I know the pic is kind of hard to read, but what follows is the quote from JFK (just a periodic reminder):
“What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label ‘liberal’? If by ‘liberal’ they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer’s dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of ‘liberal.’ But if by a ‘liberal’ they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people – their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties – someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a ‘liberal,’ then I’m proud to say that I’m a ‘liberal.’”
Oh, and did you hear the one about Generalissimo Trump supposedly donating his “personal money” for Harvey victims? What a “laff riot” (more here)…
Trump just announced a $1 million donation to Harvey victims, but his history with charity is sketchy at best pic.twitter.com/siBNZMsYSn
…and to help those recovering from Harvey’s devastation, please click here…
…and Cenk tells us about how the hilariously-inaptly-named Missouri state rep Warren Love overreacted just a tad on the issue of desecrating Confederate monuments (and no, even though I think the monuments are odious, that doesn’t excuse property damage…and kudos to Cenk for reminding us what lynchings were truly all about)…
…and this is pretty shocking, but RIP Walter Becker, co-founder of Steely Dan - look forward to more of their songs this week.
“Pardon” me if I point out, as K.O. notes, that Generalissimo Trump may exceed his presidential authority at long last if he tries to do his inner circle, as well as himself of course, too many favors - yeah, any “Trumpster” who gets a pardon would surely be unable to take the fifth, as it were, when giving legal testimony…
…and I thought Bill Maher made a great point about getting it in writing, as it were, when it comes to the Gropenfuhrer (NSFW)…
…and yesterday I noted the 20th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana; I think this video gives us some important history on her impact, which (again, as noted yesterday) will be ongoing well into the future…
…and, as he is on all things, in this case on Harvey, our Tiny-Handed Problem Child of a preznit is a thoroughly unrepentant liar (more here, here and here)...
The man who commanded the military response to Katrina says Trump was grossly unprepared for Harvey pic.twitter.com/rG6lqhsrn1
…and Joy Reid talks with Jose Antonio Vargas about what Number 45 may do or not do regarding DACA (more here and here)…
…and like most of this country, apparently, I’m pretty damn angry about this story about the Utah “detective” Jeff Payne who decided that he had the right to manhandle a nurse (Alex Wubbels) who, in the process of doing her duty in commendable fashion, refused to provide a blood sample because the patient she was treating wasn’t charged in a crime; I don’t know about Utah, but assault of a nurse is a felony in PA – should be that way nation-wide.
And maybe I’m reaching a bit here, but I’m going to say this – I’m fed up with having to include as a prefix to comments like this that “Of course, we should do all we can to support law enforcement.” As far as I’m concerned, that goes without saying.
The problem (as is usually the case with these stories of cops behaving badly) is that, though the vast, overwhelming majority of the men and women of law enforcement are great and courageous and DO INDEED deserve our support, there are a few of the proverbial bad apples giving them a bad name with stuff like this. And apparently, they don’t (hope you’ll excuse the expression) “police” themselves nearly as much as they should.
If Payne is charged (and why the hell wouldn’t he be?), tried, and convicted, he should be sentenced to 10 years at a minimum, hard time. A message should have gone out like that long before now when it comes to excesses by the cops, to say nothing of police shootings we know about (and I don’t think it’s wrong to conflate stories like this with Philando Castille, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, etc. – it’s all about bad cop behavior regardless of skin color…more here and here)…
Footage shows this nurse being forcefully arrested for following her hospital's rules pic.twitter.com/3oFu3l0tds
(By the way, subsequent to this, I ended up watching the entire unedited exchange – Payne was looking for trouble from the get-go, and his fellow officers really didn’t do a hell of a lot to rein him in as far as I could tell.)
Update 9/2/17: And as far as I'm concerned, this only strengthens my argument (more here).
Update 9/3/17: Oh, and now the Cleveland police want to be idiots too, apparently (here).
…and Wednesday marked what would have been the 73rd birthday of The Eternal Molly Ivins - I’m not 100 percent sure of what judicial hearings they’re referring to, but Clarence Thomas was ’91 and her book mentioned…which was great, by the way…appears on Amazon as having been published in ’92…sorry, but I’ll try to dust off my memory banks again on that one; love the stuff on Dan Quayle, who, next to Trump, looks like an intellectual giant (also love the way she gets in her remarks and then smiles knowingly to the audience)…
…and it occurred to me recently that, for all the times I’ve been including summer songs at this site, I don’t think I’ve ever had anything by The Beach Boys – not sure why not, but I’d like to take care of that now.
...and K.O. tells us about threats from Roger Stone and Secretaries Tillerson/Mattis basically disowning Generalissimo Trump…
…and as I watched this clip of VP Mike Pence talking about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina from 2005, I have to admit that I went along with him until he got to that ridiculous statement at the end about “a catastrophe of debt for our children and grandchildren”…of course, not a word about those still-ridiculous tax cuts and our bloated defense budget – naaah, let’s just kick those grifting “poors” one more time, huh? And typically disgusting for Pence to use the Bible as a defense, of course…
Video: “Katrina breaks my heart...but we must not let Katrina break the bank for our children & grandchildren” Mike Pence-2005 #ImpeachTrumppic.twitter.com/SxmT8NGEA7
…and hey, all of you “sanctuary cities” idiots like Sen. Pat Toomey, pay attention to this story in Texas about one of the bills you supported that was just blocked by a federal judge (and once more, to help those suffering from the effects of Harvey, please click here)…
…and Cenk and Ana tells us about Georgia state rep Jason Spencer who threatened a former legislator who wants to remove Confederate statues (LOVE the responses from LaDawn Jones too)…
…and I’ll admit that this may not be as big of a deal here “across the pond” as in the U.K. (well, maybe it is for the more celebrity-conscious of us), but Princess Diana died in that horrific auto crash 20 years ago today (here) – much to admire about her as far as I’m concerned, including supporting the treaty to ban land mines among her myriad charitable efforts (a treaty which, to my knowledge, we’ve never supported…her legacy lives on with William and Harry and the grandkids too of course)…still recall how mangled that Mercedes Benz looked after the tunnel crash and wondered how anyone could have survived, though bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones did somehow fortunately – later on we found out basically that driver Henri Paul had taken enough medication to stock a pharmacy shelf or two…if you ever find yourself in London, I would encourage a trip to Harrod’s, if for no other reason than to see the memorial to her and Dodi Fayed in the basement…when I think of Diana, though, this 1967 tune comes to mind, for better or worse...not meant as a criticism.
K.O. puts the latest antics of our Impulse Control Issue Problem Child of a president in context – however, I honestly don’t think we should expect Republicans in Congress to do anything about it unless their own political hides are endangered of course; much like the poor, suffering folks of Houston and the surrounding area (who, believe it or not, are due to experience more weather misery), those of Number 45’s party on Capitol Hill are hanging onto their careers before the Gropenfuhrer metaphorically submerges them also – to help the victims of Harvey, click here…
…and this is one of the scariest clips I’ve seen in a while, and it is Thom Hartmann telling us the historical precedent for what will be the likely discrediting of the so-called “antifa” movement (though, to be honest, I’m not sure how much the group is helping – here)…
…and Farron Cousins tells us how evangelicals have basically hoodwinked the vast majority of this country by trying to make it sound like the Repug Party actually gives a fig about them (and of course, they tee off right away on that supposedly socialist Pope Frankie)…
…and I absolutely have to include this summer tune (and one of these days, I’ll actually see “The Pope of Greenwich Village”…inadvertent “pope” segue on my part).
I think we might as well be resigned to the fact that there truly is no bottom with this narcissistic sociopath (more here based on pic)...(more here).
(Also, to help the besieged city of Houston and the surrounding area over the horrendous Harvey flooding, click here – the residents pictured in the nursing home are now safe and dry, by the way.)
…and speaking of Houston, I thought this was a good report on what had a lot to do with the flooding, and that was sprawl that ended up paving over wetlands that could have absorbed a lot of the water (personally, I’ve seen more sprawl in my life than I ever want to see again…there were other factors I’m sure, and the main thing to do now is to help people first I realize and do the soul-searching, and hopefully implement policy and environmental changes as needed, later)…
…and speaking of the flooding, yes, Governor Bully is a highly imperfect messenger on this subject (here), but he’s absolutely spot-on here…
Chris Christie ripped his fellow Republicans in Texas as 'hypocrites' for asking for Hurricane Harvey aid after denying it to Sandy victims pic.twitter.com/nbPJL6mRqi
…returning to the Russia stuff, I know at this point we really shouldn’t be shocked to hear that Generalissimo Trump had a deal to build another one of his ridiculous monuments to utter decadence, this time in Moscow, during the 2016 presidential election, but that is in fact true based on this (Number 45 has made an utter joke of so much pertaining to presidential traditions, and one of those traditions is upholding the emoluments clause, for which he should go to prison for a very, very long time, among other odious reasons).
…and K.O., to his ongoing credit, continues to beat the drum against the Gropenfuhrer and his enablers; God, what a nauseating, nightmarish series of events…
…oh, and don’t look now, but apparently North Korea fired a missile over Japan…
…and TYT tells us about the neo-Nazi getting purged from the OK Cupid dating app (kind of hard to hide your idiotic political point of view given that social media is pretty much freaking everywhere)…
…and get ready for more fun with the Congressional Repug fools on the budget and the debt ceiling (and actually, former Rep Jolly, Generalissimo Trump shouldn’t be primaried or “limited” somehow, he should be IMPEACHED!)…
...and I'm winding down with my summer tunes (sigh), but I don't want to forget this also.
I thought this was some great commentary on the Joe Arpaio thing, and I never thought I would EVER agree with Matt Welch at all, but boy is he absolutely spot-on here (oh, and Dems? The next time Pat Toomey and other idiot conservatives mention “sanctuary cities,” can you PLEASE say that these are places that obey the rule of law and practice the exact opposite of Arpaio’s hateful garbage?)…
…and it looks like Teahadist Scott Wagner was at it again here recently – here is a reminder of past bad behavior from this potential candidate for PA governor (taking a page from Greg Gianforte, apparently)…
…and I wish all the best to those in Texas trying to deal with the effects of Harvey; I think it’s important to keep in mind that John Cornyn and Ted Cruz both opposed Sandy relief, as noted here and as Kyle K. correctly notes in thoroughly NSFW fashion – to help, click here…
Update 8/28/17: More ways to help can be accessed from here.
…and maybe this is too easy of a selection, but with the storm situation in the “lone star state,” this tune came immediately to mind.
If there’s anything I actually DO believe about the Gropenfuhrer, it’s that he will in fact shut down the government to pay for his stinking wall. And we’ll all get totally screwed. Bigly…
Here's what would happen if President Trump shut down the government over a border wall tantrum pic.twitter.com/HkuY5D81UW
(Oh, and speaking of stupidity, I realized that I hadn’t checked in with our township’s Republican house organ for a little while, otherwise knowns as the Bucks County Courier Times, but I did so today and came across the following…and yeah, the “letter” was every bit as idiotic as you’d expect from the headline.)
…and here’s a news flash for anyone out there who still may not believe this (related to science also like the prior vid), but renewable energy is actually good business…
…and I know I went on a bit yesterday about how I should do my part to remind people of what the Dems stand for, and even though this clip is a little dated now (to say nothing of incomplete), you can consider this to be my contribution…
Update 9/1/17: This was good also - OK, DNC...let's try to frame some actual policies that work around this, OK?
…and I thought this was another important story from Rachel Maddow, this time about how the U.S.S. Indianapolis was recently found, but quite rightly will remain entombed since it truly is hallowed ground (harks back to the scene in “Jaws” where Quint, played by Robert Shaw, recounts the horror of what happened…that scene was originally scripted by John Milius, by the way, but Shaw himself edited it and delivered it of course)…
…and the Syrian artist who is the subject of this clip is my hero of the week…maybe the whole month actually…
Maybe Donald Trump would sympathize with refugees if he saw himself painted as one (via @_abdallaomari) pic.twitter.com/jqOFmAO3FK
Rachel Maddow talks to Malcolm Nance about the Fusion GPS (and Glenn Simpson) corroboration of the Steele Dossier, which is looking more and more legit – not good news for the Gropenfuhrer…
…and K.O. tells us about all of those backing away from the Dear Leader (including our beloved commonwealth of PA – as far as I’m concerned, the fact that we helped to install this utterly toxic fraud will be a source of eternal shame)…
…and if you want to see how Generalissimo Trump typically lied in his little Phoenix gathering of upright, biped life forms recently, I would ask that you watch this video (and click here)…
…and I can’t think of a word to describe how silly this is (I think Nomiki Konst is exactly right about what ESPN could have done so nobody would have been the wiser)…
And by the way, I’d like to change the topic a bit before I put up the music video.
In a word, I don’t think the national Democratic Party has learned a damn thing after the 2016 election. We’re still playing defense (OMIGOD, STOP TRUMP! GIVE US MONEY!) and sending out Emails with scary subject lines (AWFUL NEWS! STOP TRUMP!). And by pointing that out, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t give money to Democrats (and I’m DEFINITELY not saying you shouldn’t STOP TRUMP).
Update 8/28/17: Oh, and today's screaming Email from the DCCC says "We're BEGGING!" (just an FYI).
And yes, I know my video selections have been pretty much devoted to Trump/Russia, and maybe I need to do more to get out a positive message too. I’ll do what I can to change that.
I’ve had this on my mind since watching the most recent episode of “Real Time With Bill Maher” with former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who said, in about a minute or two, that the Democrats have to figure out what they are, present a positive, alternative vision of this country, and THEN go out and try to get people to join and contribute! Yes, the Trump/Russia stuff and all of Number 45’s miseries need to be addressed, but (and here I go again, I know) THE DEMOCRATS HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO BE INCLUSIVE AGAIN AND NOT JUST THINK PEOPLE WILL VOTE FOR THEM BECAUSE ZOMG THE REPUGS ARE NUTS!!!
The closest I’ve seen to this are the so-called “Justice Democrats” such as Ro Khanna that potty mouth Kyle Kulinski talks about. And yes, DNC centrist losers, maybe there are some aspects of Bernie Sanders’s campaign that puts you off. But he did a hell of a lot better job of galvanizing support in the last election than anyone else did, SO YOU’D BETTER SURE AS HELL TAKE A PAGE FROM HIS BOOK, OR EVEN THE WHOLE DAMN BOOK ITSELF! In short (And once again, here I go again), we’d better figure out a way to bring these internal factions of ours together and end this damn circular firing squad (how about a summit with, say, David Sirota and Peter Daou for starters?).
Ok – with all of that said, here’s another summer tune.
Farron Cousins tells us that Mr.-Puppy-Dog-Eyes-With-The-Shiv got burned by a Catholic nun recently – good one, sister – of course, you’re not hearing nearly enough like this from the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops despite what Cousins says…
…and as noted here, Chile just voted to overturn its abortion ban (speaking of religion – figures that it went into law under Pinochet)…
"I decide. I'm free now to decide." Chile has lifted its complete abortion ban. pic.twitter.com/OPv6cpXG7A
…and I don’t think I’ve ever included a video from Morning Jo(ke) before, and I won’t make a habit of it, but I thought it was appropriate to do so given President Tiny-Handed Egomaniac’s ridiculous prattling about the media and Charlottesville last night in Phoenix (God, what a whiny little bitch, as Bill Maher says!)…
…and K.O. tells us that maybe Robert Mueller is starting to figure out exactly how to get Generalissimo Trump…we can only hope and pray, and then of course go to work to elect Democrats. Would that bring in change for real? Yeah, it would…
…and I know I’m a little behind the news cycle on this, but as noted here, the Gropenfuhrer is blowing off the Kennedy Center Awards...
I honestly don’t know what else we could have expected out of Generalissimo Trump on Afghanistan (here); I believe it was Rick Wilson who said that our preznit had the attention span of a gnat on meth – Dear Leader pretty much has struck out on everything he’s made a half-hearted attempt to do, and I would say that he’s keeping that string intact…
…and Rachel Maddow tells us about the hissy fit staged on Instagram by the wife of Steve Mnuchin, sandwiched in between a truly sobering reminder about this country and our ongoing involvement noted above (more here)…
…and Amy Goodman on Democracy Now talks with the descendants of Stonewall Jackson who want the Confederate statues taken down, particularly those of their great, great grandfather...
…the "the old gray lady" goes from #45 back to Reagan on related issues to see how race and tolerance were handled by prior presidents (re, Charalottesville of course...I’m glad they saved the Obama clip for the end, but there must have been something from #42 – surprised it wasn’t included)…
…oh, and by the way, just a minor detail I know, but it turns out that the Gropenfuhrer’s vacations are bankrupting the Secret Service…
...and here's a summer tune I definitely don't want to forget.
…and I don’t touch on world stuff too often unless something bad happens, I know (I used to devote more time to that stuff in the early days, before my for-profit activities just about totally took over), but I thought this was interesting, particularly since we just travelled “across the pond” about a year ago – it looks like the chimes of Big Ben will fall silent until 2021 due to repairs…
…and be careful if you decide to watch the eclipse, people (more here and here...I think we’re about halfway through at this point in my neck of the woods).
I have a question – am I supposed to be in mourning for this guy?
Because, just to let you know, I’m not.
Yes, give Jerry Lewis credit for raising $2.6 billion to fight Muscular Dystrophy, a truly mind-boggling sum, as noted here.
But as far as I’m concerned, he wasn’t funny. This business about him supposedly being some kind of a comedy god is some of the most preposterous nonsense I’ve ever heard. And yes, I get it that humor is completely subjective – there are people out there who will never get Monty Python, for example, and that doesn’t mean that my sense of humor is better than theirs. It just means that they’re different, that’s all.
Here is how I look at it, though: Pratfalls? Mugging for the camera? Any idiot can do that.
Jerry Lewis criticized President Obama and praised Donald Trump in an interview on World Over with Raymond Arroyo; the iconic comedian also slammed the Syrian refugee program, telling Arroyo “refugees should stay where the hell they are.”
“No one has worked harder for the human condition than I have, but they’re not part of the human condition,” Lewis continued. “If 11 guys in the group of 10,000 are ISIS, how can I take the chance? I don’t want to lose another Frenchman or another Englishman. That bothers me.”
“No one has worked harder for the human condition than I have”? Really? Throughout all of recorded history?
More than, say, Mother Teresa? Jonas Salk? Gregor Mendel? Saint Augustine?
And refugees “should stay where the hell they are”? Gee, it’s a good thing nobody took that advice prior to, say, the Industrial Revolution, or else many millions including your humble narrator probably wouldn’t be here. Oh, but they’re “not part of the human condition,” so why bother, right?
And according to World Nut Daily (here), Lewis said that President Obama was a “failed leader.”
What a clown. And I don’t mean that in terms of the comedic arts…
…but here is somebody who just left us REALLY worthy of tribute as far as I’m concerned; RIP Dick Gregory (I may feature another clip or two with him this week)…
…and on a more positive note, kudos to everyone in Boston who stood tall yesterday (here – good one by comedian George Wallace)…
Boston PD Commissioner William Evans: We had 40,000 people "standing tall against bigotry and hatred in our city, and that's a good feeling" pic.twitter.com/g7NBoLxieR
Well, I suppose that this will give Steve Bannon the opportunity for more quality time with his meth lab (I also think a notable observation is here)…
…oh, and did you hear about Generalissimo Trump cutting funding for an anti-Nazi program that was funded by President Obama here (so of course it must be destroyed as far as the Orange Maniac is concerned)…
..and yeah, it looks like our Problem Child in Chief is actually thinking about pardoning truly awful immigrant-bashing AZ sheriff Joe Arpaio (the Phoenix brown shirt gathering rally is supposed to be Monday...this commentary doesn't include the latest "double-down" on Trump's original awful words; sorry, but there's only so much I can do about the timing)…
…and I’m behind on my summer and 1967 tunes, but I don’t know how THIS isn’t appropriate for the occasion of Bannon's departure.
We stand with the brave people in Spain recovering from the Barcelona attack staged by terrorist cowards (updates are here...and apparently there is now some kind of craziness going on now in Finland, believe it or not - hopes and prayers for the best there too)…
And now, let’s return to the US of A.
I’ll tell you what – to cap off this week, you might say, I’m going to present what Generalissimo Trump said about Charlottesville, with its utterly unedited and un-redacted egomania and horror.
“Pivot”? “The day he became presidential”? What, are you corporate media fools mainlining anti-freeze or something?
It’s all here, people. The rude petulance…”excuse me, excuse me”…the charges of “fake news” (for anyone who still thinks the Gropenfuhrer said that as just a dog whistle to his base, the answer to the questions is YES, HE REALLY BELIEVES THAT!), the assumption that he and he alone knows what “many sides” were protesting about…that he and he alone knows the history…it’s all here.
Oh, and by the way, it’s not like we weren’t warned about this, because THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS DURING THE CAMPAIGN! And if our utterly bought-and-paid-for corporate media had been DOING THEIR DAMN JOBS INSTEAD OF CARING ONLY ABOUT RATINGS AND ZOMG HILLZ EMAILS! BENGHAZI!!!, they would have communicated to everyone that TRUMP HAS ONLY EVER BEEN HELD TO ACCOUNT IN A COURT OF LAW, AND WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT HE TRULY IS.
What an utter abomination. What a disgrace...
…and in response, Farron Cousins of Ring of Fire points out that Shep Smith of Fix Noise recently couldn’t find a single Repug to come on his program and defend our liar in chief…
…and yeah, I think it’s time to turn to K.O. once more on this stuff (and kudos to the Detroit Red Wings and the Tiki Torch company of course)…
…and Lawrence O’Donnell tells us about President Impulse Control Issue Egomaniac’s performance on the Barcelona attack, including his particularly ridiculous lie about Gen. Pershing and the blood-soaked bullets…
…and as Rachel Maddow tells us, there is no equivocation whatsoever when it comes to tolerance and respect among its members as articulated by the U.S. military, separating themselves in truly rare fashion from the Gropenfuhrer…
…and in case our petulant idiot president decides once more that trying to stage a lovely little war could be a diversion to take attention away from this stuff, some adult in his administration ought to watch and briefly summarize this video for him from 8/17/07, quoting Deadeye Dick Cheney warning against invading Iraq…the problem is that Cheney said this in the 90s of course but went ahead and did it anyway during the next decade – and yeah, this is another installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less)…
…and you can count the family of Johnny Cash among the people criticizing the appropriation of their images or what you would call intellectual property I guess by the Charlottesville lunatics and other radical right fringes (here) – makes me recall this tune (video is great despite the presence of Kid Rock).
I give you this NYT video about Charlottesville (and sorry, President Lincoln’s memory, but any time these clowns want to secede, I’ll help them – that means no more Social Security, disability payments unless they qualify for Medicaid – which probably would be cut anyway – they have to raise and pay for their own army, their own clean air and water, take care of their own air space for flying planes, infrastructure, etc., etc., etc.)…
…and any non-violent push-back, in whatever form, can only be positive at this point as far as I’m concerned…
…including this (and I’m not going to be snotty and say it’s a “Johnny Reb” issue, because, though I don’t have any statistics on this, I’m sure there are plenty of them “above the Mason-Dixon line” too)…
...and Rachel Maddow tells us that the Russian political disinformation campaign against Democrats has never really ended, by the way…
…and Lawrence O’Donnell reminds us that, prior to #45, presidents who managed to ascend to the White House with a minority of votes tried to build coalitions while in office, but of course, forget about any of that with our Impulse Control Issue Nazi Sympathizer In Chief…
…and I think Green Day pretty much calls all of this here.
Update: And by the way, I’m seeing some usage out there of the term “Alt-left.” To me, it’s utterly vile and repugnant for ANYONE who shares ANY kind of common political cause with Democrats/liberals/progressives/whatever to throw around language that connotes any feigned linkage whatsoever with the white nationalist crazies of this country (more here) – I detest the term “Alt-right” because I think it tries to sanitize those monsters – I have to admit that I’m a bit flabbergasted that anyone on our side would see a benefit of any kind to a term like that.
Do I think people like David Sirota need to get a grip once in a while? Yeah, but I’m not trying to invalidate his points (nor that of people like Kyle Kulinski, who, potty mouth and all, backs up his arguments).
Yeah, I can see the shouting matches right now:
“OH YEAH, YOU ALT-LEFT BERNIE LOVER?”
“OH YEAH, YOU CORPORATE DEMOCRAT?”
Oh for sure, I can SO DEFINITELY see us building an enduring, governing majority for all time if we keep having the equivalent of a political “food fight” like this. I can DEFINITELY see the voters of this country trusting the Democratic Party while we continue to rip ourselves apart over this childish spat!
Do the DNC and the DCCC perpetually piss me off with their RIDICULOUS fundraising Emails, even those from Nancy Pelosi with the subject line of “Not A Request For Money,” then you open it, take a brief survey, answer when they ask what you’ll do in the next election, and then – SURPRISE! – they DO IN FACT ASK FOR MONEY? Is the Pope from Argentina?
That being said, can’t we for God’s sake just sit down in a room and try to hash this all out like grownups? And yes, I side more against the corporate Dems to be sure, but that doesn’t mean that either side has a monopoly on virtue.
As I and others who are much smarter than I am on this stuff have pointed out, the Republican Party and movement conservatism was flat on his metaphorical back in 1964 after Lyndon Johnson was re-elected. For a lot of reasons and through different underhanded means IMHO (mainly the Repugs becoming experts in exploiting our divisions – thanks, Tricky Dick Nixon!), the other side took 16 years to re-emerge, but they did so in 1980 and ushered in the utterly ruinous conservative ascendancy which continues its sordid abominations to our utter detriment to this day, with no foreseeable end in sight.
In fewer words – if they can pull this off, then we can too.
I just don’t want to see us piss away the opportunity of a lifetime, that’s all.
(To be fair to Campbell Soup CEO Denise Morrison, I should note that our Impulse Control Issue Nazi Sympathizer In Chief "picked up his marbles and went home" concerning his supposed manufacturing council partly because Morrison did the right thing and walked, as noted here, so kudos to her - and in a related vein, I give you this.)
And with that in mind, Joy Reid talks with Jon Meacham and Charlie Pierce about the latest missteps from the Gropenfuhrer on Charlottesville; yep, #45 is trying to suck up to the guys with the tiki torches again (and I think Pierce is particularly spot-on at the very end, even though Barbara Fields annoyed the hell out of me during The Civil War series…but maybe it’s just me)…
…and Sam Seder tells us about Charlottesville rally organizer Jason Kessler running away when confronted (and yeah, I get it that Kessler had every right to his utterly repugnant free speech as those protesting had, but seriously, what does he expect when he routinely spouts hateful garbage like this every chance he gets?)…
(Oh, and by the way, in my neck of the woods, there’s now an outcry about tearing down a statue of Frank Rizzo - here. My response, for whatever it’s worth, is this: yes, the “nightstick in the cummerbund” is definitely an image from my youth, but where do you draw the line with this stuff? Did Frank Rizzo have any role in an armed insurrection against this country?)
Update 8/18/17: Never an excuse for this; if you want to try to take down the statue, do it the right way (petition, signatures, online campaign, etc.)...
…and for anyone out there who still needs to be reminded about how horrible the Gropenfuhrer’s latest pratfall really was (maybe one or two people I guess), I give you this…
A Fox News contributor broke down in tears after President Trump failed to condemn white supremacists pic.twitter.com/vqtsJff2x3
…also, Thom Hartmann talks with Lee Fang of The Intercept about all of the “glibertarians” out there trying to impose their crass, disgusting “world order” elsewhere in this hemisphere and on other continents; kudos to Fang for reporting on something that, as nearly as I can determine, is totally ignored by the news networks with initials for names…
…and Elvis “left the building” for real 40 years ago today – I thought this was a good tune for the occasion (still recall Geraldo Rivera, believe it or not, reporting on all of the prescribed drugs Presley took – a shocker for that time, though I suppose the reaction was more of a shrug when something similar was learned later about Michael Jackson)…
…however, it’s really best I think to hear from the artist himself (the one-time Sam Phillips protégé, I mean - with all of the craziness going on with Generalissimo Trump, I couldn't help but think of this tune).
Lawrence O’Donnell put the recent events in Charlottesville into the context they deserve here (and apparently, Generalissimo Trump was all "hugs and kisses" with his “alt-right” base again today – here)…
…and I’m glad K.O. pretty much let his disgust be apparent to everyone…
…and Seth Meyers adds some effective commentary also IMHO, especially about the whole “tiki torch” thing…
…and what a shame that HRC didn’t warn us about all of this last year while WAAAYYYY too many on the left were screaming about “corporate Democrats” (not saying that’s OK, but just asking for a little perspective, in particular from people like David Sirota* who I basically respect but keeps railing about that and then bitches when people on Twitter get in his face about it…oh, and by the way, she DID warn us)…
*-If you want to bitch on Twitter about Merck CEO Ken Frazier and high drug prices, please don’t do it when Frazier actually does something good like leaving Trump’s bogus council of whatev…
So what does Generalissimo Trump do in response to his unbelievable (but totally typical) gaffe over Charlottesville? Need you ask (and yeah, sure as hell took him long enough here)? Yep, this idiot still thinks he’s campaigning...and about that one million jobs claim, I give you this – oh, and, by the way…
...and sorry, I don't think the Gropenfuhrer gets a "do over" for this...
Former KKK leader David Duke credits President Trump for inspiring rally in Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/d0nWYrSSD7
…and yeah, we can thank Tucker for a lot of this garbage too (I’d like to see his eyebrows stick in that position for good one of these days – NSFW...and good on Carlos Maza for this, but THAT ENTIRE WRETCHED NETWORK is guilty of "cherry picking")…
If you're wondering how average Americans are getting lured into nationalism and white supremacy: pic.twitter.com/hJqZRW6xpk
…and I thought this was a hoot – it looks like “Bri-Fi,” our PA-08 U.S. House rep, is going to have an “invitation only” town hall, as noted here – made me recall this clip from last year…
...and congratulations to Dionne Warwick for this.
And I remember that Charlottesville was such a nice town – I guess the NASCAR channel was showing reruns last night (good tweets in response by Charlie Pierce here, here and here...more here)…
Update 3: In response to this, I have only the following to add...
Update 1 8/13/17: More blood on the hands of these white nationalist crazies – sympathies and condolences to the families and friends of the two state troopers (here)…
Update 2 8/13/17: Never thought I'd link to the New York Post, but...
…and Thom Hartmann gives us some background on stupid wars waged by conservatives (“all happened within one Scaramucci” = 10 days…funny; interesting talk on the 25th amendment too)…
...and maybe the heck with "B. Barry Bamz" running for his old job again, which he can do - how does "M.O. in 2020" sound (here)?...
'When you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips, you can't make snap decisions' — Michelle Obama in July 2016 pic.twitter.com/p4HQvolHGd
...and John Oliver tells us the latest on the border patrol (yeah, I think we need a bit of a cleanup in that area, along with some actually realistic advertising as to what the job truly entails – NSFW)…
...and it looks like the Gropenfuhrer is ready for "Just Say No, The Sequel" (however, D.A.R.E. can be successful, but not by itself of course)...
...and I hope you're in the mood for a Glen Campbell encore, because here it is - from back in the day.
Robert Reich tells us just how close the parallels are between Generalissimo Trump and Tricky Dick (and I thought this was a joke from The Onion, but with the Big Orange Cheetoh, I guess I should know better)…
Obstruction of justice was one of the key charges that forced Richard Nixon to resign. The parallel between Nixon and Trump is almost exact. pic.twitter.com/xc1Ssh7Vyq
…and Rachel Maddow tells us that it looks like Robert Mueller has something on Paul Manafort, but we’ll see (“tough stuff”? Number 45 ain’t seen nuthin’ yet, as they say – when it’s all over, Preznit Tiny-Handed Impulse Control Issue Egomaniac won’t have a pot to piss in)…
…and did you ever wonder what would have happened if Dear Leader’s predecessor had acted like the current occupant of An Oval Office? Well, I think Bill Maher gives us some idea here (NSFW)…
…and whatever it took, it’s still good that Jeffrey Lord is out at CNN (NSFW also…I think all the panelists make good points including Cenk, in particular saying that this was weak sauce by comparison for getting rid of Lord, who had no business even being on the air to begin with…this reminds me a bit of the dustup over Bill Maher saying the “N” word recently, but maybe it’s just me – I think the backgrounds for the segment got mixed up a bit)...
…and I know this is some ultra-cheeky commentary from Lee Camp at Redacted about a “Foxconn” plant coming to Wisconsin, proving, as he says, that wages of U.S. workers on the whole are finally so low that companies can offshore jobs from their locations to here and still remain profitable in a thoroughly disgusting manner (NSFW yet again)…
…and I think this is an appropriate tune for us to bid adieu to Glen Campbell – still had his vocal “chops” late in his career in comparison with other artists.
Rachel Maddow tells us some US personnel in Havana have been affected by something, and we asked two Cuban officials in this country to go in response; glad we cleared that up – huh? And actually, we DO know some people in Cuba, and I won’t say anything else about that…
…and kudos to Shep Smith once again for setting the record straight between Number 44 and more typical lies from Generalissimo Trump on the question of our nuclear arsenal (here); Chrome will probably muff this up, but it should be OK on other environments including an Android cell phone...
…and Seth Meyers comments on the Gropenfuhrer and North Korea (awesome job on the limerick, by the way)...
…and potty mouth Kyle tells us about those Fix Noise clowns on North Korea; yep, lather, rinse, repeat with this bunch – NSFW (yeah, let all those hairdos pick up guns and fight, including this Kennedy whatever person)…
…and John Oliver gives that worm Stephen Miller the treatment he deserves (very NSFW)…
…and here’s another memorable Glen Campbell tune – I never thought that this tune was chauvinist in any way (and yeah, I know the lip sync is off a bit).
Oh - OF COURSE Caribou Barbie is outraged (here)! I mean...she has to say or do SOMETHING to try and remain relevant in her imagination somehow, right?
And with the pic in mind somewhat, Cenk and Ana tell us that the Impulse Control Issue Child In Chief Who Wants To Nuke North Korea (and as I said yesterday, can’t we put him in a goddamn straightjacket before he tries to do that?) hasn’t said a word about the recent terrorist attack on a mosque in Minnesota (update is here – and who exactly is this sanctimonious assh*le Sebastian Gorka anyway? Lemme guess – another white nationalist? So much winning!!!)…
Update: Kudos to Chelsea Clinton for this (I quite agree).
…and Farron Cousins lets Dem Sen. Joe Manchin have it over a truly ridiculous response by Manchin when asked about his votes (a fair point, but I have to say that I’m getting a little fed up with the Dem purity tests going on right now…yes, Manchin needs to move to the left along with more than a few others, I get it, but if we can’t get our shit together and unite against Generalissimo Trump, we’ll never be able to do it against anybody...borderline NSFW)…
…I’ll tell you what – instead of beating each other up, let’s watch this video by Robert Reich and find out ways to take it out instead on Repugs who are in their districts and facing their constituents over the August recess instead, OK? And not surprising to find out that Ron Wyden is absolutely solid on this subject, by the way...
While members of Congress are back home on August recess, it's important that we make our voices heard. A few tips from @IndivisibleGuide: pic.twitter.com/HlGUQ5wuSp
Update 8/10/17: All of that being said about trying to unite as Dems, I believe that every word of this article should be memorized by those Dem-party Beltway jokers who do nothing but lose elections (somewhat shocking, but it bears out what many others have said, including your humble narrator...h/t Eschaton).
…and Joy Reid tells us that our former ol’ buddy Vlad Putin wants to utterly screw us over using Bitcoin, in an attempt to get around the recent sanctions passed by Congress…
…and Stephen Colbert has some fun with Fix Noise clown Eric Bolling and his recent photographic misadventures, shall we say (the jokes truly write themselves...a shaved squirrel?)…
…and Glen Campbell was truly a multi-talented entertainer – host of a popular variety TV show (you can Google the term) from way back, crossover pop/country star, movie actor, and also highly accomplished SoCal “sessions” guitarist with The Wrecking Crew…if I were to feature all of his great tunes (with the expert help of songwriter Jimmy Webb more than a few times), I would probably need a month, but as it is, I’ll devote the rest of this week to three in particular, including this one – RIP.
