**************************************
Neo-Nazi gets second life sentence in murder of protester in Virginia
Tacky Even For Tucker
Tales of Bowtie Tucker and Necktie Tucker. Continue reading Tacky Even For Tucker
Month: July 2021
Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – “How DARE you do what we did?” edition
(If you didn’t already know, I’m in Dallas, and have lived in Texas all my life)
Usually, the trope goes “That was then, this is now.”
Today I’m going to reverse it.
This is now :
Texas’ Abbott says Dems who ‘fled’ state over elections bill will be arrested upon return
Fox News via MSN ^ | 7/13/21 | Edmund DeMarchePosted on 7/13/2021, 4:28:14 AM by Libloather
Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas Republican, criticized state Democrats who fled to Washington, D.C., on Monday in an effort to deprive the Legislature of a quorum, thus the ability to vote on the GOP’s sweeping elections overhaul bill.
Abbott appeared on “The Ingraham Angle” on Monday to defend the bill and say the missing lawmakers will be arrested upon their return to the state. He said members of the Texas House of Representatives who are still in the state can call for the arrests of their colleagues who do not show up to vote. The one caveat is the arrest has to be made in the state.
“Once they step back into the state they will be arrested and brought back to the Capitol and we will be conducting business,” he said.
Republicans argue the contentious bill would provide greater election security, while Democrats charge it would suppress voter turnout of minorities.
The exodus was the second time that Democratic lawmakers have staged a walkout on the voting overhaul, a measure of their fierce opposition to proposals they say will make it harder for young people, people of color and people with disabilities to vote.
But like last month’s effort, there remains no clear path for Democrats to permanently block the voting measures, or a list of other contentious GOP-backed proposals up for debate
To: LibloatherDetained and put on a “body attachment”. This is an effective, if somewhat cumbersome method of assuring the designated person WILL comply with assigned duties in connection with the demands of a duly elected or appointed office, or of an appropriate court proceeding. Draconian, but used on occasion in the past, in accordance with old English law. There were once some rather recalcitrant members of Parliament who had to be brought in, and it was often used to assure that the accused criminal was brought before the King’s Bench.
Of course, you could just dunk them in the river to see if they float…
Today a writ of body attachment is used in preference to physically attaching a manacle between the designated person and an officer of the law.
4 posted on 7/13/2021, 4:40:05 AM by alloysteel ( Cows don’t give milk. You have to work for it.)
To: LibloatherWho the hell is advising them? It’s just plain wrong.
Actually, no.
.
This was then :
Oregon Senate Republicans leave the state to avoid climate bill vote
The Oregonian/OregonLive ^ | June 20, 2019 | Hillary Borrud
Posted on 6/20/2019, 1:05:40 PM by gundogOregon Republican senators have left the Capitol and scattered in various directions outside the state in order to avoid being rounded up by troopers for a high-profile climate bill vote scheduled today.Reached just after 7 a.m. Thursday, Sen. Cliff Bentz of Ontario said he was on his way out of the state. “In a few moments, I will not be in Oregon,” said Bentz, who spent most of Wednesday meeting with Gov. Kate Brown’s staff in an effort to negotiate changes to the carbon cap-and-trade plan, House Bill 2020.*********************************Good. That’s the only option remaining to Republicans.
How soon they forget.
.
Actually, I’ve had chameleons with longer memory spans.
To: fruser1If they stay for a vote, the bill passes. If they leave, the Senate cannot form a quorum to hold the vote.It’s the only way to stop stupid.
Took the words right out of my mouth.
Oh – and BTW, love your handle.
More below the fold….
.
Ryne Hancock: The Tool Is There
Get vaccinated, y’all. Continue reading Ryne Hancock: The Tool Is There
SMV: Nina Simone Live At Ronnie Scott’s
Here’s the legendary Nina Simone live in London in 1985: Continue reading SMV: Nina Simone Live At Ronnie Scott’s
Saturday Odds & Sods: Don’t Let Go The Coat
July has been wet, wet, wet in New Orleans. As long as it’s not flood-level precipitation I don’t mind it. It keeps the heat down. That’s summer in the Crescent City: too hot, hot, hot or too wet, wet, wet. My needle seems stuck, stuck, stuck…
Pete Townshend wrote this week’s theme song for the Who’s 1981 album Face Dances. It’s a criminally underrated record that I’ve loved since the first time I gave it a spin. It was the soundtrack of my life in the year I moved from San Francisco to Washington DC.
Don’t Let The Go was inspired by Townshend’s guru Meher Baba who urged his followers to “hang fast to the hem of my robe.”
We have three versions for your listening pleasure: the studio original, Townshend’s demo, and the Who live on German teevee.
Don’t let go the coat as we jump to the break.
Continue reading “Saturday Odds & Sods: Don’t Let Go The Coat”
Walkin’ My Baby Back Home
I never drop gs in my writing or speech. It sounds rural and I’m anything but. I drop a g today in the interest of accuracy. Oh well, what the hell.
Walkin’ My Baby Back Home was written in 1930 by Fred E. Ahlert and Roy Turk. If I were more alert I’d make a pun on Ahlert’s name. Sometimes I don’t know when to stop…
Walkin’ My Baby Back Home was recorded many times before Nat King Cole and Billy May cut the definitive version. That’s where we begin.
Nat also recorded the song on an all-piano album.
Louis Armstrong’s version was recorded before Nat’s, but the latter is the king of this tune; make that King Cole. Louis had the last laugh because he was King Zulu.
Run Through The Milley
I’m debuting a new featured image meme today. I’ve used the above image with the Fog of Scandal, but the ultimate scandal of the Trump Regime deserves its own meme. Books about the disastrous final year of the Impeached Insult … Continue reading Run Through The Milley
Today on Tommy T’s Random Ruminations – “In da HOUSE” edition
I know our beloved Athenae did TV reviews (mostly “Game Of Thrones” and “Battlestar Gallactica”), so please allow me just this one. *************************************************** Ok – for starters, I’m a “House, M.D.” addict, even though I started watching it after the series finished. In spite of the wonderful script-writing, and even better performances from Hugh Laurie, et. al, there was one thing that drove me nuts – the protagonists. The network executives insisted on a protagonist to battle House, because they thought the procedural nature of the series wasn’t engaging enough. They were imbeciles. The first one was the guy who … Continue reading Today on Tommy T’s Random Ruminations – “In da HOUSE” edition
Friday Catblogging: Homestretch
And the winner is Claire Trevor. Continue reading Friday Catblogging: Homestretch
The Senate Is Slow
Slow ride, take it easy. Continue reading The Senate Is Slow
Pulp Fiction Thursday: We All Killed Grandma
Don’t try this at home. Continue reading Pulp Fiction Thursday: We All Killed Grandma
Don’t Fauci My Florida?
Freedom, man. Continue reading Don’t Fauci My Florida?
Death Cults “R” Us
I’ve been referring to the GOP as a death cult for years now, but over the last few weeks it truly has completed its metamorphosis. Back in the early days of the madness that has now taken full control of the party, it only venerated the death of people it considered to be bad or evil, and this manifested itself in strong Republican positions favoring the death penalty and wars that killed people of color. But during Ronald Regan’s second presidential campaign, the conservative political movement decided to marry a conservative religious movement: fundamentalist Christianity. The GOP promised this bigoted, … Continue reading Death Cults “R” Us
Album Cover Art Wednesday: A Pocket Full Of Miracles
There were two more Miracles but they were out of pocket on this silly cover. It’s a goofy take on a mediocre Frank Capra movie, Pocketful Of Miracles. The album is much better than the cover. Here it is via … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: A Pocket Full Of Miracles
Edwin Edwards, R.I.P.
I have mixed emotions about Edwin Edwards who died yesterday at the age of 93. He dominated Louisiana politics for a quarter of a century. He served 2 consecutive terms as Governor followed by 2 non-consecutive terms for a total of 16 out of 24 years. He won 4 of 5 statewide elections the most important being 1991’s election from hell when he defeated David Dukkke. A victory for which I remain profoundly grateful, but I still have mixed emotions about the man and his political legacy.
Edwin Edwards was more than just a politician. He was a folk hero with a Cajun swagger. He charmed his way out of trouble. That’s how he got away with the shenanigans that eventually sent him to prison after 3 corruption trials.
By any standard, his first two terms were a success. I’m not going to repeat in detail what’s being said in the Gret Stet MSM about the 1974 constitution and his concern for the poor and elderly. I think that Edwards’ greatest accomplishment was being the first Louisiana governor to treat Black folks as full citizens. As a result, the African American community became his base through the trials and tribulations of his less successful third and fourth terms.
My first Gret Stetwide election as a Louisiana resident was 1983. The Edwards campaign was a well-oiled machine that year as he defeated Dave Treen a nice but dull man who was the first Republican governor since Reconstruction. Edwards had a lot of fun mocking Treen as a stiff. He later regretted being so snarky about Treen who supported efforts to commute his sentence in the 21st Century.
I voted for Edwards in 1983 and 1991, but not in 1987. His third term was something of a disaster. The oil bust led to cuts in state spending and higher education took the biggest hit. He spent a hefty chunk of that term on trial. He was not convicted but it left a cloud over him that led to his primary loss in 1987 to Buddy Roemer who also died this year. Edwin’s passing leaves the world’s youngest hasbeen, Bobby Jindal, as the only living former Gret Stet governor.
In defeat, Edwards proved his political genius. He declined to face a run-off against Roemer. This has been painted by many as a sign that he knew he’d lose. That’s true but his motivation was to kneecap Roemer politically by limiting his vote to 33%. It worked: in 1991 Roemer got 26% finishing third in the primary.
I’m often asked by out-of-state friends if Edwin Edwards was a liberal. He was by Gret Stet standards but not by national standards. His record on Civil Rights was good but he gave the oil, gas, and chemical companies free reign as long as they paid tribute in the form of higher taxes and campaign contributions. The same went for gambling interests. The latter led to his downfall.
A Victim of FOFO
A few years ago a new acronym entered the lexicon- FOMO. It stands for Fear Of Missing Out, the notion that because via our phones we can see in real time events our friends and relations are engaging in we are somehow missing out on those events by not actually being there.
This past Sunday I became a victim of FOFO. Like FOMO, FOFO involves our relationship with technology and the toys that bring the tech to our fingertips. But FOFO isn’t about missing out on something, it’s about the active desire to not want to know something. FOFO stands for Fear Of Finding Out.
The particular event this relates to was the final of the Euro Cup Soccer Tournament between England (the good guys) and Italy (the less good guys). Out here on the Left Coast the match began at noon. I could not watch it then. There was business to attend to, business that would not be finished till well after the end of the game. No problem thought I. I would simply record the game, avoid any information about what happened in the game, and watch it in pure unadulterated sports ignorance bliss when I got home.
And that’s when I encountered FOFO.
It might not be a big deal here in the US of A, but the Euro Cup IS a big deal everywhere else in the world. While I had disabled all the alerts I have for sports stories and even went to the extent of disabling alerts from news organizations on the off chance a score would find it’s way to my binging phone, I so wanted to know nothing of the match in order to better enjoy it via tape delay that I took to not even looking at my phone the entire afternoon.
That’s a lot more difficult than you would think. I didn’t miss out on anything really important, but every time there was a vibration and a bing in my pocket (is that a bing in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?) I felt I had to ignore it on the oft chance it might contain information I didn’t want to know.
And suddenly I understood the Fox News viewer better than I ever have.
While I didn’t want to know who scored or what team was ahead, the Fox News viewer doesn’t want to get information from any other source on the oft chance he or she might have their preconceived notions of right and wrong challenged. Their FOFO is directly connected to their own self image or perhaps to the lack of same.
Their FOFO is so strong that their elected officials are taking them up on it. January 6th? Never heard of it. Did something happen that day? I just remember there being a lot more than usual tourists traipsing through the building. No big deal.
Today on Tommy T’s Random Ruminations – Terminal Stupidity edition
You know, I’ve tried – really TRIED to have sympathy for idiot anti-vaxxers. I really have. At least I’ve tried to have sympathy for their friends and families they infected while they were asymptomatically blowing the virus into the air around them. But I’m running out of fucks to give. Seriously. A nurse. A fucking ER NURSE. The stupidity of the “You can’t tell me what to do with my body” (irony meter pegged) cult is fatal. Even the ones that COVID doesn’t kill outright will spend a lot of their time in the hospital suffering from the “long-hauler” issues … Continue reading Today on Tommy T’s Random Ruminations – Terminal Stupidity edition
Ashli Babbittry
Sinclair Lewis meets Donald Trump. Continue reading Ashli Babbittry
Today in Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – Failing Fascist Fools edition
Still catching up from my short sabbatical – let’s get to the oldest post and work our way up – it’s Death penalty for protesting!
Videos: Woman Killed After Car Drove Into BLM Rioters Last Night In Minneapolis – BLM Beat The Snot Out Of The Driver
USA Supreme ^ | 06.14.2021 | Bruce HoenshellPosted on 6/14/2021, 7:21:46 AM by USA Conservative
One person was killed and another injured Sunday night after being struck by a car in the Uptown area of Minneapolis during a protest, near the site where Winston Smith was shot by sheriff’s deputies earlier this month.
A witness said the eastbound SUV was moving at a high rate of speed as it approached just before midnight, and that the driver appeared to accelerate as they got closer to demonstrators who had blocked off Lake Street near Girard Avenue.
The driver struck a vehicle parked across one of the traffic lanes on Lake Street, apparently positioned to protect the crowd. That second vehicle then hit people.
*potentially disturbing* Moments after the crash occurred and the driver is being choked out on the ground by ‘demonstrators’.
Additional video from the scene in Uptown:
This appears to be the driver, who was detained by people at the scene. He seemed to be yelling “I’ll take my life.”
The full Facebook video below: Facebook Link
The driver was also taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for his own injuries. Police have not yet released the suspect’s identity or if he currently faces any charges.
The female victim’s identity will eventually be released by a medical examiner.
D.J. Hooker is an organizer with Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar and said people in the street had been playing volleyball and yard games when the crash happened later in the evening.
“A car came at us going like 70 or 80 miles an hour,” Hooker said in an interview. “There was one line of barriers and then a second barrier, and he sped up. He sped up. He went even faster as he approached us. You could hear it … start going even faster as he got close to us.”
Witnesses said the SUV hit the stationary vehicle hard enough to send it moving toward bystanders in the street.
“The car went through the air and it hit a young woman,” Hooker said.
This is a developing story. The USA Supreme will provide more details as they become available.
*************************************************
I hate to say it, but this should serve as a lesson to every demonstrator that thinks they can block a roadway illegally and it will be all hunky-dory. Some people will not stop for you – and you will be seriously injured or killed. That is why you are not allowed to do that.
.
Is it, now?
.
To: USA ConservativeAnybody standing in the road blocking traffic should be killed.
10 posted on 6/14/2021, 7:46:57 AM by Sirius Lee (They intend to murder us. Prep if you want to live and live like you are prepping for eternal life)
There you go. The New Nazis want to implement the death penalty for protesting.
.
I wonder what their reaction would be if someone mowed down a group of anti-abortion protestors?
Probably a bit different, I’d say.
.
In truth, this “death penalty for protestors” thing doesn’t seem to work out that well in the real world :
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (Reuters) – A Virginia state judge on Monday sentenced a self-professed neo-Nazi to a second life prison term for killing a demonstrator when he drove his car into a crowd protesting against white supremacists in Charlottesville two years ago.
Leaving the real world, and diving back into Freeperville :
To: pepsi_junkieOne dead? Well it’s a start.
How well did that work out for you assholes this time? Did the murderer get a gold star and the key to the City?
.
.
Hmmm – not that well, I see.
.
More after the you-know-what –
Continue reading “Today in Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – Failing Fascist Fools edition”
Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with random ruminations – “Big Pharma” edition
“Big pharma doesn’t cure….” I’m sick of people saying that “Big Pharma doesn’t cure diseases”. Cures are few and far between (the most recent cure is the one for Hepatitis),because once the damage is done, it’s done. It’s a little like saying that regular oil changes don’t fix a cracked engine block – of course they won’t, but they might have PREVENTED the hung valve that broke the engine block. The Eliquis I take keeps me from having multiple AFIB-generated strokes like the ones that struck down my Mom and destroyed her brain, (and the ones that paralyzed her Mom … Continue reading Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with random ruminations – “Big Pharma” edition
SMV: Ella Fitzgerald Live In Australia
Saturday Odds & Sods: Silent House
Since the recent death of a family member, I’ve had mortality on my mind. Hence this week’s theme song and an appropriately somber featured image by Edward Hopper.
Silent House is a song about grief and loss. It was a collaboration between Neil Finn and Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, and Emily Robison of The Dixie Chicks. For more information about the song, click here.
The Dixie Chicks recorded Silent House first on their 2006 album Taking The Long Way. Crowded House cut their version for 2007’s Time Of Earth. Since I’m more of a Crowdie fan and prefer their version, we’ll start with it. Sorry, Chicks.
I hope everyone remembers the whole The Dixie Chicks controversy involving their opposition to the Bush-Cheney administration’s War in Iraq. In this Rodney Crowell song, the Yuppie neo-con narrator calls them out.
Now that we’ve heard Rodney sing “give it to me” repeatedly, let’s jump to the break.
The Tracks Of My Tears
Since I complained about the lack of uninterrupted music in my Summer Of Soul review, here’s a stone-cold soul classic. The Tracks Of My Tears was written in 1965 by Smokey Robinson, Pete Moore, and Marv Tarplin. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles first cut this great song, but it’s been recorded over 100 times.
We begin with Smokey and the gang; not to be confused with Kool even though the Miracles *were* cool.
One of the talked over numbers in Summer Of Soul was by Gladys Knight & Pips, so I’ll STFU.
Malaka Of The Week: Michael Avenatti
The Ego Has Crash Landed. Continue reading Malaka Of The Week: Michael Avenatti
The OTHER Recall Election
A popular Democratic politician takes the necessary steps to provide justice and safety to the people of the community and for their trouble takes not only heat from conservatives and know nothings but ends up having to contest a recall election.
Oh, did you think I’m talking about Gavin Newsom and the Half-Witted Recall?
No I’m talking about the OTHER recall that hits a bit closer to home for me.
Jill Ravitch, Sonoma County District Attorney, faces a recall election this September. This even though her term would be over nine months later and she long ago announced she was not going to run for re-election.
So what heinous crime did she commit that requires the extraordinary enterprise of a recall election? Was she caught with her hand in the proverbial cookie jar? Was she allowing criminals to walk away Scot free? Was she in league with the forces of Satan?
None of the above. She did her job. She prosecuted a company for abandoning seniors living in a senior care facility the company ran during the 2017 Tubbs fires, leaving them with no way of getting out even though the area was under mandatory evacuation notices. That’s right, they left grandma to a raging firestorm. Residents of the facilities had to be rescued by loved ones and first responders. Fortunately none of the residents died. The county filed a civil suit against the company. I wish they had filed criminal charges for elder abuse, but the civil suit was the best they could do. The company, Oakmont Senior Living, eventually settled the county’s suit against them for a payment of $500,000.
Now you would think that kind of publicity is the kind you’d like to have just quietly fade into the mists of history. You’d like to think they’d take their licking and hire a good PR firm to smooth out the rough edges. You’d think that, but if you did you wouldn’t be Bill Gallaher, owner of Oakmont Senior Living and one of the larger developers in the county. He decided it wasn’t fair his company had to pay out half a million bucks just cause they left a bunch of old people to potentially die a gruesome death. Nope, he took a clue from the QAnon based recall efforts against Governor Newsom and started a recall petition against DA Ravitch.
According to state campaign financing records Gallaher has bankrolled the entire recall effort by himself. $750,000 or thereabouts. And how did he get Sonoma county voters to sign his petition? He had the petition peddlers tell potential signees that Ravitch needed to be recalled because she didn’t prosecute PG&E, the local power company, for their part in the Tubbs fires.
That is true, she didn’t. She didn’t because she and her office investigated PG&E’s culpability for that particular fire and found, unlike other fires, there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute. As someone I know who has greater insight into the world of law and courts once said, it ain’t what you know is true, it’s what you can prove.
Nevertheless the anger still seething within the public breast over the fires found it’s way into the fingertips of enough registered voters to get the recall on the ballot. And so this September the county will spend somewhere between $600,000 and $900,000 to administer an election that is only happening because of the spite of one man. Continue reading “The OTHER Recall Election”
Friday Catblogging: For The Birds
Taking A Schott At Trump
Here we go again. Continue reading Taking A Schott At Trump
Pulp Fiction Thursday: The Wheel Is Fixed
The house always wins. Continue reading Pulp Fiction Thursday: The Wheel Is Fixed
The Neutral Ground
The Lost Cause has long been a topic of interest here at First Draft. Shapiro wrote about it last Friday and it was a staple of my posting when the New Orleans monuments controversy was at its peak.
It’s back on my mind after watching CJ Hunt’s fine POV documentary, The Neutral Ground; so much so that I created a category for Lost Cause posts in case y’all feel like reading them. I had fun doing so last night. I’m not sure if that’s pathetic or egomaniacal. You decide.
CJ Hunt works for The Daily Show as a field producer. I haven’t seen much of his previous work but here’s his LinkedIn blurb:
Comedian and filmmaker living in NYC. He’s a field producer for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. He has been a staff writer for A&E’s Black and White, and a field producer for BET’s The Rundown with Robin Thede. CJ is a regular host of The Moth. Co-creator of Sunken City, an original series hailed as ‘the New Portlandia’ & featured on Indiewire’s list of web series that “could be the next ‘Broad City’.” CJ has rebranded the confederate flag for Jezebel, condensed the saga of school desegregation into a 3-page children’s book for FunnyOrDie, and created videos featured on Paper Magazine, Upworthy, Bustle, and Racialicious.
Hunt lived in New Orleans for a time, which inspired The Neutral Ground. His Daily Show background is evident in his approach to this material. There was a lot of absurdity surrounding the monuments controversy and a director who has done stand-up comedy is the right man for the job. He also does a good job as the film’s protagonist/presenter.
Watching The Neutral Ground reminded me of a funny story about the monuments flap. A friend, who has since died, was a howling liberal on every subject except the monuments. He belonged to one of those old New Orleans families who had been here since Bienville, the founder of the city. He got into a fight on my Facebook feed about monuments removal. The anti-monuments person called my late friend an “Uptown Garden District snob.”
His reply was classic, “Wrong. I’m a downtown Marigny snob.”
In either event, he was proud of being a snob.
Back to CJ Hunt’s documentary. Since I’m a New Orleanian, I’m going to focus on those aspects of the film although Hunt discusses monuments issues in the Commonwealth of Virginia. His side trip to Charlottesville during the infamous 2017 Lost Causer riot feels like a horror movie.
Hunt gets most things right about New Orleans, which is rare for a short-term resident. It shows that he did his homework. He even survived interviewing bombastic former mayor Mitch Landrieu and bombastic activist Malcolm Suber. I’m acquainted with Malcolm. He’s not one of my favorite people but he’s right on the monuments.
One of my favorite moments was when Hunt did the Civil War recreationist thing. He hung out with some hardcore Lost Causers one of whom is called Butterbean. I am not making this up. Initially, the bearded and bombastic Butterbean was impressed with Hunt’s open-mindedness, but his idea of reciprocity was going to Jazz Fest. Hunt didn’t tell Butterbean that his namesake isn’t served at the Fairgrounds.
I like Hunt’s serio-comic approach to the subject matter. It strikes the right tone. He also nailed the history of the white supremacy monuments in New Orleans and elsewhere.
Album Cover Art Wednesday: Can’t Stop The Love
Maze featuring Frankie Beverly regularly funk it up at New Orleans’ top two music festivals: Jazz Fest and Essence. It’s high time that I featured one of their album covers. I really dig this one by Spanish artist Montxo Algora. … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Can’t Stop The Love