I heard that the cabbies in New York City are also on strike in sympathy – good! And two of the first people detained were Iraqis who helped us during the war…way to go, President Big Orange Cheetoh! (apparently, though, that has been stayed – this is still a fluid, developing story so things could change on the fly and probably will - more here - I heard Sen. Bob Casey and Gov. Tom Wolf are on their way to Philly International and Sen. Elizabeth Warren is on her way to Logan Airport in Boston...latest here)...
...and RIP John Hurt (clip is from "V for Vendetta"...and I wonder who Chancellor Adam Sutler reminds you of, by the way?)...
…and I hope John Kay is still getting royalties for those great Steppenwolf songs, because I think they’ll be timely again with the antics of President Tiny Hands Impulsive Brainless Egotistical Numbskull.
Once again, my hometown does me proud (here...and good job by Mayor Kenney here)…
...and Sam Bee is here again to bring us the gory details on the inauguration party for the “Gropenfuhrer” (here - remind me never to put up a Three Doors Down video again)…
…and Rachel Maddow tells us here that our alleged ol’ buddy Vlad Putin is trying to plug a proverbial leak of his own that could make life more difficult for his U.S. puppet in the White House…
…and in related news, Sam Seder tells us that President Big Orange Cheetoh is going to keep James Comey in charge of the FBI (Surprised? And NSFW, by the way)…
…and our man child in charge of this country decided to pull us out of the TPP – which, actually, the previous president did months ago (and good point about the federal hiring freeze by the way)…
…and here is the latest story of white violence from the white underclass from Kyle K. – nary a peep about this from Fix Noise, of course; truly awful stuff (and yeah, there’s pretty bad portions in The Good Book, though, like everything, it’s a matter of interpretation of course – NSFW also)…
…and I can’t let this week come to a close without paying another tribute to Mary Tyler Moore, in the role that made her initially famous (and yeah, the humor is somewhat dated and there are some “in” jokes in the show that you’d have to watch regularly to get, but still funny stuff as far as I’m concerned, after all these years – ends at about 24:53 and repeats for a few minutes)…
(clip taken down...sorry)
…and as long as I’m remembering celebrities who have departed, here’s another Warren Zevon tune to commemorate what would have been his 70th birthday last Tuesday (with Berry, Buck and Mills of REM...not sure he'd want to be remembered as a "celebrity," I'll admit).
K.O. has the right prescription for covering President Tiny Hands Clueless Egomaniac as far as I’m concerned (and bonus points for mentioning Johnny Carson character Floyd R. Turbo – you can Google it…and K.O. puts out there a truly dreaded Trumpian nightmare, which, tragically, is not beyond his capability whatsoever)…
…and Rachel Maddow brings us the latest public policy polling on you-know-who (as always, there’s about 30 percent of this country that will support anything from Dear Leader and oppose anything from those lazy, good-for-nothing, welfare-and-gay-and-minority-loving Democrats – removing my tongue from my cheek)…
…and I know we’ve been through a lot of this stuff by now, but I thought Seth Meyers had a nice take on all of the “alternative facts” stuff related to our current regime (though, to be serious, Trump’s speech to the CIA “spooks” was truly insulting, saying all of that in what is a hallowed place, though I'm sure Fergus Laing is too dumb and egotistical to understand that)…
…and RIP Butch Trucks of The Allman Brothers Band.
Update 1/27/17: Ugh - just prayers for him and family and friends...
Cenk Uygur comments on the press somehow growing a spine and holding the Trump regime accountable (shocked that Jonathan Karl actually pushed back)…
...and I’m not sure if K.O.’s commentaries are better when he’s restrained or not – they’re highly effective either way…
…and Kyle K. tells about CREW’s suit against President Tiny Hands for violation of the Emoluments clause of the Constitution (though I think Kyle’s hypothetical about the Clinton Foundation is a little silly – she showed bad judgment on that stuff, but nothing like President Fergus Laing has done)…
…and you know it, you love it, and you just can’t get enough of it (well, maybe…), so here is yet another installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 1/25/10, in which the Teahadists are out in full force from back in the day; I’m replaying this just to remind us what we’re up against still (and do you really have to wonder how many of these clueless meat sacks actually voted for the “Gropenfuhrer”? And by the way, one of the rallying cries for these life forms was the debt, though they're strangely quiet about that now, mainly because it's lower than it's ever been after Obama and the "party of Lincoln" is about to blow it up again)…
…and we knew this day would eventually come, as it must for us all (here) – she fought against diabetes her whole life and was a tireless advocate against it, among her many other accomplishments; not only was she a fine comedienne but was also a thoroughly accomplished actress and businesswoman (and yeah, Laurie Petrie really rocked my world for yours truly “back in the day”).
There’s a lot I could say or do as a tribute, but how about if I present this clip (with yet another reminder that Betty White as the thoroughly unctuous Sue Ann Nivens was a work of comedy genius)…
K.O. gives us the latest on how Generalissimo Trump intends to bring our corporate media to heel – of course, that bunch is about halfway compromised already on balance, but President Big Orange Cheetoh is still sliding us into anarchy on that front too (and good job to remind us of the “Jeff Gannon” and Armstrong Williams garbage under Former Commander Codpiece)…
…and Robert Reich brings us the first 100 days of "The Resistance Agenda"…
…aided in part by the “Justice Democrats” movement initiated by Cenk Uygur and Kyle Kulinski (more here)…
…and Chris Hayes talks with Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood over President Big Orange Cheetoh reviving the utterly cruel and ruinous “Mexico City” policy, especially with the harsh new stuff in this latest version about Zika and more (but oh, those “family values” Repugs love the children oh so very much – and it’s almost Kubrickian…word?...to contemplate that that mean ol’ nasty Number 44, allegedly president of all of those welfare cheats, was the one who lowered abortion rates for real, while this latest garbage from “Donald Drumpf” will drive them back up again)…
…also, Rachel Maddow starts with telling us about the B2 bomber and ends with Generalissimo Trump’s declaration about taking Iraq’s oil and hinting ominously that "we may get another chance" (basically, we should do all we can to support our military of course, but to be honest, after watching this, I don’t think anyone should enlist in the Army or Marines until after this monster is impeached and forcibly removed from office)…
…and the one and only Warren Zevon would have been 70 today (I may feature at least one other tune this week).
Yeah, I would say that every picture tells a story, all right, as somebody sang once - easy to see who's the gentleman here and who isn't (and by the way, wingnuts, THAT is why Michelle Obama looked a little peeved – it had nothing to do with Melania’s gift)...
K.O. brings us #22 (a little behind of the Trump/Michael Flynn/Putin stuff I know, but still important to keep in mind)…
…and Robert Reich tells us about the infrastructure scam from President-Elect WATB (about what you would expect)…
…and Sam Seder talks to Matt Taibbi on buyer’s remorse for Trump (funny, but I never hear about “fake news” actually benefitting Democrats)…
…and when all else fails, there’s still ‘80s music (and with a timely message too).
Pic is from DC, I believe (and Michael Moore and Ashley Judd really tore it up, by the way - I'll try to post video if I can find it...and Alicia Keys wasn't bad either - more here)...
Think she'll ever vote Republican?...
From Philly, at Eakins Oval...
In Austin, TX...
Paris (of course)...
Barcelona, Spain...
Berlin...
Closer to home, this was the scene in Doylestown, Pa…
London, at Trafalgar Square…
Amsterdam, The Netherlands…
St. Louis, Missouri, USA...
Park City, Utah…
Accra, Ghana…
Athens, Greece…
Santiago, Chile…
Wellington, New Zealand…
Nairobi, Kenya, the birthplace of President Obama (#joke)…
Lilongwe, Malawi…
Marseilles, France…
Antarctica (for real)...
Indianapolis, Indiana…
Los Angeles...
Boston…
Raleigh, North Carolina…
Mexico City...
Sioux Falls, South Dakota…
Sydney, Australia...
..and here is Gloria Steinem speaking at the rally in New York City…
…I think you get the idea – if I find pics for locations I haven’t already covered, I’ll add them here.
And I think this is an appropriate “nasty girl” tune.
I guess it’s time that we take as much of a look as we can stomach at the cabinet nominees of Generalissimo Trump, and Chris Hayes talks to Sen. Ben Cardin about HHS Secretary nominee Tom Price, Repug (of course) congressman from Georgia (I have a lot of issues with Price, particularly since he has advocated for the utter destruction of the Affordable Care Law, but this is the proverbial cherry on the icing of the crap cake as far as I’m concerned, namely, the whole “hip stock” thing)…
…and Kyle K. discusses Bernie Sanders’s questioning of Betsy DeVos, Education Secretary Nominee (NSFW – Kyle’s last 4 minutes here are particularly awesome IMHO)…
…and Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks with a lady who got totally screwed over by Steve Mnuchin, Treasury Secretary Nominee, when Mnuchin was at OneWest Bank (and this is a minor point I know, but Mnuchin was also executive producer for “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice”…I tried to watch it, but it was boring and incoherent, so I shut it off)…
…and Sam Bee talks with Masha Gessen about what we can do in response (besides drink ourselves into a stupor, of course)…
…and I would say that our transition into “Amerika” is already underway based on stories like this (and here is more on the human garbage associated with the bill in question)…
…and Thom Hartmann tells us about Obama’s final speech – typically hitting the right notes as you might expect…
…also, Rachel Maddow reports on Number 44’s accomplishments (and boy, is she right at the very end)…
…and I’ve had this tune in mind for what is yet to come, mainly for the title (this video was also the subject of one of the funniest episodes of Beavis and Butthead that I ever saw).
Update 1: I don’t know about you, but I’ve been hearing a lot of sunny optimism from people I work with and regularly interact with in my life along the lines of “let’s wish the new president luck” (and you can file my relative silence in response under the heading of not making waves with my employer, lest I be branded an “unfriendly” which could have an impact of my job and prospects for potential professional development).
These comments are coming from hard-working people who do a lot of commendable things in their lives I’m sure, and I’m grateful that a few of them are actually my friends. And I’d like to make sure it stays that way.
However, I don’t know exactly what it says about these individuals that they apparently think the prior political campaign for president was something approximating what you might consider to be normal.
I guess it’s fine with them that the eventual winner of the contest for president was openly supported by white supremacists, and his campaign rallies regularly featured incitements of violence (as well as actual incidents of violence), particularly against the Democratic opponent as well as anyone considered to be an “other” and not a member of the collective “hive” in support of President Donald Drumpf. And I guess it’s also fine with them that the eventual winner of this mess benefited to no small extent from Russian hacking, massive attacks on our voting process to invalidate the ballots of Democratic voters, subversion by a rogue FBI director and office in New York, sanitation of the thoroughly odious record of the Republican candidate by our completely compromised Beltway courtier media (featuring what likely translated into millions of dollars’ worth of free publicity), and what I would call the stupefying incompetence of the campaign of the Democratic candidate (as well as the mind-numbingly idiotic exercise on the part of the “Bernie or Bust” crowd on our side who, out of hand, discounted any move towards the “Democratic wing of the Democratic Party” as Dr. Dean once called it, by our party’s nominee for president).
Oh, and I guess it’s also fine with them that, if the roles were reversed and the Democrat had benefited from all of this at the expense of the Republican, the loser’s party would be rioting in the streets with their guns at this very moment.
In fewer words (and I know this is not an original observation), what we are seeing is not normal. It is wrong. It is NOT the way our political process is supposed to work – not even close. And if ANY ONE OF US act as if it is, then all we are doing is validating something that, if something approximating justice is eventually done, will surely one day lead to prison sentences or million-dollar fines against selected individuals at a minimum.
NO, this is not “normal” under even the loosest definition of the word. And anyone who acts as if it is somehow is either a mindless Pollyanna, a willful criminal or a craven liar.
Asked for his reaction to the address, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Trump’s remarks were “a continuation” of his campaign rhetoric. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) had a nearly identical reaction, saying the new president’s message was “very consistent” with Trump’s pre-election pitch.
There will be no pivot. The Donald J. Trump we saw riding down an escalator in New York 19 months ago is the same Donald J. Trump who’s on his way to the Oval Office. The nuances of his personality don’t really exist. What we saw is what we have and we’ll get.
The result was an inaugural address intended for Trump’s base – and no one else. Those waiting for an uplifting message were left wanting. The expected olive branches were set on fire.
The speech was, to be sure, deeply and unapologetically populist, which was only surprising because I thought everyone knew better by now. Sure, Trump exploited populist anger throughout his campaign, but during the transition period, the new president appointed billionaires and Washington insiders to help lead his administration, started selling access to megadonors, and moved forward with an agenda built on tax cuts for the wealthy elite.
Isn’t it a little late for faux-populism about “giving [power] back to you, the American people”? Are there still people who heard this address and believed it?
Yeah, I’d say this was prescient – from “A Face In The Crowd,” of course…
…and K.O. tells us what we all must do tomorrow (going out of order with his great “Resistance” clips again - NSFW)…
…and RIP Wayne Barrett (here), one of the finest investigative reporters of all time (and by the way, he spent years covering those in the orbit, you might say, of soon-to-be President-For-Real Fergus Laing, including Rudy 9iu11ani, as demonstrated in the clip)…
After President Obama was first elected to office, I can remember a headline from The Onion to the effect of “Nation Elects Black Man To Come In And Clean Up Mess Made By White Man.”
Gotta love The Onion…
Yeah, I’m old enough to remember how the horrid cabal of Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History left one Barack H. Obama with more of a ruinous mess than any president had ever left a successor in modern history. Yes, Herbert Hoover left FDR with probably the worst economic crisis of all time, but what Obama inherited was the second, and he had to figure out how to bring two wars to an end as well (yeah, I know he didn’t do it in Afghanistan, and he also didn’t close GITMO either, but you need a Congress that’s actually going to act like adults instead of partisan children to do this stuff). And I can also recall how the miscreants under Number 43 once acted like it wasn’t a question of whether this country would suffer another 9/11-type attack, but when.
So what did Number 44 end up doing? Here is a comprehensive (though, I would imagine, incomplete) list.
As far as I’m concerned, what President and Mrs. Obama accomplished (along with VP Joe Biden and the rest of the Obama Administration) was nothing short of miraculous.
So, with that in mind, I present the following video selections as a tribute, with my great, everlasting thanks…
You lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas (and some of those fleas have nicknames, apparently)...
...and the lady profiled in the story has my sympathies and I hope and pray all goes well for her, but seriously, what else did you expect Republicans to do, including President-Elect Twitter Tantrum Baby? (the video was cut a bit at the end before Dee Dee Ward said, “my side” – and yeah, that’s about what you can expect from that lying sack of shit Ron Johnson – heckuva job, all you voters who returned him, “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey, and the rest of that sorry lot last November)...
…and as his time winds down, sadly, President Obama reflects on what he considers his worst day, and it’s hard to argue with this - we all know the reason nothing happened and I'm not saying we shouldn't be outraged about it any more, but I'm only saying we should conserve our energy for the many battles on this and other issues that still will have to be fought unfortunately…
…and I always thought this was kind of a contemplative song, so here it is.
…and when the comparisons to Nixon have already started and President-Elect Big Orange Cheetoh hasn’t even been sworn in yet – yeah, that’s pretty ugly (and why is this not the least bit surprising - to be fair, Rachel Maddow doesn't provide the exact chronology of the quotes of how this started, though I defend Lewis of course)...
...but Chris Hayes does, talking with Dem Congressman Tim Waltz and Congresswoman Barbara Lee…
…and I had this tune in mind as a tribute to astronaut Gene Cernan, who just left us.
I’ve put up a portion of this video in the past, but I found the whole speech by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Barratt School in Philadelphia on October 26, 1967, so I’m including this here (and this post from 11 years ago is still timely as far as I’m concerned)…
…and returning to the present day, I think it should be noted that Dr. King was very concerned about economic opportunity also (here)…
A courageous Carl's Jr. worker calls out Trump's nominee to head the Labor Dept. Tell your senators to oppose Andrew Puzder: 202-224-3121 pic.twitter.com/rtBK5iwNBL
Kudos to the U.S. Senate Democrats for standing firm against repeal of the ACA, which they should do anyway, but still credit where it’s due (and to say that Mike Enzi is a cretinous lying assh*le is the understatement of the new year – “responsible fiscal path”? “Out of control spending”? Mammoth national debt”? “Broken health care system”? Read this, you piece of shit – more here...and here).
And by the way, to learn more about rallies this weekend in support of the ACA, click here (and here)…
…and I know I’m way behind on the stuff with the Repugs trying to steamroll the governmental ethics oversight office (here), but well done by all of those who stood up in response (and why is this not the least bit surprising?)…
House Republicans tried to make ethics their first victim this session. Thank goodness people were paying attention! pic.twitter.com/6jMGbDelYg
...and I thought this was an interesting take by Thom Hartmann on congressional oversight of the Supreme Court, by the way (long but important warmup - gets to the meat of it at about 6:00, and Steve King of all people is behind it; you really have to worry about the "children of the corn" in King's district who keep sending him back to Washington every two years...and I hope Hartmann is right that it won't happen, but we didn't think "Fergus Laing" would actually win the election either, did we?)...
…and yeah, I understand the fact that some Dems facing re-election, including PA’s Bob Casey, made the calculation to oppose Bernie Sanders’s amendment to import cheaper drugs because they get some nice campaign contributions from the pharma bros (and that goes for Cory Booker and Tom Carper too), but their opposition still utterly stinks…
…and K.O. wonders what the hell President-Elect Big Orange Cheetoh will do about our epidemic of gun violence – do you really need to ask? And by the way, this is one of the best interpretations of the Second Amendment that I’ve ever heard...
…and you KNEW I wasn’t going to let go of this item from this week, didn’t you (yeah, isn't it a hoot to hear all of our Repug “friends” caterwauling about what could be fake news biting back at THEM, even though they had no problem sprinkling it, metaphorically speaking, all over HRC…? And NSFW by the way)...
…and 55 years ago today, comedian Ernie Kovacs was killed in an auto accident in Los Angeles – can’t tell you I was a huge fan, though he definitely was inventive and paved the way for others to follow…
…and I guess you could call this an almost obligatory tune for this day and date.
