So it looks as if “meth house” Bannon is going to surrender himself on Monday after being indicted by a grand jury on 2 counts of contempt of Congress (for Making Treason Great Again I guess) – I suppose he’s going to have one big monster blowout this weekend before he goes over (John, Cenk and Nina Turner offer commentary)...
...and with Bannon’s encouragement (along with those of his QAnon and fellow right-wing loony followers), it seems 13 U.S. House Republicans are facing a lot of heat for voting for the “corporate stuff” infrastructure bill (with Fred Upton getting a particularly disgusting and cowardly death threat, which is messed up on so many levels)...once again, I hate to give props to Bri-Fi for anything, but he made the right move here...can’t think of a word to describe the stupidity (to say nothing of the entitlement) of lunatics who scream like pigs in an abattoir over legislation primarily benefitting corporations, though that isn’t the reason for their complaint (just doing what Dear Leader Mango Mussolini tells them); can’t imagine what they’ll do if by some miracle the BBB bill gets passed (Caroline Johnson of Rebel HQ tells us more)...
...and it sounds like Peter Alexander of NBC News was trying some kind of a “gotcha” question on behalf of the “party of Lincoln” about why Biden can’t use some mystical presidential power, with daisies and unicorns I guess, to make everybody sing fa la la and just get along related to this “Let’s Go Brandon” nonsense (fortunately, Jen Psaki is incredibly adept at fending off that idiocy)...as Ana Kasparian correctly points out, the “Let’s Go Brandon” people should just have the honesty to say “F Biden” because that’s what they really mean, just like all this idiocy about Critical Race Theory is just the latest catchphrase to make the wingnuts comfortable with their racism (Brian Tyler Cohen tells us more)...
...and this important video from More Perfect Union tells us that the U.S. actually once had federally funded day care...in 1943 during WWII, and tried to bring it back in 1971, but it was stopped by Tricky Dick and “Uber Alles” Buchanan (“a long leap into the dark,” huh? Right, but not in the way he means)...
...and when it comes to other countries doing the right thing, David Doel tells us here that Portugal just passed a law making it illegal for employers to “message” you after work...this is the face of economic socialism, people (not sold on the U.S. decriminalizing ALL drugs, but this is definitely important info)...
I honestly try not to pay a lot of attention to Candace Owens because I think she’s a walking, talking train wreck, and generally speaking, her takes are hot garbage, but I feel like I need to include this clip from Farron Cousins because he pretty much treats Owens in the manner she deserves concerning the latest wingnut contretemps, which has to do with Big Bird of Sesame Street encouraging children to get the COVID vaccine...
...and I know I’m a little behind the news cycle on this one, but here it is anyway – Rachel Maddow brings us a report on Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who apparently is going to be the surgeon general for the state of FLA...her report calls into question his alleged bona fides with UCLA, as well as his association with this ultra-scammy outfit called “America’s Frontline Doctors,” including that nutty Caribbean woman – who was taken out of the video for some odd reason – and this “telemedicine” grift..and “Freedom has a home here (in FLA),” huh? I guess you mean the “freedom” to die an awful death with a machine forcing you to breathe...
...and Mehdi Hasan interview journalist Jonathan Freedman and U of P professor Andrea Kane on the commonwealth of Virginia trying to ban books...yep, CRT was just the tip of the metaphorical spear when it comes to utterly quashing any dissent from right-wing orthodoxy, particularly in education (good point unfortunately about us taking our eye off the ball, as it were, when it comes to complaining about individual speakers on college campuses, and meanwhile this backlash against the imaginary issue of CRT sprung up)...
...and it seems that this Johnny Harris person recently made waves with a New York Times video about how blue states (California in particular) have a housing problem (here)...and hey, if he’s saying that lefties/libs are as guilty of NIMBYism as those on the right side of the political spectrum – well, I’m forced to acknowledge that point. I will say, though, that as long as he’s gone to the trouble to explain this issue and how it impacts blue states, I’ll now await a report from him on how it also impacts red ones (and I’m sure I’ll keep waiting).
And no, I didn’t watch his entire clip on the subject, but I’ll try to later (again, I’m not taking issue with the points he’s making, but only that I don’t think he’s presenting the whole story).
But with this in mind, I decided to read up on this guy a bit. And it turns out that he has what I would call a little bit too cozy of a relationship with the World Economic Forum (as Tom Nicholas discusses in this video). And I’m not saying Harris did anything overtly unethical with the WEF, but I also think he danced along that razor’s edge between journalism and propaganda (in the way Nicholas discusses – interesting take here IMO on the difference between inserting ads in a video vs. presenting wholly sponsored content).
And hey, run ads or promotional spots on your site to drive up traffic and/or increase monetization? Sure, why not? Nothing wrong with trying to make a buck (unless you’re talking about this site, which is a separate discussion).
Turn over your entire platform to some shadowy entity with questionable intent no questions asked, while presenting yourself as an objective journalist? I would argue that that’s a wholly other matter (and I wish Nicholas would speak up a little because it's hard to hear him!)...
Update 11/13/21: OK, in the interest of fairness, I finally watched the New York Times video with Harris and Binyamin Appelbaum (and I’ll admit that maybe I should have done this earlier, but again, I didn’t think that was germane to the Harris/WEF thing anyway), and I have some observations as an admitted non-expert on housing:
Harris and Appelbaum are aware that there has been an overall slowdown on new housing construction partly because of COVID-related labor and materials issues (here) and also because of unaffordability nationwide, right?
You can talk about “not enough housing and too many people trying to get it” all over the country (I’m pretty sure that’s a reasonably accurate observation).
You can also discuss the price of housing units going through the roof partly because they’re being bought up by hedge funds (here).
At about 2:40, Harris blames liberals for the way zoning maps are laid out in California and says that’s part of the reason for the lack of high density housing in Palo Alto. I have no information on that to argue with him. However, I wonder if Harris cares to mention this article, which talks about high density housing plans in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philly, Chicago, and Louisville, Kentucky (to be fair)?
Also, here’s a personal observation. We visited Vermont about a month ago (a state which, of course, has a Democratic U.S. Senator and an independent who caucuses with Dems, along with a pretty middle-of-the-road Republican governor, as well as a high COVID vax rate), and we dined out at a fairly upscale restaurant in Manchester. We spoke with one of the owners who apologized for not having enough wait staff, and we told her it definitely wasn’t an issue related to our food or service, both of which were excellent. She told us that one of the reasons why she couldn’t get enough workers was because people from New York bought up a lot of the properties and charged pretty exorbitant rents, and the kids couldn’t afford the rent, so they didn’t come to the area to work (couldn’t really). I’m not saying that necessarily to trash New Yorkers (and I don’t have an answer to that issue I’ll admit), but I’m only saying this to point out that the issue of high-density housing is one that cuts across political and ideological lines, and I think it’s a little disingenuous at a minimum for Harris to pretend that only liberals are at fault here.
Update 11/14/21: Here is more from the New York Times on this subject.
Update 1/29/22: Gee, I wonder if Harris is going to blame "liberals" for this?
...and Emma, Matt Lech and Brandon Sutton discuss Tulsi Gabbard’s remarks about the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, which has turned into a complete circus because of that utterly bonkers judge (and yeah, I think Rittenhouse will beat the biggest charges unfortunately, though he’ll get a slap on the wrist over the lesser ones)...for whatever my take on this is worth, I think Gabbard’s grift towards liberals/progressives has now been pretty thoroughly exposed, so now she’s trying a feint back to the right in search of some centrist, moderate take on this to burnish more imaginary bona fides to try and remain visible in the court of public opinion...not sure what was up with Matt Binder – was he baked or something?...
...and here’s something I thought I would never say – kudos to Gene Simmons for this recent quote (hope he doesn’t go back on it).
(More information related to the above pic can be found here and here.)
I try to balance responding to wingnut idiocy at this site along with showing “people power” stuff particularly when it comes to protests and organizing (or, at least, if I show wingnut BS, I try to present the sane, rational alternative side of the argument), though it’s true (as I’ve said in the past) that I’ve also spent a lot of time responding to idiot pundits on the other side, but I don’t have the bandwidth to do that like I used so (pointing out that people like Andrew Malcolm, Victor Davis Hanson, Rod Dreher, etc. are nothing but paid propagandists).
Why am I giving you that admittedly boring preamble? Because some stupidity from the other side is just too rank to ignore IMO.
Which brings me to Dennis Prager saying something along the lines of “Can you imagine if gays and IV drug users had been made pariahs during the AIDS epidemic as the anti-vaxxers are now during the COVID pandemic?” (or something close to that).
And my answer (as John I. points out in his excellent clip) is an emphatic YEAH, I SURE AS HELL CAN IMAGINE, BECAUSE THEY WERE VILIFIED THAT WAY! And the links above (referencing the pic of washed-up singer and orange juice salesperson Anita Bryant, one of the most notorious figures on the right in the late ‘70s-‘80s) provide more information in that regard.
So here is the great Damage Report clip on this subject...
...and also, in the matter of responding to wingnut idiocy, David Doel points out why Repug U.S. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri is completely and totally full of crap, alleging an attack on manhood from “the liberal left” or something...as usual, the “party of Lincoln” offers performative BS and absolutely nothing else to help the vast majority of the people of this country...
...oh, and by the way, former Bushco Labor Secretary and Trump Transportation Secretary Mrs. Mitch McConnell (apparently, she just LOVES to be referred to that way) recently said that it’s the patriotic duty of American workers to go back to their jobs, or something (here)...Rachel Maddow reminds us just how awful Elaine Chao was as transportation secretary under Trump in this 2019 clip (and you can read about a lot of her antics during the Bush years from here...the stuff on Chao starts at about 7:10, and Maddow speaks with former Obama Administration deputy labor secretary Chris Lu)...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 11/10/11...the next time you hear the “party of No” yapping about how the Biden Administration is supposedly “anti-business”...or “anti-Christmas” at a minimum I guess (here), get a load of what they said 10 years ago concerning the LAST Democratic president...
...and RIP actor Dean Stockwell, who had a long and diverse career in film and TV...
...and returning to Rachel Maddow...she showed a clip during her show last night (here) of an advocacy group apparently trying to garner support for the John Lewis Voting Rights Act (I guess that’s what it’s still called) in the Senate by making some kind of a cutesy video about “electile dysfunction,” or something like that.
And yeah, I briefly chuckled very slightly to myself. But then I stopped to think for a second. And I found myself getting pretty pissed off, actually.
To begin, Mark Ruffalo appears in the video, and to be fair, he has participated in a lot more protests than I have, particularly regarding the climate, so I really don’t have the right to sit in judgment of him in particular for this.
However, I couldn’t help but come up with one conclusion about this overall, and it is this; this ad will persuade APPROXIMATELY NO ONE who isn’t predisposed to support expanding voting rights anyway!
How about an ad instead that reminds everyone of what people had to suffer in this country to win the right to vote that was enshrined by the original Voting Rights Act of 1965? How about showing African Americans facing attack dogs and firehoses, and George Wallace, Bull Connor and the like (to say nothing of how Native Americans have been disenfranchised, partly for the apparently unforgivable crime of using P.O. boxes for mailing addresses instead of numbered roadways)?
How about reminding people of how Republicans have done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BUT TRY TO GUT VOTING RIGHTS AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY? And how about showing that video of conservative godfather Paul Weyrich from 1980 saying how conservatives shouldn’t support expanding voting rights for everyone?
How about showing a little fire on this issue for a change?
And hey, if you’re stuck for imagery, you can probably use some of what’s in this video.
Ari Melber of MSNBC brings us another Special Report on “Cruel Capitalism,” noting all of the strikes going on across the country as well as the revival of the attempts to unionize...GREAT point about how idiot red-state governors who cut unemployment benefits had more job losses than blue states that kept the benefit...
...and Jim Acosta reminds us how actual grownups (i.e., Democrats) act when they lose elections, in this case Terry McAuliffe conceding to Glenn Trumpkin (and no, I’m not going to stop calling him that unless he disavows Our Treasonous Orange Pustule, which he won’t do because it would be heresy to their beloved “base”..."stop the squeal" - good one)...
...and Beau tells us about the latest “culture war” nonsense with conservatives, this time going after Big Bird on Sesame Street...but rest assured that they’re also going to try a feint back to pretending to be somewhat normal in time for a year from now (the bottom line is that the “R” party is nothing but a bunch of ridiculous, disgusting liars and attempted con artists offering only performative BS...and yeah, the video I put up from Beau last week about how the "party of Lincoln" is going to try and recast itself for suburban voters was pretty good)...
...and Sam and Emma bring us a bit of a “lightning round” of sorts on political stuff from across the country that took place on this day last week (including the hometown of “Curtsy Kyrsten” raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour)...
...and John and Francesca of The Damage Report tell us about AOC “keeping it real” on the corporate infrastructure bill (and God only knows if we'll ever see the other one)...and yeah, I’m disappointed by Amy Siskind’s take also...this clip just reinforces my opinion that NOTHING should have passed...and yes, I support Ro Khanna as well, and I respect him because he’s fundamentally right, but he’s trying to be pragmatic too - I get it...
...and the prior clip involving AOC was a little tongue-in-cheek I know, but there is nothing even remotely amusing about this one pertaining to the NY-14 U.S. House rep...and no, I’m not going to include that disgusting Anime mess from Paul Gosar either...I don’t know if this man is mentally ill or not, and I’m not qualified to make that diagnosis, but he sure as hell is acting like it...he doesn’t just need to be removed from Congress; he needs to be arrested...pretty much for the hell of it, I went to the websites of the New York Times and Washington Post to see if there’s any mention of this, and there isn’t, but there is a mention buried a bit on the main page of the web site for the Associated Press (lots on the Travis Scott/Astroworld tragedy of course, which is expected...another awful story)...do I need to point out what would happen if a DEM did something like this, and castigating them all over the place would be the right thing to do?...Lawrence O’Donnell speaks here with Gosar’s sister, who is PLEADING for an intervention as forcefully as she can, to her credit...
Rayy Vana of Rebel HQ tells us about that crazy Repug U.S. House Rep (which one, I know) Lauren Boebert and her rant against Pete Buttigieg and paid family leave (more information on the Dem challengers running against this goofball can be found here...if I had to listen to that voice 24/7, I swear to God I would kill myself)...
Update 11/09/21: Kerry Donovan is now out unfortunately (here).
...and Ana and Cenk tell us about the latest insane rant about blah blah Biden deep state conspiracy, blah blah magnetized COVID vaccine, blah blah Ivermectin, etc...
...and with the prior clip in mind a bit, David Pakman tells us about some school board anti-vax anti-mask nut working in anti-Semitic tropes in a public meeting, apparently along with all of the other wingnut “greatest hits” (including CRT of course, which, it should be noted, isn't actually a thing)...
...fortunately, though, there are some Democrats out there with actual spines, and David Doel tells us about one of them, U.S. House Rep Jamie Raskin, over "socialism" (I LOVE the look on the face of the guy Raskin is speaking to in the hearing, with an expression of “how DARE you question me!,” and of course he’s not wearing a mask)...
...and Farron Cousins has some actual good news about Number 46, aside from the recent passage of the infrastructure bill...how about giving Biden a little credit for 30 circuit and district court judges getting confirmed (as well as getting the RIGHT kind of judges on the bench, who actually represented REAL PEOPLE as trial lawyers or public advocates before they were confirmed)?...
...and happy belated 80th birthday to Art Garfunkel.
(I think the “corporate stuff” bill was passed last night – and kudos to “the squad” for this – but the “stuff that actually matters” bill is still pending...we’ll see - someday I hope...).
This Lincoln Project ad tells us how to fight back against The Roger Ailes BS Factory (more here)...
...and speaking of Build Back Better (and again, wouldn’t it be nice if it were to, y’know, ACTUALLY PASS AND GET SIGNED INTO LAW AT LONG FREAKING LAST!), Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about a recent U.S. House floor speech by Dem Rep Tim Ryan of Ohio, running for the U.S. Senate (and to help Ryan – and I agree with Cohen that Ryan deserves it – click here)...
...and this may be the best video on wealth inequality in this country that Robert Reich has ever done...
...and yet another interesting Second Thought video asks if the “American Century” is coming to an end (as a bit of an aside, I was wondering how long it was going to take for the U.S. to acknowledge China’s “Belt and Road Initiative,” which we ignore at our peril IMO)...
...and Sam and Emma of TMR tell us about CNN attacking progressives over McAuliffe’s loss in VA, because of course they do...and by the way, one way this race was different from NJ gov is that the Murphy contest was close only because Dem turnout utterly sucked, for some reason...64 percent paled in response to the turnout from the other side, which definitely needs to be looked at – if that gets replayed next year across the country, it will be electoral carnage for Dems...and I have a feeling Manchinema is partly to blame for that...good point by Matt about “managing” democracy instead of cultivating it...I never thought I’d agree with an operative for Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao either, but I have a feeling that his take is correct...
...and I guess I should have included this tune yesterday (harking back to this), but better late than never I guess.
I saw this pic here on Twitter. And I don't know about you, but I'm getting pretty goddamn tired of watching Manchinema cozying up to "the party of No" like this (with Thune and Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao). And if they don't have one hell of a good explanation for it, then they should see budget cuts to their staff and loss of committee assignments.
Oh, riiiight - I forgot. Chuck Schumer is the majority "leader." How silly of me.
Well, it’s nice to see that #MaseratiManchin got at least a bit of a comeuppance, as David Doel tells us...
...and on the subject of Manchinema, I have to admit that I thought this bit from Stephen Colbert was amusing, until I realized that these two cretins are trying to take this whole damn country over the metaphorical waterfall with them....
Update: Good take by The Rude Pundit once more (here).
...and even with the VA wins last Tuesday, that won’t stop wackadoodle Repugs like this woman in Delaware who said she beat Chris Coons despite her losing by almost 100K votes – definitely agree with “Doc” Maddow’s take on VA; not saying to “blow it off,” but only that “Team D” needs to pay more attention to the messaging overall for ’22 and ’24 and not get too preoccupied with what’s already happened (and I know this is a recording)...
...and speaking of right-wing crazies, Ana and John tell us about the QAnon supporters in Dallas who were apparently stood up by “dead JFK Jr,” and of course Combover Caligula would step aside and let him be prez (and apparently, Robin Williams and Dale Earnhardt were supposed to appear also, as if Williams would have anything to do with this, other than to make hilarious jokes about it)...
...and this More Perfect Union video gives us yet another example of workers standing up in the face of rapacious predatory capitalism, and this time it’s HelloFresh employees (more power to them)...
...and Farron Cousins tells us that a lawsuit alleges the NRA illegally funded $35 million to elections over last 7 years, including that traitor Josh Hawley (thoughts and prayers...and Cousins is right to be concerned that this could reach the SCOTUS of “I Like Beer” Brett and Amy Coney Island Baby Barrett and they could codify it as settled law instead of overturning it)...
...and I thought this was some pretty damn astute commentary from Beau on the strategy from Republicans in ’22 and ‘24 and what Team D has to do in response,,,
...and I also thought this was an appropriate newer tune to help kick-start our weekend (where we return to standard time, just as a reminder).
So you elected a failed hedge fund manager who cozies up to white nationalists. Truly a feat that is worthy of Alabama.
And you though Ron #DeathSantis is bad (and he IS bad)? As Jack Nicholson said in that movie, “wait till they get a load of me” (more here).
And by the way, I think this is a pretty smart early take on yesterday’s results. As Susie Madrak says, there’s only so much you can do against a propaganda operation that grinds out BS for one of our major political parties on a 24/7/365 basis, but one thing you CAN do is get out in front on messaging. And it appears that Terry McAuliffe In VA tried to run some kind of a “centrist Dem, ‘90s-Third-Way’” kind of campaign, which was barely good enough back then and DEFINITELY isn’t good enough now.
I wonder if anybody on the “D” team bothered to reach out to, say, AOC on the subject of doing deep canvassing in VA to find out the key issues motivating Dem voters and speak to those issues to drive turnout? I think vax and mask mandates for school kids should be a no-brainer on that one, as well as renewable energy investment (I don’t know what VA could do about student debt relief, but that’s a front-of-mind issue too). Did McAuliffe pay attention to any of that stuff? Or was he too busy “measuring the drapes”? Or saying “Youngkin is Trump, Youngkin is Trump” over and over and think that would be good enough (I seem to recall a pretty ancient political axiom that “you can’t make decent music playing the other guy’s fiddle,” meaning of course that you can only bash your opponent with his talking points for so long until it gets tiresome to the voters that you need).
Given all of this, I thought this was a pretty clear-eyed commentary from David Pakman (and Phil Murphy definitely won, by the way, but yeah, you could argue that it shouldn't have been as close as it was)...
Update 1: As is often the case, I find myself in agreement with The Rude One here.
Update 2: I also thought this was a pretty telling data point – McAuliffe actually out-performed Dem incumbent Governor Ralph Northam four years ago by about 200,000 votes (noted here among other stuff, some I take issue with to be honest), but he got creamed by the swing in non-college white women (and non-college white men, of course), as noted here. If somebody wants to bitch and say, “Oh, that’s typical Dem elitism”...uh, no. It’s actual data, moron!
Update 11/7/21: I have a lot of respect for Amy Siskind, but I have what amounts to a feeling on the whole “non-college white women voting for Glenn Trumpkin” thing instead of McAuliffe, with Siskind pretty much saying that that demographic voted the way they did because of racism (here – and no, I don’t have any data to support my argument, but only a hunch at this point).
As opposed to racism, could you also argue that that demographic voted the way they did because a lot of them are single-parent heads of households working low-wage jobs, and the most important issue to them was when they could get their kids back to school so the single moms wouldn’t have to pay for child care anymore (and Trumpkin was the one telling the schools to open, COVID be damned)? Please understand that I DO NOT support this policy; to me, it doesn’t matter how quickly you get the kids back to school. There could be another outbreak, the kids have to go home and everyone is on Zoom again if you don’t do it right. All I’m saying is that McAuliffe and his people could likely have done a better job of “taking the temperature” of that demographic before he figured out what his position was on that issue. Did that cost him that group of voters? I don’t know, but I sincerely hope what passes for the “brain trust” at the DNC takes a good, long, hard look at this.
Update 11/23/21: I saw some unconfirmed reports that AOC was told to stay away from this contest. If that's true (and when I find more reliable sourcing, I'll include it here), then I can't think of a word for the stupidity, though it is sadly typical (more food for thought is here).
...and returning to the attempted takeover of our government on 1/6 (and what does it tell you about the life forms in this country that chose to reward last night the political party behind that horror show?), Farron Cousins tells us about the judge mocking the Capitol rioters for complaining about prison (too effing bad, losers!)...
...and Sam, Emma and Matt of The Majority Report tells us that Josh Hawley recently said that feminism drove men/boys to porn and video games (Hawley looking for and probably finding some more easy marks a la The Gropenfuhrer...mildly NSFW/H)...
...and John brings us the truly vile and disgusting story of Sean Parnell of our beloved commonwealth (more here)...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 11/2/14, with “the first honest Internet provider ad” in light of this (definitely NSFW/H)...
...and by the way, happy recent 90th birthday to Dan Rather – I still remember all of the stuff with Dubya and the Texas Air National Guard (here), and how Bushco got their pal Dick Thornburgh to do that alleged “audit” of the story with CBS (i.e., threatening the network to go back on the story and leaving Rather and producer Mary Mapes out to dry)...typical of the Bush gang to NOT say “yeah, I got preferential treatment – so what?” and instead say the documents in question weren’t right because the typewriter keys were crooked, or some such nonsense (w/ Chris Hayes)...
...and yeah, after last night, I confess that I need a laugh, and I thought this story about “the A&W 3/9ths Burger” was pretty damn funny, as David Shuster tells us...
...and happy upcoming 60th birthday to David Bryson of Counting Crows.
(And since it's Election Day, here is more info on supporting Bucks County, PA Democrats - polls are still open for another hour or so.)
I thought this was yet another good take from Beau of the Fifth Column, this time on President Manchin and his latest ridiculous games over the Build Back Better bill of course...
Update: Sorry (well, actually I’m not), but I have to say this. I’m seeing all of these videos popping up about how progressives gave up in response to Manchin’s antics. You can include David Doel in that bunch, who I basically respect. And you can also include Kyle Kulinski, Matt Taibbi and David Sirota, who I used to respect, but no longer do.
Yeah, it’s time for the “circular firing squad purity test” stage of things I see, which means that – God help us – we may actually be at the point where something is passed at long last! But I won’t take that on faith until something of substance is actually accomplished.
Here’s the reality: the one percent figured out how to game our system of representative democracy long ago (on the federal level certainly, as well as too damn many states and municipalities). And they did it mainly by conning gullible voters to cast ballots against their interests by appealing to all level of prejudices (and I wish I could absolve organized religion in this, including Roman Catholicism, but I cannot). In Washington, they’ve completely locked up the Republican Party and enough of the Democrats to effectively block ANYTHING they don’t like.
And no, the “progressive caucus” isn’t going to arrive like the cavalry in some “B” western at the last minute and save the day. They don’t have the damn numbers (at least not yet)! But of course, that won’t stop the people I just mentioned from trashing the “D” party and helping to drive down potential base turnout next year, as well as 2024.
Movement conservatism has played out in this country in utterly wretched, ruinous fashion for at least 40 years, mainly because we were conned by The Sainted Ronnie R, a whole gaggle of political operatives and media acolytes on the right, and a somnambulant establishment press that thought everything was just fine as long as we preserved “balance.” And it’d going to take a hell of a lot more than a couple of election cycles to free ourselves from this damn mess! And we won’t get anything close to the type of legislation we need and deserve until we do.
...and Chris Hayes speaks with former D.C. Homeland Security official Donell Harvin about the recent report in the WaPo that provides a bunch of new details on the treasonous 1/6 insurrection...
...and apparently, one of those new details is that Huckleberry Graham was yelling at the Capitol police, “We give you guns for a reason – use them!,” acting like the little bitch he truly is...basically saying it’s OK for the MAGA crowd to get shot (umm, OK - ?? - with John and Francesca)...
...and Ana and Cenk tell us that a Southwest pilot said “Let’s go Brandon” over the intercom during a flight (nice), which of course is wingnut code for “F Biden”...
...and this Now This clip tells us that climate.org Extinction Rebellion recently held a Halloween-themed protest in Paris, ahead of the UN’s COP26 climate summit this week; demonstrators dressed in makeup and costumes and staged a “die-in” to bring attention to the climate crisis (and hey, I'm absolutely fine with performance art like this for an important cause, and I can't think of a bigger issue than this one)...
...and RIP drummer Ron Tutt, who appeared in this tune as well as many others of note (and actually, “Streetlife Serenade” that included this number did end up “put in the back in the discount rack,” though I think it deserved a much better fate...and RIP to this Phiily guy too).
Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about CNN’s Jim Acosta going after “Tuckums” and the Murdochs for allowing this typically ridiculous “documentary” on the Fox Nation streaming service about how 1/6 was a “false flag” operation (I know I touched on this yesterday with the Thom Hartmann clip about the ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt objecting to the same thing, but I think this bears repeating)...
...and with the prior clip in mind, this Meidas Touch video tells us that no one will be safe in VA if Glenn Trumpkin manages to win tomorrow (to help Terry McAuliffe, click here)...
...and John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report tell us about Katie Porter grilling dirty energy executives with her great little M&M demo...she also presents what looks like sacks of potatoes in that hatchback showing how much these bastards want to carve up and gut our country for a dying resource...
...and John is back with Cenk and Nina Turner to tell us how President Manchin benefitted from gutting the Build Back Better bill...GREAT point by Cenk about wondering why Manchin has so much freaking power...and I have a feeling that Cenk is right about Menendez, given all of the drug companies in NJ, such as J&J...the fact that Menendez hasn’t retired yet is as big a sign of U.S. Senate Dem political atrophy as the decision of DiFi to run again...
...and this More Perfect Union video tells us about Biden labor secretary Marty Walsh (complete with “the accent”) walking a picket line with striking Kellogg’s workers (kudos to him)...
...and here’s a somewhat spooky post-Halloween tune that I think is appropriate for the moment.
Joy Reid truly brings us the stuff of nightmares given the potential return of Mango Mussolini and his minions (and it’s frightening indeed to see how far along this has developed, with the virtual silence of allegedly middle-of-the-road Republicans such as @RepBrianFitz)...
...and speaking of allegedly common-sense Republicans (though this guy is conservative to his core), this clip tells us that U.S. House Rep (and pronounced anti-Trumper) Adam Kinzinger won’t seek another term in Congress (he was also facing a redistricting fight, it should be noted)...
...and Jesse Dollemore tells us about President Biden not allowing Combover Caligula to claim executive privilege (again) on documents related to the 1/6 attacks...
...and speaking of the failed 1/6 insurrection, Farron Cousins reminds us that some involved in the treasonous effort in NJ and VA are running for re-election this week, including 8 Repugs who were involved to some degree – but innocent until proven guilty and all that (including this character and his stooges...yep, they’re taking Bannon’s advice to get involved in local elections all right...more on that is here)...
...and Thom Hartmann tells us that Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the ADL, wrote recently to the Murdochs about Tucker Carlson’s agit-prop alleged “documentary” about how 1/6 was a “false flag” operation (no bottom for these life forms I know)...
...and this Lincoln Project ad tells us what Glenn Trumpkin really means when he’s talking about “critical race theory” (more here)...and I’ll admit that I don’t know what’s going on “on the ground” in the commonwealth of VA, but why anybody would trust a guy who was a hedge fund manager (and apparently, a FAILED one at that) is something I will NEVER understand (to help Terry McAuliffe, click here)...
...and AOC “goes there” when it comes to asking a dirty energy executive about donations to politicians when lobbying to maintain our ridiculous status quo where companies in that dying industry “get the silver” while funding for clean, renewable energy goes a-wanting...kudos to her, but asking about donations shouldn’t be news because that should be happening ALL THE TIME (with John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report)...
Cenk and Ana tell us the latest of whatever it is that’s going on with the damn infrastructure and reconciliation bills (I think BBB is the reconciliation one)...I agree with Cenk in giving credit to Jamaal Bowman for talking with Don Lemon and trying to make sense out of this cluster (and Cenk is spot-on to point out the failure of Lemon and his corporate media pals to, y’know, ACTUALLY REPORT ON WHAT’S CONTAINED IN THE RESPECTIVE BILLS, though it's true once more that the Dems have fallen down on the messaging, unfortunately), and I think we’re pretty much at the point of all of the procedural stuff – I’ve already said that, as far as I’m concerned, don’t give ANYTHING to ANYBODY on either bill given what President Manchin and Vice President Sinema have done, but if the Dems are going to trying salvage this...well, I guess they need to run on SOMETHING next year (even though it’s crumbs by comparison as opposed to half to a third of a metaphorical “loaf” that we were looking for)...
...and speaking of stuff absent from the BBB bill, Chris Hayes talks about the U.S. not providing paid family leave and how that definitely makes us an outlier among other developed nations (once more, thank Manchinema for that - the gavel has the words "Build Back Gridlock")...
...and Sam and Emma tell us about somebody threatening violence at some wingnut rally with Charlie Kirk, who of course tries to play it down – he’s dumb, but not THAT dumb – though of course that doesn’t stop him from propagating his BS talking points that could lead to violence (and it’s typically disingenuous for Kirk to associate Waco with “the left”)...and when it comes to what Sam is talking about (that is, BS propaganda about our side mixed with too many guns and people predisposed to violence), I give you this...
...and on the subject of wingnuts and violence, apparently the judge in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial is bending over backwards to give the defendant a lot more than the benefit of the doubt (Will Bunch had a great thread on this goofball judge here)...
...and this Second Thought video discusses how liberty and freedom are left-wing ideals, though that language has been co-opted by the right as part of their guise to consolidate power for the benefit only of the one percent...the history is interesting and important, but the stuff that’s mainly applicable to us now is mentioned at around 12:00 to 16:30 or so...I was looking for a little more on the ruinous conservative ascendancy that started in the late ‘70s, but I realize that he’s coming at this issue from a socialist economic perspective (meaning looking at what you could call neoliberalism overall); I’m not 100 percent sold on economic socialism (for lack of a better description) to be honest, but he’s absolutely right in his critique of capitalism...
...and I now give you the latest installment of “The Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 10/27/16, in which Carlos Maza of Media Matters draws a line from Fix Noise and the right wing fever swamps to local news to Republican-run state houses across the country over the BS talking points related to voter fraud...the one thing John Eastman said in the recent clip with Lauren Windsor that was absolutely correct is that the wingnuts were primed and ready to go in 2015-2016 when Trump ran; 45 isn’t smart enough to create a movement like that by himself, but he sure as hell capitalized on what was already in place, and the seeds for all of that were planted years ago, partly in ways that are described in this clip (NSFW/H)...
...and RIP comedian Mort Sahl, explaining politics in this clip from 1967 – kind of spot-on in a lot of ways, huh?...
...and it wouldn’t be a seasonal celebration for yours truly without this tune.
David Pakman tells us that Fix Noise air personalities won’t discuss how strict the company’s COVID 19 protocols are (and they’re seriously playing word games between a “mandate” and a “protocol” – what else can you expect, really?)...
...and Lawrence O’Donnell speaks with FLA Dem State Senator Tina Polsky, the person who asked that state’s COVIDiot Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo to wear a mask in a meeting with her since she’s immune compromised, and of course, being a member of the administration of Guv #DeathSantis, Ladapo refused (more here)...
...and in keeping with the theme of people acting like idiots in the face of our ongoing plague, David Doel tells us about an anti-masker who gets slugged when he gets loud and obnoxious at a restaurant...and no, I don’t condone violence either, but what the hell else do you THINK will happen when you act like that?...
...and Chris Hayes points out here how U.S. House Repug Troy Nehls is trying to have it both ways on the 1/6 shooting of Ashli Babbitt and the related protests (yeah, she pretty much ignored the warning of Capitol police, and I hate to say that she got what was coming to her, but...)...
...and Beau tells us the story of Claudete Colvin, who apparently staged a sit-down protest on an Alabama bus months before Rosa Parks – uh, yeah, she deserves to have her criminal record expunged at a minimum, and an official apology is warranted also as far as I’m concerned (more here)...
...and in preparation for the upcoming night of scary stuff (in a fun way, hopefully), I'd like to offer this tune.
David Doel tells us in this clip that President Manchin and Vice President Sinema basically ripped the guts out of the “Build Back Better” bill (here) – as I said a few weeks ago, just shitcan both the “corporate giveaway” bill and whatever it is that’s actually left of BBB – truly awful stuff, but to be honest, I didn’t see much hope given the antics of these two, and unfortunately, Doel may be absolutely right about the mid-terms next year, and if he is, that tragically may end up as the last nails in the coffin of our “democratic experiment” (glad my parents didn't live to see this...and here is still more performative garbage from "Curtsy Kyrsten"...I remember when John McCain wore a denim vest to the U.S. Senate, which happened at exactly half past ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!!!)..
...and Rachel Maddow tells us how Lauren Windsor completely and totally busted that treasonous SOB John Eastman, author of that memo behind the 1/6 insurrection, which was a hell of a lot more thought out that we’d previously believed...
...and speaking of Maddow, this Rebel HQ clip with Adrienne Lawrence tells us about OAN losing their defamation suit against the MSNBC host; couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch of cretins...
...and sticking with wingnut media, Mango Mussolini got his shorts in a knot over ads on cable news targeted to him alone apparently – womp womp (Ana and Cenk explain)...
...and returning to our regularly scheduled plague, John and Viviana Vigil of The Damage Report tell us about a Florida private school requiring students who get vaxxed to stay home for 30 days, which of course is exactly the damn opposite of what the policy should be, in a sane, logical world that is...
...and I guess I'm looking for something somewhat Halloween-themed with this selection, but maybe it's also influenced somewhat by the news also; I remember some folks who said that, as soon as the Dems took over earlier this year, they should have made statehood for D.C. and Puerto Rico priorities over all else (so the Dems would likely have a bigger Senate majority), but I know it's 20-20 hindsight and President Manchin and Vice President Sinema likely would have found a way to blow that up also.
Farron Cousins tells us that, in response to the supply chain issues we face in this country, Wisconsin is forcing 14-year-old kids to work longer hours...call me crazy, but I don’t understand why it's not already illegal for allegedly the most developed economic power in the western world to force 14-year-olds to work AT ALL (notwithstanding Cousins’s other good points about how 14-year-old kids don’t have a damn thing to do with our current economic disruption)...
...and John and Francesca tell us that it looks like the prescription drug benefit (i.e., negotiating lower prices) and Medicare expansion may get dropped from the Biden bill because of Manchin, though Bernie is keeping up the good fight as per usual....kudos (of all of our corporate media failures, the biggest one as far as I’m concerned is the fact that our media/political/industrial complex has been getting more and more rigged in favor of the rich over the last 40 years or so, with barely any mention of that by our allegedly august news organizations with initials for names)...
...and Adrienne Lawrence has more on multiple members of Congress and their apparent involvement in the 1/6 insurrection – these people need to be tried, convicted and sentenced to prison to send a message at long last...
...and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about Former President Hopey Changey speaking out on behalf of Terry McAuliffe, the Dem (and former governor) running for another shot at heading that commonwealth – I have no idea of what is going on in that race, but yeah, Repug Glenn Youngkin is trying to have it both ways, with a feint towards centrism while also trying to embrace Trumpism (to help McAuliffe, click here)...
...and here’s another clip about the “Proud Boys” apparently looking for love, in the wrong places it seems (though I can’t imagine a “right” place for any of these life forms, as Ana and Cenk tell us)...
...and RIP Jay Black of Jay and the Americans (with today’s regional forecast also...and no, I can't imagine any of the "Proud Boys" serenading the ladies with this tune either :-).
Well well, it looks like the Trumpist coup was more organized and involved than we thought...not usually the biggest fan of “Morning Joe,” but I’ll let them in on the fun for a story of this magnitude, where Mrs. Scar interviews Jackie Alemany of the WaPo and Susan Page of USA today along with Scar talking with the AP’s Jonathan Lemire (which ties into the reporting from Rolling Stone here)...
...and I thought this was a well done Ari Melber clip where he discusses the three Trumpist wingnuts running for Secretary of State in Georgia, Arizona and Michigan (with author and Yale professor Timothy Snyder warning about the danger of authoritarianism)...
...and once more, as usual, someone screeching about “voter fraud” happens to be a member of the “R” party, or sympathetic to them anyway, as Rachel Maddow explains (more here)...
...and Chris Hayes chimes in on what you could call the performative cruelty of Not Your Father’s Republican Party, this time with that loon J.D. Vance, running for the U.S. Senate in Ohio, trying to make political hay out of the thoroughly awful tragedy of the shooting on the set of the Alec Baldwin movie “Rust” (more here)...
...and speaking of cruelty, David Doel tells us about an Oklahoma woman charged with first-degree manslaughter over a miscarriage – yeah, if it turns out that she took meth while pregnant, that’s pretty abominable all right, but it seems that that could not have induced the miscarriage by itself...and no, I’m definitely not a life sciences professional, but the individuals charging this woman aren’t either...
...and in a bit of a related item from TYT, it turns out that a rapist pastor who impregnated a 14-year-old girl (now living in Tennessee) received no jail time (I don’t agree with Cenk’s “nonsense organization” comment, but unfortunately he’s right about the utter horrific and sickening details)...
...and Sam and the crew from The Majority Report tell us about the St. Vincent Hospital nurses strike in Worcester, MA (and yeah, Nail. Hammer. Head by Sam when it comes to stock compensation by Tenet executives...mildly NSFW/H)...
