Open Thread – Page 524 – Politics Plus

Open Thread – 11/1/2017

Posted by TomCat at 12:21 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Nov 012017

I have a very busy day today. In addition to my normal research and writing I need to change the poll. I also need to make the graphics and collect the data for Friday’s Monthly Report. I’m waiting for a grocery delivery from Store to Door and need to but the food away. Tonight Wendy is coming to destink the TomCat. Tomorrow, please expect only a Personal Update. I have an appointment with Amanda, my Prosthetist, to finish getting George’s adjustments and replacement parts for the year. Thoughts and prayers for all harmed in or because of the terrorist attack. Remember that both this terrorist and the more common Republican terrorists are right wing religious extremists who would force their hatred, control and dogma on others. The only difference is which religion they abuse and misrepresent.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:09 (average 5:01). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): Did Trump Spot the Indictment’s Most Damning Phrase?

Tick… Tick… Tick… RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Calling it a story “too hot for the other cable-news networks to handle,” Fox News Channel announced on Tuesday that it would begin airing twenty-four-hour coverage of Bill Clinton’s 1998–99 impeachment.

Fox anchor Sean Hannity announced the programming change, telling viewers that Fox would devote all its resources to reporting the Clinton impeachment to the exclusion of all other news stories.

“This story has everything: sex, lies, and misdeeds at the highest levels of our government,” Hannity said. “We are planning to flood the zone to bring it to you.”

Dang Andy! You mean they are going to change from their coverage of Hillary Clinton’s impeachment? RESIST!!

From Robert Reich: The robbers are the American oligarchs who bankroll the Republican Party, and who are plotting the biggest heist in American history – a massive tax cut estimated to be up to 5.8 trillion dollars.

Around 80 percent of it will benefit the richest 1 percent, according to the Tax Policy Center.

Trump is busily distracting America with his explosive tweets and incendiary tantrums – blasting Republican senators Jeff Flake and Bob Corker, NFL players who take the knee, Dreamers, refugees, immigrants, transgender people, the media, “rocket man,” Hillary Clinton, Obama, NAFTA, Muslims.

The Trump bomb is hugely damaging – unleashing hate, threatening democratic institutions, isolating America in the world.

But none of this seems to bother Republicans in Congress, except for a handful of Senators who won’t be running again. That’s because congressional Republicans are concentrating their efforts on pulling off the giant heist for their rich patrons.

Click through for the rest. The Reich on the left could not be more right. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 10/31/2017

Posted by TomCat at 1:25 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 312017

Let me apologize in advance if I’m short or make typos today. Between going out yesterday, trying to keep track of the news, and watching last night’s religious tragedy, I’m feeling very wiped out, but there’s work here that needs to be done.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:07 (average 9:21). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Religious Agony:

Worthless stinking Orb!

Fantasy Football Report:

Here’s the latest from our own fantasy football league, Lefty Blog Friends.

Scores:

Woooo Hoooo!!

Standings:

Congrats to Seth, Vivian and I, the leaders among active players. Condolences to Jack, who is buried in Sasquatch toe jams.

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): We Have Indictments! Has Christmas Come Early?

When I wrote yesterday’s lead, I said that it would be outdated, before I published it. Woooo Hoooo!! RESIST!!

From YouTube (Trae Crowder Channel):

Dayyum!! RESIST!!

From NY Times: A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked a White House policy barring military service by transgender troops, ruling that it was based on “disapproval of transgender people generally.”

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia found the administration’s justification for the ban, which was set to take effect in March 2018, to be suspect and likely unconstitutional. She ruled that the military’s current policy should remain in place.

“There is absolutely no support for the claim that the ongoing service of transgender people would have any negative effective on the military at all,” the judge wrote in a strongly worded, 76-page ruling. “In fact, there is considerable evidence that it is the discharge and banning of such individuals that would have such effects.”

Kudos to the judge! RESIST!!

Cartoon:

1031Cartoon

Every year it gets harder to clean the coal dust from my white patches

Open Thread – 10/30/2017

Posted by TomCat at 12:16 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 302017

I’m in a big hurry to get my writing done before I leave. May the Holy Ellipsoid Orb bless my Broncos tonight. Back!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:52 (average 6:08). To do it, click here. How did you do.

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Jeff Merkley Channel): Senator Merkley Slams GOP Efforts to Kneecap Consumer Rights

Note that both Jeff Flake and Bob Corker voted FOR the legislation that Jeff is speaking against. Oregon leads the way. RESIST!!

From NY Times: Senator Jeff Flake’s decision to abandon his 2018 re-election campaign in Arizona has thrown open the Senate race there, exposing deep fissures not only on the Republican side where a nationalist insurgency is gunning for the party establishment but also among Democrats contending with a rising left.

Establishment Democrats have high hopes for Representative Kyrsten Sinema, a centrist who recently dined in the Blue Room of the White House with President Trump, teaches a bipartisan spin class in the House gym and has broken ranks with her own party on key votes. She was one of only seven House Democrats, for example, who voted to create a select committee to investigate the 2012 attack on the United States diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.

But those impulses toward bipartisanship have soured Arizona progressives against the candidacy of a woman who rose to prominence on a biography that included time as a homeless child and an identity that includes being the first open bisexual in Congress.

“There are issues, murmurs within grass-roots groups and the progressive community, the environmental community and others, including immigration advocates,” said Representative Raúl M. Grijalva, Democrat of Arizona and a co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who is withholding his endorsement of her.

Establishment Republicans, meanwhile, are scrambling to find a candidate to replace Mr. Flake and wage a primary challenge against Kelli Ward, a former state senator who aligns herself with Mr. Trump. Ms. Ward, derided by critics as a fringe candidate and a conspiracy theorist, was beaten badly by the senior senator from Arizona, John McCain, in a 2016 primary, and party leaders fear she would lose to Ms. Sinema in the general election.

I certainly prefer a more progressive alternative to Sinema, but a DINO is better than a Republican, especially Kelli Ward. RESIST!!

From NBC News: Given all of the focus on President Trump’s political base — and how he’s still holding on to it – our new NBC/WSJ poll sheds light on a less-discussed development: Trump is losing ground with the middle of the country.

Just 34 percent of independents approve of Trump’s job performance, while 57 percent disapprove (-23). That’s a decline from September, when 41 percent of independents approved and 48 percent disapproved (-7). As for self-described moderates, only 27 percent approve of Trump’s job, versus 68 percent who disapprove (-41). The president’s overall job-approval rating stands at 38 percent — his lowest yet in the NBC/WSJ poll.

What’s more, independents prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress over a Republican-controlled one in next year’s midterm elections by 6 points, 39 percent to 33 percent, while moderates want a Dem-controlled Congress by 32 points, 60 percent to 28 percent.

That might be barely enough to flip the House. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

1030Cartoon

Open Thread – 10/29/2017

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

Oct 292017

Wendy is due in about an hour, and when she arrives, I shall stop writing and finish when she leaves. Tomorrow I’m meeting an old friend, with whom I do volunteer work, for lunch. Depending on how long I’m gone, I may have no more than a Personal Update. May the holy Ellipsoid Orb shine its blessed light on your team. My Broncos play the Chiefs in the Monday night game.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:08 (average 5:55). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (RWW Channel): RWW News: Matt Barber Cites Hoax News Story To Link LGBTQ Activists To Pedophilia

Barf Bag Alert!!

Contrary to the this Republican liar’s claims, there is no link, between homosexuality and pedophilia, but 93% of all pedophiles describe themselves as ‘religious’. RESIST!!

From Newsweek: Donald Trump’s motorcade departing from the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia had an extra add-on Saturday, after the president spent the 96th day of his presidency visiting one of his own properties. That addition came in the form of a female cyclist, who had one goal in mind: to flip off the president of the United States.

Pool reporters first noticed the cyclist trailing the motorcade before she managed to snake her way next to the president’s car just outside of the Trump National Golf Club. "A female bicyclist along the motorcade route, just outside the golf course, traveling in the right lane repeatedly extended her middle left finger towards POTUS," the pool stated.

Whoever she is, I’m sure glad that she had her cortisone shot, if she needed one! Winking smile RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: A crowd estimated in the hundreds of thousands has gathered outside the office of Robert Mueller in eager anticipation of the special counsel’s first arrest in the Russia probe.

Minutes after news was leaked that charges had been filed, Americans from across the country descended on Mueller’s office to witness firsthand what many called the beginning of the end of the nightmare.

“I can’t believe this day has finally come,” Carol Foyler, who drove from North Carolina, said. “My husband is having surgery today, but I didn’t want to miss this.”

Andy, millions of us wait with high anticipation. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 10/28/2017

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

Oct 282017

I did have to turn on my AC briefly yesterday afternoon, and may have to do so again today. It’s amazing how the radiator effect of the sun hitting the wall heats the room 10° – 25° warmer than the outside temperature. Tomorrow is a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb, but my Broncos visit to the division leading Chiefs is not until Monday evening. I slept well, but still feel tired.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:54 (average 4:59). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): How Trump Manipulates America With Twitter

Keith has a point. Trump even effects honest media this way. How many times have media focused on what the Twat Twit tweeted instead of matters that needed attention? RESIST!!

From YouTube (Jeff Merkley Channel): Climate Disruption Quiz Episode 6

I got four of five. I picked A for #2. How about you? Kudos to Jeff! Oregon leads the way! RESIST!!

From The Rachel Maddow Show: First charges filed in Mueller’s Trump Russia probe: report

Barbara McQuade, former U.S. attorney talks with Rachel Maddow about new CNN reporting that a federal grand jury has "approved the first charges" in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump Russia investigation.

On whom is the axe falling? Tick… tick… tick… Chick through. She has lots more. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

1028Cartoon

Open Thread – 10/27/2017

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

Oct 272017

I must have been really tired, because, after sleeping well last night, I slept most if the morning too. There is no improvement in my trigger finger, but I don’t expect any for a few days. It’s a sunny day, and even though it’s only 66°, the room is getting too hot from the sun hitting the wall. TGIF!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:01 (average 5:01). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Funny or Die Channel): Republican Tax Plan: How The Koch Brothers Are Robbing America

Republicans are Koch suckers by definition. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an emergency travel ban preventing Republicans from fleeing the United States Senate.

In a sombre Oval Office ceremony, a grim-faced Trump signed the ban, which he said would remain in effect “until we figure out what the hell is going on.”

The executive order calls for the relocation of three hundred Border Patrol officers from the Mexican border to Washington, D.C., in order to form what Trump called “a human ring of steel” around the Capitol Building.

Under the travel ban, Republican senators will be permitted to leave their seats in the Senate chamber for meals and bathroom breaks but will be strictly forbidden from speaking to journalists in the building’s corridors.

Andy, is this supposed to be satire? RESIST!!

From Alternet: NBC Late Night host Seth Meyers criticized Republicans and right-wing media for trying to keep the focus on attacking Hillary Clinton even when no credible reason exists.

The conservatives’ latest nonsense claim is that Clinton was colluding with Russia. Why she would try to collude with Russia to her own detriment is never really explained.

But the right-wing media doesn’t care about the facts, only keeping the focus on a perceived villain.

“The right would rather talk about Hillary Clinton than Trump,” Meyers said. “That’s because the right, in the Trump era, doesn’t have coherent principles or an ideology. It just has enemies. Which is why they prefer to inhabit an alternate reality where Hillary Clinton is president. And what little you will hear about Trump won’t be negative.”

Here’s the video:

Barf Bag Alert!!

Amen Seth! Kudos! RESIST!!

Cartoon:

And we are still the incarceration nation to our shame.

Personal Update – 10/26/2017

Posted by TomCat at 1:02 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 262017

I just returned from getting my cortisone shot in my left middle finger. It hurts like hell now, but it will be great to be able to get it up again. That can be most embarrassing, when trying to flip off a Republican. Fortunately I did the puzzle before I left. Barring unforeseen circumstances, I’ll be back in the saddle tomorrow, and I’ll cover Samantha Bee then.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:10 (average 5:30). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 10/25/2016

Posted by TomCat at 12:52 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 252017

It’s a busy day for me, because I’m waiting for a grocery delivery from Store to Door. When they arrive, I’ll stop writing, put them away, make lunch and eat. Then I’ll finish writing, publish, and do my online blogging. This evening Wendy is coming to de-stink the TomCat. Tomorrow, please expect no more than a Personal Update from me. I have a medical appointment for a cortisone shot in my left hand. That hurts almost as bad as watching a Republican win, but so does the trigger finger it will correct. I will be back on Friday.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:34 (average 5:10). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): Is Donald Trump Paying Hush Money?

Consider how cheap Trump is. He grips a quarter so tight that the eagle shits. He must be desperate. RESIST!!

From YouTube (RWW Channel): Rick Wiles Says A Foreign Army Will Invade America If We Don’t Shut Down Planned Parenthood

Barf Bag Alert!!

If you listen carefully, you can hear the voices Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians proclaiming their affirmation: BAAA-A-A-A-A! RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Donald Trump cancelled his entire schedule on Tuesday to focus all his energy on choosing an insulting nickname for the Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, aides have confirmed.

Trump rejected his first attempt at a demeaning moniker for the senator, “liddle’ Bob Corker,” because he felt that he had used the “liddle’ ” construction too much in the past and feared that it was getting old.

“The President has very high standards for the insulting nicknames he uses,” an aide explained. “He was not about to settle for ‘liddle’.’ ” Trump thought he had a winner when he came up with “Corker the Porker,” until aides pointed out that the Republican senator from Tennessee has an average physique, to which such an insult would not accurately apply.

Come on Andy! You KNOW he divided the day between Bob Corker and Jeff Flake. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

1025Cartoon

So much for God’s opinion! Winking smile

Older Entries Newer Entries