It’s that time of week again, and I’m happy to share three excellent video clips from Bill’s show last night. Enjoy!!
Monologue: Make America Sick Again
New Rule: I Didn’t Reproduce Day
I know very little about Nawaz, so I could be wrong. However, as a Christian, who regularly criticizes the anti-Christian extremism of Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians, I consider it absurd to condemn a Muslim, for criticizing Islamist extremism.
Here in Portland it reached 91° yesterday. 96° is forecast for today. Even with AC, it’s oppressive, and I’m spending as much time as I can at rest.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:32 (average 4:42). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (GQ Channel): What if Trump Actually Fires Mueller? | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann
If average US citizens spent half as much time every day making themselves politically aware, as they do sitting on the toilet, the US would be a shining example of progressive governance. RESIST!!
From The Last Word: Paul Ryan’s challenger: Ryan not listening, Trump untrustworthy
Wisconsin ironworker Randy Bryce will challenge Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan for re-election in 2018. If Bryce wins, it would be the third time since 1862 that a Speaker of the House has lost re-election. Lawrence O’Donnell talks to Randy Bryce
Kudos to Randy Bryce. I’m not holding my breath, but I’d love it, if Bryce dumped Lyin’ Ryan. RESIST!!
From NY Times: Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, perhaps the most vulnerable Republican facing re-election in 2018, said Friday that he would not support the Senate health care overhaul as written, dealing a serious blow to his party’s attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act just days before a showdown vote.
Using remarkably harsh language, Mr. Heller, who is seen as a pivotal swing vote, denounced the Senate-drafted bill in terms that Democrats swiftly seized on. He said the measure would deprive millions of health care and do nothing to lower insurance premiums.
“I cannot support a piece of legislation that takes insurance away from tens of millions of Americans,” he said at a news conference in Las Vegas, standing next to Nevada’s Republican governor, Brian Sandoval, who accepted federal funding under the Affordable Care Act to expand Medicaid.
Heller, knows his career is over, if he votes for it, but he’s just one. Counting on Cruz, Paul, and Lee to oppose it would be crazy. We need three Republicans to reject it or it will pass. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
Mitch McConnell (R-KY), aka Bought Bitch Mitch, and the Republican Party have released the Senate version of RepubliCare. It’s easy to explain. Are you rich? Are you a senior? Are you disabled? Do you have a pre-existing condition? Are you poor? If you answered no to the first question, and yes to any of the rest, Bought Bitch Mitch and the Republican Party are trying to kill you.
After throwing a celebratory garden party outside the Oval Office with all those white guys in suits who passed an Obamacare repeal plan that would take away the healthcare of 24 million Americans, President Trump seems to have had a change of heart. He began characterizing the scheme as “mean” and urged Senate Republicans to be more generous and less hardhearted as they recrafted the House bill.
Well, now that Senate GOP rewrite has been released from the backroom secrecy in which it was drafted under the guidance of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, it appears no one really paid any attention to what Trump had to say. McConnell turns out to be just as mean as Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.
The Senate Republican bill would take away billions of dollars from Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor, and spend that money on a big tax break for wealthy people. The bill would also sharply reduce subsidies that help low-income folks purchase health insurance. In these and most other ways, the Senate measure is not radically different from the House version of the American Health Care Act which, according to polls, is deeply unpopular with more than 80% of voters…
From <LA Times>
Since Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten has tweeted his approval of Senate RepubliCare, he takes his seat at the head of the Republican death panel.
Chris Hayes explained why the bill is the polar opposite of what Trump and the Republicans promised.
It was all a lie!
Rachel Maddow gives is the most in-depth coverage I’ve seen.
Kudos to ADAPT!
Do you want to save the millions on the Republican hit list?
Yesterday my appointment was successful, but altogether grueling. They do make special replacement lenses that would give me vision at all distances, but Medicare does not cover them, and I can’t afford $2,700 to buy them myself. I selected a standard mid-range lens, suitable for most indoor activities. Then I can get a pair of sunglasses for long range outdoor use, seeing hazards to my chair at a distance, and a pair of reading glasses. TriMet Lift delivered me an hour early, I was seen right away, and it took far less time than anticipated. I was done at Noon. I called TriMet, but they were unable to move my ride up from the 2:00 to 2:30 window. They picked me up just after 2:30. On the way home, someone sideswiped another TriMet Lift Bus, and mine was diverted to rescue their passengers. I got to take an unwanted, but necessary, grand tour and finally returned home just after 5:00. Exhausted, I ate, went to bed, and slept well. We are now in the worst heat wave of the year so far, forecast at 92° today, 99° tomorrow, and 100° Sunday. I’m afraid that when Wendy comes Sunday to de-stink the TomCat, the TomCat may also have to de-stink Wendy!! 
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:59 (average 5:06). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (RWW Channel): Sam Rohrer Says Opposition To Trump Is ‘Creating The Circumstances" For The Rise Of The Antichrist
Barf Bag Alert!!
Bull. The home of the Antichrist is 666 Park Avenue.
RESIST!!
From NY Times: President Trump cleared up one of the capital’s least suspenseful mysteries on Thursday, acknowledging that he did not record conversations with James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director he fired in anger over an investigation into his campaign’s possible ties to Russia.
Meeting a self-imposed deadline of this week to resolve questions he himself raised by implying that he had taped Mr. Comey, Mr. Trump said on Twitter [Traitor delinked] that he had not made tapes of what Mr. Comey has testified were attempts by the president to derail the Justice Department’s investigation.
But if few people believed that Mr. Trump actually possessed recordings, his motives in warning Mr. Comey that he might have taped him remain a mystery, particularly since it set off a chain of events that accelerated, rather than slowed, the investigation into Mr. Trump and Russia.
Mr. Comey testified that it was Mr. Trump’s veiled threat of tapes that led him to authorize the disclosure of memos of his conversations with the president — the details of which prompted the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to look into the case.
If Trump is now telling the truth, always a doubtful hypothesis, he committed Obstruction of Justice by using threats to temper with a witness. RESIST!!
From Raw Story: Life After Hate — a nonprofit group dedicated to de-radicalizing white nationalist and neo-Nazi extremists and combating the rise of right-wing extremism — is losing its funding under the Trump administration.
Politico’s Playbook Plus reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s $10 million grant program “Countering Violent Extremism” was stalled but is set to resume on Friday.
Life After Hate was supposed to receive a $400,000 grant in the last days of the Obama administration. That money was delayed as the program was reviewed and assessed.
“But,” Politico said, “the Trump administration dropped them from the new grant list that’s getting announced today.”
The group has had a “twenty-fold increase in calls for help” since Election Day from people trying to “disengage” from neo-Nazism and white supremacy as well as friends and family looking for help for someone they know.
It wouldn’t surprise me at all, if the Fuhrer and his Republican Reich gave the money to Stormfront instead. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
I’m headed out to see Christine, my Ophthalmologist for my final planning and measurements appointment before my cataract surgery on 7/18. I’ll be home late this afternoon, but will be visually impaired from being dilated. I should be back in the saddle tomorrow.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:40 (average 5:42). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
We have discussed many times that that the Reich on the Right, the Republican Reich, is virtually always wrong. On the other hand, the Reich on the Left, Robert Reich, is virtually always right. In this case, Robert is right that there is already sufficient evidence to impeach the Orange Obstructer for Obstruction of Justice.
Obstruction of justice was among the articles of impeachment drafted against both Presidents Nixon and Clinton. The parallel between Nixon and Trump is almost exact. White House tapes revealed Nixon giving instructions to pressure the acting FBI director into halting the Watergate investigation.
Two weeks after Trump told Comey privately “I need loyalty. I expect loyalty,” he had another private meeting with Comey in the Oval Office. After shooing out his advisers – all of whom had top security clearance – Trump said to Comey, according to Comey’s memo written shortly after the meeting, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go.”
Then on May 9, Trump fired Comey. In a subsequent interview with NBC Trump said he planned to fire Comey “regardless of [the] recommendation” of the Attorney and Deputy Attorney General, partly because of “this Russia thing.” Trump also revealed in the interview that he had had several conversations with Comey about the Russia investigation, and had asked Comey if he was under investigation…
From <Robert Reich>
Here’s the video.
I fully agree, with the caveat that things will have to get much, much worse, before House Republicans will act. Probably, Democrats will have to flip the House first, hopefully in 2018. Then they can impeach Pence at the same time.
I’m feeling very tired, because I could not sleep last night. I’m not sure why, but I suspect it was the excessive humidity. I’m waiting for Store to Door to deliver groceries, and Wendy will be here this evening, because the TomCat is stinky beyond belief. Tomorrow I have my preliminary eye examination, before my cataract surgery. I will be fully dilated. I will post a brief Personal Update before leaving. I doubt that I will be able to reply on my return, as I will be almost blind for the evening. Have a happy hump day, but never hump Trump.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:49 (average 4:25). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (GQ Channel): So, Does Trump Have Tapes of Comey? | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann
FBI/Comey tapes? Interesting! I believe Trump did make tapes, because his ego is as big as his hands (etc.) are small. RESIST!!
From Daily Kos: As Vice President Mike Pence inches closer to the presidency due to, you know, all that stuff his boss keeps doing, here is your periodic reminder, stolen from his Father’s Day rant way back in the Bush era, that Mike Pence is also a complete nut.
“Despite her delicate features and voice, Disney expects us to believe that Mulan’s ingenuity and courage were enough to carry her to military success on an equal basis with her cloddish cohorts. Obviously, this is Walt Disney’s attempt to add childhood expectation to the cultural debate over the role of women in the military. I suspect that some mischievous liberal at Disney assumes that Mulan’s story will cause a quiet change in the next generation’s attitude about women in combat and they just might be right. […]
From the original "Tailhook" scandal involving scores of high ranking navy fighter pilots who molested subordinate women to the latest travesty at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, the hard truth of our experiment with gender integration is that it has been an almost complete disaster for the military and for many of the individual women involved.”
This is in addition to his refusal to meet privately with professional women in the workplace lest he be overcome by their female wiles and, of course, a governance record in his own state that nobody in his party dares bring up these days.
This is a reminder that any attempt to remove Trump from office must include Pence. I have said from the beginning that pseudo-Pence is as bad as, or even worse than the Peach Pussy-grabber. RESIST!!
From Me:
I’m sad to announce that the evil Karen Handel defeated Jon Ossoff 52% to 48% in GA 6. Handel, a betrayer of women, ran mostly on hatred and patriarchy. Ossoff ran mostly on health care and jobs. I expect some in the regressive extreme of the left to claim the loss is evidence of the need to abandon the Democratic Party. It means no such thing. We almost took a district that has been in Republican hands since 1979, and was carefully gerrymandered to keep Newtered Newt in power for twenty years. In the end, a small majority who voted cared more for fostering hatred and keeping women barefoot and pregnant than they did jobs and health care. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
I originally published this cartoon six years ago today. Isn’t it sad that it’s as valid now as it was then?
Almost six months into the Residency of Putin’s Puppet, the Republican Reich has accomplished less than any administration in our nation’s history. The rabid Republican base are howling desperately, with gangs bared, for a win. Bought Bitch Mitch and the Republican Party [R-KY] do not care how sleazy they has to get, how deeply they have to harm the economy, and how many people they have to kill to to keep their deplorable base loyal.
Senate Democrats plan to go all out in their protest against the GOP healthcare bill starting Monday night.
Lawmakers in the party plan to use a series of stall tactics to try to draw attention to the way Republicans are writing their version of the American Health Care Act and to protest the policy changes that are expected to be in the bill.
A Democratic Senate aide told Business Insider the move would consist of four measures:
- Objecting to nearly all unanimous-consent requests, which are used to more quickly act on requests or resolutions that have bipartisan support. While this will not prevent any measure from passing, it can slow down proceedings significantly. The Democratic aide said some resolutions would be allowed through, such as a resolution honoring the victims of last week’s congressional baseball shooting.
- Submitting a series of unanimous-consent requests designed "to attempt to force the House-passed healthcare bill to committee," delay a series of votes on the legislation, "and increase transparency, forcing Republicans to publicly defend their ‘no hearings strategy.’"
- Using a series of parliamentary procedures "to highlight the difference between the open process used to pass the Affordable Care Act and the process Republicans are pursuing now."
- Highlighting healthcare issues "late into the evening in a series of speeches."
While none of these measures can hold up the bill indefinitely, the Democratic protests would slow down the Senate business and most likely bring more attention to the issue…
From <Business Insider>
Even if they are unable to prevent it, Democrats must still put up the biggest fight in history. Chris Hayes interviewed Bernie Sanders, who summarized the situation perfectly.
Rachel Maddow interviewed Oregon’s Jeff Merkley about Republican tactics and the Democratic response.
Call your senators and demand that this evil bill never see the light of day. Your life may very well depend on it.
