Glenn Kirschner – Justice never just happens. It’s good we have people like Glenn (I wish we had more of them.)
Meidas Touch talks with Ro Khanna
The Lincoln Project – I know everyone is sick of Matt Getz .. but this is too funny.
The Damage Report – It is a start. I know it feels like we have been waiting forever.
Ring of Fire – Even a small shot at Trump** is nice when it’s from itch.
Armageddon Update – Titus addresses bothsiderism.
Beau on Wayne LaPierre’s “little trip.”
Meidas Touch – Media slant
The Lincoln Project “Matt Gaetz”
Trae on Georgia boycotts
MSNBC – BBMM makes Bernie laugh (OK, it’s actually more of a sardonic grin.)
American Bridge – I try to include something funny that’s not political – but so much today that’s political is funny – in presentation, if not in subject – the new “Karen” can wait a day or two.
Beau talks about Beau, and a story
Keith, from yesterday – straight from Madison Suare Garden.
Really American
Now This News – I don’t know why people can’t grasped that he WAS IMPEACHED WHILE IN OFFICE and the a TRIAL NEEDS TO FOLLOW and that has nothing to do with whether he is still in office.
The Damage Report – The headline is an oversell, but there is good info.
A tweet just for fun
he crashed his bike pic.twitter.com/Z1jF3vVkLb
— The Feel Good Page ❤️ (@akkitwts) February 3, 2021
Puppet Regime
Rocky Mountain Mike (be nice if he’d do Boebert also)
Beau – I’ve been sitting on this one for a while, to give us some breathing time – but it needs to be seen sooner or later. Especially by younger people.
Meidas Touch – (Debra Messing also wants Trump** in prison, BTW)
Now This news – All is not well even though Trump** is out of office.
Really American – Marjorie Taylor Greene
The Alt-Right Playbook – Control the Conversation
Drew from WellRED
Beau on Bernie and the budget.
Beau on impeachment procedures (ACCOUNTABILITY)
It’s a tired day here in the CatBox, but my pain level is better than it was yesterday. I think the Republicitis was exacerbating the pain. Tomorrow is a High Holy Day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb. I will spend the late afternoon booing Josh Hawley and watching my Portland Chiefs play the Buffalo Bills for the NFC title. Tomorrow please expect no more than a Personal Update. I have a video meeting with prison volunteer coworkers and former prisoners. Have a fine weekend.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:06 (average 5:09). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: Seven Senate Democrats are demanding that the Senate Committee on Ethics open an investigation in the actions of Republican Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz for their actions related to the Jan. 6 violent insurrection against Congress.
The two “amplified claims of election fraud that had resulted in threats of violence against state and local officials around the country,” the Democrats write. The group—Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tina Smith (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH)—notes that the Senate has the exclusive power to determine whether the members’ actions violated Senate ethics rules. They are asking the Ethics Committee to carry out a “thorough and fair investigation and consider any appropriate consequences based on the Committee’s findings.”
“When Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley announced they would object to the counting of state-certified electors on January 6, 2021, they amplified claims of election fraud that had resulted in threats of violence against state and local officials around the country,” the senators write. “While Congress was debating Senator Cruz’s objection, a violent mob stormed the Capitol. These insurrectionists ransacked the building, stole property, and openly threatened Members of Congress and the Vice President.” The two didn’t just help incite the riot, the Democrats wrote, but “[b]y proceeding with their objections to the electors after the violent attack, Senators Cruz and Hawley lent legitimacy to the mob’s cause and made future violence more likely.”
The senators write of their concern that members of Congress could have been involved in the coordination not just of the rally that preceded the attack on the Capitol, but the attack itself. They provide a detailed and well-researched account of the events of the day as well as the background to it, including the threats of violence that were leveled against officials prior to Jan. 6, threats incited by Trump’s fraud claims and reinforced by Hawley and Cruz, who “lent legitimacy to President Trump’s false statements about election fraud by announcing that they would object to the certification of electors on January 6.”
I fully support this move. If these RNP (Republican Nazi Party) traitors are allowed to get away with it, they and others will surely do it again. RESIST the Republican Reich!!
From YouTube (CNN Channel): Complete bunk’: Erin Burnett calls out Sen. Hawley’s explanation
As long as Biden agrees to the delay, it works for me. It also gives more time to gather evidence sufficiently obvious that it forces Republicans to either proclaim their own treason, like Cruz and Hawley, or to vote to convict. RESIST the Republican Reich!!
From YouTube (Bernie Sanders Channel): We Cannot Reach Out To Republicans Indefinitely.
I fully agree. Republicans are most adept at holding out a fair negotiated agreement as a promise to Democrats in order to gain an advantage, only to act like Lucy with a football. Give them a chance, but one only. RESIST the Republican Reich!!
From YouTube (a blast from the past): Fleetwood Mac – Landslide (Official Music Video)
Ah… the memories. We needed a landslide. We got one! RESIST the Republican Reich!!
Speaker Pelosi on Impeachment and Unity
The Lincoln Project is also taking on Hawley. (And Meidas Touch is also taking on Cruz.) All their help is appreciated.
Meidas Touch (https://www.democraticunderground.com/emoticons/hattip.gif Mitch)
Founders Sing – “Impeached Again (Naturally)”
Now This News – As a Bernie Sanders lover who is also a knitter, I could not resist this.
“Insurrection-y Street” – a child could understand it.
This may not be the timing I would have employed to play this, but it was a request video. It is 6 minutes 43 seconds – and don’t start it if you can’t finish it – because it needs to be seen in full.
There seems to be a general consensus that Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman was a breakout star at the Inauguration last Wednesday with her memorable rendition of “The Hill We Climb”.
But what also will be remembered is Bernie Sanders sartorial choices for such a solemn occasion. Vermont’s Senator-cum-Grandfather haberdashery was memorable in its own right. Enough so that the Memes just started pouring out!
In case you were out of the country and missed it, here’s a quick review of what inspired all the creative juices to flow:
WRT that manilla envelope he’s carrying – apparently Bernie had a few errands to run afterwards, including a stop at the post office.
(Actually it’s been reported that the envelope was the official Inaugural Invitation with all the related packet materials.)
There were literally hundreds and hundreds of creations, so it was hard to get it down to a manageable number. And then to make presentation easier, I decided to group them in very broad categories, so they don’t take up quite so much real estate.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t pay homage to Bernie’s predecessor for Memes when Chris Christie got caught sunbathing at Island Beach State Park over the July 4th weekend back in 2017 – even though the entire island was closed to the public because of a NJ statewide government shutdown.
Keeping in the political arena, I think these are pretty self-explanatory – from the Grand Alliance portrait to the closing Inaugural fireworks. (But I got a real kick out of the Trumpkin domestic terrorist stealing Bernie rather than Pelosi’s Speaker podium.)
Vogue Cover; Beatles; Bernie Challenges Ringo; Where’s Bernie (He’s in there – you can stop the slideshow by clicking on the photo); Lunch Atop a Skyscraper (Photographer of Iconic Photo Is Unknown); A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (George Seurat); The Last Supper (Leonardo da Vinci)
These are also pretty self-explanatory
Some are obvious to us oldsters, while some are more familiar to newbies. I tried to put them in chronological order:
Breakfast Club; Basic Instinct (Unlike Sharon Stone, PUH-LEAS Bernie – do NOT uncross your legs! We’re begging you!); Forrest Gump; Big Lebowski; Hamilton
Several folks created GIFs of the Bernie Meme. The two I liked best were Bernie on a subway train and on a roller coaster.
Presenting: Lofi Bernie Sanders. pic.twitter.com/BIKFjaabYO
— GOOD (@good) January 20, 2021
— Chanandler Bong 🇺🇸 (@_ChanandlerB_) January 21, 2021
There was a web site that allowed you to create your own Bernie Meme – but it got too expensive for the NYU Masters degree student to post them.
I’ll give the last word to Jen Ellis – who gifted the now-famous mittens to Bernie a couple of years ago.
I made Bernie’s mittens as a gift a couple years ago. They are made from repurposed wool sweaters and lined with fleece (made from recycled plastic bottles). #BerniesMittens pic.twitter.com/lTXFJvVy9V
— Jen Ellis (@vtawesomeness) January 21, 2020
It’s another tired day here in the CatBox, but I managed another post today. Tomorrow is a WWWendy Day. After the destinking the TomCat, we plan to have a special dinner. I will still be in the saddle tomorrow, as she’s coming in mid-afternoon. But I’m not big on year in review articles, so I don’t know what I’ll have to work with. Tonight we can celebrate New Years Eve together: ZZZZZZ with me!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:13 (average 5:38). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: The House of Representatives had a busy Monday, returning early from the Christmas break to easily override a Trump veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and pass a boost to the stimulus bill survival checks from $600 to $2,000. So Trump got a rebuke and a gift at the same time. Trump was walloped on the NDAA, with 322 voting to override to 87 sticking with him.
The Senate will convene at noon on Tuesday, when Sen. Mitch McConnell will indicate how the Senate is going to proceed with what the House is presenting to him this morning. The veto override won’t be an issue, even though it requires the same two-thirds majority as in the House. The Senate passed the NDAA with a 84-13 margin under Trump’s veto threat. The override vote could happen as soon as Wednesday, or Democrats could force a delay as they demand a vote on the $2,000 survival checks.
Loeffler and Perdue are now on board, saying “yes” to the checks. After saying “no,” of course.
Sens. Bernie Sanders and Ed Markey have vowed to block the defense bill until they get a vote on the $2,000 survival checks. “That relief passed in the House today with 44 Republicans voting for it,” Markey tweeted Monday. “Senate Republicans must do the same and get the American people the help they need.” Sanders said in a statement Monday, “Let me be clear: If Sen. McConnell doesn’t agree to an up or down vote to provide the working people of our country a $2,000 direct payment, Congress will not be going home for New Year’s Eve.”
Major Kudos to Bernie. A New Years Eve filibuster has the added benefit of slowing the spread of Trump* virus by keeping GOP Senators from sponsoring super-spreader events at home. Nevertheless, it won’t work, because Bought Bitch Midnight Moscow Mitch will not give-in. RESIST!!
From Crooks and Liars: You would think being “anti-wife beating” would be a bipartisan thing.
But what about “that guy I went out with once is stalking me and he has a gun”?
This week Senate Republicans again showed us who they are.
Senate Republicans are blocking re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) over the so-called “Boyfriend Loophole.” USA Today:
…the most recent version of the bill passed by the House last year intended to close the “boyfriend loophole,” which proved to be a large point of contention for many Republicans.
Previous versions of the act barred those convicted of domestic violence or abuse from purchasing and owning a gun if they were married to, lived with or had a child with the victim. But the 2019 amendment hoped to extend that provision to include dating partners and stalkers.
Though it had support from all Democrats who voted but one, only 33 Republicans voted to move the legislation forward, and the GOP has been accused of giving into the National Rifle Association, which has opposed the change.
Blocking VAWA to protect the gun rights of stalkers with a history of domestic violence is so evil it’s… Republican. Thank God for Joe. RESIST!!
From NY Times: Josh Hawley became the first senator on Wednesday to take up President Trump’s demand that lawmakers challenge the results of the 2020 election, saying he would object to Congress’s certification of the Electoral College results on Jan. 6.
The move by Mr. Hawley, Republican of Missouri, is unlikely to alter the outcome of the election, but it will force Republicans to publicly affirm President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory in a politically fraught test of loyalty to Mr. Trump.
Mr. Hawley, an ambitious freshman senator, framed the objection as “an effort to highlight the failure” of states “to follow their own election laws as well as the unprecedented interference of Big Tech monopolies in the election.” He did not repeat the president’s false claim of widespread voter fraud.
“Millions of voters concerned about election integrity deserve to be heard,” Mr. Hawley said in a statement. “I will object on Jan. 6 on their behalf.”
The decision ensures that the certification process, typically a formality, will instead become a debate on the House and Senate floors, elevating Mr. Trump’s repeated false assertions. The Constitution requires that challenges to the certification process be endorsed by lawmakers in both the House and Senate. While Mr. Trump’s most strident allies in the House had announced that they would object to Congress’s effort to certify the Electoral College results, they had so far been unable to persuade a member of the Senate to publicly back their effort.
What an asshole! And what an embarrassment to residents of that state. While no citizen of that state is to blame, except those that voted in that Nazi, Hawley makes Missouri such embarrassing misery that the Kansas City Chiefs should relocate out of shame… preferably to Portland or Denver. RESIST!!
From YouTube (a blast from the past): Steppenwolf – Born To Be Wild
Steppenwolf wanted to create rock music as it might have developed here, had there been no British influence. Ah… the memories! RESIST!!