Friday Stuff

(Next week might be a little dicey for posting...I don’t completely know yet.)

I realize The Lincoln Project probably can’t come right out and tell people to vote for Democrats because that might have certain implications for their fundraising, but I wish they would...this NSFW/H clip reminds us of what led up to the completely treasonous exercise on January 6th, 2021 (and after these hearings from the 1/6 commission are finished, #45 and Ginni Thomas, among others, should be arrested and “perp walked” in front of the Capitol building for everyone to see...and others smarter than your humble narrator have pointed out how tragic and disgusting it would be if the voters of this country returned these cretins to power because they were irritated over a shortage of baby formula or having to pay a few cents extra for a gallon of gas, with legislation to combat both of these issues fought tooth-and-nail by Republicans...I think this is a related cautionary message...this is hopefuly anyway)...

And by the way, I disagree with Liz Cheney easily about 96-97 percent of the time, but she's really "on the beam" here (and, as noted previously, will likely be voted out of office for it, though I'd love to be wrong)...



...and Trae Crowder, the “Liberal Redneck,” tells us that the people who REALLY need to watch the hearings are the one who likely will choose to ingest more propaganda from The Roger Ailes BS Factory instead (also NSFW/H...and yeah, I think “chimpanzees” is about right...and yeah, isn't this just too precious?)...



...and yes, going after “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh and his family is bad for all of the reasons Cenk points out here (and call me crazy, but based on the description, this character doesn’t sound like a “lib” to me), but it speaks volumes of course that that death eater Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao jumped to it to help Kavanaugh but of course won’t do a damn thing in the matter of gun carnage affecting the non-elites...



...and sticking with guns, David Doel does a little “compare and contrast” with U.S. House Democrats and Republicans (mildly NSFW/H...Raskin v. Gohmert, Porter v. Scalise, and AOC v. MTG...and yeah, that Texas numbskull gave up his seat to run for attorney general of that state and lost, so he’ll be completely out of politics as far as I know in a few months...womp womp...I know the Katie Porter clip is a bit of a repeat, but that definitely works for me)...



...and kudos to 13-yearold Naiara Tamminga for giving it here to a Grand Rapids, MI city commission board over the extra-judicial killing of Patrick Lyoya, who emigrated to the U.S. from the Republic of Congo to escape violence in that country (according to Lyoya’s father)...the irony here is disgusting beyond belief of course (more here)...



...and I just need something to help me decompress heading into the weekend – hope you're able to enjoy some time off also.

Thursday Stuff

Chris Hayes gives us a bit of an overview of tonight’s prime time January 6th Committee hearings in the U.S. House, along with reminding us why Fix Noise doesn’t want to go anywhere near these hearings with the proverbial 10-foot pole, in no small part because their prime time personalities were involved in correspondence with the Trump White House while the insurrection took place...intersting historical context with the Watergate and Army-McCarthy hearings...

...and John of The Damage Report speaks with Jason Stanley, author of How Fascism Works, linking the “great replacement” BS from Fix Noise with the gun carnage from Anders Breivik and Christchurch in New Zealand (unfortunately, with the epidemic of gun violence, it isn't hard to forget what happned in Buffalo, though we shouldn't of course, and I include myself when I say that)...



...and when it comes to justifying the existence of AR-15 assault rifles for civilian use, the latest excuse from South Dakota Republican U.S. Senator John Thune is particularly ridiculous (Thune said they should be used for hunting prairie dogs...sorry if this sounds mean, but if it’s a choice between a prairie dog and a child, the prairie dog loses)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen brings us another clip of Katie Porter giving it to some deserving flak for another corrupt industry, this one being the gun manufacturers of course, in the matter of the total lack of liability protection when comparing guns to just about any other product that could hurt or kill us...



...and David Doel tells us about the ads from John Fetterman pretty much introducing himself to us for the general election for the U.S. Senate seat from our beloved commonwealth, taking some veiled shots at Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz, who apparently is trying to vote in both NJ and PA as noted here, from the party that screeches the loudest about “voter fraud” (mildly NSFW/H...and yeah, I can relate about raising a young child...all the best)...



...and happy belated 80th birthday to Chuck Negron of Three Dog Night; this tune goes out to everyone who opposes the 1/6 Commission and still claims to love this country.

Wednesday Stuff (updates)

Brian Tyler Cohen talks about the recent White House speech by actor (and Uvalde, TX resident) Matthew McConaughey about trying to get “the world’s greatest deliberative body” to pull its goddamn thumb out and FREAKING DO SOMETHING! about guns...and yes, I’m blaming Not Your Father’s Republican Party for all the reasons Cohen points out (and apparently some Newsmax idiot asked if it was a stunt, as noted here...typical for those guttersnipes)...



Update 1: Call me crazy, but I didn't have "wingnuts blame smartphones for mass gun slaughter of children" on my bingo card (here).

Update 2: After reading this, I have to admit that I’m pretty goddamn furious at Jon Tester.

So Tester doesn’t think that now is the right time to talk about raising the age to buy a military-grade assault rifle, though (about a sentence or two after his makes that idiotic claim), he also says, “The problem is not going to go away.”

No shit, Sherlock!

Tester (along with former Montana Gov. Steve Bullock) are reliably some of the first people to whine about “the Dems writing off rural voters.” Yes, the Dems do indeed have some work to do on that score (and for the zillionth time, paging @harrisonjaime), but what is INFINITELY more destructive to Dem turnout is people like Tester utterly caving on issues where there is a broad consensus of support (to get an idea of the work that Tester’s state needs to do on this urgent issue, please click here). Of course, Tester and Bullock will be the first to blame “the squad” when there’s a whiff of a negative opinion in our media against Democrats, when those two have done more than their part to completely turn off Democratic voters.

And Tester is hardly a first offender when it comes to bailing on issues that the Dems could use to build a broad consensus of support. As noted here, Tester was one of the turncoats who shot down the $15-an-hour federal minimum wage.

I agree with “Curtsy Kyrsten” on virtually nothing, but she once said that there were Democrats hiding behind her skirt, or words to that effect, when it comes to torpedoing popular bills in the Senate. I think, in the manner of a stopped clock being right twice a day, Sinema was correct. She was talking about Coons and Carper for sure, and maybe even Maggie Hassan. But I KNOW she was talking about Tester too.

...and speaking of media idiots (in the prior clip), Sam and Emma point out that we recently observed the 19th anniversary of “Suck On This” day from The Moustache of Understanding (here), tying back to Tom Friedman’s latest whining about Biden’s alleged bloated spending or whatever, which is even more ridiculous given what happened to BBB...yeah, I have a feeling that that will be the corporate media narrative heading into the fall, cheered on by treasonous Republican insurrectionists, that we’re dealing with inflation because that commie socialist Sleepy Joe Biden gave way too much money to “the poors” as part of COVID relief, with our fourth estate frauds betting that people (including allegedly oh-so-august-in-their-imaginations independent voters) will completely forget that THE CHOICE AT THE TIME WAS TO STAY HOME AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR KIDS OR GO TO A JOB WHERE YOU WOULD LIKELY DIE FROM COVID B/C WE WERE FULLY IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAVE OF CONTAGION!

Will that be a winning bet? God, I hope not, but we’ll see (and kudos to Sam for giving Friedman a dose of his own medicine, as it were)...



...and Thom Hartmann reminds us of the total scam that, in fact, is Medicare Advantage (sooo, apparently based on the report Thom discusses, M.A. will deny 1/4 of the recommended procedures, therapies, etc. from your health care provider...what a bunch of f*cking criminals, and I’m definitely not talking about the provider...and good job by Thom to remind us that M.A. was spawned under Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us about this Blake Masters idiot in Arizona (here), who basically said the quiet part out loud and straight up blamed African Americans for gun violence; Masters might as well be wearing a white hood (and I just want to say THANK YOU to Cousins for somebody FINALLY refuting that utter BS wingnut talking point that Chicago is somehow the epicenter of all gun violence in this country...yeah, that city has issues, but primarily from guns brought in from Indiana, which, last I checked, had a Republican governor)...



...and this More Perfect Union clip tells us about Starbucks workers facing reprisals for their union-related activities (yep, Howard Schultz is just another corporatist tool as noted here, but we knew that of course)...



...and RIP James Seals – I might have included this tune regardless of the season since it’s probably more closely identified with Seals and Crofts than any other.

Tuesday Stuff

This CBS News report features Uvalde, TX mom Angeli Gomez speaking with reporter Lilia Luciano; Gomez showed incredible bravery running into the school to save her two kids, despite the very WORST efforts of the beyond-useless Uvalde, TX cops (and threatened with a probation violation as noted here - Judas H. Priest)...



...and speaking of Cops Behaving Very Badly, John and Francesca of The Damage Report tell us about two Arizona officers who (allegedly) watched a man drown and did nothing in response...yeah, I think “glorified bouncers for society” is a spot-on take (more here)...



...and sticking with the theme of law enforcement, Farron Cousins tells us that Fix Noise news mannequin Rachel Campos-Duffy encouraged a friend of hers to illegally cross the southern U.S. border (again, “allegedly,” and of course it was to try and make President Biden look bad, as indeed is the goal of EVERYTHING from that trash network)...



...and Jayar, Cenk and Amy Vilela of TYT tell us about the wingnuts flipping out at Pizza Hut for encouraging reading LGBTQ-pride-themed books – still never an excuse to buy franchise pizza as far as I’m concerned, but I’d definitely make Pizza Hut an exception for this (interesting take by Cenk on the projection going on here too; I definitely tend to believe that)...



...and I apologize for finding out about this video a little late...I was wondering if ANYBODY was going to hold our world leaders to account for sucking up to Our Former Ol’ Buddy Vlad Putin, and this New York Times clip from about a couple of weeks ago does exactly that...hard to properly describe the unbelievable failure of world leadership on this score...there were plenty of warnings that were completely ignored...



Update 10/7/22: And I apologize for neglecting this heroic journalist who was murdered on Putin's birthday (wink, wink)...I know 5 were convicted in her killing as noted here, and 2 of the 5 ended up receiving life sentences.

...and this tune was No. 1 on the hit parade for WXYZ in Detroit 56 years ago yesterday as noted here.

Monday Stuff

Ana and Cenk of TYT bring us a survey indicating that 51 percent favor arming teachers while 37 percent oppose...I’d like to know more about the sampling of this poll and how the questions were worded, though sadly this may be legit...God, I hope not (and this poll once more confirms my belief that, overwhelmingly, independent voters are goddamn idiots, and yes, I agree with the assessment that more – how can I put this? – strident Dem messaging is missing as usual, and that indeed is feeding a perception of “Screw it, let’s do something” regardless of how dumb it may be...however, I think it’s pretty crappy for Cenk to take shots, if you will, at Chris Murphy...HE DOESN’T HAVE ANY GODDAMN LEVERAGE! WHAT THE HELL ELSE DO YOU EXPECT HIM TO DO??!!)...



...and yeah, as far as the “party of Lincoln” is concerned, let’s just let our teachers and kids be sacrificial lambs, if you will, to the altar of “GUNS, GUNS, GUNS” (and how apropos to end the clip with that death eater Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao)...



...and Mehdi Hasan gives us a follow-up on the Uvalde gun slaughter, telling us (among other things) that that Arredondo dude (or whatever his name is) who I guess was the police chief apparently wasn’t even carrying a police radio while the massacre in that school was taking place (Hasan also mentions Chris Murphy trying to get a bill passed in the Senate; yeah, good luck there –Hasan interviews Manuel Oliver of Change The Ref...condolences to Oliver for his tragic loss)...



...and oh look, it’s “Dr. New Jersey” trying to skate into the U.S. Senate, running a similar grifting scam as the head of his party (and this stuff about not giving up his Turkish citizenship unless he's elected, as noted here and in the video, is complete horseshit) – to help John Fetterman, click here...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 6/5/14, in which a whole bunch of “I’m Not A Scientist” Repugs say that climate change doesn’t exist, including Rand “Fake Ophthalmologist” Paul and “No Corporate Tax” Pat Toomey...their complete and utter failure to act on this most urgent of all urgent issues is important to remember when you consider this...



Update: Good points here.

...and here’s something a little more upbeat given the beautiful day in the location near Le Manse Doomsy – hope it’s a nice day for you also.

Sunday Stuff

I knew it was only a matter of time until mass gun slaughter came to my ‘burb, if you will, and it did last night with a mass shooting that took place on South Street in Philadelphia, leaving 3 dead and 14 wounded, at last count (this is indeed a developing story)...



Update: It may get to the point where this dumb little blog will only have time to post about gun violence, though I hope not of course (here - and wasn't Chattanooga already hit with an attack?).

Update 6/6/22: I may never leave the house again without a flak jacket (here).

Update 9/29/22: And by the way, the next time you hear Repugs braying about more $$ for mental health, remember this (Bri-Fi was the only Repug who supported it, but he also supports gun reciprocity, so meh).

...and this report tells us that the rest of the world thinks we’ve lost our damn minds on this issue (in the wake of the Uvalde slaughter...I know we already knew that, but it bears repeating)...



...and this related video is aimed right at Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao, you might say (NSFW/H, but for a good reason - and this sure fits their wretched profile, doesn't it? And of course I'm referring to the "party of Lincoln.")...



...and yeah, here's another damn anti-gun tune.

Friday Stuff

Farron Cousins tells us about teachers protesting Cancun Cruz’s response to the Uvalde slaughter (and yeah, this sure fits Cruz’s utterly wretched profile also, doesn’t it?)...



...meanwhile, in the other chamber of the U.S. Congress, Eric Swalwell took it right to Repug lawmakers including Gym Jordan by blowing up their ridiculous talking points in favor of inaction on gun control (and by the way, for the benefit of any wingnut out there who could be reading this – doubtful, I know, but still – I know that the “AR” in the name of the AR-15 weapon of mass murder represents the name of the gun manufacturer...and GREAT JOB in particular by Swalwell to point out about $350 million in police funding in the COVID relief bill passed last year that was completely opposed by Republicans including Bri-Fi)...



...and Ayman Mohyeldin, sitting in for Rachel Maddow, speaks with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson about the Repug party poll disruptions planned for the fall across multiple states under the guise of “election integrity,” including Michigan of course (with Cleta Mitchell using Fairfax County, VA as a model for disruption...Mitchell of course is “best buds” with Ginni Thomas, which, as we know, ties back to the 1/6 insurrection as noted here...all of this, in addition to likely being illegal as hell, looks like a good argument for mail-in voting)...



...and Thom Hartmann asks if this country will survive a “fourth turning” based on this book...and boy, I hope he’s right about a new progressive era arising from our current misery, but it looks like we’ll all have to wait and see of course (and do our best to try and bring that about)...



...and this DW report tells us about the ongoing destruction in the Donbas region, specifically in Sievierodonetsk, with the U.S. and Germany apparently sending some more heavy weapons to that besieged country of Ukraine, with reports by correspondents Rebecca Ritters, Frank Ledwidge (I like the line about treating the saber-rattling from Sergey Lavrov with “mild contempt”), Mathias Bolinger and Barbara Wesel, hosted by Gerhard Elfers...



...and returning to this country, this More Perfect Union clip tells us about Amazon workers in North Carolina trying to unionize (motivated by the triumph for union rights at the Amazon Staten Island facility)...



...and when it comes to the economy, I think we should definitely pay attention to Robert Reich’s 5 ways to fight back against corporate price gouging (using inflation as an excuse, of course...and I’d forgotten that The Sainted Ronnie R legalized stock buy backs in ’82, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised)...



...and I neglected to mention the passing earlier this week of drummer extraordinaire Alan White, famous for his time with Yes as well as sitting in on “All Things Must Pass” by George Harrison of course as well as The Plastic Ono Band...here is one of his signature performances.

Thursday Stuff

Chris Hayes brings us the story of the parents of the Uvalde, TX mass murder victims decorating the tiny caskets for their kids (there are just no words at a certain point)...Hayes also commendably takes apart the right-wing BS excuse about a teacher allegedly leaving a door open that the mass murderer used to gain entry (I don’t know how the cops and politicians in that locality find a way to sleep at night, but somehow I guess they do)...



...and Trevor Noah makes similar points with humor, though it is a bit of a fine line I’ll admit when it comes to calling out life forms like Repug U.S. Senator RoJo of Wisconsin (and to help Mandela Barnes, click here...mildly NSFW/H)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about the idiot Repug U.S. House Rep Billy Long of Missouri, who blames...wait for it!...ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION and ABORTION for gun violence; I have to say that that’s a neat little way to tie together the biggest pet peeves of the wingnuts, though of course it has nothing to do with verifiable truth and reality (and apparently this Long clown is running for the U.S. Senate...NSFW/H also)...



...and John and Francesca of The Damage Report discuss Biden claiming that there are “rational Republicans” on the gun issue in the wake of the Uvalde massacre (and I hate to admit it, but Francesca is right that the Repugs “do stuff” once they get power...of course, they use it to screw over everybody of course...I think Francesca is right to blame the Dems since they supposedly hold power in “the world’s greatest deliberative body,” but the U.S. Senate remains a deeply broken institution, mainly, but not exclusively, because of Republicans...and I know what the Sunday morning shows are, but they’re basically pabulum on behalf of the political/media/industrial complex where authority can pretty much get its way without much push back...in fewer words, Biden and his people blew it by not seizing the opportunity as noted here)...

...and speaking of those ridiculous Sunday programs, I don’t believe we’ve heard so much as a peep out of “Governor Bully” in the wake of the Uvalde massacre; Christie has made a career out of vilifying teachers every way possible, so you’d think he’d be “in his glory” now...

Update 6/5/22: Yeah, I guess he was bound to say something utterly stoo-pid at some point, so I suppose this was inevitable.

..and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report discuss this terrific opening campaign ad from Charles Booker running against Rand (“Fake Ophthalmologist”) Paul in the Kentucky U.S. Senate race...GREAT points about creating an actual infrastructure to run a campaign as opposed to trying to drown your opponent in negative campaign ads, which, for a Dem, works approximately never (to help Booker, click here)...



...and this tune doubles as our regional weather forecast and I guess what you could call the opening of my summer selections – hope you enjoy.

Wednesday Stuff (updates)

I don’t know who Texas Paul is – the last clip I posted from him included a lot of righteous outrage IMO – but this one is pretty thoughtful and deliberate about why Our Lord would be closer to a Democrat than a Republican...hard to argue as far as I’m concerned...



...and Max Burns of Rebel HQ tells us about a Texas teacher (speaking of “the land of the yellow rose”) named Taylor Mora who made a Tik Tok video explaining what she has to do to try and keep herself and her students safe in the event of an active shooter...I saw a tweet recently saying that, if you’re mad at Biden and the Dems and decide to stay home on election day this year, then congratulations...you’ve ceded power to these goddamn lunatics like Lauren Boebert, MTG, Gaetz (is he EVER going to be locked up for alleged sex with a minor?), Biggs, Gosar, and the rest of that sorry lot...not saying you can’t complain about Biden and the Dems when it’s warranted, but just know what the stakes are, OK?...



Update: This murderous insanity truly is never going to end, is it (here)?

Update 1 6/2/22: No, I guess it isn't (here).

Update 2 6/2/22: Just...I can't even (here).

...and Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us about a 20-year study by New York University and the American University of Beirut demonstrating how neoliberalism affects our acceptance of income inequality (more here)...



...and oh, don’t look now, but 5 Republicans were kicked off the primary ballot for committing election fraud according to the state board of canvassers in Michigan; once more, the party screaming about “voter fraud” needs to take a look in the mirror (Farron Cousins explains)...



...and let’s not forget that, when it comes to the U.S. Senate race in Ohio, Repug nominee J.D. Vance truly thinks that you’re stoo-pid...yep, grifting con man passing himself off as some “down home” guy or whatever – typical for today’s “Trumpster fire” version of the Repug Party (here and here – to help Vance’s opponent, Dem Tim Ryan, click here)...



...and there’s a brief bad word in this tune, but otherwise I think it’s a pretty cool and mellow summer selection (will adjust the playlist accordingly now for the time of year), so here it is.

Tuesday Stuff

David Doel tells us that departing Repug U.S. House Rep Adam Kinzinger wants the legal age for gun purchases to be raised to 21 as well as making AR-15s off limits (especially open carry for that type of weapon of death...and I have to admit that I didn’t know about the competition between the NRA and Gun Owners of America...and I think the phrase “grifting scam” is apropos...by the way, Kinzinger and Liz Cheney have stood tall for the committee looking into the 1/6 insurrection, but because the Repugs are now the wholly-owned Trump party, both will lose their political careers over it...Kinzinger has already said he’s out partly because of redistricting, and last I checked, Cheney was losing to her Trump-supported primary opponent in Wyoming by 30 points as noted here)...



Update 1: Yeah, I think this says it...

I'm a Republican, and I approve this message. pic.twitter.com/M5RoSwcdOQ

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) May 31, 2022

...and Beau echoes some of Kinzinger’s points here...I like his ideas about regulating gun ownership, getting at the root issues, including trying to change the culture of misogyny and glorifying video game violence (though I think that becomes a “straw man” argument at a certain point...if someone gets stabbed in a sword fight, does that mean they can blame the estate of William Shakespeare?), Medicare for All so we can stop talking about mental health and DO SOMETHING about it, as well as raising the age of gun ownership, AR-15s in particular, to 21...



...and when it comes to the carnage inflicted by mass gun-related slaughter, Brian Tyler Cohen tells us that Greg Abbott was booed recently when he showed up for a memorial at Uvalde, TX for the victims of the attack in that city...yeah, I can see that the Repug strategy will be what they always pull, and that is more lies and avoidance, then people’s outrage gets spent and before you know it it’s time to move onto the next disaster...lather, rinse, repeat...



Update 2: And apparently the Uvalde school may be bulldozed (here), which is a typical move by a despotic regime trying to cover up a crime.

Update 6/1/22: Definitely food for thought (here).

...and David Pakman tells us that an anti-vaccine, anti-gay street preacher allegedly killed his wife because God told him to – huh? And I think this awful story shows a bit that you can’t just say “oh. mental illness caused this” without evaluating all the factors at hand, such as comparing this to the alleged Buffalo shooter as Pakman does...glad to see Pakman doing his best to make sure the connection between the Buffalo lunatic and the "great replacement" garbage from The Swanson TV Dinner Heir doesn't get the "memory hole" treatment...



...and RIP Ronnie Hawkins; I’m sure you can pretty much regard him as a “founding father” for many artists, including The Band of course...



...and happy belated 55th birthday to Sven Pipien of The Black Crowes.

Monday Stuff

This latest clip from Second Thought talks about Generalissimo Trump trying to steal the next election and how democracy could be perverted by ANY demagogic politician, though one party in particular has definitely shown more of an impulse for that as we know (and apparently Our Treasonous Orange Pustule of a former “president” was acting like a sociopath again here)...



...and when it comes to the Uvalde, TX massacre, Ali Velshi tells us about the student walkouts across the country over our complete inaction on the issue of school gun violence (and oh yeah, there are some “adults” saying the students shouldn’t be allowed to protest, which of course totally ignores our tradition of protest in this country and shows how stoo-pid some of these people are)...



..and speaking of stoo-pid people, I think that’s a pretty good lead-in to this segment with Ron Johnson, the Repug U.S. Senatorial mistake from Wisconsin, who of course blames CRT, video games, and the lack of Sunday picnics (or something) for the Uvalde slaughter...there’s so much utter BS in what Johnson is saying that it’s hard to unpack all of it, but if he seriously thinks the federal government can’t solve problems, WHY THE HELL IS HE WORKING FOR IT??!!

At least RoJo doesn’t have to worry about being the biggest idiot in the U.S. Senate, as long as Tommy Tuberville continues to take up space in “the world’s greatest deliberative body” (and to do something about Johnson, click here and here)...also, when it comes to gun solutions that actually worked (until 2004 that is), let’s not forget this (as David Shuster pointed out, discussing with Jayar Jackson)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that TX Governor Greg Abbott attended a fundraiser right after the Uvalde massacre, which, as far as I’m concerned, is spitting in the metaphorical eye of the dead kids, their parents, families, classmates, and other school personnel who will now be forever traumatized by this latest episode of mass murder in this country...



...and I thought this was a well-done Lincoln Project video with today’s holiday in mind...



...and yes, I know this video is pretty much UK-centric when it comes to the military profiled here, but I think it’s appropriate for this day all the same, and also because this song was written about a Canadian service member who died in Afghanistan, and for the first time since forever, we don’t have an official military presence in that country, though God only knows if civilian contractors are over there...this goes out to everyone who has paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, as well as their families and friends.

Saturday Stuff

Chris Jansing of MSNBC speaks with investigative correspondent Tom Winter about what is being called the “Greatest Failure in Modern American Law Enforcement History” (as pertains to an active shooter) as Winter puts it (quoting Steve McCraw), referring to the Uvalde, TX cops (and I’m sure this means that we’ll now be deluged on social media with a whole bunch of “back the blue” memes to basically tell anybody protesting over this to SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP...Frank Figliuzzi is also included, though the clip ends before he can add anything...more here)...



Update: Yeah, I think this says it.

Update 1 5/29/22: Good for Gabe Kapler (here)...though apparently he reconsidered for Memorial Day, which is fine with me FWIW.

Update 2 5/29/22: I don't suppose this insanity is ever going to end, is it (here)?

...and this Now This clip features an interview with 10-year-old Jayden Perez, who thankfully survived the Uvalde massacre, though I think it’s safe to say that he’ll probably never feel completely safe in a classroom again (heckuva job, Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick, Ken Paxton, Ted Cruz, etc.)...



...and Sam and Emma of TMR tell us about what appears to be the Repug talking points in response to the Uvalde slaughter (“one door, mental health, blah blah blah”...are you f*cking kidding me?)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen tells us about the thoroughly incomprehensible, word salad response from Repug U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker when he was questioned about the Uvalde carnage (to help Dem U.S. Senate candidate and incumbent Raphael Warnock, click here)...



Update 6/13/22: It's probably only a matter of time until #LyingHerschel starts trending on Twitter (here).

...and I don’t know who “Texas Paul” is, but I have to admit that this is a pretty righteous rant (video is from Meidas Touch – they tried to bleep him but an “F” bomb snuck through, so clip is NSFW/H)...



...and RIP Andy Fletcher of Depeche Mode; I’d like to dedicate the title of this tune to the Uvalde cops.

Friday Stuff

Jimmy Kimmel recently spoke to the utter ruin and destruction in Uvalde, TX; his poignant words are wrapped up at the end by a montage that begins with Texas Governor Greg Abbott signing a bunch of gun-friendly bills along with politicians proclaiming their pro-gun bona fides including Mehmet Oz, running as the Repug U.S. Senate nominee from PA...clip at the end is from Everytown USA I believe (and with all due respect to Kimmel, I have to disagree; I think Cancun Cruz IS a monster)...



...and Ana and Cenk of TYT tell us that the cops apparently waited for 40 minutes to enter Robb Elementary School to take out the shooter – I don’t want to hear this crap about waiting to form a SWAT team or whatever...GET YOUR ASSES INTO THE BUILDING TO SAVE THE DAMN KIDS!!! Oh, and also, there’s this...and I think this is an important clip too...



...and John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report discuss Cancun Cruz running away from a Sky News reporter asking the completely legitimate question of what the hell we’re going to do about all of the goddamn guns in this country – “queefie booger slush”...yeah, I think that fits...



...and with our most recent gun-related horror show fresh in all of our minds, Thom Hartmann reminds us that The Republican Way Doesn’t Work (referencing the manner in which we built our infrastructure and the middle class from FDR to Eisenhower to Carter, and then reminding us what The Sainted Ronnie R did to it...Thom references The Powell Memo as well, which I think is also spot-on...and I agree with about 96-97 percent of this, though when it comes to awful trade agreements, there are Dems that are guilty as hell on this too)...



...and under the category of Trump-boot-licking, corrupt, deceitful Republicans (making common cause with mass murdering gun nuts), let’s not ever forget Elise Stefanik, OK (as The Lincoln Project reminds us)...



...and I have to admit that, given the bloody carnage in Uvalde, I’m a little behind on some videos including the latest from Second Thought, in which we learn how “privatization” came to save the day for French President Emmanuel Macron in his most recent election, and why that practice is totally at odds with the notion of providing reliable governmental services for people most in need regardless of what country you’re talking about (tying back to the profit motive, as you might expect, as well as attacks on unionization...”consulting isn’t a scam. It’s the most honest business there is,” as much as ANY business can be honest)...



...and RIP Ray Liotta....I think this legendary clip from “Goodfellas” is appropriate for the occasion (discussion with the three at the end has to do with this); I also saw Liotta once in a movie called “Corrina, Corrina” with Whoopi Goldberg, which I didn’t expect to like, though I did, I have to admit...



...and happy birthday to Bruce Cockburn, with a tune I'd like to dedicate to all of the gun humpers and ammo-sexuals in this country.

Thursday Stuff

I thought this was a good commentary from John and Dr. Rashad Richey on the typical wingnut fallback talking point to “not politicize” our latest gun massacre in this country, this time in Uvalde, TX (and yeah, Ken Paxton is yet another thoroughly dishonest actor in all of this...and yes, the Dems haven’t come through on resolving this issue, but gee, maybe we need to elect A HELL OF A LOT MORE PEOPLE LIKE CHRIS MURPHY, who is a Dem, last I checked...and I have yet to hear ANYBODY give me a reason that made sense for anyone except cops and our military to have an AR-15 assault weapon...good commentary in particular on the Constitution from Richey)...



...and speaking of the Constitution, I give you these words from former SCOTUS Chief Justice Warren Burger (who was hardly a liberal, it should be noted) about the “fraud” (to use Burger's correct term) of our interpretation of the Second Amendment – Burger was interviewed by Charlayne Hunter-Gault in December 1991...



...and I don’t know who this guy is form The Humanist Report, but I thought this was a good NSFW/H commentary from an Irishman who can’t understand why this country refuses to deal with this issue, which – as already stated – reflects a POLICY CHOICE TO DO NOTHING (the montage of other presidents speaking after other gun atrocities is noteworthy also)...



...and David Doel tells us about Beto O’Rourke crashing that ridiculous press conference from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott...yeah, isn’t it rich that O’Rourke gets called all these names for telling politicians to keep people breathing, as if he’s more of a “bad guy” than the actual shooter?

I saw someone online saying that, if the pictures of the slaughtered kids in Sandy Hook were published, that would end the gun debate immediately. It would be gut-churning to do that (and for the Uvalde kids too), but if that’s what it takes to start regulating these ridiculous weapons of death and destruction...well, maybe that needs to happen...



...and Lawrence O’Donnell gives us more background when it comes to this country’s sordid history with mass gun slaughter, also mentioning Charles Whitman at the University of Texas in Austin shooting from the tower in 1966 (finishing up with President Biden, who I think was spot-on in what he said, though the problem of course is that we need Congress to act, and don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen given Republican obstruction on this issue among many others...O’Donnell also replays the clip of Chris Murphy speaking on the Uvalde tragedy)...



...and I was tempted to include another anti-gun song that I’ve put up too many times before I know, but I happened to come across this story of a documentary on the all-woman group Fanny from the ‘70s, and count me as someone who is happy to see them get their due at long last...definitely trail blazers for other women artists; I’ll seek out this flick and will likely have more to say about it later.

Wednesday Stuff (updates)

Do you want to do something to try and prevent the next episode of utterly barbaric gun-related carnage in this country? Here’s a step we all can take for sure (more here)...

...and I thought this was a pretty spot-on NSFW/H commentary from Brian Tyler Cohen about the slaughter in Uvalde, TX (bringing us Chris Murphy's words from the U.S. Senate, which, as far as I'm concerned, is the most useless collection of human beings on the face of this planet - here and here)...



...and I think it’s pretty safe to say that damn near all of us are Steve Kerr at this moment...



Update 1: And yep, it looks like this is timely once more also.

Update 2: Ugh...

Update 3: Hard to find the words to communicate my disgust over this (went into effect last September 1st).

Update 4: This country is tearing itself apart, and the usual grifters and criminals are doing nothing about it except counting their blood money (here).

Update 5: Typical for a bunch of two-faced cowards (here).

Update 1 5/26/22: Sounds like the "good guys with a gun" couldn't let go of the chicken switch (here).

Update 2 5/26/22: The more things change...the more they stay the same (here).

...and because the news waits for no one person or no one top story, I need to present this; Farron Cousins tells us that the former POTUS shared a post calling for civil war on his “Truth Social” platform (I wonder what it will actually take for this orange globulus cretin to be imprisoned AT LONG FREAKING LAST! And why am I not surprised that Lara Logan is involved)...



...and John and Jayar tell us how the SCOTUS just made it harder for convicted prisoners seeking a retrial to appeal their cases by claiming that they didn’t receive adequate legal representation...and of course, Almost Silent Clarence Thomas (husband of one of this country’s most notorious insurrectionists) authored this “kick the can, I don’t want to be bothered” opinion...



...and comedian Ben Gleib of Rebel HQ gives us a report on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi being denied communion by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone...and I have no clue who this Raymond Arroyo numbskull is on Fix Noise, but I have a news flash for him; abortion was ALREADY ENSHRINED IN LAW WITH ROE v. WADE!!! But of course, it’s hopelessly naïve on my part I know to presume that any conservative would actually argue in good faith over anything...



...and when it comes to lives being ruined by gun violence, this is a tune that just about always comes to mind.

Tuesday Stuff

John and Brett Erlich of The Damage Report tell us about wingnut-in-the-extreme Repug U.S. House Rep Lauren Boebert of Colorado’s desire to politicize the baby formula shortage in this country (which, again, is due to a monopoly provider gone wrong in Texas - the problem occurred in their Michigan manufacturing facility I believe) and do NOTHING to fix the problem...fortunately, we have an honest-to-goodness president trying to fix this, as noted here (I think if I were forced to listen to Boebert’s voice for an extended period of time, I would be sorely tempted to stick my head in an oven and turn on the gas)...



...and Yasmin Khan of Rebel HQ gives us a report on Texas’s energy grid, which is in trouble in May before the summer months have even arrived (and of course, Abbott blames green energy instead of Texas’s crumbling infrastructure on this, and yeah, this sorry state does indeed go back to Enron...Khan kind of abruptly signs off – might be nice if she worked some graphics into her videos to support her arguments a la Brian Tyler Cohen)...



...and speaking of Cohen, he also provides some important background on the story of the infant formula shortage, emphasizing the fact that the “party of Lincoln” doesn’t give a damn about actually fixing the problem of course as already stated (mildly NSFW/H...and I realize that Cohen pretty much talks through his "No Lie" commentaries without graphics unlike his other topical videos, which is fine as far as I'm concerned...and I thought this was particularly interesting)...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us that some woman conservative from MA apparently longs for the days when boys kept nudie mags sunder the bed, or something (and yep, it’s all about making sure a heaping dose of guilt is inflicted on kids for anything whatsoever to do with sex...and as noted in the clip, the seminar in question is VOLUNTARY and FOR TEACHERS ONLY! God, what freaking idiots these wingnuts are!)...



...and apparently, “Dr.” Bill Cassidy said that, if you subtract the maternal death rates of African American women, then maternal death rates in Louisiana overall aren’t that big a deal...yes, he really said that (more here and here...and I don’t want to hear this crap that the phrase “to correct for” is some kind of clinical language that only doctors use or something – Cassidy sure as hell knew what he was saying...and I’m not a doctor of course, but I don’t know what the hell the availability of mass transit has to do with preeclampsia...to be fair, though, I will mention this)...



...and apparently, yesterday was World Turtle Day, so I thought this would be an appropriate tune.

Monday Stuff

I thought Mehdi Hasan made a pretty convincing case here for the January 6th Committee to investigate Ginni Thomas...it has come to light (as it inevitably would) that Thomas tried to influence Arizona electors to cast their votes in the ’20 election for The Gropenfuhrer (and again, if you want an idea of what the Repugs would do if a SCOTUS justice supported by a Dem had some type of legal difficulty ...hell, they already freaking did it against Abe Fortas!)...



...and Ana tells us about clueless Repug U.S. House member Mike Johnson asking a doctor if an abortion would be permitted as the baby is being birthed, or something, which would NEVER HAPPEN for all of the reasons Ana states (she also provides a compilation of other idiot Republicans trying to concoct sound bites for Fix Noise as opposed to, y’know, actually supporting common-sense-legislation...Johnson, by the way, took advantage of an exception in Louisiana’s state law that allowed him to make “tens of thousands of dollars” as part of the legal team representing the state in a federal court trial over abortion clinic restrictions – legally, that apparently was permissible, but it doesn’t pass the ethical “smell test” as far as yours truly is concerned...Johnson and some of the other nematodes in this clip are included here – and by the way, “partial birth abortion” is a political term, not a medical one...and God forbid that these idiots could be in charge of the U.S. House after the November elections, but it could indeed happen)...



...and continuing with the theme of Republicans acting like total idiots towards women, I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” (more or less) from 5/22/14, in which a Colorado moderator of a debate panel (the subject apparently was “Women and Colorado’s Future”) implored 4 women panel members to participate because “it’s so much more ornamental” apparently if they appeared onstage (and introducing the women with the theme from “The Dating Game”...God almighty, what a freaking train wreck – more here)...



...and turning to the carnage in Ukraine, this DW report tells us about the destruction in the Donbas region and the fall of Mariupol...not sure why this BBC report included a clip of Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao, but that’s a minor point by comparison (interview with correspondent James Waterhouse)...



...and David Doel tells us about Mehmet (“CALL ME DOCTOR, DAMMIT!”) Oz (who may end up as the Repug nominee for the U.S. Senate from our beloved commonwealth) putting forward all kinds of bogus arguments against legal weed...for full disclosure purposes, I should note that I’m not completely on board with legalization...I think there should be more than a few caveats, but I also think it’s a vox populi thing for PA; if the majority of people want it, then they should have it, and of course I’m also on board with decriminalization, medical pot and letting dispensaries transact like normal businesses - to help John Fetterman, click here...



...and RIP Vangelis – he’ll probably be remembered most for the music from “Chariots of Fire,” but this might be my personal favorite (images from NASA).

Friday Stuff

Chris Hayes speaks with Nina Jankowicz, who recently took her name from consideration as head of the Disinformation Governance Board, which sounds like a great idea from the Biden Administration (the board, that is) – probably shouldn’t be surprising to learn that in part what led her to withdraw was the very misinformation the board seeks to fight against (and I shouldn’t be surprised also that she received death threats, unfortunately, though I’m sorry she did of course...as usual, one political party wants to govern as if it's business as usual – would that we could – and the other party wants to drive the metaphorical car right off the cliff)...

...and David Doel tells us about the recent slipup of Former Commander Codpiece (and what the hell was so damn funny for those in attendance? Gee, I never thought that the millions of people who had their lives impacted and/or turned completely upside down and/or lost altogether from the Bush/Cheney war of choice in Mesopotamia was cause for a “laff riot” – gnashing my teeth as I type this...and I don’t care what anybody says; 43 is “hitting the sauce”...if that problem has come around for him again, I hope he gets help, seriously)...



...and David Pakman brings us more on Trumper nut case Doug Mastriano winning the Repug primary for governor in our beloved commonwealth (as Pakman says, not much to think about here really if you believe in democracy given how nuts Mastriano is, especially with the way he seems to abuse symbols of Jewry...nice – and once more, congratulations to Dem John Fetterman on winning the Dem U.S. Senatorial primary and Josh Shapiro on winning the Dem gubernatorial primary)...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report speak with Dave Weigel about all of the $$$ flooding primary political campaigns against progressives between this election cycle and 2020 (with most of the dough coming from AIPAC apparently, which should surprise exactly no one...interesting insights from Weigel as always based on solid reporting)...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that Repugs on the U.S. House Rules Committee managed to temporarily block a bill to help lower gas prices...I mean, what, do you seriously expect the “party of Lincoln” to do something on behalf of the vast majority of this country as opposed to standing pat and stoking outrage to attack Democrats? Do you seriously expect these frauds and charlatans to act constructively? And yes, I’m removing my tongue from my cheek - more here...



...and Don Winslow reminds us in this clip that Herschel Walker, the Repug running for the U.S. Senate from Georgia, is stone freaking nuts (to help Rev. Raphael Warnock, click here)...



...and Cenk and Ana of TYT tell us how short-term housing rentals (from AirBNB and other related services) are helping to create a housing crisis in this country, with corporations buying up chunks of property being partly responsible also... and $160 grand a year just to afford rent in NYC? Interesting story about what’s going on in Palm Springs, CA also (but if anybody tells Johnny Harris, I’m sure he’ll just blame NIMBY libs and leave it at that...and yes, they’re partly responsible too I’ll admit)...



...and I’m in the mood for something a little more upbeat as the week draws to a close; it’s going to be in the ‘90s temperature wise in the Bucks County, PA area this weekend, so please be careful in the heat.