Dang! I was made a dishonerary Republican. 
I got a parade! I had completely forgotten that the Portland Rose Festival Starlight parade, which passes under my window, was last night. I had just fallen asleep when the bands started playing. It was almost midnight when the street cleaners finished up, so I’m pretty pooped today. Here’s a pic:
WWWendy will be here in about 40 minutes, and I hope to finish writing by the time she arrives.
She just left, and I am WAY pooped.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:36 (average 5:17). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (NY Times Channel): Palestinian Medic Killed by Israeli Soldiers at Gaza Protest
What a tragic loss this courageous young woman was when the state of Israel murdered her with the full support of the US Republican Party. I have a reason for calling the war criminal that executed her Butcher Bibi. It’s time to reinstate Nuremburg. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!
From Washington Post: L’etat, c’est Trump.
For months we’ve heard President Trump’s TV lawyers, as he calls them, bandy about the argument that he — or any president, for that matter — couldn’t have obstructed justice because justice is what he says it is.
In other words, that because, they claim, a president possesses absolute power to cut short a criminal investigation, he cannot by definition be guilty of obstructing it. Or, in the famous Nixonian formulation, as Richard M. Nixon told David Frost, “Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.”
But as much as the president’s legal team foreshadowed this contention, it was nonetheless breathtaking to see it spelled out, in uncaveated black and white, in a letter from Trump’s legal team to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.
“A President can also order the termination of an investigation by the Justice Department or FBI at any time and for any reason,” the lawyers, John Dowd and Jay Sekulow, wrote in the January letter, obtained by the New York Times. “Such an action obviously has an impact on the investigation, but that is simply an effect of the President’s lawful exercise of his constitutional power and cannot constitute obstruction of justice.”
Republicans have pushed this absurd Nazi claim for a long time. The last time we saw it was from Fuhrer GW Bush of the Fourth Reich. He claimed to be the unitary executive. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!
From The New Yorker: President Donald J. Trump made Vice-President Mike Pence watch him issue pardons for several hours to see how it is done, a White House source confirmed.
According to the source, Trump pardoned a number of disgraced political figures and former reality-show cronies for the sole purpose of training Pence in the art of issuing pardons.
After signing pardon after pardon while Pence looked on intently, Trump commanded the Vice-President to sign a “practice pardon” to prove that he “wouldn’t mess anything up,” the source said.
Before trying his hand at issuing a pardon, Pence heaped praise on Trump for the pardoning demonstration he had just given.
Andy is reporting straight news again. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!
Cartoon:
A flashback from 2011.
20 Responses to “Open Thread – 6/3/2018”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
5:00 A Catch-22 (well, maybe only 2 or 3). I needed the contents to get a good speed, but I had to do the puzzle first to get to the contents.
NYT – Reinstate Nuremburg – or give The Hague the powers of Nuremburg. Probably a bad idea to do it in perpetuity. Recent U.S. history shows both how corrupted good intentions can get and how fast it can be done.
WaPo – GreyHawk uploaded this for Daily Kos use only, or I would have shown the picture. But do click it. It’s a VERY necessary antidote to this news.
TNY – Straight news. Indeed. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised. In fact, the only satire here is the implication that Bonerhead could do it correctly enough to teach anyone.
Cartoon – If he were from Oscar Meyer, though, he would spell it “Wiener.”
I read bunch of the pundit comments, and probably saw some of the rabid Dumpy fans on a boat ride, last week: One fellow was wearing a Trump hat, and a tee shirt that proclaimed that “Confederate Lives matter.” It showed a cemetery of dead Confederate soldiers. While I can feel for their deaths, I can not appreciate the Confederate flag flying fools I sometimes see. Without the Dump’s presence on the political scene, these memes would be relegated to the cess pool. Another fellow, on the same boat, had a Christian cross tattoo, alongside a tattoo of an AR-15 style rifle! I have the photos to prove it.
Dumpy wil try anything he thinks can save his sorry ass, legal, illegal, or whatever. I hope that the u=issue of a sealed indictment is not a myth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t think Oscar Meyer wants Weiner’s wiener.
I’m sure you’re right about that!!
They would just grind it in with the chicken lips.
If it was Trump’s, there would be enough for only one lip.
That’s a high estimate. ?
NYT: Aww…this is so very, very sad and so tragic this is happening. “Without weapons, we can do anything!” Razan AL-Najjar
WP: Yes, and….Mr. Mueller’s investigation continues, until it’s completed.
NYer: ‘dt issues pardons for several hours’? dt can’t do one task that is over a few minutes long. Without babbling, and lying. imho. LOL, Andy!
Cartoon: UGH!
Such a sweet picture!!! Hope that you get your rest, take care, and Thanks, Tom.
Rest
up TC 
NYT Channel: Damned sad!! Is that the Israeli quick-step version of My Lai?
New Yorker: Well, Pence may not pardon if he does not get direct instructions from the Jesus he hears.
‘Toon: Darn giving Oscar Meyer a bad name!
YT: When Israeli goons murder medics, that shows just how low their administration has sunk!
WP: Trump’s beginning to look a lot like Hit-ler…
TNY: The Orange Ogre will pardon anybody who has the right connections.
Cartoon: Remember when he e-mailed a picture of his Little Gentleman?
Which time? There were so many …
Puzzle — 4:08 Too hot for me!
NY Times — Drumpf and Republicans fully ignited this already simmering firestorm when they announced the moving of the US embassy to Jerusalem. Of course Butcher Bibi was delighted to have US support. Their hands are soaked in Palestinian blood. It is a very sad day when a young woman giving medical aid to her community is killed, murdered by the IDF. There must be accountability.
WaPo — Absolute power??? And here I was naïve enough to believe that the US had a separation of powers as one of the building blocks of its nationhood. No one person, including the president, is above the law. Giuliani and Drumpfs other lawyers are full of bull shit and grasping at straws.
The New Yorker — I am sure the “practice pardon” had Drumpf’s name in it. Although, according to Giuliani I believe, Drumpf can pardon himself. What a crock!!! I agree, Andy is doing straight reporting again . . . or is it still!
Cartoon — Sad and disgusting. He has ruined his life all because he could not control himself or little Willie. He needs professional help.
It is a busy week — I have something every day. Tuesday I take the kids to the vet’s for their annual exams. My vet likes to see all three at the same time . . . he loves them, and they him which is why he is their godfather. I feel better knowing that they will be loved and cared for if something happens to me. Make sure you get some sleep TC.
NYT: Thanks for posting this, TomCat. Razan Al-Najjar was a truly brave woman, a role model for many as a woman, a Palestinian and a Muslim woman. All the Israeli government had to say for themselves was that it was Hammas’ fault. They deliberately put women, children, medical personnel and reporters in harm’s way. Yeah, right. How about starting with not having unarmed demonstrators killed by trained snipers, that should minimize harm quite a bit. ?
WP: Well, the letter dates from January, so obviously Mueller has told them where to shove it. Shortly after that John Dowd resigned/was fired/whatever; seems like they didn’t have much impact with that letter, did they.
TNY: Drumpf forgot to mention to Pence that he’d start to teach his own apprentice how to “do pardons”,because before he knows Mueller is after him too. But Drumpf would never look out for someone else, only for himself of course.
Cartoon: My goodness, that was in 2011 and hardly a war crime, was it.
Great picture of a Rose Festival Starlight float, TomCat. Pity it kept you awake. Your sleeping schedule and a city’s rhythm aren’t well suited for each other, are they. Hope the next suitable room the CCC offers you, is at the back of the building.
Oh, man! Andy was way too close for comfort on this one! Maybe Pence will forget how to do it? He will not do it once he gets that #1 spot!! ?
Been gone for a while. Got surgery tomorrow for hubby. Be gone for a while longer. See ya when I see ya! Later!
Keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well with your husband’s surgery, Vivian. Wish him all the best from me. And my best wishes to you too of course.
What Lona said.
What Lona and JD said!
What those 3 guys above said! My thoughts and prayers are with you and hubby!
Thanks all. Tired Hugs!