Open Thread–3/8/2020

Posted by TomCat at 8:38 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 082020

It’s a busy tired day here in the CatBox. I sproinged ahead and may recover this month. WWWendy will be here shortly. Have a great day!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:45 (average 7:10). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoons:

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: Say what you want about him but the guy sure does know how to hire an advertising team!

I hated his candidacy, but surely like his desire to flush criminal Fuhrer Trump*. RESIST!!

From YouTube (SNL Channel): The Ingraham Angle Coronavirus Cold Open

Kate McKinnon is amazing. She does a more accurate Ingraham than the real bimbo on the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise! The real Don, Jr. probably has the hots for the real Ingraham. His taste is as bad as his father. As bad as Matthews, is, I don’t think he’ll ever descend to Faux Noise. Kudos to Liz for her wonderful sense of humor! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): Jumpin’ Jack Flash　－　The Rolling Stones

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

I wish She Had Won

Posted by TomCat at 9:38 am Politics

Mar 062020

I’m still in a state of mourning over the loss of the Elizabeth Warren candidacy. She was my choice for the Democratic nomination, and I shall dearly miss her campaign.

Senator Elizabeth Warren entered the 2020 race with expansive plans to use the federal government to remake American society, pressing to strip power and wealth from a moneyed class that she saw as fundamentally corrupting the country’s economic and political order.

She exited on Thursday after her avalanche of progressive policy proposals, which briefly elevated her to front-runner status last fall, failed to attract a broader political coalition in a Democratic Party increasingly, if not singularly, focused on defeating President Trump.

Her departure means that a Democratic field that began as the most diverse in American history — and included six women — is now essentially down to two white men: former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Senator Bernie Sanders.

Ms. Warren said that from the start, she had been told there were only two true lanes in the 2020 contest: a liberal one dominated by Mr. Sanders, 78, and a moderate one led by Mr. Biden, 77.

“I thought that wasn’t right,” Ms. Warren said in front of her house in Cambridge as she suspended her campaign, “But evidently I was wrong.”…

Inserted from <NY Times>

Rachel Maddow interviewed Liz in depth last night. Here are five excerpts from that interview.

In The Selfie Line: Americans Needing A Government On Their Side

Liz was the most compassionate candidate in the race.

Warren: Just A Little Longer Before We Have A Woman In The White House

When I was a 1960s new-left protestor, I used to say that I would live so see a woman President, and a black President. I may not have more than three years left. May God grant that I live to be more than just half right.

Elizabeth Warren Takes Credit For Tanking Bloomberg On Purpose

Thank you for that, Liz!

Trump Coronavirus Incompetence ‘Like Its Own Natural Disaster’: Warren

Sorry, but calling it coronavirus is an error. COVID-19 is Trump Virus. It is merely speeding up the way Republicans will tank the economy.

Warren: Time To Think More Creatively About ‘Organized Nastiness’ Online

I experienced plenty of organized online nastiness from Bernie Bros in 2016, because I changed my support from Bernie to Hillary, after Bernie asked his supporters to support Hillary, as she had clinched the nomination. The Bernie Bros were waging a write in campaign that had no chance to succeed. This problem is not new and it is clearly getting worse. As a Bernie supporter, I beg him to disavow these bullies, who are acting like Republicans, and remove them from his staff.

We all owe Liz Warren a debt of gratitude. I grieve that US voters are too stupid to see that she was the best choice we had.

RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Open Thread–3/5/2020

Posted by TomCat at 9:41 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 052020

It’s a busy day, here at the CatBox. Eating is getting easier, since I discovered that pills getting stuck in the tumor were the big problem. I ground them with my mortar and pestle last night, and WWWendy mixed the powder with cottage cheese. YUCK! I’ve eaten better crunchies from my kitty box, but my ham and beans goop over rice went down without issue. This morning I ground them and mixed them with apple juice. They glopped up, but I got them down. Store to Door is delivering groceries this afternoon, so I’ll mix tonight’s grind with apple sauce. I scheduled an initial appointment with my new oncologist, Dr. Evelyn Brosnan on Thursday, March 17. I’ve requested that they release the PET Scan results to me this week, but they may not. Have a great day!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 5:42 (average 8:31). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: As an elementary school art teacher in the Dallas, Texas area, Stacy Bailey introduced herself to her students with a “get to know your teacher” classroom presentation. The presentation included photos of her friends, dog, family members, and fiancée (now spouse), as reported by The Advocate. After the presentation, a parent complained about the image of her fiancée. Bailey was suspended from her position, assigned to another school, and nearly three years later, has been awarded a $100,000 settlement from the school district, as reported by NBC News. Why the complaint and all of this fall-out? Bailey’s fiancée, now-wife, is a woman. The district denies any wrongdoings.

The district says it received complaints from parents because Bailey was talking about her sexual orientation with children. A parent complained Bailey was “promoting the homosexual agenda,” as reported by the Texas Tribune. If you’re curious about what the picture involved, it reportedly showed Bailey and her now-wife, Julie Vasquez, in Finding Nemo costumes, making funny faces. Bailey allegedly explained Vasquez as her “future wife.” In September 2017, Bailey was placed on administrative leave…

…In 2018, after eight months of suspension, Bailey was assigned to teach at a different school in the district. Working with attorney Jason Smith, she sued the school district in federal court, alleging the district violated her constitutionally protected rights. In October 2019, Judge Sam Lindsay ruled in her favor. The settlement of $100,000 was awarded on Monday.

Kudos to Stacy Baily for overcoming Republican hatred of LGBTQ people. There is nothing unusual about straight teachers talking about their families. For the Republican Reich to allow one and deny the other is a Republican level of hypocrisy. RESIST!!

From The New Yorker: A harrowing scene unfolded at the White House on Tuesday night as Donald Trump screamed at Mike Pence for “not praying hard enough” to make Joe Biden lose the Super Tuesday primary contests, sources said.

Witnesses to the vituperative dressing-down of the Vice-President reported that the evening started badly after Trump saw the returns from Virginia, which Biden won handily.

“Mike, you were supposed to tell God to make Sleepy Joe lose,” Trump snapped. “A lot of good your ‘praying’ did.”

Trump’s tirade against Pence grew in ferocity after Biden romped to victory in state after state, a string of victories that Trump blamed squarely on Pence’s inadequate praying efforts.

Dang, Andy! As much as I hate to admit it, I was screaming at pseudo-Christion Vice Fuhrer Mike “The HIV Guy” Pence for the exact same reason! Were it not for Republican prayer incompetence, Bernie would have won! RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): The Four Season & Frankie Valli hits live Sherry, Rag doll, Walk

Damn, ! was young then! Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

BREAKING From NY Times: Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts plans to drop out of the presidential race on Thursday and will inform her staff of her plans later this morning, according to a person close to her, ending a run defined by an avalanche of policy plans that aimed to pull the Democratic Party to the left and appealed to enough voters to make her briefly a front-runner last fall, but that proved unable to translate excitement from elite progressives into backing from the party’s more working-class and diverse base.

Though her support had eroded by Super Tuesday, in her final weeks as a candidate she effectively drove the centrist billionaire, former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, out of the race with debate performances that flashed her evident skills and political potential.

While I recognize the necessity, I have a one word response: Shit! She has a great future. Liz 2024! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Super Tuesday or Pooper Tuesday

Posted by TomCat at 10:31 am Politics

Mar 042020

Well, I trust you have already surmised that I am are not Happy with the Super Tuesday primary results. I have come to the same conclusion about most of you. I blame Jim Clyburn, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Beto O’Rourke for the size of Biden’s win. I also blame young Americans who sat out the primaries en masse. I guess they had something better to do, like playing on social media. Shame!

Well, it’ll still be days or weeks before we have the full vote total in California, and it’s still too close to call in Maine, but with Texas now in the win column for Biden, this evening’s top-line takeaway is even clearer: Biden mounted a comeback and won Super Tuesday.

In total, Biden won nine of the 15 primary contests at stake tonight, pulling off a number of upset victories, including a win in Minnesota (we’d projected Sanders would win there), a win in Massachusetts (Sanders again), and a win in Texas (that was more of a toss-up going into tonight), but basically Biden cleaned up across the board. He performed well in states where he wasn’t even really competing, and he proved he’s more than a regional candidate.

Sanders, on the other hand, did not have a great evening. He won just three states outright (Colorado, Utah and Vermont) and underperformed expectations. So far, he does seem on track to win delegate-rich California, though we won’t know the exact margin for a while yet.

Once all the Super Tuesday results are fully counted, 38 percent of delegates will have been awarded in the primary race, but this nomination fight is far from over, and there’s a real question about where it will go from here…

Inserted from <fivethirtyeight.com>

Map source: Real Clear Politics

Here’s the count:

Democratic Pledged
Delegate Count

Sanders

Buttigieg*

Biden

Warren

Klobichar*

BloomBarf*

Iowa

New
Hampshire

Nevada

South
Carolina

Alabama

American
Samoa

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Maine

Massachusetts

Minnesota

North
Carolina

Oklahoma

Tennessee

Texas

Vermont

Virginia

Utah

Totals

392

467

Spreadsheet data source: Real Clear Politics

The Big Winner was Joe, but the Biggest loser wasn’t Bernie. It was Billionaire Bloombarf, who spent all those $millions for nothing. When California delegates are fully allocated, it will pull Bernie closer, but I would be surprised if Joe does not lead when done.

Liz Warren’s results were also very disappointing. At this point, I see no viable way for her to win the nomination. I think it’s time for her to drop out, as much as I hate to say it. The biggest irony here, is that either Liz or Bernie would do far more for the Black Community than Joe would.

Nevertheless, whoever wins the Democratic nomination, even if it’s Joe, is MY candidate.

I’ll post another sheet when all the delegates from Pooper Tuesday states are allocated.

RESIST!!

The SC Debate

Posted by TomCat at 9:47 am Politics

Feb 262020

The performance that I liked best in the SC debate was that of Elizabeth Warren, but I’m sure my own bias enters into that. I think that Bernie, Joe and Liz did well. Amy and Pete barely held their own, at best. Bloomberg was weak, and Steyer did not belong on the stage at all. Other losers were the boo birds that the Biden campaign planted in the audience to scream BOO every time Bernie opened his mouth.

Seven Democratic presidential candidates took the stage Tuesday night in Charleston, S.C., for a fiery debate days before the state’s primary on Saturday.

The showdown in the Palmetto State also marked the final debate before Democrats battle in the biggest day on the primary calendar — Super Tuesday — next week.

Who won and lost in the latest debate?

WINNERS

Former Vice President Joe Biden

Biden kept his hopes alive with one of his strongest debate performances.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

Warren is the most consistent debater left in the race.

She went after former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg once again in this debate. She did not eviscerate him as thoroughly as she did last week in Las Vegas, but she again raised questions about his treatment of women in the workplace….

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

Sanders won on Tuesday by not obviously losing.

He came under the kind of sustained attack that any front-runner faces…

Inserted from <The Hill>

The biggest loser in the debate was CBS News. Here’s an excerpt from an email from Marcos Moulitsas of Daily Kos.

We went from perhaps the best debate ever, last week, to one of the worst ever, Tuesday night. What a disaster, from the questions, to the moderation, to the way they shoehorned one last commercial break at the end, without nothing but a “goodbye!” on the other side, Taking ad money from both Mike Bloomberg and Tom Steyer for commercials was an added insult.

It was insulting that in a DEMOCRATIC debate, moderators spent valuable time asking about North Korea, China, Syria, and other issues that fail to inform the vote of a single Democratic primary voter. As a result, climate change, choice, unions, and other key progressive priorities were ignored.

This was the worst moderation and production of any debate this season.

South Carolina debate wrap: Rivals take aim at Sanders

I disagree that Liz’ statement that she would be a better President was an attack. She was saying something good about herself, not something bad about Bernie. Everyone else on the stage attacked Bernie. Bernie’s honest statement that, over his long career, he has made some bad votes was honest. Kudos. He defused all the attacks well.

Elizabeth Warren: People Want to Hear From the Women Who Worked for Mayor Bloomberg

Mike “Kill It” Bloomberg [R-NY] had to buy that woman’s silence with an out of court settlement. The establishment media attacked Liz for attacking Bloomberg. They said she should have gone after Bernie, because Bloomberg isn’t even on the SC ballot. I disagree. That debate may have in SC, but it was also the debate for Super Tuesday, where Bloomberg hopes to excel and replace Biden as the establishment alternative to Bernie.

I look forward to Saturday and Tuesday with fingers crossed

RESIST!!

The State of the Race–2/24

Posted by TomCat at 11:28 am Politics

Feb 242020

We in a brief pause, before The SC Debate tomorrow, the SC Primary Saturday, and Super Tuesday a week from tomorrow. So here is a look at the state of the race as of now.

Energized by his landslide victory in the Nevada caucuses, Senator Bernie Sanders turned his focus to President Trump on Sunday while his campaign made plans to try to win the coming South Carolina primary and amass an insurmountable delegate lead on Super Tuesday next week.

Mr. Sanders plans to be up on the air with commercials in every South Carolina media market this week, and his staff is scrambling to add new rallies to his schedule as they take aim at their next big target: overtaking the front-runner in Saturday’s primary there, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., to all but extinguish his candidacy.

But attacks on Mr. Sanders began mounting on Sunday, with Mr. Biden criticizing him as disloyal to former President Barack Obama — a charged message with the predominantly black electorate in South Carolina — and others describing the Vermont senator as a long shot against Mr. Trump. Mr. Sanders, in turn, used a rally in the Super Tuesday state of Texas to highlight some favorable polling numbers against the president — and attempt to reassure Democrats about his electability if he wins the nomination… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

I haven’t given up on Liz, but Joe’s attacks on Bernie are as disingenuous as are criminal Trump’s* attacks on Joe. Bernie criticized Obama, but so did I. Neither of us was disloyal to him at any time. In addition, whether ANY Democrat beats Trump* is up to us. It will happen, if and only if we make it happen!

Here is the latest delegate count.

State

Date ▾

Delegates*

Sanders

Buttigieg

Biden

Warren

Klobuchar

Steyer

Yang

Gabbard

Primaries/

Caucuses

Open/

Closed

Pledged
Delegates

–

3979

Superdelegates

–

(771)

Total
Delegates

(2,382 Needed after 1st
Ballot)

–

4750

–

Pledged
Delegates

(1,991 Needed on 1st
Ballot)

–

3979

Iowa

February
3

41
(8)

Caucus

Semi-open

New Hampshire

February
11

24
(9)

Primary

Semi-closed

Nevada

February
22

36
(12)

Caucus

Closed

Here are latest SC Poll Results

Biden

Sanders

Steyer

Buttigieg

Warren

Klobuchar

Biden +3.0

Bernie Sanders has the best chance of any candidate, at this point. I think that when Super Tuesday is in the books, we’ll all have a much better idea.

RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

Open thread–2/23/2020

Posted by TomCat at 8:42 am Open Thread, Politics

Feb 232020

It’s a very busy day, here in the CatBox. WWWendy worked late at her night job, so she’ll be a bit late today. We have a ton of stuff to do. Happy Sunday.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:24 (average 5:27). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Cartoon:

Short Takes:

From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Sen. Bernie Sanders Is The Projected Winner Of The Nevada Democratic Caucus

Kudos to Bernie, and sad condolences to Liz! I’ll post the delegates total, when Nevada is done counting. RESIST!!

From YouTube (CNN Channel): Anderson Cooper on Rod Blagojevich claim: Just nuts

Blago comparing himself to Nelson Mandela is like comparing a steaming pile of shit to a Rose. Blago is calling himself a ‘Trumpocrat’. He’s no kind of …crat. The way he talks and acts, he’s an dishonorary Republican, like that other famous Illinois political criminal: Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley. RESIST!!

Also from YouTube (CNN Channel): Warren insults Bloomberg after Nevada caucuses

While her candidacy is in deep doo doo, we owe Liz a major debt of gratitude for exposing Bloomberg to America. Her insults are far less than he deserves. RESIST!!

From YouTube (a blast from the past): The Mamas And The Papas – California Dreamin’. Audio Gold Song ful HD.mp4

Ah… the memories! RESIST!!

Vote Blue!!

The Russians Are Coming!

Posted by TomCat at 9:54 am Politics

Feb 212020

When I was a child, I often hid under my desk, when told to duck and cover. Adults knew they could frighten us into behaving ourselves with the following threat: “The Russians are coming!” After awhile, it no longer worked, because we stopped believing the threat. Why? The Russians never came… until now.

Intelligence officials warned House lawmakers last week that Russia was interfering in the 2020 campaign to try to get President Trump re-elected, five people familiar with the matter said, a disclosure to Congress that angered Mr. Trump, who complained that Democrats would use it against him.

The day after the Feb. 13 briefing to lawmakers, the president berated Joseph Maguire, the outgoing acting director of national intelligence, for allowing it to take place, people familiar with the exchange said. Mr. Trump was particularly irritated that Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and the leader of the impeachment proceedings, was at the briefing.

During the briefing to the House Intelligence Committee, Mr. Trump’s allies challenged the conclusions, arguing that he had been tough on Russia and that he had strengthened European security… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Criminal Fuhrer Trump* does not want you that his boss is at it again!

Russia is looking to help Trump win in 2020, election security official told lawmakers

I understand that horrid little twerp, Devin Nunes, slithered to his Fuhrer to tattle, and probably, to give him a BJ. Fuhrer Trump* reacted exactly as I would expect from the Republican Reich. Trump* will be looking for a new DNI who will be to Intelligence what AG Barrf is to Justice.

Warren On Reports That Russia Is Interfering To Help Trump In 2020 Race

Liz is right. What we do now is keep Trump*, Bought Bitch Midnight Moscow Mitch, and all their co-criminals on Front Street, dump the entire Republican Reich in November, and clean up the mess afterwards to ensure free , fair elections in which corporations are NOT people and money is NOT speech.

The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!! The Russians are coming!!! Are you scared? You should be! Are you going to behave? Then get off your ass and do your part to pull the plug on Putin and send the Republican Reich out of existence. Every Republican in office is one Republican too many!

RESIST!!

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