Politics Plus

TGIF!  I’m still running on a sleep deficit as humidity remains is 93%, having just dropped below 100% for the first time in three days, so I’m already fighting droopy eyelids.  I hope you all have a peaceful, Republican-free weekend.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:15 (average 5:27).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: Harry van Bommel, a left-wing member of the Dutch Parliament, had persuasive allies in convincing voters that they should reject a trade pact with Ukraine — his special “Ukrainian team,” a gleefully contrarian group of émigrés whose sympathies lay with Russia.

They attended public meetings, appeared on television and used social media to denounce Ukraine’s pro-Western government as a bloodthirsty kleptocracy, unworthy of Dutch support. As Mr. Van Bommel recalled, it “was very handy to show that not all Ukrainians were in favor.”

Handy but also misleading: The most active members of the Ukrainian team were actually from Russia, or from Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine, and parroted the Kremlin line.

The Dutch referendum, held last April, became a battering ram aimed at the European Union. With turnout low, Dutch voters rejected the trade agreement between the European Union and Ukraine, delighting Moscow, emboldening pro-Russia populists around Europe and leaving political elites aghast.

It looks like Trump is not the only traitor Russia manipulates.  Lona, how could Bommel be considered "left wing" by the Times, when he acts like a damned Republican? RESIST!!

From YouTube (GQ Channel): Is The Trump White House High? | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann

In Keith’s choice between high or what, I actually have to answer "what". I gave not done drugs for over 30 years, but was a stoner in my day. I never dis a drug that could make someone as stupid, as deplorable, or as evil as the Potomac Puppet and his Reich.  RESIST!!

From Salon.com: President Donald Trump’s new secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, doesn’t seem to have a lot of pull in the White House.

Despite a contentious nomination hearing in which Tillerson was confirmed by a party-line vote, Tillerson’s influence is so minimal that senior state department officials need to ask foreign diplomats about President Trump’s impending foreign policy decisions, according to a report by The Guardian. Tillerson has also avoided press questions, such as during his meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. While this could simply be a residual habit from years running a secret multibillion dollar corporation, it could also be the result of Tillerson simply not being knowledgable about the Trump administration’s foreign policy plans.

Tillerson wasn’t consulted about Trump’s controversial Muslim travel ban and no one at the state department was consulted during the dinner when the president approved his disastrous raid in Yemen. Even more telling, Trump rejected Tillerson’s choice for deputy secretary of state, Elliott Abrams, very suddenly and without consulting Tillerson first. The State Department has also issued sweeping layoffs, indicating that the foreign policy-making apparatus is going to be concentrated around Trump’s inner circle rather than through various expert channels.

Tillerson is there to relate work with Russia to destroy the Arctic to get the oil for Putin (R-RU). Foreign policy is conducted via tweets by twits that grab twats.  RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Stumpy is behaving much better today, and mounted George without difficulty.  It’s a very busy day for me.  I took a brief nap this morning to be sure to be upright when Store to Door arrives with a large grocery order.  This evening, Wendy will be here to de-stink and polish the TomCat, to help with some light housework, and to have chili dogs for supper.  I didn’t tell her, because I did the last time we had chili.  She mentioned it at work, and her school cancelled classes the next day.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:31 (average 4:57).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): Trump is Beyond Reckless With Our National Security

Reckless is indeed an understatement!  RESIST!!

From The Rachel Maddow Show: DCCC weak contesting Georgia district Trump barely won

Rachel Maddow points out the opportunity for Democrats to take over Tom Price’s Georgia congressional as he moves to become Donald Trump’s HHS secretary and yet the DCCC seems half-hearted about taking advantage.

Contact the DCCC (202) 863-1500 and tell them to get off their asses!  RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Russian President Vladimir Putin is “starting to get concerned” that the puppets he installed in the executive branch of the U.S. government “might not be up to the task at hand,” sources confirmed on Tuesday.

According to the sources, the flameout of the national-security adviser Michael Flynn was only the most recent event that has caused Putin to wonder if the figureheads he propelled into office are “just too dim-witted” to serve the goals of the Russian Federation.

“When you choose a puppet, you’re looking for a sweet spot,” one source close to Putin said. “You want to choose someone who’s dumb enough to be manipulated, but not so dumb that he can’t find the light switches.”

“Increasingly, it looks like we missed that sweet spot,” the source said.

Spot on, Andy! Fortunately for Putin (R-RU), his puppet has a horde of other equally treacherous Republicans goose-stepping behind their Fuhrer to help him.  RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Stumpy is being more cooperative today, and barely squeezed into George this morning, after spending most of yesterday elevated above chest height.  I think he was retaining fluids, because I am mildly dehydrated from spending so much time at my desk and out and about that I paid too little attention hydrating myself.  Some guzzle water naturally, but I have to force myself.  I have my urologist appointment rescheduled for next month.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:22 (average 4:55).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (GQ Channel): Michael Flynn Must Now Be Arrested | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann

Last Night Michael Flynn resigned to downplay and try to evade prosecution for his treason and to protect his equally guilty Fuhrer. Both Flynn and Trump must be investigated, indicted, tried, convicted and incarcerated! RESIST!!

From The Rachel Maddow Show: Spousal abuse testimony on Oprah a factor in Puzder confirmation

Rachel Maddow reports that video of a 1990 episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show in which the ex-wife of Donald Trump labor secretary nominee Andrew Puzder talks about being the victim of his abuse has been submitted to Senators considering his confirmation.

The Dems, with one exception, put up as good a fight as possible against Beauregard and Know Nothing. It would be nice to block Putzser.  That exception is Joe Manchin [DINO-WV].  He actually voted FOR both Sessions and DeVos!!  Why don’t you give him a call? – WV 304-342-5855 or DC 202-224-3954.  Tell him he’s a waste of skin and a good for nothing DINO turd!  If you wish, be even less complimentary.  RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: An exuberant Betsy DeVos said on Monday that Donald J. Trump’s forty-per-cent approval rating is a “clear indication” that more than half the country agrees with the job he is doing.

“I was so excited to see the President’s approval rating hit forty,” DeVos, the Secretary of Education, told reporters. “Just knowing that well more than half the country is with him gives us a great sense of confidence moving forward.”

She also criticized the media for failing to report “our powerful forty-per-cent mandate.”

“If you believed news reports, you would think that the people supporting the President are in the minority, when in fact they’re forty per cent,” she said.

Dang Andy! Is it any wonder that I just labeled her Know Nothing? RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Wendy just left and I'm just beginning my writing for the day.  Please expect no more than a Personal Update from me tomorrow, because I have a routine appointment with my Urologist.  I feel sorry for Fuhrer Tiny Hands.  His Urologist is no longer available, having died laughing.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today's took me 5:27 (average 7:14).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: When Republicans in Kentucky seized total control of the state government last year, Damon Thayer, the majority leader in the State Senate, began asking around for advice from counterparts in other capitals where the party already dominated both the legislative and executive branches.

How should we handle all this power? he wanted to know.

One answer impressed him, Mr. Thayer said, from a senior Republican lawmaker in Wisconsin: “Move quickly.”

Kentucky Republicans have done just that, swiftly passing laws to roll back the powers of labor unions and restrict access to abortion. But they are only getting started, Mr. Thayer said in an interview: They also plan to make sweeping changes to the education and public pension systems this year.

And they have plenty of company.

While Republicans in Washington appear flummoxed by the complexities of one-party rule, struggling with issues from repealing the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, to paying for President Trump’s promised wall on the Mexican border, rising party leaders in the states seem far more at ease and assertive. Republicans have top-to-bottom control in 25 states now, holding both the governorship and the entire legislature, and Republican lawmakers are acting with lightning speed to enact longstanding conservative priorities.

Democratic leaders, to their shame, have ignored building our state and local parties. That must change.

From YouTube (SNL Channel): Sean Spicer Press Conference Cold Open

She's good! In the real world, I like Baby Spice, Posh Spice, and even Scary Spice better than Shitty Spice.

From Think Progress: The Trump administration has elected not to contest a Texas federal judge’s injunction barring the federal government from implementing Obama administration guidelines that protect transgender kids in schools.

Oral arguments for the Obama Justice Department’s appeal of the judge’s decision were scheduled for Tuesday. The DOJ cancelled them in a legal brief submitted Friday.

“Defendants-appellants hereby withdraw their pending November 23, 2016 motion for partial stay pending appeal,” the brief says. “The parties jointly move to remove from the Court’s calendar the February 14, 2017 oral argument currently scheduled for that motion. The parties are currently considering how best to proceed.”

That brief was filed the day after Jeff Sessions was sworn in as Attorney General.

As ThinkProgress reported last August, the Obama administration’s guidance “stated that Title IX’s nondiscrimination protections on the basis of ‘sex’ protect transgender students in accordance with their gender identity, such that they must be allowed to use the bathrooms and play on sports teams that match their gender.” But the brief filed Friday signals that the Trump administration no longer wants to implement that guidance.

It took Beauregard only a day to translate GOP hate into disobeying the law to empower discrimination.

Cartoon: