Tuesday Stuff

Somehow I had a feeling it would be J.D. Vance - anybody who thought Trump would pick a woman or an African American must be suffering from a wholly undiagnosed form of delusion (here and here...also, there is this, this, and this)...



Update 1:...

...and Thom Hartmann gives us his take on how Mango Mussolini and his minions will use the shooting to try and shut up Dems from complaining about our slow creep to fascism (apparently Reagan had a bit of a revelation on nuclear disarmament after his shooting in ’81...and in case you see our corporate media trotting out the beyond-tired narrative of “oh, that was when we all got along and Tip O’Neill had a beer with The Sainted Ronnie R”...well, that’s BS of course, and Reagan had only been in office for a few weeks and was still a pretty unknown commodity, as opposed to the head of Cult 45 with his ruinous record as *president and his continual embrace of violent rhetoric and, in the case of Charlottesville, violent actions...and "Joe Scar" is somehow a casualty of the "cvility police"?? We're "through the looking glass" on that one IMO)...



Update 2: Yeah, this sure figures, doesn't it? Doesn't sound to me like this kid was much of a "lefty."

...and continuing with the would-be assassination in Butler, PA, Jesse Dollemore tells us about the completely predictable rush to judgment by “the usual suspects” including Bo-Bo Boebert (who, based on this, should tend to her own house first before she criticizes anyone else) and Marjorie Traitor Greene, blaming President Biden and the Dems for the shooting (yeah, Nancy Peolsi’s husband was almost killed by a nut wielding a hammer...but somehow SHE is to blame also?? And GREAT point by Jesse about the “nutter butters” out there wanting immunity for their orange “hero,” but they also want any local yokel in existence to be able to file charges against Biden for any reason...you can cut the stoo-pid with a knife here...and yeah, I know that’s a metaphor)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us that “judge” Aileen Cannon, taking her cue from Almost Silent Clarence Thomas, tossed the Trump secret documents suit, which, as Cohen says, was predictable given Thomas’s advisory opinion saying Jack Smith was illegally appointed somehow, which, in addition to being utterly wrong, also violates SCOTUS precedent apparently...we’ll see what the 11th Circuit does next...and good point by Cohen that, if Merrick Garland had just let a DOJ attorney handle this instead of a special prosecutor, we probably wouldn’t be in this mess...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (sort of) from 7/15/14, in which Cenk Uygur of TYT tells us about Fix Noise (mainly, the beyond useless Greg Gutfeld and Andrea Tarantos) accusing the “old gray lady” of being bigoted against Catholics for running an ad that the network doesn’t like, from the “Freedom From Religion” Foundation in response to the typically ridiculous SCOTUS ruling in the Hobby Lobby case, alleging that the ad attacks Catholics...I’m sure you’ll be utterly shocked to learn the ad did NOTHING OF THE FREAKING KIND!!! And that’s putting aside the fact that, as Cenk rightly points out, Catholics are a majority on the SCOTUS.

(That being said, I have to tell you that I just don’t know what to do about TYT at this point since I’m pretty fed up with them generally. I recently saw a video with Ana Kasparian and John Iadarola commenting on J.D. Vance currying favor with Dementia J. Trump by Vance’s fact-free smears against Democrats, and for about the first 2 ½ minutes, the clip rightly called out how Vance for that, but Kasparian made sure to say, “Oh, the Dems are guilty of the same thing.” If she means politicians trying to inflate their egos and their alleged accomplishments in order to suck up to their “betters,” I agree. If she means VP Kamala Haris trying to kiss the metaphorical butt of the leader of a party of treasonous insurrectionists who want to effectively end Democracy, my only response is, “Are you on crack, lady?” And even David Shuster, commenting on the aftermath of the Butler, PA assassination attempt, came right out and said that if somehow Trump softens his tone or whatever, he’ll win in November. Nobody knows that – what the hell is wrong with you?)

Here's the TYT clip...



...and she’s going to be at State College on October 4th and Doylestown on October 9th near here, just to let you know – I’m sure tickets are available (here).

Monday Stuff

OK, let me just put out a reminder that the only person I ever encouraged violence against at this site (rightly or wrongly) was Osama bin Laden, and fortunately, that’s pretty far in the rear-view mirror at this point. And despite what Our Treasonous Orange Pustule wishes for everybody who opposes him, I’m glad he wasn’t seriously hurt by something that apparently was an assassination attempt on Saturday in our beloved commonwealth.

However, do not expect me to “bend the knee” for a guy who routinely traffics in violent threats and makes common cause with those seeking to do violence to this country from within and without. Also, it seems that the cretinous guttersnipes angling to be his VP nominee are already blaming President Biden and the media of course, so they plainly have learned absolutely nothing from this incident. I believe it was Malcolm X who made the arguably inappropriate observation that the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was a case of the “chickens coming home to roost,” and that’s pretty much how I feel about this (and not for nothing, but the #1 search term on Xitter after the shooting was “staged”...just saying).

Besides, I have NO DOUBT WHATSOEVER that Combover Caligula will somehow come up with some kind of a “commemorative portrait” of the incident that he’ll be happily hawking on Truth Septic ($29.95, for a limited time only with Trump’s signature) in the immediate future.

Update: Well, I was close.

Now to the videos...to begin, John and Mondale Robinson of The Damage Report tell us about Cantaloupe Capone saying that he doesn’t know anything about Project 2025, which is yet another lie... GREAT point by John saying that somebody should ask Bronzer Beelzebub what it is in Project 2025 that he’s against (more here, here, here and here)...



...but turning once more to “the big story on Action News,” you might say, Beau gives us the latest on the assassination attempt...I think “be comfortable with uncertainty” is wise for now (including both anyone jumping on the “staged” bandwagon as well as anyone contorting themselves to find a way to blame Democrats somehow...interesting T-shirt selection I must say)...



...and let’s not forget which of the two candidates wants to abandon NATO and side with dictators, including Vlad the Butcher – I know we know this, but it bears repeating; it’s definitely not #46...



...and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is shown here defending Biden after the press conference in which #46 quite rightly praised NATO (comments have to do with treatment of our military)...



...and Jesse Dollemore, just back from Scotland, gives us some polling data that looks favorable for Biden, thank God (good for Jesse for calling out Cenk Uygur for claiming to support RFK Jr...I’ve seen some commentary out there somehow trying to draw an equivalency between what happened in Butler, PA with the attempted assassination of The Sainted Ronnie R, and I would argue that there is NO connection; Reagan had just been sworn in weeks prior to that and was a pretty blank slate as president, whereas Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence has a pretty sordid track record that he’s trying to run away from...and this is probably the best blog post I've seen on the election)...



...and Robert Reich is back to debunk another myth about our allegedly wonderful economy, and that is the one that “taxing the rich is socialism”...and it should be noted that stock buybacks used to be illegal, until the aforementioned “Saint Reagan” changed that (here)...



...and I guess “that’s a wrap” on the recent U.K. elections with this typically pithy commentary from Jonathan Pie on, among other things, “50 Shades of Beige” Sir Keir Starmer...humorous stuff, but also a warning for non-crazy politicians to deliver for their constituencies...



...and it doesn’t look like we’re going to get a break from the heat in these parts anytime soon...please be careful.

Friday Stuff

I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less), and this time we’re taking a short trip back about a year ago to 7/11/23, in which we learn about everything our thoroughly corrupt SCOTUS is blocking from the Biden Administration, including student debt relief (and it looks like Biden is taking another crack at that as noted here...and does anyone seriously think this would be taking place if, God forbid, the leader of Cult 45 manages to win another term in office?)...



...and when it comes to corruption on the High Court, the focus quite rightly has been on “Strip Search Sammy” Alito and Almost Silent Clarence Thomas, which is as it should be, and with that in mind, this Democracy Now! clip with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez features an interview with author Adam Cohen on the Abe Fortas resignation from the SCOTUS in 1969 (video is from last year)...GREAT point about Dems caving on Fortas, including Walter Mondale and Joseph Tydings of Maryland – what’s past is prologue on that score, it seems...the money behind the Fortas scandal was a pittance compared to now – really, the wingnuts wanted Fortas out because of a free speech ruling, with individuals like Strom Thurmond screaming that the ruling allegedly legalized p*rn (more on the “Fortas Film Festival” is here)...



...and Alex Wagner talks more about the relationship between Fortas and LBJ and the $20K Fortas accepted from financier Louis Wolfson, which Fortas returned...again, presenting this to show what “small potatoes” the Fortas stuff was compared to the Thomas and Alito garbage, though I have to say that Fortas consulting with Johnson while on the High Court was a no-no (video is also about a year old)...



...and returning to the present moment, Farron Cousins tells us that Bronzer Beelzebub resurfaced recently from the golf course and acted once more like the lunatic that he is, telling his minions to pass something called the SAVE Act, which re-criminalizes something that’s already illegal (God, what a bunch of nitwits!)...



...and as a bit of a “compare and contrast” exercise, I give you recent speeches from Biden (defending NATO) and Mango Mussolini (???) that took place on the same day...



...and David Pakman gives us this clip of Dem U.S. House Rep Jake Auchincloss defending President Biden in front of this Fix Noise male mannequin named John Roberts (another one)...I wish EVERY GODDAMN WISHY WASHY DEM OUT THERE (including this guy, who I usually respect and is apparently stepping down) would PAY ATTENTION TO THIS!!!...



...and RIP union organizer Jane McAlevey, who has left us at way too young of an age at 59...



...and I now offer a bit of a seasonal mediation in the hopes of getting some wet weather in this locality.

Thursday Stuff

More Perfect Union tells us the story of Charles Koch trying to corner the nitrogen fertilizer market in Iowa/Missouri and raise prices out of sight for our farmers...typical (and leave it to this cretin to somehow try and blame “government”...when the time comes for him to depart this world, his remains should reside in a trash bin and not be interred because it would likely contaminate the soil and groundwater for miles...more here)...



...and Beau gives us a recent commentary on the election in a little under four months...for whatever my take is worth, I believe it’s going to be tight until the end, with our ridiculous corporate media doing everything it can to cheer on the “horserace”...“It’s important to remember that a lot of people are voting out of self defense”...indeed...



...and Jesse Dollemore discusses Combover Caligula caught lying about not knowing about Project 2025...didn’t know about that disgusting garbage with John McEntee giving out counterfeit money to the homeless (here) so they’d get arrested (NSFW/H)...



...and in a related vein, Brian Tyler Cohen brings us the pathetic tale of Our Treasonous Orange Pustule of a former *president trying to hawk money with his mugshot... truly no bottom for these life forms (also NSFW/H)...



...and speaking of fake Trump money, I recently visited a local establishment near Le Manse Doomsy for lunch and came across this bill...

...and this was on the back of the bill...

I don’t know how legal it is to be passing out something like this, but I thought I’d put this out there...just add it to the pile of at-least-borderline-illegal behavior from Cantaloupe Capone.

Returning to the videos, I give you a clip that’s a few years old to commemorate the passing of this guy...TYT and John Iadarola, along with Desi Doyen (who knows what she’s talking about), discuss what I would call Jim Inhofe’s most infamous moment, along with the great response from Dem U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (also including that knucklehead Jimmy Dore and Dave Rubin before he too went to the “dark side” – also NSFW/H)...



...and happy 65th birthday to Suzanne Vega.

Wednesday Stuff

Lawyer Glenn Kirschner, in this “Justice Matters” segment on the next legal mess for Mango Mussolini, explains, among other things, why the “executive privilege” claim, in all probability, won’t wash with Judge Tanya Chutkan as evidentiary hearings go forward; as Kirschner says, Combover Caligula can’t claim such a privilege when HE ISN’T THE SITTING PRESIDENT...also, all kinds of witness testimony from the New York case is likely to be introduced in this one in D.C...as Kirschner says, though, the “guilty” verdict that matters the most is one that, God willing, will be handed down on November 5th (towards which we all need to do our part, of course)...



...and in a related item, the “feminist Lawyer” tells us how a national abortion ban could take place in this country – see the above item about us needing to organize and get out the vote to ensure that this NEVER happens (and in addition to making it plain that these lunatics from the “party of Lincoln” do indeed want a national abortion ban, this clip tells us about the horrendous ruling from this SCOTUS in overturning the Chevron doctrine – more here)...



...and keeping with the legal stuff, Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Dem U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Sheldon Whitehouse asking for the DOJ and Merrick Garland to conduct an investigation into Almost Silent Clarence Thomas...and boy, is Norm Eisen ever right about what the wingnuts did after 1964; I know I’ve said this before, but we need to take that page from THEIR playbook and learn that lesson once and for freaking all!!! (organizing, spending money wisely...MESSAGE FREAKING DISCIPLINE, PEOPLE!!! (ugh!...more importantly, this idiot)...and I definitely share Cohen’s opinion of Merrick Garland)...



Update 1: Kudos to AOC in a related item here.

...and I’ve got one more law-related item, and it’s from Michael Popok of Meidas Touch – an Alaska Trumpist judge was forced to step down because of allegations of sexual misconduct, somebody named Joshua Kindred (citations are from May, but they became public on July 8th)...and Popok's right about Biden and the SCOTUS, but in addition to another term in the White House, he also needs a Democratic U.S. Senate, and we need to make sure THAT happens also...among other things, that means defeating Larry Hogan in Maryland, “gold bar” Menendez in New Jersey, etc.

(By the way, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m trying really hard to avoid commentary from people saying Biden should drop out...1) The existential threat we face from Bronzer Beelzebub requires that we don’t do that unless Biden starts drooling and blabbering incoherently in front of a camera or a microphone, or pulls a gun on somebody; 2) That ignores the practical reality of putting together a presidential campaign, and the only person I’ve seen in corporate media who appears to understand that is Lawrence O’Donnell, and 3) Yes, Biden could have done better in the debate, but at least he knows what facts and reality are, as opposed to the guy who, aside from demonstrating rampant, unrepentant criminality, made another reference to a fictional character, compared a former president to a tennis icon and remarked about recently discussing hot dogs with Frank Sinatra and, apparently, Luciano Pavarotti as noted here.)

Update 2: Oh look, a fact-free rant about airports...from a guy with his own private jet (here).

Update 7/11/24: Definitely not the biggest fan of Coons, but he's spot-on here.

Update 7/19/24: God almighty, he referred to Lecter as a real person AGAIN! (here).

Here is the Popok clip...



...and it looks like there’s another weather-related horror show from Hurricane Beryl going on in The Land of the Yellow Rose, as John of The Damage Report tells us...I think it’s tone deaf for Immigrant Torturer guv Greg Abbott to be in South Korea while this is going on, but at least he’s doing something that’s somewhat tied to governance, as opposed to “Cancun” Cruz – I guess now he’s “SoCal Cruz”...I don’t want to imagine the mindset of anyone who thinks either of these frauds represents a model of public service (GREAT point by Yasmin Khan about the bad stuff that happens AFTER the hurricane/bad storm when it’s time to rebuild...to do something about Cruz, which is WAY overdue, click here...to help hurricane victims, click here)...



...and speaking of the climate, we could use a little precipitation in these parts, actually (but careful what I wish for, I know).

Tuesday Stuff

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...

via GIPHY

...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.

Monday Stuff

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)...



...and I now give you today's regional forecast.

Friday Stuff

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.

Thursday Stuff

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.

Wednesday Stuff

(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).

Tuesday Stuff

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?

Let's get started.

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).

Monday Stuff

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!)