TomCat

Bill Maher from 2/22

 Posted by at 11:35 am  Politics
Feb 232019
 

It’s that time of week again, so here are three excellent video clips from Bill’s show last night.  Enjoy!

Monologue: If You See Salsa, Say Something

 

Dang! I put salsa on my rice. Is the caravan invading my mind?

Congressman Adam Schiff

 

Adam is spot-on. If there are Republican Reps that recognize the evil of the Republican Reich but fear the rabid sheeple, they need to grow a pair and do the right thing.  I’m not holding my breath.

New Rule: Prime Real Estate

 

I’d rather have anal bleaching and Steve King. I agree that we need to invest in bringing jobs to red areas.

Bill was hilarious!

RESIST!!

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Feb 232019
 

It’s a chilly day here in the CatBox.  When we upgraded to WordPress 5.1 it was partially incompatible with our comment editor.  I tried to fix it by deactivating and reactivating it, after which the plugin would not even load.  So I reverted to our old CKEditor, which I had uninstalled.  The compatibility issues with that editor appear to have been fixed.  Let me know if there are problems.  Tomorrow is a WWWendy day, and we will be very busy.  So please expect no more than a Personal Update with no links messages on Care2.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:45 (average 5:47).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Media Matters Channel): For years, right-wing figures have warned about “civil war”

Barf Bag Alert!!

 

This means that, if the Republican Reich cannot stay in power through election theft, they want to take power violently. This is how they use fear to brainwash their sheeple to be violent. RESIST!!

From Alternet: It’s one thing to oppose the grandiose “Green New Deal” as gratuitously imprecise or for its full-throated attack on all-things-ozone and carbon release in our global community.

It feels like something totally other to oppose narrow regulations that could advance the campaign to swap out incandescent light bulbs for light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, a small, practical step that, multiplied into the millions, would passively remove a healthy chunk of energy-eating pollution over time.

Actually, I was surprised to see a recent editorial about all this in The Washington Post,  which argued that “Of all the counterproductive policy campaigns conservatives have waged in recent years, among the most irrational has been their war on the federal government’s efforts to update the light bulb.”

The use of the word light is enough to stampede the Republican Reich. They prefer darkness to cover their crimes. RESIST!!

From NY Times: The Trump administration announced on Friday that it will bar organizations that provide abortion referrals from receiving federal family planning money, a step that could strip millions of dollars from Planned Parenthood and direct it toward religiously-based, anti-abortion groups.

The new federal rule is almost certain to be challenged in court. Clinics will be able to talk to patients about abortion, but not where they can get one. And clinics will no longer have to counsel women on all reproductive options, including abortion, a change that will make anti-abortion providers eligible for funding

Not only is this a violation of women’s right to choose, but also, the provision that funds faith-based “providers” violates the Establishment Clause. RESIST!!

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Rachel Maddow Special Report

 Posted by at 11:27 am  Politics
Feb 222019
 

Last night, Rachel Maddow published a special report on her show.  Between the two clips available, there are over 35 minutes of video coverage.  Most of what she revealed is brand new to me, and I found it way to fascinating not to pass it on.  The history of the DOJ policy not to indict a sitting President, or as applies today, Resident, is particularly relevant.

0222Maddow

In a special report Thursday Night, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow dove deep into the Justice Department history and the origins of the policy that says sitting presidents can’t be indicted.

As part of her research for her podcast “Bag Man,” she and her team found that the department’s policy was first conceived of in response to the crimes of Vice President Spiro Agnew. Because of President Richard Nixon’s Watergate crisis, Attorney General Elliot Richardson was fearful of a situation in which Agnew might ascend to the presidency even while an investigation into his corruption ramped up. So Richardson sought an opinion from legal counsel about whether a vice president could be indicted.

Maddow reported that the conclusion of this work, that a vice president could be indicted but a president could not be, was specifically designed in mind for dealing with the Agnew situation. It rested on “shaky” grounds, citing no constitutional provisions, simply saying that the burden of the president’s office required that the commander in chief not face indictment. Maddow also interviewed J.T. Smith, who worked in the Justice Department when that reasoning was crafted who said: “Its purpose was to allow indictment and removal of Agnew and not to serve as the ‘last word’ on indictability of the president.”

He added: “It would be timely and appropriate for the Justice Department and Robert Mueller to reconsider the shaky policy regarding indictability of a sitting president first formulated 45 years ago.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Alternet>

Here are the clips:

Fmr VP Spiro Agnew Sought Saudi Millions To Fight ‘Zionists’: Document (20 min.)

 

DOJ Policy On Indicting A President Has Weak Basis In 1973 Memo (15 min.)

 

So the DOJ policy about indicting a sitting Resident is based on an incidental aside, not an intent to formulate policy. It was never meant to serve as the last word on indicting a Resident.

Therefore, out of deference to Richardson, we should indict Pence first.  Then we should indict Trump!

RESIST!!

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Feb 222019
 

It’s a chilly day in Portland, and I feel very tired, so please pardon my brevity.  TGIF!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:03 (average 5:10).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Media Matters Channel): Fox News has spent years promoting claims of a “coup” against Donald Trump

Barf Bag Alert!!

Is it any wonder that Sheeples’ ideas are moronic, given the onslaught of BS from the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise? RESIST!!

From YouTube (CNN Channel): Police: Smollett took advantage of racism for career

I suppose I’d better weigh-in, lest it appear that I’m evading it. Race traitor Jussie Smollett no longer deserves to call himself a Democrat. Since he is acting like a Republican, he has become a Republican. RESIST!!  RETRACTION!  Jussie Smollett has been cleared.  I apologize.

From Washington Post: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and her fellow House Democrats just introduced a resolution to terminate President Trump’s national emergency. In coming days, the resolution will likely pass the House, setting in motion a process that will force a Senate vote on it. Either Senate Republicans will side with Trump, or they’ll pass the measure, after which Trump will veto it.

This represents a small challenge to Trump’s corruption and lies — to his corruption of our institutions and political system with autocratic and authoritarian conduct, and to the deep rot of bad faith at the core of his willingness to declare a national emergency to build his wall based on false pretenses and invented metrics.

The move probably won’t succeed in terminating the emergency. But it points to something we need to see a lot more of: discussion of concrete proposals and actions designed to fortify our institutions and democracy against Trump’s ongoing degradations of them, and to restore confidence in them once Trump is gone.

I fully support this move. If nothing else, it forces Republicans, who have claimed it was Trump, not them, to go on record or be exposed. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Note to Puddy Tats:  Never walk under one of Trump’s Russian hookers!

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Feb 212019
 

Here is the one hundred forty-ninth article in our Republicans on Parade series, featuring individuals who personify what the Republican Party has become. Today’s winner is a Republican USCG Lieutenant Christopher Paul Hasson. He is so honored for white nationalism, Ammosexuality, and a domestic terrorist plan to start a race war and establish a white homeland.

0221Hasson

A 49-year-old Coast Guard lieutenant charged with stockpiling weapons and drugs is being described as a “domestic terrorist” who was planning “to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country,” according to court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland on Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors say Christopher Paul Hasson, a self-described white nationalist living in Silver Spring, Md., was amassing firearms since at least 2017, while cultivating plans to launch a widespread attack on prominent Democratic lawmakers, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and several high-profile television anchors from MSNBC and CNN.

Court documents indicate Hasson espoused extremist and white supremacist views for years — aspiring to establish a “white homeland” — and say he is a “domestic terrorist bent on committing acts dangerous to human life that are intended to affect government conduct.”

“I am dreaming of a way to kill every last person on earth,” Hasson wrote in a draft email dated June 2, 2017, that was uncovered by investigators, according to the court records.

Throughout the email, addressed to “friends … Acquaintances more likely,” he contemplates the most effective methods to “cause complete destruction” by unleashing a biological attack on the public, followed by contamination of food supplies.

Much blood will have to be spilled to get whitey off the couch. … They will die as will the traitors who actively work toward our demise,” he wrote disdainfully…. [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NPR>

Here’s a short CNN video:

 

Hasson’s manifesto indicates than his inspiration is Anders Behring Breivik.   Breivik is a Norwegian Republican terrorist, who killed 77, including many children.  I previously wrote about how Breivik had US Republican connections. The Koch Brothers financed his activities through ADA.  I wonder which Prominent Republicans financed Hasson’s arsenal.  If I knew, they would also get a parade.

RESIST!!

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Feb 212019
 

It’s another cold busy day here at the CatBox.  Yesterday, I sat up and waited until 2 PM for my groceries to arrive.  I finally called Store to Door and learned that they had misfiled my order and had not shopped it.  They will do so and deliver it today. 

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:35 (average 5:49).  To so it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Trump’s Best-Case Scenario On Mueller Report? ‘Severe Political Damage’

 

I fear that we might never know what the report contains. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Parody Project Channel): EMERGENCY – Parody

Barf Bag Alert!!

 

Great song, Don, but did you have to include so many pictures of the Tangerine Traitor? I just had breakfast, and now I have to clean my keyboard! Seriously… Magnificent! RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Amazon drones stand “ready and waiting” to deliver copies of Robert Mueller’s official report, free of charge, to every American household as early as next week, the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, confirmed on Wednesday.

According to Bezos, Amazon has been planning the Mueller delivery mission for months, quietly building its drone fleet from a meagre two hundred to well over three million.

“Amazon will be doing same-day delivery of Mueller’s report the day it is released, free of charge, to both Prime and non-Prime households,” Bezos said. “This is our way of giving something back.”

Dang, Andy! I’m a Prime member. Do I get my copy before 10 AM? RESIST!!

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Obstruction Defined

 Posted by at 9:42 am  Politics
Feb 202019
 

After Democrats won the House of Representatives, the began their oversight duties.  One of the first witnesses they called, acting AG Matthew Whitaker, has already perjured himself.  A breaking NY Times article exposed the truth about his communication with Trump about an unprecedented level of interference in investigations of Trump’s crimes.  That interference could be the basis for a book: How to Obstruct Justice.

I strongly recommend reading the NY Times article in its entirety.  In the interim, I found a good summary.

0220TrumpShitaker

President Donald Trump has called the Russia investigation a hoax, a witch hunt and fake news. But since he has been in office, Trump has tried to end the inquiry into his campaign’s possible coordination with Russia during the 2016 presidential election, opening himself up to questions about whether these efforts constitute attempts to obstruct justice.

A review by The New York Times found a continuous, behind-the-scenes effort by Trump to undermine multiple investigations that have touched his presidency. That includes seeking to derail federal law enforcement through targeted political appointments and a public campaign to discredit the Russia investigation, led by the special counsel, Robert Mueller.

Here are some takeaways from The Times report about pressure inside the Trump administration to protect the president from those inquiries.

— Trump wanted to put a perceived loyalist in charge of a federal inquiry in New York related to hush money payments made by his former personal lawyer.

After subjecting his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, to protracted humiliation over Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation and then firing him, Trump asked his newly installed acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, if one of the president’s perceived allies could take control of the federal investigation in New York involving him…

— Trump’s public attacks on the Russia investigation have evolved from a public relations strategy to a legal strategy.

The president’s assault on investigators on Twitter and in public interviews moved beyond his typical criticism of individuals into a mosaic of efforts to undermine every facet of the investigation. That includes attacking the investigators, raising questions about the legitimacy of law enforcement investigative tools and discrediting witnesses — most of whom were close allies he once praised…

— White House lawyers wrote a confidential memo about misleading public statements after the firing of Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser.

White House lawyers were concerned about the varying public accounts of the reasons behind Flynn’s abrupt departure. Flynn resigned Feb. 13, 2017, after it was reported that he was in touch with Russia’s ambassador to the United States at the end of 2016 and discussed recent Obama administration sanctions. Flynn said he resigned because he “inadvertently” misled Vice President Mike Pence and other senior White House officials about his discussions with the Russian ambassador…

— Trump believed he put an end to the Russia investigation when he fired Flynn.

During a lunch with one of his longtime allies, Chris Christie, the former Republican governor of New Jersey, Trump said firing Flynn would end the Russia inquiry…. [emphasis original]

Inserted from <The India Express>

Rachel Maddow covered this thoroughly.

 

Is it any wonder that Putin’s Puppet is so desperate to shut it down?  Shitaker is also begging for an orange jump suit.

I so hope SDNY indicts both Trump and Pence.

RESIST!!

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Feb 202019
 

It’s a chilly, busy day here at the CatBox.  Store to Door will deliver my grocery order, and I need to unpack and put them away.  Later WWWendy comes to de-stink the rancid TomCat and help with chores.  Happy Hump Day!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Todays took me 3:52 (average 5:34).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Trae Crowder Channel): Liberal Redneck – Bernie or Warren or Whoever’s Left

 

Why am I not surprised that my top two are also Trey’s?  Nevertheless, vote BLUE no matter who! RESIST!!

From YouTube (Bernie Sanders Channel): VISION

 

This an excellent ad. Bernie is making a very strong start. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: The former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis announced on Tuesday morning that he would seek the Democratic nomination for President, declaring, “Everyone else is.”

Explaining his rationale for running, the 1988 Democratic Presidential nominee told reporters, “As everyone else started jumping into the race, I started feeling a little left out.”

Additionally, Dukakis explained, “People have been stopping me on the street and saying that they thought I was already running. So, whatever.”

Dang Andy! Maybe Ducky Kisses will win. Ya think? RESIST!!

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