...And Just in Time for Canada Day

By Baxter

A new poll conducted for The Globe & Mail and CTV reveals that Canadians like Barack Obama more than they like their own political leaders.

Twenty-six percent of respondents named Senator Obama as the politician they most admire, followed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper at 21 percent. Third place belongs to Hillary Rodham Clinton, with 16 percent. Senator Clinton is followed in the poll by the leaders of Canada's opposition parties.

(Senator McCain brings up the rear at 3 percent. Fat lot of good that recent campaign trip to Ottawa did!)

Oh, and 82 percent of Canadians oppose the war in Iraq. We cats PURR affectionately in their direction. Happy Canada Day!

(Photo: www.Canadian-flag.org)

Just in Time for the Fourth of July...

"For a young man of mixed race, without even a father's steadying hand, it is this essential American idea — that we are not constrained by the accident of birth but can make of our lives what we will — that has defined my life, just as it has defined the lives of so many other Americans."

—Senator Obama, Independence, Missouri, June 30, 2008

Bush Should Be Impeached for This Alone

By Zamboni

We cats are disgusted by the new Pentagon report — that the Taliban in Afghanistan have regrouped and now, nearly seven years after September 11, pose a serious threat to coalition troops there.

The Taliban, the report states, has rebounded into "a resilient insurgency."

This is outrageous. There is absolutely no excuse for it — except of course for the fact that the U.S. took its eye off the ball, allowed Osama bin Laden to escape at Tora Bora, and decided to invade Iraq instead because George W. Bush had to demonstrate that he was a more manly President than his daddy was.

There's not a hairball big enough that we could hack up to express our fury at this. Does anyone have Dennis Kucinich's phone number?

They Both Rock

By Sniffles

We love the images from Unity, New Hampshire, today.

To any Democrat who isn't willing to get behind this, we just have four words for you: yesterday's Supreme Court decision.

Want more justices like Antonin Scalia? Go ahead, sit on your paws (oops, we mean, hands) this November.

In the meantime, we cats PURR deliciously in the direction of Senators Clinton and Obama.

(Photo: The Washington Post)

The Base Strikes Back (and it isn't pretty)

By Baxter

Okay, never mind the fact that the Grand Old Party is saddled with an outgoing President whose approval numbers are in the cellar, a presumptive nominee they don't much like, and the number of people saying that the country is "on the wrong track" polling at 80 percent.

Now, they've lost a Congressman with a 96 percent rating from the American Conservative Union — because his opponent in Tuesday's Republican primary accused him of not being conservative enough.

Granted, it's Utah. (So don't get all greedy and think the Democrats are going to win the seat. They're not.) But we're just amazed that a six-term House member could be ousted because he had the temerity to believe that the children of illegal immigrants shouldn't immediately be deported.

Tails standing straight up, we cats arch our backs and HISS at this scary, scary Republican Party.

The Bluster Factor

By Zamboni

As the Charlie Black story enters its third day, we cats would like to reflect upon the notion of the American character.

We're not sure, but we suspect that the Founders — those pesky guys named Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Monroe and Franklin — would not have been pleased with the Cheney-inspired autocracy that emerged after the terror attacks of September 11. They wouldn't cheer for spying on Americans, the suspension of habeas corpus, or the use of fear to win elections for the Republicans in 2002 and 2004.

We also think that Mssrs. Jefferson, Adams, et. al. would look askance at Mr. Black's assertion that another attack on America would be a "big advantage" for John McCain's run for the Presidency. After all, those 18th-century gentlemen lived through a very dicey Revolution — one from which they were never sure they would emerge alive — and later, they witnessed a British invasion of America that resulted in the burning of the White House itself. In light of these events, the destruction of a couple of skyscrapers in New York — as awful as that was — would not have inspired them to curb civil liberties or suspend the Bill of Rights.

In other words, Mr. Black and your craven lot of campaign advisers, Americans are made of stronger stuff than you think. We cats would like to believe that, rather than stampede voters to your candidate in fear and trembling, a second September 11 would cause them instead to wonder why you Republicans had allowed the terrorists to attack us again.

We'll be happy never to find the true answer to that question. But in the meantime, we're sick and tired of the politics of fear. This country has been through far worse than September 11, and we've come through. The Republicans insult us when they imply anything less.

(Photo: Joe Rosenthal)

Even ANOTHER Enlightened Comment, Courtesy of the Grand Old Party

By Sniffles

Charlie Black wants America to be attacked again.

Senator McCain's top campaign adviser had told Fortune magazine that another terrorist attack would be a "big advantage" for the Republican's Presidential candidacy because of his alleged national security credentials.

Not only is this comment appalling in and of itself — it's incredible, coming from a leading member of a campaign whose only chance to win in November is to frighten voters about "terrorist fist jabs" and Senator Obama's middle name.

We cats hack big hairballs over such disgusting conduct. Why, if we behaved anything like Mr. Black, Senator McCain and their Republican supporters, we'd be asking them just one question right now:

"Why do you hate America?"

Another Enlightened Comment, Courtesy of the Grand Old Party

By Baxter

Those excellent introductions of John McCain keep coming. Here's Republican State Senator Kirk Schuring, who is running for the open seat in Ohio's 16th Congressional District.



We're not sure what State Senator Schuring meant when he talked about being "shot at" in beautiful downtown Canton — but why do we think his comment is somehow racist?

And if the hapless Mr. Schuring made this despicable remark at a McCain rally, why is Senator McCain not being asked about this at every campaign stop he makes?

We GROWL at the bigots in the Republican Party. Gosh, there seem to be so many of them, and the media seem to give them such a free pass.

More Bad News from Africa

By Zamboni

There are times when we especially appreciate living under the U.S. system of government, and today is one of them.

Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition party leader in Zimbabwe, has pulled out of Friday's Presidential runoff there because his supporters stand a real chance of being murdered at the polls. Mr. Tsvangirai has made this decision after a despicable election season in which forces associated with the incumbent President, Robert Mugabe, have repeatedly detained and beaten him following his clear victory over Mugabe in the general election in March.

The nightmare in Zimbabwe is a reminder to all of us of how precious our rights under the U.S. Constitution are, and how tirelessly we must fight to preserve them.

There are not too many steps from African Americans being barred from the polls by Florida state troopers to Mugabe's armed forces threatening the lives of opposition voters.

We cats would hiss at Mugabe and his pathetic enabler, South African President Thabo Mbeki, if we thought it would make any difference. So instead, we HISS at George W. Bush and his Administration, whose inability to step in and help resolve the situation in Zimbabwe is, we suspect, entirely due to their lack of moral authority as torturers of people of color.

"And the Answer Is.... Both."

"Accountability and Self-Reliance"

"Not Alex" — and Women

By Sniffles

Hendrik Hertzberg, whom we generally love and admire, has a piece in the June 23 issue of The New Yorker about Senator Clinton's campaign and whether sexism is stronger in America than racism.

"There is no gender equivalent," Mr. Hertzberg writes, "of the nightmare of disenfranchisement, lynching, apartheid, and peonage that followed Reconstruction, to say nothing of 'the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil' that preceded it."

We cats are not inclined to get into the "who suffered more" argument, especially since no one suffered more than we did during the witch-hunting years of The Middle Ages. But we'd like to remind Mr. Hertzberg that women were disenfranchised until 1920 — and that, even now, the campaign against reproductive freedom is alive and all too well.

Like the anonymous blacks who have been lynched across the South, the number of women who have been enslaved by lack of access to birth control, or who have died at the hands of illegal abortionists, is impossible to count.

In a similar spirit, then, we applaud the latest anti-John-McCain ad — if only because it gives some voice to women who have, for millennia, sent their sons (and now, daughters) off to fight in ridiculous wars.

Lamar Smith is an Idiot

By Baxter

George W. Bush as Jesus Christ? That's apparently what Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX) would have us believe.

Congressman Smith, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, pushed back against the testimony of Scott McClellan today with this most extraordinary statement: “Scott McClellan alone will have to wrestle with whether it was worth selling out the President and his friends for a few pieces of silver.”

Pardon us while we hack up a giant hairball. Never mind the fact that Bush, Cheney, Rove, Libby, et. al. outed a covert CIA agent for political reasons. Even over and above that, George W. Bush — with his illegal, unprovoked war based on lies and his status around the world as Torturer-in-Chief — doesn't strike us as the modern equivalent of a first-century rabbi who died on a cross.

We HISS at Congressman Smith, and dump our dirty litter box in the driver's seat of his car.

(Photo: Bandera County Courier)

O John McCain (You're Getting Bad Advice)

By Zamboni

John McCain is going to Ottawa.

No, Senator McCain is not joining the Conservative Party or trying to run for Prime Minister. He's going to Ottawa to make a speech about NAFTA.

Now, we love Ottawa — even those of us cats not named "Zamboni." We love the Houses of Parliament, the Canadian War Museum, the Byward Market and Darcy McGee's. We just don't think — despite the fact that the last time we were there we saw "RON PAUL '08" written in the snow — that there are a lot of registered U.S. voters there.

Meanwhile, Senator Obama is launching a huge media buy, including T.V. spots in such far-flung (and traditionally Republican) states such as Alaska and North Carolina. Which means he's expanding the playing field, venturing into GOP strongholds — while the McCain campaign surely is being forced by financial difficulties to take some states off the table, even at this relatively early stage.

And yet — the McCain campaign thinks that going to Ottawa is a good use of the Senator's time. Hmmm.

As if that weren't enough, Senator McCain's trip is also a gift to Stephane Dion and the Liberal Party. It gives them the perfect opportunity to once again ask whether Stephen Harper's Tory government inserted itself in the U.S. Presidential campaign when it leaked the details of a meeting about NAFTA between an Obama adviser and someone from Maxime Bernier's foreign affairs office.

(Hmmm, again. Max Bernier... It seems as if we've written about him before. Didn't it involve a girlfriend tied to organized crime and some misplaced, sensitive documents?)

We PURR at Senator McCain's campaign advisers, for giving a new meaning to the term "amateur hour."

(Photo: Destination360.com)

Does Bush WANT McCain to Win?

By Sniffles

We cats suspect maybe not.

As Gail Collins points out in her New York Times column today, Bush stepped all over McCain this week on the offshore drilling thing.

Here was the hapless Senator from Arizona — a state completely bordered by land, we must note — trying to be a change leader and further cement his completely undeserved reputation as a maverick (or maybe just a new one as a flip-flopper), and distance himself from the Bush Administration at the same time.

And no sooner does he come out and reverse himself on offshore drilling than the Worst President Ever pops out like an ugly ghoul in Disney's Haunted Mansion and steals his thunder. "Time for Congress to lift the ban on offshore drilling!" Smirky chirps, thus entwining his position and McCain's together in voters' minds like sticky black tar.

Never mind that lifting the near-30-year ban will do nothing to improve gas prices until, oh, 2030.

Since we can't fathom any of this stupidity — including the subsequent, similar flip-flopping of the veep-wannabe Florida Governor — we cats curl up in a ball and take a nap.

"I'm Voting Republican..."

By Baxter



What a wonderful new parlor game. Thanks to the many outrages of the Bush Administration, we should be able to riff on this all the way to Election Day.

To get you started, here are a few suggestions.

Finish this sentence: "I'm voting Republican because...."

"...It's good for America if the rest of the world hates us."

"...I love paying $4 a gallon for gas."

"...It doesn't matter to me whether the bridge I'm driving across is safe."

"...U.S. attorneys should prosecute people for political reasons."

"...The government can be trusted with its own secrets."

"...I don't know what 'habeus corpus' means."

"...I never really liked New Orleans, anyway."

Play today!

The Failure of Toys

By Zamboni

Elian Gonzalez has joined the Communist Party.

Before you ask "What's the Communist Party?" let us cats remind you who Elian is. Eight years ago, he was not just the survivor of a Cuban rafter trip gone horribly wrong but also the victim of what outside Miami-Dade County, Florida, is often referred to as a kidnapping. His captors: the most unappealing family on the face of the earth, his Miami relatives.

It took a determined Attorney General and the force of the U.S. government to return Elian to his dad. Now, to the chagrin of the Cuban exile community, Elian has joined the Young Communist League and has pledged his loyalty to Fidel (or actually, to Raul, since he's the one in charge now).

We make no comment on this since we're sure that sometime in our nine lifetimes — perhaps even soon — the Communist Party will either cease to exist entirely in Cuba or will no longer resemble itself from the heady days of Castro and Che. But we always thought it was obscene of the Miami relatives to try to ply the then-six-year-old Elian with toys, video games, bicycles and other gewgaws. Was that their idea of what it meant to be an American — having a lot of stuff?

Better they had read him a copy of the Constitution. But we don't think they'd recognize it if they fell over it.

(Photo: Periodico, Las Tunas, Cuba. Elian is on the right.)

President Endorses Obama

By Sniffles

Oh, you thought we meant Bush? Silly you. Al Gore would be President today if the Supreme Court hadn't stopped the vote counting in Florida.

And in his speech, he even mentioned the bad cat food from China!

We curl up in President Gore's lap and PURR, very contentedly.

(Photo: The Daily Mirror)

"Ricky, We Hardly Knew Ye"

By Baxter

We can think of no better way to honor and celebrate the beginning of gay marriage in California than to revisit the most famous photo of the most anti-gay-rights Senator ever — Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.

Here he is, in this classic shot by Robin Rombach of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, conceding to Pennsylvania's current U.S. Senator, Democrat Bob Casey, in November 2006.

We cats wonder if that little girl in the foreground has A) gotten over her father's well-deserved defeat, and B) given up dolls by now (in matching dresses or no). We wonder why the son on the right-hand side of the picture hasn't been cast in a new sequel to The Addams Family. Finally, we wonder why these people appear to be in such shock — since Mr. Santorum was consistently #1 on Chris Cillizza's list of endangered Republican Senate seats in '06.

We PURR at Robin Rombach for excellent work. (Ahhhh, the many hours we've enjoyed, gazing at this photo... And no wonder, since it's been displayed on our owners' refrigerator for the last year and a half.) And we PURR at the California Supreme Court, for championing equality in The Golden State.

STILL Another Reason for Hillary Supporters to Vote for John McCain (NOT!)

By Zamboni

Thank you, Frank Rich. His column in The New York Times today lists all the reasons — some of which we've pointed out here at My Cats — that women who voted for Senator Clinton will not stampede in anger to support John McCain.

We've thought of another one: Cindy McCain.

The MSM is just starting to come to grips with an inescapably unattractive fact in their darling's biography. After returning home from Viet Nam, John McCain started an affair with the beer heiress from Arizona while still married to wife number one, Carol, who had been disabled in an accident.

After all, why remain faithful to the woman who stood by you during your entire wartime captivity when you have a rich blonde beckoning to you?

We're not trying to be catty. We just think that if Michelle Obama, and Senator Clinton's decision to stand by her husband of 30-plus years, are fodder for the right wing attack machine, the McCain marriage should be an issue, too.

And we can't see a lot of women voters being attracted by the heartwarming story of a man who cheated on a faithful, ailing wife.

Family values!

Feet of Clay(ton)

By Sniffles

To all you wealthy John McCain supporters in Texas: Your Monday night just freed up.

Senator McCain has canceled a planned fundraiser at the house of oilman Clayton Williams. It seems that the Senator and his staff have just now figured out what a terrible person Mr. Williams really is.

Unlike the folks on the so-called Straight Talk Express, we remember Mr. Williams very well. He ran for governor against the late Ann Richards back in 1990, and he had some perfectly charming things to say about what to do if you're raped. We also remember him refusing to shake Ms. Richards' hand when they ran into each other at a public event.

And now, although Senator McCain won't be stepping over Mr. Williams' threshold on Monday evening, he is refusing to give back the $300,000 this lovely gentleman has raised for him.

In the words of the great Governor Richards: "Oh, Clayton, that's bad."

Has Ronald Reagan Died Again?

By Baxter

Okay, we really don’t want to be insensitive or unfeeling. But is the death of Tim Russert worth all this?

We’re very sorry that anyone would keel over from an apparent heart attack at the young age of 58. (Even those of us with nine lives are chilled by this.) But we just don’t believe that Mr. Russert — as honorable a person as he may have been — is deserving of the wall-to-wall, over-the-top coverage that we’ve seen so far on T.V.

We come from the old school, in which journalists reported the news but did not make it. If that pigeonholes us as fuddy-duddies, so be it. But this rending of garments and gnashing of teeth over Mr. Russert's sudden death is utterly (and, we believe, unintentionally) emblematic of how inside the Washington bubble its perpetrators live.

Only a few journalists today will deserve this kind of attention when they die. In our humble opinion, they are:

Walter Cronkite, who broke the news of John F. Kennedy’s assassination to the world, and who kept his composure when he did it (his only gesture — taking off his glasses and pausing a moment to let the horrible fact sink in);

Daniel Schorr, who earned a well-deserved place on Richard Nixon’s enemies list and who is still going strong at age 90-plus;

Helen Thomas, who has been a White House correspondent for going on 60 years — a legend who, we suspect, never made it in television because she is not beautiful;

Ben Bradlee, former editor of The Washington Post, who merits far more than the inevitable obituary reference “played by Jason Robards in All The President’s Men"; and

Seymour Hersh, whose reporting for The New Yorker and other outlets has, since the My Lai massacre, kept the defense community’s feet to the fire.

And let’s not forget Jim McKay, who recently also died, but without the fanfare accorded Mr. Russert. We can still remember Mr. McKay’s on-air composure in 1972 when the Israeli Olympic team was slaughtered: “They’re all gone.” Anyone who can carry off an iconic moment like that is definitely Cronkite material.

Again — we don’t want to sound mean. But on day when thousands of people (and animals) are drowning in Iowa — when we’ve wasted another zillion dollars fighting in Iraq — when hundreds more American families are being foreclosed out of their homes — we just can’t get all exercised over the death of a Washington insider who helped George W. Bush become an acceptable choice to the American electorate.

Sorry. Really sorry.

Another Reason for Hillary Clinton Supporters to Vote for John McCain (NOT!)

By Zamboni

We sure hope that all that mindless blather by the pundits — about how fans of Senator Clinton will be so mad she didn't get the Democratic nomination that they'll vote for John McCain — is over.

As if "How can we beat the bitch?" isn't enough to lose McCain the women's vote, check out this video from Planned Parenthood's Action Fund.

Not Only Racist, But...

By Sniffles

We know what a "baby mama" is, but what the heck is a "chyron"?

Fox News has apparently admitted that referring to Michelle Obama as her husband's "baby mama" was maybe, um, a mistake. Fox's vice president of programming has told the website Politico, "A producer on the program exercised poor judgment in using this chyron during the segment."

We asked a human with thumbs to look up the word "chyron" in her Webster's. It's not there.

Since we've always referred to writing on a T.V. screen by the plain old English noun "graphic," we find "chyron" to be a bit pretentious. Or maybe it's an intentional distraction: Use a weird word to divert people from the fact that you just described a Presidential candidate's wife in racist terms.

We GROWL at Fox News and leave big scratch marks on Roger Ailes' face.

Whew, That Was Close!

By Baxter

We cats — superior though we are — know that occasionally humans are capable of great things. Today's Supreme Court decision reminds us that one of those great things was, and is, the American system of government.

The highest court's ruling that detainees in Guatanamo Bay (minus Harold and Kumar, we presume) have the right to appeal their cases in U.S. civilian courts is, happily, a strike from the judicial branch in favor of balance — and against the overreaching of the Bush Administration. The terrorists surely would win if we surrender the very rights that we hold dear in the name of national security.

We note with trepidation, of course, that the vote was close. The forces of Bush-Cheney only lost 5 to 4 — by a nose (wet, pink, or otherwise... cats' noses can vary). So we're also reminded of why it is SO important for Senator Obama to win the election in November. We don't need any more justices like Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Scalia.

In the meantime, we PURR in the direction of Justices Kennedy, Stevens, Breyer, Ginsberg and Souter — for preserving not just our civil liberties, but our identities as Americans.

Gee, Senator, WE Think It's Kind of Important

By Zamboni

John McCain said on the "Today" show this morning that a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq is "not too important."

We agree with Senator Obama that Senator McCain apparently doesn't appreciate the strain that George W. Bush's war-based-on-lies has put on the U.S. military. But we'd like to add that, as taxpayers, it also puts an incredible strain on us — and on you, and you, and you.

We GROWL at Senator McCain. He's not just being insensitive toward the military he claims to love so much. He also doesn't care that our presence in Iraq is bankrupting our futures.

Must be nice to be married to a fabulously wealthy beer heiress...

We're Not Paranoid, But...

By Sniffles

Since we don't have thumbs, we cats generally don't work at computers. (We dictate this blog to our human.) But we're interested to hear that some folks had a hard time this morning accessing information about U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich and his articles of impeachment against George W. Bush.

According to today's Capitol Briefing blog at The Washington Post, "Kucinich's re-election campaign issued a statement this afternoon saying that its Web site 'was shut down this morning by a series of suspicious and fast-moving events several hours after Kucinich introduced 35 Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush.' The site appears to be working fine now. The campaign statement suggests the problem might have been a result of 'external tampering,' though it also seems possible the site was simply overwhelmed with traffic."

Now, when we read things like this about Representative Kucinich, we usually purr indulgently. "Oh, dear Dennis — never a dull moment with that lad." But we must say that we know personally of another case. This morning, a friend of our human had trouble linking to the AP's impeachment story. Every time he tried to click on it, it quit.

Of course, he was desperately searching the Web for information because the T.V. news folks were ignoring Kucinich completely. So we HISS in their direction. Sure, maybe they think our Dennis is a nutbag, and maybe they've written him off. But if they'd done their jobs in the first place, maybe the Bush Administration wouldn't have been able to lie us into war.

"Have you no sense of decency, sir?"

By Baxter

Gas prices are so high these days that the next time we go to the vet, we're going to have to ride like Toto in one of those bicycle handlebar baskets.

But never fear — George W. Bush has the answer to your $4-a-gallon miseries. Drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge!

As if putting more money in the hands of the oil companies and letting them ruin a precious natural resource would A) get the country off the fossil fuel teat immediately, and B) solve the question of whether you can afford to drive to Disney World this summer. Somehow, we think not.

With a nod to the words of Joseph Welch 54 years ago today, we HISS at the Worst President Ever, who clearly has never had a sense of anything.

Okay if Planet Dies — "Hockey Night in Canada" Theme Might be Dead, Too

By Zamboni

We're posting twice in a row, because we've just learned that the "Hockey Night in Canada" theme song may be toast.

This is terrible for a lot of reasons, but partly because this iconic sports theme music was written by a woman.



Dolores Claman and CBC — please kiss and make up!

Senate Bill — and Planet — Killed for Now

By Zamboni

Thank you, Senate Republicans, for putting the cause of saving the planet back for another few months.

We're saying that sarcastically, of course. And while we're dismayed that the climate change bill was blocked by the likes of Mitch McConnell and — yes, we're sorry to say it — four Democrats who voted with him, we look forward to next year. Perhaps by then, Republicans like Mr. McConnell, Norm Coleman and Liddy Dole will be gone.

And with a Democrat in the White House, we just might get something done on global warming.

In the meantime, we GROWL in the direction of the Senators who showed so little leadership today, and also in the direction of John McCain — who, with a visit to the Everglades, tried to pretend he didn't care more about the value of the oil companies' dollars than our children's future.

"How Do We Beat the Bitch?"

By Sniffles

It's truly amazing what short memories T.V. pundits have. Or how stupid they are. Or both.

In all their breathless, quisquilian chatter about whether disappointed female supporters of Senator Clinton will vote for John McCain rather than for Senator Obama this fall, we've yet to hear one of them ask the following question:

How in the world could Clinton fans go for the guy in this video?



"Excellent question," McCain responds to the beat-the-bitch questioner — after the laughter dies down.

Okay, we know this happened about six months ago. But, please. Journalists make enough money. They can afford a computer and an Internet connection and a visit to YouTube.

We HISS at the idiocy of the punditocracy. And by the way, Senator McCain, it's Democratic party — not "Democrat."

Yes, Ileana, You ARE a Bush Rubber Stamp

By Baxter

How do you know that the Republicans are in trouble this year? When U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a long-serving Cuban-American Member of Congress from Miami, puts out two gratuitous press releases distancing herself from George W. Bush.

This would be the same Ileana Ros-Lehtinen who, like her candidate for President, John McCain, has thrown her arms around the Worst President Ever at every previous opportunity.

We HISS at Representative Ros-Lehtinen for her transparent desperation — although of course we're also completely enjoying it!

Pick Hillary!

By Zamboni

We're tearing ourselves away from the Stanley Cup finals long enough to say congratulations to Senator Barack Obama for clinching the Democratic nomination.

Like the rest of the world, we're breathlessly waiting to see whom Senator Obama will pick as his running mate. And — having won more than 17 million votes in an inspiring and hard-fought Democratic primary — Senator Clinton, we believe, should be the choice. Obama-Clinton would be the Detroit Red Wings of the 2008 Presidential race.

Want to take some action? Write Senator Obama and urge him to pick Hillary. Then write Senator Clinton and urge her to accept. Finally, sign the petition at VoteBoth.

And PURR in anticipation of a great November.

"We Really Want to Do This"

By Sniffles

One of the reasons we cats love Jon Stewart — aside from the fact that he's very funny — is that he's got more gumption than all the Complicit Enablers in the Mainstream Media combined.

The latest proof: Last night's interview of Scott McClellan on "The Daily Show." Mr. Stewart is one of the few questioners whom we've seen or heard challenge Mr. Pudgy on the robotic Republican talking points he's using to sell his book.



Since the What Happened firestorm first broke out, it's irritated us that the media have been swallowing hook, line and sinker Mr. McClellan's bland exoneration of the Bush Administration's lies as just part of what he calls "Washington's culture of deception." Instead, they should be hacking it up like a nasty hairball and refusing to let him have it both ways. It also would be nice if they would press Mr. McClellan on the fact that today's toxic partisan atmosphere was created by Republicans — starting with Lee Atwater (hello, Willie Horton?).

But, no. So we're left to depend on Mr. Stewart, a comedian, to punch through Mr. McClellan's tiresome script and ask why the Bushies aren't guilty of first-degree murder.

We PURR in Jon Stewart's direction and rub up against his — well, he's so cute, can we just rub up against his whole body?

Senator Obama Sees the Light

By Baxter

So Senator and Mrs. Obama have had enough. They've left the Trinity United Church of Christ.

We're glad that the Obamas have done this. They may not have had to before, but in the wake of Father Pfleger's tirade against Senator Clinton — and the congregation's unfortunate laughter and applause — they clearly had no choice.

The larger issue, of course, is how stupid and unnecessary the tirade was in the first place. Senator Clinton is not The Enemy. It's Senator McCain, his 100-year war in Iraq, and the Republican attack machine — which right now happens to be only temporarily distracted by Scott McClellan.

But we can't leave this subject without one parting comment. We just don't understand politicians' need these days to belong to a faith and trumpet its importance. To us, it's just so superfluous to the public discourse. And, as Senator Obama now knows, it can bring you lots of trouble as well.

Besides, not to toot our own horn or anything, but it's just so much easier to worship us cats.