I’m not exactly sure why I stopped paying attention to Seth Meyers’s bits for a while, but please allow me to make amends a bit for that and include this recent “Closer Look” segment (and gee, whaddaya know? It looks like Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence really can’t bring down grocery prices after all, huh? Well, like P.T. Barnum once said, a sucker is indeed born every minute...and remind me NEVER again to subscribe to Time Magazine...and after Trump "rang the bell," the Dow declined about 100 points as noted here)...
...on the other hand, I MAY subscribe to Vanity Fair (heh)...
...and I thought this lady on TikTok made some great points about MAGA and the evangelical crazies out there (citations for what she says are here, here and here)...
This is MAGA, y'all — a fascist movement of the most depraved, morally bankrupt degenerates our country has ever seen. 😳👇 pic.twitter.com/vkhpvV2DEA
...and Thom Hartmann lets us know that King Elon I is looking for a little return on his investment in Cantaloupe Capone, and the Xitter nut job wants to find a way to sabotage government investigators looking into crashes involving his “self-driving” Tesla vehicles...and Biden’s SEC charged Cantor Fitzgerald with violating laws related to regulatory disclosures; I honestly didn’t know they were still in business after getting pretty much wiped out since they were in one of the World Trade Center buildings on 9/11...and boy, is Thom ever right about the level of corruption from our incoming gang of miscreants and bottom feeders...and yeah, abolishing bank regulators also, including the CFPB; I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, you might say, but I can DEFINITELY see an ’08 recession coming again, this time on steroids...not sure what Thom is talking about with his “COSA” reference...
...and Robert Reich gives us a terrific lesson IMO on what Dems need to do in light of the wreckage of the just-ended campaign season...and yes, the answer is to embrace economic populism, which Biden did to a large degree, and all of that will come crashing to a halt very shortly unfortunately...
David Pakman tells us that Trump border czar Tom Homan may be getting ready to try and deploy red state national guard units to blue states to try and get rid of immigrants and others apparently deemed to be undesirable in order to manufacture a crisis...as bad as this is, and it is that, I can definitely get behind Pakman’s recommendations at the end of this clip (once again, heckuva job, all you numbskulls who decided to return Bronzer Beelzebub to power because of paying a few cents extra for stuff at the supermarket and OMIGOD THE SCARY BROWN PEOPLE INVADING OUR BORDER!!!...which, by the way, isn't freaking "open")...
...and John and Francesca of The Damage Report bring us the news that Repug U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds very correctly mentioned the whole “advice and consent” thing concerning the nom of Kash Patel to run the FBI (and yeah, Patel isn’t in the cult, having written a damn KIDS BOOK celebrating Mango Mussolini...not much he isn’t), so OF COURSE MAGA has to attack Rounds, who is a doctrinaire conservative of course...a bit of a scary “truth bomb” from Francesca about going after those deemed to be “political dissidents,” but I think she’s completely right (which is horrifying I know)...
...and I honestly don’t know who this gentleman is, but I think he gives us an appropriate response to our would-be authoritarian...our African American brothers and sisters might say at times like these to “stay woke,” and I think that advice would serve us all...
As billionaire elites continue their assault against working class Americans, there is going to be a reckoning — and I'm here for it. 🙌💪👏👊👇 pic.twitter.com/ti64evp6ea
...and Ben Meiselas of the Meidas Touch Network brings a clip of Dem U.S, House rep Jared Moskowitz laying into the Repug idiots running the House for putting up a tweet that Dem reps were absent from a hearing on our Afghanistan withdrawal, which was a typical lie...also, Rep Gregory Meeks brings some reality to the discussion about our Afghan exit, and kudos to Dem Rep. Gerry Connolly for putting the ruinous Doha agreement with the Taliban in the proper context (an agreement reached by Trump without the participation of the government in Afghanistan, as Connolly noted)...I also didn’t know that MAGA Mike Johnson was dragging his feet on Biden’s supplemental appropriation request for more aid for the victims of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, but yeah, that isn’t surprising either, and yeah, leave it to the incredibly misnamed Bob Good to piss all over the funding request to help these people in need (invoking “middle America” and “coastal elites”? And this guy is “proud” of refusing to do his job? What a POS! And yeah, this “DOGE” committee run by Marjorie Train Wreck Greene will be a joke, but there should be no question about Dems participating on it...kind of comes with the job description, don’t you think? And yes, #45/47 respects our military...sure he does)...
...and yep, you guessed it - time for more seasonal tunes.
Anthony Vincent Gallo of Occupy Democrats brings us a video of Louisiana’s U.S. senatorial mistake Cornpone Kennedy trying to give U.S. Army Gen. Randy Manner a hard time over the latter’s praise of fellow Gen. Mark Milley for standing up to Cantaloupe Capone...like many of you I’m sure, I still have vivid memories of people all over our beloved commonwealth of PA who couldn’t wait to slap yellow “Support The Troops” ribbon decals on their vehicles in the runup to Dubya’s Not-So-Excellent Adventure in Iraq (leave it to #43 to invade the wrong country after the worst terrorist attack on our soil)...the reason I mention that is because, back then, you wouldn’t DARE imagine even questioning the military, but my, how the worm has turned (and yes, our military should get the benefit of the doubt because of their sacrifice, but they’re not infallible either, which Gen. Manner readily admits here, even though a certain Oxford transplant to the bayou thinks he knows it all...what a pitiable life form Kennedy is, and more proof is here)...
...and Jesse Dollemore lets us know here that CNN’s Scott Jennings is apparently happy that Daniel Penny is free, which means that Jennings believes that murder is OK, in the case of Jordan Neely anyway (more here - another lifetime ago when I rode the Philly subway a lot, one of the first things you learned was that you got up and moved to another seat or another spot on the El or a train if someone was acting nuts, and NEVER make eye contact...also, let a transit cop know what's going on)...and good for Garrison Hayes for talking to folks about Kamala Harris, even if the guy on the horse was an idiot...because of Trump, people like “horse guy” can just say straight up that someone who isn’t “cis” or binary should just get back in the damn closet where they belong; I’ll give you a little insight into something, and apologies if I’m repeating myself...earlier this year, we were able to take a really nice trip to London, and you know part of what we saw? Women wearing a hijab, and other women walking around holding hands, and a guy walking around St. James Park with his arm draped around the shoulder of another guy. And do you want to know what happened? Absolutely nothing, because NOBODY GAVE A SH*T BECAUSE EVERYBODY MINDED THEIR OWN DAMN BUSINESS, THAT’S WHAT!...Jesse also needs to be careful and say that this Luigi Mangione guy is the “alleged” killer of Brian Thompson, and I respectfully disagree with Jesse on the Hunter Biden pardon; I think that decision was mainly driven by the prospect of loopy Kash Patel potentially taking over this country’s most powerful law enforcement agency (and Patel making it pretty damn plain he would go after Biden Jr. for no good reason IMO), so I’m good with it (more here)...
Update: For everyone praising the Penny verdict, I just have the following question; what would your reaction be if Jordan Neely were white and Penny were black?
Take your time – I’ll wait.
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History,” and this time we’re going to take a quick jaunt back a year ago to this clip from Chris Hayes listing the accomplishments of the Biden Administration (more here)...funny how you’re not hearing much about gas or the price of eggs now, isn’t it (and as I noted at the time, the baby formula shortage had more to do with a market monopoly of that that anything else as noted here)? Gee, it’s kind of like those yammering on constantly about that may not have been serious all along, and just wanted their guy to win, facts and logic be damned, huh? And yes, I’m never going to stop vilifying the @DNC for completely falling down on waging the messaging war; not saying that would have guaranteed a Harris/Walz victory, but at least they would have gone down with a fight (instead of all of this “weird” stuff and trying to make the campaign about “joy”...to be honest, when I heard about that, I had a feeling we were in trouble)...
...and Emma Vigeland of The Majority Report presents Ben Wikler talking with Jon Stewart, with Wikler trying to get the nod as DNC chairman (again, can’t find the words to communicate how useless of an organization that is as far as I’m concerned)...as Emma says, Wikler had a lot to do with fighting Hosni Mubarak Walker and Act 10 in Wisconsin, and just as importantly, Wikler definitely understands the importance of down-ballot races and their impact on a statewide level and how that can lead to awful stuff like supercharged gerrymandering (and yeah, I think Wikler understands the messaging issues faced by the DNC also, as Stewart mentions)...If Emma wants to criticize Biden and Di-Fi for geriatric deference (or whatever that was about the New Hampshire primary), fine, but I think bringing RBG into that discussion is a bit of a stretch...I didn’t know Jaime Harrison was a lobbyist before he ended up as DNC chair, but that sure fits his profile, and Tom Perez didn’t exactly light up the genius meter either...I’m not sure I agree with their criticism of Obama here, though I think it should be noted that #44 hasn’t done that well as a campaigner for other Dem pols, though I also believe that needs to be chalked up a bit to other people’s racism to be honest...
...and after having inflicted all of this verbosity in this post, I'll now shut up and present these seasonal selections.
Farron Cousins lets us know here that beyond-useless Trump-lickspittle Andy Biggs wants to shut down government until Trump is sworn in...and by the way, Planned Parenthood is funded by Medicaid reimbursements and grants from the Department of Health and Human Services, so when this clueless asshat says he doesn’t want to fund PP, he’s basically talking about shutting down that program and that agency also, which of course is also part of the wingnut “hit list”...
...and it looks like someone has been charged in the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson; I know I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but that quote about Thompson having empathy and trying to improve access to care or whatever is unbelievable BS when you look at the percentage of claims UHC denied under Thompson’s watch...also, I certainly don’t have any insight into the shooter’s motivation (beyond what we’re finding out), but this business about writing “delay” and “deny” on the bullet casings is something that I think was intended to trip up law enforcement, though I have a feeling it won’t work – if someone was screwed over by UHC denying their claim for health care, I don’t think they’d go to the trouble to write words on the bullets; they would just commit a random act of horrific violence...I think health care should be based on need also along with David Doel; clip points out how life expectancy in this country falls below that of other industrialized nations...clip also does a good job of pointing out the popularity of Medicare and Social Security along with Medicaid, as well as the ACA...
...and following up on Doel’s clip a bit, Sean Morrow of More Perfect Union discusses the $1 trillion private health insurance scam in this country, against the backdrop of seeking care for his mom...yet another example of how utterly useless Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part C) is, and a great big raspberry goes out to Aetna also...I knew that Medicare Parts A&B are actually better value (in terms of dollars going to actual care instead of administrative costs) than Part C, and yes, I also knew about that ridiculous recording from The Sainted Ronnie R way back when, but I’d forgotten to be honest that he made it legal for Medicare to contract with private insurance companies, which led to Medicare Advantage in 1996 (slightly NSFW/H)...
...and Ayman Mohyeldin and Rachel Maddow discuss the documentary “Separated” by Errol Morris, based on the book by Jacob Soboroff (have to catch up with the doc, to be honest)...more on Lee Gelernt is here (and if 4,000-4,500 kids were separated under Trump I, just imagine how many more times that will happen under Trump II unfortunately)...
John and Sharon Reed of The Damage Report inform us of #45/47’s lily-white cabinet picks, except for HUD, which seems to be a thing for some reason with Trump since he did that also for Ben Carson...and good for John to point out the fact that some anonymous southern Republican apparently doesn’t have the intestinal fortitude to blame his party for its racism and instead tries some jujitsu move or something to try and blame “the left” instead...
...and Jesse Dollemore gives us a clip of more lies and propaganda from Mango Mussolini about immigrants and what he and his bunch of scurrilous bottom feeders plan to do when it comes to kicking out individuals here legally and illegally, including kids under protected status...I realize it’s a mind-numbing exercise to try and refute the lies that Our Treasonous Orange Nightmare continues to spew constantly, but concerning #47’s claim that Biden/Harris let in either 13-15,000 violent criminals, the reality perspective is here (and by the way, as noted here, Trump released more migrants with criminal records than Biden)...
...and David Pakman tells us that Trump has nominated anti-vaxxer David Weldon to run the CDC, with potential future outbreaks looming...Weldon previously went off against the MMR vaccine and Gardasil to prevent HPV which could lead to cervical cancer (once again, take a bow, all you numbskulls who voted for this because you had to pay a few cents extra for gas or a carton of eggs)...
...and Miss Beau gives us an update on the Syrian rebels and their takeover of that country, forcing the despot al-Assad to flee to Russia...I honestly didn’t know the extent to which we carried out military operations to degrade “IS,” and I’m betting a hell of a lot of people didn’t either (something else Biden will apparently get no credit for)...looks like we’re adopting a bit of a “wait and see” attitude, and I can only guess how Trump will mess this up when he gets the chance...
Jesse Dollemore comments on Mr. and Mrs. Scar’s freakout over their trip to Mar-a-Lago to “bend the knee”...I didn’t think it was possible for Scar to be more of a petulant assh*le than he was during the years when Bill Clinton was president (a good era for yours truly – the economy was great, though I admit that all wasn’t because of #42 – and we actually had DISPOSABLE FREAKING INCOME! WHAT A CONCEPT!...rant mode off), but Scar indeed proved me wrong...until this self-entitled POS gets to the point where he has to live paycheck to paycheck and work multiple jobs, then spare me your indignation (slightly NSFW/H)...
...and Chris Hayes brings us the news that Combover Caligula is assembling a billionaire cabinet, which should surprise exactly no one, and he benefitted from a quarter of a billion invested in the prior campaign from King Elmo...and $40 million to oust Sherrod Brown, huh? Yeah, that figures for these bottom feeders all right...I have to admit that I didn’t know how odious the role of these crypto magnates was in the last election cycle; yeah, it looks like we’ll face another 2008 economic crash, this time on steroids, and Trumpist lackeys in the Senate are apparently getting ready to fork over a hell of a lot of our hard-earned dough to these crypto pirates...oh, and by the way, Bitcoin is a good resource for criminal cartels as Hayes points out...did anybody out there vote for this, because I sure as hell didn’t (and more on the utterly craven Cynthia Lummis bill is here)...also, it appears that there’s a companion bill in the House as noted here, because of course there is, given that it benefits the rich, and 71 idiot Dems voted for it along with Bri-Fi, naturally, as noted here (more here)...
...and when it comes to our two major political parties in this country, I thought this man on Tik Tok made some common sense points; again, it’s hard for me to properly convey my disgust with those perpetual election losers at the @DNC because they weren’t able to communicate the basic truths in the just-ended campaign that this man (like most of the rest of us) figured out long ago...
Every fucking time a Republican enters the White House after a Democrat, bad shit happens. Therefore, no one should be surprised when the worst president in U.S. history takes office and obliterates everything Biden hands him — including an economy that is the envy of the world. pic.twitter.com/3UuecZVLEN
...and this More Perfect Union clip tells us that it looks like workers at a Whole Foods store in Philly have an upcoming unionization vote; kudos to them – not surprised to hear about the Amazon-style BS that has infiltrated the place unfortunately; conditions at the fulfillment center sound absolutely Dickensian, and this Jason Buechel sounds like a typical predatory capitalist pretending to be “woke” or something...announcer definitely needs to speak up (mildly NSFW/H)...
Farron Cousins lets us know that #45/47 is about to bring back Peter Navarro as one of his economic advisors, which is a pretty clear sign that Mango Mussolini intends to enact those ridiculous tariffs of his, and it looks like auto workers will be one of the first to get hit with the backfire (as shown in the cartoon)...didn’t know that half of our auto parts come from Canada and Mexico, but yeah, that figures too (and great point by Cousins that cars are assembled in this country with parts from elsewhere)...
...and this gentleman (again, hat tip to Bill Madden on Xitter for this) gives the best explanation I’ve heard to date on why those ridiculous tariffs are NOT going to bring back manufacturing to this country...the Cousins clip has to do mainly with Canada and Mexico, but this pertains to China (NSFW/H)...
One of the most informative explanations of what Trump's tariffs are going to do to America that you'll ever hear. 😳👇 pic.twitter.com/UZ6jpbkzP2
...and whenever I get into holiday mode like this, I often end up forgetting the 12/7 birthday of the incomparable Tom Waits, so please allow me to make amends for that now...happy 75th...
Lawrence O’Donnell discusses #45/47’s selection of Charles Kushner as ambassador to France, which pushed the Hunter Biden pardon “story” off the front page for news orgs, apparently...and believe me when I tell you that I don’t want to side with Chris Christie on a damn thing, but when it comes to the Kushner prosecution, I don’t have any choice...as I watch this stuff, I find myself getting more and more enraged that the utterly clueless election losers of the @DNC couldn’t find a way to make Trump’s stoo-pidity, incompetence and criminality into campaign issues...this video also does a good job of explaining Kash Patel’s dangerous incompetence, as well as the truly seamy garbage (and, quite probably, criminal illegality) surrounding Pete Hegseth (I never thought I would find myself wanting to go back to the days of Repug U.S. Senator John Tower, who, despite the alcohol and “womanizing,” was indeed qualified for Defense Secretary...and by the way, what does this tell you?)...
...and Kyle Kulinski discusses our alleged pal “Bibi” flipping off Biden again and refusing to let in food trucks to Gaza to avert mass starvation...I don’t blame Biden for much to be honest (people are going to remember how good we actually had it under him pretty soon after 1/20/25), but I definitely blame him for caving to Netanyahu and Israel...and I think we’ve long since passed the point of having to note that the cowardly, murderous events of 10/7/23 prompted Israel’s response, which has gotten WAAAY out of hand in the meantime (NSFW/H)...
...and yes, the killing of the CEO of United Healthcare was indeed horrible and inexcusable and everyone involved should be brought to justice (here), but Anthony Vincent Gallo of Occupy Democrats tells us why the company was under investigation by the Justice Department (and look for that effort by the DOJ to get spiked by the incoming Trumpist numbskulls also, by the way, as Gallo says...love to be wrong, but I don’t think I am...more here)...
...and Farron Cousins lets us know that the final U.S. House race was called, and the Dem ended up flipping the seat from the Repug incumbent (here), giving MAGA Mike Johnson a 5-seat majority, which is indeed razor thin (not sure how it would work if incumbent House Repugs ended up in Trump’s cabinet; I’m assuming another Repug would replace them in each case)...
Kyle Kulinski lets us know that private prison companies and other corporate interests are looking to make bank over immigration detention policies from the about-to-be-awful incoming administration of Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence...great discussion by Kyle about the utter perversion of monetizing not just health care, but detention also, and Kyle is150% right on private prisons...and I can’t think of a hell hot enough for the people behind CoreCivic and GEO Group, and calling it the Patriot Act on steroids captures it, unfortunately (NSFW/H)...
...and Mike Figueredo lets us know that MAGA chuds are apparently just now realizing that Trump’s tariffs will screw THEM, including the PA company where the workers now won’t get their Christmas bonus basically because they returned Cantaloupe Capone to the White House...also, that Xitter post I believe complaining that Congress has the power of the purse in essence (correct) while saying that the president is not a king (also correct) even though that person apparently supported Trump is just cosmically stoo-pid...and yeah, I knew Doug Ford in Canada was a numbskull, and this clip provides more proof...and I definitely HATE to inflict more Trump lying nonsense about OMIGOD THE MIRGRANT CARAVAN OF THOUSANDS POURING OVER OUR OPEN BORDER, but I have to in order to provide context for the great response from Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo of Mexico, including that line about addressing root causes affecting people’s mobility...Figueredo is also correct to point out how our foreign policy de-stabilized Latin America, to the point where that has led to mass migration to our southern border, even though that is something that indeed most people in this country don’t care about (NSFW/H)...
...and John and Francesca of The Damage Report speak with Erika Andiola on Trump’s deportation scheme...it does indeed appear that the new regime will show up to workplaces such as restaurants and construction sites to bag people and try to drag them off...and I can’t believe I’m typing these words in the context of reality, but that is where we are thanks in large part to about 78 million or so idiots supporting Trump and the other nitwits who sat out the presidential election or wasted their votes for third-party candidates (and I have to admit that I keep forgetting that there were a bunch of deportations under President Hopey Changey also)...
...and Thom Hartmann informs us that Missouri, Kansas and Idaho are suing the FDA to limit abortion pill access, saying that decreased births are “a sovereign injury to the state itself,” leading to diminished political representation from fewer residents (or so alleged, as noted here); language like that should give you a clue into the level of insanity we’re talking about here – yep, it’s all about monetizing every conceivable aspect of people’s lives in the most extreme way possible all right (including the people themselves)...
...and you guessed it - here are more seasonal selections.
Jesse Dollemore tells us that 47’s regime is shaping up to be an authoritarian nightmare, with potential Trump FBI head Kash Patel promising retribution to those considered to be enemies of the state, more or less (and OF COURSE more screeching on Truth Septic has to include a typo, right?)...yep, as Jesse says, this ruinous term about to begin will be about revenge first and foremost, and I’d be lying if I said I knew what form that would take...
...and Rachel Maddow gives us some important context on Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter (and I know I touched on this earlier also); namely, I’m talking about a comparison to similar presidential power exercised by 45/47 as well as his beyond ridiculous cabinet appointments...yeah, spare me the selective outrage, especially since, as Maddow notes, Bronzer Beelzebub will likely pardon everyone convicted in the 1/6 attack on the Capitol (and more on pardons is here)...
...and David Pakman presents this clip of Trumpist lickspittle Joe Kernan admitting that Combover Caligula is about to explode inflation...I know these clips lately have had a bit of a recurring theme, but I think it’s important to emphasize that Bronzer Beelzebub INTENDS TO UTTERLY WRECK OUR ECONOMY, which should have been plain as day to idiot voters in this country, but we are where we are, sadly...I heard about Kernan and the Scaramucci thing, but I didn’t really pay a lot of attention to it to be honest...important to note what Trump going after immigrants and those in this country with temporary protected status would do to the economy also...
...and this gentleman explains what led to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which Trump and his pals are poised to utterly destroy (slightly NSFW/H)...
To the ignoramuses who have no fucking clue of the damage Trump is about to do to America when psychotic shitstain abolishes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 😳👇 pic.twitter.com/YUcfApEoQJ
David Shuster of Rebel HQ brings us a clip of Texas state rep James Talarico, who does his best to shame a MAGA Repug (to the extent that these life forms can even be shamed at all) concerning a bill to post the Ten Commandments in all classrooms in that loathsome state (discounting Austin of course)...they kind of cut the video in a strange place here...
...and I thought this lady had some good NSFW/H advice for the Trumpers out there, which I totally expect them to ignore of course...
Every motherfucking thing this woman said. If after learing how shit works, you still support Trump — you're not just dumb, you're evil. 🎯🎯🎯👇 pic.twitter.com/kkudIn3rdy
...and Chris Hayes brings us the reality perspective here, informing us that our worst economic nightmare has indeed come true...and yeah, I think the comparison to what Liz Truss did in the U.K. is probably accurate unfortunately, but a big problem is that nobody over here can declare a “snap” election whenever they feel like it if the ruling party loses confidence among the voters...we’re stuck with Our Demented Orange Toddler-In-Chief for at least four years, to say nothing of the fact that the U.K. will preserve representative democratic government, and God only knows what #47 will do...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 11/29/18...let’s just say that Fix Noise talking head Pete Hegseth has been in the news recently (also as noted here), and here he is a few years ago making excuses for this typically pathetic episode from Repug U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, making casual remarks about lynching, because why not I guess...
I thought the guy making this video gave us a pretty good glimpse of the “shell game” that we can expect from Mango Mussolini and his lizard-brained followers once they grab the reins of power (thanks to Bill Madden of Xitter for some of these Tik Tok clips...NSFW/H)...
...and Farron Cousins lets us know that Trump voters are starting to realize that Our Treasonous Orange Pustule intends to crater the economy...again (I thought this was a pretty sound analysis of what we could be looking at, unfortunately, and as Cousins says, it’s not like we weren’t warned)...
...and it looks like Louisiana has passed what is in essence a “flat tax” of 5.5 percent for individuals and businesses, which will be highly regressive for poorer earners (more here), even though increases to standard deductions for seniors and other individuals were thrown in as a bit of a “sugar high” before the crashing reality sets in, with Yasmin Khan (I continue to be thoroughly unimpressed with Sharon Reed; if she’d bothered to actually do her homework on the taxation issue instead of pivoting to abortion, which is a whole other matter, she would have brought more to the conversation, and the “mayor of 9/11” really isn’t part of this story either...pushing a “flat tax” was the hobby horse of sorts that former Repug wunderkind Jack Kemp rode forever ago (here); it was wrong then and it’s wrong now, but leave it to the Repugs to NEVER abandon their bad ideas hoping that people forget, which often happens unfortunately)...
And oh yeah, there is this (in response to this...also this)...
Oh, fuck off, everyone clutching their pearls over Biden pardoning his son. MAGA motherfuckers, including Trump, wrecked his life. As Biden said, "In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me." So fuck them. Use power when you have it. It's a lesson all Democrats could learn.
Update: And OF COURSE Repug-lite Gluesenkamp Perez along with the equally useless Michael Bennet and Gary Peters take shots at Biden for doing the right thing (here)...I can promise you I’ll remember this if Peters seeks another term in the Senate and decides to start emailing and texting me day and freaking night for dough like he did last time...not surprising also that “the old gray lady” thought this story required three reporters, just to make sure they belittled President Biden as much as possible like they’ve done all along (I have what I think is a principled disagreement with Jason Crow, so I'll leave him out of this for now).
(By the way, I'll probably be on a bit of a modified posting schedule in anticipation of the holidays...also, since they've arrived late this year, I'll also be squeezing in more seasonal tunes; sorry for the boring bit of housekeeping stuff.)
David Pakman tells us about Dr. Jerome Adams on Xitter who sez we could be looking at 3 pandemics under RFK, Jr. as HHS Secretary; H5N1, whooping cough, and measles...lots of important info in this clip from Pakman about immunization rates to get to “herd immunity” on this potential outbreaks...and yeah, if you live in a state under Repug governance, well, maybe one option is to move to a blue state if you can...
...and I now give you the latest installment of This Day In Doomsy History (more or less) from 11/30/17, in which the Archbishop of Canterbury gives us his take on the alleged religiosity of Trump and his minions (NSFW/H)...
...and it's time to (more or less) begin my seasonal selections with these tunes...
Occupy Democrats (not sure who this gentleman is) tell us about Ursula von der Leyen, head of the EU, issuing a warning about Russia aimed at the world and, I would guess, you-know-who in particular (as well as Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus, who is pretty much the puppet of Vlad The Butcher)...U.S. Undersecretary of State For Political Affairs Victoria Nuland gives us a bit of the reality perspective on this also...
...and sticking with overseas matters, David Doel informs us of the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for our “ally” Bibi, along with former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant (here)...and not surprisingly, Bernie Sanders is standing tall on this issue...I know I sound like I’m wearing my tin foil hat, but I still say that Russia got some intel from #45 that went to Iran and Hamas that led to the 10/7 attacks...Netanyahu has gone into Gaza repeatedly and has only ended up killing innocent Palestinians, many of them kids, while not degrading Hamas (you want to “degrade” Hamas? Give them no reason to exist by addressing Palestinian issues)...and like Mike Figueredo, I think Doel goes a little far here saying that Biden should get an arrest warrant also...and OF COURSE incoming Trumper Mike Waltz says the ICC “has no credibility” – what the hell else can you expect?...
...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ lets us know that Trump still hasn’t submitted an ethics pledge stating he’ll avoid conflicts of interest, in compliance with a law passed over the 3400 cited violations from #45’s first term...and leave it to Rojo The Clown to reiterate what an unctuous bootlicker he truly is, and of course Thom Tillis thinks heads of the NLRB and CFPB are “hyper partisan” or some such nonsense, and apparently Tillis thinks it’s more important for Trump to do better than Obama when it comes to recess appointments; never mind how qualified these Trumpist life forms truly are (still amazes me how many people in this country lost their damn minds because we once elected an African American president)...and I will admit that Brian Kilmeade knows a thing or two about “clown cars”...
...and Miss Beau suggests going after Cantaloupe Capone by holding him to his promises in all the ways mentioned in this video (including capping credit card interest rates), ostensibly to help working people and families...I have every confidence that Trump will completely abandon any such promises, but I have low confidence that our side will make that case convincingly to voters, since it will need to be demonstrated repeatedly and most Dems in party leadership don’t have that kind of fight in them, I hate to say...she’s right I believe in the gap of sorts between progressive advocates (politicians and the “foot soldiers”) and the commentariat, which, for the most part, is looking for the next circular firing squad...love to be wrong...
...and I know we just concluded the holiday, but I still think this is a nice meditation from The Lincoln Project...
...and dear God, it really is that time of year again, isn't it?
I got a kick out of this pic, I have to admit (courtesy of Pixdaus and Daily Kos)...
...and here's another holiday fave, with an intro by Seth MacFarlane as Stewie Griffin (and again, the captions make this hilarious as far as I'm concerned)...
...and here is more holiday fun...
...and I liked this also, I have to admit...
...and here's a Thanksgiving message for those wonderful folks at the TSA.
Update 1: And here is another late addition.
Update 2: Might as well add this too (and yeah, "Man Tan" Boehner is long gone I know, but those who've followed him have done their best to make things worse).
Update 3: Imagine all the people that can be fed for $35 grand (here, getting serious for a minute).
Update 4: And since I add to this list every year, I might as well include this too (hasta la vista, baby!).
Update 5: And I suppose this is an apropos item too.
…and thank goodness the “culture warriors” of Fix Noise are trying to protect the holiday (more here)…
…and I guess this is an appropriate tune for the day...
...along with this.
Update 11/25/21: Well said.
Update 11/27/21: And here is a video about another holiday tradition.
...and I'll let Trae Crowder have the last word for now (NSFW/H).
Andrew Rivera of More Perfect Union brings us the tale of Why Mailmen Are Raising Up...looks like USPS workers got hosed in contract talks, unfortunately (and imagine having to install a shower in union offices because letter carriers are paid so little that some are homeless and that’s the only place where they can clean up)...and workers are also tracked minute by minute by data on their package scanners, huh? I know Biden couldn’t get rid of DeJoy on his own, though I cannot understand why the commissioners he got appointed to the postal board couldn’t have done that by now (and yes, I know one Republican was named)...no air conditioning in vehicles, mandatory overtime, and those are just the beginning of the indignities, to say nothing of the physical threats letter carriers face...and it does indeed sound like union head Brian Renfroe is a rubber stamp for DeJoy - I hope Renfroe gets the help he needs, but he should indeed step aside while he addresses that (NSFW/H)...
...and Kiera Butler of Mother Jones tells us about the five ways the “Christian” nationalist nut jobs will try to attack government to achieve their foul ends under Trump (and “natural family planning” doesn’t have a damn thing to do with birth control; it has to do with trying to figure out the best way to get pregnant, and I can say that because Mrs. Doomsy and I attended a class on that a while ago...and I don’t know what version of the Bible these people follow, but the one I was raised on didn’t have one word to say about hating on LGBTQ people)...
...and in another election post mortem, David Pakman asks if something is wrong with this country, and as far as I’m concerned, if you have to articulate that, then you’re probably answering your own question (and I agree with him)... and I don’t think Pakman is being a smug pr*ck; I think he’s pointing out a real issue that should have been considered by our alleged political/media Beltway geniuses of the @DNC during the recent campaign (mildly NSFW/H)...and in a related item, I think this articulates my feeling about the election better than anything else IMO (maybe there’s a bit of smugness in the Xitter post actually, but I also think there’s a hell of a lot of truth...more here)...
...and Leeja Miller gives us some good ideas here IMO on fighting back against the incoming Trumpist plague; she gives some important background for about the first 6:00 or so...I have to admit that it’s been awhile since I studied Maslow’s hierarchy of needs...well said that we need to patch together a coalition of sorts and prioritize what matters most in terms of keeping our government functioning for us and in a manner that fairly represents the majority of this country; and yeah, I believe that this is something that the @DNC and affiliated organizations should be doing to the point where it’s second nature, but then again I’m just some schmoe and not a high-priced political consultant, so what do I know?...GREAT point about going on the offensive for a change instead of constantly being in this stoo-pid reactive mode of “What crazy thing did the Repugs do today?”...another great idea is to reverse engineer the truly infamous Powell Memo, and I love the five “prongs” she came up with to put her strategy in place effectively, though it will take a while to do this and the cost will be substantial, and I just hope and pray that we have the necessary time and funds to make it all work...”That terror of being called ‘biased’ is what got us here in the first place”; boy, is she ever right about that; the “slippery slope” started as soon as objective reality became de-prioritized in our media in favor of “balance”...lots of great ideas here, and this is another book that should be read for coming up with the roadmap Miller proposes here...and in a similar vein, there is this (mildly NSFW/H as well)...
...and Kyle Kulinski tells us about Trump getting rid of the CFPB, again, and also kneecapping the NLRB I’m sure – interesting item from Kyle about the CFPB looking out for some scammy outfit allegedly providing identity theft protection, which was just taking the dough for no good reason as it turned out (NSFW/H also)...
...and I guess this newer number is a coda of sorts for yours truly...don’t know what’s up with playing it in a dirt basin or whatever that is, but I’m in tune with the sentiment I have to admit.
