TomCat

No Security for You!

Posted by TomCat at 1:00 pm Politics

Jul 242018

Little Donnie Diaper Dump is not happy. He does not think his poo stinks. Some terrible meanies were so evil, that they actually told the truth that it does. Little Donnie owns the national security sandbox (very temporarily we hope). Until then, little Donnie says he won’t let those meanies play with the toys there.

President Donald Trump is considering revoking the security clearances of former intelligence officials who have criticized him and have been the targets of some of his relentless attacks.

The officials include former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Director James Comey, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA and National Security Agency Director Michael Hayden, former national security adviser Susan Rice and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Monday.

Sanders was initially asked about Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) calls for Trump to remove Brennan’s security clearance. Paul claimed on Twitter that Brennan has been “monetizing his security clearance” by criticizing Trump.

“The president doesn’t like the fact that people are politicizing agencies and departments,” Sanders added later, despite the fact that Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on the work of U.S. intelligence agencies and officials and denigrated them.

She also claimed that the former officials have been “making baseless accusations of improper contact and accusing the president of the United States of treasonous activity,” appearing to refer to the investigation into the Trump presidential campaign’s ties to Russia…

Inserted from <Huffington Post>

Is is any surprise that Diaper Dump lies that claims about the treason he committed baseless?

Here’s a video report.

The bottom line is that Trump is being incompetent and petty for threatening to take away what these people either no longer have or don’t need. None of them would be read into anything requiring a clearance as long as Trump is Fuhrer. Afterwards, any of them would be qualified for jobs where they would need it, and it would be granted in a hot minute.

RESIST!!

VOTE BLUE!!

Open Thread – 7/24/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:59 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 242018

Welcome to the hot CatBox with 90°s weather and an air quality alert (smog) all week long. Yesterday’s CAT-Scan (both chest and abdomen) was pretty grim. The injected dye made me sweat all over, but the worst was the the great big bottle of dye I had to drink for the abdominal portion of the scan. I had a bad taste in my mouth, and chemical smelling burps and farts for the rest of the day. I had red-hot burritos for breakfast to overpower the dye. I’ll get the results next Thursday, but there’s no reason to suspect anything problematic. I hope you are enjoying your day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:41 (average 5:14). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): Robert Reich: We’re Living a Constitutional Crisis

Of course the Reich on the Left, Robert Reich, is right, except for one detail. Donald Trump, Fuhrer of the Reich on the Right, the Republican Reich,is a Resident. He is not and never will be a President. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Representative Adam Schiff: Devin Nunes, Trey Gowdy Lied About The F.B.I.

Devin Nunes and Trey Gowdy won’t be expelled from the House until and unless Democrats take control of the HR. Even then, it might be a bad idea, as the Fuhrer could put them on SCROTUS (Republican Unconstitutional VD). RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From YouTube (Remember This?): Dixie Chicks – Not Ready To Make Nice

Fifteen years ago, when they said they were ashamed of GW Bush performed this song, he was the worst occupant of the White House I can remember. Republicans tried to destroy them. Now, Trump is far worse that Bush ever thought of being. But remember, Trump is just a very blatant form of what the Republican Party has been for decades. Trump is the tumor. The Republican Reich is the cancer. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

Personal Update – 7/23/2018

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

Jul 232018

I’m up early to write this before I leave for my CAT-Scan, so I don’t have to do it when I’m queasy from the dye they inject.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:31 (average 4:29). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Take:

From The New Yorker: In a series of early-morning tweets on Sunday, Donald J. Trump demanded that the Russian national anthem be played before every National Football League game and that all N.F.L. players stand during the performance.

Trump asserted that playing the Russian anthem was a “necessary gesture of good will from the USA to our No. 1 ally,” and that “any player who refuses to stand for the Russian antem [sic] hates America!”

Seeming to double down on his demand, Trump tweeted that all N.F.L. players must remain standing while the color guard unfurls the flag of the Russian Federation.

Andy, I can believe that! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

Mitch D has a REALLY BIG Mouth! ;-)

Posted by TomCat at 10:42 am Blog News, Politics

Jul 222018

100-MitchD

Mitch followed Politics Plus and commented for quite some time on Care2, where he had been active since 2010. He started commenting here at the site early in 2016 and won his first two Big Mouth Awards on June 5 and September 2 of that year. He has commented here virtually every day ever since, but he hasn’t hit the magic number, until now. He comes from the state, where I grew up, NJ, so he still lives with the constant danger that PIGnocchio will end his life by sitting on him. His comments remain sharp and dry. His pet peeves are people, who use their religion to promote hatred, bigotry and discrimination. He’s an advocate for human rights of all kinds, and animal welfare.

As the first to make a comment at the 100,000 level, he won both a Politics Plus mug and a Politics Plus T-shirt. Unfortunately, for personal privacy reasons, he declined the prizes. He suggested that perhaps we should auction the prizes by based on Meal Train donations for Sheryl at Care2. I’m not sure I have the time for such a project, although I have already donated to Sheryl’s fund myself. Any ideas?

His daily participation here makes life more interesting for us all. Please be excessive with praise and kudos for Mitch. He has earned them.

RESIST!!

VOTE BLUE!!

Open Thread – 7/22/2018

Posted by TomCat at 10:40 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 222018

WWWendy is due in a half hour and we have a busy morning planned. Tomorrow I have to go to the hospital for my annual preventive Cat-Scan for cancer. I should be home before the severe heat of the day, but the dye they inject usually leaves me feeling queasy. Please don’t be surprised, if I publish the Personal Update and that’s all. I will not be sending links messages at Care2. Portland is under an Excessive Heat Watch. WWWendy kindly offered to do the dreaded task by herself, so I can finish early and rest. I need to be in the lobby at 6:00 AM in the morning.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:23 (average 5:18). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Rachel Maddow: We Have To Assume Russians Recorded Trump-Putin Meeting

Nobody farts in Russia without the FSB recording it for Putin [R-RU]. That’s the way Trump wants his control to be here in the US! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From NOLA: A CVS pharmacist refused to fill an Arizona transgender woman’s hormone prescription on the basis of moral grounds, according to the Arizona Republic.

Hilde Hall said she was "elated" when her doctor handed her the prescription for her first round of hormone medication, the Arizona Republic reported. However, instead of walking out of the Fountain Hills CVS with her treatment in hand, Hall said she was denied her hormones and "loudly questioned" by the pharmacist as to why she had the prescription.

The pharmacist also refused to give Hall her prescription note back, according to Arizona Republic, and she left the store feeling "mortified." Hall told her doctor, who sent the order to a Walgreens instead, where Hall was able to get the prescription filled.

According to Arizona Republic, CVS apologized for the incident in a statement… [emphasis added]

And CVS damn well should apologize, and the pharmacist should be fired and lose his license. Imagine the Republican Reaction, if a pharmacist denied Trump the Preparation H he uses as face cream. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From Alternet: Glenn Greenwald has a piece up at the Intercept declaring that Julian Assange’s tenure at Ecuador’s London embassy may be coming to an end very soon.

Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno traveled to London on Friday for the ostensible purpose of speaking at the 2018 Global Disabilities Summit(Moreno has been confined to a wheelchair since being shot in a 1998 robbery attempt). The concealed, actual purpose of the President’s trip is to meet with British officials to finalize an agreement under which Ecuador will withdraw its asylum protection of Julian Assange, in place since 2012, eject him from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, and then hand over the WikiLeaks founder to British authorities.

Now it is Glenn Greenwald, so take it with an appropriately large grain of salt, but apparently this has been in the works for some time.

I hope Greenwald isn’t blowing smoke up our butts, as he so frequently has. However, I’d love to see Assange [R-BS] face comeuppance for his crimes. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

VOTE BLUE!!

Posted by TomCat at 1:02 pm Politics

Jul 212018

Every week we sign dozens of petitions, bitch about hundreds of outrages, and more. Several of my Senators’ and Rep’s Aides recognize my voice. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve bitched about Putin’s Puppet, we could all retire in style. But we all need to remind ourselves, every day, about the most important things we need to do, as Frank Bruni explains in this editorial.

We got it wrong in 2016. We can get it right in 2018. There’s a far side to this American disgrace, a way to contain the damage, and it’s both utterly straightforward and entirely effective.

It’s called voting. And from now until Nov. 6, we must stay fanatically focused on that — on registering voters, turning them out, directing money to the right candidates, donating time in the right places.

The moral of the Helsinki freak show, the NATO tragicomedy and the children in cages near the border isn’t just that Donald Trump lacks any discernible conscience, real regard for this country or mature appreciation of history and our exalted part in it. It’s that this next election matters — immeasurably.

There’s no hyperbole in the frequent assertion that it’s the most important midterm in a generation. And those of us rightly appalled by this president must devote as much energy to giving Democrats control of at least one chamber of Congress — and the ability to restrain him — as to finding fresh methods for mocking him. A blimp in a diaper is a hoot. A legislature with its foot on his throat is an insurance policy… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Click through to read the rest of this fine article. There’s much more there.

RESIST!!

VOTE BLUE!!

Open Thread – 7/21/2018

Posted by TomCat at 1:01 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 212018

It was cool in the CatBox early this morning, but the sun hit the wall at 7:00 AM, and I had to button up and go to A/C at 7:30. We have 90°s weather forecast for the rest of the month and beyond. UGH! On Monday morning I have my annual preventive Cat-Scan for cancer. Those things are a rip-off, because I never get to play with the other cat. In any case, please expect no more than a Personal Update Monday. I hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:25 (average 5:10). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Why Donald Trump’s Legal Team Would Leak Cohen Playmate Hush Money Tape

I agree with Rachel that the Trump team leaked the tape. Hell! If he had a copy, Trump would leak the Moscow pee-pee tape to distract attention from the Helsinki blowjob. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From The New Yorker: The leaders of isis and Al Qaeda said on Friday that they were totally perplexed as to why Donald J. Trump had not yet invited them to the White House.

The terror chiefs said that, as sworn enemies of the United States, they had certainly attacked the country enough to warrant an invitation for an official visit, and possibly a state dinner.

“Maybe we haven’t done anything to directly undermine their democracy—I get that,” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of isis, said. “But we’ve been nemeses of America for years, and that ought to be worth something.”

Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda, said that he also feels snubbed. “No invitation. Not even a save-the-date,” he said. “At this point, I’d settle for the White House Easter Egg Roll, but I’m not counting on anything.”

Dang Andy! Do you think the Tangerine Traitor is losing his memory? RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From Think Progress: The Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services changed or removed information on its website about sex discrimination, according to a new report from the Sunlight Foundation.

The Office for Civil Rights altered this information on several webpages on Section 1557, part of the Affordable Care Act that relates to sex discrimination, between March and August 2017, according to the nonprofit focused on government transparency. Now, mentions of sex discrimination on the basis of gender identity, that relate to requirements for health services for transgender people, “sex stereotyping,” and termination of pregnancy are gone.

Discrimination is now formally approved in the Republican Reich! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

0721Cartoon

Dump Bought Bitch Mitch

Posted by TomCat at 12:47 pm Politics

Jul 202018

As you know, I have often said that not all Republicans are beyond redemption. Most just act that way. I have said that there is a remedy for the vile infestation of greed, hate, and violence that identifies the Republican Reich. That is to come out from among them and renounce their crimes. One month and one day ago, long term political strategist, Steve Schmidt, did exactly that, making him welcome among decent humans. He has a suggestion about Senate Majority Leader, Bought Bitch Mitch [R-KY].

Former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt, who recently renounced his Republican affiliation and left the party, pulled no punches when it comes to Mitch McConnell. Schmidt noted the Senate Majority Leader has been “up to his eyeballs” in this entire Russian affair and makes the case that it is time for Republican senators to remove Mitch McConnell from power and elect a new Senate Majority Leader who will right the ship…

…Even as former Senator Harry Reid and Democrats were trying to sound the alarm about Russia’s cyberattacks and propaganda campaigns in the summer of 2016, Mitch McConnell refused President Obama’s calls for a bipartisan statement alerting the public. From an NBC News interview with President Obama’s former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough:

“The president asked the four leaders in a bipartisan meeting in the Oval Office to join him in asking the states to work with us on this question,” McDonough said. “It took over three weeks to get that statement worked out. It was dramatically watered down."

Asked if it was watered down at the insistence of McConnell and only McConnell, McDonough responded, “yes.”

Former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid had Mitch McConnell and Republicans absolutely nailed when he gave this speech on the floor of the United States Senate in June 2016. He implored them to stop enabling Trump’s racism and vile rhetoric. Two years later the problem is worse than we ever could have imagined…. [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Daily Kos>

Here is the same video as the one embedded in the source article, but from a different source and in a different format.

I’m sure Schmidt still leans far enough right that I will often disagree with him, but agreeing with me has never been a prerequisite for my respect, which Schmidt now deserves. It’s too bad that the chances Senate Republicans will dump Bought Bitch Mitch are virtually nil.

RESIST!!

VOTE BLUE!!

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