TomCat

Open Thread – 8/23/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:58 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 232018

The weather here in the CatBox is cooler, but very muggy. I can’t get any cross ventilation, because the building is so super heated that the hallways are still high 80°s. WWWendy comes this evening. After today, our schedule will be back to normal.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:47 (average 5:14). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Jig Zone Puzzle:

From YouTube (Washington Post Channel): Not just misleading. Not merely false. A lie.

If Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten is around much longer, he’ll break Pinocchio’s nose! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From YouTube (NY Times Channel): Coal Miner to Trump: “Coal Mining Isn’t Coming Back”

The only people stupid enough to believe that it is coming back are sheeple addicted to the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From CBS News: The first juror in Paul Manafort’s trial to speak out says prosecutors almost got the 18 guilty verdicts they wanted. Paula Duncan told Fox News that one juror caused a mistrial on 10 of the charges against the president’s former campaign chairman.

In her interview, Duncan said she voted to convict him because the evidence was “overwhelming.” She described a taxing and emotional deliberation process and said the discussions brought some jurors to tears.

According to Duncan, she and her peers worked to convince the lone dissenting juror, but ultimately failed to prevent a split verdict Tuesday.

“There was one holdout,” Duncan said. “We laid it out in front of her again and again and she still said that she had a reasonable doubt.”

Evidently, she was a sheeple. Otherwise, she would not have had a so-called “reasonable doubt”, without a reason to have it. We’re lucky she didn’t trash the other eight too! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

At the direction of

Posted by TomCat at 12:51 pm Politics

Aug 222018

Yesterday was a bad day for Putin’s Puppet, Fuehrer of the Republican Reich. Not only was his Campaign Manager, Paul Manafart, convicted on eight counts, but also, his fixer, Michael Cohen pled that he interfered with the election by bribing Trump’s affairs, Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal to buy their silence. He made those illegal bribes "In coordination with, and at the direction of a candidate for federal office. Would you care to guess who that candidate was?

U.S. President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen testified on Tuesday that Trump had directed him to commit a crime by arranging payments ahead of the 2016 presidential election to silence two women who said they had affairs with Trump…

…Cohen’s accusation increases political pressure for Trump ahead of November’s congressional elections where Democrats are trying to regain control of the House of Representatives and Senate.

Cohen told Judge William Pauley III that “in coordination with, and at the direction of, a candidate for federal office” he arranged payments to two women for their silence “for the principal purpose of influencing the election.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Reuters>

Lawrence O’Donnell covered the story.

No matter what Republicans say, I refuse to believe that Hillary did it.

RESIST!!

VOTE BLUE!!

76 DAYS!!

Open Thread – 8/22/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:50 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 222018

I’m waiting for Store to Door to deliver my groceries. They are running late. The weather today is a little worse than yesterday. In a late afternoon surprise yesterday, I went out to look at a room in the Alder, a few blocks away from my current location. The room is about the same size, and may be workable. The next step is to see if I can fit the income requirements. When I returned home my eyes were on fire.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:47 (average 8:58). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Media Matters Channel): A sampling of Mike Cernovich’s vile commentary (that he’d like you to forget)

Barf Bag Alert!!

CernoBITCH is currently touring Arizona with Kelly Ward, the Republican candidate for US Senate. If Trump sees this, he’ll be working in the White House. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): Robert Reich: Memo to the Press

The Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right. The Reich on the right, the Republican Reich, is criminal. And there’s another way to cover the Fuhrer. Put him under the seat in an outhouse, and leave him, until it’s full. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From The New Yorker: Michael D. Cohen decided on Tuesday to plead guilty to a host of financial crimes shortly after Rudolph Giuliani offered to be his lawyer on a pro-bono basis, Giuliani confirmed.

In an interview with Jake Tapper, on CNN, the former New York City mayor said that he had offered to give Cohen “the kind of defense that only I am capable of giving.”

“The minute I said that, the blood drained from his face and he was out of there like a shot,” Giuliani said. “It was the strangest thing I’d ever seen.”

Dang, Andy! If Rudy 9/11 was my lawyer, I’d cop a plea in a heartbeat!! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

Republicans on Parade – 8/21/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:37 pm Politics

Aug 212018

RepublicansOnParade7

Here is the one hundred thirty-first article in our Republicans on Parade series, featuring individuals who personify what the Republican Party has become. Today’s honoree is Ammosexual Republican wife of a vile SCROTUS (Republican Unconstitutional VD) Injustice, Ginni TEABAG Thomas. She is so honored for using a bogus conspiracy theory to paint heroic Parkland High student activists as terrorists.

Ginni Thomas, lobbyist, occasional Daily Caller contributor, Trump apologist, drunk dialer, right-wing message coordinator and oh yes, spouse of sitting Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas must be on the NRA’s payroll now, given her latest posting on Facebook. [Facebook delinked]

Alongside the nasty meme above tying the Parkland survivors to the truly ugly story out of New Mexico about children being trained to shoot up schools, as if that is a thing that young victims of a school shooting should be opining on instead of registering people to vote so we can get some decent gun safety laws on the books, Thomas felt compelled to bully those brave teenagers, too.

"What makes radicalized Democrats like David Hogg and others so dangerous to the survival of our nation is their total, shameless hypocrisy!," Thomas remarked with the photo. She also used the hashtag #WalkAway which has been associated with Russian bots and trolls on social media sites…

Inserted from <Crooks and Liars>

It’s hard to act more Republican than that. To make your day…

Barf Bag Alert!!

RESIST!!

VOTE BLUE!!

77 DAYS!!

Open Thread – 8/21/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:36 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 212018

Here in the CatBox, I expect a high in the high 90°. The humidity is 48%. My COPD is acting up and my eyes are burning from the smoke. Trump overload has caused a case of Republicosis. ARGH!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:21 (average 6:24). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Oregonian Channel): Portland’s hazy skies as seen from aerial tram

That was yesterday when it was just beginning. Today, it’s much worse. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Donald Trump Claims "I Could Run" Robert Mueller Investigation "If I Want"

Once again, the ogre, whose head is swelled as huge, as his hands, etc. are tiny, has demonstrated his PhD (piled higher and deeper) in Bullshitology! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From The New Yorker: Vladimir Putin is reportedly “very close” to firing Rudolph Giuliani as Donald J. Trump’s attorney, a source close to the Russian President confirmed on Monday.

According to the source, Putin allowed Trump to hire Giuliani in the first place because “it’s important to let Trump think that he has some autonomy from time to time,” but now the Russian President has apparently determined that “enough is enough.”

Over the next few days, the source indicated, Putin is likely to replace Giuliani with a handpicked successor, Arkady Lubetkin, a criminal-defense attorney who has represented several prominent Russian Mob figures.

Dang Andy! After Meet the Press, Putin (R-RU] does have just cause for doing do. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

0821Cartoon

Vintage 2012

Open Thread – 8/20/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:07 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 202018

WWWendy just left, so I feel like Sunday, even though it isn’t. This is my only article today, and I won’t be sending links messages on Care2. The heat and smoke fully are back. After three horrid days, we may get a bit of respite for a few days. I turned on the news and there’s no doubt. Oh God! It IS Monday!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:44 (average 5:03). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube: Giuliani: ‘Truth isn’t truth’

On 1/21/2021, if not sooner, Rudy 9/11 can tell his Fuhrer "Unemployed isn’t unemployed. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From NY Times: As a corporate lawyer, William L. Wehrum worked for the better part of a decade to weaken air pollution rules by fighting the Environmental Protection Agency in court on behalf of chemical manufacturers, refineries, oil drillers and coal-burning power plants.

Now, Mr. Wehrum is about to deliver one of the biggest victories yet for his industry clients — this time from inside the Trump administration as the government’s top air pollution official.

On Tuesday, President Trump is expected to propose a vast rollback of regulations on emissions from coal plants, including many owned by members of a coal-burning trade association that had retained Mr. Wehrum and his firm as recently as last year to push for the changes.

The proposal strikes at the heart of climate-change regulations adopted by the Obama administration to force change among polluting industries, and follows the relaxation of separate rules governing when power plants must upgrade air pollution equipment. Mr. Wehrum, who has led the E.P.A.’s clean air office since November, also helped deliver the changes in several of those rules.

It is now permissible for sheeple to choke and wheeze, while goose-stepping. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From Politico: The team of investigators working on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation "are looking to impact" this November’s midterm elections, President Donald Trump claimed Monday morning, labeling Mueller’s team a "national disgrace."

Now that’s a case of the obsidian shard calling the ivory gem black. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

An Extremist with Principles?

Posted by TomCat at 1:19 pm Politics

Aug 192018

Frankly, I can’t stand Don McGahn. On virtually every issue that matters, he is such a rabid extremist that he almost makes Mussolini seem like a progressive. Without his legal assistance during the campaign, Trump could have never stolen the election and become Resident. McGahn has been the guiding force for packing the courts with extremist judges. It is likely that he picked Kavanaugh, as they are like-minded. Nevertheless, it is possible that this extremist may have some principles.

The White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, has cooperated extensively in the special counsel investigation, sharing detailed accounts about the episodes at the heart of the inquiry into whether President Trump obstructed justice, including some that investigators would not have learned of otherwise, according to a dozen current and former White House officials and others briefed on the matter.

In at least three voluntary interviews with investigators that totaled 30 hours over the past nine months, Mr. McGahn described the president’s fury toward the Russia investigation and the ways in which he urged Mr. McGahn to respond to it. He provided the investigators examining whether Mr. Trump obstructed justice a clear view of the president’s most intimate moments with his lawyer.

Among them were Mr. Trump’s comments and actions during the firing of the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, and Mr. Trump’s obsession with putting a loyalist in charge of the inquiry, including his repeated urging of Attorney General Jeff Sessions to claim oversight of it. Mr. McGahn was also centrally involved in Mr. Trump’s attempts to fire the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, which investigators might not have discovered without him.

For a lawyer to share so much with investigators scrutinizing his client is unusual. Lawyers are rarely so open with investigators, not only because they are advocating on behalf of their clients but also because their conversations with clients are potentially shielded by attorney-client privilege, and in the case of presidents, executive privilege….

Inserted from <NY Times>

I disagree with the Times’ assertion that Trump is McGahn’s client. Since his appointment as White House Counsel, McGahn has represented institution, not the man. Therefore, if he see’s Trump doing things that would weaken the Presidency, then his role is to defend the institution, as the following video explains:

Of course, it is also possible that instead of principled action, McGahn just recognizes that Trump’s usefulness to the 0.1% is coming to an end. The 0.1% can say “who us” in feigned wonderment, after they throw the Fuhrer that they defined and they created under the bus.

RESIST!!

VOTE BLUE!!

79 DAYS!!

Open Thread – 8/19/2018

Posted by TomCat at 1:18 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 192018

It’s another very weird day, because WWWendy isn’t here on Sunday. Sunday, for this very stinky TomCat is 7:00 AM tomorrow morning. Because the timing will screw up my day, please expect nothing more that a Personal Update, and I wont be sharing links messages at Care2. The heat and smoke are back, but after mid-week, I should get a few days of temperate weather.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:07 (average 5:05). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Religious Agony:

0818P-Broncos23-Bears24

Actually it wasn’t a bad showing. The Broncos were ahead 23-10, until the last few minutes of the 4th quarter when the only people playing were players with little chance of making the team. The players that matter dominated the Bears.

Short Takes:

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Eve of Destruction * Barry McGuire 1965 HQ

It was one of my favorites then, and sadly, today it fits even better. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From Alternet: One of the top concerns of Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, is whether he knew anything about, authorized, or advised the Bush administration on their torture program for detainees in the War on Terror while he served as White House staff secretary.

In 2006, during his confirmation to the D.C. Circuit, Kavanaugh told senators, under oath, that he was "not involved in the questions about the rules governing detention of combatants," and had no knowledge of issues about "the legal justifications or the policies relating to the treatment of detainees," according to NBC News. However, Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) assert that multiple documents and email chains show Kavanaugh was briefed on the issue, implying he was not honest with the Senate…

…According to a press release from Leahy, prior to the meeting on July 24, Republicans were prepared to ask the National Archives to release documents produced during Kavanaugh’s time as White House Staff Secretary for former President George W. Bush. But after the meeting, Republicans refused to do so, allowing a limited release of documents curated by "a lawyer representing the former president."

"In the 44 years I have served in the United States Senate, I have seen 19 nominations to the Supreme Court, including the nomination of every current member of the Court," said Leahy. "I have never before seen the White House, under either a Republican or Democratic president, usurp or direct the parameters of the Judiciary Committee’s document request regarding a Supreme Court nominee. I find it troubling that the White House and Judiciary Committee Republicans are stifling transparency rather than working together to provide the necessary documents for the Senate to do its work. The American people deserve the unvarnished truth about Judge Kavanaugh."

If Kavanaugh, Bush’s torture maven, were not a criminal, that would have disqualified him. Republicans are desperate to put him in a key position to commit new crimes, protecting his Fuhrer as an Injustice on SCROTUS (Republican Unconstitutional VD). RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From Think Progress: A New Jersey school board candidate often made racist comments on Facebook, calling Black people “animals” and “useless wastes of life.” He also frequently made homophobic and transphobic comments, mocked people with disabilities, and disparaged those calling for criminal justice reform.

Richard Jankowski, a 51-year-old candidate in Monroe Township, Gloucester County, made the comments on Facebook from 2013 to 2016, according to a report from the New Jersey Globe. Jankowski’s posts were all public, meaning anyone could see them.

“Glad the legal system finally got it right,” Jankowski wrote in July 2013, a day after George Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges for killing Travyon Martin, a Black unarmed teenager.

What else would you expect from the town’s Republican Party Chairman? RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

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