This Now This video brings us President Joe Biden signing executive orders to make the ACA and Medicaid more accessible and more affordable – basically undoing the garbage wrought by the Gropenfuhrer, particularly concerning women’s health care...
...and Farron Cousins tells us about federal judges retiring now that Biden is in office (and boy, is Cousins ever right about term limits for judges)...
...and Kyle gives us the distressing news about global job losses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, paling in comparison to The Great Recession (ugh)...
...and when it comes to the economy and the stock market, John and Dan Evans give us more on all the recent stuff with Gamestop and Reddit (I heard some of these people were trying to do the same thing with Regal Cinemas lately – and personally, I don’t think an organization that tries to make a buck over trying to forecast economic failure deserves a dime of help if it goes under, though this isn’t surprising I guess)...
...and consider this clip as a tribute to Cloris Leachman; if she wasn’t the funniest character actress of all time, then she was easily in the top three (and RIP Cicely Tyson also)...
...and yesterday marked the 35th anniversary of the Challenger disaster...as much as we should honor the memory of our brave astronauts who perished, we should never forget the role of Morton Thiokol as well as the sheer idiocy of forcing the Challenger to launch in freezing Florida weather, all so The Sainted Ronnie R could mention the voyage in his State of the Union address (here)...here is something I’d like to offer as remembrance (HD images captured by NASA).
John and Francesca of The Damage Report tell us that it turns out that, gee, Tom Cotton wasn’t really an Army Ranger after all (though he did serve to be fair...I was prepared to kind of go “yeah, well, more Republican lies – must be a day of the week with a Y,” until Cotton’s spokesperson came up with that MASSIVE TOOL answer in response to the Salon reporter’s question at about 6:24)...
...and speaking of military matters, I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 1/27/08, with Laurie Dyer of North Carolina protesting the Iraq war – just a reminder that, with the myriad other messes the Biden administration needs to clean up from the prior ruling regime, we need to look at our military engagements across the globe also...
...and mentioning Tom Cotton opens the door for Repug wingnuttery as far as I’m concerned, and that leads into Anderson Cooper and Andrew Kaczynski discussing U.S. House Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia (uh, yeah...so blame somebody else for what’s on your own Facebook page even though that basically ties into your own public statements – uh huh...and this is pretty vile too)...
Update 1/29/21: God, what a reprehensible woman (here and here).
...and I think the Greene clip leads into this from Farron Cousins, telling us that crazed Trump supporters – are there any other kind? – are threatening House and Senate lawmakers over impeachment...and I definitely get Cousins’ argument about getting help to people who need it, and I’m not opposed to that in principle, but I’m sorry – with all due respect, I’m not in favor of paying ONE DIME on behalf of “deprogramming” anybody who supports our recently departed POTUS...they made A CHOICE to be part of the great unwashed in support of the Gropenfuhrer, and they should be forced to live with that...
...and Thom H. tells us that the WaPo is somehow trying to find what amounts to a “silver lining” based on what happened on 1/6 (good move to invoke Giuliani’s “broken windows” policy...and yeah, I can't wait for our corporate media to try and "both sides" this, though I'm sure they'll try anyway)...
...and in this very NSFW/H clip, Vaush tells us that the Biden Administration is telling the DOJ they can’t use private prisons any more, which definitely constitutes progress as far as yours truly is concerned (doesn’t affect ICE as stated, but it’s a good start)...
...and David Doel tells us that Dana Bash (returning to CNN) tried to bash Bernie Sanders over budget reconciliation, which Bernie wants to use for a variety of reasons to help actual people as opposed to deep-pocketed campaign donors (and I’ve stayed away from the whole “Bernie and his mittens” memes since they’re covered so well everywhere else, though this is praiseworthy and definitely in character)...
...and if there was ever such a thing as an all-purpose title to a song, I think this would be it.
Mika B. of “Morning Joe” speaks with historian Jon Meacham about Not Your Father’s Republican Party trying to create all kinds of new voting restrictions across the country (because, as a certain now-deposed 45th *president once put it...)...
...and Ali Velshi reminds us of the lies from Our Treasonous Former Chief Executive that led us to the 1/6 insurrection (and no, I don't much like pizza with pineapple either)...
...and when it comes to Trump-loving Repugs, it looks like PA’s own Scott Perry had his hands in the whole sedition mess (here) – what follows is a campaign ad he ran against his recent opponent Eugene DePasquale that, not surprisingly, was full of wall-to-wall lies...
...and this “Rational National” clip tells us how the even-more-right-wing Trump-loving media fluffers at Newsmax, in their effort to manfacuture scandals against the incoming administration, are critiquing the Oval Office décor of our 46th president (uuuhh, suuurre – and when it comes to media idiocy in this regard from an outlet that definitely should know better, I give you this)...
...and John I. and Brett Erlich tell us how Marjorie Taylor Greene said the Parkland shooting was a “false flag”; what a vile person this woman truly is (“This is a really depressing time to be a Republican” indeed, though all of their damage is self-inflicted)...
...and happy birthday to drummer Malcolm Green of the ‘80s band Split Enz (with the Finn Brothers).
Brian Tyler Cohen shows Ted Cruz trying to corner Transportation Secretary Nominee Pete Buttigieg over the Biden’s Administration’s decision to abandon the Keystone XL Pipeline (and when it comes to Cruz’s claim about Biden allegedly killing Keystone XL jobs, I give you this...to be fair, I know Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was pissed about it, but I also know he and Biden talked about it, for what it’s worth...and by the way, I know the pic is a little edgy, but Cruz and the even-more-odious Josh Hawley deserve that level of ridicule and more for their role in the insurrection of 1/6/21 to try and keep the Gropenfuhrer in power)...
...and speaking of the recently-departed regime, this Lincoln Project video gives us “The Trump Administration By the Numbers” (to be honest, though, the COVID fatalities should have been first on the list – and thankfully, the last number is really about -5 or so at this point)...
...and I shouldn’t be giving Bill Maher the time of day, but I have to admit that this was a funny segment, though those he quite rightly ridicules here will no doubt wear such shaming as a badge of honor, as will their equally crazed supporters (NSFW/H)...
...and John and Cenk of The Damage Repoirt tells us about the “Fourth estate” and their hangup over Biden’s Peloton exercise bike (seriously?) – GREAT commentary by John on the “lather, rinse, repeat” news cycle of what he rightfully calls the “media/political/industrial” complex (more or less) that eventually leads us back, more often than not, to another Repug presidency which blows up our economy all over again...
...and like a lot of other people I realize, I was sorry to hear about the passing of talk TV/radio legend Larry King, but I really didn’t have any particular “take” on it until I read comments from other media people who actually knew him. The common thread, if you will, of what they said about King was that he was a pro when it came to letting his guests tell their stories (of course, with his questions to direct them) with King taking sort of a secondary role in the encounter, as opposed to saying or doing something to try and make headlines himself. And when I thought some more about it, I realized just how many stories or events he covered, and it was a ton... I KNOW I watched him on CNN during the infamous “low speed chase” with O.J. Simpson and Al Cowlings, for example, and I definitely respect people in media who get put into positions like that where they have to fill up air time with a story in progress, if you will, and think on their feet (or seats) and coordinate all over the place while live coverage is going on (another legendary example from this area is the TV coverage of Larry Kane and Harvey Clark during the MOVE bombing in May 1985).
This clip includes excerpts from King’s remembrance on the death of Frank Sinatra in ’98 with Don Rickles, Steve Lawrence, Vic Damone and Quincy Jones – another example of the rich entertainment legacy King left for us (Maher was one of many who communicated rather touching tributes to King...and again, I wouldn’t wish a COVID death on anybody)...
...and happy 80th birthday to the one and only Neil Diamond.
Yeah, I know what The Lincoln Project is, but damn, they make good ads (may be going through Trump meme withdrawal, but I’m happy to do it)....
...but just as a reminder that we still have a bunch of lowlifes to deal with, Chris Hayes speaks with HuffPo’s Matt Fuller about “Dr.” Andy Harris trying to bring a gun into the U.S. House chamber (yep, I agree with Hayes; there are QUITE A LOT OF PLACES where you shouldn’t be allowed to enter with a gun, and that’s one of them)...
...and RIP baseball legend Hank Aaron, a total class act who was one of many great players to feast on Phillies pitching from back in the day (this is his most iconic accomplishment of course...yes, Barry Bonds would break the record later, but this was truly a magic moment...and this is another reason to admire Aaron)...
...and somehow I missed Penguin Awareness Day last Wednesday – how about if I try to make amends with a little Friday funk?
(Silly me for thinking I was actually done with the Trump memes, but I guess I’ll have to leave them behind at some point.)
Farron Cousins tells us that the incoming Biden folks just found out that the Trumpsters never came up with a plan for COVID vaccine distribution – heckuva job, as another Repug preznit once said in a wholly other context...
...but returning to the new regime, if you will, this tells us about the “Day 1” actions of Number 46...
...and because we need to hold the 1/6 betrayers accountable, I present the following...
...and today would have been the 80th birthday of folk rock (back when that was a thing) legend Richie Havens.
I would say the kid from Scranton made the most of his opportunity today.
There has to be a word that embodies the resilience, dedication and intelligence of Joe Biden. Have I always agreed with him? Definitely not (here is a rather ignominious example in the past from yours truly – mea maxima culpa).
But you’d have to go a looong way to find someone of his accomplishments. Yes, there are plenty of doddering old heads in our government (on both sides of the aisle), but Biden has found a way to outlast the vast majority of them and ascend to the very pinnacle of political power in this country, if not the world. I still remember that he once appeared as a panelist on “Real Time With Bill Maher” I think from the ’08 campaign and he basically held court and took over the show, not in a grating or obnoxious manner, but by the depth and breadth of experience exemplified in everything he said.
I thought his speech hit all of the right notes (yeah, it would have been hard not to like it, I realize). It was skillful (and completely necessary) to weave in the catastrophic events of two weeks ago into a message of hope and purpose. And the truth. And unity.
The harder work will come later, but this was a great start (like many of you I realize, I’d forgotten what actual presidential leadership sounded like and looked like...no, I also haven’t forgotten about his support for the awful bankruptcy bill, and the Iraq war which was worse, but we have to find a way to move forward)...
...and it sounds like at least a portion of the world, if not the majority, was pleased by what happened today also...
...and while I was digging around, I found this clip of Biden speaking about the importance of what would become the ACA from about 12 years ago, and I thought it was typical of the straightforward manner he demonstrated again today...
...and John and Francesca tell us about some stuff Biden can do pretty quickly, like reversing some of the ruinous policies of the Gropenfuhrer...
...and speaking of 45, as much as I wish we were rid of him and his cohort of grifters and criminals including much of his family, yeah, he’ll be back in the public eye, unfortunately, at some point; Rachel Maddow gave him the shove out the metaphorical door he deserved (but believe it or not, he apparently leaves office with a 79 percent approval rating from Republicans, as noted here – and THAT is the problem, dear reader!)...
...and by rights, I shouldn’t have anything to do with this guy since he’s been an anti-social distancing jackass, but I can think of no more appropriate tune for today than this one.
John Iadarola and Aida Rodriguez tell us that, apparently, Generalissimo Trump had to be stopped from going to the Capitol while impeachment was going on in the House (would have been still more of a ridiculous spectacle if they’d allowed it of course, which probably would have generated good ratings for cable news if nothing else)...
...and MSNBC’s Alicia Menendez speaks with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Attorney General Dana Nessel about the threat of still more domestic violence for the upcoming inauguration (“This has been going on for 10 months and we’re asking people to take this seriously”...uh. yep...and I’m a little disgusted that they gave so much time to this knuckle dragger Michael Lackomar, who apparently has what passes for a political opinion that’s a mile wide but a quarter of an inch deep, but I guess it was necessary)...
...and sticking with Michigan, Rachel Maddow reports on the Flint water disaster and related recent indictments (good that she recalls that horrible Michigan “emergency manager” law that those disgusting Repugs in the state house passed...apparently, though, Snyder will be charged with a misdemeanor that is only punishable by a max of a year in prison...so naaah, he won’t see any jail time...love to be wrong)...
...and Thom Hartmann tells us about the right-wing nutzoids blaming Nancy Pelosi for 1/6/21 – gets to news at about 3:40 after some housekeeping stuff (”This is the result of coddling right-wing terrorists for 30 years.” indeed)...
...and Chris Hayes speaks with Christina Greer of Fordham University about the so-called “1776 Report,” which, given that this is pretty much the last gasp of Trumpsterism from the White House, is about as odious as you can expect (more here)...
...and speaking of conservatives having a hissy fit, it looks like they’re clutching their pearls, as it were, over the fact that Bernie Sanders is going to be the incoming chair of the Senate Budget Committee; David Doel tells us more (and I know people are pissed at Schumer for that power-sharing arrangement he’s concocted with Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao, but though Schumer definitely isn’t my favorite person by any means, I’m going to “keep my powder dry” on this one since I don’t think it’s worth the fight for now)...
...and yes, I know he was found guilty of second-degree murder in the killing of Lana Clarkson, and he was genuinely a whacked-out individual in a lot of ways, but there’s no denying the influence of Phil Spector on American music, particularly what I guess you could call pop music, rock and rhythm and blues, and I wouldn’t wish a COVID death on anybody – this tune is emblematic of his legacy...
...and in fewer words, here's a message for our 45th *president.
This footage from The New Yorker takes us inside the 1/6 insurrection - more here (NSFW/H...I realize this isn’t remotely funny in any way whatsoever, but I’m sorry – I couldn’t help but chuckle when that one meat sack in particular, after invading the Senate chamber, yelled, “Where the f*ck is Nancy?” – shattering the stoo-pid meter for sure...”I think Cruz would want us to do this. I think we’re good,” huh? Probably right...and "we can't lose the 'I/O' war? We're better than that?" Dream on, you treasonous nut job.)...
...and speaking of vandalism, David Doel tells us about the Trump gang making off with whatever they can from the White House...God, look at the looting from the white “overclass”...maybe we could reach out to faith leaders of the white “overclass” to make them change their ways and learn how to work for a living (a variation of what I and millions of others heard after Katrina when the metaphorical shoe was on the other racial foot)...
...and Rachel Maddow tells us that, apparently, the “secondary reserve” of COVID-19 vaccines doesn’t exist, but fortunately the incoming Biden Administration, which is actually made up of mature, intelligent adults, has come up with a plan to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible...
...and Chris Hayes gives an incredibly heart felt commentary aimed at the “professional class” of Republican operatives – I sure would like to be optimistic about this, but I can’t, because it’s all about the numbers in that survey, which represents a truly scary level of denial...
...and every once in awhile on MLK day, I put up this speech from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Barratt Middle School in Philadelphia on October 26. 1967, with the them of “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint?,” and I thought the time was right to do it again...
...and I thought it appropriate to bring this back for the holiday also.
Yeah, the drum beat against those who supported the January 6th insurrection is only going to get louder, and that includes this guy along with the U.S. Senate traitors in this video...
...and Farron Cousins tells us about how the Republican Attorney Generals Association launched the robocall that helped stir the great unwashed followers of Our Treasonous Orange Pustule into action (more here)...
...and Chris Hayes is absolutely right of course, but to me, all of this “the election was stolen” grievance BS (though down-ballot Repugs won like crazy, unfortunately) is what is sadly a profitable offshoot of the entire money-making conservative media and political model of “oh, we’re just poor, misunderstood conservatives oppressed by liberals who want free health care for immigrant caravans full of gangs, bathrooms with trans people using my toilet, and...all together now – ABORTION ON DEMAND” that the right has been milking dry for at least the last 30 or so years...
...and I thought Ari Melber did a good job here of linking the incendiary words of the lowlifes who encouraged the violence along with the knuckle draggers who carried it out (one of the last dying gasps of white privilege as far as I’m concerned, which can’t expire soon enough)...
...and this Now This clip features some of the Capitol officers caught up in the murderous mayhem (“The cognitive dissonance and the zealotry of these people is unreal.” indeed)...
...and I'm in the mood for a little late night musical escapism - I think this will suffice (and somewhat inspired by these clips, I have to admit).
The Majority Report tells us about a brief Fix Noise dustup featuring Brian Kilmeade over the recent treasonous insurrection (and I love the way Steve Douchebag first says a “Democratic” president and then corrects himself and says “Democrat” president as Sam and Emma tell us...get the script right or else they send you back to the factory, you numbskull – removing my tongue from my cheek)...
...and David Doel tells us about Cori Bush’s speech in the U.S. House while impeachment was being debated that pretty much cut right to the proverbial chase – and apparently she was booed, which she should wear as a badge of honor...and her remarks to Chris Hayes were even better...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that panic buttons were ripped out of Dem U.S. House Rep Ayanna Pressley’s office; my money is on sabotage, and I’m sticking with it until somebody proves me wrong...
...and this “Morning Joe” clip with Stephanie Ruhle tells us that the GOP’s beloved “bundlers” are getting a little nervous over last week’s attempt to overthrow our government...
...but let’s shed a tear for the “true victims” of last week’s seditious revolt, as we’re reminded by Trevor Noah and The Daily Show (insufferable white privilege on display of course)...
...and with all of the hot-and-cold-running insanity over the last week or so, I neglected to mention the passing last December 30th of Eugene Wright, bassist for The Dave Brubeck Quartet...here is another one of the band’s signature tunes.
This is truly a first for Our Orange Pustule-In-Chief – nobody else is in the “two impeachment” club, as NBC News tells us here (unusually prescient remarks from Chuck Todd I believe – I think Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao will be in a mood to swing to impeach Combover Caligula because of what 45 did to, in McConnell’s view, cost him the Senate, as well as stain the already-fouled reputation of McConnell’s wife for being associated with this criminal enterprise of an administration...hate to keep going back to Rick Wilson, but he’s right...everything Trump touches dies...more here)...
...and yeah, here are all the Repugs crying about “unity” and “healing” after STILL contesting the PA and AZ election results after the catastrophe of 1/6 (vile, despicable life forms all, particularly McCarthy and Scalise...and that idiot Bob Good needs to wear his mask properly)...
...and better late than never I know – kudos to Mehdi Hasan for “going there” at long last on the question of our media normalizing Generalissimo Trump, as noted here...
...and I was trying to come up with a tune about incarceration, which is what 45 sorely deserves, and I found this; I thought a tune by Tom Waits was apropos (our current *president should have some company from his family and/or members of his political party by the time all is said and done).
Ari Melber gives us more disturbing, graphic video on the treasonous insurrection that took place last week (and I know there’s some real wingnuttery going on today in arguing for a second impeachment with Gohmert of course, along with Lee Zeldin, Jordan as well and the other usual Repug suspects in the U.S. House, with some brave remarks by Ilhan Omar and Cori Bush of course...and I can’t imagine the guts and strength of character of Jamie Raskin to be an impeachment manager so soon after his son’s death)...
...and by the way, “sedition” and “insurrection” were also cited by our military in a recent correspondence condemning the uprising, as Rachel Maddow tells us, which of course carries legal implications, as well it should (and those carrying out these criminal acts were apparently aided by U.S. House Repugs Andy Biggs, Mo Brooks and Paul Gosar, as noted here, who should all be expelled from Congress and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law...and Bri-Fi dished up some truly weak saucehere with his motion to "censure" the Gropenfuhrer; to let him know what you think, click here...and yeah, "spineless" indeed from Fitzpatrick here)...
...and David Pakman told us more yesterday about the second article of impeachment coming (and great points about how going after 45 NOW takes no courage whatsoever – Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao won’t reconvene “the world’s greatest deliberative body” of course, so this definitely will be handled at some point by the new Dem Senate)...
...and David Doel tells us that, while they were in lockdown, Dem U.S. House Reps Pramila Jayapal and Bonnie Watson Coleman were stuck with selfish, idiot Repug House members who wouldn’t “mask up,” and now Jayapal and Watson Coleman have tested positive for ‘rona...they should sue everyone in sight...
...and this Now This clip tells us more about the U.S. House GOP bastards who wouldn’t take the incredibly simple step of mask protection for themselves and other people they work with (and yes, one Dem needed to be reminded to pull the mask up over his or her mouth and nose - fair is fair)...
...and yeah, I think something has changed too, but it may take a little more time to find out exactly what.
Chris Hayes brings us still more important video on last Wednesday’s treasonous insurrection – and believe me when I tell you that I am in NO MOOD WHATSOVER when it comes to trying to reach out to these cowards, but if you’re not prepared to tell me that Joe Biden is the legally-elected president-elect and Kamala Harris is the legally-elected vice-president-elect, then don’t waste my time about any alleged “reconciliation,” which I’m tired of hearing anyway – people need to be sentenced to prison, and politicians need to be disbarred and/or removed from office altogether...
...and here are more on the perpetrators (and nary a Muslim in sight)...
...and I thought this was a good clip from CNN’s Brianna Keilar calling out Republican politicians who ended up caving to Mango Mussolini, with the disastrous results apparent for the whole world to see...
...and Kyle’s takes have been kind of a mixed bag lately as far as I’m concerned, but I think he’s absolutely right here when it comes to corporations deciding not to donate to politicians because of last Wednesday (as Kyle says, they shouldn’t be donating to ANYBODY)...
...and when it comes to corporations and the “one percent” exercising outsized influence on our politicians, one member of that club most definitely was Sheldon Adelson, and this TYT clip from a couple of years ago, gives some indication why I’m not going to feel a speck of remorse over the fact that he’s dead (and let's not forget this)...
Here is more Now This video on last Wednesday’s attempted coup to keep Generalissimo Trump in power (and apparently, Our Treasonous Orange Pustule is going to try and stage something at the Alamo on Tuesday, as noted here, though there are conflicting reports; wonder how much MORE dangerous he’ll try to be until he’s done – probably don’t want to know...and what does it tell you that, in response to last week’s carnage, MORE Republican members of the U.S. House support him, not fewer, as noted here?)...
Update 1/11/21: And why am I not surprised by this? Maybe this loon should have thought about his post-arrest "accommodations" a little earlier.
Update 1/12/21: Bette Midler is right - this guy IS a natural!
...and Chris Hayes brought us more disturbing video that we can add to the tragic catalogue of all of this stuff...
...and a hat tip goes out to Mrs. Doomsy for the video from this gentleman named Brian, who spelled out everything leading up to last week’s treasonous insurrection (oh, and of course, “Adolf Twitler” lost his account, which was long overdue)...
...and David Pakman tells us that Biden is apparently getting a whole new Secret Service team...good! God only knows how many Trumpsters are burrowed into our government at this point (and anything to do with that lunatic Dan Bongino is trouble...”it’s going to be a very interesting couple of years” indeed.)...
...and while I had a lot of disagreements with Schwarzenegger particularly when he was governor of Kaa-Lee-four-nee-ah, he was occasionally spot-on, particularly when it came to the environment, and I think he definitely hit the bullseye again here, you might say...
...and here's another musical selection that I offer without comment.
(Yeah, it doesn’t leave much to the imagination when it comes to figuring out what these life forms were up to last Wednesday, does it? Make sure you get your “MAGA Merch” in time for the seditious uprising!)
(And oh yeah, as I said earlier, too out there even for Kubrick, as noted here...a cross between “Seven Days In May” and “Jackass: The Movie.”)
This “Now This” clip features Dem U.S. House Reps Jason Crow and Susan Wild talking about what it was like for them to fear for their lives last Wednesday; this related AP report is a bit graphic, but this information needs to be out there, and this tells us about some of the dark money cretins behind that revolt (and good on @ProjectLincoln for this)...not directing this at Wild, Crow, or any other Dem as far as I can see, but I read an elementary school teacher on Twitter say that one of her students told her that, maybe now that Congress has experienced the terror of at least one live shooter, maybe they’ll pass common sense gun laws at long last – the student told the teacher that, since kindergarten to about 6th grade, she’s gone through at least 6 active shooter drills...and by the way, the casualty count is now at 5 with the death of a Capitol police officer, likely from one of these lunatics...and funny, but I don’t hear about any of these MAGA creeps yelling “back the blue” right now – do you?)...
Update: And it's time to hold Ginni Thomas up for the scorn she deserves, along with Bri-Fi pal and NAC owner (closer to home) Jim Worthington (here)...more here.
...and Farron Cousins tells us that a facial recognition company has linked the nutzoids on Wednesday with right-wing extremist groups, despite what the Formerly Moonie Times said about Antifa (Cousins hits the bullseye on what that a-hole Matt Gaetz needs to do in response to what XR Vision found...and oh yeah, I'm sure Antifa was guilty of this too - riiiiight...the Amy Lynn tweet, I mean)...
...and Emma Vigeland on TMR talks about Joe Scar using the “F” bomb recently, making this whole clip slightly NSFW/H (I’m glad they finally let Jamie Peck speak because she made some great points)...
...and Ari Melber speaks with New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg, who basically had been warning us about Generalissimo Trump since he eked out an electoral victory in 2016 (and I probably heard the idea about the commission to look into this from her, to be honest...I’d like to take credit for that, but I really can’t)...
...and yeah, we know what The Roger Ailes BS Factory is, but I think they still need to be roasted up a bit for what led up to Wednesday's insurrection (and make no mistake - when you've got a group of heavily-armed maniacs parading around with zip ties and building a scaffold, yeah, it sounds to me like they wanted to take hostages and maybe hold an execution or two, like they threatened to do with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer...we all need to connect the dots on this shit, people, including me! And thank God they didn't come across, say, Ilhan Omar or anyone on the "squad," becuase they probably would have been shot on sight.).
(And as far as what that news mannequin Ainsley Earhardt said – “There are 75 million people who voted for President Trump, and they’re scared”...IT’S CALLED THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS! SUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP!)...
...and I had this David Bowie tune in mind recently given all of this utter madness – we lost “The Thin White Duke” five years ago tomorrow.
A hat tip to Atrios at Eschaton for this great recent commentary from Seth Meyers on Wednesday's disaster...
...and Elizabeth Warren hit the nail on the proverbial head again and again with this...
...and Thom Hartmann, as usual, gives us another interesting history lesson on how we got to this point (which Hartmann recorded on 1/5, I should note)...
...and Dem U.S. House Rep Conor Lamb of our beloved commonwealth of PA hasn’t exactly been #1 on my hit parade recently, but kudos to him for this...
...and Nicolle Wallace speaks with Neal Katyal on the 25th Amendment (which I can practically guarantee that “Onward Christian Soldiers” Mike Pence won’t pursue, though Wallace and Katyal are right that people need to go on the record as to whether or not they support removing the Gropenfuhrer once and for all)...
...and Jimmy Kimmel made a serious point about all of this with a bit of humor, though through clenched teeth I’ll admit...
...and Vaush brought plenty of NSFW/H outrage over last Wednesday’s madness in this clip (and yeah, if you’re a Republican and you’re not condemning this, you are indeed part of the problem...and while he was more than a day late and a dollar short, at least this guy did that much)...
Update 1: I need to dive into this a little more, but it looks like Mark Sumner of Daily Kos did a great job of connecting the dots here.
To me (and I’m just a guy with an opinion and this dumb blog of course), it looks to me like we’re going to need some kind of a permanent select House/Senate committee (preferably the House) to look into EVERYTHING that led up to last Wednesday’s attempted coup (and that’s what this was – make no mistake...should probably be two Dems, two Repugs, an historian and/or a Constitutional scholar – paging former President Hopey Changey). And like many others, I wondered about getting rid of the people in the Defense Department including Mark Esper (and staffing them with loyalists to Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence), but I think that played a role too in trying to get the military on board with this (though, to their credit, they certainly didn’t do that, and as noted, all 10 living former Defense Secretaries, including Cheney and Rumsfeld, wrote that Op-Ed opposing it).
Update 2: Such a committee investigating last Wednesday’s attempted coup should morph into a permanent (as already stated) presidential oversight commission run by the U.S. House going back over the last 50 years (would take us to the end of Nixon, at this point). The only caveat is that they wouldn’t be authorized to investigate the presidential administration currently in power, because you have to draw the line somewhere. And yes, I know the temptation would be to politicize the hell out of this (e.g., if Dems run the House, they would look at Republican administrations – which I think is totally called for, by the way – and if Republicans run the House, they would look at Democratic administrations). But after Our Orange Pustule-in-Chief, I think it’s safe to say that we need “guard rails” around the presidency, since our current structure failed us (though it was more the fault of the people in charge than the “structure” itself of course).
...and as long as the MAGA gang has tried to infringe on the copyright of yet another artist as noted here (Laura Branigan this time, who passed in 2004 I should note), I think the following selection is apropos (and why not have an '80s tune on a Friday?).
I know we like to believe that those responsible for yesterday’s horror show in Washington, D.C. will feel a speck of contrition for what they did and what they incited (and by the way, not just at our nation’s capitol, but all over the country). But of course, they won’t, and that goes for our politicians who encouraged it and cheered it on along with the usual suspects in our corporate media who tried to rationalize it and explain it away.
And that’s why those responsible need to be punished with the full weight of the law, and any and all remedies offered by our political institutions (insufficient though they may be for such treason as this), along with universal censure and scorn in the court of public opinion.
Because those responsible will have to be watched, because they SURELY will attempt insurrection again. And as somebody pointed out, do you SERIOUSLY think they would have met with the same result had the Republicans completely controlled our government, and assuming they would have been able to entice our military to help them to any degree at all?
We’re closer to the precipice than we realize (as Chris Hayes alludes to below). And anyone who ignores that also helps accelerate the pace at which we approach it before we collectively all fall into the abyss (and we should have invoked the 25th Amendment long ago)...
...and I don’t think calling this “Trump’s 9/11,” as K.O. does here, is hyperbole at all...
...and as noted, Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow brought what I thought was plenty of disgust and indignation that was completely called for...
...(or as somebody on Twitter said...I think that's where I read it...Lincoln was able to keep the Confederate Flag out of the nation's capitol, but not Mango Mussolini of course.)...
...and Ana and John of TYT make some GREAT points about the contrast in the D.C. cops between last summer’s BLM protests and yesterday’s chaos, with those duly deputized to “serve, protect and defend” in some cases taking selfies with the insurrectionists (and as more than a few others have pointed out, do we REALLY need to ask what would have happened if yesterday’s protestors had been black or Muslim?)...
...I also want to change the subject from what is quite rightly topic number one and point out that tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of the Tucson, Arizona shooting of Gabby Giffords by Jared Loughner, in which Federal Judge John Roll and Christina Taylor Greene (niece of the late Phillies manager and executive Dallas Green) were also killed and others were injured (and leave it to that utter worm Chuck Todd and that hairdo sitting next to him to try and “both sides” the incendiary actions from Caribou Barbie and her map with the gun sights...we keep waiting for the other side to act like grownups, and as we saw yesterday of course, they basically still don’t, and possibly never will)...
...and I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to post over the next day or so, but I didn’t want to neglect to mention that Saturday marks the 80th birthday of the one and only Joan Baez.
I only have this to say given what's on display at the Capitol...
I’m not trying to trivialize this catastrophe in Washington, D.C., with the brainless minions of Our Treasonous, Insane Clown *President fomenting insurrection, but after this (which surely must give aid and comfort to our enemies; we trip all over ourselves with the COVID-19 pandemic and our wrecked economy...and now this – and I SWEAR TO GOD, EVERY GODDAMN THING TRUMP DOES HELPS RUSSIA SOMEHOW!!!)..after this, I never want to read another “Trump Voter In Trump Country” story in our corporate media FOR AS LONG AS I GODDAMN LIVE!
Hey, New York Times, Philly Inquirer, Bucks County Courier Times, Murdoch Street Journal, WaPo and everybody else – HERE THEY ALL ARE! THIS IS WHAT THEY’RE ALL ABOUT! NO NEED TO WRITE ANOTHER GODDAMN WORD EVER AGAIN!!!
Update 1/9/21: It sure as hell took you long enough, didn't it? (here).
On a day when we should be celebrating Dem wins in both U.S. Senate contests in Georgia (and I thought Ossoff and Warnock ran good campaigns, but let’s face it – we would’ve broken even at best if Mango Mussolini hadn’t depressed the vote with his ridiculous antics with Brad Raffensperger and the courageous Gabriel Sterling)...on a day when we should be doing nothing but a happy dance over rendering Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao to Minority Leader status...we instead have to focus on this lunacy (and the “JESUS 2020” banner is something that I think is too insane even for Stanley Kubrick, were he still with us of course).
I thought the opening words from Van Jones in this clip were spot-on (and I have big time disagreements with Gloria Borger – and I don’t take Rick Santorum seriously on anything, even this – but I’m going to put all of that aside for now...and I hope this idiot in Nancy Pelosi’s office goes to jail for the rest of his execrable life)...
Update 1: The whole world is indeed watching (here), and this tells us why we actually need to get serious about domestic terrorism once and for all.
...and more than a few of these life forms, or at least those just as crazy or maybe worse, recently carried on in Oregon as noted in this clip (the Oregon clip Van Jones mentioned was from last summer, I hasten to add)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us what happened for real at the home of Repug U.S. Senator Josh Hawley recently (and let us not EVER forget that Hawley was one of the 13 U.S. Senators and 126 U.S. House Representatives guilty of aiding and abetting today’s riot...more here)...
Update 2: Gee, it looks like the U.S. Senate Treason Caucus lost a few members (including #MoscowMarsha) and picked up one more, as noted here, namely Cindy Hyde-Smith - fine; let them all live in disgrace for the rest of their days whether they bailed at the last minute or not.
Update 3: And the push back begins...damn right (here).
Update 1/7/21: These seven traitors should never be allowed to set foot in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania again!
...and speaking of Nancy Pelosi, I'd like to extend this message: THIS is how you play hardball with treasonous, seditious Republicans...in the PA state senate, they refused to seat Dem Jim Brewster while legal challenges to his victory proceed, even though Brewster's win has already been validated by more than a few courts (more here)...
...well, despite it all, we still have this great news to celebrate, though I have a feeling that the insufferable Joe Manchin and the highly questionable Kyrsten Sinema will now probably be the two most important people in the U.S. Senate....
...and I offer the following without further comment.
Farron Cousins tells us more about that call from the leader of “Cult 45” and the responses from Kelli Ward and some meat sack named David Shafer, bitching about the fact the call was recorded, as opposed to the incredible illegality that was discussed of course...
...and for one, final time, click here to help GOTV for Jon Ossoff and click here to do the same for Raphael Warnock...
...and Willie Geist from "Morning Joe" interviews two leading health care professionals on the lack of a vaccination rollout plan from the Gropenfuhrer (and this news about this “variant” virus out there that apparently is more easily transmissible is scary too)...
...and Thom H. speaks with a caller about authoritarianism and what can lead up to that (interesting stuff - and yeah, this sure fits too)...
...and Ana and Aida Rodriguez of TYT tell us that U.S. House progressives were able to make a change to PAYGO rules (which, of course, only Dems abide by, for some dumb reason), which could apply to any policy proposal as Ana says...GREAT point by Ana about how the Dems should focus on strategy and tactics as Repugs did after FDR...
...and I was trying to find a nice "Georgia" song for today's occasion (thought of Ray Charles and Boz Scaggs), but I ended up settling on this one.
