Open Thread – Page 546 – Politics Plus

Open Thread – 5/20/2017

Posted by TomCat at 1:53 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 202017

I had another night with very little sleep. The humidity is extreme, and it will take time to get used to the noisy AC again. Tomorrow it will reach 85°, and on Monday, the day of my Oncologist appointment, 90°. The last time I was out of my building, I was bundled up with a heavy shirt, a sweater and my hoodie. I also have a Prosthetist appointment on Thursday, so I’ll be a bit scarce next week.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:02 (average 4:39). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: Robert Mueller, the former F.B.I. director named to investigate the Trump campaign’s connections to Russia, will have broad discretion to prosecute any crimes he uncovers. But an equally important part of his mandate is lesser known: his duty to write a report on his findings.

In this respect, Mueller, as a special counsel designated by the Justice Department, differs from other federal prosecutors. Most U.S. Attorneys operate by a rule of put up or shut up—that is, they either bring criminal prosecutions or say nothing at all.

Click through for much more. That’s one report I can’t wait to read! RESIST!!

From NY Times: President Trump told Russian officials in the Oval Office this month that firing the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, had relieved “great pressure” on him, according to a document summarizing the meeting.

“I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Mr. Trump said, according to the document, which was read to The New York Times by an American official. “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”

Mr. Trump added, “I’m not under investigation.”

He bragged about it to his owners. How little the fool knew. He’s under far more investigation now than before. RESIST!!

From The Rachel Maddow Show: How might Donald Trump try to end the special investigation?

Rachel Maddow looks at some ways by which Donald Trump could try to get in the way of the Trump-Russia special investigation or eliminate it entirely.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all. Stay tuned. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Can science survive in the US?

Open Thread – 5/19/2017

Posted by TomCat at 11:47 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 192017

I had almost no sleep last night. The building overheated yesterday, and I had to turn on the AC. The noise bothered me. In addition, Stumpy had a severe bout of phantom nerve pain, so please accept my apology in advance for typos and brain farts.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:42 (average 5:13). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: House Speaker Paul Ryan has set a Google News alert to notify him of the instant that Donald Trump becomes unpopular enough to turn against, Ryan revealed on Thursday.

The news alert, which Ryan said was set to the phrase “Trump approval rating falls below fifty per cent among Republican voters,” will inform the House Speaker of the precise moment “that I can bail on President Trump at no political cost to me,” Ryan explained.

“There’s this sense out there in the media that Washington is consumed by drama and nothing is getting done,” Ryan told reporters. “I think it’s important for people to know that important things are, in fact, getting done, and setting this Google News alert is one of those things.”

Asked by a reporter when he anticipated turning on Trump, Ryan dismissed that as a hypothetical question, adding, “There is no timetable for my inevitable betrayal of him. Once I receive that Google News alert, it will most likely happen a split second after that.”

Dang Andy! That sounds like you know Lyin’ Ryan personally! RESIST!!

From NY Times: President Trump called the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, weeks after he took office and asked him when federal authorities were going to put out word that Mr. Trump was not personally under investigation, according to two people briefed on the call.

Mr. Comey told the president that if he wanted to know details about the bureau’s investigations, he should not contact him directly but instead follow the proper procedures and have the White House counsel send any inquiries to the Justice Department, according to those people.

After explaining to Mr. Trump how communications with the F.B.I. should work, Mr. Comey believed he had effectively drawn the line after a series of encounters he had with the president and other White House officials that he felt jeopardized the F.B.I.’s independence. At the time, Mr. Comey was overseeing the investigation into links between Mr. Trump’s associates and Russia.

Those interactions included a dinner in which associates of Mr. Comey say Mr. Trump asked him to pledge his loyalty and a meeting in the Oval Office at which Mr. Trump told him he hoped Mr. Comey would shut down an investigation into Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn. Mr. Trump has denied making the request.

The day after the Flynn conversation, Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, asked Mr. Comey to help push back on reports in the news media that Mr. Trump’s associates had been in contact with Russian intelligence officials during the campaign.

More kudos to Mike Schmidt! Drip… Drip… Drip… RESIST!!

From CNN: There are people in Washington who would be happy to see Joe Lieberman return to public life. They just don’t happen to be members of the party that once nominated him for the second highest office in the land.

That’s what happens when you commit partisan treason.Lieberman, a longtime Democratic senator, became a pariah in his own party in 2008 when he not only endorsed the presidential bid of his GOP buddy, John McCain, but lambasted his own party’s nominee, Barack Obama, during a speech at the Republican Convention.

Now, it’s Republicans, rather than Democrats, who are welcoming the news that President Donald Trump might nominate Lieberman to head the FBI. And it is Republican senators, and possibly a smattering of Democrats, who would most likely vote to confirm him.

OMFG!! LIEberscum?!!? AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 5/17/2017

Posted by TomCat at 2:13 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 172017

I'm writing late today to be sure that I'm up when Store to Door delivers my grocery order. Wendy is coming this evening to de-stink the over-humidified TomCat and help with chores. Tomorrow, please expect no more than a Personal Update tomorrow. Comcast is coming in the early morning to install an upgraded cable modem and make sure all my wireless devices function properly with it. Neighborhood House, the Nonprofit that covers around 15% of Wendy's care, is coming in the late morning for me to sign some paperwork.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today's took me 3:50 (average 4:42). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): What’s Happening in Donald Trump’s Head? | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann

I have no doubt that Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten suffers from severe, acute Narcissistic Personality Disorder. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Amid concerns about Donald Trump’s fitness to be President, former President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that he was willing to serve as “temp President” while Trump undergoes psychiatric evaluation.

“It would just be a temp thing,” Obama told reporters. “As soon as psychiatrists determine that Donald Trump is mentally stable and fit to serve as the most powerful officeholder in the world, I’d step aside.”

Obama said that he was a “logical choice” to serve as temp President because of his eight years in the White House. “For starters, I know how the light switches work,” he said.

Obama said that, once installed as temp President, he would look after the day-to-day running of the White House: “You know—vetoing bills, naming Supreme Court Justices, that kind of thing.”

From Andy's keyboard to God's eyes! RESIST!!

From Washington Post: Since entering office, President Trump has faced accusations that his District hotel is profiting from his presidency.

For a few minutes Monday night, projection artist Robin Bell tried to bring attention to the issue by shining light on it — a big, blue light.

Bell parked his van about 9:15 p.m. on 12th Street NW across the street from the west entrance of the Trump International Hotel. Bell and two friends then turned on a projector in the van and displayed animated anti-Trump messages about the president’s alleged conflicts of interest onto the upscale hotel’s facade.

Hotel security ordered him to shut off the projections after only a few minutes, but it was enough time for the messages to go viral on social media, garnering thousands of posts on Twitter and Facebook.

Kudos to Robin Bell. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Cartoon 5 years old today. Republicans have not changed.

Open Thread – 5/16/2017

Posted by TomCat at 12:53 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 162017

It’s another day, and I was busy this morning with paper work. I also composed my grocery order in time for Store to Door to call for it. As usual, another day in the Republican Rectum Reich has brought a new scandal.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today;s took me 4:50 (average 6:32). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): Here’s How Trump Could Already Be Prosecuted | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann

Nixon was impeached and almost charged for covering up corruption and a 3rd rate burglary. Slick Willie was impeached and almost charged for covering up a BJ. What does Trump deserve for covering up high treason? That’s right, but Republicans refuse to obey the law. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Three men alleged to be prominent Russian spies inexplicably gained access to the Oval Office last week and held a high-level meeting there, according to reports.

Eyewitnesses to the meeting said that the three Russian agents spoke at length and shared sensitive intelligence material, at times laughing uproariously.

After approximately an hour, the meeting broke up, with two of the spies leaving the Oval Office and the third remaining behind.

News that agents of the Russian Federation had somehow eluded the Secret Service in order to hold a meeting in the Oval Office sent shock waves through Washington on Monday evening.

Andy, there is no satire there. RESIST!!

From NY Times: President Trump boasted about highly classified intelligence in a meeting with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador last week, providing details that could expose the source of the information and the manner in which it was collected, a current and a former American government official said Monday.

The intelligence disclosed by Mr. Trump in a meeting with Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, and Sergey I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, was about an Islamic State plot, according to the officials. A Middle Eastern ally that closely guards its own secrets provided the information, which was considered so sensitive that American officials did not share it widely within the United States government or pass it on to other allies.

Is this why Russian press was allowed in, but US press was not? Were it not his right to declassify, this would be high treason. After this, no sane leader will share intelligence with the US again . RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 5/15/2017

Posted by TomCat at 1:24 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

May 152017

I rescheduled my Oncologist appointment for next Monday. It's to set up a series of annual exams to make sure there was no metastasis from the choroidal melanoma in my eye, now in remission. In addition I had to make a few other phone calls that burned most of my morning.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today's took me 4:15 (average 4:43). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos (Classic 5/2014): A threatening "Mother's Day" video aimed at women calling for gun. reforms

This clip is three years old, It demonstrates that Trump is just a symptom of the diseased Republican Party. They were hateful and violent long before Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten. RESIST!!

From Think Progress: President Donald Trump outlined a deeply religious vision of America while speaking to graduates of a conservative Christian college on Saturday, invoking his own version of Christian nationalism and touting policies friendly to right-wing faithful.

Trump received a warm welcome at Liberty University, the largest Christian college in America, where most students claim a conservative evangelical faith. The venue was an especially safe one for the president, as white evangelicals offered Trump resounding support on Election Day and still view his presidency favorably. What’s more, Liberty president Jerry Falwell Jr. has been a longtime backer of Trump — recently describing him as a “dream president for evangelicals” — and lauded the businessman during his introduction for taking action on issues dear to right-wing faithful such as appointing a conservative Supreme Court justice.

FYI, "Christian Nationalism" is just a sneaky way to refer to Anti-American Dominion Theology. RESIST!!

From Robert Reich: The question is no longer whether there are grounds to impeach Donald Trump. It is when enough Republicans will put their loyalty to America ahead of their loyalty to their party.

Trump’s statements last week about his firing of former FBI director James Comey provide ample evidence that Trump engaged in an obstruction of justice – a major charge in impeachment proceedings brought against Richard M. Nixon and Bill Clinton.

It’s worth recalling that the illegality underlying Nixon’s impeachment was a burglary at the Watergate complex, while the illegality underlying Clinton’s was lying to a grand jury about sex with an intern in the White House.

Trump’s obstruction is potentially far more serious. It involves an investigation about whether Trump or his aides colluded with Russia in rigging a presidential election – the most direct assault on American democracy in history.

I agree with Robert Reich, but believe that Republicans will never put country ahead of party. That's why every Republican in office is one Republican too many. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Have you heard from Patty?

Open Thread – 5/14/2017

Posted by TomCat at 12:19 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 142017

I’m trying to finish as much as I can early, because Wendy is due soon to de-stink the sticky TomCat and help with household tasks. I’ll probably publish this shortly after Noon, about four hours from now.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:58 (average 5:02). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (SNL Channel): Lester Holt Cold Open – SNL

Dang! I never expected SNL to do straight news, but it’s all so accurate! RESIST!!

From Mediaite: Per their report, Chaffetz has actually been telling his Republican colleagues he’s heading for the Donald Trump-approved universe of Fox News.

Here’s what Elaina Plott wrote:

According to two GOP lawmakers who have spoken to Chaffetz directly and four senior House Republican aides, Chaffetz has been telling people he’ll take on what one source calls a “substantial role” in on-air talent at Fox News Channel, possibly as early as July, amplifying whispers that Chaffetz will not finish out his current term.

What landing strip could be more appropriate than the Republican Reichsministry of propaganda, Faux Noise, for the Republican coward, who ran from the House pseudo-investigation of Trump treason. RESIST!!

From NY Times: What do Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and other Republican leaders think a president may say or do and still deserve their enthusiastic support? We offer this handy reference list in hopes of protecting them from charges of hypocrisy in the future. They can consult it should they ever feel tempted to insist on different standards for another president. So, herewith, the Congressional Republican’s Guide to Presidential Behavior.

If you are the president, you may freely:

• attack private citizens on Twitter
• delegitimize federal judges who rule against you
• refuse to take responsibility for military actions gone awry
• fire the F.B.I. chief in the middle of his expanding investigation into your campaign and your associates
• accuse a former president, without evidence, of an impeachable offense
• employ top aides with financial and other connections to a hostile foreign power

I shared just the first six abominations. Click through for the other eleven. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

0514Cartoon

Open Thread – 5/13/2017

Posted by TomCat at 1:45 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 132017

i was up late again last night. First I was trying to wrap myself around understanding the day’s abominations by the walking urinal and his Republican Reich. Then my computer notified me that I needed to restart to update Windows 10. I insist on having my computer ready to go in the morning, and thinking it would only take a few minutes, I did it. If you have Windows 10 and have not done the latest update, be warned! That SOB is HUGE! Almost two hours and several restarts later, I finally got to bed. Also, the update reset several of my defaults to MS Apps. GRRR!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:40 (average 4:36). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: In an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, Donald Trump boasted that, if he is impeached, the television ratings will be higher than those of any other impeachment in history.

“Everywhere I go, people tell me that if I am impeached, they’re going to watch it,” he said. “The ratings are going to be through the roof.”

He said that he expected his impeachment ratings to be “many, many times” the size of the audience for Bill Clinton’s impeachment, in 1998.

“It’s not even going to be close,” Trump said. “The ratings for Bill Clinton’s impeachment were a joke.”

Dang, Andy! Would that it were so! RESIST!!

From Zero Hedge: The Senate Intelligence Committee requested the records from Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, late last month, the WSJ reports although it did not elaborate on the nature of the records. One person cited by the WSJ said that without them the committee wouldn’t be able to reach a conclusion on whether there was collusion between Trump associates and Russia during last year’s campaign. [emphasis original]

Since with these records the committee can prove whether or not the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, and since the absence of examples could not prove the negative, this is an implicit statement is that the records will enable the committee to prove Trump’s treason. RESIST!!

From MSN: Comey declined an invitation to speak to the Senate Intelligence Committee in a closed door session next week.

However, The New York Times reports that a source says Comey is willing to speak if it’s a public hearing.

Comey does not want to give Senate Republicans an opportunity to hide his testimony from the American people the way they hid Russia’s interference before the election. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 5/12/2017

Posted by TomCat at 2:17 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 122017

When it rains it pours. I was up late last night just trying to figure out what the Rectum Reich is up to. All I can say is TGIF!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:13 (average 5:54). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): We Need the Help of Intel Agencies Around the World | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann

Keith raises an excellent point, to which I would add one caveat. The release of foreign intelligence must come in the form of leaks. If, for example, a European government were to expose Trump officially, they would put themselves at risk of nuclear retaliation from the Tantrum Traitor. RESIST!!

From YouTube (MoveOn Channel): How is this not Obstruction of Justice?

Kudos to Jeff Merkley. Oregon leads the way! RESIST!!

From NY Times: President Trump on Thursday named Kris W. Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state who has pressed for aggressive measures to crack down on undocumented immigrants, to a commission investigating vote fraud, following through on his unsubstantiated claim that millions of “illegals” voted for his Democratic rival and robbed him of victory in the national popular vote.

Mr. Kobach, who has championed the strictest voter identification laws in the country, will be the vice chairman of the commission, which will be led by Vice President Mike Pence and is expected to include about a dozen others, including state officials from both political parties, said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy White House press secretary.

Mr. Trump signed an executive order on Thursday creating the commission, which Ms. Sanders said would have a broad mandate to review policies and practices that affect Americans’ confidence in the integrity of federal elections. Marc E. Lotter, Mr. Pence’s spokesman, said that voter suppression would be among the topics studied by the commission, which he said would take a wide-ranging look at problems at the state and national levels. But the order makes no mention of suppression or voting restrictions, specifying only “improper” or “fraudulent” registration and voting as issues to be explored.

OMG! Kobitch?!!? Want to know what I think of Kobitch? Click here, here, here and here. This will be a new high for voter suppression. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

0512Cartoon

Name them after Republicans: Hurricane Ammosexual, Hurricane Bankster, Hurricane Criminal…

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