It is my sincerest wish that all of the alleged media geniuses and Dem politicians out there getting a case of the vapors over a couple of stumbles by President Biden in a goddamn debate would pause briefly from inflicting their OMIGOD BIDEN HAS TO STEP DOWN IMMEDIATELY! HE HASN'T DROPPED OUT YET!! WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM??!! hot takes and watch this video instead (and I guess the latest nonsense in that vein is here) – yes, once more, I know what The Lincoln Project is, but they’ve identified the threat from Our Unconscionable Ochre Ogre pretty well IMO (and yes, Biden has work to do, but I would also ask that you consider this...and more on Project 2025 is here)...
Update 7/10/24: I’m the last one in the world to back Chuck Schumer, but to give you an example of how ridiculous the media feeding frenzy has gotten, somehow “listening to donor concerns” morphed into “Schumer Open To Dropping Biden” (here).
...and it looks like Robert Reich is planning on a series of clips to remind us just how horrid a time we had under Bronzer Beelzebub, which cannot be overstated enough as far as yours truly is concerned...
...and Jesse Dollemore brings us this clip of a military vet on Tik Tok (@jswagenius) blasting Repugs for fake patriotism...yeah, it’s a pretty good quick summation of all of the ways that the “party of Lincoln” talks out of both sides of their face when it comes to what they profess to believe vs. how they act...great point about the missing “WWJD” stuff...
...and Ana and Cenk of TYT discuss Arizona iced tea CEO Don Vultaggio, who, to this point, hasn’t raised the price of his products, to his credit, also like Costco, since he apparently doesn’t feel the need to screw over his customers (and Costco hasn’t either)...and as far as I’m concerned, Cenk is SPOT FREAKING ON about what happens when you become a publicly traded company, and he and Ana are a thousand percent correct about the so-called strategy of taking on too much goddamn debt...I keep these two on a short leash, you might say, comparatively when it comes to these videos because they often leave out context or twist their commentary to support the dreaded “both sides” narrative, and they do so again here by not mentioning that U.S. Senate Dems are trying to do something about price gouging as noted here...
...and Thom Hartmann brings us the sorry story of the University of Flori-DUUH! trying to terminate DEI positions to comply with an edict from Ron #DeathSantis to get rid of related programs...yep, straight-up racism pretty much, as Thom says...
...and I would say that this tune resonates a bit with yours truly on a certain level...I really don’t know much about these two, but I definitely want to hear more.
Farrons Cousins tells us in this video that Combover Caligula thinks (using the term loosely I'll admit) that the recent horrible SCOTUS ruling will erase his felony convictions in the Stormy Daniels hush money case – uh, no...most likely not, for the simple reason (as Cousins points out) that the charges in question have to do with actions that occurred before the Gropenfuhrer ever made it to An Oval Office...
...and with the prior clip in mind, Leeja Miller discusses How Our Ochre Abomination Profits From Being a Criminal...$12 million prosecuting that POS just between April and September of last year? I guess I shouldn’t be shocked, but I am...clip is also an important rehashing of the Citizens United horror show...Miller also takes a look at the truly seamy nature of so-called “leadership PACs”...she’s right about the FEC not showing a heck of a lot of leadership on this issue, though I would argue that that also has to do with the fact that there are 3 Repug members as well as 3 Dem ones with no tie-breaking Dem vote to stop Repug obstruction (as Miller explains)...interesting (but disgusting) summary of the financial shenanigans between the MAGA Inc. Super PAC and the Save America PAC...pretty good explanation of how our utterly rigged justice system favors the wealthy and utterly screws over the poor...I didn’t know the campaign donations flowed in after Bronzer Beelzebub’s conviction in the Stormy Daniels case ($53 million), but I’m not surprised – no end to the nonsense from the gullible suckers and rubes out there...also didn’t know about the ties between the Trump campaign and Project 2025; the former is merely greasing the skids, you might say, to put the latter into place...the top 100 donors gave $1.6 billion in the 2020 campaign; if that isn’t proof that our election system is utterly broken, I don’t know what is (NSFW/H)...
...and Yasmin Khan, Cenk and Sharon Reed of TYT bring us the story of this Mark Robinson lunatic in South Carolina saying some people “need killing” – gee, I wonder who he’s talking about? Lefties? OF COOUUURRRSE!...I obviously don’t agree with Cenk about pulling Biden, but Cenk’s point about the double standard on violence is spot-on (and for the record, I don’t support violence against anyone either)...and I’m almost numb to the fact that this dangerous garbage took place at what supposedly is a house of worship, as Sharon Reed points out, but I know I shouldn’t be...
...and David Doel tells us about Labour winning big in the recent U.K. elections, despite lower vote totals than in previous election (which means that the country overall was pretty much done with the Tories, with the “Reform” party undercutting them big time...works for me)...it looks like Keir Starmer will be the incoming Prime Minister (and I think it’s fair to compare the “Greens” to “Reform” in terms of the overall vote; I’m certainly not an expert on U.K. politics, I should emphasize...and based on this, it looks like France has taken an unexpectedly leftward turn also)...
...and returning to elections in this country, Beau discusses President Biden’s recent interview with George Stephanopoulos and $11 million (the approximate value of a 28-mniute prime time ad, which you could argue this was...sounds like the “normies” were basically OK with what Biden was saying, putting aside the fact for a minute that Biden is a gaffe machine as Beau says, something which we should all know by now...I believe that policy is what matters instead of verbal slipups like saying “goodest” or whatever...more here and here)...
Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about the remarks from that Heritage pantywaist Kevin Roberts threatening violence against “the left”...with due respect to Cohen, he quite rightly mentions Project 2025 but doesn’t elaborate much; I thought Leeja Miller made a great video on that that you can link to here...and I don’t know who the $#@! decided that Michael Knowles, of all people, is supposed to be some arbiter of morality (The Daily Wire assclown putting down IVF and comparing it to rape), but it was nobody I know and nobody I would take seriously if I did...all of these scenarios get scarier by the minute, but the one from Glenn Kirschner about the “pardon kiosk” from Cantaloupe Capone may be the scariest of all...
...and this TYT clip brings us Dan Goldman and Summer Lee swatting back the idiocy of Nancy Mace, Marjorie Trailer Park Greene (of course) and Tim Burchett, with Mace asking who can identify female biology, basically, proving once again that the wingnuts think gender and biological sex are the same thing, WHICH THEY FREAKING AREN’T (and Mace says she was “rape shamed” by the left? Any proof for such a disgusting charge? Did anyone involved with that publicly apologize? What date and location for this? Bring some goddamn receipts!)...and I guess “black letter law” is the new wingnut line getting beaten to death, since they apply that to Dobbs I guess but were too dishonest to admit that they’d never apply it to Roe – figures...
...and when it comes to U.S. House reps actually standing up and doing the right thing (along with Lee and Goldman), Farron Cousins tells us that AOC plans to file articles of impeachment against at least one of our thoroughly bought-and-paid-for SCOTUS justices (I’m not taking issue with Cousins blaming Biden for not doing anything on the “High Court”; I know he’s right, but there are a lot of other reasons why the Court is corrupt, and I know Cousins knows that)...
...and this clip from More Perfect Union tells us about Dem Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson guaranteeing vacation days for all workers, as part of his effort to make The Windy City the most pro-worker location on the planet, to quote Johnson...and of course, the pro-business caterwauling in response (and I can’t think of a single time when the Chamber of Commerce types yapped like this and they were actually RIGHT) begins in three, two, one...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from about 7/5/11, in which the late, great Ed Schultz takes on income inequality in this country, pointing out that it was worse here than in Pakistan...that was 13 years ago, and an update is here...
...and I thought this was a clever bit from Bette Midler concerning our Theocrats in Robes on the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR; a small “nit” I have to pick is that I wish she’d put a message at the end telling everyone to vote and where to get registered online (you could try here), but that’s OK...
...and RIP Robert Towne, who won an Oscar for best screenplay for the legendary noir pic “Chinatown,” even though he did indeed have a battle with director Roman Polanski over the story (noted in the Times obit as well as this great book), but I would say that the fruits of all of that turned out to be sublime in terms of movie making (the pic marks its 50th anniversary this year, BTW)...Towne also was an active screenwriter in the ‘70s and ‘80s also (this clip is the film’s climax, including the memorable line at the end)...
...and after a week that has proven to be a bit disheartening to say the least, I think we can use a newer tune to help us refocus, and I think this is made to order to do just that.
Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us of Brave Sir Josh Hawley doing the “Christofascist” thing apparently in front of some “faith and freedom” audience, or something...I definitely believe religion is important, but it should be largely kept to oneself unless you choose to try and lead through example and NOT impose your beliefs on anyone...when it comes to Repugs, it is ALL ABOUT PROJECTION, in case we somehow don’t know that by now...and yeah, the Lochner era SCOTUS was pretty bad and I have no memory of that of course, but I cannot imagine how this current High Court isn’t worse...and when it comes to promoting the approved “Christian” faith for the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR, it’s “feels over reals” as the kids would say (NSFW/H)...
...and I’m going to stay away from anything from Emma Vigeland if it has to do with punditry, but here, she speaks with Professor Joanna Wuest on securing rights for LGBTQ individuals...important history on what I guess you could call the intersectionality of rights for gay/queer people with labor movements including teachers, and of course the push back from life forms like guv #DeathSantis in Flori-DUUH!, and John Briggs in California who faced off with Harvey Milk in the ‘70s...and I should have probably known that the poverty rate was higher for LGBTQ people, but I’m glad that was pointed out here...important also to note the lukewarm support for LGBTQ rights by businesses (the Bud Light/Dylan Mulvaney episode speaks volumes, unfortunately, but at least the North Carolina bathroom ban blew up on the wingnuts as noted...apologies for not really saying or doing much for Pride Month in June, which ended earlier this week of course)...
...and Robert Reich gives us some cautionary words on immigration, including the fact that it could potentially grow our economy by $7 trillion over the next decade...I’m putting aside the argument in favor of immigration having to do with basic human decency and rewarding people who have made the sometimes unholy sacrifice to come to this country in search of a better life (and I didn’t know about the comparative safety of border towns, but yeah, that makes sense too)...also interesting that immigrants pay more in taxes than they get in government benefits, but since that completely flies in the face of wingnut propaganda, I believe that as well...
...and Thom Hartmann tells us how U.S. House Repugs including “MAGA Mike” Johnson are helping fentanyl smugglers across our border, most of whom are U.S. citizens...the problem is that there are appropriations bills stuck in the House that would allow for the purchase of scanners that would nab these shipments before they get into this country, but of course the “party of Lincoln” has to make the border an issue for Our Ochre Abomination somehow, health and well being of this country be damned...
...and happy 100th birthday to actress Eva Marie Saint, shown here in “Exodus” with Paul Newman of course (screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, who stepped from behind aliases he was forced to use during the McCarthyite purges and essentially broke the blacklist by going public once more...Trumbo did this with the sizeable help of film director Otto Preminger and Kirk Douglas, who gave Trumbo the screenwriting job for “Spartacus”)...
...and I present the following as a bit of a holiday meditation...
…and I guess this counts as another “This Day In Doomsy History” entry, since I first put it up about five years ago...
...and best wishes for a happy Fourth to one and all.
(I actually posted over here, shockingly enough; don't know if I'm going to get the WP site up and running again or not.)
Yes, I know what The Lincoln Project is, and no, I haven’t forgotten about Rick Wilson’s horrible ad comparing disabled Vietnam vet the late Max Cleland to bin Laden many moons ago, but (God help me) Wilson is absolutely right in this instance about the Dems needing to “suck it up” and keep fighting, including this guy (but again, as I said yesterday, the "bedwetting brigade" comment was WAAAY out of line and the person who made it should apologize...and speaking of boneheaded remarks, allow me to share this - gee, misogyny much, JR?)...
...and I think this quick NSFW/H video from Vote Vets sums up the position of yours truly pretty well (and millions of others I’m sure)...
Update 1: And while we engage in the typical hand-wringing on our end, the other side has stepped up the eliminationist rhetoric (here), just to remind us of who our REAL enemy is (and I checked and could find no record of military service for Kevin Roberts, so my guess is that, if shots were fired for real, the first thing he would do is soil himself - more here).
Update 2: I will acknowledge that the Biden camp has issues to deal with. However, this definitely isn't one of them.
Update 7/5/24: Interesting responses IMO are here and here.
...and Farron Cousins tells us about a ProPublica story telling us how Trump has rewarded people called to testify against him, basically trying to buy their silence like the mobster he is...so OF COOUURRSE Bronzer Beelzebub is threatening to sue over it...and yes, Cousins is exactly right; if, God forbid, Our Treasonous Orange Pustule gets back to An Oval Office, he will exact revenge on everyone and everything...
...and I’ll admit that it takes awhile for me to get around to these clips from Leeja Miller, but even though they’re long, they’re excellent and I want to make sure I give them the proper attention...in this one, she takes a look at actual “fake news”...I didn’t know about the Rand analysis in 2018 called “Truth Decay” (clever)...also didn’t know how bad the misinformation around COVID was in February ’20, though maybe I should have; anybody who deliberately spread lies or propaganda about masks, social distancing or the vaccine itself has blood on his or her hands as far as I’m concerned since that likely contributed to unnecessary deaths...”The platforms want us fired up, but in a way that keeps us doom scrolling” indeed...pretty damning stats on what has happened to Xitter since King Elon I took over...that Jill Biden deepfake is genuinely scary, until of course they give away the game at the end (NSFW/H)...
...and this clip gives us some important history on the 1964 Civil Rights Act, brought to you by the Democratic Party over the fierce opposition of whites (many former “Dixiecrats” who ended up switching to the Republican Party for good); the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Act was yesterday...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 7/1/12 (I’m going to try and dig up more of these, to be honest, because I’m pretty pissed at some of the online people I usually link to because they’re all weak in the knees over Biden’s debate performance...THE CHOICE IS BETWEEN AN ADMITTEDLY SOMEWHAT DODDERING OLD MAN AND A DELUSIONAL SOCIOPATH WHO WANTS TO BE DICTATOR....WHAT THE HELL ELSE IS THERE TO THINK ABOUT??!!)...there has been some opining from so-called “principled” Repugs who profess that they won’t vote for Cantaloupe Capone (though HEAVEN FORBID that they would vote for Biden), and that includes former U.S. House Rep Paul Ryan of Wisconsin here (who only did everything in his power to make the “one percent” as comfortable as possible at our expense when he was in Congress)...given that, I think it’s important to bring back this “Worst Persons” segment from K.O. concerning Mr.-Puppy-Dog-Eyes-With-The-Shiv, when Ryan was against budget reconciliation before he was for it...
...and I’m going to sneak in another NSFW/H video from Jonathan Pie on the U.K. elections, which are probably just about to take place – not exactly the most ringing endorsement for Labour, but I guess that’s as good as it’s going to get...
...and apologies for being tres late on this one, but RIP Kinky Friedman...we’re in a bit of a tough patch for satirical singer-songwriter-musicians, probably at a time when we could use them the most (NSFW/H also).
Meidas Touch (with Ben Meiselas and Michael Popok) bring us the horrid SCOTUS ruling on Mango Mussolini and presidential immunity (thank God this ruling wasn’t handed down prior to Watergate, or Nixon would have been completely exonerated, though I’m not sure about the stuff with Clinton and Monica Whatsername)...I knew this was bad along with everyone else of course, but Popok’s analysis of Almost Silent Clarence Thomas basically giving cover to “Judge” Aileen Cannon to trash the special prosecutor is particularly infuriating (more here)...
...and that sentiment is echoed here by Glenn Kirschner with Brian Tyler Cohen discussing this utter travesty from our Theocrats in Robes, and this may be the worst ruling of them all (and that’s saying something...one hell of a takeaway from Kirschner starting at about 14:20...paging Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin – looks like you have more work to do, whether you want to do it or not)...
...and Beau tells us what we all should already know by now (though I'm sure some of us don't), namely, that there is ABSOLUTELY NOT ONE GODDAMN THING IN THIS UTTER HORROR FOR ANYONE TO CELEBRATE!!! (unless you're #45, Leonard Leo, or our 6 Philistines in Robes on the High Court of course...and I'm loathe to give credit to The Philadelphia Inquirer to be honest, but they've been "killing it" lately, and they do so again here)...
...all of which may hasten the arrival of a day as dark as the one depicted below, hopefully not in an example of art imitating life...
...and John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report tell us about Our Ochre Abomination humiliating himself in front of CEOs, still promising more stinking tax cuts (OF COOUURRRSE!) along with the stuff about no longer taxing tips from tipped workers (who should be paid a serious living wage anyway so tips wouldn’t be necessary, but I digress), a policy that I’m sure Cantaloupe Capone has forgotten about already...and yeah, he’s promising to overturn more regulations on the heels of the SCOTUS kneecapping the Chevron ruling from 40 years ago...
...and given the calamity of yesterday’s SCOTUS horror show, I don’t think we should be seriously talking about last week’s debate any more, but I’ve been meaning to include this great clip from Lawrence O’Donnell and I don’t want to pass it up, talking about, among other things, Combover Caligula’s inability to understand what a tariff is...interesting perspective on Dem operatives losing their sh*t over Clinton’s paltry polling over the summer preceding the ’92 election, which turned out to not matter since Clinton won of course, and I honestly didn’t know that about Jason Chaffetz endorsing the Gropenfuhrer after saying at first that he wouldn’t, but it surprises me not in the least...also didn’t know about Hubert Humphrey having the disadvantage he had in fundraising because of entering the ’68 campaign so late (with LBJ dropping out and RFK’s assassination), but I think that’s important context also...
...and God, I hope the Tories get bounced in the UK elections this Thursday, but I fear that would represent a gain not for Labour but Nigel Farage...love to be wrong (Jonathan Pie is back again...very NSFW/H as per usual)...
...and I had something else completely in mind to include as a musical selection, to be honest, but I just can’t add it now...the context for this one doesn’t completely apply I know, but when I’m p*ssed off (and I believe we all should be at this moment), this is one of the songs I want to hear (and in terms of the pic immediately above, I offer this).
Update 1: Gee, I guess the Huffington Post is now bored with the fact that our Supreme Court just gave the president dictatorial powers, and we can rely on Dementia J. Trump to use them if he ever, God forbid, gets the chance (and once more, yes, Biden had a bad debate...but how many people are aware of the fact that #45 JUST MADE REFERENCE TO A FICTIONAL CHARACTER AGAIN AS IF HE WERE A REAL DAMN PERSON!!! – here).
My gripe with HuffPo has to do with this (and as far as I'm concerned, this is an example of the media "tail" wagging the metaphorical dog)...
My take, for what it's worth? As long as Biden has so much as a pulse with any discernible brainwave activity, then we should automatically support him versus the other guy who wants to trash our government and make himself ruler for life (and probably adding his wretched family to the mix also).
Oh, but we ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE our online lefty circular firing squad, right? We absolutely MUST have Emma Vigeland blaming Ruth Bader Ginsburg for not stepping down earlier and calling once more for Biden to be replaced (I’ll let you find it on Xitter, dear reader). And I don’t know if the Biden people have managed to scrape together the few moments from the debate that they want to highlight and make a video to be distributed on social media, but if they haven’t, WHY THE F*CK NOT?!
I believe what I need to do is spend less time doing this and more with actual voter outreach of some type in Democratic campaigns, since I think that gives us a much better chance of saving our country than generating online blatherings for like-minded folks who also want to put the brakes on our slide into some corporatist “Christian” oblivion. Who’s with me?
Update 2: Based on this, Lloyd Doggett should make it official and sign up here.
Update 3: All of that being said, whoever it was in the Biden White House who came up with that “bedwetting brigade” line should be fired on the spot and forced to apologize (here).
I just thought I should mention, while we’re wringing our hands over President Biden’s recent debate performance (happily cheered on by our corporate media of course, which wants to see #45 return, God help us, for more tax cuts), that our Ideologues in Robes on the High Court recently handed down a decision which, as Brian Tyler Cohen and lawyer Glenn Kirschner point out, could impact many aspects of our lives that we’ve come to take for granted, and that is to overturn the 1984 Chevron ruling granting power to administrative agencies to make sure our air is fit to breathe, our water is fit to drink, etc...the “one percent” pulling the puppet strings of our politicians and judges have been trying to find ways to kneecap federal administrative agencies for years, going back at least to the days of the Teahadists around 2010 or so and probably even before that...this Court should be barred from ever uttering the phrase “stare decisis” again since they plainly don’t respect it, on this issue, Roe, gun control, voting rights, etc....a very minor sliver of light here is that this ruling supposedly will have no retroactive effect on already-decided cases, as Kirschner points out (and this isn't surprising either, is it?)...
...though our Philistines in Robes intervened on behalf of emergency abortions in Idaho, so that’s something – Thom Hartmann, though, tells us that the Supremes basically kicked this decision back to the lower court so another anti-abortion case wouldn’t be a factor against Combover Caligula in the fall election...the Supremes also blew up the Sackler immunity deal, but of course the “big ticket” issues affecting the majority of people’s lives in this country are what matters the most, such as blocking Biden’s air pollution plan and ripping apart the SEC’s fine capability, saying jury trials are required instead (wonder if the Inquisition is next for this bunch – I probably shouldn’t ask)...I didn’t hear his report on who supposedly put the SCOTUS in charge of everything – I’ll do some research on my own about that...
...and it looks like our renegade SCOTUS basically knee-capped the 1/6 prosecutions over the fact that the Sarbanes-Oxley law was used to go after those participating in the insurrection; apparently the case that was the source of all of this had to do with a cop named Fischer in Lebanon, PA (here) who participated in the treasonous events of that fateful day...so it sounds like Hangin’ Judge JR is putting official functions of the U.S. Congress in the same priority as zoo animals and trash-talking football players? I’m no “legal eagle,” but I would say that that’s a pretty demented interpretation (completely shocked that KBJ joined in this awful decision, but I guess it’s more important for her to be in the club and play both sides, if you will – Anthony Vincent Gallo of Occupy Democrats tells us about this latest mess)...
...and under the heading of “marginalizing the homeless even more”...well, I guess it isn’t surprising that our Theocrats in Robes ruled that cities can criminalize homelessness (here)...somehow I can’t envision that this ruling will spur an increase in investing in services for people that are unhoused, though I’m sure it will spur an increase in breaking down encampments and herding the homeless off to jail or some other Dickensian fate...the comment at the end that it cost three times the $ to incarcerate someone who’s homeless vs. providing shelter should appeal to conservatives, though it won’t of course...and I’m sure the “Catholics” on the High Court are emulating “Republican Jesus” here by telling the homeless to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” (snark mode off)...
...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report give us their take on the fallout from the debate...I’d like to know more on whose decision it was not to have debate fact-checking...if it was Biden’s, then that indeed was an unforced error IMO...at least Daniel Dale was FINALLY able to prove that every word out of the mouth of Our Treasonous Orange Pustule was a damn lie, as per usual...one saving grace from this debacle is that Our Ochre Abomination didn’t appear to get much of a post-debate “bounce,” and hopefully that will hold; if Biden were running against #DeathSantis or Nikki Haley, this election might very well be over (and let’s not forget the “black jobs” and ”Hispanic jobs” garbage from you-know-who also as noted here)...
And by the way, I’m going to give Philadelphia’s right-wing “paper of record” credit for this courageous editorial and NOT assume that they wrote it because they want to see Governor #DeathSantis or Nikki Haley enter the presidential contest instead of Cantaloupe Capone.
...and RIP Martin Mull, performing one of his signature tunes with Glen Campbell (definitely enjoyed Fernwood 2 Night back in the day with Fred Willard...I believe it was on “Austin City Limits” where I once saw Mull basically turn his guitar into a pedal steel by using a baby bottle...genius!)
No, I didn’t see the debate. I haven’t watched presidential candidates’ debates for years, probably ever since Poppy Bush got rid of the League of Women Voters. Besides, my opinion (for what it’s worth) has always been that, if you need a debate to make up your mind about a candidate, then that’s a big problem right there because it means you haven’t bothered to inform yourself on the person you claim to favor (what legislation they support or pass, what policy they want to see enacted, what their public statements are, who aligns with them, etc.).
That being said, what I’m reading is that Biden was factually correct in his answers, but he was slow and halting in his presentation most of the time, and now people on our side are losing their minds (the dumbest take I’ve seen so far has come from John Iadarola, which is actually shocking to me; he said on Xitter that, if Biden still runs, the SCOTUS balance will end up 7-2 or 8-1 or words to that effect, envisioning every single terrible scenario at once...anything is possible, but if that isn’t an example of the left eating itself, I don’t know what is). Some have even suggested that Biden needs to step aside for Kamala Harris. If that happens, then (God forbid) Trump just won the election.
Oh, and speaking of Mango Mussolini, he did what he always does, and that is to lie like crazy. The kids use the term “gish galloping,” which I believe means to throw any manner of falsehood out there and see if anything sticks, and #45 did that of course. That by itself is why I refuse to watch any debate in which he’s involved. This human misery has already been coddled way too much by people with power and influence despite ANYTHING that he has said or done, and that has a lot to do with leading us to our current sorry state.
Also, heckuva job, CNN, to allow Our Treasonous Orange Pustule to lie unchallenged in real time (and kudos to Mark Hamill for this - Update 6/29/24: I'm hearing that the "no fact checking" thing might have been a condition from either the Biden or Trump people, to be fair, so it's possible that that wasn't CNN's decision...if I find out more, I'll update this post.).
I saw a video by David Pakman on this last night that I thought was a pretty honest look at the debate, and this one by Beau seems to capture the situation well also...
Update 1: Yeah, I think this comment from Biden is spot-on.
Update 2: Howie Klein, to his great credit, takes the long view, as we all should (here).
Update 3: Words from a guy who knows something about winning presidential campaigns (here).
Update 4: I think he's dead wrong on Israel, but otherwise, kudos to John Fetterman (here).
...and ZOMG! Why, Ross Douthat, Ezra Klein, Michelle Cottle, Frank Bruni, “The Moustache of Understanding” and Nicholas Kristof all want Biden to drop out. Gosh, that settles it, doesn’t it?(here).
I wonder if Friedman is going to ask any French-African cab drivers what they think of the debate (here)?
Our corporate media helped to legitimize Former President Fergus Laing’s every lie, screwup, paranoid ranting and attack against a real or perceived adversary, so to say that they’ve lost credibility at this point is a cosmic understatement.
Update 5: Some more perspectives that I would say are sane are here and here.
Update 7/5/24: Of course, the Times has no problem giving precious column space to assclowns like this guy.
...and while we’re wringing our hands over the debate, I’d like for everyone to keep in mind this clip from More Perfect Union about how President Biden is taking on neoliberalism and reshaping our economy...”as long as share prices were going up and consumer prices were going down, there was no problem” about neoliberalism at first, and “The pie got bigger, but fewer people got a slice of it” indeed...pretty comprehensive look back at our economy going back to The Sainted Ronnie R...I also didn’t know about Jake Sullivan’s report on the decimated middle class in this country and how that was foundational to Biden’s economic policy...as the video tells us, it’s taken a long time for neoliberalism to play out, and it will take awhile for post-neoliberalism to play out also (but if, God forbid, Combover Caligula gets back in, all of that progress will stop dead in its tracks)...
...now, onto other stuff (referencing the pic at the top)...Steve Schmidt of The Warning talks with Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, running against Lex Luthor Scott in “the sunshine state”...I wish she’d been a little more forceful about the voters who were entrapped by Ron #DeathSantis, but kudos for bringing it up...the whole disgusting story of those tricked into thinking they could vote is here (and she’s right about legalizing recreational weed...I’ve been a little squishy on that issue to be honest, but I’m tired of reading about people’s lives being ruined over this)...not too comfortable with Schmidt’s “normal people” phrasing, I must say, and I don’t think he’s correct about Tim Ryan in Ohio – I read that Ryan turned away help from D.C. Democrats, though I will acknowledge Schmidt’s implied belief that the national “D” party establishment is largely incompetent, unfortunately (and by the way, I wish she’d bothered to work in some info from here on how Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act has benefitted, and will benefit, Florida...example 4,218 of Democrats screwing up on messaging again!)...
...and staying in that location pretty much, Farron Cousins tells us that Trumpster judge Aileen Cannon actually did something right; she rejected Trump’s legal team’s request that they throw out FBI evidence gathered at Mar-a-Lago, with said evidence being pretty damn central to the case (as Cousins says, though, we shouldn’t get our hopes up too high because, given Cannon’s track record, she’s likely to do some more awful stuff again)...
...and Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg gives another master class in blowing up BS wingnut talking points, this time on EV vehicle sales, when confronted by PA’s useless Repug, subpoena-defying U.S. House Rep Scott Perry (any proof on "bribes"? Naah, didn't think so.)...between Perry, Dan Meuser, and Mike Kelly, it’s really hard to pick who’s the worst from "Pennsyltucky," but Perry is right there in the mix (Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about it; more on the Climate Corps is here...NSFW/H)...
...and in the matter of the veep pick for Our Ochre Abomination, Sam Seder of The Majority Report tells us that J.D. Vance of Ohio has apparently positioned himself pretty well (with Vance giving a totally nothing answer in response to a softball question on Fix Noise...more here and here)...
...and lest we forget, our friends across the pond will hold “snap” elections on 7/4, oddly enough, and with that in mind, Jonathan Pie gives us his take on Liz Truss and the Tories (NSFW/H also)...
...and I need a newer tune for a bit of escapism, to tell you the truth...I’m not sure how much I communicated my disgust above with voters who think that politics are a WWWF steel cage match as opposed to the careful crafting of legislation and policy in the hope of achieving a consensus to help the majority of this country, but yeah, it gets pretty infuriating and deflating to deal with individuals who care only about the train wreck as opposed to supporting the candidate who’s done the most good (with our corporate media cousins cheering on the freak show as opposed to doing their jobs of educating and informing their viewers)...at least the weekend is nearly here.
Thom Hartmann does a little “wingnut decoding” here and presents the truth behind “post-Constitutionalism” and what these corporatist a-holes mean, which to me is a variation on this Article V crap about trying to tear up that foundational document and enshrine something for the benefit only of the corpocracy...interesting to look at 1900 and how far we’ve come and other important history including Social Security and the Wagner Act (more here)...
...and if it’s a day in June with a “y” in it, then that means it’s time for another SCOTUS garbage decision, and this time it apparently hinges on the difference between a “bribe” and a “gratuity” as far as our theocrats in robes are concerned, and kudos to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson for cutting through all of this BS...Anthony Vincent Gallo of Occupy Democrats explains (more here)...
Update: And this tells us about today's horrific ruling.
...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ brings us the story of AZ Repug Shelby Busch of Maricopa County threatening to lynch an election officer named Stephen Richer, who is also a Repug (after Busch sez she wants to run “a good Christian foundation campaign”...yeah, tell me another one, lady...and check out all those elderly boomer f*cks booing when Richer quite rightly says that the 2020 election wasn’t stolen...and I can say that b/c I’m an elderly boomer f*ck too :-)...and Busch is tied to the equally loony Kari Lake and an “election integrity” group, because of course she is...also, another Trumpist nut job, some “pastor” named Jeff Durbin, said that women who’ve had abortions should be executed, echoing similar garbage in “the land of the yellow rose” (here)...I wonder how shocked people like Durbin would be to find out this?...and yeah, it looks like one of Dementia J. Trump’s ruinous progeny thinks Daddy’s criminal convictions will be an election asset, or something – yeah, you go with that if it helps you, Uday; we’ll see what happens...
...well, in direct opposition to that nonsense, Farron Cousins lets us know that the criminal convictions for Bronzer Beelzebub are driving away voters (something to keep in mind for tonight’s debate)...and it looks like Nikki Haley is STILL getting 15-20% of the Repug primary vote even though she’s long gone as a candidate...imagine the corporate media caterwauling if this were, say, Biden running as a challenger with Bernie Sanders having dropped out but still bringing in 15-20%...but since it’s Trump, naaah, we don’t want to report on anything to handicap him since that hurts the “horserace” narrative...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 6/25/19, with something else to keep in mind for the debate...remember when Our Treasonous Orange Nightmare tried to sneak that citizenship question onto the 2020 census form in an effort to drive down minority voter participation? Uh huh...it was basically a scheme to ty and keep about 4 million POC from voting...it was overseen by Trumper Wilbur Ross, who was in charge of the census bureau and who lied in his testimony before Congress about it, and gerrymandering expert Thomas Hofeller had a hand in the question also...Trumpers John Gore and Mark Neuman were involved as well (more here)...the citizenship question was ultimately not included on the census form, but I’m sure it’s only because the scheme was found out (I’d sure like to see Mango Mussolini get called out for that tonight, but I won’t hold my breath)...
...and on this day in 1966, the Mothers of Invention (with Frank Zappa of course) released their debut album “Freak Out” including this tune...just trying to mix things up a bit here.
I neglected to point out the recent 2nd anniversary of the hellacious Dobbs decision from our theocrats in robes on the SCOTUS, but Rachel Maddow did so here with a report on how anti-choice efforts are getting punished at the polls...good! (Maddow speaks with Dem U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar)...
...and as long as we’re talking about The Supremes, I should give you this from Mike Figueredo in which we learn that this bunch has decided to take up the matter of banning gender affirming care for trans youth...sounds like this hinges on whether or not banning such care is tantamount to sex discrimination, which it plainly is IMO, and if so, it would trigger heightened protections...and yes, it needs to be mentioned once again that KIDS AREN’T GETTING FREAKING BOTTOM SURGERY!, and they’re only getting it at 18 after a lot of counseling (more here)...
...and related to another big story, you might say, David Doel provides commentary on the loss of Jamaal Bowman’s NY-16 U.S. House race to George Latimer yesterday...yes, this is deflating to be sure, but unfortunately it was pretty much expected (I thought this was a good take on what was going on, and the redistricting was a big factor also)...I’m going to go out on a very short limb here and predict that, if Latimer wins in the general, he won’t serve more than a single term; such will be the case of "buyer's remorse" (mildly NSFW/H)...
Update 6/27/24: More great stuff from kos here...and I can’t think of a word to describe how pathetic it is that Senate Dems allowed Josh “Running Man” Hawley to steal their thunder on the bill to cap credit card interest rates at 18% (which is still too damn high IMO...another “triumph” for Senate Democratic “Leader” Chuck Schumer)...I predict that, if Hawley wins re-election, he’ll sabotage his own legislation and kill this bill.
...and Robert Reich takes a pretty deep dive into why Our Treasonous Orange 34-Count-Convicted Felon-Awaiting-Sentencing is partnering with Christian Nationalists (maybe because #45 thinks they’re gullible saps, which they are...??)...
...and timed a bit for tomorrow night’s debate, Jesse Dollemore informs us that the Biden campaign has come up with a clip on the times when Our Ochre Abomination forgot what he was doing (a fitting response to those carping about “No Malarkey Joe” being some kind of a doddering old man...if I make it to 81, I hope I’ve got it going on like “Dark Brandon”) – yep, it’s always about projection with the wingnuts all right...I may have included this clip already, but I’ll do it again here, and I may do it again later...we’ll see (slightly NSFW/H)...
...and here's a seasonal selection to help us mellow out a bit, hopefully.
Retired Army Major Richard Ojeda brings us the news that a recent Fix Noise poll had President Biden up nationally vs. Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence, believe it or not, with #45 losing what’s left of his mind over it...good news before the upcoming debate...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that Truth Septic has lost about $2 billion of its value, with more losses to come, and it appears the only thing that will save this utter dog of an investment vehicle would be the disastrous circumstance of Our Ochre Abomination getting elected this fall...all the more reason to do all we can to prevent that...
...and just as a reminder, life forms such as the owner of this vehicle are some of the people we’re up against...
...and Combover Caligula recently announced that he wants to get rid of the income tax and put tariffs on EVERYTHING, apparently...when you have even Larry Summers coming out against you, then you know it’s time to “dial it back” a bit...Lawrence O’Donnell tells us about this in a spot where we also learn about Reed Smoot of Utah, voted by a state legislature to the U.S. Senate in 1902...also, Willis Hawley of Oregon in the House – these two knuckleheads (yes, both Republicans) got together on the Smoot-Hawley bill in 1930 to increase tariffs and plunge this country deeper into the Great Depression (a feat that, apparently, Bronzer Beelzebub wants to replicate)...
...and Emma of The Majority Report tells us about a report from Lester Holt of NBC News concerning a Michigan County jail which made some kind of a deal with a telecommunication company for video visits to make bank, apparently, and banning in-person visits, which is cruel and inhumane in and of itself, and apparently this monstrous practice is going on nation-wide (and of course, it doesn’t help one bit that the woman prisoner profiled apparently was trying to defend herself against an abusive partner, but ended up in the slam for it)...
...and Eric Gardner of More Perfect Union brings us the tale of a revolt brewing against ultra-wealthy sports team owners looking for tax breaks...I honestly didn’t know how bad of an owner John Fisher of the Athletics was – pretty eye-opening stuff about him not spending the dough to keep the club running...it sounds like the goal is to keep the club in Oakland, but for Fisher to not have any role whatsoever...and it appears that the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals are looking to move from Missouri to Kansas as noted here; no idea if there’s pushback on this from the existing fan base, but it wouldn’t surprise me...
...and it looks like Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is back with a new band and a great new tune...hope you enjoy.
Update: By the way, I know there are people out there celebrating the freedom of this guy. You can definitely leave me out of that group.
As far as I’m concerned, Julian Assange posed a threat to our military and intelligence assets, quite probably leading to the deaths of some in the latter group (here). He served the aims of Vlad the Butcher in contributing to destabilizing the U.S. and other governments, and, at the risk of rehashing the failures of the Hillary Clinton for President campaign in 2016, did his best to help install Combover Caligula to do Daddy Vlad’s bidding (and oh yeah, get 3 SCOTUS justices installed who killed Roe and have inflicted additional horrors and still-untold ones, to stay nothing of helping to saddle this country with a *president who utterly botched our response to a global pandemic).
Yes, Assange revealed abuses by our government and others as noted here. But he did so in the service of one of our country’s greatest threats, who continues to wage a bloody war in Ukraine with no end in sight.
(Oh, and OF COOOUURRRSE Assange's freedom is cheered on by Marjorie Traitor Greene.)
So let him slink off to Australia to spend the rest of his days on Fitzroy Island exploring the Giant Clam Farm, or something. Good riddance!
Farron Cousins informs us that a Texas megachurch pastor aligned with the Gropenfuhrer was forced to resign after charges came out that he molested a 12-year-old girl...some guttural POS named Robert Morris...kudos to Cousins for pointing out that Morris is NOT a drag queen or an LGBTQ individual...and again, imagine the wingnut and corporate media outcry if this Morris guy was actually affiliated with a Democrat, but since it’s #45...ho hum, boor-ing! (more here)...
...and this local news report from Flori-DUUH! tells us that Governor Ron #DeathSantis just vetoed $32 million in arts funding, threatening about 7,000 jobs...no explanation why of course...what an utter pinhead (here)...
...and Jesse talks about Louisiana rep Lauren Ventrella having a meltdown over being asked some simple questions from Boris Sanchez of CNN, who does more good work as he did previously with that numbskull Tom Tiffany...I realize this dim harpie refuses to acknowledge that there’s a larger issue involved, namely with the FREAKING ESTABLISHEMENT CLAUSE OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT OF THE FREAKING CONSTITUTION THAT YOU WINGNUTS PROFESS TO FREAKING CARE ABOUT SO DAMN MUCH!!! (and yes, this has to do with the law to post the 10 Commandments in all state classrooms)...
...and David Doel tells us that climate activists recently threw orange power on Stonehenge (and apparently they were also busy at a golf match as noted here)...it looks like they raised the $$ they were looking for, it should be noted...”The issue isn’t public support, the issue is political will” indeed...and I think it’s perfectly reasonable to compare the atrocities of “Bibi” in Gaza and the UK’s two-child benefit cap to an attack of orange cornstarch...
...and Ben Gleib and Cenk of TYT inform us of the alleged SCANDAL!!! that Dem U.S. Senator Jon Tester of Montana ACTUALLY DRIVES A PRIUS!!! OMIGOD!!! And the person doing the screeching of course is Repug Tim Sheehy, running against Tester for the Dem’s Montana U.S. Senate seat (as noted here, though, Sheehy definitely has his own issues)...
...and happy belated 80th birthday to Ray Davies of The Kinks.
