Trae Crowder brings us his take on the election results, including the upcoming runoff (ugh!) between Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock in Georgia (and do I EVER wish that Mango Mussolini would stick his bloated orange face right into the middle of this for the Repug; again, what does it tell you what Not Your Father’s Republican Party truly thinks of people of color that they would consider Walker a reasonable political choice?...and “whites with walkers”...heh)...
...and this Damage Report clip with John and Jayar tells us about Tik Toker Dara Faye calling Repug U.S. House Rep Mike Garcia about her menstruation/ovulation...hey, if Garcia is going to act like an expert on women’s anatomy, then he should go “the whole night yards” you might say, right?...
...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us about Fix Noise having a tough time explaining the election – awww, boo-freaking-hoo, Ainsley Earhardt...and I honestly don’t know why Sam is confused about what the Repugs will run on...WHAT THE HELL DO THEY ALWAYS RUN ON? "OMIGOD, DEMS BURNING DOWN OUR CITIES WITH CRIME, OPEN BORDERS, FENTANYL HALLOWEEN CANDY, HIGH SCHOOL KIDS USING LITTER BOXES," etc...that said, Sam makes a good point about what a clusterf*ck NYC Dems made out of the crime issue with their nutty mayor Eric Adams and how that played into the already messed-up situation with Mondaire Jones and Sean Maloney that, unfortunately, created an opening for the winning U.S. House Republican, along with the departed-but-not-missed NY governor Andrew Cuomo and his role in U.S. House gerrymandering ...I have a feeling that Emma’s comment at the very end about the Repugs taking the House by the slimmest of margins, though they’ll be plagued by infighting, may be correct, but we’ll see of course)...
...and Trumpist nut jobs (basically, just rebranded Republicans) were on display recently in Asheville, NC (which I thought was a cool place...maybe it still is? – Richard Ojeda tells us more)...
...and I agree with a lot of this post-election analysis from Chris Hayes, though he seems to “disappear” the influence of younger voters...not sure why (maybe because they don’t watch MSNBC?...and oh yeah, there was this)...
...and this J.T. Chapman/MPU collaboration focuses on billionaire scumbag Peter Thiel, who of course is doing all he can to buy our elections (and I have to admit that I hadn’t heard of “litigation financing” until now, as well as this “dark enlightenment” stuff...no end to the scheming of these rich cretins)...
...and sticking with the regularly scheduled carnage of Vlad The Butcher in Ukraine, it looks like Russian troops are pulling back from the city of Kherson, though it’s unclear as to what the next move is; it’s definitely progress for Ukraine, but there’s also definitely some “fog of war” stuff going on here too...with DW correspondent Nick Connolly...
...and RIP legendary engineer Joe Tarsia, who played a big role in the Philly Sound, starting with the Cameo/Parkway label before his work with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff; here is a signature tune from “back in the day.”
Cenk and Ana tells us about Vlad Putin and his pals acting pretty brazenly in the matter of interfering in our elections, making some kind of reference to “liver” and “kidneys,” which sounds pretty “old world,” I have to admit (and also, to be honest, it's not like we haven't done the same thing ourselves to other countries in the past).
And by the way (speaking of elections), congratulations to all of the winning Dems, including Josh Shapiro; of all of the candidates, his is the race that we ABSOLUTELY had to win, and Shapiro was called as the winner pretty early last night (happily, it was a bad night for “Christian nationalist” nut job Doug Mastriano and other election-denying Repugs, including Kari Lake...Update 11/10: I know the Lake/Hobbs race hasn't been called yet). Kudos also go to John Fetterman; we'll see about the Senate, though of course that and the House are still in play...and yes, it’s pretty damn unbelievable that the Georgia contest between Herschel Walker and Dem incumbent Raphael Warnock looks like it’s headed to a runoff, but that probably should not have been that surprising. To me, the lesson of the Fetterman win is to build your ground game, which Fetterman did in every county of this commonwealth. How the national Democratic Party somehow either forgot to learn that lesson or de-prioritized it at the expense of massive TV ad blitzes is something I cannot understand, and since Chuck Schumer and Jaime Harrison were basically incommunicado in the cycle for some strange reason, all we can do is guess at whatever their logic was. And of course, we’ll learn more about the cycle that just ended over the coming days, but normally the mid-terms would be awful for the party in power, but it wasn’t I believe for 2 reasons. The first is the repercussions on the SCOTUS Dobbs decision, and the second is the engagement of younger voters.
And on that subject, I think congratulations are in order to Ashley Ehasz. Even though she lost, she got a lot of younger engagement and built a coalition that Bucks County Democrats would do well to sustain and try to add onto in the ensuing years, to say nothing of the state and national party trying to do that also. Ehasz came flying out of the gate (unlike, say, Scott Wallace a few years ago with that bizarre video segment with Diane Marseglia with the two of them wondering why Wallace was running, or whatever that was) and made it clear what she was trying to accomplish with her campaign, and she did a great job on social media (unlike the rest of the party generally, and I know I’ve already expounded on that). To be fair, PA-01 is rough sledding for ANY Democrat, partly because of this centrist mythology created around Brian Fitzpatrick by our media, as well as Fitzpatrick’s occasionally middle-of-the-road votes. Also, a Dem running in this district absolutely has to find a way to peel away enough votes from, say, Quakertown, Wrightstown, Perkasie, Warrington...places that are Republican strongholds with McMansion communities. The Dobbs SCOTUS ruling resonated all over the country, but not enough in the suburbs to make a difference when it came to voting out Republicans. However, I have a feeling that it DID pretty much kill any potential for a “red wave,” which is definitely a victory of sorts.
Still, though (and I'm sorry if I sound like a bit of a wet blanket), it's unbelievable to me that truly obscene amounts of money keep getting spent in our elections, especially on the national level, and the candidates we elect are pretty much the same over and over (yes, there are notable victories to be sure, but not many overall).
Anyway, here’s the TYT clip...
...and David Doel gives us his take on the election, noting that AIPAC spent $4 million against Summer Lee, though they might as well have set that $$ on fire...that’s nothing compared to Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao dumping $41 million for Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz...and yeah, it’s gratifying to know that that money went for nothing also, but it’s sickening to think of all of the better ways that that money could have been spent (and yeah, it’s likely that NO Democrat would have won in Ron #DeathSantis-stan, but when Val Demings and Charlie Crist were basically mute during that voting purge stunt pulled by the FLA guv, I had a feeling they were going to be toast anyway...I didn’t know about the Cortez-Masto/Laxalt race, but God, talk about “not reading the room” – ugh!...to do something to help, click here...very mildly NSFW/H)...
...and I probably shouldn’t spend a millisecond on Our Ochre Abomination, but I guess I have to revel a bit in yet another of his unending hissy fits over the vote, as Jesse Dollemore tells us (though, as noted, Walker is still in the running, unfortunately)...
...and Lawrence O’Donnell (in a clip before the vote) gives us two confessions related to Trump and misinformation (including that nut Tim Michels, running for WI governor – Michels lost, fortunately...and I would respectfully disagree with Lawrence’s assessment that “millions of Trump supporters” are smarter than Our Ochre Abomination...their actions certainly don’t indicate that)...
...and Adrienne Lawrence tells us about GOP state rep Janel Brandtjen trying to keep military ballots from being counted...yeah, I’m remembering all of the wingnuts yelling “SUPPORT THE TROOPS, YOU DUMB LIB!” during Dubya’s Iraq War...and of course, EVERYBODY had those yellow car decals too (and Brandtjen won her election, which, to me, puts the lie even more to the notion that the Republican Party overall gives a damn about our military)...
...and I need something to help me chill out a bit from the events of the last day or so; I hope this does the trick for you also.
David Pakman tells us about Former President Bill Clinton’s recent remarks, which perfectly sum up Not Your Father’s Republican Party...
...so what is The Treasonous Insurrectionist Party doing instead? They’re trying to block 26 million student loan debtors for obtaining forgiveness for their loans of course, arguing that student loan forgiveness will diminish tax revenues; I guess it shouldn’t be surprising to hear such an idiotic argument from the political party that still believes in trickle-down economics, despite the mountain of evidence proving that IT IS AN UTTER FRAUD! (Farron Cousins tells us about it)...
...and Ali Velshi tells us here about Blake Masters lying at a rally in the matter of how much money the U.S. sends to Ukraine and whether or not we should even send anything at all (we should of course), as well as which president threatened to use nukes (hint: it was the leader of Cult 45)...yeah, there are a lot of reasons why Masters shouldn’t be elected despite all the $$ nut job billionaire Peter Thiel is throwing at him, and here are some more (to do what you can to help Masters’ opponent, Dem incumbent U.S. Senator Mark Kelly, click here)...
...and Jayar and Jackson White of Rebel HQ bring us the story of some Oath Keeper nut and insurrectionist (Stewart Rhodes) comparing himself to Nelson Mandela and saying his ilk shouldn’t be afraid to go to prison for 20 years...and we’re supposed to make common cause with these lunatics (“What you become is a slave,” huh? As if you would know.)...
...and this dropped from Really American last night; apparently, Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz has been housing Turkish nationals in a luxurious condominium who of course won’t recognize Turkey’s Armenian genocide (to help John Fetterman and get rid of this quack at long last, click here)...
...and I know the odds are long for Beto O’Rourke in Texas at this point (I can’t imagine a mindset that hates Democrats so damn much that you’d want to wreck your entire state for it, and hopefully I never will), but this New York Times video essay tells us about what I would call Greg Abbott’s criminal negligence during a winter energy crisis not quite two years ago in which hundreds of people in his state died, including the mother of a woman profiled in the clip...
...and Beau reads a truly touching letter from someone whose dad passed away, though you could argue that he “died to MAGA” first (if you watch Steve Kornacki tonight in front of that damn map with all of his projections and statistics, I would respectfully ask that you please remember that the “horserace” BS isn’t what this stuff should be all about – first and foremost, it’s all about flesh-and-blood people and their needs and aspirations, as well as those of their families and friends, echoed in the prior clip also)...
...and I know in the past on election day I’ve put up “Stand Up” by Trapt here, but I think this tune is also pretty apropos for the wingnuts who want to bring an end to roughly about 246 years of our elected democracy.
More than any other person or entity, the Republican Party is responsible for the events of January 6, 2021, as shown once more in this clip as they occurred (and let's not forget these bastards either)...
...and for PA folks, to support John Fetterman running for the U.S. Senate, click here (as well as Ashley Ehasz and Josh Shapiro)...
...and to support Mandela Barnes running for the U.S. Senate in Wisconsin, click here (and RoJo would be leading the charge to dismatle Social Security and Medicare; more on that here)...
...and to support Tim Ryan running for the U.S. Senate in Ohio, click here...
...and to support Dem incumbent U.S. Senator Mark Kelly in Arizona running for another term, click here (mildly NSFW/H)...
...and to support Val Demings running for the U.S. Senate from Florida, click here...
...and here is another clip from Brian Tyler Cohen (a repeat, I know) on Repug South Carolina state senator Sandy Senn having it out with fellow Repug Shane Massey over yet another ridiculous anti-abortion bill in this country (I realize it's way too late to get anybody registered, but everything else Cohen says is about a thousand percent correct - an update is here...and make no mistake; Huckleberry Graham wants the SAME THING for the whole damn country!)...
...and if you're looking for a motivational tune for tomorrow, allow me to offer the following.
John of TYT tells us that billionaires spent nearly $900 million in this midterm election cycle up to 9/30; once more, Citizens United is “the gift that keeps on giving”...with Cenk and Mark Thompson...and yeah, I think Cenk has a good point about corporate media reporters, but he goes around the bend a bit when he says that those reporters are as crazed as the MAGA nutjobs...that bar chart at about 10:00 tells the story...
...and speaking of corporate media, Anderson Cooper brings us this CNN clip on a fired pastor of a Baptist church in Virginia who spoke out against the Gropenfuhrer (and it's not exactly a "news flash" to point out the fact that the Evangelicals are essentially Republican party sheep).
And by the way, I just want to say this with respect to Pastor Kopp. Like many of you I’m sure, I work and live with more than a few conservatives who are good neighbors and (I’m sure) work hard in their jobs and support their families and friends as best they can (in more than a few cases, I strongly suspect that these people are conservative, but I just don’t “go there” in an effort to keep everything on good terms – I know enough to know that they will NEVER support a Democrat under any circumstances, so I try not to engage with them politically. However, if they seek me out on that subject...well then, I’ll defend myself and my positions as best I can).
If these people choose to support Trump and ANY Republican...well, I think they’re catastrophically wrong, but I don’t have the right to say that they’re bad people. However, if they’re one of these MAGA lunatics who threaten violence of any kind against me, my family or friends, or threaten harm against us in any way at all, then yeah, they’re bad people and should be called out accordingly, but only then.
I know it’s a tricky balancing act to get this exactly right, but even though Pastor Kopp should get credit for identifying the true threat to this country, I think he went a little farther than he should have. That being said, we need a hell of a lot more Pastor Kopp’s in this country...
...also (and sticking with the media), I was trying to find something on Cheri Beasley running against Ted Budd for a U.S. Senate seat in North Carolina (seat opened by the retirement of Repug Richard Burr), and I came up with this NC local news segment where Beasley claimed that Budd voted against 4 bills to fund North Carolina police, to the tune of $32 million in appropriations (Budd apparently said the bills cost too much money...typical).
So along comes this local news reporter or someone from Politifact or whatever, who basically says, “Well, Budd voted against the bills (actually, it was 5 bills, truth be told), but these were huge appropriations bills including funding for the Department of Justice who then awarded the funding for local police anyway, so we rate the claim as Mostly False.”
Are you f’ing kidding me? Gee, how much more of a Budd apologist can you be? Did he vote against the damn bills or didn’t he? Who cares if the cops got the funding some other way or not? Budd apparently voted no on the bills, which makes Beasley’s claim correct!
#localnewsfail
...continuing, Beau tells us about Repug U.S. House Rep Dan Crenshaw’s apparent moment of clarity, emphasizing that all of the perpetrators of The Big Lie are laughing their asses off at all of the gullible fools who’ve bought into it (Beau’s T-shirts always have apropos messages for his commentaries, but none more so than today)...
...and I know this clip from Rachel Maddow is a few days old starting with the news about Paul Pelosi’s surgery in response to the hammer attack he suffered (an update is here), but I wanted to make sure I included it before the vote...yeah, Trump Jr.’s underwear and hammer tweet was about what you could expect, as was the response from the just-as-execrable Charlie Kirk...and oh yeah, Kari Lake is just so damn funny, isn’t she (#trumpettetrash), but yeah, our choice is indeed between democracy or violent repression – no middle road (and more disgusting wingnut violence in our beloved commonwealth is noted here)...
Thom Hartmann gives us a bit of a preview of what a fascist America could look like, which to me is even MORE of a reason (as if we needed it) to make sure that it NEVER comes to pass (and let's not forget this too, or this)...
...and Jordan Uhl of Rebel HQ tells us how the Repugs perpetrating this monstrous betrayal are continuing to cast doubt on the U.S. elections and democracy as a whole, including in Arizona (and Tuckums is still crying about the Brazilian vote that elected Lula over Bolsonaro...oh, and of course Carlson mentions da Silva’s conviction, though The Swanson TV Dinner Heir didn’t also tell us that the conviction was overturned as noted here)...
...and I know I’m behind on my Second Thought videos again, but here’s the latest one in which we learn Why the U.S. is Not a Democracy (“Feeding for the poor is never going to be as profitable as over-producing for the wealthy.” And “The capitalist system cannot do anything but corrupt democracy.” – uh, yep)...
...and John and Brett Erlich of the Damage Report tells us about Oprah Winfrey endorsing John Fetterman over Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz – welcome to the fight!...
...and this More Perfect Union clip tells us about the backlash against Repugs and their attacks on public schools, including Kevin Stitt in Oklahoma (and of course Betsy DeVos is right in the middle of this mess, as you might expect)...
...and this song applies on a few different levels I know - I just felt like the time was right to add it here.
Farron Cousins brings us this clip of Arizona wingnut Kari Lake saying that, if we believe and acknowledge objective reality about the 2020 election, then we’re the ones who are conspiracy theorists...yeah, I think the crazy train is barreling out of control all right; to help Lake’s opponent, Dem Katie Hobbs, click here...
...and Ana and John of TYT tell us about departing Repug U.S. House Rep Adam Kinzinger calling out his own party for their typical wingnuttia in response to the Paul Pelosi attack (and good point by Ana to bring up the peaceful protests at the home of “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh and the pearl-clutching that resulted from that)...
...and Jesse Dollemore tells us about The Swanson TV Dinner Heir crying about voter fraud and how there should be a protest over the Brazil elections, because of course the conservative Bolsonareo LOST...yeah, I would say this sounds like a broken record for "Tuckums" (a related post is here)...and with all due respect to Jesse, the Repugs DID file to have pointless vote recounts in red states, including Oklahoma I believe, which is particularly ridiculous because Trump won those states handily in ‘20, unfortunately...I believe it was Rachel Maddow who made the astute observation that, even though the red state recount wouldn’t change the outcome, it would still sew doubt in the minds of gullible fools over our elections, which was probably the ultimate goal in the end...
Update 11/9/22: As far as I'm concerned, the Ohio man killed here is (tragically) someone else you can add to Carlson's unofficial body count (more violence related to Tuckums is here and here).
...and I realize there’s really nothing funny about the U.S. Senate candidacy of Herschel Walker in Georgia, but I give Jimmy Kimmel credit for trying here (to help incumbent Dem Raphael Warnock running against Walker, click here)...
...but to be deadly serious about next Tuesday, I present the following from here (an incredibly important message that may indeed fall on deaf ears when it comes to the life forms who need to hear it the most, but it’s certainly worth it to keep trying to speak truth to stoo-pid...more here)...
...and happy upcoming 75th birthday to Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits.
Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report discusses an alleged study about cats on college campuses and how that’s supposed to help with stress... a typically tone-deaf response from this network on what kids deal with in the cost of education including housing, books, trying to hold down a job while in school...you name it (and when this hairdo in the blue dress says kids need to get slapped, another one of these harpies chimes in with “good point” – the violence used to be hidden with a thin veneer of sorts, but Trump made everything “right” for them so now it’s all out in the open...NSFW/H)...
...and I’ve been waiting for someone to present a story about red state crime with the treatment that the Roger Ailes BS Factory routinely gives to similar stories in blue states (quick cuts, scary pronouncements whether they’re real or not, all kinds of dramatic graphics, etc.), and to his credit, Chris Hayes does that here, along with more evidence that crime is indeed a nationwide problem, but it actually is statistically worse in red states, as Dem gubernatorial candidate in Oklahoma Joy Hofmeister, among others, has pointed out...
...and speaking of red states, props to this librarian in Columbia, Tennessee for saying she was never sexually assaulted at a drag show, but twice at a church (sorry to hear – hope the perpetrators were prosecuted for it), and also saying that we should be leaving the gays and the trannies alone – she’s 100 percent right; and yeah, what’s going on in Ron #DeathSantis-stan is pretty damn disgusting all right (mildly NSFW/H as well)...
...and Beau tells us about the U.S. helping Ukraine with using and keeping track of our arms that we supply to that country, at Russia’s request (keeping track of the weapons that is, to make sure our stuff doesn’t end up on the black market...and I’d imagine that Vlad The Butcher “saw this going differently” also)...
...and this clip from the German news service DW is a few days old I know, but in it, host Sarah Kelly brings us the story of rebuilding Ukraine, with correspondent Nina Haase...
Update 11/5/22: And why am I not the least bit surprised by this? And why the hell does that lunatic at Mar-a-Lago STILL have classified documents? WHY THE HELL HAVEN'T THEY BEEN FORCIBLY REMOVED?
...and this may be one of my more autobiographical musical selections, but I'm OK with that.
Jesse Dollemore is BACK! Best wishes for a full recovery from his cancer surgery...this video also includes some commentary on the wingnut response to the Paul Pelosi attack (and yes, as far as I’m concerned, this is a result of the 1/6 insurrection...and we know that Fix Noise is the media wing of the Republican Party, but do you HONESTLY BELIEVE there would have been a measured response from that guttersnipe Bret Baier if, say, this alleged person had broken into the home of #MidnightMoscowMitch and attacked Elaine Chao with a hammer, to the point where SHE was the one who required brain surgery? And no, I’m not condoning violence AGAINST ANYONE...and ESPECIALLY not Dollemore and Brittany Page, who are doing tremendous work).
(As a personal aside, I just want to note that I attended my nephew’s championship football game against Pennridge last Sunday in Quakertown; he played for the Lenape Valley Indians. Both teams played exceptionally well and should be proud, but Lenape Valley lost on the very last play of the game, which was pretty much a “Hail Mary” pass – heartbreaking for the kids, I realize, but I’m sure the coaches were encouraging – they absolutely should have been anyway. I’m just pointing this out because I had the occasion to drive all over the vicinity to get to the field. It’s a beautiful area, but I absolutely could not live there. I know it’s bedrock Republican to the point of a religion - probably like youth football also – and also to the point where you’re supposed to shut up, get in line and don’t you dare ask a question about it. This was reinforced with some billboards urging anyone who viewed them to “Vote Republican, For Freedom,” with a portrait of an American eagle painted onto the display (God, country and the whole nine yards). There were also plenty of oversized message boards for Doug Mastriano, which fit the profile, sadly.
The people who ingest that stuff like a drug will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the cold light of day, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s the future they chose for themselves.)
...and John and Maz Jobrani of The Damage Report tell us more about Paul Pelosi’s (alleged) attacker David DePape (and no disrespect to John, but unfortunately, I think he’s right; after horrible stunts like this, I’m sure there will be more than a few people who will say, “You know what? Screw it. I’m not going to run for elected office because of this madness.” And that is also terrible, and absolutely the fault of wingnut Republicans, which is almost a redundant term at this point...and yeah, I’m not the least bit surprised by this either, or this unfortunately)...
...and as far as the head of Not Your Father’s Republican Party is concerned, Farron Cousins tells us that the fraud trial for the Trump org went “off the rails” almost immediately, so much so that their lawyer’s opening statement had to be stopped by the judge and the jury sent out of the room...why should I be surprised at this point?...
...and turning briefly to world stuff, David Doel tells us that LULA WINS! In Brazil over Trumpist wingnut Jair Bolsonaro in a close election (and the last I heard on this was that Bolsonaro was actually going to help with the transition and not be a whining little bitch yelling about election fraud like Our Ochre Abomination...and yeah, I think, somewhere, Michael Brooks is smiling)...
...and if you’re looking for something inspirational for our own elections next Tuesday, I offer the following (from here)...
...and happy 75th birthday to Dave Pegg of Jethro Tull (the '80s version) and Fairport Convention.
Some point after the end of these every-other-year electoral contests (the major ones for president and the less-major-but-still-important off-cycle ones for the U.S. House and Senate also), I weigh in (for whatever my opinion is worth) about what has transpired, good and bad, about the election cycle that has just concluded. I usually hold off on that until after Election Day because I don’t want to say or do anything that could hurt Dem chances on November 8th (and yes, I realize I’m a miniscule player in all of this and probably couldn’t have much impact regardless).
However, I’m going to break with tradition a bit and comment a bit here because I think it’s necessary. I’ll give the glass-half-full perspective first and commend all of the hard work going on with everybody on team “D” doing the canvassing, phone calls, Emailing, texting, putting up signs, etc. for a whole slate of great candidates, including (but not limited to) John Fetterman, Ashley Ehasz (pictured above), Josh Shapiro, Steve Santarsiero, and Perry Warren. I’m grateful to do whatever I can to try and move our politics towards representing folks in our communities who need services as a “hand up” and not a “hand out” for the sake of themselves, their families and friends. THAT should be the focus to which we are all committed, regardless of how big or small our impact may be in that enterprise.
And saying that, I can’t help but feel a bit of a churn in my guts over what passes for “leadership” on the part of the national Democratic Party.
As far as I’m concerned, these alleged political/media/Beltway geniuses could not have made more of a mess of our campaign if they tried. If I had the opportunity to say this to @harrisonjaime and @SenSchumer, I might be inclined to quote Burt Lancaster as Gen. James Matoon Scott to Fredric March as President Jordan Lyman from the film “Seven Days In May” and say to both of them, “You’re not just a weak sister. You’re a criminally weak sister.” (no chauvinism is implied in that, by the way).
I see virtually no engagement on social media concerning what could pass for a Democratic Party platform, included supported positions and legislation passed over the prior two years (such as COVID relief, the American Rescue Plan and the infrastructure reconciliation bill...and yes, President Manchin and Vice President Sinema made sure that Build Back Better was eviscerated, but do you SERIOUSLY BELIEVE that a Republican congress and president would have passed and signed into law the legislation I just noted, imperfect as it was?). I see virtually NO FIGHT from our side on this stuff on the national level. None. I barely look at Facebook regardless of whether or not we’re in an election, but I can tell you that Twitter has become an utter cesspool of Republican bullshit. And yes, there are plenty of folks pushing back, but (with the commendable exception of Dem U.S. House Rep Bill Pascrell, Jr. of NJ) there is NOBODY from the national political organization engaging in this exercise (and if you want to get an idea of the mindset that we’re up against, take a good look at the picture).
I don’t know what’s going to happen in a week, but let me just say this to these alleges “geniuses” at the DNC; do you want to know the main reason why Democrats lose? IT’S BECAUSE PEOPLE DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU STAND FOR, that’s why! And yes, I’m complaining about Democratic “messaging” (or the lack thereof) for the umpteenth time!
If nothing else, this is a sickening betrayal of the “foot soldiers” doing the great ground work that is needed for our campaigns to succeed. And it would be a lot easier to tolerate the non-stop appeals for money from phone calls, Emails, texts, you name it, if the people asking for my hard-earned dough had enough determinaton, courage and fortitude to merit a recurring contribution.
(And by the way, it’s unintentionally humorous to get appeals for donations also from Steve Bullock, who has written a few columns complaining about Dems allegedly not caring about the “heartland” and pretty much writing off Team D as a bunch of the dreaded “coastal elites.” I mean, Bullock could actually TRY AND ENGAGE THE OTHER SIDE in the battle of ideas...I mean, sure, the Dems can ALWAYS do more, but how about a little credit for what has transpired so far? And I know he has a bit of a point, but a circular firing squad will accomplish EXACTLY NOTHING to help us win elections.)
Update 1: Good advice from Mallory McMorrow (here - glad SOMEBODY is thinking about building up "the bench").
And now that that rant is done, allow me to provide some of my own reminders as to why the Dems should be returned to power; first, because the other side sponsored the treasonous insurrection of January 6th, 2021...this was brought to us by REPUBLICANS, aided and abetted by REPUBLICAN POLITICIANS in the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate who either encouraged it or, by their silence, condoned it...this is a toned-down video versus what I’d like to actually present, but I know YouTube has become total bastards about what they’ll allow to be posted on a humble blog like this one because of admittedly violent content, but I don’t know how the hell you present anything about the 1/6 insurrection WITHOUT showing violence...
...and this reminds us of the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, when SCOTUS justices nominated, voted for and confirmed under Republicans decided that they should have the final say on decisions pertaining to women’s bodily autonomy...
...and what do you think they want to do to Medicare and Social Security if they get power? Do you really need to ask? And by the way, how many goddamn times are filthy, unkempt liberal bloggers like moi supposed to point out that LEX LUTHOR SCOTT WAS FOUND GUILTY OF THE BIGGEST MEDICARE FRAUD IN HISTORY???!!!...
...and I realize this doesn’t really qualify as another “This Day In Doomsy History” entry from October 2013, but if you STILL need a bit of a preview as to what a GOP Congress would look like...well, we have recent history as an example as Ari Melber tells us, and with Greene, Boebert, Biggs, Gosar and the rest of our current bunch, you can add a whole bunch of “values” BS...going after gays/trans (including more dangerous nonsense such as high school kids allegedly using litter boxes), banning books, passing a nationwide abortion ban, and on and on and on...
...and I would agree very much with the “HELL, NO!” sentiment in this Lincoln Project video...
...and I realize that I haven't added a new tune here for a little while, so please allow me to make amends for that now.
Sam and Emma take a call from an individual describing what happened when the wingnuts lost it over a gay New York middle school teacher who displayed a pride flag...continually amazing to me that these life forms can do this stuff and still pretend to be Christian somehow...
...and David Doel tells us that Fix Noise is blaming Biden for the Paul Pelosi attack; figures...and of course, Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino are there to spread their BS false equivalency all over the place...”Well, shots were fired near the home of Republican Lee Zeldin of New York (here), so OF COURSE both sides are guilty of the same type of political violence”...GMAFB!...
...and when it comes to the ’22 campaign season (with about a week to go), Trae Crowder reminds us that Not Your Father’s Republican Party doesn’t have an answer for what to do about inflation, or an answer for much of anything really except to get their base worked up over “values” nonsense (NSFW/H)...
...and Cenk and Adrienne Lawrence of TYT present more evidence that Americans in red states are dying younger than in blue states (and this is all pre-COVID, so I can’t imagine how much worse it is now)...
...and the Dollemore Daily with Brittany Page brings us Fix Noise demonizing the homeless...and yeah, it’s apparently as low down as you can expect from this bunch...
...and turning for a minute to Vlad The Butcher and his war of choice in Ukraine, Beau tells us that Russia is constructing defense lines on its border...yeah, I get the whole “fog of war” thing, but even for someone like me who definitely isn’t a military expert, I don’t see how this can be a positive development for Putin and his dreams of empire...
...and turning briefly again to the elections, Brian Tyler Cohen tells us that Former President Hopey Changey was on the campaign trail for Dem incumbent U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia and had some good push-back against Warnock’s Repug opponent Herschel Walker (this was even better for Mandela Barnes against Rojo – PREACH!...and by the way, this tells us about Wisconsin’s U.S. Senatorial mistake and the whole “high school litter box” idiocy...kudos to Obama for doing this, but I think it’s needed because, once again, the national Democratic Party is doing yet another piss-poor job of messaging and reminding people that the Repug Party is THE PARTY OF TREASON AND INSURRECTION AND DENYING WOMEN THE RIGHT TO THEIR OWN BODILY AUTONOMY! – I’ll put up some stuff reminding people of that probably tomorrow, for what it’s worth)...
Update: Yeah, I think this says it about Herschel Walker.
Gee, I can’t possibly imagine why some deranged person would get so upset with Nancy Pelosi that they would invade the home of her and her husband (allegedly...don’t want to say anything to prejudice the trial of this lowlife) and allegedly smack Paul Pelosi in the head with a hammer to the point where he needs brain surgery before the attacker was apprehended by police...I mean, it’s soooo out of character for the calm and deliberate state of our politics, isn’t it? (#sarcasm).
And by the way, I’ve seen a smattering of Republicans out there criticizing the attack, which is meeting a very low bar as far as I’m concerned (and mostly from candidates running for re-election where I guess they think they need independent voters, and that’s why they’re acting sane in this instance). Well, until you’re ready to smack down the guy who, despite it all, is STILL the leader of your party for his own repeated threats of violence, you can spare me your faux indignation (story with Katy Tur is in this clip - more here, here, here and here...and yeah, this sure figures, doesn't it?)...
Update 1: Maybe this explains why Watters acts like he lacks an adequate brain capacity.
Update 2: And add this and this to the sordid mix also.
...and Rachel Maddow discusses the scammy robocall in Detroit about mail-in voting involving Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman (here), which would actually be hilariously bad if it weren’t for the potential consequences (giving your information “to the man”? I don’t think I’ve heard that expression since I saw my last “blaxploitation” flick in the ‘70s...also includes a follow-up to the “Clean Elections USA” garbage in Arizona; a disgusting update involving a Trumpster judge is here)...
...and Ben Carollo shows us Dem U.S. House Rep Katie Porter using her white board once again to show how we’re getting utterly price-gouged in this country (more from Porter is here)...
...and Thom Hartmann reminds us that corporations aren’t people (more on the Santa Clara County scam ruling in 1886 about corporations and the lying headnote from John Bancroft Davis is documented in Adam Winkler’s great book “We The Corporations”) and the Repugs having NO PLAN for ANYTHING despite all of their screeching about inflation; actually, they could end inflation by utterly crashing the economy, again, as Thom notes, which would be far worse than anything we’re dealing with now...
...and Ana and Cenk of TYT let us know that Rojo (running for another term as Wisconsin’s U.S. Senatorial Republican mistake) apparently doesn’t understand our economy and the aforementioned role of price gouging...GREAT analysis on the impact of corporations and their rapacious efforts to bleed us dry in this country - to help Johnson's Dem opponent Mandela Barnes, click here...
...and let’s all bid farewell to “The Killer,” Jerry Lee Lewis (here)...speaking of books, this fine work tells us how Sam Phillips founded Sun Records and sold the rights of Elvis Presley to RCA and Colonel Tom Parker (which Phillips always defended, for what it’s worth), and it also tells us that Phillips basically started promoting Lewis as the next big “find” after Elvis, and everything was going great until Lewis married his cousin, which basically set his career on fire, and not in a good way...RIP.
Farron Cousins tells us that it looks like over $1 billion has been paid out to U.S. farmers as a result of the ruinous tariffs from Mango Mussolini, something ELSE about #45 that has gotten the “memory hole” treatment from our beyond-useless corporate media, as Cousins rightly notes with plenty of deserved outrage (and no, I don’t mind our farmers getting paid either)...and yeah, I think this is yet another mess to be cleaned up by “Dark Brandon” at some point, as well as trying to get the post office commissioners (or whatever their titles are) to FIRE LOUIS DEJOY AT LONG FREAKING LAST!...
...and Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ tells us about the latest in wingnuttia from Trump rally attendees (“Zuckabuck”? And why the hell would James Woods be playing Biden? He’s a wingnut too!)...
...and when it comes to Our Ochre Abomination...well, believe it or not, there are MORE tapes, with #45 saying he didn’t want to put out a COVID plan until closer to the election, as opposed to, y’know, when it would do the most freaking good (and yeah, the Kim Jong Un stuff is weird, but maybe that’s just his “kink”)...
Update: And speaking of nonsense from Generalissimo Trump, I give you this.
...and Sam and Emma tell us about RoJo’s sweet tax avoidance deal, apparently centered around some luxury condo in Washington, D.C., with the non-inconsequential help of former Repug Wisconsin governor Scott Walker...to help Mandela Barnes running against Johnson, click here...
...and this Lincoln Project video notes the ways that Ron #DeathSantis in FLA is trying to control the vote in that state’s gubernatorial election (a variation of the garbage pertaining to Arizona noted yesterday); to help Dem Charlie Crist running against #DeathSantis, click here...
...and this recent video from Second Thought tells us about the role played by capitalism in Russia’s descent under Vlad The Butcher (I thought this was a terrific analysis of the horror of economic “shock therapy” as a prelude to capitalist “reform,” particularly in Russia, but I respectfully take issue with his claim that capitalism led to the Ukraine war...as far as I’m concerned, that has more to do with Putin’s sick, twisted dreams of trying to reconstitute pre-Soviet-era nationalism, or something like that)...
...and I’m going to try and wrap up this post with some positive news, and it’s this clip from Rachel Maddow (remember her?) telling us that early voting in FLA, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio and elsewhere is apparently on a par with presidential elections, which SHOULD be good news, but we’ll see of course...
...and here’s a selection I usually include this time of year, and I’d better hurry up and add it since the month will wrap up in a few days.
It looks like, since it’s just another week, it’s time once again for a new abortion story related to Herschel Walker, the Repug running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia of course, as Brian Tyler Cohen explains, and no, I’m not trying to be a jerk and trivialize the horror Walker’s girlfriends/spouses went through over this...as I and others far smarter than I am have already said, Walker shouldn’t be anywhere near a government job of any kind whatsoever (and yeah, nice job by Bret Baier to feed Walker the answer...what pieces of shit, both of them)...to return Walker’s opponent to the Senate, Dem incumbent Raphael Warnock, click here...
...and John and Dan Evans of The Damage Report tell us that school mass shooter Ethan Crumbley pled guilty (here), so he gets life apparently, and his parents are facing charges also for aiding and abetting his horrific acts of violence (and apparently there was another shooting in St. Louis recently as noted here...such a difficult, hand-wringing problem I know that we can’t seem to solve, even though EVERY OTHER DAMN SO-CALLED “DEVELOPED” NATION EXCEPT US HAS MANAGED TO FREAKING DO IT ALREADY!!!)...
...and Ana and Cenk tell us about an armed vigilante at an Arizona drop box who is there to threaten voters of course...more here (from “Clean Elections USA,” huh? And THANK YOU to Cenk for mentioning the “new Black Panther” nonsense in Philly...and of course, Ana is referring to the “2000 Mules” documentary from Dinesh D’Felon that even Bill Barr, of all people, thought was an utter joke)...
Update 10/28/22: And of course this idiot judge who ruled in favor of the Clean Elections mob, Michael T. Liburdi, is a Trump appointee (here and here).
...and the driving force behind groups like these thugs in Arizona trying to intimidate voters is the evergreen big lie about voter fraud as we know, and in the latest installment of This Day in Doomsy History from 10/27/16, Carlos Maza explains why that was (and remains) utter garbage (it was BS in 2016, it was BS in 2020, etc. - NSFW/H)...
...and I thought Lawrence O’Donnell did a good job here explaining how SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas violated the law in plain sight when it comes to not recusing himself on rulings related to the January 6th insurrection (following up on Laurence Tribe’s terrific “catch,” if you will...good job by Lawrence also to link Ginni Thomas with fellow co-conspirator Cleta Mitchell, as well as Don McGahn and the other SCOTUS justices McGahn helped to install on the High Court)...
...and this More Perfect Union clip mentions Trumper Ryan Zinke running for a new congressional seat in Montana (to help Monica Tranel running against Zinke, click here)...
...and happy upcoming 65th birthday to Stephen Morris of New Order...
...and here's a tune to help us prepare for the arrival of All Hallows Eve.
David Doel tells us about the greeting Cancun Cruz got at Yankee Stadium recently when he attended what turned out to be the clinching game for the Houston Astros against the black-and-white-pinstripes bunch in the Bronx...hard for me to tip my cap to those folks in New Yaawk, but to be fair, I’m symbolically doing that now...I wish the Yanks had managed to stretch out the series against the ‘Stros, but the Texas team is having a great year and I know our Phils will have their hands full in the Series – however, that’s why they play these games, as somebody said (clip is very NSFW/H, which you might expect)...
...and Ana and Cenk of TYT discuss Amy Coney Island Baby Barrett declining to block Dark Brandon’s student debt relief...am I dreaming, or what? And yes, I think this is a pretty sound critique by Ana on why the legal challenge was bogus (I think the petitioners failed remedial math...and yeah, the petitioners don’t really have “standing” as Cenk says), but I’m SO TIRED of listening to this crew bitch that the debt relief is “modest” – I realize TYT will pretty much inflict their purity tests at the expense of anything related to political expediency, but PLEASE don’t say or do anything that has a possibility of depressing voter turnout, OK??!! That being said, Ana is completely right about funding the defense contractors, though I’m not opposed to helping Ukraine either...
...and Brittany Page tells us how former Repug U.S. House Rep Jason Chaffetz of Utah freaked out recently over the homeless population in the City of Brotherly Love (and yeah, Chaffetz is the guy who...checks notes...actually took a victory lap over cutting funding for embassy security that led to the BENGHAZI!!! tragedy where Ambassador Chris Stevens and 3 other Americans were killed, as noted here...all the best to Jesse Dollemore during his convalescence)...
...and the Lincoln Project gives “little Marco” the treatment he deserves (to help Val Demings running against Rubio for the U.S. Senate from The Sunshine State, click here)...
...and when it comes to idiot Repugs, let’s not forget Marjorie Traitor Greene, who says people are getting Fentanyl poisoning from car door handles...um, I think that means that the crazy train has just pulled out of the station (and don’t get me started on what a cesspool Twitter has become, with barely any push-back from Democratic politicians, with the notable exception of Bill Pascrell of New Jersey...to help Marcus Flowers running against Greene for the GA-14 U.S. House seat, click here)...
...and please allow me to extend my sympathies to the family of Carly Simon, who lost both of her sisters within days of each other (here).
It takes a particular type of monster to inflict cruelty onto animals, particularly dogs, but unfortunately, that says a lot about Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz, as this Lincoln Project clip points out (to help John Fetterman, click here)...
Update 10/26/22: I usually don't pay much attention to debates since they're just full of BS media moments generally, and I can assure you that, at this point, I'm not supporting ANY Republican anyway, but I thought this was a noteworthy post all the same...yeah, some of the typical corporate media culprits are ready for the fainting couch over John Fetterman's performance, which generally didn't appear to be bad (I think this is far worse that anything Fetterman said or did), but Fetterman has EASILY had the most negative political coverage of any candidate in this cycle because of lying Repug talking points basically, so I'm not surprised.
(And by the way, finding people to satisfy a pre-conceived media narrative is no magic trick, as indicated by the Times report. J.D. Mullane of the Bucks County Courier Times, among others, has made a career out of doing that.)
...and I thought Beau provided some typically insightful commentary here in the matter of which party you want to be in charge during a recession, which we may be looking at unfortunately; he’s right to say that you should look at the platforms of our two major political parties to see what they support, but I’m sure too many people won’t even bother to do that and vote based on tribalism instead...love to be wrong (more here)...
...and I also thought what Thom Hartmann said in the first part of this commentary was interesting about how Repugs want gas to be exported in times of shortages to increase the collective portfolio worth of their donors (as opposed to keeping as much of it here as possible to potentially lower the cost), but the stuff from about 3:07 on about the lack of reporting on the Repgus wanting to gut Social Security and Medicare is telling also...actually, whittling away at traditional Medicare through the Medicare Advantage scam is accomplishing at lot of that anyway, unfortunately...
...and David Doel tells us about the UK climate activists who threw soup on the Van Gogh painting “Sunflowers,” which (thankfully) was under glass...yeah, this pointless act generated word of mouth all right, but not the kind that’s bound to be helpful to the cause of the "Just Stop Oil" group, which is sad because I think their activism is otherwise commendable...
...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report brings us the story of about $1 million raised to make a movie about a conservative superhero; the money was stolen (big surprise, I know – not really)...yep, more important to run the grift and bilk a bunch of easy marks than to actually deliver something that probably would have been awful anyway (NSFW/H – more here)...
...and RIP Lenny Lipton, composer of the following tune (among his other accomplishments).
