Thursday Stuff

Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us that Alabama just passed a law making it a crime to perform gender affirming surgery on trans youth under 19 (very rare), as well as applying hormonal treatments, and apparently targeting medical providers too with that idiot gov Kay Ivey – terrific (more on Ivey is here)...



...and I know I alluded to this previously, but it looks like Repug Sen. Susan “Disappointed” Collins did indeed call the cops for a chalk sidewalk message written in front of her home in Maine (David Doel tells us more)...



Update: And it looks like “the Christian handmaiden” is getting her turn in the barrel here...

...and this local news report with NBC’s Ukee Washington and Siafa Lewis tell us about the team bus full of Delaware women’s lacrosse players getting pulled over in Georgia (and did I mention that the women came from a historically black college?)...even if the state troopers thought the bus driver was erratic for driving in the left lane (For how long, I wonder? Was the driver trying to pass on a two-lane road?), they should have confined their search to the driver and his/her belongings. There is NOTHING that condones the degree of invasiveness of the search carried out by the troopers with their dogs! (more here).

And don’t give me this, “Well, we would have done the same thing if the players on the bus were white.” Just don’t even imagine that you’re going to lie to me like that...



...and Jayar and Rayy Vana of Rebel HQ tell us about the rumor that “Strip Search Sammy” Alito moved to an “undisclosed location,” which, as it turns out, is totally baseless, though Fix Noise ran wild with it all over the place anyway of course (I’m sure the women who will be victimized by overturning Roe won’t have that luxury)...



...and kudos to the Second Thought guy for stepping in front of the camera to give us an intro to socialism, and it’s not what you think (re, Stalinist apparatchiks...as usual, lots of important history in these clips, including Salvador Allende in Chile...kind of lost a bit IMO is more of the reason why Nixon/Kissinger intervened in that country on behalf of Augusto Pinochet...yes, there was a foreign policy component, but more than anything, it was to defeat the socialist improvements under Allende – this is discussed in this great book, and another example of this country screwing over a people-powered government is here)...



...and I know JT is coming to Allentown on 6/27; not sure if tickets are still available, but hopefully they are.

Tuesday Stuff

David Doel tells us about the protests at the homes of SCOTUS justices “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh and Hangin’ Judge JR (and it looks like "Strip Search Sammy" is getting his "time in the barrel" also as noted here...and Biden is wrong on criticizing the protests, as is Begala and Harwood of course...what the hell do you expect when the SCOTUS puts up fencing to keep out protestors? Gee, ya’ think they expect people to be pissed about this? And of course, the lightning speed with which our elected representatives moved on this shouldn’t be surprising, and for the record, I’m saying that through clenched teeth – it sure would be nice if the same metaphorical fire were lit under these U.S. Senate cretins to ensure the safety and privacy of women’s health care...and gee, now the cops are policing people making chalk drawings in front of the home of "disappointed" Collins? Gee, what chronological age is the Maine senator? 12?).

And speaking of protests on this subject, let's not forget this...



Update: Jamelle Bouie gets it (here).

Update 5/11/22: And three guesses how #MaseratiManchin voted here, and the first two don't count.

And by the way, this is being reported as “Senate fails to vote” or “Senate fails to pass” or “U.S. Senate Democrats Fail...” This is typically disingenuous corporate media framing, but I realize that shouldn’t be a surprise.

The goddamn bill was blocked by U.S. Senate Republicans and that Democratic dirty energy criminal from West Virginia. Try reporting it straight for a change!

...and as indicated in the prior clip, the wingnuts want corporatism to run amok while any notion of government providing any service for anyone but the uber rich is thoroughly destroyed, but above and beyond that, they also want anything having to do with the right to privacy to be gutted as well, and that means they’re also coming for contraception, gay marriage, mixed marriages...you name it (with Tate Reeves of Mississippi being too dumb and/or callous enough to do anything but go along with the program like the empty-headed sycophant he truly is – John and Francesca bring us more)...



...and I thought Mehdi Hasan did a real service here drawing a line from the present thoroughly disgusting moment of screeching corporate activism all the way back to Brown v. Board and the rise of the wingnuts under The Sainted Ronnie R (Hasan covers a lot of important stuff here, but I would have also liked to see the clip of Paul Weyrich saying that he doesn’t want everyone to vote, making a snide “goo goo” remark as he did so... and yeah, good point at the end by author Randall Balmer that LBJ, rightly or wrongly, knew how to wield power, and that skill has largely escaped current Dems on Capitol Hill – Hasan also speaks with author Anthea Butler)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen does a deep dive into Lex Luthor Scott’s 11-point plan to basically turn this country into a corpocracy and make sure government provides absolutely nothing for anybody or anyone who needs it...yes, I know this is a recording, but it bears repeating (and you'd have to be a stone cold moron to trust one word coming out of the mouth of Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao)...



...and Sam and Emma tell us about Steve Schmidt, former Repug political operative and advisor to the 2008 John McCain for President campaign, going off on McCain’s daughter Meghan recently because she liked a tweet alleging that Schmidt was a pedo, and that would be enough to make me go off too (and I have to admit that I blamed Schmidt for Sarah Palin, and apparently I was wrong...sorry about that, though I guess that also depends on who you talk to – I pretty much agree with Sam’s analysis that Schmidt has his own issues too...and yeah, it figures that Meghan McCain would pose in front of her dad’s headstone with a copy of her book, which was crass in the extreme as they discuss...apparently the book sales tanked – c’est dommage)...



...and it’s too nice of a day in these parts to have a brooding, melancholy tune – how about something a little upbeat to help us keep carrying on with the good fight, as it were?

Monday Stuff

Caroline Johnson of Rebel HQ brings us the latest anti-Roe garbage (though she does get in a word on Catholics for Choice)...so, it does look like Almost Silent Clarence Thomas is pretty much telling everybody to shut up and deal with it (here – funny that his wife didn’t feel that way about the November ’20 election), with Amy Coney Island Baby Barrett also telling everyone we need to overturn Roe because we need to replenish our "domestic supply of infants," or whatever that noise was (here – I could possibly take that seriously if the “R” party gave a damn about the child after he/she is born, which they really don’t of course), with Barrett’s remark to me being the 2.0 version of that “human capital stock” garbage from Trumper Kevin Hassett about two years ago, as noted here...



..and Ali Velshi tells us about wingnut state rep Susan DeLemus in New Hampshire and her recent outburst against the protest in response to the leaked Roe ruling, along with the rest of Repugs being quiet, hoping it will go away (and the 4 Dem U.S. Senate candidates – Warnock, Hassan, Kelly and Cortez Masto – speaking up against Alito and his band of thugs on the High Court...about DeLemus, I can tell you that, having visited New Hampshire, it’s a beautiful state, though it is utterly chock full of wingnuts)...



...and David Doel tells us about this lunatic named Andrew Wilhoite who recently won his primary election in Indiana even though he is currently in jail...yeah, this is horrible and ridiculous, but to me, the problem here is more with Indiana election law since there were 3 open seats and Wilhoite was one of the 3 Repugs who basically won by default since no Dems ran...but the fact that Wilhoite got 60 votes anyway is beyond disgusting...great advice by Doel at the end aimed at the Dems – “throw your name in” indeed...



...and because idiot TX guv Greg Abbott created such an utter cluster at border crossings recently, it looks like “the land of the yellow rose” is going to lose out on construction of an international rail line with Mexico, with the job going to New Mexico instead...just say “oops” and get out – Yasmin Khan explains...



...and cutting right to the chase, it should be pointed out that billionaires pay more in taxes under Dems, and they pay a hell of a lot less while the rest of us get it in the metaphorical neck when the insurrection party is calling the shots...



...and happy 60th birthday to Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode.

Friday Stuff

They all lied – yeah, that pretty much says it...



...and as Lawrence O’Donnell so correctly tells us here, all politicians (including Republican ones who profess otherwise) are pro-choice, since they sure as hell would be trying to find abortions for their wives, girlfriends, daughters, etc. if they needed to (and as usual, Dubya lied about how he felt on this issue along with the rest of the cowards of his party)...



...and David Doel brings us two clips of Ana Kasparian going off on this issue; yes, I agree with her in a lot of ways, but as much as it sucks that we have no choice but to turn to the Dems, we have no choice but to turn to the Dems to keep trying to bend that party to our will as much as they’re bent towards their corporate donors...we give up that fight, and it’s game, set and match for the “party of Lincoln”...



...and Farron Cousins tells us about this Grant Stinchfield idiot on Newsmax saying Ketanji Brown Jackson is somehow responsible for the leaked opinion on Roe, which would REALLY be a neat trick since she hasn’t even been seated on the bench of the High Court yet...what a 24-carat imbecile this guy is (and as noted previously, I agree with this)...



...and it should be noted also that our neighbors to the north are paying attention to all of the ongoing Roe-related garbage in this country (correspondent Heather Hiscox speaks with Kemlin Nembhard, Executive Director of the Women’s Health Clinic of Winnipeg, MA)...



...and when it comes to the individuals who are ultimately the true authors of the misery we’re dealing with including the attack on reproductive rights, Mehdi Hasan takes a look at billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel, who helped fund Trumpist nut job J.D. Vance’s winning primary campaign in Ohio (along with a few other campaigns, including this wackadoodle named Blake Masters in Arizona running against Mark Kelly for the U.S. Senate..."Hillbilly Elegy" - are you freaking kidding me??)...



Update 5/15/22: Yeah, given the recent Buffalo carnage, I would call this a particularly tone deaf comment from Masters.

...oh, and let us not forget that the “R” party has no interest in governance (they want to rule), as noted by Dem U.S. House Rep David Cicilline of Rhode Island...



...and with an eye towards what I hope will be a Happy Mother’s Day coming up, I present the following; usually I go with Etta James’s signature tune or another number, but I think a selection from Joan Baez is apropos given the ongoing struggles we face in this country for basic human dignity for our wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, etc.

Thursday Stuff

I don’t think there is one bit of hyperbole in this Meidas Touch ad; I think it’s pretty spot-on...also, I know I linked to a Daily Kos post on Tuesday about how “Strip Search Sammy” Alito referenced this 1800s nut case Matthew Hale and his Neanderthal views of women as the precedent Alito chose to cite, which in itself gives away the game a lot...more on Hale is here - I don't know about you, but I'm pretty goddamn fed up with finding myself in a position where I just have to wait for the next "body blow" from this collection of conservative nut cases, aided and abetted by chicken Democrats, and I can assure you that I intend to do more than a little something about it...



...and this clip finishes with Chip Franklin, but it starts with Rachel Maddow discussing (with Josh Gerstein of Politico) how those SCOTUS Philistines basically want to take a sledgehammer to Roe to destroy it, along with the right to privacy of course (one way to respond is here)...



...and Joy Reid provides another recap and gives “disappointed” Collins the treatment she deserves, and Lisa Murkowski is acting like she got played too, though, to be honest, anyone with a speck of brain matter could have seen where all of this was going for easily the last 30-40 years...Lizz Winstead and Elie Mystal save some scorn for the Dems on this, which is partly deserved too; it has been pointed out that the “D” party could have codified Roe into a congressional law when the Dems briefly had a majority on Capitol Hill under Obama, which is definitely a fair point...I don’t say this lightly I assure you, but the Catholic Church has been itching for this fight ever since 1973, and they’re going to get it both barrels you might say...everybody may have some difficult choices to make including your humble narrator, and that definitely also goes for conserva-Dems like that guttersnipe Chris Coons and people like Jon Tester and Mark Kelly, and in particular Bob Casey of our beloved commonwealth...you won’t be able to just say, “well, I’m a Dem and I’m pro-life” because your funders are going to tell you to oppose Roe at any cost, and as far as I’m concerned, if you do that, you might as well be a Repug.

(Another brief aside –I was once a Catholic high school student, including during 1973, and we received complimentary issues of The Catholic Standard and Times. When Roe was handed down, that publication showed nothing but fetuses in jars from cover to cover for what seemed like months. That in itself was a misrepresentation because, in the majority of cases, abortions would take place long before the fetus had developed to that point. I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but viewing that stuff had an impact, though I don’t think it was the one the Catholic hierarchy desired.)...



...and Jayar and Adrienne Lawrence tell us about the thoroughly militarized tactics from the LA police in response to the recent protests over the leaked ruling on Roe...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 5/4/16, in which we learn about Zeke Christopoulos, a transgender man from Asheville, NC who stood up and opposed the utterly awful HB2 “bathroom bill” sponsored by then-Gov. Pat McCrory; easy to lose track of the battle the wingnuts and their acolytes are waging against LGBTQ folks given this week’s news on Roe...more here and here, and a current item related to this issue (depressing, but not surprising) is here...



Update: If these 5 Republican U.S. Senate idiots want to add a warning for LGBTQ content, then I want a GQP rating for excessive conservative horseshit (here). I’ll have to admit, though, that I didn’t have “Alleged Christians Try To Distract From Destroying Roe And Criminalizing Women’s Health Care By Trying To 'De-Gay' TV Shows” on my bingo card.

...and I’m just in a mood to hear tunes this week about women having to overcome BS from men, and I think this qualifies (the chauvinistic slogan in the title comes from a one-time ad for Geritol, which, as noted here, is a product with a bit of a dubious history for non-anemic patients).

Wednesday Stuff

Lawrence O’Donnell gives us another great commentary on how we got to the utterly wretched point of Roe being eviscerated; this includes a look at how SCOTUS nominees from Republican presidents learned how to either tap dance around the question of whether or not they supported Roe or simply lie about the fact that they wanted to overturn it...people smarter than I have looked back on Supreme Court terms and labeled them based on a look at the totality of their rulings, and I can’t imagine how the Roberts court can be anything but the worst of the worst given their deliberate misinterpretation of the Second Amendment in Heller, granting religious exemption to employers for health care coverage in Hobby Lobby, gutting the Voting Rights Act, Citizens United of course, and now this latest travesty...



...and turning to another critical issue in this country where we’re falling down, the town of Shawnee, Kansas is apparently trying to criminalize co-habitation because of out-of-control housing prices...can’t wait for Johnny Harris of the New York Times to make a video about this as quickly as he made one about high-density housing in Palo Alto, CA (y’know, to make fun of those hypocritical libs)...my point as that, as Cenk notes, the problem is venture capitalists artificially inflating housing prices by buying up bunches of units; it’s not a problem you can blame on a particular political orientation (I mean, I’m sure most of the culprits are entitled wingnuts, but I can’t prove that claim to be fair)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us about a New Hampshire Republican who voted once in that state and once in MA in 2016...ooopsie, but sorry – this guy gets the “middle-aged white person” punishment of paying a fine as opposed to the minority punishment of A FREAKING PRISON TERM...



...and with that in mind, Mehdi Hasan tells us about this character in Colorado who (allegedly) copied a hard drive of voter information so the copy could be given to an “activist” trying to prove that (wait for it...) Trump actually won in 2020 (more here)...



...oh, and did you hear the one about Mango Mussolini wanting to shoot people protesting the George Floyd killing? Yeah, the biggest takeaway for me, as Francesca says, is that we got a glimpse of what a police state in this country would look like under (God help us) another Republican president...



...and speaking of shooting protestors, today is the 52nd anniversary of the Kent State massacre (more here).

Tuesday Stuff

I admit that I don’t have much to add to the travesty of this story, except to say that I agree with this; I don’t think leaking the news of the SCOTUS gutting Roe was accidental in any way; I think they couldn’t wait to take a victory lap over it (and here is one response - more here and here).

To begin, I give you this NSFW/H video from Brian Tyler Cohen (clip ends at about 7:40)...



...and Ana and Cenk bring us more on the usual conservative SCOTUS suspects lying like crazy on Roe...and yeah, they’re going to take a legal pick axe to the “right to privacy” too...hell, this court could go all the way back to Brown v. Board (and I know the Colllins stuff is repetitive, but aside from the justices in question, she deserves this treatment more than anyone else IMO)...



...and David Pakman tells us more – and I realize “Strip Search Sammy” doesn’t give a shit about precedent on Roe or anything else, but if he actually did care, he should read about Harry Blackmun, the SCOTUS justice who wrote the opinion on Roe and evolved from a conservative to pretty much a liberal (and actually, yes, the Dems have an uphill midterm battle, but I'm a little mad at Pakman for buying into the typical "conventional wisdom" that the Dems will automatically get smoked later this year, particularly in light of this)...



...so, what can we do to fight back? Well, I thought Thom Hartmann brought us a great idea from Elie Mystal about federalizing abortion center employees in Texas (“qualified immunity” works for me....“I see some more bad stuff coming” too unfortunately)...



...and Trae Crowder weighs in here with a NSFW/H commentary...



...and I and others will have more to say about this in the coming days, but for now, I'll leave you with this tune, which is the most apt selection I can think of.

Monday Stuff

Jayar, Cenk and Francesca give us the latest on the matter of student loan debt; time to “go big or go home” on this IMHO, and yeah, “wine Karen” Pirro will screech about it forever, but she’ll do that anyway (GREAT job by Cenk to remind everyone about her own debts when running her NY political campaign, and the video also gives us a well-done look at our economy, warts and all of course)...



...and the latest from Second Thought asks why socialists care about intersectional labor movements, including a lengthy and fairly-current-looking segment with Angela Davis... “Equal rights are no good if they’re not accompanied by the equal ability to exercise them,” and “exploitation is inherently multi-faceted”– Nail. Hammer. Head...



...and in the matter of people profiting from our utterly rigged economy, Robert Reich discusses how Elon Musk buying Twitter is “a win for oligarchy” (not saying Reich profits from our rigged economy...well, maybe he does, but I somehow doubt it)...



...and Brett Erlich reminds us once again what a “hustle” voter ID is, leading into a video with Jackson White pointing out what utter buffoons Trump supporters are...yeah, it needs to be pointed out again (NSFW/H)...



...and Sam, Emma and Matt of The Majority Report tell us about President Biden pardoning Abraham Bolden, the first black SS agent appointed under Kennedy, and yeah, I’m sure there’s a hell of a “back story” to Bolden getting sentenced...have to admit that I didn’t know there was an attempt to assassinate Kennedy in Chicago early in November 1963 (more here)...



...on this day in ’92, Bonnie Raitt received an honorary Doctor of Music Degree from Berklee College of Music during commencement ceremonies in Boston; that gives us an excuse for this really nice new tune from her latest release (more here).

Friday Stuff

I haven’t had a Chip Franklin commentary for a loooong time I know (re, Mean Jean Schmidt’s recent disgusting words about abortion), but I thought this was a particularly good segment...God, am I SO SICK OF POLITICIANS TALKING ABOUT FREAKING RAPE AND ABORTION!!!! And I blame the “fundies” for that, as well as the Catholic Church, and believe me when I tell you that I don’t say that lightly (also, let's not forget this, as Franklin reminds us here)...



...and Thom H. tells us how the Repugs are trying to end democracy through martial law, including the shenanigans with Title X and the evergreen big lie that the “R” party is in favor of “shrinking government” (and I’d forgotten the stuff about the Trumpsters not working with the incoming Biden transition team...and there will be more with that loon MTG later)...



...and as a companion piece of sorts to Thom Hartmann’s commentary, I give you this from Jessica Burbank about standing up to corporate power (NSFW/H)...



...and I didn’t want us to forget about Vlad The Butcher and his despicable war of choice in Ukraine, and with that in mind, Ana and John tell us about the Russian host (editor of RT) casually discussing nuclear freaking war! And good question by Ana about wondering, at what point, Vlad the Butcher will just decide to strike at us because of this country supplying weapons to the conflict (not saying we SHOULDN’T help Ukraine, but I’m only saying that we should keep our eyes open, that’s all...and by the way, please tell me how this Russian woman believing that Russian victims of a nuclear holocaust being “lifted up to Heaven” is actually different from fundamentalist nuts in this country believing in “the rapture”...)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us about this Oklahoma assclown named John Bennett running for the U.S. Congress who calls for Dr. Fauci to be executed after we have the formality of a trial (of course, this brainless biped spouts all other manner of lies and conspiracy theories too, all of which are disgusting enough, and made even worse by the crowd cheering over it).

And to be honest, that’s what really gets me at times – the fact that so many people in this country have been completely and utterly hoodwinked by the individuals who have COMPLETELY FALLEN DOWN when it comes to ensuring our well being (the Thom Hartmann video outlined everything that the “party of Lincoln” has done...or more precisely, failed to do...on that front). In my own admittedly small way, I’m trying to present the best information I can to move as many people as I can towards an enlightened opinion. Would I be happy if every single person who happened to come across this site ended up voting for a Democrat? Yeah, but I know the probability that circumstances will change for the better even if that were to happen. However, that doesn’t mean we can give up the fight...far from it. But we’re living with the consequences of over 40 years of “us vs. them” antagonism in our media when it comes to trying to make peace with the “R” party (egged on by AM talk radio, Fix Noise and similar TV networks, and the wingnutosphere including the Murdoch Street Journal and many other corporate media culprits). And yes, I know I’m restating the obvious, but I feel like I have to do that sometimes...



...and in the prior clip, Farron Cousins noted how contradictory it was for this guy John Bennett to be advocating violence in the presence of the cross, and this Meidas Touch clip takes that a step further, with Adrian Fontes, running for AZ Secretary of State (and a vet and a Roman Catholic), calling out that loon Marjorie Taylor Greene for her disgusting anti-immigrant rhetoric (and that goes for that bobblehead also who just noddled while Greene spoke this bilious hatred)...



...well, I’m going to try and lighten things up a bit with this; it seems that Mango Mussolini is afraid of fresh fruit as noted here, including pineapples (and produce also)...maybe he ought to enroll in this class...



...and that’s about all I’ve got for now – hopefully we’ll all be able to enjoy nicer weather for the weekend (I think this tune is perfectly apt).

Thursday Stuff

I think that, every once in a while, Chris Hayes nails in a particularly good way with a commentary, and I think he does so again here, vis-a-vis the wingnuts crying about “free speech,” which of course is really all about controlling the narrative (or trying to), particularly when it comes to Guv #DeathSantis vs. The Giant Mouse (and how funny is it that, as it turns out, FLA Repugs can’t take away Disney’s self-governing status without settling about a billion dollar bond obligation first)...



...and Ana and John tell us about OK Repug (of course) Guv Kevin Stitt taking away a non-binary designation from birth certificates issued in that state (more misadventures with Stitt are included on this post...have to scroll a bit for it)...



...and Beau gives us his take on the latest from Willard Mitt Romney in the matter of forgiving student loan debt (a related item is here...gee, wasn’t it just a few days ago when we were giving Romney credit for applauding the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson? How times have changed I guess)...



...oh, and here’s a little stroll down memory lane, if you will, and that’s Romney’s comment about 47 percent of this country being “entitled” and, quite rightly, never willing to support the “party of Lincoln” in the 2012 contest between Romney and President Obama (yep, as usual, a Repug looks in a mirror and sees everyone’s reflection except his own...Romney’s attempt at a response to that is here)...



...and maybe this is a little “inside baseball,” but I still thought it was interesting...David Pakman tells us about prominent lefties on Twitter losing followers (and wingnuts gaining followers) after the announcement that Elon Musk had extended an offer to buy Twitter (which, I believe, is still up in the air, as it were)...



...and here’s another tune that I’d better include before the month comes to a close.

Wednesday Stuff

Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us about this Kennedy person on Fix Noise saying that there should be no more public schools, which is ridiculous for all of the reasons noted in the clip...yep, just keep the drones smart enough to work the machines but too dumb to know about anything else, as The Eternal George Carlin once pointed out (this leads into a discussion about the football coach who apparently enforced some kind of prayer service at the 50 yard line after the game – not surprising that “Strip Search Sammy” Alito came to the coach’s defense...and it’s very much “baked in” for that network to have the female news mannequins displayed with as much skin as possible so as to not pay as much attention to the garbage they’re spouting)...



...and Ryan Reilly of MSNBC tells us about cop-on-cop violence during the 1/6 insurrection...and no, I’m not trying to be flip by calling it that; it looks like someone from the NYPD (who DEFINITELY should have known better!) decided to go into a restricted area during the riot and take down a Capitol police officer in the process ("allegedly" of course)...



...and Jayar and Brett Erlich of Rebel HQ tell us about the trucks in the freedumb convoy getting egged near San Francisco, and a manly man of a driver gets out to yell at a little kid...seriously, what the “F” did the people driving these vehicles through a city street expect? Of course, that’s assuming they had any degree of self-reflection at all, which of course they don’t...and so now you’re protesting abortion? Wonder what the grievance du jour will be NEXT week? And “compensation-mobile” - good one...



...and the prior video was low comedy, but this is just tragic – a climate activist named Wynn Bruce of Boulder, CO set himself on fire and died as a result of his injuries while protesting climate change...nothing is worth that course of action IMO...indicative of a larger issue for which I hope he was getting treatment, though it obviously didn’t go far enough of course (more here)...



...well, at least Trae Crowder is around to lend some more much-needed perspective about Elon Musk, Twitter and our corpo-fascist overlords (very NSFW/H, but for a good reason as far as I’m concerned)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Rand (Fake Ophthalmologist) Paul arguing with Biden Secretary of State Anthony Blinken about why Vlad The Butcher shouldn’t be allowed to just grab back some of the former breakaway republics surrounding Russia, since – I mean after all – they all used to be part of the Soviet Union, so what’s the problem? And to support Charles Booker, click here...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 4/27/12 – as already noted, the beginning of this post showed a set from The Roger Ailes BS Factory with some ladies opining about funding public schools...well, watch this clip and never forget what exactly conservatives think of women, OK? (and of course, it was Sandra Fluke, not Susan, as the late but hardly lamented Flush Limbore would have us believe...oh, and the recently departed “Saint Orrin” Hatch also appears briefly in this video)...



...and Pete Ham of Badfinger would have been 75; Ham is truly one of the tragic figures in rock music (sorry if my selections have been a bit of a downer this week – I’ll do better).

Tuesday Stuff

So Elon Musk has bought Twitter...it’s amazing all of the issues that we could have gone a long way to fix on this planet with $44 billion instead, but no...another billionaire has to throw money around instead and try to prove to the world what an “influencer” he is (can’t think of a woman in this category, though I have a feeling they’re out there...and yeah, I would bet that the biggest change will be more ways to monetize the platform, which of course will eventually kill it, along with the return of Mango Mussolini...he’ll be back too I’m sure...mildly NSFW/H)...



...and Trevor Noah of The Daily Show tells us about the recent testimony of that utter loon Marjorie Taylor Greene, in which she claimed “I don’t remember” over 50 times as noted here (such pathetic weasels – that goes for the whole sorry Trumpist lot of them...oh, but when one of her tweets was introduced into evidence, then SUDDENLY she recalled what they were talking about...uh huh...good impression of Our Tiny-Handed Orange Would-Be Dictator by Noah, I have to admit...and good stuff here too from Jimmy Kimmel)...



...and speaking of Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence, Farron Cousins tells us how #45 is using his MAGA PAC to pay his legal fees...lather, rinse, repeat (and of course, the way PACS work is that there’s nothing legally wrong with Combover Caligula doing that – heckuva job, High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR over Citizens United)...



...and Mehdi Hasan interviews Dem U.S. House Rep Ruben Gallego of Arizona about the Dems needing to show some guts and (and boy, is this ever a damn recording!) having to FIX THEIR DAMN MESSAGING for the elections later this year...kudos to Gallego for bringing some fight to this discussion, but somehow I don’t think anybody gives a damn about Dennis Hastert any more (though they should of course)...I’ve said this I don’t know how many damn times already and I don’t know how many MORE times I’ll have to say it – do polling among your base voters to drive turnout, figure out what they care about (and maybe try NOT sneaking in a money pitch for a change...and by the way, that polling should have happened LONG BEFORE NOW), and then address those issues with policy proposals...try getting AHEAD OF THE DAMN CURVE on this stuff so the Dems actually AREN’T prone to BS Repug and wingnut media attacks later on that drive the narrative the wrong way (and I hope Gallego saves some fire for one of the two biggest culprits when it comes to congressional obstruction from his own state)...



...and turning to Vlad The Butcher and the Ukraine horror show, Ali Velshi tells us about the Russian oligarchs who have come to bad ends (and their families too in some cases, horrifically enough) under Russia’s utterly mad leader (as well as others, including journalists of course)...



...and I feel like I need something to chill out a little, and Nat is just about always “what the doctor ordered” when I'm trying to do that.

Monday Stuff

Thom Hartmann tells us that the fake concern from the “party of Lincoln” for kids doesn’t protect them from their #1 killer, which is guns (I knew there was a “poison pill” amendment preventing Congress from authorizing research into gun shootings, but I didn’t know it was called the Dickey Amendment...I also knew we had the worst “guns per person” ratio among all world nations, but I didn’t know it was MORE than 1:1...dear God)...



...and Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us more on Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s border theatrics for vehicle security checks, which didn’t find anything as it turned out, though they apparently ended up costing about $9 billion...heckuva job...and by the way, I have something to say about this “Biden moment” crap – can we lay off making fun of people’s alleged mental impairment? And yes, I think I’m being consistent here...my issue with the Gropenfuhrer isn’t the fact that he slurs or mispronounces words from time to time or forgets what he’s saying; my issue with him is that HE’S A DELUSIONAL NARCISSIST AND A SOCIOPATHIC LIAR, not that he occasionally forgets a word or two...maybe I’m being unduly sensitive here I’ll admit, but why the hell should we dovetail our talking points into related wingnut BS??!! And I'm referring to this, by the way...



...and the latest from Second Thought tells us how “Mickey D’s” wrote itself a $3.4 billion IOU, apparently (actually, with respect to the person making this video, who I definitely admire for his dedication, McDonald’s makes a ton of dough on the real estate upon which their franchises are located also, in addition to brand recognition of course, and advertising targeted insidiously to kids...and by the way, the reason why Delaware figures so prominently in a lot of corporate discussions is because that state has the easiest requirements for incorporation in the country, and it’s highly unlikely that any “corporate charter” originating from Delaware...and yes, a corporate charter is actually a thing, which is a document outlining guidelines for governance pretty much...will ever get revoked...and yeah, when income inequality is so bad that even the IMF is admitting that it’s stifling economic growth, yeah, we’re pretty much “through the looking glass”...and great job to draw a connection between tax havens and the “poor mouth” cries about not being able to provide public services)...



...and Brett Erlich gives us his take on Jon Stewart’s latest commentary, vis-a-vis the wingnuts “working the refs” pretty much as usual (NSFW/H)...as I contemplate this video (in the matter of people voting for wingnuts against their interests), I want to point out that I recently saw a white paneled van heading towards Levittown on Oxford Valley Rd. in the area of Bucks County, Pa near Sesame Place in these parts, likely driven by someone in a construction-related trade (judging by how beaten up the vehicle looked – apparently used for a lot of related work), with a whole bunch of logos on the rear windows and back doors and bumpers...one said “Union: Yes!,” but then another said “Let’s Go Brandon,” and I thought to myself, just how big of a schmuck are you anyway?...

...oh, and apparently Orrin Hatch died recently (more here) – with that in mind, I give you this great clip from Jayar Jackson (around December ’18) pointing out Hatch’s double standard when comparing President Clinton to Combover Caligula...



...and this clip from More Perfect Union tells us about the efforts to unionize cannabis industry workers and those who were fired for trying to form a “grow house” union in Colorado at Green Dragon, which apparently is a massive dispensary...just because the company is in the pot business is not a reason to assume they’re NOT corporate pirates too (NSFW/H)...



...and Caroline Johnson of Rebel HQ tells us about airlines, Delta in particular, relaxing mask mandates in accordance with CDC guidelines as a result of that ruling from that Trumpster judge (here)...



...and this is a personal selection for yours truly – just need something to help me face this week, that’s all (don't blink or you'll miss it :-).

Friday Stuff

Brian Tyler Cohen brings us the Rachel Maddow clip from last night that everyone is quite rightly talking about, where House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy denied asking Trump to resign, when in fact - oopsie! – there are tapes directly refuting that (and yeah, as Cohen says, when McCarthy lies this brazenly about that, imagine what else he lies brazenly about – NSFW/H)...



...and speaking of Republicans lying, Yasmin Khan of Rebel HQ tells us about 54 math textbooks in FLA that have been rejected by Guv Ron #DeathSantis because of “critical race theory,” which, y’know, ISN’T ACTUALLY A THING, PEOPLE!!!, at least not in elementary school (more here...clip starts off with this guy Ralph Rebandt who apparently is running on the "God ticket" for governor of Michigan)...



...well, if I had to choose between Republicans lying to me versus Republicans who may threaten to kill me, as Herschel Walker might (as indicated in this Really American clip), I guess I’d rather have them lie to my face, which I say reluctantly of course (to help Rev. Warnock, click here)...



...and turning to the latest from Vlad The Butcher in Ukraine, this DW clip tells us that the battle for the Donbas has begun (with correspondents Mathias Bolinger and Rebecca Ritters...I dare you not to get choked up by the little girl with her teddy bear near the end)...



...and Joy Reid speaks with producer Ali Arouzi and correspondent Malcolm Nance (such respect to Nance, serving as part of a 20K-strong multi-national force to protect the people of Ukraine, civilians in particular...”I’m done talking” indeed)...



...and I now give you the latest installment of "This Day In Doomsy History" from 4/22/15 - yeah, we know what Bill Maher has turned into, but back when he was actually good, he made some great points here about Republicans and environmentalism...



...and in terms of non-musical video clips, I have to end with this one – John and Ana of TYT tell us how Greg Kelly of Newsmax recently portrayed Baby Ben Shapiro as “a black conservative hero”...way too damn funny...



...and with the Maher clip in mind, I want to wish everyone a Happy Earth Day (this tune is particularly timely in light of this, unfortunately...an important update is here).

Wednesday Stuff

Yeah, we know what Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao is, but it needs to be repeated over and over, and once more, The Lincoln Project goes where the DNC and DSCC fear to tread (and to help a Dem running against the other U.S. Senatorial mistake from Kentucky, click here)...



...and “grim reaper” McConnell would be nothing without dark money to keep him in power, and Rachel Maddow speaks with Jane Mayer, someone who is truly an expert on that subject, on what Mayer has uncovered about some right-wing outfit called the American Accountability Foundation going after Biden nominees...



...and this clip includes Ana, Francesca and Kate Bettino of TYT telling us that teen depression is skyrocketing unfortunately; I’m not sure how helpful it is to include a clip bitching about social media (for the benefit of anybody who may be reading this), but I hope it’s therapeutic at the very least to include this info (I think Francesca nails this in the Greta Thunberg discussion at about 16:30...I’m sooo glad that this stuff wasn’t around when I was growing up, to be honest)...



...and on the subject of mental health, I’m sure it doesn’t help that Oklahoma just passed another anti-abortion bill that only makes an exception for the life of the mother, meaning that (as Cousins points out), women may have to carry their “rape baby” all the way to term (God willing that circumstance won’t arise, but unfortunately we know the probability that it will...utterly monstrous, and Cousins’ outrage towards the end is completely spot-on IMO)...



...and I know I’m a little late with this, but Emma V. and Nomiki Konst of The Majority Report talk about The Swanson TV Dinner Heir and his interview with that loony Penn law professor Amy Wax (NSFW/H but for a good reason as far as I’m concerned)...



...and Thom Hartmann takes a deeper dive into Lex Luthor’s Scott’s 11-point plan to return the U.S. basically to those glorious years of the 1800s (hey, @DNC, @DNCC, @DSCC and anybody I may have missed – are you going to start screaming your heads off about this, or what?)...



...well, in case anybody needs an example of how to fight back, Michigan Dem state senator Mallory McMorrow provides one here (in response to that slanderous lunatic Lana Theis – yep, this is the Repug Party now totally beholden to Trumpism – Brian Tyler Cohen explains...mildly NSFW/H)...



Update: Karoli is spot-on here.

...and it should be noted that a true legend in broadcasting left us earlier this week, and that would be Sid Mark (here), the host of “Fridays with Frank,” “Sundays with Sinatra” and the syndicated “Sounds of Sinatra” program...there was a period during the ‘90s when I can’t tell you how many times we would put in the FM crystal set in the Doomsy household and turn on WWDB-FM and leave it on pretty much all day, and we would spend quality time of sorts with Gil Gross and Pat Farnack in the AM, and then the one and only Irv Homer in the afternoon along with Kent Voss during the evening drive time, along with Dr. Jim Corea in the evening, and Sid Mark of course on Fridays and Sundays (sometimes Saturday too)...I definitely didn’t follow Mark when his program went to WPHT-AM (after Beasley Broadcasting eviscerated WWDB in 2000...Beasley and Clear Channel have pretty much destroyed non-public terrestrial radio), partly because the sound quality went down the drain (sounded like Radio Free Europe when compared to FM fidelity) and also because, as a matter of principle, I choose to do ASOLUTELY NOTHING to support AM talk radio, but it was nice to know that Mark’s Sinatra programs were still out there...didn’t grow up listening to Sinatra, but because of Mark’s show I came to appreciate “that skinny kid from Hoboken”...this was the tune that closed Mark’s program – what a wonderful legacy Mark and Sinatra both left us.

Tuesday Stuff

It really is getting to the point where there are so many damn mass shootings going on that it’s impossible to keep track of them all; this is a story about an incident at a South Carolina mall (to go with this also)...



...well, for some good news when it comes to these stories, Mehdi Hasan speaks with two Syrian immigrants (Zack Tahhan and his friend) who helped to stop the (alleged) Brooklyn subway shooter (great stuff from these guys)...



...and going from the sublime to the utterly ridiculous, Emma and Matt Lech tell us about Tucker Carlson’s documentarily trailer on “the end of men” or something – ummmm (and what’s the deal with the damn British accent? And yeah, definitely NSFW/H)...



...and Trae Crowder tells us about the recent dustup on the plane with the “Christian” guitarist and Ilhan Omar’s completely correct response (here - I'm old enough to remember a certain "Kenyan Muslim socialist" president who made a remark about people clinging to guns and religion, or something, and the wingnuts had one of the all-time hissy fits over it)...



...and Beau gives us his take on Texas guv Greg Abbott doing his best to try and ruin the economy by dumping a lot of produce to drive up inflation (here)...



...and Adrienne Lawrence, Wosny Lambre and Ben Gleib tell us that the RNC just pulled out of presidential debates – figures (stinking cowards, and all to please their orange overlord as stated in the clip...God almighty, these children have been yelling about “bias” for DAMN NEAR 70 YEARS NOW!!! TURN THE RECORD OVER, WILLYA??!!)...



...and John and Francesca tell us about 16 people being arrested protesting Joe Manchin in West Virginia (and sorry that I didn't publicize the global protests over trying to save our planet...more here)...



...and I thought this was a pretty “fly” newer tune – hope you agree.

Monday Stuff

Jordan Klepper of The Daily Show gives those CPAC lunatics the treatment they deserve here (Klepper’s special will air on Comedy Central on April 21st)...



...and John of TYT tells us about Mike Lee and Chip Roy sending texts to Mark Meadows to get some talking points about the 1/6 insurrection (with Francesca and Farron Cousins...”brother, we need something!” Just too precious...and GREAT point by Francesca about the difference between the smokescreen BS and the “parliamentary” stuff that the Repugs are doing their level best to try and enact to change the outcome of our elections...and boy is Cousins ever right too about appointing a special prosecutor for this whole mess – I definitely would nominate Doug Jones for that)...



...and Lawrence O’Donnell brings us that GREAT speech by state house rep Ian Mackey of Missouri against more anti-LGBTQ garbage from Mackey’s fellow Repug rep Chuck Basye (for support, click here)...



...but don’t worry – Basye’s party of con men and women and grifters have a plan to “save America”...for themselves, their donors and no one else, of course...



...and the latest video from Second Thought asks “What If We Just Stopped Working,” or at least, working so much (slightly NSFW/H) – hey, I’m willing to give a 32-hour-work-week a try, but good luck waiting for that to happen...should probably include this again around Labor Day to be honest...



...and on the subject of income (and saving the planet ultimately), Robert Reich and Dem U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse discuss the proposed windfall profits tax on this country's dirty energy corporate cretins (and we could actually get some extra greenbacks out of this deal while we’re at it)...



...and I realized I never officially ended my tribute to the artists boycotting Spotify over the Joe Rogan anti-vax BS on COVID, so I should probably do that now with a tune from Nils Lofgren...



...and Neil Young.

Happy Easter 2022

I hope you all you all have a happy and blessed Easter. If you don't observe anything, may you have a happy and blessed long weekend (and that goes for Passover and Ramadan too).