It has been a hectic day.  I had to put off my bank run.  I kept my debit card pin on the back of an unrelated business card in my wallet, and cleaning out my wallet before cataract surgery, I accidentally discarded the card.  I had to call my bank.  They have reset the pin and are mailing it to me.  I’ll have it by the end of the week.  Then I had to call Amazon to straighten out a delivery problem.  I also had to schedule a Tri-Met Lift ride for Monday’s eye appointment with Christine.  Yesterday’s 92° set another record.  Today’s forecast is only 91°, followed by three days in the high 90°s.  OGIM!! (Oh God It’s Monday!!).

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:28 (average 5:48).  To do it click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Media Matters: Recent rumors indicate that Megyn Kelly may take over Sean Hannity’s 9 p.m. time slot on Fox News. But the factors in play are much bigger than one hour a night. The imminent Fox News primetime shakeup is more about Fox News’ own brand of misinformation being set to surpass the blunter approach of Rush Limbaugh and right-wing radio hosts.

For a brief bit of historical context before we get to the rumor itself, Fox News’ approach in many ways grew out of Rush Limbaugh’s short-lived television show. Roger Ailes famously produced the show and would take lessons from there to Fox News where he is still the CEO. (As well as taking lessons from his time as a Republican operative, which are well-documented.) And the further back you look at Fox, the more it resembles the worst aspects of Limbaugh’s show. But as Fox has grown, it’s adapted, allowing it to more effectively advance a political agenda.

This adaptation was on full display in Roger Ailes’ 2011 admission to Howard Kurtz, who has since moved to Fox, that Fox News needed to make a "course correction." The big picture result of this is Fox still pushing demonstrable misinformation, but doing so in a way other news networks will be more likely to pick up rather than mock. Their audience might not have had a problem with the old Fox News (at least, Roger Ailes gave no indication that they did), but the network’s reputation was in tatters. (As an aside, CNN’s recent pushing of right-wing Benghazi myths only emphasize the risk of Fox’s revised approach.)

Beware the new PR of the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, but Megyn Kelly is still Bagger bait.

RESIST!!

From Daily Kos:

We now continue our ongoing series exploring just how low Trump’s Republican enablers can sink in their attempts to protect him from our nation’s rule of law. Exhibit the whateverth: Newt Effing Gingrich [Fascist delinked].

President Trump got 68.63% in West Virginia, 4.8% in Washingtoin DC. Guess where Mueller has a grand jury? Guess how biased it will be?

— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) August 6, 2017

Now, let’s all first take the necessary moment to just take this masterpiece of bizarre post-modernism in. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, not long ago a Republican presidential candidate himself, appears to be arguing that the whole notion of prosecuting allies of Donald Trump, sitting president, for crimes they are suspected of committing is tainted or invalid because the crimes are suspected of taking place in a location in which Donald Trump is not popular.

Mind you, for all we know the Donald Trump campaign and/or White House may have committed crimes in West Virginia as well. If that is the case, Newt Gingrich can look forward to getting his wish.

What can I say, beyond what I’ve said all along? Newter Newt!! RESIST!!

From NY Times: Vice President Mike Pence declared his loyalty to President Trump on Sunday and denounced a New York Times article suggesting that he was positioning himself to run for president in 2020 if Mr. Trump does not seek a second term.

“Today’s article in The New York Times is disgraceful and offensive to me, my family and our entire team,” the vice president said in a statement [Fascist Theocon delinked]. “The allegations in this article are categorically false and represent just the latest attempt by the media to divide this administration.”

He added: “Whatever fake news may come our way, my entire team will continue to focus all our efforts to advance the president’s agenda and see him re-elected in 2020. Any suggestion otherwise is both laughable and absurd.”

How do you spell B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T? On the off chance that the Rectum Reich of Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten survives to 2020, and Putin’s Piddle Puppet seeks re-installation by Russia, Pence will be campaigning, along with a dozen others. We must remember now that the hateful policies Trump is pursuing now are not his own, but what Republicans have craved for years. But it hurts them that Trump brags about what they lie about. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Vintage 2011 and spot-on today.

Wendy is due to arrive in about ten minutes, and am I ever ready for a shower!  I have been since five minutes after I got out of the shower on Wednesday evening.  I have a light week coming up, and I don’t need to go out, except for a trip to the bank, which I’ll probably take tomorrow morning.  Yesterday was only 93°.  Humidity is 88%.  My AC filters the air in my room, but in the hallways and outside, the smoke from wildfires is bad enough to irritate my eyes.  I hope you are enjoying your weekend.  Later: Wendy arrived, before I added the third Short Take.  We got a lot done, and she is still a national treasure, but she just left, and I already need a shower.  ARGH!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:30 (average 5:06).  To do it click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Funny or Die Channel): The West Wing: Trump Reboot

Barf Bag Alert!!

Are they right about the Executive Producer or what? RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: Over at our favorite website for classy headlines and snarky stories, Wonkette, there’s a fall-flat-on-your-face article about a twitter exchange that begins with a post by White House correspondent Lucian Wintrich, who writes for the right-wing conspiracy blog The Gateway Pundit. Seems Mr. Wintrich was none too pleased with a photo of three Native Americans flipping off Mount Rushmore. Below is the photo with his response…

…The most braindead responses come from Wintrich’s cronies who believe, as he does, that ‘Native Indians’ snuck into the continent and stole the land and resources. This exchange is classic:

Why make the trip to do that, go back to your country if you don’t like the country or its history.

This is their country. They were here first

Really? They don’t look British at all

Not at all huh

They don’t look native Indian either

[facepalm]

On a scale of one to ten, Republican activists are racist idiots! RESIST!!

From TPM: House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday emphasized that congressional Republicans must pass major legislation or they will risk their majority in the 2018 elections.

“If we don’t do our job we will depress turnout,” Ryan told the Wisconsin State Journal. “I am frustrated as well.”

Ryan blamed inaction on the Senate, which recently failed to pass a bill to repeal Obamacare.

“We’re pretty frustrated with the slow pace of things (in the Senate), but in the House, we’ve actually done most of our agenda except for welfare reform and tax reform,” he said.

The speaker also lamented the distractions from the White House, though he did not mention President Donald Trump by name.

The tip of Lyin’ Ryan’s nose is an orange shade of brown! RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Yesterday’s high was 101°, 6° hotter than forecast, and breaking another all time record for the date, in addition to smoke.  Today is the "cool" day, with only 93° forecast.  We may have a week in the 80s°, starting a week from tomorrow.  Even giving myself a whore’s bath daily, I can’t stand myself.  Squatch had better hide, because we have a south wind.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:39 (average 6:44).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MoveOn Channel): Breach of Trust

Kudos to Coast Guard Commandant, Adm. Paul Zuklunft, who refuses to break faith with trans service people. RESIST!!

From Think Progress: After the transcript leaked, a panel on an Australian news show devolved into laughter while talking about the conversation Turnbull and Trump had in February. On the call, Turnbull argues that Trump should honor an Obama-era deal that the U.S. would consider taking refugees from Manus Island and Nauru.

Dang! A news show host couldn’t say that here!! They were way too king to Trump! RESIST!!

From TPM: The National Rifle Association continued a streak of publishing decidedly aggressive video content Thursday.

Barf Bag Alert!!

.@DLoesch has a message for the @nytimes: “We’re coming for you.” One
non-#fakenews story is not enough. #NRA #ClenchedFistofTruth pic.twitter.com/Hm1QkJi5Tp

— NRATV (@NRATV) August 3, 2017

Frankly, I think the gray lady will serve these fascist Republican Ammosexuals their own asses on a silver platter. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

We have not had a Republican in the White House that wasn’t a fascist since IKE, with the possible exception of Ford.

It’s a few degrees cooler than yesterday, yet the building is so super heated that I can’t tell the difference.  I took a thermometer to the rest room this morning.  At 6:00 AM, in Nameless’ favorite position, it was 101° there.  Tomorrow’s forecast high is the coolest of the nest ten days: 93°.  AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:44 (average 7:34).  To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Robert Mueller Takes Next Step In Donald Trump Russia Probe

Joy did an excellent job of filling us in on the history and status of the investigation into the crimes of Donald "Putin’s Pervert" Trump (R-RU) and his Republican cronies. RESIST!!

Also from YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Lawrence: Donald Trump Begged Mexico For Help On The Wall

What a lying fool! Here is a full transcript of both this phone call and the idiot’s call to Australia’s PM. Enjoy, Ozzies!  RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: The special counsel, Robert Mueller, just called Donald Trump to tell the President that he was “the most innocent person ever,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.

“It was the middle of the afternoon, and he just picked up the phone to say how innocent I was,” Trump said. “He said I was the most innocent person he’d ever come across, and maybe in history.”

“He said he had been over all of the evidence and that he and his staff would spend hours just looking at each other in amazement at about how unbelievably innocent I was,” he said.

Andy, the really sad thing is that it’s something Trump would actually say. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

And today’s Republicans would cheer!