Tuesday Stuff

(Sorry I messed up the day – the L-Tryptophan kicked in a little early.)...Kyle Kulinski tells us that, according to Rick “Goodhair” Perry, the Gropenfuhrer has been chosen by God, and no, I don’t think it’s correct to say any political leader has been chosen by The Almighty (Perry does have that whole "fundie" rap down pat, though, I have to admit - pardon me while I vomit in my mouth)…



…and Michael Brooks tells us that House Ranking Member Devin Nunes (on the Intel Committee…yeah, Nunes is pretty “rank” all right) is suing everybody – too funny (more here - NSFW)…



…and TYT tells us how Steve Schmidt of MSNBC is turning on Bernie – love the order of Schmidt’s coalition by the way, meaning the Dems are the last on the list with Repugs first and then independents; I reluctantly agree with Schmidt’s assertion that we shouldn’t take Trump for granted, but that’s about it; I definitely agree with Cenk and Ana’s assessment of Schmidt – and by the way, speaking of corrupt millionaires running for office, I give you this (and GREAT points by Cenk about Caribou Barbie and Alaskan “socialism,” as well as Claire McCaskill)…



…and speaking of MSNBC, the more I see of “Mayor Pete,” the more I blame that allegedly “liberal” network for “riding the tire swing” with him to prop him up and crowd people like Julian Castro and Kamala Harris off the stage (great takedown here by David Doel – more here; yeah, I think he wants to “get out of South Bend” too)…



Update 11/27/19: In the matter of “sensible centrist” Democrats, I think this is a great post (and sadly true as far as I can see). And you’d better believe the “party of Lincoln” knows all about the fissure between the true Democratic base (as far as I’m concerned) embracing Bernie, Warren, and maybe Yang/Castro/Harris at this point, and the corporatist crowd who just loves Biden and Mayor Pete (and this guy). Also, if you don’t think the Repugs are working on a strategy to exploit that divide and turn it into a chasm next year, then I’ve got a bridge to one of the five New York boroughs to sell you.

…and Robert Reich asks who’s worse – Mango Mussolini or Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao (tough call)…



…and happy 80th birthday to the former Anna Mae Bullock of Nutbush, Tennessee.

Monday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us about a life form named Ken LaCorte, who, it seems, is running a “fake news farm” in Macedonia (didn’t believe there was such a thing either, and yeah, I’m sure it’s legal because you have to prove intent somehow – doesn’t make it any less disgusting, though)…



…and God, was this funny – and richly deserved too…

…and Rudy has “insurance”? You mean, like a mobster? I hope one day Rudy ends up doing a “perp walk”…



…and David Doel tells us about Bernie trending upward in the polls; and yeah, Biden is “The scourge of cable news” indeed…I’m starting to understand how the phrase “OK, boomer” became a thing…



…and Kyle tells us the latest about the coup in Bolivia – yep, scary stuff…



…and I’m not exactly sure where I’ll be this Thursday or what I’ll be doing (well, aside from the usual for the holiday), but I definitely didn’t want to forget about this song.

Friday Stuff

Sam Seder and the TMR crew tell us about the push-back from Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman against Gym Jordan – by the way, I hope everyone who has trashed the Dems at various points for handling this hearing on the Gropenfuhrer’s illegality with Ukraine will give them credit for basically burying Number 45, if you will, through expert testimony…yes, I think they should have managed to work in the emoluments violations also, but they need to keep this as simple as they can for the American voter; sorry if that sounds snarky, but it’s true…



…and this WaPo clip is a bit of a compilation of Dr. Fiona Hill’s testimony yesterday (more here)…



…and Robert Reich provides some historical context on this here (and speaking of presidents, I haven’t forgotten about this)…



…and speaking of Mango Mussolini, I’m sure Susan Collins will be “very disappointed” to hear about this (to help Collins feel even more disappointed, click here)…



…and in the matter of our Orange Pestilence and elections, Farron Cousins tells us that Trump recently endorsed LA gubernatorial candidate Eddie Rispone, who ended up losing to Dem incumbent John Bel Edwards…



…and Kyle K. gives us an example of Bernie Sanders absolutely nailing it in the recent Dem candidates presidential debate on a question about Afghanistan and how our military is so badly over-extended…



…and this TYT clip tells us that Tweety thinks BERNIE IS TOOO STROOOONG!!! (truly hilarious – a little surprised to see Cenk on the panel since he’s a declared political candidate at this point, but I’m OK with that)…



...and happy birthday to Tina Weymouth of The Tom Tom Club and Talking Heads.

Wednesday Stuff

It looks like Gordon Sondland put the entire ruling Trump regime, along with RoJo as well apparently, into a little box titled “quid pro quo” wrapped in a ribbon with Putin’s face on it (possibly - more here)…



…and Seth Meyers tells us about prior hearings with Jennifer Williams and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman…



…and it’s probably too much to ask for Mike Pompeo to go to prison just like his criminally stupid and inept boss, but it sure would be sweet if he did, as Brian Tyler Cohen tells us (this clip is particularly good because of the push-back against the scurrilous attacks against the Obama Administration on Ukraine, among Pompeo’s avalanche of utter lies - oh, and isn't this interesting?)...



…and I definitely thought this was more than a little bit of insight into “Mayor Pete” from John I. and Ana of TYT featuring a clip of the South Bend mayor talking to some Teahadists back in the day…



…and gosh, color me not shocked; the “Morning Jo(ke)” crew just loves them some Buttigieg big time anyway (and on the Indiana mayor and SC, I give you this once more)…



…and I keep telling the title of this song to myself whenever I contemplate the utter nightmare of alleged “governance” going on in this country thanks to the MAGA crowd and various other complicit bad actors, including, once more, this guy, who remains silent as death on the subject.

Monday Stuff

It’s kind of late in the game for this as far as I’m concerned, but kudos to Dem U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for refusing to let the so-called "party of Lincoln" propagate their typical “Don’t look there! Look over there instead!” nonsense, which they’ve been practicing for at least 30 years, but the difference this time is that the stakes for our democracy have truly never been higher in the matter of the Gropenfuhrer’s impeachment hearing, as Brian Tyler Cohen explains…



…and Andrew Ross Sorkin, among others, has been an apologist for the “one percent” for a little while now, so this behavior is par for his own wretched course, if you will; the story has to do with CNBC apparently getting ready for the fainting couch over Dem U.S. presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren going after billionaires on tax policy...



…and as Kyle tells us, it looks like Cenk Uygur is running for Congress to fill Katie Hill’s seat (I think this is some particularly astute commentary from Kyle about income levels in voting districts – to help Cenk, click here)…



…and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 11/18/09, with a Brave New Films segment called “16 Deaths Per Day” (here) having to do with workplace safety violations.

To update this somewhat, I should point out that OSHA is under the DOL run by Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, who worked hard to overturn a Clinton-era law to protect workers against repetitive strain injuries in the workplace, and he defended SeaWorld when a killer whale killed a trainer (both noted here). However, this tells us that some former DOL officials have said that Scalia has been "very supportive of enforcement litigation to vindicate the rights of workers, both at the trial and appellate levels," to be fair. The Wikipedia article, though, also tells us Scalia “has a long record of defending major corporations against financial and labor regulations” and “Since 2003, he has defended Wall Street firms against financial oversight.”

There are a lot of links out there to worker accidents and citations against companies for safety violations, but I really couldn’t come up with data indicating any trends. I mean, I’d love to think that the number of workplace incidents have decreased, but given that we’re living under the Trump regime, I’m skeptical of that claim for that reason alone (though this was a recent related story that was positive IMHO)…



…and as somewhat of a lapsed NHL fan, I had a bit of passing interest in the latest drama involving Hockey Night in Canada’s Don Cherry, but for all of the reasons David Doel so astutely notes, Cherry’s comeuppance was LOOONG overdue (and this was about as predictable as flatulence after an attack of indigestion)…



…and happy birthday to Graham Parker.

Friday Stuff

I give Seth Meyers credit for keeping us focused on the utterly wretched individuals finding their way onto our federal courts courtesy of Generalissimo Trump and Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao…I know we touched on the Van Dyke stuff earlier – the laughter in response to the Van Dyke clip is thoroughly deserved as far as I’m concerned (the Meyers clip is timely in light of this – so fed up with going through the exercise of fighting these cretins only to see Repugs force them onto courts all over this country anyway because they can)…



…and for more emphasis on what a POS Menashi is, I give you this clip from Dem U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (Menashi was confirmed by every Repug U.S. senator except Susan Collins, who only voted the way she did because she’s probably in the political fight of her life for voting for “Schlitz” Kavanaugh)…



...and every time I hear our utterly craven, bought-and-paid-for corporate media gush about Mayor Pete, Klobuchar, or whichever billionaire or former politician has decided to run for the Dem presidential nomination over the last 24 hours, I want to take my PC monitor and throw it out the window because, unfortunately, it’s helping to suck the life out of the Kamala Harris campaign…yes, I know she had some missteps during those debates, but as far as I’m concerned, she’s rock solid on the issues that matter, as noted here on the recent CA mass shooting…



Update: As noted here (with the Senate Majority Leader trying to make some kind of a typically stoo-pid joke at the expense of the Dems, which wasn't even factually correct), #MoscowMitch is sitting on an extended background check bill that passed the U.S. House on February 27th.

…and speaking of trying to suck the life out of something, David Pakman tells us here about the issues his show is having with CNN and Facebook; I usually try to avoid “meta” stuff like this, but I think this is a cautionary tale for anyone trying to generate and post content online – also, if this helps his show get more subscribers, all the better…

…and as Farron Cousins tells us, it looks like wingnut U.S. House Rep. Matt Gaetz wants a jail sentence for the woman who tossed a red liquid at him – typical…good point about Daddy Gaetz getting his worthless progeny to blow off his own DUI cases…



...and John I. and Michael Brooks bring us up to date on some world stuff, including the coup in Bolivia which I'd heard of but really didn't understand until I saw this, though it is sadly predictable I realize (the Marshall Islands stuff and true cost of the GWOT post-9/11 are stomach-churning also)...



…and there’s definitely no way I could let this week come to an end without including this clip – I have to admit that I hadn’t paid attention to John Oliver for a little while, but this is an absolutely magnificent takedown of West Virginia’s Bob Murray, CEO of Murray Energy…builds up to one of the all-time-great roasts, and Oliver manages to come up with a terrific report on SLAPP lawsuits also (just assume the whole thing is NSFW and keep your headphones on, or watch at home)…



...and I realize this is perilously close to actual country music, but I thought this was a neat, relatively new tune, so here it is.

Update 1: STONED! (tee hee...speaking of legal stuff).

Update 2: Truly, you can't make it up (here).

Thursday Stuff

Yep, just another chapter of Life In These United States, Part The Infinity as Charlie Pierce might say – based on this, apparently there is a suspect in custody (and never forget this either...and please don't feed the trolls...this proves Cenk's point as far as I'm concerned, meaning that NOTHING happened following the story in August)…



…and Dem U.S. House Rep Peter Welch of the great state of Vermont is my hero of the day for this (responding to that fraud Gym Jordan as noted here)…



…and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about the testimony of U.S. Ambassador Bill Taylor at the impeachment hearing for the Gropenfuhrer yesterday – drip, drip, drip…



…and Sam and the crew from TMR tell us that Bret the Bedbug and “The Mooch” have a new man-crush, this time on Michael Bloomberg apparently running for president – yeah, let’s just push this stoo-pid new narrative to try and crowd Bernie, Warren, Harris etc. off the stage once more (and I think Sam nailed it with that proposed slogan at the end)…



…and I have to admit that I’m shocked to hear that Jimmy Dore actually did something constructive, and with that in mind, I give you Kyle K. showing a clip of JFK long ago talking about universal health care in MSG (and yeah, if you want to criticize Bill Clinton for all the “Third Way” stuff, go ahead, but don’t try to erase the fact that HRC fought for universal health care in the ‘90s…and yeah, maybe Obama could have done more, but look at the insanity he was dealing with on the other side and give him a little credit, OK?)…



…and happy belated birthday to Neil Young – definitely mindful of the first clip in this post for this selection.

Tuesday Stuff

Pete Williams of NBC News reports on the Supreme Court hearing a case from our ruling regime to close down the DACA program and the related protests; yes, good point that this is the oral arguments stage and we’re months away from a ruling, but better to make noise about this now than to keep quiet about it…



Update: If the Dems get control of federal government again, pack the Court - enough of this shit (here).

…and Thom Hartmann tells us how the Gropenfuhrer’s corruption is being reported by our friends “across the pond,” in particular on the story of raiding his charity for his 2016 presidential campaign (the report from CREW that Thom sites is pretty damning also)…



…and nice work by Dem U.S. House Rep Jim Himes of CT here pushing back on Chuck Todd and that lying fraud Rand Paul…



…and kudos to Dem U.S. House Rep Elaine Luria for this, given our observance yesterday (and many thanks for her service)…



Update 11/13/19: I should probably have already linked to this site before, but please allow me to do so now (here).

…and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 11/11/15, which is another reminder of the obscene wealth inequality in this country (and I’m sure the numbers have only gotten worse since this video was put together – if you’re a Dem and you don’t support foundational, structural change in our economy to level the playing field, then you shouldn’t be running for anything)…



...and with yesterday's holiday in mind as well as the prior two clips (as well as this), I give you this selection which also would have worked for yesterday, though the Springsteen cover worked out fine as far as I'm concerned.

Monday Stuff

This clip from NowThis features individuals who served in our military who want to see the Gropenfuhrer impeached – gee, I wonder how many people out there still have their “Support Our Troops” ribbons on their vehicles? If you don’t support these brave men and women for real, then your “patriotism” is as worthless as your bumper sticker…



…and it may be sacrilegious to talk about the vacuous spawn of our Russian Operative In Chief on this day of all days, but sometimes his callow stupidity screams out for a response, as I believe it does today…



Update: And yeah, there's this too.

…and Farron Cousins tells us that the Kentucky GOP is trying to get a radio person named Matt Jones disqualified from running for the Dem nomination vs. Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao – interesting look at legal ramifications for the other side too from Cousins who, let’s not forget, is an attorney…



...and Leon Cooperman can cry me a bleeping river, as David Doel explains...



…and in his apparently ongoing quest to afflict the afflicted and comfort the comfortable, it looks like Sen. “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey of PA (R-Worthless) is trying to get some kind of a law passed to keep presidents from banning fracking, which of course is aimed right at the Dems (here) – many reasons why this is a stupid gesture, but here’s one; I have not found any indication that any Dem presidential candidate actually wants to do this, but even if they did, it surely would be overturned in court, despite the fact that I and many others would support it of course…Toomey may think presidents can rule arbitrarily after witnessing Generalissimo Trump, the head of his party, but Dems, for all their failings, actually know how government is supposed to work, and apparently Toomey doesn’t…here is a bit of a reminder on this subject which needs to be updated of course (more here)…



…and I know there are all kinds of tunes that fit for this day, but here’s a cautionary tale if ever there was one.

Friday Stuff

David Pakman tells us here about Republicans in Kentucky trying to steal back the governor’s seat that Matt Bevin lost to Andy Beshear a few days ago – as I and others have said, the only thing the Repugs understand is losing power; they will seek any possible way, legal or otherwise, to manipulate whatever they can to achieve their ends, and all the while blaming the other side of doing it in the process (we should play the last 30 second or so of this on a continuous loop for a year)…



…oh, and in other news, here is more proof that the *president is a f*cking crook…



…and gosh, it looks like Trump Ambassador Gordon Sondland had a rather con-vee-nient bit of memory recall here in the matter of the Gropenfuhrer trying to get dirt on Joe Biden from Ukraine (more here), as Sam and the crew from TMR tell us (great political analysis of this by Sam given next year’s elections)…



…and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Lawrence Van Dyke breaking down when confronted with his bigotry upon his confirmation hearing…I’m going to offer a particularly cynical take on this I’ll admit and say that this was some rather interesting theater with Van Dyke and Repug U.S. Senator Josh Hawley that allowed Van Dyke to escape culpability for his awful words against LGBTQ individuals as far as I’m concerned…for my money, Hawley and Van Dyke are both peas from the same disgusting pod of intolerance…and good job by Cohen to put all of this in the context of the “Schlitz” Kavanaugh hearing (more here)….



…and John Iadarola and Emma Vigeland tell us that Mayor Pete thinks the Dem primary is a two-person contest at this point between he and Elizabeth Warren (I think we saw some entitlement issues with Van Dyke in the last clip, and I believe we’re seeing them again here from Buttigieg – other issues with the South Bend mayor are noted here also)…



…and Farron Cousins tells us that Alabama is hosting LSU this weekend in college football, and apparently the Gropenfuhrer is going to be there, and anyone who protests is going to get kicked out and lose their seats for the rest of the year (gee, “freedom of speech”…have to look up that antiquated notion I guess)…



…and I was wondering who was going to use the stupidity defense first to try and clear Our Treasonous, Tiny Handed Russian Asset in An Oval Office, and if you picked Huckleberry Graham, then it looks like you win the last remnants of Trump Vodka, Trump Steaks, etc. (and I guess it would be a euphemism to say that Graham has "evolved" on this issue, as noted here)...



...and happy 70th birthday (!) to Bonnie Raitt...so many great tunes to choose from, but somehow I always keep coming back to this one (saw her live years ago at the Mann Music Center in these parts - great show).

Wednesday Stuff

Stephen Colbert brings us a bit based on the Gropenfuhrer’s recent visit to Lexington, KY to help gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin, which ended up doing not one bit of good because Bevin lost (though Bevin hasn't conceded yet of course); it remains to be seen whether or not this will affect the campaign of Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao next year, but if we put in the work and support, we may find that this is the best chance to knock him off that we’ll ever get (and speaking of elections, the "blue wave" dumped all over Bucks County, PA, as noted here - awesome!)…



Update: More great news (some of it is a little repetitive I know) is here and here.

…and Kyle tells us how Generalissimo Trump is too dumb NOT to say the quiet stuff out loud (e.g., our military in Syria and that country’s oil)…



…and speaking of fossil fuel, Pap and Brigida Santos tell us about Massachusetts and AG Maura Healey going after ExxonMobil over a deceptive study on climate change (“biostitutes”?)…



…and Sam and the crew from “The Majority Report” tell us about Chilean protests possibly marking the end of neoliberalism (and that was an amazing stunt for sure by the Chilean girl to disable the security camera)…



...and Ana, Jayar Jackson and Jason Carter tell us about Amy Klobuchar trying to earmark $$ to an anti-LGBTQ group (Minnesota Teen Challenge) in ’09…yes, I get it that Klobuchar has possibly evolved on this issue, but I just wish that a fraction of the media coverage that she, Biden and “Mayor Pete” have gotten had been steered to Bernie and/or Kamala Harris instead…maybe it wouldn’t have mattered, but I don’t think Klobuchar in particular has any business continuing in this contest…



…and given the result of last night’s gubernatorial contest in “the bluegrass state,” I felt like hearing this tune.

Monday Stuff

(By the way, tomorrow is Election Day in our beloved commonwealth – a wealth of important related information can be accessed from here.)

In something that I'm sure surprises absolutely nobody, it looks like the Trumpsters want another tax break for corporate America – and yeah, Nail. Hammer. Head. stuff by Aida Rodriguez in particular here...



…and Sam and the TMR crew tell us about Fix Noise trying to look into the "millennial mind" – predictably, hilarity ensues (no idea who that guy was who left at the beginning of the clip)…



…and Pap and Farron Cousins tell us how Google is playing both sides of the metaphorical fence on the issue of climate change (yes, I realize this is probably the norm and not the exception for most corporations, but it still needs to be called out)…



…and I thought this was an interesting clip from the New York Times about the evolution of political campaigns (who knew that William Howard Taft loomed so large, both literally and figuratively)…



…and sticking with history, the Iran Hostage Crisis began 40 years ago today – yes, we were wrong to overthrow Mosaddegh in the 1950s and install the Shah to do our bidding, but more than anything else, the seizure of our U.S. embassy personnel was an act of monstrous terrorist cowardice, holding our people for about 444 days – more than that, it was a monumentally stupid gesture by the ruling theocracy of Iran...they would have been much better off if they’d brought their legitimate grievances to the U.N., and on top of that, they ended up with The Sainted Ronnie R. who did nothing except help escalate their horrendous war with Iraq, which weakened both countries (and yeah, once again, Kissinger was wrong and a policy he advocated led to disaster...and let's not forget this too; might have to crank the volume a bit)…



Update: Yeah, the timing is BS, but we kind of asked for it, didn't we (here)?

...and this new tune describes what I try to do every day on this site.

Friday Stuff

(I know I was able to post for all five days this week, but that will probably be the exception rather than the rule going forward, just to let you know.)

To begin, David Doel tells us about the passage of the impeachment resolution against Our Treasonous, Tiny Handed Orange Dictator in the U.S. House (I agree with him on not just the emoluments, but also the 10 instances of obstruction identified by Robert Mueller)…



…and Seth Meyers gives us his take on the runup to the vote and the predictable spin from the “party of Lincoln” and their media pals and other operatives…



…and gosh, it looks like Mango Mussolini’s political party is in a bit of a tizzy about the elections next year – c’est dommage (honestly though, I don’t want to contemplate that at the moment)…



…and I’ll admit that there are times when I’ve gotten a little annoyed at MSNBC, particularly over its periodic Russia fixation (and yes, I know the story is critically important, but I just can’t deal at times), as well as the network’s attempt to disappear Bernie Sanders, but I have to give Rachel Maddow credit for tackling this issue, namely, that the state of Missouri is, in essence, trying to outlaw abortion altogether, with the help of this Randall Williams lunatic and his spreadsheet tracking the menstrual cycles of women seeking services from Planned Parenthood…this is government-inflicted cruelty and misery the likes of which I can’t recall that I’ve ever seen – because of this, Williams should be forced to announce to the entire world every time he has an erection…



…and if you’re looking for someone who’s at least partly responsible for the utterly disgusting behavior noted in the prior video, then I would lay some blame at the feet of this Rick Wiles character, as David Pakman explains…



…and happy upcoming 65th birthday to Adam Ant – when I think of the Gropenfuhrer, I often think of the title of this song.

Thursday Stuff

I’m so glad that Thom Hartmann gives us these periodic reminders about our country’s rich, Democratic/progressive legacy, particularly under FDR chiefly as a response to the Great Depression (Thom quotes FDR's SOTU speech in 1938)…



…and in a related item, this whole clip is good, but the last 45 seconds or so of this, discussing a failure of regulation, are great (here...still going back and forth between Bernie and Warren, to tell you the truth, and people, please, if you're able, how about pitching some coin to Kamala Harris and forget about Mayor Pete, Klobuchar and #JillStein2020?)...



…and Robert Reich tells us about at least 6 ways that Our Treasonous, Tiny Handed Orange Dictator has sold us out (there are probably a whole bunch more, but this list will do for now)…



…and TRMS tells us about the Trumpsters ending the medical deferred action program for legal immigrants, endangering critically ill kids as Maddow tells us (and Ken Cuccinelli, of all people, tells us that it’s Congress’s fault, which is bullshit…the interview Maddow conducted after this with Dem U.S. House Rep Mark Desaulnier of California was excellent, but of course it’s not available from MSNBC’s awful web site)…



…and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 10/31/07 (going way back here I’ll admit, and no, you don’t need to remind me what happened with John Edwards, a guy who I plugged on this site who fell from grace big time, and you also don’t need to remind me about the GOP “I Feel Pretty” and “Breck Boy” attack ad garbage…even though the messenger is definitely imperfect, let’s try contemplating the message in this presidential election season, OK? And yes, I'm definitely thinking of the prior TRMS clip as I watch this)…

...and by the way, Happy Halloween everybody (and no, I'm not the least bit surprised by this...a profile in cowardice by Bri-Fi, among his other same party pals).

Wednesday Stuff

I have to admit that I gave up long ago when it comes to hoping the wingnutosphere, Fix Noise and the like finally say “You know what? We’ve had it with Mango Mussolini. He needs to be removed from office and put in a prison cell.”

It doesn’t matter how impeccable the credentials are of someone pointing out that Number 45 is grossly unfit for the job he currently holds, to say nothing of hopelessly corrupt. And I would say that the attacks on Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman put an exclamation point of sorts on that opinion (not the most original of “hot takes,” I’ll admit) – John of “The Damage Report” has more (and kudos to Nicolle Wallace for this)…



…and I don’t know if Wallace was referring to GOP strategist Frank Luntz in her comment or not, but if not, she might as well have done so as noted here in the matter of chastising those at Nationals Park who recently booed Our Treasonous, Tiny Handed Orange Dictator before Game 5 of the World Series (so many possible comebacks in response I’ll admit, but I’ll settle on this one from almost 10 years ago...just our Beltway bought-and-paid-for courtier media doing what it does best, which is to lecture the rabble)…



…and Sam and the TMR crew tell us about Jeremy Corbyn dishing it out directly in front the UK’s version of the Orange Pestilence in parliamentary session (no, I don’t get the whole “Brexit/snap election” thing either, but if nothing else, it’s entertaining to watch our friends “across the pond” go at it on the political stuff…they definitely don’t mess around)…



…and gee, maybe we ought to do something about this climate change thing, huh?...



…and I wouldn’t say the numbers are quite “half and half” on President Fergus Laing, but it looks like the cops (in Phoenix at least) are taking sides somewhat in an indirect way, as Farron Cousins and Scott Hardy explain…



...and here's another seasonal selection.

Tuesday Stuff

(The pic has to do with this, by the way.)

John Iadarola and Brooke Thomas tell us about the photo of Generalissimo Trump and his minions supposedly monitoring the raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and compare it with the pic of Obama, Biden, Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates et al doing the same thing while we captured and killed Osama bin Laden – yeah, I’ll grant you that there are other stories out there I think we should pay more attention to, but I think it tells you something about Trump’s pathology towards all things Obama that it is being discussed at all…



…and when it comes to double standards, I have to admit that it’s more than a little rich for Dem U.S. House Rep Katie Hill to feel that she has to resign over “revenge porn” when clearly the Gropenfuhrer isn’t going to face any penalty whatsoever for his alleged behavior towards women (to say nothing of Repug U.S. House Rep Scott DesJarlais, but I chiefly blame the voters in his district for continuing to return that monster to office in spite of his wretched actions)…



Update 1 10/30/19: Van Laar should go to jail for this.

Update 2 10/30/19: Just no words (here)...

…and in a similar vein, I know this is a little behind the news cycle, but I still thought it was noteworthy; Rachel Maddow called out NBC Universal recently (her parent company) over the NDAs related to Harvey Weinstein – kudos (she sets it up for the real payoff starting at about 11:15, but really, this is just top-notch reporting on her part and some tempered finger-wagging, you might say)…



…and here is a periodic reminder that, yes, I do chastise Dems in this space from time to time when I think it’s deserved, and that goes for U.S. House Rep Richard Neal of Massachusetts for the reasons that Cenk and Ana tell us here (kudos to Lloyd Doggett of Texas, though – to help Neal’s primary challenger, click here)…



…and years ago, I once watched “The Kid Stays In The Picture,” which I think was a great documentary about legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans, who just left us; yes, pay tribute to Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, and a whole bunch of other acclaimed directors who rose to prominence in the ‘70s, but I firmly believe that without Evans primarily, fighting for a more personalized type of moviemaking in the hands of largely unproven folks such as those I just mentioned, we wouldn’t have had such legendary films as “Chinatown,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Marathon Man,” “Love Story,” and of course “The Godfather”…



...and I think it's time to bring back this seasonal tune.

Monday Stuff

As someone who has followed the Phillies through thick and thin (mostly thin), I’m loathe to give the Washington Nationals credit I’ll admit, even though they have had a good year, and kudos to their number of fans who gave our Orange Pestilence the treatment he deserved last night, as Brian Tyler Cohen explains (and how cowardly a move was it for the person in charge of “phanavision,” or whatever they call the scoreboard, to cut back to a pic of our military when the booing got too loud)…



…and this tells us about the recent ruling from Judge Beryl Howell against Generalissimo Trump on docs related to the Mueller investigation (more here)…



Update: And I wonder how much this is costing taxpayers?

…and I think this is EXACTLY how you should report on the Gropenfuhrer (tied to the recent killing of ISIS leader al-Baghdadi; I’m reading that 45’s mishaps with the Kurds in Syria made this harder for our military, as noted here…more here...and yeah. let's not forget this too)…



…and when it comes to not putting up with anybody’s BS, props to AOC for making that worm Mark Zuckerberg come up with some pretty brazen nonsense at a recent hearing, as Sam and the crew from TMR tell us…



...and happy belated 80th birthday to John Cleese...



…and RIP longtime Dem U.S. House Rep John Conyers; he had a complicated legacy for sure, but I still think it is worthy of tribute...



…and speaking of recently departed Democrats, Cenk, Brooke Thomas and Jason Carter talk about the pallbearer who recently snubbed Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao (more here)…



...and here is a seasonal selection in anticipation of the ghouls and goblins who may show up on Thursday, though as already pointed out, they already reside in mass quantities in Washington, D.C.

Saturday Stuff

OK, I’m back to try and get this thing going again – had a wonderful week in Bernie Sanders-land…maybe not quite our “blue state paradise,” but pretty darn close.

It seems like this was the main highlight of the week that was, as somebody once said, and that was the testimony of Bill Taylor about the Gropenfuhrer and the Ukraine quid pro quo garbage, as recounted here by Nicolle Wallace of MSNBC (kind of maddening to hear Andy Levin, but to his credit, he’s being true to the process you might say – I believe him when he says this will all be public knowledge eventually)…



…and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Matt Gaetz leading his band of Repug clowns in the House to disrupt the SCIF hearing with Laura Cooper, which was a direct result of Taylor’s blistering testimony as Cohen correctly notes…



…and Robert Reich gives us more on the Gropenfuhrer’s emoluments mess, which is a perfectly apt description…



…and yeah, I think this is a pretty spot-on song parody given all of this…



…and Michael Brooks and the crew from The Majority Report minus Sam tell us about the Oakland cops attacking protesting teachers, which has fit their fascist profile for some time now on this and other related matters – on a bit of a side note, as mentioned at the end of the video, it seems like since Elizabeth Warren has risen in the polls the way she has, her policies are going to be scrutinized a little more closely, and that’s a good thing, but I just hope we maintain a sense of perspective about it, that’s all…



...and I might as well return with a great new tune, so here it is.

Friday Stuff

Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Lawrence O’Donnell’s clip on the pic of Nancy Pelosi telling Generalissimo Trump to take his highchair and go sit in the corner – even with all of this that we’ve seen and likely will see, there are times when I still can’t believe that all of this is actually going on…



…and Michael Brooks tells us about the infantile letter that Mango Mussolini wrote to Erdogan of Turkey (mildly NSFW)...



…and I’m not totally sold of the legitimacy of the whole “Republicans for the Rule of Law” thing, but I have to admit that this is a pretty good ad about our Orange Pestilence…



…and Pap and Farron Cousins talk about the Repugs packing the courts with corporate judges (Cousins is absolutely right to lay this at the feet of Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao and The Federalist Society and Leonard Leo, as opposed to President Fergus Laing…and no, I don’t think the Democrats totally understand this issue either, unfortunately)…

…and, in a way, I feel like I have to apologize a bit for starting this off with you-know-who instead of paying tribute to the giant who has recently left our midst, and that would be Dem U.S. House Rep Elijah Cummings of Maryland, but I definitely would like to do so now (nice remembrance here by Cenk, Ana, and David Dayen of TYT...more here)…



…and I thought this was a pretty good clip by Robert Reich and Inequality Media about why the 2020 election represents another “break the glass” moment, and why we need to do that the RIGHT way this time…



…and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 10/19/12, in which Chris Matthews, plugging his book of course, talks about JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis, which we were in the middle of 57 years ago, offering a lesson in presidential leadership that is not to be found anywhere at the moment (and let's not ever forget about this guy also)...all the best to Matthews in his recovery from prostate surgery (here) - clip is from Bill Maher back when he still mattered, and kudos to Matthews for telling Andrew Sullivan to shut up, a guy who is utterly beyond useless and does nothing but try to troll Dems and progressives and usually fails miserably…



...and happy upcoming birthday to Karl Wallinger of World Party.



And with that, I'll take my leave for a little while - I'll plan to fire this all up again in about a week.

Wednesday Stuff

(By the way, I’m the wrong person to go to for any kind of a “take” on the Democratic debate last night partly because I didn’t expect that they would have anything to say – or at least not much – about any of the issues that truly mattered to me, so I didn’t watch, though apparently Biden said he had something to do with the CFPB that Elizabeth Warren founded, which to me is hilarious…it’s all about the media “gotcha” BS – should have Bernie, Warren, Harris, and I guess, yeah, you have to include Biden, and everyone else should go get lost.)

It looks like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook has been making nice with the wingnuts despite (or maybe because of) their typical work-the-ref caterwauling about media bias, as Farron Cousins explains…kind of figures given that Facebook started as a site to hate on girls at Harvard who shot down Zuck and his friends when they wanted to date them…



…and Sam Seder and The Majority Report tell us about Chris Hayes discussing Ronan Farrow’s reporting on Harvey Weinstein, as well as the imbroglio with the NBA and the Chinese government – yes, the “path of least resistance” is far more treacherous than you might believe…I give Hayes credit for making a careful and thinly veiled criticism of his employer…



…and John I. tells us more about Ronan Farrow’s “catch and kill” allegations, practiced by The National Enquirer on behalf of the Gropenfuhrer to destroy stories that could, let’s say, pose a problem or two (hmmm – “journalistic integrity”…have to Google it to find out I guess for TNE…at least 10 different stories, huh?)…



…and I know I’m a little behind the curve on this, but Rachel Maddow tells us how Our Orange Nightmare recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to longtime Reagan counselor Ed Meese, as noted here (great synopsis on how wretched Meese truly was, and regarding Iran Contra, she’s referring to the Boland Amendment which the Reagan gang thumbed their collective nose at, as it were – so much wrong with Meese that I’m not sure it can be cataloged here, but in addition to what Maddow cites, Meese was also instrumental in the Pacific Legal Foundation, and he also made some typically pig-headed comments about hunger in America in 1983 as noted here…I guess I should present a Maddow clip if for no other reason than to reply to the snark at the end of the Seder clip)…



…and I’ve had some issues with Jim Wallis in the past, and I realize he can’t come right out and make a political endorsement, but he’s right on the money otherwise as far as I’m concerned (kind of repugnant to me that someone with a turned-around collar was in An Oval Office during the Meese ceremony – my church has much to make amends for as far as I’m concerned)…



…and it looks like Todd was nominated for the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame for a second time (here) – should be a slam-dunk, as it were.