Open Thread–1/24/2020

Posted by TomCat at 8:47 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 242020

It’s a tired day here in the CatBox. I didn’t sleep well last night, but I kept my food down all day yesterday and this morning. I’m going to do my best to force a week free of Medical Mayhem, before I let them perform more in their endless barrage of tests. Pardon my frustration, please. I’m just sick of sick. TGIF!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:52 (average 5:09). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From Crooks and Liars: George Conway and his new group called The Lincoln Project created a second negative political ad targeting the vulnerable Senator from Maine, Susan Collins.

In the ad, they highlight the supposed “independent” credentials negated by her actions. They demand that Collins do her job during the Senate impeachment trial.

Amen! RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Adam Schiff Ends Day With Powerful Argument For Trump’s Removal

I think Schiff was speaking more to the American people more than to the Senators, whose ears and minds are closed. The real trial is the one in November. The onus falls on voters to send criminal Resident Trump* and the entire Republican Reich the way of the Whig Party! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a change of pace): Patsy Cline – Sweet Dreams

I’m so old that even this brings memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Samantha Bee from 1/22

Posted by TomCat at 8:47 am Politics

Jan 232020

It’s that time of week again, and here are 3 great video clips from Sam’s show Wednesday night. Enjoy!

The Impeachment Trial: Show Us Parnas’ Receipts

If Parnas needs hemorrhoid cream, he must have VERY close contact with Rudy. Seriously, bring him on!

Iran Explainer with Gissou Nia & Michael Bennet

The proof that Soleimani was a war criminal is that he worked with the Republican Reich, until Trump* abandoned the Kurds. Trump murdered his own war criminal.

Paid Parental Leave Is Good For Business

American moms and dads need paid parental leave. Amen Sam!

I’m sure glad she’s back!

RESIST!!

Open Thread–1/23/2020

Posted by TomCat at 8:46 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 232020

I had a rough day yesterday, My lunch disagreed with my gut, and I threw up several times. Supper was no better. However I was able to keep breakfast down. I want to finish early today, so I can take a partial nap, before Store to Door delivers groceries this afternoon.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:11 (average 6:16). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From NY Times: When President Trump’s impeachment trial opened this week, the Democratic House managers prosecuting the case piled their table high with binders and notepads. Only a few rested on the defense table.

The contrasting amount of material the two legal teams brought into the Senate chamber to support their initial arguments foreshadowed a broader difference in their approaches to the trial.

In its opening days, the House managers have focused on the facts. They are trying to build a clear and coherent story around their theme that the president abused his power — delving into the details, putting up slides to summarize major points, and playing a well-organized selection of video clips of statements by Mr. Trump and by House witnesses.

Eschewing props, the defense team has focused instead on the process. They have used their time to reinforce the House Republican theme that impeachment is a sham and unfair to Mr. Trump — urging the Senate to swiftly dispose of the case without subpoenaing any additional documents or testimony.

Any good lawyer would prefer to present cases based on facts. However, when the factual evidence is completely stacked against them, they argue process to distract frim the factual case. This is why the House Managers are cleaning the Republicans’ clocks. It will probably make no difference to Republican Senators. They are complaining that they are bored, because they don’t want to listen. But another trial is coming in November. RESIST!!

From YouTube (Parody Project Channel): THE TWEET GOES ON – A Parody | The Freedom Toast & Parody Project

Thanks for including The Freedom Toast, Don. Those doctors may search, but they’ll never find one. If Trump* gets his image on the dime, people will be peeing on money. May voters send the entire Republican Reich the way of the Whig Party. RESIST!!

From YouTube (The Late Show Channel): Trump Brags About Obstructing Congress By Withholding Ukraine Evidence

This is typical of Republican criminal Trump*. He often brags about committing crimes at the same time he protests his innocence. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Little Darlin’-The Diamonds-1957

I learned to jitterbug to this tune. Ah… the memories. RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Good vs Evil

Posted by TomCat at 9:56 am Politics

Jan 222020

Since I summarized it in today’s Open Thread, I’m going to take a break from the impeachment trial of Putin’s Pollution Pervert, Fuhrer of the Republican Reich, Resident Donald Trump. Instead, I’d like to give you an extreme example of good, followed by an extreme example of evil. Then I’ll contrast the two.

The Good:

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg inveighed against the sowers of “climate chaos” Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, offering a view of the world that stood in stark contrast to President Trump’s.

In two speeches at the conference, the 17-year-old Thunberg renewed the call to “start listening to the science” on climate change. The world, she said, needs to “treat this crisis with the importance it deserves.”

Thunberg’s remarks echoed her warning in Davos last year, when she told world leaders: “I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act.”

The Swedish teenager’s activism helped inspire a global climate action movement, which earned her Time magazine’s Person of the Year title in December. …

Inserted from <Washington Post>

Greta Thunberg Tells Davos: You’ve Done Nothing On Climate Change [Full Speech]

The Evil:

President Donald Trump’s speech in Davos was not what many attendees wanted to hear.

At a conference dedicated to multilateralism and earnest discussion of the world’s most pressing problems, the American president used his keynote address to reel off a laundry list of his domestic accomplishments, promote the US economy and dismiss climate activists as “prophets of doom.”

He didn’t take questions from his host, World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab, or the elite audience of leading executives, bankers and politicians.

This year’s Davos meeting is focusing heavily on how business and the economy must change to save the planet. But taking the stage just hours after Greta Thunberg admonished world leaders for doing “basically nothing” to reduce carbon emissions, Trump touted America’s role as the world’s biggest oil and gas producer and dismissed climate activists as prophets of doom…

Inserted from <CNN>

The Contrast:

Trump and Greta Thunberg clash at Davos over climate change

Could anything be more obvious?

RESIST!!

Open Thread – 1/22/2020

Posted by TomCat at 9:56 am Open Thread, Politics

Jan 222020

It’s a frustrating day, here in the CatBox. John, my thoracic surgeon called. After addressing my case with a panel of around 30 other thoracic specialists, they reached the conclusion that I probably have cancer after all. To be sure, they will schedule me for a PET scan and a brain MRI. Depending on those results, I’ll most likely have to undergo radiation and/or chemo. I’m not a happy camper right now, but happy Hump Day to you. At least it’s a WWWendy day, so I get de-stunk!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:04 (average 4:16). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From The New Yorker: On the first day of the impeachment trial in the United States Senate, Senator Susan Collins, a Republican of Maine, spent hours trying to decide what she would have for lunch before ultimately ordering exactly what Senator Mitch McConnell was having.

Clutching the Senate takeout menu in her hands, Collins told reporters mid-morning that the decision of what to have for lunch was a matter of serious consideration and that she wanted to review all of the available options before selecting one.

“I’m deeply troubled and concerned about getting this order right,” Collins said. “There are many valid choices on this menu and I don’t want to give any of them short shrift.”

Around 11 a.m., rumors swirled that Collins was leaning toward ordering a quinoa salad, a choice that would have set her apart from the rest of her Republican colleagues in the upper chamber.

By noon, however, Collins emerged from her office to tell reporters that she had ordered the exact same thing that the Senate Majority Leader had chosen…

Dang, Andy! Are you echoing real life, or what! RESIST!!

From YouTube (CNN Channel): Key moments from the first day of the Senate impeachment trial

In my opinion, Day One was a clear and total victory for our House Managers. They were prepared, concise, honest, and respectful. In contrast, the lawyers representing criminal Trump* were unprepared, disorganized, blatantly dishonest, and flippant. The House Managers have already presented more evidence than Bought Mitch Midnight Moscow Mitch wanted to allow in the entire trial. May they keep going strong! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Mungo Jerry – In The Summertime ORIGINAL 1970

Ah… a one hit wonder! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Enter the Kangaroos!

Posted by TomCat at 10:27 am Politics

Jan 212020

Having received his goose-stepping orders from criminal Resident Donald Trump, aka Fuhrer of the Republican Reich, Bought Bitch Midnight Moscow Mitch has released the Impeachment Rule he received from his Fuhrer’s lawyers. Thus, he issues the proclamation: “Enter the kangaroos!”

During the impeachment of Bill Clinton, Ken Starr, now one of the major new additions to Donald Trump’s legal team, argued that a president under investigation for criminal conduct must not be permitted to use governmental authority to embargo witnesses or hide the evidence against him. Starr’s arguments before Congress as a prosecutor decades ago apply directly to the upcoming Senate trial of Donald Trump, and the assiduous efforts of Mitch McConnell and his fellow GOP Senators to engineer a sham trial.

Start with McConnell, who for weeks has insisted that the Senate will “exactly” follow the procedures employed during the trial of Bill Clinton. Under those rules, the Senate formally admitted into evidence the entirety of the extremely comprehensive record assembled by Starr’s team, and then decided whether to call additional witnesses after the parties presented their opening arguments and answered questions from the legislators.

Given that Trump has schemed to withhold potentially key witnesses and evidence, leaving the record far from complete, following the “Clinton Rules” in the Trump case makes little sense. Furthermore, on the eve of the trial Monday, McConnell laid out his proposed rules, which do not follow a key provision of the Clinton procedures. Instead of automatically admitting the House’s materials into evidence, McConnell proposes that the Senate vote on which portions, if any, of the documents and testimony assembled by the House to admit. Under the McConnell Rules, which a Republican majority is near certain to pass, the Senate will literally be able to reach a verdict without admitting any of the materials incriminating the president into evidence. [emphasis added]

Inserted from <The Daily Beast>

This has me so upset, that I made a typo in the graphic. Here are three video clips to shed more light on this travesty.

Schumer calls on 4 GOP members to ‘resist McConnell’s cover-up’

Bernstein: ‘Midnight Mitch’ and Senate embracing coverup

McConnell’s Impeachment Rules Designed To Hide The Facts: Katyal

This may be the most important article I have published. Here’s the bottom line. The differences between this sham and the Clinton trial are as follows: The Clinton Trial admitted the entire House record at the outset. The Trump* travesty lets Republicans decide whether or not to admit the House record. In the Clinton Trial, Senators debated by the light of day. In the Trump* travesty, Senators will debate in the wee hours so voters don’t see what they are doing. Unlike the Clinton trial, the Trump* travesty is designed to prevent the prosecutors from presenting witnesses and documents. Unlike in the Clinton trial, the Trump* travesty gives Republicans the prerogative to vote for dismissal at any time.

On February 4, the criminal Resident Trump* is scheduled to give the State of the Union address. He is desperate for the opportunity to lie that he was “proven innocent”, which he is not, and will never be. Therefore Bought Bitch Midnight Moscow Mitch is in extreme cover-up mode.

This will put the onus on us to try to expose everything Republicans cover up. I’ll do my best to do my share. Please join me!

RESIST!!

Open Thread – 1/21/2020

Posted by TomCat at 10:26 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 212020

It’s a hectic day here in the CatBox, as medical mayhem is back in the driver’s seat. For some reason my Medicare Advantage premiums stopped being deducted from my social security check, so I have to pay the bill and get it fixed again. In addition, I have to call the hospital to get my stress test scheduled before my endoscopy (camera in stomach). Lisa (Cardiologist) tipped me off that, once the hospital finds the stress test ordered, they will delay the endoscopy until after the stress test, and you know how much trouble I had scheduling that endoscopy. Today is also a grocery order day and the first day of the Bought Bitch Midnight Moscow Mitch Show. ARGH! Have a great day!

Later: I scheduled the stress test and straightened out the Medicare Advantage premiums. Social Security Refusing to deduct Medicare Advantage premiums is a gift to American Seniors from Trump* and the Republican Reich. I have put it on my card automatically.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:39 (average 5:10). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Remember “Je suis Charlie”?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (CNN Channel): MLK Jr.’s son reacts to President Trump’s tweet

When the impeached twit* tweets, he often puts his Republican racism in display, but in this case, he’s just lying. RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Gun Rights Activists Rally Against Gun Control Legislation In Richmond

This is how Ammosexual, racist, violent Republicans celebrated MLK Day! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): The Platters – Only You – Lyrics

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Remembering MLK!

Posted by TomCat at 6:16 am Politics

Jan 202020

It was a pleasure to work with Dr. King on Vietnam Summer. Of all the people I have met in my life, he stands head and shoulders above the rest. This is last year’s article. It is even more applicable today.

Normally, I would wish you a Happy Martin Luther King Day, but my conscience will not allow it at a time when Donald Trump* and the Republican Party have trashed so much of what he accomplished, and today, Dr. King would grieve. But he would also…

RESIST!!

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