1/ Hillary Clinton is the nominee, but has the Democratic party had a wake up call from the huge support for Bernie? Matt Taibbi argues no, because the Dem elites are out of touch with reality with their brains firmly in the Washington bubble.....
Great story that should interest anyone interested on politics.....
Bernie Sanders at a campaign rally in Santa Monica, California, Tuesday.
Years ago, over many beers in a D.C. bar, a congressional aide colorfully described the House of Representatives, where he worked.
It's "435 heads up 435 asses," he said.
I thought of that person yesterday, while reading the analyses of Hillary Clinton's victories Tuesday night. The arrival of the first female presidential nominee was undoubtedly a huge moment in American history and something even the supporters of Bernie Sanders should recognize as significant and to be celebrated. But the Washington media's assessment of how we got there was convoluted and self-deceiving.
This was no ordinary primary race, not a contest between warring factions within the party establishment, á la Obama-Clinton in '08 or even Gore-Bradley in '00. This was a barely quelled revolt that ought to have sent shock waves up and down the party, especially since the Vote of No Confidence overwhelmingly came from the next generation of voters. Yet editorialists mostly drew the opposite conclusion.
2/ Samantha Bee with the most emotional and in my opinion the best response to the Orlando shootings.....it's a powerful seven minutes.....some jokes, but mostly passion.....
She's wonderful.......
Samantha Bee (Credit: TBS)
What’s the sensible, respectful, and intelligent way for a comedian to deal with an event so horrific it’s impossible to laugh at? That’s the question late-night hosts had to negotiate Monday night, with the Orlando shooting on everyone’s mind and a pall over much of the nation.
Of late-night figures, Samantha Bee was by far the strongest and most effective. Bee can be self-righteous at times, and her sarcasm doesn’t always land right. But Monday night she was brilliant, with an eight-minute monologue that saw her mostly mad as hell, barely cracking a smile. We usually respond to this kind of tragedy, she says, with hopeful, love-conquers-hate sentiments and earnest expressions of concern. “But you know what? Fuck it! I’m too angry for that. Love does not win unless we start loving each other enough to fix our fucking problems.”
She continues in this mode, taking on the AR-15 (“these high capacity penis substitutes”) and Florida Governor Rick Scott, who she shows on video offering the usual pray-for-the-families rhetoric while dodging questions about the role of guns and ways to avoid having this kind of massacre repeat themselves. (AR-15s can be bought in Florida with no waiting period.) We pray after every shooting, she points out – and still they arrive.
3/ For confirmation of Taibbi's story above, read Thomas Frank's book "Listen Liberal" which points out the Democratic Party's establishment has abandoned it's roots, and are working for the top 10% and forgotten the middle and working classes....
Here is an interview with Frank about Bill Clinton's term and indeed President Obama's.....think Hillary will move to the left and do something about the deep anger in this country? Read this and get depressed.....
Bill Clinton, standing between Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, taking the oath of office of president of the United States on January 20, 1993. Clinton ran for president as a champion of the working class, but largely abandoned their economic interests while in office – preferring Wall Street to Main Street -- beginning with his signing of NAFTA. (Photo: White House)
Thomas Frank, author of Listen, Liberal, discusses the Hillary Doctrine's basis in neoliberalism, how the Democratic Party stopped governing on behalf of the working class and how President Bill Clinton's major achievements actually enacted conservative goals, and ultimately hurt working people.
Mark Karlin: The innovation class, the creative class, the wealthy class, the professional class with Ivy League degrees: How did President Obama become the avatar for believing these groups should be the decision makers in government?
Thomas Frank: Obama thinks such people should be in charge because they came up through the same system as him. "Because he himself was a product of the great American postwar meritocracy," his biographer Jonathan Alter writes, "he could never fully escape seeing the world from the status ladder he had ascended."
Most of our other Democratic leaders (the Clintons, for example) came up the same way and believe the same thing. Indeed, what Alter describes is standard-issue stuff for Democrats these days. The Democrats are a class party in the fullest sense of the phrase, and the class whose perspective they reflect and whose interests they serve is the highly educated, white-collar professional class. Theirs is a liberalism of the rich.
4/ Every now and then Stephen Colbert sneaks some great political satire through the network censors, and this is a good one......six minutes of great jokes and zingers......
Stephen Colbert slammed Donald Trump for making self-inflating comments and tweets in the aftermath of the Orlando shooting, Tuesday night. The Late Show host attempted to make sense of the mogul's controversial and vague suggestions that President Barack Obama is somehow to blame. "Donald Trump refuses to be politically correct, and just to be safe, he refuses to be correct," Colbert said.
In the segment, Colbert took Trump to task for his "told you so" mentality in the face of the deadliest shooting in U.S. history. "This whole speech with its nativism, its fear-mongering and especially its self-aggrandizing in the face of tragedy feels like a new low," Colbert said.
"It makes me long for the days when Trump was just bragging about the size of his penis. Donald, can't we just put the focus of your campaign back on your genitals? Which again, I'm sure don't look a day over 70 ... Maybe, all of us can just get together and declare how big Trump's penis is."
As for Trump's "something's going on" remarks that seemingly implicated Obama in some unclear capacity, Colbert employed a "Figure-It-Out-Atron" – a chalkboard with words like "Trump," "Obama," Muslim" and "Bad Thing" written on it – to make sense of the GOP candidate's comments
5/ The New York Times did an in depth investigation of how Trump managed his Atlantic City casinos, and if you listen to his boasts about what a great businessman he is read this story of shady deals, bankruptcy, failure and chicanery......
Excellent article of the kind we used to see when we had real media......
ATLANTIC CITY — The Trump Plaza Casino and Hotel is now closed, its windows clouded over by sea salt. Only a faint outline of the gold letters spelling out T-R-U-M-P remains visible on the exterior of what was once this city’s premier casino.
Not far away, the long-failing Trump Marina Hotel Casino was sold at a major loss five years ago and is now known as the Golden Nugget.
At the nearly deserted eastern end of the boardwalk, the Trump Taj Mahal, now under new ownership, is all that remains of the casino empire Donald J. Trump assembled here more than a quarter-century ago. Years of neglect show: The carpets are frayed and dust-coated chandeliers dangle above the few customers there to play the penny slot machines.
On the presidential campaign trail, Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, often boasts of his success in Atlantic City, of how he outwitted the Wall Street firms that financed his casinos and rode the value of his name to riches. A central argument of his candidacy is that he would bring the same business prowess to the Oval Office, doing for America what he did for his companies.
“Atlantic City fueled a lot of growth for me,” Mr. Trump said in an interview in May, summing up his 25-year history here. “The money I took out of there was incredible.”
6/ Bill Maher with a scathing takedown of Trump the liar.......he's on form for this one, so look out Donald!
A great five minutes........
As part of his signature “New Rules” segment, “Real Time” host Bill Maher examined how GOP nominee Donald Trump has so successfully skirted conventional behavior and dragged political discourse through the floor.
“It’s been a year since Donald Trump descended on an escalator to announce he’s running for president,” Maher said. “And since then he’s just kept on descending.”
Applying the “basic dumbness” metric, Maher cited Dan Quayle’s “potatoe” gaffe and Sarah Palin’s inability to name a newspaper as benchmarks for what would, historically, disqualify a candidate from the highest public office
7/ Frank Rich with his commentary on the weeks news......insightful as always.......
Most weeks, New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich speaks with contributor Alex Carp about the biggest stories in politics and culture. Today: the aftermath of the Orlando shooting on Trump, the GOP's stance on gay rights, and the Tony Awards.
Donald Trump's renewed call for a ban on Muslim immigrationafter the Orlando shooting not only drew condemnation from President Obama and Hillary Clinton, but appears to have deepened the gap between Trump and Establishment Republicans: Paul Ryan responded with a statement of support for Muslims, while Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn have refused to talk about their party's candidate to the press. Will there be any fallout for Trump within the GOP?
No. We’ve just passed the first anniversary of Trump’s declaration of his presidential campaign, and the dynamic within the GOP has never changed. We know the drill: Trump says something outrageous or hateful. A few GOP leaders timidly say that what he’s said is racist, misogynistic, “not what the Party of Lincoln stands for,” whatever. Then those leaders fall back in line. The dynamic will not change now, and for a simple reason. The GOP elites are frightened of Trump and frightened of their own party’s voters, who overwhelmingly supported Trump in the GOP primary.
8/ The REAL reason your food takes so long to come in restaurants......I wonder if this could actually be true.....an amusing and eyeopening four minutes....
9/ I wonder how many of you feel the same way as James Kwak......really, really good article.....
Yes, I’ll Vote for HRC. No, I’m Not Happy About It.
By James Kwak
Now that Hillary Clinton has wrapped up the nomination, I have no problem with Clinton supporters saying that Sanders supporters should back her in the general election. I’m certainly voting for Clinton (not that my vote matters, since I live in Massachusetts), and every liberal Democrat I know who likes Sanders is going to do the same. (Yes, there are probably some Sanders voters who will vote for Trump or stay home, but they are largely anti-establishment independents who were always unlikely to vote for Clinton.)
Apparently that’s not enough for many in the Clinton camp, however, who insist that I should be happy that Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee, and that this is actually a good thing for progressives—defined loosely as people who want higher taxes on the rich, less inequality, stronger social insurance programs (including true universal health care), and better protections for workers. The argument is basically that Clinton is (a) more pragmatic, (b) more skilled at getting things done, and (c) more likely to be able to work with Republicans to achieve incremental good things, while Sanders would have simply flamed out in futility.
10/ I haven't watched the full 19 minutes of this as in Europe it's blocked, but have seen the three minute finale, and it looks to be a good one of his comedic reporter pieces.....it also got Oliver a LOT of mention in the corporate media....
“Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver last night devoted his main segment to debt buyers.
“Clearly if you have debts, you should pay them if you can,” Oliver said. “But, many people can find themselves in debt through no direct fault of their own.”
“The fact that so many people have money trouble is not really surprising,” he continued. “What may surprise you is the extent to which seriously delinquent debts have now given birth to an entire debt-buying industry.”
Oliver explained that the largest debt-buying company, Encore Capital Group, owns debts of an estimated 1 in 5 U.S. consumers.
“That means, statistically, one member of Evanescence owes or has owed Encore money,” he said. “And I think we all know who that would be. It would be guitarist and backing vocalist Troy McLawhorn.”
“Nearly 9,000 people” may be surprised to learn that John Oliver and his show purchased for “less than sixty grand” almost $15 million in other people’s medical debt — and forgave it.
11/ A wonderful version of a Simon and Garfunkel song....."America" from a Swedish female duo "First Aid Kit". They perform live in front of Paul Simon, who doesn't look too happy until the end....but anyway, it's lovely.....
12/ What do YOU have for breakfast?
Is your breakfast made for you by Big Food? If it is you should read this story......
Why the Breakfast Most Americans Will Eat Today Is a Corporate Scam
Wake up and smell the McCafé: Cold cereal, donuts and orange juice are breakfast staples because somebody somewhere wanted money.
By Anneli Rufus / AlterNet
September 2, 2011
Breakfast in America is a corporate scam.
Not all of it. But nearly every breakfast staple -- cold cereal, donuts, yogurt, bagels and cream cheese, orange juice, frappuccino -- is a staple only because somebody somewhere wanted money. Wake up and smell the McCafé.
Seeking to provide sanitarium patients with meatless anti-aphrodisiac breakfasts in 1894, Michigan Seventh-Day Adventist surgeon and anti-masturbation activist John Kellogg developed the process of flaking cooked grains. Hence Corn Flakes. Hence Rice Krispies. Hence a rift between Kellogg and his business partner/brother, who wanted to sweeten Kellogg's cereals in hopes of selling more. Guess who won.
In pre-Corn Flakes America, breakfast wasn't cold or sweet. It was hot, hearty and lardy, and it had about 4,000 calories.
13/ Seth Meyers with another great segment on Trump and his incredible capacity for lies........good one from Meyers........
Seth Meyers tore into Donald Trump last night for making “inflammatory” statement about Orlando without evidence, but he also addressed Trump’s attacks on the media.
You’ll recall that Trump revoked the Washington Post‘s press accessthis week, and as Meyers put it, if this keeps up all Trump will have left following him are “the National Enquirer and Rich Pricks Monthly.”
“We here at Late Night believe in freedom of the press,” Meyers declared, “and therefore have decided to stand in solidarity with them, so as long as the Washington Post is banned from Donald Trump’s campaign, Donald Trump will be banned from ever coming on this show.”
14/ Watch Anderson Cooper put the corrupt and vicious Pam Bondi, your Attorney General, on the spot with a five minute interview about the Orlando shooting......another example of journalism as it should be.....
CNN's Anderson Cooper went after Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) hard in a one-on-one interview Tuesday, calling into question her status as a champion for LGBT Floridians given her work on the legal fight against same-sex marriage in the state.
And for five minutes, he didn't relent.
Cooper began the interview by quoting Bondi as saying that anybody who attacks Florida's LGBT community will be gone after "to the fullest extent of the law." The quote -- and Tuesday afternoon's interview -- were both in regard to the terrorist attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando early Sunday morning.
Cooper then noted that many people in the LGBT community he spoke to did not have much regard for Bondi, given her work against same-sex marriage in the state. Bondi notably, in 2014, wrote in court papers that Florida allowing the recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states would "impose significant public harm." (Cooper used the words "induce public harm.")
That's when things got heated.
15/ While I've been away "Crazy" Slaby aided and abetted by Laurie Tillett on the Mount Dora City Council have been at it again.......thanks to Lauren Ritchie for this column in the Orlando Sentinel....
In the journalism business, reporters joke that a situation is news only if it affects an editor.
An accident forced the editor to drive three minutes out of his way to get to work? Front page! Write about it! If it happened on the other side of town? No big deal.
The same thing is going on in Mount Dora over code enforcement. Unfortunately, City Council members seem headed toward going "proactive" on violations and creating an enforcement squad that is destined to create controversy. Council members need to do some serious thinking before making a cultural change that is guaranteed to backfire and to divide the city.
For years, Mount Dora's attitude has been that code enforcement exists to get folks to comply with the basic rules — no junk cars without tags, no piles of debris, no hay fields in the front yard. The job is more about cleaning up than punishing. It's worked.
Todays video - another short horror movie.....90 seconds.......
Todays golf joke
Many years ago a man accidentally overturned his golf cart.
Elizabeth, a very attractive and keen golfer, who lived in a villa on the golf course, heard the noise and called out: "Are you okay? What's your name?"
"It's John, and I'm okay, thanks," he replied as he pulled himself out of the twisted cart.
"John," she said, (firm loose breasts undulating beneath her white silky robe) "forget your troubles. Come to my villa, rest a while and I'll help you get the cart up later."
"That's mighty nice of you," he answered, "but I don't think my wife would like it."
"Oh, come on now," Elizabeth insisted.
She was so very pretty, very, very sexy and very persuasive ... he was weak. "Well okay," He finally agreed but thought to himself, "my wife won't like it."
After a couple of restorative Scotch and waters, he thanked Elizabeth. "I feel a lot better now, but I know my wife is going to be really upset. So I'd best go now."
"Don't be silly!" Elizabeth said with a smile, letting her robe fall open slightly. "She won't know anything. By the way, where is she?"
"Still under the cart, I guess."
Todays dating joke
Remember all the girls you dated before you got married?
They wanted me to tell you they’re still thinking of you…
Todays blond jokes [male edition]
A blond man is in the bathroom and his wife shouts: "Did you find the shampoo?"
He answers, "Yes, but I'm not sure what to do... it's for dry hair, and I've just wet mine."
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A blond man spies a letter lying on his doormat.
It says on the envelope "DO NOT BEND ".
He spends the next 2 hours trying to figure out how to pick it up.
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A blond man shouts frantically into the phone, "My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart!"
"Is this her first child?" asks the Doctor.
"No!" he shouts, "this is her husband!"
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A blond man is in jail; the guard looks in his cell and sees him hanging by his feet.
"Just WHAT are you doing?" he asks.
"Hanging myself", the blond replies.
"The rope should be around your neck" says the guard.
"I tried that", he replies, "but then I couldn't breathe".
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An Italian tourist asks a blond man: "Why do scuba divers always fall backwards off their boats?"To which the blond man replies: "If they fell forward, they'd still be in the boat."
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A friend told the blond man: "Christmas is on a Friday this year".
The blond man then said, "Let's hope it's not the 13th".
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Two blond men find three grenades, and they decide to take them to a police station.
One asked: "What if one explodes before we get there?"
The other says: "We'll lie and say we only found two."
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A woman phoned her blond neighbor man and said: "Close your curtains the next time you and your wife are having sex. The whole street was watching and laughing at you yesterday."
To which the blond man replied: "Well the joke's on all of you, because I wasn't even at home yesterday!”
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