Thursday Stuff

Hey, don’t look now, but The Bible was one of the 41 books banned in the Keller, Texas school district (as noted here, and as we find out about in this clip), to coincide with kids coming back to classrooms, where – God willing and NRA/Mitch McConnell permitting – they WON’T have to face an actual shooter (oh, and another banned book is “The Diary of Anne Frank,” because of course we can’t let some woke dead Jewish refugee hiding in a house attic provide an example of courage in the face of one of the worst governments of an industrialized nation in human history...and as noted here, the issue of banning books in school libraries hits close to home for yours truly)...



...oh, and speaking of kids returning to school, I think this is a pretty “on the nose” ad, unfortunately, when it comes to The Land Of The Yellow Rose in particular (to help Beto O’Rourke against the thoroughly execrable Greg Abbott, click here...more here)...



...and under the category of Stupid Voting Tricks, I give you Repug Secretary of State candidate in Minnesota Kim Crockett bragging apparently about voter suppression...“which raises the question, should (disabled people or those of other ethnicity) be voting,” and the RWNJ radio host snickers of course, though of course one of her spokespeople was quick to deny it...it’s been a long time since Katherine Harris came to mind – ugh...Sam and Emma of The Majority Report explain...



...and tied somewhat to the prior clip discussing Republican voting nonsense, Thom Hartmann asks the apocalyptic (but timely, sadly) question “Will Trump Supporters End Democracy” (and the clip talks about Trumpsters going nuts in Texas, a state Trump and the Repugs won! And Thom also discusses Trump-related antics in other swing states)...



...and when it comes to Repugs trying to control women’s bodily autonomy, Ana tells us about South Carolina state rep Neal Collins, who (shockingly) voiced some regret over his vote on another ridiculous anti-abortion bill (more here)...and Ana discusses the terrible case of the woman in Louisiana who will apparently be forced to carry a headless fetus to term (here)...what country am I living in again?...



...and in a similar vein, Farron Cousins discusses a three-judge panel in FLA that said a teenager was not “sufficiently mature” enough to get an abortion, even though she met their ridiculous requirements every other way (here)...once more, if men got pregnant, there would be so many morning-after pills and so many abortion providers you wouldn’t be able to keep track of them all (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and switching topics a bit, Robert Reich gives more information on how exactly the “party of Lincoln” is LYING when it comes to claiming that the infrastructure reconciliation bill that just passed and Biden signed (I guess that’s what it’s being called) is going to provide this army of IRS agents to go after middle class taxpayers...

...and I’m REALLY going to switch the mood here with this item...yesterday marked the 65th anniversary of an obscure bit of baseball lore; long-time-great Phillies centerfielder (and announcer) Richie Ashburn (pictured) hit a woman spectator twice in the same at-bat with two different foul balls into the stands (more here)...she was married to someone working for the organization, and their son became a Phillies batboy...you truly can’t make up this stuff, people...I think this tune is appropriate for the occcasion.

Wednesday Stuff

Apparently, Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz got a little weird in the supermarket produce aisle recently while he tried to complete a veggie tray for the missus, as David Doel tells us (very mildly NSFW/H...and yes, I can verify the fact that there indeed is a Redner’s or a Wegman’s... a few, actually...but definitely NOT a Wegner’s, and who the hell goes shopping without a basket or a cart, as somebody on Twitter correctly pointed out...to help John Fetterman, click here)...



...but the big story yesterday on Action News, you might say, was President Biden signing into law the infrastructure reconciliation bill – I’m presenting Biden’s words on this from CNN (rightfully calling out the Repugs...and yeah, a lot was made over Biden giving the pen to Manchin that he used to sign the law, which I interpret as an “FU, we got this done anyway in spite of you” gesture).

(I started to watch the TYT clip on this, but I turned it off...there are plenty of other reasons to bitch about Biden and corporate Democrats and plenty of other occasions for that which are justified...but as far as I’m concerned, not today. Yes, this bill falls short in a lot of ways, but IT ALSO DOES A HELL OF A LOT TOWARDS INVESTING IN RENEWABLE ENERGY AND OTHER GOALS! And let's not forget that, if ONE U.S. SENATE SEAT had gone to the Repugs instead, there is no way any of this would have happened)...

Also (In a totally predictable development), Liz Cheney lost her U.S. House seat in a Wyoming primary congressional election yesterday (meaning that she’ll serve out her term and that will be it of course). And yes, Cheney stood up against Our Ochre Abomination and deserves credit for that, but she was a wackadoodle Repug IN EVERY OTHER WAY. And what does it tell you about what a bunch of gun-humping Trumpist maniacs her party is now that EVEN SHE was no longer crazy enough for them?

...and returning to the “party of Lincoln” and CNN once more, Brianna Keilar interviews Repug U.S. House Rep Mike Turner about AG Merrick Garland’s investigation into Combover Caligula’s abuse of secret documents (probably related to nukes) by sneaking them off to Mar-a-Lago (and yeah, as always, the deflection and obfuscation is the point, and I say that with all of the “BUT HER EMAILS!” BS in mind...Brian Tyler Cohen gives us his well-founded analysis)...



...and don’t look now, but It seems that Lauren Boebert’s husband ran over the mailbox of his neighbor...family values – riiiight! (and yeah, good point about how every little thing Paul Pelosi, Speaker Nancy’s husband of course, allegedly did or didn’t do should now be under a microscope, but Boebert’s nematode husband gets to keep this “on the QT” somehow, except for this video of course...John and Francesca of The Damage Report tell us more)...



...and I’m not sure who this caller is on The Majority Report, but she makes a lot of sense on the issue of the wingnuts on the SCOTUS overturning Roe and why their foot soldiers are so quiet about it (with Sam and Emma)...I detest these people (the zealots behind overturning Roe I mean), but they know how to play “the long game,” and our side needs to learn that too (and I feel like I need to communicate this utterly sickening related development)...



...and I'm in the mood for a summer tune for yet another sunny day in these parts - this should suffice.

Tuesday Stuff

Jim Acosta talks with longtime ABC reporter Sam Donaldson about the Trump Mar-a-Lago raid in search of (in all probability) nuclear-related docs, with a comparison to what Tricky Dick faced at the end of his presidency over Watergate with Barry Goldwater, Hugh Scott, etc. and the prospect of not surviving an impeachment vote in the Senate...if Fix Noise were around back then, Nixon might not have been impeached, and I shudder as I say that...



...and David Pakman gives us the clip of Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo searching desperately for bad news over the GREAT July jobs report from the Biden Administration (and by the way, when it comes to the July inflation rate, I give you this)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that Senate Repugs think they’ll get crushed in the midterms...but we can’t take anything for granted, people...wait until all of the dark money negative attack ads starts pouring over the airwaves after Labor Day – like you I’m sure, I’ve heard this song before, but we still have to work for the victories we can get...



...and Thom Hartmann asks if any democratic republic has survived without a free press (great question, and truly interesting history on Alexis de Tocqueville IMO...great job to try and promote media literacy...as The Eternal George Carlin once said, though, our “owners” want us to be just smart enough to know how to work the machines but too dumb to know much of anything else)...



...and this clip from More Perfect Union tells us about baristas at coffee houses leading the labor movement in Boston (“Every worker deserves a union.”...damn right!)...



...and considering all of the musical luminaries who left us last week, I missed the 75th birthday of Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull – hope it was a good one.

Monday Stuff

Gee, did I miss anything?...yep – apparently the leader of Cult 45 was (allegedly) hanging onto secret nuclear documents possibly revealing launch codes and/or other highly classified stuff (and possibly destroying them too?)...eventually this sorry POS will find himself habited at a federal detention facility...Ana and Cenk begin our “team coverage,” you might say (more here and here)...



...and John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report have more, including the thing with Wonder Boy Jared Kushner getting $2 billion from our dear friends the Saudis in exchange for...what exactly? (and gee, haven’t Jared and Ivanka been pretty damn quiet for a few days now since this broke)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us that the right-wing outrage machine is working overtime to spin this story like crazy (and leave it to Ari Ari Bobari to resurrect another ridiculous Republican zombie lie, this one about Sandy Berger allegedly stealing documents from the national archives...more here)...



...and of course, it wouldn’t truly be a story about Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence unless there was some kind of a grift involved, with our former *president trying to fundraise off of all of this...Lawrence O’Donnell gives us his take here (this segment aired before we found out that he was, in all likelihood, trying to peddle nuclear docs – and yeah, I thought this was a particularly brainless piece of pundit piffle on this whole mess, and I mean David Brooks, not Laurence Tribe)...



...and when it comes to some kind of a public response to this - well, I guess you can consider the source below (and with bad spelling as ususal as noted here, though this was far more serious of course tragically)...

...and speaking of The Roger Ailes BS Factory, it looks like Tulsi Gabbard may have finally realized her dream of grabbing her own show, with The Swanson TV Dinner Heir setting her up with a guest spot – David Doel gives us the details (I forgot about Gabbard voting “Present” on Trump’s impeachment...the first one I mean...mildly NSFW/H)...



...and RIP longtime session musician Bill Pitman of The Wrecking Crew...his expertise is featured on this tune as well as many, many others.

Thursday Stuff

Sam and Emma of The Majority Report present a clip with that loon Marjorie Taylor (“Direct and Intense Communism”) Greene spouting off with some news mannequin named Gina Loudon about what the Repugs will do to the DOJ if, God forbid, they somehow take Congress this fall (yep, still butt hurt of course about the raid on Combover Caligula’s compound at Mar-a-Lago...yeah, I think zero $$ for enforcement against politicians, and 20 prosecutors each at a minimum for BLM, Antifa, Hunter Biden’s laptop, etc. looks about right)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen takes on the wingnut talking point of “if they can do this to a former president” in response to the Mar-a-Lago raid (and gee, won’t these clowns be backpedaling like crazy if it turns out that Trump was selling secrets...but on the other hand, maybe not; they’ll just say it’s “fake news” knowing them...and by the way, when it comes to nutty Republicans, my sympathies to the friends and family of Jackie Walorski...a terrible way to go out, and I’m sorry about that, but to keep it real, I should point out that she was on this list too)....



...and in a related vein, I thought this was a pretty spot-on analysis from Trevor Noah of The Daily Show (kind of brings this to mind)...



...and Trae Crowder weighs in also (NSFW/H...”immune to irony and allergic to self-awareness”...damn right!)...



...and as long as we’re on the subject of Our Treasonous Orange Pustule, Adrienne Lawrence, Esq. tells us how 45 wanted to model his administration after the Nazis – gee, I wonder how much longer this parade will continue of “stuff we should have damn well known about at the time but is only coming out now so somebody can make some dough because they’re plugging their new book”? And why is there a twisted logic to the fact that Peter Baker of “the old gray lady” figures in this somehow?...



...and this recent video from Second Thought asks “Can There Be Innovation Under Socialism?” (interesting concrete examples from the USSR and Cuba from about 13:20 to 13:45...”’Isms’ don’t decide what gets created...people do. ‘Isms’ only decide who gets paid.”...I would tend to agree....a little surprised he didn’t mention DARPA and the internet as an example of government innovation that greatly benefitted the private sector, but that’s OK...



...and I’ve been avoiding this all item all week, but I finally have to say something about this South Korean garlic ad...kind of weird to watch the sultry model rub her hand over it the way she does (and apparently farmers in that country were outraged by the ad)...actually, garlic has a lot of health benefits, but somehow I don’t honestly believe that’s what people will take away from this whole dustup (with Ana and John of TYT)...



...and I'm not sure why I neglected to include this tune in my summer selections, but I'll keep it on the playlist from now on.

Wednesday Stuff

Adrienne Lawrence Esq. of Rebel HQ tells us about the alleged background investigation into “I Like Beer” now-SCOTUS Justice Brett Kavanaugh before he was confirmed that included about 4,500 tips that apparently got a reaction of “meh” from the FBI and Director Christopher Wray and weren’t followed up – heckuva job - and speaking of Wray...



...and related to Wray and the Mar-a-Lago FBI raid, I give you this (and this putz is a doctor!)...

...and Katy Tur of MSNBC speaks with Luke Broadwater of the New York Times, who tells us that Doug Mastriano showed up for what was alleged to be an interview with the 1/6 Committee, but didn’t answer any questions and stopped the interview after 15 minutes – typical for that big dumb oaf to think the law applies to everyone else but him, and Pompeo certainly isn’t any better...to support Josh Shapiro running against Mastriano for PA governor (and dear God, people...we CAN’T let Mastriano win!), click here...



...and as I’ve said many times, I know what The Lincoln Project is, but they keep coming up with good videos like this one (with Biden visiting Kentucky and acting like a president is supposed to, as opposed to That Ochre Abomination...more here)...



Update: And by the way, THIS is what I'm talking about!

...and I know I had that WaPo clip a couple of days ago about how the amendment from Dem U.S. Senator Patty Murray to cap insulin at $35 for private insurers failed (more here) – John and Francesca of the Damage Report comment on that also...



...and when it comes to lowdown Repugs, you’d have to go a looong way to find someone worse than FLA guv Ron #DeathSantis, who apparently is willing to let poor kids go without lunches unless Florida schools disobey the common sense nondiscrimination guidelines against LGBTQ kids from the Biden Administration (Farron Cousins tells us more)...



...and the hits just keep on coming, you might say, but I don’t mean that in a good way unfortunately – RIP Lamont Dozier also (so many legendary Motown hits he co-wrote with Brian and Eddie Holland, including this one...and catch Levi Stubbs doing a bit of a Dylan homage as well as James Jamerson’s incredible bass line).

Tuesday Stuff

I realize nobody out there has any insight into why exactly the FBI conducted a raid at Mar-a-Lago (at least, no one should anyway since the investigation is ongoing), but I think Ana and Wosny Lambre are pretty accurate here in speculating that it must have something to do with the 1/6 insurrection...and my God, are there ever a bunch of butt-hurt Repugs out there over it, which to me is pretty hilarious when you consider all of the “lock her up” chants aimed at HRC during the 2016 presidential campaign (with Bri-Fi joining the umbrage parade, as noted here – to help his opponent Ashley Ehasz, click here)...



...and Beau gives us his take on the climate reconciliation bill...kind of perversely amusing to see how quickly the outrage machine has switched from “OMIGOD THOSE HORRIBLE SOCIALISTS OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND THEIR SPENDING SPREE TO MAKE OUR GRANDKIDS SLAVES TO DEBT!” to “OMIGOD WHAT INCREDIBLE PERSECUTION FROM THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND GEORGE SOROS AGAINST OUR PRESIDENT, THE LIKES OF WHICH WE’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE!” (totally forgetting that 45 was impeached twice and encouraged an armed revolt against our government, as well as the fact that Our Treasonous Orange Pustule appointed the FBI director who carried out the raid)...



...and gee, what other head of state out there basically doesn’t recognize the rule of law unless it suits him (here)? And who does he remind us of? Give me a minute, it’s on the tip of my tongue...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that what passes for the brain trust from the “party of Lincoln” is more than a little spooked about the loss of that anti-abortion amendment in Kansas and what impact that could have for the ’22 midterms (as usual, we need to get out and do our part on that score, myself included, to help elect as many Dems as possible)...

...and I seriously don’t think it’s possible to truly communicate (at least not for me) the impact of David McCullough on our shared understanding of this country’s history – a literary titan to be sure, but also someone who brought us lessons from our past in an effort to preserve a shared future for untold generations in accordance with our founding traditions...my introduction to McCullough came via “Mornings on Horseback” and, later, “John Adams” (“The Great Bridge” has been on my short list for some time), and McCullough also effortlessly (or so it seemed) guided us through productions such as “The Civil War,” which he narrated (including in the clip below, with Sam Waterston as Lincoln reading the eternal words of The Gettysburg Address...Shelby Foote provides background also)...McCullough, quite simply, is irreplaceable, and what an enduring legacy he has left for us all...



...and because August, for some reason, is really a cruel month for this stuff, RIP Olivia Newton-John...not ashamed to admit that this one hurts.

Monday Stuff

This NSFW/H clip from Don Winslow gives Rand “Fake Ophthalmologist” Paul the treatment he truly deserves (to do something about him, click here)...



...and this clip from David Doel tells us about The Swanson TV Dinner Heir trying to ridicule Jon Stewart for Stewart’s great work to get the PACT Act passed, along with more on the history of Stewart showing up Carlson from years ago and the Fox host’s infatuation with Viktor Orban of Hungary and what that means for the “party of Lincoln,” namely, that they’ve gone completely off the rails (in case we weren’t already aware of that)...



...and Jayar, Caroline Johnson and Dan Evans tell us about the recent court rulings making a legal human sacrifice out of Alex Jones, ruling that he pay 45.2 mil in punitive damages on top of $4 mil in compensatory damages, but REAL justice would be to also punish those bottom feeders who ruined the lives of the Sandy Hook families filing the suit by harassing them day and night and forcing the families to move multiple times...



...and Thom Hartmann gives us another warning about a recent meeting of wingnuts in Denver recently who apparently are trying to change the Constitution (including through Article V...truly the stuff of nightmares...Hartmann also had a good take here on the scam that is Medicare Advantage...don’t know if these wackadoodles form the Claremont Institute are involved as mentioned here, but we’d be well advised to find out)...



...and Emma of TMR tells us that “Curtsy Kyrsten” got on board with the Manchin/Schumer inflation/reconciliation bill...as long as hedge fund managers and private equity managers can continue to “make bank” with the carried interest loophole...I think it’s pretty safe to point out what Sinema is at this point; the only issue is her asking price...and by the way, listening to “big hair” Blackburn prattle on about how farmers are going to supposedly lose over this bill is hilarious when you consider what Mango Mussolini did to our soybean farmers with that ridiculous trade war of his (here)...and yeah, blame Biden for keeping the tariffs with China in place, but who put them there to begin with? And contrary to what Vigeland says about the Dems and judges, I give you this (Biden has announced 123 federal judicial nominees since January ’21)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us about Repugs (notably Medicare fraudster Lex Luthor Scott) who are apparently FURIOUS about the IRS getting proper staffing to audit the rich in the inflation reduction reconciliation bill (also mildly NSFW/H – happy to see an edge from Cousins on this)...



...and I’m going to go out on probably a short limb here and predict that there’s going to be a big-time blow back on U.S. Senate Repugs who voted against the $35 insulin cap for private insurers (here) – this brief WaPo clip tells us what happened (more to come on this I’m sure)...



...and RIP Judith Durham of The Seekers (sorry, but I can’t help but think of “A Mighty Wind” as I watch this clip).

Sunday Stuff

Ayman Mohyeldin features the link between “Christian nationalism” and the 1/6 insurrection (and to be fair, I think Trumpster Doug Mastriano has tried to distance himself from this lunatic in charge of Gab – how con-vee-nient – as noted here, mainly because he got caught and definitely not because he came down with an attack of conscience... Mohyeldin speaks with Amanda Tyler of Christians Against Christian Nationalism, who lays out pretty well the threat behind this dangerous perversion of faith and its impact on our politics, particularly considering this fall’s elections and the 2024 contests)...



...and Mehdi Hasan tells us that corporations not paying their fair share in taxes costs us about $12 billion...nice grift if you can get it...and coming up $1 trillion short in tax revenue because of IRS underfunding (and leave it to “Cancun” Cruz to come up with a completely wrong-headed “take” on the issue...and I’m truly shocked to hear how reasonable Manchin is here; hard for me to give him credit, but I have to in all fairness for supporting the reconciliation bill, even though it’s an incredibly-paired-back version of Build Back Better...and I love Hasan’s refrain of “(de)fund the tax police”...with Pro Publica’s Jesse Eisinger...more info is here)..



...and Brian Tyler Cohen gives us this clip of Repug U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo saying he thinks the tax burden for Americans will rise from the reconciliation bill, but in reality not because of anything Biden and the Dems are doing, but because of how corporations are likely to pass off the cost of that tax burden to shareholders and their customers...and why the hell is that supposed to be the fault of the Dems? And as Cohen points out, the reconciliation bill is popular among all voters, including 59% of Republicans...also, as noted here, 5 former U.S. treasury secretaries say that this won’t increase the tax liability on anyone making under $400,000 a year...Republicans are unconscionable liars anyway, but they’re really “turning it up to 11” on this on Twitter, and probably elsewhere too (mildly NSFW/H...and once more, I have to ask where the #@!$ the concern was about tax liability over this?)...



...and Caroline Johnson, Jayar and Dan Evans tell us about this bit of performance art at CPAC from this guy Brandon Straka, who apparently is one hell of a snitch and maybe feels like he has to do a penance of sorts by portraying a 1/6 insurrectionist in a cage...



...and yeah, we’re all quite rightly having a good laugh over the campaign of Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz in Pa against John Fetterman, and it is completely deserved for all of the reasons Farron Cousins points out, but NEVER underestimate the ability of the “party of Lincoln” to drudge up slime to throw at their opposition, whether it’s actually true, or – as is usually the case – it’s based on utter lies...to help Fetterman, click here)...



...and the last performer I saw who played multiple instruments on their own track like this was Todd Rundgren, but Madison Cunningham also does that pretty well here too IMO.

Friday Stuff

John and Jessica Burbank tell us of someone involved in the 1/6 insurrection who was sentenced to 7 years in prison, and the family of this person wants Combover Caligula to be sentenced also (yep, them and about a hundred or so million other people at least, I would guess...great catch by Burbank on Edward Bernays, by the way)...



...and when it comes to the bottom feeders who cheer on the moral and intellectual decay of this country that led to the 1/6 riot (as well as other awful consequences), this Daily Show clip tells us that there’s no separation between “Tuckums” and his far right pals and David Duke and the KKK (and there’s no separation with this Hungarian autocrat either)...



...and if, after watching those CPAC nut jobs give Viktor Orban a standing “O” for invoking racial purity, you STILL want to turn the crazy meter up higher, I give you this from that loon Lauren Boebert, who says that an assault weapons ban will lead to eating dogs (oy!)...



...and Beau discusses former White House Counsel under Trump Pat Cipollone getting a subpoena (trying to get to one of the main sources of this insanity) – I thought these points were particularly interesting: 1) The DOJ usually defends executive privilege as opposed to going after a member of the executive branch that invokes privilege in withholding testimony (so, partly for that reason, they’ll know how to get through Cipollone’s arguments against testifying on certain points); and 2) The fact that the DOJ is looking at Cipollone DEFINITELY means they’re looking at the Gropenfuhrer also...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report discuss that corrupt U.S. Senate Repug guttersnipe RoJo trying to cut Social Security – GREAT analysis...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History,” and I know I’m REALLY late with this since I originally included this video on 7/31/11, but I think it’s pretty timely given the prior clip...Bernie Sanders talks about Chucky and Dave Koch doing their demonic best to try and dismantle Social Security (more here...and it’s just Chucky now of course, though, given his funding against efforts to combat climate change, he wants to help burn down the whole damn planet, not just seniors in this country who would be made to work until 70 at least if Koch had his way)...



Update 8/7/22: More here.

...and I’m going out of order again with putting up Second Thought videos, but I’m doing that because it has a lot to do with what I posted about here, with the title of “Why Are Dems Funding Far-Right Candidates?” (and I’m sure the other side has been doing comparable stuff for awhile, but that doesn’t justify the scheme as far as I’m concerned)...unfortunately, I think he makes a great point about how, when capitalism fails, it’s replaced by fascism and not socialism, as we saw with Hitler and Mussolini around WWII of course, and how Dems are, arguably, playing into that with that ridiculous strategy to support Trumper lunatic Doug Mastriano and his wretched ilk...another terrific analysis of our political and economic structure in this country IMO – the goal of the political class (including our bought-and-paid-for corporate media) is to preserve the wretched status quo for our economic class, ultimately – maybe not a “news flash” but important to consider all the same...



...and given the temperature in these parts, I think this tune definitely fits...please keep hydrated and look out for anyone you know of who could be oppressed by the heat (elderly, homebound, kids, pets, etc.).

Wednesday Stuff

This clip form More Perfect Union tells us about a potential rail strike that could affect about 115,000 workers; the Biden Administration is trying its hand at mediation to arrive at a contract that would avert a work stoppage (definitely not a good result for most of us while trying to head off a recession, but it’s still important to support the workers striking for equitable pay, time off, benefits, safer working conditions, etc...there is a history behind rail strikes of course – the illustration above shows the U.S. Army breaking up the 1893 Pullman Strike...the work action ultimately led to the signing into law of recognition of Labor Day by President Grover Cleveland the following year, as noted here...probably a few weeks early in pointing this out I know)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us about the DCCC and other like-minded organizations using their funds to hype election-denying pro-MAGA candidates (“gobsmacking” and “dunderheaded” doesn’t even begin to describe this as far as I’m concerned; I had a lot more to say about this here)...



...and it seems that TX guv Greg Abbott was busy at a Huntsville fundraiser hosted by his pal Jeff Bradley after the Uvalde school massacre (and Bradley got a little bitchy when questioned about it apparently – Ana with Jessica Burbank...more here)...



...and David Pakman tells us about Kansas – Kansas! – voters defeating an anti-abortion amendment...I pretty much agree with Pakman’s coverage here, since I’ve seen pretty much the same anecdotal analysis elsewhere also – you can be sure that the other side is going to look at this and try to change their messaging for future upcoming contests on this issue, but it’s pretty damn hard to get around the inescapable fact that the “shadow docket” SCOTUS took away a hard-earned right enjoyed by nearly half of this country for about the last 50 years...



...and keeping with the theme of the prior clip, Sam and Emma and the Majority Report crew discuss the consequences of the Dobbs ruling in polling data so far, also considering the good news from Kansas last night, though nothing is “written in stone” of course as the panel says; they may be correct that, tragically, more stories of women probably dying of sepsis from untreated ectopic pregnancies will emerge, combined with the likelihood that that will impact public polling and support for abortion...still unbelievable that we’ve reached this barbaric state in this country, but the fundamentalist nut jobs have been itching for this fight for 50 years – now let them live with the result...and yeah, GREAT point that “Caribou Barbie” once railed about “death panels” from Obamacare – well, what the hell do you call what we have now based on this...highlighting the following below...

...here is the video...



...and happy birthday to the incomparable Tony Bennett.

Tuesday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us about Our Treasonous Orange Pustule of a Former *President deciding to bury his first wife on his golf course in NJ for tax breaks...Bedminster to be exact; I’ve given up thinking “oh well, he can’t go any lower than this,” because he always ends up proving me wrong - wonder if you have to take a penalty stroke if your ball hits the marker?...



...and Don Winslow recently produced another great video on the Georgia U.S. Senate contest between Dem incumbent Raphael Warnock and Repug challenger Herschel Walker (to help Warnock, click here – Walker needs help also, but more of a medical variety I would say having nothing to do with a job in public service)...



...and John, Jessica Burbank and Ramesh Srinivasan discuss an anti-oil company ad; yep, these price-gouging criminals are more responsible for inflation than anyone else (and let’s not forget the horrible SCOTUS ruling in the West Virginia case, as noted here, and how trying to emasculate the EPA from regulating pollution plays into this)...



...and David Pakman tells us about that OAN loon Alison Steinberg pleading for libs to watch her channel, given that her trash network has been pretty much de-platformed by all the major telcos by now – couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch...



...and Sam and Emma and the crew from The Majority Report tell us about Trudy Busch Valentine running in the Dem U.S. Senate primary from Missouri (vote is today), who apparently doesn’t know what Citizens United is...just say “oops” and get out (support Lucas Kunce instead)...



Update: Busch Valentine won - ugh!

...and Beau gives us his take on Biden taking out Ayman al-Zawahiri (here)...yes, there are always going to be unintended consequences when stuff like this happens, but Beau makes a hell of a good argument IMO for killing this absolutely horrible bad actor in that region...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen gives us an excerpt of Job Stewart talking to Chuck Todd about U.S. Senate Repugs voting down the PACT Act, in particular "Cancun" Cruz; I believe the “party of Lincoln” will indeed come back to this and help pass the bill, given how mercilessly they’re getting roasted on this, which is completely deserved (NSFW/H, with a GREAT finish by Cohen IMO)...



Update: The bill finally passed - and that worthles POS Toomey STILL VOTED NO!!

...and with the thermometer ticking upward again, I'm in the mood for a beach tune, so here goes.

Monday Stuff

I think the title of this Don Winslow video says it all – 7 Years, No Indcitment...



...and as long as the Gropenfuhrer remains free to walk among non-criminals, he poses a threat to our way of life, as Thom Hartmann tells us...kudos to Hartmann for continuing to point out how Our Ochre Abomination was motivated by the former leader of Nazi Germany (including the threat to put “undesirables” in internment camps...great stuff from Hartmann here also)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen gives us a clip of Dem Ohio U.S. House Rep (and Senate candidate) Tim Ryan blasting the “party of Lincoln” over their opposition to the CHIPS Act (Bri-Fi voted Yes because he’s not a total idiot, despite his other issues...to do something about him, click here – more here)...



...and speaking of Republicans Behaving Badly, this from Meidas Touch tells us about members of the “party of Lincoln” currently blocking the PACT Act in the U.S. Senate (more here)...



...and John and Jayar tell us about Matt Gaetz making fun of pro-abortion activist Olivia Julianna – an update appears below (kudos)...

In the same week I raise $2 million for abortion funds, I get to stand alongside such fierce advocates like @JasmineForUS @CandaceValenTX and a true Texas legend @wendydavis.

Texas women will not stand for this. We are fighting back, and we will win. pic.twitter.com/3hJ0MUA0EI

— Olivia Julianna 🗳 (@0liviajulianna) July 31, 2022

...and Ana K., Rayyvana and Mark Thompson of TYT discuss Josh Hawley’s screed about masculinity, as if Hawley would have the first clue about that (GREAT point about what a joke the “fidelity” thing is given that Hawley was fronting for Mango Mussolini, he of the many women suing him for all manner of sexual misconduct)...



...and this next clip pays tribute to someone who stood for something that Hawley and his ilk will never be, and that is truly a role model – RIP Nichelle Nichols, who of course portrayed Lt. Uhura on “Star Trek: The Original Series” (clip is from “The Search For Spock,” which I think had some inspired moments, but also some other stuff that required suspending belief, to be kind...and also, though he and the Celtics beat the Sixers pretty regularly, I have to pay tribute to Bill Russell as well, who truly was a warrior, you might say)...



...and I don't think the first clip in this post required much of an explanation, and I believe the same holds true for this fairly current musical selection.

Sunday Stuff

John I. and Abelina Sabrina of The Damage Report tell us about Chick-Fil-A putting up a posting on social media advertising a job that pays in sandwiches in lieu of actual money...not surprised that this is illegal, but it’s also laughably ridiculous given that company’s profitability and alleged religiosity...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us about “Strip Search Sammy” Alito taking a victory lap of sorts over the Dobbs SCOTUS ruling that eviscerated Roe (and yeah, I guess those in attendance, in lieu of laughing or applauding, could have just rattled their jewelry and that would have been good enough...yep, Alito sure turned the cringe meter up to 11, didn’t he...more here...and yes, I linked to this on Friday I know)...



...and I had to include this clip from David Doel also about John Fetterman’s contest with Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz, who apparently went on a European vacation while Fetterman expanded his lead...yes, this is encouraging, but as Doel points out, we have a loooong way to go until November, and the “party of Lincoln” can run a whole bunch of BS attack ads until then, but as long a Fetterman keeps driving the narrative, that will put him in a good position (and that indeed is a lesson for other Dem candidates...and kudos to Little Steven of course too...to help, click here - mildly NSFW/H)...



...and there’s a possibility of rain in these parts for overnight, but other than that, I think the title of this tune fits for the temperature at the moment.

Friday Stuff

I know this clip on the SCOTUS is presented as a bit of a joke, but it has the tragic consequence of being completely accurate (definitely NSFW/H...more antics from “Strip Search Sammy” are here)...



...and we recently had to deal with one of the more inane stories to grab headlines, with VP Kamala Harris taking flak, you might say, over introducing herself to a meeting of folks with disabilities...I think this David Doel clip kind of runs on a bit, but he makes good points; however, I think the criticisms of Dems and their admittedly cozy corporate ties can wait for another video, but that’s OK, and I’m getting a little tired of people like Doel saying Dems have delivered nothing at all, as opposed to just saying that they’ve fallen short on student debt relief, reclassifying pot from a Schedule 1 drug, etc. (and with this in mind too) – listening to Lara Trump makes me want to rub a cheese grader over my head to get her to shut her mitt...mildly NSFW/H...people losing their minds about identifying yourself with pronouns apparently have no familiarity with Linkedin, for example, where that happens all the freaking time...



...and this More Perfect Union clip reminds us that CEOs have enjoyed soaring pay during our current bout with inflation, as opposed to their employees (and let’s not forget that the thoroughly odious practice of stock buybacks was legalized by The Sainted Ronnie R...Target is profiled here, but there are a hell of a lot of other culprits also...670 to 1, huh? Welcome to The Gilded Age II on steroids)...



...and as long as we’re on the subject of inflation, I give you some truth on this subject from Robert Reich...



...and I thought this Second Thought video offered a pretty thorough critique of working under capitalism, but not so much about working under socialism, though I think he pretty much acknowledges that we really don’t have a one-size-fits-all working example to look at on that, though the discussion about the health care professionals in Cuba is definitely important to consider (and ownership of the means of production, if you choose to refer to it as such, is definitely something I think we should explore)...



...and Beau tells us about the Biden Administration trying to plant 1.2 billion trees to fight climate change, something else I’m sure his administration won’t get credit for from our corporate-owned beltway media that can’t get through a news cycle without trying to gin up a controversy of one type or another...can’t wait for the caterwauling from Fix Noise and the usual right-wing suspects on this...



...and sticking with science matters, this DW report tells us that Vlad The Butcher has apparently decided to stop cooperating with this country on the space station as of 2024; from the report by Lea Albrecht, it sounds like the station was likely to reach obsolescence by that time anyway, though I’m sure the fact that we’re helping to arm Ukraine helped hasten the decision, which is just too bad for Putin as far as I’m concerned...



...and I hope this tune helps us ease into a nice, lazy summer weekend for everybody.

Thursday Stuff

Mehdi Hasan interviews former Repug U.S. House Rep Carlos Curbelo over the brown shirt Turning Point USA rally last weekend in #DeathSantis Land, which also turned out to be a rally for the Gropenfuhrer of course, complete with Nazi flags and other regalia (a sneaky little bit of “both siderism” here from Curbelo; I’m not saying lefties are perfect by any means, but I don’t see an equivalent on our side to the neo-Nazi garbage and what led up to the 1/6 insurrection)...



...and I know the prior Rachel Maddow video got into all of the “Christian nationalism” stuff, but I think it’s important to keep beating that metaphorical drum, which University of Oklahoma professor Samuel Perry does here, interviewed by Victor Blackwell of CNN...



...and any religious imagery associated with the “party of Lincoln” is a particularly sick joke as far as I’m concerned given what has transpired from “the world’s greatest deliberative body” on Capitol Hill over the PACT Act (here)...Jon Stewart truly spits NSFW/H fire on this, as well he should; this may be the worst dragging “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey has ever received, and it’s completely deserved...



Update: More here.

Update 7/29/22: Offered without further comment...

This is the fist bump everyone needs to be talking about.

Ted Cruz and fellow Republicans celebrating after blocking a bill to help toxin-exposed veterans survive. pic.twitter.com/wJvRseE7B4

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) July 29, 2022

...and Farron Cousins tells us that, if God forbid Repugs find a way to take over the U.S. House this fall, yeah, get ready for all kinds of Hunter Biden garbage (or, maybe not - can never quite tell with that bunch), and Dr. Fauci pretty much says, have at it, hoss, as Cenk Uygur might say (and Cousins is referring to this, by the way)...



...and I thought this was very insightful clip from David Shuster of Rebel HQ, who tells us about a Michigan man apologizing to the LGBTQ community for his words and actions, and those of others I’m sure, towards the man’s “suite mate,” presumably someone he shared a room with while in college, who killed himself...



...and I'll just keep going down my summer selections list with this tune.

Wednesday Stuff

I’ll bet you didn’t know who Gerald L.K. Smith was before this recent Rachel Maddow video (well, maybe you did)...apparently, he’s the one behind the whole “Christian nationalist” stuff in this country, and you can draw a line (including the anti-Semitism) right from Smith to Repug PA gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano and Marjorie Taylor Greene...apparently, this clip got Greene’s panties all in a knot – hey, if the wingnut shoe fits, wear it (and to support Josh Shapiro running against Mastriano, click here)...



...and sticking with the Keystone State (which is a commonwealth, actually, to split hairs), John and Wosny Lambre of The Damage Report tell us about wingnut U.S. House Rep Glenn Thompson, who voted against a same sex marriage bill and then attended his gay son’s wedding (double standard much? And Thompson, for the record, is also on this list)...



...and as long as we’re dealing with LGBTQ matters, Sam, Emma and company at The Majority Report tell us about the idiotic right winger getting thrown out of Petsmart for complaining about a pride flag...GREAT point at the end by Sam about going to corporations and telling shareholders you don’t agree with the damn flag instead of picking on store employees likely working for a hell of a lot less (more here)...



...and it also appears that the NY GOP is working extra hard to try and spin this admittedly idiotic incident with Lee Zeldin into some kind of attack made possible by Democrats somehow, with a cat-faced fob somehow turning into brass knuckles with daggers, or some such nonsense (oh, but the Monroe County DA could have charged this guy Jakubonis, but she’s working for Zeldin’s campaign...how con-vee-nient...Jayar and Jessica Burbank tell us more)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that GOP pollster Frank Luntz says Trump could ruin everything for the ’22 midterms for his party – we can only hope, and let’s all work to make that a reality of course (I think Cousins is right to consider the impact of COVID, as well as the fact that Luntz is definitely NOT an impartial observer here, but we should ALSO consider the impact of the SCOTUS gutting Roe, and yeah, that will have an impact too, which probably has yet to be decided)...



...and closer to home, this local news report tells us that the Central Bucks School District basically instituted a book ban; they can call it whatever they want, but that’s what it is – oh, so now I guess Dr. Abe Lucabaugh, superintendent of the district, is now a critic of English literature also??...



...which makes me recall this clip (from this great film)...



...and speaking of books, I guess we’d better keep the one in this video away from Lucabaugh too :-).