Open Thread – 12/31/2020

Posted by TomCat at 11:19 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 312020

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!!

19 Days Until the Big FLUSH!!

Open Thread – 12/6/2020

Posted by TomCat at 11:23 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 062020

It’s a busy day here in the CatBox. I had a fine breakfast of steak in scrambled eggs, yogurt, rye bread and butter. I took a morning nap. I did my research. Today is a holy day in the Church if the Ellipsoid Orb. My Broncos are playing on Sunday Night Football this evening, so it will be televised here. May the Holy Ellipsoid Orb shine its blessed light on your team, unless they play in an arrow head. Have a fine Sunday!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:15 (average 5:07). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

An annual day of mourning for the Republican Reich!

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Lately, it seems that right-wing heroes and heroines du jour turn out to be slimeballs and reprobates. Well, add another to the list—Melissa Carone, the star witness in the Trump campaign’s attempt to overturn Biden’s win there due to baseless claims of voter fraud.

By now, you’ve seen Carone’s bonkers testimony before a Michigan state house panel, in which she claimed to have seen all manner of fraud while votes were being counted at the TCF Center. Her claims were so off the rails that even Rudy Giuliani had to try to rein her in. Earlier, she’d claimed to have seen ballots smuggled inside vans. A judge had previously ruled Carone’s claims were “not credible.”

For most of the week, people have wondered whether Carone had been too well served during her testimony. But it turns out there’s another reason to question her credibility. Two years ago, she was busted for sending obscene messages to her boyfriend’s ex-wife.

As I see it, sexual content is not what made this sleazy. What made it so is that her boyfriend’s ex-wife apparently did not consent to be the recipient of Carone’s GOPORN. That she did this should not surprise anyone. The gospel in a Republican Reich is that women should be obscene and not heard. RESIST!!

From NPR (Hat-Tip Mitch [ours, nor BBMM]): Under the order filed Friday, Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn instructed the Department of Homeland Security to begin accepting new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program as soon as Monday.

In his ruling, Garaufis said the terms of the federal program must be immediately restored to what they were “prior to the attempted rescission of September 2017” when the White House began a series of maneuvers to dismantle the program.

The judge also instructed officials to reinstate two-year permits for qualifying applicants. Over the summer, the administration had begun issuing one-year permits.

Kudos to Judge Garaufis, who was appointed by Bill Clinton. There are few judges left that do not bear the 666 of Bought Bitch Midnight Moscow Mitch etched into their foreheads. Win the Senate! RESIST!!

From YouTube (SNL Channel): Michigan Hearings Cold Open

As talented as she is, Kate just cannot convey the sense of evil with which Rudy 9/11 reflects the Republican Reich. Nevertheless, SNL was hilarious as usual. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast of Christmas): Nat King Cole – Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

May God grant that our nation and the whole world might overcome the pseudo-Christian hatred that the Republican Reich has inflicted on us! RESIST!!

44 Days Until the Big FLUSH!!

Open Thread – 11/30/2020

Posted by TomCat at 8:42 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Nov 302020

It’s a tired day here in the CatBox. I should be laying down to rest my back, but Deborah, my Providence Home Health Doctor is due in an hour for a routine checkup. My back is already hurting severely. WWWendy and I had a fine dinner yesterday (see below). Oh God it’s Monday!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:26 (average 5:31). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Thanksgiving Dinner:

1129Tgiving

Religious Agony:

1129Broncos3-Saints31

They might have done better. if criminal Fuhrer Satan* had not attacked their QBs with his plague.

Short Takes:

From NY Times: President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. twisted his ankle playing with one of his dogs over the holiday weekend, an injury that his doctor said on Sunday resulted in hairline fractures in his foot that would most likely require him to wear a walking boot for several weeks.

Although initial X-rays showed no obvious fracture, a “follow-up CT scan confirmed hairline (small) fractures of President-elect Biden’s lateral and intermediate cuneiform bones, which are in the midfoot,” Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the director of executive medicine at GW Medical Faculty Associates, said in a statement distributed by Mr. Biden’s office.

This is, in my opinion, President-elect Biden’s first major political blunder. He should NOT have been playing with a dawg. A DemoCAT is where his play should be AT!! RESIST!!

From YouTube (CNN Channel): Biden announces all-female communications team, diverse economic team

I like these choices. More women and more women of color add diversity where it is badly needed. The only diversity in the Fifth Reich was spreading influence between Banksters, Nazis, KKK, Homophobes, Misogynists, Koch Suckers, and White Supremacists! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast for the planet): Julian Lennon – Saltwater (1991)

Never since has this song been more appropriate. RESIST!!

50 Days Until the Big FLUSH!!

Republicans on Parade–7/24/2020

Posted by TomCat at 11:15 am Politics

Jul 242020

Here is the one hundred eightieth article in our Republicans on Parade series, featuring individuals who personify what the Republican Party has become. Today’s winner is the idiot, hate-filled Congressman Ted “No No” Yoho [R-FL]. He is so honored for a bogus apology to the magnificent AOC after making vile misogynous slurs.

If you click on only one thing today, let it be Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Thursday morning speech, delivered from the House floor and directed to a fellow member of Congress, but really to us all.

“You can be a powerful man and accost women,” said the New York Democrat. “You can have daughters and accost women, without remorse. You can be married and accost women. You can take photos, and project an image to the world of being a family man, and accost women, without remorse, and with a sense of impunity. It happens every day in this country.”

Two days prior, on the steps of the Capitol, Ocasio-Cortez found herself in a heated conversation with Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.). He called her “disgusting,” he said she was “out of [her] freaking mind,” and when the discussion ended, Yoho allegedly uttered the words, “f—ing b—h.”

Inserted from <Washington Post>

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) Responds to Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL)

Kudos to AOC!

On Yoho the Yo Yo, the one thing that baffles me is how that Republican hatemonger and misogynist has escaped getting a parade before now! I apologize for the delay!

RESIST!!

Open Thread–7/14/2020

Posted by TomCat at 8:02 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 142020

It’s a very busy day here in the CatBox. WWWendy and her friend Kristin are coming to destink the foul TomCat, gelp with chores, and prepare a ton of goop. This is my only article today.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:52 (average 4:59). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Trump* Virus Update:

0714TrumpVirusMap

Map Reference: (click through for interactive map)

US Cases: 3,480,097
US Deaths: 138,273

Short Takes:

From Crooks and Liars: It’s really hard to muster much sympathy for people like these, people who stubbornly refuse to accept science and common sense and in the end work against the common good. Waldron voted in the majority against a countywide facemask mandate only last week.

I think that, when this Republican arrives in hell, he’s going to find a lot of stupid Republican Sheeple, who are furious at him! RESIST!!

From YouTube (RWW Channel): Scott Lively Says Giving Women the Right to Vote Was a ‘Product of the Soviet Bolshevik Revolution’

Barf Bag Alert!!

If women are not barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen, they are not fulfilling the role Republican Supply-side Jesus intends for them. Republican Supply-side Jesus is the false Jesus Republicans invented to justify their hate, greed and lies. He is the exact opposite of the real Jesus RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast played at Woodstock): Ten Years After – I’m Going Home(Woodstock 1969 Concert), Mono-Mix from 1969 Cotillion LP recording.

Dedicated to all who were or wanted to be at Woodstock with me. Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Open Thread–7/11/2020

Posted by TomCat at 7:50 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 112020

It’s a busy day here in the CatBox. WWWendy is coming this morning, and we have lots to do. Have a great weekend.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:53 (average 4:26). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Barf Bag Alert!!

Trump* Virus Update:

0711TrumpVirusMap

US Cases: 3,293,532
US Deaths: 136,720

Short Takes:

From CNN: The top writer for Fox News host Tucker Carlson has for years been using a pseudonym to post bigoted remarks on an online forum that is a hotbed for racist, sexist, and other offensive content, CNN Business learned this week.

Just this week, the writer, Blake Neff, responded to a thread started by another user in 2018 with the subject line, “Would u let a JET BLACK congo n****er do lasik eye surgery on u for 50% off?” Neff wrote, “I wouldn’t get LASIK from an Asian for free, so no.” (The subject line was not censored on the forum.) On June 5, Neff wrote, “Black doods staying inside playing Call of Duty is probably one of the biggest factors keeping crime down.” On June 24, Neff commented, “Honestly given how tired black people always claim to be, maybe the real crisis is their lack of sleep.” On June 26, Neff wrote that the only people who care about changing the name of the NFL’s Washington Redskins are “white libs and their university-‘educated’ pets.”

And over the course of five years, Neff has maintained a lengthy thread in which he has derided a woman and posted information about her dating life that has invited other users to mock her and invade her privacy. There has at times also been overlap between some material he posted or saw on the forum and Carlson’s show.

The Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda , Faux Noise, is so rabid that I’m surprised that Fucker Carlson didn’t use more of his Nazi Republican writer’s screeds on the air. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Trae Crowder Channel): Trae Crowder and Mark Agee discuss whether Joe Biden is too boring to win

Amen Trae! I’ll readily admit that criminal Fuhrer Trump* is more “exciting” that Joe Biden. However, given the heinous behavior of Trump* and the Republican Reich, haven’t we had enough of this so-called excitement for one lifetime? RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Goldman On Roger Stone: Trump Basically Commuted A Co-Conspirator

Stone to Trump*: “If I go to prison, so will you.” That’s the bottom line. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast played at Woodstock): the Who Woodstock (Director’s Cut)

Dedicated to all who were at Woodstock or wanted to be. Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue No Matter Who Top to Bottom!!

Protecting Roe

Posted by TomCat at 9:52 am Politics

Nov 302019

So, what’s my opinion about abortion? Well, I’ll tell you what. It doesn’t matter. First, I have no intention to do any more reproduction. Second, as romantically involved as I’d love to become, I’m afraid I’ve forgotten how. And most important, the only people, whose opinions do matter, are pregnant women, and then, only insofar as their own bodies are concerned. However, I will share the opinion that a woman’s right to choose is under assault by the Republican Party like never before.

Abortion is still technically legal in America, but more than 19 million U.S. women live in areas with less than one health center or provider for every 1,000 women in need. This is largely because clinics have been hindered by Targeted restrictions on abortion providers (TRAP), which limit abortion access by forcing clinics to comply with absurd rules that are cumbersome and medically unnecessary. This obvious targeting of abortion providers, which has undoubtedly contributed to 275 abortion clinics closing since 2013, begs the question: If the constitution really does protect a woman’s right to choose, how can lawmakers get away with these blatant attacks on choice?

The 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which affirmed a woman’s right to choose, is often referred to as “the law of the land.” However, it’s actually a Supreme Court decision, not a law, and that distinction is incredibly important. As Trump politicizes the court with his promise to appoint anti-Roe justices, the ruling is vulnerable. As writer Megan McArdle put it, “what the Supreme Court gives, the Supreme Court can take away.” To make matters worse, Roe is already built on shaky ground. The 1965 case Griswold v. Connecticut, which provided the precedent for Roe, concluded that bans on using contraception are unconstitutional because of a right to privacy, as implied by an amalgamation of constitutional amendments. For Roe v. Wade, the justices decided that if the right to privacy supports the right to contraception, it should apply to abortion as well. As journalist Adam Liptak describes on The Daily, Roe’s lawyers believed it was too soon to argue for reproductive rights on the basis of equality, forcing their argument to rest, instead, on a right that isn’t explicitly stated in the Constitution. Ironically, the argument that won Roe v. Wade also made the decision especially precarious.

Roe came under further attack in the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision, which allowed states to regulate abortion before viability with one stipulation: these regulations can’t place “undue burden” on the woman. Unfortunately, the decision fails to define what “undue burden” means, allowing legal wiggle room for the TRAP laws of today. Anti-choice activists have capitalized on this vulnerability by using the loopholes created in Casey to pass legislation that has limited clinics or forced them to close by imposing ridiculous requirements on them. Take, for example, the last abortion clinic in Missouri, which is currently hanging on by a thread because the state government refuses to renew its licensing. The intention of these laws is ultimately to have them challenged in the courts until a case reaches the Supreme Court, presenting the justices with a clear opportunity to overturn Roe.

If the U.S. wants to truly solidify the right to an abortion, therefore, we have to codify Roe as the actual law of the land. This would protect the right to choose from the shifting politics of the Supreme Court and severely limit a state’s ability to restrict abortion. It would also move repealing Roe into the hands of Congress and an electorate where 77% of people oppose overturning Roe…