Second Thought brings us another great video, this time on the latest IPCC report and all of the wild weather going on, which of course are all symptoms of worsening climate change...gee, maybe our government ought to do something about it, huh?...
...and based on this report from Rachel Maddow and former Trump administration official Olivia Troye, who, commendably, came “back to the light” awhile ago (more here), I think Stephen Miller should be bound and gagged with duct tape, flown to Kabul and left there to fend for himself among the refugees whose visa applications he destroyed so he can beg for transport out of that country like everybody else trying to flee...
...and I should probably pay a little more attention to the recall effort going on in California, and Emma of TMR does that here (more here, and more BS on Larry Elder, the presumptive Republican candidate who seems to be out-polling everybody else, is here...yep, Elder’s another Trumpist right-wing radio loudmouth all right)...
...and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us here about Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blowing his racist dog whistle in response to still more news on Republicans who refuse to take the COVID vaccine (yeah, that’s BS for all of the reasons noted in the clip - more here)...
...and on the subject of COVID, thoughts and prayers for Cardinal Raymond Burke (and yes, I’m being sarcastic)...
...and speaking of our regularly scheduled plague, this Really American clip tells us what Rand (Fake Ophthalmologist) Paul did in response as Kentucky’s plight worsened (one way to respond is here)...
...and staying with ”the world’s greatest deliberative body,” The Daily Show gives Huckleberry Graham the treatment he deserves here (would have been nice if this had come out last year during the election, but good job to get this out now anyway)...
I thought this was a great commentary from Lawrence O’Donnell on why the war in Afghanistan is only slightly comparable at best to Vietnam, with performative clown and U.S. Senate Repug Ben Sasse, who never encountered an issue he couldn’t try to exploit for personal gain without trying to accomplish anything of worth, linking what happened in ‘Nam to our most recent exploits (and blaming only Biden of course...more here and here)...
...and I thought this was yet another great commentary from Beau on the equipment we’re leaving behind as we say that “long goodbye” to our 20-year war in the wake of 9/11...
...and Rachel Maddow discusses yesterday’s loon who told D.C. police he wanted to blow up the Capitol (allegedly) and created a 5-hour-or-so standoff (she speaks with correspondent Ben Collins, who makes the interesting point that this guy had family health coverage issues it seems, but instead of embracing Medicare for All, he resorted to violence...and I think Collins makes another interesting point that these people don’t know what to do since their hero wasn’t reinstalled as preznit like he said he would be...”like WrestleMania for these people” indeed)...
...and Farron Cousins communicates an appropriate level of disgust IMO in this commentary about FL guv Ron #DeathSantis, pointing out that 50 kids a day are getting hospitalized in that state over COVID-19...
...and Cenk and Ana tell us about the maskless a-hole riding the NY subway who harassed an elderly woman who was wearing a mask (great point by Cenk about Washington getting the troops vaccinated during the Revolutionary War)...
...and usually I wouldn’t go near “info-tainment” stuff like this, but I couldn’t help but be amused by this story – also ridiculous that Martha’s Vineyard is referred to solely as a place where rich and famous people hang out...yes, that’s true to an extent, but there are also a ton of affordable rentals up there for the same $$ you would pay at the Jersey shore...and we’ve been to the Chilmark General Store more than a few times, which is a pretty “blue collar” place, if you will (if I were to run into him, I would be inclined not to even waste my energy on a life form like Dershowitz since I go there for a good time and don’t even want to deal with him, but yeah, this does sound like an episode of David’s show, I have to admit)...
Update 7/18/22: So many reasons to love Martha's Vineyard, and here is still another one.
...and this week marked the 85th birthday of Hollywood icon and environmentalist Robert Redford; here is a clip of Redford from “The Candidate” way back in the day...
...and I just happened to come across this pretty cool new seasonal tune – hope you like it also.
Brian Tyler Cohen gives us this video of Dem U.S. House Rep (and Afghan war vet) Matt Zeller giving Baby Goebbels the treatment he deserves on the question of getting the Afghans who helped us out of that country before the Taliban completely takes over (a “digital Dunkirk” indeed – mildly NSFW/H...more here and here)...
...and Cenk and Ana of TYT give us some “hot takes” on Afghanistan, including Pompeo of course (and Rick Scott wants to invoke the 25th Amendment? Google Rick Scott and Largest Medicare Fraud in U.S. History and let me know what you come back with, OK?)...
...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tells us that The Swanson TV Dinner Heir is blaming the Taliban victory on gender studies (might be the trashiest of all of the “trash” takes here, and that’s saying something)...
...and Mehdi Hasan doesn’t let Dubya and his pals off the hook for Afghanistan either...
...oh, and as it turns out, Dubya has some thoughts? Gee, maybe he’ll make more paintings of ALL OF THE GODDAMN AFGHAN REFUGEES WHO COULDN’T F*CKING ESCAPE FROM THE BUMBLEF*CKERY HE AND CHENEY CREATED AND ENDED UP FALLING OFF PLANES TO THEIR DEATHS WHEN THEY TRIED TO FLEE!!! (with John and Jordan Uhl of The Damage Report)...
...and David Shuster tells us that that Taliban is apparently trying to do some kind of an image makeover, with them trying to work out on exercise machines we left behind in our retreat – yeah, I’ll remember this when they start slaughtering people who they suspect of helping us in that country and throwing acid at women again...and please believe me when I say that I want to be wrong about that (to say the least, I’m skeptical)...
...and Thom Hartmann gives some historical context on the U.S. trying to occupy Afghanistan (and the virtues of “soft power,” which, as Thom says, China will probably try next and end up getting the minerals we tried to get by making the Afghans stare at the barrel of a gun...yeah, that sure worked out, didn’t it?)...
...and happy 70th birthday to bassist John Deacon of Queen - I know I had a tune by the band a few days ago...well, here's another one.
Ana and Cenk of TYT bring us the news that Mexico is suing U.S. gunmakers...good! (and I think Cenk makes a GREAT point to link this to over-prescribing opioids, and Ana makes an even better point at the end about the consequences of OUR actions)...
...and Beau shares more thoughts on our pullout from Afghanistan...I have to admit that I was a little surprised to hear him blame Obama on this – I mean, sure, this got bad on his watch too, but I distinctly recall that every time 44 said something even remotely controversial, the chorus of caterwauling idiots in the “R” party would start with “Oh, there he goes again, that community organizer who never ran his own business – how dare he try to tell us what to do”...I’m not saying you can’t blame Obama for some stuff, but it sure would have been nice if the other side had acted like actual adults, and maybe we could have had actual serious discussions about stuff like, y’know, stepping up the use of drones (here) and deciding to execute Americans who were wrongly doing the bidding of terrorists (here)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us about a petition to recall #DeathSantis which has 35K signatures, though, as Cousins notes, it apparently won’t lead to anything, even though the effort is commendable (and speaking of recalls, I haven’t said anything about what’s going on in California, as noted here, which to me is beyond a ridiculous joke)...
...and David Doel gives us more on that whack job Marjorie Taylor Greene and her BS about the vaccine (oh, and don’t give me this crap about how you don’t oppose the vaccine but you’re in favor of personal choice, or something... this loon needs to be arrested at this point because her garbage lies are getting people killed...the main reason why I'm even paying attention to her is because Doel does such a good job of pointing out just how truly nutty she is)...
...and Jesse Dollemore sitting in for David Pakman talks about Pelosi calling out McCarthy for going after Capitol police (and of course, God forbid that maniac Trump or any of his whacked-out followers would have anything to say about the Capitol officers who’ve killed themselves)...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History,” and we’re taking another short journey back to 8/17/20, with Sam, Jamie and Matt of The Majority Report discussing Tommy Tuberville talking to some loudmouth radio clown, both competing for a Darwin award it would seem...and yeah, isn’t it funny how now, as if by magic, we’re not hearing any of these southern loudmouthed idiots bitching about how blue states can’t manage themselves? Yeah, take a look at the damn COVID map, you asshats...we’re definitely not out of this mess yet either, but that’s primarily the fault of you knuckleheads below that Mason Dixon line (great analysis from Sam here in particular)...
...and this video from More Perfect Union tells us about how the expanded child tax credit under Biden will help 3 moms doing their best to make ends meet...
...and I just happened to come across this video about five minutes ago, so here it is now - I guess you just get lucky sometimes.
Now that Afghanistan, sadly, is about to be completely overrun by the Taliban as we depart that country at long last, a bunch of “armchair warriors” out there are apportioning blame for the fact that our efforts over nearly 20 years may be completely wiped out (along with anyone who helped us with intelligence or acted as a translator - and since we’re talking about the Taliban, that surely means their families and friends too...I don’t think a single word can connote how awful that truly is).
Do you want to blame Biden for not ensuring the safety of those in that country who helped us, allowing them to escape also (as just noted)? That’s fair I guess, since this is happening on his watch. Do you want to also blame Generalissimo Trump (and, by extension, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo) for coming up with the deadline for withdrawal in negotiation with the Taliban (as much as you can negotiate with them of course) that Biden claims has “tied his hands”? I definitely agree with that (more here).
Some on Twitter have said we should also blame The Sainted Ronnie R for deciding to arm the Mujahideen in Afghanistan against the former Soviet Union in the ‘80s, given that those weapons would eventually be used against us when that group turned into al Qaeda. Oh, I definitely think that that’s fair all right.
But more than anybody else, I think we should blame this guy.
Oh, and by extension (as Oliver Willis, among others, has pointed out on Twitter), that goes for anybody on the Lincoln Project or some MSNBC pundits (including this one) who was a cheerleader for Number 43.
I’m old enough to remember when Dubya, after 9/11, had the opportunity to say to the Taliban, “All right, listen. We know you guys are ruthless bastards, and we don’t like you and you don’t like us, but just turn over to us everyone associated with al Qaeda and we’ll leave. That’s all we want.” Hell, even Putin, of all people, was down with that! And, of course, we could have done more to sanction our dear friends the Saudis, since 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia.
But no, Dubya and Cheney didn’t do that. Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History gave that incredibly insulting (to the rest of the world) address to Congress, basically saying, “You’re with the terrists or you’re with us” (here - and of course, Dubya got a standing “O” for that) and basically declared war also on any country harboring terrorists, in addition to the terrorists themselves. Oh, and after a few months, the regime of #43 said, “OK, we’ve defeated the Taliban. Let’s leave a skeleton force in Afghanistan while we do the invasion we really want to do, which of course is Iraq.” And when the Taliban recovered and started making gains in that country again, what did Dubya do? He outsourced the Afghan war to Pakistan (remember all of those utterly pointless meetings with Musharraf, who was in charge of that country?). Apparently, the whole world (except the Bush gang, of course), KNEW Pakistan was continually giving al Qaeda and the Taliban safe haven (after all, what country was bin Laden in when we finally got him?), but we felt they were honest actors in this anyway!
So yeah, there’s plenty of blame for what has happened (and likely will happen) in Afghanistan. But as far as I’m concerned, when you’re in a hole and you want to get out, you should stop digging. And though what’s playing out is tragic, I’ll give Biden the tiniest bit of credit for realizing that (more here and here).
Anyway, here is a well-done commentary from Mehdi Hasan (and Biden said we wouldn't have a "fall of Saigon" moment - I respectfully disagree)...
With Afghanistan in crisis, lots of back and forth this weekend over 'Biden's to blame' vs 'Trump started it' and so I thought I'd open the @MehdiHasanShow on @MSNBC tonight by pointing out the U.S. president who actually kicked off this whole damn thing:pic.twitter.com/kqV4mT0UQN
Update 2: This is the only "take" on all of this I've found yet that's 100 percent correct.
Update 8/22/21: I skimmed over this New York Times Op-Ed by Ryan Crocker criticizing Biden and Trump on Afghanistan, where Crocker says that Bush went into Afghanistan because the Taliban wouldn’t hand over bin Lden to us. There’s some truth in that, but there’s also a hell of a lot of missing context.
As noted here, the Taliban offered to hand over bin Laden, but to a neutral country. And part of that has to do with the fact that we were already bombing Afghanistan at the time. We know what the Taliban is, but you truly would have to be as dumb and arrogant as Number 43 to expect ANYONE to work with us while we’re already dropping bombs on them!
...and returning to our regularly scheduled plague, David Shuster brings us another Rebel HQ video with a Mississippi spokesman talking pretty much about statewide hospital failure, and of course that loon MTG tries to rationalize this insanity by saying “we can’t live forever”...fine, bitch – you can go first...and by the way, I’m not hearing a word from "Caribou Barbie" about “death panels” now...
...and Sam and Emma of TMR bring us this guy making a Tick Tock video telling the anti-vaxxers to “stick to their f*cking guns,” though he definitely doesn’t mean it the way you might think (very NSFW/H but for a damn good reason - oh, and that goes for this guy too, turned-around-collar or not)...
...and Farron Cousins (who is based in FLA) brings us more on #DeathSantis and his state’s COVID outbreak...
...and sticking with The Sunshine State, John and Brett Erlich tell us more on the stuff with Matt Gaetz and Joel Greenberg...the stuff about MDMA is particularly sickening IMO...I was kind of wondering where Brett Erlich was going in some of his comments to John I., but I think Erlich is ultimately saying that Trump has lowered the bar of expectations so much for Republicans and their supporters that most go “meh” any more in response to Gaetz-related allegations, which I think is a pretty huge problem in and of itself...
...and Robert Reich tells us that there is no longer a “reasonable center” in our media coverage, which is assumed in the typically ridiculous “both sides” narrative that our esteemed fourth estate keeps trying to resuscitate (and speaking of ridiculous media moments, I give you this...Reich is correct, but I have to admit that I'm a little unnerved by his use of the term "mainstream media," since that's a creation of the wingnutosphere more than anyone else, but I should probably just get over myself and deal with it)...
STOP THE "MAGA" PARTY AND SIMON CAMPBELL FROM TAKING OVER PENNSBURY!
Eight years ago, voters kicked Simon Campbell and his extremist ideology off the Pennsbury School Board. Since then, the Democratic Board has accomplished much to strengthen Pennsbury, including:
Full-day kindergarten classes
Computers for middle and high school students
Renovated and improved school buildings
Hired two highly qualified and respected Superintendents
Recognized as a National School District of Character
No increase in school taxes during the 2020 Pandemic
Responsibly followed public health guidelines for the safety of all
Simon Campbell is not on the ballot, but he is behind the Republicans’ attempt to win back a majority on the Pennsbury School Board in the November 2nd Municipal Election.
Campbell has said the local Republican party “will do what I tell them, and my political judgment isn’t subject to anyone else’s oversight.”
Campbell and a group of residents, including Republican school board candidate Jennifer Spillane (Region 3), have attacked current board members and the school's diversity and equity policy at recent meetings.
Campbell uses divisive, fact-free, conspiracy-theory-based fearmongering about “critical race theory” to inject his personal partisan agenda into our schools. His tirades are making the rounds on Fox News, Newsmax, Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham, and other radical right-wing media.
Here is the video of Ms. Spillane’s comments at the June 17th school board meeting:
To see the entire video of the June 17th public comments, including another rant by Simon Campbell, go here (Jennifer Spillane and other commenters start at video time 1:03:30).
Stop Simon Campbell and the radical GOP “MAGA” fanatics:VOTE to elect EACH AND EVERY DEMOCRAT for the Pennsbury School Board in your Region.
To win, we need every Democrat who voted in the Primary to also get at least 2 to 3 more voters to vote for the Democrats in November. A “split-ticket” vote for any Republican is a vote to help Simon Campbell's Trump ideology ruin our public schools.
There was a time at this site when I paid a lot of attention to local Bucks County, PA politics, but for a variety of reasons I’m really not able to do that as I’d like to any more. However, one person who I definitely thought posed a grave threat to responsible school board governance was Simon Campbell, a notorious loud mouth and grifter riding what was then the Tea Party wave to try and totally hamstring the Pennsbury School District in terms of budgeting, hiring, teacher staffing and imposing his utterly wrong-headed agenda onto school curricula. And as this post states, we got rid of him way back when (a post related to Campbell is here – I remember when Campbell published a book listing the salaries of every Pennsbury school district employee and had them mailed to the homes of everyone in the district).
Well, I don’t suppose that it should be surprising in any way that he’s back as a Trumpist, trying to ride that wave once more and caterwauling about “wokeness” and “critical race theory” (and to learn more about the Thomas W. Smith Foundation, the shadowy group using its millions to stoke that alleged controversy, click here). And of course, that means that Campbell poses the same threat again now as he did previously.
Well, we sent "Simple Simon" and his minions packing once before. Let’s do it again now!
Sam, Emma and Matt of The Majority Report tell us about Laura Ingraham and this Jon Taffer person (who must be for bars what Gordon Ramsey is for kitchens, namely someone who enjoys terrorizing people) basically equating workers with dogs (oh, but they mean metaphorical hunger and not, y’know, actual hunger...yeah, right...very mildly NSFW/H)...
...and this Teahadist loon from Colorado named Randy Corporon (making multiple references to the “Democrat” Party of course) thinks Team D should apologize for slavery, even though I don’t hear the “party of Lincoln” apologizing for Voter ID or supporting Supreme Court justices who gutted the Voting Rights Act, so no, I’m not going to apologize for a damn thing (though maybe Corporon should apologize for some of this stuff)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us how Generalissimo Trump had to refund $13 mil he scammed from supporters (and apparently the RNC did something similar also...figures)...
...and I think this is an appropriate tune for a Saturday night, and I don’t think any further explanation is necessary, really.
David Doel discusses Pat Robertson whining over the budget reconciliation bill with funding for Medicare expansion, along with universal pre-K and child care...”imagine paying people for not being productive”...yeah, sure, something to keep in mind in light of the ridiculous income inequality noted here...I guess “productivity” is in the proverbial eye of the beholder (mildly NSFW/H)...
...and I wasn’t sure if I would ever say this, but I have a feeling Louie (Exploding Bird Guts) Gohmert has lost what’s left of his damn mind...yes, flaming birds from solar panels are going to “bring the nation down”...from a sitting member of the U.S. Congress (as noted here - more here).
Texas must be so proud...
...and I’m going to take a bit of a dramatic U-turn here and include this video of a lady recovering from COVID (h/t to Rachel Maddow on Twitter) – yet another reason to get the damn shot(s), mask up and do the social distancing thing again, people...
...and with the prior clip in mind, I now give you this one which tells us about RoJo “making bank” on the pandemic...
...and turning now to Major League Baseball (for the second time this week)...this tells us about former Chicago Cub (and one-time Phillie) Jake Arrieta telling a reporter to take off his/her mask...and this is probably as close as I’ll get to sports radio (and Arrieta was released, partly because of the mask comment and partly because he sucks anymore, which happens to everybody eventually – I don’t totally blame him for basically stinking out the joint with the Phils b/c they were idiots to give him stupid $$ like they did...and BOY, do I get bored with the baseball statistical minutiae!)...
...and now turning to the only planet we have (despite some gazillionaires projecting themselves into outer space)...this tells us about the Line 3 pipeline protests in Minnesota I believe (with John I. and Benjamin Carollo)...
...and here’s yet another great Second Thought clip on dystopian fiction mirroring reality..
...and maybe this selection ties in a bit with the prior clip, but I’m putting it up here because of the calendar date (and I guess I should be boycotting any Clapton tunes, but that would eliminate a hell of a lot of good music).
As we’re reminded in this CBS This Morning clip (with an intro by Charlie Rose, before his own #MeToo moment), Heather Heyer was run down and killed by James Alex Fields 4 years ago today (more here)...
...and as usual, The Lincoln Project (and no, I haven’t forgotten who they are) doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to Republican governors who are culprits when it comes to COVID outbreaks...
And by the way, while we're on the subject of Repug governors and their COVID response (or lack thereof), let's not forget these people too...
Update 11/16/22: I keep trying to persuade stoo-pid voters not to cast their ballots for Republicans, but they keep doing it anyway, and stuf like this is the result.
...and on the subject of our regularly scheduled plague, Ari Melber adds a little more emphasis to the COVID clown show going on in FL with Guv #DeathSantis...
...and Ana and John of TYT tell us about those zany anti-vaxxing Brits who decided to protest the BBC, but showed up at the wrong building – womp womp...
...and Joy Reid decides to take some well-deserved shots at "Curtsy Kyrsten"...
...and the heat is particularly brutal today in these parts (should get relief by Saturday) – please stay hydrated and remember to look after kids, pets and elderly relatives, especially those with health conditions, and make sure they’re OK.
Jesse Dollemore sits in for David Pakman and gives The Swanson TV Dinner Heir what-for in light of Carlson’s speech in Hungary (he wants to live in a city full of bullet holes?? Really?? And “the American foreign policy establishment”? WTF is he talking about???)...
Oh, and we supposedly have “no idea how bad things can get”? Try checking out a COVID ward in any hospital, Tuckums (and the “greatest generation” that got through the Depression and WW II would like a word also when it comes to "how bad things can get")...
...and this Don Winslow film gives us more double-talk from Repug-simpatico media types on the vaccine when contrasted with “R” party politicians being dragged kicking and screaming into acknowledging reality...
...and Beau tells us about “Dr.” Rand Paul, who apparently didn’t “get the memo” from his Repug playmates on wearing masks (more here)...Beau reminds Paul of what “constitutionally protected speech” really means...
Update 8/12/21: OK, so in addition to being a liar, a propagandizing idiot and a fake doctor, he's also a crook (here) - got it.
...but now to turn to the big political news story over the last day or so, and that’s the long-overdue resignation of Dem Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York – and yeah, what Cuomo said in his announcement is ridiculous for the reasons noted here by David Doel (mildly NSFW/H)...
...and Medhi Hasan discusses Cuomo’s political downfall and contrasts what Team “D” does in response to this stuff (usually resignation) as opposed to Team “R” (practically nothing)...and yes, there was a time when I thought Cuomo might actually be a viable candidate for prez too – fortunately, we didn’t get to a point where this scandal would blow up in case Cuomo ended up being the standard bearer instead of Biden...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that a federal judge smacked Guv #DeathSantis of FL and let Norwegian Cruise Lines enforce vaccine passports (nice job by Cousins to link this to the wingnut baker who didn’t want to make a gay wedding cake as well as Citizens United)...
...and turning to sports, this happened 40 years ago yesterday – Pete Rose became the all-time National League leader in base hits, congratulated by former record holder Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals among others (apropos since the Phils were playing St. Louis)...yeah, I know Rose bet on games and he shouldn’t have, but lots of other players and officials have done worse as far as I’m concerned...I’ll admit that I have a bit of a soft spot for Rose since the Phils would never have won the ’80 Series without him...
...and again, maybe I should be railing against "Slow Hand" for some of his anti-vax rhetoric, but I'm more disappointed than anything else and would rather choose to express my outrage over other stuff...with that in mind, though, kudos to Dr. Brian May for speaking out (here).
Brian Tyler Cohen gives us this clip of U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana talking with CNN’s Dana Bash – I have lots of disagreements with Cassidy, but he’s pretty lucid here IMO, and I think this is about the best you’re going to get from the Repug on this issue (and of course, God forbid that Cassidy should give a straight answer and compliment Dem Gov. John Bel Edwards on the mask mandate)...
...and on the subject of our regularly scheduled plague, John and Francesca give a reality check on the latest blatherings from Baby Ben Shapiro (who apparently got a dose of reality inflicted upon him by Malcolm Nance on Real Time with Bill Maher...if I gave a crap about Maher any more, I’d bother to watch, but since I don’t...)...
...and for the reality perspective, Alicia Menendez of MSNBC speaks with moms Veronica McClane and Ashley Simmons on trying to get Arkansas to overturn its ban on a mask mandate; fortunately, a judge ruled in the mom’s favor (but of course, it shouldn’t have had to come to that, right?)...
...and Joy Reid definitely brings the snark on the anti-vaxxers – good for her (w/ Dr. Lipi Roy and former Repug U.S. House Rep David Jolly)...
...and I know I included the video form Chris Hayes last week on Jeffrey Clark, that disgusting life form who tried to overturn our democracy in favor of reinstalling Generalissimo Trump, but Farron Cousins gives us a follow up on Jeffrey Rosen refusing Trump and Clark’s attempts to overturn the Georgia election results – yeah, Rosen definitely isn’t a saint by any means, but it’s a little scary to realize how close they came to pulling it off (and I think The Rude One sums this up well here)...
...and speaking of white privilege, David Shuster brings us a couple of pretty wretched examples, and it shouldn’t be a surprise I guess that they’re from Texas and South Carolina...
...but to be a little fair to the Lone Star State (more than they deserve collectively), I should include this clip of Dem State Rep James Talarico, who managed to get a bill passed in that state capping the cost of insulin (shocking he was able to get bipartisan support, which you need in R-friendly states like his, and credit where it’s due to him for getting it)...
..and I realize that I’ve put up a few covers of this song, but I don’t think I’ve ever done that for the original, so here it is.
David Doel tells us about the Texas state lawmaker who died of COVID after making fun of the vaccine, and apparently his wife and infant son are infected too – Jesus wept (I predict that, at a certain point probably sooner than later, we’re going to need vaccine passports by state)...
...and while we’re on the subject of our regularly scheduled plague, Emma of TMR tells us more about vaccine hesitancy, with FL Guv Ron #DeathSantis blaming Biden and immigrants for COVID...uh huh, and as Emma says, since when does Florida share a border with Mexico (and in a related item, I give you this lying numbskull...and I don't mean Oswalt)...
...and this Now This clip informs us that 12-year-old Lila Hartley has more common sense than most adults in the Sunshine State...
...and yeah, Joy Ann Reid sure “brings the receipts” for the “R” party on the latest garbage with Dem NY Guv Andrew Cuomo (more here) – yeah, Cuomo needs to be gone yesterday, but some context here is highly called for (and when it comes to “I Like Beer” Brett, let’s not forget this)...
...and I don’t know if this is Beau’s best commentary, but it’s certainly right up there as far as I’m concerned (yeah, 60 percent of Republicans think voting is a privilege, and the logical question to ask is “for whom?” And if you have to ask a question like that, chances are you're not included in the group they prefer)...
...and I now bring you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 8/9/13...with all of the insane weather we’ve experienced recently (particularly, but not by any means limited to, the Pacific Northwest), let’s all remember the biggest villains who have led us to this ecological precipice in the name of profit, and that would be Charles Koch and his late brother Dave...
...and I’m probably a month early for this great Second Thought video on the efforts to unionize in this country and the labor situation overall, but here it is anyway (and yeah, our dear corporate media cousins are going to be all “Oh, nobody wants to work but stay home and collect unemployment instead,” but after you cut through that BS, I think you’ll find there’s just a bit more, you could say, to the story than that)...
...and I guess I need to include this song once in awhile, in this case mainly because of Beau’s great commentary (not a reflection on him, I hasten to add), but probably also because, as far as I’m concerned (and in light of responses against COVID more than anything else), about 25-30 percent of this country is certifiably insane (and I guess this is as close as I can come to giving them the metaphorical slap in the face they deserve, including this Charlie Bullington clown).
Update 8/8/21: And I would add the climate and infrastructure to this list.
Mehdi Hasan gives us the latest on Former Generalissimo Trump’s attempt to set up a shadow presidency (with Asawin Suebsang and Tina Nguyen...kind of a follow-up to the Chris Hayes clip yesterday about that guttersnipe Jeffrey Clark)...
...and Farron Cousins points out that U.S. Senate Republicans want everyone else to pay for desperately needed infrastructure improvements in this country except the “pay no price, bear no burden” crowd of course...
...and speaking of really bad congressional acts from the “R” party, this Really American clip reminds us that U.S. House Rep Paul Gosar hangs out with neo-Nazis, including this life form named Nick Fuentes (or at least that’s what Gosar was doing when he skipped a COVID relief vote in the U.S. House...more here)...
...and this More Perfect Union clip tells us about Prop 22 in Massachusetts, which is an attempt to totally screw over “gig economy” workers (more here)...
...and I would argue that the prior clip is a factor related to this one, in which Robert Reich provides reasons why millennials are broke (more here)...
...and this Rebel HQ clip form Caroline Johnson tells us about LAPD beach raids on the homeless (growing up in NE Philadelphia, I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard about the horrors of “Section 8” housing, even though the Diplomat apartments, which were flea traps also, would regularly catch fire at around 4 PM every day...you could set your watch by the timing of the fire engine sirens)...
...and in a related item, David Pakman tells us that we could be looking at a SCOTUS clash over the CDC’s eviction moratorium...
...and damn, he sings this great new tune about her and she won't even let him in the house? That's cold!.
Chris Hayes reports to us on Jeffrey Clark, a Trump admin lawyer who, it seems, was trying to run roughshod over our government’s electoral framework to install the Gropenfuhrer illegally for another term – and kudos to Hayes for shining a light on yet another of these morally bankrupt right-wing foundations where Clark ended up...
...and turning to our regularly scheduled plague, Sam and Emma tell us that Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson now regrets signing his anti-mask mandate...womp womp...
...and in a bit of a compare-and-contrast example, Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Dem NJ Governor Phil Murphy giving it back to the anti-vax idiots (long overdue for these clowns to get the comeuppance they deserve)...
...and Jonathan Capehart, sitting in for Joy Reid, speaks with Dem U.S. House Rep Tim Ryan of Ohio (running for the U.S. Senate for Rob Portman’s about-to-be-open seat) about House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s typically stupid and misogynist remark about hitting Nancy Pelosi with the speaker’s gavel (tell me once again about the “feedback loop” from the wingnuts and our corporate media overall if a Dem had said anything remotely similar to this)...
...and gee, maybe we ought to do something about this climate change thing, huh (David Shuster tells us more...and in a related story...)...
Joe Scar and Willie Geist speak with Jane Mayer of The New Yorker about the dark $$ groups behind all the “Stop The Steal” idiocy in Arizona and other efforts to sow mistrust in our elections (more here – and of course, Scar is typically tiresome with his commercial for The Heritage Foundation and other like-minded outfits...this garbage currently going on is a logical evolution in their ruthless efforts to consolidate and hold onto power, and only a fool would act surprised by these developments)...
...and apparently President Biden is extending the eviction moratorium, in no small part because of a protest from Cori Bush (yeah, issues with Biden on this, but I definitely wouldn’t call him a “disaster” – that applies to Biden’s predecessor...also, apparently Bush was quite rightly congratulated by Schumer and Elizabeth Warren on this, but haven’t heard anything in the way of a congratulations from House Speaker Pelosi...we’ll see)...
...and Cenk and Ana of TYT bring us the latest on the charges against Dem NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, and yeah, it’s a bunch of really bad stuff...I’m hardly a Cuomo fan, but I kind of kept my powder dry, as it were, a bit on this matter because not only are there plenty of examples of the “R” party acting as badly or even worse on this, but I wasn’t sure where the smoke ended and the fire began, you might say, on the Cuomo stuff, but he needs to be gone for sure after this report, and that montage of him which was a supposed defense made my skin crawl...in some ways Biden deserves credit and in other ways I think he’s falling short – though, again, he’s a HUUUUGE improvement over his predecessor – but one area where Biden absolutely doesn’t mess around is mistreatment of women, and he’s absolutely right to come down on Cuomo like a ton of bricks...and oh yeah, I think that veiled dig at that maggot Jimmy Dore near the 11:00 mark was highly called for...
...and Mehdi Hasan brings us a report on The Swanson TV Dinner Heir and his trip abroad – “The Hungary Games”...good one (more here)...
...and I thought this was a great video from Don Winslow with Jeff Daniels putting our COVID calamity in the context of 9/11 and the aftermath...
...and when it comes to traitors against our country, we should never, ever let them off the proverbial hook, and Repug U.S. House Rep Paul Gosar is pretty damn high on that list...
...and I thought this was a pretty neat Now This clip about the family in Norway building an eco-friendly dome to live in (kind of sad that it’s come to this, but I applaud the ingenuity)...
...and I’m in the mood for this “moldy oldy” of a summer tune, so here it is.
