It’s a chilly morning here in Portland. It didn’t snow, but the temperature just warmed up to 36°. My shoulder is improving. I hope your weekend was safe and happy, but guess what? It’s OGIM time!! Oh God, It’s Monday!!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:01 (average 4:59). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Religious Almost Ecstasy:
There is no true ecstasy with Republican Rectum Rage coming.
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos (Classic 10/2014)(Hat-Tip Pat A): Living with a cat for the first time, you quickly pick up on its behavioral quirks, many of which are common among other cats. What you soon find out is that cats aren’t Republican. Here are 12 reasons why not:
1. Cats are curious about what you do in your bedroom, but they don’t try to legislate away your freedom to do it.
2. Cats may take away your cushion, but they’ll give it back to you with a gentle push.
3. Cats give you attention and sympathy when you’re sick.
4. Females are treated with importance in the cat world.
5. Cats make use of solar power, often all day long.
6. Cats lick their own problems and take care of other cats too.
I shared six. Click through for the other six. Since CAT is where it’s AT, if even one fellow feline became a Republican, that would be a CATastrophe.
From NY Times: No one has offered more vivid testimony about the power of money in politics than Donald Trump has in describing his personal history of writing campaign checks to sway politicians. He claims great success in what he calls “a broken system” of special interests. “When you give, they do whatever the hell you want them to do,” he said last year in an interview with The Wall Street Journal [Murdoch delinked]. “As a businessman I need that.”
He took his eyewitness accounting a step further in the primary debates, noting that some of his presidential rivals had previously done well by his checkbook. “Most of the people on this stage I’ve given to, just so you understand, a lot of money,” he said. On the trail, Mr. Trump firmly promised reform: “Our campaign is about breaking up the special interest monopoly in Washington, D.C.”
All the more reason to sigh in regret, more than surprise, at the scale of big-money contributions from corporate and private donors that President-elect Trump’s inaugural committee is soliciting for its celebrations next month. Tiers of V.I.P. donors have been created, aiming to raise up to $75 million from special interests, which won’t be forgotten when the new administration gets down to governing.
The money tree is topped by a million-dollar-plus bracket promising donors a “candlelight dinner,” where Mr. Trump and his wife, Melania, will drop by; a lunch with cabinet appointees and Republican congressional leaders; and special entree to inaugural balls and parties. The tiers bottom out at $25,000, the cheapest ticket in a kind of garage sale for plutocrats.
Will people ever start believing me, when I say that the only difference between the Fuhrer and other Republican politicians and pundits is that he proclaims what they dog whistle?
From Huffington Post: Our country’s privileged few used to exert their control through political surrogates. Now, thanks to Donald Trump, they’re taking a more hands-on approach.
If it weren’t for his appeals to hate, it would be easy to understand why so many voters were taken in by Trump. It’s not just that the middle class is dying, or that wages have flatlined and inequality has soared. It’s that there is real fear behind those numbers.
Millions of Americans, of all races, genders, religions, and national origin, are living in economic fear and distress. Two-thirds of us would have trouble meeting a $1,000 emergency.
That kind of economy is a breeding ground for grift. Studies like those conducted by Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research confirm what professional con artists have always known: people in financial distress are easier marks.
And make no mistake about it: Donald Trump is a con artist. Trump voters have been taken in by a grift so shameless he might as well have pretended to be calling from the IRS.
Trump was always a Trojan horse for the 0.01 percent. And now he’s forming a government of, by, and for the very elites he campaigned against.
Click through for a fascinating read on the Fuhrer’s coming Reich: government of, by and for the 0.01%.
Cartoon:
16 Responses to “Open Thread – 12/5/2016”
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5:48 Hope it isn't fugu.
DKos – I think humans are the only mammals who can spontaneously become Republican, although maybe some that are more trainable than cats can be badly trained that way. When I think of anumals who are naturally Republican, I think of the insects/arachnids who paralyze another creature and lay their eggs inside to feed on the "host." Thanks, Pat, for the referral!
NYT – There is one other difference. His campaign lies are more aimed at ordinary people and are thus more seductive. (This post, despite the title, is mostlay about the idea that "all politicians lie": https://wellthisiswhatithink.com/2016/12/05/is-there-a-mandate-for-brexit-yes-or-no/ )
HuffPo – It is indeed well written, but is it news to anyone who has been paying attention? Ah, well. Can you say "b-a-i-t-a-n-d-s-w-i-t-c-h"?
Cartoon – and in 1940 he became a U.S. citizen. Can it be done that fast any more?
New topic: Ok, I have already sent my Christmas cards, but that would not stop me from getting these and sending a second round, if only they weren't out of my price range. And anyone who objected could, as my Mom used to say, go plotz:
https://sojo.net/articles/british-humanitarian-group-offers-war-torn-christmas-cards
P.S. These are so new and so recent I won't stand behind them, but I have seen today an article saying Bannon is out, and two saying McCrory (NC) has conceded the governorship to his Democratic opponent.
You're One for two. McCrory did concede, but Bannon isa still the Fueher's Himmler.
DK: With cats or kittens, one doesn't have to train them. They know what they're doing, and what they want. I've had cats, and dog my whole life, can't imagine life w/o them.
Thank you, Pat for article.
NYT: Money talks, doesn't it? Sad.
HP: Depressing to say the least.
Cartoon: An amazing man. Around 1947 or so, Einstein also became a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, seeing the parallels between the treatment of Jews in Germany and African Americans in the United States. *bio.com
Glad to read your shoulder is mending, good score for your guys. It's been raining here since Thursday, and cold too!! Enjoy your evening, take care, and Thanks, Tom.
*Joanne, thanks for the link, re: Christmas cards, Thank you.
YVW. Glad someone saw it.
Religious ecstasy, sorta. After all that, I still lost this week! Arg!
Daily Kos: That's my cats, alright! But they aren't the "lap cats"!
Wouldn't it be funny if the recounts and then the Electoral College votes AGAINST him and put Hillary in there? Wow! That would make me ECSTATIC!!!
The .01% are sure getting what they paid for! And the poor 99.09% are REALLY getting screwed!!!
Thanks, TC!!!
There is also the possibility that, if enough Republicans can be persuaded to vote for a Republican other then Trump, if Democrats agreed to join them, a less insane Republican could be put ito office. Thia would not be ideal but it would be better than Trump.
NY T: Who ever said that he/she did not believe you about Rumpy's BS?
Huff Post: No shit Sherlock! That anyone might have believed this Orange POS is byeond my capacity to understand. I can, however, understand at least some wealthy people figuring they could ignore his character, for the sake of the windfall his winning might bring them, and to hell with whomever might be hurt by his presidency, would certainly fund and vote for him. Those types did not care about the ordinary person before Rump came along, and never will. I think that the 20, or so, years of GOPig Hillary bashing took its toll, made her an easy mark, softened the fools for some eventual final attack, and it worked. Mean peole suck…but, sometimes they win!
Daily Kos: This is why I love cats! They will not take any crap from you, but they will comfort you when you are sad or ill, and always be by your side when you need them. They won't run off to chase a rabbit, or howl at the moon, either.
NY Times: And yet, the poor and unemployed voted for him! We have said D.C. was bought before, now it is well and truly owned by the rich. Trump will get every last dollar he can out of being President.
Huffington Post: Trump is composing a cabinet of his peers, rich, arrogant con artists, who will use their time in office to finish off the middle class. They will need us to clean their toilets and polish their shoes.
Cartoon: Trump and his ilk would have blocked him.
Well Portland may be snowless today but Metro Vancouver certainly is not. It started snowing last night, and except for a few brief periods today, it has not stopped. Here the snow is "wet" so the commute tomorrow morning should be just duckie! It will be truly ugly with overnight temperatures of between -7 and -5 C (20-23 F). ICE!!! The snow blade just went through the complex as did the salter. My neighbour shovelled my walk, the neighbour's on his other side, as well as his own. Great guy! The furbabies are not accustomed to the sounds of the blade or the shovel so went diving under the bed.
Puzzle — 3:23 Edible or not, no fishie for the Puddy Tat today!
Daily Kos — L
ve it!!! And it is so true! Great find Pat!
NY Times — I believe you! It is a further indication that Citizens United needs to be overturned.
Huff Post — Bait and switch indeed!
Drumpf's entire campaign was one bait and switch after another. He is a serial grifter. Drumpfenfarten, Liar-in-Chief.
Cartoon — Wikipedia has a great piece on Einstein.
Today's Republicans, as mirrored in Drumpfenfarten, would surely treat Einstein as the Nazis treated other Jewish intellectuals, and ultimately Einstein himself.
Sorry about your blizzard. We get the deep freeze tonight.
Cats are wonderful aren't they? (Yes TC, of course you are included!). A few years ago, my darling Ellie (German Shepherd, highly intelligent, slim and fit) went on a four day hunger strike when my beloved 16 year old cat had to have the dread final visit from the vet … and Ellie refused to eat till a new kitten arrived, courtesy of our local cat rescue – and the joy, the shining JOY in her face had to be seen to be believed – for my darling Ellie life without a cat to take care of was unthinkable – as it is for me.
So glad everyone liked the Daily Kos cat article – I did like it too! (Whenever I have been seriously ill both my animals have taken care of me, each one doing a four hour shift and one alertly but calmly being on duty whilst the other slept – always by my side and caring for me (at first, before I twigged what was going on, I kept trying to struggle to my feet in case they needed something – then their message got through). It has happened on several occasions now, and must add up to several dozen shifts they divided between them, and always that way, my dog sitting beside my bed gazing at me for the whole four hours [at least when I woke she was,] and my cat when on duty sitting beside my pillow purring me better – far too many to be a coincidence).
Huff Post – I don't think that many intelligent people were conned by Trump – but the terrible trouble seems to me that the sadly stupid who were taken in by him don't seem able to realise that they were conned – they still believe all the drivel that he parrots – which is not so much worrying but terrifying.
Woke after a couple of hours sleep last night worried that Trump was going to destroy the whole world – as he well might in a few weeks/months. How many decades have we worried about terrorists destroying and crippling people and yet the future POTUS might destroy the whole world – and never realise what he has done.
I think I will cuddle my cat and feel a tiny bit better….!
Well, if you need to take care of a cat, then jump the pond and tale care of ME!!
You mean you would jilt Wendy? Or do want more than one woman at your beck and call?
Glad to hear your shoulder is getting better, TomCat. These things take forever to recede into the background again, don't they.
DK Classic: " 10. While Republicans blindly follow authority, it is said that getting Democrats to act in unison is like herding cats." Without becoming too Republican, Democrats would do well to become a little less catllike in this respect right now and start resisting in union. 😀
NYT & HuPo: Untill now the 1% had to largely work behind the screen to influenece GOP politics, but self-professed swamp drainer Drumpf makes it a lot easier for them: he simply puts them in his cabinet:
Name
Position
Estimated worth (Forbes)
Drumpf
President
$3.7bn
Betsy Devos
education secretary
$5.1bn
Wilbur Ross
commerce secretary
$2.5bn
Todd Ricketts
deputy commerce secretary
$1.75bn
Steven Mnuchin
treasury secretary
$40m
Elaine Chao (married to Mich McConnel)
transport secretary
$17m
Ben Carson
housing secretary
$30m
Tom Price
health and human services secretary
$9m
To be fair, there are some top notch 1%ers in Obama's cabinet too: Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, at $2.4bn, Secretary of State John Kerry att $200m, and several other Obama cabinet members are estimated to be in the $1m-$10m range. But Obama has never vowed that he would drain the swamp in his elections, nor is he a billionaire himself.
I have nothing against billionaires. Ones like Soros and Pritzer are great. Ones like Trump, Devos and the Kochs are Nazis.
Thanks all! Hugs!!