TomCat

Trump the Fool!

Posted by TomCat at 12:43 pm Politics

Jul 122018

The only way to to graph Trump’s foreign policy performance is as an asymptotic equation approaching infinitely bad. His horrid example at NATO fits that pattern. He is doing everything inhumanly possible to alienate every friend we have. And he claims victories to describe his failures.

Donald Trump took to the stage in Belgium to crow about how he scored a major foreign relations victory in getting NATO allies to increase their military budgets—by questioning the value of NATO and threatening to leave the vital military alliance. However, other NATO leaders are already disputing Trump’s statements, making his “victory” over NATO appear as illusory as his “agreement” with North Korea.

After two days in which Trump attacked multiple allies, particularly Germany, and denied that NATO had any value to the United States, Thursday morning he suddenly appeared to make an unscheduled speech, where he declared he has solved the problem of NATO.

Trump: Yesterday I let them know that I was extremely unhappy with what was happening … They have substantially upped their commitment and now we’re very happy and have a very, very powerful, very, very strong NATO.

Trump tweeted overnight that NATO countries had to up their military budgets “immediately,” perhaps missing that bit where, in democratic nations, leaders don’t have instant, unchecked power to make such commitments. But where Trump’s appearance at last year’s NATO fiasco could be passed off as Trump simply not understanding how the alliance worked or was financed, that was obviously not the case this time.

Instead, Trump set out to “solve NATO” as he solves every other problem. First create the problem, then pretend it’s fixed. Then accept the applause. In this case, Trump didn’t name any country that had upped its commitment to NATO, or point to any real change that had resulted in NATO now “running like a machine” and being “much stronger than it was two days ago.” However, he did toss on more numbers about how much of Germany was controlled by Russia—all of them simply invented.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that other NATO leaders are already stepping forward to deny they’ve changed their commitment for military spending… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Daily Kos>

World, please be patient with us. The American people who think are trying to undo Trump’s Republican Reich. Whatever boycotts or sanctions you deem necessary, I ask for mercy to the people by targeting Trump’s assets.

RESIST!!

VOTE BLUE!!

Open Thread – 7/12/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:42 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 122018

Here at the CatBox the heat wave continues. Yesterday was bad. Today will be 8°-10° worse. Before I go to the rest room, I take off my shirt, so I don’t have to change it, when I get back. ARGH!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:28 (average 4:26). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Daily Kos Channel): Russian TV thrills over Trump’s NATO performance

Putin is probably beaming over quid pro quo. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From YouTube (Late Show Channel): How German News Covered Trump’s NATO Visit

I understand it’s really Austrian News. Trump has made the US both a laughing stock and a pariah! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From The New Yorker: The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, took a break from the nato summit in Brussels on Wednesday to ask the independent counsel, Robert Mueller, if there is anything she can do to help.

According to those familiar with the phone conversation, Merkel told Mueller that she would take a leave of absence as leader of the German government and move to Washington to work full-time for Mueller “if that would be of assistance.”

Touting her credentials, Merkel told Mueller that she was fluent in Russian and could be helpful in translating the thousands of Russian-language documents that the special counsel has in his collection of evidence.

“I will work for free and pay my for my own food,” Merkel said. “I just want to make this stop.”

Dang Andy! Merkel is more American than Republicans are. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

Only Four!

Posted by TomCat at 12:05 pm Politics

Jul 112018

When the High Priest of Hatred, aka Donald Trump, went into the business of stealing children from desperate Latinos, he either had no intention of reuniting them, heads a Republican Party too incompetent to reunite them, or both. Fortunately judges put the Republican Reich under court order to reunite all 102 children five are less by yesterday. When the deadline had come and gone yesterday, only four kids were back with their families.

As an initial deadline for the Trump administration to reunify separated migrant families arrived Tuesday, desperate parents said they still had no idea when they would see their kids again.

The federal government on Tuesday said that only four — out of 102 — migrant children under 5 years old had been reunited with their parents before the July 10 deadline, according to a court filing from government lawyers. Another 34 could potentially be back with at least one parent by the end of the day, according to federal officials.

"Why was it so easy for them to take our children but so hard to give them back?" asked Digna, a 37-year-old Salvadoran mother who has been separated from her two children since crossing the border in May. "It was traumatic for someone to tell these children they were going to be ripped from their mother’s arms."… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NBC News>

It turns out that one of the children may actually be a US citizen. Lawrence O’Donnell has that story and more from the families.

There is no excuse for this abuse of power by the Racist Republican Reich! Why racist? They aren’t abusing people at the northern border, are they?

RESIST!!

VOTE BLUE!!

Open Thread – 7/11/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:04 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 112018

It’s been a busy sweltering day here in the CatBox. The heat wave appears to be long term with the coolest day in the next two weeks forecast at 87°. Store to Door delivered groceries, and I put them away. WWWendy is coming this evening. Happy Hump Days to all!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:46 (average 5:30). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Tales:

From YouTube (Late Show Channel): The Even More Disgraceful Trump Balloon

It looks like the Fuhrer. Every place he goes should make one! Are they also full of flatulence, like him? RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Nazi, White Nationalist Running As Republicans | All In | MSNBC

These Republicans are the ones most like Fuehrer Drumpfenfarten! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From The New Yorker: A Washington, D.C., man has won a nationwide essay contest on the topic “Why Donald J. Trump Shouldn’t Go to Prison.”

The man, Brett Kavanaugh, received his award for the winning essay at a ceremony at the White House on Monday night.

Kavanaugh’s essay, which was distributed to the press shortly after he was announced as the winner, reads as follows: “Donald J. Trump should never go to prison because he is the President of the United States and the President of the United States is a very important person in the country. It would look bad if visitors from foreign countries came to the United States and asked, ‘Where is your President?’ and we had to say, ‘He is in prison,’ which in my opinion is another reason Donald J. Trump should not go to prison. For these reasons, if I am ever in a position to keep Donald J. Trump from going to prison, I will do that (keep him from going to prison).”

I see Andy is back to straight news again. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

0711Cartoon

Reject Kavanaugh!

Posted by TomCat at 1:11 pm Politics

Jul 102018

Donald Trump, Resident of the Republican Reich, has nominated an extreme ideologue, Brett Kavanaugh for Antony Kennedy’s seat on SCROTUS (Republican Unconstitutional VD). If confirmed, he will vote to either overturn or thoroughly undermine Roe v. Wade. He will vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He will give the NRA whatever they want. He has opined that sitting Presidents are immune from prosecution and may fire special prosecutors at will. Reject Kavanaugh!

Abortion

Because he was a swing-vote in favor of abortion rights, Kennedy’s departure from the court has sparked alarm among abortion rights activists that Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide in 1973, could be overturned. In addition, Trump has long vowed to appoint justices who would reverse Roe and allow states to determine whether abortion should be legal.

Kavanaugh has not expressed outright opposition to Roe v. Wade.

One of his opinions likely to draw scrutiny from senators is a his dissent from a ruling of the DC Circuit last October that an undocumented immigrant teen in detention was entitled to seek an abortion.

In his dissent, Kavanaugh wrote the Supreme Court has held that "the government has permissible interests in favoring fetal life, protecting the best interests of a minor, and refraining from facilitating abortion." He wrote that the high court has "held that the government may further those interests so long as it does not impose an undue burden on a woman seeking an abortion." He said the majority opinion was "based on a constitutional principle as novel as it is wrong: a new right for unlawful immigrant minors in US government detention to obtain immediate abortion on demand." He added, however, that "all parties to this case recognize Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey as precedents we must follow."…

Inserted from <CNN>

Republicans claim that it’s OK for moderate and DINOs to vote for him because he acknowledges Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey as "precedents we must follow." Their deception is glossing over the reason why. Because appellate courts may not overturn precedent, he HAD to follow it, but if appointed, he could set new precedent.

That article only discussed abortion. Here is Lawrence O’Donnell interviewing Elisabeth Warren on Kavanaugh’s other positions.

Can there be any doubt?

In the above graphic, my Senator, Jeff Merkley [D-OR], made his position clear. Here’s a bit of what he says:

Tell the U.S. Senate: REJECT Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court!

Donald Trump’s first choice to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, has shown himself to be a right-wing activist, backing recent decisions to uphold Trump’s Muslim Ban, gut workers’ rights, attack women’s health care, and undermine voting rights.

Now, Trump has nominated another extremist, Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh is someone who argued that sitting presidents should be immune from prosecution, and that the president has the sole power to appoint and fire special prosecutors at will. And he was on the hand-picked list put together by right-wing activists who want to overturn Roe v. Wade, marriage equality, coverage for preexisting conditions, and more.

To sign Jeff’s petition, click here.

Whatever it takes, Kavanaugh must be stopped!

RESIST!!

VOTE BLUE!!

Open Thread – 7/10/2018

Posted by TomCat at 1:10 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 102018

It’s a muggy day, here in the CatBox. It was supposed to be be cloudy, but the sun is on the wall, so there will be no break from the heat wave. I had a ton of paperwork to do this morning, but I still managed to finish my research.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:18 (average 6:12). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (RWW Channel): RWW News: Liz Crokin Says Trump Has Confirmed That ‘Pizzgate Is Real’

Barf Bag Alert!!

When Trump confirms something is real, that proves that it’s bullshit! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): President Donald Trump Admin. Won’t Meet Child Reunification Deadline

In reality, those children have rights, but in a Republican Reich all children’s rights end at birth. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From Daily Kos: Trump and the GOP want to hold onto their control of the U.S. Senate more than anything in the world. They want it so bad they were willing to go to Moscow and telegraph their new quarterback, Vladimir Putin, to run the same play he ran in 2016, the one where Russian Internet trolls carpet-bombed Facebook and Twitter, spreading nasty smears about Hillary Clinton and thereby allowing Donald Trump to slither into office. Hell, all Trump had to do for this gesture of friendship was launder a hundred million or so in dirty Russian money and make a few minor foreign policy adjustments. Oh, and find a workaround to those pesky sanctions, too.

You can’t argue with that kind of success. The GOP knows that its base only wants a win, and as Trump demonstrated, it doesn’t matter much to those folks in the heartland how you get there. Besides, their constituents are now practically lining up in red states to learn Russian.

Republicans don’t need to rush to learn Russian. If they have their way, Russian will soon be available in US public schools, where English will be taught only as a second language. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

For Ogling Only

Posted by TomCat at 12:57 pm Politics

Jul 092018

Now, if I were to tell you that I have never, or do never, enjoy the delights of gazing upon the female form, I’d either have to admit I was lying or turn in my TomCat ID card. However, even I realize that breasts have a primary purpose, and for that purpose, nothing is better. However, it appears that the Republican Reich wants to make them for ogling only!

A resolution to encourage breast-feeding was expected to be approved quickly and easily by the hundreds of government delegates who gathered this spring in Geneva for the United Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly.

Based on decades of research, the resolution says that mother’s milk is healthiest for children and countries should strive to limit the inaccurate or misleading marketing of breast milk substitutes.

Then the United States delegation, embracing the interests of infant formula manufacturers, upended the deliberations.

American officials sought to water down the resolution by removing language that called on governments to “protect, promote and support breast-feeding” and another passage that called on policymakers to restrict the promotion of food products that many experts say can have deleterious effects on young children.

When that failed, they turned to threats, according to diplomats and government officials who took part in the discussions. Ecuador, which had planned to introduce the measure, was the first to find itself in the cross hairs.

The Americans were blunt: If Ecuador refused to drop the resolution, Washington would unleash punishing trade measures and withdraw crucial military aid. The Ecuadorean government quickly acquiesced…. [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

This shows just how low Republicans will to increase profits for the greedy.

Open Thread – 7/9/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:56 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 092018

It’s a slow day for news, dominated by speculation over Trump’s choice of fascists this evening. I had a busy morning juggling medical mayhem. I rescheduled my Cat Scan. After thinking it over, I decided that I could not inflict myself on them, stripped down after three days in the 90°s without a shower. I rescheduled to a Thursday, the day after shower day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:49 (average 4:22). To do it click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Current Affairs: [F]or a person who runs a “current affairs” magazine, I often know embarrassingly little about what is going on in my immediate vicinity. I’m often preoccupied with the national and international at the expense of the local. So I did not realize, until I bumped into it while wandering through my neighborhood, that New Orleans was going to have a demonstration against Trump’s immigration policies yesterday. I came upon it entirely by surprise. Which, in retrospect, was entirely the best way to find it. There is nothing quite like walking alone through a city and suddenly finding yourself surrounded by thousands of sympathetic comrades and friends, demonstrating for an important humanitarian cause.

That author is a lucky fellow! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From Crooks and Liars: Normally, I don’t buy into "lesser-of-two-evils" politics. If Democrats nominate a corrupt reactionary Blue Dog I’m at least as incensed as I am over a Republican. That’s not going to change either. And, I’m still saying that "normally" no longer applies, not with Trump and his Congressful of enablers and rubber stamps. I’m telling friends and relatives– my sister lives in Jeff Van Drew’s district– to just hold their noses and vote for anyone with a "D" next to their name.

As Digby has been saying since he moved into the White House, we’re in existential territory here. Boxing in Trump is more important than anything….

…That said, there’s no need to stop reminding the establishment Democratic Party that we need them to stop turning off the base with their Blue Dog/New Dem agenda and their uncontrollable hatred for the Democratic grassroots, for progressives and for the kind of reform that will cut off the spigots of money and power that motivates the careerism of the Hoyers, Wasserman Schultzes, Crowleys (buh bye) and the mirror images the DCCC keeps recruiting as candidates.

The DCCC is now whining how progressives have to get on board the unity train and pull together to elect a Democratic Congress to stop the boogie man in the White House. They’re correct. What they’re not correct about is that that’s a one-way street.The same thing is happening with progressive primary winners all over the country– including in must-win swing districts! Blue America has a page for that: Abandoned By The DCCC.

There are men and women– mostly women– on this list who won their primary races and who the DCCC is refusing to recognize while they’re asking progressives to support wretched Blue Dogs and New Dems because… "TRUMP!" [emphasis original]

Establishment Democrats need to support progressive nominees. Progressives need to support establishment Democratic nominees. We can fight amongst ourselves after Trump and his Reich are defeated. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From Daily Caller: Conservative groups are rolling out million dollar ad buys Monday evening immediately after President Donald Trump announces his pick to replace outgoing Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Judicial Crisis Network (JCN), a conservative political organization, is launching a $1.4 million ad campaign Monday evening in Alabama, Indiana, North Dakota, and West Virginia. The ads will start right after Trump announces his nominee at 9 p.m. Monday night, featuring an introductory bio on the nominee. In addition to running in those four states, the ads will run on national cable and digital media.

The buy comes after JCN rolled out a seven-figure ad campaign supporting Justice Neil Gorsuch — Trump’s first nominee to SCOTUS. The ad, much like Monday’s, targets vulnerable Democratic senators up for re-election in November in states Trump won in 2016.

In total, JCN will spend $2.4 million backing Trump’s nominee in national cable, broadcast and digital media.

They don’t care which, because they are all goose-steppers, and all will trash YOUR rights. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

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