Saturday Stuff

Good for Jon Stewart to lay it on Fix Noise nematode Stuart Varney, among others (here)…



…and I realize this ostensibly is comedy also, but rest assured that I’m not laughing (here)…



…and now, time for more seasonal stuff – I guess this is appropriate for tonight (just leave the keys with a friend, people)…



…and I guess this is appropriate for tomorrow.

Friday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

This is the Rachel Maddow report on Nelson Mandela that I mentioned last night, with Congressman John Lewis…



…and Lee Camp tells us about becoming a debt slave here (definitely NSFW)…



…turning to seasonal stuff, it’s time to get down…



…and this is kind of country-ish, but it works for me.

Thursday Stuff

RIP Nelson Mandela, a titan of this century and the last – Rachel Maddow had a great report tonight that I hope to put here tomorrow…



…and here is a tune that I’ve always associated with Mandela and the struggle against apartheid…



…now to some seasonal stuff (always liked the originality of this one)…



…and as long as we’re meditating on the passing of a man who saw the future from inside his tiny jail cell all those years, I think this is an appropriate selection (about a better future for us all).

My Response To Sarah Palin

I have to say something in response to this.

The Crooks and Liars post tells us that a certain former half-term governor of Alaska recently opined that, because of the episode where Martin Bashir of MSNBC told Sarah Palin to eat shit (in so many words) for which Bashir resigned, that individuals could “(be) hesitant to jump in the arena anyway, to get out there and serve the public or start a business.”

Please excuse me for a minute or two while I try to unpackage all of this idiocy.

All of this started with an interview Palin gave to Jake Tapper, including the following (from here)…

TAPPER: So, you obviously feel very passionate about the national debt. The other day, you gave a speech in which you compared it to slavery.

PALIN: To slavery. Yes. And that’s not a racist thing to do, by the way, which I know somebody is going to claim it is.

TAPPER: Don’t you ever fear that by using hyperbole like that — obviously, you don’t literally mean it’s like slavery, which cost millions of people their lives and there was rape and torture. You’re using it as a metaphor.

But don’t you ever worry that by using that kind of language, you — you risk obscuring the point you’re trying to make?

PALIN: There is another definition of slavery and that is being beholden to some kind of master that is not of your choosing. And, yes, the national debt will be like slavery when the note comes due.

TAPPER: So you’re not — you’re not work — I mean I’m — I’m taking it as a no, but you’re not — you’re not concerned about the language —

PALIN: I’m not one to be politically correct, evidently.

Um, I guess not.

So in response, Martin Bashir said the following (from here, and no, he didn’t actually say “defecate in Palin’s mouth,” though he clearly implied it)…

BASHIR: It’ll be like slavery. Given her well-established reputation as a world class idiot, it’s hardly surprising that she should choose to mention slavery in a way that is abominable to anyone who knows anything about its barbaric history. So here’s an example.

One of the most comprehensive first-person accounts of slavery comes from the personal diary of a man called Thomas Thistlewood, who kept copious notes for 39 years. Thistlewood was the son of a tenant farmer who arrived on the island of Jamaica in April 1750, and assumed the position of overseer at a major plantation. What is most shocking about Thistlewood’s diary is not simply the fact that he assumes the right to own and possess other human beings, but is the sheer cruelty and brutality of his regime.

In 1756, he records that “A slave named Darby catched eating canes; had him well flogged and pickled, then made Hector, another slave, s-h-i-t in his mouth.” This became known as Darby’s dose, a punishment invented by Thistlewood that spoke only of the slave owners savagery and inhumanity.

And he mentions a similar incident again in 1756, this time in relation to a man he refers to as Punch. “Flogged Punch well, and then washed and rubbed salt pickle, lime juice and bird pepper; made Negro Joe piss in his eyes and mouth.” I could go on, but you get the point.

When Mrs. Palin invoked slavery, she doesn’t just prove her rank ignorance. She confirms that if anyone truly qualified for a dose of discipline from Thomas Thistlewood, then she would be the outstanding candidate.

And as the post tells us, Martin Bashir apologized. But of course that wasn’t good enough for the faux outrage machine, so now Bashir has resigned.

When it comes to stuff like this, I generally apply what I call the “Bill Orally Test,” named after a certain Fix Noise pundit, of course. And in a matter of words, here it is – no matter how outrageous a remark a media personality has made (as opposed to a politician, someone able to write or vote on actual legislation), as long as no one is physically injured or killed over it, if this person apologizes for it (even a half-assed one like Billo gave us here), then I will relent on that person.

And I’ve stuck to that, by the way, even while O’Reilly made those disgusting, inflammatory remarks about George Tiller, the family planning doctor and abortionist in Kansas who was ultimately murdered. Did O’Reilly pull the trigger? No. Does he share some measure of responsibility for his incessant “George Tiller, Baby Killer” rhetoric? Along with Glenn Beck, he sure does. Have I ever called for O’Reilly’s resignation? No. What he says is thoroughly idiotic at best, but it’s still free speech.

Do I defend Martin Bashir’s highly offensive (and thoroughly atypical for him) imagery? Of course not. Did he encourage anyone to do physical violence to Sarah Palin? No. Did he genuinely apologize for what he said? Yes. However, as noted earlier, that will never be good enough for the wingnuts looking to shout us down every chance they get (I maintain that the worst thing Bashir did was to not just ignore Palin altogether, which is the treatment she deserves – I would still be doing that if it weren’t for her disgusting display of self-pity).

Also, here’s something else to consider. Though Palin was of course engaging in hyperbole with just about no relationship to the world of facts and evidence (as usual), she is typically WRONG to not point out that THE DEBT IS SHRINKING!!!, as noted here.

Finally, to emphasize Palin’s air-headedness (which should be plainly obvious), I give you the following from here):



Sarah Palin is probably the last person on earth who has a right to feel victimized by a TV commentator for inappropriate language. The fact that she always has a ready forum for her utterly brainless spasms of vocal ineptitude is a hallmark of our thoroughly compromised corporate media, which would be better served if it were to pass her by and stick a microphone in front of a flatulent animal instead.

Update 12/20/13: And in a related story, as they say, John Amato asks a great question here concerning that "Duck Dynasty" idiot.

Wednesday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

Good luck to the courageous fast-food workers striking for a livable wage, as noted in this report (and while it would be nice for “B. Barry Bamz” to follow this up with actual progressive legislation, perish the thought, the remarks about income inequality speak volumes in their own right)…



…and uh oh, It looks like that big gumint of Number 44 is at it again here (yeah, well, you can leave a wakeup call for me when 3,000 people die from a terrorist attack in our soil or Obama declares an illegal war, OK? And “Judeo-Crisco values” – hilarious)…



…next, time for more seasonal stuff…



…and I guess this is more appropriate for Friday night, or later in the season, but I think it works well now also.

Tuesday Stuff

I thought this was an interesting report from Chris Hayes about buying stuff, in time for the holiday shopping season (and former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich is on hand for a reality check, of course – I generally think Josh Barro is a bright guy, but I don’t totally agree with his “glass half full” assessment on the economy)…



…and I think, among other things, that this report from Rachel Maddow tells us just how big a tool Mississippi Repug (of course) Governor Phil Bryant really is on health care in particular (like to see a fraction of our corporate media coverage devoted to stories like this as opposed to that freaking web site!), to say nothing of “Man Tan” Boehner and his pals in the U.S. House, including Mikey the Beloved of course…



…and another milestone I missed was Joni Mitchell’s 70th birthday earlier this year – hope it was fun…



..and this is a fairly newer holiday tune; good stuff by John Legend.

Monday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

Oh yes, here comes another “Whatever shall the Republican Party do?” discussion – spare me (though the takeaway for me is more along the lines of “the more things change, the more things stay the same,” and to watch the slo-mo extinction of what was once the party of Abraham Lincoln)…



…and “Happy Meatless Monday” once more, people (here)…



…and from trying to save the planet, let’s now turn to economic inequality (here – more here; somehow I think that, if Bob Edgar were still with us, he would be right in the middle of this whole thing)…



…and I noted a few anniversaries this year, but one I utterly forgot (sorry about that) was the 40th of the death of Jim Croce and collaborator Maury Muehleisen in a plane crash on September 20th – I guess this would be a seasonal tribute.

Sunday Stuff

Is our politicians learning – this is aimed at NYC and Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio, but as the Daily Kos poster noted, it could be aimed everywhere else in this country too, including our beloved commonwealth of PA…



…and to commemorate the 25th World AIDS Day (since I haven’t been able to find any video from our news organizations with initials for names yet), I give you this scene from “And The Band Played On,” starring Matthew Modine, a 1993 production based on the book by Randy Shilts, showing some thoroughly appropriate outrage before the disease became basically a pandemic…



…and I thought this was a nice meditation on writer C.S. Lewis by Martin Bashir, who we also lost on 11/22/63…



…and yep, time for more seasonal stuff – “you’d better not pout, you’d better not cry, you’d better not violate your parole…”

Friday Stuff

You know that The Big Man in Rome has left a mark if Fix Noise nematode Stuart Varney was called upon to issue the corporate media rebuttal here, complete with FREEDOM FREEEDOM OWNERSHIP SOCIETY GREED IS GOOD!! all around…as noted here, though, Varney is routinely wrong on economic matters anyway…



…and I guess I can’t put this off any longer, especially since I put up the Hanukkah tune the other night – ye gods.

Happy Thanksgiving 2013

I got a kick out of this (courtesy of Pixdaus and Daily Kos).

...and it looks like The Onion does it again...


Obama Outlines Moral, Philosophical Justifications For Turkey Pardon

...and here's another holiday fave, with an intro by Seth MacFarlane as Stewie Griffin (and again, the captions make this hilarious as far as I'm concerned)...



...and here's more holiday fun...



...and I kind of liked this also (hat tip for this and The Onion to Daily Kos)...



...and here's a Thanksgiving message for those wonderful folks at the TSA.



...and definitely a hat tip to Atrios for this.

Update 1: And here is another late addition.



Update 2: Might as well add this too.

Wednesday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

“Boehner’s Boners,” huh? Cute (here – I thought the names became gradually less clever, though the points were well made)…



…and wow, a potential victory for our side for a change (here) – color me shocked…



…though there are still too many around this time of the year having to scramble, including the folks noted here who get crumbs, by comparison, from those smiley-faced bastards generating their immense wealth…



…and the festival of lights comes pretty early this year – hope it’s a good one for all who observe it.

Tuesday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

Remember the conservatives yapping about how the Dems supposedly have no morality because of their affiliation with Hollywood? Well, do you think Number 44 will get any credit for this? Next question…



…and happy 74th birthday to Tina Turner (wonder how many folks remember that ‘80s movie?).

Monday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

I’m sure we’re getting a little fatigued (I am anyway) with pointing out just how relentless the Teahadist, movement conservative Republicans in Congress are when it comes to “afflicting the afflicted and comforting the comfortable,” to turn that phrase on its head, but it must be pointed out, especially now…



…and here’s our regional weather forecast (brrrrrr!).

Saturday Stuff

And don’t even imagine asking what goes into the “secret” Big Mac sauce, by the way (here)…



…and it looks like it’s time to call the WHAAAAMBULANCE! for Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao (here)…



…and yep, he sure was (here – JFK, I mean)…



Update 11/25/13: HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! (h/t Daily Kos)

…and yeah, despite it all, I still believe too.

JFK Stuff

I was only five years old (home from kindergarten, I barely recall), but somehow I knew something was very wrong.

A tipoff was the hushed conversations from my parents and family (Presumably so I wouldn’t overhear? Never found out – oh well) and the sudden interest in what was taking place on TV (What, no cartoons?).

I can barely remember, but I guess, to a child’s thinking, you make the word and picture associations differently than you would if you were an adult. The president is mentioned? Well, maybe he made a speech somewhere or talked to reporters. And you see his face all over the place – well, he is the president, after all. And a younger and more photogenic one than those before him (the press did indeed cover the Kennedys in the White House as if they were royalty, which now might force people with “conventional views” to “repress a gag reflex,” as the utterly odious Richard Cohen could have put it).

In short order, though, I noticed the anxious, concerned look on my mom’s face and also noticed the tone of voice of the TV announcer (probably Walter Cronkite – God, what didn’t he cover?). Then the words – “shots fired,” “president taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital,” “conflicting reports.” And now you know it’s for real.

Then you start asking the questions, and the only answer you get is “I don’t know, let’s hope and pray that it isn’t true.”

And after what seems like hours pass, though they are only seconds, you find out that it is true. And there are no words to truly capture the shock and sense of horror and despair.

Oh, and though I’m sure this doesn’t need to be pointed out, I will anyway; at five years old, I had no political inclination about anything. I would have felt the same way if President Kennedy had been a Republican somehow.

To add the exclamation point to everything, by the way, Cronkite fights back tears and his voice breaking as he reads the news, a perfectly human reaction. And after a little while, when he’s done with reading the reports from the news staff of the assassination, he tells us that, now, we’re going to go to our reporter on the scene (or somewhere else, in the studio maybe), a younger man looking more serious than Cronkite with jet-black hair (or so it appears on the black and white and gray scale of our TVs) who we would later learn is a still-young correspondent named Dan Rather.

And as if you still wondered as to whether or not this was indeed an emergency, you could tell because some of the adults started coming home early from work. And you were sure the first thing they did when they arrived was to turn on their TVs (I think my mom wondered if this story made it to the afternoon edition of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin).

After that, I can recall only what seemed like a maelstrom of news reports, profiles of the just-slain president, reactions from other politicians and world leaders, and of course reactions from family members and friends (we would later hear that, at the E.J. Korvette’s department store, a woman had actually yelled out that she was glad that Kennedy got what he deserved; I suppose that act alone means we above that Mason Dixon line have automatically forfeited any notion of moral superiority towards any other region in this country).

Since all of this happened on a Friday (how apropos), there wasn’t much to do the next day but turn on the TV to find out if anything else had happened (you knew that Lyndon Johnson, a guy who was only known as an intimidating force in the Senate by my parents, was now president). And then, at last, you saw the guy who murdered our now-deceased president being escorted to jail.

And in almost that same instance, you saw Oswald murdered also by Jack Ruby. On live TV, with all of the attendant chaos, yelling and confusion taking place in real time.

To a child’s way of thinking (speaking only for myself I guess), it was hard not to think of it as another episode of a TV show, even a low farce that wasn’t even remotely funny (I think, at that point, I was whisked away from the TV set by at least one set of adult hands, not in a punishing way, I want to emphasize).

There would be many other images, of course, brought to us from TV coverage that would become indelible (the picture of LBJ being sworn in on the plane next to the First Lady, wearing her still-blood-stained outfit, the funeral cortege, “John John” and his salute, etc.). And of course, politicians such as Gerald Ford and Arlen Specter would rise to prominence on the Warren Commission that, of course, concluded that Oswald acted alone.

And over time, the conspiracy theories would take their place alongside the conventional wisdom, with each holding sway, though I tend to side more with the conspiracy theories (not in their entirety, but in aggregate, because, in my opinion, they’re closer to the truth – put me down in the “I think the ‘lone gunman’ theory is bogus” column).

Because, as Donald Sutherland’s made-up character (based on L. Fletcher Prouty and Richard C. Nagell?) in Oliver Stone’s movie put it in the clip below, in so many words, the who and when of it is a parlor game. What matters the most, of course, is why.

And trying to answer that question…well, it has taken years (assuming it ever could be answered), and it will undoubtedly take many more, even after records into the investigation are unsealed in 2017.

There is so much history from that time, to say nothing of innuendo and speculation, that has been processed over and over into all manner of pop culture flotsam (as well as actual scholarship), to the point where, hell, if you were born or grew up around that time, you MUST have an opinion on the subject.

You think Oswald acted alone? Are you a Republican (maybe not)? Do you think JFK was about to “expose the illuminati” or something? Are you a Democrat (maybe not)?

How about Bobby Kennedy’s persecution of Jimmy Hoffa – do you think organized crime collaborated with rogue, anti-Castro elements mad at JFK for the Bay of Pigs? And gosh, wasn’t it a coincidence that Allen Dulles, fired by JFK, ended up serving on the Warren Commission and authorizing its report? Do you think the generals, including Curtis LeMay, signed off on it because they were mad at Kennedy for acting like he wanted to bail on Vietnam and pursuing a nuclear test ban treaty with Khrushchev of the Soviet Union? Maybe Sam Giancana took the lead because he was mad at JFK for the stuff with Judith Exner? Or maybe there were people PO’ed at father Joe Kennedy for his “bootlegging” during Prohibition, so they decided to exact reprisals on one son now (Jack) and another later (Bobby)?

And there are so many other angles on this that I can’t even get to - and isn’t it a coincidence that these assassinations (JFK, Bobby, Martin Luther King) stopped when J. Edgar Hoover died?

I have no new facts, nothing to tilt the argument one way or the other; just “sounding off” of course, which means my opinion is no better or worse than anyone else.

With the passage of time, though, I think what I still have a hard time trying to reconcile is the fact not just that the assassination of a U.S. president took place the way that it did, on what appeared to be a grand stage in a motorcade, but the fact that such an act was even possible.

This is not meant to attack the fine men and women of the Secret Service, by the way. However, it does lead one to believe that something indeed on a grand scale was afoot. The fact that the conditions could be orchestrated in such a way to allow that to happen is at least as chilling to me as the fact that it happened at all. The fact that so many forces, I believe, could coalesce the way they did and manufacture this event, the killing of an incumbent United States president, is truly the stuff of nightmares.

And I don’t have an answer to any of this; all I have are my observations (and to point out, as Oliver Stone did in his “Untold History of the United States,” that the Kennedy assassination would open the door for ever-greater horrors to come – there was a lot of great stuff that happened in the 1960s, but there were also many moments when you felt like the whole world was coming apart).

So I think we should mourn President Kennedy on this day, the 50th anniversary of his death. However, I think we should also mourn for ourselves a bit, as we consider what might have been yet realized in the remainder of his first term of office, and quite possibly a second starting in 1964 (the Dallas trip, it was later noted, was the unofficial start of his re-election campaign).

However, I think we can also use this opportunity to reflect on his accomplishments; former New York Times columnist Bob Herbert wrote about JFK here. Also, here are Kennedy’s remarks attacking the steel companies (and if you want to get an idea as to why JFK got the wingnuts all upset, David Brooks – sticking with The Old Gray Lady – gives us an insight on that here…BoBo is pretty much comic relief on this subject, it should be noted – last bullet).

So with that out of the way, I give you the beginning of the reporting with Cronkite's voice-over only - just the "CBS Bulletin" background...



...and Cronkite gave us the official word at about 6:22 here...



...and I think this articulates pretty well, rightly or wrongly, the shadow that has surrounded this fateful event...



…and though there are a few tunes that are appropriate for this day, I thought this was the best selection.



Update: I thought this commentary from R.J. Eskow was well done.

Thursday Stuff

This just in – Harry Reid finds his spine; film at 11:00 (and Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao apparently needs a lesson in remedial math - and God, do I hate that natural gas commercial; the guy sounds like an egotistical jerk)...



...and on this issue, what a shame the U.S. Senate Repugs didn’t pay attention to the title of this song (but good for the Dems).

Wednesday Stuff

I know Martin Bashir really messed up on the Palin thing, but I think he, Joy Reid and Jared Bernstein are all spot-on here on the whole health care business...



…and I think somebody spiked Tweety’s Geritol or something – nice work here (echoing some of the prior clip, I realize)…



…and I think Stephen Colbert is pushing the tongue-in-cheek meter here a bit, though he’s also spot-on when it comes to “the most trusted name in news”…



…and for no particular reason, here is a tune from this century.

Tuesday Stuff

Once again, Sen. Elizabeth Warren talks about the stuff that matters (here)…



…and it looks like we may actually have common cause with the wingnuts on something after all – color me shocked…



…and these memorable words were spoken 150 years ago today…



…and whenever I think of a song having to do with sanctifying sacrifice or elevating something to a higher plane, I think of this.

Monday Stuff

Happy 85th birthday to Steamboat Willie, a precursor to a certain famous rodent (and no, I haven’t forgotten what Walt Disney truly was)…



…and given this latest awfulness concerning the smiley-faced bastards, I thought it best to revisit this “Worse” selection from K.O. – my sympathies to Deborah Shank…



…and God bless Chris Hayes for this commentary on health care reform – listen to every blessed word…



…and as far as “Obama’s Katrina” goes, I guess it’s necessary to remind some people of what Katrina really was – apparently they’ve forgotten.

Saturday Stuff

Among other things, this tells you just how purposely out of touch “Man Tan” Boehner and the Repug U.S. House “leadership” really is (and it tells you also how courageous, at least on ENDA, Repug U.S. Senator Mark Kirk really is, to say nothing of overcoming the affects of a devastating stroke)…



Update 1/7/14: Serves me right for actually giving a Republican credit for anything (here).

…and kudos to Bill Maher for this commentary on the less-than-Supremes (NSFW)…



Update 11/19/13: And the beat goes on, sadly (here).

…and kudos also to Yeb Sano for his courage on display here…



…and perhaps in an unintended context, I’m thinking of the title of this song as a response to the previous clip.