Friday Stuff

I know Lindsey Graham was “showing a little bit of leg” yesterday during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, basically losing what’s left of his mind in his quest to get this thoroughly-unqualified nominee confirmed, but I have just a few responses to the clip below from earlier yesterday (here).

1) If he’s so concerned about the damn investigation into Kavanaugh, then turn everything over to the FBI, 2) If he’s also concerned about what he views as any procedural irregularities, then all I can say in response is MERRICK GARLAND, MERRICK GARLAND, MERRICK GARLAND, MERRICK GARLAND, MERRICK GARLAND, MERRICK GARLAND, and MERRICK GARLAND!!

Oh, and as far as his threats are concerned about any nominees from the Democrats (who he won’t vote for anyway), my response is as follows: bring it, you partisan hack!

(Note: May have to press on pic above to isolate view on a mobile device - hat tip to Whitney Cummings on Twitter.)

...and Cenk and Ana tell us about Kavanaugh's response yesterday afternoon (and I don’t give a shit about Kavanaugh’s tears or anger...and blaming the Clintons was hilarious – and I know I'm repeating myself, but all he has to do is let the FBI investigate, and he never will…also, during what decade will we FINALLY hear from this Mark Judge character? Also, Sam Seder was on “All In” last night and said that we won’t have to wait months to hear about more Kavanaugh crap, but weeks…after he may very well be confirmed of course…and I think that’s absolutely right…once again, this is white privilege on display; there are definitely people in this country in other demographics that, if they had engaged in activity like this Renata stuff or trying to pin a then-young woman to a bed, would have been imprisoned...I guess I need to say this; imagine if Kavanaugh were African American - to try and derail this, click here...and I'm not saying much about Dr. Blasey Ford because I believe her, and in a sane and just political landscape, her testimony alone would have sunk this cretin)…



Update: There may be hope after all.

…and Farron Cousins tells us that Trumpster Kirstjen Nielsen is typically lying about signing off on her regime’s typically cruel and stupid border separation policy…



…and with the prior clip in mind, I give you a preview of one of the latest offerings from Brave New Films…



…and I thought this was a pretty well-informed segment on the effects of tariffs from David Pakman…

...and to support Scott Wallace in the PA-01 U.S. House contest against Brian Fitzpatrick, click here...



…and I know this is ostensibly a humorous “New Rule” from Bill Maher (NSFW), but I also think it’s scary as hell, and we shouldn’t be laughing too hard (and again, the response is not to curl up in a ball in fear, but to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!)…



…and speaking of our Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Orange Dictator Wannabe, I put up this song on the day of his inauguration…I know it has to do with a girl in a wheelchair who is angry because she wants to be in love like other women, which shouldn’t be too much to ask I know, but I thought it was an apt metaphor for our ruling regime, namely, wanting to be legitimate in a way they never can be (the month reference also being appropriate of course), and I think it also fits in a way for the whole Kavanaugh circus (something that ALSO will never be legitimate as far as I’m concerned).

(By the way, please understand that I’m not trying to compare a disabled person to anyone associated with Trump or to His Fraudulency 2.0 himself. In Morrissey’s song, the girl is a victim of cruel circumstance I know, but the actions of anyone associated with Number 45 are choices. All I’m saying is that rage is the common thread.)

Thursday Stuff

Farron Cousins of Ring of Fire tells us about Tomi Lahren trying to be relevant with some supposedly clever tweet about Michelle Obama, someone who has more stature and accomplishment than Lahren will ever have as a momentary right wing pundit du jour (Cousins quite correctly notes that Lahren’s shelf life, you might say, is winding down, and I’m sure she’ll end up in the same scrap heap as this Kennedy person, S.E. Cupp, etc.)…



…and given the parade of rich, right-wing male privilege currently taking place on Capitol Hill disguised as the Brett Kavanaugh hearing, I thought this was a timely segment from Ari Melber with Helaine Olen of The Washington Post and Liz Plank about Kavanaugh’s treatment of Bill Clinton 20 years ago, and how karma truly is a bitch (and let’s not forget Ken Starr’s own related baggage, as noted here…Kavanaugh should be asked about a cigar and his genitals, but I’m sure he won’t be)…



…and Sam Bee gives us a nauseating look at the non-Lahren right-wing idiocy on this (not criticizing her on this of course, just her subjects – and I must have missed the bit behind the “full Carrie” fire graphic)…



…and Kyle K. discusses Michael Moore talking to Bill Maher about “Fahrenheit 11/9” recently on “Real Time” (and again, Maher has a lot of moments of clear-headed commentary, but he’s an entertainer first and foremost, and I’m tired of listening to him act like he’s supposedly the gatekeeper of sane discourse when, in fact, while he’s definitely not as anti-immigrant as Generalissimo Trump, he’s definitely anti-Muslim in his way, which is pretty repugnant too – I can’t argue with Moore because he was on the ground talking to people, and he makes a GREAT point about more people voting in the Dem MI primary than the general election, for the reasons that he points out)…



…and on a wholly other note, Paul Newman died 10 years ago yesterday, believe it or not; not sure it’s possible to calculate the philanthropic benefits owing from his “Newman’s Own” line of products (here is one of his most memorable movie scenes)…



…and I think this is another notable recent milestone, which is monumental courage which we should all acknowledge and appreciate (the current loathsome regime in that country...and ours...being completely unworthy by comparison of course) – makes me recall this tune.

Wednesday Stuff

Our country fought and won World War II (with a lot of help of course, but it took our leadership). We created the interstate highway system as part of an infrastructure network that was once the envy of the world. We also took the lead in instituting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (the 70th anniversary of its ratification is this December 10th, by the way). We also put a man on the moon, multiple times as it turned out.

Now in 2018, however, our “president” addresses the United Nations, and he is laughed at. And he (and by extension, we as a nation) completely deserve it (and let's keep this in mind too)…



…and Seth Meyers comments on the latest Trump idiocy at the UN, as well as Bill Cosby’s sentence, among other items…



…and I don’t think an entire family has taken out an ad against its brother in a political campaign, but that what Paul Gosar’s siblings did in Arizona as noted here (and the predictable response is here)…



…and Farron Cousins tells us about a laughably bad Photoshopped pic of the Gropenfuhrer supposedly rescuing a victim of the flooding from Hurricane Harvey (more here)…



…and don’t worry, there’s nothing to see here, just a third woman making a charge against Brett Kavanaugh (more here and here – interesting polling analysis by Cenk)…



...and happy 70th birthday to Olivia Newton-John – best wishes for good health (here).

Tuesday Stuff

(And by the way, today is #NationalVoterRegistrationDay - more here).

Trevor Noah brings us the latest on Brett Kavanaugh (and is there a THIRD accuser now? NSFW at the very end – and I know we’ve covered some of this stuff, including the part about that five-woman Republican focus group as noted here)…



…also, Farron Cousins tells us about this hedge fund gazillionaire named Seth Klarman who is apparently going to support Democrats now (and I think Cousins’s take on this is exactly right…besides, if – God willing and if WE get out and make it happen – the Democrats return to power, the people Cousins mentions, like Scarborough, Steve Schmidt, Nicolle Wallace, etc., will likely turn on a dime and start supporting the Repugs again)…



…and Kyle K. tells us about the threat by Jordan Peterson to sue someone who criticized him (typical…Kyle is right, and I’m glad he mentioned Bill Maher, who gave a platform to Peterson, Bari Weiss, and other “glibertarian” goofballs, who otherwise would probably have remained obscure…well, Peterson anyway – and I wasn’t aware of “The Streisand Effect”…NSFW also)…



…and Robert Reich tells us about another tax scam for the rich proposed by the Trumpsters, which would be trying to basically lower the capital gains tax rate by making any taxable increase due to inflation non-taxable instead – no end to their deceit and chicanery…

…and to help Scott Wallace, running against Brian Fitzpatrick for the PA-01 U.S. House seat, click here.



…and I hope you’re in the mood for a little escapism, because I sure as hell am.

Monday Stuff

Cenk Uygur of TYT tells us about the latest Brett Kavanaugh accuser, and that would be Deborah Ramirez, who apparently was reluctant to come forward at first for the reasons Cenk tells us – that’s understandable as far as I’m concerned; as important as it is that the truth comes out, the person saying these things will have her life turned upside down as a result…do I even have to ask where we would be in this story if the Democrats tried something like this (and yeah, as a YouTube commenter noted, Cenk is referring to “Mark” Judge, not Mike)...



…and Michael Brooks of The Majority Report tells us about this idiot Repug congressman from South Carolina named Ralph Norman, who apparently made a “joke” about Ruth Bader Ginsburg being groped by Abraham Lincoln (where is Major Bowes’ hook when you need it, I’m tempted to ask…more Norman garbage is here)…



…and I would say that Farron Cousins brings the appropriate level of outrage here (and concerning that allegedly objective CNN panel being questioned, I give you this)…



…and with all of this going on, I couldn’t help but think of this song (wouldn’t be a bit surprised if women in this country staged something like their own version of “Lysistrata” as a result).

Saturday Stuff

David Pakman tells us about Generalissimo Trump declassifying materials related to the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller (but of course, Sean Inanity says it’s OK – more here and here).

(After Trump is finally gone and – if there’s any justice whatsoever – incarcerated, which can’t come soon enough of course, there are going to be SO MANY rules passed about what a president can and can no longer do based on prior understandings that Trump has completely trashed…and declassifying intel like this is one of them…that the next person who gets this job may be completely hamstrung)…

…and for anyone who thinks there isn’t a human cost to be paid for all of the political stupidity in this country, I give you this (kudos to Chris Hayes for keeping stories like this from falling under the proverbial radar)…



…and speaking of pointless deaths, Cenk and Ana of TYT tell us about the shooting at the Rite Aid distribution center in Aberdeen, MD (I realize this goes against the grain on how these stories typically go; namely, that a handgun was involved as opposed to an assault rifle, and the shooter was a woman who died of a self-inflicted wound, but I don’t think it is less important for us to pay attention…have to admit that I didn’t know about the shooting in PA…hard to keep track of them all, sadly)…



…and while we’re on the subject of guns, I should let you know that, these parts, Steve Santarsiero is running for the PA state senate (more here)…



…and returning to the Brett Kavanaugh stuff (could this be more of a train wreck, I wonder?), Farron Cousins tells us of the wingnut conspiracy theories to try and smear Dr. Ford and her charges against Kavanaugh – and as far as why it apparently has to be Kavanaugh, it’s all about falling in line, and Morrison of course…and I wouldn’t want this Ed Whelan guy to represent me in court if I were contesting so much as a traffic ticket (and yep, when it comes to legitimizing talking points from the right-wing fever swamps, Kathleen Parker is ON IT, PEOPLE!)…



…and while we’re on the subject of anything related to the Gropenfuhrer, this CBC review tells us about Michael Moore’s new film, Fahrenheit 11/9 (don’t know if the review noted the similarity in the title of Moore’s other Bushco-era pic)…



…and I don’t think I’ve included a clip from James Corden before, so I’ll let him join the party now (yeah, the Stormy Daniels stuff just about turned my stomach – what a horrible thing to do to a video game character – but as the saying goes, I report, you decide…and “The Uranus Examiner” with the “finger” headline…way too damn funny)…



…and a hat tip goes out to Eric Schuman of WXPN for pointing out that today is the 40th anniversary of the release of Love Bites by The Buzzcocks, featuring this tune.

Thursday Stuff (updates)

Rachel Maddow had a feature last night in which the woman pictured, Barbara Ledeen, was mentioned. Ledeen (wife of neocon Michael Ledeen) was involved with the document that was improperly taken from Sen. Patrick Leahy, something which first came out in Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing for the federal appeals court years ago (this kind of winds a bit, so I’ll try to be careful in summarizing).

As noted here…

(The Kavanaugh SCOTUS confirmation) hearing was the latest effort by Leahy to suggest Kavanaugh knew he had received information improperly taken from Democrats. He questioned Kavanaugh about the matter in confirmation hearings in 2004, when Kavanaugh’s nomination for the federal appeals court was stalled, and in 2006, when Kavanaugh won confirmation. During both hearings, Kavanaugh said he learned about (the action of Manual Miranda, Republican counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee) only from news reports, and Leahy did not have access to Kavanaugh’s emails.

That changed at this week’s hearings, when the committee released a number of previously undisclosed emails that Leahy said raised new questions about Kavanaugh’s knowledge that the documents were improperly taken. In a July 28, 2002, email, Miranda wrote Kavanaugh that Leahy’s staff has distributed a confidential letter to Democratic staffers, and then described the contents of the letter.

An email written by Miranda on March 18, 2003, and copied to Kavanaugh, had the subject line was “for use and not distribution.” Miranda wrote that “Dem staffers say that they have confidential information,” and he then listed “points they make.” Leahy said the points came from a draft of a letter written by his office. “We have every reason to believe that was taken,” Leahy said.

Separately, an email written to Kavanaugh by a then-staffer to the Republican leadership, Barbara Ledeen, had the subject line “spying.” Ledeen wrote that “I have a friend who is a mole for us on the left,” and described information she had learned about spending plans by liberal groups on judicial nominations. “It is important to note that IF we have a nominee, we need to ZIP THAT PERSON RIGHT THROUGH THE PROCESS….WE CANNOT BEAT 20 MILLION DOLLARS,” Ledeen wrote on June 5, 2003.

Kavanaugh forwarded the message to his boss, Counsel Alberto Gonzales, and others, writing, “interesting Ledeen email . . .”

Ledeen, who now serves as a Republican staffer on the committee, did not respond to a request for comment.

No, I don’t suppose she would, would she?

Oh, and did I mention that (as noted in the story) Ledeen is on the staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee, working for Sen. Chuck Grassley, as noted here? She also circulates in all kinds of neocon circles and is pals with Michael Flynn (I realize that’s not legally actionable in and of itself, but I think it’s interesting all the same).

And by the way, when considering Kavanaugh’s response (something more likely to come from a political operative than someone charged with administering the law), I would ask that you recall what former Vice President Al Gore did in a similar circumstance when he received “oppo” information on then-presidential candidate George W. Bush here – namely, he turned it over without using it against his opponent.

At a minimum, Ledeen should be barred from serving in any kind of public capacity whatsoever given her subterfuge in obtaining the confidential Democratic Email and forwarding it to Kavanaugh (And please, Democrats, can we tighten up this sort of thing? I realize there’s only so much we can do about a “mole,” but we can damn sure not share ANYTHING on a server with a Republican!). I know the focus here is on the Supreme Court nominee, as it should be, but I don’t think Ledeen should be let off the hook in any way either.

And while we’re on the subject of Kavanaugh, Chris Kang of the Obama Administration (who vetted Obama’s Supreme Court picks) tells us more on the blocking of Kavanaugh’s records (a petition against Kavanaugh is here, and to contact your Senator and voice opposition, click here)…



Update 1: And by the way, in case anybody out there somehow doesn’t get how personal all of this is, I give you this.

Update 2: Man, is Dean Heller a piece of shit for this – to do something about it, click here.

Update 3: When somebody finds me the emoji of smacking the palm of a hand against a forehead, let me know, OK? (here and here).

…and while we’re also talking about The High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR, Cenk and Ana tell us about a ruling that’s actually GOOD for a change on campaign finance reform, affecting the Chamber of Commerce, the Kochs, and Karl Rove/Crossroads GPS, as well as other “big funders”…



…and Sam Seder of The Majority Report gives us the latest on the Beto O’Rourke/Ted Cruz contest, in particular on the Botham Jean case (and yeah, I know I touched on this story a bit yesterday, but kudos to O’Rourke – I see no demagoguery in O’Rourke’s words or actions whatsoever, by the way)…

…and it looks like, according to Trump econ guru and recovering cocaine addict Larry Kudlow, that cuts are indeed coming to Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid, which should surprise absolutely no one (Farron Cousins explains – and the reference to the Florida congressman with the yacht was this guy, by the way.)…



..which is actually the perfect segue into this clip from 9/20/11, in which The Onion teeters dangerously close to reality once more (some bad words at the end – and yeah, you guessed it…time once more for “This Day in Doomsy History”)…



...and despite it all, I think we all need to hear this song - maybe especially now.

Wednesday Stuff

Farron Cousins of “Ring of Fire” tells us about Ted (“Raphael” Born In Canada) Cruz claiming that Beto O’Rourke will ban barbecue, or some such nonsense…I’ll refuse to gloat over this until the day mercifully comes when Cruz is defeated…tells you something about Texas that this race is as close as it is, and I don’t mean that as a compliment (and in a related story, kudos to Willie Nelson for this)…



…and nice work here also by Maya Wiley here, former assistant U.S. Attorney for the southern district of NY, on the latest Brett Kavanaugh garbage (Nail. Hammer. Head.)…



…and when it comes to Kavanaugh and everything else really, Corker, Flake and the rest are just the same old Republicans (here – they’re going to use Dr. Ford’s quite reasonable demand to have the FBI investigate first as an excuse to have no more hearings at all and go right to the vote).

(By the way, I have been quite understandably flooded with requests to call Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Elevator) and urge him to vote No on Kavanaugh. And I haven’t done it. And it is because I’ve called Toomey over a dozen times on various issues since he tragically was elected to the Senate in 2010, and he has steadfastly refused to vote the way I have asked him to on ANY ISSUE WHATSOEVER.

If you live in PA and want to try, go ahead (here). Sadly, the opportunity to get rid of him came and went in 2016, and short of his resignation, I see no way to be rid of him until 2022 at the earliest.)...



Update: I emailed Toomey and told him to oppose Kavanaugh - should have made clear earlier that I did something anyway.

…and I know a little bit about this issue myself; Kyle of Secular Talk discusses the typically stupid and pointless crackdown on vaping by The Gropenfuhrer’s FDA…yes, I know that, when discussing cigarette smoking and vaping, you’re talking about two activities that are inherently unhealthy, but Kyle is absolutely right – in my experience anyway (which is supported by Kyle’s data), you have an easier time working yourself off regular cigarettes (with their many foul carcinogens, to say nothing of nicotine) than you do off of an e-cigarette…if you have to choose between the two, I suggest going the e-cigarette route (but of course, do that and Big Tobacco haz a sad...NSFW)…



…and Cenk and Ana of TYT tell us about this CNN segment with Trumpster-ettes, you might say – Nell Justilliano, who I think is totally out to lunch, is the first person interviewed by Alisyn Camerota – easy for me to look down my nose at these women, though I obviously am not doing that and I would be wrong to do so (the young twenty-something woman with black hair impressed me with her knowledge and overall awareness); I just thoroughly disagree with these women panelists, though I respect their right to have an opinion…should almost go without saying I know (and I think Cenk is particularly correct about them getting bad – or at a minimum, incomplete – information)…

…actually, maybe these panelists (and everybody else) should just watch this video from Robert Reich and THEN speak to Camerota…



…and I think this is a GREAT New York Times commentary on where we are vis-à-vis the midterms…



…and happy birthday to David Bromberg (and I promise I got the date right… biggest finish of them all coming up; just wait for it).

Tuesday Stuff

I’ll have to admit that I don’t understand how a waste disposal company can sue anybody who doesn’t pay their bill (Doesn’t the municipality just withhold any monies owed by the customer whose waste is being picked up? Or are these customers that destitute? I don’t know.), but that’s what Scott Wagner and Penn Waste are doing, as noted here.

I have more of an issue with the fact that Wagner won’t release a tax return, as noted here (just like the Gropenfuhrer pictured above).

This makes me recall the following clip with Wagner (more here) – to do something about it, click here…



…and with that in mind (under the heading of out-of-touch, self-entitled Republicans running for governor of PA), I give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 9/16/13, in which “Clueless Tom” Corbett said that, gosh darn it, those lazy cheats collecting unemployment just need to get off their asses, apply for work and stop trying to “game” the system…or something…

…and Kyle K. tells us that Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History is out campaigning for Republican politicians not named Ted Cruz (and yeah, I’ve had some issues with Glenn Greenwald lately, but he’s spot-on here – typical that Ex-Commander Codpiece would think Alleged Forcible Sexual Assault Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh is just dandy…“there is nothing you can do to be excommunicated by the donor class.” – uh, yep…and Kyle is dead-on in the last minute on Bernie Sanders…NSFW)…



…well, since our corporate media has, as usual, come down with a case of amnesia on terrible Republican presidents, I guess I’d better present this clip once more to show why Number 43 should be vilified as much as possible…



…and this is ostensibly a humorous clip from Seth Meyers, even though I’m quite sure he realizes the predicament were in over the Kavanaugh mess and a host of other issues is definitely not a “laff riot,” expect maybe for Fix Noise “Judge” Jeanine “Demon Rats” Pirro…God, that woman is SOOO around the bend…



Update: Typical Trumpster garbage on the Kavanaugh story, as predictable as flatulence after an attack of indigestion (here)…

..and Stephanie Ruhle tells us that Repug mega-donor Les Wexner is leaving the Repug Party (following the money as usual…sad that this character will get much more media attention than any of the 40 million people living in poverty in this country – interesting remark about the “92 percent”…and this business about “Oh, I heard Obama speak, so now I’m not a Repug” is ridiculous…YOU HEARD HIM SPEAK FOR EIGHT YEARS AS PRESIDENT, YOU SOULLESS GREEDHEAD MONSTER! YOU JUST CARE ABOUT YOUR BALANCE SHEET! And DEAR GOD, MICHAEL BLOOMBERG MUST NOT RUN!)…



…oh, and did you hear the one about FEMA’s Brock Long claiming that the horrific casualty numbers in Puerto Rico were due to spousal abuse (which, if anything, is in keeping with the overall Trumpster undercurrent of abusive behavior towards women…with that remark, of course, having nothing to do with the world of empirical reality)? Farron Cousins gives us the gory details…



…and I’m sorry that there’s not a lot that’s uplifting in this post (living up to the title of this blog again I guess), but there isn’t a lot I can do to try and control the news – oh, and I might as well finish it with this item; Jim Croce died in a plane crash 45 years ago today (oops - two days early on the date; my bad).

Monday Stuff

Cenk, John and the TYT crew tell us here about Arkansans losing Medicaid coverage over work requirements, with residents of Indiana and New Hampshire potentially facing the same fate (the pic ties into the clip near the end, at about 7:30)…



…and I thought Farron Cousins showed some commendable outrage here, outlining the wretched spending excess of the Trumpsters; add to that Nikki Haley’s curtains for $52K…



…and Kyle of Secular Talk tells us about the Trumpsters and the EPA rolling back federal regs on methane - I may have touched on this before, but here it is again...



…and all the best to Elissa Slotkin (here) - many thanks for her service (and THIS is how you go after a Republican...to do more, click here)...



…and I guess we have to find humor where we can in all of this; I have to admit that I was amused by this bit from Trevor Noah…



…and at first, I thought I was watching a teaser here for a “Walking Dead” spinoff, but maybe not.

Saturday Stuff (update)

I would say these recent developments on Brett Kavanaugh should be enough to slam on the proverbial brakes when it comes to his nomination, at a minimum to investigate this charge against him…this whole thing looks seedier by the minute (more here, and let’s not forget this and this too, and GREAT points by John in particular…the U.S. Senate Repugs knew about this, especially Grassley, but are still trying to ramrod Kavanaugh onto the Supreme Court anyway, which is foul and disgusting on a whole other level I realize)…



Update 9/16/18: His accuser has gone public.

…and I would call this a particularly ridiculous attempt at distraction from Dana Loesch and the NRA, as Jeff Waldorf of TYT Nation tells us (It’s “Thomas The Tank Engine,” you dimwit, and when I watched this many years ago with The Teenaged One, I never considered Sir Topham Hatt to be "an authoritarian maniac"…puh-leeze!)…



…and speaking of idiocy, it looks like another one of Bri-Fi’s sleazy campaign tricks has backfired, as noted here (like this also) – to do something about it, click here…



Update 9/19/18: Oh, for God's sake, Bri-Fi, knock off this shit!

…and as noted here, Lehman Brothers crashed 10 years ago today, ushering in The Great Recession, from which we were saved by President Obama and Congressional Democrats; here is a tune for the occasion.

Friday Stuff

Hasan Piker gives us another “Breakdown,” this time on the Gropenfuhrer lying about the PR death toll (good job to link this to what victims of Florence may face – love to be wrong, but what else can we expect from the insane, treasonous individual at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?)…



…and Seth Meyers chimes in a bit also on Generalissimo Trump and his lies about the catastrophe in Puerto Rico (and we have to make that “blue wave” happen, people, which I'm sure we all know by now, right?)…



…and Kyle K. gives us a great big reason to vote these clowns out of office, tied to the reality point of view here on the deficit (GREAT analysis about the shell game on this issue played by the Repugs and their corporate media lackeys…NSFW)…



…and David Pakman tells us about the school in Georgia (of course) that has sent out consent forms asking if it’s OK to paddle students on the butt (and yes, I think it works to link this to abortion and other issues, given the notion of “strict father morality” as David discusses…and yeah, I also lean towards being horrified that a third of the parents surveyed think this is OK…what country am I living in again?)…



…and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 9/10/14 (more or less – I know I’m off by a few days with this…I miss these FAIR TV segments, to be honest…if you find yourself wondering why we seem to be engaged in wars without end, I think this segment from Janine Jackson gives you some insight; namely, skewed “reporting” gives us a skewed narrative that we want a more “muscular” response to problems around the globe…I give Richard Engel a little more credit than most other media types, but I think he was caught in a bit of hyperbole here too…oh, and the next time you hear about Bill Kristol, the man who is PERPETUALLY WRONG about just about everything, jumping on the anti-Trump bandwagon (which is the correct thing to do of course, against character you might say), remember how he, along with the late Charles Krauthammer, were probably the biggest media cheerleaders for Dubya’s Not-So-Excellent Adventure in Iraq)…



…and here’s a nice new tune to kick-start the weekend (hopefully a DRY one for as many of us as possible).

Thursday Stuff

Sam Bee gives us our marching orders for the upcoming elections (and sorry, but I don’t know what the “one more thing” was)…



…and Robert Reich tells us how to rebuild a progressive coalition (he’s mostly dead-on with all of this even though I’m not completely sold on universal basic income, but boy, is he right about #4 in particular)…



…and I thought this was a GREAT breakdown segment from Francis Maxwell about the whole Colin Kaepernick/Nike flap with exactly the right historical context (echoing that great moment with Beto O’Rourke recently)…



…and Pap and Farron Cousins tell us that the evidence is pretty damn overwhelming at this point that fracking causes earthquakes (oh, and if you want to blame Obama for fracking, go ahead, though Pap correctly lays the blame at about 4:00 or so…but just imagine the wingnut caterwauling if Obama tried to stop it…as usual, the fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves)…



…and if you’re looking for climate-related news that’s actually good, you might want to check this out…



...and happy birthday to Fiona Apple.

Wednesday Stuff (updates)

Cenk, John Iadarola and Michael Shure tell us more horror stories of our Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Orange Dictator Wannabe, this time on the “tremendously big and tremendously wet” hurricane taking dead aim on the Carolinas and Georgia (and caught taking millions from FEMA to give to ICE…why should I be surprised at this point?)…



Update 9/13/18: At a certain point, I just can’t even…

He needs to be gone. NOW. He also needs to be imprisoned. Or locked in a rubber room. Or preferably, both.

Update 9/14/18: To help victims of Florence, click here.

…and Hasan Piker gives us another “Breakdown” on the Dallas police officer who apparently killed a black man in his home for doing absolutely nothing wrong (except answering the door without a gun drawn, as that soulless harpie Dana Loesch wanted, or so she said) – sounds like Life In These United States, Part The Infinity, as Charlie Pierce might say…

…and here’s some late-breaking news: Republican tax cuts aren’t worth squat, as Farron Cousins reminds us (actually, speaking of something as true as “water is wet”…and I think Cousins means “Peter” King...oh, but only the "one percent" are supposed to have a say in campaign finance matters...speaking of $$...according to Susan Collins and NBC News, as noted here)…



…and Bart Chilton and Mollye Barrows tell us that the whole flap with Colin Kaepernick has apparently been a boon for Nike (just means that the company knows who its customers are, which is true of any successful company, really)…



…and with another 9/11 anniversary in the rear view mirror, as it were, Kyle tells us about Jon Stewart and the 9/11 first responders trying to continue their health coverage (on Shep Smith’s Fox program – NSFW)…



…and we all hope and pray for the folks in the belt of Hurricane Florence (to assist if you can, please click here) – I’ve just had this tune on my mind a bit (no message or anything), so here it is.

Tuesday Stuff

Rachel Maddow talks with Dem U.S. House Rep Jim Himes on the Gropenfuhrer trying to wreck the career of Bruce Ohr, along with many others as Himes correctly points out (individuals such as Ohr would receive a medal under the administration of anyone else except our Treasonous Orange Lunatic)…

…and by the way, Bri-Fi, you once worked for the FBI – don’t you have a desire to defend career professionals such as Ohr, Rod Rosenstein and Peter Strzok? Bueller?...



…and I don’t want to make a habit of embedding videos from Joe Scar, partly because he “rode the tire swing” with Trump too for a time, but he’s spot-on here about what the Gropenfuhrer has done except for the “defensive crouch” remark about Obama (not trying to totally absolve Number 44, but I only wish to point out all the active conflicts in which our military is involved, and Former President Hopey Changey is partly responsible for that – I don’t know how that constitutes a “defensive crouch”…it’s also funny to listen to Scarborough blame Obama for Trump, which I realize is what passes for conventional right-wing “wisdom”…God, David Ignatius is a pretentious, insufferable toad…how they can have a discussion like this and not acknowledge what we’re doing with the drone strikes around the world and restarting the nuclear arms race is darkly humorous I realize)…



…and some years, this day is less hard than others – it seems particularly difficult this year.

Monday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

Joe Scar and Nick Confessore of “the failing New York Times” talk to Dem Delaware U.S. Senator Chris Coons on The Brett Kavanaugh Utter Lies And Obfuscation Show (and #plaidshirtguy ROCKS, by the way…yeah, it should be plain by now that Generalissimo Trump wants Kavanaugh because of the Morrison decision about not limiting presidential power…typically hypocritical wingnut garbage for Kavanaugh to want to do away with a special prosecutor after he milked that grift to the max during the Clinton impeachment fiasco)…



…and Kyle of Secular Talk tells us about lawyer John Dowd telling the Gropenfuhrer not to testify before Mueller or else Number 45 will end up wearing an orange jumpsuit – oh, but it’s Obama’s fault that we’re stuck with Our Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Child-President….riiiiiiight – and I share Kyle’s vision for 2020 at the moment, but we have miles to go (NSFW)…



…and Mike Papantonio and Mollye Barrows give us the latest on the PA grand jury report on the Catholic Church abuse scandal (again, from The Putin Network, but again, the reporting looks solid…and again, I take NO PLEASURE whatsoever in including this, but enough words to try and put things right, assuming that’s even possible – “actions speak louder than… - action NOW!”...stop acting like mobsters and TRY TO DO RIGHT by these people!)…



...and here is a good new song I'm including for no particular reason whatsoever (I'm not sure I've ever seen a station wagon in a video before).

Friday Stuff

Robert Reich tells us how to fight back against the Gropenfuhrer and his non-stop lies (and by the way, I’m pretty fed up at this point with media commentators of any stripe who say we should be “afraid” over all of this with Number 45 – what we should be is PISSED OFF and MOTIVATED TO VOTE in a few weeks AND MOBILIZED TO HELP OTHERS DO THE SAME)…



…and Pap and Farron Cousins tell us what kind of conditions Jeff Bezos’s employees have to deal with, to say nothing of the “goon squad” going after Bezos’s workers and anyone else who actually criticizes him – makes me feel bad every time I have to buy something from Amazon, to say nothing of reading the WaPo (and once again, I know this is from The Putin Network, but again, the reporting looks solid…and AWS is VERY profitable, by the way)…



…and kudos to Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr. for this (telling us to get the hell out of the land where empires crumble), as Kyle K. tells us – I understand why Kyle is a little harsh on Nicholson, and he has a point, but at least the departing general is saying something (NSFW)…



…and it looks like we have Round 2 of Hasan Piker and screaming wingnut car guy Graham Allen, this time over Nike and Colin Kaepernick (I swear, they must be lovin’ all of the free publicity from these goofballs like Allen)…



…and I give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 9/8/16 (I watch this and I feel sick – Former President Hopey Changey believed that the voters would see Generalissimo Trump for what he is – even more timely as far as I’m concerned given this week’s mania…we keep saying how unprecedented each week is, and yeah, I think we should pretty much retire that expression, because ALL OF THIS is unprecedented…heckuva job, Trumpsters, Hillary Haters, the “Bernie or Bust” crowd and everybody who didn’t bother to vote at all…and yes, we also need full auditing of votes everywhere which we don’t have because I think a hell of a lot of people were disenfranchised, but somebody like Greg Palast would know more about that than me…and by the way, it’s totally accidental that I included this on the day when Number 44 also gave us this)…



…and happy 88th birthday to legendary jazz tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins.

Thursday Stuff

I know it’s not exactly an original observation to say that we’ve been in 25th Amendment territory for a little while now with Generalissimo Trump, but I would say that the events of the last day or so in particular have put a bit of an exclamation point on that…of course, don’t expect this scandalous cadre of thoroughly compromised lickspittles running our executive and legislative branches of government to do much of anything about it; if we needed more of a reminder about the importance of the November election, I would say this is it (NSFW mainly at the very end)…



…and I like Jimmy Kimmel’s theory about the author of the New York Times Op-Ed – sure would fit…



…and Cenk and Ana of TYT give Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh the treatment he deserves, but Jeff Flake to me has no guts whatsoever – he gets zero points from yours truly…



…and Farron Cousins tells us more idiocy (to say nothing of fraud) involving Repug U.S. House Rep John Culberson of TX, who blames climate change for his own corruption (the trifecta of “duuh,” apparently)…



…and RIP Burt Reynolds – I always thought this award was thoroughly deserved for “Boogie Nights”…no idea what his politics were, if he had any, and I don’t care (“The old Stradivarius plays better than the new ones.”…nice touch - and I thought this was a nice tribute)…



…and I don’t think it’s time for torches and pitchforks yet, but what do you say to a little peaceful civic disorder?

Wednesday Stuff

As Seth Meyers tells us here, it looks like The Judge Brett Kavanaugh Utter Lies And Obfuscation Show is well underway in the Senate (and I thought this comparatively late development was particularly stoo-pid) – there’s no way these proceedings should be going on in a “democracy” that wasn’t otherwise utterly bought and paid for by the one percent…in a twisted way, though, Kavanaugh is exactly what we should expect from our treasonous ruling cabal of criminals and other bottom-feeders in that he’s a thoroughly unrepentant liar (to say nothing of a lowdown piece of sh*t for this)…



…and Trevor Noah weighs in on the most recent boycotts (yeah, I think it’s hilarious to see the wingnuts burning the Nike shoes over the Colin Kaepernick ad…and for what it’s worth, I’ll only buy Nike sneakers from now on…as well as the umbrage over the Neil Armstrong film, but here’s a crazy suggestion I know…while I DEFINITELY would not have invited Steve Bannon to ANYTHING, why not just allow him to come anyway? It would be an opportunity to "rip him a new one," you might say. Yes, his positions are thoroughly wrong and indefensible and there’s NO WAY I would find myself in agreement with him, but wouldn’t our side have looked a little more mature if we’d done that instead of telling him not to show up?)

Also, I’ll admit that I’m a little biased when it comes to The New Yorker magazine, and I mean that in a good way. I’ve never read writing that comes anywhere close to the quality of their journalism, but we had to drop our subscription because it became too expensive. If you’re going to deprive yourself and not subscribe over the Bannon flap…well then, as far as I’m concerned (as somebody might have said in an earlier decade), the terrorists have already won (slightly NSFW)…



…and apparently the true cost of the Gropenfuhrer’s typically wrong-headed trade war is coming due to all of us, and it sounds like it’s about $6 billion – MAGA! MAGA! MAGA!...



…and speaking of money, I know I’ve beaten the proverbial drum over last December’s tax con job by the “party of Lincoln” in the past, and I’ll continue to do so (including this clown – to do something about it, click here)…



…and of all of the outrages from the occupant of An Oval Office, I know it’s sometimes easy to forget about Puerto Rico, though we shouldn’t of course – this by itself would typically be enough to relegate the person responsible to the electoral sewage farm at a minimum, to say nothing of actual prosecution…



…and happy belated 70th birthday to drummer Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad.

Monday Stuff

The following video gives us some background on the history of Labor Day and its violent beginning (rights were never GIVEN to us, people, without a fight)…



…and this video marked protests by fast food workers timed for the 50th anniversary of the Memphis municipal workers sanitation strike (if the national Democratic Party had any spine, a $15-an-hour minimum wage would be a plank in the party platform)…



…as noted here, though, the “fight for $15” protests have been going on for about four years (and kudos to Gov. Wolf for this – to reward good behavior, click here, and to do more, click here)…



…and this tells us about the origins of the teacher’s protests (more here), giving some insight into what it takes to carry that load in Oklahoma in particular (and I thought this was noteworthy also)…



Update: More here (and here)...

…and Robert Reich provides more background (more food for thought on this is here and here, and this, unfortunately, is sadly appropriate IMHO)….



...and here is a song for the occasion.