Friday Stuff

Chris Hayes talks about all of the push back against MAGA overreach, including the indictment of “blow ‘em up” John Bolton (sounds to me as if this is yet another prosecution likely to get sh*tcanned legally, but we’ll see of course)...good that at least three top universities, including Penn, are telling Mango Mussolini what he can do with his proposed deal to keep these places of learning “more MAGA”...also good to hear about airports rejecting the call from Kristi (“Unsafe At Any Speed”) Noem to play that ridiculous video blaming Dems for the shutdown...Hayes also discusses the push back by Pentagon reporters on that also-ridiculous proclamation from “I’ll Drink To That” Hegseth that all reporting must be cleared by the Defense Department (of course, OAN was the only “news” organization to agree to Hegseth’s edict)...on top of that, grand juries (which, according to the famous quote, could indict a ham sandwich) are saying no to the legal nonsense from Our Ruling Regime...Hayes speaks with Ezra Levin of Indivisible and George Conway (for some reason, meaning Conway)...”courage is contagious” indeed...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen speaks with Marc Elias on Don The Con targeting tomorrow’s No Kings protests, (maybe) trying to invoke the Insurrection Act from 1807...once more, click here to read about the Posse Comitatus Act...I realize we’re “through the looking glass” here and even someone as versed in the law as Elias can’t say for certain what Our Treasonous Orange Pustule is likely to do, but I definitely think it matters anyway to look objectively at this...definitely concerned about wingnuts trying to instigate something, which is why we need to be particularly mindful of watching ourselves so that nothing goes wrong (and I definitely agree that our legacy media would rush to judgment in that event and yell, “See? Both sides! We told you!”)...



...and Leeja Miller talks about The High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR hearing a second round of oral arguments last Wednesday in the case of Louisiana v. Callais, which represents another attack on what’s left of the Voting Rights Act of 1965…and yep, this case has to do with a gerrymandered congressional district in Louisiana (one majority African American district of six, even though 1/3rd of the state’s population is African American)…a conservative U.S. District Court ruled that the map violated Section 2 of the VRA and redirected Louisiana to redraw its map, so they did so to protect Repugs “MAGA Mike” Johnson and Julia Letlow, creating 2 majority black districts, leading to white voters suing now on the grounds of supposedly violating the 14th and 15th Amendments because white people just don’t have enough privilege in this country (snark)…I hadn’t heard the terms “cracking and packing” before – learn something new every day, even if it is pretty seedy…Miller recounts Shelby County v. Holder which did away with the “preclearance” provision of the VRA (i.e., any state that had tried to disenfranchise black voters in the past had to have their voting maps “cleared” by the DOJ to make sure they didn’t discriminate; of course, the Roberts Court sh*tcanned that)…more on Thornburg v. GIngels (which gives guidance on how Section 2 of the VRA should be administered and how claimants challenging Section 2 are supposed to do that) is here…I hate to be a cynic actually, but I think we can count on Roberts and his pals coming up with some twisted rationale to get rid of the VRA altogether (love to be wrong of course)...



...and John and Yasmin Khan of The Damage Report bring us the sorry tale of a staffer for a GOP congressman who has a swastika in the middle of a U.S. flag on display in his office – the culprit works for Dave Taylor of Ohio (guilty party is a staffer named Angelo Elia)...oh, but Taylor apparently said it was a “ruse” targeting Repugs here (and I’m sure Antifa is responsible – snark...interesting that this Elia guy is somehow registered as a Dem, which begs the question, what the hell is he doing working in the office of a Repug congressman?)...I suppose it’s possible that this Taylor guy didn’t even realize what was hanging in the office of his staffer, but what does it tell you that that was allowed to take place to begin with? Nothing good as far as I’m concerned...oh, and J.D. Vance can take his “stoo-pid young boys” line about that sickening Repug group chat that I noted yesterday (in the Mike Figueredo clip) and stick that line where the sun don’t shine...



...and Jimmy Kimmel gives us a bit of a news wrapup...oh, and I’m suuure we’ll hear ALL ABOUT Cheetoh Hitler’s call with “Vlad Daddy”...uh huh...and oh yeah, Bronzer Beelzebub “ended eight wars” (if we had a press corps with any actual spine, they would call out to our *preznit and tell him to name them, but alas)...”A demented version of Cinderella where the pumpkin is in charge” – good one...interesting in a pathetic way that Our Sweaty Orange Boy can hawk watches and nobody thinks to ask about that pesky emoluments clause of the Constitution...and Pee Wee German (who would wet himself if he had to carry a weapon for this country) says Chicago is more dangerous than Baghdad – just no words at a certain point, but these may suffice...still beyond belief that this alleged grown man in An Oval Office even tries to pronounce poly-syllabic words that he has absolutely no earthly clue to say correctly...and along comes Mehmet “Under Baby” Oz for additional laughs I suppose...interesting mashup of “RFK Jr. “ with “Team America” at the end (I purposely won’t say much about it – heh)...



...and in addition to No Kings day, tomorrow is the 53rd anniversary of the implementation of the Clean Water Act into law (more here); I think this tune is appropriate for the occasion.

Thursday Stuff

Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report tells us about these young Republicans letting their wingnut “freak flags fly,” if you will, starting with this goofball trying to ban p*rn (good luck with that, you nematode)...now along comes this Daily Wire POS Craig Gleason charged with child molestation – they definitely don’t like that in the “big house,” from what I hear...on top of that, along come leaked messages of Repug staffers saying stuff like ”I love Hitler” and spouting sickeningly racist garbage, including Wiliam Hendrix, Bobby Walker and Peter Giunta...I agree with Figueredo in that the ”humor” from these wastes of protoplasm is an attempt at coping since they know how wrong they are, but of course they won’t admit it...also, this Joe Maligno character in New York wanted to “fix” the showers somehow; given his professed love of Nazis, I have no doubt that you can guess what he has in mind...all of this points out the foul, fetid corruption of one of our two major political parties in as probably as sickening a manner as we could ever see (oh, but I’m sure Smerky will show up on CNN to say “Both sides! Both sides!”...more here and here...NSFW/H)...



..and John Oliver gives Bari Weiss the treatment she deserves IMO...Oliver gets into the Paramount/Skydance merger (damn, that is one ugly looking goatee on Larry Ellison) and making Weiss editor-in-chief of news for what used to be called “the Tiffany Network,” which is beyond pathetic – worse is buying that pseudo news organization hilariously misnamed “The Free Press” for $150 million (must be nice to have waaay too much damn money)...and oh yeah, Weiss will report directly to Larry Ellison’s son David (and yeah, if the Gropenfuhrer likes that arrangement, then that is a big time blaring red siren IMO)...these clips do indeed give us a hint as to Weiss’s entitlement as opposed to, y’know, dumb stuff like – oh, I dunno – ACTUAL PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT! “Weapons grade whataboutism” indeed...and color me shocked (not really); when Weiss actually tries to report on something (namely, an NYT staff meeting about Tom Cotton’s infamous Op-Ed about militarizing our cities), she gets it completely and utterly wrong...I know I previously included that Young Turks video about Weiss leaving the Times over her hurt fee fees, so I won’t get into that again...fascinating that it takes a comedian to explain the difference between hard news reporting and editorializing (i.e., I do the latter at this dumb little blog and never have any illusions that I’m actually doing the former)...Weiss definitely has a history of promoting (and twisting) stories to appear that she’s looking out for transgender kids, though the opposite is in fact going on, as amplified in that “story” by Jamie Reed...and oh yeah, there was the imaginary crime wave in Austin, TX (pretty telling indeed when local news, which LOVES sensation, is telling Weiss to get a grip)...also, Weiss’s ridiculous misinterpretation of how bad starvation and famine truly is in Gaza...also, I didn’t know that Weiss co-founded her own university, no doubt to try and manufacture a whole other generation of glibertarians...and the Palantir guy AND Harlan Crow bankrolling her? Wow, what a wingnut rogues gallery behind Weiss’s fake unaccredited school (NSFW/H also)...



Update 11/4/25: I guess, if I were as despised as Weiss, I might need $10K daily for security also (here).

...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ discusses Robert De Niro making a video promoting the No Kings protests on Saturday, so OF COURSE “MAGA Mike” Johnson takes a break from watching p*rn with his son to say the “No Kings” protests are sponsored by Hamas and/or Antifa, which is a brazen lie as we know...also, polling is showing more and more people getting fed up with the ICE/immigration BS from Pumpkin Pol Pot...”it smells of ego and fear and false worship,” meaning #47’s cabinet meetings; kudos to Martin Sheen for that one, and welcome to the fight also, Ariana Grande, who asked Trump voters a bunch of damn pertinent questions (John Iadarola talks about the Trump regime attacking Grande, because of course)...glad to see Illinois judges going after those jackbooted ICE thugs for shooting a pastor in the head with a pepper ball and blocking those ICE goons from attacking journalists...



...and Farron Cousins tells us that the U.S. House Speaker is threatening to have the longest government shutdown in history, breaking the record set in Don The Con’s first term, also when Repugs were completely in charge...and once again, Repugs blame those dastardly Democrats who are fighting to protect health care for the majority of this country...good point by Cousins that, even if this gets resolved (hopefully), we’ll be looking at ANOTHER shutdown in November (memo to idiot voters in this country: will you EVER LEARN that THIS IS WHAT FREAKING HAPPENS EVERY TIME YOU PUT GODDAMN REPUGS IN CHARGE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT???!!!)...good point by Cousins that all those stinking Repugs in the House do is pass a bunch of CRs to fund our government as opposed to, y’know, AN ACTUAL DAMN BUDGET, and that’s been the case for three years (and of course, our lapdog corporate media is all, “ssshhhh! Don’t upset Great White Father Trump.”)...



...and Jimmy Kimmel brings us Greetings from Hollywood...looks like Mel Gibson has a new pic on Jesus after the Resurrection (“Weekend at Bernie’s 2,” huh? Kind of edgy I’ll admit)...and it looks like Cantaloupe Capone is still trying to save us from the hellscape of dancing frogs and blow-up toys in Portland, Oregon...good job on the “Witch Hunt” matching signs joke...also liked the “Show Me Your Hellhole” clips, and yeah, “Meal Team 6” gets another well-deserved shot also...we also revisit “MAGA Mike” Johnson not seating Adelita Grijalva to protect our “pedo *prez”...and oh, it looks like Eric Trump had a book ghostwritten for him wrote a book which (I guess) is about how great his old man allegedly is (the “drag queen story hour” thing is a nice touch IMO)...



...and happy birthday to John Mayer - guess we'll just have to keep waiting.

Wednesday Stuff

Rachel Maddow speaks with Ezra Levin of Indivisible about the “No Kings” protest this Saturday 10/18, which could be bigger than the June 14th protest earlier this year (we should do what we can to make that happen)... yep, the trick will be not to get suckered in by wingnut troublemakers trying to say “See? I told you those dastardly libs want to blow up everything”...(“sustained opposition to the regime” indeed)...



...and John and Jayar of The Damage Report tells us that Bronzer Beelzebub just loves him some coal, doesn’t he?...yeah, that’s why he sold out the coal miners (opposing a safety regulation), which should surprise precisely no one, so much so that coal miners protested yesterday at the Labor Department (here...more power to them), arguing that Dementia J. Trump failed to protect them from black lung disease...um, I’m genuinely sorry for the miners, but as far as I’m concerned, that begs the following question: WHAT THE HELL ELSE DID YOU EXPECT FROM A LYING CONMAN?? And yes, we have Example #652 of Biden doing something for a particular voting bloc, but those people said, naaaaah, we want the failed businessman and reality TV host instead...didn’t know silica dust was 20x more toxic than coal dust, which IMO is yet another reason to leave behind this decrepit, dirty form of energy...and I agree with Jayar that it needs to be pointed out OVER AND OVER that this administration is screwing over yet another group of workers despite last year’s campaign promises (I hear there’s some national political party out there whose first name starts with a “D”; you think they’re EVER going to get the message to yell their heads off about stuff like this?? And John’s bit of sarcasm at the very end is about right also...more here and here)...



...and David Doel brings us another smart take IMO, this time on the Israeli “peace” deal...I realize this is behind the news cycle a bit, but I think this clip matters anyway...oh, and spoiler alert; the Republican Party isn’t going to “adjust” given the admittedly massive divide between elderly boomer conservatives supporting Israel and younger Republicans maybe not supporting Israel quite so much (respect to Harry Enten anyway, though)...I don’t think Doel is quite right when he says, “no Israelis have been killed since October 7th,” but I don’t have any data on that at the moment, though Doel is 150% right to say this isn’t some kind of military contest or whatever because only one side has a military here...oh, and memo to Ralph Nader; November 2000 is on the phone and it just told you to STFU...Doel is absolutely right to say that this struggle truly isn’t over until Palestinians have the right of self determination and ALL PARTIES responsible for this genocide (including Hamas) are standing in a docket in the Hague, and Doel is also right to call out the hostages held by Israel in this, including children – try explaining that one if you can...”Oh, they threw rocks and that’s enough”...bitch, please...also, there’s the whole other argument put out there by Israeli journalists that “Bibi” purposely built up Hamas because he didn’t want to deal with the more rational Fatah organization in Palestine because that would have forced Netanyahu to pursue a peace deal earlier than he did (here - the fact that this could have been done in September ’24 is more evidence to me that Netanyahu didn’t want Biden to be able to claim credit for it, so “Bibi” just said, “screw it - let’s just kill and maim more Palestinians to reward my pal Trump”...prove to me that I’m wrong on that)...



...and somewhat related to the Israeli incursion into Gaza (the latest one), Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us about that big, strong manly wingnut pundit Dave Rubin ridiculing 22-year-old Greta Thunberg, who risked her life to save Palestinians trying to flee the carnage in Gaza (you see, being a gay man, Rubin has to do SOMETHING to show she’s still “in” with the wingnut crowd)...oh, and Rubin screws up also when trying to define “Israeli” food; “schnitzel” is popular in central Europe (SMDH)...oh, and OF COURSE, we also have Pumpkin Pol Pot showing up for more of his BS take on this (I try to ignore pissants like Rubin, but occasionally attention must be paid I think...slightly NSFW/H)...



...and Stephen Colbert gives us his take on the Middle East peace deal (yeah, but what about reparations to all of the Palestinians killed and otherwise butchered? I don’t blame Stephen for that, though)...oh, but Time sure rushed out that unintentionally horrendous cover of the Gropehnfuhrer and his “neck mangina” (I didn’t come up with that, so tell ICE to beat down someone else’s door for that one)...of course, we’re treated to more moments with this tactless oaf of a *preznit, and of course, leave it to Repugs to say, “Oh, you bad Dems! Because of the shut down and your stubborn refusal to let us destroy people’s health care, we’re going to furlough all of those federal employees like we wanted to do anyway”...oh, and Kristi (“Unsafe At Any Speed”) Noem is trying to force airports to show a video blaming Dems for the shutdown...uh, no...and we’re graced with another pic of ICE’s “Meal Team 6” (still love that one) arriving in the Windy City...nice job to also plug “No Kings” at the end...



...and here’s some newer blues that hopefully will help us get through the “hump day.”

Tuesday Stuff

David Shuster of Rebel HQ says that it looks like the Trumpist prosecution of James Comey is going downhill fast...pass the popcorn (again, not a fan of Comey, but this is kind of an “enemy of my enemy is my friend” thing)...”Attorney” Lindsey Halligan was forced to admit in front of a judge that, out of 100 federal prosecutors, nobody would help with prosecuting Comey as Shuster points out, forcing Halligan to bring in outside counsel...and oh well, they couldn’t con the judge into a July trial, so Halligan et al have to try and get their sh*t together by January...we also learn more about Brave Sir “MAGA Mike” Johnson running away from reporters when asked why the $#@! he doesn’t swear in Adelita Grijalva as the newest House member, and that of course is because she would be the deciding signature on the petition to release the Epstein files...



...and Chris Hayes brings us more idiocy with the U.S. House Speaker, namely, Johnson’s “despicable lie” about the No Kings protests on 10/18, though it looks like these protests are already underway because enough people are fed up with the garbage from our ruling regime...yeah, just keep trying to propagate the BS that those peacefully protesting are “terrorists” and see how much bigger the protests actually get...it looks like “MAGA Mike” took another break from watching p*rn with his son to spread his bile as thick as possible on Fix Noise along with this Roger Marshall knucklehead on Newsmax, and also Steve Scalise and that other elderly mouth breather propagating his party’s nonsense...and oh yeah, these manly ICE men as just so powerful that it takes three of them to drag a woman news producer for WGN to the ground and cuff her...and I have to admit that I didn’t have Oklahoma Repug Governor Kevin Stitt standing up in favor of folks’ right to protest on my Bingo card, but credit where it’s due (and when it comes to who’s shutting down the House while the overall government shutdown proceeds, never forget this, which directly counters Johnson’s BS)...



...and Belle lets us know about Not Your Father’s Republican Party taking a holiday instead of paying troops, who they claim so much to support...looks like “hot grandpa” (not my words) John Thune of the Senate decided to blow off the deadline for paying our military after MAGA Mike Johnson (him again!) got dressed down by a military spouse; figures that this bunch of pissants would pretty much ignore those serving our country the first chance they got...this may be the most sarcastic take I’ve ever heard from Belle, and she’s definitely spot-on IMO...



...and Sarah Adams of More Perfect Union tells us about the real reason Cantaloupe Capone and Big Tech want AI in our schools (yep...to create another generation of zoned-out compliant consumers...”where’s my Chromebook?” indeed)...not surprised to hear about school grades declining since 2012 (though it doesn’t make me happy of course), ever since technology has invaded the classroom to a greater degree than ever before...and yep, “EdTech” has indeed taken off, if you will (juiced in part by the COVID shutdowns), leaving a generation of kids behind...also, there’s a hell of a lot of “data mining” going on that our technology companies will benefit from (being the pointy-headed lib that I am, I think there should be an age requirement on that)...I didn’t know how bad multitasking was for learning at younger ages, but it looks like the data on that is pretty settled; also didn’t know about the increased incidents of depression, but I can see that happening also when you try to rewire kids’ brains with this stuff...also not surprised to hear that the Swedes (from a country that actually invests in its people) are ahead of the curve on this stuff, and if anybody out there thinks that Dementia Donnie is going to do anything besides try to pad his bottom line on this or any issue, well, you just haven’t been paying attention...hard to truly quantify how wretched all of this stuff is to kids’ cognitive development as far as I’m concerned, and no, I’m not an expert in this area, but I AM a parent, and I see the good, but also the harm...



...and yesterday marked what would have been the 100th birthday of legendary comedian (and social critic of a sort, as well as U.S. Navy wartime veteran) Lenny Bruce; I realize this is definitely a not-PC clip full of dated references, but some of it may bring back some vague memories for people of a certain age, myself included (routine is based somewhat on this film)...



...and RIP bassist Danny Thompson...he rose to fame with Pentagle in the swinging ‘60s, but he also collaborated a lot with Richard Thompson (no relation), including on this tune.

Monday Stuff

Brian Tyler Cohen tells us that Our Big, Beefy, Sweaty Orange Boy haz a sad about not winning his precious Nobel Peace Prize...must really be tearing at him that he was beaten out by a vastly more deserving woman of color, and that would be Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela, who, ironically enough, is apparently ALSO working to oust that country’s president Nicolas Maduro, though she’s doing it legally and lawfully, as opposed to, y’know, blowing up fishing boats full of innocent people like #47 is doing...”the ocean of delusion that (Trump) swims in”; yep, I would say that that’s about right...and oh yeah, along comes this Buddy Carter jackaloon to introduce a petition to give Napoleon Donaparte his precious bauble despite the decision of the Nobel Committee to say “naaah,” anyway...and since I’m a human being capable of shame, I would be way beyond embarrassed if people thought they could “fluff” me the way these world leaders do to Don The Con, but not so for Our Treasonous Orange Pustule (slightly NSFW/H)...



...and Jimmy Kimmel amplifies Cohen a bit here, commenting on the “hellhole” of Portland, where apparently the biggest threat you can encounter (aside from ICE) is being accosted by a six-foot, frog-like dancing blow-up toy...Marjorie Traitor “Slave” Greene continues to sound shockingly logical on the Epstein stuff and trying to protest ACA subsidies (because the latter affects her own family of course)...and oh yeah, “MAGA Mike” Johnson thinks Lee Greenwood should do the Super Bowl halftime show – sure, just wheel Greenwood out there and have him warble some red state anthem or something...what a plan! Also, I wonder if Herschel Walker is going to put a gun to the heads of any Bahamian if they don’t do what his boss wants, like Walker did with at least one of his ex-wives (we also hear the latest from the “QAnon Shaman”)...



...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tells us about the recent exchange between Tomi Lahren (can’t imagine how she came up with this new look of hers, but that’s her business I guess...didn’t improve her functioning brain capacity sadly) and Krystal Ball, who politely dismissed Lahren’s BS on Bad Bunny (John Oliver also had a clip on this recently)... I didn’t realize how much Ball truly owned Lahren here, but as Sam says, leave to wingnut-ette Lahren to not address any of Ball’s terrific points...once more, I don’t know much about Bad Bunny, but I give him credit for not touring in this country to try and protect his fans from those ICE bastards (I realize this is a little behind the news cycle, as are the prior two videos I guess, but Ball’s ownage here is so exquisite that I have to include this clip anyway)...



...and leave it to Mr. Newberger to crank out another hit tune ripped right from the headlines...



...and RIP Diane Keaton – aside from her storied acting history, he did a lot for architectural conservation in Los Angeles (and once more, good luck trying to settle on just one clip for a tribute; I figured that you can't go wrong with her Oscar-winning performance in "Annie Hall")...



...also, RIP John Lodge of The Moody Blues.

Friday Stuff

Nicolle Wallace and her guests give us some analysis of Pam “Blondi’s” recent aggrieved testimony before the Senate, full of the typically combative and petulant BS you'd expect aimed at Democratic senators...also discussed is Erik Seibert, the former US Attorney for the eastern district of Virginia who was forced out after he refused to indict NY AG Letitia James, though of course James was eventually indicted on charges that will likely be dismissed in short order (here)...yep, “Blondi” refused to answer Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s question about whether or not she acted directly on orders from Mango Mussolini on indicting James Comey (of course she did)...not surprised to see Blondi save perhaps her worst vitriol for Dem Sheldon Whitehouse since he absolutely has these Trumpist cretins figured out (Wallace speaks with with Ken Dilanian, Andrew Weissmann and Claire McCaskill – I honestly don’t know why McCaskill is shocked that no Repug stood up for a Dem – I mean, seriously, when has that EVER happened)...I didn’t see the hearing, but I’m inclined to side with Dilanian in that the stonewalling over the Tom Homan/$50K in the supermarket bag might have been more outrageous than anything else...oh, and of course our ruling regime leaked to Fix Noise that the FBI under Crazy Eyes Kash Patel fired and dismantled the anti-corruption squad of that agency (including phone records linked to the 1/6/21 insurrection and the effort to stop the vote certification; more criminal behavior of covering up tracks from our fascist ruling cabal)...so much for commentary from Weissmann I guess...



...and Kyle Kulinski tells us about Don The Con calling for Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to be arrested for not supporting ICE thugs, which, as Kyle notes, is a sick joke even for our criminal ruling regime given all of the ICE-perpetrated violence, including an attack on an 84-year-old couple, and the husband served for 10 years in Vietnam...boy, is Kyle ever right about the fact that we need our own Nuremberg trials, with these ICE bastards in the docket first (and I’m pretty sure there are laws against making fake 911 calls); the January 6th Committee should have led into those types of hearings, but as far as I’m concerned, Merrick Garland sucked the life out of all of that...oh, and Opium is a brand of men’s cologne from Yves Saint Laurent, not that any of these deep-fried, corn-fed bumblef*cks from down south recruited by ICE would actually know that of course...and calling that bunch from Texas arriving in Chicago “Meal Team 6” is pretty freaking hilarious...on the other hand, a priest getting shot in the head with a pepper ball is pretty goddamn enraging...and ICE snipers on a roof shooting rubber bullets at a totally non-threatening crowd; didn’t we used to fight wars against countries that did stuff like this? And by the way, I know some of this stuff is repetitive from prior clips including the one yesterday with Mike Figueredo, but I’m fine with repeating this stuff as many times as I think I have to (Kyle's NSFW/H outrage is completely called for IMO)...



...oh, so what else is considered a priority for Bronzer Beelzebub and his lackeys? Why, #47 is planning an 80th birthday party for himself next year with MMA stuff at the White House, which, let us not forget, is “the people’s house”; presidents are only contracted tenants there...Our Treasonous Orange Pustule continues to utterly debase our institutions of government every possible way he can...



...and John and Jayar of The Damage Report bring us the sorry tale of Israeli thugs kidnapping activists on a flotilla trying to help Palestinians escape, including Greta Thunberg...wow, what strong “men” these IDF bastards are, brutalizing a young girl and many others only trying to help Palestinians escape utter hell (and by the way, I don’t give a damn about this; I trust absolutely nothing from the frauds and pretenders running our government and that of Israel, and as far as I’m concerned, this announcement was timed to try and get Combover Caligula nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, which would be only a slightly less disgusting choice than Henry Kissinger way back when...talk to me when some type of international mediation approves the deal)...



...and Josh Johnson of The Daily Show brings us up to date on the government shutdown...yeah, screw the TSA employees and bringing back the fired air traffic controllers as long as we can still keep looking for Amelia Earhart, right?...and leave it to a clueless Trumpist knucklehead like Sean Duffy to film some kind of a video with air traffic controllers IN THE TOWER WHEN THEY’RE TRYING TO LAND PLANES AND MAKE SURE THEY TAKE OFF OK!!! (with Jordan Klepper)....NSFW/H also...



...and RIP Chris Dreja of The Yardbirds, the band that helped launch the careers of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, among other accomplishments.

Thursday Stuff

John and Jayar of The Damage Report tell us about the latest insane nonsense from the scurrilous worm who is actually calling the shots for our ruling regime; yep, it’s Baby Goebbels and his “Democrat” Party this and “Democrat” Party that...hey, Pee Wee German, where’s the lefty connection to the Charlie Kirk shooter? Go ahead, I’ll wait...and while you’re at it, let us know who the Michigan shooter supported politically, and also who was on the hit list of the alleged killer of Melissa Hortman and her husband...any Repugs? (I could really be snarky and say that Miller should ask Elon Musk how Miller’s wife is doing...yeah, I know, they go low and we go high...oh well...)...oh, and just for sh*ts and giggles I guess, some of the supposedly non-violent MAGA crowd burned down the home of a South Carolina judge who ruled against Dear Leader; the judge’s husband had to be air lifted to a hospital as a result of the attack, and their kids suffered serious injuries also...oh, but Antifa did that...suuuure...



...and Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report discusses people bravely uniting to drive away the ICE Gestapo trying an attempted kidnapping...oh yeah, isn’t that ICE guy such a big, strong manly man to cuff a smaller woman who apparently is a city council member asking for a warrant...f*cking fascist...as Figueredo says, you can’t just detain people without a warrant, and that applies to EVERYBODY...he also gives us a recap of the Chicago apartment building raid, which further reinforces what Texas Paul said yesterday that these ICE goons are alt-right scumbags who don’t view people of color as actual Americans anyway, or likely people at all for that matter...also, the pics and videos on the DHS website of people getting dragged off, used pretty much for recruitment indeed, is yet another reason why that whole damn agency needs to be abolished (and yeah, the reason the ICE goons never show warrants is because they don’t have them in the first place)...and OF COURSE they’re now trying to track cell phones of people to hunt down suspected illegal immigrants...I agree with Figueredo; the WWII-era Nazis would be doing this stuff if they had the technology back then (NSFW/H)...



....and Brian Tyler Cohen and Glenn Kirschner let us know that, apparently, Mango Mussolini is having another problem tying to prosecute New York AG Letitia James, and that would be the fact that Attorney Elizabeth Yusi of Virginia smartly doesn’t want to risk disbarment by going forward with this “dead dog” of a prosecution...hmmm, “probable cause”; let me check my law textbooks to see if that’s anywhere in sight here – ooopsie! Guess not...and yeah, I also have a feeling that this whole mess will land in the legally clueless lap of Trumpette Lindsay Halligan...one of the good points here is that it’s still mind boggling to contemplate all of the people in #47’s orbit who refuse to learn the lesson that Everything Trump Touches Dies...



...and yeah, I think we have another winner here from Mr. Newberger...



...and best birthday wishes to Jackson Browne...



...and today would have been the 85th birthday of John Lennon.

Wednesday Stuff

Tennessee Brando informs us of the wingnut outrage du jour, though you can tell that they’re running out of distractions from the files of He Who Shall Be Unnamed when Kristi (“Unsafe At Any Speed”) Noem makes an issue about not being able to access bathroom facilities (I’m sorry for her discomfort, but not for her petulant whining about it)...I honestly don’t know what that last Noem rant was all about...”they’re so weak,” meaning the NFL? The organization with enough dough to buy your regime of hacky DHS sadists and neophytes more than a few times over (and no, I’m not a fan of the league)? And I don’t have a clue about this Bad Bunny person either, and to be honest, I couldn’t be bothered...and boy, is Brando ever right about focusing on more important issues, but unfortunately, the wingnuts keep dragging our corporate media to the right in the direction of the metaphorical cliff (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and I thought this was a typically spot-on commentary from Texas Paul of the Meidas Touch Network on the jackbooted ICE thugs who just raided that apartment building in Chicago (I recently included the Chris Hayes clip on that)...

This is not difficult to understand. We are witnessing an ICE Gestapo that is full of white supremacists. The fascist authoritarian Trump regime has recruited Nazis that hate brown-skinned people as much as they do. 😳👇 pic.twitter.com/7wtNbacA10

— Bill Madden (@maddenifico) October 6, 2025

...and Jesse Dollemore tells us about Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC taking Jake Tapper to task, with the CNN talking head claim that he had a texting “interview” with Bronzer Beelzebub who somehow couldn’t make himself available in person (and Tapper of course has burnished his corporate media bona fides with a book on the alleged cognitive issues of former President Biden)... great point to note that we not only don’t know what questions didn’t get a text answer, but also the length of time it took to get the answers that Tapper actually received...mildly NSFW/H...



...and Thom Hartmann tells us about Dem guvs J. B. Pritzker and Gavin Newsom speaking out against the Gropenfuhrer trying to militarize our cities with his ICE goons...kudos to Portland, OR for pushing back, including not suspending the naked bike ride (more here for Bluesky folks)...didn’t know nudity in public as a form of protest is protected under Oregon’s constitution...also, it figures that this guy at George Mason University (a big-time hotbed for wingnuts) would give Combover Caligula advice on fending off the International Criminal Court, partly because our ruling regime, among numerous other misdeeds, keeps blowing up people off the coast of Venezuela...as a side note, Newsom has done a good job in a lot of areas, but he needs to be MUCH BETTER on LGBTQ plus issues as noted here...



...and if you’re looking for someone who’s an expert on country music, then I’m definitely not the person to talk to about that; that being said, it appears that country music star Zach Bryan has crossed ICE a bit in his new song, to his great credit (tune is tentatively titled “Bad News”)...so far, Bryan has stood strong and hopefully that will remain the case; you can always tell the utter wrongness of the wingnut position by the amount of crying they do online among various “influencers” when they’ve been called out...and I knew Benny Johnson was a loser, but to dress up not as the Dark Knight but the ‘60s Adam West Batman is adding insult to injury as far as yours truly is concerned...Steve Harness of Really American tells us about it (NSFW/H)...



...and as nearly as I can determine, today is the 80th birthday of one-time Procol Harum guitarist Ray Royer, who appeared on the band’s initial recording and then left...this song was recorded after his departure.

Tuesday Stuff

Oh, and here’s more about Life in These United States...Chris Hayes informs us that ICE busted into a Chicago south side apartment building in the middle of the night with guns drawn, zip tied 37 people including kids and dragged them to the sidewalk (and some into vans)...and no, I definitely don’t believe the Tren De Aragua BS...and I’m sure it will come as no surprise that “I Like Beer” Brett Kavanaugh of the SCOTUS had NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER with racially motivated stops by ICE (hence the term “Kavanaugh Stops” entering our lexicon during this dark time)...



...and Richard Ojeda of Rebel HQ gives us his take on the utter destruction of farming in this country under Our Treasonous Orange Pustule, primarily soybean farmers, which could have been predicted by...oh, I dunno...MAYBE EVERY FREAKING PERSON ON EARTH WHO WAS PAYING ATTENTION! And I don’t have anything personal against the farmer interviewed by Katy Tur, but for jackass friends of this guy to say “you have to trust him,” meaning Cantaloupe Capone...well, I just can’t think for a word for the stoo-pidity...I’d forgotten about the connection here to Apartheid Clyde and Argentina’s lithium mines, but that’s a great point also...glad to hear Ojeda mention USAID, which, according to wingnut toady Jonah Goldberg, is something Americans supposedly don’t care about; I’m sure our farmers would beg to differ (more here and here...mildly NSFW/H)...



...and John of The Damage Report lets us know that, apparently, a Repug candidate for Lieutenant governor has a Nazi p*rn scandal brewing (allegedly! And another one for that party after Mark Robinson), and that would be John Reid of Virginia...yeah, it’s not a good look to be promoting content from some dude on a Tumblr account in 2015 who’s advertising some kind of gay bondage fetish behavior (and I don’t want to repeat some of that language either)...I think John’s tongue-in-cheek approach here is the right way to take this stuff...oh, and it looks like Governor Trumpkin threw Reid under the bus the first chance he got...pass the popcorn...



...and David Doel gives us more on Graham Platner, who continues to impress in his run for the Dem nomination to take on “Disappointed” Susan Collins in the Maine U.S. Senate contest...I think Platner strikes the right tone...yes, I know I get more than a little snarky, and maybe I shouldn’t, but I honestly try to back up what I say with reliable information for what it’s worth (and while illegals pay into benefits we enjoy, they can’t actually collect those benefits themselves)...and boy, is Doel ever right about trying to chase a bunch of new voters at the expense of beating your head against a metaphorical wall trying to reach voters who will just put their hands over their ears and go “LALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!!” (mildly NSFW/H also)...



...and Ronny Chieng of The Daily Show gives us the latest on the government shutdown (I hope Blue Oyster Cult didn’t give permission to use that song and sues the Trump gang...more here)...and “Republican Kitty”??? Whoever the clueless loser at the DNC was who came up with that, they should be fired on the spot (and I have no issue with Sarah McBride and her clips because she took so much crap from the “R” bunch for being a trans person)...also w/ Michael Kosta (Russell Vought deserves that ridicule at a minimum...mildly NSFW/H)...



...and the weather is too nice in these parts to not enjoy a newer tune – hope this will help lighten things a bit.

Monday Stuff

Sam and Emma of The Majority Report tell us about the latest development in the “garden state” – it looks like Morris County, NJ Sheriff Jim Gannon might need to be sent back to the factory and get some kind of a robotic implant form Grover Norquist to make sure he NEVER, EVER AGAIN mentions NEW TAXES, which he brought up in a lieutenant governor’s debate (more here...and of course, that stuff about millionaires employing us is typical Repug boilerplate that has very little basis in reality)...”your business is a function of demand” indeed (to help Mikie Sherrill, click here)...



...oh, and did you hear that Bari Weiss is going to be editor-in-chief at CBS News under their new regime with Paramount and David Ellison (here)? Please enlighten me as to Weiss’s credentials in hard news reporting and covering major news stories (yes, I know that's a naïve sentiment given the wingnut media consolidation going on)...this video from John Iadarola and Cenk Uygur from five years ago goes into Weiss’s exit from the New York Times editorial page...yep, Weiss displays her own grievance and sense of entitlement in what purports to be a resignation letter to the paper...”oh, I’m a poor, oppressed conservative...help me!!”...I thought John made a good point that, in Weiss’s criticism, she’s trying to say her editorializing is at least as important as actual reporting...uh, no...also, I think it’s pretty plain that Cenk was right about Weiss continuing to “fall upward” because she’ll always have the backing of at least one right wing billionaire so she won’t have to compete in “the free marketplace of ideas”...



...and this clip from Really American informs us of another alleged controversy...OK, let me see if I got this – Trumpette spokes-liar Karoline Leavitt is claiming that Antifa mobs in Portland seized and captured some wingnut “journalist” named Nick Sortor, but this Sortor guy can’t give any details about the people who allegedly assaulted him, or any information on the cops who cuffed him? Oh, but Sortor was allegedly detained because he was a “conservative” (here)? And how would some allegedly unruly alleged mob know that? And oh yeah, the claim about Biden supposedly providing health care to illegal aliens is a particularly ridiculous lie as noted here...and when it comes to actual journalists being endangered, I’m still waiting for our ruling regime to express some type of concern over this (NSFW/H)...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen and Marc Elias discuss Pumpkin Pol Pot telling federal agencies that anyone arrested for burning a U.S. flag will get a year in prison...1) Despite #47’s evil intentions, he cannot summarily sentence anybody for the commission of a real or (likely) imagined crime, 2) There are ample legal cases supporting the fact that flag burning, while idiotic, is protected free speech...and once again, we’re in “do away with Posse Comitatus” territory...yep, I think “l’etat c’est moi” kind of says it for Bronzer Beelzebub...good discussion by Elias on how the antics of Our Treasonous Orange Pustule are waaay beyond McCarthyism...



...and Mr. Newberger brings us an upbeat little number for us to have fun with (albeit through clenched teeth), right from today’s headlines...



...and last Thursday I included a tune from the former Cat Stevens, but I neglected to point out that that day was also the 80th birthday of another musical icon primarily from the ‘70s, and that would be Don McLean, so happy belated wishes...some messy personal stuff I’ll admit, but that shouldn’t detract from his music as far as I’m concerned.

Friday Stuff

David Reddish of Occupy Democrats brings us the clip of late animal researcher Jane Goodall’s interview with Ari Melber where she compares our 47th *preznit to a chimp trying to achieve dominance – video also revisits Goodall’s landmark work in studying chimpanzees in the wild...RIP...

...and turning to our top story, I’m sure it comes as no surprise whatsoever that the “party of Lincoln” is blaming the shut down squarely on the Dems, led by “couch boy” and Trumpette spokes-liar Karoline Leavitt...also, I’m not sure it’s even legal to put messages on government web sites blaming the “radical left Democrats” for the shut down, to say nothing of wholly inaccurate (and it probably does violate the Hatch Act, as Claire McCaskill says)...yeah, the Dems are such a menace to this country, allegedly, especially since they have NO CONTROL OVER ANY FEDERAL BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT!!, thanks to the dunderheaded stoo-pidity of voters last year...and this indeed is what that pissant Russell Vought, author of Project 2025, wants to see come to pass...and oh yeah, I’d forgotten about the $20 billion that Dementia Donnie is going to give to that goofball-with-the-chainsaw Javier Milei in Argentina; wouldn’t it be nice if “We The People” had some input on THAT decision (Chris Hayes speaks with McCaskill, who I’ve had issues with to be honest, and Brendan Buck...and yes, I know Buck is a Repug, but I still would have liked to hear what he had to say)...



...and Kyle Kulinski tells us about Police Chief Thomas Mills in Illinois going off on the ICE Gestapo, commendably (more here)...and OF COURSE, one of the Gropenfuhrer’s jackbooted thugs runs over somebody and drives away...I really wish I could find a way to take issue with Kyle’s comment about “fault lines,” but I really can’t at the moment...”you cannot lay down in a chalk outline of yourself and let the fascists do whatever they want”; I may keep coming back to that quote...NSFW/H of course...



...and Jesse Dollemore gives us a clip of world leaders having a good laugh over the claim from Our Treasonous Orange Pustule that he ended 7 wars or whatever...oh yes, the wingnuts would have us believe that the world had no respect for Presidents Obama and Biden...suuure...well, what do you call the response to that train wreck in front of the UN that Jesse discusses here? And with all due respect to Jesse, I couldn’t give a rat’s ass what “MAGA world” thinks because those life forms have decided to put any brain activity, to say nothing of conscience or morals, into something approximating a blind trust...and with all of the madness going on (“flooding the zone” as Vice President Bannon said), it’s easy to forget that Bronzer Beelzebub did indeed tell our military leaders to attack Americans in our cities...



...well, for a dose of actual sanity, Brittany Page tells us about a Reagan-appointed judge (William Young) who blasted Mango Mussolini for “ideological deportations” of students professing support for Palestinians and criticism of “Bibi” and his genocide in Gaza...not surprised to hear Jake Tapper’s completely wrong take on Kimmel being removed as the most direct attack on free speech that Tapper has seen; yeah, it was bad, but the Khalil and Ozturk stories were worse...Judge Young does indeed articulate beautifully how free speech is guaranteed in this country based on the Constitution for citizens and non-citizens alike, and also states that these Constitutional violations from our ruling cabal of grifters and lowlifes need to be fixed somehow...”we must not be a nation that imprisons and deports people because we’re afraid of what they have to tell us,” indeed...more on the “No Kings” protest on 10/18 is here...



...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ discusses some recent comments from Pope Leo regarding faith matters...I have no issue with what the vicar of Christ is saying because he’s addressing the ambiguity of being in favor of abortion and the death penalty, and oh yeah, we’re not supposed to mistreat immigrants either...that’s kind of where I come down also (on abortion and the death penalty I mean), for what it’s worth; to me, faith doesn’t mean much to anybody if you’re not wrestling with it and trying to examine yourself based on what you’re taught, but that’s just me I guess...I have to remember to add that book from John Fuglesang to my Xmas list (and it looks like retiring Dem Senator Dick Durbin chose the path of humility himself to try and avoid the ginned-up controversy over his award)...I wonder what would happen if any of the “Catholics” in the Trump gang were asked to recall any of the Beatitudes or the Sermon On The Mount?...



Update: I have a feeling Jesse is right that this video is going to end up age restricted on YouTube, so I’ll just link to it here and let you view it as you wish, dear reader.

...and Stephen Colbert takes a look at the shut down also...gee, I wonder if the TSA folks are going to wand you extra hard now since they’re not getting paid? And gosh, I was counting on the “naked mole rat web cam” being available (and yes, I know the shut down is serious stuff)...and I know Schumer and Jeffries have to say and do some of this stuff, but they just let themselves get played over and over – ugh!...and leave it to Cancun Cruz to somehow show up and create more of a train wreck...



...and I think we can all use a nice weekend, and hopefully we can get that going with this newer tune.

Thursday Stuff

David Pakman informs us of the Trump supporter who opened fire on a Mormon church in Michigan...so many “tells” on this guy (I don’t have to say “alleged” because he’s dead), including anti-vax, “make liberals cry,” opposing Dem guv Gretchen Whitmer, the Trump/Pence sign, pro-Trump social media stuff, all of which are innocuous by themselves but collectively fit the murderous wingnut profile...I honestly don’t know what the Gropenfuhrer said in response, and to be honest, I don’t care...



...and Jesse Dollemore has an update on the New Jersey governor’s race where Dem Mikie Sherrill got doxxed by the Gropenfuhrer with oppo info shared with Sherrill’s opponent Jack Ciattarelli...I didn’t know Ciattarelli wanted segregation to return to NJ schools, but yeah, that sure fits the profile also, doesn’t it?...I’m willing to bet $20 (I live on a low budget) that “Pee Wee German” is involved somehow in the illegal release of Sherrill’s service records...I know Jesse means “governor of NJ”; let’s do what we can to make that happen for Sherrill (here)...



...and Farron Cousins and Caleb Cunningham let us know that Combover Caligula and Pam “Blondi” may have botched the case against Luigi Mangione, the accused murderer of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, with all of these claims that Mangione is some kind of a domestic terrorist which may have hopelessly polluted a prospective jury pool, you might say...it would be an utter obscenity for Mangione to walk, but I’m afraid that that’s what the Trumpers are looking at...I hadn’t thought of Trumpist incompetence actually being a saving grace, but hopefully that argument has merit...



...and Ronny Chieng of The Daily Show has some fun with “I’ll Drink To That” Hegseth trying to fat shame generals who could probably break a pipsqueak like Hegseth in half if they got provoked enough...and leave it to the “Secretary of War” to sneak in a plug for his trash book, which no doubt was bought up on purpose by wingnuts to promote it up the NYT bestseller list, notwithstanding the actual content of that ridiculous screed...and what would this train wreck of an appearance be without the Gropenfuhrer showing up to drain oxygen out of the room? And oh yeah, just for sh*ts and giggles, we’re going to declare war on our major cities in this country...at least I’m glad to hear Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker give the called-for response here (mildly NSFW/H)...



...and Mr. Newberger has been on a bit of a roll recently; the whole “Baron Harkonnen” thing is a nice touch I must say...



...and if there’s a Republican in the White House (here), one certainty as far as yours truly is concerned is that the former Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam) is going to have visa problems; as noted here, he had to cancel a recent North American tour for that reason...what, does Cantaloupe Capone think the musician is going to attack someone with his guitar?

Wednesday Stuff

Suppose they gave a "Rapture" and nobody came? Apparently, it was supposed to happen on 9/23-9/24 (apologies for adding a video from Rupert The Pirate's vanity rag, but I think it's OK for this topic)...



...and Belle of the Ranch discusses Bronzer Beelzebub, Portland and posturing...glad to hear Belle mention Posse Comitatus of 1878 since I believe that that’s in play here, and of course, Dem Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek is basically telling Our Treasonous Orange Pustule to stop interfering with a blue state city that is doing just fine, and no, I don’t expect that he’ll listen, but I’d love to be wrong (more here)...



...and in a related clip, Brian Tyler Cohen speaks with Oregon AG Dan Rayfield, who (pretty calmly as far as I’m concerned) makes the case that there definitely is no threat in his state for which the *preznit would have the authority to federalize the national guard...kind of quaint to think that the Gropenfuhrer would actually be a partner with anyone, let alone a Dem, but I know Rayfield has to say this stuff...I’d like to know which Dem Rayfield is referring to when it comes to trying to co-opt elections (somewhat NSFW/H)...



...and on another front when it comes to trying to wreck this country, Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report (definitely not him) brings us the story of ICE agents in Chicago chasing a delivery boy on a bike who yelled “F*ck Trump,” and while I don’t see that as a constructive thing to do, he does have free speech rights as Figueredo says, and I would have the same response if the kid said something similar about Biden, just to let you know...and I would also say that that 79-year-old business owner who got thrown onto the concrete for trying to stick up for his employees is entitled to every penny of that $50 mil he's suing for, along with any damages that woman who was also thrown to the ground while pleading for her detained husband manages to get for herself...yep, saying anything on social media about the price of groceries while our ruling cabal of grifters and lowlifes decides to remake the White House into some chintzy collection of gold-plated doodads full of stuff you might find on QVC – well, that’s offensive to the “thought police,” so I’m sure they’ll come to “black bag” you and try to drag you off...and yes, we know that these creatures in masks are monsters, but egging them on isn’t a smart idea either...also, we all know that Home Depots are such incubators for violence on the part of people with brownish complexions (SMDH), and sadly, I think the quote from the Martin Niemoller poem is spot-on (definitely NSFW/H)...

...so what is it that this bunch of miscreants is trying to distract us from? Well, in addition to the Epstein files (and I predict we will never see them – love to be wrong), I think this story from Rachel Maddow tells us about something else, which is the Saudis green lighting a Trump Plaza in Jeddah while waiting on approval of some media deal with Wonder Boy Jared Kushner to buy the staggeringly successful U.S. company Electronic Arts, which is responsible for a ton of online video games...hmmmm, “conflict of interest” –anybody even bothering to keep track of that any more, especially the crowd who spent four years yammering about the “Biden crime family” with ZERO FREAKING EVIDENCE???!!! as noted in the pic, which makes me recall this post...interesting to hear the term “wusses” when describing U.S. media companies, but sadly, I think that fits...”this is a lot of things; subtle is not one of them,” indeed...



...and Caleb Cunningham of Ring of Fire tells us about Don The Con posting a thoroughly and unequivocally racist piece of AI slop prior to the Wednesday at 12:01 AM EST deadline, which pretty much guaranteed that, yeah, we’ll have a shutdown...now tell me why any sentient life form on this planet would deal with our cretinous ruling regime after posting that garbage; are they any actual adults in this administration? Doesn’t look like it (NSFW/H also)...



...and every once in awhile, I don't think it's a bad idea to change things up musically around here, and I think this is a good time for that; with that in mind, happy belated 90th birthday to Johnny Mathis (from what I've read of him, he just wants to entertain and live a private life otherwise...sounds like a plan)...



...and yesterday was also the 70th anniversary of the death of legendary actor James Dean - I think this selection is apropos for the occasion.