Resident Donald Trump was on the phone with Recep Tarrip Erdogan [R-TU], Republican pseudo-Muslim leader of Turkey. Erdogan must have told Trump that Trump has a very large penis, because Trump irresponsibly gave Erdogan license to attack our Kurdish allies in Syria, possibly undoing the defeat of ISIL. The Turks have a long history of massacres against Kurds, as the picture below illustrates
The commander of Syrian Kurdish forces didn’t use the word “betrayal.” But with U.S. troops withdrawing from the Turkish-Syrian border and Turkish troops poised to attack, he warned on Monday that a bloodbath could be ahead — and pleaded for continued U.S. support.
Gen. Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Kurdish-led militia known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, said during a telephone interview from his headquarters inside Syria that Turkish troops “are preparing to cross the border” and that a major assault could come in “a matter of days.”
The Kurdish commander’s pleas that the United States not abandon an ally struck a chord in a Washington that is whipsawed by President Trump’s increasing practice of diplomacy by impulse and whim. Even Senate Republicans who usually acquiesce to Trump’s policies were vocal in protesting Trump’s move to abandon our Syrian Kurdish allies, who did most of the fighting and dying against the Islamic State.
This latest chapter of the Syrian horror story followed a White House announcement late Sunday that Trump was, in effect, leaving the border unprotected in the face of a possible Turkish attack, despite repeated U.S. pledges over the past three months that the United States would seek to forestall such an assault if the Kurds pulled back troops and heavy weapons from the border zone… [emphasis added]
With Syria Pullout, Is Trump Threatening His GOP Senate Support?
I find myself in the rare situation of agreeing with most Senate Republicans (please pass the Alka-Seltzer), while disagreeing with some friends on the left with anti-military knee-jerk reactions. Trump’s policy is an open door for ISIL to reestablish themselves. Out troops there are special forces and support troops. They are doing no fighting. They are taking no casualties. But their presence with the Kurds prevents the Erdogan from committing atrocities against them. That is a rare instance of the best use of our troops.
It’s a crappy, busy day here at the CatBox. My Republicosis is back. I had to prepare my grocery list for this week, send it to Store to Door, prepare the graphics for our Fantasy Football Report, do my normal research for PP and make four five draining trips to the throne. Now I get to do the actual writing. Poopy hugs to all. ARGH!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:56 (average 5:29). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Congrats to WWWendy, Patty Monster and me for winning our games. More congrats to me for the highest score of both the week and the season.
Standings:
Congrats to Vivian and WWWendy for leading the league.
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker: After looking at the most recent polls for the Democratic Presidential race, Donald J. Trump has ordered the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate Senator Elizabeth Warren.
“What Elizabeth Warren and her crooked kids have been doing in Ukraine is a disgrace,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn. “This is maybe the biggest scandal in the history of our country.”
After Jim Acosta, of CNN, pointed out that there had been no reports of any involvement in Ukraine on the part of either Warren or her children, Trump responded, “You bet there’s been no reporting, because you people are even more crooked than she is.”
Trump brushed aside an official statement by the Ukrainian government indicating that Warren’s children had never set foot in the country. “That is because the Warren kids are basically spies, and everyone knows that spies are invisible,” he said. “You people are so dumb.”
Good one, Andy. I’m confident that statement is on his bucket list. RESIST!!
From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower On Dangers To Democracy
I just learned that Cambridge Analytica was founded to fight radicalization. They flipped to promoting radicalization, when Mercer bought the company and put Bannon and the Republican Reich in charge. Now that they are gone, many of the fascists on their staff are working for Mark Fuckerberg at Facebook, With Facebook, the only way to win is not to play. Flush Facebook! RESIST!!
From Alternet: …“For a long time, however, making that case — pointing out that Republicans were sounding ever more authoritarian and violating more and more democratic norms — got you dismissed as shrill, if not deranged,” Krugman explains. But extremism, Krugman adds, was a feature of the Republican Party long before Trump ran for president.
“It’s important to understand that the GOP hasn’t suddenly changed, that Trump hasn’t somehow managed to corrupt a party that was basically OK until he came along,” Krugman emphasizes. “Anyone startled by Republican embrace of wild conspiracy theories about the deep state must have slept through the Clinton years and wasn’t paying attention when most of the GOP decided that climate change was a hoax perpetrated by a vast global scientific cabal.”
Krugman concludes his column on a somber note, stressing that Trumpism isn’t merely an indictment of Donald Trump, but of the Republican Party in general.
“Trump isn’t an aberration,” Krugman asserts. “He’s unusually blatant and gaudily corrupt, but at a basic level, he’s the culmination of where his party has been going for decades. And U.S. political life won’t begin to recover until centrists face up to that uncomfortable reality.” [emphasis added]
I’m so pleased that Paul Krugman agrees me. How many times have you seen me state that Trump is the Fuhrer of the Republican Party, because he’s a perfect reflection of who and what they are? RESIST!!
Here is the one hundred sixty-seventh article in our Republicans on Parade series, featuring individuals who personify what the Republican Party has become. Today’s winner is Trump sycophant and Republican Senator Ron Johnson. He is so honored for one of the biggest episodes of simultaneous goose-stepping or side-stepping I have ever seen!
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) gave a wild performance on “Meet the Press” Sunday, refusing to answer questions posed by host Chuck Todd, instead peddling unfounded conspiracy theories about the 2016 election. The bizarre interview is a demonstration of how President Donald Trump’s allies have responded to the impeachment inquiry by rallying around debunked theories about Democratic plots and deep state set-ups during the 2016 election, while dismissing the findings of Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference.
Johnson’s refusal to answer questions, paired with Todd’s dismay that Johnson was embracing conspiracy theories, may also explain why other Trump allies refused to go on the Sunday news shows. In the midst of a tumultuous impeachment inquiry, no administration official or GOP leader from the House or Senate accepted an invitation to appear on any of the weekends news programs.
The interview went south at the very beginning. Rather than answer Todd’s first question about Ukraine, Johnson began his appearance with a jumble of old, debunked theories in which Johnson, reading from a paper on which he had prepared his comments, seemed to claim that former FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI director James Comey had framed Trump. “Senator, I have no idea why Fox News propaganda stuff is popping up on here,” Todd said in response… [emphasis added]
When Chuck Todd can’t get a word in, he must be up against a PhD (Piled Higher and Deeper) in Republican Bullshitology. Can there be any doubt that this Republican deserves a parade?
It’s a temperate but muggy day here in the CatBox, and my poor abused butt is swinging back toward Republicosis again. I looked at our stats at our HSP, and seeing them may well be what caused the Republicosis. It’s that bad. Losing Care2 really clobbered us. It seems active, but hundreds used to read every day without I’m going to have to start exploring for ways to publicize the site. OGIM Hugs to all!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:10 (average 6:05). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Religious Ecstasy:
What a wonderful Orb!
Short Takes:
From NY Times: A witness who delivered key testimony in the trial of Amber Guyger — the white former Dallas police officer convicted this past week in the murder of an unarmed black man, Botham Jean — was fatally shot on Friday night, a lawyer for Mr. Jean’s family said.
The witness, Joshua Brown, 28, who had lived in the same apartment complex as Ms. Guyger and Mr. Jean, was shot several times by an unknown assailant, Lee Merritt, the family’s lawyer, said on Twitter Saturday night.
Mr. Brown’s death occurred just two days after a Dallas County jury sentenced Ms. Guyger to 10 years in prison, well short of the maximum 99 years that she could have received in the killing of Mr. Jean, a 26-year-old immigrant from the Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia.
I think I understand what happened. In the 1970’s I observed a Portland Police officer turning on his siren to run a red light and pull into the Dunkin’ Donuts in which was sitting. They almost caused an accident in the intersection. The cops ordered donuts and coffee, sat down, and ate. When I returned home I called the PD and told them what I had seen. At about 2:00 AM the next morning I received a gruff, anonymous phone call, that if I didn’t shut up and mind my own business, I would NOT stay healthy. Mr. Brown did not shut up and mind his own business, and many cops are both Ammosexual and Republican. RESIST!!
A comment from Mitch inspired me to include this. In my youth I tried to learn to play like this, until arthritis set in in my 30s. Now all I can do is strum. RESIST!!
It’s a busy day here in the CatBox. WWWendy will be here in about 90 minutes. We have lots of chores, as this will be a strange week. She has to go to Iowa to deal with family matters next weekend, so she’ll be coming on Thursday instead of Wednesday, the following Tuesday instead of Sunday, and then, Saturday instead of Sunday. That throws my schedule off, big time, bit I’m Happy to help her, However, I don’t advise getting downwind of me a week from Monday. This will be my only article today. Ellipsoid Orb Hugs to all.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:41 (average 5:00). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Fire up your VPN, Lona! Even Pence’s gay hate won’t convert their stories to straight. On impeachment, the GOP’s predecessors grabbed the money and fled to South America to evade justice! RESIST!!
The wheels are falling off the Republican Clown Car, and we should not be surprised that the impeachment inquiry is expanding to include the rabid pseudo-Christian, Vice-Resident Mike Pence. Here is an article on that subject by retired conservative lawyer, Martin London. He is known for his legal defense Spiro T. Agnew. He also advised Trump to resign in 2018.
The Constitution provides for impeachment of “The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers…”
The current House impeachment inquiry is focused on President Trump’s apparent effort to persuade a foreign government to interfere in the 2020 presidential election–specifically, to press Ukraine’s President Volodymy Zelensky to investigate the leading Democratic contender, Joe Biden. Trump is still the central U.S. civil officer in the spotlight, but now it seems Vice President Pence may be implicated as well.
While the President claims his July call with Zelensky was “perfect,” the House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff describes it as a “shakedown,” and a majority of the House of Representatives now support an impeachment inquiry. Pence, meanwhile, has defended the President, saying, “I think the American people have the right to know if the Vice President of the United States or his family profited from his position as vice president during the last administration.”
While we do not know precisely what Pence knew about Trump’s conversation with Biden or what he said to Zelensky when they met last month, there’s a lot we do know – and it doesn’t look good. Pence was not on the call in which Trump asked Zelensky for a “favor” — a Ukrainian investigation of Joe Biden and his son Hunter — at a time when the U.S. was withholding hundreds of millions of dollars of aid, but one of his top advisers was, and according to the Washington Post, “the vice president should have had access to the transcript within hours.” It was in this context that he flew to Poland in September and reinforced to Zelensky the Trump message that U.S. aid was still being withheld because of concerns about “corruption.”…
It’s a tired day here in the CatBox. I woke up shortly after midnight, as usual, to relieve myself, but could not get back to sleep. Tomorrow is a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb. My Broncos are Californicating themselves to meditate with the Chargers. The game won’t be televised here. May the divine Orb shine its blessed light on your team, unless they fart lightning bolts. Tomorrow is also a WWWendy Day. That yucky TomCat will need extra de-stinking! So please expect no more than a Personal Update from me tomorrow. Pooped hugs to all.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:07 (average 5:53). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Cartoon:
Short Takes:
From The New Yorker: In an unexpected twist in the impeachment drama engulfing Washington, leading congressional Democrats have begged Donald Trump to stop impeaching himself so that they have something to do.
In a press conference on Friday morning, Representative Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, both implored Trump to stop relentlessly spewing impeachable offenses, complaining that this practice was rendering their jobs irrelevant.
“Mr. President, as much as we appreciate your help, please, stop doing our work for us,” Pelosi said. “Give us a reason to get up in the morning and go to the office.”
Andy, I fear their plea has fallen on deaf ears. Committing impeachable offenses is the prime Republican pastime. RESIST!!
From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): FEC Chair Sets The Record Straight On Foreign Interference In An Election
There certainly was obvious quid pro quo there, and that is relevant. The operative word in the law is “solicit”. In laymen’s terms, that means ask for it. Trump did. Pence did. Quod erat demonstrandum! RESIST!!
From YouTube (CNN Channel): Voter confronts GOP senator: Where’s the line?
Joni Ernst just doesn’t know how to deal with Trump. That pig’s nuts are so small, that she can’t find them. RESIST!!
Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
I hope it is finally clear to everyone that impeachment action as to Donald John Trump is indeed under way (although maybe not – I’m still getting petitions). The substance of the articles will likely be extortion or attempted extortion rather than treason or attempted treason, which is fine – extortion is simply bribery with menaces, and Bribery, like Treason, is specifically cited in the Constitution as a reason to impeach. But there are many reasons that this person is a cancer on our government, most of which are not impeachable, but which are in many ways even more horrendous than the impeachable offenses. I want to remind us of one today.
Tevye is a member of the Daily Kos community (as am I, as well as Nameless and TC), as opposed to a member of the staff. Since he joined in 2014, he has written 89 articles (as Daily Kos calls them, diaries.) I have come to recognize the name, and to realize that if I read it, I will cry, and I will be a better person for it. So of course I always do. He has kindly given me permission to reprint this one, which deals with something that is as much Trump as the guards at Auschwitz and Dachau were Hitler, but for which I do not expect him to be held accountable, any more than Hitler was. If you are up to reading more, you can find all of his diaries at this link. He references the one from July 26. I personally feel the one from March 16 also explains a lot. But here he is.
*A trigger warning to my equally sensitive brethren. There are three pictures, used with permission, at the end of the diary that are disturbing. Of those that recently died coming here in search of a better life. I believe them to be pertinent to both the story and to the very real realities of the current situation.*
It was bound to happen.
I’ve been at this for months…every weekend or every other weekend.
As relayed two months back in my diary of May 26 of the reasons why i’m out here in this parched wasteland..
…because of that Polish couple who died trying to protect my ancestors from the nazis almost eighty years ago…
…and because of the pictures and stories of the plight of those desperate brothers and sisters trudging with everything they own on their back, for a better life for themselves and their families.
Why else would they walk through a desert with vulnerable children that they love dearly but for sheer desperation and determination?
Well over 8,000 bodies (!) have been discovered in this area over the last twenty years, and i’ve been going from one area to another so….it was bound to happen.
It never, ever gets easier.
Finding the bodies of once vibrant, thinking and breathing brothers and sisters with hopes and dreams.
Everytime that I have, I think about his/her family…anxiously awaiting the news that their loved ones are safe.
I think about my ancestors, and how they were hunted.
I think of my family….what if it was me?
God, just how many have i found over the decades?
As an international aid/relief worker for so many years…I have found so many.
From the aftermath of war, from violence, from natural disasters, from disease, from starvation.
In this case… this man most probably died from lack of water.
This man, whose hopes and dreams entailed coming here to America for a life of relative prosperity. For clean water and plentiful food…where death squads aren’t breaking down doors and doing what they will too whomever they please.
I’ve concentrated my effort to leaving five gallons of water, 10-15 MRE’s…food, and two space blankets in each location on route throughout this ridiculously hot and dry area of the Sonoran Desert, beyond the Arizona border.
And each one is accompanied by a message, in Spanish, in crayon, often accompanied with drawings, by the very young daughter of an ally and friend.
Telling the reader that they are needed and wanted.
That they are welcome.
And each has a rudimentary map written in the field of their location and its proximity to the border.
Almost 160 locations so far.
Suffice it to say, because of my life experiences and because that Polish couple were executed by the Nazi’s for trying, ultimately unsuccessfully, to protect my ancestors from the flames of the Holocaust, is why I’m here so often, traveling from my Colorado or New Mexico homes, after a week of work.
This last month, I have been accompanied by Father Alex*(not his real first name)…a Jesuit Priest who I first met in El Salvador in the mid- 1980’s, when we were both relatively young men.
Alex was put on a death list along with other priests, many of whom were murdered for trying to protect the meek and weak…he has permanent markings from two particular beatings, and a bullet hole were he had to feign death.
He was a friend of murdered Archbishop Óscar Romero, and with his six fellow Jesuits murdered by the Salvadorian Army’s U.S.-trained Atlacatl Battalion… and knew Jean Donovan, who’s rape and murder brought attention to the world of the beast that was let loose there.
Though gentle and with his heart on his sleeve….he’s no shrinking violet.
A man of deep conviction and love.
We started off early in the morning, before the sun is at its most intense.
We got word that caches that i had left have been definitively found by Border Patrol and destroyed…..those rat bastards.
So we decided to go to that area once more, to resupply the area.
We supplied two locations, and went back to our vehicle so we could supply two more.
Not more than 200 yards from one location that I had left supplies some months back….i saw in the distance a sight what is now to me unmistakable.
“Oh hell no.”
Alex followed my eyes and he saw what i saw.
We knew what we’d find, but he ran to the figure with a burst of adrenaline which belayed his age.
A young man….late teens or early twenties.
He wasn’t there that long.
Tell-tale signs. The birds and animals of prey, insects, etc had only just begun their work.
His large tattered but undisturbed backpack.
Alex sat in the sand silent next to him for a few minutes, whilst i for some reason walked in circles around the site chanting a Hindu mantra.
I went over to my supplies to get some water and a pair of gloves, and I checked his body…no signs of violence.
Alex located his wallet with i.d. and pictures.
I heard Alex say “So here you are”, and he said it with a strange inflection that it made me turn to him, and i saw that his eyes were wet.
He is a dark man, made darker by the sun, but he appeared almost pale at that moment.
“Our Honduran brother is 20….and his first name is Jesus.”
That revelation… that symbolism…. made me sit in the sand where i had been standing.
Here i was in the desert with a devout Catholic priest and the body of a man named Jesus.
We didn’t speak for probably fifteen minutes.
I silently got up to inspect the site that the Border Patrol destroyed.
Empty plastic jugs, punctured over and again.
There was a good chance that this young man could have found it and wouldn’t be here, dead.
That realization had me in near fury, but that was quelled when i returned to my friend.
He showed me the pictures in the wallet.
It showed a family. His mother? The three pictures of a young lady…his sweetheart? Wife? The four pictures of a young boy, from a baby to age two or three….his son?
Awaiting a message that will never come.
Except from Alex.
A message and news that will devastate them forever.
Alex read me a letter that was in the backpack, from his mother.
How she was worried for him and that she loved him.
‘Te amo.’
I had dreams.
All this was swimming in my head, whilst i looked at the pictures and i started to tear up.
I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder.
Suffice it to say, we got Jesus out of there, with the help of Mexican friends.
Alex put a stick in the ground before we left, and tied his crucifix necklace around it.
Mourn for me.
His family will be searched for and if and when they are located, Alex will deliver the news personally, and i have been invited to join him on this….. grim pilgrimage?
I just got home yesterday morning, am a little raw, and am processing my many feelings.
And what to do next.
It’s not business as usual anymore.
It hasn’t been all summer, but now.…
Remember me.
The Border Patrol and Ice are killers.
Their ilk hunted, tortured and murdered my ancestors…
…and so many people in so many countries that i have personally witnessed.
Here, they will send those known to be on death lists right back, to die.
And destroy what gives one life.
No.
Let’s just say, that i am upping my game.
That i’m using what i have learned these past three decades, the contacts of allies and comrades and friends….and i will assist in more tangible ways.
And you can be rest assured that unless i am in transit to or from Honduras….i will be somewhere here in the Sonoran Desert next week.
So no one has to end up like this….due to sadism and brutality.…for closing the border and making legal immigration impossible ….for a sip of water.
What’s taking place NOW.
Please God, no.
No more.
Not whilst i have a will and a way.
And right now…
…I have both.
In memory of Jesus…
…and the family who will never again be able to say to him ‘te amo’.
-Remembrance.
-Solidarity.
-Resistance.
Come what may.
==================================================================
A word about the destruction of water bottles and other supplies. It’s considered “harboring” and “conspiracy.” I thought I had written about Dr. Scott Warren (just one of many being tried on these charges), but I cannot find an article – possibly in comments.
There are a couple of organizations working in this field. Here are two – neither Tevye nor I have any affiliation with either, but both could use help, if possible.
Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, we can’t all be on the front lines. We can’t all contribute financially. But help us to think about what we can do, even if it is only thoughts and prayers. And supporting impeachment.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) gave a 
