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!!

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!!

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!!

Open Thread – 1/19/2020

Posted by TomCat at 7:44 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 192020

I’m hurrying to finish as much work as I can, before WWWendy arrives. This afternoon, I’ll meditate on the Holy Ellipsoid Orb. I’ll be rooting for the Chiefs in deference to one, who shall remain Nameless. I’ll also prepare tomorrow’s articles in advance, except for the puzzle.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:55 (average 4:12). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

In case you forgot, RepubliCare is the Republican Reich plan to replace ObamaCare.

Short Takes:

From Alternet: …Trump’s cold sweats are significant, because everyone who has been following this case knows that the Senate will acquit him. Not because he’s innocent — no one who has actually consulted the evidence is foolish enough to believe that — but because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Republicans who control the Senate decided long ago that they would cover up for their shamelessly corrupt president no matter what he does. With such an assured outcome, Trump’s fears seem overblown and silly, even for someone crippled by sociopathic narcissism and its accompanying paranoia.

But it’s also true that high-profile travesties of justice, such as the one Senate Republicans are currently preparing to commit, can often provoke major political backlash. Getting a jury to acquit the obviously guilty can, as history shows, cause a public that’s already outraged about the crime to get even more furious. That, I suspect, is what Trump is sweating.

What the Senate is about to do is akin to the practice of jury nullification. That’s where a jury decides that either they don’t think the crime should be a crime at all, or that they believe people like the defendant should above the law, and so refuse to convict no matter how guilty the defendant is. This something that in theory, and sometimes in practice, can be used for good as when a jury refuses to throw someone in prison for a low-level drug offense, or refuses to enforce a law restricting free speech. But historically in the U.S., jury nullification has tended to be used to uphold injustice and reinforce racist or sexist systems of power….

As I so strongly implied yesterday, the Republican Reich is prepared to goose-step behind criminal Fuhrer Trump* into political extinction. RESIST!!

From YouTube (CNN Channel): Senator makes prediction ahead of impeachment trial

Coons is spot on that testimony from Jon Bolton and Lev Parnas is both relevant and probative, while testimony from Joe and Hunter Biden is neither. Coons’ argument would be valid, if this were a legal trial. It is not. Bought Bitch Moscow Mitch and the Republican Reich set the rules. They can would our objections to Joe and Hunter as an excuse to disallow all witnesses. So if Joe and Hunter appearing is what it takes to get us the real witnesses, bring them on! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Open Thread – 1/18/2020

Posted by TomCat at 8:51 am Blog News, Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 182020

It’s another crappy day, here in the CatBox, and I ALMOST went back to bed. Oh well, I get the camera in my gut in less than a month now. Tomorrow is a High Holy Day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb, the Festival of Conference Finality. May the Orb shine it’s blessed light on your team, if it has survived. I’ll be out of the saddle on Sunday and Monday. Sunday is a WWWendy Day and we have a very stinky TomCat and lots of chores to manage. Please expect no more than a Personal Update or Open Thread. On Monday I have an appt. with my cardiologist. If you remember, a few weeks back, I was telling my PCP about my heartburn, when an acid bubble came up my esophagus. I put up my hand to my chest, winced, and lowered my head in pain. Megan freaked out. She slapped on the EKG stickers, and once she realized I wasn’t having a heart attack, she insisted I make an appointment with Lisa. That was set back a few weeks ago, because TriMet Lift was two hours plus late and could not pick me up until well after my appointment time. So Monday I hope to publish a Personal Update, and an MLK Day article, prepared a day in advance. I hope to be back in the saddle Tuesday. Have a great weekend.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:24 (average 4:27). I’m amazed I beat the average. To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From Alternet: In the past, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was among the most popular Republicans in New England — a region of the United States that has become increasingly Democratic in recent years. Collins, first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996, was reelected by 17% in 2002, 23% in 2008 and 38% in 2014. But that was before Donald Trump became president, and according to polling by Morning Consult, Collins now enjoys 42% approval and 52% disapproval — making her the most unpopular politician in the U.S. Senate.

During the first quarter of 2017, according to Morning Consult, Collins enjoyed 67% approval in Maine. But the last quarter of 2019 found her overtaking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in terms of unpopularity.

It could not have happened to a more deserving bitch (apologies to female dawgs)! Maine… Vote Blue!! RESIST!!

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): President Donald Trump Picks Jeffrey Epstein Lawyers For Impeachment

How much do you want to bet that Barrf and the Republican Reich had Epstein killed to cover up their own crimes? Of course Fuhrer Trump* would pick pervert-friendly lawyers. Birds of a feather… RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): –

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Trump’s* Boss Hacked Burisma

Posted by TomCat at 8:50 am Politics

Jan 142020

Not long ago, Impeached Resident Donald Trump*, Fuhrer of the Republican Reich, withheld the Congressionally mandated military aid to Ukraine, and blackmailed Ukrainian President Zelensky to find or manufacture dirt on Joe Biden, arising from his son’s questionable employment at Burisma. Burisma is the Ukrainian gas company and was notorious for corruption when Hunter was there. But Trump* and his Reich handled the crime with such extreme incompetence, that they accomplished only Trump’s impeachment to become Trump*. Still needing dirt on the Biden’s, the Republican Reich has called in Trump’s* boss to do the job right, Vladimir Putin [R-RU].

With President Trump facing an impeachment trial over his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son Hunter Biden, Russian military hackers have been boring into the Ukrainian gas company at the center of the affair, according to security experts.

The hacking attempts against Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company on whose board Hunter Biden served, began in early November, as talk of the Bidens, Ukraine and impeachment was dominating the news in the United States.

It is not yet clear what the hackers found, or precisely what they were searching for. But the experts say the timing and scale of the attacks suggest that the Russians could be searching for potentially embarrassing material on the Bidens — the same kind of information that Mr. Trump wanted from Ukraine when he pressed for an investigation of the Bidens and Burisma, setting off a chain of events that led to his impeachment.

The Russian tactics are strikingly similar to what American intelligence agencies say was Russia’s hacking of emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman and the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 presidential campaign. In that case, once they had the emails, the Russians used trolls to spread and spin the material, and built an echo chamber to widen its effect… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Russia is trying to steal another election for Putin’s Pet Pervert, but exactly what are they up to? Both Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell have coverage:

Rep. Adam Schiff: NYT New Russian Hacking Report ‘Deeply Disturbing’

Fmr. FBI Official: ‘This Is A Full-On Attack On Our 2020 Election’

Here are the possibilities I see:

Russia is fishing for dirt, because they think Biden would beat their puppet, Trump*.
Russia thinks Trump* can beat Biden, and think their investigation will make Biden more likely to win.
Russia is just trying to create chaos an confusion to frustrate American voters and turn them off to the process.
Russia want’s Biden to win the nomination and found dirt on Joe and Hunter to spring as an October surprise.

The last choice worries me most, but I do have a suggestion. Joe and Hunter should both volunteer to testify at Trump’s* impeachment trial to show they have nothing to hide. On the other hand, if there is something to hide, Joe should drop-out now for the sake of the nation.

RESIST!!

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