Open Thread – 10/12/2018

 Posted by at 1:10 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 122018
 

It’s a lazy day here in the CatBox.  I had  a bunch of paper work to do this morning, and it’s a relatively slow day for news that I have not already covered, so I’ll be relatively brief and get some much needed rest.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:17 (average 5:51).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Report: Turks Claim Evidence Of Missing Washington Post Journalist

 

I’m not sure who is most vile, the Fuhrer of the Republican Reich or the Saudis. A toss-up? RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From YouTube (Media Matters Channel): Prominent right-wing figures incite violence

Barf Bag Alert!!

 

There it is! Love, Republican style! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From Huffington Post: Washington state’s Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty is unconstitutional and converted to life in prison all pending death sentences in the state.

The court’s decision on Thursday was unanimous, with the justices determining that capital punishment is applied “in an arbitrary and racially biased manner.”

“The use of the death penalty is unequally applied — sometimes by where the crime took place, or the county of residence… or the race of the defendant,” the court said in its opinion. “The death penalty, as administered in our state, fails to serve any legitimate penological goal; thus, it violates article I, section 14 of our state constitution.”

With the ruling, 20 states have either abolished or overturned the death penalty, according to the non-profit group Death Penalty Information Center.  Three others have moratoriums on it.

Kudos to Washington State! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

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Friday Fun: A MAGA Mom Has a Mega Misfire

 Posted by at 9:08 am  Politics
Oct 122018
 

In case you missed the #HimToo meme’s recent 15-minutes of fame this week, I’ll help you out.

It originally started way back as an ally of the #MeToo movement providing a platform for men to share their experiences of sexual assaults.  But just like “All Lives Matter” started as an ill-conceived rightwing backlash to “Black Lives Matter”, the #HimToo meme was coopted by Trumpkins during the Kavanaugh hearings.  It was used as a warning to mothers with fearmongering that their poor, innocent sons might well become victims of false sexual assault claims by conniving, evil females.

But since we Liberals are not immune to reality like Rethuglicans, let’s take a look at a couple of Fact Checks including Snopes: A scientific reviews shows that false sexual assault claims are very rare – accounting for only about 5 percent.  And sadly, sexual assault is actually chronically underreported.

https://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/publications/2018-10/Lisak-False-Reports-Moving-beyond.pdf

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rape-allegations-fabricated/

But blaming victims while trying to turn themselves into the poor victim is a common Rethuglican ploy.  So of course it was greeted with open-arms by Trumpkin provocateurs.

One such MAGA Mom (BlueStarNavyMom3) stepped forward with a Tweet falsely claiming that her Navy veteran son – Pieter Hanson –  is a victim and she involuntarily signed him up for the #HimToo masses.  (I have no doubt she entirely missed the irony that she was making a FALSE claim to protect males against false claims.)

After the Tweet went viral with mocking parodies, she took the Tweet down … and then deleted her entire account.  But here’s a screenshot of it:

If you can’t read it, it says:

“This is MY son,” began his mom’s viral post, which featured a photograph of Hanson posing in his Navy uniform. “He graduated #1 in boot camp. He was awarded the USO award. He was #1 in A school. He is a gentleman who respects women. He won’t go on solo dates due to the current climate of false sexual accusations by radical feminists with an axe to grind. I VOTE. #HimToo.”

After the parodies made her Tweet go viral, one of Pieter Hanson’s brothers stepped in to shed some light on the matter:

But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy some of the creative parodies!

And of course motel manager, Norman Bates – who said “A mother is a boy’s best friend.”

And Ted “Card-Carrying-Republican” Bundy

(I forgot he was a delegate to the 1968 Republican National Convention.)

And of course you knew you were going to get “Rolled” …

And a “stellar” appearance …

And a couple of edgy ones …

But being the true gentleman that he is (he’s also an ordained minister), Pieter Hanson took matters into his own hands wanting to “turn this around” with his very first Tweet mimicking the photo his Mom used:

Not only is Pieter Hanson “a proud Navy vet and Cat Dad”, but he’s a supporter of #MeToo – a true feminist Ally with a sense of humor!  He followed up his very first tweet with a series of photos of his cats, and a plea to Tweet posters and viewers to donate to cancer charities on behalf of his one of his other brothers, a cancer survivor and his hero.

So we’ll close with his call for cancer donations …

And you can never go wrong ending with kitty cat pictures – here are Pieter’s …

 

 

 

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Muzzle the Sphincter

 Posted by at 1:42 pm  Politics
Oct 112018
 

There are few things that Resident Donald Trump [R-RU], aka Putin’s Pervert, loves more than face time on TV.  He could always depend on the Republican Reichsministry of propaganda, Faux Noise, to follow him  everywhere and dutifully send every squawk, no matter how flatulent, out to deplorable Republican sheeple everywhere, until now.  The Fuhrer is a a one-trick pony.  After hearing the same rants a few dozen times, even the most brain-dead sheeple get bored and change the channel.  As ratings dropped below viability, Faux Noise pulled the plug.

It happened to “The Apprentice,” too. Ratings during the first season were solid; the show’s finale in that first season won the week, the only time it would do so. But then in the second season, things faded. Several million fewer people tuned in each week than they had the prior season, and the finale attracted fewer viewers than had nearly any episode of the first season. The magic wasn’t exactly gone, but the novelty was.

On Wednesday evening, Politico reported that Fox News, the last adherents of the air-every-Donald-Trump-rally-live philosophy, were backing off that policy. Fox News had been a respite for President Trump, who has praised the network for showing his rallies while other networks aired other coverage. Whatever else was going on, Fox could be relied on to stick with the president’s riffs and rants, no doubt to the enjoyment of much of its audience.

But Trump has already held six rallies this month, on 60 percent of the evenings in October so far. That’s a lot of time to devote to what is essentially the same thing over and over. Trump doesn’t have a stump speech, but he does have a stump patter. Pick out a string of four sentences from any of his recent events and they could probably slot, unedited, into any of the others. Why keep showing it? Ratings for the Trump Show, Politico reports, had started to slip below the standard ratings for the network’s prime time programming.

So Trump got bumped. On Wednesday night, as Trump had a rally in Pennsylvania, Fox aired “The Story With Martha MacCallum."…  [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Washington Post>

Anytime anyone, even Faux Noise, decides to muzzle the sphincter, I’m all for it!

RESIST!!

VOTE BLUE!!

26 DAYS!!

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Open Thread – 10/11/2018

 Posted by at 1:42 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 112018
 

It’s a temperate day here in the CatBox.  The cool air crossing the room is countering the sun on the wall so far, but I may need to break out the A/C later.  WWWendy was late last night, because a parent did not pick up a special needs child at her school, so Wendy had to stay there, until an alternate relative arrived.  I got to bed late, and we had been working so hard on tasks, that I had trouble winding down and getting to sleep.  So today, I feel groggy.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:39 (average 4:23).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Brian Kemp Holding Up 53K Voter Registrations As He Runs For Governor

 

How vile! Decent people would recuse themselves, but not Republicans!  Don’t let Republicans steal YOUR vote! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From YouTube (MoveOn Channel): Willie Nelson sings "Vote ’em out"

 

Amen Willie! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From YouTube (Media Matters Channel): The right-wing attacks on Kavanaugh protesters are out of control

Barf Bag Alert!!

 

The Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, and the rest of the Republican bubble machine are full of Kava-Crap!! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

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Damn Koch Suckers!

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Republicans on Parade – 10/10/2018

 Posted by at 11:52 am  Politics
Oct 102018
 

Here is the one hundred thirty-eighth article in our Republicans on Parade series, featuring individuals who personify what the Republican Party has become. Today’s honoree is Kansas Republican County Precinct Committeeman Michael Kalney. He is so honored for expressing Republican racism, homophobia and misogyny in just one Facebook post.

1010ShariceTaking lessons from Orange Julius on how to drive up female voter turnout for the midterms, huh?

Democrat Sharice Davids is getting national attention for her congressional campaign in Kansas. She’s openly gay, Native American, the child of a single mother, and a kickboxer.

She’s also outraising her Republican opponent, and has the endorsements of Obama and Biden.

The Kansas City Star reports that Republican precinct committeeman Michael Kalny pooped the bed on Facebook:

1010back_to_the_rez

Inserted from <Crooks and Liars>

The article included an ad from Sharice:

Is she not as cool as that Republican official is vile?

Kalny clearly deserves his parade.

Sharice has a tiny lead over Yoder, her Republican opponent.  Please help her win!  We need her skill-set in Washington to kung-fu a pair of Kava-Nuts! Winking smile

RESIST!!

VOTE BLUE!!

27 DAYS!!

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Open Thread – 10/10/2018

 Posted by at 11:51 am  Open Thread, Personal, Plus, Politics
Oct 102018
 

It’s a hectic day here in the CatBox.  I had some paperwork I had to get done early, so I got started over an hour late.  Then my Internet connection went down for about an hour.  I caught up by skipping my morning nap.  Store to Door should deliver groceries in a little over an hour, after which I’ll need to unpack and pout them away.  Next I’ll prepare and eat lunch.  And this evening, WWWendy will come to destink the TomCat.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:46 (average 7:09).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Activism:

1010PatBeto

Kudos to our resident beauty queen.

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Swift Results: Voter Registration Spikes After Star’s Endorsement Of Democrats

 

Love it! Republicans thought they owned her! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From CNN: A terrifyingly powerful Category 4 Hurricane Michael was poised to become the strongest hurricane to hit the Florida Panhandle in recorded history Wednesday, its rapid strengthening catching some by surprise and leaving anxious officials telling those who didn’t evacuate: It’s time to hunker down.

"This is the worst storm that our Florida Panhandle has seen in a century," Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday morning. "Hurricane Michael is upon us, and now is the time to seek refuge."

The extremely dangerous Michael is expected to make landfall in the Panhandle, perhaps near Panama City and Laguna Beach, in the afternoon, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.

If you are in range of it, please attend to your safety! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From The New Yorker: In a setback for the newest Associate Justice on his first day at work, Brett Kavanaugh said on Tuesday that he was “very disappointed” to learn that the Supreme Court does not have a happy hour.

Kavanaugh told reporters that he made the horrifying discovery as the clock ticked down to 5 p.m. and “everyone was still in their offices working and stuff.”

“I mean, I couldn’t believe it,” Kavanaugh said. “I had been busting my tail for six hours, and I needed to blow off some steam.”

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the member of the Court who delivered the bad news to Kavanaugh. “When she told me, I guess I started crying a bit, which I now regret,” he said. “She just kind of closed her office door and went back to work or whatever.”

Oh Andy! Poor Kava-Nazi! Now he’ll have to get an alcohol IV. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

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Election Outlook 10/9

 Posted by at 1:23 pm  Politics
Oct 092018
 

We have four weeks left before the 2018 Midterms.  They are finally sufficiently close at hand that some of the research being done will be valid.  Therefore, I’d like to give you a broad overview of what we can expect in November.  The biggest unknowns are how big a backlash we can expect from the bogus confirmation of Pervert Kava-Nazi and how big a counter backlash Republicans can get from their lies about being the innocent victims.

1009SURFING-DONKEY

The Washington Post, in partnership with the Schar School, polled the 69 districts that were rated as “toss-ups,” “lean Republican,” or “lean Democrat” by the Cook Political Report this past August — and found that voters in such areas prefer a Democratic Congress by a margin of 50 to 46 percent. By contrast, in 2016, these same districts collectively favored Republican candidates by a margin of 56 to 41 percent.

The Democrats four-point lead in these battlegrounds might look perilously thin on first blush. But of the 69 districts polled, 63 are currently held by Republican incumbents; and to take the House, Democrats need to flip just 23. Which is to say: Pelosi’s party can afford to lose far more than half of these contests, and still get her the Speaker’s gavel. If Democrats win the popular vote across these battlegrounds by any margin at all, they will almost certainly win control of Congress’s lower chamber.

Should that happen, Democrats will owe college-educated women some thank-you cards. Demographically, the House battlegrounds are 7 percent more white than America as a whole; in previous elections, this dearth of African-American and Hispanic voters has rendered Democrats uncompetitive in most of these districts. But the battlegrounds are also 4 percent more college-educated than the country writ large — and in the Trump era, few things are more threatening to Republicans than a woman with a higher education: White, college-educated women in the battleground districts favor Democrats over Republicans by a whopping 62 to 35 percent margin, while white women without such diplomas back Republicans 49 to 45 percent… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Magazine>

Here is the Real Clear Politics Senate Outlook:

44

Democrats *

Toss Ups

7

Republicans

49

37 Safe or Not Up

3

4

7

2

1

46 Safe or Not Up

51 Seats Needed For Majority

You can see the difficulty we face.  I expect 49 – 50 seats.  I’d be thrilled with 51.  We are more likely to make gains in 2020.

Here is the Real Clear Politics House Outlook:

205

Democrats

Toss Ups

32

Republicans

198

173

14

18

32

24

13

161

218 Seats Needed For Majority

Our chances are much better here.  I expect 235 – 240 seats.

If you really want to get down and dig in the weeds, Politico analyzed and projected every House, Senate and Governor race.  Have fun!

Finally, Lawrence O’Donnell highlighted a couple Democratic stars.

Lets take our government back!

RESIST!!

VOTE BLUE!!

28 DAYS!!

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Open Thread – 10/9/2018

 Posted by at 1:21 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 092018
 

I think I’m done moping.  Last night, I was eating supper when I first heard Putin’s Pervert apologizing to Pervert Kava-Nazi and claiming his innocence had been proven.  I won’t repeat my string of expletives.  I also threw a bowl of chili at Trump.  Fortunately it was almost empty.  Even so, cleaning the TV, TV hutch, and floor from my wheelchair took over an hour.  We have 28 days.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:46 (average 5:04).  To do it, click here. How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

Here are the results from our own fantasy football league.

Scores:

5Scores

Congrats to Vivian, Wendy and Pam for winning their games.

Standings:

5Standings

Kudos to Pam for leading the league.

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MoveOn Channel): Appalachian Great-Grandma Calls out the GOP

 

You tell them Portia! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): Robert Reich: Are You Suffering from Presidential Dysfunction?

 

The Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is almost right. The Reich on the right, the Republican Reich, is the reason we suffer from Residential (Trump is NOT a President.) Dysfunction. RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

From Alternet: In the midst of the controversial Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh ($%^&#@!), Donald Trump stood on the lawn of the White House and said, “It’s a scary time for young men in America.” For the millions of women who’ve been sexually assaulted, it was rage-inducing to hear Donald Trump complain that men are the ones truly in danger.

Lynzy Lab decided to channel her anger into a song called It’s A Scary Time, and its is fan-freaking-tastic.

 

Click through for transcript. Kudos to Lynzy! RESIST!! VOTE BLUE!!

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