Open Thread – Page 490 – Politics Plus

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

Open Thread – 7/20/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:47 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 202018

It was cool this morning, here in the CatBox, and I enjoyed it until the sun hit the wall. Then the inside temperature increased 15° in the 8 minutes it took me co close the window, blinds, and door and fire up the AC. Tomorrow will be the last cool morning until we’re back in the 90°s for at least a week. TGIF!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:25 (average 5:23). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Yates: W.H. Knew Flynn Under Investigation As Donald Trump Coaxed Comey

Wouldn’t it be great, if she had become AG, instead of KKK Beauregard? RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From YouTube (RWW Channel): RWW News: Jerome Corsi Says Trump, Putin United in War Against ‘Deep State’

Barf Bag Alert!!

The Republican fascist conspiracy theorist got it half right. Trump and Putin are united in a war, but it’s against the US. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From Alternet: Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) introduced a measure on Thursday to designate additional funding to states for the protection of elections.

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) spoke in support of the measure, saying, the federal government should help “slam the door in the face of the Russian bear or any other adversary who seeks to steal the integrity of our elections."

Hoyer explained that the amendment was about "one of the most pressing issues of our time."

“Surely we can rise above pandering to party and Putin to act on behalf of our freedom and our security,” he continued. “We have sworn an oath to defend our Constitution and our liberty against all enemies, foreign and domestic. You have the opportunity to do that today. Do so. Vote yes on this amendment for your country.”

Democrats applauded and began to chant "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" as Republicans went silent and voted against the measure to protect elections. [emphasis added]

Now we know how Republicans plan to win in 2018. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From The New Yorker: Saying that he was “flabbergasted” by the events of this week, the Revolutionary War-era traitor Benedict Arnold offered a ringing defense of his own career in treason, asserting, “I was never this blatant.”

“I was brought up to believe that betraying your country was something you’d do very secretively,” Arnold, who now resides in Hell, said. “If you were going over to the enemy side, you’d do everything you could not to be detected. You wouldn’t go around announcing it to the world like a jackass.”

Dang Andy! Is Benedict jealous or relieved, now that he knows that his reign as America’s most infamous traitor is at an end. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 7/19/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:48 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 192018

It’s a little cooler here today and tomorrow with highs around 80°. I actually got to turn off the AC for a while this morning. Then the sun hit the wall, and that ended that. It was very muggy last night, and I slept poorly.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:04 (average 4:19). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): NYT: Donald Trump Has Known Vladimir Putin Ordered Hacks Since January 2017

Covering up for Putin for over eighteen months is giving aid and comfort to an enemy that continues to wage cyber war against the US. That is treason. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From YouTube (Parody Project Channel): ARE YOU BETTER OFF TODAY? – Have You Ever Seen the Rain – Creedence Clearwater Revival

The US, if we survive, will not be as well off as we were before Trump stole the Oval Office for at least fifty years. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!! (Parody Project "loved" this comment on YouTube.)

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): Is Donald Trump a Traitor?

The Reich on the Left, Robert Reich, is right! The Reich on the Right, the Republican Reich, is a den of traitors! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

0719Cartoon

Open Thread – 7/18/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:24 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 182018

It’s a little cooler with the forecast high in the mid 80°s, but the building is still superheated. Store to Door delivered groceries. I unpacked and put them away. WWWendy comes this evening, and it won’t be a minute too soon. I stink. Happy Hump Day, but no humping Trump unless you are a foreign dictator.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:08 (average 8:31). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Trae Crowder Channel): Liberal Redneck – Vlad n Donnie 2gether 4ever

I love Trey, but he missed a third possibility. Trump wants Putin’s ongoing help to transform the US government into a mirror image of Putin’s Russia, and to team with Russia to dominate the world. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From YouTube (Late Show Channel): The Fly On The Wall At The Trump-Putin Meeting

That may be close to what happened. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From Axios: Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) is the U.S. Congressman named in Monday’s FBI affidavit against Russian national Maria Butina, which alleges Rohrabacher was part of a 2015 delegation that traveled to Moscow and planned to meet with a Russian official widely believed to be Alexander Torshin, reports The Daily Beast.

Why it matters: Torshin, who has been described as a "godfather" in a Russian organized crime syndicate, has been under FBI investigation for potentially funneling money through the NRA to help President Trump win the 2016 election. The notoriously pro-Russia Rohrabacher did not deny being the congressman referenced in the document, but said that the charge against Maria Butina is "bogus," according to Politico.

Is that treason? I wonder how many Republican Ammosexuals realize that the NRA is knowingly being used as a Russian front to funnel money to Republicans? Would they care? RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 7/17/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:54 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 172018

It’s another horrid heat wave day. This is the weather I left Arizona to escape, and except for "monsoon season" in August and September, at least it was dry heat there. ARGH!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:58 (average 4:37). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Media Matters Channel): Before Trump’s meeting with Putin, Fox couldn’t stop gushing about how "strong" he is

Barf Bag Alert!!

Does the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, have traitor poop on their faces, or what? RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From The New Yorker: The North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, is reportedly “upset” and “hurt” that Donald J. Trump is seeing other dictators, sources in Pyongyang have confirmed.

According to an aide close to the North Korean leader, Kim was “devastated” to see images of Trump warmly embracing another dictator in Helsinki on Monday, just one month after jetting off to Singapore to spend a memorable and intense five hours with Kim.

Shortly after their time together, aides close to Kim warned him against becoming emotionally attached to Trump, alerting Kim to press reports linking the American to many other dictators.

“He’s been quoted saying nice things about Xi Jinping and Rodrigo Duterte, to name just two,” one aide said. “Trump could never commit to just one dictator. When it comes to autocrats and strongmen, he’s a total player.”

Dang Andy! Kim had better make sure Putin used a condom with Trump, before Kim gets behind Trump again. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From NY Times: Among the first migrant parents to recover their children after they were taken by immigration authorities at the southwest border were 12 Guatemalans who disembarked jubilantly from a plane last week back in their home country. Immediately, though, there were questions: Had the families given up their right to pursue an asylum claim as the price for recovering their children?

In a court filing on Monday, lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union said there are growing concerns that the Trump administration’s efforts to return more than 2,000 migrant children to their parents by July 26 to comply with a court order could be accompanied by attempts to carry out “mass deportations” once the families are reunited.

Lawyers for the civil rights group referred in their motion to “persistent and increasing rumors — which defendants have refused to deny — that mass deportations may be carried out imminently and immediately upon reunification.”

Those damn Republicans did not even stop deporting the parents of separated children. That is more vile than obscene. It’s Republican. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

0717Cartoon

(Before the US and USSR became Fascist nations)

Open Thread – 7/17/2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:54 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 172018

It’s another horrid heat wave day. This is the weather I left Arizona to escape, and except for "monsoon season" in August and September, at least it was dry heat there. ARGH!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:58 (average 4:37). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Media Matters Channel): Before Trump’s meeting with Putin, Fox couldn’t stop gushing about how "strong" he is

Barf Bag Alert!!

Does the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, have traitor poop on their faces, or what? RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From The New Yorker: The North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, is reportedly “upset” and “hurt” that Donald J. Trump is seeing other dictators, sources in Pyongyang have confirmed.

Shortly after their time together, aides close to Kim warned him against becoming emotionally attached to Trump, alerting Kim to press reports linking the American to many other dictators.

Dang Andy! Kim had better make sure Putin used a condom with Trump, before Kim gets behind Trump again. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Those damn Republicans did not even stop deporting the parents of separated children. That is more vile than obscene. It’s Republican. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

0717Cartoon

(Before the US and USSR became Fascist nations)

Open Thread – 7/16 2018

Posted by TomCat at 12:30 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 162018

The heat wave continues here in Portland with an excessive heat warning still in place. Here in the CatBox, my AC is barely holding its own. I am exerting myself as little as possible, but listening to the Fuhrer commit treason makes it hard for me to keep from screaming.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:01 (average 4:42). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (NY Times Channel): President Trump: Don’t Be Putin’s Puppet

Amen! But Trump has been Putin’s Puppet at least since inauguration day, if not before. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From BBC: The US has rejected pleas from the EU to grant exemptions to European firms from the sanctions on Iran that will start to be reinstated next month.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin wrote in a letter that they wanted to exert “unprecedented” pressure on Tehran.

Waivers will only be given on national security or humanitarian grounds.

President Donald Trump ordered that the sanctions be re-imposed in May after abandoning a nuclear deal with Iran.

The UK, France and Germany – which were also parties to the 2015 accord, along with Russia and China – pledged to continue abiding by their commitments.

How absurd! The Republican Reich is punishing Europeans for abiding by an international agreement that Republicans violated. I bet Russia gets exemptions! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From Think Progress: President Donald Trump met with Finnish president Sauli Niinistö Monday, ahead of his scheduled summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.

According to reporters, Trump thanked the Finnish president for his support and said the North American Treaty Organization (NATO) has never been stronger.

“I enjoyed being with you a couple of days ago. NATO has, I think, never been stronger. It was a little bit tough at the beginning, but it turned out to be love. I appreciated your support,” Trump said in his opening remarks.

Finland, however, is not in NATO.

Unfortunately for Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten and the Republican Reich, the world is watching his perfect example of Republican competence. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 7/15/2018

Posted by TomCat at 11:57 am Open Thread, Plus, Politics

Jul 152018

It’s the hottest day of the week with forecast high in the low 100°s. UGH!! I’ll stink soon after my shower. WWWendy is coming this morning. I expect her in 30 minutes. The plan is to exert myself as little as possible.

Wendy just left. Most of my shower was cold water by choice. The AC is barely holding it’s own.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Todays took me 3:48 (average 4:59). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): Robert Reich: The Fog of Trump

The Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is partially right. Trump’s antics distract from what the Reich on the Right, The Republican Reich, are doing to damage our nation. They have been trying to do all the awful things Robert listed for years, before they put Trump on the pedestal. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From LA Times: California Democratic Party leaders took a step to the left Saturday night, endorsing liberal state lawmaker Kevin de León for Senate in a stinging rebuke of Democratic icon Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

De León’s victory reflected the increasing strength of the state party’s liberal activist core, which was energized by the election of Republican President Trump.

The endorsement was an embarrassment for Feinstein, who is running for a fifth full term, and indicates that Democratic activists in California have soured on her reputation for pragmatism and deference to bipartisanship as Trump and a Republican-led Congress are attacking Democratic priorities on immigration, healthcare and environmental protections.

De León, a former state Senate leader from Los Angeles, received 65% of the vote of about 330 members of the state party’s executive board — more than the 60% needed to secure the endorsement. Feinstein, who pleaded with party leaders meeting in Oakland this weekend not to endorse any candidate, received 7%, and 28% voted for “no endorsement.”

Kudos to CDP! I add my endorsement of DeLeon! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From Alternet: It’s all right there in the indictment — day by day, hack by hack, theft by theft — how agents of the Russian intelligence service, the GRU, set out in the spring of 2016 to steal the election for Donald Trump. When you track the actions taken by Russian intelligence in the indictment with statements made by Trump and actions taken on his behalf by members of his campaign, the picture is as clear as an iPhone photo. Agents of the Russian government coordinated with members of the Trump campaign and took cues from Trump himself in order to influence the election of 2016.

In announcing the indictment, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein may have refused to point to a victim of the Russians’ crimes other than to say it was America itself, but the intent of the Russians was clear. They took active measures over a period of at least nine months to aid the campaign of Donald Trump and to damage the campaign of Hillary Clinton. They stole the election for Donald Trump, and he helped them do it.

The author concludes that the evidence in the indictment renders the Trump Presidency illegitimate. I fully agree. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

Cartoon:

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