’t know about the stuff noted in North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” at about 9:00…interesting that the whole trans-bathroom thing may just be the proverbial Trojan horse)…



…and by the way, do you want to know what led to this? Here is a refresher…



…and stupid decisions have consequences (here)…



…don’t they, Sen. “No Corporate Tax”? (To do something about it, click here.)...



…and I had this song in mind once again as I watched the first video noted above.

Friday Stuff

I don't think "despicable" quite describes this, either when it comes to the actual incident or, particularly, concerning the ruling (here - yes, I know a law is probably needed for clarification, but what about a little common sense?)...



...and in somewhat of a related vein, I remember when TV news anchors who had some credibility actually could opine on awful subjects like this with something approximating a force of morality; of course, times being what they are, we have to leave this up to comedians, and Jimmy Kimmel does the job beautifully here…



…and it looks like “Top-Step Shill” outdid himself this time – what an utter fool; his employer told him to knock it off but apparently he was too dumb to listen, so that automatically becomes the fault of “liberals” (here)…



…and it’s almost heartbreaking to watch this and realize what kind of standards we used to have in this country for running for president, and then realize how far we’ve fallen down on that…and yes, this has to do with “Fergus Laing” – NSFW...



…and I didn’t get to this great John Oliver video about lead last week (here), so I’ll do so now; worth it for no other reason than to see “Republic Party” U.S. House Reps Mark Meadows, Tim Walberg and particularly Jason Chaffetz shown up as the thoroughly bought-and-paid-for frauds that they truly are…



…and Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich tells us about the racial component of the wealth divide in this country, continuing to explain common-sense situations and concepts that are probably understood by too many of us as “the new normal,” and that includes me, though that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do something about it (here)…



...and Thom Hartmann brings us Economic and Labor News for the week (tying back a bit to the Reich video)...



…and we lost a true blues guitar legend last week with the passing of Lonnie Mack – RIP.

Thursday Stuff

Rachel Maddow talks with historian Michael Beschloss about the line from aviator and anti-Semite Charles Lindbergh to Pat Buchanan to Donald Trump on the “America First” movement (and based on what she says here, I can’t say much about her choice of friends)…



…and I’m sorry (well, actually not); believe me when I tell you that I’m interested in an intelligent discussion on all manner of issues, but as far as I’m concerned, there is never an excuse for flag desecration (though firing people from their jobs over it is more than a bit of an overreaction, unless they work for, say, the National Park Service or a high-profile public sector job, the type Republicans hate)…



…and who thought that this could end up as the ultimate revenge for Citizens United? (funny, actually - NSFW)...



..and RIP Les Waas – here’s a tune in his honor.

Wednesday Stuff

(Kudos to Steve Santarsiero for winning the Dem nomination to run for Mikey the Beloved’s PA-08 seat in the U.S. House…sorry to see Bernie lose, though I wasn’t totally surprised; definitely on board with HRC if she ends up as the nominee for prez…for U.S. Senate, was kind of hoping that Joe Sestak would win, but I’m happy with Katie McGinty also – best to all.)

Turning to other matters, the Chernobyl nuclear “incident” was 30 years ago yesterday, by the way (more here)...



...and I know I said something about this earlier, but kudos to Samantha Bee for this (NSFW - killer of an ending, by the way)...



…and in response to a story like this, I think the best thing I can do is give a plug to the opponent of the utterly odious Roy Blunt (remember this?) in Missouri’s U.S. Senatorial Election (to do more to help Jason Kander, click here or here)…



...and I know he's coming to Wilkes-Barre, PA next month on the 19th, but don't know if and when he's coming back to Philly - I'll let you know if I hear anything.

Tuesday Stuff

I thought this was a good report by RT’s Ed Schultz on how the Germans aren’t getting fooled by the trade deal nonsense being spouted by both Number 44 and Angela Merkel; sorry to hear the closing remarks about “B. Barry Bamz,” but dude, you did this to yourself…



…and Rev. Al reminds us that Prince had more of a commitment to social justice than many of us knew at the time (well, me at least anyway)…



…and I know this is a humorous clip (well, I think so anyway), but this is a serious story, didn’t even know World Penguin Day was a thing, but we observed it yesterday apparently; I have a soft spot for these small flightless birds I’ll admit because they live in the worst climates of the world and survive all manner of threats by working together – I can think of no apt metaphor for what we’re doing to this planet than to note how endangered they are, and as always, we can do something about that…



…and RIP Billy Paul (and please spare me the moral lectures – it’s just a great song).

Monday Stuff

Before I begin, I want to note that an individual has been driving around my location for the last couple of weekends with a green pickup truck and a Gadsden flag flying in the breeze. Yes, I realize that he has the right to express his political opinion, stupid though it may be, but here is a suggestion; instead of burning all of that gas for no good reason, why don’t you do something that is actually constructive such as help out at a food bank or, say, help Catholic Social Services in some capacity (maybe helping moms/women with dependent children who are in need)? You could also help to work on the political campaign for the candidate of your choice.

Basically, there’s are a hell of a lot more constructive things you could do instead of parading your intolerance.

And by the way, primary Election Day is tomorrow in PA, so let’s get out for this guy (here)…



…and this guy (here – and yes, before anyone out there starts, it’s true that the gun bill Steve refers to was not signed into law, but kudos for his effort on this and many other issues)…



…and speaking of elections…ugggh (here) – but remember that this definitely isn’t the time to talk about gun laws, is it, Mr. Green Pickup Truck?...



…and this report from Rachel Maddow probably should have ended at about 13:50 – really don’t care about the stuff having to do with Maine Republican delegates – but it shows Paul LePage, that state’s Republican governor, as the insufferable clown that he truly is yet again; really don’t understand why this guy hasn’t been vilified more thoroughly by our corporate media, though maybe I’m answering my own question on that one (more here)…



Update 5/3/16: Excellent work by the Maine "lege" here...

…and Rev. Al talks about Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill with Vanessa De Luca of Essence Magazine (not the most pressing of issues as far as I’m concerned, but something that is hugely symbolic I’ll admit, as Rev. Al says)…



...and kudos to Joe Walsh for this.

Friday Stuff

Look like Alan Grayson has done it again – kudos (here – I think all the empty seats speak to the true priorities of most of those life forms in the U.S. House, and I certainly don’t mean that as a compliment)…



…and if you want to elect somebody in PA-08 who will stand with Grayson, watch and click here…



…and Thom Hartmann brings us economic and labor news for the week…



…and hey, corporate media? You want to give us a break from opining on the never-ending presidential election in this country and try paying attention to stuff like this instead?...



…and Happy Earth Day from the Democratic Party (here)…



…and here is a song for the occasion.

More Thursday Stuff

Rachel Maddow recalls the PMRC hearings in the ‘80s with Tipper Gore and Susan Baker that led to record label warnings, which actually are kind of quaint now when you look back at it – worth recalling with Prince’s passing today (more here)…



…and I finally found the tribute video I was looking for earlier – Sign O’ The Times indeed.

See all music videos Prince

Thursday Stuff

Way too damn young to go – I’m sure we’ll find out more later; couldn't find any good videos to upload, so I wasn't planning to say anything else…



...and yeah, I know it’s utterly not shocking for our corporate media to swoon over their latest Republican “sugar daddy” (see The Sainted Ronnie R and his “son”), but it’s still vile and repulsive anyway; kudos to Media Matters for compiling this video (here), which must have been a truly gut-churning task…



…and speaking once more of “The Donald,” Cenk tells us how the all-but-named Repug presidential nominee supposedly helped on 9/11 - uh-huh…



...and I just saw "The Graduate" on a movie channel lately, which made me remember this tune.

Wednesday Stuff

By the way, I have something to say about any self-proclaimed pundit of any political affiliation who indulges in the equivalent of navel gazing about his or her preferred presidential candidate and then laments about how tiresome the electoral process is in this country (which it is):

If you’re wasting column or online pixel space engaging in this exercise instead of devoting space to REAL people dealing with REAL issues instead, then stop whining, because YOU are part of the problem too.

…and I know there are Republicans out there who will ABSOLUTELY LOSE THEIR MINDS if you point out to them that their party wins in no small part by voter disenfranchisement; too f*cking bad…own it, wingnuts...and one more thing, for the benefit of the host of this video - EVERY VOTE DOES COUNT!…



…and in the latest “horse race” political news, all I can say in response to these obscene sums of money is – THANK YOU JOHN ROBERTS (tongue in cheek of course) for this…



...and for PA-08 folks, to do more to help, click here…



…and I give you another installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less), with a video from 4/16/12 in which the “party of Lincoln” tried a subliminal advertising trick aimed at Number 44; as we know, though, the Repugs are the real “Mad Men”…



…and, in a story timed for “4/20,” it looks like our neighbors to the north are moving forward with national legalization of pot; personally, I’ve always favored decriminalization, but it’s a “vox populi” kind of thing…



…and I honestly didn’t know “4/20” was a thing – can’t think of a more apropos tune than this one.

Tuesday Stuff

When it comes to Billo, I wasn’t going to “go there” when it comes to the personal stuff, but I got tired of reading garbage like this and this…



Update 4/20/16: Keep it up, Billo (here)...

…and I think this clip from Samantha Bee is an appropriate palate cleanser, timed for today of course (here – definitely NSFW; LOVE the Kasich description)…



…and Kyle Kulinski tells us about the primary challenge in Florida to that Dem traitor DWS and why she’s in deep doo-doo (NSFW as well – to help, click here)…



…and I think the sound of this guy is too interesting to ignore any more.

Monday Stuff

GO, BERNIE, GO (tomorrow is indeed the big day in “The Empire State,” with PA a week from tomorrow)…



…and I thought this was an interesting report by Rachel Maddow on Repug governors and their “stage craft” at signing ceremonies, leading to a report on how utterly tone deaf on gender issues John Kasich is (and he’s supposed to be the “smart” one)…



…and I also agree that violence against people and property isn’t justified in the circumstances in this video (here), but neither is it justified to forget about the root causes of why poverty and blight exist in this country…



…and like you I’m sure, I’m glad Diana Ross is OK (here); gives me an excuse to put up this tune (with a legendary bass line by Motown “Funk Brother” James Jamerson).

Friday Stuff

I give you a snapshot of Life In These United States (Washington, D.C. in particular) from yesterday (and this happened also)…



…and Rachel Maddow brings us some echoes of Repug history in this clip, mainly how The Sainted Ronnie R began his campaign for the presidency (rounding up the herd of racist cats, if you will) and what that has in common with the latest escapade from "The Donald" on Long Island...



…and on a similar note, I usually couldn’t give a fig about all of the political horse race BS, but I thought this was an interesting discussion between Chris Hayes, GQ’s Drew Magary and Sam Seder about what “The Donald” might do once he takes a good, hard look at the reality of this election, assuming he hasn’t done that already (somewhat amusing stuff)…

…and “Occam’s Razor”? “Deus ex Machina”? Dag Chris, this is MSNBC, not Wellesley College!...



…and John Oliver delivers a pithy expose of sorts once again, this time on credit reporting (just like most “snoozer” topics, it’s easy to forget how important this stuff really is – here)…



….and Thom Hartmann brings us economic and labor news for the week…



…and we ended up with a nice little refund; hope you all end up doing OK also (50th birthday of this song also, believe it or not).

Thursday Stuff

In case you’re wondering, the answer is no; I’m not going to stop beating the proverbial drum over North Carolina’s anti-trans bathroom bill (and when it affects porn, you know that sh*t just got real)…



…and it looks like Verizon workers are “feeling the Bern” (more here); to do what you can to help, click here…



...and Cenk gives us an update over the recent idiocy he had to deal with at the hands of American Airlines (and MAN, is that the question of the hour at the end, or what?)...



...and Lowell George would have been 71 yesterday.

Wednesday Stuff

I thought this was a good report by Chris Hayes on the 1994 Bill Clinton crime bill (I remember that idiot John McLaughlin on that show of his losing his mind about the supposed threat of “midnight basketball” back then - Hayes is right; great observations all around but particularly by Jeremy Travis)…



…and kudos to Bryan Adams – didn’t know he was still touring – and everyone else protesting that horrible trans “bathroom bill” in North Carolina…



…and wow, did Tamron Hall from that supposedly “liberal” MSNBC network try her best to torpedo Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich and, by extension, Bernie Sanders (Hayes's report was actual journalism, as opposed to this)…



…and what balls by Steve Miller for this (I hear the ring of truth in most of it).

Tuesday Stuff

To help Steve (for everyone in PA-08 who will vote in the Dem primary two weeks from today, right?), click here…



...and kudos once more to NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for this...

...and really, Yahoo News? I can smell the desperation from here…

…and it’s sad that this battle still has to be fought, but apparently it does (here), and more here...



…and I seriously hope that nobody thinks this is a “one off,” because it isn’t…



…and I’m sure nobody will be able to pry Eddie Eagle from Samantha Bee’s cold, dead hands (here – metaphorically speaking of course)…



…and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made history as the first man in space 55 years ago today (here).

Monday Stuff

Chris Hayes talks here with Todd Allbaugh, former Republican political operative, helping to unmask even further the fraud of voter ID bills…



...and hey, turnabout is fair play...



…and as always, this is a tongue-in-cheek commentary from Bill Maher, but he’s right; it’s more important for the wingnuts to have a Democrat to hate than it is to elect a Republican (and he said this right in front of that Trump stooge who was utterly ridiculous the whole show)…



...and kudos to The Boss for this.

Friday Stuff

John Oliver does it again, as he did earlier this week, on the subject of congressional fundraising here – nice for the DCCC’s Steve Israel to feel like he can take a victory lap or two since he’s stepping down, but along with that traitor DWS, they have a pretty sorry record of losing congressional mid-term elections (and yes, I know lazy Democrats who only vote off-cycle if they accidentally wander into a voting booth are partly to blame too, but here’s something I’ve noticed…does anybody point out any more how badly team “D” is getting creamed when it comes to social networking and viral videos? Try finding something current at the Dem “Rapid” Response YouTube channel…a lot more to do online for campaigns than just to send scare Emails and try to turn us upside down and shake loose change out of our pockets)…



…and it sounds like Cenk and The Young Turks are taking a bow or two also over 200 million views in a month, which I have to admit is pretty cool – good for them (mildly NSFW)…



…and Lord knows Andrew Cuomo has issues, but kudos to him and the Empire State for passing and signing into law the most progressive family leave policy in the country, as Kyle Kulinski tells us (definitely NSFW - wonder if Steve Israel is listening?)…



...and Thom Hartmann brings us Economic and Labor News for the week...



…and for a bonus installment of “This Day In Doomsy History,” we’re going to journey back to 4/9/11 to commemorate once more the passing of film director Sidney Lumet, who brought us “Network” by Paddy Chayefsky, a movie with enough brains for about five other movies – the “mad as hell” scene is what everyone quite rightly remembers the most, but to me, this is the one that endures all the more (and yes, mildly NSFW also)…



…and speaking of milestones, happy 88th birthday tomorrow to the funniest math professor of all time.

Thursday Stuff

Kudos to Seth Meyers for stating the obvious here about a woman's right to control her own body (and for making the point about the stuff going on in state legislatures across this country - here)...



...and here are some protesters trying to speak truth to duuuh! (in light of the Meyers clip)...



…and yeah, the video is satire, but unfortunately, this somewhat related development is reality – yep, time for the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 4/2/08…



...and former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich explains the importance of passing a new Voting Rights Act and opposing voter ID here, which is just the same old Democratic and minority voter discrimination in a brand new wrapper (still timely in light of the remembrance of Dr. King's slaying this week)...



…and RIP Merle Haggard (love the look he gives to the drummer - going over the line when it comes to country music to mark the occasion)…



…and I always thought this was a pretty cool tribute song, so here it is.

Wednesday Stuff

Congratulations to the Villanova men’s basketball team on winning the NCAA championship (here)…



…and with their Tuesday primary still in mind, Rev. Al shines a spotlight on Wisconsin’s particularly awful voter ID law (and it looks like that U.S. House idiot Glenn Grothman gave away the con here)…



...and I know April 4th was a few days ago, but kudos to Lawrence O’Donnell for this clip that reminds us of the significance of that day; anyone who helps keep history alive like this is doing a service for us all…



…and yeah, this is definitely a positive development, but I think it’s scary that a case like this was even heard at all (figures that an idea having to do with crappy governance would come from Texas – more on Edward Blum is here)…



...and I thought this was an interesting clip on a report by economist Didier Jacobs claiming that about three-quarters of the "one percent" don't merit their wealth (more on Jacobs is here)...



…and here’s some great new music from a guy who’s currently on tour; coming to PA in late May I believe but not to these parts, sadly...c'est dommage.

Tuesday Stuff

Former spokesperson for Trump’s Superpac Stephanie Cegielski explains to Alex Witt why she turned away from “The Donald” (I give her credit for going on the record, though I don’t totally buy her explanation at the end about why everything had to shut down…always easy to blame allegedly disgruntled people for candidate shortcomings - oh, and yeah, to be fair, Trump has "energized" a lot of voters, but as noted here, HRC has received about 9 million votes so far, 1 million more than "Fergus Laing")…



Update 4/10/16: To be fair, though, it looks like this Trump supporter is "energized" (h/t Dave Weigel and Chris Hayes via that Twitter thingie)...

…and with the prior clip in mind, this video goes out to anyone who opposes the nomination of “The Donald” because you’re worried about the survival of the two-party system in this country, or something - the “party of Lincoln” decided to hang this metaphorical millstone around their own necks, and we shouldn’t do a damn thing to help them get rid of it (mildly NSFW)…



...and Chris Hayes looks at how the RNC doesn't officially hold a vote in North Dakota, but they have some caucus-ish system where delegates can be named and choose candidates for themselves apparently - imagine the outcry if the Dems tried something like this (and from the same bunch who complained about the "sausage-making" of health care reform - in response, what the hell do you call this? And Alex Jones is way too damn funny, by the way.)...



…and I made a reference to RT above, but he also recently celebrated a birthday – hope a splendid time was had by all.

Monday Stuff

Gee, ya’ think maybe “The Donald” and “Calgary” Cruz should take a look at this? Not that it would matter a whit to them, I guess, since they’re extremists in their own right (here)…



...and I hope some of you out there are ready for a history lesson, because I definitely have one for you that you shouldn't miss (here)...



...and hey, maybe we ought to do something about this climate change thing (have some falafel, Billo)...



…and here is another one of my once-a-year songs; in consideration of the first clip here, it has to do with a man who ultimately gave his life for peace.