Friday Stuff

I know I had a clip earlier with Douglas Brinkley, Charlie Pierce and Chris Hayes about “The Donald,” but I think Brinkley’s appropriate context needs to be presented again, as he does here with Rev. Al…



…and Trevor Noah responds to this country’s right-wing freakout over the Belgium attack earlier this week (here); yep, telling that the rest of the world knows how to handle this stuff as opposed to Republicans and their followers in this country…

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…and for those of you who think I only bitch about Republicans, I give you what I consider to be a cautionary tale of cozy Dem media/political antics; I know I alluded to Tweety earlier this week, and here he is again (terrific job of following the money, as they say, from Cenk Uygur)…



…and I have to admit that I really didn’t have much of a clue as to what is going on in Brazil (other than they supposedly make a gang of coffee, and I guess whatever Lula wants, Lula gets…OK, so much for “Damn Yankees”); fortunately, John Oliver is all over it here…



...and Thom Hartmann gives us economic and labor news for the week...



…and happy belated 85th birthday to “Captain Kirk.”

Thursday Stuff

For everyone out there bitching about Number 44’s tango in Argentina, as noted here (give me a freaking break), I “see” you that and “raise” you this (here)…



…and It’s hard to find a more deserving scumbag for something like this besides Repug Alabama Governor Robert Bentley (tape included here is below in video, to go with this, this and this - can hardly wait to see how this all plays with those evangelical saps)…



…and this report tells us of the utter “cluster” voters in Maricopa County, AZ experienced when trying to vote the other night (some valuable perspective on that is here)…



…and even though this clip about U.S. gun violence is about a month old, I think it’s important for a few reasons, one of which is to point out that suicide by gun is statistically more of a threat than mass shootings; I honestly didn’t know that, but it figures…



…and I think this is way too damn funny; George Will is worried NOW about the Republicans becoming the party of white people…news flash: THEY HAVE BEEN FOR YEARS!!!...



…and kudos to the world’s greatest rock n’ roll band for this.

Wednesday Stuff

It shows you just how far Not Your Father’s Republican Party has strayed from reality when Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History actually looks like a statesman, timely in particular for the recent attack in Brussels (more here)…



...and Rev. Al talks to former Ohio governor Ted Strickland, running against Rob Portman; the main issue here is the Scalia vacancy on the Supreme Court of course (more on Portman is here, and on the whole "Reagan Democrat" thing noted in the clip, I give you this)...



…and in keeping with the Judge Merrick Garland thing, Samantha Bee has some fun over the latest Repug idiocy, as noted here (OK, sooo, they don’t want to consider Obama’s nominee because of the so-called “Biden Rule,” in which Biden is alleged to have said that a presidential nominee for the Supreme Court can only be considered during the lame duck session of the final year of a president’s term – and by the way, he didn’t actually say that…big surprise I know, but the quote was clipped…even though considering Obama’s nominee only during the lame duck session is EXACTLY what the Repugs want to do if, God willing, a Dem wins the White House…).

Memo to the American sheeple – the “party of Lincoln” is going to continue pulling this shit unless you get your asses to the voting booth (and unfortunately, because of the gutted Voting Rights Act, even THAT might not be enough, as noted here...here, however, is some GOOD news about Democratic voter turnout for a change)…



…and here’s a tune to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (noted here – and by the way, it’s not an act, it’s a federal LAW…the Dems continue to be behind the curve when it comes to messaging, and this is a prime example).

More Tuesday Stuff

By the way, I didn’t say anything about the latest horrific terrorist attack, this time in Brussels, not because I didn’t care, but because I didn’t think I had anything terribly important to say.

However, I turned on my teevee earlier today and watched Tweety talking with Jonathan Capehart, who I pretty much respect, and some lady who worked in counterterrorism whose name escapes me, and the charter member of our Beltway courtier media was basically waxing along the lines of, gee, isn’t it interesting how terrorism can bring people together? Why, prior to the Iraq war, we didn’t like the French, with all of that “freedom fries” stuff, but after last year we united with them, or something.

Leave it to Chris Matthews to sneak in a plug for Former Commander Codpiece, trying to come up with more propaganda at the expense of a country which, actually, turned out to be right all along about Number 43’s mess in Mesopotamia (and by the way, my feelings for France have remained unchanged throughout).

(Also, this latest attack should put to rest the whole question of Apple and data encryption as far as I’m concerned. Yes, this creates an opportunity for abuse by the telcos, which they’ve been guilty of all along anyway, but when technology starts obstructing law enforcement, then, as far as I’m concerned, we’ve reached the water’s edge, as they say.)

I thought I’d offer a departure on this story from the typical media idiocy in this country and turn to our neighbors to the north instead…



…and, as I recall, RT wrote this song as sort of a spoof on the mind of a terrorist – with today’s events, I felt like hearing it again.

Tuesday Stuff

This was a truly outstanding report last night by Rachel Maddow on what it took to get a U.S. president to set foot on Cuban soil for the first time since 1928 yesterday – someday, someone or something is going to write the proverbial book on Number 44, and they’re going to have a hard time trying to figure out how he was able to manage so many momentous accomplishments in the face of such relentless and utterly juvenile obstruction…



…and this report from Seth Meyers helps to uncover the utter fraud of voter ID laws, which, now as always, serve only as obstacles to keep Democrats from legally voting (here)…



…and Kyle Kulinski of Secular Talk takes a withering look (completely justified) at that waste of space Blaine Luetkemeyer in the U.S. House and his typically ludicrous (and misogynist) comments about Sen. Elizabeth Warren – NSFW…



…and I don’t know how on earth this has only less than 15K total views, but I hope I can help change that.

Monday Stuff

The Repugs like to point to the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago as the nadir of the “D” party; well, they ended up shooting themselves in the foot a bit, as it were, in 1976, as Chris Hayes tells us here with Charlie Pierce and Douglas Brinkley (didn’t know about the Ford/Reagan animus, but it doesn’t surprise me – even though he had a rep as a bit of a klutz, Ford was so much more of a man than Number 40 that it wasn’t even funny)…



...and it's time once more for another installment of "This Day In Doomsy History" from 3/22/10 (K.O. vents on how the Teahadists lost on health care reform; they would of course retake both the U.S. House and Senate even though I think Olbermann’s thesis here is still spot-on over the long term…anyone who thinks Donald Trump spontaneously arose from a vacuum should definitely pay attention to this clip)…

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...and Trevor Noah struck back here at Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao over McConnell's obstruction against Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland (in particular, I love the bit at the end with the megaphone)...

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…and here is a neat new tune to remind us (well, me anyway), that it’s officially spring and better weather days are coming.

Saturday Stuff

Even though I support Bernie Sanders, I gotta tell ya’ that I LOVE the comeback to “The Donald” from HRC here (click on link if you want to see the truly stupid Trump ad that started the dustup)…



…and speaking of the all-but-named Repug presidential nominee, John and Cenk respond to the latest threats from “Fergus Laing” at a potentially brokered convention – yeah, he sure knows how to blow those dog whistles, all right (I know the answer before I ask, but where the hell is all this concern for disenfranchisement towards “the blahs” as opposed to elderly white conservatives?)…



…and Thom Hartmann brings us economic and labor news for the week (this first story is so utterly appalling that I feel personally ashamed, though I’m not sure what I could do that I haven’t already done about that – it should be yelled about from every conceivable location in this country, especially our houses of worship for a change…other stuff out there besides abortion, war, and trying to put the bite on us for more money)…

…and today marks the 13th anniversary of Dubya’s disastrously failed war in Iraq (here) – I give you a tune for the occasion.

Friday Stuff

Yeah, we sure get the picture all right, CNN hairdo lady (Ashleigh Banfield?) – how about covering all of what a Democratic political figure actually says in a speech next time, OK? (here)…



...and Chris Hayes talks to NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio; I thought de Blasio’s summary of why younger voters are “feeling the Bern” is pretty spot-on (and nothing to be proud of, by the way)…



…and Lawrence O’Donnell interviews Kim Foxx, who recently defeated Anita Alvarez in the Democratic primary for Cook County, IL prosecutor - more here (kind of a quick cut at the end there)…



...and RIP Philly doo-wop (you can Google it) legend Lee Andrews.

Thursday Stuff

I’m sure Merrick Garland is an eminently qualified jurist and may very well end up to be a reasonable selection for the U.S. Supreme Court. However, as we know, there are no reasonable political actors in the “party of Lincoln” these days, and I think Thom Hartmann’s analysis is correct (as is this, and this is interesting also).

Even as his time grows short, Number 44 seeks to burnish his creds as a moderate – he has never been a progressive, and he never will be…hard to consider all of this to be anything but another example of President Hopey Changey pissing on his base once again…



...and Chris Hayes interviews Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who talks about how the U.S. Senate has gone "the extremist route" and how that ties into Trump (Nail. Hammer. Head.)...



...and RIP Frank Sinatra Jr.; I always gave him credit for trying to establish his own identity while trying to crawl out from under the shadow of one of the most prominent figures of the 20th century (and a little sense of humor can go a long way too)…



...and happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody (was tempted to go with Dropkick Murphys, but I changed my selection at the last minute).

Wednesday Stuff

Bye Marco – go spend some time gargling with your family, or something…NSFW…



…and kudos to Chris Hayes for setting the record straight on what led to the violence in Chicago recently at another bund rally Donald Trump campaign event...

Update: Great catch here, by the way...



…and it isn’t my intention to spend so much time on “Fergus Laing,” but I think I need to; this clip is about a week old I believe, and I’m presenting this despite the laughably inappropriate background music for about the first 2:30 mainly because I respect the hell out of NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman…



…and it’s time to get a little more current again with the tunes…definitely a fan of hers from way back, and it’s good to see Bonnie Raitt just keep cranking out good music.

Tuesday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

Yep, this is what “The Donald” thinks of women all right…



…and do you wonder how our neighbors to the north see all the political stuff going on in this country? I think this give us more than a hint…



…and Thom Hartmann brings us science and green news from last week (don’t mess with the bees, people, or we’re done as a species – the wolf stuff was interesting too IMHO)…



…and here is another one of those once-a-year songs.

Monday Stuff

Kudos to one of Minnesota’s Dem U.S. Senators for this – “the world’s greatest deliberative body” is still waaay too chummy of a club for my tastes, but good for Al Franken for coming within a pinprick of popping that proverbial balloon (here)…



...and Rachel Maddow provided what I thought was a good summary of how we got to the point where that situation occurred in Chicago recently; more (here)...



…and John and Wes Clark, Jr. bring us their analysis of the most recent Democratic presidential candidates town hall session (yet again, Jimmy Dore automatically makes this NSFW)…



…and here is a public service announcement; if you haven’t made the adjustments you need to make for daylight savings time, you’re a little late.

Friday Stuff

Yeah, I would say Number 44 "crushed it" here too - didn't he once give a speech where he said there was no "red" America or "blue" America?...



…and like it or not, it is indeed time once more for “This Day In Doomsy History” from the actual exact day, which would be 3/11/09 – K.O. brings us another episode of “Factor Fiction” with Billo and Bernard ("Fired From CBS For Lying About A Story") Goldberg (timely in light of this and this)…

…and this story just thoroughly saddens me; great reporting by CBS News (update is here)…



…even though this has been known for a little while, as the New York Times reported here, including this excerpt…

“I look at companies like Starbucks — that’s the model,” (former CEO Steven) Nardizzi said. “You’re looking at companies that are getting it right, treating their employees right, delivering great services and great products, then are growing the brand to support all of that.”

If I hear one more of these CEO assh*les talk about providing a public service as if they were running a corporation, I’m going to vomit. Your goal is to provide the best possible care for our veterans, not make a cup of goddamn coffee!!

...and Robert Greenwald is back with another great new movie, as noted here (in light of yet another gun tragedy, as noted here)...



…and it looks like we have another new, unwanted growth industry in this country…



...and Thom Hartmann brings us economic and labor news for the week...



…and RIP Keith Emerson (featured at the very end, of course) – definitely not the way I wanted to end the week...



…though I think this is a better example of Emerson’s virtuosity, so here it is.



Update: Offered without further comment (ugh)...

Thursday Stuff

Once more, Sen. Elizabeth Warren stands tall on the Senate Repugs not doing their jobs on holding a hearing for an Obama Supreme Court nominee, among many other matters, here (of all of her great moments, this may be her finest, and bonus points for harking back to November 2000)...



...and Bernie Sanders tells Fix Noise that health care is a basic human right - pathetic that that needs to be said, but it does (NSFW)...



...and yes, this video makes some great points about some of our ridiculous foreign policy expenditures versus the relative pittance to feed those most in need in our country, and that's the real takeaway, but I think that bit about what we supposedly spend in Ukraine on democracy building was a bit of a cheap shot from "the Vlad Putin Network"...



...and I actually missed out on National Get Over It Day yesterday (no, really) - allow me to make amends with this tune (tough year for that band, by the way, also considering this).

Wednesday Stuff

I know I’m a little late with this great report from Chris Hayes on David Duke from last Friday, but it definitely bears repeating…



…and speaking of Duke’s candidate (whether “The Donald” admits it or not)…I’m sure he knows the “best words” all right; well, we know some too, such as WE’RE GOING TO DO EVERYTHING WE LEGALLY CAN TO MAKE SURE YOU NEVER BECOME PRESIDENT, YOU ASSCLOWN…



…and I never had the first clue about the problem we have in this country with “special districts” and their unbelievable lack of oversight, but kudos to John Oliver for telling us all about it (kids are cute at the end too)…



…and RIP Sir George Martin; I probably could have selected any one from a whole gamut of tunes from the Fab Four, but I always thought that this one was a particular technical marvel that was a testament to his utter genius as a producer.

Tuesday Stuff

Kudos to Rachel Maddow for some honest-to-goodness investigative journalism, this time on the utterly failed state of Michigan under the abysmally awful Rick Snyder...the next time you hear about how supposedly terrible those state workers are, remember the story about the veterans home – after watching this, I wonder how many other similar issues are going on with other states under the “governance” model of the “party of Lincoln” (trying to keep up a theme here for International Women's Day, by the way)…



…and if you want to argue that there could be an “enthusiasm gap” among Democrats, I guess you could unfortunately, but let’s not forget that this is the first presidential election since the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR gutted the Voting Rights Act, and I think that is having an impact as well – of course, the data on all of this will come out by the merciful end of the election, which God willing will have the right result (we have to work to make that happen)…



...and nothing against Trevor Noah, but it's looking more and more like Samantha Bee should have gotten that job instead (here - NSFW)...



…and yesterday marked the birthday of the telephone, created by Alexander Graham Bell of course (he received a patent for it 140 years ago on March 7th, as noted here); here is a tune to commemorate this event.

Monday Stuff

For the occasion, I’ll overlook all the “Queen Nancy”/consult with the astrologer/Madame Defarge sans the knitting needles stuff and remember her instead as a tireless advocate for stem cell research, as noted in the video…



…and it looks like humor is intersecting with political reality again (here)…



…and Bill Maher reminds us, basically, that there’s no expiration date on that great poem on the Statue of Liberty from Emma Lazarus (here)…



…and happy 70th birthday to Matthew Fisher of Procal Harum.

Saturday Stuff

For the record, as noted here, Teahadist assh*le Mike Lee doesn’t think the kids in this video need any help from the federal government (fortunately, as shown in the clip, Rachel Maddow hosted that great town hall on the Flint water disaster – and oh yeah, little Luke Russert appears to be an utter Beltway courtier media tool and little else)…



…and I wanted to highlight this video from last year to feature Lee’s fellow traveler Scott Wagner and note updates to this post…



...and have you heard of The Empowerment Plan? Well, this tells you all about it...

…and this happened 50 years ago yesterday; he made the comment to a writer for a British magazine, and it was printed there and no one thought much of it at the time - the whole thing blew up when this country heard about it, of course…makes me recall this NSFW tune.

Friday Stuff

I thought this was a great report from Rachel Maddow on what happens when a political party chooses its nominee during a convention and basically ignores the primary voting (yeah, this isn’t 1968 and hopefully won’t become that, but…)…



…and I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge this week the occasion of Formerly Silent Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas asking a question from the bench for the first time in 10 years; as noted here, though, it had to do with whether or not those guilty of domestic abuse should be allowed to own guns which, for most people who are otherwise sane, should be a resounding NO…of course, leave it to Thomas to rely on that horrible Heller ruling to frame his question to an attorney…made me recall this moment from October 2011 (remember this little dustup, Your Honor? And K.O. said Scalia by mistake, but he meant Thomas)…



…and kudos to Brent Brown, someone who is honest enough to admit that he was wrong about what will end up as the signature achievement of the Obama Administration – best wishes for continued good health…



…and Thom Hartmann brings us economic and labor news for the week (please take away the first item if you take away nothing else)…



…and I know I touched on the stuff with Melissa Harris-Perry a bit earlier, but I thought this was some great analysis by Cenk and Ana about that situation and the state of MSNBC overall; like much of our media in general, the Comcast Network is hastening its own extinction…



…and happy belated 72nd birthday to Roger Daltrey of The Who.

Thursday Stuff

Kudos to Chris Hayes for cutting to the proverbial chase here on the all-but-named Repug presidential nominee and the bottom-feeders that associate themselves with him...



...and with that in mind, when it comes to "The Donald," you sure reap what you sow, don't you (here and here)...



...and what was it somebody once said - elections have consequences, or campaigns anyway? (here)...



...and I know I'm late with this info on the Progressive Summit from 2/23, but it definitely isn't too late to make a difference...



...and Thom Hartmann brings us science and green news...



…and I don’t know if this guy is going to be visiting in these parts any time soon (I think he was in NYC in January), or maybe he was here already; anyway, here is another cool new tune (trying to keep things current here musically).