Adrienne Lawrence of Rebel HQ tells us about the 1/6 insurrectionist who basically claimed that he was brainwashed by Fix Noise and blamed the Gropenfuhrer for leading him on – the stoo-pid is strong with this one, I see (and that goes for his lawyer too)...
...and apparently, the whole “Russian bounties” story on our soldiers targeted in Afghanistan really was a thing after all, and of course it leads back to Putin’s GRU...big surprise I know – and of course, Mango Mussolini did nothing about it...
...and Dem U.S. House Rep Katie Porter wants to raise the fees charged to Big Oil who are developing on public lands...sure glad there was a robust public debate on THIS story (the businesses getting the land I mean, and yes I’m being sarcastic...kudos to Porter, and Louie Gohmert dumbs everything down as usual)...
Like you I’m sure, I’ve heard of outlier cases of people getting very sick from the COVID vaccine, but those are most definitely exceptions; there’s some humor in this clip which is definitely called for IMO, but the underlying message couldn’t be more serious (and yes, for the record, I had both Moderna shots...had some chills and fatigue and a low-grade temp briefly after the second one and arm soreness after each shot, but they both passed)...
...and there’s nothing amusing whatsoever about that garbage human being Andy Biggs and his role in the 1/6 insurrection...
...and some of our lower life forms from the “R” party and their media acolytes have decided that they can’t exploit the situation at our southwest border any more, presumably because the Biden Administration is doing its best to turn around that calamity, but of course far be it for these contemptible frauds serving in Congress to give the “D” team any credit for it, as Chris Hayes tells us (didn’t see the interview with Alejandro Mayorkas)...
...and Rachel Maddow tells us more on Repugs taking credit for stuff they opposed in the American Rescue Plan...I know I’ve included videos on this subject before, and I plan to keep doing that lest people forget about this...
...and of course, since we’re the greatest country in the world (or at least we like to think that), it seems that South Carolina will now use execution by firing squad to murder people, joining 3 other states who also use that means of extermination (Cenk and Ana of TYT tell us more – cannot help but recall the case of Troy Anthony Davis as I watch this clip...7 of 9 witnesses at his trial recanted, but Georgia took his life anyway)...
...and Sam and Emma V. of The Majority Report tell us that, apparently, Austin, TX wants to criminalize homelessness...I thought that city was a little more progressive – shows what I know I guess; it looks like we’re just going to round up more people ultimately for the private prison/industrial complex when they can’t pay the fines...I’d like to know more about the “dark money” behind the advertising on this initiative – we’re either going to get serious about this problem and figure out how and where we’re going to house these people and help the ones we CAN help or we’re going to round up and incarcerate them, which may lead to more COVID deaths also, which will also likely keep us from getting to herd immunity...I think The Rude One is spot-on again here, and as noted here (first bullet), after the 2010 midterms (won by Republicans), Matt Mackowiak gloated “isn’t it funny how the losers (Dems) always want bipartisanship?”
Yeah, it’s really freaking hilarious, you insufferable meat sack...
...and as I probably mentioned earlier, I knew absolutely nothing about any of the Academy Award nominees, but Thom Hartmann tells us a little more about “Nomadland” and how that reflects on this country (e.g., The Grapes of Wrath for our era...Thom mentions taxing Social Security benefits under Reagan and wonders why there’s no help for people if the proverbial bottom falls out – good point...kind of ties into the prior clip about Austin and housing)...
...and I thought this was a nice tune that’s a bit quieter than usual to mellow out the end of the week a bit.
Leave it to Brian Kilmeade of Fix Noise to (apparently) invent some kind of new game show called “Are You Smarter Than a Sixth Grader?,” so of course the Fix Noise sycophant automatically disqualified himself, as Brian Tyler Cohen explains; good thing the call was all remote, or I’m sure Kilmeade would have tried to steal the kid’s lunch money for complimenting President Biden...
...and speaking of The Roger Ailes BS Factory, apparently staffers are trying to get the Murdochs to fire the Swanson TV Dinner Heir, which will NEVER happen for the reasons Farron Cousins explains (to do something about this, click here)...
...and (sticking with our beloved corporate media), as David Doel explains, Jake Tapper has apparently recently discovered that Repug lawmakers are liars...uh, yeah – and by the way, I’m fed up with these arguments about how we supposedly need a strong Republican Party...I have NEVER IN MY LIFE heard ANYBODY say, “Oh, we need a strong Democratic Party” when REPUBLICANS were totally in charge and running the table with their insane tax cuts and putting the cost of two wars under Bushco essentially on a credit card with the price tag to be paid by future generations, to say nothing of letting the housing/cheap credit bubble expand until it burst and nearly wrecked the global economy...I GUARANTEE YOU that, about a year or so from now, the airwaves are going to be FILLED with garbage “issue” ads to try and favor Republicans along with fawning media coverage of the same, so save your crocodile tears for the “party of Lincoln,” OK?...
...and I probably should have said something about this much earlier, but at least I’m getting to it now; Rachel Maddow talks about the soft sentence for a Trump illegal voter in Delco vs. Crystal Mason in TX (she voted illegally but apparently was unaware that she broke the law, and I believe her)...and good job by John Fetterman to keep after that lickspittle Dan Patrick in Texas over “voter fraud” for real (also, there is this)...
...and yeah, I think this is pretty damn funny; it looks like Combover Caligula just announced his brand-spanking-new “platform,” which apparently is pretty close to something like you’re reading at this very moment, with a “Contribute” link of course (David Pakman tells us more – unfortunately, though, I have to disagree with Pakman when it comes to the right and their presence online – from what I can determine, they're kicking the asses of “team D” when it comes to social media engagement)...
...and Happy Nurse’s Day (starting Nurse’s Week – the title of this song isn’t 100 percent accurate, but it’s close).
Cenk and Ana of TYT tell us about Repug lawmakers in Missouri basically saying “FU” to their constituents on Medicaid expansion (pretty damn arrogant indeed, even for a Republican; I’d forgotten that anecdote about Claire McCaskill and a minimum hourly wage in her U.S. Senate election, but yeah, it’s pretty unbelievable)...
...and Rachel Maddow tells us of FL Guv Ron #DeathSantis (speaking of stoo-pid Republicans) getting ready to sign another awful voting bill in FL which, apparently, will hurt Repug voters too – womp womp (Maddow speaks with reporter Amy Gardner of the WaPo)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us more on the Repugs who took credit for this restaurant revitalization fund (or whatever it’s officially called) in the American Rescue Plan even though they voted against it (a follow-up to the earlier Maddow clip featuring Elise Stefanik)...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 5/5/11, in which Minnesota state Rep Steve Simon criticized a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in his state (backgrounder is here...something to think about particularly with all of the garbage anti-trans bills out there as noted here)...
...and based on this Lincoln Project ad, it looks like it’s Mango Mussolini vs. Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao competing for the coveted title of “king of the swamp”...pass the popcorn (and speaking of that death-eater from Kentucky, I give you this)...
...and John and Francesca talk about those Newsmax idiots criticizing President Biden for giving Dr. Jill a dandelion...and yes, I’m serious (I know there’s an effort out there to #UnfoxMyCableBox, but I think we should have the same thing for these clowns as well as OANN)...
...and happy upcoming 90th birthday to the one and only Willie Mays (clip is of Mays’ legendary catch in the 1954 World Series against Vic Wertz)...
...and RIP noted recording engineer Al Schmidt, who worked with a few different artists, including the Jefferson Airplane on their sessions for what turned into “After Bathing At Baxter’s,” including this number.
I think it’s safe to say that Jim Acosta of CNN has had enough (NSFW/H, but for a good reason)...
...and as a follow-up, this may be Joy Reid’s finest moment, going after The Swanson TV Dinner Heir – sweet! (makes up for the Bernie Sanders body language expert)...
...and sticking with the Roger Ailes conservative propaganda channel, John and Jayar tell us about “Fix and Fiends” getting all bent out of shape about “free” college (yeah, we’re already paying our tax dollars, so just allocate it for public colleges a little more fairly instead of doling out still more tax cuts and stock buybacks for people who don’t need it, as Jayar points out)...
...and I know I’m a little late on some stuff in this post including this item; Repug state rep Ray Garofalo of Louisiana mentions the “good part” of slavery – he would have been better off if he’d said, “yeah, there was a financial benefit to slavery for the slave owners, even though the practice was utterly disgusting and reprehensible for so many reasons”...I’m not sure Garofalo honestly meant for his remark to be as stoo-pid as it was since he backtracked immediately, but I guess that’s because he was called on it right away...I just think it’s ridiculous for legislators of ANY political party to be wasting their time holding hearings or discussing content in history books, mainly since the people taking offense are doing so because they want THEIR version of history recorded for the record as opposed to anyone else’s (yeah...what’s really going on here is that some good ol’ boys are butt hurt over “critical race theory”...and of course, since FL Guv Ron #DeathSantis is trying to be Trump 2.0, he’s involved in this idiotic discussion too – more here)...
Update 1 5/4/21: God almighty, what’s next? A “both sides” opinion commentary on lynching (here)??!!
Update 2 5/4/21: Still digging that hole I see (here).
Update 5/6/21: I think this is what happens when we neglect civics and social studies in our schools.
Update 5/7/21: I'm starting to wonder if these updates will ever end (here).
...and David Doel tells us about a Miami private school that is banning vaccinated teachers, which is part of the reason why we apparently aren’t going to get to “herd immunity” as noted here (mildly NSFW/H also)...
...in addition, I think David Shuster is doing a really good job with these “Rebel HQ” videos, this one having to do with the death of insurrectionist Ashli Babbitt, and of course Babbitt’s family are suing Capitol police for $10 mil in response (obligatory eye-roll)...
...and speaking of those who have departed us, RIP Olympia Dukakis (great dinner scene in Moonstruck with the also-departed John Mahoney)...
...and speaking of milestones, since it’s May 4th, we cannot ever forget this.
And speaking of The TV Network Where Truth And Reality Goes To Die (as noted at the top of this post), I’ll bet you didn’t know that its founder may have had an indirect contribution to what happened at Kent State. Well, you can argue that he did, as Gabriel Sherman does in The Loudest Voice In The Room, pgs. 69-70:
(From Ailes’ days as a political consultant):
In the spring of 1970, Ailes was in the middle of another contentious GOP primary race for an open Senate seat in Ohio, one that would have spillover effects for (the Richard Nixon presidency) and the country. Ailes was advising the Ohio congressman Robert Taft Jr. against the “law and order” candidate, Governor James Rhodes, who had been considered as a possible Nixon running mate in 1968. The race was pushing Rhodes even further to the right.
When Taft debated Rhodes in Akron in late April, Ailes walked onstage thirty seconds before airtime and handed Taft a note with one word written on it: “Kill.”
“Rhodes got shook up,” Ailes bragged afterward to a Boston Globe reporter. “I gave Taft the note, partly facetious, partly for a laugh – just to try to get Bob to be a little tougher in his answers.”
The gambit worked: the Toledo Blade noted that “the usually placid Mr. Taft accused the governor of lying about his record and told him he should be ashamed of himself.” A few days after the debate, Rhodes flew to Kent State University, which was engulfed in student unrest. At a press conference on the morning of May 3rd, Rhodes lashed into protestors who had burned the ROTC building the previous night and declaimed that the demonstrators were “worst than the Brown Shirts and the Communist element.”
Rhodes’s inflammatory speech intensified the conflict at Kent. In the chaos, National Guardsmen fired into a group of marchers. The volley of more than 60 shots in 13 seconds left four dead and nine wounded. Kent State, (Nixon Chief of Staff) Bob Haldeman later wrote in his book The Ends of Power, “marked a turning point for Nixon, a beginning of his downward slide towards Watergate.”
Joy Reid tells us more about the “cyber ninja” guy trying to conduct a recount of votes in Arizona from the 2020 election; I can’t think of a word to describe how pathetic it is that this is still going on and hasn’t been stopped yet (Reid didn’t mention in the clip, by the way, that the use of ultraviolet lights in the procedure is likely to damage ballots, as noted here...and I never expected to give Cindy McCain credit for anything, but she deserves it for this)...
...and Thom Hartmann discusses how Charles Koch and his greed head pals are trying to get that Article V convention going to rewrite the Constitution...truly a BFD (referencing Paul Krugman - more here)...
...and Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us how no Repug clapped (including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy) when Biden talked about replacing lead pipes in his recent address to Congress (and I agree with a lot of what Cenk and Ana say about the Democrats not having the killer instinct, in particular, on clean water? Are you freaking kidding me??!!), but to be fair, Biden told the “R” party to “put up or shut up” when complaining about how Biden wanted to pay for his infrastructure plan, and this is the laughable alternative they came up with (and good job by Cenk to provide the important context on Solyndra – and I think Ana is being a little tough on Laura Italiano of the Murdoch NY Post rag because Italiano admitted that she did wrong, but I’m not going to go nuts over it...)...
...and in keeping with the theme of timid Dems, Rachel Maddow discusses Republicans taking credit for the American Rescue Plan even though they voted against it, including this guy (voting against it I mean); this clip actually started with Greg Pence and runs for almost 10 minutes, but for some reason MSNBC hacked the crap out of it...didn’t want to offend their Comcast overlords I’m sure (a running list of these characters should be available on the DNC web site, in big, bold type, but of course we’re stuck with the Dems we have who are too busy trying to get everybody to sing “kumbaya” and beg for $$ while not daring offend the other side I guess, though apparently Nancy Pelosi has used “Voted No, Took the Dough” in some tweets, so I suppose that counts as progress)...
...and John I. and Brett Erlich tell us how Matt Gaetz is sinking; couldn’t happen to a more deserving POS (Gaetz’s pal Joel Greenberg said the 2 of them paid for sex multiple times, including with an underage girl...womp womp, and yes I know that’s a serious issue...great snarky comment by Brett to lead off...an update is here)...
...and happy upcoming 55th birthday to Anders Osborne (the title of this song is a question I ask myself every single day).
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, who, as we know, was the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks (here and here...I hope this day is recalled by most of us with credit given to those responsible, most notably Seal Team 6, though that also includes former President Obama and his team, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates...I'm pretty sure I said once that I would never include a pic of bin Laden here until after he was dead, so I'm just keeping with my word)...
...and on the subject of extremism, I thought this was a particularly good new ad from Meidas Touch...
...and this clip of Rachel Maddow speaking with historian Michael Beschloss compares President Biden to LBJ a bit in the sense that they were moderates as senators, though they’ve ended up pursuing more progressive and socially conscious policy goals, to their credit...
...and this song was #1 on the pop charts 60 years ago today.
I haven’t paid much attention to Beau of the Fifth Column over the week, though maybe I should – I thought this was a good commentary on the utterly disgusting “big game” hunt in Botswana by Wayne LaPierre of the NRA (more here)...
Update 5/1/21: It's all here; I haven't watched the clip, but apparently it's very disturbing.
...and John and Adrienne Lawrence tell us about the police statement in response to the shooting of Andrew Brown, Jr. (yeah, it sounds like the cops have learned to cover themselves every way over Sunday before they release any footage at all that’s even remotely controversial)...
...and the crew from “The Majority Report” tell us about a Republican idiot in Orange County, CA asking a doctor about a tracking device in the COVID vaccine (mildly NSFW/H... I never considered the anti-vaxxer nonsense to be tied to the “birther” stuff under Obama, but I will acknowledge Sam’s point – and yeah, this has more than a little in common with the furor over the HPV vaccine too as the panel admits)...
...and Kyle reminds us of what an utter fool Repug U.S. House Rep Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin is, going after Cardi B (I can assure you that I don’t watch ANYWHERE NEAR 30 hours of broadcast TV a week)...
...and David Doel tells us about the reaction from people around the globe to a New York Times video demonstrating how ridiculously expensive health care is in this country and the in-too-many-cases awful outcomes that result anyway ("U-S-A! U-S-A!")...
...and staying with “the great white north,” this CBC video talks about a smaller employer paying sick leave to its employees, an Ontario-based snack food company called Neal Brothers (and in terms of the U.S. perspective, I give you this)...
...and apparently, Amy Coney Island Baby Barrett won’t recuse herself from a case involving Chucky Koch because of course (hard to disagree with Cousins’ sentiment about the SCOTUS given the existing evidence)...
...and it so happens that April was Jazz Appreciation Month (and today is International Jazz Day), so that gives us a good excuse for this tune.
This report from Mrs. Greenspan tells us of the “mayor of 9/11” getting his apartment raided by the Feds, including cellphones and computers, as part of an ongoing probe into his business activities...hopefully we’ll see Rudy getting the “perp walk” treatment (wonder if he was hiding at Four Seasons Total Landscaping...with Michael Schmidt of the New York Times)...
...and I thought this was a nice clip from President Biden’s speech last night, which of course met with the typical conservative garbage in response (here also...“grow the economy from the bottom and the middle out” indeed)...
...and working off Biden’s theme about the IRS going after the usual suspects when it comes to owing tax revenue, I give you this from Ana and Wosny Lambre – I honestly don’t know how much the IRS’s funding was or wasn’t hurt by the sequester, but on the other hand, if most of our corporate media wasn’t busy chasing click bait and doing their jobs of ACTUAL REPORTING instead, then maybe we would know – and I know the answer, but I have to ask the question anyway...where the hell are all of these “fiscal conservatives” in this argument? You know...Republicans who normally are such penny pinchers if it doesn’t involve bloated military spending or tax cuts...I guess they’re just going to look the other way on what a great return on investment it is to fund the IRS so it can do the job it was intended to do...
...and Joy Reid gives us some important historical context on the recent anti-protesting legislation signed into law by FL Repug Guv Ron #DeathSantis (more here and here, along with comparisons to George Wallace and FL Sheriff Walter Headley – and “Don’t register to vote and vote the stupid way they did up north,” huh? Go feed in your trough, you pig)...and that ridiculous quote about systemic racism allegedly not existing came from Huckleberry Graham of course...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “The Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 4/28/17, in which Keith Olbermann told us about “the first 100 days” of the Gropenfuhrer’s ruinous reign (and as a compare-and-contrast exercise, I give you this)...
..and happy 74th brithday to the leader of Tommy James and the Shondells.
I think everyone in this country should review the events of 1/6 once a week, at a minimum, so it’s crystal clear who was responsible and we never, ever forget it, and I think this video is helpful for that purpose (“You do have hope,” huh? Yeah, well, WE have hope too...that you’ll spend the rest of your miserable, wretched life behind bars – related content is here and here)...
...and with Repug nonsense in mind, Rachel Maddow tells us about all of their made-up scandals, in lieu of actual governance and working with the Dems to improve this country for the vast majority of Americans (and Laura Italiano is a heroine in my book, especially for quitting in a profession that’s shedding jobs)...
...and when it comes to self-inflicted, made-up nonsense, it’s hard to top this from Alaska state senator Lora Reinbold, who was banned from flying because she wouldn’t wear a mask, which is a bit of an issue given how big that state is, and now Reinbold has some absolutely insane commuting to do (taking her cue from Tucker Carlson, no doubt)...
...and speaking of The Swanson TV Dinner Heir, David Pakman provides a pretty thorough rebuttal to Carlson’s latest nonsense (and “Tony” Fauci? Also, I KEEP A MASK HANDY WHEN I'M OUTSIDE and I’ve had both my shots – as to whether I’m a “zealot” or a “neurotic” – well, I’ll leave that up to you, dear reader :-)...
...and David Doel gives us another example of Cops Behaving Badly, this time, in the Kubrickian-titled city of Loveland, CO, laughing over arresting - and apparently injuring - at 73-year-old woman with dementia for not paying a $13 tab at Walmart (the date of this footage was last June – why on earth are we just finding out about it now? ”The issue is not training. The issue is the culture.”...I wish to God I could disagree with that, but I can’t see how)...
...and Thom Hartmann asks why can’t Americans have nice things? And yes, I agree with the vast majority of Thom’s commentary, but as much as I hate to admit, Bill Clinton is partly responsible for NAFTA too (and me as well, for a time – I guess I was a rube once also, because although my better judgment told me it was wrong, I went along with it too)...
...and Robert Reich reminds us that the window on passing the “For The People” act is closing, and it’s pretty damn plain it won’t get passed without nuking the filibuster, which of course Senator Hardball in West Virginia and Ms. F-Off Ring in Arizona apparently are not going to allow (leave it to the U.S. Senate Dems to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory)...
... and here’s a spacy and relatively new springtime tune – consider it a near-end-of-April meditation if you will.
David Pakman tells us of wingnut Repug Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey issuing an executive order against “vaccine passports,” which isn’t actually a thing in this country...yet (wait until he gets overruled by the feds, which I’m sure will result in idiotic lawsuits of course)...
...and with Arizona in mind (and the utterly stoo-pid vote recount going on in that state as noted here), I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 4/27/09, in which incumbent-at-the-time Repug U.S. Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota contested the election in which he lost to his Dem challenger Al Franken...more here; yes, Coleman had the legal right to do what he did, even though it proved to be pointless and just delayed the Dem U.S. Senate majority back then (which was probably the point more than anything else), but from that, we’re now at the point where the “Cyber Ninjas” guy is trying to reinstall Our Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Russian Operative of a former *president...
...and part of me wants to ignore the latest garbage from PA’s former U.S. Senatorial mistake, but some nonsense is too ridiculous to pass up; yeah, I think a “blank slate” is what Rick Santorum has between his ears as opposed to actual gray matter...I was pondering this as I drove home from the Neshaminy Mall and recalled my drive over Mashapaug Pond in Connecticut a few years back on my way to Martha’s Vineyard, where we bought artifacts from the Wampanoag who were scraping for tourist dollars before the end of the summer season (more here...also, Sean Morrow seriously needs to update that podcast promo)...
...and Jayar, Cenk and Julie Oliver have some fun here with the Disney customer who is apparently put off all of a sudden by the “wokeness” of the parks (great point about how the kids coming up now are WAY more progressive than their parents on average, and THAT is really what is really getting this guy’s shorts In a knot, you might say, which is just too damn bad)...
...and John and Francesca tell us about Biden recognizing the Armenian genocide, as opposed to other presidents blowing that off – I’m sure Erdogan of Turkey will come back and recognize what we did to Native Americans, and unfortunately he has a point about that (but ssshhh – don’t tell Little Ricky Santorum, or else he’ll give another idiotic speech)...
...and these next two clips have to do with more performative wingnut BS; first, Farron Cousins points out the incredibly obvious fact (to someone with a double-digit IQ at a minimum) that Biden isn’t trying to limit anybody’s red meat consumption (yeah, in lieu of actual governance, this is what the other side preoccupies itself with)...
...and second, I almost feel like I should apologize for this from “The Majority Report”; yes, as we know, the internet is so kind and forgiving and definitely did not ridicule Baby Ben Shapiro for days about his remarks on the subject of “wood” (and I’ll just leave it there, you might say)...
...and yesterday marked the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, which inspired at least one truly awful movie (not trying to trivialize the human tragedy, I wish to emphasize)...here is a tune for the occasion.
Leave it to “Goober” Gohmert to lead the charge against Mondaire Jones in the U.S. House who quite rightly called out “militarize our cities” (and how quickly THAT got swept away in our news cycle, huh?) Tom Cotton with his preposterous BS argument about why the District of Columbia shouldn’t be its own state ...I guess Gohmert is worried again about “aspersions on his asparagus” or something (Cenk, Jayar and Julie Oliver tell us more...great wrapup by Cenk at the end about the racist history behind the filibuster)...
...and Gohmert is back again here (who owes his seat to beyond ridiculous gerrymandering in Texas) to talk about that utterly absurd recount going on in Arizona (the “party of Lincoln” is the biggest bunch of crybaby punks I’ve ever seen)...
...and speaking of crybaby punks, John and Brett Erlich tell us about The Swanson TV Dinner Heir and his association during his college days with something called the Dan White Society, with more information on why that’s particularly disgusting...
...and along with the killer of Harvey Milk and former San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, Carlson claimed some affinity with Jesse Helms; with that in mind, I’m bringing back this clip from the late, great Michael Brooks speaking with author Nick Martin about Helms (cut off a little at the end, but the interview makes good points about how Helms came to be so influential in the Republican Party, sadly)...
...and David Doel comes down as a “no” on the question of whether or not AOC should debate Marjorie Taylor Greene on the Green New Deal...I’m inclined to say no like Doel, but I admit that I’m going back and forth; AOC would be absolutely right on the facts of course, and Greene would just whine and try to “work the refs” like all wingnuts do – and God, how are we supposed to take these cretins seriously when they can’t even freaking spell??!!...
...and it looks like Tinsel Town goofed again during the Academy Awards last night by not giving the Best Actor Oscar to the late Chadwick Boseman, which would have been a nice way to pay tribute to his way-too-short but distinguished career (and Anthony Hopkins, the winner, tried to blunt that a bit with his own tribute in an Instagram post, which was a nice touch)...I have to admit that I’m pretty much clueless on new movies any more; the only shot I might have of knowing the pic would be if it was streaming on Netflix, and even that’s problematic...I guess this admittedly long-winded setup means it’s time for this tune.
I would call it a double standard at a minimum to allow “I Like Beer” Brett Kavanaugh to write the majority opinion in a case that overturns precedent once again, this time having to do with immature youthful behavior and its effect on potential lifetime incarceration, as Rachel Maddow explains (more here and here)...
...and Chris Hayes is absolutely right to basically consider it a travesty that, to date, there hasn’t been a public accounting of the treasonous events of 1/6, but that’s what happens when the voters of this country elect a dangerously delusional sociopath as president, to say nothing of being manifestly unqualified for the job; we do indeed need the equivalent of a 9/11 commission (and I would argue with subpoena power), but when the other side is going to be completely unserious, as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is for claiming to include BLM and Antifa in such an investigation (and it should be noted that neither law enforcement or any kind of impartial journalistic or investigatory body of any kind HAS IDENTIFIED EITHER GROUP AS HAVING ANY INVOLVEMENT IN THE EVENTS OF 1/6)...well, let’s just say I’m not holding out much hope (and Hayes’s frustration at the end is completely called for IMO)...
...and I know I went after Dubya on Thursday over that dopey interview of his, but I thought this was a pretty good take on the comment from number 43 about lies online or whatever that mess was (though Kyle has to also rain on his own parade by acting like the stuff with Trump and Putin was just nbd as he always does, which is actually pretty damn infuriating)...
...and I have to admit that it’s been a looong time since I’ve done anything close to recreational biking (good exercise overall, but I have to listen to what my middle-aged body is telling me about that), but I have never in my life heard of a license requirement for a bike (though I also don’t plan to visit Perth Amboy any time soon, I hasten to add – hey, why not give these kids credit for getting some exercise outside as opposed to being shackled inside to a gaming controller all day?)...
...and this TYT clip from Adrienne Lawrence tells us about Colorado Judge Natalie Chase, who has stepped down basically for being racist AF (appointed to the bench by former Governor and now U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper - not sure why the segment leads off with that old clip of Cenk and Ana)...
...and speaking of racism, don’t look now, but here comes Brit Hume to tell us how it doesn’t exist any more (and Emma V. is exactly right – if Fix Noise existed in the ‘60s, Hume would be saying “Oh, there’s no such thing as systemic racism, it’s just a few bad apples...BUT LOOK OVER THERE AT THE NEW BLACK PANTHER PARTY THUGS IN PHILLY! THEY’RE THREATENING THAT ELDERLY WOMAN AT THE POLLING PLACE BY HOLDING THE DOOR OPEN FOR HER!”)...
...and I have to admit that this clip from Thom Hartmann is a little atypical, but I still thought it was important – I honestly believe that there are situations where self-medication under a doctor’s supervision of course is definitely called for, but I also think it’s good to discuss any possible way to effect lifestyle changes that could head off the need for medication depending on the circumstance – definitely not saying to toss all your meds right here and now, but certainly when it comes to learning particularly for kids, maybe we can pursue other strategies (kind of an open-ended comment I know)...
...and this is a cool combo I must say of Sir Mick Jagger and Dave Grohl performing a pretty kick-ass lockdown song – nice tune for a weekend too (and I wonder if someone will have the guts to tell Jagger that he doesn't have to worry about playing the guitar).
I love it when the Repugs gang up on each other; let them tear themselves to pieces – fine with me (and once more, The Lincoln Project keeps cranking out these great ads)...
...and I can’t think of a word to communicate my disgust with the anti-maskers for trying to harass kids, and I can’t say “oh, it’s a southern thing” since this is from CA...we shouldn’t do a damn thing for these lunatics if they end up in a COVID ward (and isn’t it ridiculous that there’s no anti-protest law against this, as opposed to that garbage anti-protest law that just passed in FLA?)...
...and the prior David Pakman clip mentioned overseas actors, if you will, using social media to influence opinion in this country against COVID immunization (bastards), and I thought that was an appropriate transition to this interesting clip from the BBC about how China is responding to COVID-19 with its own brand of propaganda; yeah, some of this is to be expected by a totalitarian regime, but some of it was egged on by our prior ruling cabal of grifters and lowlifes too...
...and back to dollars-and-cents stuff...David Doel is exactly right on how Bernie and the Dems started out on a lowball number on negotiating for the $15-an-hour minimum wage (and by the way, $15 an hour is hardly extravagant...that’s basically a below-poverty wage and doesn’t even remotely keep pace with productivity gains for comparable work over, say, the last 40 years – not slamming Bernie because he’s trying to do good, but the Dem U.S. Senate “leadership” instead...just assume the "party of Lincoln" will NEVER have a good idea and go on without them because that is probably EXACTLY how events will play out regardless of whatever bill you're talking about)...
...and echoing that, I give you this clip from Farron Cousins with Biden basically telling the other side to “put up or shut up” on funding the infrastructure bill...
...and Number 46 is featured prominently in this Ari Melber report on the 1994 crime bill; I’m glad Melber mentioned that it’s a sign of wisdom to understand that sometimes you need to change course since that’s 100 percent true, and I believe Biden understands that – and yes, there’s a lot we can take issue with in retrospect about “The Big Dog” and the whole “centrist Democrat” thing, but I also think we need to recall that Clinton found a way to win the White House for “Team D” after a 12-year absence, and in politics that is absolutely an eternity...as far as I’m concerned, we had a good run under Clinton, and yeah, there were some missteps, but there were a hell of a lot of gains too...
...and sticking with The Comcast Network, I give “Doc” Maddow a lot of credit for this segment on the Chevron oil company trying to protect its oil field in Myanmar and propping up a military junta at the same time (making our planet safe to manufacture panty hose, apparently – got it)...
...and I know I make some “U-turns” from time to time here with my musical selections, and here comes another one...today is the 60th anniversary of the Carnegie Hall performance by Judy Garland, a show which was truly stunning, including this timeless number.
Yeah, count me as somebody who’s pretty damn fed up with attempting to somehow normalize George W. Bush, for the reasons Ana and Francesca point out...and this POS is actually going to talk about “nativism”? What the hell do you call all of this “you’re either with us or against us” crap in the wake of 9/11? What do you call turning one of the most awful days this country has even seen into Republican hate porn like you, Cheney and your pals did for 8 miserable years? What do you call those garbage “purple heart band aids” your lizard-brained followers wore to ridicule John Kerry’s military service at that Hate Fest convention in 2004?
I’ll admit that there are some slight threads of decency in Dubya that are utterly buried beneath a mountain of hubris and arrogance, but he only looks reasonable to a tiny degree because 45 was an utter sociopath (and boy, does Francesca in particular nail it)...
...well, given the prior clip, I think we need to bring back this little number from the awful Bush/Cheney era (slightly NSFW/H)...
...and I know this clip from Chris Hayes is a few days old, but this is one of the best takedowns of right-wing garbage media and the COVID pandemic that I’ve seen in a while, and kudos to Hayes for laying this right at the feet of Lachlan Murdoch, who apparently is now the caretaker for The Roger Ailes BS Factory (and oh yeah, memo to The Swanson TV Dinner Heir...the point of masking after immunization is to MINIMIZE THE IMPACT OF THE F*CKING VARIANTS!!!!)...
...and I also know I touched on this recently with a clip from “The Majority Report,” but Rachel Maddow (speaking with Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones) gives us more detail on the completely disgusting 81 anti-protest bills sponsored by Republicans (and yeah, protecting the monuments to Confederate traitors is another “FU” in all of this)...
Update 4/23/21: And Oklahoma now joins the stupidity parade also (here).
...and I honestly wasn’t going to pay attention to that Missouri scumbag Josh Hawley, but I changed my mind after this most recent foul episode from this disgusting life form...
...and when asked, Dr. Fauci said “How can you say that gun violence isn’t a public health issue?” – Nail. Hammer. Head...
...and David Pakman tells us about a law passed in the House allowing banks to transact with pot dispensaries...not sold on federal legalization, but if states want to allow pot, then there should be no problem with dispensaries operating like a regular business, and of course it should be federally decriminalized...
Rachel Maddow tells us about the official police statement after George Floyd’s killing, which made no reference to what actually happened; if it weren’t for people taking cell phone footage including the one brave young lady in particular who testified at the trial, there might not even have been a trial at all, let alone a guilty verdict handed down to Derek Chauvin (oh, and yesterday also brought us this cringeworthy moment)...
...and in response, I have a feeling we can look forward (tongue in cheek) to a whole lot of garbage just like this, with this wingnut Florida sheriff trying to re-define and criminalize protest (...”but don’t register to vote and vote the way they did up north, or you’ll get what they got”...REALLY???!!! And “A gathering of three or more people can be labeled a riot”...terrific! – the land of Mickey Mouse indeed, all while Governor #DeathSantis looks on with approval)...
...and with the prior clip in mind, I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 4/21/14, reminding us that crazy Repug governors are a feature, not a bug – Jeb Bush and Bobby (“Don’t Call Me Piyush”) Jindal are discussed, creating the template for the insanity of #DeathSantis (the late, great Ed Schultz speaks with Pap and David Cay Johnston...yeah, the “vulture chart” pretty much says it, and this was 7 years ago – can only imagine what that’s like now)...
...and gosh, what a shame...it looks like the “New KKK Caucus” of Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene in the U.S. House may not be a thing after all – I’m sure the Swanson TV Dinner Heir, among others, is crest fallen over it, as Ana and Francesca discuss (interesting note from Brett Erlich about our legal system traced to Islamic law)...
...and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Stacey Abrams giving it right back to Huckleberry Graham over his attempt at “gotcha” questions over Georgia’s BS new voting laws (and as usual, talking over and interrupting – I’d seriously like for someone to ask Graham how the hell he feels that he has the right to interfere in anything having to do with Georgia since he allegedly represents South Carolina)...
...and RIP Jim Steinman – yeah, we know what “Pig Loaf” would turn into, but “Bat Out of Hell” was still a great recording (including this tune), partly made so by the contribution of Todd Rundgren.
Thom Hartmann makes what I think is a convincing argument, sadly, that this country has turned into a fortress as opposed to a “shining city on a hill” based on this (and our insatiable lust for guns is a big part of that of course...many good points here, including blowing up all that “Oh yeah? Chicago has strict gun laws and look what’s going on.” BS)...
...and Cenk and Ana of TYT talk about Louisville, KY cops beating up a protestor – can you guess the skin color? And yeah, it’s a typical cop trick to yell “Stop resisting!” as they do it – the only “resisting” this guy is doing is breathing. The clip also discusses a FLA law basically making it legal to run down protestors (and Cenk is absolutely right when it comes to reporters and the first amendment, re, the protests, asking #DeathSantis if he supports it or not – if the fourth estate wasn’t preoccupied with “access,” then yeah, maybe they’d grow a spine and do what they should on this)...
...and oh look! It’s time for more utter performative nonsense from that U.S. senatorial mistake, Democrat Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, showing off her “F-off” ring (what a pitiable joke this woman is – John and Francesca provide commentary)...
...and once more (and for probably the 100th time I know), I know what The Lincoln Project is, but they keep cranking out good videos like this one, so here it is (though I'm not sure that America is the only country founded on an idea, but yeah, I guess that could be true)...
...and RIP former Minnesota U.S. Senator and VP (under Jimmy Carter) Walter Mondale; I’m sure others will come out with obits that will do much better justice to Mondale’s accomplishments in public life than I could do here, but I thought I’d present this one clip in his 1984 debate against The Sainted Ronnie R where Mondale wiped that big, dumb smile right off The Gipper’s face; yes, I realize that Mondale got creamed in that election, but fighting the good fight still counts, as well as naming Geraldine Ferraro as your running mate (trying to break the glass ceiling Kamala Harris shattered)...
...and I’m not encouraging that anybody “toke up” today, but if you do, please be careful and don’t operate any heavy machinery, including a car of course.
Update 1: THANK GOD! I honestly was wondering for a little while about this.
I have no clue as to whether or not this will be the beginning of the end of the cops and “open season” on African Americans, but now we know that there’s a line to be drawn SOMEWHERE.
They’d better send Chauvin to a “club Fed” for the rest of his life (which, again, is still a better deal than George Floyd got). If Chauvin ends up in a general prison population, he’ll be dead in 20 minutes.
Update 2: Aaaand we're back to what is apparently the sickening normality of American law enforcement (here) - I can only imagine how some of these pigs are going to respond to the Chauvin verdict (and an extra "FU" by the cops is here).
Joe Scar of “Morning Jo(ke)” shows his true wretched colors here with Dem U.S. House Rep Sean Maloney, with the MSNBC host parroting Repug talking points and having a hissy fit when Maloney calls him on it (I think the attack lines Scar mentioned caught the Dems off guard, but not because the attack lines weren’t absolutely ridiculous in the first place...AOC said the Dems need to do a MUCH BETTER job on social media to blunt this garbage, and she’s absolutely right – we need to replace their crappy messaging with our GOOD messaging, and as David Doel says, incumbent progressives won re-election in the House last year, though I realize the picture is complicated by other factors too)...
...and sticking with the subject of wingnut temper tantrums, there are all kinds of reasons why I rate Repug lunatic U.S. House Rep Gym Jordan as a lower life form than a garden slug (a shame you can’t pour a beer on Jordan and watch him disintegrate into a mass of sodium goo on a sidewalk), but for now I decided to punish myself (and, by extension, you dear viewer) and air this clip of his interaction with Dr. Fauci...to listen to this craven demagogue rant at someone who has more intellect in his little finger than Jordan does in his entire wretched self was just about too much to take, particularly when this asshole from Ohio talks about going to church (yep, performative garbage, as Brian Tyler Cohen correctly describes it)...
...and in a sane world, a life form like Jordan would inflict this treatment on the “Karen” who coughed on the woman who had brain cancer instead of Dr. Fauci, as Farron Cousins tells us (I swear, I may never visit Florida again after this...mildly NSFW)...
...of course, maybe all of the anti-maskers out there could try this product instead (hey, we have to find humor somehow)...
...and John, Cenk and Bridget Todd tell us about cops donating to a fund to help (accused, let’s not forget) Kenosha, WI shooter Kyle Rittenhouse – I know I said a couple of days ago that the Adam Toledo shooting (a kid all of 13...just a reminder) was more of a gray area because it was a dark alley and Ofc. Eric Stillman had less time to respond, which is true, but it’s still an undeniable fact that Toledo had his empty hands up and was shot fatally in the chest anyway...I can’t recall all of the clip at the moment, but I remember recently seeing the head of the Chicago police union I believe acting pretty indignant over the fact that Stillman is being questioned at all, and I thought, sure a-hole, go ahead and fan the flames, as it were...
...and damn, I’m pretty sure it was just a few weeks ago when I wished Rusty Young a happy birthday – RIP.
