Personal – Page 319 – Politics Plus

Open Thread – 2/26/2019

Posted by TomCat at 9:54 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Feb 262019

It’s a very cold day here in the CatBox, and it will likely stay that way, at least through the weekend. It’s almost 20° below average. I want to crawl under my covers and hunker down.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:45 (average 5:25). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): Robert Reich: A Bold New Idea to Boost Wages

The Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right, but one more provision is needed to benefit the disabled/retired poor: an Unearned Income Tax Credit. No American should have to live in poverty, when billionaires get welfare. RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Elizabeth Warren Talks 2020 Campaign With Chris Hayes

I touched on this yesterday, but she explains it far better than I could have. Anti-corruption would be a great place to start. RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: …J. Beauregard Sessions was a legitimate threat to America’s secular government as Trump’s attorney general, but his theocratic aspirations paled in comparison to Trump’s latest theocratic cabinet member – a conservative Catholic malcontent who is unlikely to ever defend the U.S. Constitution because it is a secular document. It is noteworthy that Sessions only stated that, according to his mind, the separation of church and state in the Constitution is a concept that is unconstitutional. However, his replacement ardently believes that America’s government is duty-bound to enforce god’s laws because there is no place for secularism.

In a 1995 essay, Barr expressed the extremist Christian view that “American government should not be secular;” secularism is an abomination in Barr’s theocratic mind despite the law of the land is unmistakably secular. Furthermore, Barr contends America’s government is supposed to be imposing “a transcendent moral order with objective standards of right and wrong that flows from God’s eternal law;” eternal law best dictated by the Vatican and taught in public schools at taxpayer’s expense.

It is true that as attorney general William Barr will defend Trump’s criminality and corruption; it is one of the only reasons Trump nominated him. However, the real danger to the nation is Barr’s belief that the government’s primary function should be defending and enforcing his god’s moral edicts while ardently opposing any legislative branch effort to make secular laws according to the secular Constitution…

Beware the evil of Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians, like Barr and Pence. They are the exact opposite of real Christians. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 2/25/2019

Posted by TomCat at 11:29 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 252019

It’s a cold, busy day here at the CatBox. The snow is forecast to end in about three hours. Oh God it’s Monday!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:38 (average 4:55). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (CNN Channel): Elizabeth Warren’s new promise: No fundraisers, phone calls with wealthy donors

Kudos to Liz for following the trail Bernie blazed in 2015. The rest of the candidates should follow suit. RESIST!!

From NPR: Requiring only men to register for the draft is unconstitutional, a federal judge has ruled.

The Military Selective Service Act, or MSSA, states that males in the U.S. aged 18 through 25 must register in case the country needs a military draft. Women face no such requirement. On Friday, a federal judge in Texas ruled that a males-only draft violates the equal protection provisions in the U.S. Constitution.

While historical restrictions on women in the military may have justified past discrimination, they don’t anymore, wrote Senior Judge Gray Miller of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. “If there ever was a time to discuss ‘the place of women in the Armed Services,’ that time has passed,” he wrote, citing an earlier Supreme Court decision.

I have always opposed the draft, because of the ease with which children of the rich and powerful can get deferments to evade service, for example, with dissolving bone spurs. I especially opposed the draft for women, because I did not realize my chivalry was a mask for residual sexism. Now I would support a draft, if and only if the progeny of the rich and powerful were first to be called and automatically designated for combat. There would ne far fewer wars. RESIST!!

From Alternet: President Donald Trump’s supporters in the right-wing media have often described Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe as a reckless “witch hunt” that lacks merit. Trump himself has used the phrase “witch hunt” countless times to describe the investigation. But Neal Katyal, former acting solicitor general in the Obama Administration, has a very different view. And when the attorney appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, he told host Chuck Todd, “If this is a witch hunt, Mueller has found a coven at this point.”

Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble. Trump has made the bullshit double! RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Billionaires have been deprived of their rights under this amendment. Increase their rights to 90%!

Open Thread – 2/24/2019

Posted by TomCat at 11:22 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 242019

WWWendy is due shortly, and we have a full slate of tasks to finish. This is my only article today.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:01 (average 4:58). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube: Youngbloods, the – Get together (audio original)

Ah… the memories. The Republican Reich stole the love. It’s time to take it back! RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: The comedian Rosie O’Donnell will narrate the audiobook of Robert Mueller’s long-awaited report, the special counsel’s office confirmed on Saturday.

Explaining the selection of O’Donnell, a spokesperson for Mueller said, “Donald Trump has complained about how much this report has cost, and Rosie has agreed to narrate it for free. In fact, she offered to pay us to let her narrate it.”

Speaking to reporters, O’Donnell called the job of narrating Mueller’s report “the acting job of a lifetime.”

“I never thought I’d get the chance to play so many twisted characters,” she said. “I mean, when else am I going to get to be both Ivanka and Jared? People are gonna freaking love listening to this in the car.”

Wow, Andy! Let’s pipe that into Trump’s solitary cell, and turn up the volume. RESIST!!

From The Nation: It’s 2019, and the Democratic Party is finally starting to energize voters. Gone are calls for cutting Social Security or one-upping Republicans in games of tax-cutting or warmongering. In their place are transformational ideas like Medicare for All, universal childcare, and a Green New Deal. Democratic candidates and elected officials are finally hearing the needs and wishes of their supporters, and acting accordingly.

Now it’s time for those of us in the consulting field, who work to help elect these leaders, to follow suit.

While it’s not well-known outside the political class, many consultants who advise campaigns are often working for corporate clients at the same time—and all too frequently, these clients interests’ directly oppose the goals of any progressive coalition. Those working both sides of the street include some of the most senior aides from the Obama administration, and as well as advisers to both the Clinton and Sanders campaigns. From opposing progressive taxation to fighting for deregulation, working for corporate clients means pushing an agenda most progressives would consider a non-starter were it espoused by a political candidate.

Many progressives recently criticized Bill Burton, a top Democratic consultant and former Obama aide, for working on former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s independent presidential bid. Critics rightly worried that by helping Schultz direct massive resources against the Democratic nominee, Burton could swing the election over to Donald Trump. Besides, Schultz’s agenda of opposing higher taxes on multimillionaires or Medicare for All is a direct attack on the progressive movement.

I could not agree more. Corporate double-dipping by Democratic consultants is both anti-democratic and anti-Democratic. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 2/23/2019

Posted by TomCat at 11:35 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 232019

It’s a chilly day here in the CatBox. When we upgraded to WordPress 5.1 it was partially incompatible with our comment editor. I tried to fix it by deactivating and reactivating it, after which the plugin would not even load. So I reverted to our old CKEditor, which I had uninstalled. The compatibility issues with that editor appear to have been fixed. Let me know if there are problems. Tomorrow is a WWWendy day, and we will be very busy. So please expect no more than a Personal Update with no links messages on Care2.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:45 (average 5:47). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Media Matters Channel): For years, right-wing figures have warned about “civil war”

Barf Bag Alert!!

This means that, if the Republican Reich cannot stay in power through election theft, they want to take power violently. This is how they use fear to brainwash their sheeple to be violent. RESIST!!

From Alternet: It’s one thing to oppose the grandiose “Green New Deal” as gratuitously imprecise or for its full-throated attack on all-things-ozone and carbon release in our global community.

It feels like something totally other to oppose narrow regulations that could advance the campaign to swap out incandescent light bulbs for light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, a small, practical step that, multiplied into the millions, would passively remove a healthy chunk of energy-eating pollution over time.

Actually, I was surprised to see a recent editorial about all this in The Washington Post, which argued that “Of all the counterproductive policy campaigns conservatives have waged in recent years, among the most irrational has been their war on the federal government’s efforts to update the light bulb.”

The use of the word light is enough to stampede the Republican Reich. They prefer darkness to cover their crimes. RESIST!!

From NY Times: The Trump administration announced on Friday that it will bar organizations that provide abortion referrals from receiving federal family planning money, a step that could strip millions of dollars from Planned Parenthood and direct it toward religiously-based, anti-abortion groups.

The new federal rule is almost certain to be challenged in court. Clinics will be able to talk to patients about abortion, but not where they can get one. And clinics will no longer have to counsel women on all reproductive options, including abortion, a change that will make anti-abortion providers eligible for funding

Not only is this a violation of women’s right to choose, but also, the provision that funds faith-based “providers” violates the Establishment Clause. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 2/22/2019

Posted by TomCat at 11:26 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 222019

It’s a chilly day in Portland, and I feel very tired, so please pardon my brevity. TGIF!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:03 (average 5:10). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Media Matters Channel): Fox News has spent years promoting claims of a “coup” against Donald Trump

Barf Bag Alert!!

Is it any wonder that Sheeples’ ideas are moronic, given the onslaught of BS from the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise? RESIST!!

From YouTube (CNN Channel): Police: Smollett took advantage of racism for career

I suppose I’d better weigh-in, lest it appear that I’m evading it. Race traitor Jussie Smollett no longer deserves to call himself a Democrat. Since he is acting like a Republican, he has become a Republican. RESIST!! RETRACTION! Jussie Smollett has been cleared. I apologize.

From Washington Post: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and her fellow House Democrats just introduced a resolution to terminate President Trump’s national emergency. In coming days, the resolution will likely pass the House, setting in motion a process that will force a Senate vote on it. Either Senate Republicans will side with Trump, or they’ll pass the measure, after which Trump will veto it.

This represents a small challenge to Trump’s corruption and lies — to his corruption of our institutions and political system with autocratic and authoritarian conduct, and to the deep rot of bad faith at the core of his willingness to declare a national emergency to build his wall based on false pretenses and invented metrics.

The move probably won’t succeed in terminating the emergency. But it points to something we need to see a lot more of: discussion of concrete proposals and actions designed to fortify our institutions and democracy against Trump’s ongoing degradations of them, and to restore confidence in them once Trump is gone.

I fully support this move. If nothing else, it forces Republicans, who have claimed it was Trump, not them, to go on record or be exposed. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Note to Puddy Tats: Never walk under one of Trump’s Russian hookers!

Open Thread – 2/21/2019

Posted by TomCat at 11:06 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 212019

It’s another cold busy day here at the CatBox. Yesterday, I sat up and waited until 2 PM for my groceries to arrive. I finally called Store to Door and learned that they had misfiled my order and had not shopped it. They will do so and deliver it today.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:35 (average 5:49). To so it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Trump’s Best-Case Scenario On Mueller Report? ‘Severe Political Damage’

I fear that we might never know what the report contains. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Parody Project Channel): EMERGENCY – Parody

Barf Bag Alert!!

Great song, Don, but did you have to include so many pictures of the Tangerine Traitor? I just had breakfast, and now I have to clean my keyboard! Seriously… Magnificent! RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: Amazon drones stand “ready and waiting” to deliver copies of Robert Mueller’s official report, free of charge, to every American household as early as next week, the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, confirmed on Wednesday.

According to Bezos, Amazon has been planning the Mueller delivery mission for months, quietly building its drone fleet from a meagre two hundred to well over three million.

“Amazon will be doing same-day delivery of Mueller’s report the day it is released, free of charge, to both Prime and non-Prime households,” Bezos said. “This is our way of giving something back.”

Dang, Andy! I’m a Prime member. Do I get my copy before 10 AM? RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 2/20/2019

Posted by TomCat at 9:42 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 202019

It’s a chilly, busy day here at the CatBox. Store to Door will deliver my grocery order, and I need to unpack and put them away. Later WWWendy comes to de-stink the rancid TomCat and help with chores. Happy Hump Day!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Todays took me 3:52 (average 5:34). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Trae Crowder Channel): Liberal Redneck – Bernie or Warren or Whoever’s Left

Why am I not surprised that my top two are also Trey’s? Nevertheless, vote BLUE no matter who! RESIST!!

From YouTube (Bernie Sanders Channel): VISION

This an excellent ad. Bernie is making a very strong start. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: The former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis announced on Tuesday morning that he would seek the Democratic nomination for President, declaring, “Everyone else is.”

Explaining his rationale for running, the 1988 Democratic Presidential nominee told reporters, “As everyone else started jumping into the race, I started feeling a little left out.”

Additionally, Dukakis explained, “People have been stopping me on the street and saying that they thought I was already running. So, whatever.”

Dang Andy! Maybe Ducky Kisses will win. Ya think? RESIST!!

Cartoon:

Open Thread – 2/19/2019

Posted by TomCat at 11:58 am Open Thread, Personal, Plus, Politics

Feb 192019

It’s a chilly muggy day here in the CatBox. I’m not feeling very well, as I have Republicitis. I had to take a Dulcolax, as my blue eyes are turning brown. I submitted my grocery order to Store to Door.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:55 (average 6:13). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): Robert Reich: Who Will Be the Next President

Of course the Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right. The only way to defeat the Reich on the right, the Republican Reich, which is wrong, is to change. We need a grass roots progressive campaign. RESIST!!

From YouTube (MoveOn Channel): Nationwide Protests Against Trump’s Fake Emergency

Kudos to all who protested nonviolently. RESIST!!

From Daily Kos: Republicans have made their strategy for the 2020 elections crystal-clear: going after the newly serving Democratic women of color in Congress. Given this, we can only anticipate conservatives becoming even more rabid over the next two years, ramping up their claims that progressive Democrats in the House are all socialists, who also happen to be anti-Semites that get a kick out of murdering unborn children. The New York Times reports that this is how Republicans hope to appeal to voters, and that they have unabashedly claimed this as their plan for victory going forward.

Of course, it’s always super fun for the GOP to make false claims about Democrats and paint them as out-of-control lefties who threaten the American way of life. But this time, it isn’t just business as usual. By pinning their hopes on this as a viable campaign and fundraising opportunity, Republicans are also hoping they can “strangle the new Democratic majority in its infancy.”

As absurd as this sounds, beware! If the Republican Reich were 1/10th as adept at governing as they are at disinformation, they would be half competent. RESIST!!

Cartoon:

As true today as it was when I made it, eight years ago.

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