TomCat

Wall Unwanted

Posted by TomCat at 12:27 pm Politics

Jan 102019

I don’t want to write about the wall. Sadly, it is dominating the news, and there’s not much else. However, there are people less interested in having the wall than I. They are the American citizens whose lives it would disrupt. Democrats must not cave in. The more Trump fights, the fewer support him All we have to do is wait and inform the people of the US.

The serene National Butterfly Center in Hidalgo County, Texas, occupies a 100-acre preserve steps away from the U.S.-Mexico line, where President Donald Trump is expected to visit on Thursday to push for a southern border wall

But for Marianna Trevino-Wright, the center’s director, it is the barrier itself – not an influx of criminals – that poses the greatest risk to the sanctuary, given that current plans call for the wall to bisect its property.

“Why on earth would me and my husband live here, and work here, and rear six children here, if it wasn’t safe?” she said.

In McAllen, the county’s largest city, several officials and residents interviewed by Reuters expressed skepticism over Trump’s claim that a wall is required to end what he described as a “crisis” in an Oval Office address on Tuesday.

Seby Haddad, a commercial lender at a regional bank, said he watched this binational community grow for decades because of immigration, not in spite of it.

He rejected the notion that a border wall would help stem the flow of illicit drugs, noting that most narcotics are smuggled in vehicles at official checkpoints, according to government data.

“It doesn’t fix any problem,” said Haddad, 38. “It’s an archaic solution.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Reuters>

Even Republicans are sick of it, as Chris Hayes demonstrates.

I don’t know what Trump will do next, but whatever it is, it will be wrong.

RESIST!!

Open Thread – 1/10/2019

Posted by TomCat at 12:26 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 102019

It’s another busy day here in the CatBox. I slept well last night, but still feel tired and groggy Tomorrow I have a computer technician coming, so I may have no more than a personal update or an Open Thread to publish. I will not be sending links messages on Care2.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:01 (average 6:57). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Rep. Jerry Nadler: ‘The Walls Are Closing In On The President Donlad [sic] Trump’

Under no circumstances may Republicans be allowed to hide the contents of Mueller’s report. RESIST!!

From Vox: Democrats who want to speak with William Barr, President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, ahead of his confirmation hearing say they’re having a harder time doing so than normal. And the Justice Department’s excuse for why he’s unavailable — the partial government shutdown — doesn’t add up.

Barr will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, on Tuesday to replace former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and current acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker. Some committee Democrats have complained that ahead of the hearing, Barr is declining invitations to meet, which is generally customary.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said on Wednesday that he learned he wouldn’t get a meeting with Barr ahead of the hearing, calling Barr’s refusal “entirely unprecedented and unacceptable.” He said he was offered a meeting after the hearing, but obviously, he’d much rather meet before.

“The Department of Justice’s attempt to excuse this gross break in the norms by citing a ‘truncated schedule’ is galling when they are the ones who have rushed it,” he said in a statement. “My Republican colleagues should share my outrage at this appalling violation of the Senate’s independent authority.”

He’s had plenty of time to meet with Republicans. I suspect he’s giving them the criminal assurances they want, so they don’t worry when he lies and promises integrity during the hearings. RESIST!!

From Raw Story: Republican U.S. Congressman Steve King of Iowa, in a lengthy New York Times profile, expressed dismay and concern that “white nationalist” and “white supremacist” are offensive.

“White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” Rep. King asked the Times. “Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?”

King, a nine-term Congressman who represents a district that is more than 95 percent white, is perhaps best-known for accusing undocumented immigrants of having “calves the size of cantaloupes” from “running drugs across the Mexican border.”

The Times says that “Mr. King, in the interview, said he was not a racist.”

The paper notes that Rep. King “has used racist language in the past, promotes neo-Nazis on Twitter and was recently denounced by one Republican leader as a white supremacist.”

King is not a racist, the Pope is not a Catholic, and bears never, ever shit in the woods. How would he feel about the terms black nationalist and black supremacist? He’d shit his pants! RESIST!!

Cartoon:

For Trump, she would only need a very small knife!

Fleecing the Sheeple

Posted by TomCat at 12:31 pm Politics

Jan 092019

Last night I watched Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten give his Oval Office speech. The effect was extreme. I filled all my barf bags, my trash cans, my pocket, and George, my artificial leg. I was expecting him to declare a state of emergency. He did not. He regurgitated the same old tired lies. I wondered what the point was until later. Then I discovered what he was up to. He was fleecing the sheeple.

President Trump doubled down on one of the biggest gambles of his presidency on Tuesday night with a televised appeal to pressure Congress into paying for his long-promised border wall, even at the cost of leaving the government partly closed until lawmakers give in.

Embarking on a strategy that he himself privately disparaged as unlikely to work, Mr. Trump devoted the first prime-time Oval Office address of his presidency to his proposed barrier in hopes of enlisting public support in an ideological and political conflict that has shut the doors of many federal agencies for 18 days.

In a nine-minute speech that made no new arguments but included multiple misleading assertions, the president sought to recast the situation at the Mexican border as a “humanitarian crisis” and opted against declaring a national emergency to bypass Congress, which he had threatened to do, at least for now. But he excoriated Democrats for blocking the wall, accusing them of hypocrisy and exposing the country to criminal immigrants.

[Read our fact checks of Mr. Trump’s speech.]… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Here is the complete list of everything valid, honest, or even decent Trump said:

[end of list]

If you wish to watch it, click here. I did not include the video out of care for you. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Here is the response by Pelosi and Schumer.

They did a fair job of debunking Trump, but in addition to explaining why Trump is wrong, they should have explained how Democrats word provide border security without the wall.

Rachel Maddow added good analysis.

Why didn’t Pelosi or Schumer say that native born Americans commit crimes at a higher rate than undocumented immigrants?

But it was Lawrence O’Donnell that, in addition to providing more analysis, showed us that sheeple fleecing was Trump’s real goal.

And if he does not run in 2020,he gets to keep the money.

If you are one of the Republicans, who was stupid enough to donate to the so-called "Secure the Border Fund", bend over, grab your ankles, and say…

BAAA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A!!!

RESIST!!

Open Thread – 1/9/2019

Posted by TomCat at 12:30 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 092019

It’s another busy day here in the CatBox. I’m feeling a bit queasy, because I watched the speech last night. I’m waiting for Store to Door to deliver my groceries. WWWendy comes this evening. Before we destink the TomCat, we’re going to lower my ears. I woke up at Midnight and could not go back to sleep. Groceries are now put away. Happy Hump day to all.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:10 (average 5:05). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Rips Trump For Systematic Attack On Immigrants

In theory, this segment wasn’t about Trump’s speech, she rebutted it more effectively than Pelosi and Schumer. RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: How can you tell when Mike Pence looks ashen? Does his complexion change 10,000 shades of white, all the way from ecru to ivory to eggshell to scared-shitless-Mike-Pence*?

Regardless, he sure doesn’t look comfortable here as he swears in a bisexual woman who’s opted to take her oath with her hand on a law book. (I suppose the only way this could have been worse for him is if she’d brought her own table and bowl of pasta and forced him to sit down to dinner.)

0109PenceSinema

Oh my! Does that hateful, pseudo-Christian homophobe look like he just ate a bad clam or what! RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: MSNBC will preëmpt Donald Trump’s national address on Tuesday night by airing Barack Obama’s keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, network officials have confirmed.

Harland Dorrinson, an MSNBC spokesperson, said that the network elected to air the Obama speech “in order to best serve our audience.”

“Based on the data gathered by our research department, the number of MSNBC viewers who were planning to watch the Trump speech was approximately zero,” Dorrinson said. “This seemed like a better way to go.”

Dang Andy! I sure wish they had! RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Hate on Our Media?

Posted by TomCat at 12:49 pm Politics

Jan 082019

This evening Donald Trump, Grand Dragon of the Russian Chapter of the KKK, second only to Grand Wizard Putin [R-RU], plans to don his hood and robes to spew a message of hatred and racism against Latinos here without documentation or trying to enter the US, legally or otherwise. The major Broadcast TV and Cable networks should not give him free air time for the propaganda of hate.

They had an extended discussion on Morning Joe today about the network decision to show Trump’s phony “border crisis” address in prime time tonight.

“Gene, let me ask you, if they didn’t run Barack Obama’s address on immigration in 2014 because they thought it was too political, what in the world would be their justification for running it tonight when they know that objectively, by the numbers, by the data, Donald Trump is going to go on TV tonight and he is going to lie about an imaginary crisis at the southern border?” Joe Scarborough said.

“Well, you know, there’s no objective good reason to do it, but I imagine they felt cornered. You know, he — the way he demonizes the media. If they refuse it’s going to be ‘see, they’re all biased, it’s all fake news, they won’t even carry, you know, an address, i’m the president wanting to speak to the nation,’ ” Eugene Robinson said… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Crooks and Liars>

I agree with Willie. Trump and his minions will attack authentic news sources whether or not they cover Trump’s hateful lies. They should not do it.

RESIST!!

Open Thread – 1/8/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:48 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 082019

It’s another busy day here in the CatBox. Anne from CCC and I are going to look at an apartment a week from Thursday. I had to update some paperwork for the application and get a HOP card (TriMet’s Replacement for bus passes) mailed to me. I’m not sure why, but I slept poorly last night, so I’m feeling quite tired. Only 6 suspected terrorists were stopped the Mexican border during the first half of 2018. 41 were stopped at the Canadian border. Build that northern wall! 😉

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:42 (average 4:35). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Parody Project Channel): 24 MONTHS OF TRUMP’S MESS – SEQUEL to 12 MONTHS of TRUMP’S MESS

Don, you’re still spot on in every way, but when are you going to sing about the LAST month of Trump’s mess? RESIST!!

From You Tube (Robert Reich Channel): Robert Reich: The Big Economic Switcheroo

The Reich on the left is right. Why not tax the Republican Reich’s 0.1% at 95% on such rip-off money. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: In an unexpected breakthrough that could end the government shutdown, President Donald Trump has backed down from his demand for a wall and offered instead to post Vice-President Mike Pence at the border with big binoculars.

According to the White House, Pence’s mission at the border will alternate between keeping an eye out for potential intruders and glaring menacingly into the distance.

At a press conference announcing the development, Pence appeared to embrace his new role as the nation’s first line of defense against illegal immigration.

Dang Andy! If any Latinos try to get past Pence, he’ll preach at them that Republican Supply-side Jesus hates mud people! RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Single Payer: The struggle Returns

Posted by TomCat at 11:53 am Politics

Jan 072019

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve told you I favor single payer health care, I could take my place with the 0.1% and sniff my imported catnip and lap my sweet Italian cream from jewel-studded golden saucers. I’m sure we aren’t about to get it. However, we are going to hold hearings about it in Congress. The last time that happened was 70 years ago.

The debate about Medicare for All is about to get more serious ― and more complicated.

The idea of creating a single national health insurance program for all Americans has been a big topic of political conversation since 2016, when Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) touted it during his Democratic presidential campaign. But Medicare for All couldn’t be anything more than a rallying cry as long as Republicans controlled the levers of power in Washington.

Political circumstances are different now. Democrats hold the House majority and, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office confirmed to The Washington Post on Thursday, at least two committees will hold hearings on Medicare for All this year. Exactly what those hearings will entail isn’t clear ― Democratic leaders aren’t saying ― but one focus will be a bill that Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) plans to introduce in the next few weeks.

Jayapal is a leader of a Medicare for All House caucus that had 78 members as of late November and, with an infusion of newly elected Democrats, should soon have more. The new bill will be similar to one she co-sponsored in the last Congress, which in turn was similar to a bill Sanders introduced in the Senate.

Jayapal has said she hopes a version will get a floor vote, although that seems a long ways off. The committees taking up the proposal initially aren’t actually the ones that would write a health care bill. Even so, the hearings could represent the most serious attention the concept has received on Capitol Hill since the late 1940s, when committees took up then-President Harry Truman’s similarly designed, but ill-fated national health insurance proposal…

Inserted from <Huffington Post>

A little over a year ago, Chuck Todd attack-interviewed my Senator, Jeff Merkley [D-OR]. Here’s the video:

To answer Todd’s objection that the plan would cost $3 – 4 billion per year with no way to pay for it, the US currently spends $3.3 trillion per year on health care. 75% is on insurance. Americans would spend $2.5 trillion less on premiums, more than enough to cover the $4 billion.

As Jeff explained, Medicare for all is only a partial description for whatever single payer plan we adopt. To get decent health care now, a Medicare beneficiary has to get either separate Medicare supplement and prescription drug policies, or a Medicare Advantage Plan. The drug policies are pretty bad. On non-generics, the prescription co-pays cost than I would pay for the same drug in a foreign pharmacy. And the donut hole is horrid. Since September, I have paid over $1000 per month. That needs to be fixed

We are a long way from finding the right plan and implementing it. However, unless we start talking about it in Congress, we’ll never get there. This is a good step.

RESIST!!

Open Thread – 1/7/2018

Posted by TomCat at 11:52 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 072019

Once again, it’s a busy day here in the CatBox. Monday almost always is, as the weekends tend to be somewhat slow for news. Finding stories for you takes more time. OGIM!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:05 (average 4:56). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Vox Channel): How the Republican Party went from Lincoln to Trump (published 7/2016)

Almost 2.5 years later, the leaders’ choice is revoltingly obvious. Republican voters have two choices. They can goose-step with the Republican Reich or they can leave it. RESIST!!

From Huffington Post: Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said there’s “no question” President Donald Trump is a racist, citing in an interview that aired Sunday the White House’s response to white supremacist groups and ongoing rhetoric about migrant communities.

“The president certainly didn’t invent racism. But he’s certainly given a voice to it and expanded it and created a platform for those things,” Ocasio-Cortez told “60 Minutes” correspondent Anderson Cooper during the segment. When asked if she believes Trump is a racist, she replied: “Yeah. Yeah, no question.”

I appreciate this woman’s straightforward honesty more and more: RESIST!!

From NY Times: Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is in the final stages of deciding whether to run for president and has told allies he is skeptical the other Democrats eyeing the White House can defeat President Trump, an assessment that foreshadows a clash between the veteran Washington insider and the more liberal and fresh-faced contenders for the party’s 2020 nomination.

Many Democratic voters, and nearly all major Democratic donors, are keenly interested in Mr. Biden’s plans because of their consuming focus on finding a candidate who can beat a president they believe represents a threat to American democracy. But there is also a rising demand in the party for a more progressive standard-bearer who reflects the increasingly diverse Democratic coalition.

Mr. Biden would instantly be the early front-runner if he ran, but he would have to bridge divides in a primary that would test whether Democrats are willing to embrace a moderate white man in his 70s if they view him as the best bet to oust Mr. Trump.

As much as I love Joe personally, I consider him a bad choice politically. His progressive credentials need bolstering, and he suffers from foot-in-mouth disease. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Would a volunteer please give a BJ to both Pence and Trump?

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