Friday Stuff (updates)

I wonder if the life form pictured in this post knows about this (or, more likely, would just write it off as "fake news")?

In the matter of our regularly scheduled plague, Rachel Maddow tells us that FLA guv Ron #DeathSantis (and that assclown Joseph Ladapo...more here) are having a hissy fit with the Biden Administration over the decision by #46 not to send any more monoclonal antibodies to The Sunshine State since they’re basically useless against the Omicron COVID variant – elections indeed have consequences...

...and David Pakman tells us that Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco has confirmed a probe into the Trump bogus elector scam in seven states, allegedly run by "the mayor of 9/11" (more here)...



...and Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ wonders some more about The Swanson TV Dinner Heir’s apparent infatuation with Our Former Ol’ Buddy Vlad Putin (to be fair, we were allies with the USSR in WWII, but yeah, it was an uneasy alliance at best I’ll admit, though we shouldn’t blow off the staggering losses suffered by that country in that global conflict)...



...and I thought Jim Acosta gave “Tuckums” and the Murdochs the treatment they deserve here (slightly NSFW/H at the beginning and the end, but for a good reason)...



Update: And speaking of The Roger Ailes BS Factory, Joeph Imperatrice is a f*cking coward for this (sure, violence against Dems - why the hell not, right?).

...and Beau gives us his take on what’s going on in Ukraine (this commentary definitely doesn’t put me completely at ease with what’s going on in that area of the world, but this is a pretty good, clear-eyed analysis...I have a feeling Putin will find a way to take control without firing a shot as Beau says, partly because of the typical idiotic political wrangling from the other side in this country, leading to a divided front when we should be united on this issue in particular...but I could be totally wrong about Putin of course)...



...and sticking with Rebel HQ, Brett Erlich provides some commentary on what makes conservatives afraid vs. what makes liberals afraid (borderline NSFW/H...and yeah, there may be a bit of an overload of a biological explantion here)...



...and this More Perfect Union video tells us about the importance of reversing jail convictions for cannabis, something the Biden Administration should have addressed yesterday IMO (very NSFW/H as soon as the video starts and at the end also, but also for a good reason)...



...and given Neil Young’s courageous decision to tell Spotify that they have to choose between Young and Joe Rogan (here), and given Spotify’s decision to go with Rogan instead, I plan to periodically feature tunes from Neil Young for the foreseeable future (I’m sure what I do or don’t do won’t mean diddly to Young, but I still want to make the gesture – and apparently there was a rumor out there that Barry Manilow did the same thing...nothing against Manilow one way or the other, but the rumor is apparently unfounded).



Update: And kudos to Peter Frampton also (here) - I'll highlight his songs over the coming days as well (and Joni Mitchell also - here).

Update 1/29/21: NILS!!

Thursday Stuff

John and Viviana Vigil of The Damage Report tell us about the reaction from The Swanson TV Dinner Heir to the news the President Biden plans to nominate an African American woman to the Supreme Court (I think the context from this article about The Sainted Ronnie R matters also)...yeah, if “Tuckums” isn’t making his audience of elderly conservative white people angry, scared or agitated in some way, then he’s not doing his job (and it’s so ridiculously typical for the Fix Noise talking head to say that, if you support Biden, then you support segregation, which is typical BS...and I have a feeling that African American women are more than 7 percent of the population too - this I'm sure is closer to the truth...I guess we really can’t expect much more from a network that gets agitated over "progressive" M&Ms and Minnie Mouse in a pants suit...here)...



Update: More here.

...and sticking with The Roger Ailes BS Factory, Chris Hayes tells us how that network’s lies about the COVID vaccine are killing Trump voters in an interview with journalist Eric Levitz...



...and Beau talks about the school board in Tennessee deciding to ban the book Maus about the Holocaust (to commemorate #HolocaustRemembranceDay...nice touch, and yes, I'm being sarcastic...and I think Beau absolutely nails it when he says that the parents fell down and don't want to be embarrassed about missing the rise of authoritarianism under TFG – more here)...



Update: More here and here.

...and every damn time I hear about somebody in this country trying to ban a book or shove LGBTQ individuals back into a metaphorical closet (to basically preserve the white patriarchy served by that abattoir of a TV network noted in the first two clips), I find myself recalling this clip from this great movie...



Update 2/1/22: And news items like this make me recall the prior clip also.

...and I need to catch up with my Second Thought videos, and the latest one has to do with Why Student Loan Debt is So Hard to Forgive (and the “military coinage slavery complex,” huh? Interesting...and yes, Biden should forgive student loan debt, but I think the notion that he somehow failed in his first term merely because of this single issue, along with Manchinema’s antics, is completely absurd...still, though, I think #46 should make that happen: Markos of Daily Kos makes a powerful argument for that here, and kudos to Dem U.S. House Rep Dwight Evans for this also)...



...and RIP Don Wilson of The Ventures.

Wednesday Stuff

Beau gives us his take on the stuff with Fix Noise’s Peter Doocy and President Biden (and apparently 46 called Doocy later to try and smooth things over a bit, which is more of a courtesy than Doocy deserved IMO...oh, and when it comes to that network’s nepotism hire and getting his butt handed to him, let’s not forget this too)...



...and today’s bis story, as it were, is the news that SCOTUS Justice Stephen Breyer will retire at the end of this year’s term – thank God!...and by the way, if I were Biden, I’d put down a marker right freaking now on #Manchinema and let them know that they will truly suffer political hell if they try to screw up THIS also...



...and speaking of the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR, John and Francesca tell us that they’re now looking at affirmative action...I hope John was kidding at the end with that remark about a poll questioning whether or not the SCOTUS is on the presidential ballot...I know HRC was an awful campaigner, but she said that it was in 2016, and she was right on the money (actually, it is in EVERY federal election for the U.S. Senate and the White House...and I wonder if our corporate media is going to go back to the confirmation hearings of the justices in the conservative majority and point out the fact that THEY ARE ALL UNMITIGATED LIARS, since they have no inclination whatsoever to respect “settled law,” including this ruling written by their predecessors)...



...and speaking of Arizona’s U.S. senatorial mistake, Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us about Chuck Todd trying to get Dem U.S. House Rep Elissa Slotkin of Michigan to play along with the “divided Dems” corporate media game, in light of the censure of “Curtsy Kyrsten” (God, we’re stuck with this wretched character until 2024...and I certainly don’t mean Slotkin...and God knows how long we’ll be saddled with Todd as well)...



...and Adrienne Lawrence Esq. of Rebel HQ tells us about that idiot financial advisor who threw a smoothie at a Robeks employee in CT (yes, I get it that peanut allergies are severe, but that doesn’t excuse this idiot’s behavior in any way)...



...and I feel a bit like a need a somewhat newer tune as a pick-me-up, so how about if we give this a try?

Tuesday Stuff

John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report tell us about that nutty woman in Virginia who threatened to bring guns to school, punctuating it with that “see you Monday” quote; I get it that officials running these meetings are in a difficult spot and they have my respect, but just once I’d like to see them “clap back” at these nut jobs and threaten them with jail or a heavy fine for their disgusting idiocy (and the Cuellar reference has to do with this)...



...and CNN's Jim Acosta speaks with Dem U.S. House Rep Zoe Lofgren on developments around the 1/6 investigation by the U.S. House committee on which she serves (as well as the latest nonsense from Baby Newton Leroy – more here)...



Update 1/26/22: And speaking of the disgraced former U.S. House speaker, I think this is pretty interesting.

...and Mehdi Hasan speaks with Jane Mayer of The New Yorker over her latest great column on Ginni Thomas - I know I linked to a post on this yesterday (Thomas being the wife of the SCOTUS justice of course), and Thomas’s history of attacking George Soros, with her “Democrat” Party garbage included also for good measure (I’ll never understand what the wingnuts have against this elderly Hungarian man trying to live out his life in upstate New York...once more, the link to the Mayer piece is here)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen brings us the speech from Dem U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia after the voting rights bill failed (and kudos to Ossoff and Mark Kelly for this)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us about U.S. House Repugs STILL taking credit for the infrastructure bill they voted against, including this Ashley Hinson person (here); for the record, here are the 13 Repugs who voted in favor of the bill, including Bri-Fi...



...and it looks like it’s time for famous musicians to push back against celebrity grifters; this tells us about Neil Young and Joe Rogan over Spotify, and Graham Nash apparently issued a statement for that worm RFK Jr. to cease and desist from using Nash’s tune “Chicago” at Jr.’s anti-vax rallies (here)...surprised Jr. didn’t reach out to Van Morrison or “slow hand,” since I’m sure either would be glad to help...here's a Nash tune for the occasion (and happy upcoming 80th to Nash on 2/2 by the way).

Monday Stuff

I thought this was a pretty comprehensive Meidas Touch video of the events leading up to the 1/6/21 insurrection as well as the aftermath, including all of the bogus anti-voting laws passed by Republican state legisaltures in support of the Big Lie...



...and this Lincoln Project clip tells us that the SCOTUS won’t let Mango Mussolini stonewall the 1/6 commission (the vote was 8-1 against, including all 3 Trump justices - more here...and of course, leave it to Almost Silent Clarence Thomas to side in favor of Combover Caligula...some interesting info IMO related to Thomas is here)...



...and John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report tell us about that lunatic (which one, I know) Lauren Boebert asking Jews in the Capitol if they were conducting “reconnaissance”...I think Boebert is just too damn stoo-pid for words and yeah, she’s likely hip deep in involvement with the 1/6 insurrection and was trying to make a joke out of it...



...and this clip for the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade a couple of days ago tells us that the aforementioned U.S. Supreme Court has heard arguments about a Mississippi law that would basically ban abortion before women knew they were even pregnant (in addition to organizing and speaking out - and that's true for all of us - make the people responsible for this garbage pay a price at the ballot box...and when it comes to clueless Republicans on this issue, I give you this)...



...and with the prior clip in mind, I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 1/23/14 about stuff on the ground in Mississippi at an abortion clinic, along with Wendy Davis’s filibuster of Texas’s awful anti-abortion law...yeah, women with means can get whatever they need – echoing the Now This clip – but it’s the poor women who will pay the price as usual when it comes to this issue, among others...not sure how many of these URLs are still active and I’m sure some of the people in charge have moved on, but there are bound to be a lot of ways to connect with at least some of the organizations listed at the end...



Update 2/2/22: This is a tragedy regardless of where it happens, but it's definitely a look at a post-Roe future in this country too.

...and Joy Reid discusses Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao leading the charge against the John Lewis Act, Freedom to Vote or whatever it’s called in the U.S. Senate (sorry I’m a little late with this – #MitchPlease...more here and here)...



...and David Doel tells us that Dem U.S. House Rep Jamaal Bowman was recently arrested protesting for voting rights (and I am SO GODDAMN SICK AND TIRED of hearing that Biden and the Dems “haven’t delivered for anybody” as Doel basically says – that’s bullshit! Yes, they’ve given us half a loaf I know given the failure of BBB, but WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD HAVE GOTTEN FROM THE OTHER SIDE??!!).

And by the way, I’ve heard similar comments from Cenk, Ana and John of TYT, which are also equally wrong. And equally infuriating!

I plan to do phone banking and/or canvassing for Democratic candidates later this year, and spreading around that garbage is DISTINCTLY UNHELPFUL to that effort. And it’s not as if Dems don’t have a lousy record overall in participating in mid-term elections...that negativity definitely drives down participation. It shouldn’t – you should just vote anyway as part of being a responsible citizen – but it definitely does.

I’ve said this a few times before, and I guess I’ll have to say it again. Movement conservatism was flat on its metaphorical back in 1964 with the rout of Barry Goldwater in the presidential election, but they regrouped and reorganized; it took them 16 years, but they were finally able to ascend with the election of The Sainted Ronnie R in 1980, to our eternal detriment (one of the tragedies is that the movement was barely hanging on that year, but Reagan totally revitalized it, though not by himself of course).

What I’m saying is that it’s going to continue to be a long, hard fight to get where we need to go. And if you’re not going to be part of that, then shut up and get the hell out of the way while we move forward without you (and by the way, A LOT MORE like this too...also this)...



...and this tune is about a year old, but it’s still relatively newer compared to other selections here...works for me and hopefully you also.

Friday Stuff

Thom Hartmann gives us more on the lengthy GOP history when it comes to election fraud – yep, when in doubt, just scream about “voter ID” to try and distract from the wrong you’re actually performing yourselves (including this from the “mayor of 9/11”)...Thom also discusses “Operation Eagle Eye,” which was the 1964 GOP campaign of voter intimidation and disenfranchisement (if anybody thinks the wingnut claims about “voter fraud” and “socialism” AREN’T time-worn chestnuts that the “party of Lincoln” has been trotting out whenever they feel like it for the last 70 years or so – well, I’ve got a bridge to one of the 5 New York boroughs to sell to you)...



...and Rachel Maddow tells us about some Trumpist idiot contesting the result of the special election to fill the U.S. House seat of Alcee Hastings in FLA (yeah, it’s “fraud” when you lose by over 60 points, you clueless meat sack)...



...and speaking of Trump-loving idiots, John and Jayar of The Damage Report tells us that Dan Crenshaw recently gave a 10-year-old girl a bad time over his “faith” when asked about hero/role models or something (yeah, giving an attitude to the kid was a completely awful look for Crenshaw, but dude, this was a softball question also)...



...and in a triumph for informed discourse, Adrienne Lawrence Esq. of Rebel HQ tells us it looks like OAN is on its way out, with Direct TV dropping the network after quite-justifiable protests...



...and this video from More Perfect Union tells us about the effort to pass a bill in Delaware that would end debt-based license suspensions...yes, I believe those convicted should pay what they owe, but are all the fines and fees necessary? And yeah, suspending someone’s license so they can’t get to a job (which is the only way they’re going to pay off the fines and fees) doesn’t make much sense to me either (and I’m shocked that Chris Coons and Roger Wicker are trying to do the right thing here, but apparently they are)...



...and RIP Fred Parris of The Five Satins (I know I have virtually no doo-wop tunes at this site, and I should make amends for that however I can).

Wednesday Stuff

Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us the latest from The Swanson TV Dinner Heir and this nonsense about this Kathleen Dooling person and Carlson's claim that she denied the vaccine to people based on race stemming from a December ’20 policy...and by the way, I hope people realize that this allegedly happened before Biden was even sworn in, though knowing Carlson, the veracity of this claim is highly questionable anyway...and by the way, I GUARANTEE you that "Tuckums" is completely vaxxed...



...and sticking with our regularly scheduled plague, Richard Ojeda tells us more on why Joe Rogan is a thoroughly disingenuous actor on this and other issues, including the 1/6 insurrection...



...and as long as we’re discussing COVID, Adrienne Lawrence Esq. of Rebel HQ tells us what a selfish asshole SCOTUS Justice Neil Gorsuch truly is...see, Hangin’ Judge JR apparently circulated a memo to everyone to mask up, but Gorsuch refuses to comply...as Lawrence tells us, that really messes things up for Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who is diabetic and thus more susceptible to the virus (and I think this is an interesting item related to Gorsuch also)...



...and I’m going to give Trae Crowder another shot, and this time, he takes on the alleged Carhartt boycott based on this – the “mayonnaise militia”...good one (and I don’t want to shock anybody, but I have Carhartt apparel also including a winter coat that I basically live in from now until the spring)...



...and I know I’m a little late in acknowledging that last Monday, in addition to the birthday of MLK Jr., would have been the 80th of Muhammad Ali; if, in this age of the wingnutosphere, that abattoir of a TV channel called Fix Noise and corporate ownership of the media, people absolutely lost what’s left of their minds when Colin Kaepernick took a knee in protest of police tactics against African Americans...well, just try to imagine if Ali had refused military service in this era – he would be cast completely aside and ridiculed for the rest of his life...



...and here’s another milestone – happy 70th birthday to Dewey Bunnell of the band America.

Tuesday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us that Guv #DeathSantis in FLA wants to spy on public school teachers in their classrooms – Orwellian indeed...



...and let’s take a brief trip north of The Sunshine State to check in on Huckleberry Graham in SC, courtesy of The Lincoln Project (and yes, I know that those people are just yesterday’s Republicans, but they still make good ads like this one)...



...and this More Perfect Union clip tells us about the Google employees who led an effort to unionize and were fired...



...and in other labor news, this Now This video tells us about hotel workers (some in CA) fighting back against COVID-19 challenges...



...and Ana of TYT tells us about a Medicare price spike (about 15%) that you can tie back to the failure to pass Build Back Better IMO (and yes, it’s tied to the typical-I-know new year rate increases also...I have to say that I have the same reaction to this video as I do to a lot of ones with Cenk – namely, that I get REALLY TIRED of listening to those two beating up “corporate Democrats”...yes, they’re bad, but there is also NO DAYLIGHT AT ALL when it comes to Not Your Father’s Republican Party primarily in the Senate, and they should keep mentioning THAT also...and if Ana wants to take a shot at Chris Coons, I’m there for that, but before she attacks Mark Warner, she should consider this, as well as this for Dick Durbin...Ana is spot-on with her advocacy, but her attempt at punditry isn’t doing anybody any favors)...



...and this is kind of a spacier (word?) newer tune that I liked a bit, so here it is.

Monday Stuff

John and Brett of The Damage Report tell us about the 6-3 SCOTUS ruling overturning Biden’s businesses’ vaccine or test mandate – once more, it tells you who really runs this country (i.e., businesses...and The Swanson TV Dinner Heir can sit and f*cking spin)...



...and John is back with Cenk and Ben Carollo discussing this loon named Ben Bergquam who is mad at exactly the wrong people for his case of ‘Rona (yeah, as if BLM and Antifa had one damn thing to do with this, you idiot)...



...and Beau had a particularly good take here on the educational BS going on in Virginia (and I like the way Beau correctly IMO blames the adults who should know better about this stuff but do nothing in response instead)...



...and in the latest from Second Thought, we learn that the U.S. “left” isn’t really so left after all when compared to the rest of the world (still deserves our support though as far as I’m concerned...actually, this clip I think explains even more why we need to keep up the fight)...



...and for MLK day, I think it's appropriate to revisit this speech from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Barratt Middle School in Philadelphia on October 26. 1967, with the them of “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?"...



Update: What's past is prologue (here).

...and this tune is apropos for the holiday also.

Friday Stuff

I should probably include more clips from this Liberal Redneck guy, since this is probably the best take I've heard yet on the antics of “curtsy Kyrsten” (NSFW/H - to help with Sinema's all-but-assured primary challenge, click here)...



Update 1/21/22: Too funny, but not surprising (here).

...and Seth Meyers speaks with Bernie Sanders about #MaseratiManchin and his selling out of West Virginia, though Bernie does so in politely forceful but measured terms, which is the best way to do it (I typically wouldn’t give politicians generally the time of day to speak about Manchin and Sinema’s utter betrayals, but Bernie “walks the walk” as well as “talking the talk” on the issues that matter as we know)...



...and speaking of betrayals, that’s exactly what I call the U.S. freezing Afghanistan’s assets while that country is enduring a food crisis and a brutal winter; yes, it’s indeed true that nobody likes or trusts the Taliban, nor should they, but we can release a little more than half of what we’re withholding and that will go a long way towards providing the relief that besieged country needs...Chris Hayes fills us in (more here)...



...and turning now to our regularly scheduled plague, John and Caroline Johnson of The Damage Report tell us about President Biden sending military medical personnel to our hospitals in response to the COVID/Omicron surge (and no, I don’t have a clue as to what would satisfy the wingnuts from Biden on this stuff either, assuming that’s even possible)...



...and in a bit of positive political news, David Pakman tells us that the Ohio Supreme Court threw out Republican gerrymandered redistricting maps (and no, I don’t know either how the hell the son of Mike DeWine gets to rule on something that his father had a hand in without being forced to recuse himself...the son that is of course)...



...and a belated happy birthday to multi-talented musician Don Snow, now of Medford, NJ (under another name), who performed with Squeeze, Procal Harum and other bands...so yeah, that gives me an excuse for another damn Procal Harum tune...really cool cowbell number though.

Thursday Stuff

This Rebel HQ clip from David Shuster tells us about some nut named Christopher Key, who apparently is now telling people to drink their own pee to fight off COVID-19 (and why the hell would “pee” be censored? Are YouTube such hard asses when it comes for looking for reasons to de-monetize somebody? I guess so.)...

via GIPHY

...and now turning to what appears to be the failing effort to try and save our democracy, David Doel informs us of the latest antics of Arizona's U.S. senatorial mistake Kyrsten Sinema, who (sniff) is apparently so overwrought (sniff, sniff) in an effort to...oh, I don't know...try and save the UTTERLY RIDICULOUS FILIBUSTER THAT REPUBLICANS VIOLATE WHENEVER THEY FEEL LIKE IT (mildly NSFW/H...more here and here..and it's unintentionally hilarious, to say nothing of deceitful, for Sinema to complain about "Holy Joe" Lieberman given that she's 10X worse.)...



Update: I definitely agree with Mehdi Hasan here.

Update 1/14/22: And this isn't surprising either, is it?

...so basically, “Curtsy Kyrsten” is making common cause with the “party of Lincoln,” and with that in mind, Thom Hartmann tells us Why They Don’t Want You To Believe in Democracy (and I understand Thom’s anger about CNN, and yeah, the cynicism pisses me off too, but unfortunately, as great as Biden’s speech was, it indeed ended up not mattering...good for Thom to bring up the utterly toxic link between the Repugs and the Birchers)...



...and I’ll dig into the archives and come up with this item from TYT, with Cenk and (I believe) Michael Shure discussing the clip of conservative “godfather” Paul Weyrich giving a 1980 speech proclaiming why the wingnuts don’t want people to vote (or, at least, they want only the “right”...wink, wink...people to vote)...



...and I sincerely hope that Beau is right here to think that there will be an electoral price to pay for the individuals involved in this garbage (including this), but I’m not at all sure about that...



...and RIP Ronnie Spector...another legend departs.

Wednesday Stuff

Rachel Maddow brings us an update of a story she did last December 23rd about fake ‘20 election documents in Wisconsin; well, it turns out this garbage also happened in at least four other states...Georgia, Nevada, Michigan and Arizona (credit to Maddow and Politico...hate to give the latter credit for anything, but fair is fair – Nicholas Wu is a good reporter...among other responses, I don’t want to hear another goddamn word from Repugs about “voter fraud”...also, Merrick Garland needs to appoint a special prosecutor for this...sounds like MORE people need to go to prison for a loooooong time)...



Update 1/13/22: Oh, so now it's SEVEN states, apparently including PA? (here)...

...and I would say that that utter assclown Rand (“Fake Ophthalmologist”) Paul getting his comeuppance from Dr. Fauci was incredibly overdue (mildly NSFW/H...more here)...



...and continuing with our ongoing plague, John and Francesca tells us that the wingnuts are just so overjoyed to hear that AOC has tested positive...sick bastards (as Francesca says, likely because AOC visited the land of Ron #DeathSantis while doing her job)...



...and Sam of The Majority Report tells us about the SCOTUS hearing a challenge to Biden’s vaccine mandate (and apparently Gorsuch showed his true colors...why vaccinate anybody for anything as far as he’s concerned, right?).

And I saw a few minutes of a clip of Ali Velshi and Dahlia Lithwick recently talking about remarks from “Strip Search Sammy” Alito raising doubts about the COVID vaccines (which makes me ask where the hell it was exactly that Alito received any medical education whatsoever).

And with all due respect to Velshi and Lithwick, I’m pretty fed up with anybody at this point being surprised that 6 wingnut SCOTUS justices want people to hurry up, get back to work, and get sick and die. That’s their end game, people (COVID has just given them the chance to hurry things up a bit). Make sure the rabble is smart enough to know how to operate the machines but way too dumb to do anything else, as The Eternal George Carlin once put it. And yeah, screwing over workers in the process is great, as far as the wingnuts are concerned. And if you do the same to women, minorities, working families, and kids while you’re at it, all the better.

We’ve been watching this play out for at least 40 years, people. None of this should be a surprise...



...and Monday 1/10 marked the 17th anniversary of that ridiculous “audit” of CBS by a Bushie pal, the late PA Guv Dick Thornburgh, in response to the story of Dubya allegedly disappearing while serving in the Texas Air National Guard (the news story is here, and producer Mary Mapes’s response is here – the clip of Dubya and Connie Chung from the '88 Republican Convention includes a typically stoo-pid remark at the end about Vietnam and the National Guard from Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History)...



...and RIP Michael Lang, who helped produce Woodstock (including this tune).

Monday Stuff

Farron Cousins reminds us that we shouldn’t be “giving a cookie” to “Big Time” or “Bush’s Brain” over their words/actions on the anniversary of the 1/6 attack on the U.S. Capitol (and I think The Rude Pundit captured the appropriate level of outrage here, as usual)..



...and because humor will always have a liberal bias as far as I’m concerned, I can offer this...



...and with the prior two clips in mind, the latest from Second Thought reminds us Why American Fascism Is On The Rise (pretty comprehensive in linking the rise of Trumpism to Reagan and the overall failure of neoliberal economics)...



And by the way, has it occurred to anybody besides me that creating economic uncertainty, trying to sow political discord over it and enabling a “strongman” to tell everyone “Vote for me and I will solve all of your problems” (leading to authoritarianism) is pretty much what this country has been doing for probably the last 50 years or so in other countries, and this is kind of a case of “chickens coming home to roost” now?...

...and Ana “rocks it” in another solo TYT clip (75 billionaires increasing their wealth during the pandemic by $1 billion...I wish I could be mad at the TYT host for her dig at Pramila Jayapal, but unfortunately, Ana is exactly right)...



...and with this spate of high-profile public individuals departing us recently (including this Temple grad – 65 is way too damn young), it might be easy to lose track of the passing of Lani Guinier, who was tagged by former President Clinton as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in 1993 (noted here), though 42 ended up withdrawing her nomination when too many butt-hurt white Republican senators complained about her...as far as I’m concerned, this was an early example of what a suckers bet it truly is to try and mollify these cretins, which is utterly impossible ...whenever you hear ANY Republican bitching about, for example, Robert Bork’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing, tell them that Bork at least got an up-and-down vote, which he lost, while Guinier was never given that opportunity (Roland Martin tells us more)...



...and RIP also Marilyn Bergman, one of the major influences behind this song among many others.

Friday Stuff

Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Jen Psaki’s response to yet another corporate media drone at a White House press briefing complaining that Biden hasn’t somehow magically managed to unify all political sides on the 1/6 anniversary (mildly NSFW/H)...clip ends at about 7:18 (Cohen’s appropriate level of disgust is palpable)...



Update: Seinfeldian - word? - indeed (here).

Update 1/8/22: I think Markos is spot-on here (similar to that mess from Peter Baker here).

...and David Doel presents a GREAT clip from The Daily Show where they mashed up footage of the 1/6 insurrection with Fix Noise rants about BLM and Antifa protests; yeah, I’m a little surprised nobody thought of this until now myself (more here)...



...and Beau gives us his take on the recent speech of AG Merrick Garland (and no, I won’t feel any bit of satisfaction either until some “big fish” get “hooked,” if you will – really like the way he differentiates between the “institution of the presidency” and the ”institution of democracy”...I think Garland is a fine, decent man and eminently qualified of course, but these are extraordinary times to say the least, and whether or not he’ll rise to this occasion has yet to be determined IMO)...



...and Adrienne Lawrence of Rebel HQ tells us that ‘rona may have caught up with Gov #DeathSantis...despite it all, I hope he indeed is safe and healthy (and as far as I’m concerned, he should go to prison for this alone)...



...and a giant has truly left our midst – RIP Sidney Poitier, one of the all-time acting greats (he OWNED 1967...what follows is a clip from his groundbreaking performance in “In The Heat Of The Night” with Rod Steiger)...



...and happy 74th birthday to Kenny Loggins; I'll save one of his '80s tunes for another occasion.

Thursday Stuff

John and Jayar of The Damage Report tell us about Sean Inanity’s texts related to (and on) 1/6 last year...and GREAT point by John about the Repugs already having all of the other garbage ways to disenfranchise people and control elections without the destruction of 1/6 (it’s ONLY about the optics as far as the “party of Lincoln” is concerned, along with too many Dems unfortunately)...



...and Ana and Cenk of TYT give us more on Mango Mussolini’s decision not to give a 1/6 press conference (RINOs, partisan Democrats, fake news media, blah blah blah...and I have to admit that Cenk gets pretty damn tiresome at times with looking for ways to attack Dems; maybe on other days, but not on this one - and yeah, I know what I just said...though Cenk also makes a lot of sense with his remarks from about 6:00 to 7:42)...



...and here is a replay of the CNN clip of the destruction from exactly a year ago (again, I definitely have issues with Gloria Borger, but I’m willing to overlook them for this occasion...and don’t get me started on Former PA Senator Man-On-Dog)...



...and Stephen Colbert captured the outrage pretty damn well with these remarks from a year ago also...



...and once more, here is that amazing (40 minute) New York Times report from last July recreating the events of that awful day (some important commentary from Former President Carter is here)...



...and I offer the following again without further comment (I may include this tune every day on this anniversary going forward).

Tuesday Stuff

(Pic is from the film Seven Days in May.)

David Pakman tells us about retired military generals warning about a 2024 coup attempt, which is admittedly a longshot possibility, but not something we should ignore (keep an eye on Mike Pompeo and Tom Cotton, both of whom have military ties...never heard of the transition integrity project until now)...



...and with the upcoming 1/6 anniversary in mind, Beau reminds us of a little tidbit of sorts in a Newsweek article indicating that, had any of those insurrectionist lunatics breached any congressional chambers with Congress or Mike Pence inside...well, let’s just say there would have been a hell of a lot more Ashli Babbitts, if you know what I mean...



...and it didn’t take long for David Doel to find an instance of some truly insipid wingnut media idiocy for 2022...somebody named David Brody on an alleged Christian news network blames BLM for a snowstorm – just say “oops” and get out, OK?...



...and Farron Cousins tells us here that Cancun Cruz sez that Repugs are definitely going to impeach Biden if Cruz’s party of treasonous grifters manages to retake Congress later this year (and what is Cousins talking about? I don't have a podcast - joking, basically)...



...and it may turn out that the fire at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Knoxville, Tennessee was accidental; it’s still pretty early in the investigation and nothing is known for sure, but I think we should take this story and “put a pin in it,” you might say, if it turns out that it was planned instead (again, don’t know one way or the other right now...more here)...



Update 1/8/22: Yeah, this sure figures, doesn't it?

...and say hello to the first (relatively) new tune of the new year.

Monday Stuff

To begin the new year, I give you the latest Second Thought video on the influence our government exerts on what we see in TV and the movies related to warfare and the military (with the all-too-willing collaboration of that allegedly evil, liberal bastion of Hollywood)...



...and Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! speaks with Walker Bragman about the Koch-funded anti-COVID lockdown movement (David Doel profiled the Bragman and Alex Kotch article also...didn’t know anything about “The Great Barrington Declaration”...also discussed Hillsdale College in Michigan, which of course is another conservative “education” factory)...



...and Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ tells us that the 1/6 Committee is now looking at Gym Jordan; couldn’t happen to a more deserving guttural weasel...



...and no, I haven’t seen #Don’t Look Up, mainly because I don’t need a movie to make it clear to me that we need to do something serious YESTERDAY on climate change; also, when I try to entertain myself, I do all I can to get away from topical issues because I’m exposed to them so much of the rest of the day (John and Brett Erlich tell us more)...



...and for better or ill, I've tried to communicate a lot of information over the life of this dumb blog (Going on 17 years? What am I, nuts??!!), but this clip from Robert Reich manages to sum up a lot of it in just over six minutes - might be better to watch it on YouTube to make sure you don't miss anything (here)...



...and as far as the tunes are concerned, how about if we let George Harrison start things off?

Friday Stuff (updates)

Hey, The Dark Knight gets it right; we should too...



Update 1/1/22: At a certain point, there are just no more damn words (here, and here...and here).

...and speaking of movies, I thought I'd add this "TCM Remembers" clip for the prior year...



...and returning to more standard fare for this site, Chris Hayes tells us how our corporate media is feeding into the “true crime” narrative, especially in the wingnutosphere (it’s almost funny to watch the preposterous lies of Bill Hemmer about “defund the police” in “Democrat-run cities,” who of course collects a paycheck for The Roger Ailes BS Factory...and yeah, the “new king of late night,” as Bill Maher calls Gutfeld, whiffs again when it comes to commenting on verifiable truth and reality...with Amanda Mull, Donna Edwards and Tim Miller...once again, the task falls upon people with an ounce of common sense to unpackage right wing BS and try to communicate what is really going on...not sure why the video was edited to not include Edwards)...



...and this Rebel HQ clip tells us about a 14-year-old girl who was accidentally killed by cops in an LA mall while shopping with her mom (and gee, I wonder if right-wing hysteria revved up people to be extra scared? Do you even need to ask...with David Shuster...and by the way, as awful as it is that the girl was killed, I’ll wait for a further review before I decide to pass judgment on the cops; I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that they thought the perp was armed, and if they’d waited to find that out, they might be dead by now)...



...and this More Perfect Union clip tells us that 2021 was, in essence, the “year of the worker”...



...and as is my custom, I want to take this opportunity to thank anyone and everyone who has spent any time whatsoever at this site over the prior year.

To say I am greatly concerned as we close out 2021 is an understatement, as I’m sure you are also. Our side continues to try and preserve this country as best we can (posting on social media, speaking out, organizing, doing all manner of related stuff including contributing financially to Democratic organizations as our means allows) while the other side in the political spectrum becomes more and more engulfed by utter madness. This isn’t helped by a national Democratic political party that continues to deliver half to three-quarters of a loaf at best, you might say (and yes, I know President Manchin and Vice President Sinema have a lot to do with that). And this also isn’t helped by our corporate media which continues to give cover, for the most part, to those seeking to overthrow our democracy, as well as way too damn many people in this country who don’t see the threat as it readies itself to try and barge down the metaphorical door once again, having failed on 1/6 and learning what went wrong as they get ready to make another attempt to seize power by force.

And oh yeah, Democrats, PLEASE DO A BETTER JOB ON MESSAGING AND USING SOCIAL MEDIA THAN YOU ARE DOING RIGHT NOW! (Update 1/1/22: Credit where it's due here) The DNC should be cranking out videos all over the place at year-end like this showing the benefits of passing COVID relief and the infrastructure bill (as well as the John Lewis voting bill in the House) in an effort to try and seize the narrative away from the “party of Lincoln,” who of course are going to try and gin up outrage over alleged “big spending, failed policies” (I’ve been looking for this stuff and so far I can’t find it). And yeah, the Dems will have no choice but to keep up this message about why CRT is a total non-issue, as well as sticking to their guns on COVID masking and vaccination. GO ON THE ATTACK FOR A DAMN CHANGE, OK??!! (Update 1/1/22: More food for thought on this is here, here, and here.)

Well, with all of that out of the way (and with the More Perfect Union clip very much in mind), I present this tune also to commemorate the 75th birthday of Patti Smith...here’s for all good things in 2022.

Update: And because 2021 wasn't done messing with us - ugh (more here and here).

Thursday Stuff

Thom Hartmann wonders what will happen when the treasonous lunatics behind the 1/6 insurrection decide to try again (and yeah, there sure is a common thread among these crazies, and you’ll never guess what it is)...



...and since it’s a day of the week with a “y” in it, it’s time to talk about another mass shooting...and another one in Colorado...and another one involving a right-wing lunatic making common cause with the traitors noted in the prior clip...and while I have issues with Joe Rogan, I hold him to a lower standard than I do The Swanson TV Dinner Heir, employed with what purports to be a “news” network (Cenk tells us about it...more here)...



...and I’ll admit that It takes a lot for me to be PO’ed with the Biden Administration, but I think they F’d up on the CDC’s decision to shorten COVID quarantine time after the airline industry started complaining about “personnel shortages” and “workforce disruptions”...that decision affects all manner of service employees, including nurses, and I think that group in particular should, at a minimum, have the flexibility to decide for themselves how long they should be out if they’re exposed to the virus since they’re front-line health care workers...



...and Farron Cousins pretty much takes apart Lauren Boebert, who admits that she doesn’t know what government really does...big surprise, I know...



...and I need a minute or two to set up this next clip (inspired by this recent Daily Kos post).

It’s something pretty much accepted in our beloved commonwealth of PA that the type of education your kids will receive is based on the zip code where you live. No, I most certainly do not think that is fair, and we need to come up with a more equitable funding solution. And yes, if that involved a few more dollars every year in state taxes to fund early childhood education in poorer areas of the state, I’m for that, partly because it’s better to invest in kids early on as opposed to not doing that and having them end up in our corrections system later (in addition to making financial sense, it’s also morally the right thing to do IMO).

Well, there is currently a lawsuit pending over this issue. And the Daily Kos post noted above discusses it, and gives us the following excerpt:

During Week 4 of the proceedings in the William Penn School District, et al v. Pennsylvania Department of Education lawsuit...Republicans, in their infinite wisdom, argued that Dr. (Steven) Barnett’s point (that preschool programs can benefit students long after they’ve entered kindergarten, especially those living in poverty) makes it clear that Pennsylvania shouldn’t even bother with preschools to begin with if students are destined to fail due to lack of resources.

“What use would someone on the McDonald’s career track have for Algebra 1,” (attorney for Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman) John Krill argued during week four proceedings. He then went even further in his musings: “The question in my mind is, thorough and efficient (school funding) to what end? To serve the needs of the Commonwealth. Lest we forget, the Commonwealth has many needs,” Krill said. “There’s a need for retail workers, for people who know how to flip a pizza crust.”

Hey asshole, guess what? I worked at McDonald’s for two years and was graduated from Temple University about 40 years ago (not that I’m “all that,” because I definitely am not).

Not all of us are lucky enough to be born Republican. And if that isn’t a joke, I don’t know what is.

With all of the ridiculous antics going on at school board meetings about kids allegedly being taught critical race theory – which isn’t an actual thing – the focus instead, at least in PA, should be on the school funding inequities studied in this clip; it’s from May 2020, but it pretty much captures our ridiculous status quo on this issue...



Update 1/4/22: And just to show you that Dems can be assclowns also on issues like this, I give you the following here.

...and RIP Les Emmerson of the group Five Man Electrical Band (another COVID casualty); what follows is their signature hit.