It’s a groggy day here in the CatBox. I slept very well last night, but one good night after several bad is not enough for recovery. My pain level is gradually starting to improve. This afternoon, I’m going to watch my confiscated Portland Chiefs Play the Browns. I’ll be in the saddle for MLK Day tomorrow. Expect evil actions from the Republican Reich. To stay safe, avoid them.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:13 (average 4:37). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Short Takes:
From NY Times: President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., inheriting a collection of crises unlike any in generations, plans to open his administration with dozens of executive directives on top of expansive legislative proposals in a 10-day blitz meant to signal a turning point for a nation reeling from disease, economic turmoil, racial strife and now the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol.
Mr. Biden’s team has developed a raft of decrees that he can issue on his own authority after the inauguration on Wednesday to begin reversing some of President Trump’s most hotly disputed policies. Advisers hope the flurry of action, without waiting for Congress, will establish a sense of momentum for the new president even as the Senate puts his predecessor on trial.
On his first day in office alone, Mr. Biden intends a flurry of executive orders that will be partly substantive and partly symbolic. They include rescinding the travel ban on several predominantly Muslim countries, rejoining the Paris climate change accord, extending pandemic-related limits on evictions and student loan payments, issuing a mask mandate for federal property and interstate travel and ordering agencies to figure out how to reunite children separated from families after crossing the border, according to a memo circulated on Saturday by Ron Klain, his incoming White House chief of staff, and obtained by The New York Times.
The blueprint of executive action comes after Mr. Biden announced that he will push Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion package of economic stimulus and pandemic relief, signaling a willingness to be aggressive on policy issues and confronting Republicans from the start to take their lead from him.
He also plans to send sweeping immigration legislation on his first day in office providing a pathway to citizenship for 11 million people in the country illegally. Along with his promise to vaccinate 100 million Americans for the coronavirus in his first 100 days, it is an expansive set of priorities for a new president that could be a defining test of his deal-making abilities and command of the federal government.
Isn’t it wonderful to look forward to government actions we can support? RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!
From Daily Kos: A few weeks ago, it was still possible to compare the daily deaths from COVID-19 to some past events. 9/11. Or Pearl Harbor. Or D-Day. But all of that went by the wayside as the number of those falling to the virus each day passed 3,000. Then 4,000. 2020 likely saw an unprecedented use of “unprecedented,” and when it comes to the pandemic, that bit of justified awfulness is far from over.
Even in the middle of a pandemic that is killing Americans faster than any war in history, there are still some situations that stand out for the extra awfulness that people can show to each other. That’s certainly true of the Republicans in Congress who refused to wear a mask even as they were huddling together under threat of death from a rampaging mob. As a result, at least four members of Congress have since tested positive.
But there may be no better example of just how terrible people can be, than a tiny group called “Citizens Against Tyranny” in the mid-sized city of Roseburg, Oregon.
As the La Grande Observer reports, this group formed for a specific purpose — to punish anyone who complains about violations of safety regulations connected to COVID-19. That includes publishing the names of anyone who reports safety violations to Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration on “The LIST.”
Two women, both senior citizens and Douglas County residents, were recently fingered by this organization. Their names were published on a website called citizensagainsttyranny.net as part of “The LIST,” and they were labeled “Filthy Traitors.” The words were spattered in red, as if to indicate blood.
This group, which labeled two elderly women “filthy traitors” for upholding a law that’s meant to save not just their lives, but also the lives of their fellow citizens, is supported by Republican state lawmaker Dallas Heard. Which might not be surprising, since in a December session of the Oregon legislature, Heard declared that attempts to halt the pandemic were “campaign against the people and the children of God.” At that point he ripped off his mask and stormed out of the senate. Heard doesn’t just support the Citizens Against Tyranny, he has encouraged it in a plan to ban all those who the organization has doxxed from being served by any local business. “Their faces and their names and what they did must be known,” said Heard.
I ashamed to admit that Oregon has a senator as evil as Missouri’s infamous Jerk-off Josh Hawley, but ours is just a state senator. The “Children of God” worship Republican-supply-side Jesus, the deity with horns, cloven hooves, a pointed tail, and a pitch fork. RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!
From YouTube (a blast from the past): THE YOUNGBLOODS Let´s get together 1967 Chet Powers´s song
Ah… the memories. I have understood for about twenty five years that fear, not hate, is the opposite of love. Hate is a symptom of fear. Understanding that makes it easier to understand the Republican Party. RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!
Wednesday, Dump Trump** Hump Day,
Is the Big FLUSH!!
12 Responses to “Open Thread – 1/17/2021”
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Glad you got more sleep and less pain! Do whatever you can to make that trend continue.
Cartoon – Succinct and accurate.
NYT – Amen. It’s good to focus on things that can be done and postpone those that can’t be done without other things in place first.
Mark Sumner – Let’s hope that no one outside of Oregon follows thiis “lead,” and that Oregon itself can do something about moderating it. My state has crazy people too (Lauren Boebert comes to mind.)
Blast – Let’s. You are correct, and I might add that fear has survival value (when it leads people to recognize and avoid actual dangers.) Hate simply doesn’t.
Cartoon: Yep!
NYT: PTL !! and AMEN !! I’m thrilled and excited! How refreshing, and won’t it be wonderful to see our new President and Vice President committed for actions in a positive manner for the American people!! I’m thrilled!
DK: Good grief!…we have our own down here in Texas. I’m ashamed of our ‘bunch’ too. ugh!
BFTP: Great song!
Enjoy the game! Glad to read about your pain level improving too. Hope that you get a nap in, and relax. Take good, good care, and Thanks, Tom. Wednesday – YAY, YAY, YAY !!
*This just in: “The fact that the Capitol was overrun and sacked and there was no effort whatsoever to evacuate the President from DC to a secure, remote location tells you all you need to know about who launched and directed the attacks.” ~ Jules C.T. ~ *h/t JD*
2. “Kim Jong Un turns down donald trump’s plea for asylum.” ~ Andy Borowitz ~
3. “NY AG Letitia James has 67 indictments ready to be unsealed on January 21, 2021. How about that? Christmas in January!” ~ Kelli C. ~
4. “In other news.. American’s billionaires could give everybody in the country a $3,000 stimulus check and still be richer than they were before the pandemic. It’s past time for a wealth tax.” ~ Robert Reich ~
5. “I don’t say this lightly: When we escape this trump hell there needs to a Presidential Crimes Commission. It should be made up of independent prosecutors who look at those who enabled a corrupt president.”
~ Rep. Eric Swalwell ~
TJI #2 – What! After all those love letters he wrote!
TJI #4 – And they still think they are the real victims.
TJI #5 – I am definitely on board with Rep. Swallwell. Think how frustrated you have been – now imagine on top of that being bombarded wirh letters, calls, emails, tweets – all demanding that you DO SOMETHING! and calling you useless because things just don’t work that way. Our Dems in Congress deserve a lot of credit that they don’t get.
TJI #2 and #3: Trump expect him to be flown by the air force to Florida but is anyone looking into the possibility that he may flee the country? Perhaps not Kim Jong Un but there are enough friendly dictators out there for Trump to choose from.
A resounding “HELL YES” to Rep. Eric Swalwell’s proposed “Presidential Crime Commission”!
It’s good to hear that you slept well, TomCat. Good lab-results and a thumbs-up for your general condition given the circumstances must have given you the peace of mind to sleep well too. Don’t feel obliged to turn out huge posts now, though. Rest and sleep until you’ve recovered fully and your pain has gone down to manageable. You’ll need all your energy for the inauguration.
3:28 Not much meat on butterflies, so better let it go.
Cartoon: And how right he was.
NYT: Of course, Republicans are going to complain that ruling by presidential decree is tyranny, conveniently ignoring that Trump did little else during his four years. They even had to overrule one of his last decrees. Ruling by decree, but backed by Democrats, of course, is the only way Biden can get anything done in this tsunami of crises. If he goes through congress first, some of these crises will have reached their point of no return before the lawmen agree on a bill. It may not even be to the liking of all/most Democrats but I hope they stand by him in this. Let’s be honest, there never has been this unity in the party and the unified support of a president like the GOP has managed, has there?
DK: Well Oregon can’t always lead the way, TomCat. Though this example of how some are turning back the clock on all the beautiful progressiveness coming out of your state is pretty disgusting. Time to stick that label with “Dirty Traitor” right were it belongs.: over Dallas Heard’s mouth.
BFTP: Great song we all should take to heart “right now”, but ACCOUNTABILITY FIRST.
Hoping, here, for more good nights for you.
‘Toon: Ike was the last “decent” Republican president, except that he set us up, unintentionally, for Tricky Dick.
NYT: Rock on, Pres. biden!
DK: Saw this before, and am glad you posted it. It is a reminder that, indeed, only The shadow “…knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men.”
BFP: From their “Elephant Mountain” album, a pean to love and peace unlike any other that I has crossed my path.
Glad your recovery is coming along, even if slower than hoped for. (Then again, what recovery isn’t always slower than hoped for?)
NY Times: It’s so refreshingly wonderful to have actual competent, caring, conscientious adults back in charge!
You’ll be glad to know my Kansas City Chiefs beat the Browns today, despite a concussion suffered by QB Mahomes. I have a sneaky suspicion your Portland Chiefs had a very similar outcome.
Indeed! 🏈
Glad you are feeling and resting better,TC. Well, the Browns did pretty good this season after many sad years. Biden/Harris roaring into the future—–Donnie goin’ to the big house, I hope. Probs bankrupt again,too, if we ever learn his actual financial status. Don’t his followers ever realize he(tRUMP) is the only one who raves about what a great bidness man he is/was? Oh, wait,”reality TV”,LOL! Stay safe, all. See ya here Wed.? Clown puppet gonna have his own “bye-bye” ceremony & then we can celebrate.
Nice hearing that you finally had a decent night sleep. Plus happy to read that your pain level is decreasing. I pray it continues for you.
Cartoon: Yes he did.
NYT: Will be so nice once Biden and Harris are able to start getting our Country back in some sort of order again. We’ve suffered long enough with the worse leader our country has ever had. Good reddens tRumpy.
DK: Shameful. Sick of these evil ones.
BFTP: Great song by the Youngbloods. I’m hope that starting January 20. 2021 we will start seeing Peace and Unity again in our Country.
Hope you had a nice afternoon. I see your Chiefs won.
Take care. Thanks TomCat
Thanks and Hugs to all!