I thought this was a particularly good Lincoln Project video in light of the D-Day anniversary, contrasting honest-to-goodness leadership with what we have now (why the hell can’t the Democrats do stuff like this???!!!)…
…and speaking of phony leadership, Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us about “bunker boy” building his “wall” around the White House (and yeah, it sure would be nice to know who’s paying for this, wouldn't it, though I can pretty much guess to be honest)…
…and with another nod to history (and something Mango Mussolini would never, ever do), I have no idea if Tricky Dick’s confrontation with protestors at the Lincoln Memorial ever actually played out the way Oliver Stone depicted it, but I thought it was still instructive to show this clip from the movie…
…and Sam and the crew from “The Majority Report” show us how Buffalo cops “dogpiled” a guy interviewed on TV (this was the first video where I’ve seen the guy pushed to the sidewalk bleeding out…what the hell is wrong with these people? I guess what Cenk Uygur said is absolutely night – as far as the cops are concerned, “better to be judged by 12 than carried out by 6”)…
…and Kyle K. tells us that way more $$ has been spent on criminal justice from 1970-2018 than prevention and social programs (yep, once more, a lot of this garbage goes back to Reagan as far as I’m concerned; more on Campaign Zero is here…briefly NSFW/H)…
Update 6/8/20: And speaking of bad police behavior, apologies for missing this in my own backyard.
Update 6/10/20: An update to the prior update is here, along with a typically tone deaf response from the PPD.
A resolution was introduced in the U.S. Senate to criticize Our Orange Pestilence for cracking down on protestors in Lafayette Square so he could stage his latest disgusting photo-op, but three guesses who blocked the resolution (the pic is a hint) – Ana of TYT tells us more (and I like John’s take on this in particular; to do something about Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao at long last, click here and/or here…by the way, I don’t support Amy McGrath anymore because of this...beyond fed up with weaselly, capitulating Democrats)…
…and this is another spot-on ad from The Lincoln Project, though I’m a little uncomfortable with the phrase “a time for choosing,” since that was the title of the speech given by The Sainted Ronnie R at the 1964 Republican National Convention in support of nominee Barry Goldwater, which basically launched Reagan’s political career as noted here…
…and speaking of police state behavior, I give you this clip of that monster in Bethesda, MD who ripped the flyers in support of George Floyd out of the hands of the kids and apparently chased one of them trying to film the incident…believe me when I tell you I don’t say this lightly, but I hope this asshole loses his job, his house, his car…whatever, for doing this – more here and here…
Update 6/12/20: Yeah, they got this asshole (here).
…and kudos to “Berner” here who still supports the protests even though his pot dispensary was apparently vandalized in a related incident; to me, pot legalization is a “vox populi” thing – I’ve seen more arguments in favor than against…I have no doubt there are places in this country where pot will NEVER be legal, and if that’s what the residents want, that’s how it should be…for place where it IS legal, though, it’s ridiculous that they can’t run themselves like regular businesses…
…and I thought this was an instructive clip from David Pakman about the rights of protestors (there is a lot of variance by state, but as Pakman says, cops can’t seize your smart phone or arbitrarily take your backpack or other personal gear unless they can produce a warrant and show cause)…
…and more protests are planned for tomorrow as noted here – here is another related tune for the occasion.
John Iadarola and Jayar Jackson of “The Damage Report” tell us about Generalissimo Trump deciding to “inspect” the bunker…yeeeaaaaahhh (and 2 ½ times, huh? And leave it to Brian Kilmeade to float a softball question to Mango Mussolini…”So the Secret Service took you to the bunker?”…and Trump is STILL too big of an idiot to take the hint and says instead, “No, I decided to go myself.”)…
…and the “Morning Joe” crew discuss former Trump Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis and Adm. Mike Mullen both speaking out against the antics of Our Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Russian Operative in An Oval Office…
…and Kyle K. tells us about our ruling criminal regime in Washington allowing foreign entities to now apparently donate to nonprofits funding our elections and not report it…I have to admit, though, that I get fed up with Kyle bashing on the Dems for going after the Trump-Russia connection…YES, KYLE, THAT IS A THING!...
…and Farron Cousins tells us about VA Repug lawmaker Amanda Chase who is apparently worried about the history of white people bring “erased” with the removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee (cry me a freaking river! And yeah, she sure sounds like she’s running for Governor all right)…
…and David Doel tells us about Dr. Cornel West laying a “truth bomb,” if you will, on CNN and Anderson Cooper; I also think West ties together pretty well the effects of racism, including excessive force by police and denial of economic opportunity, with the current moment of coast-to-coast (and global, actually) protest…
…and turning from one Canadian to another, I give you this tune as part of this week’s musical theme (I know I featured another Bruce Cockburn song recently…well, here is another one…YouTube took out the bad word, so don't worry).
We interrupt the disintegration of the United States of America for a moment to communicate the following: Steve King is OUTTA HERE, as somebody used to say (here, and to help J.D. Scholten, please click here)…
…and for the proverbial stroll down memory sewer with King, if you will, I give you this (with Kent Jones giving us "TMI" on King...more here)…
…and this Telegraph video tells us about protests in France over the deaths of both George Floyd and Adama Traore (here)…
At SOME point, you have to wonder if the cops depicted abusing protesters like this one are *actual* cops, or just trump's jack-booted thugs doing it.
…and if ever there was a silence that spoke volumes, it was this one from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as Brian Tyler Cohen tells us…
…and Thom Hartmann asks how do we stop Trump and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil from trying to kill us (and the only thing that I’ll say only somewhat in defense of our ruling cabal of idiots and criminals is that keeping a deadly pandemic out of New Zealand is a wholly other matter than trying to keep it out of this country, even though #44 managed to do it with Ebola, in particular this guy)…
…and I’m trying to keep up my theme of protest songs this week with this selection (about this).
(By the way, to be fair, it's very possible that this image was Photoshopped...pic on the left, I mean. However, I really don't care, because, as far as I'm concerned, it fits...Update: And this does too.)
Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Washington, D.C., speaks with George Stephanopoulos about Our Treasonous, Tiny-Handed Russian Operative’s disgusting attempt to use the site of St. John's church for photo-op purposes (and yeah, this definitely isn't surprising)…
…and Sam Seder tells us about the overreaction of Seattle’s “finest” in the face of non-violent protest…yeah, sure, use flash-bang grenades and pepper spray against people posing virtually no threat whatsoever (NSFW/H)…
…and I thought this was a particularly well-thought-out commentary from Kyle about the riots currently ripping us apart (clip is from Jordan Uhl); I’m not saying don’t do anything, but the Sixties protests basically ended when college students were slaughtered at Kent State, and unfortunately, that’s an instructive lesson for our current moment I believe (and I would lump in Rev. William Barber with Killer Mike and Dr. Cornel West...NSFW/H also)…
Update: By the way (and I know I really haven’t said anything about this), I am absolutely nauseated by the relative silence of the Democratic Party congressional “leadership” in response to all of this. I (like you I’m sure) have heard good-sounding words from some Dems like AOC and Sen. Bob Casey, but instead of just The Lincoln Project running ads “burning down” Trump and his gang, WHY THE BLEEPING HELL AREN’T THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATS DOING THE SAME GODDAMN THING???!!!! AND YEAH, SCHUMER AND PELOSI, I’M TALKING PRIMARILY TO YOU!!!!!!! DO YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT DOESN’T CROSS MY MIND WHEN YOU CONSTANTLY BADGER ME FOR CAMPAIGN DONATIONS????!!!!
...and when it comes to echoes of the past, this comes to mind also.
Here’s the latest from Life In These United States, as somebody used to put it (more here)…
…and apparently, a certain cowardly orange Snowflake-in-Chief was hiding in a bunker…are we tired of the winning yet?...
...though he apparently has no problem engaging in a battle with cartoonists, as Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us here (typical...and yet more cowardice here from "President Bone Spurs")...
…but believe it or not (it should be noted), there is actually a positive story in all of this, and it apparently took place in Portland, OR recently (also this)…
…and Kyle presents a clip of Art Laffer interviewed by Charles Payne (I think that's who it was), with Laffer being perpetually wrong on the economics as always…and it tells you how dumb Fix Noise thinks its audience is to present a chart showing the US allegedly at the “top of the list” of countries providing economic stimulus, then to see that we’re actually in the middle of the list for a second before they cut away from it…
…and by including this song from a guy who knew a thing or two about taking to the street (here), I’m not saying we shouldn’t protest, but only to pay attention to the title of the tune (and of course, you could substitute the Gropenfuhrer now for Dubya, Carlson/Ingraham/Hannity for Billo, Jeff Bezos for Ken Lay, Barr/Pompeo for Rumsfeld, etc.).
This clip from USA Today includes videos of the recent nationwide protests in response to the death of George Floyd…
…and this clip from a Louisville, KY TV station covering the protests in that city shows a news crew getting fired upon by that city’s “finest” (here)…
…and Thom Hartmann tells us about the RWNJs infiltrating the protests across the country…
…and returning to the other big story, as it were, that has been temporarily pushed off the proverbial front page (which makes Mango Mussolini pretty thrilled, I would think), Ari Melber recently gave us this Special Report on how the regime of Our Orange Pustule-In-Chief utterly blew it when it came to any kind of a response to head off this catastrophe (and by the way, "60 Minutes" responded to Peter Navarro with a report during the Obama years pointing out that, yes, another potential global pandemic was coming)...
…and this "Now This" clip shows a "Karen" Trump supporter in Wisconsin harassing a Puerto Rican family at what appears to be a campground (what a train wreck! Actually, though, as crazy as this sounds, she had a bit of a point about the music scaring away the fish, but the answer for that is for the camp ground to post a sign asking that noise be kept down for that reason...and as soon as she started criticizing the TYPE of music, then she'd lost the argument)…
…and I realize this NSFW/H tune has to do with London, and there are actually GOOD cops in all of this let’s not forget (and I don’t think it encourages violence – maybe I’m wrong), but to me, the message of this tune is to take care of what’s your own, and I think that’s a lesson for all of us (also in consideration of this, included in this).
Cenk Uygur of TYT gives an update here of the rioting in Minneapolis and elsewhere in response to the death of George Floyd (yes, a pox on both political houses here, albeit to a varying matter of degrees)…
…and of course, since he apparently was bored with watching The Roger Ailes BS Channel and since it’s a day of the week with a “y” in it, Our Orange Pustule-In-Chief opined as follows (a report from Mika, Joe Scar and NBC News White House correspondent Hans Nichols…and good job by Willie Geist to provide that important historical anecdote…and let’s not forget this lunacy also)…
Update 2: Well, this is overdue - a step in the right direction, though.
…and maybe this is the time to go back a bit into the archives to hear from a man who knew a thing or two about oppression and violence…
…and I NEVER actually thought I would give Andrew Ross Sorkin credit for anything, but kudos to him for doing something right here, pushing back against that Trumpster idiot Joe Kernan (I know Kyle is right also near the end about YouTube, though I’d hate to see him de-platformed…I often disagree with his punditry, but on policy, he usually nails it as he does here)…
…and I was honestly wondering if The Lincoln Project would go after Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao – well, wonder no more…
…and every once in awhile, the PA “lege” makes the news for the very worst of reasons, as it did based on this story…best wishes for good health to all members of that legislative body, including Brian Sims, with whom I agree here about 1000 percent (Brian Tyler Cohen explains…briefly NSFW/H)…
…and if there is one utterly demented phrase that sums up what turned into a particularly horrific week, I think it is featured prominently in this clip (and the smiling glee in which that guttersnipe Kevin Hassett uses it is all the more nauseating)…
…and I was honestly looking forward to featuring a summer tune here, but I’m sorry – I can’t do that today; to me, this is the only appropriate selection.
I would say that that number, in all of its infamy, speaks for itself...
And I can tell you right now how the Repugs are going to try to spin this for Our Orange Pestilence as we get closer to the fall; those horrible, mongrel Chinese infected our country with COVID-19 (tongue in cheek – remember how much of our stinking debt they hold that we gave them out of our sloth and stupidity), Joe Biden is their plaything, and that “Democrat Party” kept our country in shut down to help Biden and hurt Trump…BUT LOOK! OUR EXALTED HIGH LEADER IS BRINGING OUR ECONOMY BACK! LOOK AT THE STOCK MARKET REBOUNDING!!! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
And the REALLY pathetic part is that it may actually work, even if we manage to lose ANOTHER 100,000 willing to “die for the Dow.”
So now that I’ve completely and utterly depressed you, I now give you this clip from Rachel Maddow that I admit is now a few days old of states that just aren’t getting the picture when it comes to the spread of the pandemic…
… and yes, as far as I’m concerned, the officer who knelt on the neck of George Floyd (in this Now This clip) should be tried for murder, and the other three officers are accessories, but throwing rocks at cop cars is just an invitation for violence also (tear gas in response I can see, but rubber bullets?)…protests are otherwise completely warranted – still incredible to me that this year’s version of the Teahadists can threaten government officials with impunity, but merely the potential for violence against a person of color (for a suspected forgery?) can be a death sentence...and oh yeah, there's also this…
Update: I was never sold on Klobuchar as a potential Biden VP candidate, but she absolutely should be toast for this.
Update 6/9/20: My apologies for the earlier remark condoning tear gas (here).
…and Sam and Nomiki Konst of “The Majority Report” talk about Amy Cooper in Central Park having a total freak out against Christian Cooper (no relation)…sorry, but yeah, this shows that there are plenty of racists ABOVE the Mason-Dixon line too…
…and in a related vein, Thom H. talks with Bakari Sellers, author of “My Vanishing Country” and former aide to Dem U.S. House Rep James Clyburn (I could do without Sellers' brand of Zionism, though, I have to admit...looks like they fixed the sync)…
...and RIP drummer Jimmy Cobb, the last surviving member of the "Kind of Blue" sessions with Miles Davis.
I “had enough” of Mango Mussolini during the 2016 presidential campaign, let alone after he was inaugurated…
…and I would say that this is way overdue also; Chris Wallace of Fix Noise (who is apparently the only person still employed with The Roger Ailes BS Factory who has a molecule of actual journalistic credibility) tees off on the latest liar from this criminal clown car of an administration, and that would be press secretary Kayleigh McEnany – Brian Tyler Cohen explains…
Update: Speaking of you-know-where, I guess I'm surprised that it took them this long to come up with some alliterative term to demean lefties - must be slipping (here).
…and according to a poll, 40 percent of Republicans are idiots; no, the poll doesn’t say that, but that’s the paraphrasing from Farron Cousins, which he readily admits, though it’s hard to come up with any other conclusion…
…and descending further into utter stupidity (and sticking with Fix Noise), I give you this from Cenk and Ana of TYT, when all-but-named Dem presidential nominee Joe Biden was ridiculed by the desiccated remains of an actual human being named Brit Hume for wearing a mask when Biden and his wife Dr. Jill visited Arlington National Cemetery over the holiday weekend…
…and this Now This video tells us exactly what is going on with Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao (once more, to do something about this cretin at long last, click here, here, and/or here)…
...and happy 75th birthday to Bruce Cockburn (performing here with Richard Margison),
I always thought golf was a game for people with a sense of entitlement to one degree or another – sorry if that’s an unkind generalization – and Our Treasonous Orange Pustule makes that plainly obvious here (and yeah, I would say "believe me" is another "tell")…
…and I thought this video was a good response to Kevin “Human Capital Stock” Hassett…every once in awhile, a wingnut says the proverbial quiet parts out loud, and Hassett gave away the game a bit here – I thought this video was a good response (more here and here)…
…oh, and we recently received a mailing from Bri-Fi about how his office can help with fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, with a handy list of contact phone numbers and addresses.
That’s nice, but do you know what would help a whole lot more than that? Voting for the HEROES Act, which you didn’t do (of course, you had NO PROBLEM voting for Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao and Trump’s ruinous tax cut in December 2017 (here), didn’t you?).
To do something about Bri-Fi for good, click here (and CA guv Gavin Newsom talks about the importance of the Act in this clip, as does Phil Murphy of NJ here)…
…and RIP Jorge Santana (brother of Carlos – sympathies to family and friends).
Sam Seder talks about a guy having a meltdown for getting thrown out of Costco for not wearing a mask…NSFW/H – and apparently, he called Sam about it later; I’ll give him points for that, even though he’s a totally selfish idiot…
…and Kyle discussed a recent CNN commentary by Fareed Zakaria – I have a slight disagreement with Kyle on the financial well being of the 2.0 Teahadists protesting shelter-in-place requirements…yes, many are in comparatively lower wage jobs, but a hell of a lot of them are playing dress up to egg on the “rabble”…but other than that, I think Kyle and Zakaria’s commentaries here are pretty good, and boy, does Kyle make a GREAT point at the end about media coverage of left wing protests vs. right wing protests…I think it’s because our media geniuses are afraid of being called “liberal” for some reason, probably having to do with what they fear would be a loss of subscriber revenue (and yes, once in a while, Zakaria finds the proverbial nut, and he does here)…
…and I honestly didn’t know about this until a day or so ago, but apparently Mango Mussolini has a plaque at one of his golf courses commemorating an alleged Civil War battle that never happened (more here – figures)…
…and comedian (and proud New Yorker) Vic Dibitetto gives Sen Mr. Elaine Chao the treatment he deserves here (to do something about Sen. McTurtle AT LONG LAST, click here, here and/or here)…
…and in the spirit of the holiday, I offer the following selections.
Farron Cousins gives us his take on the recent Trump/Pelosi name calling stuff (I think Pelosi’s tone-deafness on going after Trump on this says volumes, primarily because there are AMPLE OTHER WAYS to go after this cretin on policy, though that might expose the fact that, thus far, Pelosi and the Dems have been meekly quiet while The Grim Reaper in the U.S. Senate continues to stall on House legislation aimed at helping those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic…if Pelosi is going to have a hissy fit, do it over THAT instead...and speaking of phony controversies)…
…and with the prior clip in mind, I give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 5/24/16, in which Our Orange Pustule made a joke about former NJ governor and one-time Repug presidential candidate Chris Christie not “eating Oreos anymore” (here)…somehow, I don’t recall that there was a festival of hand-wringing and fetching the fainting couches after that happened…
…and Lawrence O’Donnell speaks with Dem U.S. Senator Kamala Harris in response to the confirmation by party line vote of DNI John Ratcliffe…the clip doesn’t really give you an indication of why Ratcliffe is ill suited for the job (though, for the regime of Mango Mussolini, Ratcliffe is perfect) – this tells you a bit more about that, and a longer clip of Harris questioning Ratcliffe during the latter’s confirmation hearing is here…
…and speaking of underlings in the administration of the Gropenfuhrer, this Now This clip shows Dem U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio questioning Treasury Secretary and aspiring Bond villain Steve Mnuchin over what you could loosely call the “legislative priorities” of Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao…apparently, there are 3 Dems vying for the nom to unseat #MidnightMoscowMitch (here, here, and/or here...a related column to this topic is here)…
…and this recent Rachel Maddow clip tells us about a poll in the WaPo of health care workers basically saying that they STILL don’t have the equipment they need to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic…
...and happy belated 70th birthday to longtime Elton John lyricist Bernie Taupin - good luck with choosing a single great tune, but this one does seem to fit in with a theme here.
It looks like the outpatients were out in force in Sacramento as of about a week ago…
…and I realize this clip is disturbing, but as far as I'm concerned, I think it’s important to interject this into our discussion of all things related to COVID-19…it has to do with medical students in NYC helping with managing dead bodies in shroud packs (or, in some cases bed sheets) in refrigerated trailers…
…and with COVID-19 very much in mind, Rachel Maddow interviewed Dr. Jeffrey Shaman last night; he claimed that, had our government acted a couple of weeks earlier with shelter-in-place requirements, as many as approximately 36-54,000 people could have been spared – the setup prior to the interview was cut out for some mysterious reason and this is a particularly badly edited video overall, kind of an amateurish job actually but typical for The Comcast Network – the setup to the interview can be found in this story…
…and Thom H. tells us about big bidness Repug donors using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to basically gut government oversight; and yeah, this “10 grand for a year of Social Security” is their latest scam aimed at a popular program that Repugs have hated FOREVER, as Thom notes…sync is still a little off...
Update: The Repugs will NEVER, EVER stop trying to destroy Social Security and Medicare (here).
…and when it comes to Mango Mussolini playing more of his disgusting games, Ana and John of TYT tell us about 45 threatening to pull funding from Michigan as well as Nevada for trying to vote by mail (though he apparently relented on providing disaster relief for Michigan)…and part of me wants to see Biden be a little more front-and-center, but maybe it’s better that he lay low while the numbers look good, though they always tighten as we get closer to the fall…
…and David Pakman tells us how the whole alleged “Obamagate” stuff utterly blew up in the face of Our Traitorous Orange Pustule – Trump’s predecessor did absolutely nothing wrong, which we knew anyway, though of course congressional Repugs won’t stop looking for any alleged “scandal” involving a Dem that they think may exist (here)…
…and uh oh – it looks pretty sad when a certain Pumpkin Pestilence has actually lost the support of his cronies at Fix Noise (removing my tongue from my cheek)…
...and I think this is a cool tune for a Friday night heading into a holiday weekend.
I share for sure Rachel Maddow’s utter exasperation with the "sloppy, emotional outburst" of the Gropenfuhrer's recent letter against the WHO...yep, "it's just..." all right (as far as I’m concerned, 45 shouldn’t just pay the price, but everyone who supported him and had anything to do with his election should also)…
…and Robert Reich tells us about Our Traitorous Orange Meat Sack’s nefarious plan to get people back to work despite the threat of COVID-19 (or to “die for the Dow,” as Prof. Krugman put it recently)…
…and sometimes I think Kyle K. is out to lunch on his punditry (you can say that for a lot of people I realize…maybe yours truly at times too?), but on policy he’s usually right on the money, and this is a sorry summation on how the U.S. House Dems utterly punted on student debt relief (I get so fed up with watching Pelosi, Schumer, etc. piss on our legs and tell us that it’s raining...hopefully we'll all work to do our best for November and, God willing, things will turn out fine, but if they don't, the Dem congressional "leadership" should take another look at sorry spectacles like this)…
…and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us, conversely, about a U.S. House Dem actually showing a spine – I’ve had issues with Tim Ryan in the past, but he’s spot-on here with his thoroughly appropriate outrage over the Heroes Act…good to see this from a U.S. House Dem besides AOC, Jayapal and Katie Porter (even better to follow this up more consistently with actual progressive policy, however)…
…and it looks like cannabis may be an inhibitor to the spread of COVID-19, as David Doel tells us, though there needs to be a lot more research even though early indicators are promising...appears to do this with sativa, which is the strain that gets you more "jazzed" (vs. indica, which is apparently more mellow...research going on in Canada and Israel, apparently...good information on comparing pot to alcohol)...
…and who knows if JB is taking a toke or two while he deals with COVID-19…the last I heard, he tested positive, but hopefully he’s OK – apparently, his scheduled concert with JT in Wantagh, NY is going to be rescheduled until May 2021 (here); best wishes for good health to everybody.
Cenk and Michael Shure of TYT bring us the latest from Our Pumpkin Pestilence, namely, that doctors and nurses dying is somehow “beautiful” – of all the stupid things that Mango Mussolini has ever said, as bad as this is, I’ve heard a lot worse and I’m sure you have also…if Traitorous Orange Pustule really cared about nurses and other medical professionals, he’d tell those idiot protestors like the ones in the pic to go the hell home and isolate themselves so we can safely try to reopen everything later instead of engaging in these ridiculous ego trip exercises against people who they think are the enemy (not a bit surprised to see 45 spout this drivel in the relatively safe rural enclave of Allentown, near Lehigh Hospital – I’d pay $20 to see that assclown try to say this stuff at Jefferson or Temple Hospital downtown and see what happens)…
…and I know this was unintentionally amusing, but it just goes to show how saccharine these ridiculous commercials are with everybody trying to be your friend and acting like everyone is sharing the COVID-19 pain proportionately, which most definitely is not the case (Sam and Michael Brooks of TMR explain – clip is clever, though)…
…and the previous clip ends with a question about the votes on a bill related to internet security, and Kyle brings us more on that here (truly discouraging to hear some of those Dem names, including Casey, Shaheen...up for re-election...and Sheldon Whitehouse...and I'm curious to find out what was up with Bernie also...and yeah, pretty sad that we can't even get a freeze of our defense budget too)…
…and this Now This clip presents a lady in West Virginia telling Congress what it's really like to be poor in America...I don't know who she is, but she deserves a freaking medal at a minimum…
…and I have to admit that I’ve been chastising myself a bit because I haven’t had a “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) segment for a little while, so please let me make amends a bit with that now…the late, great Ed Schultz from about 5/18/11 gave us a pretty stark picture of income inequality at the time...can only imagine how much worse it is now (also, when it comes to Navy SEALs, Schultz was referring to this)...
...and happy belated 75th (!) birthday to Pete Townshend.
Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about the speech from home that Former President Obama gave on Saturday to high school graduates (I have no idea what the hell that blabbering orange idiot is talking about with allegedly turning away 175,000 people from a 9,000-seat meeting place or whatever in New Jersey, and I really don't think he does either)…
…and I have to get a kick out of watching the “party of Lincoln” gang up on each other like this – they know how to go for the jugular, and they do that best against each other…
…and Farron Cousins tells us about a Repug high roller named Clay Lacy, who managed to get $27 million for his private jet company from the CARES Act…
…and I have to admit that I’m a bit hot and cold on Emma Vigeland, but when she’s on an important story, as I think she is here, she absolutely nails it; the clip has to do with Repug South Dakota Governor Kristi (Unsafe At Any Speed) Noem trying to get rid of COVID-19 checkpoints for tribal lands in her state…for the reasons Vigeland states, the tribes are completely within their legal rights to do what they’re doing (and of course, Noem refuses to provide specifics of how the checkpoints are allegedly being abused, probably because no such evidence actually exists)…
…and RIP comic actor Fred Willard (I used to watch Fernwood 2 Night forever ago – it was kind of quirky and odd, but I thought it was funny, with Martin Mull also)…
…and RIP also Astrid Kirchherr, who had a lot to do with the iconic look of the Fab Four.
I guess the only thing missing now that we have a “super duper missile” is sharks with laser beams on their heads (or ill-tempered sea bass at a minimum) – seriously, though, my response to this idiocy is here…
…and Chris Hayes gives us the grim picture on how we are faring in this vs. the 32 other countries doing better than us and other so-called “developed” nations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic…
…and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about that assclown Rand Paul trying to confront Dr. Fauci on the shelter-in-place requirements (and yes, please tell me once more how the “party of Lincoln” LOVES children, who they are apparently willing to sacrifice in order to revive our economy and make sure all the hair salons and high-end retail stores are opened once again...and I think we've pretty much established what Generalissimo Trump is all about on this issue in particular)…
…and Cenk and Michael Shure of TYT discuss the threats against journalist Kevin Vesey by the Teahadist crowd in Long Island… the last clip where Vesey is literally getting chased is truly disgusting (“I’m fine, I’ve got hydroxychloroquine” – no, you’re not “fine,” you fucking coward)...and allegedly, there was a security presence of some sort there - what the hell were those jackasses doing? And boy, would I LOVE to see Vesey’s news organization file charges against these miserable cretins, who made themselves look like the utter fools that they are when, instead, they could have actually been portrayed in a sympathetic light if they had let Vesey do his job, though I know portraying these life forms sympathetically is impossible…
Update: Yep, I guess Our Treasonous Orange Dictator can't get through the day unless he's punching down at somebody (here).
…and no sane person wants a violent revolution in this country – I certainly don’t – but if it ever happens, it will be because of stuff like what is described in this video…
...and I've been in search of a good new tune for a little while; I think this will suffice.
I haven’t checked in with Seth Meyers in a little while for no particular reason, and I’m glad I did so here – we know what the Gropenfuhrer is by now, and we also know what his propaganda channel is all about (and leave it to Gramps Grasshole to dutifully tow the line also of course...also, check out the changing book titles)…
Update 5/21/20: Oh, and with garbage like this (outlined in red) appearing on my video screen, please tell me why I'm supposed to play nice with these scumbags (with that perpetually stupid and confused look on the face of the Swanson TV Dinner heir).
…and why do I have an utterly sick feeling that Dr. Rick Bright’s words about what it coming will turn out to be prescient? And believe me when I tell you that I want desperately to be wrong (and yeah, I think this just about says it…and why am I not surprised by this from Markwayne Mullin? More on this nematode is here)…
…and yeah, I think Chris Hayes is pretty spot-on here with his assessment of Mango Mussolini’s cavalier, criminal indifference to suffering from the COVID-19 plague (voicing probably as much disgust as is allowed by his Comcast handlers)…
…and Farron Cousins opines here that Our Pumpkin Pestilence is mad at Former President Hopey Changey because of #44’s popularity (he may be right about personal reasons for disliking Obama, but I think it has more to do with Trump trying to play off the “birther” garbage that made him popular with a particularly demented segment of our voters…well, that plainly ain’t gonna happen again, at least not in the numbers he needs for, God help us, a second term)…
…and I’m going to look the other way for now on Kyle’s snark about “Russia-gate,” which very definitely was NOT a “fake scandal,” and instead present this clip which focuses on the ongoing food crisis in this country from our economic collapse…
Update: And by the way, in the matter of COVID-19-related relief legislation currently pending in the House, I have to admit that I got a thoroughly-not-intended-I’m-sure laugh out of these excerpts (an AP story from here)…
Democratic leaders were pressing ahead despite grumbling from party moderates leery of the measure’s massive price tag and liberals who wanted bolder steps, like money to cover workers’ salaries. The measure cleared an early procedural hurdle 207-199 with 14 Democrats voting in opposition, an unusually high number of “no” votes but small enough to suggest that leadership had things under control.
For the love of God, you’d damn well better find a way to work “divided Dems” into your corporate media reporting, or it’s back to general assignment reporting of 3 AM traffic accidents and zoning board meetings.
Also…
In a scene that’s become uncomfortably familiar since the virus took hold, the sparsely populated House chamber was dotted with members and aides wearing protective masks, though some Republicans were not.
There were few clusters of chatting lawmakers and Pelosi edged away from anyone who stepped near her.
And why on earth for the love of all that’s holy am I supposed to give a flying coitus if Nancy Pelosi breathed on anybody?
And finally...
The bill would flush almost $1 trillion to state and local governments and provide more money for virus testing and to pay front-line emergency workers.
“Flush”? Gee, that’s a rather curious and thoroughly non-judgmental way to put it, right?
I retrieved this dreck from philly.com, home of the Inquirer, to which I continue to no longer subscribe.
…and I’ll give this “Republicans for the Rule of Law” group some credit for speaking out now, but I’d honestly like to know where the hell they were when we attacked Iraq in response to 9/11 and New Orleans drowned from Hurricane Katrina…for the time being, though, this is a good ad (and this guy should open his Club-for-Growth-owned pie hole and speak out for mail-in ballots for everybody also…and to do something about Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao at long last, click here...for more on mail-in ballots, click here)…
Update: More McConnell garbage is here - and once more, here is a way to fight back.
…and I’m including what may be my favorite cover of a Little Richard tune here to indicate his influence on legions of rock n’ rollers…
…and of all of his huge hits, this may be the biggest of all (maybe the most covered too).
Boy, is this ever a great Now This commentary on rights vs. responsibilities – I don’t know who this guy is, but he absolutely nails it here…
…and I think this a good transition from the prior video, with Cenk and Ana talking about the Michigan ammo-sexuals out there threatening Dem Governor Gretchen Whitmer, now for trying to get guns out of the state capitol, which probably won’t happen because, for some utterly daffy reason, Michigan is an open carry state (and good anecdote about The Sainted Ronnie R)...
…and Thom Hartmann speaks with Dean Obeidallah about an attack on a mosque in Missouri (with Our Orange Pustule’s typically horrendous remarks to gin up more racist hatred…lip sync is off again for some reason…another reference to what Whitmer is dealing with also)…
…and speaking of racism, the “lens of history” and buildings burning to the ground, today is the 35th anniversary, believe it or not, of the MOVE bombing in Philadelphia.
And by the way, if you want to look for a clip of Ramona Africa (you can Google the name if you want) portrayed in a sympathetic light, you should look somewhere else (like the murder of Officer Daniel Faulkner by Mumia Abu-Jamal…and yeah, that’s what happened…I was growing up in Philly when MOVE happened also).
Yes, it was criminally stupid incompetence by the administration of Mayor Wilson Goode (who, at the hearing that followed, made a remark that he thought water was being sprayed on the fire, though it turned out that it was snow…as in bad reception…on his TV set), though Fire Commissioner William Richmond, as nearly as I can recall, was a notable exception, having been genuinely wrecked emotionally by what happened (Richmond passed away about two years ago). Also, I have it on very reliable information that the city’s building trades offered to rebuild the homes lost to the inferno at no cost, but were rebuffed in favor of well-connected individuals who ended up doing shoddy work and bilking the city in their “bargain.”
But make absolutely no mistake; MOVE was guilty of waging a campaign of terrorism of a sort on their neighbors (trash, loud music, all sorts of other disruptions to people living in what was a pretty prototypical blue collar neighborhood). They very definitely were not “innocent,” though they didn’t deserve what happened either (especially the children, including Michael Moses Ward, formerly known as Birdie Africa). And this historical context is important – in 1978, there was a shootout with MOVE members in which Police Officer James Ramp was killed, which also prompted the city’s heavy-handed response (again, not a justification – as I said, I’m only providing context…more is here)…
…for something a little more positive, I give you this New York Times clip about Albany, GA and the pastors in the predominantly black communities trying to reinforce shelter-in-place restrictions – I’m not going to have a hissy fit over the hairdresser who decided to reopen; I mean, I still think she’s wrong, but I get it that working people have hard decisions to make because our federal government doesn’t represent them…I mean, how many more versions of the PPP are we supposed to expect before the rest of this country is actually helped instead of the “pay no price, bear no burden” one percent crowd?...
...and to contrast once more with the troglodytes protesting Gov. Whitmer, here is a genuine Michigan story of courage and teamwork (I know National Nurse’s Week was last week, but as far as I’m concerned, their valor and sacrifice should be honored the whole year ‘round)…
