Open Thread – 2/2/2021

 Posted by at 11:18 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Feb 022021
 

It’s another painful/tired day here in the CatBox.  I’ve had several trips to the throne room, and while it’s not Republicosis per se, the twisting, pushing and straining is really hard on my back.  Tomorrow, please expect no more than a Personal Update.  WWWendy is coming in the morning and we have lots of chores to do.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:15 (average 4:48).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Republicans who want to distinguish themselves from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene or the insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol should understand something: They’re going to need to distinguish themselves from the Republican Party itself. Because in the wake of Donald Trump’s time in the White House, Republicans had a decision to make. They could have tried to revert to being the party they were in 2015 and 2016—far right, ragingly hypocritical, and ruthlessly committed to partisan power, but with some basic allegiance to reality—and instead they have chosen to stay on the Trumpy road with the conspiracy theorists and the flagrant racists.

In recent weeks, Republicans have provided a long list of examples of how extremist the party is going to be going forward. Oregon Republicans passed a resolution saying that the attack on the Capitol was a “false flag” by leftists trying to make Trump supporters look bad. Arizona Republicans censured Gov. Doug Ducey, former Sen. Jeff Flake, and Cindy McCain for insufficient loyalty to Trump and for defending the integrity of the state’s election. Rep. Matt Gaetz went to Wyoming to rally support against Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House, for having voted to impeach Trump for inciting the insurrection. Don Jr. is also engaged in the attacks on Cheney.

The party’s treatment of Greene is another key example. It’s not hard to find a Republican who will say they oppose Greene’s conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook or Parkland school shootings, or her repeated expressions of interest in assassinating Democratic political leaders. But far from being marginalized over it, she is on the House Education and Labor Committee, which House Republican leadership would have had to agree to. In other words, it’s a repeat of “responsible” Republican responses when Trump would say or do something especially outrageous—they’d claim to be appalled, but go right on embracing him in every way that mattered. And Greene won her primary in Georgia with the backing of Rep. Jim Jordan and Debbie Meadows, the wife of former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

At this point, as never-Trump Republican Bill Kristol put it, House Minority Leader “Kevin McCarthy has been more critical of Liz Cheney than he has been of Marjorie Taylor Greene.” Kristol claims to be astonished by that, but he shouldn’t be. This is the Republican Party right now.

I hoped the party might split between old style Republicans and the Trump** party. It looks like that won’t happen.  It appears the KKK, Nazi, TEABuggery branch has won the day.  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From The New Yorker: In what is being hailed as an amazing act of canine heroism, President Joe Biden’s two German shepherds have dug up Donald J. Trump’s tax returns on the South Lawn of the White House.

According to sources, shortly after the President let Champ and Major out to play in the snow, they started sniffing one small patch of the lawn and digging intently.

Within minutes, the two White House pooches had unearthed twenty years’ worth of Trump’s federal tax returns, which they eagerly deposited on the Oval Office carpet for their master’s perusal.

Dang Andy, those dawgs need to take a vacation to Mar-a Lago, where they can pee on Trump**!  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Democrats Nurse Fresh Memories Of Bad Faith Republican ‘Bipartisanship’

 

The Republican Reich has not changed. Rachel is saying the same things I said yesterday. She knows what Republicans mean when they say bipartisanship.

RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Creedence Clearwater Revival – Green River (Official Lyric Video)

 

Ah… the memories!  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

Build the Future. It Belongs to YOU!!

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Open Thread – 2/1/2021

 Posted by at 11:30 am  Open Thread, Politics
Feb 012021
 

It’s a tired/painful day here in the CatBox.  Yesterday, WWWendy and I got all our chores done.  I feel very tired.  Tomorrow, I expect to be be back in the saddle again.  Oh God, it’s Monday!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:13 (average 5:11).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Donald J. Trump will act as his own defense attorney at his impeachment trial after receiving a law degree from Trump University.

Trump bestowed the degree upon himself in his capacity as the dean of the Trump University School of Law, where he graduated first in his class.

In his first official statement as the lead attorney of his defense team, Trump vowed not to quit the team “like those other losers.”

Andy, what a wonderful idea! Trump** will get the quality of representation he deserves!  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From Crooks and Liars: Tucker Carlson rants about anyone in the media that has dared to call out Fox for it’s dangerous rhetoric egging on white supremacists, and attacks AOC as a “tool of corporate power” for saying there are white supremacist sympathizers in Congress.

Barf Bag Alert!!

 

AOC is a tool of corporate power. The Pope is Jewish. And bears never, ever shit in the woods!  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From Daily Kos: A counterproposal by ten supposedly “moderate” Republican senators that would reduce COVID-19 pandemic emergency funding to a fraction of what’s being proposed by Democrats is landing with a wet thud today, despite the ten Republicans framing their effort around alleged “bipartisan” cooperation. That’s not a surprise; it’s difficult to believe the proposal, led by the perpetually concerned Sen. Susan Collins and including Sens. Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski, Bill Cassidy, Thom Tillis, and Rob Portman, was meant as genuine proposal. And Democrats, to their credit, seem appropriately skeptical about its earnestness.

The proposal sketched out by the ten Republicans in a letter to President Joe Biden on Sunday is most notable for its slashing of proposed pandemic funding. Biden and Democrats are moving towards a $1.9 trillion plan; the Republican senators are instead proposing just $600 billion, less than a third of that amount. It would reduce proposed survival checks from $1400 to $1000, and cut them off for Americans earning over $50,000 a year or families earning $100,000.

It also cuts school pandemic funding, with Bill Cassidy telling Fox News Sunday that the “real problem” is not ongoing pandemic dangers but “teachers’ unions telling their teachers not to go to work.”

The ten Republicans are attempting to sell the fractional measure as bipartisanship, and major news outlets are predictably gobbling those claims, with The Washington Post musing that “the GOP offer presents a challenge for Biden, who campaigned on promises to unify Congress and the country” and Reuters framing the measure and its supporters with the much-cherished “moderate” label. (It should go without saying that the nine of ten Republican senators who voted to nullify consequences for Trump attempting to extort a foreign leader for personal gain cannot be sensibly called “moderate.”) Of special note, the Republicans are framing their proposal as a way to dodge the partisanship of Democrats passing the Biden-backed proposal using reconciliation rules, rather than caving to Republican filibuster.

Well, you know what Republicans mean when they say “bipartisan”.

RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): New Kid in Town (2013 Remaster)

 

Ah… the memories.  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

Build the Future. It Belongs to YOU!

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Video Thread 1/28/2021

 Posted by at 3:17 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Jan 282021
 

Meidas Touch

Really American – The one I posted yesterday had no CC when I posted it. I went back later in the evening to get a transcript, and then it did have CC. So my advice on this one is to wait 6 or so hours and then view it on YouTube.

Now This News – the GameStop affair – explained simply

Robert Reich – very short and very accurate.

Mrs. Betty Bowers, America’s Best Christian

A Philip Markle parody

Beau on how the impeachment trial “should” go. He makes excellent points. ACCOUNTABILITY

Keith from Tuesday

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Open Thread – 1/23/2021

 Posted by at 10:57 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 232021
 

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!!

Build the Future. It Belongs to YOU!

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Open Thread – 1/21/2021

 Posted by at 11:40 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 212021
 

It’s a busy painful day here in the CatBox.  Today is a grocery delivery day from Store to Door, and I just finished unpacking and storing everything.  Tomorrow is a WWWendy day, but she is not coming until early evening, so I should be in the in the saddle.  Thinking of the former resident**, I hope a ravenous golf got his balls.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:08 (average 4:16).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Joe, even though Trump** is a draft evader, do NOT pardon him!

Short Takes:

From Crooks and Liars: Having made it past November, and even past the Jan. 5 runoff in Georgia, it may seem like the airwaves and signboards near you would finally be free of political ads. However … that’s not quite true. While the idea that ads are already showing up for the 2022 election cycle might even be enough to generate howls, there’s a reason that these ads should be welcomed. Because these ads are all about holding Republicans accountable for what they’ve done over the last four years.

That starts with ads that are going on the air in Wisconsin to detail the explicit connection between Sen. Ron Johnson and the violent attempt to overthrow the government. Voters to the south might not be catching those ads, but they could still run across a Josh Hawley billboard from MeidasTouch. It’s all just part of the move to clear the halls of Congress … of the people who promoted a violent attack on the halls of Congress.

0121hawleybb

I love it, but I bet I know who loves it more!  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From NY Times: In 17 executive orders, memorandums and proclamations signed hours after his inauguration, President Biden moved swiftly on Wednesday to dismantle Trump administration policies his aides said have caused the “greatest damage” to the nation.

Despite an inaugural address that called for unity and compromise, Mr. Biden’s first actions as president are sharply aimed at sweeping aside former President Donald J. Trump’s pandemic response, reversing his environmental agenda, tearing down his anti-immigration policies, bolstering the teetering economic recovery and restoring federal efforts to promote diversity.

Here’s a look at what the measures aim to accomplish.

Click through for much more information on what those orders entail.  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Biden Signs Executive Orders; Set To Announce National Covid Strategy

 

I think Joe is off to a great start, but we need to make our voices heard, if he becomes too prone to negotiate based on Republican promises. We know how that worked for Obama.  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (a blast from America): God Bless the USA – I’m Proud to be an American~ Lee Greenwood Lyrics

 

I’ve waited far too many years to be able to say this again, at last!  RESIST the Republican Reich!!

Build the Future. It Belongs to YOU!

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Video Thread 1/13/2021

 Posted by at 1:48 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Jan 132021
 

Really American

The Lincoln Project – Well, this should leave a mark.

She is from New York (suburbs west of NYC). No CC, but here’s a transcript:
“I also intend to see that those members of Congress who abetted him; those members of Congress who had groups coming through the Capitol that I saw on Jan. 5—a reconnaissance for the next day; those members of Congress that incited this violent crowd; those members of Congress that attempted to help our president undermine our democracy; I’m going to see they are held accountable, and if necessary, ensure that they don’t serve in Congress.”

Sound and Fury Messaging

Heather Gardner for Meidas Touch (CC built in, but so tiny I enabled it larger)

Rocky Mountain Mike – great parody of a great song

Beau on Mike Pence – It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic and dangerous.

Keith from Yesterday

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Open Thread – 1/12/2021

 Posted by at 10:52 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 122021
 

It’s a tired/busy day here in the CatBox.  First, although I feel queasy, I have not Republicated in over 24 hours.  Yesterday, Deborah confirmed what I had suspected is the reason for my Republicosis.  When the Oncologist increased my pain medication that made me more prone to Republicitis.  I found a stool softener that I can take with my stent.  That made me more prone to Republicosis.  I kept taking it and a laxative at max dose, so when the shit hit the fan, the shit really hit the fan.  It took four days of Imodium to finally have a better day.  Now it’s a matter of getting my condition stabilized on the right balance of medications.  It will stake some time.  Tomorrow is a WWWendy day, but she won’t come until the evening, so I should be in the saddle tomorrow.  Tuesday is a flush your Republicans day.  I sure hope I have no more to flush.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:22 (average 6:36).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Driven over the edge by his expulsion from Twitter, a deranged Donald J. Trump ordered his two adult sons to hand out flyers with his tweets on them.

The incident occurred at three o’clock Sunday morning, when Trump, wide awake and in a state of extreme agitation, had an idea for a tweet but no platform on which to broadcast it.

Wearing his bathrobe, he summoned his adult sons to the Oval Office and scrawled his tweet on a piece of paper with one of the Sharpies that had served him well in the past.

Reportedly, Trump then commanded Eric and Don, Jr., to go to the nearest copy shop and order ten thousand flyers containing his tweet to hand out on street corners.

According to Trump’s plan, supporters desiring to retweet his tweet would also go to copy shops and hand out flyers, a system he claimed was “better than Twitter.”

Dang Andy! I suspect that the twit* will get writers’ cramp so fast that he’ll stop abusing tweets and go back to abusing twats!  RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!

From Crooks and Liars: If only Rep. Devin Nunes had somewhere like a television station to run to so he could communicate with other conservatives. After the news that Amazon is booting the far right social media site Parler off of its web hosting service, Nunes ran to Fox “news” to gripe to host Maria Bartiromo about how terrible it is that they will no longer have the platform to spread their lies and hatred unabated.

Barf Bag Alert!!

 

Let’s call this what it is. Treason is not included as a right included in the First Amendment. Can you count Nunes’ lies?  RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!

From OPB (Hat-Tip Daily Kos Elections Digest): U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, considered the most moderate Democrat in Oregon’s Congressional delegation, reportedly told House Democratic colleagues on Friday that he was against impeaching President Donald Trump for inciting the mob that broke into the U.S. Capitol.

Then Schrader likened the attempt to remove Trump to a “lynching,” according to reports from ABC News.

The comment on a caucus call drew immediate criticism from some of Schrader’s allies.

Mark Wiener, a powerful Portland political consultant who has worked for Schrader for years dating back to when the congressman served in the Oregon Legislature, quickly tweeted out that his company, Winning Mark, would be severing ties with the legislator.

“Comparing the impeachment of a treasonous President who encouraged white supremacists to violently storm the Capitol to a “lynching” is shameful and indefensible,” Wiener tweeted.

I supported Schrader, even though he’s a “moderate democrat”, but this goes way too far. He needs to be primary challenged in 2022.  RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): Without Accountability, the Next Coup Will Succeed

 

Of course the Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right. The Reich on the right, the Republican Reich, is guilty. All must be punished. As long as the Republican Reich exists, America will not be safe!  RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): JOAN BAEZ ~ Joe Hill ~

 

Ah… the memories! Wherever people are trying to defend human rights, Republicans will be trying to murder them!  RESIST and REMOVE the Republican Reich!!

7 Days (1 Week) Until the Big FLUSH!!

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Open Thread -1/8/2021

 Posted by at 11:28 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 082021
 

It’s a very tired day here in the CatBox.  Unpacking and putting away groceries took over 90 minutes yesterday.  Also, I slept poorly last night, as I wondered how our nation can survive another week and a half.  I expect to be in the saddle tomorrow.  Tomorrow and Sunday are High Holy Days in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb, but my Portland gave a bye in the Wild Card Week of the playoffs!  TGIF!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:45 (average 5:05).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From Crooks and Liars: Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) has been a Congresswoman for approximately 9 minutes, and saw fit to make herself famous by quoting Adolf Hitler in her speech supporting Trump’s attempted coup to overturn Biden’s win in the 2020 election.

 

It America survives, Trump* will be out office on or before the 20th, but He would never have become Fuhrer, if he did not represent the beliefs of the Republican Party, the Nazi Party of America.  RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Two Days After Riots, Trump Reverses His Stance On Election Loss

 

The Republican Reich will parrot Trump’s* teleprompter speech and act like everything else never happened. It’s time for Trump* to become Trump** and for him and the rest of the crew to inmates.  RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Barry McGuire – Eve Of Destruction

 

Ah… the memories! Again?  RESIST!!

11 Days Until the Big FLUSH!!

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