{"id":42680,"date":"2021-02-02T11:18:57","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T19:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=42680"},"modified":"2021-02-02T11:18:57","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T19:18:57","slug":"open-thread-2-2-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2021\/02\/02\/open-thread-2-2-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread – 2\/2\/2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s another painful\/tired day here in the CatBox.  I’ve had several trips to the throne room, and while it’s not Republicosis per se, the twisting, pushing and straining is really hard on my back.  Tomorrow, please expect no more than a Personal Update.  WWWendy is coming in the morning and we have lots of chores to do.<\/font><\/p>\n

Jig Zone Puzzle<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

Today’s took me 3:15 (average 4:48).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

Cartoon<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

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Short Takes<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

From Daily Kos<\/a>: <\/font>Republicans who want to distinguish themselves from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene or the insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol should understand something: They\u2019re going to need to distinguish themselves from the Republican Party itself. Because in the wake of Donald Trump\u2019s time in the White House, Republicans had a decision to make. They could have tried to revert to being the party they were in 2015 and 2016\u2014far right, ragingly hypocritical, and ruthlessly committed to partisan power, but with some basic allegiance to reality\u2014and instead they have chosen to stay on the Trumpy road with the conspiracy theorists and the flagrant racists.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, Republicans have provided a long list of examples<\/a> of how extremist the party is going to be going forward. Oregon Republicans passed a resolution saying that the attack on the Capitol was a \u201cfalse flag\u201d by leftists trying to make Trump supporters look bad. Arizona Republicans censured Gov. Doug Ducey, former Sen. Jeff Flake, and Cindy McCain for insufficient loyalty to Trump and for defending the integrity of the state\u2019s election. Rep. Matt Gaetz went to Wyoming to rally support against Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House, for having voted to impeach Trump for inciting the insurrection. Don Jr. is also engaged in the attacks on Cheney. <\/p>\n

The party\u2019s treatment of Greene<\/a> is another key example. It\u2019s not hard to find a Republican who will say they oppose Greene\u2019s conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook or Parkland school shootings, or her repeated expressions of interest in assassinating Democratic political leaders. But far from being marginalized over it, she is on the House Education and Labor Committee, which House Republican leadership would have had to agree to. In other words, it\u2019s a repeat of \u201cresponsible\u201d Republican responses when Trump would say or do something especially outrageous\u2014they\u2019d claim to be appalled, but go right on embracing him in every way that mattered. And Greene won her primary in Georgia with the backing of Rep. Jim Jordan and Debbie Meadows, the wife of former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. <\/p>\n

At this point, as never-Trump Republican Bill Kristol put it, House Minority Leader \u201cKevin McCarthy has been more critical of Liz Cheney than he has been of Marjorie Taylor Greene.\u201d Kristol claims to be astonished by that, but he shouldn\u2019t be. This is the Republican Party right now.<\/a> <\/p>\n

I hoped the party might split between old style Republicans and the Trump** party. It looks like that won’t happen.  It appears the KKK, Nazi, TEABuggery branch has won the day.  RESIST the Republican Reich<\/strong>!!<\/font> <\/p>\n

From The New Yorker<\/a>: <\/font>In what is being hailed as an amazing act of canine heroism, President Joe Biden\u2019s two German shepherds have dug up Donald J. Trump\u2019s tax returns on the South Lawn of the White House. <\/p>\n

According to sources, shortly after the President let Champ and Major out to play in the snow, they started sniffing one small patch of the lawn and digging intently. <\/p>\n

Within minutes, the two White House pooches had unearthed twenty years\u2019 worth of Trump\u2019s federal tax returns, which they eagerly deposited on the Oval Office carpet for their master\u2019s perusal. <\/p>\n

Dang Andy, those dawgs<\/em> need to take a vacation to Mar-a Lago, where they can pee on Trump**!  RESIST the Republican Reich<\/strong>!!<\/font> <\/p>\n

From YouTube<\/a> (MSNBC Channel<\/a>): <\/font>Democrats Nurse Fresh Memories Of Bad Faith Republican ‘Bipartisanship’<\/p>\n