Farron Cousins tells us about all of the Repugs lining up to support Kamala Harris in her run for president (Jim Greenwood isn’t a surprise here in PA, but he should get credit for doing the right thing)...and yes, getting all of that Democratic support onboard isn’t automatic either, so credit for that also...
...and Jesse Dollemore tells us about the response from Larwrence O’Donnell of MSNBC to that beyond ridiculous press briefing that Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence gave last week, with O’Donnell commendably going off when #45 refused to answer a question about banning mifepristone and the press didn’t call him on it...
...and I would say that the "brain glitches" from Cantaloupe Capone are becoming more frequent, as John and Francesca of The Damage Report tell us..
...and speaking of Combover Caligula going off-script, it looks like he also did that on the subject of taking an imaginary helicopter ride with former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown – again, if Biden had said that, the New York Times would run about 20 “political analysis” fluff pieces over a week or two at least...
...and Brian Tyler Cohen and Glenn Kirschner bring us another “Legal Breakdown” segment about a RARE loss for #45...it sounds like the goofball AG in Missouri tried to sue New York to delay the sentencing of Our Ochre Abomination, which was a bridge too far even for our Philistines in robes (though this Andrew Bailey cretin in MI must’ve known that, because of “original jurisdiction,” a state vs. state action would automatically go to the SCOTUS...and I KNOW the two corrupted fiends on the High Court who would have allowed this suit have last names rhyming with rhombus and failito...and yes, I know that isn’t actually a word)...
...and this is a great newer tune, but damn, I think the guy needs a roofie or something...not that I encourage that, I hasten to add.
The “Morning Joe” crew bring us the tale of RFK Jr. and the dead bear cub that he kept in his car, apparently, while he went to eat at Peter Luger's Steak House (one response to this is why the hell Kennedy didn’t bother to contact someone in New York at the SPCA, or at least reach out to law enforcement who might put him in touch with the Humane Society...so Kennedy thought it would be funny to make it look like the bear was hit by a biker near Central Park? God, what disgusting entitlement on display here).
Oh, and just for the hell of it, I found this link to the New York statute on aggravated cruelty to animals, just to point out that Kennedy, on top of acting like a self-aggrandizing jerk, also may have broken the law...
...and that's probably the best lead-in I could ask for to this John Oliver clip on the Kennedy scion...I didn’t know about RFK Jr.’s influence in keeping people in Samoa from getting vaxxed against COVID, as well as the cruelty behind using that boy in Michigan who died from a malformed blood vessel in his brain in that book about COVID deaths...and that line about all of the likely skeletons in his closet making him king is still another blaring siren warning us to NOT HAVE ONE DAMN THING TO DO WITH HIM EVER (NSFW/H)...
Update 1 8/12/24: Maybe Junior should have bothered to check on his legal NY residence before he started bloviating with Roseanne Barr (here).
Update 8/15/24: So Junior makes it official here that he supports Our Orange Menace - good to know.
...and Miss Beau acknowledges the latest insane presser from Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence, which no doubt will kick off another round of corporate media hand-wringing...#45 is a delusional, lying sociopath who should be ignored and vilified and not taken seriously that’s it the end...
Update: I actually heard some of that mess, and he was doing the "accordion hands" bit and ranting about "gas propelled cars"...WHAAAA????
...and speaking of wingnuts in need of an intervention, I guess this is what Joe Buck would have turned into after pimping in NYC and working as a bellboy at a luxury Miami hotel (I think that’s how “Midnight Cowboy” ended)...anyway, Jon Voight is warning us that “the left” is going to take away your kids and presumably make them trans, or something (with Cenk and Yasmin Khan)...one of the reasons I have almost nothing to do with TYT any more is because of their perpetual inaccuracies and biases that get in the way of presenting stories as accurately as they think they are presenting them, and with that in mind, I’d like to point out that KIDS AREN’T GETTING FREAKING BOTTOM SURGERY, CENK! HOW MANY GODDAMN TIMES DO WE HAVE TO POINT THAT OUT??! And sorry for using all caps a lot, but I think the emphasis is needed...
...and Leeja Miller tells us that supporting Combover Caligula was just the beginning for the tech billionaires...clip is all about J.D. Vance, and I’m not surprised to find that that’s not exactly his real name – yeah, it’s the fault of “learned helplessness” in Appalachia, whatever that means, isn’t it? And OF COURRSSE that stinking Leonard Leo managed to show up somehow in Vance’s bio, right? And as far as Miller’s take on Catholicism goes, she backs up her claims with data to her credit, and she’s right about the evangelical overlap, you might say, between Catholicism and the fundie nut jobs, but there are also a lot of progressive, leftist Catholics out there too; I just thought it would be appropriate to mention that...as I watched that ridiculous “Star Trek” quote from Peter Thiel, all I could think of was that I was glad Thiel wasn’t around when JFK said we’re going to go to the moon, because Thiel would have been one of the first people to shoot that down, so to speak, because we couldn’t do it right away; Thiel would probably want to build lasers to shoot at the lunch counter protestors from that era like John Lewis, or something...and yeah, Vance does just ooze “pick me” energy...and I definitely didn’t know about this “New Right” garbage and this life form named Curtis Yarvin until I saw this clip (more here, here and here)...(NSFW/H also)...
Update 2 8/12/24: Vance continues to be "the gift that keeps on giving" as shown here.
...and speaking of lawyers, Marc Elias of Democracy Docket speaks with Brian Tyler Cohen about Almost Silent Clarence Thomas getting referred to the DOJ...I honestly don’t believe charges will be filed against Thomas either, though they should be, but I can see this as something leading to a stricter ethics code for the SCOTUS from the U.S. Senate Dems, which the Repugs will kill of course, led by Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao (and yeah, that threat from Gorsuch is examined once more...Cohen makes a great comment at the end IMO about the pervasive influence of the wingnuts from the High Court all the way down to county boards of elections)...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 8/11/17...I have to tell you that I’ve largely given up on Bill Maher for a variety of reasons, mainly because of his dismissive attitude towards Gen Z-ers and millennials, but here, from back in the day, I thought he did a good job of pointing out the disgusting hypocrisy of Trump supporters blaming Former President Hopey Changey for saying words and acting in ways that earned nothing but scorn from the wingnuts, even though their hero Bronzer Beelzebub said and did things FAR WORSE; I’m putting this up partly to extend best wishes to former President Obama belatedly on his birthday - I’ve said before and I’ll say again that, if everyone who vilified him had taken the time to read “The Audacity of Hope,” they would have truly understood where he was coming from (another NSFW/H clip)...
...and here’s an upbeat little number to bring us into the weekend – weather-wise, it should be a good one for this locality.
This Lincoln Project video brings us more words commonly associated with Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence, who has been propped up by people and institutions with power and influence (here) regardless of his criminality for his whole damn life (and more on the Gropenfuhrer and Project 2025 is here and here)...
...and David Pakman tells us about Kamala Harris taking the lead nationwide over Bronzer Beelzebub, and many statewide polls also of course – not huge numbers, but still notable...and yes, the trend lines are what matters the most (so yeah, of course the Trumpers are going to yell and scream that this is all “fake news”...they’re cranking up their slime machine as I type this of course, so God knows what kind of garbage they’re going to come up with in the fall, since, as Bushie Andrew Card once infamously said about the Iraq war, you don’t roll out a new product in August as noted here)...
...and Rachel Maddow reminds us that Not Your Father’s Republican Party has individuals in place to mess with the ’24 election, in battleground states of course including Michigan, where they tried to decertify the results in ’20 (w/ Marc Elias)...”January 6th was the culmination of a certification dispute”; I don’t think I’ve ever heard it put so matter of factly, but yeah, it makes sense to me...
...and Thom Hartmann asks if Combover Caligula and his consigliere Bill Barr will EVER be brought to justice, and Thom asks that question in light of reporting from Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News about a $10 million payoff from strongman El-Sisi in Egypt to the leader of Cult 45 (here)...infuriating that the statute of limitations has apparently expired on this...and yeah, this whole “blue slip” garbage in the Senate pertaining to judicial nominations NEEDS TO FREAKING GO!...
...and Sam Seder of The Majority Report tells us that Usha Vance, J.D.’s wife, went on Fix Noise to try and clean up the mess from her spouse’s “childless cat ladies” nonsense, which was plainly made as a dig at Democrats because Vance thinks they’re unfit to govern because they don’t have kids, which definitely works hand in glove with Vance’s schtick about parenting, presumably with his fellow knuckle draggers in mind (more here)...and boy, is Sam ever right about the “party of Lincoln” not renewing the child tax credit in the Senate...
...and this “America’s Lawyer” clip with Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins discusses some outfit called the Tax Foundation, composed of all of the corporatist greed head “one percent” grifters we know and despise, and how they’ve managed to infiltrate K-12 schools with their propaganda that taxing business is baaad...
...and lest we forget, I should note that today is the 50th anniversary, believe it or not, of the resignation of Richard Nixon from the presidency over Watergate...and I completely believe that, had the scandal happened today, there would have been the typical wingnut screeching over the “li-bu-ruuul media” and it would have gotten the “memory hole” treatment from the Fourth Estate, and it gives me no pleasure whatsoever to point that out...
...and here’s another seasonal selection to try and brighten up a cloudy, dreary day in these parts.
Don’t take my opinion to the bank or anything, but I believe VP Kamala Harris made an astute selection in choosing Minnesota guv Tim Walz as her running mate; he has more of a track record than Josh Shapiro, and choosing Walz automatically invalidates the Repug talking point of “oh, the Dems chose someone from the ‘coastal elite’ for the Harris ticket,” which is actually a hilarious statement about our beloved commonwealth of “Pennsyltucky”...personally, I was leaning towards Mark Kelly, but Walz is a terrific addition to the ticket...Ben Meiselas of the Meidas Touch Network brings us more...
...and turning to #46, Kyle Kulinski tells us about President Biden’s proposed SCOTUS reforms...the High Court should also be expanded to 13 justices IMO, one for each district court, with mandatory retirement at 75, and I agree with 10-year term limits also, but I don’t call what Biden’s doing here “virtue signaling”...interesting that John Roberts, as a DOJ lawyer under The Sainted Ronnie R, said that Congress could do “distributing stripping” from the SCOTUS...and the Lochner-era court, up until now, was probably the most rabidly pro-business Supreme Court in our history...oh, and as long as we’re talking about the High Court of Hangin’ Judge J.R., I think Gorsuch should stuff it with garbage like this (NSFW/H)...
...and Marc Elias and Paige Moskowitz from “Democracy Docket” inform us that the “peach state” has introduced a portal (from the Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger) where people can submit voter registration cancellation requests, apparently without much verification concerning the individual being cancelled...what country am I living in again? (“The dead person’s not gonna vote”...yeah, I think that says it pretty much)...
...and I’m glad I stumbled across this item from Stephanie Miller and John Fugelsang about Cantaloupe Capone and his “miracle ear” – at a certain point, I guess all you can do is laugh (and "Vladimir Futon" - good one)...
...and Mandela Barnes of More Perfect Union narrates a clip about the hidden crisis affecting America’s kids, namely, lead pipes for water installed before 1986...video documents, among other things, the pace of lead pipe replacement with $$ from the Infrastructure bill, which represents the biggest investment we’ve ever made in upgrading water systems, and the person who deserves credit for that more than anyone else is #46; there were a lot of reasons why I and others were absolutely enraged watching him getting pretty much shoved out of the way in the campaign after the debate, and all of the good work from his legislation (the Infrastructure Bill, the American Jobs Plan and the CHIPS Act) had a lot to do with that...yes, I’ll acknowledge that the time had come for him to hand over the reins, but I’m not holding my breath waiting for Biden to get all of the credit he’s due for reviving our economy coming out of COVID...and by the way, concerning Barnes, we should also NEVER forget that he lost to RoJo The Clown in Wisconsin by 27K votes, and as noted here, 37K votes were suppressed in Milwaukee...you can do the math on that as well as I can...
...and I know I need to pick up the pace a bit with my summer tunes; here’s another one.
Yasmin Khan tells us about the dustup between “Cancun” Cruz and the acting head of the Secret Service over the coverage of President Biden vs. that of Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence (and yeah, it’s called the “Secret” Service for a reason, you Texas assclown! And Khan is absolutely right about Colin Allred, running against the senatorial mistake from “the land of the yellow rose,” needing to “up his game”; wonder how much help Allred's getting from the DSCC?)...
...and Richard Ojeda brings us Dem U.S. House Rep Delia Ramirez of Illinois standing up to Marjorie Trailer Park Greene, with the xenophobic nut case from GA-14 typically running off with the mouth and demonizing, in another fact-free and evidence-free rant, immigrants seeking a better life for themselves and their families in this country (though, given the antics of Greene and other life forms from the “party of Lincoln,” I cannot possibly imagine why an immigrant would still believe in the promise of this country, and it gives me no pleasure to say that...to do something about Moscow Marge, click here...and by the way, 6 alleged Democrats actually supported this garbage resolution H.R. 1371 as noted here...and I don’t know about you, but I’m just about done with Mary Peltola, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and ESPECIALLY Jared Golden; they shouldn’t get ONE GODDAMN DIME OF DCCC DOUGH for their campaigns – I’ve HAD IT with the Manchin-and-Sinema-eque contrarian schtick from these lowlifes...and when it comes to Not Your Father's Republican Party and immigration, more is here and here)...
...and leave it to the head of “Cult 45” to come up with this line about “real garbage” supposedly pertaining to Kamala Harris, though, if he had a molecule of decency or introspection, he’d realize how much that applies to himself – Lawrence O’Donnell brings us more on this (and revisiting the shooting in Butler PA, mentioned in the Cruz clip, the FBI’s Christoper Wray said before Congress that we don’t know if #45 was really hit by a bullet or not – my money is on the latter)...
...and I haven’t included many clips from this Tennessee Brando person, though I should add more from him because he makes a lot of sense; this time around, he opines on J.D. Vance “going to war” on parents without kids (my guess is that, if Vance ever saw combat for real, he'd soil himself and run away...and I know this echoes yesterday's clip with David Pakman a bit...mildly NSFW/H)...
...and speaking of Vance, consider this my effort to breathe life back into a really funny meme (definitely NSFW/H)...
...and it looks like the “big casino” has been sliding a bit lately, even though I don't recall hearing any praise for #46 when it hit 40K (and yes, I know presidents don't control the markets) – definitely above my pay grade as to why, though I have a feeling that Fed Chair Jerome Powell not cutting interest rates isn’t exactly doing “No Malarkey Joe” any favors (though, thus far, it is rebounding today in typical fashion)...can’t help but reflect on The Eternal George Carlin at times like this (here).
Jesse Dollemore tells us about “Killer Kyle” and his declaration that he’ll vote for Ron Paul for president, but then – oopsie! – Mr. “No Takebacks” decides that he’s now on board with the Gropenfuhrer...and Rittenhouse is losing followers on Xitter? C’est dommage...I guess he’ll have to go randomly shoot some more people and get acquitted again for more media attention, huh? (#sarcasm)...
...and David Pakman tells us that J.D. Vance is back to spout more garbage about married adults without kids, saying they’re sociopathic or something...unintentionally amusing for characters like Vance to keep spouting “values” bullsh*t like this in lieu of actual legislation...oh, wait...
...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us about this Charles Moran guy getting played by Not Your Father’s Republican Party...I don’t think “Stockholm Syndrome” adequately explains why the Log Cabin Republicans continue to exist, but it looks like their leader was vilified for praising Bronzer Beelzebub recently...and yeah, the Grindr stuff is amusing, I have to say, as well as that clip with “George Santos”; I wish he hadn’t been booted out of the U.S. House because he would have been a walking, talking reason to vote for Dems...oh well (NSFW/H)...
...and Farron Cousins informs us that the fallout is continuing from the Gropenfuhrer’s typical over-the-top racism on display at that NABJ gathering...and no, I don’t give Comer and Thune credit here either; definitely not the full-throated criticism that should have ensued, really from anyone mentioned here...and oh yeah, there’s Billo the Clown somehow trying to remain relevant...have a hot toddy and get yourself tucked under the covers for the evening – do us all a favor and GO “F” YOURSELF, OK? And speaking of Mango Mussolini, I think we should remember this...
...and Miss Beau informs us that the members of the Trump Party in the U.S. Senate voted down the expanded Child Tax Credit, and Senate Majority Leader (for now) Chuck Schumer has introduced the “No Kings Act” in response to our thoroughly corrupt SCOTUS trying to make Our Ochre Abomination king, lord and dictator (more here and here)...
...and I know I’m overdue for a newer tune – I think this fits for a “mellow Monday.”
Guy Cohen of Occupy Democrats gives us some clips of Mango Mussolini’s train wreck with the National Association of Black Journalists; that includes the segments about “black jobs” and Kamala Harris recently “becoming black,” or some such garbage...curious that the plug was pulled on everything the minute Project 2025 came up; I’m sure #45 didn’t want to admit that his sweaty, bulbous orange hands are all over it (more here)...
Update 1: Nicely done by one of our Gold medalist Olympians (here).
...and Jesse Dollemore tells us about the Repug mayor of Mesa, AZ, John Giles, deciding to support Kamala Harris...”evaporatable”?? That’s OK...and Jesse is dead-on right about the dirty tricks the Trumpers are preparing for the general election...
...and the crew from The Majority Report (Emma V., Matt Lech, Matt Binder and Brandon Sutton) discuss Kamala Harris’s potential VP pick (personally, I'm fine with Mark Kelly or Tim Walz - I like Andy Beshear too, but does anybody seriously think he'll bring the South with him?)...I absolutely agree with their analysis of Josh Shapiro; I honestly don’t know what the pundits think he’ll do for the “D” team, notwithstanding Shapiro’s baggage...and yeah, I believe that they’re correct that the whole “birther 2.0” garbage against Harris won’t fly this time around – hope we’re right (I also didn’t think the “caste” joke was all that funny, partly because I can indeed see Our Treasonous Orange Pustule using something like that, but whatever...mildly NSFW/H)...
...and John Iadarola and Sharon Reed of The Damage Report tell us that J.D. Vance’s net favorability continues to plummet, from minus 6 to minus 15 in just a matter of days (kind of makes me wonder how Tim Ryan actually lost to him in the Ohio U.S. Senate race, but Vance apparently knew how to “speak wingnut” better than Ryan...have fun reaping the whirlwind, people)...
...and welcome to the party, Miss Beau – here, she discusses the recent release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and U.S. Marine Paul Whelan from the clutches of Vlad The Butcher (if somehow Combover Caligula had managed to pull this off, he’d be crowing about it forever, but since this accomplishment came from President Biden, don’t expect to hear much from our beyond useless corporate media)...
Update 8/3/24: The leader of "Cult 45" might as well have a hammer and sickle tattooed on his forehead (here).
...and this video from Sam Black of More Perfect Union tells us The Real Reason (Why) You Can’t Afford a House (yep, you can draw a line pretty much back to private equity firms as the culprit, and the one featured here is based in Texas...collectively, they swooped in to buy up homes in the wake of the 2008 foreclosure crisis...”the shift from owning to renting has resulted in a homeowner loss of about a billion dollars in lost equity over the last ten years, and that’s just in Atlanta”...ugh – I would suggest that you remember that the next time some boomer complains about kids these days with their baggy pants, hippity hop and MP4s, or whatever, not starting their lives and careers...and oh yeah, having to pay off usurious student loans is a factor too)...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 7/29/15...with all of the record-breaking heat going on related to climate change, I thought it was appropriate to highlight this clip once more of the Hillary Clinton for President campaign calling out presidential candidates from that time representing the “party of Lincoln” who denied climate science, and still do so...even though this video makes an important point, I thought it was a bit “too clever by half,” which, to me, was emblematic of the Clinton campaign overall...there were too many other factors that went into her loss in 2016, and on paper she had the best resume of any candidate, but she just left a lot to be desired as a campaigner, and unfortunately, that has more to do with how people vote than anything else...
...and happy belated 75th birthday to drummer Simon Kirke of Free and Bad Company.
OK, I’m back after a really nice break...to begin, Rachel Maddow tells us about Mango Mussolini’s lack of concern over voting, spouting that garbage about never having to vote again after you vote for me one time, or some such nonsense...and yeah, the “don’t worry about voting” stuff is particularly wacky, but as always, saying that stuff is a “tell” for something, and it sounds like there’s indeed some scheme in the works not to certify elections in swing states...once more, people need to go to prison over this garbage, and Marc Elias knows what he’s talking about on this subject (paging Biden/Harris; are you on the lookout for this stuff?)...
...and Jesse Dollemore tells us about Our Ochre Abomination chickening out on the debate with presumptive Dem presidential nominee Kamala Harris, which Jesse called (and yeah, the excuse from that Trumpist flak Steven Cheung is demented even for that bunch)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that, the more that people know about Project 2025, the more they hate it, and there’s plenty of push-back on Truth Septic to emphasize that...
...and speaking of Project 2025, Thom Hartmann reminds us that a big part of that is pretty much a full-on war on our environment from the usual wingnut suspects, led by Charles Koch (big surprise I know...not!)...also, Thom tells us about Joe Manchin and John Barrasso in the U.S. Senate introducing something called the Energy Permitting Reform Act as part of that, which represents still more attacks on the ecosystem of our planet, and which is particularly bad since we’ve recently had still more of the hottest temperatures on record across the globe...
...and Beau of the Fifth Column gives us a commentary on the fact that the U.S. House flunkies under “MAGA Mike” Johnson really haven’t done ANYTHING to tell their constituents about while they enjoy their summer break (those miscreants in the House I mean), and that includes a few funding bills needed to keep the government running, so we may be looking at a shutdown (terrific)...and apparently Beau is going to step back from making videos, but he’ll have others contributing to the channel; I’d say the man has earned the right to “stand down,” if you will...
...and I hope you're in the mood for another seasonal tune, because ready or not, here it comes.
Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ brings us this nonsense of Maria Bartiromo allowing Ron Johnson (Idiot-WI) from “the world’s greatest deliberative body” to opine on the assassination attempt against Dementia J. Trump in Butler, PA...see, RoJo is looking for the “missing shooter” hiding in the book depository or the grassy knoll, or something...and oh yeah, add wackadoodle Tim Burchett to the unsightly wingnut mix also (you remember this assclown, right? The guy who said we can’t do anything about gun violence after a mass shooting in his state, as noted here? Oh, and along comes Mike Huckabee at the end; let’s not forget Huckabee’s role in what happened with this guy)...
...well, in response, I give you this clip from Guy Cohen of Occupy Democrats, in which FBI Director Christopher Wray tells us that this Thomas Crooks guy was just randomly Googling information to apparently take out someone from a group of individuals, and lo and behold, there just happened to be a Trump rally...so yeah, definitely not some deep, dark Dem conspiracy here, even though Big Stupid Head Matt Gaetz took a break from trying to have sex with underage girls (allegedly!) to try and corner Wray in the matter of President Biden’s alleged cognitive decline (and speaking of Wray, I thought this was interesting)...
...meanwhile, if you want to see “cognitive decline” for real, allow me to provide a couple of examples...first, Our Ochre Abomination talks about rounding up mothers with small children into camps as mentioned in Project 2025, with J.D. Vance almost snickering in response...and OF COURSE Cantaloupe Capone is lying about wind power...here is one response...and God, what a psychopath! (here...and here is more on what J.D. Vance is doing to the GOP ticket...good times)...
...and Jesse Dollemore brings us our second example, where Our Treasonous Orange Pustule wants generals to be replaced by football coaches and NASCAR drivers...I know I linked to this a couple of days ago, but as far as I’m concerned, it definitely bears repeating...and I think it’s proof positive that NOBODY is able to put a filter on this sweaty, bulbous lunatic given that HE’S STILL TALKING ABOUT HANNIBAL FREAKING LECTER!!...
...and once again, leave it to Pete Buttigieg to point out what the “party of No” is really all about; I don’t know if he’s going to end up as the VP nominee or not, but the Dems could do plenty worse, that’s for sure (“When all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a culture war” indeed)...
...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us about the justifiable protests aimed at “Bibi” Netanyahu timed for his recent speech before Congress, a privilege that NEVER should have been granted (and I think it’s unintentionally hilarious that those complaining about Rashida Tlaib’s protest as shown in the pic are the same life forms who had no problem with the heckling that Presidents Biden and Obama were treated to when they addressed the legislative branch...and my God, 150K to 250K civilians in Gaza dead? Just no words...and there was a time when I couldn’t stand Peter Beinart because I thought he was a DC centrist apologist for Israel, but he has definitely “seen the light” to his credit)...
...and Leeja Miller brings us another terrific “deep dive,” this time on Leonard Leo...didn’t know about the “Marble Freedom Trust” until I saw this, though maybe I should have...also didn’t know about this Morton Blackwell character and the role he played during the awful two terms of The Sainted Ronnie R...”as we know, there are few motivators more potent than a white man’s persecution complex” indeed...sorry for Leo’s personal history with his daughter, but Miller is right; that is ABSOLUTELY NO GODDAMN REASON to force your beliefs down everyone else’s throats by doing all you can to ensure that rabidly “pro-life” rulings are handed down from our Philistines in robes on the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR...I’d heard of the Judicial Crisis Network also, but I didn’t know it was renamed to The Concord Fund; typical subterfuge from these guttersnipes...I think all lefties, myself included, should pay special attention to the last 2:00 of this clip in particular (NSFW/H)...
...and the one and only John Mayall has left us...RIP.
And with that, I now take a mini break for a couple of days. I’ll plan to get going with this again next week.
Sharon Reed of Rebel HQ brings us Bo-Bo Boebert trying to ambush EPA administrator Mark Regan with nonsense on how his agency’s regulations supposedly costs taxpayers billions of dollars and killed jobs in Boebert’s district...since the rep from CO-03 (oh, excuse me...I forgot that she did her “carpetbagger” thing and went to CO-04) was typically too damn lazy to provider her citations (I mean, assuming that Boebert wasn’t just making up this nonsense, and I know I shouldn’t assume that), I’m not going to try to do her work for her (well, I did a cursory Google search and found absolutely nothing – big surprise...and what the $#@! Is going on with her hair??!! Fortunately, Dan Goldman is also on hand for the reality-based perspective)...usually I’m not the biggest fan of Reed, but she’s been doing good work lately to be honest (and to do something about Boebert, click here....oh, and speaking of the EPA under Biden, I give you this)...
...and I thought Beau was typically correct here in pointing out that Joe Manchin wants to toss the metaphorical turd in the punch bowl, as it were, to make things easier for the “party of Lincoln” and the Gropenfuhrer (and Manchin's lack of an endorsement of Kamala Harris means absolutely less than nothing, as Beau pretty much says)...Beau is also correct on Obama having to play things “close to the vest,” as it were, to keep order, which, fortunately, seems to be happening...that being said, now that our fourth estate stenographers have done their bit to push out Biden, look for ANOTHER AVALANCHE of “process stories” along the lines of “oh, the Dems were so divided in 1968 that there were riots in the street with police beating up protestors, and they ALSO had a last-minute candidate that year, and it was ALSO in Chicago, blah blah blah” (and I can just about guarantee you that @peterbakernyt will be in the sorry, sordid mix somewhere)...
...and Jesse Dollemore brings us this Kamala Harris ad from 2019 when she ran in the Dem presidential primary, won by Biden of course; I agree with Jesse – I don’t think Harris needs to change a word...it was spot-on then, and it’s spot-on now...
...and Robert Reich lets us know that Bronzer Beelzebub recently bleated that he doesn’t know anything about Project 2025, which is about as truthful a remark as you can expect from him....one of the reasons why that’s a typically stoo-pid lie is because OFFICIALS FROM HIS RUINOUS TERM ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE IN IT!...
...and Farron Cousins tells us about supporters of Our Ochre Abomination falling for a fake post of Trump bragging that his ear grew back after the shooting...I admit that I’m including this partly to note what gullible fools Trump supporters are, but also to mention that there are folks out there like K.O. questioning the story of whether or not Trump’s ear was even hit by a bullet at all...I have no “inside scoop” or anything on that, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it turned out that the damage to his ear was instead caused by broken glass from a shattered teleprompter that was hit or something else...
...and Kyle Kulinski tells us that it looks like Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence didn’t get much of a bump in the polls as a result of the shooting and his typically rambling, barely coherent RNC speech (I detest Frank Luntz, but I know he looks at the data on this stuff); I definitely agree with the “take” that people’s opinions of the leader of Cult 45 are pretty much formed by now one way or the other (NSFW/H)...
...and speaking of speeches, Bernie Sanders tells us why he, commendably, won’t be attending the one “Bibi” is planning to give Congress, which will be today apparently (more here)...
I thought this was a pretty well-done clip to help kick-start the Kamala Harris for President campaign from The Lincoln Project...and I saw a post online from Markos Moulitsas at Daily Kos soon after Biden announced that he was ending his campaign, and Markos acknowledged everybody who was still furious about the way Biden was pushed out, and you can add me to that group...yes, there very likely are health issues going on with #46, but to me, that doesn’t excuse the absolutely sickening feeding frenzy by the guttural, cretinous journalistic pretenders out there who helped shove Biden out the door (including absolutely screaming headlines about the “Biden crime family” from The Daily Beast, which was once respectable), as well as the cowardly collapse of Biden support from the usual political suspects like Jared Golden of Maine, as well as Sherrod Brown – the latter, to me, was utterly incomprehensible (oh, and George Clooney, Rob Reiner, Stephen King? You a-holes better do all you can to help win independent voters; as is just about always the case, that group to me is the biggest question mark out there)...
(And here is another example of how the media was completely “in the tank” for Biden to drop out...you would THINK there would actually be some description of the 18 Biden appearances noted in the headline, but nooooo – there is barely anything...this turns into yet another “process” piece on Biden not doing well in the first debate, the drum beat of weak-kneed Dem pols and donors wanting him to go...”does he have the stamina to keep up,” etc.)
Update: This may be the absolutely stoo-pidest idea for an alleged “news” column I’ve ever seen (from “that f*cking newspaper,” as Atrios would put it).
What’s next? A detailed critique of the margins by which Biden lost states in the 2020 contest too?
HE’S OUT OF THE RACE, ASSHOLES! AND YOU DID YOUR BEST TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN!
Update 7/25/24: And speaking of our beyond-useless corporate media, there is also this.
Here is the Lincoln Project clip...
...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report remind us that, to date, Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence apparently hasn’t reached out to the widow of the guy who was killed in the Butler, PA rally (and I’m pretty sure I pointed that out already), but it also looks like this guy also wasn’t even remembered by those mouth breathers at the RNC hatefest in Milwaukee also? Aside from being the humane thing to do, that bunch would have scored political points by doing that, but apparently they were too busy with their “OMIGOD THE LORD SAVED BLESSED DONALD J. TRUMP FOR US” act to show basic human decency (and based on this, I guess they want to Make Mass Deportation Great Again...figures...NSFW/H)...
...and speaking of that sh*tshow from last week, Jesse Dollemore brings us this clip of CNN’s Daniel Dale heroically trying to debunk the lies from Combover Caligula’s acceptance speech...
...and I don’t know if Pete Buttigieg is going to end up as the VP nominee or not, but based on how well he does with the media and testifying before Congress, I think he’d be a hell of a choice – here, Buttigieg quite rightly calls out J.D. Vance, #45’s VP selection (Brian Tyler Cohen tells us more here...and Cohen ABSOLUTELY NAILS IT in his summary of Dem accomplishments at the end)...
...and Leeja Miller gives us another well done “deep dive” into the Loper v. Raimondo SCOTUS case that overturned the so-called “Chevron doctrine”...she ties the horrible SCOTUS ruling overturning Chevron to the “unitary executive” BS from The Sainted Ronnie R and given life under Dubya...I mean, yeah, I can understand how the “fishbois” could be PO’ed about having to pay for boat inspectors or whatever, but THAT’S NO GODDAMN REASON TO TELL THE FWS TO POUND SAND!!...terrific analysis of Kagan’s dissent in the case overturning Chevron...and yeah, it figures that Gorsuch would confuse “nitrogen oxide” with “nitrous oxide”...yeah, I’m feeling all warm and fuzzy over these Philistines in robes now making regulatory decisions...sure I am (NSFW/H also)...
...and RIP Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the last surviving member of the original lineup of The Four Tops (and take note of the amazing bass line in this song from James Jamerson of the “Funk Brothers”).
I personally would like to thank President Biden not just for all of the accomplishments of his presidency (a lot of which are noted in this Meidas Touch video I put up last Thursday, starting at about 5:10), but also for his lifetime of service to our country. As I noted in the past, there was a period at this dumb blog where I couldn’t possibly imagine Biden rising to the presidency...well, there’s a reason he’s an accomplished political professional and yours truly is a nondescript online scribbler trying to post logical and coherent content.
I have it on reliable background from Mrs. Doomsy (a health care professional) that Biden shows the signs of early stage Parkinsons (but don’t “take that to the bank” – I have no inside dirt on that to be sure) and he’s received multiple treatments for COVID. I’m not trying to argue that that by itself is disqualifying, but given what someone lives under when they hold what likely is the most important job in the world, it would be awfully difficult to hold down the job of President under those circumstances.
One bright spot in this, for me, is to consider the following – suppose he aced the July debate but became totally unglued in the September one (assuming that will still happen...the debate, I mean). At least this way, Dems have some time to put together a campaign with Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket.
Oh, and I’ll now also wait for the avalanche of process stories from our glorious fourth estate asking if Mango Mussolini is too old, how coherent HIS public words are, wondering is HE has diagnosed health issues (a clip on that follows), and also wondering if HE has lost down-ballot support. This is only fair given the literal AVALANCHE of such coverage on Biden.
What follows is the Lincoln Project video from the day of Biden’s inauguration – he had a heavy load to bring this country out of COVID and fix our economy, and as far as I’m concerned, he and Vice President Harris did a spectacular job...
...and returning to more of the typical political flotsam, Farron Cousins tells us that King Elon I wants to donate $45 mil a month to the Gropenfuhrer...if that isn’t a reason to sign up for Bluesky and/or Threads, I don’t know what is...Google Elon Musk and ketamine and see what responses you get – terrific point by Cousins that Musk is such an idiot for endorsing the guy who wants to get rid of electric cars, which would decimate Tesla sales...
...and oh yeah, David Shuster brings us a video from an anti-Trump group apparently headed by George Conway – it all helps, but I have to admit that I’m uncomfortable with Conway throwing around terms dealing with Cantaloupe Capone’s mental state...I think he’s nuts too, and yes, I’ve referred to him as a sociopath, but I also acknowledge that I’m not a medical professional, and I don’t believe Conway is either (and the Tinder stuff doesn’t surprise me in the least – heh)...
...and Brian Tyler Cohen speaks with election lawyer Marc Elias about what Our Ochre Abomination would do concerning Project 2025 and Schedule F employees...and in terms of media BS, look at the drumbeat that ultimately forced out Biden, AND TRUMP ISN’T EVEN BACK IN POWER YET! IF, GOD FORBID, HE RETURNS, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK THE FOURTH ESTATE WILL DO THEN??!! (NSFW/H)...
...and RIP Sheila Jackson Lee - in my book, a titan of the U.S. House, a body run by small-minded bottom feeders at this moment, sadly...
...and I offer the following without much comment because I think not much is needed, really.
Jesse Dollemore shows a clip demonstrating how the media is utterly “in the tank” for the Gropenfuhrer, including Jake Tapper and Katy Tur ...and God almighty, Tur actually mentioned the Gropenfuhrer and the “I” word (the reality perspective on that is here)...and to me, Bronzer Beelzebub doesn’t look “serene”; he looks like the proverbial cat getting ready to eat the canary (NSFW/H)...
...and when it comes to Trump-loving media lickspittles, Lou Dobbs definitely belongs in that discussion; he just left us...
...and I was glad to hear David Pakman sharing the same “take” on Cantaloupe Capone that we all should be experiencing...and when it comes to newspapers calling for the leader of “Cult 45” to remove himself, let’s not forget to give credit to the Philadelphia Inquirer for going against the tide of cowardly second-guessing here, calling for Biden to exit (from alleged “Democrats” and media bottom feeders doing the bidding of their corporate masters)...
Update 1 7/19/24: If our "fourth estate" weren't "riding the tire swing" with Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence, they might report on this instead.
...and I don’t think we need to beat up our corporate media for their feeding frenzy on Biden; I think they need to be freaking curb-stomped, metaphorically speaking (and I don’t say that lightly)...Ben Meiselas of the Midas Touch Network stands up to the anti-Biden BS (or, as he says, the potential dumbest slide into authoritarianism in history)...
Update 1: I have an impulse to vomit in my mouth (here).
Update 2 7/19/24: Nail. Hammer. Head...this media insanity reminds me of the “BUT HER EMAILS!!!” nonsense, the “Dean Scream” and the alleged controversy about John Kerry supposedly being French all rolled into one.
Update 7/20/24: Gee, with sensible, well-reasoned observations like this, I think this guy should have his own cable news/talk show on MSNBC.
Oh, wait...
Update 10/16/24: Yep, in this era of “access journalism,” you can only expect newsworthy events to be reported when someone has a financial interest in doing so, and that comment is aimed at Bob Woodward, though I should give him a bit of credit for this I know; God only knows what kind of metaphorical fires #46 has put out, even after our pundit class led the charge against him based on an admittedly subpar debate performance...just saying that some sane perspective on this would have been nice.
...well, if we're trying to keep our eye on the proverbial ball (and if you're reading this, I think you do), allow me to present the reality perspective...
Update 2: More real-world garbage from the "loyal opposition" is here.
...and Thom Hartmann discusses the actual and/or proposed gun laws that the “party of Lincoln” has managed to shoot down, you might say; I’m not sure if any of them would have prevented the Butler, PA shooter from wreaking havoc and killing the man who protected his family since I believe the AR-15 (that weapon of death linked to a public shooting ONCE AGAIN!) was purchased legally by the shooter’s father (maybe some kind of code on the handle to only recognize the hand print of the person who purchased it, like something out of the James Bond movie “Skyfall” maybe? Just a thought – trying to keep people breathing, that’s all)...
...and speaking of Lincoln, it appears that the “button-down mind” has left us – RIP Bob Newhart...
...and I've gone back and forth on a few musical selections - having a hard time making up my mind to be honest - but I'm settling on this for a couple of reasons I guess.
Update 3 7/19/24: The Force is strong with this one, I see (sorry...couldn't resist).
Hopefully, the good news of the conviction of Dem U.S. Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey is that it won’t pull votes away from Andy Kim this fall...Senator “gold bars” should have been gone long before now, but better late than never I guess (and I thought a good response was here)...
...and Jesse Dollemore lets us know that, to date, Combover Caligula hasn’t called the widow of the man who bravely protected his family and paid the ultimate sacrifice for it at that Butler rally...and I’m sorry (well, not really); even though I definitely understand political differences, when you get a call from the freaking President of the United States, you take that freaking call (and yes, I would have done that if somehow Dubya or Bronzer Beelzebub had reached out – it would have been difficult, but I would have remained polite because I think that’s just the decent thing to do)...
...and John and Sharon Reed of The Damage Report inform us that, apparently, Cantaloupe Capone gave a particularly bonkers interview to Time Magazine about what he would do if, God forbid, he managed to get another term in An Oval Office...and I think John means “Jade Helm”...I haven’t forgotten what I said about TYT yesterday, but I’m just being particularly careful with their clips, that’s all...
...and Marc Elias and Paige Moskowitz of Democracy Docket discuss a Repug voter purge lawsuit going down in Nevada because – wait for it! – THEY DIDN’T HAVE FREAKING STANDING!!! – but yeah, as the video makes clear, they’re doing this all over the damn country, and Our Ochre Abomination has at least two separate lawsuits going on in the “Las Vegas state,” which means that they’re, at a minimum, laying the groundwork for another “fake electors” scheme...good explanation from Elias about how the legal stuff didn’t work in the aftermath of the ’20 vote and how that led up to 1/6/21...
...but yeah, let’s just enjoy that wingnut freak show going on this week in Milwaukee, despite the potentially horrendous consequences of returning these lunatics to power...
Update 7/18/24: I would call this a good way to respond to those insurrectionist-loving assh*les.
...and happy 75th birthday to Terry “Geezer” Butler of Black Sabbath.
